#i'm going to go to lunch with my mom and then later this evening i'm going tooooo get Not Sober and just have fun 💖
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mymarifae · 1 year ago
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i'm the birthday millie today
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i'm super old now.
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im2tired4usernames · 9 months ago
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Me: I need some time for myself I need some time to decompress after constant work and high stress and responsibility you guys dump on me with no time for me to think or be by myself to rest and focus on my hobbies since I can't get that from you guys ever during the week I'm taking a day I WOULD get paid and go to my actual for real paying job so I can just rest so I hopefully stop daydreaming about killing myself.
My family: OK BUT WHAT IF THIS LIL "EXTRA FREE TIME WAS MORE UNPAID LABOR FOR THE FAMILY HUH WHAT IF WE JUST TAKE THAT TIME N USE IT TO DUMP MORE WORK ON YOU AND THEN MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING FIVE SECONDS WITH OUT A CHILD SCREAMING IN YOUR FACE OR A SOAPY DISH RAG N YOUR HAND WHAT IF WE DO WHAT THE LORD IS CALLED US AND DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE WITH OUR LIVES WE CANT GET IT DONE BY OURSELVES WE NEED YOU TO TAKE ON THE WORKLOAD OF THREE PEOPLE AND DO IT WITH A SERVANT'S HEART AND A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!
me: do I look forward to dying so I can get some actual rest?
#eh it's not just my family there's something wrong with me that just makes people dump everything on me friends old room mates coworkers#people just think i deserve all the labor i guess all day everyday nonstop housewife and surrogate mother#its good be something i do because it's a nonstop trend of me saying i want to go to bed and then four hours amd forty six minutes later I'#still cleaning#people just seem to assume I'm built for hard continuous labor because even as a child and i went to friends houses#they're mom n dad would make me weed the garden and clean their yard before i could play#so it is definitely something wrong with me because it keeps happening but fuck do these people live to take advantage of it#it is what it is but fuck if i knew id just be working id have gone into work and at least gotten to take naps on my fifteen minute break#and lunch break#i need to get a home by myself so that i can be at home and not have to spend four hours sorting laundry but can actually sleep on my days#off and maybe have time to actually try to teach myself how to knit or draw or read and actually read not listening to audiobooks you find#on YouTube while you clean and just not have to think#but have to constantly be on the clock i can take my face off and just breath#but i do not think i can get that living with people i think i need to live by myself or with my wife#extreme introvert never allowed a second alone but even in the toilet or in bed i have people bugging me nonstop constantly#JUST CONSTANTLY#i just want thirty minutes were NO ONE FUCKING TALKS TO ME OR LOOKS AT ME P L E A S E
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sototallynormaliswear · 10 months ago
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I'm kinda bummed that more people don't care for Isaac and Stiles' canon dynamic
you put them anywhere near each other, they are already fighting, insulting everything about each other, the haircut the trauma the outfit, no bars held. Isaac puts his hand too close to Stiles' face, stiles bites him. they have a staring contest while Isaac slooooowly pushes all of his stuff to the ground
but Isaac is one of the only people to go "hey stiles I think you're really fucked up are you straight up dying??" and stiles refuses to answer so Isaac is immediately more on edge. and Isaac was trusted to finally trap the nogistune, which I imagine stiles would have some pretty heavy sway over.
also, the scene at the lunch table? "you could try being helpful for once" "for half my childhood I was locked in a freezer so being helpful is kinda new to me" "you still milking that?" it's so easy to read this as stiles being a dick (because he kinda is) but watching back season two, Isaac is actually fairly reluctant to talk about his father, even to people that FOR SURE know what happened. further more, stiles just doesn't care in the same way about the pack that other characters do, so the pack isn't trying to justify themselves to him. so Isaac doesn't want to talk about it and stiles isn't pressuring him, but suddenly its four months later and Isaac is bringing it up casually and stiles isn't surprised about ANY of that. and they both refuse to skate around it despite that fact that that is one of their strongest skills. whether or not Isaac actually uses his father's abuse as a way to get out it isn't QUITE as interesting as the way that the two of them seem comfortable talking about it, especially when everyone around them DOES seem visibly uncomfortable
anyway. those two are my favorite pair of angry cats. they would die for each other. last week Isaac ate Stiles' homework. about a month ago stiles broke into his house to hide his spoons. they got each other for secret santa, Isaac got him a box full of pennies and a bottle of his mom's perfume stiles got him bottles of dirt and a handknit scarf
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pitlanepeach · 2 months ago
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Radio Silence | Chapter Thirty-Six
Lando Norris x Amelia Brown (OFC)
Series Masterlist
Summary — Order is everything. Her habits aren’t quirks, they’re survival techniques. And only three people in the world have permission to touch her: Mom, Dad, Fernando.
Then Lando Norris happens.
One moment. One line crossed. No going back.
Warnings — Autistic!OFC, pregnancy, emetophobia warning, domestic fluff, birthdays + Christmas, some emotional instabillity.
Notes — I hope you guys love this one. It's so full of sweetness. A bit of frustration too, but mostly sweetness.
December 2023
The lights in the MTC's build bay always felt too bright. Amelia squinted up at them in annoyance, then turned her gaze back to the car.
Her car.
Not hers in any legal or possessive way — it belonged to the team, to the season, to the wind tunnel and CFD modellers.
But the final profile of the MCL38-AN was a shape that had lived in her brain before it ever existed in carbon fibre form. It had existed exclusively within spreadsheets and flow charts and headaches. Whiteboard scrawls at two in the morning. Phone calls to her dad. Arguments with aero. Hours of simulations. Hours of starting over.
And now it was real. Sitting right in front of her.
Orange and black, sleek and hungry, its chassis caught the overhead lights and glowing.
Amelia didn't move. She needed minute. She just stood beside the rear wing, arms crossed tight over her chest, soaking in the project that had consumed every spare hour of the past two years of her life.
She had half a muffin in her bag from breakfast four hours ago. She'd forgotten to eat it.
The name on the spec sheet was just technical: MCL38-AN. The suffix had started as a quiet claim — her way of signing something no one could take from her. Years ago, her father had passed off one of her ideas as his own. "AN" for Amelia Norris, scribbled on a draft after too much coffee, felt like insurance. But the department kept using it. Zak hadn't stopped them. And now it was printed on the official build list, black ink and daring her to believe it was really hers.
Her name. On a car.
"Staring at it won't make it disappear," came a voice from the other end of the garage.
Amelia didn't look over. "I'm aware," she replied flatly.
Anthony, one of the build engineers, chuckled and walked closer, wiping grease off his hands with a rag. "Just never seen you stand still this long before. Thought maybe you'd short-circuited."
"Internally," she replied. "I'm experiencing the Blue Screen of Emotion."
He laughed again. "Hell of a machine you designed."
She didn't correct him.
Instead, she stepped forward and laid one hand on the side-pod. The material was cold and smooth under her fingers. She could feel the vibration of the building, the faint hum of tools and voices and fluorescent life, echoing back through the structure.
"This was all in my head once," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "And now it's... this."
Anthony, thankfully, didn't say anything saccharine. Just gave a nod and let her stand there.
Amelia walked slowly around to the front of the car, fingers trailing against the bodywork. Her brain was already scanning for imperfections — minor details to flag, alignment to double-check, tolerances to run again. But beneath that, buried under years of ruthless professional calibration, was something quieter.
Pride.
Not loud or dramatic or showy. Just a quiet click of recognition.
This was good work. And it was hers.
"Can we run power systems later today?" She asked.
Anthony nodded. "Soon as Oscar finishes his lunch."
"Tell him I said no mayo on the telemetry."
"I don't even know what that means."
Amelia didn't clarify. She just smiled faintly to herself and stepped back, surveying the car one more time.
MCL38-AN.
Not bad for a girl who used to line up her Hot Wheels in exact weight-to-downforce order as a kid and got sent home from school for correcting her teacher's physics formulas.
She pulled out her phone, snapped a picture of the car, just for herself, then typed out a message to Lando.
iMessage — 14:33pm
Amelia (Wifey 4 lifey)
Almost ready for testing. I'm so proud it's making me nauseous.
A second later, another text.
Amelia (Wifey 4 lifey)
Or maybe that's just the pregnancy.
Amelia sat cross-legged across from Lando, hoodie sleeves pulled over her hands despite the lingering warmth in the air. Lando was barefoot, legs stretched out, half a grin on his face as he finished the last bite of cake she'd awkwardly cut with a plastic knife.
They were on Max's boat, rocking gently in the Monaco harbour. They'd stolen it for the day.
"Bit late," he teased, licking frosting off his thumb. "Birthday was like... three weeks ago."
"You were busy," she said simply. "So was I. And also I needed time."
"Time?"
"To figure out what to give you." She said. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out a small, square box; plain brown kraft paper, tied neatly with black ribbon. No card. Of course there was no card. She hated cards — never knew what to write in them.
Lando raised an eyebrow as he took it. "Not socks?"
"No."
He peeled the ribbon open and lifted the lid.
Inside was a tiny frame. Minimalist. Neutral. Inside it, a single page torn from a notebook — lined paper, slightly smudged pencil. On it: a series of racing lines drawn from memory. His best qualifying lap from Silverstone. Annotated in her handwriting with tiny notes. Brake here. Open throttle earlier. Turn-in felt cleaner than expected.
He stared at it for a long moment before speaking. "This is..."
"You told me you wanted to frame that lap. I had the data sheet, but I wanted to draw it from memory," she said, eyes on the water instead of him. "That way it's both yours and mine. More special."
Lando didn't speak. Not right away. Just set the frame down carefully and crawled across the cushions to kiss her — soft, deliberate. One hand cupped her jaw; the other rested over her heart like it was helping him breathe. When he pulled back, his eyes were suspiciously glassy. "I think that might be one of the best birthday presents I've ever received," he said. "And I love it."
She gave a tiny shrug. "Good. You're really hard to shop for. You buy everything you want as soon as you decide that you want it."
He laughed, pulling her into his chest.
The boat rocked gently, and the sun sank lower, and for once there was nothing they needed to do, nowhere they needed to be. Just a belated birthday, and a perfect lap, and the girl who knew every corner of it better than anyone ever would.
The ultrasound room was dim, lit mostly by the soft blue glow of the monitor and the faint flicker of winter sun bleeding through the frosted windowpanes. The air smelled faintly sterile, like clean cotton and antiseptic.
Amelia lay back on the table, her t-shirt folded up over her stomach, the thin paper drape rustling every time she shifted. One hand was clenched tightly in Lando's — not out of nerves, exactly, but out of that taut, quiet focus she always wore when she didn't have full control of a situation.
She eyed the plastic bottle in the technician's hand with thinly veiled suspicion.
"What is that?" She asked flatly.
"Just ultrasound gel," the technician said, chipper and entirely unprepared.
Amelia narrowed her eyes. "What are the ingredients?"
The woman faltered, eyes darting to Lando and then back to Amelia. "Um..."
Lando looked at his wife.
Amelia didn't look at him. "I just feel like if we're going to lather something all over my body, I should know whether it contains...you know, petrochemicals or carcinogens or hormone disruptors."
The technician blinked. "It's... mostly water-based," she said finally. "And glycerin. No dyes. No perfumes."
Amelia stared a second longer, then gave a short, diplomatic nod. "Fine."
Lando leaned over and whispered, "You sure?"
"Yes," she muttered.
The technician, clearly deciding she'd earned the right to proceed, gently pressed the probe to Amelia's stomach. She flinched, not from pain, but from the cold smear of the gel, and made a disgruntled little noise in the back of her throat.
Lando squeezed her hand once, smiling.
And then the screen flickered. A faint, grainy image bloomed into view, shadow and static and light, and the whole room seemed to still.
"Ah, a very easy one. There we are," the technician said softly, her voice shifting into something gentle. "One very small someone."
Amelia blinked at the monitor. "That blob is a baby?"
The tech chuckled. "That blob is your baby."
Lando's breath caught in his throat. He shifted closer to her side, eyes locked on the flickering movement onscreen — a heartbeat, tiny and fast and impossibly loud once the audio kicked in. It sounded like wings. Like something about to take off.
Amelia didn't speak for a long time. Just stared. Her mouth parted, eyes wide. She looked stunned, like her body had already figured it out, but her brain hadn't quite caught up.
"Is that..." she finally whispered. "That flicker, is that... the heartbeat?"
The technician nodded.
Amelia's mouth wobbled. Her fingers clenched tighter around Lando's. "It's going so... fast."
"Perfectly normal at this stage."
Lando, who had been quiet until now, suddenly straightened and leaned in closer, eyes glued to the screen. "Wait—how fast? Like, beats per minute?"
The technician glanced at the monitor, tapping a few keys. "Right now, it's about 170. A bit faster than an adult's, but that's exactly what we expect this early on."
Lando's eyes widened. "One seventy? That's incredible. Is that—like—normal?"
"Yeah, perfectly normal. It usually starts slower around five weeks and then speeds up."
Amelia's voice was quiet, but steady. "How many weeks are we exactly?"
"About seven weeks from the last menstrual period," the technician replied, smiling gently.
Lando glanced at Amelia, then back to the screen. "So... when's the due date? When can we expect... I mean, when—?"
The technician switched the screen to a small calendar. "Based on measurements, your due date should fall somewhere around August 14th."
Amelia exhaled slowly, eyes still on the grainy image of that tiny flickering heartbeat. "August 14th," she repeated. "Between Spa and Zandvoort, then."
Lando grinned and squeezed her hand. "That's... just over six months away. Feels proper real now."
Amelia's lips twitched in a tired smile. "Yeah, it's a bit overwhelming."
Lando's voice softened. "Overwhelming in a good way?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I think so."
He looked at her with such tenderness that it made her throat tighten.
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Maybe," Lando said softly, "instead of letting this make us feel out of control, we need to learn how to trust that our little person is just... doing its own thing."
Amelia closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, the flickering heartbeat was still there — small but unmistakably alive. "Okay," she said quietly, "yeah. Okay."
The technician smiled again, dimming the monitor as she packed up. "You're doing wonderfully. We'll schedule your next scan in three to four weeks time, but for now, just try to enjoy this moment."
Lando squeezed Amelia's hand.
The Norris house was full of noise — crumpled wrapping paper on every surface, half-eaten mince pies on plates, Christmas music playing softly in the background, and the fire crackling with the kind of persistent warmth only a real log burner could offer.
Amelia sat on the arm of the couch, a mug of peppermint hot chocolate in her hands (the only thing that didn't make her nauseous that week), watching Lando and his siblings messily construct some kind of Christmas LEGO set on the floor.
It was chaos. The good kind. Lando was wearing a Santa hat and trying to boss everyone around. Cisca was curled up in the other armchair watching them fondly, and even Adam was getting involved, despite pretending he was "too old for LEGO" about twenty minutes earlier.
Amelia felt warm. Not just from the fire, or the hot chocolate. But that kind of rooted, grounded warmth she hadn't felt since childhood.
Lando glanced up at her from the rug. His cheeks were flushed, curls a little wild, still in pyjamas. He grinned that stupidly wide grin of his; the one she could never not return.
"Okay," he said suddenly, clapping his hands together. "We've got one last gift."
His siblings groaned dramatically. "You're just trying to win Christmas," Flo said, already suspicious.
"No," Lando said, glancing up at Amelia. "This one's from both of us."
He got up and walked to the tree, pulling out a small box, about the size of a mug, wrapped in deep green paper and a lopsided gold bow. He handed it to Flo, gesturing for her to open it.
She peeled it back, frowned... and then blinked.
Inside was a tiny McLaren onesie, size newborn, folded neatly next to a photo printout of the ultrasound. On the front of the onesie was a little stitched helmet — and underneath it, "Team Norris. Arriving August 2024."
There was a beat of silence.
Flo stared.
"Shut. Up."
Adam whipped around, eyes wide. "Oh my god."
"No way," Flo said, already scrambling up from the floor.
Cisca covered her mouth, eyes wide and glassy. "Are you—? Are you serious?"
Amelia nodded, quietly overwhelmed by the whole thing, but smiling anyway, caught in the centre of a hug from Lando's siblings as they collapsed into her, cheering and yelling and somehow knocking her mug over (Lando caught it just in time).
Flo kept staring at the ultrasound photo like it was a sacred relic. "I am going to be the best auntie."
Adam walked over to Lando and gave him a tight hug, a forehead kiss, and a pat on the back.
Cisca hugged Amelia gently, brushing her hair back. "I had a feeling," she whispered. "You've had that glow."
Amelia laughed. "The glow is just sweat from the constant nausea. But thanks."
Lando wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, chin on her shoulder, warm and soft and safe."Merry Christmas," he murmured.
She leaned her head back against his. "Merry Christmas."
January 2024
The new apartment smelled like fresh paint.
It was bigger, with big windows and tiled floors and way more space than their old place. But in that exact moment, it mostly looked like a war zone. A mess of cardboard, bubble wrap, and various limbs sticking out from behind furniture.
"Why does your wife own so many pairs of shoes?" Max asked, squinting as he pulled box after box labelled Amelia: Shoes from the back of the moving van.
"She likes having options, Max," Lando replied from inside the apartment. "You wouldn't get it."
"I've already seen three pairs of the same sneaker!"
"Sometimes she wants them to look newer, sometimes she wants them to look worn!"
Amelia stood frozen in the middle of the living room, arms wrapped tightly around a single lamp. Not because it was heavy, it was from IKEA, but because she'd very quickly reached her max input for the day.
People talking, laughing, doors slamming, someone (probably Charles) putting a Spotify playlist on the TV at full volume, Celeste asking where the boxes marked kitchen - fragile had gone (answer: behind the miscellaneous - Lando's gamer shit), and her mom trying to organise snacks that everyone had insisted they didn't need but everyone was happily eating.
It was chaos. Warm, well-meaning chaos. But chaos all the same.
"Breathe, baby," came Lando's voice, suddenly right behind her. His hand gently closed over hers, guiding the lamp to the floor. "Let go."
"I'm fine," she said quickly.
"You're vibrating."
"I'm self-regulating."
"You're about to pop like a champagne bottle on the podium."
She blinked at him. "Lando."
"It's fine," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "Go sit. I'll turn down Charles' shit music."
She nodded once and retreated to the kitchen, or, well, what would be the kitchen, once all the boxes weren't stacked like a cardboard skyline.
Her dad followed her a moment later, holding a garbage bag full of what looked like packing peanuts. "Need anything, sweetheart?"
Amelia, dazed, looked up at her dad. "A new brain."
"I meant, like, a juice box."
"Oh. Do we have any?"
"I'll ask your mom." He laughed and kissed the top of her head before disappearing to the balcony.
Celeste popped in with a stack of throw pillows and collapsed beside her. "Remind me never offer to help anyone move again."
Charles, sliding by with a box labeled guest bathroom, raised his hand. "You're all weak."
"You hired movers," Max called from the hallway.
"Because I am smart," Charles countered.
Eventually, they made enough of a dent in the chaos to pause; boxes stacked in corners, the couch unwrapped, the kitchen sort of navigable. Everyone collapsed onto furniture, floor cushions, or each other.
Lando dropped next to Amelia with a thud. "Jesus," he said. "I'm never standing up again."
Tracey passed around bottles of water.
And then, without thinking, because she was tired, overwhelmed, and slightly frantic, Amelia looked at the empty room across the hall and said aloud. "Oh, cool. I'll be able to start putting the nursery together."
The silence was instant.
Zak froze mid-sip. Tracey turned so fast she almost knocked over Celeste. Charles blinked once, then again. Celeste slowly tilted her head like a confused golden retriever.
Only Max continued scrolling on his phone. Lando looked suspiciously casual, but his eyes had gone wide.
"Sorry," Charles said slowly. "Did she just say nursery?"
"She did," said Tracey, standing like she was ready to break into dance or faint, unclear which.
Amelia, blank as ever, looked up. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry."
"You're pregnant?" Celeste screeched, immediately launching across the couch.
"About eight weeks," Amelia said matter-of-factly.
"Oh my gosh—"
Lando, grinning now, tugged Amelia into his side. "We were gonna wait a while. But she's obviously forgotten the whole secrecy part."
"Not forgot," Amelia said. "Just... didn't filter."
Tracey shrieked. Charles stood and clapped. Celeste immediately demanded to know every detail. Her dad was just staring at them, his jaw slightly ajar.
Max looked at Lando and deadpanned, "Told you she'd blurt it eventually."
"You knew?" Tracey barked.
"Of course I did." Max said.
Celeste swatted him. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
Amelia rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, buried in a couch cushion, legs tucked under her, chaos all around her, but warm. Safe.
Loved.
"I'm going to have to help you build nursery furniture, aren't I?" Charles asked.
"Yes," said Lando.
Amelia sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter, wearing her comfort pyjamas and cupping a warm mug in both hands. Her mom was rifling through a drawer looking for teaspoons and her dad was standing far too close for someone who'd said "I'm not gonna hover."
"You're hovering," Amelia said without looking up.
"I'm not," Zak replied, absolutely hovering.
Tracey gave him a look as she passed. "Sit down, Zak."
Amelia smirked faintly.
Zak pulled a stool out beside her but didn't sit. He just sort of... rested one hand on the counter and stared at her in that way dads do. "You keeping anything down?" He asked.
"I'm eating a lot of toast," Amelia said. "And drinking ginger tea."
He looked vaguely panicked. "Should we be calling someone? We have dietitian's, or—?"
"Dad."
"What?"
"I'm pregnant. Nausea is normal."
Zak muttered something about "precautionary measures" and "just checking" and "your iron levels, you never know," and finally Tracey grabbed his sleeve and tugged him to the other side of the kitchen.
"Let her breathe," she said, soft but firm.
He sighed but relented, pouring himself a cup of tea and stealing a look at Amelia like he still couldn't believe it. Like some part of him was seeing her as a baby again in his arms; not a woman, not a race engineer, not someone capable of growing a human. Just his daughter.
"I'm going to be a granddad," he said eventually, more to himself than anyone else. He blinked a few times, then smiled like he'd just realised it wasn't a prank.
Amelia raised her eyebrows, lips twitching. "Has he only just realised that?"
Tracey chuckled. "Oh no, honey. He's already ordered some books on newborn safety."
Zak tried to look insulted. "One of us has to be prepared."
Tracey ignored him and turned her attention back to Amelia, warm eyes softening. "You know," she said gently, "that first night at dinner, when you got all worked up about Lando... I just knew."
"Knew what?"
"That this was going to be something magic," she said. "You had that look on your face. Not the 'I'm in love' one, not yet. But that one you get when you've found something you'd fight for. And I thought, ah. There it is."
Amelia blinked, caught off guard. Her mouth opened, then closed again, unsure how to respond.
Tracey smiled knowingly. "You've always been complicated. Precise. A little special in a systemised way. But with him? You were safe. Not smaller, not quieter; just... steadier."
Zak, finally sitting, looked from his wife to his daughter, then back again.
Tracey walked over and touched Amelia's hair, smoothing it back without thinking. The kind of motherly gesture that was muscle memory. "We're very proud of you," she said softly. "Not just for the baby. For the life you're building. For letting yourself build it."
Amelia didn't answer right away. Just looked down into her tea and let that sit in her chest like a warm ache. "Thanks," she said finally, quiet.
Tracey smiled. "Now come sit with us in the living room and let your dad lecture you about your fiber intake."
"Oh no."
"I made a PowerPoint," Zak added helpfully.
Amelia stared at him. "I—I eat enough fibre. I swear. I promise. Don't make me sit through one of your terribly constructed PowerPoints."
Five hours later, the apartment was finally quiet.
The kind of quiet that only came after the storm; post-laughter, post-chaos, post-Max dropping a full pizza box face-down on the kitchen floor and Charles chasing Celeste with bubble wrap around his head like a helmet.
Everyone was gone now.
Some boxes still weren't unpacked, the dining table was holding an array of loose screws and takeout containers, and there was one singular sock hanging off the new lighting fixture that neither of them remembered installing.
But it was quiet. And theirs.
Lando lay stretched across the couch in sweats and a hoodie, one leg propped up on a box labeled BED LINENS???. Amelia was curled on top of him like a blanket folded in half, her cheek resting against his chest, arms wrapped around his middle.
She was half-asleep, her body finally relaxing after hours of overstimulation and problem-solving and people asking where things were that she did not know. "Is it weird I don't feel like this is real yet?" She murmured.
Lando looked down at her. "The apartment?"
"All of it. The space. The nursery. The fact I told everyone because I accidentally emotionally short-circuited. I mean, who announces a pregnancy like that?"
"You," he said, brushing his fingers through her hair.
She huffed a breath that was half-laugh, half-groan. "My brain was tired. My mouth just... decided."
"Hey." He tugged gently on a loose strand of her hair until she looked up at him. "It was perfect. So you. I mean, Tracey looked like she was about to cry and throw you a baby shower in the same breath."
Amelia groaned and buried her face back into his hoodie. "She's going to buy so many pastel things. I'm not emotionally equipped for pastel."
Lando laughed. "We'll make a blacklist. No tulle. No gingham. No text that says 'Born to race' or anything cringe like that."
Amelia was quiet for a moment. "Do you think it's okay we're doing this now?"
He didn't ask what this meant. He knew.
The baby. The life. The shift. The permanence of it all.
"I think it's us," he said simply. "And I think whatever that ends up looking like is okay."
She let out a breath. "I don't know how to do any of it. Not even the parts people think I'm supposed to be good at. I couldn't find the dish towels today."
"That's what the box labels are for."
"And you?"
"I'm just here to kiss you when your brain melts and tell you you're brilliant anyway."
She finally looked up at him again. Her eyes were tired — not with sadness, just the fatigue of too much change all at once. But they were also soft. "You're annoying," she said.
"What, being emotionally intelligent and devastatingly handsome is annoying now?" He teased.
"You're a good human weighted blanket, so I won't argue with that."
He smiled and kissed her forehead. "It's a privilege, honestly."
They lay there for a while, the hum of Monaco outside their windows, the buzz of city life just distant enough to feel like background music. Inside, it was soft. Warm. Familiar.
Eventually, Amelia whispered, "We really live here now."
Lando tightened his arms around her. "Yeah, we do."
"And we're gonna have a baby here."
"Mmhm."
"I have to start nesting. Like... soon."
"Tell me what you want built. I'll blackmail Charles and make him do it."
She laughed quietly against his chest, a sound full of exhaustion and affection.
Then, softer, almost to herself, "I think I'm happy."
Lando didn't say anything right away. He just turned his head and kissed her temple again, slow and sure, before whispering into her skin, "I know."
The morning had not been kind.
Amelia had thrown up twice before she even made it out of bed, once more in the sink when the smell of coffee drifted through the apartment. Her stomach had settled into that weird, hovering nausea, not quite sick, but never okay, and everything around her felt a little too much.
Too bright.
Too loud.
Too far from stillness.
The apartment was still full of half-unpacked boxes. One of them had exploded into a mess of packing peanuts by the bookshelf because Lando had tripped over it while trying to carry a lamp. That had made her laugh, for a moment. But now even that memory felt distant and staticky.
She hadn't eaten anything. Her body felt too heavy and too floaty at the same time.
So she wandered into the room off the living room and stood in the doorway, barefoot and still in one of Lando's shirts, staring at the swing.
The sensory swing hung from a reinforced hook in the ceiling, an enclosed hammock-style cocoon of soft dark grey fabric.
She hadn't used it yet.
But now... now she needed to be held by something.
Amelia walked over slowly, pulled the soft stretch of the fabric down, and climbed inside like she was folding herself into a shell. It wrapped around her shoulders, her hips, her knees. A full-body compression hug.
She let herself swing gently, letting the quiet motion do what words and plans and spreadsheets couldn't. The light filtered through the gauzy curtain. The outside world muffled. The only sound was her breathing.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
Her muscles finally, finally relaxed.
And then, maybe because the relief was so sharp in contrast to how awful she'd felt all morning, or maybe because everything just hit all at once, Amelia cried.
Just soft tears slipping down the sides of her face into the swing's fabric as her body unclenched. She didn't even try to stop them. Didn't need to understand them. Her hands cradled the soft swell of her lower belly as she rocked gently in the cocoon, the comfort so complete it almost hurt.
The motion, the weightlessness, the compression; it was like someone had pressed a reset button on her nervous system.
"I love you very much," she whispered, hand on her stomach, words falling into the soft dark of the swing. "Even if you are already making me throw up five times a day." She gave a little wet laugh. Then sniffled. Then rocked some more.
Eventually, Lando peeked his head around the doorframe.
He didn't say anything. He saw her there, bundled up like a sleepy moth, puffy-eyed and peaceful, and his whole expression softened.
"You good, baby?" He asked gently.
She nodded, still sniffling, half-smiling. "It works."
He smiled back. "Good" He walked over and pressed a kiss to the fabric where her shoulder must've been, still swaying. "Want toast when you come out?"
"Only if it's with the nice jam. The apricot one we got from the market last weekend."
"Anything you want. We're celebrating the swings debut, after all."
"Dramatic." She said.
"I know," he grinned.
And then he left her to swing, warm, wrapped up, and for the first time all day — completely okay.
February 2024
Amelia woke to the smell of espresso and something sweet (cinnamon, maybe) and the distinct sound of someone failing, very quietly, not to clatter around in the kitchen.
She blinked, groggy, and rolled over to find Lando's side of the bed empty. A sliver of warm morning light streamed in through the curtains. The apartment smelled like flowers and coffee and... possibly burning toast.
By the time she made it out of bed, hair a mess, t-shirt halfway sliding off one shoulder, she found him standing in front of the kitchen island, proudly staring at a tray of slightly overdone croissants, a half-burnt omelet, and a mug that said engineers do it with precision.
He turned the second he heard her. "Don't say anything," he warned, waving a spatula at her. "This is a labour of love."
"I can see that," she said, amused. "How's the toast?"
"Charcoal adjacent."
She padded over and leaned into his side, arms looping gently around his middle. "Morning."
Lando pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Happy birthday, baby."
He guided her over to the table, where a small stack of wrapped gifts sat beside her laptop — one of them unmistakably from Oscar if the cartoon scribble on the tag was anything to go by. Another looked suspiciously like it had been wrapped by Max's girlfriend Celeste, given the glittery ribbon and note that just said DO NOT OPEN NEAR ZAK.
"Did you do all this this morning?" Amelia asked, eyeing the slightly lopsided croissants.
"Well," he said, handing her the mug, "I tried to sneak out of bed early. But then you curled up in the blankets and made that sleepy sound you make and I lost, like, twenty minutes just watching you sleep."
Amelia sipped the coffee. Ugh. Decaf. "Weirdo."
"Your weirdo."
They sat together, eating what they could salvage of the breakfast. Lando gave her a small, leather-bound notebook for scribbling car notes (with custom embossing: A. Norris, Race Strategist / Best Mummy Ever). She rolled her eyes, but she didn't stop smiling.
Later, while she was cleaning up plates, he appeared behind her with one last gift, this one small and velvet. Her breath hitched when he opened it. A pendant: a tiny silver disk with a barely-there engraving.
A heartbeat. The one they'd seen on the ultrasound.
"I wanted you to have something that was just... for you," he said quietly.
She touched the charm gently, thumb brushing the engraving. "I love it," she said, voice slightly wobbly.
He kissed her temple again, arms wrapping around her. "I love you."
The rest of the day was full of small joys; visits from friends, a video call with her mom, cupcakes delivered from a café Oscar insisted was life-changing. Max and Celeste swung by with a gift bag full of baby-safe skincare and a framed photo of the four of them.
At one point, her dad had messaged her.
Happy birthday, kiddo. Love you so much. See you soon.
To which Amelia replied.
Love you too.
That night, after the guests had left and the candles had flickered low, Amelia found herself curled up in her sensory swing by the window, legs folded up under her, pendant resting in the middle of her collarbones. Lando lay on the sofa nearby, watching her with quiet contentment.
"I think this was one of my best birthdays," she said softly.
He smiled. "Even with the burnt toast?"
She nodded. "Especially with the burnt toast." And then, after a pause, "Next year, we'll have someone else around to help us celebrate."
Lando's eyes softened. "Next year," he echoed.
WhatsApp Groupchat — 2024 F1 Grid
George R.
Welcome to the 2024 rookies!
Oh wait.
LOL.
Nevermind
Lando N.
Someone get this man a rookie asap
Charles L.
Bro we are all still here 💀
Alex A.
Just the same 20 people trying not to crash into each other
Esteban O.
Consistency is key 😂
Oscar P.
George is out here welcoming imaginary friends
Carlos S.
Rookie of the year is the Ferrari catering team
Lewis H.
I vote my physio as rookie of the year tbh
Yuki T.
I still feel like a rookie emotionally 😮‍💨
Fernando A.
I feel younger every season 😎
George R.
Ok ok I made one mistake
I was being polite
What if someone snuck in overnight. Like a stealth rookie
Pierre G.
Bro this isn't among us
Max V.
Let him live he tried ✋
Lando N.
He tried and failed. Spectacularly
George R.
Blocked. All of you. I'm blocking all of you.
The main presentation hall at the MTC was cold, the hush of anticipation a physical thing. Staff, engineers, drivers, media teams, and execs milled around in soft clumps, all eyes drawn to the shrouded figure on the platform. Silver satin draped across carbon fibre; sleek, taut, and humming with promise.
Amelia stood off to one side, arms crossed over her chest, one foot tucked behind the other like she was bracing herself against something invisible.
It was familiar, this room. She'd stood in it a dozen times. But this time was different.
This was her car.
She heard footsteps and didn't have to look to know it was Lando. He came to stand beside her, hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers, gaze fixed on the covered car like it might move if he blinked.
"It looks like a spaceship," he murmured.
"It's as complex as one," she said simply.
He grinned. "I'm gonna drive a spaceship."
"You're going to win in it."
Her dad walked out onto the stage, some carefully crafted speech on hand, but Amelia barely registered it. Her ears rang with something heavier; a low, surging pressure that sat in her chest and refused to settle.
She heard her name, heard Zak referencing her as lead technical design engineer on the project, and the soft ripple of polite applause. She didn't move. Didn't blink.
When the cover was pulled back and the MCL38-AN was finally exposed under the lights. Lean, mean, shimmering with graphite and papaya — the room went reverently silent.
It was beautiful. Sharp and elegant and mean in all the right places.
And hers.
Her hands trembled slightly where they were folded. Lando noticed. He reached down, laced his fingers through hers without saying anything. She didn't look at him, but she held on.
Oscar appeared at her other side, chewing a protein bar. "It looks fast," he said through his mouthful.
"It is fast," Amelia replied, deadpan.
He nodded. "Good. I hate slow cars. Bad for my numbers."
Lando snorted. "Your numbers are fine."
"I want more numbers."
Amelia ignored them both. Her eyes were fixed on the low spoiler, the curve of the side-pod, the subtle detailing near the rear suspension she'd fought tooth and nail to implement — backed up by three sleepless weeks of CFD simulations and one argument with the floor design team that she'd very nearly won with sheer stubbornness alone.
"Do you want to go look at it up close?" Lando asked, gentle.
Amelia shook her head. "Not yet."
He didn't press. Just stayed beside her as people filtered forward. Cameras clicked. Flashbulbs strobed. Somewhere, someone asked Oscar to smile more. Zak was already doing a walk-around with Sky Sports.
But Amelia stayed back, hand in Lando's, watching as her car, her beautiful, terrifying, finely-tuned monster, greeted the world for the first time.
Finally, Lando leaned in, voice low against her ear. "I'm so proud of you."
Her mouth twitched, just a little. "I know," she said.
Then, after a beat, "I'm proud of me too."
There were two weeks until they were due to fly out to Bahrain for testing.
The smell of carbon composite and metal dust still clung to the air. Most of the lights had been dimmed in the engineering wing of the McLaren Technology Centre, but not in Bay 2. Bay 2 was lit up like a crime scene — bright, clinical, unrelenting.
And Amelia was pacing.
"You changed the front wing flow guide without flagging it to me." Her voice was flat, but her tone cut sharp enough to peel paint. "It's not a minor tweak. It alters the pressure delta across the entire front third of the car."
Across the table, three senior aero engineers; experienced, respected, and visibly nervous, stood their ground, albeit quietly. One of them, Benji, cleared his throat.
"We didn't go behind your back," he said carefully. "It was discussed at the Friday meeting—"
"I wasn't at the Friday meeting," she snapped. "I was with Oscar for simulator calibration. You knew that."
"We had to lock a version in for pre-season aero scanning," said another engineer, trying to be the reasonable one. "You were behind schedule finalising the nose cone parameters—"
"I was behind schedule," Amelia repeated, eyebrows arching dangerously, "because I was rewriting your cooling duct schema so it wouldn't explode in Bahrain."
Silence.
Lando stood quietly just inside the doorway, arms crossed, watching. He wasn't saying anything — yet. But his eyes never left Amelia.
"You've added drag," she said after a beat. "I ran the updated airflow map through CFD myself after I saw the render. It introduces wake turbulence at high yaw, and we already struggle with straight-line pace. You've made us slower on the straights to gain — what? Four points of front downforce?"
"Four points could help balance in the high-speed corners," Benji offered.
"At the expense of the entire overtaking window!" Amelia barked. "You want Lando and Oscar to defend for twenty laps in DRS zones with a car that drags like a parachute because you like the numbers it spits out on paper?"
Someone muttered something; too low to catch. Amelia's head snapped around like a hawk.
"Say it louder," she said. "You clearly thought it was clever enough the first time."
The engineer paled slightly. "I just said... maybe you're too attached to this design."
Lando stepped in before Amelia could respond.
"No, see, here's the thing," he said, tone deceptively easy. "You don't get to say that. Because her attachment? That's why this car is visibly better than last year's. She is the reason why we had the third-fastest chassis on average post-Zandvoort last year. Because she gives a shit. And if Amelia says it's wrong? Then it's wrong."
The room froze. One of the engineers swallowed hard.
Amelia, though, didn't say anything for a full five seconds. She just stood there, arms folded, staring down the table like she was willing the numbers to change.
Then, calmly, "You're reverting to the previous design."
"We can't. Not until—"
"I'll update the approval file myself," she continued. "I want the renders sent back through me. If you're going to make changes to a car with my name on it, you'll run it by me first. Not the group chat. Not Zak. Not the test team. Me."
Stillness.
Eventually, Benji nodded, his jaw tight. "Alright."
She left the bay without another word, her footfalls even, deliberate. Lando followed a few paces behind, catching up only once they hit the corridor.
"You didn't have to jump in," she muttered.
"I know," he said. "But I wanted to."
They reached the elevator. Amelia punched the call button too hard.
"They're not wrong," she said quietly, not looking at him. "I am too attached."
Lando nodded. "Yeah. And that's why you're the only one I trust with it."
The hum of the wind tunnel was a low, constant growl behind the soundproof glass. Screens lined the wall of the operations room, flooded with live data — airflow vectors, pressure maps, drag coefficients, temperatures.
Amelia sat perfectly still in the front row, staring at the monitor.
The numbers were wrong.
Not wildly, not catastrophically. Just... wrong enough.
Behind her, the aero lead, one of the few who hadn't been at the shouting match in the engineering bay days before, was going over test notes in a too-cheerful voice. "And that's run twelve with the revised front-wing guide and standard rear beam. A bit of turbulence in the crosswind scenario, but nothing unmanageable."
Amelia's fingers twitched against the armrest of her chair.
Zak stepped in beside her. "They've already locked the transport containers for Bahrain," he said in a low voice. "The old spec wouldn't make it through the scans in time."
"I know," Amelia said without looking at him.
"We'll revert before Melbourne," Zak added. "That's the plan."
"I know."
She said it again, like repetition might dull the edge.
Zak hesitated. "I get it. I do. But it's one race."
"It's the first race," Amelia said quietly. "It sets the baseline. The whole development curve starts from that data. Every upgrade, every refinement — it's all going to skew unless we compensate."
Zak didn't argue. He didn't need to. They both knew she was right.
But it didn't matter.
Because the parts were packed, the plane was leaving in 48 hours, and the wrong spec was going to touch asphalt in Bahrain.
She stood abruptly. The chair creaked as it slid back.
"Amelia," Zak said. "I know this is hard for you."
She turned, her voice clipped but steady. "It's not hard. It's inefficient."
And she left the room.
The lights were low. Her desk lamp cast a soft amber glow across a table full of design sheets and scribbled notes, crossed-out margins, red-circled flaws, annotations that no one else in the department could read but her.
Her iPad was open to the Bahrain track layout. She wasn't crying — not even close. But her jaw was clenched hard enough to ache. Her hands flexed, restless, unable to do anything.
She hated that feeling.
A soft knock came at the door.
"Go away," she said without looking.
It opened anyway.
Lando leaned in, holding two takeaway drinks. "I come bearing peace offering. Decaf vanilla chai for my beautiful, smart wife."
She didn't move.
"I know," he said gently. "It sucks."
"I'm not angry anymore," she said.
He gave her a look. "Don't lie to me, baby."
She finally looked up, and he crossed the room to set the drink beside her keyboard.
"I spent a year making it perfect," she murmured.
Lando touched her shoulder. "And it still will be."
Amelia looked back at her notes. "I hate being forced to let something go when I know I'm right," she said. "Just because I'm one person versus an entire team — and I know that it's not fair to expect them to just blindly trust everything I say, but it makes me so mad.'
"Okay," he whispered. "Time to go home, I think."
"Do you need six pairs of sunglasses?" Amelia asked, holding Lando's McLaren duffel open.
Lando didn't even look up from where he was rolling socks. "Yes."
"You only have two eyes."
"It's called fashion, baby."
She rolled her eyes and shoved the sunglasses back in, making sure the soft case separated the orange-tinted pair from the purple ones, because God forbid they get scratched.
Their bedroom looked like a tornado had touched down; open suitcases, half-folded clothes, a stack of electronics chargers that Amelia had labeled with colour-coded cable ties two seasons ago and still didn't trust Lando to keep organised.
Her own packing was... slower. More deliberate. She sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her own suitcase, a checklist open on her iPad and a faint, lingering wave of nausea rising every few minutes like a passive-aggressive tide.
"Are you sure you're okay to fly?" Lando asked for the third time that afternoon.
Amelia clicked her Apple Pencil against her teeth. "I'm pregnant, not ill."
"Still."
"I have packed ginger chews and compression socks."
He looked up. "You hate ginger chews."
"I also hate throwing up at 30,000 feet. Sometimes compromise is necessary."
He grinned. "That's very mature of you."
Amelia waved vaguely in the direction of the ensuite. "Can you grab the skincare bag? Not the one with my regular stuff — the one with the unscented moisturiser that doesn't make me gag."
"Yes, your highness."
She threw a sock at his head.
The packing process stalled every few minutes for various reasons: Amelia needed a snack; Lando forgot where he'd put his phone; Amelia remembered she hadn't downloaded the Bahrain telemetry files onto her personal iPad; Lando insisted on reorganising his racing gloves by colour.
Eventually, Amelia sat back with a soft groan, rubbing a hand over her belly. Not that there was much to feel yet, no bump, just the persistent hum of her body shifting quietly into something new.
She felt... heavy. But not in a bad way. Just full of lists, of responsibilities, of life. Literally.
"Hey," Lando said gently, crouching in front of her. "You okay?"
She nodded, slow. "Yeah. Just... tired. Everything feels like it takes twenty-percent more effort."
"You want to skip testing?"
Amelia narrowed her eyes. "Lando."
"I'm just saying—"
"No. Don't even suggest that. I need to be there for Oscar and I want to be there for the cars first proper run. I have to see how it holds up."
He smiled softly. "Just checking. That's my job now, remember? Worrying about you."
Amelia's expression softened. "I'm fine. I'm just slower than usual. I'll sit. I'll drink plenty of water."
Lando stood and offered her a hand, helping her up off the floor with the ease of long practice. They zipped the last suitcase together, and she stared at the organised chaos around them with a long, contemplative sigh.
"Think this baby is gonna like Bahrain?" She murmured.
He shrugged. "Hot. Loud. Feels like it's already genetically predisposed that baby is not going to have a good time."
She laughed, quietly, the sound curling in her throat.
They were flying out in the morning. Testing started two days after that. And in a few more weeks, the  2024 season would roar to life; full throttle, no mercy, no brakes.
But for now, there were just bags and chargers and familiar, cluttered rhythms. And them.
Just them.
For now.
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dollyforever · 4 days ago
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my void success story!!
I'm feeling inspired and I just had a yummy lunch with my brother and the sun is shining so let me tell you about my manifestations and my void state journey from 5 days ago.
so, I made a post about a ritual I made to let go of your old reality, and allow endless manifestations to flow into your life effortlessly. I decided to wait some days to try it myself, because I wanted to feel very sure of my decision. As I said, this ritual is for real. Once you decide you are stepping into a different, new life and version of yourself, life won't be the same as before. Anyway, 5 days later (i miscalculated before sorry) I said, okay, let's do this. and so I did. As I was falling asleep, I meditated, and it was like nothing I've ever felt before. It was like... I don't know. something shifted inside and outside of me. For a split second, I entered the void and I forgot to manifest anything specific, so I just wished for a lucky life. when I was done, and as I fell asleep, I noticed how a massive weight had been released from my body. Like, any possible issues and worries I had before, were gone.
the next morning I woke up and I made coffee and the birds were chirping louder than usual and the house was quieter than usual. no parents screaming, no brother being annoying. and I felt so light, and so peaceful and so immensely happy. It's a feeling I can't put into words. and so, I posted on Tumblr, because I was excited about my new life.
That same day, just one hour later after that post, I found my dream apartment in my dream city where I'll go to study next year. I saw it just 4 minutes after the sweet woman renting it posted it on the apartment app thing. I texted her, and talked to my mom, and to my satisfaction, my parents instantly agreed, since the price was absolutely perfect. the apartment is sooo dreamy and big and it's in such a safe area, and ALL of the things in my manifestation list (I had made a list months before to manifest this apartment) were crossed.
ok, so I was absolutely ECSTATIC because finally, I had found my dream apartment and I said, alright, now let's search for my dream vintage clothes for uni next year. Let me tell you. I found the CUTEST rarest Abercrombie and Hollister pieces for SO CHEAP!!!! And I bought them obviously. and I sold so many clothes I didn't want anymore. I also found my dream discontinued perfume getting sold for a fraction of the original price.
Anyway, since the day was going so well, I decided to call two friends who I'm not super close with to ask them to hang out, and so we did that same afternoon. I don't want to go into detail, but basically I came out of that hang out feeling so incredibly happy and grateful for my new close friends.
Then, I got a message from a boy I met a year ago in the summer saying he was coming to my city in a few days and that we should hang out. And we did!!! It was so nice, we went to different museums and talked about art and literature and painted with watercolors in the old part of the city.
And now, around bit less than a week after this whole thing, my parents surprised me with a MacBook Air (I'm typing from it right now!!!!) my old computer was sooo laggy and horrible, and I was really hoping for a new one, specifically from apple. And they gave them free AirPods for buying it, which my brother kept :).
okay. I seriously did not make this post to brag or anything at all in that matter. I want to tell you that before this, I had been feeling super stuck and unmotivated in my journey. I feel unstoppable now. and I am so excited to manifest even more things and enter the void again. I'm still super interested in shifting (obvi) but life has felt so beautiful, I don't even wish to leave. Though I am excited to enter new realities, of course. That's a story for another day.
love, doll
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22ayla21 · 2 months ago
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Hi! I have something for Leona.
Could you do Leona with wife reader where she call him by his full name. How he, his family and kids will react. Maybe bonus that Leona try to coax his wife for his to escape the situation.
Love your writing with my whole heart ❤
Full Name - Full Defeat
One innocent snack turns into a catastrophe when Leona realizes that his full name, spoken by his wife, is not just an address, but a sentence.
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The heat in the Sunset Savannah was its usual mild and dry self. The day rolled on: the children were playing chess, servants bustled in the kitchen preparing dinner, and Leona... well, Leona was napping after lunch as always. No one batted an eye – it was his established routine, practically a law of life.
Everything was going as usual until a clear and almost ominous voice echoed from the kitchen.
"Leona Kingscholar."
The yard fell silent at once. Even the breeze seemed to quiet down, not wanting to miss a word.
The children, engrossed in a game of chess, froze. The boy slowly raised his eyes from the board where he was setting up the pieces. His sister, only ten minutes older, mouthed:
"Dad's in trouble."
Farena peered into the yard, papers in hand. He had already opened his mouth to say something, but upon hearing his brother's full name, he immediately darted back into the shade, as if observing a scene in the wild jungle where a lion had suddenly encountered an enraged lioness.
Farena's wife raised an eyebrow and said softly:
"She never calls him that. Only if..."
"...he's really messed up," finished Leona and Farena's mother, folding her arms across her chest and fixing her gaze on the kitchen door.
At that very moment, Leona, lazily stretching after his siesta, appeared in the doorway with a plate in his hand. An empty plate. He licked his spoon. Heard his full name. And froze in place.
"What the—?" he began, but stopped short, meeting his wife's gaze.
She stood tall – not very tall, but her look was formidable, her eyes narrowed, and the towel draped over her shoulder seemed not like a kitchen accessory, but a banner of righteous retribution.
"Please repeat," she said in an even, icy tone, "exactly what you just ate?"
"Um..." Leona, who was unfazed by magic, duels, or even Malleus's tantrums, suddenly felt his mouth go dry. "There was a plate there, and... I thought it was up for grabs."
"That was mine. I specifically left half to finish later. You knew that. I said it out loud. Three times. I even pointed at it once."
He scratched the back of his head.
"Well... it looked kind of lonely. And it smelled really good. I didn't want the food to go bad."
"Leona. Kingscholar," she repeated, and this time it wasn't just a voice – it was a tocsin.
A quiet movement began in the yard. The children started to slowly retreat towards the back door.
"Hurry, before Mom starts the lecture on personal boundaries," whispered the daughter, nudging her brother.
"Or, heaven forbid, she brings up 'that mango incident' again," he added with horror.
Farena, hiding behind the curtain, whispered to his wife:
"This is worse than when he spilled sauce on the archive maps. Much worse. At least it wasn't his food that was ruined then."
"She was saving that portion," Farena's wife nodded. "It had smoked meat in it; she specifically asked for it to be made. The chef said there are no supplies for next week."
Meanwhile, Leona, still holding the spoon, tried to force a guilty smile.
"Well, even if you're angry, I'm still your favorite, right?"
She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Leona Kingscholar. You ate my food. Without asking. Without apologizing. Without the slightest remorse. This is – betrayal."
"Oh, come on, that sounds a little too serious..."
"You knew perfectly well how much I wanted to finish it. You heard me. I saw you nod. And then... you. Ate. It. All."
He flattened his ears.
"Sorry..."
She rolled her eyes, turned away, and walked out of the kitchen, tossing over her shoulder:
"Make your own meat today. And look for any remaining conscience you might have."
Leona remained standing in the empty kitchen, ashamed, with the spoon in his hand and the face of a man who had finally realized what he had done.
He turned and saw his whole family watching him from the window.
Farena gave him a thumbs-up.
"Welcome to the club."
His mother sighed heavily.
"Well, at least she remembered his name. He's been getting too lax lately."
And only the children, hiding in the next room, giggled:
"Mom won. Dad's knocked out."
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tpwk-formula1 · 11 months ago
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It Was Obvious - LN4
Lando Norris x Fewtrell Twin reader
Summary: Lando and Y/N Fewtrell have been seeing each other since just before the season started, what happens when they all go on vacation for summer break and are forced to continue and try to hide their relationship.
TW - NOT EDITED, lowkey mad cheesy, some fluff, talks of slight anxiety, secret relationship
WC 1200+
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Y/N POV
"Lando, he's going to kill us if he catches you in here," I whisper to my boyfriend of 6 months, who is currently in my room pulling me in for another kiss.
"I'm willing to fight," Lando whispers again before kissing me again. It was a rushed make out session knowing we didn't have much time making me feel like I was back in year 10 hiding my boyfriend from my parents. But instead of my parents not knowing it's my twin brother who just so happens to be Lando's best friend.
"I love you," I whisper when he pulls away. I see the light blush crawl up his neck before settling on his cheek showing that regardless of how long we have been together we still get the giddy feelings.
"I love you too," he whispers back before slipping out of my room presumably going to his or Max's.
It's not even ten minutes later before another knock rings out through my room making me think Lando is coming back in already..
"Come in," I call out not moving from my bad. When the door opens to reveal Pietra I relax slightly knowing I don't have to worry about my twin coming in and finding out the truth had it been Lando.
"I wanna talk to you," P tells me softly making me sit up and start to feel some anxiety sink in, not knowing what she wants to talk about.
"Im not picking sides in the divorce," I joke softly making her laugh and shake her head.
"I'm not breaking up with your brother," P tells me softly making me laugh cause I knew damn well she wasn't trying to talk to me about that.
"So you and Lando?" She asks with a smirk on her face. I instantly feel all the air in the room leave making it increasingly more difficult to breathe.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down! I'm not here to get anyone in trouble. I just wanna know more information," P tells me softly when she notices the panic starting to take over my body.
"Please don't tell anyone," I whisper out not knowing how to to trust anyone right now.
"I won't tell anyone. I think it's something you and Lando will need to do on your own time," she tells me with a smile making me relax a little bit more.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks me with a smile. I nod my head with a smile knowing I haven't been able to talk about my relationship with anyone but my mom.
"We started dating in February shortly after Max dragged you and I to that stupid golf thing. We had been talking before that but after Lando got wasted and couldn't take care of himself I went back home with him and pretty much babysat him until he went to sleep. The next morning he woke up and he set up a really cute brunch where he asked me out," I tell her with a smile making her smile with me.
"How did you figure it out?" I ask making her laugh out loud.
"Girl I love you to death but you guys are terrible at sneaking around. We've been here for for two days and everytime I can't find you, Lando just so happens to be missing as well, so I decided to spy on yall. Well kind of, I just so happened to be coming out of the bathroom when he was leaving your room and I truly wouldn't have thought anything of it but I was already suspecting you guys," she tells me making me nod.
"I think Lando and I are gonna make Max to lunch and tell him. I'm tired of lying to him and hiding my relationship," I tell her making her nod and smile.
"I think it's about time 'cause that was almost 7 months ago," she laughs out. I laughed with her happy to know she was happy for me and supported my relationship.
We're nearing the end of our trip and I have decided it was time. Keegan was already making jokes about us being together and thankfully Max was brushing them off as a joke but I'm sure he's going to start realizing the truth.
"Hey Max, I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch later?" I ask softly not wanting to give too much information and try to pass it off as twin bonding.
"Ya, we could go to that one restaurant you've been begging to since we arrived," Max says with a laugh.
"I saw it on TikTok and it looked amazing," I reply back showing my excitement.
I make sure to text Lando the plan and while I plan to tell Max just us I want Lando nearby incase he wants to talk to both of us.
We're halfway through our meal when I finally drop my fork and clear my throat.
"I have to tell you something," I tell him making him drop his fork and roll his eyes jokingly.
"I knew you didn't just want to hang out with me," he jokes making both of us laugh.
"Ya, um but you have to promise to hear me out before getting upset," I tell him suttering in stress a little making him focus on me completely.
"So, please don't be upset but, landoandiareseeingeachother," I breath out in one breath talking too fast for anyone to understand.
"Try again and breathe this time," Max says trying to stay calm at the situation.
"Lando and I are dating," I tell him refusing to look at him. When I meet his eyes I he is giving me the most disbelief look possible.
"Are you kidding me?" Max asks in pure disbelief making me grow increasingly more nervous.
"I promise he's a good one," I quickly come to defend my partner.
"You thought I didn't know?" Max rephrases his statement making it clear he already knows.
"You knew!" I announce being quite a bit louder than I had hoped.
"I've known since Miami. I mean that confirmed it but I definitely caught on before that," Max tells me slightly stunned that I didn't realize.
"I wanted you to tell me when you were ready. Besides its been funny watching you and Lando try to sneak around all this time," Max tells me laughing slightly.
"So you don't care?" I ask him trying to get clarification. He just shook his head no.
"What about P?" I asked just getting curious to the situation now.
"What about her?" Max asks, clearly confused now.
"She came into my room earlier in the trip and asked me about it," I tell him, giving him some more detail about the conversation.
"Oh, no I didn't tell anyone I knew. Meaning she also caught on to your guy's terrible sneaking," Max laughs before adding, "Hell, even Keegan caught on."
I just laughed at that before sending Lando a quick text to let him know he could come in if he wanted. When he met us at the table Max explained to both of us how he caught on and when he realized we both had feelings for each other, which had been long before we started talking.
"Hey but if you break her heart I will pay Verstappen to take you out," Max tells Lando as we are walking back to the beach house we rented for the week.
That just made Lando laugh before telling him he wouldn't dare hurt me.
It was nice being able to spend the last few days of break not having to hide my relationship.
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myunghology · 1 month ago
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PHANTOM BUSTERS! — general relationship headcanons.
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ıllı “ i still wanna be your favorite boy ! ”
pairings mogari shishikuno, eugene korekishi, kaoru kanzaki, tamon kotaro, and ichimiya sorato x gender neutral! reader. ( better read in light mode!! ) tw for swearing !! not proofread, beware for wrong grammar 'nd typos..
a/n — i finally caved in writing for these fuckers.. i added ichimiya because we all love him. no bashers allowed ❌❌❌ filo phanbus fans follow me hahahah HELLO FILIPINO TAMON NATION
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— MOGARI SHISHIKUNO
he did not bag the baddie (you) the baddie bagged him. and he just stays bagged. basically the main description of your relationship. this can work for tamon too now that i think about it YKW THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE HERE THEY'RE ALL LOSERS. but mogari in particular HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT you forget under allat is a fucking ripped 16 year old 💔💔. loser trapped in a hot body fr
“me and my stupid ass bf” “i hate my bf” ahh relationship.. you're joking you love him lots but sometimes he's just TOO MUCH. in a good way, sometimes he has these bursts of energy where he just picks you up potato sack carry style and runs a whole mile. ( more under the cut! )
trashcan boyfriend (2). literally anything you put aside / don't like he will eat. literally the olive theory but revamped?? you don't even have to say anything just take it off your plate and place it on his and he'll get the message immediately. “i don't like it...” you mumble as your food is already in his mouth.
funniest dynamic especially if you're a slow eater. mogari just stares at you when you aren't even halfway finished with your bento when he was done with his school lunch about twenty minutes ago. like at this point, HE is offering to eat it for you. of course he would fucking fatass
would looooveee doing tiktok trends with you. actually he would agree to do anything you'd ask him to so he's delicate here. has an addiction with kisses number 1. he'll randomly cup your face with one hand and kiss your cheek like crazy even when you're in public..
actually he's just addicted to you in general. why wouldn't he be when you're just the prettiest little thing he knows 😕 he adores you so much it's not even funny atp. most obsessed bf out of all of them prove me wrong (you can't haha. ₕₒₑ)
— EUGENE KOREKISHI
epitome of the perfect boyfriend.. it's like he came out of a book (well hm..) everyone in your family loves him because why's your mom asking you when is he coming over and can he come over during a family reunion so everyone else can meet him
your daily conversation with him goes “i'm going out with mom later, wanna come? i heard you were busy.” “i am. but isn't your mom always busy?” “ah no, i meant your mom.” “why are you calling my mom ‘mom’?!” “she insisted, so..” this guy is unconsciously making moves on your family too.
type of boyfriend to make you tea at night if you can't fall asleep.. is on the brink of exhaustion but if you can't sleep he won't too. unless not until you fall asleep first. he'll caress your cheek and pat your back until he can hear your soft snores haha
would buy you jewelry as a gift, but it actually means something, even if it's small like the jewel being your birthstone. the price ranges on how serious he is about your relationship— the most he'll do right now is probably a simple pandora bracelet or a promise ring, maybe even more in the far future :)
would gladly wear those "i love my gf/bf" t-shirts if you asked him to. (as long as you two are in private obv he has a reputation to hold LMAO SORRY) but isn't afraid to speak up / show that he's taken so you're in good hands!! i just know he has girls proffessing their love for him.. and he just turns 'em down with a “no haha, i'm dating someone already. sorry.” GREEN FLAG
anddd, i just love how the whole phanbus x reader fandom just agreed that korekishi's a natural flirt / tease. LIKE YES this is the one thing we can all collectively agree on. the small acts of intimacy he does but you're able to catch on is so... ksjdnsknss yes. whenever he makes you lean on him once he notices your eyes getting droopy, tutoring you late in the night even though he's on the brink of falling asleep, not being able to leave you until he KNOWS you're safe :,)... okay enough
— KAORU KANZAKI
i believe he's the type of boyfriend who'd act all nonchalant around you but giggle and roll in his bed at night when thinking about you. the type to bite his finger when you're having a conversation online.. omfg “why couldn't they tell that we're dating.. we're literally matching profiles tf”
softest skin ever, and has the squishiest cheeks (like a cats), and reacts like a cat does whenever you tug it's whiskers. this guy's skin literally looks like glass and feels like jello it's crazy. speaking of cats, he's a magnet for 'em. you have a feisty cat? tamed immediately. loves em too :3
manga reading / anime watching date nights in his house with the door unlocked of course per his sisters request— she'd walk in and you'd be sleeping on zaki's chest as he scrolls on his phone whilst patting your head, or he could still be watching tv. “do you need anything?” his sister usually whispers, and he responds with a thumbs up.
you're literally his dress up doll i'm sorry. that sounds wrong but that's exactly how he described it to you. he just simply likes dressing you up!! so does his sister but he won't let her lay a hand on you because he doesn't want her to pester you every time you come over wkwkwkwk.. also because he just wants you all to himself
he isn't laughing anymore by the time you turn him into your personal makeup/skincare doll. give and take though, right? he can't even be mad because he did it to you first. zaki when there's consequences to his own actions 💔❌😕😭 but he doesn't actually fight it!! just a simple “what're you doing” and he'll back off right after saying that.
i am another truther to easily jealous! kanzaki.. everyone knows he's a huge tsundere (kinda at least) and on top of that, he's the jealous bf final boss. the others don't have that much jealousy boiling within them BUT THIS GUY. not jealous in an insecure way, not really but in a way that he just wants to keep you all to himself ;(. you're his person, of course he wants to be with you always even tho it isn't obvious.. !
— TAMON KOTARO
everybody give it up for everyones loser bf!! literally would be up at 12am thinking ‘man how'd i pull them’ with his face buried in his hand it's almost pathetic honestly. number 2 on the perfect boyfriend list because he means everything to me tbh. handsome, tall, can cook, AND WON'T GIVE ANYONE ELSE ATTENTION? CRIPPLING LOYALTY??? wow he's amazing
you could be messaging him at 5am with a “my hair's so fucked im gonna start crying if my hair's ugly im ugly” and he's awake from your message, replying with a “no you're always so beautiful baby i love uuu”. no one talk to me where do i get one of these. literally has an alarm because he knows whenever you're gonna hit him up w/ those weird messages, also because he wants to have another late night conversation with you!!
reassurance FINAL BOSS has no problem with reassuring you over and over from how much he loves you, actually you probably don't need reassurance at all because of his crippling social anxiety but you know. for the plot let's say you do need it. would coo and whisper to you because he knows you need affection too, more than anyone.
the type of boyfriend who'd freeze up once he feels your head laying on his shoulder or chest, what plays in his mind is a continuous sentence of “don't move don't move don't move don't move don't move don't move”. also would sacrifice his headphones for you if you don't like crowded and noisy places.. he loves u so much lordddd
i genuinely feel like nights with tamon are so comforting :((. bonding over small stuff like music, maybe even asking him to play the guitar for you is everything. has the most calming voice too— is a listener and a yapper! best of both worlds whenever you're with him!!
i fear he is especially weak to cute people with pretty eyes. weak for you in general but you know what i mean, right? just look up at him with dilated pupils and he immediately realizes he's fucked. he was fucked anyw ever since he first saw you BUT STILL!! he gets weak in the knees he is in bliss right now.. no one can interrupt his fantasies besides you of course
— ICHIMIYA SORATO
how to get the student council to respect you in 4 simple steps: 1. behave and don't cause a ruckus. 2. get good grades for no problems. 3. apply to be on the student council. 4. date their president ✅ literally everywhere you go students are shaking in their boots (especially the council) because they all know they're gonna face ichimiya's wrath if they ever mess w/ you. and you're just there like ʚ(꒪ˊ꒳ˋ꒪)ɞ
likes being babied taken care of i take no criticism!! cup his face, run your fingers through his hair, let him rest his face in your chest, caress his face and he's weak in the knees. he still has that iconic scowl on his face but he'll gladly return your affection :).
unconsciously gives you headpats, especially if you're shorter! also leads to ichimiya pulling you closer to him to wrap an arm around your shoulder and you just comply. you just get dragged by this man and. it's.. it is what it is, he needs you for emotional support okay.. no ones gonna say anything anyway and they can't.
i genuinely believe this guy has really soft hair (as contrary to him liking you playing with his hair), he let's you do whatever with it as long as you're alone. because someone tell eugene why he's seeing ichimiya with pigtails on your close friends instagram story.. ;-;
you sometimes tease him by saying “as expected of chairman!!” on the most simplest of things. literally he could just be making coffee for you and hot chocolate for himself in the morning or in the night, and you'd go “AS EXPECTED OF CHAIRMA—” and he cuts you off by pushing your head backwards lightly with his index finger.
so down bad for you but he hides it so well even YOU don't know it. literal d1 simp for you. okay maybe it's a bit obvious— the way he kisses your cheek repeatedly before murmuring a “give me a kiss,” as you turn your head to give him what he really wanted all this time. desperate bf in disguise actually :3 (affectionate)
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@myunghology — i finished this in less than a day woah. “one of us here is not like the others” ahh ichimiya.. WHATEVER he's so pretty anyway our little loser
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wosospacegirl · 3 months ago
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loved the latest alexia fic haha
i had an idea for us stem girlies (not wanting to study virology btw, so fkn real)
i was thinking a kika fic where readers a bio/stem student & is trying to teach kika something & likewise kika (and the rest of the younger barça girls) tries to teach r football
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Summary: Y/N’s been buried in virus replication pathways for hours. Kika’s had enough.
A/N: for the STEM girls who haven’t seen the sun in 3 business days and need a footballer girlfriend to drag them outside - Everything written here was taken from my own notes...I hope they are right, or else it means I failed my own exam.
..
Y/n had been studying for what felt like seven years straight. 
Realistically, it had only been four hours, but time blurred somewhere between drawing replication cycles and muttering the difference between RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and reverse transcriptase.
Kika had been patient. She really had. She brought her water, kissed her temple, and even sat silently nearby, scrolling through TikTok while Y/n ranted about capsids and envelope proteins. 
But now it was too much.
“...and that’s why enveloped viruses are more susceptible to disinfectants,” Y/n concluded, still scribbling away. “You would’ve thought that the envelope would make them more resistant, right?”
There was a beat of silence.
“You realise we were just talking about lunch?” Kika said.
Y/n blinked. “Were we?”
“You brought up protein bars, and then somehow transitioned into protein coats. Again. That’s like the third time.”
“Okay, but it’s actually a really–”
“No.”
Kika stood up with the kind of quiet menace only a very tired girlfriend could summon.
“You need to get out of this apartment.”
“I’m busy! I have an exam, Francisca.”
“You need to touch some grass.”
Y/n gasped, clutching her notes to her chest. 
“You sound like my mom.. Are you okay? Did a neurodegenerative virus get to your brain?” Y/n  squinted her eyes, talking in a very mysterious and suspicious voice. “It could be rabies.”
Kika raised an eyebrow. “Por favor, put on some gym clothes.”
“No.”
“You’re coming with me to the training ground.”
“I’m not playing football.”
“You are, just a bit. You’re going to run, breathe some fresh air. Maybe learn how to use your legs again.”
Y/n narrowed her eyes. “I feel like you want to sabotage my academic life.”
Kika deadpanned, “I just want to have a normal conversation with my girlfriend again.”
Half an hour later, Y/n was in mismatched gym clothes, standing awkwardly on the sidelines of the Barça training pitch while Kika passed her a ball.
“Okay,” Kika said. “Basics. Pass it back.”
Y/n kicked it directly into Kika’s shin.
Kika didn’t even flinch. “Right. That was bad.”
“Yeah, well,” Y/n muttered. “I use my brain, not my feet.”
“You used your foot just now,” Kika deadpanned. “You’re just not good at keeping control of it.”
Before Y/n could come up with a scathing reply involving cortical motor neurons, a trio of voices interrupted from behind her.
“Hi amiga,” Jana grinned, jogged up with Pina and Vicky flanking her. “That pass was criminal.”
“Terrible,” Vicky added.
Pina nodded solemnly. “You’re bad, bad.”
Y/n crossed her arms. “Wow, thank you. So much support.”
Kika smirked from the sidelines.
“She made me come here,” Y/n gestured vaguely toward her girlfriend, “because apparently I’m ‘studying too much’ and need to ‘go outside like a normal person.’”
The girls blinked.
“What are you studying?” Jana asked.
Y/n brightened instantly, like a switch flipped. 
“Oh! I'm doing an exam on virus replication pathways, and it’s super interesting because…wait–okay, so you know HIV, right?”
All three nodded slowly, unsure where this was going.
“Well, it’s a retrovirus, which means it uses reverse transcriptase to turn its RNA into DNA inside the host cell. And that DNA actually integrates into the host’s genome and–wait, let me draw it.”
Somehow, within ten minutes, they’d migrated off the pitch and into the tactical analysis centre. 
A whiteboard was pulled over. Y/n commandeered a marker, drawing the double-stranded DNA meticulously.
“This is the viral envelope, this is the capsid, oh, and DpRd-RT is like–the main enzyme you have to remember, alright? So now we have a full DNA–”
Pina was blinking rapidly.
Vicky was furrowing her brows like she was trying to understand it, really trying.
Jana had started taking notes on her phone.
Kika walked in fifteen minutes later, looking for her girlfriend.
“Amor,” Kika said slowly, “why is my team being held hostage by you and– ai meu Deus…is that a virus?”
Y/n turned around, completely unfazed. “I’m teaching them how HIV uses the host's RNA polymerase II to transcribe proviral DNA.”
Kika stared. “...This started with a bad pass.”
“And now it’s a public health seminar!” Y/n grinned. “Honestly? You're welcome.”
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mysteryshoptls · 1 month ago
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SSR Deuce Spade - Room Relaxation Voice Lines
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Tomorrow is my birthday. I'll finish up my homework and test prep so I can face it in the best condition!
Summon: I'm gonna give it my all this year, too. As long as I'm putting in the effort to get even closer to the person I want to be, it'll all be worth it in the end!
Groovification: Fixed up my appearance good enough. I'm gonna do all I can in my classes and club today, then party hard!
Home: Alright... Time to study!
Swap Looks: Guess I'll wake up already.
Home Transition 1: It was really a mess letting my natural hair color grow out after I'd dyed it blond. For a while I looked like I had flan hair... That was pretty embarrassing.
Home Transition 2: Asim-senpai invited me a Pop Music Club performances as my birthday gift. I'm gonna make sure I act properly and enjoy myself!
Home Transition 3: Recently, my roommates are all about playing card games. We get along well...? No way, they're all keeping me from studying!
Home Transition - Login: Time for tasty eats and good conversation... Being able to hang with everyone on your birthday is the best!
Home Transition - Groovy:  During our lunch period, Hunt-senpai read me an off-the-cuff poem. But it was a little too hard for me to understand... Maybe day I'll get it?
Home Tap 1: I gotta mature even more, now that I've passed another birthday! I'll try doing stuff like remembering all the Queen of Hearts' rules... Not that I'm good at memorization, though.
Home Tap 2: I didn't know horses could run that fast. Watching Silver-senpai during his club practice made me want to take a Blastcycle for a spin.
Home Tap 3: I love every single egg dish. Whenever I finish studying, I always want to eat a soft and fluffy egg cake.
Home Tap 4: The way Schoenheit-senpai ties his tie is really elegant, isn't it? I want to be able to tie mine like that. Guess I should practice!
Home Tap 5: My mom picked out these sweats. She's got good taste, don'tcha think? I really like the in-your-face color.
Home Tap - Groovy: As my birthday gets closer, I get more and more excited every time I look at the calendar. Wait... Is that too childish?
Duo: [DEUCE]: I'll show you just how much more I can grow, Hunt-senpai! [ROOK]: Deuce-kun, I'm rooting for you!
Birthday Login Message: You came to celebrate my birthday? ....Huh, and you even brought a gift!? I bet I'm gonna love whatever's inside. Well, that's 'cause it's something my best bud got for me. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Jack said he'd get me something good if I beat him in a race... But when I lost by the narrowest margin, he looked kinda put off. Wait, was he planning on getting me a gift, or something? I should go ask him later. Anyway, thanks for the gift, [Yuu]!
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Requested by @farfalla049.
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heavyhitterheaux · 9 months ago
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Flip a Switch
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Synopsis: When you find out information regarding your husband and his career, you confront him and demand an explanation as to why he kept it a secret from you
Pairing: Husband!Joe Burrow x Wife!Reader
Requested by: a cutie anon 💕
Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere
You walked into the house with a smile on your face and was met with your husband coming out of the kitchen. He was originally looking down at his phone, but once he heard the front door open, he looked up to see his favorite person running full speed into him and he immediately caught you. Your arms instantly went around his neck as he buried his face in your hair.
“I missed you.” You whispered to him as you picked your head up to kiss him.
“I think I missed you more. I didn’t think you would be gone that long, but truth be told I should have known better. Any time the two of you go out together you tell me that you won’t be long and it ends up being the complete opposite.” He responded as he placed you back down on your feet, but still had a tight hold on you.
“Hmm, blame your mom. At first it was only supposed to be lunch, but then we went shopping and then I somehow ended up in the candle section of TJ Maxx and it was….”
“How much money did you spend? Because I don’t see any bags with you.” Joe asked as he looked behind you.
“Oh, they’re in the car. My original plan was to sneak them in, but I saw that you were back from practice so I decided against it knowing that you would probably see me. And I'm not telling you how much I spent.”
“Mm hmm, like those six amazon packages that were delivered last week.” Joe said as he eyed you, but all you did was smirk.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, baby.” You playfully told him as you kissed him once more.
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that line before.”
“But, would you mind bringing the bags in for me while I go and take a shower? Then I’ll meet you back down here?” You asked as you batted your eyelashes hoping that he would say yes.
“Don’t I do anything and everything for you? You didn’t even need to do all that. All you had to do was ask.” Joe laughed as he reached down to kiss your nose.
“Yes I did! Your mom also went with me to get them done! Don’t they look good?”
“I… I need to set some boundaries when you two hang out together because every time it gets worse and worse.”
“Hey! Don’t get mad that your mom loves me more than you and wants to spend time with me! But on a real note, I’m super thankful for your family and the way that they embraced me when we first started dating. When you don’t come from that and not being told you’re important and you’re loved, it really is amazing to see.” You confided in your husband and a smile grew on his face.
“From our first date, I knew that they would love you. After we had dinner that one night when I took you to meet them, both of my parents told me that you were the one and that they could see it. Now look, married for two years.”
“Really? You never told me that. I adore both of them so much and they treat me like I’m theirs.”
Your in-laws were some of the most amazing and caring people that you had ever met and you instantly felt at ease when Joe first introduced them to you.
“Oh trust and believe that they do. Any time I call them, the first thing they ask me is ‘how’s Y/N?’ like I haven’t been their child for damn near 28 years, but I get it. I’m obsessed with you just like everyone else is. And now we’re trying to add a little one to that.” He responded as he gently placed his hand on your mid-section.
“Hopefully it’ll happen soon. We can try again later if you’re up for it.” You told him as you sent a wink his way.
“I’m definitely not going to turn that down. But for now, go upstairs and I’ll get your 100 bags out of the car.” He said as he finally released you from his embrace and you were missing his warmth already.
“It’s not that many this time, I promise!”
“Yeah, not listening to you because last time I had to make three trips.”
“I got stuff for you too!”
“Not the point!” Joe yelled back as he had opened the door and was making his way to your car.
Making your way up the steps and into your shared bedroom with Joe, you threw off your clothes and put them into the hamper as you made your way into the bathroom to warm up the water for your shower. You washed your face before checking the temperature of the water and when you were finally satisfied with it, you covered your faux locs with a shower cap and finally stepped underneath the water. You grabbed your coconut body wash and grabbed your wash cloth as you began to lather it all over your body.
You were rinsing off, when you suddenly felt a presence behind you which made you jump. Turning around you were face to face with your husband and you playfully hit him on his arm.
“You scared me! Don’t do that!”
“I’m sorry! I thought you heard me!”
“How in the world could I have heard you with the shower running, babe? Be serious!”
“You hear me any other time! I didn’t mean to scare you.” Joe told you as he leaned down to kiss you.
“I was thinking maybe we could get some practice in before later.” He whispered against your lips before kissing you once more and moving his hands down to your hips.
“But only if…” You immediately cut him off.
“Yes.”
“Then jump.”
As the two of you sat on the couch after your shower, Joe's arms were wrapped around you and placing soft kisses all over your face and neck as you scrolled through Instagram.
“Baby! Quit it!” You told him while laughing, but he held onto you tighter and nuzzled his face in your neck.
“Why? You smell so good, like I could eat you.”
“You did that already less than an hour ago actually. Don’t you remember?”
“Yes, and I plan on doing it again later.” He whispered and you playfully rolled your eyes.
"Joseph Lee...." You quietly said and Joe's heart rate instantly began to increase because of the tone of your voice.
"Um, yes baby? Am I in trouble? You never call me by my name unless I am." He tried to make light of it by laughing, but the last thing that you were was amused.
“I'm about to turn you every way but loose if you don't explain this." As you shoved your phone towards him, he began to read the Instagram post and his eyes began to widen as he saw what it was about.
He refused to look at you and muttered a simple ‘fuck’ under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand as you moved your phone away from his face and set it to the side of you.
“So, that's all you have to say?” You asked him and it was clear to him that there was no way that he was getting out of this conversation any time soon.
“I… babe… look I've just been thinking about it. Nothing is permanent yet. I don't want you to get upset about this.”
“How can I not get upset about it?” You slightly raised your voice as you moved off of his lap to sit next to him.
“Like I said, nothing is certain yet.”
“Hmm, so you hide secrets from me now?”
“Baby, it's not a secret. I….”
“It obviously is a secret because I had to find out on instagram of all places. So when were you going to tell your wife that you want to be TRADED?”
“Soon, okay? I was going to tell you soon!”
“How soon?! Like, how can you even think about that? Especially at a time like this?”
“Babe….”
“NO! We made a five year plan and that plan included us staying here. I just got the job that I had been after for more than three years! We just bought this house! We plan on having a baby! We’re close to your parents and your family. If we leave, we won’t have ANY of that!” You explained to him and the thought of all of that happening so soon honestly terrified you.
“Okay, I get that, I really do. But I also have to think about what’s best for me and what’s best for my career. I thought that you would understand that!”
“Without consulting me?! Last time I checked I was your wife! You literally tell me EVERYTHING. Don’t you think that this is something that we should talk about?! Especially when it literally might change everything that I’ve worked for!”
“In a marriage, sacrifices and compromises need to be made.” Joe told you as he shrugged, and your anger and frustration at him had hit a new level.
“Didn’t realize that pissing me off was on your agenda for the night.”
“I’m not trying to! Like I said, I haven’t even signed anything yet so there is no reason for you to be losing your shit on me like you are right now!”
“It’s the principle of it! YOU LIED TO ME. The person that I married NEVER lies to me. That’s my issue and you are seriously up here acting like it’s no big deal!? I literally just told you earlier when I got back how important your family is to me and that I love being around them and now I find this out? This is the first time that I actually feel like I have one! And me finding this out doesn’t even come from my own husband?”
“The only thing I’m sorry for is not telling you and then you finding out on social media. That’s it.”
“Never thought that I would say this, but I don’t think I want to be around you right now.” You quietly told him as you got up from the couch with him trying to take hold of your wrist.
“Baby….”
“I’m going upstairs.”
Leaving Joe in the living room, you walked upstairs and sat on your bed as you were trying to collect your thoughts about what had just happened. Your biggest thing was that he kept this from you. You were literally the first person that he told everything to so you couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t tell you this seeing as this is a big decision being made for him and his career.
Bottom line was that you were hurt.
Just when things were starting to go your way and you had finally gotten settled and comfortable with living here, it seemed like it was being pulled right from underneath you.
Your phone that had been long forgotten after seeing the post suddenly vibrated and you looked to see that it was a text from Joe’s mom, Robin. Quickly opening it, you saw that it was a screenshot of the same instagram post that you had confronted your husband about.
Robin- Did you know about this? He hasn’t said anything to us.
You- Nope, nothing. I found out the same way you did and I let him have it.
It was now Saturday evening and you and Joe were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner in absolute silence. You had originally found out on Wednesday and had said less than ten words to him every day since then. It was awkward, and Joe knew that he had to be the one to fix it so that the two of you were both satisfied with the decision in the end. Soon after you had walked away from him that night, he had gotten a call from his parents to demand an explanation on why they found out via social media and not him.
“Baby?”
“What?”
“How long are you going to ignore me?” Joe asked and you wanted to jump in his arms right then and there, but you had to stand your ground.
“I’m not ignoring you. I’m talking to you right now.”
“You’ve barely said anything to me since Wednesday and it’s now Saturday night.”
“Hmm, playing for your new team tomorrow or are you still employed with the Bengals?” You pettily asked and Joe immediately sighed before rolling his eyes.
“Seriously?”
“I just asked a question and there’s no harm in me doing that.” You answered as you stabbed your mashed potatoes.
“Are you coming to the game tomorrow?” Joe asked with uncertainty.
“When have I missed a home game of yours?”
“Never. But you’ve never been this pissed at me before either. At least from what I remember.”
“Well you brought this on yourself, but yes I’m coming along with your parents. Now hurry up and finish eating so I can clean up.”
“I can do it, don’t even worry about it.” Joe told you as he sighed and pushed the food around on his plate.
“And are you actually going to sleep next to me tonight?”
“I’ll decide when I get upstairs, but no promises.” You answered over your shoulder as you had started to walk away.
After Joe had cleaned up the kitchen, he made his way to his office down the hall and closed the door. Once he sat down, he dialed Brian’s number who was his agent and he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, I was just about to call you.”
“Hey, so did you read over the contract? How does it look?” Joe asked as he leaned back in his office chair.
“I did and I personally don’t think this is the best move for you. I get it that you might be frustrated with the way that things are going right now with the team, but this will probably lead you to being more unhappy.”
“How so?”
“First off, they are definitely low balling you for money and they don’t look like they’re changing their minds about that. They claim that they want you so bad, but obviously not bad enough. How did Y/N react when you told her?”
“She found out on instagram and proceeded to rip me a new one. She’s still not really talking to me since she believes that I kept this from her.”
“Well, I can see her point and you did keep it from her. I don’t know who ended up leaking it, but when it happened, I knew that it wasn’t about to go over well. My advice, stay where you are. We can get a few more good years out of them and if you’re still not satisfied, then we’ll look elsewhere.”
“If you think that’s best.”
“I do, but you need to tell your wife first when we get to that point so she isn’t blindsided like she was this time.”
“Now that I can agree with.”
After staying on the phone a little bit longer with Brian, Joe walked upstairs to the master bedroom and was surprised to see you sitting there. Once you looked up at him, you sighed and then patted the space next to you to tell him to sit down. Once he did, you took his hand in yours before saying anything.
“I thought about what I said the other day and I need to apologize to you too. I think that my reaction also made you think that I didn’t support you when that is far from the truth. I will follow you anywhere and do absolutely anything for you. I just… that blindsided me and it also made me think that you didn’t totally support me either. I can find another job, I get that but everything that I want is right in front of me.” You confessed and Joe simply nodded his head, letting you know that he understood.
“I know that you support me and that thought never crossed my mind. You were upset and for good reason. I should have told you and not gone behind your back trying to hide it from you. You deserved better than that and you were completely right when you said that I tell you absolutely everything.”
“So, therefore whatever you decide, it’s fine.”
“No.” Joe quickly answered and you were left confused.
“No?”
“Before any big decisions like that are made, we have to come to that decision together so that we don’t go through this again. I don't like it when my wife doesn't talk to me or she doesn't want to be around me.”
“Okay, agreed. And I also missed giving you kisses.” You confessed and laughed at the small smirk showing on Joe's face.
“So with that being said, we’re not going anywhere.” Joe told you and you looked at him in disbelief.
“But, I thought…”
“Brian looked over the contract and was trying to negotiate, but he told me it’s probably in my best interest to stay here so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Now, are you absolutely sure?” You asked your husband and he simply nodded his head.
“Positive and at the end of the day, I also want to keep my wife happy since she's in it with me for the long haul.”
“Sacrifices and compromises.” You quietly said as he repeated it back to you.
“Sacrifices and compromises.”
Joe leaned over to place a kiss on your forehead and you immediately embraced him.
“So, I guess my good luck charm is actually sleeping next to me tonight?”
“I am, so you better make sure that you win.” You told him as you got comfortable on your side of the bed with him climbing in next to you and wrapping his arms around you.
It was quiet for a few minutes before you spoke.
“Baby?”
“Oh, so my name is back to being baby now?”
“Don't push it, Joseph.” You told him as he laughed.
“Hmm. Yes?”
“What team were you going to go to? I want to know. I'm curious.”
“I don't even want to tell you because you aren't going to let me hear the end of it if I do. You might even ask for a divorce.”
“You are so dramatic. Why? You're not going anymore so tell me.”
Joe mumbled something under his breath, but you turned around to face him in the hopes that you would be able to hear him better.
“What was that, babe?”
“Ravens.”
“JOSEPH LEE BURROW! WHAT!?” You yelled as you sat up and turned on the lamp that was sitting on the bedside table.
“SEE! THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU! Apparently Lamar had been having some issues with his contract soooo……”
“I would have NEVER forgiven you for that one.”
“You made that pretty clear, princess and like I said you would probably ask for a divorce.”
“Not a divorce, but we would definitely have to separate for a while.”
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firingstars · 2 months ago
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neighborly advice | ch. 6
bucky barnes x female reader
summary: you start to get ready for your date while a fly keeps constantly buzzing around you. bucky calls sam and reflects on himself.
warnings: mdni, eventual smut, timeline is somewhere around the middle/end of fatws, language, alcohol, spam texting, friend breakups, bucky's angry, shifting povs, no use of y/n
word count: 3.4k
a/n: i'm writing mannnny chapters rn. i also have a vague idea for a bucky x avengers!reader if anyone may be interested in that. taglist is also open for anyone who would like to join :)
previous chapter | next chapter
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Leah [9:32am]: seriously? you’re still not gonna text me back?
Leah [9:33am]: heellllloooooo
Leah [9:34am]: i don’t rly think this is so serious for u to be acting like this…
Missed call from Leah (2) [9:57am] 
You groaned at the incessant buzzing at the side of your pillow. It really would not end. She wouldn’t leave you alone. For some reason, she was making this your fault. You knew you had to talk to her at some point, but this just wasn’t the time. 
You sighed, moving to go to open your window and crawl into the fire escape for a moment. You needed fresh air. At this time of day, there would be no quiet for you to look forward to, but you could at least savor some moments of peace away from the phone. 
“Morning. Didn’t know you came out here, too.”
You couldn’t help but smile at the voice, and turned. Bucky was out at his fire escape, too. He looked a little sleepy with semi messy hair. 
“Every once in a while when I need to escape,” you answered. 
“Rough night?” he asked.
“Super. My best friend won’t stop texting me because she asked the guy I have a crush on a date,” you said, and watched him pause. The confession dawned upon him— the fact that Leah was your best friend and that you have a crush on him. “I haven’t answered her, so she’s getting weirdly defensive over text.”
“Damn.” He ran his hand through his hair, thinking for a moment. “Sounds like something that happened to a buddy of mine recently.”
“Really? What happened?” you hummed, playing into his scenario.
“Poor guy got roped into a date,” he said with a shake of his head. “Real stupid guy, I tell you. Didn’t even try to clear it up at the time. Didn’t even know what to say. If it were me, I would’ve shut that shit down real fast.”
“Oh? Would you now?” you asked with a small giggle. 
“Of course. I have someone I have an eye on,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Anyways, he went on the date to be polite, and tried telling the girl that he had no interest. She kept telling him to just go with the flow, and at least give it a shot, and offered to continue drinks back at her place. He declined, and went home.”
“Mm… I see,” you said, nodding thoughtfully. Shit. You really had to grill Leah now. What the hell was she thinking? “Well, Bucky. Thanks for telling me about your friend. It helps me out a lot. I do have to go back inside. I have a date later today, and I’m not too sure what time he’s picking me up so I gotta go be prepared for whenever.”
Bucky let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. He smiled at you again, “I’ll see you later tonight.”
You grinned at him, moving to head back indoors. At least your situation with Bucky was taken care of. However, it just opened up another issue with Leah. A small twinge of anxiety hit your stomach again. What were you going to do about work? The monthly check in with your mom was coming up in a week and a half. You had no lab, no sponsors, no research team.
You need to focus on one thing at a time. Right now, an early lunch. There was some leftover duck and rice from last night that you could heat up, and your stomach would be more than filled until dinner. So, that’s what you did. Ate your food happily, then went to start your date ritual.
An everything shower. You made sure to really scrub the shampoo into your scalp, then allowed for the deep conditioner to really penetrate into the locks to ensure maximum shininess and gloss for whenever you would move around later in the night. While that was settling in, you carefully took your time exfoliating and shaving absolutely every part of your body that there was hair. You would be smoother than a seal.
Not that you expected for anything to happen tonight. Maybe you would just hold hands. After all, he gave you flowers last night– flowers that were proudly displayed on your coffee table for you to see every time you walked into your apartment. You still shaved carefully and closely anyway. You never know what could happen. You didn’t expect to make out with him the other night, that was for sure. Who’s to say you didn’t end up in his bed? For the second time, at that. Hopefully with him in it, too. 
Once the shower was over, you lotioned to moisturize and begin your skincare routine. Your skin would not be rough, and you would smell good. The perfume got layered on now, and you would add another fresh layer right before you went out the door to really seal in the scent. You would do your makeup later– it was still a bit earlier in the day and you had more than enough time to get ready. You let your hair air dry after towel drying it a bit, deciding that you would use the flat iron as the heat later on. In the meantime, you would decide on your outfit.
You rummaged through the closet, desperately trying to figure out what would be appropriate for tonight. You had no idea what he had planned. You could always go next door and knock on his door, ask what he was thinking about doing, but that would be too much. You needed to build suspense, too. You couldn’t seem too interested, or something like that. 
Bzzt!
The buzz of your phone took you out of your staring contest with your closet, and a frown began to form on your face.
Leah [2:37pm]: i’m coming over
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Bucky sat there like an asshole, and he knew it. He was so glad his neighbor had no form of spy training– he read her face instantly and his heart dropped through his stomach. She was pissed. No, she was more than pissed.
“Wait,” he whispered, breathing out her name like it was a prayer. She didn’t listen. She turned back and walked away without looking back once.
“There you go! A date. Isn’t that so easy? No dancing required,” Mr. Nakajima grinned at Bucky, who was at a loss. He was still trying to process what exactly had just happened to him. There was no way that had just occurred, in front of her no less. He needed to go. He needed to run after her, now, and tell her that he was sorry and that this wasn’t right. 
This entire situation left a bitter taste in his mouth. Sure, he was known as a heart breaker back in the day, but he never fooled around with more than one girl at the same time– even if they weren’t official. He had four younger sisters that looked up to him. Bucky set the example of what his sisters should look for when they were going out into the world. 
He was in new waters. The 21st century was a scary place, with a different set of rules, and he was still trying to learn. His old fashioned ways were clearly outdated. Some of them were working, but other than that? Things were different. However, he wasn’t so wrong to assume that the girl he made out with a handful of nights ago was angry that he had just been asked out by another girl right in front of her, and he didn’t say a single word in retaliation.
Bucky stayed put for a few moments, eating slowly and waiting for the bartender to come back towards them. What did Nakajima call her? Leah? When she came back over, he would tell her that he was actually not available that night, definitely was not free for any kind of date, and would not be any time soon. 
The bartender never came back to their area. Yet, she kept glancing over at him. She locked eyes with him, giving him a wink and a smirk every once in a while that made him tense in an uncomfortable way. After the third time, he decided this was enough.
“Mr. Nakajima, I gotta go, too,” Bucky said, clapping a hand on his back. He forced a tight lipped smile onto his face.
“What? Cutting our lunch so soon?”
“I’ll make it up to you another time. Forgot that my coworker asked me to do something for him,” he lied, dropping a few bills on the counter to cover for his portion and Nakajima’s. 
“You and that child,” the old man sighed. “You both work too hard.”
Bucky could only let out a fake laugh before quickly walking out the door and into the street. He did his best to walk as normally as possible, taking a quick look of his surroundings to check who was watching. When the coast was clear, he dipped into the nearest alleyway to scale the building. He needed to take the fastest route to the apartment buildings, and if he had to run the rooftops to get to her, then he would.
He needed to talk to her. Explain the situation. Tell her that this was a mistake, that he messed up, and he was dumb, and that he was sorry. Yet, once he was standing there with her right in front of him, the words were knocked out of his system.
Bucky couldn’t say a damn thing.
She was angry, that was for sure. Knowing she was angry at him made the uncomfortable pit in his stomach grow even wider and deeper. There was also a nagging part of him that found her adorable. She was frowning, but in a cute way. Her lip was in a slight pout, her eyebrows were pulled together in a slight arch as she looked up at him. She was so angry, but so cute. He was taking her seriously, but she was a breathtaking sight even when she looked like she wanted to punch him in the face.
Momentarily, Bucky considered letting her. If it would stop her from being angry at him, he would definitely let her. It wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, he was certain, but he would definitely let her try. 
The door was shut in his face before he could convince her to stay, before he could properly find the words to apologize. What made him even more upset with himself was that she didn’t even find it in herself to slam the door shut in his face, like he had done to her before. No, she was nice. Shit.
Her patience could only go so far though. Persistence could only do so much, and there was not much that he could do if she didn’t want to talk to him. After knocking and waiting outside for two hours, he went to his apartment and paced around for an hour. He couldn’t think. She baked him muffins for an apology. Then what? She waited for him to come home and open the door. If she wasn’t opening the door, then what?
“Fuck,” he grunted, pulling his phone out. Bucky could already feel the regret seeping into his bones as he pressed only the contact he had in his phone. 
The line connected almost instantly.
“Buck. Are you good?” Sam’s voice came from the other end, frantic. 
“I’m fine. Calm down,” Bucky said with a sigh, dropping onto his couch. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You never call me, so excuse me for being worried!” Sam snapped at him, though Bucky could pick up on the teasing tone. “If you’re not dying somewhere, then what’s up?”
“I think I messed up. No, actually, I know I messed up,” Bucky confessed. “I don’t know what to do.”
Sam was silent on the other end. Bucky could hear the grin on his face begin to slowly form, and he wanted to punch a hole in the wall. Then, laughter started to rumble from the other side “Is that really James Buchanan Barnes on the other end of this phone call?” Sam exclaimed loudly in between bursts of laughter. “Because I swear– someone just asked me for advice and the Bucky that I know would never!”
“Alright, fuck you. I’ll figure it out myself.” Bucky took his phone away from his ear, ready to press the red button on the screen when he heard the frantic noises of his friend on the other line.
“Wait! Wait wait wait! I’m joking! Buck, stop. I’m all ears. What’s going on, seriously?” Sam asked, taking a deep breath. “Talk to me.”
Bucky swallowed, staring daggers into the coffee table in front of him. Then, he confessed. Explained the situation to Sam, who, surprisingly, listened quietly from start to finish. He didn’t even give any ad libs or anything like that. Just listened without any judgement or noise. Then, when Bucky was finished, he finally spoke.
“Yeah. You fucked up, Buck.”
“Why the hell do you think I called you?” Bucky demanded as Sam sighed on the other end. “Should I just stand up the bartender?”
“Well, no,” Sam said quickly. “You go to that place every Wednesday with your old guy friend, and she works there. That would make it awkward, and it’s clear that your old guy friend likes her and looks after her. You don’t want to make an enemy like that. So just go on the date, but let her down gently. Tell her you’re not interested from the start, and just get the hell out. No muss, no fuss.”
“Right. Okay.” Bucky nodded, even though Sam clearly couldn’t see him.
“And with your neighbor– why don’t you just text her or something? I understand talking to her face to face is a good thing, but it would be good to also let her know that you’re sorry as soon as possible.”
Bucky froze. He didn’t reply. Sam caught it, and they sat in silence for a while.
“Bucky.”
“Sam.”
“Do you have her phone number?”
“That’s an irrelevant question. Tell me how to make her forgive me.”
“You’re fucking hopeless.”
“Dude,” Bucky groaned.
“Okay, fine! Girls like flowers. Or at least, most girls do- I don’t know. Saw some shit online the other day that said women don't like flowers anymore, and it confused the hell out of me– anyways. She seems like the kinda girl that would like flowers,” Sam quickly said. “Get her some flowers. You can do that, right? Isn’t that right up your alley? You’ve given flowers in the 40s, right?”
“Of course I’ve given flowers, Sam, I’m not an asshole,” Bucky snapped. Truthfully, the idea had not crossed his mind. He would have to credit Sam, but only in his head. 
“Start there,” Sam said with a sigh. “Just be yourself, Buck. She liked you enough to make out with you, so there’s obviously something wrong with her head–”
“I’m hanging up,” Bucky announced, slamming his finger into the red button on the screen. He could practically hear Sam’s cackle from wherever the hell he was.
Bucky went to go get the flowers right after hanging up. The flower stand that he knew of would be closed in the next few hours, and he wanted to be able to get her a nice bouquet. So, he stood there, for about forty-five minutes, staring down each and every individual petal. He criticized every single flower. If there was a bruise or a fold, he didn’t want anything to do with it. If there was a sign of a wilt, he got offended. It needed to be as close to perfect, something that was almost as beautiful as her.
The florist at the shop ended up custom making him a bouquet with the flowers he picked out of other bouquets to get him the hell away from his stand. Bucky was supposedly scaring away other potential customers, not that he cared. He was satisfied with his arrangement.
Bucky did try one more time at her apartment, knocking again. He knew she wouldn’t answer, but it didn’t hurt to try. He could only let out a deep sigh before moving to have the flowers rest in his apartment in water, waiting to be properly placed in its home beside his. Then, he waited for ten to roll around. He needed to go turn down the bartender.
Bucky wasn’t new to the act of seduction. If he had to grade Leah, she would have a big fat fucking F. 
She pulled her top down more than it should naturally be stretched in order to expose more of her chest. She went as far as leaning forward on the table and pressing her elbows together as she looked at him between her eyelashes, begging him to sit down and just have a couple of drinks with her to unwind.
“I’m good,” he said, shaking his head. “Like I said, this date really wasn’t part of my plan today. I’m really sorry to have wasted your time.”
Leah pouted at him, and she leaned back in her seat. She tilted her head at him, and huffed. “So, I touched up my makeup for nothing?”
“Really sorry about that,” he apologized again. 
“Just take a seat, if you’re really so sorry,” she tried again, gesturing to the chair in front of hers. Bucky let out a sigh.
“Listen, I really have to get going. I only stopped by to let you know that I can’t do this, and I don’t have any interest in dating right now. I didn’t want to be an asshole and have you wait all night for me.”
“Well, that’s kind of you.” She smiled at him. “You know, you are here now. Why not just go with the flow? It’s already so late at night. If you’re not interested in being here at the restaurant twice in one day, I get it. I’ve been stuck at the restaurant all day, so I could use a change of pace, too.”
“Oh, no. It wasn’t an invitation,” Bucky said quickly. “I’ll be going. By myself.”
“Don’t be like that.” Leah frowned at him, standing up. She walked over to him, standing right in front of him. “I just want to get to know you a bit. We can take drinks back to my place, if you want?”
The bartender reached a hand out to touch his arm, and a brief wave of panic rushed over him. No. He didn’t want to be touched, but he also couldn’t just attack this woman for no reason. Bucky quickly shifted, angling his body away. She swiped at the air, and she stumbled forward a little bit. The man cleared his throat, clenching his jaw.
“Have a good night. I’ll be leaving now,” he told her, turning away.
“Wait!” she called after him, but he was quicker than she was. He needed to get far.
Maybe Sam’s advice fucking sucked. Maybe it would have been better to stand her up than have to deal with whatever bullshit that was. Clearly, she was insane. Maybe she thought he was playing hard to get? He was certain that he said no more than enough times. A strange feeling filled his gut. He hated it. The feeling of not being in control again. He let out a shaky breath, and started his walk back home. 
He wanted to see his neighbor. Wanted to be in her presence, give her the flowers he picked for her. Bucky wanted to see her face, even if she was mad at him. Wanted to listen to her talk, even if she didn’t have much to say to him. Just something to be near her, even for a little bit.
So he waited outside her door. He didn’t hear her through the walls. There wasn’t any soft snoring from the bedroom. He didn’t hear any pens against paper, nor any devices inside. She wasn’t home, he was certain. So, Bucky stood there, flowers in hand.
When he heard her footsteps, he could only let out a breath of relief. When he saw her face, his anxiety dissipated. Everything was okay. The fear was melting away, just from looking at her. It hit him hard, then and there.
Bucky had already fallen for her, and he hoped the fall would never end.
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taglist: @iyskgd @falconxsoldier @1967barracuda
189 notes · View notes
gguk-n · 10 months ago
Text
Chapter 1- Chance Encounter
Accelerating Emotions (Oscar Piastri x Reader)
Series Masterlist
Summary- The Y/L/N moved to Melbourne. Oscar made a new friend. He got into karting and racing but his friend's sister still makes it difficult to breath sometimes. He had thought he would be over her by now, seems like he was wrong.
The reader has 2 brothers who I'm naming Ansel and Aldric and the reader is Y/N
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The Y/L/N family moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2003 with their 2 kids, Y/N and Ansel, in search for a better future and a place to raise their kids. The sub-burbs of Melbourne served as a calm and healthy environment for the 2 kids with the addition of their youngest Aldric only 2 years later. The 3 kids were a handful but the Y/L/N wouldn't have it any other way.
Ansel, their oldest boy used to cry a lot when he would have to go to pre-school and the teachers would have to call his parents since it was getting difficult to manage the little boy until he met a boy who loved cars as much as he did. The calls from pre-school stopped suddenly alerting the parents who ended up finding out that Ansel had befriended a boy named Oscar and they were attached to the hip. The two boys started having play dates together at Oscar's place since Ansel's parents were too busy to host the boys and Oscar's mum, Nicole didn't mind having another kid around once in a while. Ansel would talk animatedly when describing his day which he never did before, eliciting a smile from his parents. Oscar loved his friend as well.
Ansel was 4 when he insisted on having Oscar over to show his car collection which had slowly been fluctuating and from what Mrs Y/L/N gathered from Mrs Piastri, the 2 boys had been exchanging cars with each other. So, one beautiful summer morning, Oscar was walking behind Ansel to his house with Mrs Y/L/N behind them with her year old son, Aldric in arms. The boys ended up playing around in the backyard after lunch and wouldn't come in until Oscar heard a shrill voice scream at Ansel to come in and have some fruits. The voice belonged to Ansel's older sister. She walked back in, "hmph, I hate her, she's so annoying" Ansel told Oscar. "It's a good thing your sisters are smaller than you, she only screams at me" Ansel whined as they walked inside.
Oscar was asked to sit on the sofa while Y/N brought out 2 fruit plates for the both of them. She handed the plate to Oscar and raised her hand forwards, "My name is Y/N" she said. Oscar shook her hand; "My name is Oscar" he said. "You're cute, not like my annoying brothers" she said while sticking her tongue out to her brother and ruffling Oscar's hair. Oscar hated when people touched his hair, "Don't touch my hair" he called out. "Sorry" she giggled while running away.
Oscar didn't know then but he knew now that he had the biggest crush on her. Y/N became a huge part of his life since his friendship with Ansel blossomed. His mother would invite both of Ansel's siblings to parties and soon enough just to hang out. Oscar liked hanging out with Y/N more than his sisters. She was cooler and older and they got to do whatever they wanted if his mom thought Y/N was watching over them. So, Oscar would initially invite her over so they could get away with whatever they wanted and he won't have to look over his sisters. Oscar's little sisters loved Y/N too since they had someone to play dolls and tea party and dress up with. Oscar, Ansel and Aldric were a team and Y/N and Oscar's little sisters were a team. You would find the 7 children playing in the backyard of the Piastri's or Y/L/N on evenings after school.
Oscar had started karting quite young and the 6 kids would be his biggest cheerleaders, their cheers could be heard whenever Oscar crossed the finish line whether he finished first or last. Oscar would shoot a smile at them whenever he would get out of his kart.
You could hear the 3 boys racing their remote control cars in the backyard. If anyone asked Oscar how he got so good at remote car racing; he would always site his friend and say that he helped him get better. Ansel would help Oscar in karting too; you would find the two boys tinkering and bickering about strategies. Oscar would also tell people that his friend helped him in karting but really Oscar had a talent for it and his friend enjoyed tinkering with the kart with Oscar's dad, making sure everything was in order and ready for Oscar to race. Oscar knew his friend wouldn't get into racing but he would probably make it to the world of racing since he loved cars and loved watching Oscar win with the kart he helped 'fix'.
As Oscar grew older, he realised that he had a bit of a crush on his friend's older sister. He would find himself looking for her whenever he visited their house or looking for her when his friend visited. It would always dampen his mood when he couldn't find her. But nothing dampened his mood like the time he found Y/N kissing a boy in her room back when he was 12. She was 13, Oscar didn't know she got herself a boyfriend, he didn't know that a boy over either. So, what a surprise, when he opened the door and saw her kissing a boy, I mean kissing as far as 13 year olds know how to. Oscar slammed the door shut and shouted an apology while running away. He spent the next few days thinking about the weird feeling he had when he saw that. And a few google searches later; he had a crush ON HIS BEST FRIEND'S SISTER. Oh, he was fucked. He saw her often enough that it might make it awkward. But Oscar was an actor; a trait he didn't know he possessed or so he thought.
Oscar's karting career was taking off; having had started to race professionally and even starting to finish on podiums at the end of championships. Ansel would be there to support his friend as often as he could. Oscar was thankful for everyone coming.
Sometimes, Oscar would come home to find Y/N with his mum helping her around the house. His sisters loved Y/N and would always prefer her over him; honestly he would also prefer her, he thought as he saw her cut up fruits for the kids. "Why are you always handing me fruit whenever I see you?" Oscar asked. "Because, you're small and this will help you as you grow older" she replied. "I'm not small, I'm 13" Oscar huffed. "Well, I'm 14 and I'm older than you. So, that means you'll always be younger than me" she snickered. "Now eat your fruits, kid" she commanded and left. Oscar hated this, he hated that she saw him as a kid.
Oscar should've learnt from his past mistakes but he never learns and caught Y/N with her next boyfriend and this time in a rather compromising position. Y/N didn't learn from her previous mistakes either, she should've locked the door. She knew that; Oscar and his sisters were over. She knew yet she was reckless but in her defence, she hadn't seen her boyfriend in a few days and the both of them were hormonal teenager and it slipped her mind. Now, she was sat on her boyfriend who was lying down with her top and bra off. Oscar wasn't sure if he wanted that imagine erased from his memory or imprinted since she got to see Y/N topless. As he quickly closed the door and ran down; he heard shuffling behind the door and a disheveled Y/N running after him and cornered him near the end of the stair case. Oscar had had a growth spurt, so he stood taller then Y/N. She had both her hands on either side of him; "Don't you dare tell anyone what you saw or I'll make sure you can never get a girlfriend" she threatened. She already made it difficult to get a girlfriend, Oscar thought, the threat was already a reality. Oscar just nodded. "Didn't realise you'd grown taller" she hummed as she let Oscar go while acting out, 'I'm watching you' with her two fingers and walked back up.
Oscar left for the UK when he knew his karting career was picking up and he wanted to be a professional Formula One driver. Nicole cried a lot. But the 6 other kids helped her cope with Oscar's absence. Oscar sighed a sigh of relief; maybe he would finally get over his childish crush. He even got himself a girlfriend eventually. He would barely visit his family due to school and the karting schedule and then eventually single seat racing schedule. He was getting better; he was getting quite good and winning championships and graduating to the next class to racing each year. He even made new friends. But Ansel was still his best friend and no amount of distance was about to change that for him.
Whenever Oscar visited he didn't really get to see Y/N even though he might have wished he did, but he would never admit it, not even to himself. It became an even rarer occurrence after Y/N started university and had moved from Melbourne. The next 4 years; the pair would always miss each other whenever they would visit. Though he would hear about Y/N's adventures from his mother or sisters. Y/N would hear a lot about Oscar from Oscar's or her own family. Both of them would hear about each other's achievements. To Y/N, Oscar was just the tiny child her brother befriended and now she had more siblings to look after. To Oscar, she was his first crush.
Y/N moved back to Melbourne for work; she got a teaching license after completing her Bachelors in Education in English. Currently, she was working as a pre-school teacher. She loved children and this was a great way to help the leaders and the future of tomorrow. Oscar had heard his mum say something about Y/N moving back but he didn't remember; he was in the middle of a break up with his long term girlfriend and the possible signing with a Formula One team fiasco. He had flown in to Australia soon after and spent time with his family. He was excited yet scared when he got signed to McLaren, who were replacing one Australian with another. A part of Oscar hoped to run into Y/N but apparently she was busy with school since it was her first year at the job.
"Mate, what's wrong? Why do you keep looking around?" Ansel asked sounding rather annoyed at Oscar who wasn't paying attention to the game in front of them. "Our teams gonna lose the match at this rate" Ansel almost screamed. "Sorry....it's nothing" Oscar quickly replied. "No one's home. Y/N's house hunting, Aldric's out with his friends and mum and dad are out on a date. We won't be disturbed" Ansel muttered as he passed the ball to Oscar in FIFA. "Oh, okay" Oscar muttered getting back to the game not before he heard his friend sigh but didn't ask why. After the match, the two boys were sat munching on some chips, "Is Y/N moving out?" Oscar asked tentatively. "Oh yeah, she's been trying to get a decent place for a while but teacher's pay is shit; so it's taking her some time" Ansel said. "That means she won't be over often?" Oscar asked quietly. "Probably, but both our moms need her too much, they missed her so much while she was in college. It wasn't funny. Thank God she moved back because it was getting quite annoying. She's always doing stuff around both of our homes or with them anyways. So, she should still be over. Plus she takes your sister to her extracurriculars since Nicole's busy lately." Ansel added. "Oh" is all that left Oscar's mouth.
Oscar sadly returned to the UK before he got to meet Y/N. He hadn't seen her since she moved for university except in pictures his mum would send. But he had a bigger fish to fry; his new life as a Formula One driver from next year onwards.
2023 started with a lot of training on Oscar's part to prepare himself for the year. His first 2 races left much to be desired by Oscar. His third race was in his home. His family and Ansel's family had come to support him through out the weekend except Y/N. On Sunday, Oscar was chatting with Lando when everyone came. That's when he saw her. She looked as beautiful as ever; he wasn't sure if she had made his breath stop like she did just now as he watched her laugh along with his sisters. She turned around and as their eyes met, she shot him a smile; walking towards him. Fuck, he thought, he couldn't feel his tongue in his mouth or how to form words anymore, honestly.
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imaginingmanyfandoms · 10 months ago
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By the fire | Embry Call
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a/n: this one got away from me, but i LOVE it.
request; Can you do Embry X reader where he bumps into Her and imprints but is too scared to tell her because he soon has to tell reader about the pack and doesn't want to hurt reader so Kim asks reader to lunch. You can choose the other details
warnings; i dont think any <3
EMBRY;
He couldn't believe it.
He hadn't seen you since you'd gone to Forks high school, but you'd always been around, right? Right? He suddenly couldn't remember.
Embry'd bumped into you, literally bumped - as he was walking backwards in his mom's store, goofing with Jared and Quil about... he didn't even remember what - when he knocked into you. You'd been talking to his mom, when he knocked something right out of your hands. Quil and Jared had continued laughing, but when he caught your eye, nothing was funny.
Nothing was funny but everything was beautiful. He'd never noticed the colour of your eyes, the depths they held, the secrets they told. He never noticed the way you tilt your head slightly when looking at something. He felt a knot tie around his heart, felt it beat rapidly against the tight coils. Gravity shifted, planets moved, the stars changed, all of it a map leading him to you.
"I'm sorry," he choked out, trying to pick up the little figurine that fell at the same time as you, when you both reached for it, your hands touched, and he felt electricity shock all the way up to his elbow. "I'm sorry," he repeated, moving his hand for the trinket, picking it up and handing it to you. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," you said, smiling, "no harm no foul."
Your smile made his stomach drop like he was on a rollercoaster, you were so beautiful, he wanted to pull you close and never let go. Wanted to protect you from anyone that may cause you harm. wanted to make sure you were always happy, always warm, always comfortable.
You made the world turn.
"Are you okay?" you asked, "you kinda look like you're gunna throw up."
"Never better," he said quietly, mustering up a weak smile.
He was filled with excitement and anxiety. Suddenly riddled with worry and doubt, and just genuine concern for you. Were you dating anyone? What were your friends like? What were your hobbies?"
"Anyway," his mom, Tiffany said, breaking his stare from you, "you're hired, I'll let the owners know."
"Really? We never even had an interview," you said, smiling widely.
"I feel good about it, I can see the good in you," she winked at embry, "Can you start on the weekend?"
"Yeah of course! I'll see you then!"
Tiffany left then, someone else trying to check out at the register. You turned back to Embry, smile wild and genuinely. His heart could've melted than and there.
"What luck," you said, hitting him with your elbow playfully, "you might be my good luck charm."
Quil and Jared were still in the store, pretending to be interesting in some wooden figurines on the shelf, but were also clearly trying to sneak peeks at the two of you. Embry tried to subtly shoo them away, but they just pretended not to see.
"I have to get going," he said, ending the conversation. He noticed the disappointment on your face, and he felt bad. You would've been feeling everything that he was feeling, but you wouldn't understand. Or did you? He didn't know, did you feel your soul change? Your priorities shift? Did you feel different down to the core, like he did?
"Oh, okay, yeah," you smiled, "maybe i'll see you around?"
"You will," he said, resisting the urge to lean forward and touch you, brush your hair behind your ears. Instead he clenched his fists, leaving them dangling by his side. "I know where you are." He stuttered when you looked confused, "work! where you work i meant..." Jared snorted behind him, trying his hardest not to laugh.
"I'll see you later embry," you laughed, waving goodbye to Tiffany and leaving the store he watched as you lifted your hood up, sheilding from the light rain and left the beach.
"She knows my name," he said, goofy grin on his face.
"You're an idiot," Jared laughed, "I know where you are??? No game whatsoever."
"Shut up," Quil said, elbowing him. "He was nervous."
"What do I do?" Embry asked, feeling lost. You weren't anywhere near this, he shouldn't bring you into this, right? Wouldn't bringing you into this life be more dangerous?
"What do you mean? protect her, I don't know, hangout with her?" Jared said, "it's kind of self explanatory."
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YOU;
What a weird morning. First, you're walking down First Beach which you haven't done in who knows how long, and you see the souvenirs shop and a 'now hiring' sign in the window - which never happens because the last person they hired was Tiffany Call and that was over ten years ago, so you decided to go in. And when you're talking to Tiffany about applying, her son, Embry, who you haven't seen in years bumps into you and... and suddenly nothing made any sense at all.
You thought you had it all figured out, wanted a quiet life in the woods. had no real desire to leave this small town - and then suddenly, you didn't know anything. Didn't what you wanted, or with who... like you locked eyes with this boy and the axis your world revolved around just... changed. There was something new, a feeling you didn't understand, a feeling you wanted to run towards, and away from. Wanted to push, and pull.
Walking home from the gift shop that day was otherworldly. You wanted to be around Embry again, not to be creepy you just... you wanted him around. Felt like maybe he had a place in your life. But you hadn't really seen him around much... and it sounds creepy but you kinda thought, well, it seemed like you always kind of felt like he was around. In the dead of the night, with a sky full of stars, you would think - maybe it's crazy - but you would swear he was nearby.
But you hadn't seen him, and you had no other reason to think he was around except for an inkling, a tingle that said, 'oh good, he's here.' It helped you sleep. Made you feel comfortable.
That was nearly a week ago, and now you were reading a book, sitting as comfortably as you could on the plastic chair behind the register of the shop, waiting for anyone to need you or ask for help, but it'd been a slow day.
The bell above the door dinged, startling you out of the paragraph you were reading.
It was Kim... uh... Kim, you racked your brain trying to remember her last name but came up with nothing. She smiled at you, browsing around the store for a moment. She'd grown up around here, you had to wonder what she would need in a souvenir shop. But you smiled nonetheless, closing your book and making yourself available.
"Nice day out there," she said, toying with a necklace, twirling a few beads around the string. "Looks like there might be some nice sun later."
"I sure hope so," you said, tapping your fingers quickly on the counter, "my flowers are begging for some sunshine."
She laughed, "yeah, sounds about right."
"Anything in particular you're looking for?" you asked, rounding the counter and joining her by the jewelry. She looked at you, something soft in her features that felt so familiar, so welcoming. "I swear I'm not watching you, you're just the first person I've talked to in like, two hours."
Kim laughed again, "Slow day?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," you said, picking up a green beaded necklace. "This would suit you, I think."
She looked at it for a second, taking it from your hands and putting it around her neck without fastening it. "Yeah, I think you're right. There's a fire tonight, would be nice to wear something new for a change."
"Sales is easy," you joked, walking back behind the register, ringing in the total on the prehistoric register.
"Mm, I'm pretty easy to persuade, not sure if it should be an example of your salesmanship..."
"The boss doesn't need to know that though," you smiled, taking her money and returning her change.
"Hey you should come hangout sometime," she said, "maybe I can take you to a late lunch at the diner before the fire tonight?"
"You wanna take me to lunch?"
She blushed, "not as like a date... not that I wouldn't want to! I mean... I just thought-"
Your laugh cut her off, "Kim, I'm kidding. Lunch would be great."
"Funny," she rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I'll come pick you up later. Still at the same house?"
You nodded, and she left with a smile, waving goodbye. The bell rang again as she left, and you watched her trot across the road, getting into a car with Jared Cameron, the boy who'd been in the store with Embry a couple days ago.
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After your shift finished - and nearly your book due to the shocking lack of customers - you got home and changed, grabbing a shower before getting ready quickly.
Kim was out front, patiently waiting while you pulled on your shoes.
When you joined her in the car, she was just getting off the phone, speaking quickly and hushed. You looked around the area before you got in, that same funny feeling that maybe Embry was somewhere close.
"Ready?" she asked, kicking you out of your own thoughts.
"Yeah, totally..."
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's just..." you were desperate to share this with someone. Your mom was long gone, and your dad had been out at his brother's for the last month or so, hunting and fishing. Not that you'd want to tell your parents about the obsession you'd been having for the Call boy... "It's weird," you sighed, "I shouldn't bother you with it."
"Try me," she said.
And there was something about her kind smile, and the soft look in her eye... you did. You spilled your guts all the way to the diner, and continued explaining your bizarre interaction and feelings until just after you'd ordered, that's when you finished explaining you'd hoped he'd come by the store, but he hasn't. And explained how you had this weird sensation that he was there when he wasn't.
"...and it's extra crazy cause we didn't even say that much to each other, like, I just felt... something. Like a cosmic connection? I guess? Is that nuts?"
"I don't think that's nuts at all," she shook her head, smiling and thanking the waitress who delivered your food. "You know, the same thing happened to me with Jared, and it turns out he had been around when I thought he was."
"Really?"
"Really. Same exact thing..." Kim looked like she wanted to say more, but hesitated. She ate some fries instead.
"I just want him to come by like he said he would," you said, pushing your plate away. Suddenly, you weren't that hungry. "You know?"
"Maybe you should go to him?" she offered, waving a fry around before eating it. "He'll be at the fire tonight, you should come."
"Do you think I should?"
"It's not like an official meeting or anything, just a fire Emily and Sam wanted to throw," she said casually, "Sam Uley, I mean."
"I don't want to just show up uninvited," you blushed, slinking into your seat, but you thought about it.
"I'm inviting you!" she smiled, that genuine, kind smile... she was hard to say no to. It felt nice to hangout with someone, your friends had mostly left for college and you forgot how fun it was to yap.
"Okay," you said, straightening up, "okay, I will."
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It was nighttime when you and Kim pulled up to the fire. A starless sky, but a beautiful night.
There was a group of people already huddled around a fire, and the nerve you'd conjured up had began to fade. Would Embry think this is weird? Were you weird? No, no, Kim had insisted. This wasn't even your idea. Would Embry believe that?
"Babe, hey!" Jared said, scampering over to hug his girlfriend, kissing her cheek. "Hey, y/n, how's it going?"
"Fine thanks," you said, "nice fire."
"Paul did it," he said, "he's kind of the fire guy of the paaaaa-rty..." he smiled, laughing like he hadn't confused his words.
"Come meet everyone, they're all nice. No one bites," Kim whispered, "Maybe Paul bites, just a little."
"Everyone," Jared announced, "this is y/n! Y/n, this is; Rachel, Paul, Emily, Sam, Quil, Jacob, Embry, Seth, annnnnnnnd Leah."
Embry's eyes were wide, locked on you from the moment Jared walked up with you. You felt embarrassed, like maybe coming here was a bad idea. You sat next to Kim, Rachel on your otherside, who smiled kindly at you, introducing herself again, and the conversation continued easily, and it was fun. But Embry was quiet, watching you as you laughed with Kim and Rachel, talking about an elementary teacher you'd all had in different years, enjoying a night out for the first time in a long time.
But you felt his eyes. They didn't seem angry, or judgemental... didn't seem like he thought you were a freak. And yet, Embry watched you, unable to focus on anything else. Quil nudged him, encouraging him to talk to you, but Embry brushed him off, looking into the fire for less than a minute before his eyes wandered back to you.
"We need more wood," Paul said, clapping Embry on the back hard enough that he lurched forward a little, "your turn."
"I went last time," he said, rolling his eyes, but getting up do to it anyway.
"And for your lovely assistant," Paul pointed at different people as he said; "eeny, meeny, miney, new girl," Paul landed at you, smiling as Rachel elbowed him roughly in the side. Not quietly at all he said, "What? That was subtle til you hit me."
"I don't need help," Embry said quietly, watching as you got up to do it without question.
"No it's okay, I wanna help," you said.
Embry led you over to a small shed, it's only contents were stacks of wood. He started loading up his hands, gesturing for you to stack a couple more on top. You started, but a log slid in your hand funny, and you yelped, dropping it in his arms and looking at your hand.
In an instant, Embry dropped the pile, grabbing your hand in his and looking at it, searching for the injury.
"Splinter," you said, "sorry."
"Does it hurt? Are you hurt?"
"I mean it stings a little, I guess, but I'm fine." But you didn't pull away, you wanted him to keep holding you, it was warm, and soft, and he smelled good. Like honey and oak. And he was so tall, towering over you but holding you so gingerly, inspecting your sliver.
"C'mon," he said, keeping your wrist in his grip, careful not to disturb the little piece of log in your hand, and led you out of the shed and into a house. Embry led you to the bathroom, bringing you into the small room and shuffling through the medicine cabinet with one hand, in the other - he still hadn't let yours go.
"Hey, I'm okay," you said quietly, "I can do it if you want, it's all good."
"I'll do it," he said gruffly, continuing his search for tweezers. When he found them, looking at your hand again. As if it were a medical procedure, he took a breath, and then grabbed the splinter, pulling it out swiftly but gently, making sure it didn't separate and get stuck. "You feel okay?"
"I'm fine, Embry," you giggled, "It was just a splinter."
He smiled a little, light blush on his cheeks as he looked around the small bathroom. "Still," he looked at you, resolve to avoid you shattering and disapatting, he wouldn't be strong enough to fight it for one minute longer. "They hurt sometimes."
You laughed, "yeah, I guess they do."
Embry continued to hold your hand, looking at you with those eyes that just made you melt. It was crazy to feel this way about him already right? Crazy that if he asked you to be his, you would be? It was too soon. But still... you wanted him to.
"We should get back," you said, gesturing towards the fire. "They might get worried."
"Wait," he said, looking back in the cabinet, pulling a small bandaid out, covering the tiny hole in your hand. "Don't want anything to get in there."
"Thanks," you said, and when he finally dropped your hand, you wished he hadn't.
You led him out of the house, and back to the shed - where he didn't let you help again for fear of another life threatening injury, and brought the wood over the fire.
And Embry was more animated when he rejoined everyone, opting to sit between you and Rachel rather than over by his best friends. He was close to you, but he didn't touch you again for the rest of the night.
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Kim had driven you home before it got too late, and now you were in your bed, trying to sleep but you were stuck daydreaming about those few moments in the bathroom. It was playing on repeat. The way he looked at you, took care of you. All of it, it was so... attractive? You were so drawn to him.
A knock on the door made you jump, and you thought about not answering it. But there was something in your heart that said you should, that gentle nudge that Embry was nearby made you think.... yea, okay.
So you did, you swung the door open, and Embry was there, standing in the glow of the moon. He looked sheepish, goofy smile on his mouth that just made you smile.
"Embry?"
"I forgot something at the fire, or... I mean, maybe I remembered something?"
"Well, what did you forget or remember?"
And he didn't answer in words, but instead caressed your cheeks with his hands, and pulled you in for a kiss. It was soft, delicate like he was. You closed your eyes, reaching up on your tippy toes to push yourself deeper into the kiss, closer into Embry, like you wanted to be engulfed by him, surrounded and ensnared by the all thing Embry.
His mouth worked against yours, movements equal parts measured and natural, calculated and instinct. He walked forward, forcing you into the house where he kicked the door shut behind him, keeping you tight against him. His tongue sliding against your lower lip, but the pulling it between his teeth, biting just hard enough to make you gasp.
But then he switched, kissing you slower, more tender than you've ever known. Until he pulled away, holding you close but just looking at you. He smiled, it was so small, you nearly missed it, the way the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. And he kissed you again, one lingering peck. Before pulling away, trailing his hands slowly over your arms, the light touch of his fingers on your arms made you shiver. And when he got to your hands, he entertwined your fingers, holding both your hands.
"You're so beautiful," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't come see you sooner."
"Forgiven," you said, meaning it.
He smiled. Every single feature on his face was sculpted and perfect. He let go of one hand, brushing your hair off of your face, tucking it behind your ear. "But don't answer the door like that at this hour again, too dangerous."
You laughed, hitting him softly. He laughed too, bringing you into a hug, pulling you into his chest.
He would have to tell you everything. There was still a lot unspoken, but he would tell you everything tomorrow, but for now, for right now, he was just gunna hold you. And that was enough.
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maidservant-hecubus · 1 year ago
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My father is an Ashkenazi Jew. His parents were first generation Americans. Their parents escaped the pogroms in Russia and Ukraine and came to find their American dream. They fought in wars and opened businesses and assimilated and my generation barely has a few words of Yiddish between us. My mother is as much of a WASP as it gets. American Revolutionaries and Signers and some household name civil war feature players. Not old money, but old America and undoubtedly white. I'm patrilineal. Not a Jew to a lot of Jews. Not a Jew to a lot of my Jewish family. Even though i was raised Jewish. Even though I look like my father. Even though i got enough of something in my DNA to get asked "What are you?" more often than not. More often than I'm just accepted at face value as "white". When i was little we lived in an Irish Catholic neighborhood. Like the 5-10 kids in every family sort of Irish catholic neighborhood. The kids calling me a christ killer and refusing to play with me because they heard it from their parents sort of irish catholic neighborhood. For some reason my parents tried to send me to the catholic school down the street. I lasted less than a week because i didn't understand their rituals and their language and they found out my father was a Jew and they couldn't have a christ killer in their midst. I was just sad i didn't get to wear the cute plaid skirt anymore. So i went to the public school and my well meaning shiksa mother who never converted but learned the Chanukah prayers and helped cook Seder dinners came to the school to teach the class about Chanukah. She taught them songs and all the kids got dreidels and had so much fun spinning the top for chocolate coins. It was nice to feel normal. A few weeks later a boy in a higher grade attacked me on the way to the bus and smashed my art project (we had made pig noses from solo cups to celebrate reading charlotte's web) into my face and called me a filthy jew. I didn't understand, i was more upset to lose the project i was so proud of. Other things happened. Things I wont talk about because putting them in context would doxx me. But a million reminders that i wasn't one of them. I wasn't welcome because i was Jewish. My parents divorced. My mother left. Far away so I'd only see her a handful of times growing up. And I went to live with my Dad in a city that seemed like it was overflowing with Jews. Everyone knew my holidays! In public school the teachers looked like my family and had familiar sounding names. We had the high holy days off just like christmas or easter. We sang Chanukah songs in the winter recital and nobody's mom had to come teach them to the class. Finally I belonged! My friends and cousins started planning for their b mitzvah celebrations and i asked for my own. I asked to go to hebrew school so i could be more like the people i belonged with and celebrate the things i loved about myself and them. "But you're not jewish." My father would say. This was news to me. The christ killer. The filthy jew. But a 10 year old has little power over their lives. So i didn't go. I didn't have a bat mitzva while my cousins had theirs. It was okay because i still belonged more than i ever had. But i was still jewish enough to keep the holidays and pray and fast and get sent with a box of matzo to my WASP grandmothers for easter, and have matzo packed in my lunch to eat in AP algebra in 7th grade and get asked if I'm a "Yid" by the teacher. And still to this day not know if it was endearment or insult but by then I knew even in this magical city being a Jew wasn't always safe. in highschool I tried to take hebrew lessons with a friend in a similar situation as me. She was also hungry to reconnect. I don't remember why the classes or the friendship fell through, but they did. My next "friend", a goy raised catholic from another neighborhood, liked to accuse me of being money driven when i picked up a penny on the sidewalk or tried to ask who was going to pay for the zine's she wanted to publish.
 "What are you?" I'd get asked a lot on the street by curious strangers, "Where are you from?" "Are you Italian?" Always Italian. I never really understood that, but its become code in my head for "You look like you're white but something about you is very not white and I just can't place it, so Italian seems safe and polite." I'm not here to unpack the Italian part of all that. I don't even know what I'm unpacking for myself by writing this except I've been sick for days and I'm so tired and this is all that my foggy brain can wrap itself around. Later I'm an adult and on my own and getting bloodwork done. The Nurse is a black woman and so sweet to me. She can tell I'm nervous about the needles because I've already stumbled through my apologies for my herd to find veins. So she distracts me with small talk. Where do i live? I tell her. She looks worried for me. Tells me that it used to be a nice neighborhood before white people took it over and she warns me like she's my own mother to be careful because they aren't safe. I doublecheck the skin she's putting a needle into. Whatever she sees isn't white. I love her for it. For a moment I belong there with her. She doesn't ask what I am or where i'm from, but she knows what i'm not. I'm the only one keeping the holidays with my family. We celebrate Passover because I go home to my fathers and cook the dinner and print out the Haggadah and lead the Seder to the tune of my drunk catholic stepmother eating my food and telling me i'll never be a jew. She's more of a jew than I'll ever be because she grew up in a jewish neighborhood and her friends were all jews and she married a jew and i was just playing pretend. I stopped going home for holidays and they stopped observing anything except Christmas. I marry a goy. "Is he a jew?" is the first thing my father asks and he's disappointed when i say no. He's abusive, i run. I end up living in the attic of this older old money WASP couple who need a live in house sitter. They're pillars of their church and they know someone from the WASP side of my family very well and its a funny coincidence and they think i belong there. I know from their divest from Israel bumper stickers that i don't. Then they find out I consider myself Jewish and i see the light in their eyes die and its replaced by something hard and disappointed. Now, while writing this, i can laugh about being the jew in someone's attic. But then, it was only a few months after that they started coming up with excuses for why I needed to move out. I did, their excuses never manifested into reality. I got married again. A jew this time! a Jewish medical professional liek grandma always wanted. She's a convert and her ex was a rabbinical student. I think maybe i'm home finally. She has to understand. I'm not Jewish enough for her. We don't keep holidays at home because i'm not a jew. I cry every year when pesach comes and goes and i haven't recited the plagues or eaten matzo piled high with horseradish. She insists on putting up a christmas tree. She turns abusive. I run.
I'm alone now and no longer in that magic jewish city. I'm far away and surrounded by mega churches and cows and the bagels suck and people quote the bible at me like some call and response that i don't have the cheat code for and I don't belong here at all but i'm finally finally free to light my menorah and recite the plagues and study torah with the group i found here on tumblr who love and accept me even though i'm patrilineal. Oct. 7th happened a few weeks after I moved here. I worry about my family back home and i think no one will look for Jews here among the cows and mega churches, so I can be a safe place for them to run if things get bad again. But i still don't fit in here. I don't look right. The last name I have now is common here and too white for whatever people see when they look in my face. I get interrogated about it a lot. But i learned quickly how to smile and say "have a blessed day". I hide my menorah when maintenance comes to work on my apartment. I flew home last month. Just for a visit. I've never been away from home this far or this long. And I'm the type that covers nerves and anxiety with chattiness, so at the airport i made a for-now-friend while we both waited for the plane to board. She's Puerto Rican. We talk about our lives. Our families. Her twin sister and i go by the same nickname and so we're family now. We talk about food. So much food and how much we love cooking and how important food was at home. "Are you Italian?" she asks as we're stepping through the hatch into the plane. Why always Italian? I wonder for the millionth time in my life. And I freeze up for a moment between fighting my carry-on over the gap and terror that I'm about to see the light go out behind her eyes and i'll lose this for-now friend. "No," i laugh but its not a real laugh and i see the concern in her face as we squeeze through the aisle because she can hear the apprehension in my voice, "I'm Jewish." And something strange happened because her face lit up and she smiled and said "No way?! You guys have GREAT food!"
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sturniqlo · 1 year ago
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WAIT FOR YOU- CHRIS STURN
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summary: Chris leads Y/n on and things don't end well between them. What happens when they cross paths again but she's not ready anymore?
cw: angst, cursing
an: this is a favorite of mine, hope you enjoy:)
masterlist
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"Hey Chris!" Y/n says as Chris opens the front door to let her in. "Hey, Y/n." He gives her a side hug as she enters the house, closing the door during the hug. "Know what you wanna do today?" Chris asks as he leads her up the stairs to enter the kitchen. "Mm, thought we could go shopping? Maybe eat lunch while we're at it?" She leans against the island.
"Sounds good, let me go get changed really quickly." He says as he runs off to his room. Y/n stays in the kitchen, pulling up a chair and scrolls on her phone. If Matt or Nick were here, she would be hanging out with them while she waited for Chris. After less than ten minutes Chris enters the kitchen once again. "Ready?" She turns on the phone and get up. "Let's go."
"Hey! I told you if you wanted fries and you said no." She whines as she sees Chris grab a handful of her fries. "Sharing is caring, pretty sure Paula showed you that." He refers to her mom. "Whatever," She rolls her eyes. "I have something to tell you later." She says, feeling nervous. "Can I know now?" She shakes her head at his question. "Fine, I think I can wait."
"What time do you have to be home to film?" She asks as she puts the car in drive. The triplets had started their youtube channel not that long ago, and they quickly got a following and became popular after graduation which was about a month ago. "In like fifteen minutes." Chris shrugs. "Fifteen? Why didn't you tell me? We're like thirty minutes away." Chris grabs her hand resting on the arm rest. She starts to feel those butterflies in her tummy anytime he touches her. "Wanted to spend more time with you."
As Y/n pulled up to Chris' house. She parks the car and looks at Chris so she can tell him the news. "So," Chris cuts her off. "Y/n, can I tell you something?" Y/n nods. "Sure, anything." Chris sighs before he begins. "I know we've been hanging out a lot lately, and I've noticed that you've seen me more as a friend, but I don't feel the same way. And I'm sorry if I made it seem like I felt the same way, I just didn't want you to feel embarrassed that I wasn't showing the same emotions back." Her heart sinks and her ears start ringing.
"What?" She says in disbelief. "Y/n," He starts again, and tries to grab her hand, but she pulls her hand away. "Chris, no. Are- are you serious? You knew I had feelings for you, so you decided to play along and just mess with my feelings? Do you know how fucked up that is? I- I can't believe this." Her eyes start welling up with tears. "How could you do something like that? You could've just told me when you first noticed and I would've back off. I would've preferred that more than your stupid ass game."
"Y/n it wasn't a game." He sighs, feeling his heart break each time he saw her wipe a tear that he caused. "Get out my car, Chris." She turns to look out at her window, she couldn't even look at him anymore. "Y/n, let's talk about it, please?" Chris pleads, but it doesn't mean anything to her anymore. "Chris, seriously, get out of my car. I can't be around you right now." Her tears are coming down so fast she can barely wipe them as they fall down to her neck, leaving streaks of mascara down her cheeks.
After what feels like hours, she hears Chris unbuckle the seat belt and collect his shopping bags from the floor then opening the car door and getting out. Finally, she looks over at him and sees that his eyes are glossed. "Don't you dare try to contact me or use any of our friends to reach me and don't come to my house. I'm done with you and our friendship." She grabs the car door and slams it. She quickly puts the car in parks and drives off.
As much as Chris wants to chase after her car like a damn dog, he stands frozen in place. His heart aching more by the second, and every second that passes by he wishes his commitment issue hadn't gotten in the way. Now he has lost his best friend.
It must've been a while that he stood there. The sound of tires on the gravel making him look up, only hoping that it's Y/n returning to talk to him. To listen to him. It didn't help that both Matt and Y/n's car were black and almost looked like the same model. He only realized that it was Matt and Nick from the way Matt beeped at him.
"The fuck you standing out here for?" Nick says as he rolls the window down sipping on his Dr.Pepper. "I just fucked up in the worst way possible. I broke her. Fuck." He puts his hands on his eyes and throws his head back and sighs. Nick knew what Chris was talking about. He had told his weeks prior that leading her on wasn't the smartest idea. But, he never listened to him. "Nick, take him inside. I'll park the car and head inside." Nick gets out of the car and picks up Chris' bags off the ground and wraps his arm around Chris' shoulders to take him inside.
"Fuck, Nick. I- I should've listened to you." Nick shushes him. "Hey, we'll talk about it in a bit. Why don't you cool down a bit, okay?"
It took Chris about an hour to calm down and collect his thought before he could tell his brothers what had happened. During the hour of silence, Nick snuck some texts to Y/n even after Chris told him not to. Knowing that she said specifically to not use them to try and contact her. However, Nick was contacting her for himself. After all, she was a friend to all three. Matt just laid back on the couch and put his hands on his forehead. Just thinking about how if she doesn't want to talk to Chris, she doesn't want to talk to all three of them. And also thinking about how he lost a friend.
After telling them everything that happened, Matt didn't hesitate to call his every name in the book. Idiot, Son of a bitch, Dumbass, Stupid, Dickhead. You name it. Matt didn't know any of this was happening on Chris' part. He knew Y/n had a crush on Chris and the way he saw Chris with her, he thought he felt the same way. But, Matt was wrong.
The two boys kept telling him to go to her house. Matt offered to drive him. But, Chris always reminded them of the part where she said to not go to her house. "Okay, how about you just give her a week or two. And then go to her house and talk it out. And during that time, me and Nick will text her to see how she's doing." Matt suggested and Chris liked the idea.
Over the next fourteen days, Chris' daily life consisted of waking up, eating, laying back in bed, scrolling through pictures of himself and Y/n, shower, eat, and sleep. Nick and Matt tried to reach Y/n every other day to not annoy her as much. Nick asked her to hang out a couple of times but she always politely with being busy and getting ready for college. Y/n was the only one out of all four of them to apply to colleges as she wanted to major in marketing. Nick asked her what college she chose but she always left him on read.
The triplets had known that she applied to many colleges, both in-state and out of state. She didn't tell them which ones because she didn't want to get her hopes up if she felt particularly about one school.
On the fourteenth day, Chris decided to head to Y/n's house. In the morning, he walked into Matt's room and asked if he could get a ride more later to Y/n's house. Of course, he said yes. Given the fact that he wants Chris to fix this situation he caused. Then came six o'clock. The sun was unfortunately starting to set. Chris kept stalling whenever Matt came into his room and asked if he was ready. "The sun is going down for fuck sakes. If you don't get your ass in the car in ten minutes i'm not taking you whenever you ask again." He leaves and shuts the door. Chris looked himself in the mirror, his under eye bags had gotten bad. His hair was messy, he hadn't shaved his somewhat of a stubble. He looked a mess.
When Matt was getting fed up in the car he went to turn off the car but he saw Chris come out the house. "I'm nervous." Chris says has he gets in the car, pulling his hood on. "Just- I don't even know what to tell you, honestly."
The fifteen minute car ride was silent the whole way. Chris' leg kept on bouncing and he kept picking at his fingers. "It's your time to shine, buddy." Matt padded his shoulder. Since there was no parking in front of her house, he parked at the beginning of her block. "If she slaps you, you deserved it and I don't blame her. But, whatever she says you have to respect her decision. Good or bad. You really went low with this one." He unlocked and turned off the car. "I'll see you in a bit."
As Chris began to walk to her house, he couldn't get the image of her crying out of his head. He'd never made her cry. He'd only ever seen her cry once when her childhood dog passed away a couple years ago. He saw her car in the driveway and knew she was home. He took a deep breath before going up her stairs. It took him a minute or two before ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door. He waited there for a minute. Chris started to believe that Y/n saw him standing out there from her home cameras and chose not to open the door.
"Respect her decision. Good or bad." He replays Matt's words over and over in his head. He snapped out of his trance as he heard footsteps approaching the door and unlocking it from the inside. As the door opens he's met with Y/n dad, Ryan. Fuck. He thinks. Y/n's dad is really protective of her and he wouldn't be surprised if Ryan just punched him across the face.
"Christopher." He never called him his full name. Always Chris or son. "Hey," He pauses. "Is Y/n home?" Chris says. Ryan furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "No, she's not." Now Chris is confused. "But, her car is here. I'm sorry, I haven't spoken to her since that day." He mentions and her dad hums. "Ah, yes. She told me about that. Just to let you know, I'm not mad at you and neither is Paula, trust me. You two are still young and are learning about love and everything. I know you two will find your way back to each other." His words make Chris' shoulders sink in relief. "But, I have some bad news for you, Son." Here it comes. She doesn't ever want to see him again. Ever. "I don't think she told you did she?" Chris looks at him weird. "About what?"
"She chose her college two days before going last saw her. I'm guessing she never told you when you two last saw eachother." He says the same thing again. "She told me a couple of weeks ago she was thinking of choosing Boston University because she got accepted." Did she leave for college already? Was she currently unpacking her dorm? "Chris, she left for California, she got accepted into UCLA. She's on the plane already." His heart sinks and he feels like can throw up at any moment. "What? Nick- he spoke to her yesterday. He didn't tell me this." Chris says.
"I'm sorry, son. Maybe you can call her when she lands? But, it'll be pretty late. It'll be twelve over there and three am here." Chris sighs. "I- I have to go. I'm sorry about everything, really. I'll see you around." Chris tries to hold back his tears. "Take care of yourself, Chris." He walks down the few steps and power walks to the car.
"She left, Matt." Chris startles Matt as he came out of nowhere. "What?" Matt drops his phone on his lap. "Did you know about this? Did Nick tell you?" He yells. "Chill out! No, I didn't know about this. Nick knows?" Chris gets into the car and pulls out his phone to call Nick. "Where did she leave to?"
"She got accepted into UCLA, she was going to tell me that day and I stopped her from it. Fuck." He tells Matt. "Holy shit."
"Nick, did you know that Y/n left for California and didn't tell us two?" Chris spits out as soon as Nick picks up the phone. "Wait, wait, what?" Nick yells. "I didn't know about this. I know I was texting her but she only mentioned college not what college, holy shit."
A YEAR LATER
It had been a year since Chris had last saw Y/n. Over the first month of not having Y/n by his side, he realized he had actually felt the same way about her. He tried to call her that same night he spoke with her dad but she didn't pick up. Weeks after weeks, all three of them tried to call. She didn't answer anybody. Not even Nick. They were all devastated that she had went no contact with them but they respected her choice. She had her reasons and they didn't question it.
The triplets had moved to LA in hopes of boosting their careers as content creators. But, the thought of Y/n being in the same city as Chris was always in the back of his mind. Any place he went, he always looked for her. Every restaurant, store, party, park. Everywhere. Chris had tried to move on, but he just couldn't.
It wasn't until one day where Nick had went out on his walk and stumbled upon a smoothie shop. He went in curious about the new place that had opened ten minutes from their LA home. Has he waited in line and placed his order, he took a seat on a bench near the window. He heard the chime of the bells that hung over there. As always he looked to see who had walked in. And his eyes almost came out their sockets. It was Y/n.
Although her hair was dyed from black to brown, and she was wearing sun glasses. He recognized her small tattoo she had on her arm, a little star. He stared at her like a hawk. His childhood best friend who he hadn't heard from in a year stood in line in the same smoothie shop ten minutes from his shared home with his brothers.
He wanted to make sure it was actually her. He hoped that she would take her sunglasses off of her face. A couple of seconds later, she rested her glasses on top of her head and he spotted that tiny mole she had near her eye. She went towards the back of the shop and sat down placing her bag on the table taking out her Macbook. When the barista called out his order he grabbed it and sat back down on the bench. Contemplating if he should go up to her.
He sent Matt a quick message. Not sending one to Chris because he know he will check Nicks location and sprint to see Y/n.
nick
you'll NEVER guess who's at the smoothie shop!!!
matt
smoothie shop?
nick
it's Y/N
matt
y/n??? as in y/n, Y/N??
nick
what other y/n do we know? should i go up to her? idk what to do HELP!!
DONT TELL CHRIS
matt
yes go up to her!!
and no i won't tell chris
After sipping on his smoothie and nervously biting his straw. Nick gets the courage to go up to her. "Y/n?" He stand in front of her table. "Nick?" She gasps and smiles. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?" She stands up, he places his smoothie down and gives her a hug. "I live like ten minutes from here!" Nick says. "You guys ended up moving to LA?" She pulls away with a smile on her face. "Yeah! We got here about three months ago." Y/n hugs him one more time. She couldn't believe it was Nick.
"Sit, sit with me. If you're not in a rush, that is." She sits back down and Nick pulls out the chair in front of him. "Not at all." They chat for a while, ignoring that one question Nick is wanting to ask. But eventually he asks. "I don't want to ruin the mood or anything but, what happened? Not with you know who but getting up and leaving all of a sudden?" He says. She sighs, putting her smoothie down. "I was going to tell you guys. I was actually going to tell Chris that night but then you know what happened. I had- It was a spur in the moment, I guess? I wasn't supposed to leave until the end of August. But, I needed time to focus on myself and I just thought to come here and get used to the place I'll be in for a couple of years."
"And I know you guys were probably calling me, but, shit, you won't believe this but my phone got stolen right when I landed here. Some idiot on a bike swiped my phone from my hand when I saw the calls from all three of you. So I had to text my parents from a strangers phone. And I lost all my contacts, my social media passwords and everything." She sighed. "And I didn't memorize anyone's number besides my parents'."
"Oh shit, that would've been my last straw." Nick said. "Trust me, it was. I broke down on the phone with my mom and she actually flew out here the next day while she got me an uber to my hotel." After what feels like hours of catching up. Nick has to leave. "I have to go now." He pouts, looking at the time on his phone. They had been talking for three hours considering that it was now nearing one in the afternoon. "That's fine, here give me your phone, I'll give you my number." He hands her his phone and she goes to look for her contact. She replaces her old phone number with her new one.
"Here, I replaced my old number with my new one." He puts it back in his pocket. "Thanks, I'll text you first thing when I get home. And, is it okay if I told Chris that I ran into you?" He picks up his empty smoothie cup. "Sure, I don't hold anything against him anymore, and honesty I've gotten over him and the whole situation. I understand where he was coming from." She also grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder. Nicks heart breaks a bit for Chris but understands where Y/n is coming from.
"Oh- well I'm glad you're doing better now. Let's try and plan a hangout soon?" They both walk out the shop together. "Definitely! Well, I'm going this way." She points to the right. "And I'm going that way." Nick points to the left. "I'll keep in touch." Y/n leans in for one more hug. "Me too. See you soon."
Nick had a pep in his step as he walked back home. He kept replaying his conversation with Y/n. He just couldn't belive she was back in his life. When he stepped foot inside the house. He saw Chris on the couch. "Where were you? I thought you went on a walk?" Chris asks. "I bumped into someone." For a second, Y/n crossed over Chris' mind. But that would be impossible, right? "Oh? Who?" He turns his phone off. "Y/n," Chris' heart starts to beat fast. "Y/n? As in Y/n, Y/n?" He had the same reaction Matt did. "Yes, I ran into her at a smoothie shop and I hung out with her for a couple of hours." Chris couldn't believe it.
"Was- was she okay? Did she say anything about me? Does she hate me? Does she look different?" Chris rambled. "Chill, Chris. I'll tell you everything, but what she said about you. I think you have to hear it from her not me." Nick was right. Close to the living room, Matt had heard Nick's voice and hopped out of his bed. "Nick! How was it? Does she hate us?" Matt asks. "No, she doesn't hate us." Chris is confused. "Matt you knew?"
"Yes, but he told me not to tell you. Knowing you'd track him and show up in front of them." He explained. Chris agreed. He knew he would've made a fool of himself. "Did you get her number?" Nick nods. "We're going to plan something to hand out. I'll ask if she wants to hang out with all three of us."
Two weeks had passed since Nick ran into Y/n, they've texted everyday and gotten used to their old habits of before a year ago. Nick tried to hang out with her the week after they ran into each other but she had a busy schedule with her classes, exams, and her paid internship. But, she had a free day this next week, which is today.
She pulled up in front of the triplets house and knocked on the door waiting for an answer. A couple of seconds passed by and she heard loud footsteps coming. The door opened and revealed Matt. "Matt!" She smiles, pulling him into a hug. "Y/n! Oh my god! I missed you." He hugs her tightly. Pulling away, he moves from the door to let her in. "Nice place." She compliments as she enters the living room area. "Thanks." They both catch up a bit, her telling him everything that had happened a year ago.
"Where's everyone?" She asks. "I think they're showering, I know Nick was in there for a while." He says. Still, he can't believe Y/n is right in front of him. After a couple of minutes, Matt hears his phone ring from his room. "Shit, I'll be back."
Y/n sits in their kitchen alone, on her phone when she hears someone coming up the stairs. She looks to her left and sees Chris. Chris also sees her and freezes. Her hair is brown is the first thing he notices before he notices the smile on her face. "Hey, Chris." She stands up, Chris walking towards her. "Y/n, I- I can't believe you're actually here. Oh my gosh." He automatically pulls her into a hug.
"How- how've you been?" He asks as he pulls away, looking into her eyes. "I've been good. My internship has been kicking my ass, but the pay is too good to quit. And school is school. How about you? How have you been?" She asks. "I've been good, yeah. We've been filming a lot. I came out with a clothing brand called Fresh Love. That's been exciting." She gasps. "Really? That's so cool, I'll have to see it."
They both stare at each other, still can't believe that they're talking again. "Y/n!" Nick breaks their silent moment. Chris turns around and clears his throat. "Hey, Nick." Matt eventually comes back from his phone call and all four of them catch up for about an hour. They then decide to go to a restaurant for lunch. As they go downstairs towards the garage Y/n speaks as Chris quickly goes back up to the kitchen to grab something. "Do you mind if I use the bathroom?" Nick and Matt nod. "You can use Chris' it's in his room." Nick points to the closed door. "We'll be in the car."
Y/n opens the door and sees Chris' room. He doesn't have much. But, she spots a framed picture of herself and Chris from their graduation placed on his nightstand. She quickly spots the bathroom and enters, closing the door behind her. Chris comes down the stairs and sees that his room door is open and is confused. Suddenly he hears his bathroom door opening and closing. He peeps inside and sees Y/n walk out from there, startling her. "Oh! You scared me. Sorry, Nick said I could use your restroom." She says. "It's fine. Hey, can I talk to you real quick?"
She nods. "I know I was a dick last year with everything that went down. And- and I had a lot of time to process everything that we went through and I realized that I had feelings for you all along. My commitment issue got in the way, and I hate that they did." Her heart breaks a bit. "Chris, I'm sorry but, I'm not ready for a relationship anymore. I also had a lot of this to process everything and I realized that I needed to focus on myself more and start fresh. Which is why I wanted to eventually tell you that I just wanted to be friends for now. And just see where we end up in a couple of months." Chris' chest pangs. Respect her decision, respect her decision. Matt's voice echos in his head. "O- Oh. Yeah, that's totally fine. i respect your decision, and I see where you're coming from, But, I just want to let you know that I'm in all the way and I'll always wait for you, okay?" He smiles. "Okay." She smiles, a tear slipping from her eye. But Chris quickly wipes it off from her.
"I'll always wait for you."
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