#i was having a bad day yesterday and indy being the lovely guy he is did something very sweet and special for me ❤️

[xstarkillerx]

My dearest, dearest Indy I'm speechless and a mess, you're so good to me, best ever, my favourite always, thank you. 🐇

Him gently bouncing you on his leg 😞❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️, the way he calls you bunny because you're all soft and quiet, INDYYYYYYYYY. Being Brian's little bunny I wanna cry🐇.

"'I got it. Don't worry, I got it.' Sweetly, he rubs his cheek on the top of your head, ending it with an affectionate kiss." I COULD CRUMPLE TO THE FLOOR WHAT DO I EVEN DO.

C'MERE I gotta french you so hard you collapse

NOTES: for @xstarkillerx

You can't conceptualize what's wrong, a combination of things weighing you down as you seek out comfort. BRIAN O'CONNER sits at his work-table, sketching concept designs for the tweaks he'd like Tej to make. He's not a very gifted artist, but he's got the general idea down, at least until you pad onto the scene. As quiet as you are, he's learned your tells, glancing at you after he speaks, "What's up, sweetheart?" he asks, a little curl to his lips at the sight of you rubbing the sleepiness from your eyes. You don't say anything, coming up to his side to fix your hands on his thigh, hoping to silently grab his attention while you wait for him to notice you. It takes him a second, but he does, gazing at you more deliberately this time. You exchange a look, and he adjusts in his seat to accommodate you while you invite yourself onto his lap.

You nestle in, tucking your head under his chin with a sigh. With an arm, he secures you, drawing you into him to get more comfortable himself, he inclines into you, curling his body around you as if you're his centerpiece. Gently, he bounces you on his leg, eyeing the tip of your nose. "S'the matter, bunny? Don't feel like talking?" You're unresponsive, you don't even look at him, and he strokes your back with his big hand. "I got it. Don't worry, I got it." Sweetly, he rubs his cheek on the top of your head, ending it with an affectionate kiss.

[reflectionlike]

A few random scattered comments here and there since I have had the opportunity (unfortunate) to come across the other members of BTS whereabouts.

- I want a new Jimin single. I don’t care if it’s a collaboration, but I would prefer a solo single. Would love to hear some rock or indie vibes from him so that I can combust.

I also want to see him acting in whatever, at least a cameo being the pizza guy, I will take whatever.

-yesterday I saw the trends about Yeontan’s birthday and It made me so nostalgic. One thing I admired so much about TH, is that he loves his dog and seems to be obsessed with him. I would too plaster my dog all over my music project😭

I listened to Slow Dancing and, in my opinion, production wise is a very weak title track. Or it could be that I just don’t vibe with lofi/jazzy music. I don’t see myself giving it another chance. It’s just a boring track, but not because is slow or chill, but because of the production.

Pd. That clip that is doing rounds on the TL of him dancing? Objectively speaking, is trash. I read it was impro? May have stayed put and just move his arms to create a tree moving by the wind with that type of soundtrack. Or should have gone to contemporary. Hah.

-Jungkook bad boy smoking video/pictures? It’s giving rebel 16 years old. But I get him, that’s what he wants to project: Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll (or whatever the Monday, Tuesday song was trying to do). I guess that can appeal to certain demographics. Not exactly sexy or impressive when you can remember the smell and have your friends smoking every single day in front of you, but that’s just me. Plus, Taehyung did it first.

-since I can’t say this in any other place, I will say it here. Namjoon’s hairstyle is god damn awful. Works for military but not for whatever he is trying to pull now, or him in general. I can’t believe I found him attractive back in the days.

-Seokjin and Jhope are in the military so, meh.

-when is Yoongi leaving to the MS? Or are we waiting for an encore of the encore of his tour?

[wrestlezon]

Forbidden Door 2023 PPV: I am now Reviewer Zon

Brought to you by: having thought about & chitchatted about the matches and wanting to collect my thoughts in one place

Overall: I was satiated by the ppv purchase, which is the minimum one can hope for, BUT! I also frequently went "wow! This is incredible!" while watching which exceeded my expectations. I skipped out on Forbidden Door last year because I have only a passing familiarity with njpw, and i didn't end up having regrets about that later. I'm glad I got it this year however, because the matches were good and I think the alternate-universe me who skipped on FB2023 is missing out.

more match by match rambling within:

i missed out on zero hour cuz I was busy u_u

mjf vs tanahashi

it was okay. Nothing stuck out as good or bad. Entirely average, no real takeaway. I also didn't have a takeaway from the swerve vs tanahashi match yesterday either, which is like uhh whoa? because I think swerve is cool and there's usually some sort of cool thing he does with someone in a match. like at least one memorable moment. But I also was kind of busy on Saturday so I could've just missed something. Maybe I'm just not familiar with tanahashi (because: I'm not) and just don't know what's cool about him? I certainly didn't stumble upon any such knowledge in this ppv match or the collision match. (shrug emoji)

I did like his look, and mjf's too, though! black and cyan looked good on mjf :)c

I noticed mjf's antics very transparently in this match, which I didn't mind too much because I usually like his antics. I don't know if it's accurate, but I'm going to pretend that his handshake kick spot is a callback to his indie-mjf days and that that ties in to his whole "njpw is an indie e_e" thing. I'm imagining more depth to this match, to enjoy it more?

Match: Eh

Fun: Okay.

punk vs satoshi kojima

im a huge punk fan and i was really excited for his slowburn descent into heeldom. then he got injured twice in a row and brawl out happened for reals. That was sad. But that was then and this is now, and now I am just very excited to 1) see him back and 2) doing heelish things. I think it is cool for him to get boos. Maybe he'll do a heel thing about it.

Satoshi Kojima seems like a cool old wrestleguy with prestigious history that I'm unaware of. I am vaguely aware that he is or used to be in a tag team called tencozy, but that's the extent of my wrestling knowledge. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him.

I liked punk's roh interview reference because I was wondering if he would reference it in the match somehow and then he did. I enjoyed recognizing it. I also enjoyed his goof at the end about being confused about which tunnel to walk into: the good guy tunnel or the bad guy tunnel. It's a good bit, in part because I think a lot of people have already made a solid opinion about whether or not he's a villain. I hope he keeps teasing about being evil or not, I think it's fun and cool because I think it's entertaining when he's a sarcastic dickhead in the ring. tee hee. cm punk!! hee heeeeee

Match: Okay!

Fun: yaaayy it's punk ha ha yayyyyy

orange vs zack saber jr vs shibata vs garcia

match of the night. match of all time. what a good fucking match. all four of these wrestlers were on the same page and had a shared vision. the funniest men alive and the wrestling was great too. naming all the spots would be a lil silly on my part but: everyone taking turns kicking orange's ass, and the whole zsjr vs shibata thing with garcia were two immediate standouts that made me give this match the seal of bigtime approval before it was even close to ending. And then the ending was also good and not bad. Solid match. Gold standard. Definitely on the rubric to judge all other matches by. I loved this match.

the all atlantic championship is the greatest title in wrestling. The highs are quite high, and I don't think I've been disappointed in a match yet.

Match: Incredible. Holy shit

Fun: HELL YES !!!!

sanada vs jungle boy jack perry

what I know about sanada: not a lot. I know he is a conventionally attractive guy and certain people* have publicly talked, at length, about how kissable he looks. he is in a group called just 5 guys, and is their leader, so I'd assume that makes him the most Guy of all time?

what I know about jungle boy jack perry: he has grown out of having his character being a tarzan from the jungle, which is too bad, because without that he's kind of just A Guy, which is a little boring personality-wise. But he's does have a little bit of style and panache when it comes to wrestling and doing acrobatic moves.

Like the mjf tanahashi match, this one didn't do much for me. I dunno if following the incredible 4way match contributed to it lookin kinda mid or whatnot. But I raised my eyebrow higher at the postmatch stuff than I did anything in the actual match. Curious to see what jungle boy jack perry's next moves are, as I thought they would've built this up more before pulling the trigger on him betraying hook. He certainly has the potential to be interesting as an evil guy, and I hope he can grasp it.

*aka chuck "doesn't everyone have a list of guys from New Japan they'd want to kiss?" taylor

Match: Eh

Fun: yawn

the elite + eddie and iishi vs bcc + takeshita and umino

This match was awesome. I'm a big fan of eddie so I really liked all the angles having to do with eddie: him teaming with the young bucks just to get to claudio, his endless beef with claudio, his relationship with jon moxley. I liked how there were a lot of those and all the bits that involved those angles ruled. The extended trading of chops between moxley and eddie was cool and also funny when other people tried to get involved.

additionally, I think the young bucks are alright but they did a lot of moves in this match that made me go "oh shit!!! that was fucking cool!!!" and I can definitely see why people are big fans of the young bucks because of that.

I especially liked the ending because while eddie sabotaged the elite a bit in the match, it was his guy that won it for them in the end. the elite are a little mad, but also concerned, and eddie's brushing them off. it's all very good. I love eddie.

Match: Wow!

Fun: YES!!!

toni storm vs willow nightingale

I needed to collect myself after the previous match, I don't like the antics of the outsiders or toni storm, and I figured they wouldn't let willow have the aew women's championship in addition to the njpw strong(?) championship anyway. All these points contributed to me not focusing on this match, at all. Sorry Willow :(

Match: sorry

Fun: not really...

will ospreay vs kenny omega

what I know about these two is that they're both top-tier proficient wrestlers who are best when they're up against another proficient wrestler they can go full tilt against. And they did indeed go full tilt in this match. It was a long match full of back to back violences. I swear the end was just them exchanging finishers on each other and hanging on by a thread.

The match was very intense and materially good but here's the thing about that: I am a huge fucking weenie and it's actually too stressful for me. Also I yelped with actual irl concern when ospreay dropped kenny right on his head (was that by mistake or... is... that how you're supposed to do that move...?? Ospreay is so aggro by default I can't tell the difference). Mistake or not, the rest of the match was them out to kill each other anyway, so... Yeah.

Also! I dont know enough about either of these two's wrestle-histories to find the fun in the details and references. Only in the presence of learned Kenny Omega Experts did I nod, with only the barest of understanding, at the kamigoye implications. I am familiar with how protected one winged angel is and the connotations, so when I saw ospreay set it up I was like O_O!? NO WAY but the kickout at one was simultaneously a WHOA and a Phew... But it's like, not a fun kind of stress? Maybe it's because I'm also not really a fan of ospreay :/

Double also, and I do think this is personally interesting to consider the distinction here, but the way I go "grr, you nefarious heel!" at someone like punk or cage and the way I go "grr, you nefarious heel!" at don callis is totally different and I cant pin down why. I don't find it fun to hate on Don Callis for whatever reason, I just think he's dastardly! My suspension of disbelief breaks, and instead of enjoying the narrative I am left grumpy. Like come on, how can he get away with returning to the ring after being thrown out! Sure, the ref might have been preoccupied making sure these two competitors were still breathing, but still... grr! Is that not DQ worthy!? It is his job to be hated, and I do hate him, beyond all logic and reason. I also got genuinely peeved when I watched that orange vs pac vs omega match from way back when and him cheating was the reason omega won. Even though it's predetermined or whatever, still, I'm like: augh!!! No!!! I guess it's a testament to his heelish ability to work me through my various layers of detached irony. But it's not fun. Hmph!!! I'm still hung up on him returning after being kicked out!! Ugh!!! Boo!!!!!

(this is probably exactly how people feel about punk too, now that i think about it. lmao. I wonder how that works...)

Match: Holy shit! Intense!! O_O

Fun: No :(

sting, darby, and tetsuya naito vs jericho, sammy, and minoru suzuki

I actually tuned this whole match out because I was recovering from the previous one. Not even a single brain cell left to process this. That being said, I did end up rewatching it the next day.

I do not care for sammy or darby in general, and this match did not change that. I liked tetsuya naito being a goof at sammy in the beginning, if his character is this slow/casual/lazy disrespect I think that's really cool! Minoru Suzuki is just a total badass and I'm so glad he got a "murder grandpa" chant from the crowd lmaooo. Jericho was funny, jumping excitedly for suzuki to tag him in and his sting yell impression bit shortly after. Sting was cool, I hope he didn't get too hurt from the table spot because I thought it was strange he just hobbled away during the jericho-naito pin fall attempt instead of doing something about that.

Match: tis alright

Fun: a little, actually! yeah!

bryan danielson vs kazuchika okada

the big main event. The big serious main event. Because it's going to be so serious, I will point out that the part of intro vid where danielson is on a mountain and looking at the wrestling footage in the sky was really really funny and made me laugh.

The handful of brain cells I had recovered by ignoring the previous match were immediately burned up by the time danielson's entrance finished. I can't believe they got the song. Anyway, I was too burned out from all the wrestling to process this match (I remember a lot of dropkicks, and I didn't expect the finish) so I rewatched it again the next day.

There were indeed a bunch of dropkicks, and they were cool! This is a very wrestle heavy match where a lot of wrestling took place. I usually appreciate shenanigans and there weren't a whole lot of those in here, but that's fine, I still found things to enjoy (like danielson returning a dropkick to okada on the outside of the ring after he got 2x dropkicked?) This match was intense like ospreay vs omega, but unlike that one it was less stressful because it was more grapple-heavy and that's less risky looking to me. Also, I like both danielson and okada. Double also, this match was not as long as ospreay vs omega so it did not wear me out.

I've seen only a handful of recent okada matches and im a fan for when he goes sicko mode and looks like :| and starts overkill kicking people. He kinda had one of those moments in the match I think, which was cool! I also didn't realize how tall he was until he walked danielson back to the middle of the ring.

Danielson loves to sell. He will find any excuse to sell. I think i remember reading something about him thinking it's really funny to trick people and tell lies (and also dramatically sell fake injuries), which checks out because when his foot got stuck in that ramp that one time a whole back he toooootally seized the opportunity to pretend he was greviously injured. Anyway, that's all to say that he also pulled that in this match, which I think would probably come of as kinda weird and maybe off-putting if you were watching it in real time. But with the hindsight superpowers afforded to me by watching the match later I know his arm got injured at some point so I guess he did that seizure bit so he can sell his arm being incapacitated to the crowd? Thinking about it from that angle, I think its pretty cool that danielson and okada were adaptable enough to change the end section of their match to account for it. I will just continue to hope and assume every scary injury I see from danielson in the moment is just him overly selling. <:)

Match: they put the "professional" in "professional wrestling"

Fun: sure!

--

Anyway that's all my words about wrestling! I hope you also enjoyed the ppv, or at least had fun bits you liked from it. It was a lot of wrestling to watch! I wish we got Adam Cole vs Tom Lawlor, but hey, stuff happens. Apparently Cole was running a fever? I hope he gets well soon!

[otsukare-katsukare]

i was going down a rabbit hole yesterday about el generico's first true nemesis/hater, "Shooter" Jay Doring. and it was kind of a wonderful experience if i can explain it to you. doring used to be one of the writers for a site called TheSmartMarks.com and they were exactly what it says on the tin. smarrrrky indie wrestling fans who recapped and reviewed matches that otherwise have almost no remaining online record, particularly back in the 00s. and one time they reviewed an IWS show in 2003, and both the writers but especially jay doring, for whatever reason, utterly despised el generico. called him a "yardtard" about fifty times, complained about him being a spot monkey, not selling, botching, dumb/unprofessional look, the works.

i found this review through reading the works of the far better remembered Llakor, who referenced the "yardtard" comment as an illustrative point about generico's furiously dedicated fanbase. they were beside themselves with outrage at Doring, to the point of chanting "fuck shooter jay" at matches where he was, i assume, not even present, just cause this asshole had the audacity to come for el generico.

i read the review, and thought fucking yikes cause it was so so bad, but it also made me laugh just cause some of the things it says were very funny in light of where generico would end up by comparison with literally everyone else referenced in the piece, and thinking about that while reading doring's furious comments about how worthless scum like generico are worst indie wrestling has to offer, that they need to STOP pushing this guy who's clearly only over because of his Bouncing Souls theme music, was just pretty entertaining in its own right. and hey, for all i know, generico may well have not been at his best at that time, or even just on that day, he had literally only just started after all. i highly doubt he was as bad as doring makes him out to be, but just the notion of him having such a vitriolic hater that early on, felt narratively kind of appropriate.

and then i went and found more, and discovered to my delight that the story doesn't end at that review. there's one from later the same year, where shooter jay's tone is still sardonic, but much more conciliatory, acknowledging the nuclear heat his takedown earned him from the IWS community up to and including many death threats (not cool guys) and the fact that it reportedly made a young bright-eyed generico cry (death's too good for him, actually). and then he gets to the match, and what do you know it? he loves it. "I take back every bad thing i ever said about generico" he says, acknowledging that maybe his curmudgeonly "stupid anal-retentive Net geek whiny bullshit" isn't the best way to have fun at a wrestling show anyway. fast forward a few months, and generico makes it onto his top bumps of 2023 list because of course he does ("while I won't ever live down the disses I laid on Generico, anyone who wants to kill himself so willingly for his craft gets respect from me")

the iws generico trail kind of goes cold at this point but you get the idea. and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on a few levels. firstly i love adding to the repertoire of "sami/generico wins the respect of a hater through sheer brute force" both in kayfabe and shoot scenarios. secondly, just the idea of this much passion being shared around, even if it's negative, over this little wrestling promotion in 2003 that nobody anticipated housing at least one future huge star, the idea of everyone involved being in the know and bouncing all those intense feelings back and forth, online and at shows... and thirdly, just cause really old online ephemera that's somehow managed to not get swallowed by the void, that captures a moment in time, makes me weirdly emotional. thank you jay doring.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Sat 29 May ‘21

Production director Krupa, who does tech as part of Louis’ live team, posted a video captioned “won’t be long now” showing a banner with Louis’ smiley on it behind a drumset, with voices audible behind the camera; seems like it was old, from the tour shows that happened in 2020, but we know LT Tour ‘22 is on everyone’s minds behind the scenes with pieces very much currently in the process of being shuffled and arranged and tickets being sold, so it makes sense people are posting about it even though it’s so far away. Anyway does the voice in the video say “Styles when I start the video don’t laugh”? It does sound like it but whoever is there doesn’t laugh and is pretty much inaudible so we’ll never really know who it was but fans ask; why is this yet another example of someone associated with Louis who doesn’t follow any of the other 1D boys (and why would they) except… Harry? hmmm. Well, regardless of that if the voice in the video really finishes up by yelling “bukkake” we don’t want to dig ANY further into THAT but I will choose to believe they are instead yelling “we’re cocky” cause well, they ARE! What are they doing here! Plus then we don’t have to uh get into that other thing (bukkake). Krupa, enjoying the response to all that, then posted a picture of the bass drum head with Doncaster postcode taped on that had been used on tour. Robert Harvey (the songwriter from yesterday) is also enjoying the high of Louis-related posting and fan attention and charmingly joked about people being there to see his workout content.

“You don’t see a lot of Nialls around,” said Niall, who is in business with a guy named Niall Horgan, while being interviewed by a guy named Niall Grey, and shares some of the ways people say his name- “Neil, Noel, Nigel,Howoon, Heran”, plus “some of the lads call me Nelly”. He also said he’s “in the studio again, writing the third album and this is feeling really good. Hopefully I can get it out, I don’t really know when. When the world is all vaccinated & ready to go, I’ll probably try and get out on the road again” (and he says he was in the studio yesterday, how does he have TIME with all the promo?) In today’s entry into the tell all we’re compiling one sentence at a time over years, Niall says that the reason he just sat there during the whole “pregnant lady going into labor” nickelodeon prank (played on a young 1D for televised laughs, HAHA watch Harry stress the fuck out-- hilarious! :| ) was that he realized it wasn’t real right off (and that he went and spoke to someone who told him to get back in there), but to be fair is it tell all material given that he says right in the original video post-reveal part that he knew? He also said, “I'm pretty carefree, I care less now. I used to be really agitated and wanted to be doing stuff all the time and it [2020] really gave me an opportunity to step back from things. You didn't have to be moving all the time to be yourself,” and that yes he DID spend some time with his special friend (Amelia) during quarantine, “we have been doing a lot of cooking, it made lockdown a lot simpler... I think I would have gone mad on my own,” and “it was good to be at home and chill out, I feel bad saying that with all that's going on in the world but it was a nice thing.” Anne Marie said about the video “I was driving because back in the day, there wasn't a lot of pictures of women driving a car. So I took the control- we did nearly die. It was all hills and stuff, going round the corner of a hill, and I couldn't turn it, so we nearly died” and “I LOVE US,” and Niall said "if you don't like it, don't listen to it" about the single; StreamOurSong trended.

And an unseen picture of Harry from his shoot with Tim Walker was posted; he’s sprouting from earth like a beautiful flower, just like the ones he is draped in, fantastic! And museums are reopening to display Harry’s clothes all over the place; first the grammy museum, now the Victoria and Albert in London has at last reopened their doors, allowing the masses in to see the famous JW Anderson patchwork cardigan in the, uh, wool. Everyone wants some of that Harry Styles™ magic for their business! Even indie rock musicians; duo Bachelor’s new music video is all about getting some of that Harry magic for themselves. The two play exaggerated caricatures of harries, who happen upon someone they mistake for Harry and kidnap him and keep him in their basement (where they force him to sing Stockholm Syndrome repeatedly? No! Truly a missed opportunity, disappointing). The video is “about the dark side of fandom” they say, SIGH. Well, they may have portrayed fandom in the worst possible light, but at least they threw some money at the women they were condescendingly mocking while they were at it, their fan made product budget must have been huge-- like c’mon, just those redbubble bedspreads cost a fortune! 

[1ddotdhq]

💿Sun 13 Dec ‘20💙

Happy Birthday, Fine Line! Have a Louis show! (Seriously, why can’t I get cool shows for my birthday like that??). So today’s been a busy week, huh? 

It is, of course, Fine Line’s anniversary, and the celebration kicked off last night, with a twitter emoji (it's Harrrry! Doing the FL pose so so tiny!) and the DYKWYA website changing. It’s pink and black and blue and white, and now tells us that we’re “loyal” and “marvelous” and “memorable” and “powerful” and “rare” and “real” and “staying six feet apart” (or 70 other lovely options). So either HSHQ got their thesaurus out, or they tuned into Louis’ show last night, because that’s EXACTLY how I would describe it. Anyways, the day started with a Harry sighting! Well, a video from last week that is, of him doing a MakeaWish FaceTime in a blue snapback. And then there was a Harry Lambert interview, where he directly addressed the discourse around Harry’s fashion choices, saying, “Harry will never wear something that he doesn’t want to wear...I always say, 'I‘m not doing my job if I’m making someone wear things' because I just think if someone gets comfortable in what they’re wearing, then it doesn’t matter if I think it looks good.” He went on to say, “There’s never an element of me forcing him to wear anything”. So - TAKE THAT, transphobes! We all recognize that saying “the mean gay man is making Harry look gay/genderqueer” is, uh, a REALLY bad take, right? Anyways, hopefully that’s the end of it, but we all know it won’t be. He also told us that Harry chose the (fake) pearls, asking “can I just wear these every day?” and they were only replaced with real ones after that strand broke, that he tried to get H out of the Vans for the Golden vid but he said nah, and about the Golden and WS videos “I kind of saw it as the same man just in a different place in the world” which, well- yeah? But the implication that that man was not Harry is interesting. Aside from that, we got some more terrible merch from HSHQ (including a shirt that is a glove with legs stuck on it, wtf), a few celebratory tweets from HSHQ, The Forum, Jeff Azoff (there's a theme here lol) etc, AND! A post from Harry himself: “I couldn’t be more grateful for you all continually finding new ways to change my life. Thank you for listening, and for everything else. I love you always, but especially today. H”. What? That’s his name, isn’t it? 

But, of course, H wasn’t the only one celebrating online today! Louis came back and answered some of our questions about the show. The first is that he sold over - are you ready for this? - OVER 160,000 tickets for the show, making it the biggest online show of 2020 by a solo male artist, and the third largest overall of the year. Even the Sun had to admit how “exceptional” that is, describing the show as "the equivalent of eight nights at London’s O2 Arena." Doing the math, this means he raised over $3.1 million from ticket sales alone! HOLY SHIT! Hearing that, Louis came on twitter to say (in reply to a quote by his PR company lmao), “This is truly incredible. No major label, no radio, yet here we are. The feeling of support I get from you all every time I do something is unbelievable. Forever Thankful! And they never see us coming!”. Of course, this incited another round of label discourse, wondering if this means he is still an unsigned artist. Does this simply mean the livestream wasn't put on by a label, yes, does Louis absolutely know about the discourse and is he being deliberate, I would also say unmistakeably yes. Which is not to say we know ELSE it might mean -- is he signed to an indie? Still label shopping and waving how much more they need him than vice versa in the hopefuls' faces? Signed but the contract doesn't start until there's a record in play (which when you negotiate your own contract and establish artistic freedom, as we can be very sure was Louis' priority, is what labels DO - they don’t manage every aspect of an artists career)? Signed by a major label, but shading the FUCK out of Syco about radio play for Walls? What we DO know is that it wasn't a label that put the livestream on, and damn if that doesn’t make it 1000% more badass. “Memorable”, “powerful”, and “rare” indeed! He’s still early in the process of LT2, as he told us yesterday, so we might have to wait a little longer to figure out what’s happening business-wise, but he made sure to tell everyone that his fans were an integral part of his processing the most inspiring way possible: “the power and the magic comes from the people you guys,” I COULD CRY that's MY inspirational leader THANK YOU. He goes on to say “don't undermine your role in all this... together with your support we're unstoppable!” He also called us “fucking relentless” (god knows that's true) as Walls hit the charts AGAIN, and talked about how the money raised will go a long way. “WE did that!!”

And with that, let’s talk a little bit more about last night’s (���bold”, “extraordinary”) show! ‘‘Copy’ is making its rounds on the internet, but YouTube continues to take down recordings of the show, which SUCKS, because everyone should be able to see it! Maybe in a few days when some time has passed, they’ll let it go up without an issue, or maybe they'll answer our pleas (come through one more time Louis!) and put out a DVD (and live album too how about, YES? Yes.), til then there are the downloads going around tumblr! Good thing we got Louis' seal of approval or just imagine the discourse. The ‘H’ shirt Louis was wearing last night is a Reebok shirt, which was being distributed in a few different places, such one where you could get a discount if you used the code ‘HL40’ and another where it was $28, lol. Was it the loudest Louis shirt ever- I mean I would say an unqualified NO but many are voting YES and are reeling so that's really fun! Welcome to the gang guys. Not likely to win any awards for being loud with such incredible competition but still very good SBBing-- Louis was wearing a stuffed bear t shirt in rehearsal pics. When you know you know, I guess! ;) The band is also soaking in the praises (as they should!) and have been re-posting fans’ stories on Instagram all day (as did LTHQ) - cheers, boys! 

Today’s Liam and Roman alarm was ALL us (well, not allll us, Roman did explain that the alarms would feature fans every Sunday, but then he handed the mic over). “Waking up to Liam and Roman is the best thing EVER! I don’t know why it gives me so much serotonin,” said one fan. I do! It’s because Liam is a real, live puppy dog and he’s so genuinely sweet to his fans. Love him lots, but I love him even MORE when he’s ON the advent alarm!

[vintagedolan]

mixtape | track fourteen

| masterlist | faceclaims | playlist |

“Today’s lecture is on end of life. Death. Passing. However you want to refer to it, it’s about the process of a human being who was here, not being here anymore. And it’s particularly about your role in helping them go peacefully.”

Indy swallowed hard. 

The wound was still fresh. It didn’t matter that it was May. Bekah’s funeral could have been just yesterday. She could see the wood grain of the podium she’d delivered the eulogy at in front of her if she closed her eyes for a few seconds too long. 

Instead, she looked forward, found her professor in the front of the lecture hall. Dr. Ginn. A quirky woman, who seemed determined to live up to Indy’s first impression as she climbed onto her desk and sat with her clicker in her hand, legs criss-cross. 

“Now. Doctors and death, they don’t mix. If I had to guess, a doctor’s worst fear is death. They spend their whole lives fighting it. But nurses? We’re different.”

Indy liked the sound of we.

“For us, the priorities shift. As nurses, your job is just as much to push epi as it is to hold someone’s hand. And you are the one that makes that call. You are the last comfort that a lot of people have in their lives. You are the backbone for the family, for the friends who are there to say goodbye. And you are there to make sure your patient goes as peacefully as they can. That is the most important part of your job, hands down. And if that’s not something you can see yourself doing, then you need to rethink and probably change your career.”

The hall was silent apart from the clicking of laptop keys.

“Now. On that lovely note, let’s get started. A code blue, or as I call it, an ‘oh shit’...” 

A message notification appeared on the right corner of Indy’s screen as she opened her notes.

Coffee after class?

Indy smiled, and in lieu of listening for a moment, she let her mind wander back to February...

Grayson was really trying. But it was hard to break habits that he’d been so comfortable with since the first day that he met Indiana. It took so much mental effort to not hold her hand, to not brush her hair behind her ear - so much that Indy nudged him in the side as they walked.

“Where’d you go?”

“Sorry, just thinking.”

She had a good guess of what he was thinking about, or more specifically what he was waiting for.

An answer.

Indy could hear Nicole in her mind, telling her to be careful, to be careful with her heart. She thought of what her mother would say if she met Grayson as she walked beside him on the sidewalk. It kept her mind busy until they got to the familiar door that Grayson pulled open for her. If nothing else made sense, at least there was always Jet’s, with it’s comforting constant vanilla smell and that favorite blue chair that Indy beelined for while Gray went to the counter. 

Patrick looked ready to commit murder when he realized who was ordering, but Indy shot him a smile from across the store that softened him up just enough for Grayson to make it out with their coffees unscathed. 

“So he definitely hates my guts,” Gray mumbled as he sat down, making sure his back was to the bar. 

“He’s a protective one, you know this,” Indy teased as she sipped her coffee. 

“How soon did you start working here again after… after I left.”

“I gave myself a couple days. I definitely wasn’t at my peak on my first day if that’s what you’re asking.” She let out a dry chuckle. 

“Did you start here or the hospital first?”

“Same time. The tech job kinda fell in my lap, and I needed the money for rent. I only really came back here so I could afford therapy. They have a benefits package for all their employees.”

Grayson froze, but his cup quivered in his hand as he shook.

“I… because of…”

“No, no no, not because of you. I mean, I did talk about the stuff going on with her cause we’ve been having sessions but I was planning on going since graduation. I wanted to get a handle on the whole flying thing.”

The reason went unspoken, and Grayson’s hands didn’t stop shaking, though his breathing came a bit easier. 

“Is it going okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, haven’t really been on a plane to test anything out. But I did better than I thought I would when you were flying out, considering. So that’s a good sign. And my therapist is really nice, we’re a pretty good match.” 

“Good. That’s good.” It wasn’t lost on him what it meant that she still cared that he was on a plane. Hope riled in his belly and he beat it back down as best he could. 

There was a lull that was filled with the sounds of coffee beans grinding until Indy spoke up again.

“What have you been up to out in LA?”

Grayson swallowed. He looked at her quickly, her soft smile that made him feel like he could tell her anything, no matter how embarrassing it was.

“Honestly? I did fuck all. I mean, I did the basics I guess, with the companies and stuff. But I kinda let the misery have me. You did a hell of a lot better than me, that’s for damn sure.”

“I wasn’t doing great, believe me.”

“But at least you were trying,” he sighed, running a hand over his face. “And I caused all this, I didn’t really have an excuse.”

“It’s in the past now. Nothing we can do to change it.”

“For the record, I wish I could. More than anything.”

“I know.”

“I really am sorry Dee. I know it’s not enough, but I am.”

“I know that too.”

The next beat of silence was painful, and it took a moment for Grayson to realize that it was now or never. 

“Remember how bad our first date went? How I had that whole plan that just totally didn’t work?”

“The thunderstorm. I remember.” It made her smile, and she could picture every frame of it, from the ocean hallway to the remnants of apple juice on his lips.

“And I told you I was gonna save the real date for later.”

Indy nodded.

“Could we… can I do it now? Can I take you on a date?”

The thought brought butterflies to Indy’s stomach, but she blamed it on the coffee.

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice. What did you have in mind?”

“I’ll show you. Technically Jet’s was first on the list anyways, but the next part is a surprise.”

With that, she stood up and followed him out into the street.

They started their walk separate, but it only took a moment for Indy to grab onto Grayson’s hand. He told himself it was out of necessity so they didn’t get split up in a feeble attempt to keep his hopes from getting away from him. Still, his stomach fluttered high above the pavement as they enjoyed the setting sun and willfully ignored the chill of the wind whipping around the buildings of the city. Eventually, his plan unfolded when they reached the entrance of the Highline. It was one of Indy’s favorite places in the city, but she knew she’d never told Grayson that. He just knew her well enough it seemed. 

They walked in peaceful silence for a while, hands squeezed tight against one another’s despite the lull in the foot traffic.

Indy smiled at their luck when they finally found an empty bench with a nice view of the skyline. She tugged Grayson over to it and kept her eyes forward for a moment before she looked over at him. His eyes were on the sky, skin flushed pink from the pigment on the clouds or the chill of the wind, she couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. He was beautiful, and he was hers if she wanted him.

Across the walkway, a young girl walked with her mom, who had a baby carrier strapped to her chest with a head of fuzzy hair just visible within it. The mom was rushing it seemed, and Indy realized the baby was crying loudly, sharp wails that became more audible as they passed by. The girl was dragging a small lion stuffed animal behind her, and Grayson watched as it slipped out of her hands and onto the concrete. 

“Joey! Momma, momma I dropped Joey! Joey!” The girl cried out, but her mom continued to tug her along as she reached back for her lion. 

Grayson was on his feet before Indy could say a word, jogging by and scooping up the small stuffed animal. He politely tapped the mother on the shoulder to get her to stop, then squatted down to the girl.

“Is this Joey?”

She nodded, her eyes brimming with tears as she held her hand out for her toy. He passed it over slowly with a smile.

“Hold on tight to him okay?”

“Okay mister,” she said, voice high and quiet.

And right then, Indy saw everything she ever wanted. She saw her kids, with Grayson’s hair and Grayson’s eyes and Grayson’s laugh, she could see him carrying them up to bed, see him dancing with a little girl standing on his toes in their kitchen somewhere, see him passing her a little stuffed animal. She could see him in every facet of the future she hadn’t let herself imagine since he’d left, but her fantasies came rushing back so fast it felt like she was floating.

As if she could ever want anyone else.

She reached over for his hand as he walked back over, intertwining their fingers and letting him sit down before she finally spoke.

“I love this city. I love this city so much. It’s always been all I really needed.” 

Grayson felt lightheaded as he prepared himself for what she was going to say. 

“I know,” was all he could say.

Indy took a deep breath and turned towards Grayson with a soft smile. She could see the apprehension in his eyes as he waited for her to say something else.

“Did I tell you that Devin came to see me while you were gone?”

He shook his head. 

“He came to check on me, since I wasn’t answering anyone.”

Grayson’s throat was tight as he pictured it in his head, the guilt overwhelming him. He reached over and squeezed her knee - a silent apology. 

“He helped me figure out that I want to go into nursing, helped me get my head on straight.”

“He’s a smart guy,” Grayson said quietly. 

“He told me I need to go for what I want. ‘Ask yourself what you really want the rest of your life to look like, and then do whatever you have to to get there’. That’s what he said. And I thought that’s what I was doing. I was going after a PhD, and my life in New York, and all these things I always wanted. Things I thought were really important. But they aren’t.”

He frowned. “Dee, your dreams are important.” 

“I know, I know, and I’m not saying I’m giving up on that. I just mean my priorities I guess. I had them twisted, and I was missing the most important thing.” 

She smiled his favorite smile as he tried to swallow.

He couldn’t make himself ask, just in case he was wrong, but she put him out of his misery after a moment.

“You. You’re the most important thing.” 

She was suddenly blurry as his eyes filled with tears.

“I’ve never been good at change, but you’re worth it to me. If being with you means spending less time in New York, then it’s worth it. And I’m sorry if I ever made it seem like you weren’t.” She was crying too, and Grayson lifted his free hand to her cheek, wiping each tear with his thumb.

“Never. You never made me feel like that. I was the one that ran, because I never wanted you to feel like you ever had to give up anything for me.” 

“Because you don’t realize that you’re worth giving things up for. You don’t realize how worth loving you are.”

He was fully crying now, a broken laugh making it’s way past his lips.

“Does that mean you still love me?”

She smiled.

“Never stopped.”

And she kissed him, and all was right in the world again for a moment. It didn’t matter that there were people walking by, and that their cheeks were wet from their tears. They were kissing and that meant that everything would be okay.

Any stranger that walked by surely had to feel the relief in the air when they pulled back and realized they could lean right back in without a single care in the world. He let go of her hand only to move it to her other cheek, to hold her steady there cradled in his palms as she kissed him between smiles - his whole world in his hands.

In that moment, he wanted more than anything to love her loud. 

He pulled back just enough to bring her up to her feet and then his arms were wrapped around her waist, spinning her around until she was breathless and the city was a blur behind both their eyes. And for the first time that he could remember in too many years to count, he didn’t care who could hear him, and he didn’t care who was watching. 

“I love you,” he said. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. I missed you.”

Being back in each other’s arms was as easy as breathing. She didn’t stray an inch from his side, soaking in the warmth of his body next to hers as they made their way down from the highline as the city started to light up. By the time they made it home her toes were numb from the cold but her cheeks were still warm, seeing that every time they had to wait for a crosswalk Grayson ducked down to kiss her again.

When they got to the lobby, Grayson squeezed her hand.

“I gotta get something out of the truck, I’ll be right back.”

“You want me to wait here or head on up?”

He pondered it for a minute.

“Wait for me.”

She nodded. She always waited for him, after all. 

He disappeared out of the glass doors at a jog and Indy heard a chuckle from the side of the lobby. She looked over to see the receptionist smiling down at her computer. Indy prided herself on being a very low maintenance tenant, but she still smiled and waved to the woman behind the counter whenever she passed by. Her name tag read Cara in neat white letters. 

“Sorry if we were loud,” Indy said sheepishly. Cara laughed. 

“Just happy to see you smiling that’s all. I’m glad he’s back.”

Indy blushed bright red before she answered. “Yeah. Me too.”

Grayson was slightly winded when he came back, and he was grateful for the long elevator ride as he held the small gift bag in his hand. Indy pretended she didn’t see it like her mom had always taught her to when she received a gift. Still, her eyes flickered to it each time she knew she could get away with it, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

When they finally got inside the apartment he led her over to the living room by the hand and passed her the bag.

“I didn’t know how today was going to go, but I wanted you to have this either way. Figured you could put it on your shelf. When you’re ready.”

Indy pulled the tissue paper out and saw the rose gold edge of a picture frame. She pulled it out and her breath caught in her throat.

“Oh.”

Bekah was smiling. 

It warmed the whole image in a way that had Indy’s eyes burning as she tried to place the day. She was curled up on the bed next to Beks, but she wasn’t looking at the camera. Instead, she was looking at the girl beside her. Her little sister in a way, who was tucked away under her halloween blanket. 

“That’s the night we had the word search tournament, and you both schooled me,” Grayson explained quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist and squeezing at her hip under her sweatshirt. She remembered then, noticed the activity book in the corner of the picture. 

“I didn’t even know you took this.”

“I know you like pictures, I meant to take more of you guys. But I like her smile in this one. Yours too.”

Indy sniffled and leaned her head back onto Grayson’s shoulder. “You’ve made me cry twice now you know.”

He kissed her temple and moved a hand to her forearm.

S-O-R-R-Y

He drew a heart afterwards, and even invisible on her skin she could tell it was lopsided. It made her smile, and she soaked in the feeling of him next to her for a moment before she spun around to kiss him. 

“Thank you,” she whispered against his lips before pulling him in for a tight hug that had her up on her tiptoes when he wrapped her up. They held each other for a moment before Indy got an idea.

“I have something for you too. Wait here.”

Grayson kept his hands on her waist, thumbs rubbing over her skin underneath her sweatshirt. 

“Stay,” he pouted.

“It’ll just take a second, I promise. Just wait here.”

She kissed him quickly just because she could and disappeared into the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her. 

He lasted about 45 seconds before he was picking at his fingernails. Then he was taking a few steps towards the door, fighting the urge to stick his ear up to it to see if he could get a hint at what she was doing. 

Another minute passed, and he felt like he was going to lose it.

“Indyyyy,” he whined. “You’re killin’ me babe.”

“You’re so dramatic oh my god it’s been like a minute tops.”

“One minute too long,” he teased just in hopes of making her laugh. It warmed his heart to hear it, even muffled through the door. It still felt like an eternity before she finally reappeared with her hands behind her back. 

“You know, you didn’t need to get me anything. Having you back is more than I deserve already.”

Indy’s laugh was louder this time since she was right in front of him.

“Who knew a Jersey boy could be so damn sappy,” she teased. “I don’t have a frame or anything, but here.”

She pulled out a piece of paper and passed it to him quickly, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet while she waited for him to read it. It felt like an eternity while she watched his eyes scan over the letters, seemingly missing the UCLA logo in the top corner.

“Did you… are you reading? Did you see it?”

Grayson looked up with a smile and drew a circle in the air around his face.

“Dyslexic,” he reminded her gently.

She bit her lip and tried her hardest to be patient, waiting until his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Wait… wait. What is this? UCLA? Nursing?” He looked up at her cautiously, trying to keep his excitement in check in case he’d misread. “What is this?”

“Well. There’s a lot of good nursing programs out there. And LA has some top notch hospitals too. Especially pediatric ones. Figured it couldn’t hurt to apply, and they’ve got a pretty good tuition coverage package, it’s close to your house, and-”

Grayson’s lips were on hers, his excitement palpable.

She kissed him back with a smile, relieved to finally tell someone about the grand plan she’d made in her head now that all the pieces had come together. 

“You’re sure?”

Indiana smiled. “You’re worth it. You’re what I want, forever.”

He kissed her again, making up for lost time and telling her everything he couldn’t find the words for. They walked backwards until the back of his legs hit the couch and she ended up crawling onto his lap, beaming down at him when they finally broke apart.

“You’re actually coming to LA. We’re gonna live there.”

“Guess I gotta start apartment shopping,” she mused.

Grayson rolled his eyes. “Shut up and c’mere.” 

He bailed them to the side until Indy was fully on top of him.

“I’ll build you a shelf for our bedroom. Fuck, I’ll build you 50 shelves as soon as we get there. Wait when do classes start, when do you have to move?”

“You’re cute when you’re excited,” she hummed, leaning down to kiss him again. It was slow and purposeful, warm in that familiar way as they remembered each other fully. “We’ll figure it all out,” Indy said eventually, scooting down his torso until her head could rest comfortably on his chest. She listened to his heart beat, a bit fast from either her presence or the coffee, she couldn’t tell. Either way, it was still her favorite sound, and as his hand moved through her hair gently, she knew she’d made the right choice, no matter where it took her. 

3 months later, the place it took her was the passenger seat of Grayson’s brand new tesla, which was delightfully cool despite the warmth of the incoming summer making the LA air dry and warm. Grayson held out a hand for her to pass her backpack, tossing it into the backseat as if it wasn’t weighed down with three textbooks. She pulled the door closed behind her and let her head rest back against the seat for a moment before she turned to him.

“Hi.”

He beamed, leaning over the console to give her a quick kiss. “Hey. Good day?”

“Long day, but yeah, it was fine. Got a shit ton of assignments per usual.”

“Hey, three day weekend next week though, and we’re going to New York. What’d you learn?”

“Oh you know, the usual. Meds, codes, diseases, death. Truly uplifting stuff.”

He reached his hand over to her thigh, rubbing circles with his thumb as his other hand moved the wheel effortlessly, pulling back out onto the road.

“Still want coffee? You didn’t answer.”

“Do I ever say no to coffee?”

“Fair points. Text E squared and see if they want anything.”

“They weren’t home?”

“No, they ran to the store, but they should be back by the time we get there.”

“If Eden went to Target without me I’m gonna be pissed,” Indy mumbled halfheartedly, typing out the text in their group chat quickly. “You know she’s gonna say she wants Jet’s.”

“Believe me I know, just ask Ethan. You’ve created a monster. We’ve gotta start asking Patrick to send beans in bulk or something, we go through them so fast now that she drinks it too.”

Indy just laughed and turned up the radio, unsurprised to hear Cudi from Grayson’s playlist he’d made for their car rides. It was routine now for him to pick her up from class, save her from the hassle of trying to find parking on campus. And it gave them some more alone time considering they lived with Ethan and Eden at the house. So, it wasn’t abnormal for Grayson to happily add 20 minutes to the drive to pick up coffee on the way home. Purdy’s was right down the street after all, and though their lattes weren’t quite as perfect as Jet’s, they held their own. 

“We should buy Patrick some fancy beans somewhere and take them with us next weekend,” Grayson mused. 

“You’re such a suck up, it’s not like he’s giving us free coffee,” Indy laughed. “You’re just still scared of him.”

“Fuck yeah I am! Every time we’ve gone home he looks like he wants to straight up murder me.”

She reached over to hold his cheek for a moment as she bit back her laugh.

“Baby. Patrick can barely lift a 50 pound box of syrup. Believe it or not, I think you could take him.”

He rolled his eyes but the comment wasn’t lost on his ego, especially when his girl leaned over to wrap her arm around his bicep and rest her cheek on it, enjoying the feeling of his bare skin left behind by his tank top. They ordered through the drive thru, surprised when neither Eden or Ethan responded to them. The car was peaceful, even more so when Grayson put it on autopilot and gave Indy more of his attention, trying to ease the stress he could feel coming off of her like it always did when she got out of class. 

“Tell me about your lecture,” he said, hoping talking it through would help her.

She sipped on her coffee as she spoke, starting without many details but eventually going more in depth as she got more excited. It was one of Grayson’s favorite parts of listening to her talk about the things she cared about, and even though half of the information went right over his head he listened intently anyways, tried to take it all in as the car drove them home.

By the time they pulled into the driveway, Indy’s coffee was gone along with her stress, and Grayson knew all the steps to running a code blue. He hopped out first, grabbing her bag from the backseat and slinging it over his shoulder as they headed to the front door.

The first sign that something was different was the quiet of the house. Any other time that E squared was left alone, Grayson and Indy would come back to the speakers blaring, a scary movie on the living room TV, or the distant sound of a headboard knocking against the wall. 

But it was dead silent, and the pair looked at each other before they scanned the room. 

“They’re up to something,” Indy muttered, peaking around the wall to make sure Ethan wasn’t going to scare them. 

“For sure. Something is off with Ethan, just don’t know what it is.”

“Oh, you got a feeling huh?” Indy teased, bumping him with her elbow. He took her waist in his hands and pulled her back against him, making her laugh as he tickled her and buried his face in her neck. He never got tired of having her so close - it was just as intoxicating as the first time. 

“Sorry you don’t understand the twin connection.” 

“Well, use your psychic powers to figure out where the fuck they are then.”

He closed his eyes for dramatic effect, smiling when it got the laugh he wanted out of her. Just as he lifted his fingers to his temple, a bang sounded from the backdoor, making Indy squeal and cling onto Grayson. He went to move her behind him until he saw the culprit - a tennis ball bouncing away across the yard.

“You’re okay, it’s just E,” Grayson breathed, relaxing and moving towards the door to find where his brother was hiding. They walked into the backyard hand in hand, following the sound of music coming from the pool, which was finally finished in the back corner of the property. 

Ethan was at the entrance, his biggest smile on his face as he waited for them to get closer. Impatient as ever, he started walking towards them, meeting them halfway across the grass. 

“Took you guys long enough to get home. We bought new stuff for the pool, come look at it.”

“E, bro, I told you not to buy random shit on your own,” Grayson grumbled, obviously weary of his brother’s interior design skills.

“Eden was with him,” Indy reminded him at a whisper.

“Just come on,” Ethan said, grabbing onto his brother’s hand and starting to drag him towards the pool.

“Jesus bro, calm down.”

Ethan ignored him, looking to make sure Grayson was bringing Indy along too until they made it around the corner where the small pool was in view.

“Surprise!” Ethan beamed, holding his hand out towards the water. Beside it on the concrete were some new additions.

Four loungers, a beautiful teal color with rounded contour that looked perfect for tanning. In fact, Eden was on one of them sprawled out in her bathing suit, and she looked so comfortable that Indy barely noticed the miniature fifth chair next to her at the end of the line up. 

Brain fried from class, it took Indy a moment to piece it together.

5 chairs. 4 people. One smaller than the rest.

“No way,” she gasped, hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Eden no way!”

Indy was already moving towards her best friend before she could get to her feet, ignoring Grayson’s confused calls of “what? huh?” from behind her.

“Yes way,” Eden sniffled, a nervous laugh coming through as she put a hand over her stomach.

“How far along? When did you find out?”

“A couple days ago, we went to the doctor to find out for sure this morning. She said we’re about 7 weeks.”

Indy pulled her in for a hug. 

“Wait. Wait.” Grayson was yelling now, catching on with no doubt a few hints from Ethan. “Holy fuck. Holy fuck, you’re pregnant?! She’s PREGNANT?!” He grabbed his brother’s face with both hands and shook him just barely. 

“I’m gonna be a fucking dad,” Ethan said, and Indy melted when she realized he was about to cry.

“You’re gonna be a fucking dad,” Grayson repeated, shaking him twice more before he pulled him in for the tightest hug Indy had ever seen them share. The girls watched them for a moment before Indy turned her attention back to Eden.

“How are you feeling with all this?”

“Well I’ve just started having morning sickness, my appetite has been super weird, vegan cheese makes me want to straight up die…”

“Right right, but I mean like… mentally. You okay? This is a big change.”

Even just standing there, the boy's excitement was slightly overwhelming, especially with Grayson literally running around yelling about being an uncle. She was sure that Ethan had been excited from the moment of a positive test.

“A very big change that we weren’t really expecting,” Eden said quietly, looking down at her manicured toes. 

“How are you feeling about it?” Indy asked again, reaching out to hold her hand. Eden squeezed tightly.

“Honestly? I’m fucking terrified,” she admitted. “And Ethan’s been great, it’s not that, it’s just… there’s a human in me. Right now. Just chillin’ in there.”

“Yep, there do be a human in there,” Indy laughed at her bluntness. “What are you scared about?”

“Everything. I’m afraid I’m gonna do something that’s gonna hurt them. I don’t know shit about pregnancy, like real pregnancy, and don’t even get me started on trying to push this thing out of me.”

“We’ve got a while to figure all that out. And you aren’t going to do anything that’s going to hurt them. You’re a good mom.”

“Jesus, a mom. Ethan keeps saying that but it sounds different coming from a woman. A fucking mom. You’re gonna have to teach me all the medical stuff… wait actually no I don’t think I even want to know what’s going on in there. I’ll just focus on figuring out how the fuck I’m gonna be a mom.”

“You’ll be great. And you’ll have Ethan too. Those two were pretty much born to be dads,” Indy said. They turned and looked to see Grayson hauling Ethan up to sit on his shoulders before running what she assumed was a victory lap around the backyard.

“Yeah… remind me of that for the next nine months. Regularly.” 

They both started laughing and pulled in for another hug.

“I’m so happy for you,” Indy sighed with the warmest smile, images of baby showers and Eden’s bump and the office as a nursery already spinning through her mind. 

“Love you aunt… Indiana? Indy?”

Indy scrunched her nose. “We’ll have to work on that one,” she teased, taking her hand and leading her over to their boys, who were still somehow yelling.

They both came running, but Grayson was faster, scooping Eden up and spinning her around so fast that Ethan was immediately scolding him, urging him to be careful.

“She’s not that delicate bub, it’s okay,” Indy reassured him, getting up on her tiptoes to give Ethan a hug. He squeezed her tight and whispered in her ear.

“She okay? You guys are the first ones we’ve told.”

“Just a little scared, like all pregnant people are. Totally normal.”

“Good. I’m glad you know, she’s been dying to tell a girl. Only so much I can do.”

She leaned back with a smile. “You’re doing great already.” 

Those words meant more to Ethan than she would ever know, but all he could do was smile and head back over to Eden, a hand across her tummy when she leaned up against his side. 

“We’re gonna tell Li when we’re all home next weekend, but Eden’s parents are coming over for dinner in a little while and we’re gonna tell them now so we can do it in person,” Ethan explained, pressing a kiss to Eden’s hair. 

“We’ll make ourselves scarce for the evening,” Indy offered, sensing the nerves already rising for Eden. She’d have enough of an audience. 

“Okay but first we gotta get a picture of everybody, we’re gonna make an album of telling everybody.” Ethan was already moving as he spoke, setting his phone up on the patio table with the timer on. They all posed with Ethan pointing excitedly to Eden’s non-existent bump before they all headed back inside, still buzzing with excitement. 

Grayson stayed particularly close as they gathered around the island, his hand resting on Indy’s hip as they all settled after a few moments. They all helped to straighten up the house in preparation for Eden’s family’s arrival, and Grayson appeared behind Indiana with a smile as she placed a blanket over the back of the couch.

“Date night?”

Indy had lost count of how many dates they’d been on, but those words never failed to make her stomach swirl.

“What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, I know you said you have homework so… Monty’s, secret beach… with flashcards?”

“You truly know the way to my heart.” She kissed him softly and followed him to their room to change into beach clothes. As she sifted through the drawers, she couldn’t help but look at the shelf. It was bigger than the one she’d had in New York, more sturdy with thicker wood and longer, able to hold more frames. 

That was a good thing, because there had been some new additions. The picture of Nicole, the baby picture of her and Charlie, and the engagement picture with them and Devin all stood tall beside each other. Down the line came the picture of Indy and Grayson at her graduation, the one where he was dipping her back slightly and wearing her cap. Then was Bekah in her hospital bed - it still made Indy’s chest tight when she looked at it. There were two new ones since then - one of the four of them taken by Lisa in front of their tiny homes, and another of all of them at thanksgiving that they’d finally gotten printed.

“We need to get that picture we just took from Ethan, I wanna put it on the shelf.”

“I’m gonna have to build you another shelf,” he teased as he pulled his swim trunks up.

“Think you’ll probably be building stuff for the nursery first.”

“Shut up, do you really think they’ll let me?” His eyes lit up and Indy laughed as she pulled her New York sweatshirt down over her bikini top.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Fuck yeah, that’s gonna be so much fun! What all do you need in a nursery though? I mean a crib, obviously. A dresser? Do you need a dresser for baby clothes or can you just stack them up cause they’re so tiny?”

“We can talk about it while we drive,” Indy redirected him, taking his hand and leading him out of their room, down the hall and out to the car before he could bombard the other couple of the house with questions. 

The excitement was palpable for the whole drive, buzzing within the cab as they made their way to Monty’s, ordered their vegan burgers and raspberry lemonades and snuck away to their secret place on the beach. 

Considering it was a Wednesday evening, they didn’t expect it to be busy, but they were particularly excited to see that it was completely empty apart from a few stray crabs that went scurrying away at the sound of their footsteps. 

Grayson set out the blanket that was always in the back of the tesla for trips like this and Indy set down their bags and drinks, getting everything settled so they could simply sit down and enjoy their meal.

It was peaceful, calm as the ocean lapped up against the sand gently and they filled their tummies. Grayson was done before Indy, per usual, and he basked in the last remnants of the sun while she finished her fries.

“Wanna swim?” Indy asked.

“Thought we were supposed to wait 30 minutes.”

“That’s a myth,” she teased, standing up to her feet and helping him to his. They walked down to the water quickly, gasping a bit at the cold of the water. Still, there was nothing that compared to the feeling of being in the waves, and Indy braved it. Grayson had every muscle tensed against the cold, but he’d follow her anywhere. Soon enough they were up to shoulder height water, kicking gently to get over the waves when they needed to, arms wrapped around each other to keep warm.

“I can’t believe they’re gonna have a kid. Were gonna be Aunt Dee and Uncle Grayson. What the fuck,” Grayson murmured, half distracted by the way the orange of the sky was starting to reflect off of Indy’s eyes. 

“It’s gonna be so much fun to have a little one around. They’re gonna be such good parents.”

“You know who would be even better parents? Us,” he beamed. He looked so beautiful when he smiled, and Indy ran her thumb along his jaw.

“Let me finish school and find a job before you go putting a baby in me,” Indy laughed, but her heart warmed at the thought. She remembered the little girl on the highline, and she wanted it for the two of them.

“You’re done in like a year and a half.”

“Correct,” Indy confirmed it. 

“I always thought I’d be married before I had a kid,” Grayson said, trying to bite back his excitement. 

She wasn’t sure if it was the bliss of the water around them, or the steadiness of his arms, or the fact that she always felt like she was home when she was with him, but in that moment, she knew.

“Okay. Then let’s get married.”

“Are you serious? You aren’t fucking with me? You really wanna get married?”

“Did I ever give you the impression that I didn’t want to marry you someday?” She teased.

Grayson could only laugh, and look up towards the skies and thank whatever angels were listening and watching for all that he’d been given.

He was pretty sure he knew at least three that were there with him. 

“I love you. I love you so fucking much. Don’t know what I ever did to deserve you.”

Indy kissed him. The feeling was mutual in the most effortless way, and there was a sense of peace that she wasn’t used to in that moment, knowing that everything would somehow work itself out and she would have him with her for the rest of her life. 

And for once, the timeline of her life wasn’t her priority anymore. She didn’t care what date she’d finish school, or when she’d get her job. And she didn’t care when he would propose, or when they’d find out they were having a child of their own. Because in all those moments, whenever they happened, he would be there, and that was all that really mattered at the end of the day. 

They kissed slow, quiet for a while, and as the sun dipped below the horizon Grayson carried her back out onto the sand. They wrapped themselves up in the same towel and found each other’s lips again, warm and familiar and safe as they lost themselves within one another over and over again. 

Her lips were chapped by the time they pulled away, both giddy at the realizations that they’d always know finally being said out loud. 

“How much homework do you have?” 

“Just studying, I can do it in the morning. What’s the plan?” She knew he wouldn’t have asked if there wasn’t something he wanted to do.

“I’ll show you. Just trust me.”

“Okay,” she answered without a second thought. 

Twenty minutes later, with salty hair and big smiles, they pulled up to a tattoo parlor. 

“I thought you got all yours from Alexis now?” 

“Gotta get this one tonight. Special day.” 

Indy looked at the neon signs, and the artwork on the walls through the window. She pondered it for a minute, and something in her told her to go for it.

“I think I’m gonna get one too.”

Grayson perked up at that. “Really?” He knew every inch of her body, knew it would be her first one.

“Something small. Something for Beks.”

He smiled and kissed her temple before he got out to open her door.

Indy went first. A small lightning bolt, like the one on Bekah’s headscarf. And, the thunderstorm of their first date in the city. She got it tucked away behind her ear, in the same place of Grayson’s triple threes. His angel number, and her reminder of both of hers. It didn’t hurt as badly as she thought it would, but Grayson sat beside her anyways, rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand while he held it.

D-O-I-N-G G-O-O-D he wrote. 

“Thanks,” she smiled softly. “Bet you won’t even flinch during yours.”

“That's the idea. You can study while I get mine, I want it to be a surprise.”

Hers only took a few minutes, and her lecture material was at the back of her mind once the artist cleaned her up and moved over the Grayson. He grabbed his wallet from her backpack where he’d stowed it and Indy took a seat in one of the chairs in the lobby, occasionally turning her head towards the mirror so she could see her new ink. 

Across the shop, Grayson took his shirt off. 

“You can pull the letters from these, and I want it right here.” He passed over the stack of flashcards he’d snagged, sure that they’d be able to find what they needed. 

“Bitch of a spot,” the artist said quietly as he prepped over his ribs, but he just laughed. From the view of Grayson’s covered legs, he wasn’t sure there was any spot too painful for him. 

“She’s worth it,” Grayson said, closing his eyes and waiting. The sting of the needle was familiar, and it did hurt as he moved over each bone. But when he looked in the mirror, it was all worth it. He didn’t even bother putting his shirt on as he paid the artist in cash, including a big tip, and headed out to the lobby. 

Indy was sifting through her bag. 

“Looking for these?” Grayson held up a small stack of flashcards with a devious grin. “Sorry, had to borrow them for my tat.”

Indy’s brows furrowed, and she stood up, moving closer as he lifted his arm and showed her his ribcage.

In small handwriting, her handwriting, was the word ‘forever’.

“Right where you always trace it.”

To her surprise, her eyes started to burn.

“Gray…” She knew how important his tattoos were to him, what each and every one of them meant. 

“Consider it a promise. I’m with you. Forever.”

He ducked down to kiss her, and she smiled against him, hand resting on his torso right below his promise.

She liked the sound of forever.

[musette22]

Hi loves! I've gotten quite a few messages about Pam and Tommy yesterday and overnight – too many of them to answer individually, in fact, since I’ve got a busy few days ahead, so I’m just going to make a general post addressing some of the points raised by people who have reservations about the show and those who are hopeful/excited about it, and once again explain my own thoughts on it. Since there’s only so much I can say about this without having actually seen the show or read the script, I’m not going to address it too much more after this until more info about the show comes out, because otherwise I'd just be repeating myself! I hope you guys understand, and I am very grateful for all your messages and appreciate you all sharing your thoughts and opinions <3

I’ll put the rest under the cut because it’s quite long!

First of all, let me say that I totally get having personal reservations over this role or this show. That's absolutely understandable. If this show is not your cup of tea or makes you feel uncomfortable or disappointed in any way, that's fine and you can totally choose not to watch it or engage with it! We all get to decide that for ourselves <3

But when it comes to the question of whether or not it’s objectively a good or bad career move for Sebastian, I still think a lot of people may be confusing/conflating 'I don't like this career move' with 'this is a bad career move.' So far, nothing has indicated that this show is actually a bad career move for Sebastian, and no one so far as provided any actual arguments for why it would be, apart from that they fear it will bring Sebastian a lot of negative energy/press because of who Tommy Lee is. I personally don’t think that’s going to be the case; first of all, people feared the same thing when I, Tonya was being made and we all know how that turned out, plus industry professionals and critics are very capable of making the distinction between actor and character and knowing that playing a ‘bad’ character/person doesn’t automatically mean you yourself are bad or you condone the bad person’s actions.

Of course, some viewers and fans might find it harder to make that distinction and might criticize Sebastian for taking up this role (in fact, they already have) or even his performance, but the majority of the audience will watch it for entertainment only, which means they won’t take it quite as seriously. And if the show is a) well-written/directed, b) entertaining and c) Sebastian gives a good performance (all of which remains to be seen, but considering the people involved in it and the distributer and the talented cast, including Sebastian, the signs are good), it will get good reviews from critics and audiences alike, which will only mean good things for Sebastian himself. The fact that some of his fans probably will find another reason to attack or attempt to cancel him over this show once it comes out is unfortunate, but negligible in terms of Sebastian’s career. Besides, if it wasn’t this, it would be something else.

As for the question of whether Pamela herself is against the show being made: as far as I know, all comments so far about it have come from either ‘insiders’ who sold their story to the Daily Mail which then got picked up by a bunch of other tabloids, or from Courtney Love (who’s a friend of Pamela’s), who later seems to have retracted some of her comments. So as far as I I’m aware, Pamela herself has not made any statements about it yet – not when she was approached at the very beginning of the process, and not now that the show is actually being filmed. Of course, I wouldn't blame her at all if she wasn't too happy with it, but so far I believe she hasn’t personally made her opinion known (correct me if I’m wrong, though!) 

And even if she had, the responsibility for the show being made lies with the producers and Hulu, rather than with the actors. Critics and industry professionals will be aware of this; they know that if these actors hadn’t played these roles, someone else would’ve (in fact, James Franco was initially cast as Tommy but he dropped out, so that just goes to show) so again, this wouldn’t reflect badly on Sebastian in the eyes of critics and industry professionals.

Whether or not we like the idea of this show being made/Sebastian playing this role, the fact is that it’s giving him the opportunity to once again show he's capable of (physical) transformation and playing complex characters, to work with a renowned director and top cast on a hotly anticipated show, get him lots of attention and exposure in the media (there’s already been a lot of that, with much more to come once the show airs) and also bring him to the attention of a whole new audience, which will mean he’ll gain a lot of new fans. Those are all objectively good things for his career. 

Again, if you’re not happy with this show/role, that’s totally understandable and fine, and it remains to be seen whether the show will actually be any good. But I personally can’t see any reason right now to believe Sebastian taking this role was a bad career move, and definitely not more so than a lot of the flopped indie movies he’s done in the past – which also haven’t actively hurt his career so far, by the way! 

For now, all we can do is wait and see! 🙏🏻

[boognish-worshipper]

Midnight City AU

it took me forever to decide where to go with this chapter and i was literally getting fed up editing it 😭 i’ve been so busy with all the chaos goin on in my life rn too so yeah writing’s been feeling delayed over all but i decided to just finalize this one for rn and uhhh sorry if it seems funky or shortttt

//Chapter 3: Vanished

The next day, Trevor went back to Sterling Lake Park, after spending the night at Wade’s. He agreed to meet up with him there later, walking around the park with his earbuds in. As he threw himself down on his usual bench, he settled on listening to his usual playlist of his favorite songs. He scrolled through nosedivr once again, taking a photo of the lake. It was foggy, and the thick air sat atop the water. He liked when it was like that. A sturdy drumbeat thumped in his ears, making him feel whole. He paused it briefly, just to change it to a different song that was even louder, but with the lack of music he could now hear the crunch of gravel not too far away. He thought he told Wade to come later on? He looked up from his phone, pulling out an earbud. It was the guy from yesterday.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

“Where’s Amanda?” He asked, glancing around.

“Uhh she’s.. not here today. I kinda came to see if you were here. I wanna get to know more people at this park if I’m gonna hang ‘round here more I guess.”

“But she doesn’t like me?”

“She don’t gotta know.”

“Well aren’t you Boyfriend of the Year.”

“Oh uh, we aren’t dating yet.”

“Thought she was your girl though.”

“She is, she is. But it’s nothing serious. Not yet. And I don’t know what happened between you guys but you don’t seem that bad, so if I wanna talk to you that’s more of a her problem than me.”

“Huh.”

Today Michael wore an eCola shirt, which was obviously made to resemble their old logo, with blue jeans. He had on a pair of red sneakers this time to match the color of the shirt. They looked slightly newer, compared to the pair he wore yesterday. He dressed nice for such a basic style. Trevor on the other hand, threw on an old, frayed Love Fist t-shirt, and messy jeans. He wore a different pair of boots, some kind of knockoff of a popular name brand. A pair of purple lensed circular glasses sat on his head, the nose pieces caught in his hair.

“So.. uh. Mind if I sit there?”

“Not like I own the bench or anything, go right ahead.”

He cautiously sat next to Trevor, hands in his lap. Trevor started one of his other playlists up again, settling on a mix of Paramore and Green Day. He left an earbud out, just so he wouldn’t be completely rude. He mindlessly scrolled, occasionally looking back at the lake or casting a sideways glance at Michael, who was looking at him funny. Sighing, he paused his music, putting his earbuds away.

“What.”

“I.. nothin’ man. I just, I dunno. What is the point of coming here?”

“It’s a public fuckin’ park man.”

“I know, but you said that you don’t even really like the people here, so what’s the point?”

“There is no ‘point’ to it. I just like time to myself is all. These guys don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them. They only start trouble when they see fit.”

“Ah… I see? What were you listening to by the way?”

Trevor stifled a groan, not really wanting to talk to the guy when he had time to freely plot his scheme.

“Pop punk shit. Ever heard of it?”

“Uh, no? I thought punk wasn’t supposed to be popular. Or fit in. Or whatever.”

“That’s merely the ideology, which I do follow, dear Michael. I just like the sound I guess. You know Paramore?”

“Not really. I don’t listen to that stuff much.”

“Then what the fuck do you listen to?”

“Not sure if it has a genre per say, but I like that song Radioactive goin’ around? Songs that sound like that I guess.”

“You like Imagine Dragons?”

“That’s what they’re called?”

Trevor could only stare at him. Was this guy living under a rock?

“Uh.. yeah. Y’know what- never mind, what else do you listen to?”

“80s music?”

No wonder this guy was unaware of who’s popular now.

“Amanda’s been trying to get me into groups like the 1975. I actually kinda like them.”

Trevor rolled his eyes.

“Of course she did.”

“They’re not that bad to be honest. She likes that weird alternative shit.”

“Yeah, I know. By the way, there is a name for that genre. Indie rock. Can’t stand the stuff.”

“How come?”

“You know, you ask a lotta fuckin’ questions.”

“I’m just tryna understand this shit here. I ain’t in the loop of all these trends.”

“Well, for your information I just find the style to be too slow and whiny for my taste. I like fast, upbeat, wild stuff.”

“Any recommendations then? I wanna impress Amanda by at least knowing one artist off that nosedivr thing she goes on.”

He raised a brow, not really wanting to share anything else knowing he would just repeat it back to her, but he shrugged and continued.

“Alright. Besides pop punk, I like experimental songs. Underground groups. Crystal Castles are my favorite.”

“Never heard of ‘em.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Right.”

“If you want more indie rock shit though, I suggest listening to I don’t know, the Arctic Monkeys? That seems more like her taste.”

“These bands have such weird names.”

“I think bands have always been like that.”

“Hey wait a sec, I thought you didn’t like that stuff? How do you know the name of one of those groups?”

“Ugh… I guess I might as well say it if you’re gonna get with her, but we were friends at some point. She introduced me to those bands, but even then I didn’t really like it. We had a stupid falling out I’d rather not get into.”

“Oh.. sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. Shit happens. You definitely seem like her type though, no wonder she got with you.”

“What’s her type?”

“Heh. As if I’d tell you.” He scoffed.

“C’mon man, please?”

“Nope.”

Michael frowned, slumping in his seat.

“Fine. Whatever. Not like I need to know.”

“You could at least pretend you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

“You clearly do, bro.”

He sat arms crossed, turning a smidge away from Trevor. This was his opportunity to listen to his tunes again, but before he could Michael spoke up.

“Can I… can I listen to whatever you’re listening to?”

“Huh?”

“I wanna hear what you’re into.”

Trevor shot him a puzzled look.

“Uh.. okay.”

Wiping off an earbud, he handed one to Michael. He already had one in.

“Pick your poison cowboy.”

“Cowboy?”

“Just a nickname I give people.” He shrugged.

Michael settled on his experimental music, actually nodding along to the sound. They were closer than a minute ago, and it made Trevor uncomfortable for whatever reason. Maybe because he was never in such close proximity to strangers, but the other part of him didn’t care that much. Michael’s eyes were closed, smiling.

“You like it?”

“Yeah! Reminds me of synth stuff from the 80s, just more modern I guess.”

He smiled back at Michael, appreciating the fact there was someone else who liked the music he liked. The two listened to a couple different playlists he had, up until the moment Wade arrived at the park.

“Trevor! Hey!”

“Woah. Who’s your friend?”

“Hm?” He pulled out the single earbud, turning his head around. Wade had clown makeup on, making Trevor jump in his seat.

“Fucks sake. Hey Wade.”

“Ooh who’s this?”

He wasn’t sure if Wade freaked him out or not, seeing as the guy not only had matted locs, but many facial piercings as well. And the clown shit. He stood up to introduce them to one another.

“Wade, this is Michael. Michael, Wade.”

The way Michael looked at him was like a kid seeing a zoo animal for the first time. He looked bewildered, but not disgusted.

“Hi. What’s with the..?” He wavered a hand in Wade’s direction.

“Oh! It’s jus’ clown face. Not tryna scare ya or nothin’!”

“Uh huh… man. How have I never been around these parts? You guys are real different.”

“You got that right, Mike.”

“Seems like I’ve been missin’ out. I hangout with some dudes who would hate this place if I’m being honest.”

“I’ll have to meet ‘em sometime.” Trevor chuckled.

“They’re real cool guys. Didn’t expect our paths to cross, but anything’s possible in this fuckin’ city.”

“Oh yeah. Land of opportunities, for all types of wackjobs.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

A hand tapped Trevor on the shoulder.

“Uh, excuse me, Trevor, but are we still gonna talk about the Merryweather thingy-”

“Wade! Shut it-”

“What Merryweather thing?”

“Nothing, nothing. Not important.” He said, gritting his teeth, glare strong on Wade.

“Okay..”

“But you said we’d talk about it over icecream!”

“Later, Wade. Not right now.”

“Fiiine. Can we still get icecream though?”

“Sure. Promise. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay! Bye Trevor, bye stranger!”

Michael lifted a hand to haphazardly to wave goodbye.

“What was that about?”

“I told ya man, nothin’. Just going over some plans we’re making.”

“Is it about that special event being held there?”

“How you know about that?”

“Mandy told me.”

“Mandy… yeah. Figures as much.”

“She got an invite, and wants me to go as her plus one. I don’t know if I really wanna go though, I’m still pretty unfamiliar with all this.”

“Trust me, you don’t.”

“Seriously, what is your beef with those guys?”

“I told you, they start shit when they want. Taught ‘em a lesson and that was it. Nearly got me banned from this place, but it was kinda worth the looks on their faces.”

“You are.. quite peculiar y’know. Anyway, you mind showing more of that music? I was honestly gettin’ a kick outta it.”

“Uh, yeah.”

He sat back down next to Michael, handing him the same earbud as before. He clicked on one of his favorite Crystal Castles songs, Vanished. As they were listening, Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

“Hey wait a minute.. I think I’ve heard this before.”

“You have? I thought you didn’t know them.”

“No, I mean yeah I haven’t, but that’s not it. The lyrics. Vocals. I’ve heard them in a different song.”

“Oh.”

“Lemme think, lemme think, ah… I got it! Pass me your phone real quick.”

His fingers typed in the song title fast, pressing play right away. It was an indie rock song, much to Trevor’s dismay. But something stopped him from complaining, seeing how Michael’s face lit up.

“Yeah! This is it, Sex City by Van She. Y’know, I honestly think that’s neat.”

“What is?”

“The fact that a song you like, samples a song I like! Who would’ve guessed?” He said, eyes sparkling. Trevor didn’t notice how bright they were until now. The eye contact, along with the lack of space between them, made him feel stuffy again. He averted his eyes back to his phone, trying to loosen up a bit. As the song played, he savored in the sound, shocking himself a bit. The rock sound was there, but had an 80s sort of feel to it. The song finished before he knew it.

“So.. What’d ya think?”

“You know my thoughts on indie shit. Wasn’t for me, sorry.”

“Oh c’mon, you know you liked it.”

“Nope. Prefer Vanished.”

“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, but I honestly think they’re both really good. You think that too, I can feel it.”

“Whatever you say bro.”

He switched the song over to that Grimes song he listened to yesterday, the two of them sitting silently. It was a pleasant afternoon they shared. Suddenly Michael’s phone went off, and he yanked the earbud out.

“Ah shit. I gotta take this. Mandy.”

“Gotcha.”

Trevor grabbed the other earbud, putting it back in. He saw Michael wave his free hand around, looking close to hurling his phone right into the lake. Trevor assumed he must’ve been shouting as well, from the way other people were looking at him. Hanging up not much later, he returned to the bench, as Trevor put his earbuds away.

“Fuckin’ Christ.”

“So.. how’d it go?”

“She’s finally not mad at me anymore, but demanded I go take her shopping now. I swear, she’s gonna clear out my bank account or something.”

“How? You guys aren’t even dating.”

“I know, but I just can’t say no to her.”

“Uh huh.”

“Look, I’m sorry to leave so suddenly, but I really gotta go before she goes back to being pissed at me. See ya around?”

“I’ll be here man.”

Michael stood up, storming away. Seemed like he had a short temper, huh? He wondered to himself how long he was gonna stick around, seeing how Amanda’s dating history was… an extensive list. He thought back to last night, when he had seen that post of them, remembering the fact that no guy stayed for longer than a week. It almost made him bummed, seeing as he only had Ron and Wade for friends. Lester too, but that was on rare occasion. Shit. The plans. What time was it?

“Ah, fuck me.” He muttered. How did he let the day go by so quick?

He shot a text to Wade, telling him to grab Ron and meet at some icecream place. He did promise Wade after all.

Ron ended up meeting them there a little bit later, apologizing profusely before Trevor told him to just sit down and shut up. He did just that, almost apologizing once more.

“Now, let’s get down to business. Who do we know that would help us sneak into that club to cause sheer utter mayhem?”

Ron raised his hand excitedly.

“I could get Floyd maybe-”

“Definite fuckin’ no. He would have a heart attack the minute he set foot in there.”

This was getting nowhere. He tossed his head back to look up at the sky. As he did, he saw a couple walking out of the icecream place.

“Oh fucking hell.”

Was this guy following him or something? He snapped his head forward, trying to be a little more hidden.

“What? Trevor what is it?”

“Shh! Keep your fucking voice down Ron!”

He made all three of them lower their heads as the couple walked away, peeking over his shoulder to make sure they were gone. As he did, he could’ve sworn he saw Michael looking back at him. The both of them turned away as quick as possible from the split second of eye contact.

“Trevor?” Ron repeated.

“It was nothing. Just thought I saw someone.”

“Ain’t that the Michael fella I met today?”

“Nope. Don’t think it is.”

“Are ya sure-”

“Pretty fucking positive. Now, back on topic.”

The next hour or so still went nowhere. Wade had gone through two servings of icecream, and Ron started to get restless. Trevor was just bored.

“Ughhh there has to be something we can do!”

“I don’t know what to tell you Trevor. We’ll find someone, soon. There’s enough time isn’t there?”

“Yeah, but I’m not waitin’ til the last possible fuckin’ second to get a guy to help us out here.”

“But we still have time.”

“If you fuckin’ say so Ron.”

The three of them called it a night, as Trevor tossed around the idea of possibly getting Michael involved in his head. On one hand he wanted to out of spite just to make Amanda and the other hipsters mad, and on the other he didn’t want to screw up whatever new friendship he had started with Michael. Ron did say they had time to find someone soon. They weren’t exactly in a rush, but he still wanted to make sure their plan was concrete. They all went back to Wade’s, Trevor deciding to take a walk along the beach. He threw on the same playlist from earlier, watching the sunset. As he walked, he didn’t pay much mind to where he was going, bumping into someone.

“Ah fuck, watch where you’re going-”

“Shit, sorry man-”

As they spun around from the collision, he realized exactly who he had run into.

“Trevor?”

What the fuck?

“What the fuck? Are you following me or something?”

“Huh?”

“This is the third time I’ve seen you today. What are you even doing here?”

“Uh, it’s a public fuckin’ beach man.” He said, mocking the comment Trevor had made earlier.

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Hey, I’m just tellin’ you how it is. I didn’t purposely search for you, hell I didn’t even know you lived this way.”

“I do. So make like a tree and fuck off.” He said bitterly.

“Woah, chill the fuck out. What’s your deal? I thought we were cool man.”

“I don’t like being followed.”

“I just told you I wasn’t!”

“It doesn’t exactly seem like it. You just so happen to look for me this morning, and just happen to go to the same icecream place I went, and then I find you here? I mean Jesus-”

“I’m telling you, it’s all purely coincidence.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fuckin’ hell man..” He mumbled.

“Y’know, you’re as fuckin’ stubborn as Amanda is. I already told you-”

Trevor balled his fists, before jabbing a finger into Michael’s chest.

“Don’t fucking compare me to her.”

Michael threw his hands up defensively, not realizing he touched a nerve.

“Woah woah, easy dude. I didn’t think it was that bad between you guys.”

He exhaled loudly, unclenching his hands.

“It wasn’t. Isn’t. Just.. don’t compare me to her.”

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling hard himself.

“Look, I think you’re cool and all but you can’t flip out on me like that. I mean we are just getting to know each other y’know. I can’t have you wanting to bite my head off like that if I just so happen to keep running into you. I really am just trying to navigate the area better, so forgive me if I came off as some sorta fuckin’ stalker. Amanda went home and I had nothing better to do so I chose to walk over this way.”

“Hmph. Fine. Whatever.”

“So we good?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, since we’re already here why don’t we just hangout or something?”

Trevor folded his arms, trying to look like he didn’t want to spend another minute with him. It didn’t really work though, because he actually did want to talk to him more.

“If you insist.”

“Alrighty.”

The two of them started to head in the direction of the boardwalk, neither one speaking yet. After finding a bench to sit on as the sun sunk below the horizon, the silence was still there. This sort of thing was bizarre for both of them in different ways. Michael never really frequented these parts of LS, and Trevor never really hit it off with any kind of stranger. Ron and Wade were exceptions if anything, and he had known Lester for a while now. Yet there was something about this guy that didn’t make him feel like he was spending time with a stranger, even though he knew jack shit about him. He might as well try to make small talk.

“So I-”

“So uhh-”

They spoke over each other while trying to start up a conversation, making things feel a little more awkward.

“Shit sorry, you go first.”

“Nah nah you go.”

“Um. Okay. So.. tell me about yourself? We haven’t really talked about much besides music.”

“Yeah.. right. What do ya wanna know?”

“I just asked you to tell me about yourself, so it’s your job to decide what to say.”

Michael gave him a sardonic smile in response to that, partly because he wasn’t sure what to bring up about himself. It seemed like they were gonna be here a while if they wanted to say the most basic shit you say when getting to know someone.

“Well, I ain’t that interesting if you really need to know. I’m guessing you already know about my whole ‘affinity for the 80s’ thing, like the culture n shit that came from it. Real sick stuff.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah. Anyway, if you really want to know plain shit about me though, I will tell ya that my favorite color’s blue.”

Trevor snickered at that.

“Pfft, seriously? We’re talking favorite colors now?”

“Hey man, you said you wanted to know more about me.”

“Uh yeah, but that’s so fuckin’ silly.”

“Maybe it is, but what about you? You got one?”

“Favorite color? You kiddin’?”

“I’m waiting..”

“Uh huh… I’ll give. Always liked the color red I guess. Like, in variety. Not picky about something as childish as that.”

“What’s childish about that?”

“Cuz only kids exchange that whole ‘oh what’s your favorite color?’ thing. It’s like if I were to ask you what your favorite dinosaur is.”

“Hmm.. I’d probably say a T-Rex.”

“Oh now you’re just pulling my dick. And no, I’m not telling you what mine is just because you did.”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you though. That was all you.”

“Mm… shut it.”

“You got one though?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Ah ah, I didn’t ask which one, I asked if you had one.”

“Well I don’t, so knock it off.”

“That’s fair. I won’t push.”

They grew silent for the second time that night, before Trevor mumbled something under his breath.

“It’s a pterodactyl..”

“What was that?”

He forced a breath through his nose, acting annoyed.

“It’s a fuckin’ pterodactyl. That’s mine. Okay?”

“Hah, okay. Any reason why?”

“You’re so nosy.”

“You’re the one who started this conversation about getting to know each other man.”

“Ugh, I know that.” He said, lightly shoving his shoulder.

“I think it’s cool that they could fly and shit. I like flying.”

“You like flying?”

“Loved it.”

“Wait, you tellin’ me you fly? Like, planes and shit?”

Trevor winced at the words, regretting what he just said.

“I did.. at some point. Air Force shit. They said I was one of the best they’d seen in a while but I.. left. Sort of.”

“Then why’d you leave?”

“I didn’t exactly leave on my own accord. More or less got kicked out.”

“How come-”

“I don’t like talking about it. I know we’re opening up or whatever the fuck but that.. that’s still too soon for me to want to bring up. Especially to someone I barely know.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He said, even though it really wasn’t. It’s not like Michael knew though, he really wasn’t trying to prod in a bad way.

It was almost pitch black by the time their conversation got to that point, only distant streetlight and the nearby pier lighting up their surroundings. The whole mood had shifted, and both of them decided to just break it off there.

“Hey uh, I’ll probably see you tomorrow man. If I’m with Amanda I think I’ll just send a wave or something your way.”

“Got it. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Trevor stayed put, watching Michael leave as he turned down a random one way street. This guy was tripping him out and he couldn’t pin point why. It was getting late though, and walked off himself back to Wade’s. He’ll save that vexed question for another night.

//ahhhhhh i rlly did not know what i wanted to do with this….,,., sorry if this wasn’t as good as the first two !! i alrdy know i repeated a bunch of stuff in there and i feel like it got kinda sloppy so again, soz (including typos or whtevr)

but uhhhh anyway yeah i cut it off here bc i wanted to continue some of this shit in the next chapter ig lol,, more stuff to come soon god willing

[marrys-dream-world]

if we’re bound to be something, why not together? (chapter 12)

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Notes: I posted on AO3 yesterday and forgot to post here sooo...  I was having a huge writer's block with this fic and I'm still not satisfied with this chapter, but I also don't think it's gonna get any better. Hope you guys enjoy it anyway. Day 12 (what a joke by this point saldkqçkwdqpo) Blush. The beginning of the chapter is a bit off topic but I love it so pls bear with me. Have another one of my Emilie hot takes ig. 

Adrien Agreste was a man of science. 

It was, perhaps, his mother’s fault. His father was clearly the unholy mix of a man of the arts and a businessman, combining the worst of both worlds, if Nino was to be believed. Adrien let out a soft protest at that, but couldn’t really disagree. His father was all cold businessman and artist with a vision (Plagg often asked what vision it could be if he went dressed around like that and allowed Adrien to wear orange shoes, however, kwamis weren’t allowed fashion opinions so he didn’t pay attention to that). His mother was a completely different story.

Many people thought Emilie Agreste was an artist, through and through. After all, even with her outstanding beauty and ridiculous wealth, she worked in indie films and plays that managed to catch her fancy, managing her time between productions that made waves across France and small movies produced by a friend that had few copies to spare. Adrien knew better. His mother was also a gifted scholar, she loved studying things and figuring them out.  He had asked her, when he was young, why she traveled so much and put so many acting jobs aside, and she had said acting was a hobby, learning was her life.

Like mother, like son then. Being an impressionable young child with only one friend and copious amounts of free time in his hands, Adrien tried to mirror the behaviour of the person he admired the most: his mother. He would join her in her study, very unlike father’s, which was a little messy and always warm and welcoming and he was always allowed in before she got sick and everyone stopped caring about him. He would sit beside her in the little desk she commissioned just for him and study basic science, devouring book after book

and falling in love with the way the world just worked.

“I’m gonna be a scientist when I grow up!” He said once at the dinner table. His mother smiled indulgently, but his father wasn’t as kind. 

“Don’t be foolish, Adrien.” He admonished. “You won’t waste your time with such things, you’ll work with me as a model. We can’t let your perfect looks go to waste.”

His mother didn’t say anything to defend him, she never did. However, she winked at him as his father’s eyes left him. He straightened up then, that little gesture never failing to make him feel like they both knew something his father didn’t. These days, Adrien feels like maybe he hadn’t know anything at all. 

Anyway, no matter how much his father tried to discourage him, Adrien Agreste was still a man of science and that meant experiments! He would usually not try out a behavioural experiment, but it was, as a lot of good stuff in his life was, Nino’s fault. Both had been discussing an art project with Alya and Marinette...

"This is really good, Marinette." He said sincerely, leafing through her and Alya's booklet.

Marinette seemed to shrink, blushing a little and smiling awkwardly, a sharp contrast to Alya, who only puffed up.

"I know, right?" Alya grinned, slipping her arm over Marinette's shoulder.

"I-it's nothing, really. Just a school project hehe." Marinette, taking the book back as Adrien offered.

"Everyone did theirs, but yours is a standout." Adrien said, smiling softly. Her work was amazing and he would say it as many times as it would take for her to believe it.

Marinette turned beet red at that, stammering something incomprehensible and dashing out of the classroom's door. Alya cracked out a laugh, quickly following after her. He watched them confusedly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Dude, you gotta stop doing that." Nino said, sighing. 

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"Being all earnest and stuff." Nino answered, clasping his hands together and widening his eyes in a mockery of his best friend. "Oh, Marinette, you're so talented! You're so smart! You're so-"

"I don't talk like that." Adrien pouted. He didn't, did he?

"Yeah, you do." His friend snorted. "It drives the girls wild, even the ones that don't have a crush on you."

"You say that like a lot of girls have a crush on me." He rolled his eyes, other than his fans, the only ones who had a crush on him were Chloe and, the jury was still out on that one, Lila. 

Nino gulped. "I mean, yeah, because of your fans and all! Not Marinette, she doesn't have a crush on you at all! She doesn't like you, even. She barely likes you as a friend!"

His heart fell. "Marinette barely likes me as a friend?"

"No! That's not what I meant!" Nino groaned. "Marinette does like you as a friend, okay, dude? I just word-vomited for no reason. Just don't go around being all you like that on her, she'll blush so hard she'll explode."

“Nino, you’re exaggerating.” Adrien had said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, you say that now, but try it with any girl and see how they react.” Nino answered, mockingly rolling his eyes back. 

He had shrugged at the time, but the question stayed in the back of his mind. Adrien was aware that he was good-looking, it was maybe the only thing his hard-to-please father ever complimented him on, but to make even girls that weren’t attracted to him blush? It seemed very far off. However, he knew his mind wasn’t going to let it go anytime soon. Adrien had a bad habit of not letting things go, Plagg said. So it looks like conducting an experiment was  on the table and there was only one girl he would be comfortable trying it out with.

"Thanks, Marinette." Adrien said as he picked up a macaron from the box she brought to share with the class.

She flushed slightly, nothing so out of the usual that it would prove Nino's theory. "Y-you're welcome, Adrien."

"Did you help your dad make them?"

"Oh, I made them myself, I had some time to go to the kitchen lately." She said, eyes lighting up. "I missed it."

"It tastes great, Marinette." He said, making sure to smile and soften his gaze a little. It was actually hard to not do that around his friend, after all. "You're really talented."

Her face went fire truck red in a matter of seconds, mouth falling open and eyes going a little glazed over. Nothing out of the usual, but that was the thing: Marinette was always like that around him. Whenever he talked to her, a pretty blush would fill her cheeks and her blue eyes would go wide. Was he really so powerful that being earnest was enough to make a girl that only saw him strictly platonically blush like that?

“It’s our raw magnetism, kid.” Plagg told him solemnly when Adrien explained his theory. “Nothing we can do about it, girls better watch out.”

They spared a minute of silence for all the girls struck by their lady killer charms. 

“Hey, Plagg, when you say all girls…” His lady’s adorable face flashed in his mind.

“Yeah, no, kid, dream on.”

However, it must be said again: Adrien Agreste is a man of science and he would never fail to experiment on a hypothesis. 

Their next patrol was quiet, jumping through the rooftops and climbing down to comfort civilians separately. He could feel Ladybug’s eyes boring into his back at every confused glance she threw his way. The silence unsettled her, he knew that, but as much as he wanted to reassure her, he also had to create the perfect setting for his experiment. 

“A bit quiet today, weren’t you, Chaton?” His lady asked when they finally settled down, nonchalant tone costrating with her twitching fingers.

“Oh, I was just struck speechless.” He said, voice purposefully serious as to not arouse suspicion. 

“By what?” Ladybug frowned. 

“By you.” He smiled and she started to roll her eyes when he continued. “You’re really kind, my lady.”

She blinked owlishly. “What?”

“Every time I turn my back to you on patrol, when I look back you’re talking to someone. Comforting that little girl whose ice cream fell, getting that kite stuck in a tree. It’s not even just today, you always do that. I’ve never met anyone who does it as effortlessly as you do.”

The words flew easily from his tongue. Complimenting Ladybug was often easier than not.

“You’re really kind, Ladybug.” He repeated, only to see her face darken until her cheeks settled into a rosy pink. 

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again when she noticed it was hanging open. Her blue eyes went wide and shiny. It was the prettiest sight he had ever seen.

Maybe being a man of science has its perks sometimes. 

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch11: It Was The Leprechauns...

Summary: Frank and Fliss bring Alex home and settle into their ‘new’ normal. Meanwhile the Circle of Truth, with honorary members Steve and Bill take Frank out to wet the baby’s head…although it isn’t so much wet as drowned! Drunk Frank anyone??

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher

A/N:  Ok, so I had a bit of fun with this one. Very Frank heavy but…yeah, who cares, he’s my weakness!! Also this song happens to be one of my favourites by one of my favourite Brit Pop era bands- always used to bounce about to this in the Indie Clubs in my city so give it a listen! Chapter Song: Disco Down by Shed 7 

Series Masterlist //  WIYPT Masterlist

And the plastic must keep spinning around forever, and the memories will flood and keep us together

As Frank slowed the truck to a stop Fliss smiled and looked out of the window. "Glad to be home?" Frank asked, turning to look at her and she reached through the gap in the front seats, gently placing her hand on Alex's tummy where he was fastened into the baby seat. "Yeah." She nodded, looking at Frank before giving him a soft kiss. "Yeah I am." Frank grinned again before he moved to get out of the car, opening the back door for Fliss, offering her his hand as she slowly slid out. He then made his way to the front passenger side and leaned in to unclip the car seat. As he did so his t-shirt rode up a little at the back and Fliss cocked her head to the side as the flash of his boxer shorts which were visible where his jeans had dropped slightly on his hips. "Are you wearing Spongebob underwear?" She asked and he gave a chuckle as he turned to look at her over his shoulder. "They're cool." He said, his eyebrow rising over the top of his aviators. "Whatever you say sailor."

"You bought em Cowgirl." he said, pulling back out of the car, the handle of the baby seat clutched safely in his hand. "Actually it was Mary." She smiled as he shut the car door. “They were her Father’s Day Specials if I recall correctly.” “Yeah they were.” He chuckled and at that moment the door to the house opened and the girl herself shot out, Thor running past her straight up to Fliss whereas Mary made her way to Frank, hugging him tightly. "Hey boy..." Fliss smiled, ruffling his head. Alex chose that moment to make a little simpering noise and Thor turned his head to look at him. Fliss closed her hand round his collar as Frank held the baby carrier still. The two of them watched as Thor gently pushed his nose into the car seat sniffing the curious new object and when Alex moved he jerked back, head cocking to one side before his tail began to wag furiously and he gave an excited little wine.

"He likes him!" Mary grinned.

"That right? He meet with your approval boy?" Frank asked and Thor pushed his nose back, this time concentrating on sniffing the baby.

"Ok, enough Thor, good boy." Fliss yanked him back, giving him another pat. "Let's get inside."

Frank took her hand in his and the two of them headed up the steps to the porch where Evelyn was waiting. Frank looked at her and stopped, pushing his aviators up.

“You look like shit.” He smirked. “She’s hungover.” Mary grinned.

“It was a heavy night.” Evelyn said in justification as Frank grinned at Fliss.

“Party went well then?” Fliss smiled and Evelyn groaned.

“Your dad brought out his home made coconut rum.” She said, following them into the cool house.

Fliss grimaced “Yeah, that’s deadly stuff. Me and Steve got wasted on that once, I was hungover for days.” “It tasted quite nice.” Evelyn said, “But it doesn’t feel very nice today.” Frank gently placed the car seat on the coffee table and turned to look at his mother “I’m not sure whether I should be embarrassed or proud. Maybe both.”

“Piss off Frank.” She shot back and he let out a bark of a laugh. “I’m going to make a cup of tea, does anyone want one?”

Fliss eagerly accepted as she sat down on the sofa, her hand reaching out to undo the fastenings on the car seat. She couldn’t wait to get Alex in her arms again. Frank perched on the arm of the sofa, his hand gently rubbing between Fliss’ shoulder blades as she cradled their gently, his head resting against her shoulder as he peeked around the room with his baby blues.

“How is he?” Mary asked as she approached, dropping onto the seat at the other side of Fliss.

“He’s good.” Fliss said, before she looked at Mary “Do you want to hold him again?”

Mary nodded eagerly so Frank stood up and moved round the back of the sofa, propping the cushions up to help Mary sit up right. Fliss placed Alex into her arms and he lay still, apart from his hands which gently fisted up by his face.

Evelyn had a hold next once she had finished her tea and then headed off to the annex for a lay down and to give them a bit of time alone, not wanting to overstep. Mary asked if she could head to the yard so Frank wandered out to watch her climb over the fence and head over to Joanne. The girl gave a wave which he acknowledged and then she shouted over to him.

“Hey daddy! How’s mommy?”

“She’s great!” Frank yelled back, beaming as he nodded to Mary “She gives you any trouble, send her straight home!”

Joanne waved him away and he turned and walked back inside, closing the door behind him.

Fliss was feeding Alex again when he walked back in and once he was done he went down for a nap which the new parents took full advantage of, grabbing some sleep themselves. They’d been up 3 times in the night with him, and sleeping whilst he slept seemed like a damned fine idea, even if it was only for 40 minutes or so until Frank woke up, his neck cricked from where he’d had it lay against the arm of the sofa, Fliss was snuggled up with her head on his chest, lay secure between him and the back cushions. He stayed as still as he could so as not to wake her, giving a soft huff of laughter at Thor who was led by the basinet, curled up, eyes on Alex. Frank found himself pondering if the dog could possibly know that their baby was what had been in Fliss’ belly and whether he could smell something or not to that effect because he was being extremely protective, the same way he had been over Fliss at the start of her pregnancy. As he watched the dog curiously, Fliss stirred a little and he gave her head a soft kiss, but she didn’t wake.

Yet their son did. He gave a little murmur, the beginnings of a cry and Franky quickly and quietly moved, keeping Fliss’ head supported enough as he grabbed a cushion and laid her down so she could continue to rest. He picked Alex up, and as suspected he needed a diaper change. That was one thing Frank had plenty of practice on. A little while later once he was cleaned he gently picked him back up and took him for walk round the ground floor of the house, talking to him softly as he went. A little while later he heard Fliss calling his name. He wandered back into the family area at the back of the house and she smiled at him.

“You ok baby?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just wondered where you were.”

“Been showing him round.” Frank smiled and glanced at Alex whose mouth was resting against his collar bone. “He’s been changed. Hasn’t made a noise since.” He watched as Fliss’ eyes fell on her son and he gently sat down next to her. “Do you want him?” She hesitated before she gave a little smile. “Of course I do but he’s your son too Frank.” “Maybe we need a snuggle rota.” He smiled.

Fliss laughed “I get enough momma bear time when he’s feeding, I can’t be too selfish about it. If he’s happy with you then I might grab a shower.”

“Have a bath and then take another nap if you need one.” Frank looked at her. “You had a busy day yesterday.”

“One way of putting it.” She smiled. “Erm, I was actually thinking that maybe before he wants feeding again I could take him to the Yard to meet Joanne and the guys?” "I forgot to say she asked after you before." Frank smiled, as he gently readjusted Alex slightly “Bet she’d love to see him, and it’ll give you chance to check everything is running smoothly." "Yeah.” Fliss smiled before she bit her lip and then looked at Frank. “Should I take him in the stroller or the baby sling?" "What do you wanna take him in?" Frank asked. "Well, the sling would be nice but it’s whatever is best for him, I mean it is warm and the sun-" "Liss, it’s almost 4 pm." Frank cut her off "The sun will be cooling off shortly and besides, we got him plenty of sun hats. Pop one on and just keep in the shade as much as you can, he’ll be fine I promise you." "Ok." She nodded, looking at Alex, still biting her lip. She was nervous, Frank could tell. And he knew that rather than letting herself get worried and tense about it, it was better to offer her his hand so to speak. She would soon come round once she realised that she could cope perfectly fine. "Do you want me to come with you?" He asked gently. "Please." She looked at him before she glanced at her hands. "I know it's stupid, Frank, but..." "Hey, no, it’s not honey." He assured her and waited for her to look at him and he smiled "Look, I’m nervous about stuff too." "You've done this before" "Only from 6 months." He said gently "But you helped Diane..." "You telling me you never helped out with Charlie and Joel when they were born?" he said calmly. She fell silent and he continued. "It's not a science, no matter what all those so called expert books and manuals say." He smiled gently "it's just a lot of instinct and love. And common sense." He added.

“That’s us fucked then” she quipped and he gave a soft chuckle as she shook her head, her hand smoothing over the back of her son’s head. "I know. You're right. I’m sorry." "Nothing to be sorry for." He assured her "I like that you’re telling me how you feel and that’s what we gotta do ok? Be honest with each other and do this together yeah?" She looked up at him and smiled "Yeah." He gave her a gentle kiss "I love you.” “You too.” She smiled, laying her head against his.

“Now, go on, get showered and then let’s go show our boy off."

***** The next few weeks flew by in a flurry of sleepless nights, feedings, changing nappies and outfits (both Alex’s and theirs following the amount of times he spit up on them) plenty of visitors and juggling a new baby with Mary's return to school. Frank grumbled one night to Fliss that with the amount of visitors they had, their front door should have been a revolving one but she knew that despite his gripes he was secretly low key pleased that his friends couldn't wait to meet Bean. It was tiring but thanks to some help and Advice from the health visitors and Fliss' mom they worked out a pretty good routine between the pair of them for night feeds, introducing Alex to formula was the best thing they did in Fliss' opinion because their baby fed an incredible amount. Which, apparently was another thing he got from his father according to Evelyn. A fortnight after Alex's birth, Frank returned back to work. Fliss had been reluctant to let him go, begging him to take an extra week but as he pointed out if he did that he would be stuck for the week before Christmas. In the end, because Fliss was flapping about being on her own with him for so long, Verity had come round for the first day to keep her company and be on hand. Frank knew that Fliss would get better as time went by and whilst she was still a little nervous- constantly worrying about the little noises or crying he did when she couldn't immediately figure out what it was he wanted- it was best she had someone there.

His theory that she would be fine in time was right, and by the middle of his first week back she was still a little tentative with certain things but happy to be on her own for the afternoons, Verity only coming in the mornings. And when he came back home on the Thursday evening, Fliss was actually over at the yard with Alex in the sling, chatting to Joanne and helping out with the lesson plans. It had made him beyond happy she'd ventured out alone, even if it was only to the end of their drive. The following week, on the Tuesday, she told Frank she was going to tell her mother not to come over the next day and Frank encouraged her to do so, reminding her that her parents and him were only a little drive away if she needed them. But she didn’t, she coped fine, just as he had assured her she would, even if she did message him a few times that morning which he didn’t mind at all.

On the Thursday, almost 3 weeks to the date she had gone into labour, Fliss was sat in the Garden with a drink and a book. Alex was sleeping in the cool of the kitchen, not far from the door so he was in eyesight at all times. Not that any harm would come to him with Thor on sentry duty, mind. The German shepherd had taken it upon himself to be the little boy's personal guard and was never far away. He lay by the bassinet when Alex slept there, curled down the side of their bed at night as Alex lay in the bedside sleeper and when the infant was being fed or cuddled he would jump up onto the couch if possible to watch or simply sit by the feet of whoever had him, eyes trained on them the whole time. Fliss was convinced Thor thought Alex was some kind of hairless puppy. She reached the end of her chapter and was just heading inside for a refill of iced tea (her craving for apple juice completely gone and she was back to hating the stuff) when her phone went.

“Yo, Titch…” Her brother spoke and she smiled “How’s that beautiful little Nephew of mine?” “He’s fine…and so am I thanks for asking.” “Yeah, well it ain’t all about you.” Steve said and Fliss rolled her eyes “Listen, me and dad are trying to get Frank to come out for a few beers tomorrow wetting the baby’s head to so to speak but he is refusing.” “He’s tired.” Fliss said, “Alex woke at 3 and didn’t settle till 5. Frank was up at 7 for work so he probably just wants to catch up on his sleep.” “Yeah, well he can sleep on Saturday.” Steve said “He’s been fobbing us now ever since we first asked 2 weeks ago.” At that Fliss frowned. “He didn’t mention you’d asked.” “He didn’t?” “No.” she said pausing. Whilst Frank had certainly calmed down on that respect since they had first gotten together, it wasn’t like him to turn down the offer of a night out with the boys, and she could only assume it was down to Alex.

“Well we have and Dad’s desperate to take him out for a few beers. Can you see if you can work your magic?” “You want me to beg my fiancée to go out drinking, whilst I stay at home with our 3 week old baby?” Fliss asked.

“Yes.” Steve replied simply “You’re a dick.” She shook her head, “I’ll mention it to him when he gets back but I’m not promising anything.”

Frank arrived home a little over an hour later, to find Fliss led on one of the sun-loungers in the shade, Alex resting on her chest, her bare legs stretched out in front of her.

“Busy afternoon?” he quipped and she pulled her shades down to glare at him. “That was a joke.” “We had a very busy day actually.” She looked up at him. “We went to the store this morning, then to see Roberta this afternoon, and then came home, I made meatloaf for dinner and then I had a few hours out here whilst he slept. Then he barfed up all over me and now I have sick in my hair.”

Frank let out a laugh and shook his head as she bent her legs so he could perch on the end of the lounger. She shifted a little and cocked her head.

“Where’s Mary, and why are you so clean?” “Mary has gone up to see Monty and I’m clean because I’ve been in the office and shop all day working on the rotas and a few other pieces of administration for when Alan leaves.” He shrugged “I apologise sincerely for the lack of grease and dirt.” “So you should.” She grinned “But, seeing as you’re so clean…” she moved and sat up slightly so she could hand Alex over to his daddy who took him tenderly, pressing a kiss to his head.

“Why don’t you grab a shower if you’re bothered about your hair?” he offered and she nodded, standing up.

“Hey, I was thinking this weekend you could try him in the pool” she shrugged “I can’t go in for another couple of weeks yet, according to google but you could.”

Frank hesitated “How about we wait, then we can do it together huh?”

“Ok.” She smiled “I won’t be long.”

He shook his head “Take as much time as you need. Not going anywhere.”

“Hmm, yeah, I heard.” Frank looked at her “What?”

“Steve called before. Said that Dad’s been trying to get you to go out for a drink but you’re refusing.” Frank let out a groan. “They've been on at me for the last week or so, as have the Circle Of Truth boys. Say I need to go wet the baby’s head so to speak.” “You should” she looked at him. “It’s tradition.” Frank pulled a face.

“Are you seriously turning down a night out?” Fliss looked at him.

“No, just temporarily putting it on hiatus”

Fliss snorted “Loser.” “I don’t see you clamouring to go out.” He looked at her.

“Well, actually, I was thinking of going to Lunch with Bonnie on Sunday.” Fliss shrugged “She said Rio’s are launching a new menu so…” “You should go.” Frank encouraged her, smiling softly.

“I will if you go out on Friday.” She shot back. Frank rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Why are you so keen to get rid of me for a night?” “I’m not.” Fliss shrugged “Just think it’s nice that they all want to celebrate with you.” She paused and looked down at her hands before she took a breath and looked back up a Frank. “You’re not refusing to go because you don’t think I can cope are you? Because-“ “No, no baby of course not.” He shook his head sincerely “That’s not it at all, I just, well I wasn’t that bothered.”

“Ok.” She nodded, accepting his answer.

Frank watched her for a second, mulling things over. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go and see everyone, but he just enjoyed being at home. It was strange in a way. When he had moved down here with Mary, pretty much right from the off when he met Roberta he’d taken his Friday nights and Saturday mornings as his own, and he’d needed them or he would have probably gone insane. But now, it was different. And he knew it was because Fliss was here too. Someone to spend the evenings with when Mary was in bed. That said, he also knew it was important for them to have their own time as well, and if he was honest, the idea of wetting his own baby’s head was kind of appealing. “Actually…” he said, looking down at Alex. “I think I will go. The more I think about it, the more fun it sounds. And we did it for both of Jake’s so..” She smiled and stood up, giving him a soft kiss. “Good, you can call Steve and give him the good news.” Frank watched her head inside before he looked down at Alex who was fisting his tiny hands around his open button down. Smiling, he shifted slightly, holding him up with one strong arm as he grabbed his phone in the other. First he sent Steve a quick message calling him a sly bastard and then fired one off to the Circle Of Truth chat saying they were on for drinks. Steve replied first with a simply middle finger emoji along with the words “see you tomorrow.”

“Your Uncle is a pain in the ass.” He grumbled to Alex before he smiled, stood up and headed inside to grab a Bud.

******

“Right does everyone have a beer?” Bill looked around the group. Steve, Frank, Simon, Greg and Jake all raised their bottles. “Ok then, in honour of my beautiful daughter giving birth to my third amazing grandson, Alexander Francis William. Cheers lads!”

Frank smiled and raised his beer as the group all let out various cheers and calls, before taking a large drink from his bottle.

“Still can’t believe you stuck the name Francis in there.” Jake looked at Frank who raised his middle finger in response.

“Get fucked, and I didn’t. Fliss did.” “Clearly delirious with the pain.” Simon nodded and Frank rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up…” he took a drink from his bottle.

They stood chatting for an hour or so before Simon decided it was time for shots. There were groans and half-assed protests, Greg complaining loudly that a Head Wetting night was supposed to be civilised. At that Frank almost choked on his beer and turned to his best friend, shaking his head.

“Greg, the last Baby’s Head wetting we went to for Jake’s Annie, you were kicked out of the burrito place for spilling drinks all over the table and trying to wipe up the mess with other people’s tortillas.”

The group laughed and Greg shrugged. “Well at last I’ve never hid in the bushes and called four Ubers to play hide and seek.” He pointed at Frank who snorted.

“That was…yeah…it was a very heavy night.” “No shit.” Jake mumbled “I woke up in the morning looking for my phone. Couldn’t find it anywhere but there was like a random piece of toast on the nightstand. Then I heard Lisa shouting. My phone was in the microwave covered with melted cheese.”

Steve snorted at that and hastily turned away as his beer came out of his nose, causing Frank to laugh even harder as Bill chuckled and shook his head.

“I was staying at my mom’s that night.” Simon mused as the laughter died down. “I was in between apartments remember? I woke up in the dog’s bed downstairs. Apparently she had come down from bed when I came in and I told her I felt sorry for Barney sleeping in the kitchen alone and I climbed into his basket with him…she just left me there.”

“You lot are worse than my gang, and that’s saying something.” Steve grinned.

“Bull shit.” Frank pointed at him. “Fliss told me loads of stuff you used to get up to.”

“Yeah, come on Ringo, you must have some stupid drunk tales.” Jake turned to Steve who grinned.

“Oh I got plenty as Frankie boy said, thing is a hell of a lot of them involve Fliss.” He shrugged and the boys laughed, Frank snorting.

“I think my personal favourite was the time you set fire to the kitchen curtains.” Bill said, and Steve grinned.

“Yeah we were high then though Dad, not drunk.”

“High?” Simon looked at Steve before he glanced at Frank who shrugged “Damned Frank, your girl’s a little bit of a rebel on the sly ain’t she?” “You have no idea.” Frank smirked, raising his eyebrow.

“Dude that’s my sister.” Steve nudged him and Frank shrugged, taking another swig of his beer.

“She was though.” Bill smiled fondly “You and her were always up to mischief. As soon as she was old enough to go drinking she was hanging around with your lot.”

“That was because she fancied Lee.” Steve snorted.

The group all sniggered and Frank laughed “Is that the guy she dated for a year or so?” “Yes, much to my disgust.” Steve narrowed his eyes.

“Was his disgust too when you punched him.” Bill said and Steve sighed.

“He was shagging my little sister.” He shook his head. “Just…no.”

The group all snorted and Frank groaned “Ok, I don’t want to know anymore…” “You have no room to be all coy about it!” Simon looked at him “Your antics in here before you got with Fliss…”

“Yeah, yeah…” Frank sighed “Can we change the subject?”

At that point he felt someone shove him in the back and he stumbled forward, banging into Steve, spilling his beer slightly. There was a bit of a commotion as the rest of the group all rallied behind him and Frank spun round.

“Really, really sorry…” A dark haired man with a strong Irish accent was apologising to the group “I tripped and…” “Fine, just watch where you’re going yeah?” Steve looked at him as Frank brushed his shirt down.

“He just said he was sorry.” The man to his left, a smaller red head shot back “It was an accident.” “Yeah and I was just telling him to be more careful.” Steve frowned.

“Or what?”

Bill sighed and turned round “Look, we don’t want any trouble. Apology accepted so…”

The two men eyed up the group before they turned away and headed for the bar.

“Right…” Simon said, breaking the tension slightly “Shots and then who’s up for a game of pool?”

“Do we have to? I’m crap.” Steve shook his head and Frank looked at him.

“Yeah, I heard that before from a Gallagher.” He snorted. Steve and Bill frowned and he explained to them both “On our first date Fliss hustled me big time, right at that table actually...” Steve snorted “She used to do that to all of my mates. 9 times outta 10 we’d come home with more money than we started with.” He paused and looked down at his feet, before watched Bill as he turned to Simon who was heading to the bar, following him over, making insistences that he was paying again as it was his Grandson’s party so to speak. He looked back at Frank and smiled. “Dad’s right, she was fun. We had some good times, thick as thieves before she met that cunt and left for Boston.”

“Yeah she told me a bit about how close you were.” Frank smiled “But you still are now. It’s nice.” “Got you to thank for that.” Steve looked at him “She’s back to her old self, better dare I say it.”

Frank smiled shyly, the way he always did when he was accredited with Fliss’ ‘turn-around’. “I don’t know if I can take full credit for it, I mean…” “You gave her another chance.” Steve cut him off “A chance of happiness with a guy that’s decent and treats her right.” He shrugged “Just the way we all see it anyway.” Frank’s mind flickered back to the moments after Alex had been born when Fliss had rather tearily declared pretty much the same to his face. He shrugged and smiled softly “Yeah, well, I was a mess until I met her to so…I guess you could say we helped each other out.” At that point a shot of tequila was shoved into his hand along with a wedge of lime and Simon held up the salt shaker.

“Drink, bitches!” he grinned, and Frank let out a soft groan. This was going to get messy.

******

A couple of shots later and several more rounds of beer, the group were all starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, so when Bill ordered them all a bourbon, none of them really raised much of a protest.  They stood by the pool table, the game of killer taking a lot longer than it would have had they were sober and Simon slung his arm over Frank’s shoulder.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked and Frank looked at him, squinting a little.

“Well it depends.” Frank replied “On what it is. Like if you killed someone I might be obliged to tell the police…” “What about if he was an ass hole and deserved to die?”

Frank paused, before he took a mouthful of his bourbon “OK, well maybe not in that instance.” Simon nodded “Good to know, but no..it’s…” he looked around and then grinned “Imma ask Bonnie to marry me.” “No way man!” Frank beamed, “That’s awesome. Congratulations.” “She aint said yes yet.”

“Well why wouldn’t she?”

Simon shrugged “I know, I’m a catch.” Frank laughed. “No, I’m pleased for you pal.” “Thanks.” Simon smiled “You know, I still don’t think it’s fair you’ve seen her naked and I aint seen Fliss…” Before Frank could reply and call him an asshole Steve jumped in “I’m sorry what?” Frank groaned. “Nothing, Simon was…” “Frank slept with my girl.” Simon said bluntly, “Before Fliss…” he added hastily as Steve’s frown deepened. Steve looked at Frank. “You were with Bonnie?” “Not really, it…” Frank groaned “It was one night, we were drunk…can we not do this?”

“Does Fliss know?” Steve looked at Frank, a smirk on his face.

“Yes she does, she saw us. It nearly ended up in us not getting together in the first place so I really don’t wanna think about it.” “Apparently in the middle of giving Bonnie one he said Fliss’ name.” Simon grinned and Frank let out a loud groan as Steve choked on his drink.

“I fahkin’ hate you.” Frank glared at Simon who was now laughing into his glass.

“Oh my God, Frank…” Steve smacked him on the back “The more time I spend with you the more I love you pal.” “Thanks…I think…” “Hey, you guys ever gonna finish this game or what?”

They all turned to look at the Irish guys who had bumped into them before.

“I dunno, maybe.” Jake stood up, leaning on his cue, “Why?”

“Coz we’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Well then you can just wait longer.” Steve shot back, and the group sniggered.

“Fucking Yanks…” The guy mumbled as he turned around and Steve narrowed his eyes.

“Who you calling a Yank you stupid Irish prick, I’m from Liverpool.” “Ok, ok…let’s…” Bill spoke loudly, hiccupping a little as he put his arm out to stop Steve who had been walking towards the man that had spoken “Just calm down alright. Soon as we’re done you can have the pool table.”

“Yeah so hot foot back to the other Leprechauns over there…” Steve waved him away.

“Steven.” Bill warned him, shaking his head. Steve looked at his dad before he shrugged and turned back to Frank who was stood there, grinning.

“You know what Steeby?” Frank drained his glass “The more I hang with you, the more I love you too…”

It was an hour or so later when they all stumbled out of the bar and after hugs and backslaps they headed to their various waiting Ubers. As they passed a large blue truck, Bill paused before he unsteadily dropped to his feet.

“What are you doing?” Frank swayed a little, before he turned to Steve “What is he doing?”

Steve stumbled a little and shrugged “Dad…what…are you letting the air out of the tyre?” “Yup” Bill said, standing up, wiping his hands on his jeans before he pushed one through his short, grey hair. “It belongs to those little Irish wankers in the bar, saw one of them get out of it before.” Frank looked at his future father in law, before he looked at Steve who was smirking ear to ear.

“I told you when you were a kid.” Bill pointed at Steve as the three of them staggered to the waiting car. “Easy, easy catchy monkey.”

*****

"Heyyy." Frank beamed as he stood in the doorway. Fliss looked up and smiled as he walked a little unsteadily towards her. "Hi beautiful". "Hi handsome." She smiled back as he leaned down over her. He smelt of beer and bourbon as he placed a soft kiss to her lips and she grinned "good time?" "Well..." he perched on the arm next to her and glanced down at Alex, his finger smoothing his hungrily working cheek "we certainly wet his head so to speak." He hiccupped slightly and Fliss looked up at him, smiling "yeah, it appears that way" "Your dad's fault." He said, sliding off the arm of the sofa onto the seat next to her, sprawling out slightly, his long legs stretching out in front of him "He kept buying it. I mean one minute my glass was empty and the next it was full again." "Sure he twisted your arm..." "He did, honest Lissy..." Frank nodded "I kept saying no more...I need to get home to my girls and my boy but Bill...he is BAD" Fliss looked at Frank who was watching Alex feed before his eyes flickered up to hers and he grinned. "Your boobs look great." She snorted "Sorry but for the time being they belong to your son." "Lucky bastard" "Well I hate to point it out to you but that's actually what they're designed for." "Hmmm" Frank closed his eyes. "Go to bed." Fliss nudged him gently "In a minute..." he said before his eyes flicked open "Ah fahk." "What?" Fliss asked as Alex pulled away having had his fill. She adjusted herself then him so he was over her shoulder as Frank stood up. "My jacket." "Baby you didn't take one." "Yes I did." He insisted. "Frankie I promise you, you didn't." He looked at her, before be clicked his fingers and pointed "it was the leprechauns."

“The leprechauns?”

Frank nodded “Yes, the Irish guys…they must have taken my jacket.”

Fliss looked at him, before she shook her head “Ok, course he did. You should speak to him tomorrow and get it back.” “I intend to.”

“You do that.”

“I will.” He nodded firmly before he turned and headed out of the room, banging onto the frame as he went.

Fliss laughed quietly at him, before she reached for her phone and text her mum asking her if she was awake.

“I wasn’t until your dad and brother turned up 20 minutes ago. They're in a right state.”

“So is Frank, keeps talking about a leprechaun stealing his jacket...but he didn’t even take one with him.” “Your Dad was grumbling about Irish Tourists and then started laughing about a flat tyre or something. Maybe that has something to do with it.”

“God knows, they’re going to be so hungover tomorrow.” “I’ve left your dad asleep on the kitchen floor after he lay down there hugging a plate of left-overs from dinner. Steve at least managed to make it to his room.” Fliss exchanged a few more amusing messages with her mother before she gave a yawn and glanced down at Alex. He was nodding off again so she stood up, turned off the lights and headed upstairs.

Frank was face down on the bed in his shirt and boxers. Fliss shook her head, smiling as she placed Alex down in the bedside sleeper, tucking him in before she moved round the bed towards Frank.

“Frankie…” she gently nudged him. “Sailor…” He mumbled into his pillow.

“Ok, come on…” she nudged him again. “Take your shirt off and get in bed.” Frank let out a dirty chuckle as he pushed himself up, pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. Then he reached up, grabbed Fliss and pulled her down onto the bed, laughing as she let out a little squeak of surprise. He leaned over her, smiling down before he gave her a soft kiss.

“I love you. And I can’t wait to marry you.” He said, “In fact...I think we should set a date. Properly and book it. We did say this time next year.”

Fliss smiled and ran her hand through his hair, her hand making its way down to his neck where she gently scratched his skin with her nails. He closed his eyes, making a soft noise of satisfaction in his throat.

“Sounds good to me.” She smiled. He opened one eye and grinned.

“Yeah?” “Yeah.” She nodded. “But we can talk about it in the morning? Bean’s gonna be up again in a few hours and I need some beauty sleep.” “Nah you don’t” he shook his head “You’re gorgeous.” Fliss chuckled “Smooth.” “I try.” He said, giving her another kiss before he pulled away “But before we go to sleep, can you do me a favour?” “What?” “Can I see your boobs? Just see em, I promise, no touchy…” he held his hand up, giving her his best puppy dog eyes, even if they were slightly glazed from the alcohol.

Fliss arched an eyebrow at him before she sat up, and pulled the shirt she was wearing up to flash her chest at him. Frank gave a moan and she laughed before she dropped her top down to cover herself up.

“You’re killing me sweetheart.” He mumbled, pushing his face into the crook of her neck. He placed a soft kiss just under her ear, trailing his lips down her neck to her jaw line.

“Frank…” Fliss sighed, her eyes closing as his lips met hers, his kiss strong and passionate. She let herself go with it for a moment, enjoying the feeling. She loved kissing him, it was pretty much her favourite thing to do, and it helped he was so damned good at it. Eventually she pulled away and pressed her forehead to his. “Baby I can’t not yet…” “I know, I know.” He sighed, “Sorry. I just…” She smiled, reaching up and cupping his face “It’s ok.” “Just so you know, as soon as you can, I’m gonna fuck you senseless.” He mumbled, giving her another soft kiss.

“Wow, romantic. The first time we can do it after I give birth to your kid you’re gonna fuck me senseless.” “Yeah but, I’ll make you feel gooood.” He drew out the word and she grinned.

“You always do Sailor.” He smiled, his lips once more pecking hers before he pushed himself up and started pulling the bed covers down. He settled sideways on the bed, leaning over her slightly to glance at Alex who was sleeping before Fliss turned off the light and settled next to him as his arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her close.

[fanfuckingfic]

You Move Like Real People Do

(Choreographer!Jimin x Ecologist!Namjoon x Singer!Reader)

Summary: Sometimes loving someone is just too easy. It just sinks into you so deeply or floats you away so high either way it shouldn't be hard to hold on to.

Wordcount: 2.6k

Warnings: (Sappy fluff, polyamory, lots of talk about bog bodies, excessive amounts of admiration, the songs are literally Hozier’s and you should listen to them if you haven’t, oh my god this is so self indulgent)

A/N: I haven't written in like 3 years and I've never tried bullet fic style so please be nice :( also I love Hozier so much oh my god I literally just built a whole universe in my brain around his music + bangtan and I think Movement fits Jimin so well and LRPD is a sick song and Joon is a just weird nerd but anyway please enjoy and lemme know what you think! 

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Namjoon is an ecologist and Jimin is a choreographer and Y/n is a famous indie-rock blues singer/songwriter (literally just fucking Hozier because I love that man with every bit of my heart).

You and Joon are early risers and spend mornings sipping coffee and reading together on the couch while you wait for Jimin to get ready for the classes he teaches alongside being a choreographer so they can kiss him good morning and wish him a good day when he leaves.

You’re sure to put extra honey in his green tea to-go cup, and he kisses you both quickly on the cheek before scurrying out the door.

They both kind of fiddle around with their day cause Joon is a professor at the local university and only has classes twice a week and finished grading that last assignment yesterday.

So now he's watering his plants and terrariums in the greenhouse porch you all have and your sitting there fiddling with your guitar, messing around with some chords sometimes writing them down sometimes not.

Casually you ask Joon which student had the best paper.

“One student went out of their way to be a kiss ass if that counts.”

You ask how he means with a chuckle.

“Well you know how I've been writing a thesis about bog bodies and what-not?”

“Yes of course, love, you only remind me of the phenomenon every chance you have.” You look up at him with mock disdain. 

His eyebrows furrow, “I thought you liked talking about the bog bodies” He pouts and you honestly can't even try to deny it.

“I do, I think it's kind of beautiful- not like dead people that's shitty- but when you describe how the swamps and bogs preserve them and how they’re found.” You take in a deep breath mulling over your words for moment.

“You make things like that sound so beautiful, Joonie. Even if I don't get half the big sciencey words you say. It sorta sounds like people falling in love with something they shouldn't but doing it anyway.” You smile to yourself thinking of him talking to (mostly at) you.

Namjoon still gets flustered easily by your and Jimin's creative ways of declaring your love.

He hears Jimin's tinkling laugh in your music and his own words in your songs, sometimes he feels like he doesn't love you both back enough but you both are quick remind him that he doesn't show love through notes and twirls

He shows them through flowers he picks and the way he's always willing to interrupt himself to explain something when he sees confusion in either of your eyes, because he knows you want to but wont stop his train of thought, you both want to understand what he's babbling on about because you love him.

(And he looks so fuckin hot when he goes on his passionate rants about certain bacteria being the back bone for an entire ecosystem how could you not?)

He blushes and clears his throat.

You always find the beauty in everything, can turn just about anything into a love story, a poem.

He loves that about you and Jimin you're both so able to make the world more beautiful with your bodies and minds. You both love that he adds so much sustenance to that beauty. 

“You're right, bog bodies deserve love, just like any real person does. But a student wrote their paper on them and used me as a source in their reference page.” He huffs, still amused by the students' tenacity. 

“Any real person, huh? You gave them an A didn't you?” You absorb his words before deadpanning.

Namjoon doesn't answer and instead bends down to kiss your lips then your forehead before he goes back to being very interested in how his Venus fly trap is doing.

Some days when your writer's block is extra bad and you've been struggling to come up with lyrics that mean anything or chords to go with them, Jimin asks if you want to come with him to the studio.

He's just experimenting with some new choreography so it's just you two. 

He notices when you get into these slumps you can't quite reach your way out of and staying in the house all cooped up trying to get inspired by the same things you see everyday isn't going to help. 

It's a classical piece a dance company hired him to choreograph, wordless dancing was always his forte.

Feeling the music move through him and around him, throw him to and fro. He likes to feel like a tool of expression- like an instrument to be played. 

You watch him work and think and move, over and over again, something just slightly different each time just slightly closer to what he wants. 

He's breathless by the time he comes to sit next you against the back wall he saw you staring the whole time and loves how he can still make you and Joon speechless and swooning even after all the years together. 

“Sometimes I forget you're real, you know, when you dance.” You murmur head on your knees still in a daze after watching him.

Jimin quirks an eyebrow and smirks.

“The hell does that mean?” He simpers, knowing you're probably about to say something that will completely floor him and make him fall for you even harder. 

“You just stop looking real I guess, you look like if I reached out to touch you, you would still just be barley out of reach, like driving towards a rainbow or a mirage, ya know?” 

He quirks his head, not really understanding what you mean but trying to.

“You're just so good at using your body to show a concept you almost kind of become one. I don't know, mostly, I just feel like I'd chase you forever if you really were unreachable like that, I don't think I'd mind.” You shrug and reach for his hand to fiddle with. 

He exhales in surprise. He was absolutely right. Floored.

“Would you dance with me? Running after me doesn't sound as pretty as us dancing together forever.” He asks twisting you fingers with his.

“I don't think I'd have a choice not wanting to dance with you would be like not wanting to breathe.”

He sighs dramatically. “Babe! How am I supposed to be okay after you say shit like that? Huh?” He laughs and shoves your shoulder playfully.

You laugh and fall over pulling him with you. 

Namjoon comes by later with drinks from the cafe he knows Jimin loves and finds you both slow dancing in the middle of the empty studio.

You both pull him in between you and continue to sway back and forth. It's sweet and romantic and your drinks go cold before any of you are ready to let go of each other.

Your latest album was amazing and you're about to go on tour and you're nervous to be away from your guys for so long cause last time you went on tour you weren’t as famous and such didn't go to different countries to perform. 

You're gonna miss them terribly and they miss you twice as bad and they definitely bawl their eyes out when your tour bus is out of sight.

They tried really hard to keep up the smiles for you cause you deserve the success and the recognition without guilt or reservations but wow the house is so quiet without your absent-minded humming and strumming and no knew pieces of paper with potential lyrics scattered around the countertops. 

You all keep in touch of course- face-timing at least once a day with both or either of them and you ask them not to watch any recorded performances cause you don't want them to spoil it for when you come back and do your final home concert. 

Your reason being: you left two songs off the album you wanted to perform on tour.

So now it's your last concert before you get to sleep in the same bed as your loves again, they arrive early but you're still too busy with sound check and your drummer having boyfriend problems to get more than a hug and kiss to each of them. 

They don't mind though they know how concerts are for you. You love them- you get to give your fans a bit of your soul and they all give a bit right back. 

They meander through the crowd towards the front not too close though. Your manager tried to get them to stay backstage but they both wanted to get the full experience since they did as promised and had steered clear of any footage of the concert. 

When you walk out everyone lights up and the energy in the whole concert hall shifts.

You smile so bright and they're close enough they can see the surprise on your face when you look down into the crowd and see them. Your eyes soften and get a little misty but ever the professional you trudge on. 

Song after song you work the crowd into the comfort of your melodies and words have people screaming, crying and eating out of the palm of your hand so easily. 

You get to the end of your set, Namjoon and Jimin know- you'd asked them for help when planning the show. They knew which songs you were gonna sing and when but it didn't occur to them it seemed just a bit short until now when you're clearly your throat and asking for the house lights to be brought up just a bit. 

“The next two songs are love songs, I would sing about political injustice and grieving a metaphorical loss all day if I could-” the crowd hoots a few times with their chuckles and Namjoon and Jimin feel surprised grins growing on their faces.

“but I'm just too in love to not write a song or two.”

You strum a tune he’s only slightly familiar with, its something he’s heard you tweak for the past year or so.

“The lyrics of this one are a bit odd and terribly specific to a certain person so bare with me.” 

The auditorium murmurs a laugh again knowing your lyrics more often than not are. 

“I had a thought, dear, however scary

About that night, The bugs and the dirt

Why were you digging?

What did you bury, before those hands pulled me from the earth?

I will not ask you where you came from

I will not ask you, neither should you

Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips

We should just kiss like real people do”

The piano sounds and the haunting harmony from your back up singers makes Namjoon’s heart race. 

He knows what you're singing about, Jimin knows too he might not get it as well as Namjoon does right now- some of the things Joon talks about are just slightly too icky for him- but he does know that if he could dance about Joon’s brain he would. 

He smiles when Namjoon's hand squeezes his, his eyes unable to look away from you and the little story being told between you two right now. 

“I knew that look dear, eyes always seeking 

Was there in someone, that dug long ago

So I will not ask you, why you were creeping

In some sad way I already know

I will not ask you where you came from

I will not ask you and neither would you

Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips

We should just kiss like real people do”

Noli timere Namjoon hears the words being dragged and stretched in your vocals and his heart clenches.

“I could not ask you where you came from

I could not ask you, neither could you

Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips

We could just kiss like real people do”

Your voice tapers off and the strums slow as you open your eyes and hold his gaze meaningfully. 

Namjoon is left feeling like he's floating.

You wrote a song about something he cares about, you wrote him a song about one of his favorite things even if it is a very creepy weird thing.

You took all the thoughts he poured into your ears and made it something people could love just a little bit easier. He almost thought he couldn't love you more than he already did.

“This next one might be a bit less niche but if you've ever seen your lover dance you would know exactly what its about.” 

The heavy dip of bass vibrates their feet and a resounding clap comes to fill the air as the surprise and tears come his eyes. 

“I still watch you when you're groovin'

As if through water from the bottom of a pool

You're movin' without movin'

And when you move, I'm moved”

Jimin’s hand comes to his mouth and you smile mischievously into your mic.

“You are a call to motion

There, all of you a verb in perfect view

Like Jonah on the ocean

When you move, I'm moved

When you move I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be

When you move I could never define all that you are to me”

You look directly at him making sure he knows this is his song. 

“So move me, baby

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally

Move me, baby

You are the rite of movement

Its reasonin' made lucid and cool

I know it's no improvement

When you move, I move”

Jimin laughs wetly at your joke. You’re wrong- he thinks- your body is absolutely and improvement of any situation. 

“You're less Polunin leapin'

Or Fred Astaire in sequence

Honey, you, you're Atlas in his sleepin'

And when you move, I'm moved

When you move I can recall somethin' that's gone from me

When you move, Honey, I'm put in awe of somethin' so flawed and free

So move me, baby

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally, move me, baby

So move me, baby, Like you've nothin' left to prove

And nothin' to lose, move me, baby

Ooh, ooh, ooh

Oh baby, oh baby

Move like grey skies

Move like a bird of paradise

Move like an odd sight come out at night”

The sudden crash of the band coming together to put music to your declaration makes goosebumps rise on Jimin's skin, Namjoon looks between you both and his heart melts softly in his chest. Just the admiration between you both enough to make him fall all over again.

“Move me, baby

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally, move me, baby

So move me, baby

Like you've nothin' left to lose

And nothin' to prove, move me, baby

So move me, baby

Shake like the bough of a willow tree

You do it naturally, move me, baby”

The calls and hums of you and your back up singers echo quietly before applause assaults their ears, the cheering nothing short of deafening. 

You bow and wave backing away from the mic for a few moments- taking in the last show you'll be doing for a while- before walking off stage.

Namjoon knows he should be pulling Jimin with him towards backstage so they can smother you with love properly but hey can't move Jimin has tears streaming down his face and Namjoon is too awestruck about you remembering him going on about the last words of a poet who had written about the bog bodies and how you always just cared so much about him and Jimin.

Eventually they do move through the leaving crowd towards security, the guards already aware of their faces escort them.

They knock on the green room door with your name next to it. 

It swings open so quickly they flinch back and the woman barreling into their arms throws them back at least a foot. 

“I missed you so much” you all but sob into their chests. Clinging tightly to their shirts.

They share a look over your head all too endeared with your clinginess having missed it terribly for the past months.

“We missed you too angel.” Jimin sighs into your hair, much closer to your head than Namjoon. 

Namjoon hums in agreement then sniffles making you both turn your faces up to look at him, Namjoon crying was a really rare thing well maybe in comparison with you and Jimin who will cry at an emotionally manipulative commercial without hesitation. 

You're both slightly shocked to see tear tracks on his adorably reddened face and him struggling to control his breathing.

“Ooh Joonie.” You coo then pull them both into the green room and start wiping at his cheeks. He sniffles again and it's absolutely precious.

“Y-you sang about b-bog bodies!” He sobs hauling you off your feet pushing the air out of your lungs. 

Jimin laughs and sniffs wiping at his now wet face too. 

“You guys liked them? They weren’t corny?” You wheeze as he sets you back down between them.

“Are you kidding?! You referenced Sergei Polunin, that's so corny, babe.” Jimin pets your cheek and kisses it tenderly. “Of course we loved them.”

“I'm gonna put my song in my thesis, its gonna open a whole flood gate for the romanticism of them.'' Namjoon says, mostly to himself, still shaky with tears.

Jimin pulls you both in for another hug and in a similar state to Namjoon says, “I’m gonna choreograph both of our songs. I’m dropping all my projects for it- right now.”

You laugh and shake your head before pulling back to take them both in again still not over how long it’d been since you got hold them. 

“You wanna go somewhere? Get a welcome home drink or meal or candle or something?” Jimin asks, putting your hair back into place as best he can. 

“That diner with the shakes on 5th is probably still open-” Namjoon starts but you shake your head.

“Can we just go home? I missed you so much.” They both nod with the softest smiles and each grip a hand.

Your tour bus dropped off most of your stuff at home earlier that day so Namjoon just takes your backpack and Jimin pulls your guitar over his shoulder. But not before asking with a smirk-

“Did you say Fred Astaire in sequins?”

--------

Thank you for reading <3 Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this! It’ll lets me know if I should write more or not

[doitjake]

The music in us - P2

Jake kiszka x reader

warnings: none.

Request: “two rockstars meeting in a festival, and both bands hanging out cause they are both friends with the struts, then jake starts falling in love w this person because of their personality, talent and charisma, they start to match in the second day of camping at the festival and then the bands have to play in the same day, jake tells his feeling and the reader doesn’t know how to react.”

A/N:  sorry it took so long to bring the second part and unfortunately or luckily we will have part three! I hope you guys like it and if you want to see a specific scene in the second part comment here or you can send me a message / question!!

Requests here: https://forms.gle/6uMRSCzFvyR2FgZPA

"Wake up, bitch." I open my eyes and see Ana climbing down from her bed, going straight to mine. Strange, usually Lexa who has the job of waking us up.

I sit up in bed before Ana could reach over and start pulling my covers off. Ana looks satisfied and walks towards Lexa's bed.

"Let me sleep, Ana." Lexa covers her head with the sheets.

Poppy comes out of the bathroom, already with her makeup and hair done. "This is what happens when you spend the night hooking up with a drummer." Poppy stops next to Ana who laughs looking at Lexa.

"Hanging out with WHO?" I finally really wake up and still hit my head on Ana's bed, which is on top of mine.

"Lexa and Danny kissed yesterday at karaoke." Ana speaks excitedly and Poppy continues. "Momma got it off!"

In less than 2 seconds Lexa stands up and appears at Poppy and Ana's side. "Shut the fuck up." I can see her red cheeks as she walks past me to go to the bathroom.

"What about you, honey?" Poppy looks at me arching her eyebrow."You and Jake hm, I felt the tension."

"WE ALL FEEL IT!" Lexa shouts from the bathroom, over the sound of water.

"Why don't you talk more about yesterday, Lexa?" I yell in response, causing her to shut up.

"Did kissing happen?" Ana asks.

"Oh my God people, he just walked me to the bus." Lexa comes out of the bathroom and I walk in right after her. "You guys are watching too many movies." I say already inside the bathroom.Inside I take a quick shower before some of my band mates start complaining.

Back in the room I get my boots and some necklaces and rings to complete my outfit, Poppy comes to me saying that Ana and Lexa are already gone to make it to a concert of some indie band at the festival.

Poppy and I get out of the bus and head towards the stages, which are already starting to get crowded. We pass by the security guards - who for some reason laugh when they see us - showing us our badges to enter the VIP area of one of the stages, which is now occupied by the members of Bloc Party. When we enter we see Luke, Adam, Sam and Josh at one end of the stage.

"Hi girls!" Sam is the first to see us as we approach and am I going crazy or did I really see Poppy blush now?

"Hey guys" Luke offers us each a bottle of beer. Poppy accepts, going to sit on one of the benches below the stage, I nod my head no. "It's not even noon, Luke." I laugh walking over to Poppy. "May I ask why you sat down, dear? We have to be on the big stage in 15 minutes for the Aerosmith show, they're opening."

Poppy's face contorts into a grimace as she looks across the festival to the stage. "You know Y/N, you who are an Aerosmith fan here, you're not going to make your pretty friend walk all this way to see a band I don't even listen to much?" Poppy smiles childishly at me.

"You are the worst friend in the world!" I speak to as I walk past the boys to say goodbye to them.

"I love you too!" Poppy shouts as I am almost at the stage exit.

As I walk to the other stage, I realize how beautiful the festival is. Camping tents circle the lawn, groups of friends take fun pictures lying down, not caring about the grass and a little bit of mud. Food trucks begin to set up their trailers to receive the drunken crowd in need of something solid in their stomachs, Poppy and Ana are included in this crowd. I laugh with thought and only realize that there was someone in front of me when I bump into her as I enter the vip air of the stage.

"I'm sorry." I raise my gaze to the person and am relieved that it is not a stranger who would probably cuss me out. "Oh, hi Jake!" I smile at the man in front of me.

"Hi Y/N." He laughs making room for me to pass. "How are you doing?"

"Well, how about you?"

"Fine too." Jake leans against one of the bars, he's even more handsome in the daylight, shit! "Still feel like you're going to pass out at any moment?" He smiles at me.

"Don't even remind me of that!" I smile too. "And you Sir, you have to promise that even if I faint you won't let anyone take me away from this privileged place." I point to the VIP area we are in, which is less than a meter from the stage.

"Okay, I promise!" Jake laughs and runs his fingers through his bracelets, coming closer to me, to speak something in my ear. "I know the whole festival has probably already seen this, but I think it's only fair to warn you that your badge is backwards." He looks at me amused and waves his own badge.

I look at my badge and see that all the writing and pictures are upside down. I try to turn it over still holding the rope, but I only make it worse, making the badge fall into the grass.

Before I can duck to pick it up, Jake does it for me and he also catches the badge cord around my neck with his own fingers and puts the badge away easily.

"There!"

I look at him and smile at the same time blushing. "Thanks."

Jake shrugs his shoulder smiling.

We both look over our shoulder when we hear familiar voices. Coming towards us are Ana, Gethin and a little behind them Lexa and Danny. Very close.

I laugh at the scene and Jake seems to read my mind and follows me smiling at the 'couple'.

"Cute, huh?" Ana nods to Lexa and Danny, making them both blush.

I pat her arm lightly and turn to Gethin and Danny. "Hi guys."  

"Hey Y/N." The two respond in unison.

Gethin crouches on the floor opening a bale of beer and handing it out to each of us. I get tired of rejecting drinks, so I accept. Before I can open mine, Danny and Gethin are already toasting with their bottles.

I shiver at the whisper right next to my ear. "I said, beer guys."

I turn to Jake smiling at the memory of our first conversation.

The half-computerized voice comes out of the speakers, announcing that soon the band will take the stage. And maybe it's the adrenaline from the concert about to start, but I take courage and approach Jake.

"So, today the girls and I are going to build a bonfire on the lawn behind our bus." I look at him, who has a sideways smile on his face and nods. "Do you want to join us? I mean, you and all the boys too."

"Sure."

We smile at each other and only stop when seconds later, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler enter the stage, being followed by the rest of the band afterwards.

"No fainting, eh." Jake speaks low to me, but loud enough for me to hear over the beginning of 'DREAM ON.'

"No getting me out of here if I faint." I speak would be but can't stand it and follow Jake in laughter as he throws his head back.

And now the show really begins.

I spend the next two hours singing (screaming) all the Aerosmith songs, some hours cuddling with Ana, other times helping Gethin open another bale of beer.

Jake, Ana and Gethin spend the last 4 minutes of the show laughing at me and Lexa, because we were crying of 'I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing' until we saw that Danny was also almost crying and then we were all engaged in the mission of laughing at him.

Definitely one of the best moments of my life.

When the concert of a small alternative band starts, we leave the VIP area and head towards the food trucks. Ok, maybe I am also part of the audience that needs something solid in the belly.

As we sit down on some folding chairs, Josh, Luke, Jed and Adam come towards us. Josh frowns, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of me.

"Where are Sam and Poppy?"

"Are you guys too drunk and have you forgotten that they were both with you?" I ask laughing and the 4 boys in front of me look even more confused.

"They said they were going to meet you in the VIP area of the big stage." Adam replies.

All ten of us stare at each other's faces. Then Josh can't help himself and lets out a laugh and everyone starts to understand what really happened.

"Wow, two couples in less than a day of festival?" Luke hisses.

Even though I am a few chairs away from Lexa and Danny I can feel them both wanting to hide when we all give them quick glances, my glance is quick but so much so that I miss the scene of the two of them smiling at each other.

When I finish eating everyone is still too busy discussing Poppy and Sam and how they match as a couple.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to Jake, who has also finished eating.

"We have an hour and a half until the Stones concert and I have half a bottle of Whiskey on the bus." He raises one of his eyebrows with an inviting smile.

"I'm in."

No one seems to care much when we say we're going for a walk around the festival. No one except Ana.

"Hey, Luke, look at the third couple!" She points to me and Jake laughing.

And for the second time in the day I feel all my blood rising to my cheeks. But I still have a little bit of bad bitch attitude left in me, so I yell back. "Only if you and Josh are the fourth." I hear Jake laugh behind me and get up the courage to look back, where I find Guitarist with his hand raised so we can have a high-five.

I slap his hand and look at Ana again and see a unique scene, my cousin embarrassed as Josh winks at her playfully.

Jake and I make our way back to the buses, stopping to look at a stall full of handmade jewelry. I leave with a lanyard with a pendant of James Jamerson's miniature Fender Precision bass and Jake with a leather bracelet, also with a pendant, a miniature Fender Stratocaster, Hendrix's trademark.

We stayed chatting about these iconic instruments until we arrived at his bus door.

"Welcome, Miss." He opens the door for me and I walk past him laughing.

Their bus is not much different from ours, except for the amount of drinks in one corner. But who am I kidding? If it weren't for Lexa, ours would be like this too.

Jake goes over to the corner and says he's going to get the glasses and the bottle and I sit down on the small brown leather sofa.

I pick up a book that was on the little table next to the couch, "Is it yours?" Jake comes over to me holding a bottle of Jack Daniel's and two glasses, one with ice and the other without.

"Yes." Jake sets the glasses down and opens the bottle. "Have you read it?"

I look at the paperback edition of an Edgar Allan Poe book of short stories and nod. "A classic." Jake fills both glasses with the liquid. "The best kind for touring."

Jake smiles and holds out one of the glasses to me. "No ice, right?"

"Right!" I smile at him.

We toast with our glasses and relax on the couch.

"Do you want to hear something?" Jake asks pointing to the small radio on the small table.

I say yes, even though the silence between us is not at all uncomfortable.

I smile when Five By Five by the Stones starts to play.

Jake lays back on the couch smiling as well "Just to get in the mood."

"I get it, Keith Richards's 'fangirl'." I wink at him, getting a laugh in response.

By the time the fifth and final one starts, we are at the end of the bottle.

I look at Jake beside me, his eyes and hands are focused on filling our glasses for the last time. A wavy lock of hair falls across his face, while the rest is tucked behind his shoulders.

And it must be the fault of the damned drink that I take my fingers to this lock and curl it around my finger, making it almost curl when I let go.

Jake looks over his shoulder and laughs anasaly. I pull my fingers out of his hair, embarrassed.

"Sorry, it was kind of irresistible." I give him a nervous smile.

Jake offers me my glass and smiles, "It's okay, Y/N!" He props his glass on the floor and brings his hand up to my hair, curling it in his finger, the same way I did with him.

Jake rests his cheek against the back of the couch and smiles. "Sorry, it was kind of irresistible."

I laugh and stare at the ceiling for a few seconds, but when I turn my gaze back to Jake, he is no longer smiling. But he doesn't look angry or upset. He scans my entire face, until his gaze meets mine again. My hair still curled on his finger.

"Would you be mad if I said I really want to kiss you?" Jake asks and shit I feel time stop and all that silly teenage nervousness come back.

I look at him and Jake looks anxious, waiting for an answer.

"No." I speak low, because for some reason my voice seems to get lost inside me, "I wouldn't be mad."

"And you wouldn't be mad if I actually kissed either?" Jake smiles sideways at me.

Without moving much, I leave my glass on the floor next to his.

"I would be mad if you didn't kiss." I admit smiling at him.

His fingers that were holding a lock of my hair, go to the back of my neck pulling me closer, one of my hands goes to his arm and the other goes through his hair.

And then our lips are together and when I briefly open my mouth, Jake gets the message and begins to explore my entire mouth. One of his hands goes to my waist, looking for support to deepen the kiss.

Neither Jake nor I care when the music stops.

Our breaths are a pleasant sound to both of us now.

His hands slide to the back of my thigh, pulling me onto his lap.

My two hands go to his neck while trying to make as much contact as possible with his mouth. I curse Jake mentally as he separates our kiss, he realizes my disappointment and laughs as he brings his mouth to my neck and I take back all the swearing I did second before.

Just as I am about to start the last buttons on his shirt (the only ones that were buttoned) a noise at the door and voices make me quickly get off Jake's lap.

"There are locks on these buses you know, brother?" We look at Sam who is dying to laugh at the moment.

And when Poppy's head appears through the door I realize that he is not the only one dying of laughter.

[stetervault]

Hello! Do you do rec lists? Would you be willing rec some Steter fics that aren't the most common/popular ones? If not, no worries!

Technically this isn’t a rec-finding blog lol but I do make rec lists sometimes if someone asks and I have the time and I feel like it. Here are some (I think?) less known Steter fics, oldies that people may have missed or forgotten (Idk how well I succeeded, I just picked a bunch that have significantly less reads/bookmarks than the really big fics):

Fear (Doesn't Mean I Can't Fight) by azerblazer

Peter is the damsel in distress, the Sheriff is the hostage, random unnamed hunters are the bad guys.

Stiles has a bat, a hoodie and a willingness to do anything to protect those he's loyal to.

Bring it on.

A Lean and Hungry Look by kototyph

The woods aren't the only place you find wolves.

You're Mine, Valentine by orphan_account

In which Peter decides to court Stiles, and does so by leaving him hearts.

Bloody ones.

Zodiac by Green

"You know, Taurus and Libra make a good match," Peter says with a sly smile.

Stiles looks away. "Yeah. I looked that up, too."

Surviving Peter and the Zombie Apocalypse by Nopennamesleft

Its the end of the world and Stiles has run out of luck. He saves a werewolf from certain death. Will they begin to rely on each other to survive or will the wolf just eat Stiles for a midnight snack?

He Is A Villain By The Devil's Law by neglectedtuesday

Stiles’ lungs are burning, blood is pumping through his veins and he’s pretty sure that if he stops running then he’ll just keel over into the gutter. But God does he feel alive. The sirens are wailing, loud and clear. Just one more block. One more block. Stiles ducks down an alleyway, the bag full of bank notes swinging behind him. It hits his side with a dull thud. The alley smells like cat pee and yesterdays trash so Stiles breathes shallowly through his mouth. He continues walking down it until he reaches the end. It opens out onto the street. He stops just shy of the exit, waiting. He waits a bit more. Then he kicks a can lying idle on the ground. He whips out his burner phone, punching in a number.

“Where the fuck are you?” Stiles growls, “Where’s my goddamn getaway car?”

“Change of plans Stilinski, you’re gonna have to get away on your own. Also ditch the phone.”

Fascinated by lemonstiles, migratoryslashfan

Stiles pontificates over Peter's naked body.

Night-blooming Flowers by imriebelow

Peter always gets what he wants. Stiles learns to live with it.

None of These Things (Are Happening) by Horribibble

After years away, Stiles returns to Beacon Hills just in time to put Isaac's insides back where they belong.

It's cute how people think he's trustworthy.

-

Peter can smell the violence inside him, the urge to do something grand and possibly cataclysmic. It’s there—mixed with a balance and natural calm, but in the undercurrent, it’s there. He has seen things beyond the scope of Beacon Hills’ petty horror show. He has learned things.

The Terrible Things We Do (For Love) by rospeaks

Being a demon, he’s seen some of the pretty nasty things that humans are willing to do for love. Things that, were he still alive (and human), would make him hesitate to be in a relationship with anyone lest his partner start getting some funny ideas. That said—

"This seems a little desperate for a kid your age," he says to Stiles.

Spin, Sweet Clotho by ChuckleVoodoos

Oh, it’s a beautiful thing to watch, the way they dance around each other, spun in sugar and glittering glass. Like a fragile little fairytale, a tender rosebud just waiting to unfurl. It makes Peter sick.

Because love is a fairytale, and his dear darling nephew does not deserve a happy ending.

whisper by tricksterity

Stiles was tired.

He was done of people pushing him and his pack around. They’d already lost so much and he was damned if he’d let them lose anyone else, especially to this psychopath who had no reasons for what he did other than he liked it.

And that’s when the whispers in his mind grew louder.

Remember Darling, All the While by Sang_argente

It was fire, ice, electricity. It was the first kiss, the last kiss, and every kiss inbetween. It was lips parting, tongues sliding, hearts beating.

Impress Me by ToAStranger

Their new English teacher has gone missing.

Falling Upward by moonstalker24

There is nothing quite like flying. There is a calm and a peace found in the sky that cannot be found on earth. All the chaos of the world is below you and there is no sound save that which the propeller makes as the engine turns it. You are free and unfettered and the clouds are close enough to touch; all you need do is stretch out your hand to grasp them.

Stiles takes Peter flying after he gets out of Eichen House.

Sweeter Than Gingerbread by taylorpotato (Stetallison)

The saying goes that lovers who commit suicide together start their next life as twins. Perhaps that's why Stiles and Ally feel the way they do about each other.

The Shadow Effect by Mysenia

What was the fun in being a twin if you couldn't trick a person or two?

Deep under by Sashaya

There's a reason Stiles knows so much about drowning. He'd rather not remember why...

All the World's a Stage (but the light design is subpar) by BonesOfBirdWings

Peter Hale is a successful Off-Broadway actor, and Stiles is a stage lighter who literally falls into his life.

Peter smiled at him. "Thank you, Stiles. But should I take this to mean that you don't want a meatball sandwich from Banh Mi Saigon?"

Stiles' mouth dropped open. "You - I - Yes, I want! Oh my god, you do the best apologies! Can you piss me off more, please? I accept all future apologies enthusiastically!"

Peter chuckled. "I'm sure that won't be a problem, dear boy. I've been informed that I'm an asshole by a very reliable source."

Stiles beamed. "But you have good taste in food, so things balance out?" he ventured.

Peter threw back his head and laughed. Stiles' grin brightened in answer.

The D.C. Backroom Deal by septima_sum

Stiles is a regular prostitute with moderate life goals – until his current client makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

Strange Duet by BelleAmante, thiliart (thilia)

The past three years have been a series of shocking, or not so shocking, successes for 2018 Tony award winner and two time Grammy nominee, Stiles Stilinski. You don’t typically find classically trained opera singers singing alternative folk rock to crowds at Coachella. Nor do you find indie singer/songwriters winning best actor awards at the Tony’s for their Broadway debuts. Stilinski has made it his lifetime habit to defy and exceed all expectations.

-or-

A Steter fic loosely based on Phantom of the Opera

Hold Me Down by sneksonaplane

Waking up in Peter Hale’s bed was weird. Waking up in Peter Hale’s body was even weirder. Stiles had been disoriented and confused when he’d found himself in a plush, king sized bed in an unfamiliar bedroom instead of in his own room (and seriously, why did Peter even need a king sized bed? Why would anyone need a bed that big?) It had all come back to him when he’d glimpsed the body he was inhabiting, one that was shorter but more defined than his own, and older, and kind of hot.

OR

The one where Stiles and Peter swap bodies, Peter relives his adolescence, Stiles suffers, and then suffers a little less when he discovers Peter's fetlife profile where he's listed as a submissive seeking a daddy.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Guede

This is a ghost story. It’s not straightforward.

Put My Faith in Something Unknown by Twisted_Mind

He doesn’t know how long he sits there, suspended between thought and action, unable to feel. At some point, he becomes aware that there’s a hand on his face. A warm palm cradles his jaw, and a thumb brushes across his cheekbone tenderly.

The Rest of Our Lives by mia6363

“I don’t know, as a kid I watched a lot of movies, you know? And at first I figured like… I’d be on some great adventure that would take me away from it all, you know? Like Indiana Jones comes around and is all, ‘Hey Stiles, buddy, come with me we’ve got to go save the world.’ Then… you and… everything happened… then I just… I figured I’d die before I was eighteen.”

Enemy Action by pprfaith

Once is chance, twice is coincidence and three times is far too many bodies on the ground.

Buy Me a New Pair by Julibean19

"I don't practice law much these days."

"And why is that?" Stiles asked, wondering why a handsome and presumably successful lawyer wouldn't want to continue working.

"I've been drawn away by more pleasurable pursuits," Peter said, lips quirked upward as he spoke.

Tale as Old as Time by wynnebat

The one in which Lydia's got better things to do than be Belle, Stiles is a much more likeable Gaston, and Peter is a beast but not quite beastly.

The clothes make the man by FeelingsDusk

The trick to sneaking into a building where you shouldn’t be is to make it seem to all eyes like you should. Stiles has been doing this since he was a little older than toddler and he wanted to get back his Batman action figure from the evidence room in his dad’s Police Station.

(Spolier alert: just like back then, Stiles gets caught.)

Smile Like You Mean It by NinaRooxx

After sulking about the changing weather over the autumn, Stiles notices that despite the weather getting colder, Peter’s wardrobe isn’t changing at all.

Swing by ShippersList

Stiles wants to fly.

Angels, Devils, and Peter by Triangulum

Everyone has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. They give advice, help guide their human through life. They tempt, they listen, they offer help. Everyone has one of each. Everyone except for Stiles.

OR

Stiles and Peter are murder husbands.

love and madness by sinequanon

Peter and Stiles haven’t seen each other in months when the alphas ask them to meet up to look over an abandoned house. Now, they’re going to be seeing a lot of each other for quite a while to come.

Not This Again by RebaK1tten

There's a rumor that the last episode of the show will have Peter getting killed, again. Perhaps to give him a redemption arc or something.

A Light at the (Near) End of the World by ladyoneill

The world he grew up in has ended in a supernatural war that devastated the human population. A survivor, Stiles lives a solitary, quiet life in Wales until there's a knock on his door.

Through Space and Time by MaroonDragon

When Stiles pulls the body of Peter Hale into his ship, he doesn't expect him to be alive. He also doesn't realise he might have gotten more than he bargained for.

His Color by SushiOwl

“Darling, have you been carrying a throw-away comment I made in your mind for almost four months?”

Stiles’s face felt like it was one with fire now.

After You by FlyAwayMeow (rjaejoo)

It’s true that sometimes what you want the most, you can’t have and that you’ll miss what you once had all along when it’s finally gone.

After breaking his engagement to Chris, Peter heads to New York to start over. He meets Stiles, a young author at his publishing house who helps him piece his confidence back together. When tragedy strikes, he discovers how to finally let go of his past and have the family and future he's always wanted with the pieces already in his life.

Looking After You by Slayer_of_Destiny

Can Peter be a chance for Stiles, can Stiles be a second chance for Peter? When Peter offers Stiles a relationship will the younger man take the chance with the werewolf?

Maybe We Both Are by lavenderlotion

The first time Stiles lets his fingers brush against Peter he wasn’t expecting the response he got. They were sitting on Stiles bed researching something. Or, they were researching. Now they were just talking. They did that a lot these days, just talked. They also ate together a lot. Or got coffee.

these words bear my scars (paint your love on my skin) by WindyRein

One day butterflies and childish codes change to I'm sorry you're meant for a murderer and he won't realize for years how much that changed his life.

Before you let go (and the light takes you in) by Issay

Stiles makes one last errand - goes to leave flowers on all the other graves. Fuck, so many graves. The grief is as endless and as inescapable as the sky.

He goes home and there is a thing wearing his father's face, waiting for him in the kitchen.

The Lady of Lightning by kiranightshade

"Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside"

Can You Use Lube For That? by AlreadyBoss

“You think your what is haunted now?” Surely he'd misheard. There was no way-

“My vibrator,” Stiles answered with alarming sincerity.

Well. He hadn't misheard after all.

Pianist Envy by Bunnywest

Stiles is the piano player.Peter can think of other things he'd like to see those hands do.Shame the guy's straight.

Everything You Deserve by Areiton

You think about it. More than you should, you think about it. About what would have happened, if you had bitten Stiles instead of Scott.

Home by Ragga

Don't be like him, they would say, and then add, or else you get burned.

Unable to bear the whispers any longer, This One left. He forsook those who forsook him, left him bear his scars alone, the scars he bore for his herd. It was better to be alone, stay off the currents, than swim with those most undeserving of his loyalty. So mote it be.

That is, until he met That One.

Lord Peter by Therapeutic_Steter

Peter rung out the rag before gently placing it on his mother’s head, reaching over to feel his father’s equally flushed features.

“Such a good boy,” his mother said, patting his arm with what little strength she had remaining. His father smiled softly at him even as his fell unconscious. Peter pushed back the lump in his throat, smiling shakily for his mother before venturing out into the living space.

knit me together by nezstorm

Peter asks Stiles to stay the night after a really awful day.

Warriors by CinnamonLily

Peter is ten years old when humans discover Azure, a planet not unlike Earth. From there on, he wants to learn everything about their new neighbors and the planet itself. It takes him over twenty years to get to Azure, but when he does, it's so worth it. His anthropologist heart is happy, and a new acquaintance in the form of an Azurian called Stiles might just make the rest of him happy, too.

[technoturian]

So after dipping my toe in the Pedro Pascal stan side of tumblr I decided to give his Netflix movies a try. Yesterday was Prospect which I *loved* and today was Triple Frontier which was... possibly the worst movie I’ve seen in the last couple of years.

Spoilers under the tag but honestly... Just don’t watch this movie. If you’re a fan of one of the cute men in it then just search the internet for gifs, I promise you you will get more out of that than you will out of this movie. Ranting below, you’ve been warned.

I have to commend the Pedro fans for their fanon version of his character in this film, as they pretty much were forced to invent him from whole cloth because basically none of that is in the text. And that’s because he doesn’t have a character. None of them have characters! None of them have arcs! The plot doesn’t even have an arc! The movie ended in the biggest shrug I’ve ever seen. They didn’t fail, they didn’t succeed, it was just kind of... well that happened.

Every time I thought, “Okay, I see where this narrative is going...” It just... didn’t. It didn’t go anywhere. The main thrust of the movie was done 30 minutes in and then the rest of the movie was them walking around killing people. Now, it could have been about that, about that they were killing civilians and growing increasingly more cruel and emotionless in their actions, but that was not reflected in the resolution. Nothing that happened in the movie was concluded in a way that made sense. It just was a collection of bad things that happened that then stopped eventually. What about the characters and their families who at the start of the film were stated would be hunted to the ends of the earth by ALL THE CARTELS!! (and other unspecified Bad Criminal People) and at the end just kind of shrug off the fact that they have no money to disappear with? Are Santiago’s fake passports supposed to fix that? Or maybe they deserve that because of the ~horrible things they did~ but then why such a light-hearted, optimistic-ish ending note where they all cheerfully say goodbye? What is the message here?

It was like two producers came together, one said he wanted to make an indie film that was a blunt drama on the horrors of war and dehumanization of the American soldier and a scathing, unflinching indictment of the military industrial complex, and the other one said he wanted to make a shoot-em-up heist movie with big budget actors and lots of explosive action and they were like...

...and mushed them together without any attempt to make a cohesive and narratively satisfying story. It fails at both of these aspects by committing to neither. I saw only the briefest hints of any kind of thematic thread that was so incompetently conveyed that it might as well have never existed. I can’t understand how this movie has such high approval from critics??? What did you like here, was it all of the monologues about how war takes and takes and doesn’t pay well enough? Because if you like that, there was a lot of that. It doesn’t actually go anywhere but it’s there and gee, it’s a thinker, huh, war is bad actually. Groundbreaking.

And this is not an indictment on the actors at all (except for Ben Affl*ck, he can choke). They were honestly working so hard, I could see that, and it made me angrier than if they’d phoned it in. I honestly cannot imagine how they got all of these big actors in this movie and gave them absolutely nothing to work with!

Every one of these characters save Santiago had the same ~arc~, “I don’t like what being a soldier did to me except I’m super loyal so I’m just going to do this one last job oh crap everything is terrible better turn on my murder training...” Which is like... Yeah that happens when you join the military, it’s awful, sure. “War is hell” and all that. But just pointing that out doesn’t make these successful, rounded characters or make this a good movie. I again applaud fans that found any value in these characters, it honestly feels like a case of “I like this actor so much that he deserves a lot better than this, let me invent an alternate reality where he actually had substance”. I can’t feel bad for them too much because I guess, I hope they had fun filming it on location and made a lot of that Netflix money?

As an exercise I tried to think of a single line in this movie that, if shifted from one character to another, would have changed... anything. If it would’ve effected their character at all. If it would’ve felt like it didn’t fit, like, “well HE wouldn’t say THAT”. I couldn’t think of one. They were all completely interchangeable. They all switch from being guilty about killing people to not really caring to straight up going murder-happy depending on the scene, excusing their actions and condemning them. ~Oho, but don’t you see, that’s the duality of the soldier, the hero and the villain~ shut up, it’s bad narrative if you can’t even figure out what a character’s motivations and baseline personality are.

Literally the only person I saw any slight arc from was Santiago, who basically got all of his plot threads neatly tied up by the halfway point and then was just a shell of regret like the other characters. From then on the only person with any sort of arc potential was Tom, because he was the first to get greedy and he was the one to shoot first and I thought “Okay cool, so he’s going to turn on them or something as the money dwindles because he’s going to put his family first and they’re really going to show how far they’ve fallen” and nope he’s dead, of course he’s dead, that’s the end of the only character that seemed like he MIGHT be going anywhere (not that I cared because Ben Affl*ck can choke). Even the romance arc didn’t go anywhere! It literally stops halfway through the movie just like everything else???? This movie feels like they lost the second half of the script days before filming and they were like, “Um, and, um, lots of... climbing the Andes, and, um, this Andes thing is going to be very long and so that’ll pad it out and, um??? War is bad, look what they make you do, look what they make you give etcetera etcetera? Then, uh, action driving scene, uh, yeah. There we go, finished.”

I honestly just can’t believe I sat through a movie with Ben Affl*ck, Charlie Hunn*m’s absolute travesty of an American accent, and 70s-80s dad rock music just because two hot Star Wars boys were in it. Maybe the real message of the movie is the hot boys we looked at along the way.

* And because it didn’t fit anywhere else, just a shoutout to this particular part: William’s character introduction being a recruitment speech that starts with “My PTSD is so bad I have violent blackouts” and somehow with a scene cut manages to circle back around to “So anyway kids stay in the Army it’s the best and you’re all patriots” is the most heinous thing that completely undermines A, his place as the moral center/voice of reason of the film and B, any anti-military message the movie might be vaguely attempting. I just keep remembering that compilation video of young, desperately sad military recruits saying “f*ck you” and “you lied” to their recruiter and thinking, “This guy has given this speech HUNDREDS of times??”

[bisluthq]

On a pitchfork article back then about the kimye feud, the writer mentions kim and kanye write their own public lives, and so does taylor, but kim and kanye were too much for someone like taylor to handle. After all, she had to keep her squad, her boyfriends, her princess image, etc. Toe happened in such a good timing that i think she has or had a plan about her career and used him to achieve her goals. Probably will marry, have kids, and then divorce for the sake of her career narratives.

Well that’s an ugly thing to wish her.

And tbh citing Pitchfork is probs not something I’m gonna be into either lol. The people who work there are the absolute fucking worst. Like they’re a bunch of douchebag hipster types of course they’re gonna bash marketable celebs lol. The people at Pitchfork are actively invested in not stanning anyone mainstream - like Taylor and Kimye - and are very proud of being better than those people who do stan those vibes. They’re big “indie record that’s so much cooler than mine” energy. They’re that white litboi who explains sapphic takes of like Jane Austen to you - a real world queer woman - over a beer in the pub.

And I’m sorry I’m just... not here for “Taylor Swift is a fake ass lying liar who lies.”

If that’s what I thought I... wouldn’t stan her tbh.

I don’t get people who do lol like if you think the person you like is a BAD PERSON whose whole life is a lie and who is tricking you for commercial gain I... don’t know why you are interested in them.

@karliesbuzzcut said an interesting thing yesterday about how TTB and co think celebs are like a different animal entirely to normal people. But the thing is they’re not lol like celebs are still normal ass people who eat and breathe and shit and fuck and mess up. Things like PR stunts and showmances DO HAPPEN absolutely. But it’s not some elaborate trick to con the “general public” ya know, it’s just a marketing strategy. Like it’s not deeper than that.

Showmances are often based on some kind of reality (some are totally staged but I’d say most aren’t) and they’re designed to sell u stuff and I’ve very clearly shown you guys how. Like it’s a way for you to buy stuff and spend 💸 cash dolla. It’s not a conspiracy. It’s not a lie. Well, not any more of a lie than like an advertorial or product placement.

Taylor DOES USE JOE - and their admittedly grossly cute love story - TO SELL STUFF. But that doesn’t mean the relationship is fake. Joe DOES NOT USE TAY TO SELL STUFF because the outcome he wants for his career - to be the next Daniel Day Lewis lol - won’t be aided along by being a pop star’s sugar bébé. In fact it’s deadass a liability as we saw in Saoirse’s interview for Mary Queen of Scots.

If you want to talk about how everything celebs do is a complete lie and they all have a public private and a private private life and they’re meeting in sekrit venues and they all ~know these open secrets that you as a regular citizen don’t... then this is not the place for you man. Because that’s not true tbh.

And I’m sorry but no I don’t think Taylor would MARRY AND HAVE KIDS AND THEN DIVORCE JOE in order to trick you and sell stuff as part of her career narrative. If they break up - and as I say she will get dragged if it’s any time soon like she will be publicly HUMILIATED by EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER - she probs will try and come back from it by selling music. But it would also be SO INCREDIBLY PAINFUL and downright EMBARRASSING for her and if you can’t see that, if you can’t have empathy for this real world human being then miss me.