#i wanted to ask her to raise my grade or at least explain why she graded me like that

[reverecurrent]

isn’t it so ironic that my WHITE rich privileged professor of my women and gender; transportation class is filling me (a queer, poor, transportation disadvantaged student) in her class ABOUT vulnerable ppl.

[ziggyzolch]

Queen Bee-atch Ⅶ (Regina George x Reader)

Warnings: None, lighthearted chapter tbh

✮✮✮

The sound of a marker cap popping open echoes across the walls of Regina’s room. Squeaking could be heard from the other side of the house with how aggressively she was writing.

She ignores her mothers insistent knocking as she pulls out a pair of scissors and cuts the photo of her and Cady in half. Pulling out a glue stick, Regina aggressively sticks the photo in the middle of the page.

She takes a deep breath, calming herself down and sitting back to admire her work. ’This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her. She is a fugly slut!’ Captioned above a picture of her stuck in the burn book.

Those byotches had no idea what was coming. ✮✮✮

This party was worse than anything she could’ve imagined. Someone broke her mothers vase, Gretchen and Karen wouldn’t leave her alone, and, worst of all, she threw up on Aaron!

“Aaron, wait!” Her heels were digging into the backs of her feet as she chased after her longtime crush, wiping the puke off her mouth.

Aaron angled his body towards Cady, walking backwards and pointing his finger at her, “You are a clone of Regina.”

Cady sighed before perking up, “Call me!”

Aaron ignored her, wiping her vomit off his shirt as he disappeared around the corner.

At the sound of a motor, Cady scrunches her eyebrows, turning towards the source of the mechanical whirring. She curses under her breath as she watches you, Damien, and Janis approach on a motor scooter.

“You dirty little liar.” Janis jumps off of the scooter, stomping towards Cady while you and Damien spin around, unable to stop the scooter.

“I’m sorry! I can explain-”

“Explain how you didn’t invite us to your party?”

You pipe up, “Janis, I’m getting dizzy!”

She glares at you as Cady replies, “I had to act like I hated you! You told me to pretend to be plastic.”

“This,” Janis looks Cady up and down, “Is not pretend. You’re plastic. Cold, hard, shiny plastic.”

Damien warns Janis about his curfew before she continues, “Did you have an awesome time? Did you drink awesome shooters and listen to awesome music and just sit around soaking up each others awesomeness?”

Cady’s face contorts in anger, “You made me like this! All because of some bullshit petty 6th grade drama!”

Janis scoffs, raising her arms up in exasperation, “Oh my god! At least me and Regina George know we’re mean. You still try to act all innocent! You got what you wanted. Aaron broke up with Regina, yet you still mess with her. You know why? Because you’re a mean girl! You’re a bitch!” She throws her artwork at Cady, “You can have this, it won a prize.”

Janis gets back onto the moving scooter, almost falling off when you shake the vehicle getting off. Cady’s eyes widen when she sees you rushing towards her, preparing herself for another scolding when you run past her into the house party. Janis and Damien groan, turning back around and spinning.

Cady’s eyes widen when she catches you walking out with two half full bottles of vodka.

“Alright, let’s go.” You jump back onto Damien's lap, adjusting your hold on the two bottles. Cady runs her hands through her hair, letting out a breath. She starts walking back into her house when she hears Damien's voice,

“I want my pink shirt back!”

✮✮✮

“Wanda literally solos all of…” You trail off when a group of girls rush past you gasping at their phones as you walk through the doors. You and Janis turn to each other in confusion before Damien runs up to both of you and drags you further into school. “Check what I sent you!”

Janis pulls out her phone at Damien’s request, her jaw dropping, “No. Fucking. Way.”

She turns her phone towards you. Squinting your eyes at her screen, you read,

“Damien, too gay to…function?! That's only okay when we say it!” You turn away from her phone, pointing and watching the commotion with your friends. Looking around, you ask,

“Have you guys seen Regina?”

Before either could answer, the sound of the fire alarm and sprinklers going off startles everyone.

“All junior girls report to the gymnasium, immediately! Immediately!”

Damien puts on his hood, before walking alongside you and Janis to the gym. Taking your seats on the bleachers at the back, you open your phone to look through the different pages of the burn book.

“Hah! Check this out: ‘Trang Pak is a grotsky little byotch’. It’s like a foreign language.” Janis and Damien giggle as you continue scrolling, ignoring the pang in your heart when you scroll past your own page, and scrunching your eyebrows in confusion at Regina’s. Didn’t she make this? Speaking of...

You stand up, looking around for her, when you catch Cady walking in awkwardly. She makes eye contact with you, offering you a little smile that you return. As shitty as what she did was, it wasn’t entirely on her. Plus she was about to go through way shittier with the way people kept staring at her.

She turns looks next to you, still smiling, when Janis catches her eye and flips her the bird.

The stare off was interrupted by Principal Duvall starting his speech, going on and on about how he oughta cancel our spring fling. You weren’t really paying attention until the end.

“Who has any lady problems they’d like to share?” You snort when you catch Gretchen pushing Karen's hand down.

Another girl you barely recognize raises her hand, “Somebody wrote in that book that I’m lying about being a virgin because I use super jumbo tampons,”

You, Janis and Damien start hitting each other, holding your noses and trying not to laugh when she continues, “I can’t help it if I’ve got a heavy flow and a wide set vagina.”

Your face was turning red, barely holding it together when Damien snorts. You bark out a laugh, slapping your hand over your mouth when everyone turns to look at you.

“Yeah, I can’t do this.” Principal Duvall sighs and urges Ms. Norbury to continue for him.

“Alright, everybody close your eyes,” She pauses, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a girl say something mean about you behind your back. Now open your eyes.”

You look around the room, everybody had their hands raised. She continues, “Close your eyes again. Raise your hand if you’ve ever said anything mean about a friend behind their back,”

You peek an eye open, raising your hand when you see everyone else's hands raised. You catch Regina doing the same. There she is. “Now open.”

You, Janis and Damien all collectively gasp when you see each other's hands raised.

“Seems like there’s been a little girl-on-girl crime here, let’s do a couple exercises...” Ms. Norbury had all of you confront your friends on what bothered you.

After a couple of confrontations and arguments, Regina stands up with her arms crossed, “Can I just say that I don’t think we have a clique problem at this school. Some of us don’t need to be here! We’re just victims.”

Ms. Norbury smiles, “That's probably true. How many of you have felt personally victimized by Regina George?” You slide down your chair, groaning in second-hand embarrassment when everybody raises their hands.

Janis rolls her eyes and pulls you back up to sit properly.

“Cady, is there anything you’d like to own up to?” Ms. Norbury calls out.

“No.” Cady replies

“You never made up a rumor about anyone?”

Cady looks around, shuffling in her seat, “No.”

“Nothing you want to apologize for?”

“...No.”

Ms. Norbury says something to Cady that you couldn’t catch before moving on. “Alright. Everybody up.”

She made us gather around a little platform, letting whoever wanted to go up and apologize for whoever they’ve hurt. It was absolutely horrible trying to hold in your laugh as the apologies began, especially when Karen fell forward into the trust fall instead of backwards. Someone you don’t recognize goes up, crying and apologizing.

“She doesn’t even go here!” Damien shouts before pushing you in front of him and pulling the strings of his hoodie. You stand on your tiptoes, attempting to conceal him as Janis moves closer to you. "I can't see shit from here," You mumble, trying to look between the girls stood in front of you.

Wanting to get a better view, you decide to move towards the front of the crowd. You pushed yourself between the girls, ignoring the curses thrown your way. Karen noticed you walking towards her and Gretchen and moved to the side as Gretchen went up, making space for you. Your smile dropped as Gretchen began her speech.

Oh wow. Gretchen was horrible at apologies.

Gretchen turns and falls backwards. Entranced by the train wreck that was Gretchen's half-assed apology, you hadn’t noticed people scattering away from you and Karen. Ms. Norbury gasps.

You all fall to the ground, Gretchen and Karen landing on top of you. Karen gets up after Gretchen, helping you up after her and adjusting your disheveled hair. You raise your eyebrows as she begins squeezing your cheeks with a far away look in her eyes before Gretchen starts pulling her arm. Snapping out of whatever trance she was in, she lets Gretchen drag her away, offering you a smile and a wave goodbye,

They could never make you hate her.

Janis pats your shoulder as she walks past you and up onto the platform, beginning her speech. Your eyes widen as she begins to list everything she’d done to sabotage Regina.

“Ay ay ay ay ay!” She ends her speech and jumps into the crowd as they all cheered her on. You were about to join when a teary eyed Regina pushed past you.

"Regina!" You and Cady called at the same time. You looked at each other for a moment before running towards Regina.

Cady keeps walking as you stop at the edge of the street, leaving them to hash it out when you feel a hand on your shoulder. A breathless Janis was standing next to you. You pat her back, “Nice speech, you should join Model UN.” Janis shakes her head in disgust, making you laugh until you notice a school bus speeding towards Regina.

"No!" Janis attempts to pull you back as you rush forward, jumping towards Regina and pushing her out of the way.

You both land on the harsh asphalt, groaning.

“God! Who drives that fucking fast in a school zone?!” You had your hand on your chest, trying to come down from the rush of adrenaline. “At least no one got hurt,”

Sitting up and looking around, you notice everyone’s eyes on you, “What? Why is everyone looking at me?”

Regina’s scream startles you. “Oh my God!” She says while standing up and pointing at your leg. You raise an eyebrow, turning to where she was pointing.

Oh god.

“Is the bone supposed to stick out like that?” You attempt to joke, before promptly blacking out. The last thing you see being Cady, Regina, and Janis all running towards you.

✮✮✮

Long-ish A/N: I used the gymnasium scene from the original mean girls, its lowkey funnier. I know this chapter has a criminal lack of Regina, but I promise I'll make up for it next chapter. I just needed to move the story along.

I made a little sketch of how I imagine R, but I made her vague in the fic on purpose! You get to imagine her however you want. This is just how I imagine her.

Will I acknowledge the fact that she looks like me? nope. Will I acknowledge the fact that I left out an eye? yolo.

Anyways, thank you for reading!

Tag list: @itzyyyyyydaaaaaa (if u wanna get tagged in the next chapter reply under this post!)

[serotonins-stuff]

I have a Bakugou x fem! reader request if you’re willing!

so reader is really smart but disguises it at school because she’s afraid people (especially boys) will think she’s stuck-up and unattractive. But Bakugou sees through her act and likes how smart she is and asks her out in his own Bakugou way.

Preferably fluff but suggestive bc Bakugou is turned on by smart women ;)

thanks!

Smartass | K•Bakugo

Includes : Fluff

Warnings : none

A/n: Apologies for only getting to the requests months later :), I've got quite slot on my schedule.

Exhaustion wouldn't even be able to explain how you felt after an all nighter, studying your ass off for a biology test after all you've done the past week is hang out with your friends who could care less about good grades.

Being in this highschool meant that you would be classified as a nerd if anyone knew about the lengths you go through for a perfect score, so naturally you did everything you could to avoid that.

You never bragged or showed anyone your scores, you never raised your hand in class even if your mind was tearing you apart for knowing the answer, and because of this no one had gotten suspicious of your actions because you were sure to attract as little attention towards yourself as possible.

Though, at least that's what you thought.

You were convinced that you fooled everyone but, unbeknownst to you, there was always someone watching you from the corner of your eye.

Bakugo Katsuki, the only person in your class who found your behavior suspicious.

Occasionally he would pass by while you're talking to your friends in the hall and overhear you claim that you didnt study for the test. Though it would be a different story when he got a glance of your perfect score from where he sat behind you.

Today was no different, because as soon as you got your paper you flipped it upside down before a look of dissapproval crossed your features. It made his blood boil. Why would someone as smart as you not want to show off their skills to the world?

"We're going to have a class project" The teacher spoke out, "As you all know we're going to the aquarium next week-."

Various complains could be heard by some of the students and you tried to refrain from showing your excitement.

The idea of biology made you feel giddy inside. You were just imagining how calming it would be like to be in the presence of so much aquatic life, in the dimmly lit hues of the water cascading all around the building.

"As I was saying.." She cleared her throat and everyone went silent. "I'm going to be putting you in pairs"

Your heart dropped.

She had to be joking right?. The people in your class had to be the laziest people you had ever met in your life, and there was no way you were going to be stuck with them for a whole day.

Every group project you've been in, there would always be only one person who did the the work, while the others would slack off, and that person was you.

Nobody ever handed their assignments in on time or even took it the slightest bit of interest. You played along with their act, fearing that they'd judge you for being a goody two shoes if you spoke up. In your own time you'd sit by yourself to finish the project and of course they'd take all the credit. They always take the credit.

A pair of hands slammed down on your desk and you flinched.

"You dreaming in class?" He scoffed, staring you down with his crimson eyes, His face held a neutral expression, and could feel from his aura that he was trying to read you.

"Katsuki Bakugo" you said in acknowledgement, averting your eyes from his to break the somewhat intense staredown.

"Y/n L/n" he tilted his head, not once looking away from your face. "Pair up with me"

You looked at him with shock, was this the same Bakugo who always wanted to work by himself because 'everyone else is weak', now standing at your table demanding you to work with him?

You never really spoke to him in class, but often you'd find yourself staring at him whenever you had hero training. He was always so focused and well calculated. On the battle field he's better than you in every aspect.

He was smart, possibly even smarter you, so why did he need you on his team when he'd just fine by himself?

"Um, why me?" You you're voice wavered.

"You're one of the only idiots in this class who actually put in the effort"

Your eyes widened and you stared at him to search for any sign that he was joking, but he wasn't. Could this mean that he was one of the people that actually acknowleded your hard efforts?

"What you're what you're talking abo-"

He cut you off before rolling his eyes. "You can't pull that clueless act shit on me and you know that."

You avertes your gaze and he continued. "You get a perfect score on almost every test, yet you don't tell anyone that cause you don't wan em to know you're a smartass."

He would rather much have to work with you than the other people in the class, considering you always take the number two spot regarding academics. He's always right ahead of you, scowling in first place, but hell- even he had to admit that there was nothing hotter than a smart woman. If anything he wanted to see this smartness up close, test the limits, and see just how much of your intelligence you were hiding from everyone else.

Don't get him wrong, he loved getting first place, though it wasn't really worth it if his opponents weren't going to give him a challenge. He wanted to fight for his place, give blood his blood sweat and tears for it.

And what better way to do that then get his academic rival pumped up?

You sighed in defeat and he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. "We'll have to do research, you free after school?"

He looked away slightly bashful as your fingers brushed against his to type in your number.

"Yeah I am, did you have any place in mind?"

"The cafe two blocks down, afterschool" he said abruptly and turned to leave but stopped when you spoke.

"I don't know where that is" you said softly.

"I'll walk you there after school" he replied, a tiny hint of nervousness coming from his voice.

He needed to end this conversation or else he was gonna end up looking like a tomato from all of this blushing. He practiced this conversation a million times in his head and even that wasn't enough to prepare him. Hearing your voice address him did things to him that nobody would ever understand. The look of your sweet gaze directed to him was more than he could ever ask for.

This class project was a great excuse for him to get to know you better, but you didn't need to know that.

It would've been embarrassing if you noticed him acting all weird, but luckily you were too trappped in your own little world to notice.

•••

A/n. (again) : Focused on getting requests out :)

See you all on Friday.

[writingonleaves]

it's so hard to watch everything i want (everything i was spinning down the drain) - trevor zegras

pairing: trevor zegras x original female character

warnings: swearing, angst-ish, mentions of cheating (not between the two main characters), self-loathing, fluff

based on: "bleach" by 5 seconds of summer + "the archer" by taylor swift. title from "bleach"

word count: 15.6k

author's note: tried my hand at writing trevor's pov and it was Hard. this one means a lot to me personally so i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it! takes place at least five ish years from now so future fic alert!! trevor is finally employed again and that motivated me to finish this LOL

*****

Trevor Zegras is good at a lot of things. Remembering names and faces is at the top of the list.

It kinda makes sense. He’s been meeting and shaking hands with people ever since he was a teenager, most of them wanting something from him in one way shape or form. It’s not completely a bad thing. He wouldn’t have gotten this far without knowing who he was talking to. 

So that’s why it’s such a surprise that it took him a whole damn hour to figure out why the wedding planner for Jack and Amelie’s wedding looked so familiar. Isabelle, she introduced herself as, and he keeps racking his mind to see if he knows an Isabelle, but he comes up empty.

As a groomsman, Trevor was expected to come to the venue earlier. He didn’t have to come a whole week earlier, but he had nothing else going on and the wedding’s in Michigan, so it wasn’t completely inconvenient for him. He just crashed at Jack and Quinn’s, to which the latter rolled his eyes at. But the soon-to-be-married couple were thrilled that he was coming early so they could put him to work, and he was more than happy to help out. 

It’s halfway through assembling floral centerpieces when he shoots his head up to the wedding planner across from him. “Belle Holloway?”

Belle looks up with a small smile. “Been a long time since anyone’s called me that.”

“Holy shit. I knew you looked familiar. It’s been so long.”

“Z, are you bothering Isabelle?” Jack calls out from another table. “Please don’t scare her away. She’s been our lifesaver the last year.”

Belle chuckles. “You don’t need to worry, Jack.”

“Yeah, Hughesy. Belle and I go way back.”

Amelie is passing by and hears that comment, raising her eyebrows. “You two know each other?”

“We grew up in the same town,” Belle explains, tying a ribbon around a bunch of flowers. “My brother was in Trevor’s grade in school. They played hockey together for a bit before Trevor got too good and left.”

“Belle was probably the smartest girl in school,” Trevor adds with a hint of pride in his tone. “Can’t say the same about her brother. Where did you end up going to college?”

“University of Michigan.” Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jack smirk. Weirdo. He literally didn’t even go to Michigan. 

Trevor whistles. “Still smart. Where is Connor these days? He went to UConn, right?”

“Yup. He’s with his wife in Chicago now. Doing something with finance.”

Trevor makes a mental note to reach out to his old friend the next time he’s in Chicago. “And little Lily?”

Belle chuckles. “Not so little anymore. She graduated from Parsons last year and works at Michael Kors as a designer.”

Trevor smiles knowingly. “Guess her styling Connor all those years paid off, eh?”

“Guess so.”

(Amelie and Jack are at another table working on centerpieces, overhearing this conversation. They give each other a knowing look as they keep eavesdropping. This is why Belle didn’t seem surprised during their initial consultation when they had to explain Jack’s hockey schedule and why he wouldn’t be able to adhere to the traditional timeline if he wanted to be at all the appointments. Little did they know, she already knew someone in the NHL)

She then asks about his family, because while Trevor was always her brother’s friend, their parents got to know each other pretty well to the point where they would go over to each other’s for dinner enough for her to remember. Trevor talks about how Griffin is off doing God knows what in Florida but having a good time at his sports marketing job and how Ava, who’s the same age as Lily, graduated from Elon and is now in the Philly area as a nurse. 

They’re now moving pots of flowers around as they venture into their lives post-grad. “So have you been in Michigan this whole time?” Trevor asks.

“Yeah, though I had a brief stint in Santa Ana. This wedding is my last one here, actually, so a fun one to end on.”

Trevor follows her eye-line at the soon-to-be-newlyweds, who are now decorating the photo station but more fucking around then decorating. Amelie’s slapping Jack’s shoulder as he laughs loudly. Trevor smiles at the sight. “They’re great, aren’t they?”

“They are,” Belle admits. “I’ve worked with a lot of couples, but they’re one of my favorites. From the fact that they’re organized and flexible and so kind and understanding to the fact that they seem to be super in love with each other.”

“You said this is your last wedding here?” Belle nods. “Where you off to next?”

Trevor notices her stiffening a bit, and he immediately wants to take the question back. But the discomfort leaves as fast as it came. “Not sure. Gonna do some last minute packing up and then go home to New York next week to reset and figure it out from there. Connor offered his guest room in Chicago so I might take that. I have some friends that are dispersed around the country as well.” She shakes her head and switches topics and he makes a mental note of her vague answer. “Enough about me. How about you, Mr. NHL? Not gonna lie, when I saw Jack’s list of groomsmen, I had to brace myself mentally when I saw your name.”

“Brace yourself? What does that mean?”

Belle chuckles and his smile widens at the sound. “It’s been awhile, but not everything is different. I’m sure you’re still the life of the party everywhere you go, which means you’re at high risk of intruding on my meticulous plans on the day. Mind grabbing those shears for me next to you?”

He passes her the shears, standing up straight. “Jack’s conned you. He is way worse than I am.”

“Jack is also the groom so he knows that he has to listen to what I say if he wants things to go well,” Belle says. “How have you been, though? Has Anaheim been treating you well?”

“It has. The team’s great. The weather’s great. The beach is right there. Very different from Bedford.”

“Congrats on a great season. The playoff run was fun to watch.”

His eyebrow shoots up. “You watched?”

She shrugs a bit sheepishly. “If a game is on, I’ll usually watch. It’s like white noise to me now, after going to Connor’s, and I guess your games growing up. I went to a couple of Ducks games during the two years I lived in Cali.”

“And you didn’t reach out?”

She wipes her hands on her jeans. “I…you were always more Connor’s friend than mine. Didn’t want it to be weird.”

“It wouldn’t have been,” he assures. “Next time, let me know and I’ll get you tickets. You still have my number?”

“I do.”

“Perfect,” Amelie then comes up and seems like she has a question. “I’ll let you ladies be. Where’s your fiance?” He asks the bride-to-be.

“Quinn just arrived, so probably making sure the bar is all good, since you guys have your weird ass drink preferences,” Amelie says. “We should be almost done here though. Just have a couple last questions for Belle and then we’ll head back.”

Trevor snorts. “Typical. I’ll go find them.” He turns back to Belle with a grin. “Good to see you, Belle. Don’t be a stranger.”

Belle smiles. “I’ll see you at the wedding.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior.” Trevor promises, before walking away. 

When things finally settle down a couple of hours later and he settles into one of the guest rooms for the night, he reflects back to his own childhood and memories of Isabelle Holloway, or Belle, as everyone used to call her. Brunette and green-eyed, Belle was decently quiet compared to him and Connor’s wild teenage boy energy, but she was talkative with her own friends and Trevor’s parents adored her. She loved Taylor Swift, and if Trevor looked into it deeper, her blasting her music around all the time probably got Trevor to like it purely through osmosis. She was always clean, happy to do the dishes and Trevor often caught her organizing the living room and basement without being asked. She was incredibly smart, always had her homework done before hanging out with her friends and seemed to always ace her classes with minimal difficulty. Even when Connor gave her shit just because he was the oldest sibling, she rarely dished it back. That kindness extended to all of Connor’s friends as well, including Trevor, even when they were loud and playing video games when she came home from school. Every memory he has of Connor growing up, Belle’s right around the corner.

Belle Holloway had always been too good to them. It’s a no-brainer that her profession is based on giving something to others.

He still follows Connor on Instagram, so he goes to his old friend’s page to find his sister’s page. She’s private, but he doesn’t hesitate on requesting her account. He goes to take a shower and brush his teeth and when he comes back to his phone, he’s delighted to see that she’s accepted his follow request. 

Thus begins his stalking. 

There’s not many posts to stalk — she only has 47 — but it does span the amount of years he lost touch with the Holloways. There are posts from her later high school years when Trevor had already left Bedford, and he smiles to himself when he sees the post from her high school graduation, with Connor, Belle and Lily all cheesing in one photo. There are various posts from her college years — she must’ve spent a semester or a summer abroad in Barcelona — mixed with some various travels from Yellowstone to Sweden to Miami. Then it gets less frequent after she graduates college, posts of the Michigan landscape, posts with friends on a night out, at a friend’s wedding, the rare photos of just herself. She notices there’s a guy in some of those posts, but no one’s tagged and the caption doesn’t reveal anything, so he figures it must be a friend or ex-boyfriend of some sort. 

One thing that hasn’t changed much, he thinks, is how beautiful she is. As he scrolls on her Instagram and thinks back to seeing her earlier today, he kinda can’t stop thinking about how beautiful she is.

The day of the wedding comes by and it’s an early start for the bridal party. Trevor rolls into the Planterra Conservatory at 8:47 a.m. with coffees for himself, Quinn, Luke and Jack while Cole had gotten coffees for himself, Nico and Alex earlier. The suits are already hung up by the window of the spacious room and beers have already been opened. 

“Starting off early, eh?” He sets down the coffees on the table. 

“It’s a big day,” Luke calls out from steaming everyone’s suits.

“That it is,” he stops by the chair Jack is sitting in and gives him a hug. “Congrats, man. You nervous?”

“Nah,” Jack smiles. “More excited than anything.”

Quinn grabs his coffee and sits down. “I stopped by the bridal suite just a few minutes ago. Amelie said the same thing.”

Jack lights up at the mere mention of her. “I’m just anxious to see her, to be honest.”

Belle walks in then, clad in a light green jumpsuit and a tan blazer, with a bright smile on his face. “Oh good, Trevor made it. Everyone all good in here? Do you guys need anything?”

Jack grins. “We’re all good here, Isabelle. Thank you. I’ll holler if we need anything. Promise.”

She shoots the groom a semi-skeptical look before nodding. “Okay. I’ll check back in, in 30 minutes.”

“Do you need any help at all?” Nico asks. 

She shakes her head with a thankful smile. “You all are too kind. I’m good. Michelle and I are manning the floor. She’s kinda doing my job better than I am, when she has her own bridesmaid duties to worry about.”

“Impossible.” Quinn remarks. “You’re fabulous at your job.”

Belle rolls her eyes fondly, and Trevor’s reminded that even though she’s the one running the show, she’s younger than a majority of the bridal party. “Flatterer.” She takes her phone out of her pocket and clicks her tongue. “Alright. I’m out.” She looks at Trevor with a pointed look. “Zegras. You better come find me if anything goes wrong.”

“Why are you entrusting that responsibility onto me?”

“Because I have so many stories about you that I could tell everyone if you don’t listen to me.”

Trevor gasps in mock offense. “Belle, oh Belle! Resorting to blackmail?”

The whole room laughs as she grins. She stops in front of him, a more serious look on her face. “Call me if anything goes wrong?”

“I gotcha.” He assures her with a firm nod and she shoots everyone one last grin before walking out. If his eyes linger on her, no one has to know. 

(Everyone in the room knows. He doesn’t notice them all giving each other knowing smirks)

Jack speaks up first. “Z, if you end up hooking up with my wedding planner, give her a good time at least. She deserves it.”

“Jesus Christ, Jacky.” Trevor groans as everyone cackles. Thankfully for him, they drop it after that. 

The next time he and Belle get to interact is after the ceremony — to which he couldn’t stop smiling watching one of his his long-time best friends marry the girl of his dreams, proudly watching at the front as they exchanged vows to love each other forever — when it’s time for pictures and Belle and the photographer are working together to direct everybody where they need to go. Belle stops directly in front of Trevor and focuses on fixing his boutonniere. Her tongue pokes out as she focuses on making it straight after several attempts. Even amongst a crazy day, he feels a sense of calm surrounding him. 

She huffs. “Why won’t your boutonniere stay still?”

He smiles down at her cheekily. “On my worst behavior.”

She snorts, before softening. “Thank you for earlier.” He knows she’s referencing when there was a minor mix up with the rings right before the ceremony was about to start and Trevor got it under control within 10 minutes. 

“Of course.”

She puts a piece of stray hair back on his head away from his forehead and he feels his heart flutter at her light touch. She smirks a bit. “On your best behavior today, actually. Like you promised.”

“Don’t count on it once the open bar hits.”

She laughs before moving on to fix Luke’s collar and Trevor gets a second to finally take a normal breath.

The next time he spots Belle is well into the reception, when the dance floor is full and the drinks are flowing and everyone is enjoying themselves. She’s nibbling on a slice of cake in the corner, eyes sweeping through the crowd with a small smile on her face

Trevor, who ditched his blazer after ‘Mr. Brightside’ brought the place down at least 7 songs ago, strolls over, hands in his slacks. “Haven’t seen you in a bit, Belle of the Ball.”

Her nose wrinkles. “No one’s called me that since I was 6.”

“A good wedding to end off on?” 

“I think so,” she smiles, staring at Amelie giggling as she pours a bottle of champagne into Jack’s mouth. “You having a good time?”

“The best. And I’ve been to a lot of weddings. You did beautifully.”

Belle waves him off. “All in a day’s work.”

“Do you still have fun at weddings? Since you have to work them?”

“Yes and no,” she admits. ‘Yes, because the end result is always worth it and seeing the happy couple live their day is always worth it. No because now when I go to weddings of my friends and family, it’s hard to turn my work brain off.” 

“Are you allowed to dance at your clients’ weddings?”

“I usually wouldn’t,” she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Make an exception for an old friend? To celebrate your last wedding in Michigan?”

She looks away for a second. “I don’t want to make Jack or Amelie feel weird.”

“Those two couldn’t care less. I’m sure they’d actually encourage it.”

He shoots what he hopes is an encouraging smile as he offers a hand. She looks at him for a couple of seconds before letting him help her up. 

It’s perfect timing as ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift comes on and the once rowdy floor is calmer, with couples dancing with each other or families dancing with their kids. It’s a dance floor filled with love.

He guides Belle to put her arms around his neck as he carefully places his on her waist. 

“I told Connor about seeing you again.” She starts

“Oh yeah? What did he say?”

“He told me to tell you to hit him up the next time you’re in Chicago.”

“Was already planning on it.”

“He also said and I quote ‘if the next thing I hear is that Zegras is dating my sister, I will kill him.’” Trevor tips his head back in laughter as Belle chuckles. “He’s lucky I never dated any of his friends. He had some cute ones.”

“Was I one of them?”

“Nice try. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass, Trevor.” She says dryly. “Besides, I was kinda kidding. It’s not like you or any of his friends would’ve gone for me anyways.”

Now he’s confused. “What?” He thinks she’s joking, but from her face he realizes she’s not. “You do know that like, half of the hockey team had a crush on you, right?” She tips her head back in laughter as he squeezes her waist. “I’m not kidding. It annoyed Connor to no end.”

She snorts. “There’s no way.”

“Up to you whether to believe it or not. Just know that I never lie, Belle.”

She hums, and the way she’s looking at him makes his hands start sweating. He hopes she can’t feel it through her jumpsuit. “What you’ve done with your hockey career and everything, it’s really cool. I’m happy for you, Trevor. You deserve it.”

And he’s heard so many compliments about his career throughout his whole career, but it’s different coming from someone from his hometown. Someone who knew him before he left and knew what he was like before the NHL — before his days at the NTDP, even. Someone who has nothing to gain from complimenting him. 

“Thank you, Belle. That-that means a lot coming from you.”

She just smiles back before they fall into a comfortable silence and keep dancing. He twirls her and does an exaggerated dip that has her giggling. They keep dancing and dancing, even as the songs change tempo.

(Amelie, who’s resting her feet right by the dance floor, nudges Jack and gives him a look. She picks up a disposable camera and points it at them, before taking her phone and also taking a picture. She has an inkling that Trevor and Isabelle may want these someday)

“What are you up to before the season starts?” 

He shrugs. “I’m not sure, actually. I just need to be back in Anaheim for pre-season in three weeks.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Quinn and Jack have been letting me crash at their place. Don’t have an exact date of when I’m leaving yet.”

Belle snorts, though it’s paired with a smile that seems fond. “Still the same, huh, Trev?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your spontaneity used to stress my parents out, even back then. The reason they still liked you is because you could charm your way out of it.”

“I stressed Kurt and Susan out?” He says, actually worried.

“Oh, hush. It’s not that deep. My dad loves watching you play. There’s been many a family call where I hear a Ducks game on in the background. Unless it’s against the Rangers, of course, in which you don’t matter.”

“To be expected,” Trevor says, heart lifting at the fact that two people who used to drive him around so much still support him, even from afar. “Do they still live in Bedford?”

“Yup. Though with the amount of time my dad spends in White Plains golfing, you’d think they lived there now. He’s loving retirement, clearly.”

Trevor laughs. “I’ll have to hit up Kurt when I’m back for a couple rounds. Does Susan still make the best apple pie?”

“Yup. And everyone still raves about it when she brings it to parties.” 

“You think she’d make me a slice?”

“She’d bake you three pies and send you home with them to Julie and Gary.”

He grins. “Never knew little Belle was this sassy.”

“Because you wasted all your time with Connor.” She shoots back with a laugh. 

(Honestly, he thinks as he twirls her again, maybe she’s right. Who knows what could’ve been if he had seen Belle as more than just Connor’s quieter, talented sister.)

“You said you’re leaving next week?”

“Yeah. Just need to sort out some boxes to move to storage before driving back to New York.”

“You’re driving all the way back to Bedford?”

She laughs at his slight disbelief. “Well, yeah. It’s only a 10 hour drive.”

Suddenly, an idea pops into Trevor’s head, and before he can overthink it, he blurts it out. “What if I came with you?” She blinks, and he forges on. “I mean, I don’t have much going on and it’d be nice to go home before pre-season. I’ll help you load your car and pay for your gas and meals and-”

“Trevor, I-are you sure? You don’t have to…we literally just reconnected after not seeing each other for over a decade.”

“I know I don’t have to do anything,” he says, now trying everything to convince her. “If I’m overstepping, you can tell me and I’ll immediately lay off. But it just seems like…maybe some company could be nice. And we could switch off driving too.”

She bites her lip and tilts her head curiously, trying to find something in his face. It only took her a couple of seconds to chuckle. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but sure. Why not? Come join me on my drive back home.”

He lights up, grinning widely. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“When are you planning on leaving?”

“Monday.”

In two days. Perfect.

“This is gonna be so fun. Just you wait.”

“I don’t doubt it. Fun seems to always follow you wherever you go.”

He has to let her go, since she has some last things to do as the wedding planner. He kisses her cheek quickly before he leaves the reception, to which Quinn raises an eyebrow at but doesn’t say anything. The next morning, during the quick and informal thank you breakfast for the bridal party at a nearby, fancy-ish brunch place, Jack throws him under the bus (“Saw you getting pretty comfortable with Isabelle yesterday,”) and he reveals their plan for the next day. 

It might be one of the most TV show worthy reactions from every single person, bridesmaid and groomsmen. Luke chokes on his mimosa, Quinn shakes his head, Alex blinks, Nico has a shit-eating grin on his face, Jack smirks and Cole lets out a bark of laughter. The girls have all been filled in and equally have similar reactions. Amelie immediately says “you’re joking,” Michelle, at the same time as Amelie, says “ain’t no way,” Kaia, like Alex, just blinks. Nicole and Sarah’s jaws drop wide open, Annemarie starts cackling and Isla drops her fork. 

“What?” Trevor responds, munching on his bacon. “Why all the reactions?”

“Z, are you sure about this?” Quinn asks, ever the voice of reason.

“Yes? It’s just a drive. Everyone needs a car buddy for that long of a drive. Gives me an excuse to go home too.”

“Trevor,” Amelie starts. “I think we’re all just a bit confused because this is…not that we don’t like Isabelle! She’s wonderful. But this just seems out of the blue.”

Jack snorts. “There’s nothing confusing about this at all.” Everyone, Trevor included, turns to look at the new groom, who just shrugs while taking a sip of his coffee. “He likes her.”

“For real?”

“Oh my.”

“Okay, Z! Atta boy.”

“Haven’t you not seen her for like, 10 years?”

“Have you liked her this whole time?”

“That’s crazy.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Trevor says above everyone’s exclamations. He waits until everyone’s settled. “I don’t like her. Not like that, at least. She’s just…I don’t know. It was good to see her again after so long. It felt like going back to old times. Simpler times.”

“It’s giving childhood friends to lovers,” Michelle says, making everyone laugh. Trevor rolls his eyes again and the subject is dropped. 

Jack volunteers to drive Trevor to Belle’s before him and Amelie’s flight to Greece tonight for their honeymoon. He doesn’t leave Quinn and Jack’s place without chirps from every single person still there, gathering their things and cleaning up. He makes sure to leave with giving Amelie a tight hug and a fond kiss on her cheek before playfully glaring at everyone else as he leaves.

He climbs into the passenger seat. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“We’ve known each other since we were 16, Z.” Jack says, starting the car. “Nothing you do fazes me anymore.”

Trevor just hums, staring at one of his dearest friends who is now a husband. “Congrats, Jacky. I know I’ve said it a lot recently, but I’m really happy for you.”

A small smile spreads across Jack’s face, as he automatically goes to touch his wedding ring. “Thanks, man.” Silence falls between them. “Did you ever, even just the slightest, like Isabelle as more than a friend? And be honest with me.”

“No,” Trevor replies honestly. “I always knew she was kind and thoughtful, but she was always just Connor’s little sister and kept to herself and her own friends most of the time.”

“And now? Do you like her now?”

“I don’t know,” Trevor replies honestly. If Jack is shocked, he doesn’t show it. Trevor clears his throat, “We haven’t seen each other in over 10 years. I don’t know her enough anymore to know if I like her.”

Jack just hums. “Look, I…”

“You what?” Silence. “Jack.”

“Amelie and I got pretty close with Isabelle beyond her being our wedding planner. Maybe it’s because she’s close to our age or just easy to get along with. I think…she never told us directly, but I think something happened, Z.”

“What do you mean something happened?”

“Well, I wasn’t there, but her and Amelie went out for casual drinks once to plan some stuff out and Amelie was, you know, casually asking her about relationships and if she ever dreamed of her own wedding, and she got super…not defensive. But Amelie said it was like a switch turned on. All she said is that at some point she did, but she’s not at that point of her life anymore, and then she immediately changed the topic. It’s none of my business, I get that, but she’s also my friend, Z. Just…look out for her, okay?”

“Of course I will,” Trevor promises as Jack slows down in front of Belle’s house. They both climb out of the car and Trevor grabs his backpack, duffle and garment bag from the backseat.

“Thanks for driving.” Trevor embraces his friend in a tight hug.

“Anytime,” Jack says. “Thanks for everything this last week. And just in general. I love you.”

“Love you too, man. Have fun on your honeymoon.”

Jack smiles. “Thank you. You two drive safe, eh? Let Amelie and I know when you're back in New York.”

Trevor just nods, before walking up to the front door and knocking. Within seconds, Belle opens the door with a wide smile. She looks beyond Trevor’s shoulder and waves at Jack as he drives away.

“Hi!”

Trevor can’t help but smile at her energy. It’s infectious. “Hey, Belle. Are you sure you don’t mind letting me crash for the night? I can always get Quinn to come get me later.”

She opens the door wider to let him in. “It’s not a bother at all. As long as you’re good with sleeping on the floor.” He just waves her off, setting his duffle and backpack down and looking around at the barren household. “I would give you a tour, but there’s really not much to see anymore.”

“You need any help?”

She smiles at him sweetly. “I have some boxes in the garage that you could help me move?”

He’s eager to help, until he lifts the first box, grunting about how heavy it is. Belle just chuckles, because why else had she not moved these in her car yet? If she has a professional hockey player volunteering to help her move, then she might as well put him to use, right? Trevor just rolls his eyes, but he can’t help but let a smile peek through at hearing Belle’s giggles. Once the car is packed (it takes longer than usual, as they stand out in the driveway and in the garage inbetween moving, chirping at each other and catching up), they realize it’s getting close to dinner time especially if they want to get an early start in the morning. Trevor asks what she wants to have (“as your last night living in the state of Michigan”) and she lights up, dialing up the place of her favorite Asian fusion takeout place. Trevor tries to hand over his card but she smacks it out of his hand, glaring at him while still on the phone. 

It’s a nice day outside, so they decide to venture out and have dinner on the front porch that she’s going to miss very much, leaning their backs against the panels of the house, sitting a comfortable 4 feet apart, Trevor’s knees pulled up and Belle with her legs outstretched and ankles crossed. He watches as she looks out at the sunset painting the quiet residential street, which is even more stunning than usual. If you listen closely, you can hear the sounds of kids gleefully screaming and dogs barking here and there. For a moment, Trevor feels like he’s intruding as Belle continues staring out, lost in her own world. Her focus only shifts a few minutes later when a car rolls up with their take out, as she jumps up and accepts the food with a gracious smile.

He helps her open boxes and suddenly there’s a generous spread of food between them as they start eating.

Trevor breaks the silence. “You never told me why.”

“Why what?”

“Why you’re leaving Michigan.”

She’s in the middle of stuffing a crab rangoon in her mouth. She chews and swallows for a couple of seconds. “It’s a long story.”

“I have nothing but time if you want to share.”

“I lied. It’s not really a long story. Just a sad one. That’s just my go-to when people ask.”

“You don’t have to lie to me. Ever. But you also don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

She lets out a deep sigh. “I was supposed to get married earlier this year.”

He blinks. Once. twice. And he’s speechless for once in his life. She barrels on. 

“Nate and I…I met him at UMich my junior year. I had full plans to leave Michigan right after college. Not that I don’t love it here, but I just wanted to go home. But he got an offer here after graduation and I found a gig working for a great wedding planner so I stayed. And it was good. The brief stint in Santa Ana I mentioned was because of his job, so we moved out there. But I really didn’t mind. I actually really enjoyed California.” She picks at her fingernails, “He proposed to me the beginning of last year, a week before we were gonna move back to Michigan. And I was happy. Really happy. So many years I had been planning other people’s weddings and I was finally going to have my own with someone I loved.”

“Belle, you don’t have to-”

She waves him off. “The day of our cake tasting, we were running late and he was in the shower and I grabbed his phone to put in my bag. And there was a text that flashed on my lock screen. ‘Missed you, baby. See you tonight’ and that was it. He had been cheating on me for almost a year. I moved out that night and crashed with a friend for a few weeks before finding this place. Grabbed my shit when I knew he was gone during the day at work. Canceled all of the deposits. Gave the ring back.” She chuckles, albeit sadly. “Funny. The week after I found out, I had my first consultation with Amelie and Jack and honestly, throwing myself into their wedding planning may have saved me, not that they know that. Anyways, yeah. That’s why I’m leaving Michigan. I honestly would’ve done it sooner but I had to stick it out for those two. They deserved it.”

Trevor’s silent for a couple more moments. “Promise me something.”

“What?”

“If we see him out and about, point him out so I can kick his ass.”

Her chuckle comes out broken but genuine. “Connor was real close when I told him. I was afraid he’d just start driving here. So you’d have to get behind him in line.”

“Gladly,” he scoots closer to her and offers an arm. She collapses into his side. “God, Belle. I’m so sorry. No one deserves that, least of all you.”

She sniffles. “It’s okay.”

“No, Belle. It’s not okay. What an asshole.” He can feel tears on his shirt and he starts rubbing her back in soothing circles. “You deserve someone to love you just as much as you love them. Someone to put you above all, who views your love and presence as a privilege. Because it is a privilege. I would know.”

She snorts, still sniffling. “You made fun of me all the time when we were younger.”

“Nah ah ah. Connor did. I didn’t. And that doesn’t mean I didn’t know how lovely you were even back then. Why do you think Connor and I were so against you going on a date with that guy…what was his name?”

“Trent.”

“Yeah. Trent. First of all, just sounds like a douchebag.”

“And Trevor is so much better?”

“Second, because he was an ass. We didn’t terrorize you about it just because. We terrorized you about it because we knew he had cheated on his ex-girlfriend.”

“Maybe if you had ever met Nate, you could’ve sniffed out his bullshit right away. Took me around 6 years to figure it out.”

“You’ve always had good judgment, Belle. No need to blame yourself when you did nothing wrong.”

“Did I though?” She whispers. “Do nothing wrong, I mean. What if-what if I was working too much or I wasn’t attentive enough or I didn’t-”

Trevor shakes his head adamantly. “Belle, no. Stop. Absolutely not. You did enough. You were enough. I’m not gonna sit here and let you pick apart yourself unfairly. You stayed in Michigan for him. You moved to Santa Ana for him. You gave all you had. And he’s the one who fucked it all up. That’s not on you.”

She signs, a bit defeated but musters a small smile. “Thanks, Trevor.”

“Of course.” He stuffs a piece of sushi in his mouth.

She shoots him a small smile that has him swallowing roughly. “Nonetheless, I’m really happy we ran into each other. It’s been nice to have a slice of home back in my life again.”

Trevor just smiles, staring into her warm eyes. “Me too.”

…..

It’s hour two into the 10 hour drive when she breeches the subject again. 

“Connor never liked him.” Trevor turns to look at Belle, who has one hand on the wheel casually. He automatically turns the music down as she continues. “He tried to get along with him, for my sake. But Connor was never sold. I always thought it was just him being a protective older brother. When I asked why, he always just gave some vague answer. Didn’t like his vibe, or whatever. It’s been hard not to agonize over now. If I should’ve just listened to him from the start.” Trevor doesn’t know what to say, but just faces her fully so she knows that he’s listening. She lets out a heavy breath as she puts her sunglasses atop her head. “I never asked. How’s your love life?”

Trevor snorts and the playfulness is back in the air again. “Well, not married like Connor is. I’ve had a couple things here or there. Clearly nothing that’s stuck.”

“Any particular reason why?”

He shrugs, suddenly feeling a bit small even though he knows that’s not her intention whatsoever. “I think when people date me, they don’t necessarily want all of me, you know? They want the jokester and the charmer. They don’t want the shifts in mood or the obsession of figuring out why I’m in a scoring drought or the insecurities.”

Belle hums sympathetically. “I think you just haven’t found the right one yet.”

“You sound like Quinn.”

She laughs. “From the small amount of interactions I’ve had with him, I’d say that sounds pretty on brand.” She shrugs. “You have time though. We all do. If that’s something you even want.”

“What? Marriage?”

“Yeah.”

“I do, I think. Want that, I mean. It’s just…hard. And scary. The thought of giving someone all of you? That’s giving them a lot of power.”

“I get it,” she says. “God, I really get that.”

“Is marriage not something you want anymore?”

She sighs. “I don’t know. I think I still do. It’s just…it’s still too soon, you know? And I don’t know if I have the energy to, like you said, give someone all of me again. I got hurt once. I don’t know if I can afford that again.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re one of the best people I’ve ever known. So anybody would be lucky to love you.”

And shit, that kinda slipped out. His heart starts racing as she looks at him briefly in surprise. “That’s…that’s very kind of you, Trevor. Probably too big of a compliment.”

“Not too big of a compliment,” he automatically responds, digging himself into a deeper hole that he can’t even decipher. If he thinks about it too hard, he would realize that this is the most open he’s been with someone outside of his tight circle in awhile. And a week ago, she hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“You know, you were my favorite out of Connor’s friends back then.” 

A pang of satisfaction touches his heart and he’s grinning. “Yeah?”

Belle rolls her eyes at his slight smugness. “Don’t let that get to your head.”

“Too late.”

“I don’t know. I just..liked how friendly you were to everyone you encountered. I don’t think there was ever a time when you came over and didn’t strike up a conversation with me. Even though I was quiet and shy, you still always treated me like a person.”

“I feel like that’s the bare minimum, no?”

She shrugs. “Now that we’re in our late twenties, sure. But back when we were 12, 13 years old? You’d be surprised.” 

He watches her drum her fingers against the steering wheel, the patterned bandana in her ponytail swinging with the wind, wispies from her ponytail framing her face. If he looks hard enough, he can see 10 year old Belle sitting on the sofa in the Holloway’s living room, a sketchbook on her lap and a glass of apple juice next to her. If he listens hard enough, he can hear her humming to ‘Love Story’ as he leaves Connor’s room to walk past her room in the hallway to the bathroom. Maybe he can even smell her vanilla body spray that used to always filter out of her room if he breathes in deeply enough. 

All he can see and hear and feel is his childhood self. Looking at her makes him feel blissfully young, a bit naive and incredibly out of his depth. 

She casts him a casual glance. “You good?”

Trevor grins easily. “Never better.” 

It’s hour five after stopping for lunch. Trevor’s behind the wheel now and her legs are up on the seat with her as she stares out the window, her chin on her knees. He has an urge to put a hand on her knee. To comfort her or to let her know that he’s there, he doesn’t know. But he refrains. 

“Belle?”

“Hm?” 

“Can I ask you a question?”

She turns to face him, chin still on her knees. “Should I be nervous?”

He snorts. “No. I’m just a dumb hockey player. What could I possibly say that would catch you off guard?”

“You’re not dumb. And plenty. You knew me when I was 13 and in my awkward phase. That’s longer than most of the people I’ve seen in the last five years. What’s your question?”

Okay, Trevor can dissect all of that later. ““Are you going to miss Michigan?”

She lets out a thoughtful hum. “I’ll miss parts of it. I loved going to college at Michigan, made a lot of friends from college and work. And I grew up a lot here. Not to mention, Michigan’s almost unfairly beautiful. I’ll also weirdly miss my porch a lot. But also, it’s tough driving around with thoughts of Nate at every corner. Because he’s present in practically all the memories I have here. So I’m glad I’m leaving because I know I need to.” He turns to her quickly and sees her lip quiver. Almost as if he had imagined it, she offers a small smirk. “That’s the question you were so afraid to ask me?”

He sputters out a laugh. “What does that mean?” He asks defensively. 

She shakes out her hair to redo her ponytail. "You never had a problem asking anything to anyone back in the day.”

“Things change.”

She pauses for a split second before tying up her hair and looking at him. “They do. I’m sorry for assuming they don’t.”

Hour eight and they’ve been in a comfortable silence for a bit now. One can only talk for so long, even someone as chatty as Trevor. Belle’s behind the wheel again and her phone is plugged in playing music. The playlist he had put on initially has cycled through and without asking, he plugged her phone in and shuffled a random playlist of hers.

He vaguely recognizes Taylor Swift’s voice and looks to see what song it is. ‘The Archer.’ His ears perk up as he listens to her softly sing along, and then, he’s actually listening to the words. 

Belle’s eyebrows are pinched together as she sings about people seeing right through her and how all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put her together again. He wants to offer her a hand to squeeze, a touch for support, but he doesn’t. 

He clears his throat. “So. Santa Ana. What was your favorite part?”

She automatically grins. “All of it? I don’t know. I liked my job. I liked the area. I liked the weather. It felt like a breath of fresh air, in a way.”

“Would you consider moving back?”

“Maybe. I honestly haven’t really thought of anything but leaving Michigan recently.”

He stops asking her questions. He doesn’t want to keep bringing up the pain. 

By the time she rolls into the driveway of Trevor’s childhood home, it’s almost 8 pm. Almost as soon as she kills the engine, the front door opens, revealing both his parents. Julie runs out, only barely letting Belle step out of the car before throwing her arms around her. He smiles fondly as his mother puts her hands on Belle’s cheeks as the younger woman chuckles, before turning to Gary and giving him a quick hug as well. Trevor drags his stuff out of the trunk and shuts it, smiling to himself as he listens to his mother invite Belle and her parents over for dinner the next night and watching Belle nod enthusiastically. 

She then turns to him and it feels like someone has reached into his heart and punched it. She smiles. “Thanks for the company.”

He puts down his duffle and scoops her into a tight hug, only letting her go after giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “Anytime. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

(And if he catches his mom giving him an inquisitive look as they all watch Belle back out of the driveway, he doesn’t say anything)

Tomorrow comes and Trevor’s content with mostly being lazy, adjusting to being home and around his parents. It feels weird to be in these walls without Griffin and Ava, but then again, he’s sure it’s one-sided. He moved away when he was so young, leaving behind his supportive parents and his even-more-supportive siblings. They got used to Trevor not being around. 

He’s recapping Jack’s wedding to his father on the patio while his mom is preparing pies in preparation for the Holloways, the mouthwatering smell filtering through the screen door. He smiles as he recalls the week leading up when he went early and was roped into helping out, how beautiful Amelie looked and how he had never seen Jack that excited and happy before, not when he was drafted first overall, not when he won the Eastern Conference Final. He talks about how their vows made Trevor tear up and just how fun it was to celebrate two people he loves. He talks about reconnecting with Belle and briefly brushes over their drive back. He gives vague answers when his parents — mostly his mom — try to pry more, partially because it’s so much that he’s still trying to decipher it himself and partially because some of it isn’t his place to tell. 

An hour later, he can’t help but beam as Belle’s parents greet him similarly to how his greeted Belle the day before. He helps Susan bring in the pasta salad and shakes Kurt’s hand, his slight nerves settling as the first thing Kurt says is how proud of Trevor he is. Belle is the last one who walks through the door, listening to the moms talking animatedly in her ear. She’s wearing a pink floral maxi dress with a denim jacket over her shoulders and she’s glowing. He itches to give her a hug but just settles for a grin instead before turning his full attention to Kurt. 

It’s when the parents are filtering outside does he get a chance to say hello to her as they both hang back in the kitchen. She bumps her hip with his. “Long time no see.”

He pulls her into a side hug. “Hilarious. Want anything to drink before heading out there?”

She eyes the few bottles of wine in the mini wine cabinet. “White wine if it’s not too much of a hassle?”

He opens the fridge and grabs a wine glass. “My mom put a bottle in the fridge earlier. It’s her favorite, so if it’s bad, it’s not my fault.” She takes the glass from him graciously and he grabs a bottle of beer for himself as they both head outside. 

“It’s weird being here without Connor.”

“I was just thinking earlier how it’s weird being here without Griffin and Ava.”

“At least we have each other, right?”

He hums. “Good thing.” She then gets roped into a conversation with his father and he happily takes a backseat, answering when a question is directed towards him but perfectly content in watching her. 

(Julie and Susan, who had never really considered these two as a pair, nudge each other and exchange a few words, watching as Belle laughs while sipping her wine and Trevor just stares at her.

“She was supposed to get married last year. To a guy she met in college.”

Julie’s eyebrows shoot up. “Is that right?”

“Yup. Until she caught him cheating.”

Julie sighs. “I wish we could protect our kids from everything that could hurt them.”

“I do too.” Susan watches her daughter wistfully and lovingly. “She’s always thrown herself into work, But especially after the break-up. You have no idea how relieved I was when she told me she was coming home.”

“Does she know where she’s going next?”

“Not that I know of. For the first time in her life, she doesn’t know.”

“She’ll be okay,” Julie says confidently, rubbing her old friend’s shoulder. “I’ve never had any doubt about Belle.”

“But you had doubt in the others?” Susan teases as Julie snorts. “All our kids are doing well for themselves, but you have one who is the definition of achieving their childhood dream.”

Julie sighs thoughtfully, looking at Trevor. “He’s done well for himself, I think.”

“You think?”

Julie just smiles, clinking her glass against Susan’s.)

Meat is grilled, salads are tossed and food is eaten as the sun fades away. Sometime between sunset and when the sky becomes black, the fireplace is lit and the outdoor lamps are turned on. Trevor switched to water after his second beer, liver still trying to recover from the wedding festivities. 

Trevor finds Belle sitting by the edge of the pool with her feet dipped in, sandals to the side of her. Her hands are folded on her lap as she stares down, occasionally kicking her feet a bit to make the water ripple. He clears his throat so he doesn’t startle her. She looks up and her lips quirk up at seeing him, but they soon fall, as she turns back to the water and tilts her head to the side, taking a deep breath. 

Trevor licks his dry lips. “Come with me?”

“Where are we going?” She asks, accepting the hand he offers as she gets up and slips on her shoes, adjusting her dress. 

“You’ll see. We won’t be long.” Wordlessly, they go around the side of the house to go to the driveway. He catches his mom’s eye and just offers a small smile. Julie’s eyes flicker between him and Belle before she nods. Belle doesn’t say anything as Julie tosses her son the keys to her car, letting Trevor lightly tug her along by loosely intertwining their hands. He opens the passenger door for her and she gives him a grateful look as she slips in. 

He hasn’t been to his intended destination in at least five years, but he knows the route all the same, easily driving the seven minutes. He sneaks a glance or two at Belle as the minimal streetlights light her face aglow for a few seconds at a time. Before he overthinks it, he reaches out and grabs her hand gently, waiting for her to pull away. She doesn’t, instead lacing her hand with his and squeezing once. 

“I haven’t been here since I was in high school,” Belle says as Trevor kills the engine, the tranquility of the small lake and lookout everyone who grew up in Bedford called “Pink Sun” due to the incredibly beautiful sunsets one could see if they were lucky, no one knowing that it’s actual government name was. He’s almost confident that this specific lookout is private property, due to the string lights adorning the trees meticulously that seem to always be on, but whoever owns the property clearly doesn’t care. He would come in the summers from time to time with friends like Connor after he moved away for hockey, but he knows he didn’t experience it the same way as others did.

“Which tree did you have sex under?” Trevor asks as they get out of the car and open the trunk. He quickly fluffs up the two pillows his mom has in the car at all times and pulls the blanket over them both as they get comfortable.

She chuckles and Trevor immediately smiles at the sound. “Gross.”

“What? Isn’t that what people did?” She just lightly slaps him before they both fall into a comfortable silence again. She takes her hand from under the blanket and reaches out to find Trevor’s. He offers his hand immediately. It feels like the most natural thing in the world. 

She starts sniffling, and when he turns to her, concerned, he sees tears rushing down her face. He immediately wraps his arms around her and maneuvers her so that she’s crying into his chest. He tries to be steady for her shaking body, rubbing her back and muttering sweet nothings to assure that he’s here and she’s not alone. He places a couple of kisses on top of her head without thinking because there’s a split down the middle of his heart that’s widening everytime she whimpers.

She cries. The water ripples. Trevor holds her close. 

…..

The entire time Trevor’s back home, he doesn’t go more than a day without seeing Belle. They get ice cream, sitting in the chairs that haven’t been replaced in at least 30 years and giggling as the ice cream drips over their fingers. They go back to Pink Sun to watch the sunset. Because this whole month has him feeling nostalgic, he goes back to his old rink in Stamford and she tags along, indulging him as he pulls up his hoodie over himself as they watch the last 15 minutes of a game the AAA team that Trevor used to be a part of is playing in. Some of the front office staff is still the same and they all immediately beam when seeing Trevor. He chokes up a bit when talking to some of them. He’s missed it here more than he thought he would. 

After training sessions, he just shows up to her house without any warning. They take a lot of drives, passing by landmarks they know well and ones they don’t know at all. They spend hours chatting on the porch of her parents’ place, waving at neighbors as they walk by and petting their dogs. She doesn’t cry in his chest again, but there are stretches of silence where she craves a comforting shoulder. Trevor doesn’t hesitate to offer his. 

He learns more about why she enjoys wedding planning and her time in Michigan. She learns more about how his goals have changed the longer he’s been in the league and his time in Anaheim. They both talk about times they feel like they’ve had their heart ripped to pieces and he finds himself admitting things he’s never admitted out loud to anyone — not Jamie, not Jack, not Cole, not Alex. 

He wonders to himself how he’s lived this long without her in his life. 

The day Trevor has to leave for Anaheim, she offers to drive him to LaGuardia, smiling as he hugs his parents goodbye in the driveway, promising to see them soon when the Ducks are playing in New York. 

She shuts the trunk at the departures drop-off area with a wistful smile. “I’ll miss you, Trev.”

“I’m gonna miss you too.” And then he practically manhandles her into a tight hug, his chin resting on her shoulder, rubbing her back before pulling away. “If you ever wanna come out to Anaheim, there’s always a place for you to stay.”

“I’ll think about it.” With most people, it’s an empty promise. But with Belle, he knows she means it. “Good luck this season. Score some goals, yeah?”

He rolls his eyes, arms still around her waist. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? You have my number. Use it.”

She nods, tilting her head to the side. “Okay.” She presses a kiss on his cheek before he forces himself to let go. She sticks her hands in her jean pockets. “Text me when you land?”

“Of course. Bye, Belle. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye. Travel safe.”

Trevor forces himself not to look back as he walks through the automatic doors. 

…..

The first roadie of the season includes a stop in Chicago, and Trevor doesn’t hesitate to text Connor. He feels the familiar pang in his heart again, guilty that he hasn’t reached out until now. But when he and Connor meet up for a quick coffee the morning of the game, it washes away quickly. They fall right back to where they were when they were 16, even though they’re both over a decade older and a bit wiser now. Trevor practically shoves two tickets for the game for him and his wife, even though Connor is trying to bat his hand away. 

After the game, the three of them go to dinner and he gets introduced to Ashley, Connor’s wife, who is peppy and fun and he loves seeing her and Connor together. After dinner, Ashley excuses herself to go home as the two of them migrate to a nearby pub. They have years to catch up on. 

“Belle tell you about the break-up?”

Trevor scoffs, taking a hefty sip of his beer. “Yeah. Fucking asshole.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth. When she decided to get the fuck out of Michigan, I was relieved.”

“Yeah?”

Connor sighs. “Yeah. I know she says she stayed because of the Hughes wedding, but I also think it’s because she had a hard time letting go. Which, you know, who can blame her, right?” Trevor just nods sympathetically. Connor leans back, eyes flickering elsewhere for a moment. “Thanks, by the way.”

“What for, man?”

“For looking out for her.” There’s a hint of relief in Connor’s tone. “She’s always been independent, I’m sure you remember. And she has a hard time letting people know that she’s struggling, even if we all see it and want to help. Whatever you did, thank you, man. It’s appreciated.”

Trevor bites his tongue. He wants to say that he doesn’t have to thank him for being a good friend, but Connor is adamant. So Trevor just smiles.

…..

The season’s in full swing, but Trevor makes the effort to keep in contact with Belle frequently. Whether it’s sending a meme or calling on his way to practice, Belle becomes a part of his daily life. 

A month in Bedford now and he can tell she’s getting a bit restless. She’s taken up crocheting, which Trevor loves to make fun of her for. Until he finds a little box on his doorstep and opens it to find a crocheted Wild Wing. He hands it on his rearview mirror in the car. He doesn’t fully realize she’s watching his games until he sees a text from her after a game against New Jersey (“Don’t let Jack hang the win over your head too much. That slapshot was insane.”) and that has him grinning much too widely for someone who just lost.

On Thanksgiving Day, after one of the guys’ families hosts a Friendsgiving for the whole team, he’s back at his place on the couch when she calls him. 

Her face comes up on the screen and he has to smile. “Oh. Hey.” she says gently. “I didn’t actually expect an answer.”

“You just caught me. I just got home from Friendsgiving with the team. Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.”

“Happy Thanksgiving.”

He doesn’t recognize her background. “Where you at?”

“My aunt’s. They’re all watching the game in the basement so I decided to take a break up in the living room.”

“Good food?”

“I’m fucking stuffed,” she admits, making Trevor laugh. “I’m not bad in the kitchen, but nothing beats a good homemade turkey and stuffing.”

“I feel you. So what’s been happening? Haven’t called in a bit.”

“It’s been, like, a week, Trev.”

“Exactly. A bit.”

She rolls her eyes, before leaning back further into the couch. “Actually, I do have news. Kinda.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I, uh, heard back from two people about a job. My old boss from Santa Ana said there’s a spot open for me if I want it. And then my boss in Michigan recommended me to someone in Manhattan, and she called me yesterday and also said I had a job if I wanted it.”

He grins. “Belle. That’s amazing! Congratulations. I’m not surprised though. I know firsthand how damn good you are at your job.”

He sees her blush slightly and he thinks it’s adorable. She twirls her hair around her finger. “Thanks. I’m, yeah. It’s pretty exciting. I’m excited to get back into it again.”

“So. California and New York. Those are two pretty different places.”

She sighs. “Yeah. That’s partially why I called you. Kinda want to get another opinion.”

Before he can stop himself, he snorts. “You’re telling me you haven’t made a pros and cons list already? Don’t think I don’t remember you forcing me to make one when I was deciding if I should go to Avon.”

She tilts her head to the side. “You remember that?”

“There’s not a lot of memories I have from growing up here that don’t have you in them. Of course I remember.”

She bites her lip but Trevor can see the smile peeking through. She clears her throat. “I do. Have a list.”

“So you’ve already made your decision.”

She opens her mouth. Then closes it. “Yes and no. I really do want your opinion, Trevor.”

“Floor’s all yours.”

“I love New York, but I don’t know if I can stay here. If I go back to Santa Ana, is it going to be like Michigan again? I don’t know what Santa Ana is like without Nate.”

“No,” he responds immediately. “It won’t be.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because Santa Ana is yours, Belle. No one else’s. You said it yourself. You loved your time there. If Michigan doesn’t feel like home anymore and New York feels too much like your past self, California is waiting for you.”

A couple seconds of silence before a small chuckle erupts from Belle. “You take a creative writing class at BU or something? That was actually eloquent.”

If he were next to her, he’d shove her off the couch. He just huffs as she keeps laughing. “My point is, is that you can make fresh starts in familiar areas. Plus, not that I have anything to do with this, but Santa Ana is pretty damn close to Anaheim.”

“Knew you’d say that.”

“I mean, can you blame me? ” He leans back on the couch. “I don’t think you’re incapable of moving on. I think, in a way, you aren’t ready to, and that’s why Santa Ana scares you. You have to and are inevitably going to make new memories wherever you are, but you just have to do it. Take the leap. Dive in the deep end. Whatever the fuck they say.”

And well, that came out a bit harsher than Trevor intended, if the slight flinch on Belle’s face is an indication. But she sighs, “You’re right. I know you’re right. Fuck, Trev. Maybe I shouldn’t have quit and stayed in Michigan.”

“Stop,” he says. “We’re not doing that. Now you have to come out to California. Who else is gonna tell you to get your head out of your ass?” His goal is achieved as she laughs. “Seriously though. Whatever choice you make, you have my full support.”

Four days later, he sees that Belle left him a voicemail in the middle of the game. She’s coming to Santa Ana. Trevor starts organizing the guest room.

…..

Three days into the new year and Trevor finds himself running out of morning skate to drive to LAX. Belle’s staying with him while she looks for her own place, at Trevor’s insistence. He told her she can stay as long as she needs. He hopes she takes that offer seriously. 

He rolls up to the arrivals terminal and idles his car, seeing a text from Belle indicating that she’s still waiting to pick up her luggage. He leans back in his seat, taking a deep breath adjusting the baseball cap on his head, bopping along to the latest playlist that he made for this season.

He’s about to do a drum solo on his steering wheel when he spots Belle come out of the double doors, rolling two suitcases, backpack on her back and a tired but genuine smile on her face. He immediately leaps out of the car, running to lift her up in a hug, making her chuckle. 

“Hey Trevor.”

He kisses her cheek before putting her down. “Belle of the Ball. How was your flight?”

“Good. Long,” she reaches to get her suitcases and he waves her off, lifting her suitcases easily into his trunk as she slips into the passenger seat. She sags into the seat and turns to him with a bigger smile as he turns on the engine. “It’s really good to see you.”

He reaches to ruffle her hair to ignore the funny feeling in his stomach. “Missed you too.”

They catch each other up on what’s been happening since the last time they talked, so only really the last week. Once he turns off the highway, he opens the windows and he periodically glances at Belle, who’s leaning her head on the seatbelt strap as the houses blur by. She tucks her hair behind both her ears and Trevor feels his throat start to close up. 

“Hungry?”

“A bit.”

“Enough to wait a bit so I can cook something up?”

She looks toward him in subdued delight. “You cook?”

“Decently, I’d say.”

“What are you gonna make me?”

Whatever you want, he thinks. “I make a pretty good steak.”

“Well, I’m not gonna say no to a personal chef.”

“Don’t get used to it,” he points at her jokingly. She laughs, but honestly, Trevor doesn’t hate the idea. 

Belle’s car got shipped yesterday to Trevor’s place the week prior, so two days later, when Belle starts work and Trevor has to go to morning skate, they leave the house at the same time after cups of coffee and climb into their own cars, Belle wearing a red sleeveless blouse and white jeans and Trevor wearing a Duck t-shirt and shorts. 

Before she can fully get into her car, Trevor runs around and squeezes her, making her squeal. “Good luck today. You’re gonna kill it.”

“Thanks Trevor. Have fun at morning skate.”

“Are you still cool with a couple of the guys coming over for dinner?”

“It’s your house, dude. You can invite over whoever you want.”

“It’s also your home too,” Trevor insists.

She rolls her eyes fondly. “It’s not. But of course you can have your friends over. I’m excited to meet them.” She gets in her car, but before she shuts the door, she puts her head out. “Do you mind grabbing some orange juice? I think you’re running out and I drink more of it than you do. Just Venmo request me.”

“Yeah, I gotcha. Won’t Venmo request you though,” she opens her mouth to protest but he just taps the roof of her car twice. “We can talk about splitting stuff later. Bye now!”

“Dick,” she mutters as she shuts her door. He chuckles. He lets her back out of the driveway first.

That night, Mason, Jamie and Leo come over and the four of them are finishing up cooking dinner when Belle walks in. A bit flushed and sweaty, she’s nothing but smiles as she slips off her shoes, putting down her bag and introducing herself. She hugs each of them with a sweet smile before finally reaching Trevor. She hugs him like she did with the other three, but he thinks she holds on a bit longer. He smacks a friendly kiss on her cheek, but he catches Jamie’s eye as she pulls away and he knows he’s going to absolutely be grilled about this tomorrow. 

Dinner’s practically ready and the guys just shoo Belle away to the dining table, Leo pouring out a glass of wine for her. They chat and swap stories over chicken alfredo and salad, and Trevor’s content sitting back and watching two different parts of his life come together, not even jumping in to defend himself that much when she recalls some shenanigans from Jack’s wedding. Sure, they at least know of Jack, Alex, Cole and other various members of the NTDP crew who knew him when he was 17 and stupid, but Belle’s known him since they were children. Whether she — or Trevor even — realizes it or not, Belle and Trevor know each other in the purest way. The way only childhood allows, where filters of judgment, insecurities and expectations cease to exist. 

Even with almost two decades lost in translation, Trevor thinks, in a way, Belle might know him better than most. And he might know her better than most.

Which is why he can sense that an hour after dinner, that Belle is exhausted, so he takes the initiative and the guys immediately pick up on it, bidding Belle goodbye and making her promise that she’ll come to a game soon. Once the door shuts, Trevor goes to start washing the dishes, batting her hand away when she tries to help. 

“Trevor. You cooked. I’ll clean.”

“Nope. Go to take a shower. You’ve had a long day.”

“You have too.”

He waves her off. “Go. I got this.” Her shoulders sag in defeat, but she shoots him a thankful smile and heads to shower. 

He’s just about finishing up the dishes and wiping down the counter when she walks back in, an old Michigan t-shirt and flannel pants on. She has her book in her hands but comes by next to him. “Are you sure you don’t need help cleaning up?”

He puts the kitchen towel back on the hook and swings an arm around her shoulder, bringing her against his side. “I’m sure. Where you unwinding for the night?”

“Probably the living room, if you don’t mind?”

“Belle. My home is your home. I mean it. I’ll probably join you after I shower.”

And he does, coming back in afterwards with only the living room light being on. He sees Belle curled up on the couch, engrossed in her book as one of the candles he rarely uses is lit up on the table in front of her. The air smells faintly of pine. 

“Do you mind if I put on some football? I’ll put the volume low.”

She hums. “Not at all.” With her feet in his lap, blanket tucked over both of them, Trevor thinks that he could get used to this. 

…..

Two weeks later, they’re finishing up their takeout when Belle clears her throat. “So I found a place that seems promising.”

Trevor stiffens. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s about 10 minutes from here. Just renting for now, which isn’t ideal. But it’s so soon, you know? I don’t wanna buy yet.”

Trevor understands the latter part, absolutely. But he’s still stuck on the first part of what she said. “When would you think of moving out?”

“At the start of the month.”

“That’s next week.”

She grimaces, washing their utensils. “Yeah. I just…I want to get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“Belle,” his voice lowers into a serious tone that doesn’t come out of him that often. It works, because it gets Belle to look at him. “If you want to move out, I can’t stop you. It’s ultimately your decision. But I love having you here. So please don’t…don’t think you have to move out to get out of my hair. Because you don’t. I’d love for you to stay and live with me. Full time.”

Belle swallows, searching for something in his face. “You mean that?” She whispers. 

“Of course I do.” He pushes on. “And you know I’m a shitty liar.”

She chuckles as she finishes washing the dishes. On her way to the bathroom, she stops and just hugs Trevor. He welcomes it with a big smile. “You 100% sure?”

“Yes.”

She pulls away with a smile. “Okay. Your porch is better anyways.” 

Trevor laughs, his mind briefly flashing to an image of this place that had been only his for so long one day becoming theirs, with her throw pillows on the couch and fairy lights on the porch and photos of their friends and loved ones hanging on the walls, some they share, some they don’t.

…..

Trevor fully admits it to himself when Christmas rolls up and Belle refuses to go back to New York. 

(“There’s no way I’m leaving you alone for Christmas, Trev,” she insists with an eye roll. “We’ll start our own tradition here. It’ll be great.”)

He doesn’t even try to hide his fondness as he watches Belle teetering at the edge of a chair to hang up lights around their living room. Some random Christmas playlist he had queued up at Belle’s prodding is playing through his speaker, and he doesn’t think “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” deserves the grin plastered on his face. 

Belle, though. She might deserve it. Be the origin of it, really. 

They make too many cookies that they'll have to gift his teammates and her coworkers just so they don’t end up eating all of them. They have holiday movies on in the background for three days straight, some they pay attention to, some they just leave on for background noise. On Christmas morning, after two cups of coffee on Belle’s end to deal with Trevor’s incessant rambling, they’re sat in the front of their tree. The curtains are drawn, offering minimal lighting into their living room. Yet, the twinkling lights on the tree and around their living room paint Belle in the warmest of lights. The blue fluffy blanket wrapped around her shoulders only adds to her softness and Trevor has to excuse himself after they exchange presents to go in the bathroom. 

He splashes cold water in his face and stares at himself. He’s fully in fucking love. Shit. 

…..

After that realization, he does the only thing that makes sense to him. Two days later, on the way to practice, he calls Jack. As the phone rings, he thinks that he probably should’ve checked to see if the Devils were playing today, but he also couldn’t be bothered. 

Three rings later, Jack’s scratchy voice is projected through Trevor’s car. “Hello?”

“Hey dude.”

“You’re cutting into my pre-game nap. This better be fucking good.”

“I think I’m in love with Belle.”

Silence. A rustle on Jack’s end, before, “Jesus Christ. I knew Amelie should’ve taken the day off today.”

“Jacky,” Trevor practically whines. “Be helpful.”

“Give me a second to think and I will be,” Trevor stops at a light. “Dude. I mean, not completely out of left field. But in love love? That’s big. Considering you only reconnected, what, three months ago?”

“Yeah, I know. Am I being stupid? And I need you to be real with me and tell me if I am.”

“No.”

“I’m not being stupid?”

“No, you’re not being stupid. Z, I knew I wanted to marry Amelie, like, two months after I met her, and we weren’t even dating yet. You and Isabelle have known each other since you were kids.”

“Yeah, but we lost touch for over a decade.”

“Okay and? You spent a good amount of time together when you went back home, right? And she lives with you now, right?”

“She was the only one around at home, and we’ve been living together for maybe a month.”

“Dude, are you trying to convince yourself you are in love with her or that you’re not?”

Trevor shakes his head. “Sorry, sorry. Right.”

He hears Jack let out a sigh. “I know you’ve been burned in the past with relationships and stuff, but this is a good thing, okay? She’s a great person. Try not to freak out about it so much.”

“And do what instead?”

“I don’t know,” Jack says sarcastically. “Maybe tell her?”

“Absolutely not,” Trevor says. 

“Why not?”

Trevor’s about to tell him that Belle literally was supposed to be married a year ago but clamps his mouth shut. He’s not sure if Jack knows and that’s not his story to tell. “It’s just not a good idea.”

“Lame.”

“I’m gonna hang up and call literally anyone else.”

“Do it,” Jack challenges the empty threat, before softening. “Do you have any idea if she likes you back?”

“No,” Trevor says. “But I also haven’t been thinking about that because I don’t wanna…scare her off? I know she likes me as a friend, otherwise we wouldn’t be living together. But that’s probably all there is to it.”

“Maybe,” Jack says. “Or maybe you’re making assumptions. I’m not saying you have to do anything now, but you’re not stupid, Trev. Especially with stuff like this. And hey, at least you’re in love with someone as awesome as she is. Ooh, can you imagine you two getting married? It would be full circle!”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Trevor says as Jack chuckles. “Thanks, man. Seriously.”

“Anytime. And Z?” Trevor hums to tell Jack to go on. “Don’t beat yourself up so much. You don’t know until you ask.”

Those last two sentences echo through Trevor’s head for the rest of the day, even when he’s at practice and going through the drills. After so many years in the league, he usually always can leave his thoughts at the entrance of the rink and just focus on hockey. But not today. He can tell Troy wants to ask something, but he refrains. It’s not like a distracted Trevor appears often, and Trevor’s thankful his teammate doesn’t push. 

When the front door swings open that night and Belle calls out her greeting, Trevor is coming back from being outside the last few hours, where he sat and listened to the birds and just stared at the grass, lost in thought. 

Then Belle comes into view, gray sweater over a cream satin dress, tote bag on her shoulder and a tired but bright smile on her face, and Trevor’s not lost anymore. 

In fact, as she slides over to him in her socks across the hardwood floor and hugs him in greeting, immediately talking about what they should make for dinner tonight, Trevor’s never felt more sure of where he is and where he should be. 

…..

Trevor’s on a long roadie during Valentine’s Day, but he makes sure that he delivers flowers to the house before Belle has to get to work. He had spent an ungodly amount of time selecting which bouquet he wanted to send, and Jamie, the saint that he is, had only blinked when he saw what Trevor was looking at on his phone on the bus home from the game before Trevor could lock his phone. 

Imagine if it was Troy. Or Mason. Or fucking Leo, who’s just as much a menace as he was the first day Trevor met him. Everyone loves him and thinks he’s a darling, but Trevor knows better.

He ended up choosing a bouquet from Fresh Sends because the packaging looks sick with the newspaper and the bright colored box and the reviews are all high. Without hesitation, he had picked the largest bouquet, which he knew if Belle knew how much it cost, would probably kick him out of the house or something. But she doesn’t ever need to find out. On the bus, he had hastily typed out a custom note.

Belle, 

Happy Valentine’s Day!! Wish we could be watching shitty rom-coms together but I hope this makes up for it. Thankful to have you in my life again. See you when I get back!

Z

It’s not overly romantic, but he can’t exactly confess his love for her over a note when he’s across the country. If he ever confesses, he’s gonna tell her in person, not hide behind a note like a coward. 

He wakes up on February 14 in a hotel room with a bleary smile as he wipes the sleep away from his face. 

Belle of The Ball

*picture of the flowers*

Trevor!!! these are so so beautiful thank you

You really didn’t have to

Good luck against the Rangers tonight! And tell your parents (and mine) that i said hello❤️

Trevor nets two goals and an assist. He’s on top of the world. 

…..

He’s pleasantly surprised to see that he has an incoming call from Amelie on his way home from the rink a week later. 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite Hughes.”

Amelie chuckles. “Quinn’s gonna be devastated.”

“Quinner has nothing on you.”

“Flatterer,” she says dryly. 

“What’s up?”

“Jack told me. About you and Isabelle.”

Trevor almost snorts. When he first met Amelie, way back when they were in their early twenties, she had been way more hesitant on giving her opinion among Jack’s oldest friends. But with time, her sarcasm and vivacity came out, and while Trevor had been initially surprised and amused, it made sense. Anyone who would choose to spend their life with Jack Hughes has to be able to hold their own purely to rival his constant need for attention.

“Did he now?”

“You’re the worst. I’m not gonna tell you the same stuff he did, which by the way, I’m actually pretty impressed by. From the recap he gave me, he actually said some useful stuff. But I will say something that he forgot to tell you.”

“And what is that?”

“That you’re wonderful, Trevor.”

That’s not at all what he was expecting to come out of the photographer’s mouth. All he can muster out is an “Oh?”

“Yeah. And obviously Jack believes the same thing. You know that. But you’re such a lovely guy, Trevor. I’ve known that since the day we met, don’t get me wrong. But I-I’ve talked to Isabelle a few times since the wedding, and she always brings you up. And it’s always positive.”

“What does this have to do with my feelings for her?”

“Do you feel like maybe you feel like you’re not good enough for her? Is that partially why you’re hesitating on telling her? Take out the fact that she was in a long relationship before and broke off an engagement.”

He blinks. “She told you about the engagement thing?”

“Yeah. She came out to Jersey to grab dinner with Jack and I, like, two weeks before she moved to California and told us then. That’s not the point.”

He doesn’t remember Belle mentioning that. But like Amelie said, not the point. “I-I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Trevor. You’re one of the best people I know.”

“That can’t be true,” he tries to protest. 

“But it is,” Amelie presses on. “You’re loyal. You’re funny. You have the ability to make anyone feel comfortable, even if you just met them. Your infectious energy elevates every room you walk into. You care deeply about everyone in your life. You were the first of Jack’s friends to be so openly kind to me and you continued to be kind to me even when I didn’t deserve it.” 

“I’m loud. Harsh. Always has to be on the go or I get bored. Life of the party maybe and a fun time usually, but that’s it.”

Amelie scoffs. “Respectfully, shut the fuck up. Okay, you’re all of those things, so what? You think she doesn’t already know? She probably knows better than any of us. I get being hesitant to do anything because she’s maybe on a different page, I get that. But it’s not because you’re not good enough. Get that shit out of your head.”

Trevor has to laugh, both at the abruptness of this call and unbridled honesty from Amelie’s voice. “I’m not gonna lie. Getting chewed out by my best friend’s wife wasn’t on the list of things I expected today.”

“If you think I’m chewing you out now, you’re lucky Clementine doesn’t know about this yet.”

Trevor actually shudders at the possibility of Clementine Sandoval (well, Clementine Hischier as of two years ago but old habits die hard), lecturing him about this. He still remembers Clem’s lectures she would give Quinn, Jack and Luke when they were all in Michigan. They would usually be over the phone, since she was already out in California for school by then, but even at 17, Trevor knew she wasn’t someone to be messed with. Who else in the world, besides Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, can somehow lecture all three Hughes brothers successfully in one breath?

“She doesn’t?”

“Eh, usually she would. But she’s in her last trimester and Nico would kill me if I stressed her out more.”

And well, Trevor thinks that’s fair enough. He quiets again, thinking. “You think we could be a good match? Belle and I?”

“Yes,” Amelie says with no hesitation. “And I’m not going to tell you why, because I’m pretty sure deep down, you already know.” 

He kinda hates that she’s right. Damn, is he this easy to read? He hangs up, but not before promising to give her a call more often. 

As they’re leaving practice, Jamie nudges him with his shoulder. “How’s Isabelle?”

“She’s good. She has a wedding in Santa Monica this weekend so I haven’t seen her that much this week.” 

“She a good roommate?”

Trevor smirks and elbows him lightly. “Better than you ever were.”

Jamie’s jaw drops, indignant. “Hey! I was a great roommate, thank you very much.”

“You were, you were. Nah, she’s great. We did Christmas just the two of us and it was really nice.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Fuck off, Jimmy.”

“I’m just asking! She chose not to fly home and stayed here with you instead. Ever think about what that could mean?”

Trevor has thought about it a lot recently, actually. But Jamie doesn’t need to know that. He lets out an uncommitted noise, but the look on Jamie’s face tells him that he’s not fooling anyone. Least of all, one of his dearest friends. 

Trevor needs to tell her soon. Or get over it. 

…..

Trevor never thought to really ask Belle if she wanted to go to a game, which is weird, because why wouldn’t he want a friend out in the stands to cheer him on? But he also knows that Belle wouldn’t be afraid to just ask if she wanted to go, and that her ideal time to unwind after work isn’t necessarily to go into a rowdy arena. She’s perfectly content snuggling in on the couch and watching the game on TV.

But when he mentions that Cole and the Canadiens are coming into town to play, she perks up. During the whole wedding weekend, Trevor could tell that she got pretty comfortable with Cole. Which, to Trevor, makes complete sense. Cole has the ability to make friends quickly and genuinely anywhere he goes. He leaves a ticket on the counter before heading to morning skate, as well as a note allowing her permission to raid his closet for any Ducks merch she so desires to wear. 

The game is a fun battle that goes into OT, but Leo gets the game winner with an assist from Trevor and the Honda Center goes nuts. Trevor has plans to grab dinner with Cole and Belle, and he’s in good spirits during media before he meets up with Cole and goes outside to where he told Belle to meet them. 

The boys see her before she sees them. Belle’s leaning against the wall of the arena on her phone, one of his jerseys tucked into black jeans and a black blazer completing the look. Cole calls out her name and she immediately puts her phone away with a smile, letting Cole hug her tightly with a chuckle. Trevor trails behind, watching the scene in happiness. Trevor tells Belle where he made dinner reservations, and she gets into her own car to follow them. 

As Trevor watches Cole and Belle talk at dinner, it’s overwhelming, his love for her. Cole’s pulling out some old-school stories from way back during their program days and Belle’s absolutely loving it, pulling out some of her own stories from her college days and Trevor feels so fucking lucky. There’s a particular thing that Cole says that has her coughing up her water and she’s laughing so hard and Trevor feels so fucking fond. 

Tomorrow, he promises himself. He has to tell her tomorrow.

…..

He doesn’t tell her tomorrow. But in his defense, he has to go on a road trip and she’s busy at work. 

Somehow, after dinner with Cole, he had gone to sleep earlier than she did but had woken up before her to a short but sweet note on the kitchen counter. In her cursive, he smiles at her words. 

Trev, 

Thank you for dinner and a fun game <3 Wanted to tell you tonight but by the time I got out of the bathroom you were already in bed (old man). Good luck on your road trip to wherever!! 

Love, 

Belle

He takes the note and folds it carefully, tucking it into his wallet. 

…..

At the end of the day, he ends up just blurting it out. 

He comes home from the road trip to the smell of something absolutely delicious floating through the house. He peeks his head around the corner to see Belle flittering around the kitchen, stirring something in a pot. The oven beeps and Trevor decides to make his presence known. 

“Smells good in here.”

Belle looks over her shoulder and he realizes she’s wearing one of his Ducks hoodies he must’ve had lying around. She beams. “Hey! Welcome home. I felt like making some good old grilled cheese and tomato soup with some roasted vegetables because I guess we need those. Don’t tell your coaches if this fucks up your diet-”

“I love you.” 

And well, shit, because that’s definitely not how he pictured this going. For a split second, he thinks he imagined it. But Belle freezes, her back towards him, and he has no idea what to do.

After what seems like a lifetime, she turns off the stove and turns around. “What?”

Trevor walks forward, “I love you. I’m in love with you. And I know you probably don’t feel the same way and that’s okay! I really don’t want this to change anything between us because I love our friendship. But I-I had to say it because it’s driving me crazy not saying it.”

“Trevor-”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. Y-you’re such an important part of my life and I really hope this didn’t fuck everything up-”

Belle rushes towards him to put her hands on his shoulders, steadying him. He forces himself to take a deep breath and to stop his hands from shaking, staring at his feet. He’s breathing really fast, but Belle’s orange blossom perfume and touch calms him down ever so slightly. 

“You good?”

He swallows roughly. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” she says softly. He gets the courage to look at her face. He sees her smile and he can’t help but smile too. She clears her throat. “I-I thought it was clear, but I guess I’m out of practice. I feel the same way, Trevor. I like you a lot. Maybe not…love. Yet. B-but you’ve become my favorite person. And these last few months have been so…lovely. I just-I haven’t said anything because I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

“That’s okay,” Trevor rushes to assure. Because holy shit, she likes him back? This was farther than he thought he was going to get. He chuckles lightly. “I…shit. Sorry. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact you like me like that.”

“Trevor,” she trails her hands down his arms to grab both of his hands. “Of course I do.”

“Oh,” he says softly. 

Belle’s eyes water, and Trevor immediately feels the surge to make her feel better. “But I don’t know if I’m ready, Trev. I don’t know when I will be. And I can’t be the asshole and ask you to wait.”

“Why not?” Trevor challenges.

Belle looks at him incredulously. “Because that’s unfair.”

“Well too bad. Because I’m not gonna listen to you.”

“What?”

“As long as you need. Take your time. I mean it. And when you’re ready, I’ll be here. I promise.”

She bites her lip, “Trevor, you can’t possibly promise something like that.”

“I can, actually. And I will.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it, before laughing. She squeezes her eyes shut as he places his hands on her cheeks to cup her face. “Okay.”

He raises an eyebrow playfully. “You’re not gonna fight me?”

She shakes her head. “You’ve never been the kind of person to back down.”

He laughs and he so wants to kiss her. But he doesn’t, instead just placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You’ll let me know when you’re ready?”

“If you’re still around,” she jokes. 

Trevor grins, his heart growing four times its size. He feels like it might explode out of his chest. “I’ll always be around for you.”

[thought--bubble]

She is Happy Now Part (2/5)

Modern Aemond X (Ex Girlfriend Reader)

Warnings Below

Word Count: 2,116

She is happy now Master List

Modern Aemond Master List

Full Master List

Banners by @arcielee

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of cheating, alcohol use, dubcon, and a bit of angst.

"Is she coming?"

"I don't know. Her asshole cheater ex is going to be there so she might not"

Aemond rolls his eye and clenches his jaw.

"It's been years, Heleana. You think you could maybe stop calling me that?"

" I love you Aem, your my brother but when it comes to you and her I'm on her side. You were a major Jerk"

He groans and runs his hand down his face.

He is sitting at Heleanas breakfast bar in her kitchen. Heleana is moving around the kitchen, getting breakfast ready, and putting coffee on.

"I am aware that I'm the asshole in this story." He lets out a sigh. "I just want to see her again"

"She's happy now, you know. So, any little magical scenarios you have made up in your head where you woo her back to you can be left right there in your head. " she looked at him warningly.

He doesn't say anything and just looks down playing with his fingers.

"She has been with Cregan for a few months now. He's good for her AND good to her. Something you failed at spectacularly"

"We were good together for 4 years! I wasn't horrible the entire time! I messed up once. One time. And she never spoke to me again!"

"If Gwayne had done to me what you did to her.... how would you react?" She looks at him eyebrows raised.

Aemond sighs and puts his head down on the counter. It's pointless Heleana never let's him get away with making up excuses for how your relationship ended and he knows she's right.

He tried for months after you left his dorm to contact you. Apologize. Promise it would never happen again. It was Heleana who ended up making him realize what was done was done.

"Have you heard from her?"

"Yes." Heleana sighed into the phone

"So did you ask her to call me?"

"I did. And then she sent me a video explaining why she didn't want to."

Aemond cringed. "A video?"

"Oh yeah. Like the idiot I am, I told her to record your reaction to her surprise, saying you would be so excited. So she got your entire reunion on video. You're a real prince charming, you know? Do not ask me to contact her again on your behalf. I won't do it and neither will egg. Least you could do at this point is leave her alone."

Aemond is pulled out of his memories by Gwaynes loud. "Good morning!" And the laughter of his niece and nephew.

"Uncle Almond," jaheara yells excitedly. She is only 3 and pronounces his name almond, which Aegon finds hilarious.

"Hey peanut" he reaches down and picks her up placing a big sloppy kiss on her forehead

"Ewwww! She shrieks, wiping her forehead and trying to wiggle out of his arms.

"Everybody ready to go get Uncle Aegon married today?" Gwayne says excitedly towards the kids.

Aemond puts down jaheara and sits on his stool stewing in his own frustration. He never thought that Aegon would be happily married while he was the one alone. Miserable and full of regret.

He never meant to let it get that far with his professor. He knew she was attracted to him right away. He could tell by the way her touch lingered whenever he turned in an assignment or the way her gaze would find him during lectures. He thought flirt with her, and a good grade would be easy. What he didn't plan on was bumping into her on his way back from his first college party drunk out of his mind and having not seen his girlfriend for months. He didn't plan on her offering to help him get back to his dorm, and he didn't plan on allowing her to come in.

He sobered up immediately when he saw her standing at the door, though. The gravity of what he had just done and what was happening in that moment hit him like a freight train.

"Shit! Baby, hold on, let me explain. " Aemond could feel his desperation tightening in his chest. He fucked up, bad, and he knew it .

"Oh, ummm, nope, no thanks"

That reaction was the worst thing he could have gotten from her. No yelling, no fight to be had she was just leaving and not turning back.

He started to panic. If she left right now like this after seeing what he had done, he was afraid that would be it. He grabbed her arm "wait please just give me one second "

You turned on him like a viper pushing his arm away "do not fucking touch me, forget my name loose my number I no longer exist to you"

His chest clenched, it felt like his heart was being squeezed. he swayed on his feet, swallowing down the sickness that attempted to make its way up his throat.

You had turned and went down the hall and out through the doors that led to the stairs

"Shit shit shit! " Aemond ran back into his dorm quickly, putting his sweatpants and sneakers on. His professor was sitting on the bed, strapping her shoes on.

"You know I wouldn't have come up here with you if I knew there was a girlfriend." She looked at him angrily

"I'm sorry" was all he could get out as he ran out of his dorm down the hallway and down the stairs and right through the doors to outside. He ran down the walkway, looking both directions, but didn't see you anywhere.

"No no no no! This can't be it, no, no!" Aemond was yanking at his hair, his eye full of tears. He tries to run to the left but is not steady on his feet because of how much he drank and ends up falling on the sidewalk. He attempts to get himself up but gives up exhausted and lets out a huge loud sob.

He rolls onto his back on the cement of the walkway and just looks up at the sky while tears roll down his cheek.

"This isn't really how we end, is it?" He says to no one

"Hello! Earth to Aemond!" Aemond crashes back into the present with Heleana snapping in his face. She sighs and looks at him tenderly.

"Cmon, eat your breakfast and get ready." She taps his shoulder as she heads out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get her and the kids ready for Aegons nuptials.

He isn't able to get much down, but he takes a few bites and heads upstairs to get himself ready.

He drives to the ceremony with Heleana and Gwayne sitting in the middle of the backseat between the twins in their booster seats.

"I'm gonna marry you one day" Aemond says dreamily looking up at his ceiling.

It's summer of junior year and you are both squished onto his twin bed his arm under you holding you close.

"Oh?" You say picking your head up and looking at him.

"Isn't it obvious, darling? Can't live without ya. Marriage is a given at this point" he laughs, grabbing your chin and pulling you in for a kiss.

"Would you want to get married in the grand Sept or on the beach?"

"Anywhere as long as I'm marrying you," aemond leans in for another kiss.

"I'm serious I want to have it all planned out ahead of time!"

"Then plan it out, baby. Because no matter where it is, I'll show up to marry you"

You giggled as he rolled over on top of you kissing you with purpose

The car door slams. They have made it to the grand Sept, and it is time to get this show on the road. Aemond makes his way inside and heads to the grooms room where Aegon is bouncing around with excitement, putting on his finishing touches.

"Aemond! Smile, man! This is a joyous day!" Aegon yells at him while grabbing his arm and pulling him all the way into the room.

Aemond forces a big smile on his face for Aegon's benefit. It's not that he isn't happy for his brother, he is. He just can't help the jealousy that is flowing through him at this moment.

This could have been them. Should have been them. Would have been them if he didn't screw it all up.

When it's time for the actual ceremony to begin, everyone makes their way to their places. Aemond smiles at Ellyn as they get in line. He can feel his heart rate speed up at the thought that you might be out there. After years of being so far from you, you both might actually be in the same room at the same time.

Aemond waits impatiently for the pair ahead of them to step in front of the doorway and start to walk down the aisle. Once Criston and Maris step out and down the aisle, he and ellyn move forward and stand in the doorway. He sees you right away. You're looking down at the ground, but he could spot that little heart tattoo on the back of your neck anywhere. He has a matching one on the inside of his wrist. He's happy to see yours hasn't been covered or blacked out.

"Matching tattoos? are you daft?" Aegon laughs while looking at Aemond incredulously.

Aemond ignores him slathering on some of the aftercare products he had been told he would need to put on a few times a day.

"And what will you do when you split up? Walking around with that on your arm to remind you forever?"

Aemond laughs and continues applying the balm,"we aren't going to split up egg. This tattoo is forever, and so are we"

"You are 18 Aemond! You couldn't possibly know that you will stay together forever! You leave for university in less than a month! You really think the long-distance thing is going to work? For 4 years?"

"I know it will. Just because you don't understand commitment doesn't mean I don't, " Aemond says haughtily.

Aegon rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say. Just don't let mom see that. She's gonna kill you!"

Ellyn yanks on Aemonds arm and looks at him perplexed.

He clears his throat and starts to make his way down the aisle. Unfortunately for him, he can't really see you now because you're on his blind side. They make it up to the altar and release their arms, each moving to their assigned spot. He flicks his eye back towards you, and you're hard to see. Why did you have to sit so far back?

He pays no attention to how the ceremony continues going on around him, shaking his leg impatiently.

He hears his mother clear her throat from the front row. He looks at her, and she opens her eyes wide and waves her hand at him in a way of telling him to cut it out.

He straightens his back and stands up tall, taking in a deep breath. Focusing on Aegon and Cassandra. They are putting the rings on each other's fingers, and he feels a wave of pain roll through him.

His hands clapsed before him, he started unconsciously rubbing his wrist where the heart tattoo sits. He had no idea this was going to be this hard. His whole body is shaking with emotional overload. When finally Aegon and Cassandra kiss and then turn to their guests, raising their claspsed hands above their heads and starting to make their way back down the aisle he moves forward on shakey legs and joins his arm with Ellyns once more, walking down the aisle he keeps his eye trained on where he knows you are. Your head is turned away from him, looking at the entryway. He can see your arm is looped around the arm of the brown haired man standing next to you. How he would give anything to switch places with him. Even just for a minute. As he continues down the aisle eye trained on you, you turn your head, and it happens. Your tear filled eyes find his, and he forgets how to breathe. Those eyes he has seen filled with rage and hurt for years in his dreams are there right in front of him, filled with tears, and he thinks they have never been more beautiful.

He is forced to stop looking at you once he passes, but he knows your last conversation can't be the last interaction you ever have. No, he has one more chance to talk to you.

At the reception.

A/N: Part 3 is in the works. I have a mid-term tonight and a lot of homework this weekend, so I probably won't get it out until Monday. Thank you to anyone who reads :) ❤️

Part 3

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[freshlove-sturn]

experience

part 1

matt sturniolo x reader

a/n: surprise 😋

summary: y/n heads off to college in a few weeks. the only problem? she knew next to nothing about any physical interactions. no sex. no kisses. nothing. so what happens when her best friend, matt, knows just the way to fix her dilemma?

reader pov

“matt i don’t even know what to pack” i look up at matt, who was laying on my bed, throwing my hands down in defeat as i sat with my suitcase open, clothes scattered all over the floor.

“i think you’ve got a good start.” he gestures to the items that were neatly folded inside the suitcase.

“this is stressful.” i sigh, rubbing my hands down my face.

“you’ll be alright. i promise” he assures me. i roll my eyes.

“you don’t know that.” i retort.

“yes i do. i wouldn’t promise you if i didn’t. what about it is stressing you out?” he turns his phone down and adjusts his position on the bed to completely face me.

“all of it.” i reply bluntly.

“well can you be more specific so i can at least try to help you?” matt questions.

i really didn’t want to tell him one of the main reasons why i was stressed out. i’m not even sure if “stress” is the word for it.

truth be told, i’m the most inexperienced person i know. i’ve never had a boyfriend. i’ve never kissed anyone. i’ve never had sex. nothing.

and now in a few weeks i was getting thrown right into college life.

i’d be lying if i said i didn’t feel insecure about it. i knew that everyone around me was going to have at the very least a kiss under their belt. not me though.

there was going to be a whole new display of men at my disposal, and along with that, a whole new group of pretty, experienced girls.

i felt pathetic.

but how could i admit to my childhood best friend that i was stressed out about going to college because i was a virgin? that i had never felt the touch of a man?

but it was matt. i told matt everything. always have. always will.

without even thinking, i blurt “i’m a virgin.”

“what?” matt’s eyes widen at my confession.

“i’ve never had sex. i’ve never been kissed. i’ve never even had a boyfriend, matt. i feel like a child.” i explain, matt’s eyes never leaving mine.

“you don’t have to have done any of those things to be ‘cool’ y/n/n.” his voice was soft and reassuring.

“that’s easy for you to say matt. you have girls practically worshipping the ground you walk on just for a chance with you.” he didn’t get it. he has had girlfriends. he has had kisses. he’s had sex. i didn’t have that.

“who’s to say you don’t have guys doing the same for you?” he raises an eyebrow at me.

“oh really? name one.” i insist.

“oh i can name several. brandon jones bought you 12 of those goofy ass over priced roses that student council was selling for valentine’s day and asked you to prom. you turned down all of his advances. 8th grade, when we were playing spin the bottle in nate’s basement, aiden griffin begged you to play, and when you said no, he didn’t play either.” he holds up a finger for each boy he recalls.

“that’s only two. plus, i hate roses and i always go to dances with you. and also, i didn’t exactly want to have my first kiss with anyone on your hockey team.” i defend.

“you didn’t let me finish.” he hushes me. “jack waters asked you out 4 times and you said no every. single. time.”

“okay okay i get it” i grumble, praying he would shut up.

he was right. i never even gave anyone a chance. it was my fault i had such a lack of experience. there was plenty of opportunity.

which is why i wasn’t even sure why i was sitting here, wallowing in self pity over things i could’ve done ages ago had i not rejected any boy who showed interest in me. until now, guys and everything that came along with that just didn’t seem like a priority to me. i had my best friend, who treated me perfect, and that was enough for me. matt would be there any time a boy made me cry. he would hold me and tell me that they aren’t worth my time, that i deserved the world. i whole heartedly believed anything that came out of his mouth, which i can only assume is partially to blame for my ridiculous standards.

matt treated me like a princess. matt tied my shoes when i was little and didn’t know how, matt was patient when i was learning how to ride my bike without training wheels, matt would eat the green and purple skittles because he knew i only liked the red and orange, matt knew the sidewalk rule, matt covered the edge of the table with his hand when i would drop something underneath so i wouldn’t hit my head when i came back up, matt went all out for my birthday each year, matt had gotten me flowers and chocolate for valentine’s day every year since we were 7. matt did it all.

matt was the best friend i could ever ask for.

he would do anything for me.

which was exactly why, despite my outward reaction, i wasn’t at all surprised by this proposal.

“what if i helped you? i teach you how to do all the things before you got to college so you aren’t going in there blind.”

“like as in-“ i speak slow and unsurely before he cut me off.

“like as in kiss you, have sex with you, what ever you think you need to know before you leave. we can start small and work our way up.” he stares at me intently, as if he was trying to read my face.

“are you sure?” i question.

“if that’s what you want. i want to help you. that’s what friends are for anyway, right? making each other feel good?”

sure, friends are supposed to make each other “feel good”. but by doing friend things.

not sex.

no strings attached though, right? strictly business. people do friends with benefits all the time.

it couldn’t hurt.

matt’s my best friend. he just wants to help me out. friends help each other.

that’s what this is. help.

helping me reach an orgasm.

“nothing has to change between us. we will still be best friends. you don’t have to say yes. if you don’t want to do it, we can just forget thing conversation ever happened alright? i just want you to be comfortable.” he explains.

“deal.” i hold my hand out.

“deal.” he grabs my hand and shakes it.

“but if you’re having doubts, or feelings get involved, or anything goes wrong, we have to cut it off okay?” i narrow my eyes at him. i needed him to know i was serious about our friendship. i could t lose him just because i felt like a helpless virgin.

“got it” he nods.

“so, when should this whole thing start?” i cock my head to the side.

matt leans down from his position on my bed, places his hand on my cheek and slowly leans in.

“here.” he says as his lips ghost over mine.

before i say a word, our lips connect. my eyes go wide for a second before i relax into the kiss. his lips were just as soft as they looked.

i was having my first kiss.

with my best friend.

holy fuck.

a/n: I HOPE YALL LIKE THIS AHH. i’m kind of excited for this series. lmk how you’re feeling so far 😋😋

taglist: @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @creamoncreamoncream2 @pepsiimaxx @honestlybabymiracle @chrissturnioloswifesblog @eliiii333 @luvmxtt @mattestrella @hearts4chris

[jus-a-lil-mouse]

BITE

(including this fantastic art from @this-is-z-art-blog )

Danny decided very quickly that he really, really did not like the new kid.

Kade Johnson (“That’s such a white boy name,” Tucker had said, eyes rolling) had started in the middle of November. A senior with blonde hair and blue eyes that rivaled Dash’s good looks. Smart and athletic. A model student. Charismatic. Friendly. Off.

“He’s just sort of… weird,” Danny had told Sam over lunch.

She had glanced at the senior in question, varsity jacket slung over his shoulder, laughing with the rest of the basketball team. “Yeah, Danny. He’s a popular kid who’s going to peak in high school.”

Danny shook his head. “It’s more than that.”

“Danny, I promise it’s not,” Sam replied. “Unless he’s, y’know…” she wiggled her fingers at him, flinging a bit of pizza sauce his way, “ghostly?”

“No. He’s normal,” Danny sighed. Sam raised an eyebrow at him. Danny rolled his eyes. “He’s human, I mean.”

Tucker dumped an armful of vending machine snacks on their lunch table, settling in next to Danny. “He’s telling you about his conspiracies too?”

“They’re not-“

“Yeah, new kid’s evil and out to get us,” Sam replied.

Danny grabbed the Ruffles and ate them as petulantly as he could, glaring at his two dearest friends in the world. “He’s weird,” Danny insisted weakly, glancing over at the senior again.

Clear blue eyes stared back at him, alive and bright. Unsettling. Kade grinned at him, showing off too-white teeth. Danny thought he might puke.

Behavior

It had been nearly three weeks since Danny was able to sit at his seat. He didn’t even realize it was his seat until fucking Kade was there with impeccably clear skin and the vague hint of cologne hanging around him. Khakis (who wore nice pants to high school?) and a polo and his Varsity letter jacket. And Danny knew why he, a freshman, was in the Junior-level physics class - because he was fucking smart - but that didn’t explain why Kade, a senior, was in the Junior-level physics class - because Danny knew that Kade was also fucking smart. It was the only thing Jazz could talk about anymore.

And Danny was stuck staring at the back of Kade’s stupid head. Because Star had just given Danny’s seat away. Like “Lab Partners for Life” meant nothing to her. Every day Kade came in and sat down next to her and gave her a big grin. And Star gazed up at him adoringly and said “What do you think of my outfit today, Kade?” And Kade said “You look great, why don’t you sit next to me at lunch today?” Or “I don’t think that style suits you very well, sorry Star.” Or something equally weird and unrelated to physics. And Danny couldn’t see the whiteboard.

Danny had tried telling Tucker that Kade was weird. Tucker had put Danny’s cheeks between his hands and said “Hey, man. You can tell me if you’re gay. It’s okay.” And Danny said “You’re an ass, Tuck,” because Danny had already come out to him three years ago.

Danny had tried telling Sam. She’d said, “At least he’s gotten Dash to stop wearing those stupid ripped jeans. The khakis and polos are an improvement.” Which was true - all the A-listers wore exactly what Kade wanted them to. They probably shopped together.

At lunch Kade sat with the A-Listers of every grade. They all ate what he ate and sat where he asked them to. They all wore stupid matching friendship bracelets that were too bright. The charms hurt Danny’s eyes whenever they caught the light right, and they caught the light right all the time.

Danny hated that guy.

Information

Danny was always a little bit prepared for an attack during school. After it had happened so many times already, it would be foolish not to keep a Thermos in his bag and be on edge all of the damn time. But it had been less frequent lately. All the ghosts seemed to be quieting down. It was suspicious, but Danny had been trying to take advantage of the sleep while he could. Growing boy and all that. Unfortunately, dull headaches throbbed in his head and his nights were frustratingly sleepless.

So it follows naturally that Skulker shows up while Danny is nearly asleep in English. He isn’t even fully awake when he transforms in the bathroom, Thermos in hand and backpack discarded in the corner.

He manages to be wide awake when he makes it onto the football field and finds Skulker staring down Kwan, who - to his credit - is staring right back. Danny’s able to get a good shot in while Skulker is distracted, and the following fight is short and sweet and incredibly routine. Danny touches down next to Kwan once it’s over. “Hey, man. You’re supposed to run away from ghosts.”

Kwan grins at him, bright and full of teeth. “It’s fine, Phantom! See, I’ve got this!” He held up his wrist and Danny winced as the sun caught the charm just right and blinded him. Kwan sheepishly put his arm back down. “Sorry. It’s an anti-ghost charm.”

“It’s a what,” Danny said flatly, reaching for Kwan’s wrist again. He braced himself for the brightness, and squinted to examine the bracelet.

“An anti-ghost charm!” Kwan repeated. “See, there’s a new student - his name is Kade - and he’s a genius. He knows all about ghosts. The charm is a little locket, see, and inside is special ingredients.”

“What ingredients?” Danny asked, trying to open the container.

Kwan kicked at the dirt. “Well, I’m not really supposed to ask… I don’t know,” he admitted. “But Kade says if I keep doing well, I can learn one day! Kade’s great.”

Danny grunted, finally wiggling the locket open. “Is that hair?” he asked, pulling a little knot of it out. It looked just like the clumps of Jazz’s hair that he found on his laundry - definitely human hair. And a small pin, and a little thorn that pricked Danny’s finger. “What the fuck,” Danny breathed, shaking his hand out. He glanced up at Kwan, who looked devastated that Danny had opened the locket.

“Kade will be upset that I opened it,” Kwan said quietly, as though confiding a great secret. “I might not get to sit at the table during lunch.” Danny did his best not to roll his eyes. “He says they lose their magic when you open them.”

“Why?” Danny asked, shoving the items back into the container and shutting the clasp. “It’s just some garbage - it doesn’t even do anything.”

“Yes it does,” Kwan insisted, suddenly loud again. Danny dropped his hand. “Kade says so. He knows all about ghosts.”

“I am a ghost,” Danny reminded him.

“Ghosts are liars. Kade says a ghost will tell you anything you want to hear to get what they want.” He took a step back. “You could be lying right now. Maybe you aren’t even saving us from the ghosts, like Kade says. I shouldn’t even be talking to you. What if someone sees?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Kade can save you next time Skulker comes around if he’s so great.” He left before he could hear Kwan’s response.

Thought

Danny is only a little pleased to be paired with Paulina for English today. Sure, she’s a bit unbearable to be around, but she’s pretty, so it evens out. The sickly sweet smell of her perfume worsens his headache, but at least she isn’t wearing one of those damn charms.

She gives him a disinterested glance as he sits next to her, worksheet in hand. He tries not to be that offended. And then he is offended, he decides, because she’s got a picture of Kade sticking out of her notebook.

“Did you do yesterday’s reading?” Danny asked. He knew the answer.

“No, I was busy at Kade’s house,” Paulina replied, looking at him as though he was stupid for thinking she’d do her homework. “I’m in the inner circle.”

“So… the worksheet?” Danny said, hoping to redirect the conversation. “Lancer’s usually willing to fail us for not finishing before ghosts attack.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. Kade knows how to keep ghosts away. He knows everything. He’s protected the school so well!”

“I thought Phantom was protecting the school,” Danny said through gritted teeth.

Paulina tut-tutted at him. “No. Phantom is a ghost. Ghosts are evil,” she says, as though he is a child. “Kade tells us how to protect ourselves from ghosts. My perfume is ghost-repellant. And I do all of my meditations so that they can’t take over my mind. If you asked, Kade could help you too,” she added sweetly. “Your parents clearly don’t know anything about ghosts. Not like Kade.”

Danny recognized the insult for what it was, but Paulina also sounded genuine. She believed this nonsense. “Paulina, none of that works.” The perfume smelled bad, but it wasn’t repelling him. “How has he proven any of that works?”

“Um, it obviously works,” she replied. “Ghosts haven’t attacked the school in weeks, and even the attacks in town are stopping. That’s because of us. Kade is showing us how to protect the town, and soon… well, we won’t need Phantom ever again.”

She had a point. Ghost attacks were way down. Danny still felt like shit all the time, but at least he hadn’t needed to be doing vigilante business as well - he just thought he was finally winning. That after enough fights they’d stopped coming back. It made more sense than Paulina stopping the attacks, at least. “Paulina, Kade doesn’t have that kind of power. He’s just a guy.”

Paulina’s hand shot in the air. “Mr. Lancer, can I work by myself?” Lancer didn’t even look up from his monitor, just sighed and waved his hand in a ‘ do whatever’ motion. She turned back to him, angrier than Danny had ever seen her. “I don’t listen to unbelievers like you. I’m part of the inner circle.”

And then she was up and gone, seat vacated. Danny let his head thud onto the table. He also hadn’t done the reading. This worksheet was going to take him forever.

Emotion

It’s mid-March when Danny finally realizes that something is wrong with Dash. Early March is when Dash’s ‘spring cleaning’ starts, and everyone who looks at him wrong gets shoved in a locker (at best) or a toilet (at worst). But Danny - despite being sleep-deprived, achey, and nauseous - has been snarking at him constantly for weeks, and hasn’t been shoved anywhere. His hair is blessedly free of toilet water. And Dash is wearing khakis and polos and he wears that stupid bracelet.

“I thought you’d be glad he stopped his brutishness,” Sam said when he brought it up. “I really think you need to see a doctor, Danny.”

Tucker hadn’t even tried listening to him. “You haven’t slept well in months, man. Of course you’re paranoid.” The kindness in his eyes made Danny want to hurl. Danny was the protector, not the protected.

He was on his own.

Which is why he nearly let out a breath of relief when Dash cornered him in the near-empty locker room after gym. The remaining boys cleared out quickly, leaving Danny and Dash alone. Finally, a fight. Ghosts hadn’t been seen in weeks. Danny felt more deathly than ever.

“Hey, uh, Fenton,” Dash started, and Danny froze. Was this not a fight?

“Baxter,” Danny replied coolly. “Come for spring cleaning?”

Dash looked scared, and Danny didn’t understand anything that was happening. “No. I wanted to apologize for my past behavior. It was juvenile, and will not be repeated.”

“Those are some pretty big words,” Danny says, and he can see the conflict in Dash’s eyes: to punch or not to punch? That is the question.

Dash takes a deep breath and sticks his hand out between them. “I apologize for my past behavior,” he repeats. Danny lets this hang between them, too.

“No,” Danny says. “Dude, what? Glad you cleared your conscience, but I’m not going to shake your hand and say we’re fine.”

“You have to,” Dash pleaded. “Everyone else did.”

“Yeah, man! Of course they did! You beat the shit out of us all the time!”

“I used to beat the shit of you all the time.”

“Dash, what is going on?” Danny asks, dropping his volume down.

Dash shifts uncomfortably. He mumbles something into the air dividing them, but Danny can’t quite catch it. He stays silent, waiting for Dash to break first. It only takes a moment. “Kade is going to save some of us. I’m supposed to be free of grudges or the negative emotions will cause the process to go wrong. I’ve been having extra one-on-one sessions,” Dash explains. “Kade says if I’m forgiven it’ll go well. Then we’ll all be okay. So you have to forgive me.”

“Dash, none of that makes any sense.”

“Well it’s not my fault you’re not in the inner circle. Maybe if you weren’t such a loser you’d be able to be saved too.”

“You’re so good at not continuing your past behavior,” Danny replies, and is almost glad for the cold bite of the locker on his back when Dash slams him into it.

“I am going to go to Kade’s. He is going to make it so I can’t die, and then we will make it so the whole town is safe and the ghosts won’t be able to touch us. Kade can cut us off from death! He’s done it before! So you’re going to forgive me and I’m gonna be a hero.” Dash’s eyes were bright and alive and sickening to look into.

Danny didn’t know what to say to that. So he didn’t say anything, and got shoved in a locker.

Control

“I hate being right all the time,” Danny mutters to himself. He shuffles through a couple more papers on Kade’s desk, and then phases through the ceiling. The easiest realization was ‘Kade is leading a cult’. Next step was to visit Kade’s house by following him home from school. Thankfully, Kade was the kind of evil genius who left his plans out on his desk.

Gather recruits. Help guide them towards salvation. Cut off the town from the Ghost Zone. Be hailed as a savior.

The problem was this: Danny knew intimately that life and death were in balance. You couldn’t have one without the other. Kade had been leaching energy off of his fellow students to begin the process. Danny was being slowly cut off from death (explaining the headaches and the nausea and the bone-deep exhaustion). The whole town was. Of course there’d been less ghost attacks. Danny had been right to be suspicious. Amity Park’s veil was razor-thin, and this separation would probably cause it to implode spectacularly.

“I was so hoping you’d be here.”

Danny turns and sees Kade, eyes bright and alive and smile full of too-white teeth. “Here I am,” Danny says, spreading his arms open dramatically.

“Here you are!” Kade says. “The ghost boy himself! Are you here to foil my plans?” He asks it as though it is an inside joke, as though they are old friends. “Shall I give you my monologue?”

Danny settles. Gives the illusion of complacency. Shrugs. “Yeah, if that’s what you want to do with your day.”

“I am always searching for souls seeking redemption,” Kade replies, spreading his arms wide. “Daniel, I am a visionary. I am alive. I have removed all traces of death from myself. It cannot touch me.”

That last bit may have been true; being in the room with him was dizzying. Agitating. Looking at his face felt sickening.

“I could tell you all the details, but here are the highlights. I have saved my soul, made myself more alive than anyone has ever been. It was simple and bloody, but now I know how to save everyone.”

“If you upset the balance, everything will collapse in on itself. By separating them you’ll bring them closer together. Like a rubber band, y’know?”

Kade tuts at him. “What will you do, ghost? Stop me?”

“It’s what I do,” Danny shrugs, and prepares for a fight.

The fight doesn’t come; it never even starts. Kade is untouchable; the ectoblasts and wails just wash over him like a wave breaking on stone. Kade is grinning. His teeth are too white and his eyes are bright and Danny is tired.

“I told you, I cannot be touched by death,” Kade reminds him.

Danny is the world; he is balanced. He returns to life and lands a well-placed sucker punch. Kade hadn’t been expecting that, and soon enough they were tumbling on the ground. It’s been a while since Danny was in a fight, but it returns to him easily. His knuckles are bleeding. He is winning. “What are you?” Danny asks through bloody teeth. “You aren’t a ghost.”

“I am to life what a ghost is to death,” Kade hisses from the floor. “And you are an abomination.”

“Dude. That’s rude,” Danny replies.

Danny has spent years avoiding Dash Baxter, so when he hears those familiar footfalls in the hallway, he transforms. He lets Kade push him away. He makes sure Dash and Paulina have a good view of Kade, beaten and bloody, and Phantom looming over him. Kade pushes himself up off the floor, his “anti-ghost” charm swinging wildly off his bracelet as he attempts to steady himself.

He uses his best Superhero voice. “This evil-doer was attempting to upset the balance of forces sustaining the world. He intended to cause the apocalypse.” The apocalypse bit was a lie, but they wouldn’t know that. Danny gave them a thumbs up. He disappeared.

Sam and Tucker weren’t that impressed when he told them about it.

“Cults are small potatoes,” Sam says wisely.

“It wasn’t even a real cult, it was a high schooler with an entourage,” Tucker adds.

“He was a supernatural entity that wanted to destroy the world,” Danny argues.

Sam nods. “Yeah. Small potatoes.”

“I’m just glad you finally got some sleep, buddy,” Tucker says, swinging an arm around Danny’s shoulders.

[reidslovely]

friends to lovers with peter where you two go on a double date with other people but are just caught up in each other the whole time to the point their dates call them out on it

hi friend, sorry it took so long to get back to you! here you go hope it is everything you wanted 🩵

please reblog and comment if you like the post!!

“And then we got kicked out of the skate park.” Peter laughed, as he ended his story. (Y/n) shook her head as she downed the last bit of her glass of merlot. 

“Not true I got kicked out of the skate park, you did not.” She corrected, pointing a finger at herself. Peter moved slightly to the left, his arm unwrapping from around his dates shoulder, leaning across towards (Y/n). “But I never went back in support of you.” 

“Whatever.” She drugged out, laughing at his statement. There was a sudden clearing of the throat next to her that pulled her attention away from some distant memory, and to her date she almost forgot completely. “So you two have been friends for quite some time huh?” He asked, (Y/n) hated to admit it but she couldn’t remember the redhead's name. Tom..Tim..fuck, maybe it was Paul. 

“Oh yeah. Since middle school..maybe 5th grade?” 

It had all felt like several lifetimes together honestly. The two of them had literally seen each other at every point of their lives, it was so funny to be here on a date the two of them set up for one another. Continuing that endless cycle. 

“It was definitely 6th grade cause that was the year we kissed at the Sadie Hawkins dance.” 

“You guys have kissed?” The woman, Macy,  next to Peter asked looking between the two friends. 

“A couple times it was never anything serious. I was sad that the girl who asked me to the dance didn’t wanna dance with me, and she kissed this Flash dude who was like my arch nemesis at the time. In our puberty ridden jealousy (Y/n) acted as a good friend and gave me my first kiss.” Peter laughed downing his glass of water as if it was the most normal topic in the world. 

“We’ve kissed plenty of times, friends kiss right?” 

“No.” The dates  in the booth replied in unison, trading weird looks. Peter raised his eyebrow looking at (Y/n), red faced and hiding behind her hands. This was getting worse and worse by the minute. 

“‘Course they do.” Peter laughed trying to ease the tension, his foot brushing against her leg under the table letting her know it is okay. 

“Look I don’t wanna be the one to break the news to you two, but..” The redhead started up again turning to face both (Y/n) and Peter. This was not gonna be good. “It is clear you two have some type of unspoken tension that maybe you need to get rid of before double dating. I don’t think I have ever been a third wheel on my own date.” 

“Oh come on, that's not true.” (Y/n) laughed. “We’ve had a great time, we've talked plenty!”

“No you two talked..mostly about and to each other.” The blonde woman next to Peter spoke, standing up and gathering her things. “This has been fun, really..interesting to say the least. Don’t call me.” She said before practically running out of the bar. Peter pressed his lips together in a humph, looking at (Y/n)’s date leaving right behind Macy. There was silence as the two ate the shitty appetizer on the table, that was as far as they had gotten, the fucking appetizer. “Do you think they were right?” (Y/n) asked not looking at Peter as she picked at the food. 

“I dunno, maybe?” Peter shrugged. “It would explain all my failed relationships.” 

“Oh so those are my fault?” 

“No, no. God no, that’s not what I’m saying at all.” Peter laughs. “It’s mine because they say you’re all I talk about.” He laughs. “That’s why Liz Allan broke up with me freshman year. That’s why that Penelope girl I dated broke up with me all those months ago. I compare them to you, I talk about you in a way a friend shouldn’t I guess.” Peter was finally looking at her the way he did in high school, the way he looked at her when there was a chance.  “Come on, you can’t tell me you haven't compared the way we’ve kissed to the way you kiss your partners..”

(Y/n) thought about it for a moment, he wasn’t wrong. In their school years she always thought if things didn’t work out with Gwen she and Peter could finally have a chance. But that never happened, and he moved on with other people and (Y/n) thought she had too. 

Peter rounded the booth, now sitting knee to knee with her. His hand on her leg, his thumb rubbing her knee cap slowly. 

“It’s been a long, looong time. Let’s just give it a shot, me and you. Whattya say? Mhm finally?” 

(Y/n)’s lips pulled in a downward smile, that held years of long finally being pushed to the surface. Her eyes glaring at him. “I like that idea..” She whispers, scared that if she spook much louder her voice would echo throughout the entire restaurant due to how excited she was. 

“Good, me too.” Peter whispered back, before catching her lips in a deep, eat gut wrenching kiss that held years of longing confessions behind it.

------

tags: @a-lumos-in-the-nox @sincericida @helloheyhihowdyheya @messymissy @adhdhufflepuff @someblessedmonster

[gunilslaugh]

(Gu)Nilly

Summary: Goo Gunil, first he was your senior in high school. Now you work at the same company as him. (non-idol au)

WC:~2.3k 

Warning:none

photo not mine credits to owner.

Your footsteps quickened trying your best to avoid a girl that you had ticked off. You and her were assigned to do a project together, but she decided to have you do all the work for it. Saying that she was sorry, but she was simply too busy with her after school activities. It was clear that she was lying which is why you just so happened to forget to add her name to the project. Now she was pissed and had it out for you. Your steps slowed back down as you looked around not seeing the girl anymore. 

“Bold enough to leave my name off the project, but bold enough to face me.” The girl appeared around the corner. You sighed. 

“You were the one who was too lazy to even write your own name on the project. I shared it with you all you had to do was write your name and you could’ve got credit for my work,” you tell her. The girl scoffs. 

“You really have some nerve. Someone should really put you in your place.” The girl raises her hand, beginning to swing arm to slap you. It was too late for you to move, so you braced yourself for impact, but it never came. 

“What’s going on here?” A voice belonging to a guy asked. You looked to your right to see a guy holding the wrist of the girl who was about to slap you. The girl laughs, putting on a fake smile and tugging her wrist out of the guy’s grasp. 

“Oh nothing is going on, we were just playing around. We’re friends,” she lied. 

“No we’re not,” you said right after. The girl shoots you a fiery glare. “She’s mad because I didn’t write her name for her on a project I did all by myself,” you explained. The guy sends the girl a look, clicking his tongue. He also positions himself slightly in front of you. Putting himself between you and the girl.

“You were gonna hit her because you were too lazy to do your own work?” The guy arched his brow.

“I wasn’t lazy. I was busy,” the girl argued. 

“Did you have time in class to work on the project?” The guy turned to look at you. With eyes much softer than the one he was looking at the girl with. 

“Yeah the teacher gave us four days of class work on it,” you told him. 

“Why didn’t you help them during class then?” he questioned. 

“Well I-” 

“Cause she wasn’t there. She ditched,” you interjected. The guy lets out a sigh. He stands up straighter. 

“Listen”–He folds his arms over his chest– “You’re the one who didn’t do the work. Getting mad at someone for you getting what you deserve is really pathetic. If you wanted the grade you should have at least written your own name. Now leave and if I see you bothering them again I’ll be the one to put you in your place,” he said. Revealing that he had heard the conversation between you two before he stepped in. The girl looked down at her feet quickly scurrying away.

“Thank you,” you thanked him.

“No problem. People like her piss me off. I’m Gunil,” he introduced himself. 

“Y/n,” you introduced yourself back. Before you could say anything else the bell rang signaling that it was time for class. “We should get going,” you say. 

“What class do you have?” Gunil asked. He started to walk alongside you. 

“Biology,” you answered.

“I thought freshmen took biology,” he stated. 

“Tis I,” you partly laughed. 

“You’re a freshman?” Gunil questioned surprised. 

“Yeah, do I not look like one?” you responded.

“Not really. Plus I know that girl is a junior so I kinda thought. 

“Our class together is an elective class. It’s mixed grades,” you inform him. Gunil nods. 

“Well if you need any more help from a senior friend let me know,” Gunil smiled at you. 

“Sure thing, thanks.” Gunil and you part ways. You weren’t really expecting to see him around much after that. 

However you actually ended up seeing Gunil quite often. Gunil wasn’t afraid to wave to you in the halls. He would call out your name to get your attention. If he was far away he would send you a bright smile with an excited wave. If he was only a couple feet away you would pause your steps and he would hurry to catch up to you. The two of you started to form a friendship. 

“You’re big and buff, but you are actually a big softie aren’t you Nilly.” You playfully pet Gunil’s head like he did to the stray cat the two of you came across.

“Nilly? Did you just call me Nilly?” Gunil turned his attention away from the cat and onto you. 

“Yeah why? Do you not like it?” you asked. It’s quite the opposite. Gunil’s heart blossomed with warmth upon hearing the nickname leave your mouth. It made him feel giddy, too giddy. 

“It’s silly,” he chuckled. 

“Like you.” A mischievous smile danced across your lips. “Silly Nilly,” you leaned closer and booped his nose. Then you turned your attention to the cat, petting it gently. Gunil kinda hates how you seem to be so nonchalant about everything while he feels like his heart could combust. Nonetheless he can’t help but look at you so endearingly as you pet the cat. Then he remembers that he is graduating in three months and he doesn’t think that he wants to say goodbye to you. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the first day of your new job. You would now be working at the front desk as a receptionist for a company. You had just received your name tag and your coworker was currently showing you the ropes. As your coworker is explaining things to you about the computer you hear several pairs of footsteps approach the desk.

“You finally don’t have to man the front desk alone anymore Jungsu,” someone said. 

“Yeah, this is my new front desk buddy, y/n,” Jungsu introduced you. You looked away from the computer to properly greet the company employees. That’s when you lock eyes with him. It’s Gunil, he’s standing right in front of you on the other side of the desk. He’s wearing a button up with nice pants and a lanyard hanging around his neck. It was your first time seeing him in five years. Since he graduated high school. 

“Nilly?” The old nickname fell from your lips. Just like it did all those years ago when you first called him the nickname Gunil’s heart blossoms with warmth. 

“Hi y/n. It’s been a while,” he smiles. 

“You two know each other?” His coworker asked surprised. Pointing between the both of you. 

“We briefly knew each other in high school,” you told them. 

“Yeah, they were my favorite underclassmen,” Gunil said. 

“Underclassmen? Oh I feel sorry for you now. Gunil is so annoying with his ‘You should respect your seniors.’” His coworker puffed out his chest, trying to imitate Gunil’s build. 

“He never said anything like-”

“Because you should respect your seniors and as your seniors I say we get to work now. Have a good day y/n. Treat them well, Jungsu.” Gunil nudges his coworkers to walk away with him. 

“So Nilly?” Jungsu looked at you.

“Yeah it was a nickname I gave him,” you said simply, going back to work. 

“It’s too cute for someone as serious as Gunil,” Jungsu says. 

“What do you mean? Gunil isn’t that serious. He’s a big softie,” you tell Jungsu. 

“Big softie? I really want to get to know this Nilly that you know,” Jungsu states. His words make you feel curious. Has Gunil changed that much since you last saw him? Although it has been five years since you last saw Gunil. Five years is plenty of time for someone to change, but the way he smiled at you didn’t seem any different. 

“Nilly?” Gunil’s coworker Jiseok poked at him. “How does an uptight guy like you get a nickname as cute as Nilly?” 

“They were the only one to call me that and I’m not uptight. I just really care about my work.”

“As curious as I am about how he got the nickname Nilly. I’m more curious about why you looked at y/n like they’re the love of your life. Seriously the way you smiled at them. You had lights shining in your eyes. You looked like a completely different person, maybe Nilly.” Seungmin, Gunil’s other coworker, pointed out.

“Ok, first, stop calling me Nilly.” Gunil points at either of them. “Second, my love life doesn’t concern you. Third, get to work.” Gunil settles himself at his desk. He can’t believe that he has run into you again. He misses you so much after graduating high school. Especially when he found himself in a predicament similar to the one he saved you from him. When he first entered the company he now works at. His higher ups/seniors made him do all of their work then submitted it as if it was their own. Gunil found it to be quite ironic. He saved you from a situation that he now couldn't seem to get out of. Then Gunil thought of a way out. He told his seniors to not worry about submitting, that he would do it for them once he finished. Then he proceeded to submit his work with his name on it. He couldn’t keep the smirk off of his face as their department head came into their office asking why they never turned in any work? Questioning why was Gunil running a one man show? His coworkers were pissed, but Gunil kept up his tough act. He told them off, just like he told that girl off for you years ago. Unfortunately Gunil felt like he couldn’t drop the tough act after that. He felt like if he did then people would try to take advantage of him again. So he made himself a little reputation as a serious, uptight guy.

You couldn’t help yourself from asking Jungsu questions about Gunil. It didn’t make sense to you how the sweet guy you knew in high school was supposedly now uptight and cold. Jungsu was just as curious to hear about the Gunil, Nilly, that you knew. Jungsu was also stunned to hear about how Gunil would call out to you and wave in the halls. The smile you always saw him wearing. How he would walk you to class even if he class was in the opposite direction. The stray cats that he couldn’t walk by without giving them a few pets. That he held back his tears as he told you goodbye. It was if you knew two different people. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nilly?” You asked Gunil as he was walking you back to your place. He was currently crouching down petting a stray kitten. It reminded you very much of your time back in high school. He was just like your old “Silly Nilly”. 

“Yeah?” He turns away from the kitten to look at you. Butterflies filling his stomach at your use of the nickname. 

“Why do people at the company think you're a serious, uptight person?” You had to hear it from him because other people’s words about him were simply unbelievable to you. Gunil looks back down at the kitten giving it one final pat before standing back up. 

“When I first entered the company…” Gunil proceeds to tell you about the story of his higher ups who took advantage of him. 

“Well if they ever bother you again or anyone else I’ll put them in their place,” you tell him. Gunil can’t fight off the smile of you using the words he once used to protect you. You felt better knowing that he was still your Nilly. The people at work just didn’t know the real him like you did. You bend down to pet the stray kitten that was still hanging around you and Gunil. Now Gunil is the one reminded of high school. Staring at you just as endearingly if not more endearingly as he did back then. It hits him. He doesn’t want to have to say goodbye to you ever again. 

“Y/n,” he calls you. 

“Yeah?” You look up at him. He crouches down beside you. 

“Can I be your Nilly?” he asked, earning a laugh out of you. 

“What are you saying? You already are my Nilly,” you booped his nose. 

“No I mean.” He took your hands in his. “I like you y/n. I always want to be your Nilly,” he says. You smile and readjust your hands to hold his back.

“My answer is still the same. You are my Nilly, always will be.” Gunil smiles and leans his forehead against yours. He has never felt more at peace. He reluctantly removes his forehead from yours and stands up. 

“Come on, let’s get you home.” he held out his hand to you. You gladly take it. 

Bonus Scene:

“Oh my gosh are you seeing this!” Jiseok repeatedly tapped Seungmin. From where they stand looking out the window of their office.

“I’m seeing it,” Seungmin replied, his mouth slightly agape. Gunil has you trapped inside his embrace, pressing kisses all over the top of your head. 

“We have to go to work. Let me go,” you laugh trying to escape his embrace. 

“Work can wait. I haven’t seen you for five years. Let me make up for lost time and hold you.” 

“We’re already here though.” You gestured to your company building. 

“Exactly, we’re not going to be late, so let’s just stay like this for a bit.” He holds you closer to him. 

“People will see,” you say shyly. 

“Let them see. Everyone should know that I’m yours and you’re mine.” He kisses you briefly. 

Jiseok and Seungmin’s eyes widened in shock. 

“That’s not the Gunil we know,” Jiseok states. 

“It’s Nilly,” Seungmin says. Jiseok smiles. 

“Where are my kisses Nilly?” Jiseok shouts from the window.

[drinkmoarwater]

I’m finally done with school so I can participate in Dannymay for the first time :)

Day 17: Temper (ik I’m late but shhhhhh)

Jazz had three options, none of which she liked. She could leave, consider this conversation over, and pummel the punching bag at the gym until she passed out or the employees kicked her out again. She could stay and talk until she came to peaceful resolution with Principal Ishiyama, maybe talk her into a corner to admit that requiring Danny and her to pass a ectoplasm screening before being allowed back in school was a mistake. Principal Ishiyama liked her, it wouldn’t be hard to manipulate her rapport for the benefit of her baby brother. It would take a while, but Jazz could do it.

Or.

Jazz could smile, agree, and then burn the building to the ground on her way out. She had a lipstick blaster in her purse. The classrooms had plenty of flammable material. Books, paper, wooden desks, posters. It wouldn’t take much more than a few seconds of a focused blast and whoosh, a fire. Tucker would erase the camera footage before the police got access to it, if the tapes survived the blaze that is. Jazz wouldn’t even need to call in a favor for it, he’d probably laugh and say he owed her for getting him out of ap world history.

As Ishiyama explained the PTA’s petition to document all student’s ectoplasm exposure to her in slow syllables, Jazz noted that Ishiyama’s desk looked really breakable. One solid kick and Jazz would snap it half. The paper weights might hurt her ankle if they collided, but the desk was made of plastic made to look like wood. She could throw the thing over her head if she wanted, right out the window. Maybe that would be more satisfying, to be forced to use both her hands and hearing the crash. It would at least avoid breaking a heel.

Maybe Jazz should play this smart. Ask for the signatures on that petition. Write down their addresses. Take her time the next time a ghost attack wanders down their street. Shoot their mailboxes and say she has terrible aim. Steal their dogs and raise them as her own. Maybe that one’s a step too far.

Instead, Jazz bites the inside of her cheek. Option two was worth a try. “And why isn’t every student required to take a physical examination?”

Ishiyama sighed. “Not every student has been so thoroughly exposed to ectoplasm as those that have passed through your house. It’s a safety issue, one that I’m sure you understand, Jazz.”

“I don’t understand. Explain it to me again.”

“It’s a simple screening. It’s noninvasive, just a swab and a stroll through the ectoplasm detectors your parents invented. You’ll be fine. Your brother will be fine. What is it you don’t understand?”

Jazz pushed her toes into the soles of her shoes hard enough for it to be uncomfortable but unnoticeable. “An ectoplasm screening is not standard school policy. We live in the most haunted city in the country, don’t you think every student has some ectoplasm exposure?”

“If they do, it’s not enough to become a problem.” Ishiyama pulled out a file and flipped through its pages. “Thirty-six broken beakers, forty-two detentions, nine unexcused absences, and a letter of concern from one of your brother’s teachers. His grades aren’t pretty and he’s said to fall asleep in class more often than not.” Ishiyama took breaks from her reading out the files to make hard eye contact. “You have five unexcused absences, a significant jump from someone who had perfect attendance for three years straight, and three of your teachers have reached out to me about your jumpiness and sudden lack of participation.”

“Your point? These are behavioral issues, not physiological ones.”

“My point is that the petition mentioned the two of you by name, and your files give me good reason to listen.”

Taking a deep breath, Jazz let the silence hang for a moment. She put on her best I’m-thinking-very-hard face, an exaggerated pout with scrunched eyebrows. She bounced her leg, a false tell. She didn’t mention that it was wrong, manipulative even to have this conversation without her brother or parents in the room. She didn’t ask what would be done with their information if they submitted to the screening, or what they were expected to do if they didn’t pass, or which staff members signed. She didn’t take Ishiyama’s school district issued pen and blind her with it. Jazz didn’t do a lot of things that she could have, or maybe should have.

She half listened to Ishiyama’s justifications, comparing the screening to vaccinations and flu shots. She stayed quiet, nodding when expected and making unflinching eye contact. Ishiyama had one tell, to her credit. She hesitated over the flowery language of the petition, like she wanted to say “ghost” instead of “ectoplasmic entities and substances.” Jazz daydreamed about keying Ishiyama’s bright blue volkswagen in her assigned parking spot, carving a cartoonish ghost into the paint.

Jazz left the meeting with her shoulders back and her chin tilted downward. She was making a plan. She had many more options than what she first thought.

[sunnyie-eve]

5 | Acting like an Ass

Series: Indispensable | Teen Wolf

Paring:  (Stiles Stilinski x OFC Martin)

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: Panic Attack

A/N: Might be a few mistakes

| | MASTERLIST ||

~~~

Since last night Lydia has been ignoring me because she didn't like how I talked to Jackson last night. Like I was just going to let him talk to her that way? We might not get along well but she's still my sister. "You look more like... well you before we became friends." Stiles takes his seat next to me in class.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask looking at him.

"Hurt, pissed, alone, overall a done look."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "I'm fine." I shake my head.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I said I'm fine." I look to the front of the classroom.

"You're not though."

I huff, "It's just Lydia is pissed at me because I talked back to Jackson last night. I literally was just standing up for her and she doesn't care." I explain to him.

"She will at some point." He tells me but I ignore it not believing.

After class, Stiles drags me to go listen in on his dad. "If he sees you... he's going to get on you." I laugh as we head towards where his dad was.

"Yeah, but I wanna see what's up." He continues to drag me to the office.

"So why do I have to come with you?" I ask laughing.

"You're in the wrong place at the wrong time." He says but I let it go as we sit on the floor outside waiting. "Favorite color?" Stiles asks hugging his bag.

"Purple. You?" I do the same as him.

"Blue. Oh, favorite type of fries?" He glances over at me.

"Curly fries all the way." He puts his hand up for a high five so I give him one.

"Best kind ever." I laugh at him.

"Favorite song of all time?" I ask.

"Dear Maria, Count Me in." I shake my head at him.

"Wherever You Will Go." He nods his head and as the bell ring for us to get to class, his dad comes out.

"We are watching his family's house. Maybe he'll wind up there. Give me a second." He walks over to us. "Don't you have a test to get to?" He asks his son.

"Don't mind Julia, she's good. What's going on? Did you find Derek yet?" Stiles asks.

"I'm workin' on it. You go take your test." His dad tells him.

"All right, Dad, listen to me." Stiles tries to talk making his dad raise his voice. "This is really important. You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight." Stiles tries to tell him.

"Stiles, I'm always careful." He tells him.

"Dad, you've never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay? At least not like this." I could understand where Stiles was coming from.

"I know, which is why I brought in people who have. State detective. Go take your test. Also, try not to get your new friend in trouble." His dad smiles over at me so I return one as we head to class.

"You have 45 minutes to complete the test. 25% of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book." I see Stiles quickly write his name. "However, as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover, and I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So let's get the disappointment over with. Begin." Mr. Harris tells us.

After a few minutes, Scott rushes out and Stiles follows but I say in class. Stiles comes back after some time but Scott never comes back to class. "Because of the full moon tonight?" I ask Stiles as class ends and he nods his head.

"You helping me lock him up tonight, right?" He asks as we walk.

"If you want help yeah. I'm not just going to insert myself into y'all's life like I'm been a best friend as long as you two have been." I explain as we head to the cafeteria.

"Why not? You're part of the team now." He nudges me.

"Well, I don't wanna invade y'all's personal lives at times." I try to explain.

"Julia now that you are on the team... that means we're gonna be best friends soon, and we all get up in each other's personal life." He smiles at me.

When it was lacrosse practice I met up with the guys in the hallway. "Can you pick up on stuff like, I don't know, desire?" Stiles says as I join them and I'm guessing he just learned Scott can smell like emotions.

"What do you mean desire?" Scott asks him.

"Like sexual desire?" I shake my head at Stiles knowing what he wanted to know.

"Sexual desire?" Scott repeats.

"Yeah, sexual desire. Lust, passion, arousal." Stiles explains.

"From Lydia." I tell Scott.

"What? No, in a general, broad sense, can you determine sexual desire?" Stiles looks at me then back to Scott.

"From Lydia to you?" Scott says so Stiles says yes.

"Fine, yes, from Lydia to me. Look, I need to know if I have a chance with this girl, okay? I've been obsessing over her since the third freakin' grade." I roll my eyes knowing she doesn't care about him.

"Why don't you just ask her?" I motion over to her.

"Well, to save myself utterly crushing humiliation. Thank you, Julia. Okay? So, please, can you just go up and ask her if she likes me? See if her heartbeat rises, pheromones come out." Scott says okay and walks over to her as we head outside.

"You don't even need Scott to ask for you because I know the answer." I say as we get to the benches.

"No, because you aren't close. She could keep it as a deep secret. You're just jealous that she could like me." I laugh at him then walk over to Jackson.

"Can I borrow your lacrosse stick real quick?" He laughs at me.

"Why would I let you touch it?" He asks.

"So I can throw a ball at Stiles. I wanna hurt him for a second." I explained to him and he groans handing it to me. "Thank you. Now when I get a ball I need you to get him to turn around so I can get him from behind." I smile then take a ball from coach. "Excuse me, I gotta borrow this." I see Jackson get Stiles' attention.

"What are you d-," Since I didn't wanna hurt Stiles too badly I aim for his shoulder, then threw the ball at him with a behind-the-back shot.

"WHAT THE HELL JULIA?!" He spins around holding his shoulder.

"Don't say what you said next time." I walk back over giving Jackson his stick back.

"Hey! If you ever think about playing, I'll let you join the team!" Couch shouts at me.

"Maybe next year." I let him know.

"Hey. What happened?" Stiles asks as Scott shows up.

"What?" Scott seemed not like himself.

"What do you mean, what? Did you ask her? Did she say anything? Did she say she liked me? Did she imply she liked me?" Stiles just gets asking.

"Yeah. Yeah, she likes you. In fact, she's totally into you." Stiles gets happy but by his tone, he was lying.

When the guys were practicing Scott knocks down all the others including Danny at the goal. The whole team rushes to check on Danny so I rush over too. "Dude, what the hell are you doin'?" I walk over to Scott with Stiles.

"He's twice the size of me." Scott tells us.

"Yeah, but everybody likes Danny. Now everybody's gonna hate you." Stiles tells him.

"I don't care." He walks off from us.

"Your lipstick." I hear Jackson tell Lydia so I turn around to look at them.

"Oh. Oh, wonder how that happened." She checks herself. "Yeah. I wonder." He says sarcastically. I look at Stiles and his jaw was hanging open shocked.

"In fact, she's totally into you... Listen to me next time and watch what you say, or the next ball is hitting your spine, harder." I cross my arms looking at him.

"I'm sorry, but you play?" He asks as we walk back towards the school since practice was canceled now.

"Yeah, it's a secret hobby of mine." I laugh.

"From the pain, I'm still feeling... you're good." He rubs his shoulder.

"Thank you. I hit you with a BTB." He stops to stare at me.

"You're telling me you don't suck at back shots? I suck at those." He tells me and I decide to joke with him.

"You suck at lacrosse all together not just your back shots." I smile at him and he punches my arm.

"I hate you." He walks into the locker room while I go to my locker. "Okay, here's the plan. We head to my house get things ready for tonight then head over to Scott's and chain him up so he doesn't kill anyone." Stiles shuts my locker on me. "Then when the night is over I'll take you home." He smiles like a dork.

"Sounds like a good plan." I agree not really having a choice.

When we get to his house he runs straight to his room while I said I was going to get a glass of water first. "Stiles that you?" His dad walks in.

"Nope, he's in his room." I smile so he smiles back.

"So you're a friend of Stiles? New. I'm guessing since I've only seen you come over once." Sheriff Stilinski asks.

"Yes Sir. I just became friends with him and Scott. After years of only a few small conversations in class, we finally started to hang out." I explained to him.

"He's not paying you to be his friend right?" He asks making me laugh.

"I wish he would." I joke and he laughs too.

"Julia!" Stiles shouts for me.

"You sure? You really volunteered to become a friend of his?" Noah asks me as I clean my glass by hand.

"I sorta did. There are times when he doesn't give me a choice. There was like only one option for me and I had to deal with it."

He nods his head, "I believe that." I nod my head now.

"For example, he told me at school after lacrosse practice... Okay, here's the plan. We head to my house get things ready for tonight then head over to Scott's." I take a seat at their dining room table.

"Sounds like my son alright." He takes a seat too. "I never got your last name." He asks.

"Oh, Martin. My mom is Natalie Martin and my twin sister is Lydia." I tell him.

"I can see that now." He chuckles.

"You're actually the first to say that. When I tell people my age or older they say I'm lying at first because I'm so different from them." I let him know.

"That's ridiculous because you all share some features. Also, it's okay to be different, if being different makes you you, then keep being different." He tells me and I can't help but smile. "I saw the look in your eyes when you said differently so I just wanted you to know." He explains to me.

"Thank you Mr. Stilinski." He nods his head.

"Please call me Sheriff or even Noah, I don't care. I like you, you're a sweet girl." He laughs as Stiles marches into the room.

"What the hell? I called you?" He crossed his arms at me.

"I know but I was talking to your dad. I'm not going to be rude." I tell him.

"Can I take Julia now?" He asks his dad.

"Yes, I wanted to tell you before I head out that I'll be out all night." He tells Stiles.

"Remember be safe, especially tonight." Stiles tells him as he walks over to me grabbing my arm and dragging me away.

"See told you no choice. Be safe tonight Sheriff, bye." I tell his dad.

"Nice talking to you Julia." He shouts back.

"Really ditched me for my dad." Stiles shuts his door.

"Again was having a conversation with him and wasn't going to be rude." I explained again that Stiles shows me what he has for tonight.

Once we leave to go to Scott's, I notice Stiles glancing over at me from time to time. "Can I help you?" I ask him starting to get annoyed.

"No. Why do you ask?" He asks looking ahead.

"You keep side-eyeing me." I explain.

"What my dad said to you... If being different makes you you, then keep being different. He was right, I feel like if you were the exact same as Lydia... I probably would never get to start to know you. Plus you're fun to talk to." He explains as I look over at him.

"You were eavesdropping?" Is all I say.

"Yeah, from when you said who you were." He says as we pull up to Scott's.

"I'm sorry." I tell him before we get out.

"For?" He asks confused.

"That Scott kissed Lydia behind your back and then lied." I let him know.

"You were right... Now let's go." We get out.

I watch as he uses a key to unlock the door and open it going in holding the door open for me to come in. "Scott?" Melissa calls out.

"Stiles and Julia." He says as she walks into the room.

"Key!" She looks at the key in his hand.

"Yeah. I had one made, so..." He explains.

"That doesn't surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn't surprise me. What is that?" She asks about the bag as he drops it on the floor making the chains make a sound.

"School project it's really complicated to explain what the guys are trying to do." I explain to her and she nods her head.

"I believe that." She then looks over at Stiles. "Stiles, he's okay, right?" She asks.

"Who? Scott? Yeah. Totally." Stiles says weirdly.

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to." She says upsets.

"He's had a bit of a rough week." I sum it up for her.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Yeah, um- Okay, uh- Be careful tonight." She tells us so we say you too.

"Full moon." She adds but makes Stiles freak. "There's a full moon tonight. You should see how the E.R. Gets. Brings out all the nut jobs. You know, it's, um, actually where they came up with the word lunatic." She says before she leaves the house.

"Lead the way." I tell Stiles so we head to Scott's room.

"Oh, my God! Dude. You scared the hell out of me. Your mom said you weren't home yet." Stiles bumps into me as he leans back.

"I came in through the window." Scott says acting creepy.

"Okay. Uh, well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what I bought." Stiles bends down to the bag.

"I'm fine. I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight." Scott tells us and I don't believe him.

"You sure about that? 'Cause you've got this kind of serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect, 'cause it's really starting to freak me out." I let him know and Stiles agrees.

"I'm fine. You two should go now." Scott tells us.

"All right, we'll leave. Well, look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?" Stiles suggest that Scott comes over to look.

"You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no." Stiles quickly handcuffs him up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott yells trying to get lose.

"Protecting you from yourself and giving you some payback. For making out with Lydia." Stiles tells him and then leaves the room so I follow.

"Really?" I ask as I see him get a dog bowl with Scott's name on it.

"I don't care if it's the moon. He's being a asshole." Stiles had a point.

"It's actually funny." I cross my arms trying not to laugh. "I won't interfere unless you want or need to me." I say as we walk back up to the room.

"I brought you some water." Stiles pours the water from the bottle into the bowl.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott throws the bowl away making Stiles walk back into the room from the hall where I was.

"You kissed her, Scott, okay? You kissed Lydia. That's m- like, the one girl that I ev- and, you know, the past three hours, I've been thinking, it's probably just the full moon, you know, he doesn't even know what he's doing, and tomorrow, he'll be totally back to normal. He probably won't even remember what a complete dumbass he's been. A son of a bitch, a freaking unbelievable piece of crap friend." Stiles goes off on him so I head downstairs.

"Anything!" I hear Scott yell.

After a minute I head back up and sit next to Stiles on the floor. "What are you doing alone downstairs?" He asks.

"Giving you two space." I force a smile.

"Julia, you're just jealous everyone likes Lydia and not you." Scott says as we hear him struggle to get free. I close my eyes trying to ignore him. "I can smell it. Jealously, sadness, loneliness, it's pathetic but then again you are." He laughs as he struggles and I try to breathe calmly but I can't so I rush downstairs for a drink.

My hands were shaking as my heart was pounding and I couldn't breathe. "Hey, hey, breathe. Try to breathe. Focus on me, look at me." Stiles grabs my hands forcing me to look at him. I just stare into his eyes and it helps a little but my panic attack stops after he pulls me into a hug till I was breathing normally again. "You have panic attacks?" Stiles asks letting me go.

"I used to a lot in the past. Haven't had one in years. I guess what Scott said triggered some old memories." I try to laugh it off.

"I used to get them when my mom died. I knew you were having one as you rushed away." I just look down. "I'm going to stay down here for a while if that's okay?" He nods his head.

"It's okay. If you need me I'll be in the hall floor." He smiles leaving me alone. From downstairs on the couch, I could hear Scott screaming so I cover my ears. "JULIA!" Stiles comes running down the stairs. "Scott gone. He broke the handcuffs." He pulls out his keys so we rush to the jeep.

"Question, where the hell would he be?" I ask.

"I don't know, that's why we are driving around." His thumb taps on the steering wheel paranoid.

As we were driving we see flashing lights so Stiles stops the jeep rushing out to look for his dad. "Dad? Dad? Has anyone seen my- has anyone seen my dad?" He asks then walks towards the body.

"Stiles. What are you doing here?" His dad shows up making Stiles hug him relieved he's okay. "Again, what are you doing here?" His dad asks as they stop hugging.

"We were just driving around then saw the lights and got worried. When Stiles got out to look for you he panicked not finding you." I explain to the Sheriff.

"We just found a body that was out in a dead bomb fire." He lets us know.

"That sucks." Stiles says making me hit him.

"Come on, Stiles some respect for the dead guy." He rubs where I hit him.

"I didn't know what else to say." He hits me back so I hit him back again.

"I like her. Keep Julia around Stiles or you're grounded till your dead." His dad points at him.

"What? I-," He's cut off.

"It's late and I think you should take Julia home now then head home yourself. I'll be home soon." Noah tells him.

"Fine, see you at home." Stiles walks back to the jeep.

"Goodnight Sheriff." I smile giving him a goodbye wave.

"Night Julia." He returns one.

"Wow, he really does like you. I believe just by what was all said in one night, likes you more than Scott." Stiles says driving me home.

"You said once we become friends we invade each other's lives... Guess what? I'm making my way into yours easily." I laugh.

"Make yourself right at home then." He laughs. As we pull up to my place Stiles stops me before I get out. "It's not pathetic that you feel those ways at times. I'm starting to feel them myself with Scott being a werewolf now." He lets me know.

"I get what you mean but it's still different for me. I live with Lydia and she reminds me every day." I look at him.

"If you ever need to rant about things or want someone that will listen to you... Give me a call or come over." He gives me a smile.

"Night Stiles." I open the door.

"Night Jules." He smiles as I shut the door and head inside.

I already am starting to feel the pain of what's to come.

[kimi-twstheadcanons]

Wish List

-You decided to spend some time in the Queendom of Roses for the Holidays. Today you visit Riddle to see what he wants on his wish list. But there’s a problem...

Pronouns: They/them

Riddle’s dad seems nice enough, but it’s his mom you have to really worry about.

•

•

•

“Riddle! Do you have a wish list this year?” You ask excitedly to the red-haired boy sitting next to you at a table in his family study room. You had gone with him for a Holidays visit, leaving Grim with Deuce. You thought Deuce would be a better fit compared to Ace, and you didn’t want to disturb Trey and his family since they own a bakery. Cater doesn’t even live in the Queendom of Roses so he is completely out of the picture.

Riddle put the book he had been reading down and thought about your question for a moment before responding. “Well, usually my wish lists are-“

“Riddle! Oh, my darling boy, it's wonderful to see you again!” A woman exclaims in excitement as he strides in. Riddle immediately stands up to embrace her gently. You stare at the woman as you realize that the heart shape of her hair matches Riddles perfectly. That’s when it occurs to you that this elegantly dressed lady is Riddle's mother. A silent alarm goes off in your head as you begin to internally panic. You know what this lady did to Riddle. The trauma she caused him, her being overprotective, etc. You knew that as long as you were in her house you didn’t want to get her upset.

“How is school? Are you following the rules there? How are you doing as a dorm leader? You remain one of the top students, correct?” Mrs. Rosehearts questioned enthusiastically.

“Yes, mama. My grades remain top tier and my status as dorm leader of Heartslabyul continues to be unwavering.” Riddle beamed with pride.

“Excellent! That’s what I expect from my little Riddle!” Mrs. Rosehearts gushed. Her attention turned from her son to you. A questioning dark look in her eyes began to form as her excited expression fell to a more serious and observant one.

“Ah, and who might you be? I don’t remember ever hiring any help recently.” She spoke to you. Your eyes widen with shock. She had only been in the room for less than 5 minutes and was already insulting you. You hadn’t even mumbled a word yet!

“M-mother, this is (y/n). They are the prefect of Ramshackle, an older dorm at Night Raven College. They are a dear friend of mine.” Riddle explained gently. His mother continued to observe you like a hawk. No one she didn’t know has ever come into her house without her knowledge. Much less a person who claims to be Riddle’s “friend” without her ever meeting them.

“I see, and who approved of this visit?” She asked both you and Riddle.

“Father did,” Riddle replied, a drop of sweat falling down the side of his face. At this moment you decided to be polite and walk up to Mrs, Rosehearts with all the courage you could muster.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs, Rosehearts. Riddle has told me so much about you.” You smiled at her as you held your hand up for her to shake. However, she did not give you the pleasure of doing so and continued to stare at you.

“I’m sure he has. So tell me, how was your education growing up? Were you top of your classes as well?” She asked as she used her index finger to move your hand down. You pulled your hand away with a nervous smile. Trey had warned you about her cold attitude and you knew she wasn’t the nicest person when you saw Riddle's memories after his overblot fight, but you thought she’d at least grow nicer over the years.

“Well, I wouldn’t say top of my class. I’m pretty average but I make sure my grades always stay high and passing.” You explain in full truth. You aren’t willing to lie just to get on her good side. Mrs. Rosehearts scowls at your answer.

“You don’t wish to excel? Why would you hold yourself to such a low bar? Your parents must not have raised you correctly.” She spoke casually. You stand there, irritated with a smile, Riddle behind you in shock and embarrassment.

“I believe my parents raised me just fine, thank you, ma’am. They’ve always taught me to follow my dreams and do what I think is best to get there.” Mrs. Rosehearts laughs at your words. You look back at Riddle who had lowered his head in embarrassment, his bangs covering his eyes.

“If you want to live on the streets you do that! You can only get places through hard work and studying. I do hope you are not exposing my Riddle to that poor mindset.” You stand there trying to keep your composure and not pounce on this lady. It’s Riddle’s mom so of course, you’re trying to be respectful but clearly, this woman does not think you should deserve the same treatment. Mrs. Rosehearts shifts her attention from you to her son and reaches into her bag.

“Now Riddle, I have gathered a list of things you should have on your holiday wish list this year. Of course, I trust your list should already have most, if not, all of these.” She says as she hands Riddle a folded piece of paper. You walk over to look at the list as Riddle unfolds it. The list had names of things you don’t recognize.

“But mother, I already have three of the textbooks on here,” Riddle said without looking up at his mother.

“Those are outdated. The ones on this list are new and improved with more information and new education-based questions to check your knowledge. I expect you to be able to answer every single one of them without any help, understand?”

“Yes, mother,” Riddle replies to her begrudgingly. At that moment it hits you. Everything listed on the paper was textbooks and educational materials. Only things to study.

“Are there only textbooks on here? What about novels and storybooks? Creative literature can be very relaxing.” You recommend to Mrs. Rosehearts, to which she responded with another fit of laughter.

“Riddle, is this person serious? Goodness, you must really be a fool. Fairy tales are no good for a boy like Riddle. His wish list should only include what he needs, not what he wants.” She laughs. She looks you in the eyes, looking for anything that assures her that you were joking. The confusion and concerned look on your face told her you were not. The anger you felt, when she expressed that Riddle’s wish list shouldn’t have things he wanted, was too strong for words. Mrs, Rosehearts realized at that moment that you weren’t like her, you were more like those “hoodlum children” that made Riddle sneak out during his independent time when he was eight. That cat boy and baker boy that “tricked” Riddle into breaking her rules.

“And what he needs are good friends who make sure he succeeds and excels in all aspects. You, I can see now, are not that for him,” she started as her face dropped to something more serious. Riddle looked up as he realized what she was about to say. He knew he had to defend you if he wanted you to stay longer. He thought he could. He knew you were better than what she thought.

“Wait, mama please,”

“No, Riddle. I see now who this person is. You’re that mischievous child I heard mysteriously started to attend Night Raven College. You stay away from my son! Your terrible thought process and obvious lack of knowledge of your future will affect him and taint his mind! You don’t know what’s best for him!” She aggressively accused you with venom in her tone. You stand there in silent rage. But you had to keep it on the down low to keep anything bad from happening to Riddle.

“With all due respect, ma’am. I just believe that Riddle’s wish list should contain things that he, as a young boy, would want for himself to enjoy. He is mature enough to make his own wish list and make sure that whatever he asks for is not over the top or too distracting. He’s too intelligent for things like toys and such now,” You turn to Riddle who’s looking at you apologetically. You smile at him as you think up some things he likes to suggest to his mother.

“Maybe some crossword puzzles would be nice,” You suggest politely while still looking back at Riddle. This first suggestion makes his eyes light up, knowing you remember how much he enjoys crossword puzzles. You turn back to his mother to continue. “ or maybe-” You’re suggestions are cut short by his mother yelling at you.

“Enough! I will not stand here listening to you speak as if you know my son better than I do. I want you out of my house immediately!” She shouts at you before leaving the room. You blink for a moment, stunned that this rude woman was Riddle’s mother. You stand in place, livid at her behavior. You turn back to Riddle and quickly embrace him in a hug. He holds you tightly as he speaks.

“I’m so sorry. I was so sure she would approve of you. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Do not be sorry for actions that were not caused by you. But I think I should leave before her temper grows hotter than a volcano.” You suggest as the hug continues. Riddle nods and you both release each other from the embrace. Riddle gently leads you out of the study room and to the front door, careful to not catch his mother's attention. You hug each other one last time before you leave, but right before you could get too far from the door Riddle calls out to you. You turn around confused.

“If I were able to have one thing on my wish list, it would be to continue being your friend.” Hearing those words made you smile as brightly as the sun. You nod and wave to him as he waves back. He closes the front door and you continue your way to Trey’s parent's bakery. It was the closest place and you thought it would be good to grab a treat. You push the door open to the bakery and find Trey talking with Che’nya. They pause their conversation and look in your direction with welcoming smiles.

“Well, how did it go? Considering your back so soon, it wasn’t good, huh?” Trey asked. You sighed and grabbed a chair next to Che’nya to take a seat.

“You two were right. That woman has a twisted way of thinking. Like, I understand trying to look out for her son, but she’s just driving him away. I wouldn’t be surprised if Riddle cut off contact with her once he turns 25 and his mind finally processes the torment she put him through.” You blabbered on angrily as Trey and Che’nya just shook their heads.

“How can someone be so arrogant? “A wish list should be what he needs, not what he wants.” Pfft, why should it matter if he already has everything he needs?”

[scwheeler]

🩰 ˖ ࣪⊹ — the answer

pairing: mike wheeler x fem!reader

summary: mike informs you that he has a crush on a new girl but he doesn’t tell you who, he thought you would figure it out sooner or later 👀👀

warnings: open ending??

age of pairing: 15-16

“MIKE WHO IS IT?!” you shouted after the dark haired boy, running down the hall to his next class. leaving you quite frustrated after just hearing the news, ‘i really like someone.’ he bolted the next minute after muttering those words, instantly making you intrigued into his story before he ran away. holding your pencil case and backpack strap, you looked down at your dirty ass sneakers.

he likes someone?

of course you wanted to know because mike was your bestfriend so whenever something big like this happened, you were the first to be told. same thing when something happened for you. but mike hadn’t told you anything about his tiny teeny love life since like the fifth grade when he had a major crush on shelby jones.

you had to comfort him for almost a month when she got a boyfriend. but besides her and a few other girls back in grade school, mike had been quiet about his crushes or who he liked. maybe a few actresses or girls at the mall but nobody he actually knew and truly liked.

which was why you were curious when mike told you he liked someone a few minutes ago. you wanted to know because as his best friend you had a duty to get him and that girl together but also because you wanted it to be you. but you knew it wasn’t, that was improbable. ridiculous.

“y/n over here!” will called out from your usual cafeteria area. you joined the rest of your friends already intrigued in a conversation of sneaking into the theater this friday for the showing of back to the future II. you sat next to mike and dustin, leaning towards mike you whispered, “so are you ever going to tell me who mystery girl is?”

he retracted himself from the group conversation and turned to you, “shhhh! the guys don’t know, i’ll tell you later.” you raised an eyebrow, “promise?” putting your pinky in front of his face. he rolled his eyes and reluctantly did the same. interlocking the sacred pinky promise and finishing it by each of you kissing your thumbs. “it’s locked in now,” you smiled and returned to the conversation.

“but what if we get caught?” will spoke and drank from his milk carton. “then we’re fucked,” you answered where everyone turned to you. “what! im just speaking the truth!” you shrugged your shoulders and shove off their looks of accusation. “as much as i don’t want to, i have to agree with y/n. my moms gonna kill me and not let me play in next weeks game!” lucas agreed.

“right right i forget your a huge basketball player, benchwarmer,” mike remarked. “at least i’m on the team!” lucas defended himself. “ok ok fight later shitheads, back to the plan. if steve drives us there then no one in town will see our bikes and call our parents, right?” dustin suggested.

“you’re still friends with that dickhead?” you asked and opened your pudding cup. “he’s not a dickhead-!” dustin instantly fired back. you rolled your eyes, “sorry sorry, i meant douchebag.” dustin ignored your nasty remarks, “hey you’re not gonna be calling him a douchebag when he’s the one saving your ass from getting grounded like last time.” you took a spoonful of pudding, “yeah yeah fine he’s not a douchebag.”

“thank you,” dustin said proudly. “but won’t our parents notice we’re gone at like eleven p.m?” mike questioned and stole your spoonful of pudding and ate it. you gasped, “mike!” he just smiled in your face and returned your spoon.

“hopper would definitely kill me, he barely even lets me go out in general,” el insisted and handed you her pudding cup. “thank you el,” you said and waved your new pudding cup in front of mike. “that’s why we’ll just lie that we’re sleeping over at someone’s house!” dustin explained. “but who’s house?” max asked and took a bite of her apple.

“not mine,” dustin immediately said and looked at everyone else. “no one’s going to believe hopper let me have a sleepover with all of you guys,” el said and everyone nodded their heads.

“mine are out of town and i’m staying over at wills so can’t be mine,” mike said and out his hands up in defeat. “yeah not mine,” will followed. “my parents hasn’t let anyone sleep over since like sixth grade!” lucas explained, taking himself out of the situation.

“not me,” max quickly uttered and everyone turned to you. “wha—no no,” you declined and ate your pudding cup. “oh come on y/n, you’re the only one and it’s not like we’re actually staying over.” dustin pleaded. “plus you’re the most believable like we’ve actually all slept over at your house before!” mike brought up.

you sighed and took your final spoonful of pudding, “okay fine.” the table instantly cheered and started high-fiving. earning a few extra stares from around the cafeteria.

by the time the night came around, mike still hadn’t told you about his crush. he gave you daily clues like you were in a scavenger hunt but never actually told you. you guessed almost a hundred times with him responding with a mocking ‘nope.’ you named almost every girl in hawkins besides the moms—could it be one of the moms?!?!? nah, unless… 🤨

you were the last one to get picked up, a knock on your window made you grab your backpack and get ready. it was mike at the window, something he used to do on a daily. he would climb to your room and knock on your window to talk about the usual stuff or play games when bored.

“you ready?” he asked and you opened the window. “yup,” you responded and he helped you get out of your bedroom window and hop down to the front lawn. “let’s go let’s go!” steve yelled from the drivers seat of his car. you saw all your friends in their seats and you rushed over with mike to his car. even though it was squished, you all surprisingly fit. you were sitting next to max and mike, your entire body almost conjoined with mike at this point. “so you weren’t kidding henderson,” you said and looked over to steve harrington in the drivers seat.

“i’m not a liar y/n,” dustin remarked and proudly patted steve on the shoulder. he pulled up to the theater and turned around, “i’ll be back at 12:30 sharp. if any of you are late i’m leaving you, you hear me? 12:30 sharp.” everyone nodded and got out of the car, full of excitement and a little bit of anxiety in getting in trouble by our parents.

there were dozens of repeated, “thanks steve!”’s as you guys got out of the car and ran into the theater. “12:30 sharp!” he yelled after us and watched us running inside the theater. you walked beside mike and entered the dark room. the movie hadn’t started yet as you guys filled the seats in row f. “thank god we made it just in time!” mike said and sat down.

“yeah who knew steve would be the time of guy to drive at the rate of a grandma!” lucas laughed and earned a hit to the shoulder by max. “hey you guys should be grateful i got us a ride,” dustin said and looked from side to side. “yes yes thank you dustin,” you, max, will, and el said.

snacks were passed around and sound of rustling chips and candy was the only thing heard in the entire theater. there was a light on the screen and the movie began. “rachel martin,” you whispered to mike on your right. he laughed, “are we still doing this?” you nodded with your eyebrows raised, “of course! you still haven’t told me the answer!”

“shhhhhh—!” dustin whispered from the left to you. you elbow nudged dustin and turned back to mike for an answer. “so?” you asked. “no, no it’s not rachel martin,” mike answered but kept his eyes on the screen in front of you guys.

you sighed and leaned back, grabbing a handful of popcorn to dwell your sorrows with. “mike i’m starting to think this girl doesn’t exsist!” you whisper shouted and looked back at the screen. he turned to face you, rather your side-profile and whispered something so quiet you missed it as your eyes were glued on the title card that flashed on the screen, “oh she exists all right.”

he smiled at the answer, you.

[rosietrace]

『 A not-so-simple life 』

༝ㅤ･ㅤ˚ㅤ。ㅤ.ㅤ⋆ㅤ✧̣̩⋆̩◊⋆゜【❀】

「 ❏ Statement of Sumeragi Yuuta, regarding his life before coming to Twisted Wonderland 」

❏　〈 Statement recorded by Sumeragi Yuuta, prefect of Ramshackle 〉

❐　〈 Statement has been stored within the Night Raven College archives 〉

◊•°•═════ஓ๑【 ❀ 】๑ஓ═════•°•◊

『 Statement begins. 』

I really don't understand why I have to talk about it. If you ask me, Crowley shouldn't know anything about my life before coming here at all.

Unfortunately, let's just say he was rather…. Persistent, in wanting my statement. The statement of my life, that is.

I guess I should call it my ‘old life’.

…. I'll just get straight to the point. I wouldn't want to bore anyone who's listening to this statement, after all.

༝ㅤ･ㅤ˚ㅤ。ㅤ.ㅤ⋆ㅤ✧̣̩⋆̩◊⋆゜【❀】

For seven years of my life, I was living out on the streets. Homeless, malnourished, and really unclean.

Sure, I lived in a homeless shelter for a while, but things got complicated. And difficult. And I left once I turned four.

…. I'd rather not specify why.

I never knew my biological mother, or my father. No idea what happened to them, but… I'm scared to find out.

I'm not sure why.

But either way, I don't wanna make it too much of a hassle to explain. I was living out on the streets for the first seven years of my life.

I often had to rummage through the trash of fast food joints for food, and all the water I drank usually came from the lake in one of the local parks.

It wasn't an easy life. I honestly pity little me for having to go through all that for so long.

Eh. But what can you do, right? The past is the past, so…. Might as well make the future a little brighter.

And that's what I thought they'd give me. The Kenshō family. Old money.

Really traditional, and really rich.

They named me ‘Yuuta’. Or rather, I told them my first name was ‘Yuu’, and they simply added to it.

Not that my name would've changed the way they raised me.

I don't even know why they adopted me in the first place. If they were gonna adopt a child, they should've at least given that child some good old-fashioned acknowledgment!

Hah, then again, knowing them? They were way too focused on making a profit than taking care of the child they decided to adopt off the streets! Assholes, is what they are!

…. Forget them. Forget that life. Fuck them, and fuck their money.

I… If I'm gonna make a statement about my life, I might as well talk about something — someone — I actually care about.

I met a girl when I was in the fourth, maybe fifth, grade. We knew each other up until our second year of middle school. And after that? I never saw her again.

There was nothing between us. If anything, I like to think she saw me as a brother, rather than anything outside of that. I certainly saw her as a little sister.

It makes me feel even shittier, going back and remembering the way I treated her once we got into the sixth grade.

I don't even know what came over me. I just…. I just decided to treat my only friend like shit, just for the acknowledgment of people who never gave that much of a fuck about me.

And it sucks. It sucks to know that I tormented her up until the second year of middle school, and before I could even begin to apologize — she left.

Maybe it's for the better. Maybe she's happier now, now that she's far from me.

….. I miss her. And, I wish I got the chance to apologize to her.

◊•°•═════ஓ๑【 ❀ 】๑ஓ═════•°•◊

[stevethehairington]

i saw ur post and now i need to know what are your tommy hc’s and do u have any that are stommy

ohoho i am GLAD you asked because DO I EVER!!!

*cracks knuckles* STRAP IN 'cause here we GO...

tommy hagan. tommy hagan is one of five children, and he is the only boy. he is also the middle child, with two older sisters and two younger sisters. there is also a pretty decently sized gap between him and his sisters too, so like if he's 16, his older sisters are like maybe 19 and 23 and his younger sisters are like 10 and 8. i like to think that tommy's mom had her first child when she was young, so maybe 18ish, and if i did my math correctly (which if i didn't just roll with it anyways LOL) she'd be roughly 33 when she has her fifth kid. that would make tommy 8 at this time, and i like to think that when tommy was roughly 9 or 10, his dad left his mom, leaving her to raise 5 children, two of which are young toddlers, on her own. i think to think that tommy's dad was cheating on his mom, and this other woman (who is probably in her mid to late 20's oop) got pregnant, and tommy's dad left to go be with her and help her raise that baby. as if this was his chance to sort of like reset, start over with a brand new family.

this, naturally, fucked tommy up.

growing up as the middle child in a large family meant he was already wanting for attention, and his father leaving him cemented his abandonment issues 100%.

this, of course, explains why tommy takes on the "class clown" kind of role at school. it explains why he's always doing something to try to get the attention on him. it's why he's always cracking jokes, even at the expense of others. it's why he desires that popularity so much and values it so greatly. it's why he is always chasing after whoever holds the most power and will boost his reputation the most too.

i also like to think that these factors add up to result in tommy having some sort of anger issues too. he's grown up holding in a lot of this anger because he doesn't really have outlets to release it at home, especially considering his home life is the reason for a lot of this anger. but! this anger doesn't manifest itself in the way one might expect it to in a teenage boy. tommy isn't a violent guy. not in the least. he's angry, sure, but he's not stomping around making it everyone's problem all the time, and he's not always looking to pick a fight, and he's certainly not beating up on freshman just because they looked at him wrong. i think his anger stems from very specific circumstances - i.e. circumstances in which his control is slipping. and while he doesn't resort to physical violence in these situations (aside from maybe the occasional shove here or there, because that's the most we ever see onscreen in a moment when he is genuinely upset and angry), he most certainly lashes out. verbally. he says MEAN shit. CUTTING shit. CRUEL shit, sometimes. he's friends with carol, who is the QUEEN of biting retorts and scathing remarks. his tongue has absolutely sharpened over the years. not to mention, growing up with all sisters means he's accustomed to the way girls fight - with their words. with vicious mind games and cruelty of the tongue if need be. so tommy KNOWS how to go for the jugular with his words, which, sometimes, is worse than a punch to the nose.

but anyways. that anger only comes out in certain situations, not all the time, and when it comes down to it, he really is just your run of the mill "all bark, no bite" kind of a bully.

when it comes to tommy and steve, boy oh boy do i have A Lot of thoughts on them too.

i like to think that tommy and steve have been friends since grade school. think like kindergarten, and they get seated next to each other because both of their last names start with H, and steve, already, is this very charismatic little kindergartener. he's a total sweetheart, loves to share his toys, is always smiling and has all the other kindergarteners trailing behind him like little ducklings already because they allllllll want to be his friend. he ALWAYS has people asking him to play with them at recess. so when one day steve walks up to tommy and asks him if he wants to play - that is steve choosing tommy. and god, does that feel FANTASTIC for tommy already. being chosen like that? it's everything to him. he, of course, says yes, and the rest is history, as they say.

tommy and steve become inseperable. they're best friends. they do everything together.

and as they start growing up, and steve starts growing into his looks and he starts getting good at things like school and sports and that garners him a lot of attention. he's got people fawning over him and flocking towards him, all vying for even a sliver of that attention. and tommy's jealous of that, a little, BUT he also knows that at the end of the day, it's tommy that gets steve's full attention. it's tommy that steve tells all his secrets to. it's tommy who knows steve inside out and is known by steve inside and out. it's tommy who gets to call himself steve's best friend. and, of course, tommy REVELS in that. it's the attention he has been chasing his whole entire life, and it feels like the whole SUN is shining down on him every time steve looks at him and like WHOLE GALAXIES are bursting in his chest every time steve talks to him.

these feelings and the fact that tommy never wants them to end means that tommy, naturally, feels a bit possessive over steve. what he fails to realize, though, is that this possessiveness is a little more deeply rooted than just wanting to keep steve's attention and his friendship.

he doesn't realize that until steve starts to look at girls.

until he starts to talk about them, talk to them. until he starts to take them out.

the first time tommy sees steve with a pretty girl on his arm, he gets this sick, curdled, twisting feeling in his gut. at first he thinks it's because he's jealous of steve. jealous that he has a date and tommy doesn't. but when steve comes back and tells tommy that it didn't work out, there is this feeling of sheer relief that floods through him. he doesn't really understand it at first, and definitely doesn't examine it too closely either, just sort of shoves it down deep and doesn't worry about it. but then steve finds another girl, and this time things DO go well, and, naturally, as steve's best friend, tommy becomes the person that steve tells everything to. he tells tommy all about the dates, all about the kisses he shares with these girls, all about when things go a little further... tommy listens, because of course he does, but the whole time he's thinking all these horrible thoughts about the girl and that ugly feeling is back knotting up his insides. and when steve tells tommy about losing his virginity - OH BOY. he goes into detail, because that's what teenage boys do, and tommy listens but he's sitting there with this whole STORM of emotions swirling through his head - the twisted need to know more, the urge to scream at steve to shut up, disgust because he doesn't want to think about steve with someone else, turned on because its steve talking about having sex, deep shame because hes forced to face the fact that he's wishing it was him with steve instead of that girl. this, perhaps, is even the first time tommy is like. FULLY faced with the true nature of his feelings, the ones he's been shoving away and ignoring this whole time.

all this to say that steve is tommy's gay awakening (not that he acknowledges that that's what it is until Y E A R S and Y E A R S later.; probably not until long after he and steve aren't talking, aren't friends, until long after the last time they've even seen each other.)

BUT. i think that also goes in reverse- i think that tommy was steve's biwakening (again, not that he realizes that's what it was until much later too).

my favorite stommy headcanon is that they were each other's first kiss. i actually wrote a whole fic about it, which you can find here. but, basically, what it boils down to, is the two of them are like fourteen, and they're having a sleepover, sharing the bed because they might be getting to the point where they're a little too old for that, but they're going to cling to it a little bit longer anyways. they're hiding under the covers, they've got the sheets pulled up over their head, lost in this little bubble they've created together. their heads are bent close, they can feel each other's laughter ghost against their lips, that's how close they are. and they're talking about it. about girls, about kissing. and tommy can't stop looking at steve's lips, can't stop thinking about kissing steve, not the pretty junior all the boys are obsessing over. and he gets so caught up in it that... that he just. he does it. he leans over and kisses steve. its a quick kiss, fleeting, barely even a real kiss at all. but it happened. tommy hagan kissed steve harrington. and steve is. he's quiet. shocked, probably. and that quiet gives tommy's head ALLLL the room and ALLLL the time to start panicking - because he knows boys aren't supposed to kiss other boys. they aren't supposed to even want that, let alone actually do it. and steve, who isn't reacting poorly at all because unbeknownst to tommy, steve is also reeling from the thought that he wanted it to happen too, that he liked it, he tries to say something to tommy about it, to tell him it's okay or something like that, but tommy cuts him off and the moment is shattered.

and they don't talk about it again.

and ANOTHER favorite stommy headcanon of mine that can either be something that happens as a result of this first kiss hc or can be something entirely separate, BUT i love the idea that tommy and steve fool around together and like don't think anything of it really. if this first kiss did happen, then it's several years later when the memory of it is (read: should be, but it's not, it's so not) long forgotten. if that first kiss didn't happen, then it's just a thing that starts. my favorite way of thinking it started with the two of them masturbating together. like, either it's one morning after a sleepover and y'know, teenage boys, they're gonna wake up with morning wood sometimes lol, and tommy notices and makes some joke about it and steve goes a little pink about it and tries to brush it off, but then tommy's like you can take care of it if you want. i don't mind. and steve's like... what like... like right here you mean? like right now? and tommy just shrugs and goes yeah sure whatever, it's just jerking off man. you do it, i do it. im not gonna judge. and steve's a little hesitant, but there's something in his gut that's telling him to do it. so he does. he stays under the blankets though, laid out on the floor. tommy flops onto his back on his bed, but he tilts his head so that he can see steve out of his peripherals, can see the rustle of the blanket as he works himself over beneath it. tommy doesn't touch himself the first time. but it happens again. and the next time it happens tommy does. he makes the excuse that he woke up like that too, and if steve's gonna do it then he is too because that's not fair if only one of them gets off. and it keeps happening like that, the two of them jerking off separately but together. until one day, maybe theyre watching a movie, and maybe it gets a little sexy, and tommy was already kind of wound up (maaaybe he and steve were swimming in steve's pool earlier and seeing so much of steve's skin all shiny and glistening... HOBOY. tommy's been on edge all day basically) and so tommy is sitting there and starts kind of squirming a little, and steve notices, of course he does, and so it's steve this time that makes the first jump, teases tommy about getting hot over the movie but then tells him he can. he can touch himself if he wants. and there's no blanket in sight this time. no shield. and fuck, tommy's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth - if steve harrington tells you you can jerk off in front of him, you don't tell him no, right. so tommy does. and of course, steve starts to touch himself too, blames it on the movie (even though it's not the movie, not at all, tommy's making these quiet, pinched off noises like he's trying not to but they're slipping out anyways and jesus christ.) and steve asks if its okay if he like takes his dick out, because its too confined, he can't get a good enough grip if he's trying to keep his pants fully on like that, and tommy's heart JUMPS into his throat and all he can do is nod. and he HEARS steve's zipper go down, but he forces himself to look forward, to not steal a glance at steve. that's- that would be too far right? he cant look. and that happens. and that keeps happening too. and, naturally, each time it happens it goes a step further. like all of the sudden they are looking at each other. and then one day steve's hand knocks tommy's out of the way and wraps around him and holyfuckingshit steve harrington is giving him a handjob. but the thing is they never talk about it. hey never actually address what is happening. it's like it never did. but it keeps happening and then suddenly tommy is touching steve too, and they're jerking each other off. and eventually that leads to blowjobs - which tommy still can't wrap his head around how that happened.

but they haven't kissed. they don't kiss. it's easy to brush handjobs and blowjobs off as just sex. physicality because they have needs that cannot be met otherwise. but kissing. kissing is a different sort of intimate. it's crossing that line in a way that cannot be uncrossed. so they don't do it.

until they do. except im thinking it only happens because theyre drunk. or high. it's an accident, really. only it's not. and that breaks another dam. but unlike the rest, they only do this when they're inebriated. they don't do it sober. sober makes it real. and neither one of them are ready to acknowledge that.

but then it stops. steve meets nancy wheeler. steve meets nancy wheeler and everything changes.

AHH omg. this post got VERY LONG. kdljfsdkfs. (also this is like. the most i've quasi-written in MONTHS so thank you for that, genuinely, that felt great sfjgfdsfdg). BUT YEAH. some of my personal tommy lore and some of my fave stommy hcs!!! if you want to read more of my tommy lore/stommy hcs in like actual writing form you can totally check out that first kiss fic i linked above or i have another stommy-adjacent fic which is a tommy pov -tommy-runs-into-steddie-at-their-high-school-reunion-and-has-feelings-about-it fic, which delves into some more stommy hcs i have and also my hc lore about tommy and carol! you can find that one here!

THANK YOU very very much for this ask and THANK YOU very much for reading all of this if you've made it to the bottom here!! i appreciate!!! and i looooove talking about tommy and stommy and tommy and carol so, as always, if you ever want to talk more or hear more of my lore/hcs literally always feel free to dm me or to send more asks or anything like that!! i love talking about it!!

[crimsonlyinglilly]

Familiar Faces - Accepting and researching past lives, Part 1

Summary: Elijah Gilbert has been haunted by dreams of other lives as long as he remembers, but now with the appearance of the Salvatore brother he may finally get some answers.

AN. note to self 'better time management', finish today's chapter before working on tiny Sailor mars costume. also picking a title is hard.

-----

Three days.

His episode lasted two days, it was the worst one he had had in years, a reminder of why he was very sure they would end him one day, how they had in the past.

He had spent another day pretty much bed bound to prevent any injuries from falling as the shock of it had left him shaky and unsteady, one broken collar bone was enough for him to learn not to push himself. 

In the aftermath Aunt Jenna had started hovering in the way mom and dad used to in his earliest memories.

It was easy to explain why it was so bad, at least, five months without one had caused it to hit him in surprise, leaving him twice as tired afterwards.

He had spent the last night, while free of the headache still trying to shake off the chill once again thankful his room was soundproofed as with Aunt Jenna out with the slimeball, Jeremy had arranged for Stefan to make Elena a dinner while he was with Vicki upstairs.

That wasn’t a helpful reminder of how he failed to live up to normal surrounded by his family doing just that.

---

The next morning he couldn't help but glare at his hand as it shook holding his mug.

Kit was eating her extra breakfast on the floor, since she had skipped most her meals while he was out of it, while Luci was rubbing his head against his chest purring loud enough it filled the kitchen.

He had offered to put him away if the noise bothered Aunt Jenna where she was working at the counter, but she had just told him she was glad the little hellspawn was trying to help.

Elijah had his missed school work spread over the table, school had always seemed easy, languages and history came to him with ease and he had spent most of the aftermaths from his early episodes reading his parent’s medical books.

Most of his work was spent trying to hide how easy it was, placing simple mistakes and larger errors, things he had been doing since the first time there was talk of him skipping a grade. 

“You can go back to school tomorrow.” Aunt Jenna told him as she noticed his glare, he looked up to smile until she continued “although considering your making mistakes on purpose, do you really need it?”

“What?” he asked, embarrassed to find his voice cracking, “what are you talking about?”

“I’ve always known you were gifted, your mum and dad couldn’t stop bragging the first time they were asked if they wanted to skip a grade,” she told him fondness and pain at the mention of his parents but her eyes were sharp when they met his “but i’ve been watching, today, you fill out your work quickly and easily without looking at the notes for them then go back to add mistakes.”

“I didn’t want to be split up from Elena.” he offered the excused before she could ask, however she was persistence

“Now you don’t share any classes with her.” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s what people my age do, I want to be normal.” he shrugged.

“Where do you think you should be, for the work to challenge you?” she asked

“I don’t-” he started, a mild panic he hadn’t felt since the first time he had overheard the teacher telling his parents he would be better off in the year ahead.

“I’m not going to push you, I'm just curious.” she smiled to reassure him, he thought for a moment.

“University.” He admitted, “I read ahead and the rest of the high school syllabus isn’t any more difficult than this.” he nodded to the work in front of him.

“And you're fine doing easy work for the next year and a half.” she asked, slight concern colouring her words “not bored out of your mind.”

“I’ve been doing it for years,” he said smiling back at her as he felt himself relax, “why quit so close to the end, this way i can stay with Elena and the others, i won’t end up being looked at as the youngest in every class and it’s not completely boring, i enjoy seeing just what it takes for the teachers to start noticing.”

“I guess I don't need to worry about you falling behind.” she laughed a little to herself, he felt his smile fade as he noticed her relax as well.

“I’m sorry that I gave you enough to worry about.” he apologised 

“It’s fine,” she promised, “Elijah you aren’t to blame for your health, things just happen.”

His parents had said the same things, doesn’t mean he didn’t haunt him that the last time he had seen them they were worried, that if he hadn’t had an episode he would have been at the party, could have stopped the argument between Elena and Matt or distracted her so she wouldn’t have needed to call them.

He took a deep breath as he felt a heavyweight return to his heart and turns back to his school work. 

“Hey, what do you plan to do after school?” she asked not long after, he blinked, “as a career.”

“Medical, I want to help people, like dad.” The words came out quickly, he looked back down at his school work to avoid seeing aunt Jenna’s reaction, everyone had always told him he took after his mom more, but he had idealised his dad.

It was something he had wanted since he first learned what dad had done. Over the years he shifted into psychology, if only to understand his own issues and cover them more.

But it was still true, he wanted to help people, and he could do the work, he just had to live past twenty, which his dreams had made clear may be harder than it seemed.

He looked up at the sound of a sniff, and watched with wide eyes as she got up from her work, made her way to him and wrapped him in a hug.

She was warm and it chased away the last of the chill.

“You’re a great kid and they would have been so proud to see you-” whatever else she was going to say was lost as her voice broke and he hugged back, they stayed like that for a moment before she let go and went back to her research.

They settled into a comfortable silence after that, until Elena came down and the pair left for the car wash, leaving him alone downstairs and Jeremy upstairs with Vicki.

He sat in the silence for a moment after he finished and packed away his work before making a decision. 

He wanted a future and he needed to know his past before he could truly work for that.

He couldn’t keep denying it. 

Pretended it wasn’t real hadn’t got him anywhere, this life or the ones before.

He was a Salvatore once, likely twice, he needed to see if it was more than those times, find evidence of the other lives and maybe find the cause of why he remembered them and even why he had these episodes. 

To stop them, to stop worrying his family.

Hopefully they were all at the car wash and he could break in or at least Stefan and Damon would be out and he just has to deal with Zach.

He had had years to work dealing with his cousin, he at least didn’t look exactly the way he did in his memories.

His memories of the last time he had Zach were when he was a teen.

---

“Hi Zach.” Elijah greets as soon as the man opens the door, his bookbag heavy with all his notes of his dream selves, or past selves.

“Elijah, what are you doing here?” the man asks, looking around in concern.

“I want to see your records.” he replied with a disarming smile eyeing the way Zach hand still gripped the door, clearly wanting to shut it.

“Why?” Zach again asked this time casting a worried look back into the house, 

“Extra credit family report,” he lied obviously and used Zach’s confusion to slip past the man and into the house.

“Look i’m sorry Elijah but now isn’t the-” Zach started as he caught up to Elijah in the house after shutting the door.

“It’s fine, it's not like I need you to show me around, right Z?” he smirked, almost begging the man to reveal something, it would be a lot easier on Elijah if someone else already had an idea of what was wrong with him.

“What do you want?” Zach sighed,

“Answers.” he told the man, when Zach didn’t moved just looking at Elijah with an unreadable expression, he nodded and walked away from him towards the library “I’ll find them myself.” he called back.

----

It wasn’t until he got to the library and stared at the collection of books that he realised he was searching for a needle in a haystack, still he quickly made his way to the section he remember where the families journals were kept, and instead of looking for the ones from over a century ago, he looked for the ones just over thirty years before, he found what or whose he was looking for.

His uncle-Zach’s father’s journal, first he had to find the right year, then he began

searching though the dates for the time around his last birth, hoping to find something that could be linked to witchcraft or some kind of supernatural event.

What he did find was that the man he thought was his father in his last life died about ten months before his birth.

He remembered the date, as he served Mr de Martel drinks as he had a guest that stared at him with the same fascination Mr de Martel did.

‘Surely one night can’t hurt, Tristan.’ Mr Castle laughed.

He skipped ahead to his birth to find the answers he hadn’t even been looking for.

The baby was born too late to be my brother’s, it’s likely he’s the result of our poorly thought out moment of grief.

“I’m a bastard.” Elijah muttered to himself, he could feel a burst of bitter amusement that made him want to laugh, an inside joke that he wasn’t aware of the punchline.  “Why do I find that funny?”

He shook it off and continued, 

She named him after Giuseppe’s youngest son with his wife, she tells me it came to her in a dream. I can only hope he fares better than his namesake.

I won’t let my son be buried in an unmarked grave forgotten and unmourned. 

He ignored the grave comment as he did whenever his mind wandered to wonder what happened to his old bodies and focused on the piece before.

‘she tells me it came to her in a dream.’

Once Elena had asked where their names had come from, mom had told him the same.

‘It was a dream, sweetie.’

It seemed he wasn't the only one getting dreams.

He was adding that to his notebook when he heard a scream and footsteps and decided to follow it.

He left the library and made it in time to see Caroline vanish out the door, running like she expected something to be chasing her.

Elijah remembers that panic and fear so well he could almost smell it, Tatia- NO!

Instead the house was almost silent, until he caught the sound of faint muttering and followed it downstairs to the door that led to the cellar.

He froze at the door.

EJ, before he was EJ, when he was little Elijah the orphan raised by his uncle, used to be too scared to go down, would plead for Zach to hold his hand.

Elijah took a breath and forced himself to move, EJ was a life ago, Elijah was different. Beside as he made out one of the voices Zach was already down there.

---

(AN-Zach throughout the entire talk with Elijah praying Stefan would return and remove Elijah and hyper aware that Damon is staving downstairs, so he doesn't really get to take what Elijah's saying in.)