#ice cream and waffles gag no thanks

[sparklyslug]

They got me with this, the bastards

[study-coffee-chicago]

Country College (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine; Part of AU-gust)

A/N: Thank you for reading! Remember to like/reblog and comment! I'm also donating all the proceeds that from my buy me a coffee account to Save The Children to help the children of Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee link here.

Also, here's the playlist of songs I listened to while writing this and some of these songs are actually mentioned in the imagine in case you guys wanted to listen while reading: Country College AU playlist.

I went on vacation and I swear, this entire imagine was based on stuff I did in Tennessee and country songs I listened to while there.

Anyway, enjoy!

"You got everything?" Jay asked you at six in the morning.

"For the last damn time, Jay, yes, I have everything," you answered as you jumped in the passenger seat of his truck and put your backpack at your feet and your tumbler of coffee in a cup holder.

"Jesus. I was just asking because I will not be turning this truck around," he said as he moved around the basket of snacks in the backseat so that the two of you could reach them easier. "Someone's cranky."

"Yes. When I finally got to sleep at 12:30 last night and had to wake up at 4:30, I'm gonna be cranky. Please tell me we're stopping for coffee."

"You already have coffee," Will said as he walked up to the truck. "Why do you need more?"

"Shut up. I know for a fact you drink way more coffee than I do, Mr. Med Student."

"Jesus, Jay. You sure you're gonna be able to put up with her for eight and a half hours?" Will asked.

"I dunno, man. Maybe I'll make her ride with you," he joked.

"Yeah, no way in hell that's happening," Will said.

"In all seriousness," Jay started, "stop for coffee in about an hour and a half?"

"Sounds good to me," you agreed.

"Same here. I only have to ditch you guys when we get like eight hours in," Will said.

"Gonna be weird not having you on the drive down, man," Jay mused.

"Yeah, but at least we can meet up at the rest stops and we'll  be in the same state."

"Are we gonna go?" you asked. "If you two were just gonna talk, I could've slept for an extra ten minutes."

"Holy shit," Jay muttered. He turned to Will. "Guess we should get going then."

"Yeah, see you in an hour and a half. Don't piss off the driver too much, Y/N."

You rolled your eyes. "Goodbye, Will."

Will got in his car and Jay got in the driver's side of his truck.

"Eight and a half hour drive plus traffic," Jay started as you both pulled out of the driveway, "so how do want to split it up?"

"I'm tired and I wanna sleep and I don't want to drive through Knoxville because I have no idea where to go," you answered as you pulled your headphones out of your backpack.

"Okay, Miss Sassy Pants. You can drive in the middle, through Kentucky. Might hit traffic, but we'll hit traffic in Tennessee, too, so we'll both have to drive through it. Just please, do not crash my truck."

"Relax. I know how to drive. Just make sure Will stays on your ass the entire time so we don't lose each other."

***

"And, we're officially in Kentucky!" Jay announced. "Time to change the music. At the next rest stop, we'll pull over and go to the bathroom and grab some lunch."

"Jay! You can't be on your phone while you're driving!" you yelled as he reached for his phone in the cup holder, which was also acting as the GPS...even though Jay claimed he could get there without it.

"Y/N, I'm fine. I've done this for three years now. I think I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so."

He turned on a song you didn't know.

"Got a truck, get it lifted," Jay started to sing.

"The hell is this?" you asked.

"Country music. Gets changed from pop to country the second we cross the border into Kentucky. Now, shh. This is a good song. You'll like it. It's upbeat."

Jay drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and sang quietly to Redneck Be Like by Thomas Rhett as he drove while you listened. He was right. It was a pretty good song.

"All day in the sun, always havin' fun, always gettin' stuck in that muddy river. Always got a buzz, always double cup..."

"You'll know the next one," Jay promised.

"And you know this how?" you asked.

"Because it's on Tiktok. When we get there, Adam and Hailey are gonna have to teach you some southern culture."

"So, I'm gonna need a definition of southern culture."

"You'll see when you get there. Now listen. I know you know this part."

Yeah we fancy like Applebee's...

Jay was right: you did know this song. It was Fancy Like by Walker Hayes.

"On a date night," you sang along. "Got that Bourbon street steak..." Jay joined in. "With the Oreo shake. Get some whipped cream on the top, too. Two straws, one check, girl I got you. Yeah we Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam..."

Five minutes later, you pulled off to a rest stop with a McDonald's nearby. Jay and Will filled up their vehicles while you ran inside to go to the bathroom. Once you were inside McDonald's and at a table eating, you asked Will if it was true that he and Jay always changed it to country music when they crossed the border into Kentucky. Will said yes, so you knew you were in for a long car ride. Then, you and Jay switched so that you were now the one driving and you were off again.

***

Hours later, Will took a different exit to get to Nashville and gave you and Jay a salute to tell you goodbye when he changed lanes and then took the exit.

"Not long now," Jay told you. "You excited?"

"Yeah, but a little nervous," you replied.

"Oh, don't be nervous. They're all really nice. And you've already met Hailey, so that helps."

"Yeah, she was nice. She had a cute little southern accent, too."

"One of the many reasons I fell in love with her in the first place."

Before Jay left for a weekend last summer to meet Hailey halfway and then stay in a hotel for a weekend to spend time with her, he finally told you the story of how he and Hailey met.

"Hey, we're goin' to the marketplace," Adam said on the first weekend of their junior year. "You and Will up for it?"

"Uh, Will's studying like normal. I'm up for it. Kim coming, too?" Jay asked.

"I promised her ice cream, so yeah, she's comin'. Baby, you ready?" he yelled down the hall.

"I'm coming, Adam!" Kim yelled back and then walked out of the bathroom.

"Let's go and make some bad decisions," Adam stated, causing Jay and Kim to laugh.

"We can't even buy alcohol yet, you dummy," Kim said.

"I may be a dummy, but you love me." Then, Adam gave Kim a kiss on the cheek.

"Please stop before I puke," Jay said and made a gagging face.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Let's get outta here."

***

Kim was laughing at a horrible joke Adam made while he had his arm slung around him. He had taken off his signature cowboy hat and had let Kim wear it because she forgot her sunglasses. Adam said he felt naked without it on.

They were walking towards Kilwin's when Jay spotted it: a homeless guy next to a blonde who couldn't be more than college age.

"Man, look," Jay pointed.

The three walked faster.

"No, this is for my friend back at the dorm," the girl explained.

"Lady, I'm hungry. Can I please just have your leftovers?" the guy asked.

"I'm sorry you're hungry, but this is for my friend."

The guy reached for the food.

"Hey, that girl sits behind me in my women and the law class," Kim stated.

Jay, Adam, and Kim took off on a run.

"Hey, baby," Jay said and slung an arm around the girl. He leaned in close to her. "Just go with it," he whispered in her ear. "You got Anna's food?"

"Yeah," the girl said hesitantly. But then, she realized that this guy was trying to help her out. And, he was pretty sure that the girl with him sat in front of her in her women and the law class. "Yeah, I've got her food."

Jay raised an eyebrow at the guy and then looked at Adam as if asking the man to try the two of them.

"Alright, well y'all have a good night now," he said and then turned around and walked away.

Once the man was a few shops down, Jay took his arm off of her. "Sorry about that. Just thought you might need some help," he said.

"Was greatly appreciated, thank you, uh..."

"Jay."

"Jay, well I'm Hailey. Nice to meet you."

He didn't miss her cute little southern accent and he loved it.

"You getting ice cream?" he asked.

"No, I uh was just textin' my roommate to tell her I'd be back soon."

"Well, I-- we'd feel much better if you came into Kilwin's with us. Just so that creeper doesn't come back."

Hailey smiled and agreed.

Kim and Hailey started talking about their class while Adam and Jay ordered their ice cream. Then Kim ordered.

"You want anything, Hailey?" Jay asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine, thank you, though."

Jay nodded, but then turned to the worker. "And can I also get a single scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone, please?"

"Sure thing." As she scooped it out, Hailey looked at Jay and he just shrugged.

When they got to the cashier, Hailey pulled out some money and tried to hand it to Jay.

"I've got it," he said.

"But--"

"Hailey, it's fine. I can pay for a little ice cream."

She loved the way her name rolled off his tongue.

"Okay." She took her ice cream cone.

"Hey, Hailey," Kim began when they walked out of Kilwin's. "Do you have friends you need to meet up with?"

"No, I was just gonna head back to my dorm," she replied.

"Oh, did you drive?"

"No, I walked. It's only like a twenty-minute walk from the sophomore dorms."

"Well, after all that, I'm pretty sure we'd all feel more comfortable if you rode home with us."

"I don't know..." Hailey trailed off.

"Those dorms are only like five minutes away from the house we stay at. And, it's on our way there anyway. Please, just come with us."

Hailey sighed. It would be a lot faster than walking. "Okay."

Then, they finished their walk to Adam's truck and the two girls got in the backseat and the two boys got in the front.

And that is how Jay Halstead met the sweet Georgia peach that is Hailey Anne Upton.

***

Jay, Adam, Will, Kim, and Hailey were all at a sports bar one Saturday night in October. It was loud, it was rowdy, everyone was going crazy over the football game on tv, and Hailey was totally over it. And Jay noticed.

"Hey," Jay whispered from his seat next to her. "You wanna get outta here?"

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "You'd wanna leave and not finish the game?"

In the past two months, Hailey had been spending a lot of time with Kim, and by default, she had been spending a lot of time with Adam, Jay, and Will. She will admit going over to their three-bedroom house they all rented together was a lot better than being stuck in her small dorm with her roommate. So, she went over there quite a bit to study with Kim. And, turns out she and Jay were both law studies majors, so they had a lot of the same classes, but they were in different sections, so they did a lot of studying together, too. And, she knew like most college boys, Jay loved his football. Not as much as Adam, but he watched it whenever one of his teams were playing. Which, was Chicago or Tennessee.

"Yeah," Jay started, "it's kinda loud in here anyway. And, it's just Tennessee playing. I'd be more likely to stay if the Bears were playing."

"Okay, let's get outta here. I know a great little diner we can go to for milkshakes. Pretty sure they're open until 11 and it's only 10, so we should be able to make it."

"Adam," Jay said over the game. Adam turned to face Jay. "Me and Hailey are gonna get out of here. I'll see you back at home."

"See you," Adam said and then turned back to his game.

"Guess we know where his loyalties lie," Hailey laughed.

The two of them stood up from their chairs at the table.

"You better get my friend home safe, Halstead!" Kim yelled.

"Yes ma'am," he said, borrowing a line from Adam. "You've got nothing to worry about."

Then, the two of them made their way out of the local sports bar and to Jay's truck.

***

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Hailey said as the two of them walked up to the diner. "They're closed. Closed at 10 and not at 11. I'm really sorry, Jay."

"That's okay. Got anywhere else you wanna go? Or I can just take you back to your dorm if you want?" Jay suggested.

She sighed. "Just take me back I guess."

The two of them walked back to Jay's truck and got in. Hailey gasped at the song that was on the radio.

"What?" Jay asked, quickly turning to look at Hailey.

"This is my favorite song!"

Lights go down, wheels go around. I'm taking you home. Hoping for a slow song to come on the radio now.

Slow Dance in a Parking Lot by Jordan Davis continued to play through the speakers of Jay's truck.

"What's it about?" Jay asked.

"Slow dancing in a parking lot."

Jay listened to a few more lines and then decided to turn up the radio and jump out of the car.

"Jay, what are you--"

But he was already at her side of the car and pulled her door open.

"Dance with me?" he asked, sticking his hand out for her to take.

"What?" she laughed as a huge smile grew on her face.

"You said the song's about slow dancing in a parking lot and we're in an empty parking lot, so, why not recreate the song?"

Hailey laughed once more and shook her head and then grabbed Jay's hand. He helped her out of his truck and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist and they swayed to the music.

"Slow dance with you. Spinning you round by the Walmart sign and moving our feet over the painted white lines. Getting close to you. Making the most of whatever we got, even if it's just slow dance in a parking lot," Hailey sang quietly.

"Spin," Jay said as he held his hand up.

"What?"

"Spinning you round just like the song says."

Hailey laughed and reached for his hand and did a spin.

"Beautiful," Jay complimented.

"Yeah, right. That's was probably the messiest spin known to man."

"Well, um, it was beautiful. You're beautiful, Hailey."

She was glad it was dark so that Jay couldn't see the heat that rose to her cheeks.

"You're somethin' else, but thank you." She rested her head on his chest as they swayed to the rhythm of the rest of the song.

The song ended and the broadcaster started talking.

"Can I kiss you?" Jay asked.

"What?" she pulled away from his chest.

"I asked if I could kiss you. Was that too much? You know what, just forget--"

"Yes, Jay, kiss me," Hailey smiled and then she and Jay both leaned in.

It was just a peck, but it was their first kiss and despite it being in a dark parking lot late at night, it was still magical.

"You know," Jay began once the quick kiss was over, "there's a Walmart across the street. What do you say we go grab pints of ice cream from there and then you can show me your favorite country songs?"

"I'd like that. Adam didn't show you enough?" she asked.

"I've only got like thirty I like. I need to expand my horizons."

"Okay, let's go."

They held hands in Walmart and then picked out their respective pints of ice cream. Then, they went back to the parking lot of the closed diner and Jay plugged in the aux, allowing Hailey to show him her favorite country songs while they ate their ice cream from the pint and even shared with each other.

Hailey knew nobody would have a first kiss story like that.

Then, at the beginning of the winter semester, Hailey's roommate decided not to live in the dorms anymore. Hailey couldn't afford to pay for a dorm all by herself, so Kim offered to let her stay with her, Jay, Adam, and Will. So, that's how she ended up living with her boyfriend and sharing a room with her best friend, Kim Burgess.

"We're here," Jay announced. "Well, actually, we're a few streets away, but that's one of the lecture halls on your right."

You looked out the window to see a big red and brown brick building with white pillars on the steps. There was also a white sign telling you what building this was.

"Wow," you said in awe. "It's like those old-fashioned colleges. I love it."

"Well, we'll give you a tour and help you find your classes sometime this weekend before classes start on Tuesday. That way, you aren't getting lost on the first day. But, we'll head to the house for now and get all unpacked."

"Sounds good to me."

Five minutes and a few back roads later, you pulled up to a simple two-story brick house.

"Alright, let's get our stuff out and get inside," Jay said.

You stepped out of the truck and started grabbing some stuff out of the back seat.

"I'll jump in the truck and hand you the suitcases. Think you can grab them when I hand them to you?"

You nodded.

"Halstead!" you heard someone shout and you and Jay both whipped your heads around to see Hailey and Adam walking out of the garage and toward the two of you. Adam, well who you assumed was Adam, was carrying two cowboy hats and he and Hailey each had one on themselves.

"Catch!" Adam said and threw one to Jay where he was standing in the box of the truck. Jay easily caught it and placed it on his head.

Adam walked over to you.  "And one for you, darlin'," he said as he placed the hat on your head.

"Thank you," you said. "But I thought Kim was darlin'," you said. It'd make sense because if this guy was in fact Adam, then he and Kim were dating.

"You didn't tell her?" Hailey asked Jay.

"Didn't think there'd be a need to." Jay shrugged.

"Tell me what?" you asked.

"Well, Adam calls every girl darlin'," Jay explained. "It's just normal for him. And, down here, you're gonna get a lot of huns, sweeties, and sweethearts. A lot of waiters and waitresses do that here."

"And what do they call you two?" you asked, motioning to Jay and Adam.

"Sir," they said in unison.

"Oh, and you'll occasionally get a ma'am," Hailey added. "But, that one's rare because we don't look old enough to be called ma'am."

"Okay. And, uh, not to be rude, but what's with the cowboy hats?" you asked.

"It's a tradition we just started last year," Adam explained. "We unpack, wear cowboy hats, and drink moonshine. Oh, I'm Adam by the way, darlin'."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Y/N."

Jay handed you a suitcase and you set it on the ground. Then, you did the same thing with two more suitcases.

You grabbed your backpack from the front seat, your duffle bag from the back, and your two suitcases.

"Here, I can take those two for you," Adam said.

"Oh, okay," you said and then allowed him to take the two suitcases from you. So this is what Jay meant by southern hospitality since Adam was from Tennessee and all.

"Jay, lemme take your suitcase," Hailey said.

"Baby, I've got it," Jay argued as he jumped out of the box of his truck and closed the tailgate.

"The hell you do," she argued. "I see all your other stuff in the backseat and that basket of snacks you gotta carry in, too. Just lemme take your one suitcase."

"Let 'er take the suitcase, Halstead. Best to listen to your lady," Adam said.

"I like Adam already," you laughed.

He let go of one of the suitcases and tipped his hat. "Thank you, darlin'."

This caused all four of you to laugh and then you all went inside carrying both yours and Jay's stuff in one trip between the four of you.

***

"Shine in the fridge?" Jay asked after you and he had brought all your stuff to your room.

"Shine, Jay? How southern do you get when you're here?" you asked.

"Oh, he gets pretty southern, hun," Hailey said.

"See?" Jay asked as he pointed to Hailey. "Told you you'd get called hun."

"So, Adam's thing is darlin' and Hailey's is hun?" Hailey nodded. "And it's because you're from Georgia and he's from Tennessee?"

"That's right, darlin'," Adam confirmed and then turned back to Jay. "Yeah, shine's in the fridge. And Kim just texted and said she's on the way back with pizza."

"You got apple pie flavored shine?" Jay asked.

"Hang on. I'm just gonna grab 'em."

The three of you sat down on the bar stools at the counter and waited for Adam to pull them out.

"Alright," Adam started after he put the bottles of moonshine with sip lids on the counter. "We have peach for Miss Georgia Peach." He passed the peach bottle of moonshine to Hailey. "We've got apple pie shine for me and Jay. We've got strawberries and creme for Kim because that's her favorite." He turned to you. "And for you, I got you blackberry because it's not that high of a proof, so it's not that strong." He slid the jar to you.

"Nuh uh," Jay said quickly and grabbed the bottle.

"What the hell, Jay? Give it back! Adam said it's for me, not you!" you argued.

"Last I checked, you're only eighteen."

"Last I checked, Dad's not here. And I know for a fact you drank before you were 21, so pass me the blackberry shine, please."

"I'll take the first sip and then you can have it." He made sure the straw part was open and then he took a sip. "Adam, that shit's like a chaser compared to the apple pie one."

"I know. That's why I got 'er that one," Adam said.

You heard a door shut.

"Pizza's here!" Kim announced.

She walked into the kitchen with three boxes of pizza.

"I got us three pies," she said as she set them down on the counter. "We got one pepperoni and green olive, one supreme, and one meat lovers." She turned to you. "And you must be Y/N. I'm Kim. I see Adam already got you started on that Tennessee moonshine."

"Nice to meet you," you said. "You're from New York, right?"

"Yup, not New York City, though. More upstate."

"Of course she's from New York, Y/N!" Jay exclaimed. "Who else would call pizza a pie except for a true New Yorker?"

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks, Jay."

Jay raised his bottle of apple pie moonshine in a fake cheers and then took a sip.

"Now that's the strong shit I need to start off this semester right," he announced and then set the bottle down.

"Oh, and if your brother didn't tell you yet, he turns into a borderline alcoholic when he's at school," Kim told you.

You laughed. "He didn't tell me that, no."

"Better than being a caffeine addict like Kim and Hailey here," Jay argued.

"Shut up," Hailey said. "You know you're a caffeine addict during finals week just the rest of us."

"I was a caffeine addict in high school, so we'll see what happens," you shrugged.

Kim grabbed a stack of paper plates and set them on one of the pizza boxes. "Dig in. Oh, Y/N, did Adam get you the blackberry flavored moonshine?"

"He did. Haven't tried it yet because Jay has yet to give it back to me."

Kim quickly reached down and grabbed the jar of moonshine.

"Hey, Kim! She's only 18!" Jay protested.

"So? I know you drank an insane amount during your freshman year. So shut it." Kim popped open the sipping lid. "Taste."

You took a sip. It did taste like blackberry, but it was also sort of strong, but it didn't burn your throat that bad like you had read in books that alcohol did.

"This is actually pretty good."

"I know, right? And, me and Hailey will let you try ours when we help you unpack," Kim said. "But, do not try the kind the boys have because it's nasty."

"Baby, I don't know what you have against apple pie moonshine, but it's good," Adam said and then took a sip of his moonshine. Kim rolled her eyes. Adam leaned across the counter. "The New York in her is coming out, darlin'."

"Oh, shut up," Kim said and reached over to steal Adam's cowboy hat off his head.

"Baby, now I feel naked without it," Adam argued and tried to reach for the hat.

"Sucks for you. Now eat your pizza before it gets cold."

***

"Morning," Jay said when you walked into the kitchen the next morning. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. it's nice not having to share a room with anyone like you and Adam, and then Hailey and Kim have to. It was fun having them help me unpack last night, though," you said.

Last night, Kim and Hailey had helped you unpack and when you mentioned that you didn't really know any country music, Hailey pulled up all of her favorite country songs to play for you. You especially liked Girl in a Country Song by Maddie and Tae. They showed you the music video for that song and it was about how, in most country music videos, girls had to dress up in little skimpy outfits and have the boys just stare at them all day. So, in their music video, they changed the roles, and the guys had to dress in skimpy clothing in the music video. It was pretty funny and the song was catchy.

"Let me guess," Jay began, "Hailey showed you some good country music?"

"Yup. The songs she showed me were pretty good, pretty upbeat. Didn't sound like a cat being put in a blender like old-fashioned country, so I guess that's good."

"What do you have against old-fashioned country, darlin'?" Adam asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I dunno." You shrugged. "Too slow for me and I just don't like the voices I guess."

"You know what we ought to do, Jay?" Adam asked and Jay raised his eyebrows, silently telling adam to continue. "We should show her all the songs that are mentioned in What's Your Country Song."

"Wait, wait. I think I know that one. I think Hailey played it for me last night. Is it the one that mentions Chatta- Chatta..."

"Chattahoochee?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, that funny word. What even is that anyway?"

"It's a river that runs through Georgia," Jay answered. "Pretty sure Hailey used to go tubing down it like we're gonna do today."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "We're going tubing? Like behind a boat?"

Adam laughed. "Christ, Jay! Do you tell her anything?"

"He doesn't," you answered. "So, explain, one of you."

"Alright, I'll do it," Jay said as he poured milk on top of a bowl of Raisin Bran. You looked at him intently. "What we do is, the first Saturday that we're all together before school starts, we go on tubes and float down the Tennessee River. We bring a cooler full of snacks, sandwiches, booze, and water, and a waterproof speaker and we just have a fun time. Oh, and this year, you're the DD."

"Me?" you asked as you pointed to yourself. Jay nodded. "But I don't know where to go! I haven't even been in Tennessee for a full 24 hours yet!"

"Kim's like the mom of the group," Adam supplied. "So she'll still be pretty lucid and could probably drive if she needs to. But, she'll at least be able to give you directions on how to get back here."

You sighed. "Good. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Where are the other two girls anyway?" Adam asked. "They're usually up a lot earlier than we are when we go on the river."

"I think they were a little buzzed last night," you said. "Might still be sleeping."

While you were unpacking, you took a few sips of your jar of blackberry moonshine, but not a lot. You'd never really drank before, much less drank moonshine and you didn't really feel like puking from being drunk or having a killer headache from a hangover...at least, that's what you thought happened from what you had read in books and seen in movies and tv shows. But, Kim and Hailey had each finished like a quarter of their jar, so they had been buzzed last night. They weren't drunk because they could still walk in a straight line and knew what they were talking about, but they did have little dopey smiles on their faces while they helped you unpack.

"She's right," Kim said as she and Hailey walked into the kitchen. Hailey's hair was wrapped in a towel, alerting you that she had just taken a shower. "Adam, can you grab me an Advil?" She took a seat on a stool and put her head in her hands. "My head is fucking killing me. I didn't even think I drank that much."

Adam laughed. "You do this every semester, baby. First shine of the year and you always drink a little too much." He handed her the pills and a cup of water and Kim quickly washed the pills down.

"I just need some coffee," Hailey announced.

"We know, you don't get hangover headaches," Kim groaned.

"Yeah, but I feel exhausted all day. Everyone goin' for coffee? I'll make a bigger pot if that's the case."

Everyone said yes and Hailey started on the coffee.

***

"Okay, we got the tubes, the speaker, swimsuits are on, we have the towels, cooler," Jay rattled off as the five of you sat in his truck. "Anyone double-check the cooler?"

"I did," Hailey said. "We got water, the same shine from last night, some white claws, the sandwiches me and Kim made for everyone, chips, and a few other snacks."

"And I threw in a little first aid kit with bandaids, alcohol swabs, Neosporin, and other stuff. And I've got the sunscreen, too," Kim said.

"See, what'd I tell you, darlin'?" Adam asked as he turned around from his spot in the passenger seat. "Kim's the mom of the group."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kim said. "It means I'm responsible and prepared."

"Those two would get so damn sunburned and dehydrated if it weren't for Kim," Hailey said as she pointed to Jay and Adam in the two front seats.

"Thanks, Hails," Jay replied sarcastically. "Real nice."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile.

You leaned your head against the window. You were supposed to get stuck in the middle, but seeing as you got car sick easily, Kim said she'd switch spots with you.

"You okay?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, just, Jay really needs to turn on the AC before I throw up from motion sickness and how damn hot it is in here."

"Least you got that cowboy hat to puke in if you need to," Jay laughed as he reached for the AC. "You better not puke in my tuck or you will be walking home."

Adam smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" Jay exclaimed and took one hand off the wheel and rubbed the back of his head. "The hell was that for?"

"Dude, be nice! Look at her!" Adam exclaimed.

Jay looked in the rearview mirror and saw you leaning your head against the window with your eyes closed and pinching your nose. You groaned.

"Here," Jay said and tossed you a blue bottle of Gatorade from his cup holder. "Drink this. Get you some hydration and electrolytes."

You took a few sips and then handed the bottle back to him. "Thanks."

"Mhm."

Kim moved the vents so that the AC was blowing on you more. "That help?"

"Little bit, thanks."

"Think you'll be good to go down the river?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, because then I won't be trapped in a hot box going sixty down the road!"

"She's right about that," Adam agreed. "You'll be lucky if you go five miles per hour, darlin'."

"Alright, so the motion sickness should stop. Thank God."

"Just rest your head against the window and listen to some country music," Jay said. "Speaking of that, who's controlling the music on the river?"

"I got it," Adam volunteered. "Everyone give me a song and I'll get the queue started."

***

You had been going down the river for about half an hour now and had finished a bottle of water and eaten a banana, too. You felt fine now. Adam was right, you were going slow enough that you didn't get sick, and you also weren't in the backseat of a truck.

"Hey, Kim," you started, "can you pass me my moonshine?"

"Mhm," she said. You guys had tied a cooler to a tube, which was then tied to Kim's tube. Because, the boys figured that between the five of you, she was the most responsible. They toyed with tying it to your tube because you probably wouldn't get shitfaced (like the boys most likely would) since you were underage, but you had never gone tubing down the Tennessee River before, so they decided on Kim. "Here, Hailey, hold my white claw."

She passed Hailey her drink and then maneuvered the cooler towards her, opened it, and handed you your moonshine.

"Thank you," you said and popped open the sip lid and took a sip. "Ahhh."

"Hey, drink it slow," Adam warned, turning towards you and practically yelling over the music. He and Jay were in front of the three of you girls so they could tell you if there were a ton of rocks coming or if it was super shallow coming up. "Heat makes getting drunk a lot easier because you keep drinking it because you're so thirsty."

"I don't think that's how it works, man, but whatever you say," Jay laughed.

Another song started.

"Hey!" you yelled. "I know this song!"

"Yeah, because it's old as hell," Jay laughed.

"Shut up! I like it!"

Baby you a song you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise. Down a back road, blowin' stop signs through the middle every little farm town with you.

"And this brand new Chevy with a lift kit, would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it. Baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise," the five of you sang Cruise by Florida Georgia Line while holding your drinks in pure happiness.

Because of this, you didn't notice Jay drifting off to the side toward the trees.

Jay let out a sinister laugh as he got closer. "C'mere, buddy, c'mere." The black snake stuck his tongue out and hissed. "Yeah, I know, you wanna scare Y/N, too." Jay held his hand out toward the snake. "I'm nice, I promise." The snake slithered and went up on Jay's hand and started up his arm. He turned once most of the snake was on him. He started using his other hand to paddle himself back toward the group. "Y/N!"

You turned and looked at him. You saw the snake on his arm and tears pricked your eyes. "No! No!" you shouted.

Snakes were your biggest fear and knowing that they were in the river that you were in right now was absolutely terrifying to you. And, with each paddle, Jay and the snake were coming closer and closer to you.

"Jay, please, please!"

Adam turned and looked at Jay and then back to you. "She scared of snakes?" You quickly nodded as tears ran down your face. "Jay! Stop! She's terrified!"

Jay laughed. "No!"

He was coming closer and closer to you.

Adam quickly paddled over to you and went in front of you. "I won't let it go near you, darlin', don't you worry."

"Uh huh," you said and grabbed onto Adam's arm in complete and utter terror.

Unknown to Jay, Hailey was making her way to him. But, she was behind him, so Jay couldn't see his girlfriend coming up behind him with her empty bottle of white claw raised high in the air.

He felt it before he heard her.

"Don't." Smack on the head with the empty can. "You." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "Do." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "That." Last smack on the head with the empty can.

"Ow!" Jay yelled. "Hails, stop!"

"Put the fuckin' snake back and stop scarin' the daylights outta your little sister or I will keep smackin' you, Jay!" Hailey told him.

"Fine, I'll put it back," he groaned.

"Hailey, keep that can raised above his head. If he tries to come back here, hit 'im again!" Adam yelled.

"You got it!" Hailey said. "Hear that baby? Your head is gonna come in contact with this 'ere empty white claw can again if you don't get a move on."

"I'm going, I'm going," Jay grumbled.

"Good, then you won't get smacked again."

"Just for all that," Adam started, "you wanna pick the next song, darlin'?"

"Can you play Better Dig Two by The Band Perry?" you asked. "That counts as country right?"

"Sure does, darlin'." He started messing with his phone. "Comin' right up."

"I told you on the day we wed, I was gonna love you 'til I's dead," you started to sing. "Made you wait 'til our weddin' night, that's the first and the last time I wear white."

"Snake's gone! Made sure he put it down and I even watched it slither away!" Hailey announced. "Put me in the ground, put me six foot down," Hailey joined in after she had finished yelling over part of the first verse.

"And, as for you, Jay," Adam started over the music and all of you singing. "You don't get to pick a song for the next hour."

"Son of a bitch," Jay muttered.

"Hey, you brought this one on yourself, buddy. So just sit back, relax, listen to our music choices, and enjoy your shine."

***

One week later

"And we're here!" Adam announced as the five of you pulled onto a long dirt driveway. "You ready to ride some horses, Y/N?"

"I dunno," you said. "I've never ridden a horse before."

"Oh, Adam'll make sure you're super safe," Kim reassured you.

"Okay, so whatever horse I ride won't buck me off?"

"Oh no," Adam said quickly, "we'll put Jay on Buck."

"Like hell you will!" Jay argued from the backseat.

Despite the studying the five of you had to do, you were at Adam's childhood home. Adam's parents had rented a cabin in North Carolina for the weekend since it was Labor Day weekend and needed someone to watch the five horses they owned.

His parents used to own a riding place with multiple horses, but since their kids got older, they stopped doing it because they were getting older and couldn't give the tours anymore. So, they sold most of their horses, left five so that their kids could ride them with their friends, but still kept the house and the land. Whenever Adam's parents went out of town, either he or his sister would come and stay over at their childhood home and take care of the horses. Seeing as his sister was married and just gave birth to a daughter, this left Adam. And, luckily for him, his parents were fine with some friends coming over to help Adam out.

"Relax, man," Adam began, "I'll ride Buck."

"Wait, is he called Buck because he bucks people off?" you asked.

"You would be completely right, darlin'. Which, would be the reason I'm riding him and neither of you four will be doing that."

Adam put the truck in park and you got out of the passenger seat. Yes, you had ridden in the front because Adam said you could because of your motion sickness. Jay wasn't too happy, but it was Adam's car, so therefore it was Adam's rules.

You got inside the house and it had two extra bedrooms, one of which was Adam's childhood room and had an extra twin bed in it for when his friends wanted to sleepover (Because, in Adam's words, it was only girls who shared beds at sleepovers and he said guys didn't do that, so that's why there was the extra bed). In his older sister's childhood room, there was a full-sized bed, so Hailey and Kim would share the bed and the boys said they'd move a couch into that same room for you to sleep on.

Adam opened the fridge once all of you had put your stuff in the rooms that would be yours for the weekend. "Ooooh, y'all, my mama left us some food!"

"Oh, he southern southern now," Kim laughed and walked over to the fridge. "What'd she make?"

"Let's see. We got fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, gravy, biscuits, grits, tater salad, peaches that she canned herself, and apple pie. She must really miss me if she cooked this much!" Adam laughed after he rattled off the food his mom made for all of you.

"Mama's cookin', paper plate, and tater tater salad," you said, quoting a song Jay had played on the way down here that you had taken a liking to and had added it to a playlist and been listening to it a lot the past week.

"Did you just..." Adam trailed off.

"She did!" Jay exclaimed.

"Is it that hard to believe that I know more than two country songs, y'all?" you asked.

All four of them gasped.

"She's southern! She's southern, y'all!" Hailey yelled.

"What?" you asked as you looked around at your brother, his girlfriend, and his two friends in confusion.

"That was yer first y'all, hun!" Hailey told you and pulled you into a hug. "Yer a regular southern belle now."

"Next thing you know, girl's gonna be fallin' for cowboys," Adam said.

"Aw, hell nah," Jay said. "Ain't no way she's datin' a cowboy. No way."

"Shit, Jay just went southern southern, too," Adam laughed.

"What can I say, when my girl goes hella Georgia, I go hella Tennessee," Jay said.

"That made zero sense, baby, but okay," Hailey said. She turned to Adam. "When we ridin'?"

"We can go right now if you want. Everyone good with that?"

You all nodded and then Adam told all of you to put on your cowboy hats.

***

"This 'ere's Maddy," Adam said before he helped you onto the horse. You put your feet in the stirrups. "They feel good? You can reach 'em well?" he asked.

"Yeah," you told him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, darlin'." He turned to Jay, Hailey, and Kim. "You three remember how to get on the horses since we rode so much last year?"

"We're good," Jay said.

"Hey, baby?" Hailey asked and turned to Jay. He turned to look at her. "You think you can help me on 'im? Pretty sure Diablo's gotten a lot bigger since I rode 'im last."

"Yeah, sweetheart, I got that."

"Did he just..." you trailed off and looked at Kim.

"He did," she confirmed. "She turns into sweetheart around this time every year. Jay gets really southern after only being here a week. Might also have something to do with Adam calling me sweetheart sometimes and he just picks up on it."

Jay helped Hailey onto the huge horse named Diablo and then got on his horse. You were riding Maddy, Adam was riding Buck, Jay was riding Sinbad, Hailey was riding Diablo, and Kim was riding Atta'Boy.

"All y'all need to watch me now," Adam announced from the front. All four of you gave Adam all your attention. "Well, mostly Y/N because she's never ridden before." He paused. "To make your horse stop, just give the reins a little tug. To turn, hold the reins on your right side, and pull towards your right hip, like this." He demonstrated and pulled the reins like he told you and Buck's head turned to the right. "And turn left, do the same thing on the left side. To make them go, just flick the reins a little bit, but they're pretty well-trained, so you shouldn't need to do that. But, if they still won't go, give 'em a little kick. I promise you won't hurt 'em. But, most of all, keep at least one hand on the reins at all times. Oh, and they will try to eat on the trails, but they ain't supposed to, so try and get them to stop by pulling up on the reins if you can.

"Any questions? Everyone sure their stirrups and saddles are good?" Adam finished.

Everyone answered with a chorus of "yeses" and then the five of you were off...that was until Maddy decided she was hungry about a quarter-mile (400 meters) in.

And, to make matters worse, you were in the mountains (because everyone is in the mountains here) and Maddy was bringing you closer and closer to a small ravine.

You did not want to have the experience of trying to control your horse and deciding whether or not to jump off or not and possibly being rushed to the hospital.

"Maddy!" you yelled and tugged up on the reins. Nothing. "Maddy!"

"Pull hard!" Jay yelled from behind you.

"I am pulling, Jay!" you yelled back. "Come on, Maddy!"

Shit, she was still moving towards the edge and trying to eat more.

"Pull to the left!" Jay yelled. You pulled. Nothing. "All the way around! To your left hip!"

You did so and she moved. Finally.

"Now straighten out the reins," Jay told you. You did. "And give her a kick to move."

You did and she continued walking...this time with a huge branch and leaves hanging out of her mouth because she had gotten herself a nice little snack.

"What's with all the yellin'?" Adam asked as he turned his head around and had Buck slow down a little bit. Then, he saw Maddy. "Maddy stop to eat? She acts likes she's starvin', but I promise you she's not."

You kept going and then you started going down a hill.

"Lean forward when going down a hill," Adam yelled back to all of you, "and lean back when going up a hill."

You started going down the hill and kept trying to maneuver yourself so you were in the middle of the saddle. You felt like you were leaning too much to the right, so you kept trying to fix it, but with Maddy still walking, it was kind of hard.

You clenched your stomach muscles to try and pull yourself back to center, but it wasn't working. You tried to push up with your left foot because you were leaning to the right, but that wouldn't work either.

"Just hold on tight, Y/N," Jay told you. "Adam!" Jay yelled as you kept leaning to the right and pulled the reins a little harder to make sure that Maddy would stop.

"What?" Adam yelled back.

"We need a little help back here!"

Adam turned Buck around and he got halfway to you and stopped next to Hailey and Diablo.

"She's fallin' off, you big dummy! You gotta go!" Adam yelled. He flicked his reins. "C'mon, go!"

It was like Buck knew what was going on because the minute he lifted his head up and saw you trying to stay in the saddle, he started coming towards you.

"Buck, stay," Adam said sternly and jumped off him. He walked to your right side. "Now, I'm gonna push your saddle to the left and I need you to lean the same way, okay?"

"Lean to the left?" you asked.

"Yup," he confirmed. "One...two...three."

He pushed up and you leaned to the left, which allowed the saddle and you to be re-centered.

"Can you reach the stirrups okay, darlin'?" he asked. "Or do you need 'em a bit higher?"

"I think I need them a bit higher," you answered. "I thought they were fine, but I guess not."

"That's okay. That's what I'm here for. Take your right foot out."

You did as he said and then he adjusted the stirrups and helped you get your foot back in. Then, he did the same for the left foot.

While Adam was adjusting your left stirrup, Maddy was curious about what was in his first aid bag that was attached to Buck's saddle.

"I ain't got no treats in there, you fatty." He put his hand on Maddy's head. "There's nothin' in there for you. Get out." She started chewing on a drawstring that was on the bag. "Okay, I guess you can chew on that."

"So, to get her to turn, do I just pull like this?" you asked and showed Adam.

"Yes, but put your hand further down the reins when you do that. Works better like that."

"Okay, thanks."

"And, if she keeps tryin' to eat, pull up hard--but not too hard and far that you make her walk backward--and if that doesn't work, give her a quick kick. I promise you won't hurt this little fatty right here."

"Okay, awesome."

"You good?"

"I'm good," you confirmed.

"Okay, so if you ever need to adjust yourself, just grab this 'ere saddle horn." He put his hand on the stub on the front of the saddle. "And put two hands on it...unlike me, and then just push down with your foot on which side you want the saddle to go. Pretty simple."

"Okay, got it," you said.

Then, Adam jumped back on Buck and you were off again.

***

You and Kim were sitting up on the bed in Adam's older sister's childhood room that you were staying in and watching a dumb comedy when Adam poked his head into the room.

"Both you up?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kim answered. "Why?"

"Well, I want to go to the rope swing, and Jay and Hailey both fell asleep spooning while watching some shitty movie in the living room, so do you two wanna go? I'm bringing alcohol."

"Adam, it's like 11 o'clock at night!" Kim laughed. "We won't even be able to see the water!"

"Honey," Adam laughed. "I'll leave the headlights of my truck on! I'm not that stupid to have us jump in blind!" He paused. "You two in?"

"Sure," Kim agreed and then turned to you. "Y/N?"

"Why the hell not? I'm in college, let's go!"

"Alright, I'll let you two get changed and I'll grab the towels and the booze," Adam said.

"Adam, if you're the one driving, you cannot drink a ton!" Kim told him.

"I know! I'll just take like two shots and use moonshine as a chaser."

"You got more moonshine?" you asked.

"Holy hell, Adam," Kim agreed.

"Where do you two think I was the past hour? I went into town and grabbed a few flavors. and, I got both your flavors, too. So, y'all can't yell at me. Now, get changed so we can go before Jay and Hailey wake up and decide they want in on this, too."

***

"You good to sit in the back, Miss Car Sick?" Adam asked you.

"Yeah, you said it's only like a five minute drive, so I'll be fine. Thanks for asking, though," you answered.

"No problem, darlin'."

Then, the three of you were off to this rope swing to jump into a river in the middle of the night.

Five minutes later, Adam threw his car in park and left the radio and headlights on. The three of you got out and Adam grabbed the booze and shot glasses and then you followed him around to the back of his truck. He handed the stuff off to you and Kim to hold while he flipped his tailgate down. Then, he used the flashlight app of his phone to see as he poured each of you a shot of gummy bear flavored vodka.

"Cheers to late night decisions and possibly bad decisions!" Adam toasted.

The three of you clinked your shot glasses together and then took the shots.

"Shit. That was strong," you coughed.

"Chaser, chaser," Adam said as he flipped open the sip cap on the blackberry moonshine.

He handed it to you and you took a few sips.

"Compared to that shot, this moonshine tastes like nothin'," you said.

"See? Told you it had a low proof!" Adam exclaimed. "Now, do you two want me to go first so I can show you how it's done?"

"That might be a good idea, yeah," Kim agreed. "You've only brought me here during the day and it's been over a year, so yeah, you go first, cowboy."

"Oh, that reminds me." He took his signature cowboy hat off. "Hold this for me, will you, sweetheart?" He held the hat out to Kim and she took it from him. "Thank you. Now, watch and learn, ladies, watch and learn."

Kim laughed. "Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say."

Adam walked up to the edge of the river and waded in the water to grab the rope. You and Kim stood on the edge of the river and watched as Adam dragged the rope with him as he stood on a rock, which was right below the tree that the rope was tied to. Then, he cinched the rope between his feet and jumped up and swung forward.

"Yeehaw!" Adam yelled.

Then, after a few seconds, he let go of the rope and fell into the river.

The rope dangled back and forth until Adam grabbed it and dragged it in with him.

"Who's next?" he asked as he held the rope out.

"You wanna go, Kim?" you asked.

"You sure you don't wanna go before me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go ahead," you said.

"You nervous, darlin'?" Adam asked you as he took his hat back from Kim and placed it on his head.

"A bit." You looked down at your feet. "Are there snakes in there?" you practically mumbled.

"Oh, darlin'," Adam said with a wave of his hand. "I can promise you that there's no snakes in there. You've never seen a snake in there have you, baby?" he asked Kim.

"Nope, no snakes. I promise. Now, I'll go, and then you gotta go because it's so much fun!"

Kim grabbed the rope and then made her way up onto the rock. She did the same thing that Adam did and soon it was your turn.

"I'm stealing your aux, babe," Kim said as she walked toward Adam's truck.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you can't just listen to the radio like we've been doing, but go ahead, baby."

Kim walked over to the truck and changed the input to aux and then quickly pulled up Spotify. From there, she pulled up the song Like A Lady by Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum. She turned the volume all the way up on her phone, plugged it into the aux, and hit play.

"Lady!" came out of the speakers as well as the opening chords.

You gasped as Kim came running back to you and Adam.

"How'd you know this one of my favorite songs?" you asked.

Ever since Hailey had played it for you on your first night in Tennessee when you were unpacking and sippin' on moonshine, you loved this song. It was all about feeling like a lady while wearing jeans and drinking and being comfortable with yourself and not needing a man.

"Y/N, I follow you on Spotify. I can see what you listen to. Now, go get to it, lady!" Kim cheered.

You smiled and turned around. You walked to the rock and climbed up on it just before the chorus. You grabbed onto the rope.

"'Cause I feel like a lady," you sang loudly to the music. "Sippin' on tequila with my Levis on."

You clamped your feet around the rope and jumped.

You felt weightless for just about one second and then you let go of the rope and fell into the water with a splash.

The water wasn't freezing, it was a little cold, but it was still decently comfortable. You started swimming back to the shore and grabbed the rope when it swung back toward you.

"Hell yeah!" Adam yelled as he ran up to you and took the rope so you could pull yourself up onto the river bank. "You did awesome! Did you like it?"

"I loved it! Let's do it again!" you yelled.

"See?" Kim said. "I told you that you'd love it!"

"I propose a celebratory shot for Y/N's first time jumping off the rope swing!" Adam said and the three of you headed back to his truck to have more booze.

And that is how you learned that you didn't get hangover headaches like Kim, but got hella tired the next day just like Hailey. But, a little hangover (despite not being old enough to legally drink) was all worth it because of how much fun you, Kim, and Adam had.

***

Months later

"Welcome to Chocolate Moose, everybody!" Adam announced and fumbled with the lockbox to get the key.

Since it was exam season, there was a tradition that started during the winter semester of their sophomore year that was where they'd all go up to a cabin (each cabin had a name and yours was Chocolate Moose) in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which was an hour away from school, to go study without the temptation of parties and the libraries that were packed as hell and barely had any seats open because everyone and their mama had decided to study there.

He unlocked the door and opened it.

You walked in and were in awe. When you walked in, you saw a small kitchen complete with a stove, oven, microwave, and pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, mugs, and silverware stored in cabinets and drawers. There was also a small pantry to your right the minute you walked inside.

Off of the small kitchen were the living room and the dining area. There was a circular wooden table with six chairs and there was a tv and a couch that folded out into a bed. Right next to that was a bedroom with a bathroom, which also had its own tv in it.

And, if you walked to the end of the living room, there was a door that led to the first-floor deck that overlooked the Smoky Mountains. On the deck was a wooden table that matched the wood of the deck and six stools, so it would be a nice place to study or eat breakfast or sip coffee in the morning.

The stairs to go to the second floor were above the table (so the table was tucked beneath the second set of stairs). When you got up there, there was a pool table, a bubble hockey table, another couch that folded out into a bed, and a coffee table in front of said couch.

To the right of the couch and coffee table was a California king-sized bed with a trunk in front of it which held the bedding for the pull-out couches. Then, there was a dresser with a mirror to the side of the bed and a closet. There was also a full bathroom with a washer and dryer and a dressing table (so tons of counter space and two mirrors) upstairs as well.

And, there was another deck on the second floor. This one didn't have a full-sized table, but it did have two chairs with a small table between, and a small couch complete with a bunch of throw pillows on one end of the deck. This deck too overlooked the beauty that was the Smoky Mountains.

"Who's that?" you asked fifteen minutes later after you had finished touring the cabin and figuring out sleeping arrangements.

It had been decided that Adam and Kim would take the first-floor bedroom and that you'd take the pull-out couch on their floor. Hailey and Jay would sleep upstairs and you wondered why you couldn't take the upstairs couch like you wanted to because Jay was quick to tell you no.

You knew they weren't gonna try to do the nasty up there since there was no door shutting the upstairs off from the downstairs, so you had no idea why he wouldn't let you sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs.

"Who's that?" you asked again while looking out the kitchen window.

Then, you saw a head of red hair in the driver's seat and rushed out the door to where the person parked their car.

"Will!" you shouted as he got out of the car. "I missed you!" You wrinkled your nose at what he was wearing: a pair of blue scrubs.

"I drove here right after I got off a twelve-hour ED rotation," Will told you. "Hence the scrubs."

"I would give you a hug, but who knows what kinda bodily fluids have been on those."

"Good choice. We'll postpone the hug until after I take a quick shower and change."

Adam, Kim, and Jay came outside and said their hellos to Will, and Jay took Will's backpack, making a joke saying that it felt like he stuffed a ton of rocks in there.

So, now you knew why you couldn't sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs: Will was sleeping there.

***

"Fuck!" you yelled as you felt a bee sting you on the upper part of your left inner thigh.

"What?" Adam asked.

You, Adam, and Kim were outside at the table on the first-floor deck studying while Will was upstairs studying and Jay and Hailey were studying one of their law studies classes at the kitchen table together.

"The fuckin' bee stung me!"

"Well, you were swattin' at him, darlin'," Adam said, which earned him a smack to the arm from Kim.

"Because he was between my legs!" you argued. "What was I supposed to do? Let him fly up my shorts and sting me there? Oh hell no!"

You got up and walked inside.

"Will!" you shouted the minute you closed the door to the deck.

"Y/N! Keep it down!" Jay scolded. "We're trying to study!"

You had made it up the first set of stairs and leaned over the railing. "Well, I just strung by fuckin' bee, so I think I can yell a bit, Jay! Will!"

"What?" he said and ripped out his headphones when you got all the way upstairs. "Med school's no joke, you know!"

"Well, what do I put on a bee sting?" you huffed.

Will sighed. "Hold on. They asked me to be the one who brought the first aid kit and I'm glad I did."

He got up and then came back with a bottle of lotion.

"Put this on it. Should cool down the stinging. Tell me if it gets worse or starts itching."

"Okay, thanks."

You put it on and hoped it would be better soon.

***

Okay, so this bee sting wasn't getting better. It was actually getting worse.

It had been itchy all day and you were currently shaving your legs in your shower. You felt the place where the bee had stung you and it was swollen as if someone had shoved a disk the size of an Oreo in your leg at the place the bee had stung you.

You got out of the shower, got changed, and walked out of the bathroom where country music was blasting and Jay and Adam were playing a friendly (okay, so maybe not so friendly) game of pool.

"Hailey, is my bee sting supposed to be super itchy?" you asked as you sat down on the couch next to her.

She and everyone else was drinking one of their two allotted white claws. Yes, during finals week you had all decided there needed to be a daily cut-off for alcohol so that you could all get your shit done. And, it helped keep everyone accountable since everyone in the cabin was only having two per day...and you weren't spending a ton of money this weekend on alcohol.

"Um, none of mine have ever been," she said. "Will!" He turned to look at her from where he was sitting and intently watching the pool game...mostly to make sure neither Adam nor Jay cheated. "Her bee sting supposed to itch?"

"Not unless she's allergic to bees...and she's not." He stood up. "Go lay on the bed and let me take a look."

"Oh, fuck no! I am not letting my brother look there!"

"Y/N, I'm a med student. I've seen a helluva lot more than a bee sting on your inner thigh. You can even go put on some short spandex if that would make you more comfortable."

You currently had on loose-fitting shorts that you knew would fall back to expose what underwear you were wearing if you let Will take a look. "Actually, I think I'll go do that," you said.

You quickly grabbed a pair of spandex from your suitcase and went back into the bathroom and changed into them.

"Y'all check for a stinger?" Adam asked.

Will must've filled him in when you were changing your shorts.

"Shit," Will cursed. "I knew there was something I forgot to do."

"What kinda fuckin' doctor are you if you forget to check something like that?" you asked Will rhetorically. "Hailey, I'm gonna need that empty white claw bottle to smack Will over the head with like you did to Jay on the river."

"Sorry, hun," Hailey apologized. "I ain't finished with this 'ere can yet."

"I'll hit him!" Jay yelled, putting down his pool stick and grabbing his empty can.

He hit Will on the arm with the empty white claw can as hard as he possibly could.

"The fuck?" Will yelled. "Why'd you do that?"

"I dunno." Jay turned to Adam. "Why were we hitting Will, again?"

"Holy shit," Adam muttered to himself. "Because he forgot to check Y/N's bee sting to see if the stinger was still there."

"Oh, okay. That was stupid, Will."

You laid on the bed and let Will look at the spot the bee stung you. Then, he put on a pair of gloves and pulled out a pair of tweezers.

"Hailey?" he called. She looked up expectantly. "Can you come over here and hold up a flashlight? I think I found the stinger."

Hailey got up and turned on the flashlight on her phone and crouched down next to Will.

"That good?" she asked as she finished positioning the phone so the phone's flashlight was pointing directly at your bee sting.

"Yup." He looked up at you. "Now, I'm gonna put one of my hands above the bee sting, that way you won't be able to see the tweezers go in. Sound good?"

"Mhm. At least this is better than when Jay tried to attack me with a snake!"

Will laughed. "I bet."

Five minutes later, the stinger was out and Will told you to put Neosporin and a bandaid over it just so you didn't keep itching it because he told you the itchiness wouldn't go away immediately.

"I need a drink," you said after you were all done.

Hailey handed you a raspberry white claw from the mini-fridge next to the couch and you popped it open.

"Thanks," you said.

"You're welcome."

"Everyone shut up!" Adam yelled. "This is Jay and Hailey's song...well, they didn't exactly meet at a bar and Hailey wasn't drinking a white claw, but it was a Saturday and those two did ditch us. So, dance you two!"

They tried to object, but Adam dragged Jay over to Hailey and Kim pushed Hailey up off the couch and towards Jay.

"Sittin' over there in the corner, baby, I saw pretty red lips workin' on a white claw," you all sang along to Single Saturday Night by Cole Swindell. And, you'd be lying if you said that this song didn't remind you of the story that Jay had told you about the first time he took Hailey out when she was bored one Saturday night in a sports bar. "Shakin' to a little Shook Me All Night Long. And I thought, man, what a beautiful sight."

You smiled. Four months ago, there'd be no way you'd know this song. But, thanks to your brother's friends and his girlfriend, you knew so many more country songs. But, most of all, if your first semester of freshman year was any indication, you were going to have the time of your life going to college here in Tennessee.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading! Again, please remember to like/reblog and comment because I love reading all your comments and seeing that you voted because that means you enjoyed reading the imagine! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you! Again, I am donating all my proceeds on buy me a coffee until the end of AU-gust to Save The Children to help the children in Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee here.

Taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl@dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

[arguablysomaya]

Waynes + Food

Dick: 

eats the weirdest shit

probably was that one kid who would mix chocolate milk and ketchup in grade school and would dare people to drink it (we’ve all been there)

the type of mf to say “it’ll all mix in my stomach, so who cares??” 

does the bare minimum in terms of nutrition. if he has regular people food, he’ll eat it, but he can go a week on cold pizza and cereal and be fine

gets heartburn and just fucking takes a bite of raw broccoli then goes about his day

surprisingly healthy

all added weight goes straight to his ass so it doesn’t even matter

tried once to set a good example for damian but broke after two days

alfred would literally cry if he saw dick’s pantry

drinks “girly drinks” because he likes the colors

Jason:

Very Picky Eater

keeps a list of foods he refuses to eat for the dramatics of it all

thinks raisins are an atrocity, gags when he finds them in salads

would rather starve than have his flavors mix

firm believer in food segregation

has a “perfect bite formula” that he whines about whenever the bacon slips out of his breakfast sandwich

“i’m savoring it, demon brat”

health nut. only one who actually reads nutrition labels

hates big brands, so sometimes the Actual Red Hood will stop by a farmers market to pick up like eggs or smth

thinks tex-mex is a joke. “eat real latin food or don’t eat at all” - jason todd, 2020

his sweet tooth ruins the fuck out of his reputation

Cass:

eats basically anything except fast food

saw a video of how mcdonalds nuggets are made once and Never Forgot

eats breakfast food all day every day. co-owns the waffle maker with steph

never in her life has she dropped food but if she did she wouldn’t throw it out cuz she on dat grind all the time

very wide palate but she hates cheese so much. makes fun of dick on her snapchat because he eats shredded cheese straight out the bag

doesn’t really see the appeal of junk food but doesn’t like. hate it

“food is food???” -cassandra wayne, 2020

eats when she’s bored

Tim:

fucking weirdo 

horrible taste in food

eats pineapples on pizza like it’s not a war crime

if unmonitored, will eat solely take out and junk food for months on end

eats cheese puffs that are literally glowing neon orange. jason once shot the bag out of his hands

brews coffee with mcdonalds sprite because why not

not at all picky but he really likes korean food because it’s like the only memory he has of his grandparents

not at all conscious of money, eats caviar with ketchup and fries

half the time he’s too busy to even see what he shoves in his mouth but the intensity of cass’ glare will tell him if he’s gone too far

Duke:

eats like a Normal Human Being. mostly

made fun of people who put ranch on pizza for 14 years then tried it once and realized it was actually pretty good

does the puzzles of the backs of cereals

also buys cereals that have prizes in them but the prizes always end up in dick’s hands. when will he learn

never matured enough to like vegetables :///

is lactose intolerant but doesn’t really put in the effort to avoid dairy

buys almond milk (the sweetened kind) but still eats cheese and yogurt and ice cream

his stepdad was half nigerian so he eats jellof rice religiously

prefers colorful food over bland food

fucking hates coconut. would rather die than have coconut. unfortunately he loves (virgin) piña coladas sooooooooo

Damian:

vegan and never shuts up about it

thinks he’s hot shit because he can cook like. spaghetti and tofuballs

spoiled rotten because there’s way too many people in the house who cook for him

spicy foods

suffers greatly during ramadan but powers through every year

would never even touch food that has been on the ground, thanks

demands high quality. dick tried to make him a peanut butter sandwich and he wrinkled his nose so hard he got a nosebleed

would never admit this, but he puts coins in his mouth because he likes the metallic taste. also likes the taste of his own blood (we’ve all been there)

drinks orange juice after brushing his teeth just to hear jason gag

Bonus: Bruce

square

eats the lamest shit

like. we’re talking lunchables level, here

black coffee, corn flakes with no sugar, spaghetti with butter on it

eats because he has to, not because he likes the taste

keeps a schedule because he’s That Basic

that being said, he can’t really cook

spices? you mean salt and (maybe) pepper

tastebuds are like 80% fried off anyway

never drank apple juice and that’s the source of all of his problems

once burned his hand opening a rice cooker because cass didn’t tell him it was still on

[matth1w]

I was wondering if you could please write a OneShot where reader is Lucifer Morningstar’s best friend and after Chloe discovered his devil face and ran away he goes to reader where she comfort him and he admits she is the devil’s true love? Thank you, I love you 💕

True Love

Pairing: Lucifer Morningstar x Reader

Summary: Chloe sees Lucifer’s true face, but doesn’t come back. Being his best friend, he calls you for help. As you comfort him, he realizes he wants more than just your friendship.

Warnings: None

Rating: All

Word Count: 2,289

Note: I was unsure if you wanted this to take place when Chloe saw his face then went to Europe for a month (end of s3/beginning of s4) or at the end of season 4, so I went with the earlier. Thanks for requesting, love! 💕

Bonus points to anyone who gets the reference at the end 👀

As you scrolled through a silly Buzzfeed quiz that promised to tell you what Disney princess you were, Lucifer’s face popped up on the screen. It was a silly photo he had taken after you showed him Zoolander. His blue steel look was iconic to say the least.

You shimmied up the couch and brought the phone to your ear.

“Hey, Luci”

His voice was quiet and broken when he finally spoke.

“She… Can I come over, please?”

Your heart hurt at the sound of your friend’s heartbreak.

“Of course.”

“Good,” he said with a dry chuckle, “Would be awkward if you would have said no seeing as I’m in your driveway.”

You laughed, even sad he still had his antics. “I’ll be right out.”

You didn’t need to hear him say it. You could guess.

She saw his face.

You’ll admit, it was somewhat shocking at first. If by at first, you mean for a brief moment. You had always thought of Lucifer as an angel. Not the Devil.  And seeing your friend’s face was no difference.

When you opened your front door you weren’t surprised to see Lucifer. Slouching like a sad puppy. However you were surprised to not see the Corvette.

He saw your eyes move to your strangely empty driveway and chuckled.

“I panicked.”

You looked back to him with a raised eyebrow.

“You… panicked?”

He smiled sheepishly.

“Yes, well, I was distraught as the Detective saw this” he motioned at his face.

“Well not this, but that,”

You nodded and he continued.

“Anyway, I panicked and wanted to see you so I…”

You gave him a look. Hoping he wasn’t going to say what you thought he was going to say.

“I… flew.”

You closed your eyes and pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Lucifer Morningstar…”

You sighed and opened your eyes again.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it if anyone saw you.”

You looked up at Luci and smiled.

“Promise not to tell Meni”

He chuckled at your ridiculous nickname for his brother and gave you a warm smile, that faded into a sad one. You grabbed his hand.

“C’mon lightbringer. I got some ice cream and a whole bunch of buzzfeed quizzes.”

You didn’t have to look back as you brought him inside to know he was playfully rolling his eyes and maybe even fake-gagging.

— — —

After an hour of ice cream and stupidly silly online quizzes as promised, you felt the need to go to the bathroom.

You stared at your reflection as you washed your hands, lost in thought, wondering if Chloe would come to terms with Lucifer being well, Lucifer.

You couldn’t explain why some deep part of you wanted her to leave and never come back. Shaking the thought from your head as you did the water from your hands, you cleared your throat, wiped your hands, and walked back out to your living room.

When you walked in, you saw Lucifer sitting on your couch, empty glass in hand.

He simply looked up at you as you walked in. But then he looked away, ashamed.

You walked over to him and knowing words weren’t what he needed, you grabbed the glass from his hand, set it on the table, sat yourself in his lap, and cradled him.

He simply breathed for a moment, sighing from the affection and kindness. And then, it began.

His body was wracked with sobs and he shook underneath you. You held him tight as he held you even tighter, never letting go, placing kisses on his head and rubbing soothing circles on his back.

When Lucifer finally spoke beneath you, it wasn’t what you expected.

“Why… why did my father curse me so? Why does he hate me? My own father?”

He pulled slightly away to look up at you, eyes brimmed red from tears. You looked down at him with pity and pain. It hurt seeing your friend so broken by this.

And hearing him speak the emotions he tried to always lock away or cover with humor… it broke your heart.

You wiped the tears from his cheeks and hair from his warm face, noticing how he leaned into your gentle touch. You then stared deeply into his eyes.

“You are more than your past, Luci. More than any mistakes that caused such hatred. You deserve all the love and kindness there is in the world.”

Your eyes filled with tears, such strong love and pain seeing your friend broken so deeply.

Lucifer smiled just a smidge at your words, then hugged into your chest again.

“Thank you”

Nothing more, nothing less was spoken that night.

Lucifer stayed tight in your embrace, and you never let go. His breathing steadied, first turning into shaky breaths, then deep ones, then finally, light ones, telling you that he had fallen asleep.

You laid back further, resting your head against the pillow. Luci didn’t stir and you closed your eyes for a moment, meaning to only blink but sleep filling your body. Placing one last kiss onto his forehead, you closed your eyes and let yourself rest underneath yourself friend.

— — —

When you awoke, the first thing you noticed was a slight chill. You swore Lucifer would’ve kept you warm.

Once you opened your eyes with a wide stretch, you realized he wasn’t keeping you warm. Because he wasn’t there.

You humphed, but then looked around. His phone was on the table so he must be still here.

Noise from the kitchen confirmed that. You smiled hearing Luci undoubtedly making breakfast. Was tradition after all. Whoever was the guest sleeping over had to make, pickup, or order breakfast.

You laid back down lazily and hummed happily. Despite the situation, it was nice to share a Saturday morning with Lucifer. It had been a while since your last sleepover.

You began drifting off to sleep again when a loud shout stopped that.

“Oh bollucks!”

You stopped yourself from groaning and simply got up to see what mess Lucifer had made this time.

When you walked into your kitchen, Lucifer spun around from his place at the counter, and gave you a big cheerful smile. You couldn’t help but smile back, partially because you were seeing the angel wearing a brightly colored apron.

“Good morning, my dear!” Luci said with a clasp of his hands. Leaning slightly to cover the mess that you were leaning to see.

You looked up at him with an inquisitive, but humored look and he sighed.

“Well, you see,” he began. “I was trying to make waffles and I highly overestimated how much batter that silly machine of yours could handle. So…”

He moved aside and showed you the batter oozing out of the sides of the waffle maker and onto your counter.

You looked at the mess, then back to him and just laughed.

“Oh Lu, I haven’t touched that thing in years. Waffle makers are notorious for making messes.”

You waved your hand and smiled as the waffle maker dinged, signifying its completion. You hugged Luci quickly then walked over to the counter. As you opened the overflowing machine, you saw a golden fluffy waffle (with extra uncooked edges) that smelled so heavenly (no pun intended) you hummed in approval.

Luci came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his head on your shoulders.

“I take that as a good sign?”

You laughed beneath him.

“Definitely.”

— — —

A week later Lucifer invited you over to celebrate. When you arrived with a bottle of champagne, you didn’t know what to expect. It certainly wasn’t his enthusiastic proclamation of

“I quit!”

You looked at him curiously, unsure if he was in one of his self-destructive-pretend-everything-is-fine moods.

“You… quit?”

He huffed and rolled his eyes,

“Yes, darling. You growing old and deaf on me? I quit!”

You just looked at him. Hoping he would continue.

“Detective Douche told me he and…” he paused, “the Detective had put in transfers for Fresno.”

Your eyebrows raised at that but he ignored you, opting instead to continue.

“And well seeing as my former partner had up and left, I thought I would do the same. So,” he extended his arms,

“I quit”

You nodded, taking a moment to ponder it. You then hung your head and laughed.

“Going to find a new job?”

He looked at you like you had grown a second head, “I think not. Though, is your employer hiring?”

You whole heartedly laughed at that, “No way, Luc. You cause enough ruckus every time you bring me lunch.”

He smirked at that, “touché”.

You raised up the bottle in your hand, and smiled up at your friend.

“Congrats, Luci. To unemployment!”

He huffed at your teasing smirk but laughed nonetheless. “Let’s open that up, shall we?”

— — —

During the next few months you had sleepovers, first filled with pizza and ice cream helping him get over what felt like a breakup. You’d both watch cheesy movies. A mix of comedies, dramas, and the classics you made Luci watch so he was ‘cultured’.

And you’d go out. Dancing and drinking at Lux that always led to crashing at his penthouse upstairs. Dragging him to other clubs to only have him protest at the notion until he realized it was your favorite 80’s themed club and was totally different to Lux. (You tried not to say anything when Lux started having decade theme nights once a month shortly after that).

You’d also go out to eat - fancy restaurants, casual restaurants, food trucks that you both gorged on, late night diners, even Taco Bell once or twice.

And you’d also just go out to places. Museums, book stores, antique places, anything and everything.

It became normal for you and Lucifer to spend nearly all weekend together and even some evenings during the week together. It wasn’t unusual to go to Lux with Lucifer or have movie nights but now you were doing mundane domestic things like going grocery shopping together, cleaning your house and his apartment, and even doing laundry together. Though that just consisted of Lucifer making cheeky comments about your under things.

But one day… things changed.

Lucifer had asked if he could come over which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was how nervous he seemed. Like he was hyper aware of everything he did but also lost in thought.

He had staring at your intertwined hands instead of the trashy tv you were mindlessly watching. Since he kept staring through two commercials straight, you decided to say something.

“You know, you can just let go,”

Lucifer jumped slightly at your voice, confirming your suspicions that was he deep in thought.

You squeezed his hand and shifted to face him, surprised to see his deep dark eyes staring back at you.

“You alright, Luc?”

Your eyebrows furrowed with concern as your searched your friend’s eyes.

He closed his for a moment and sighed.

“I’ve been thinking, darling,”

“Never a good sign,” you quipped back.

He smiled lightly at that then frowned slightly.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed our friendship and these past few months together. I don’t think I would have gotten through it quite so easily without you.”

You nodded but took your hand from his, nervous as to what you thought he was going to say next.

“But…?”, you said hesitantly.

He huffed and clasped his hands together, now alone from yours.

“But… I fear…”

You didn’t want to but your eyes started feeling prickly.

He paused and looked at you with pity,

“Oh, darling, there’s no need to cry.”

You nodded but his words did nothing but make you feel worse and cause the tears to fall.

“Darling,” he cooed as he pulled you into a hug.

“Dad, I’m so… ugh” he huffed, holding you close.

He pulled away quickly, “Y/N, look at me.”

You sniffled and brought your eyes to his but quickly looked away. He placed his hand on your cheek, wiping the tears, then lifted your head so you would again meet his eyes.

He was looking back at you with a mixture of emotions you couldn’t read.

“Our time together, well, it’s opened my eyes. I don’t think I’m happy just being your friend.”

He stopped talking and looked at you, searching for any reaction. You simply stared back, your brain unable to process for a moment.

You finally shook yourself out of it and smiled.

“Yeah?” You whispered, voice clearly displaying your hopefulness.

His eyes flickered down to your lips as he leaned in a touch.

“Yes”

You leaned in further but then pulled back and giggled. Lucifer looked somewhat surprised by you pulling away and confused at your giggling.

“What’s so funny, love?” Lucifer asked, genuinely confused.

You giggled again and pressed a finger into his shoulder, “You like me,”

Lucifer smiled at your sing song teasing tone and playfully rolled his eyes.

You continued with your teasing. Your smile bright and overjoyed.

“You want to hug me, you want to kiss me, you want -“

He laughed and grabbed your face once more and pulled you in for a kiss. Your lips melted together and you both couldn’t help the smiles that broke out.

You pulled away ever so slightly so your foreheads remained in contact and opened your eyes. You saw as Lucifer’s long eyelashes fluttered and his adoring eyes met yours.

You pecked his lips quickly again then jumped up, continuing your song and prancing around.

“You think I’m gorgeous…”

Lucifer stared at you and laughed at your silly antics. He had nothing to fear. Being in love with his best friend wouldn’t change a thing.

[ripleywhitaker]

Salty

Part 2 of The Taste of You series. 

She couldn’t find Chic.

Where was Chic?

He was just here. They were both in the living room, Alice trying to catch up on some homework for her photojournalism class and her son enthralled by a rerun of Sesame Street. Sometimes she felt bad about parking him in front of the TV for a while but honestly it was the only way that she could get any work done, and the sooner she finished with her communications degree from Riverdale College the better.

She got up to get a drink of water. She was maybe gone for 30 seconds at the most. She’d done it a thousand times.

A thousand times.

Where was Chic?

His matchbox cars were still laying on the carpet and his favorite stuffed animal (a squirrel which he’d dubbed Waffle for reasons she still hadn’t gotten to the bottom of) was laying unceremoniously heaped under the coffee table along with a Transformers action figure.

He was only three years old, how far could he get?

“Chic, come out for mommy, okay? Where are you hiding little boy?”

She tried to keep her voice cheerful as she called for him and looked around the living room. The couch was too low to the ground for him to get under, thanks to the fact that it sagged generously from years of use. Just another thing that was on her list of things to fix whenever they managed to get out of this place.

The house that her and FP were renting wasn’t a dump. It was just the definition of a starter home. She tried her best to keep it clean (as much as she could with a toddler) and they spent a lot of their free time on the weekends doing yardwork and trying to make it look like they were doing better than barely scraping by. It was something that her mother had always impressed upon her- just because you’re poor doesn’t mean your house has show it, at least not on the inside.

Somehow, they had managed to get the money to get a two-bedroom place on the border of the Southside and the Northside. They couldn’t totally escape where they came from but it was better than nothing. It was close to Riverdale College on the Northside and was also close enough to Fred Andrew’s construction firm. Fred had hired on FP shortly before Chic was born and so far, everything seemed to be going smoothly. FP had started out as a regular worker but Fred recently promoted him to Assistant Foreman, which was a big boost to their finances. It was almost enough to envision getting into a nicer place, maybe even out of the Southside entirely. Alice had two more semesters to go on her degree and then hopefully she’d be able to go full time at the Riverdale Register. Right now, she had her hands full with classes, taking care of Chic and getting maybe 20 hours a week at the Chock’Lit Shoppe.

Their small house was also close enough to the White Wyrm where FP could also manage his duties as the head of the Serpents. Neither he nor Alice had been as active as they wanted to be since Chic had been born but once a serpent always a serpent.

Chic wasn’t in the living room, that much was for sure.

Alice tried to suppress the steadily rising sense of panic as she checked the kitchen, two bedrooms and the lone bathroom. It didn’t take long. The place was barely 800 square feet for Christ’s sake. There weren’t that many places he could go.

She checked the front and back door. Locked. Chic wasn’t even tall enough to reach the door knobs yet but she walked the perimeter of the trailer just to be sure.

Alice continued to call Chic’s name, trying to pitch her voice so that the whole damn neighborhood didn’t hear her. The last thing she needed was rumors of her being a neglectful mother flying around.

Where was Chic?

He wasn’t in the house and he wasn’t outside. How much could he have wandered off in 30 seconds?

She glanced at her watch. 5:01. FP would be home soon. Normally she’d be starting dinner right around this time. Where the fuck is my son? It was starting to become a mantra.

Alice could feel herself on the verge of tears. She forced herself to take a deep breath and search the trailer again. Don’t panic, Alice. Don’t panic. He’s got to be here somewhere. If she didn’t keep the hysteria at bay, there’d be no chance of fixing this before her husband got home, and then things would really go to shit. What kind of mother am I, she thought.  I lost track of my own child.

If I can’t find him in 10 minutes, I’ll call FP and try to catch him at work. He’ll know what to do. No, 15 minutes. Ok, never mind, 10 minutes. 10 minutes and I’ll call.

5:03.

She began to search haphazardly, looking in places that even she knew there was no chance Chic could be, like under the couch cushions and behind the refrigerator. She just had to keep moving because if she stopped she was going to completely lose it.

5:07.

“Chic, this isn’t funny, baby, please come out. Mommy’s got cookies and ice cream if you’ll just please come out.” She’d give him sweets until he was sick if he’d just stop playing this game. He could have a fucking sundae every day for dinner for the next week if she could just find him.

Her son could sometimes be mischievous, a trait that she put squarely on the back of his father, but he had never done something like this. He was more of the type of child that when you tell him not to do something he not only does it, he does it in front of you to gauge your reaction and then charms his way out of punishment with a cheeky grin. Hiding just wasn’t his style.

5:11.

It was time to call FP. Chic had been gone for over 20 minutes at this point.

She felt like she was looking down on herself from above as she crossed the room to the kitchen phone. Alice knew that she was close to passing out. She willed herself to come back to reality and dial the office number for Andrews Construction. Luckily, she had taped it up next to the phone for emergencies. She hoped that the secretary, a waifish girl named Janey who had a son around Chic’s age and who she often traded parenting tips with, was still in.

The phone rang and rang and she imagined it on the other end, trilling sharply into an empty room. Damn it. She had to resist the urge to rip the phone off the wall.

Alice made a noise of frustration and slammed the handset back into the cradle. She was dialing the number for the behind-the-bar phone at the Wyrm, the one usually reserved for irate wives and girlfriends trying to track down their spouses, when she heard gravel crunch in the driveway. Truck tires.

FP was home.

She met FP at the door and he had a split second to register the look of utter desperation on her face before she was in his arms and she was saying something about Chic but he could barely understand her through the tears clogging her voice- Chic was what?

“Baby, what are you talking about? Where is Chic?”

Alice just shook her head in agony and FP grabbed her by the shoulders. She was on the verge of collapsing and her semblance of composure was completely gone.

“Where is Chic?” FP repeated sternly, shaking Alice slightly. “Tell me where he is!” He was trying not to yell but he was also fighting the panic that was rising in his throat. His little boy was missing and Alice didn’t seem to have a damn clue as to where he went.

“I don’t know,” Alice wailed. “I can’t…I can’t find him, I don’t know where he is…”

Fresh tears were coursing down her face. “I…I…looked everywhere…I’m sorry…”

FP’s grip on her shoulders grew tighter.

He didn’t look concerned anymore.

A coldly calculating look had crossed over his face. She’d seen it before, on her father right before he went up one side of her mother’s face and down the other with an open hand, after she didn’t have his supper on the table when he came home. Or when 10-year-old Alice got caught fighting on the playground at school and the school sent her home early. She’d shown up the next day with both eyes blacked and no one, including her teachers, had said a damn word. She would have knocked out any other kid that tried to comment on it but half of them dealt with the same shit in their own houses at the end of the day. Alice Smith was Southside trash and if her old man smacked her around a little bit it was just par for the course. She probably deserved it.

He looked like a shark who’d smelled blood in the water.

“You gave away our son, didn’t you Alice?” FP said flatly.

Alice gave him a confused look. “What are you talking about, FP? I would never…”

“You did what you wanted to do when you found out you were pregnant. You never wanted Chic. You gave him away and now he's dead.”

His grip on her shoulders had grown painful and she could almost hear her bones shifting.

“I swear, FP, please, let me go. You’re hurting me!” Alice pleaded, trying to shift out of his grasp. His grip was like iron after years of construction work.  

“You got rid of my son and now I’m going to have to punish you. You whores never learn.”

She winced at the epithet. It was another reminder of the past. Whenever her father had had a few, her and her mother always turned into whores, sluts, bitches. Sometimes she wanted to ask him what it said about him if he was the one who had married and fathered said whores, sluts and bitches, but she bit her tongue. It would only serve to enrage him further and she knew from experience to just keep her head down and be quiet.  

Before she could react, FP’s hands were around her neck and she couldn’t breathe. He was squeezing, squeezing and she couldn’t get any air, not one bit. Alice batted fruitlessly at his face and hands. It was like he was looking right through her.

“I’m sorry I have to do this, Alice, but you should’ve thought about that beforehand.”

He was completely emotionless as the life began to leave Alice’s body. Her vision was going black and she knew she didn’t have much time left. One of her nails caught him in the cheek, leaving a bleeding gouge, and it was like he didn’t feel it at all.

She tried to beg for mercy but he was completely crushing her windpipe and she could only make gagging noises as she desperately tried to get some leverage under his fingers. It didn’t do any good.

FP lowered her to the floor, with his hands still around her throat, and knelt over her during the last seconds of her life.

“Goodbye, Alice.”

A 45-year-old Alice Smith woke up in her bed on Riverdale’s Northside, gasping for air and bathed in sweat.

It had all been a dream.

She immediately burst into loud braying sobs, startling awake the man laying beside her.

“Honey, honey, calm down,” FP Jones said as he tried to comfort his crying girlfriend. “What’s wrong?”

“I had a nightmare…” Alice managed to get out. “We kept Chic…and I just got up for a second…and I lost him!” This triggered a fresh wave of tears. “I lost our son again…and you were so mad…you…you…” She couldn’t get the rest out. It was too horrible.

“It’s okay, baby, it was just a dream.” FP wrapped his arms around Alice and began to rub her back consolingly.

“It was so real, FP.”

He pulled her closer to him and covered her face with gentle kisses, tasting the salt of her tears. He knew that she still lived with the guilt of giving their son away every day, but she usually wasn’t prone to night terrors, at least while they had regularly shared the same bed.

Finally, her sobs quieted down into small hiccups. He felt terrible that she still suffered so much from a decision that she made a teenager. She thought she was doing what was best for Chic, and even though sometimes he still wished that she had told him about their son, he couldn’t blame her for trying to give him a better life.

“I’m sorry, FP.” Alice said after she had calmed down a bit. Just inhaling his scent and feeling his warmth did a lot to make her feel better. “I don’t know what happened.”

“It’s fine, honey. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just haven’t dreamt about him in a long time. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it.” Alice still looked a little peaky but she seemed miles better than when she first woke up.

“I miss our son, FP,” Alice said wistfully.

“I know you do, Alice. I miss him, too.”

In the early days of her marriage to Hal, especially before she had Polly and Betty, Alice had dreamt about Chic almost weekly, it seemed like. It was usually innocuous- flashes of rocking him to sleep or watching him play at the park. Sticky hands and the smell of baby shampoo. There was always a man beside her- not her husband, she’d realized guiltily after the first one- but the one person she really wanted. FP.

Alice would always wake up with an ache in her chest for the life she would never have.

She never told Hal about these dreams. It would raise too many questions and he’d probably grow angry with her and sulk around the house for the next three days. It just wasn’t worth it.  Alice knew that in his heart Hal knew that Chic wasn’t his child, but there was no way she could ever bring up the subject of her first born without starting a huge fight. So, she mentally packed it all away and did her best to forget it ever happened.

It was only in the unguardedness of sleep that her brain allowed her to imagine what might have been.

“Think you’re going to be able to go back to sleep?” FP asked.

“I’m going to try. I really need to get some rest, and you do too. We’ve both got work in the morning.”

Alice pecked him on the lips and spooned into his arms. “I love you, babe.”

“I love you too, Ali.”

They laid there for a while and eventually FP’s breathing evened out and she knew he’d fallen back asleep.

Sleep was a long time coming for Alice Smith that night.

She laid awake until the predawn hours, thinking about the dream and the life she could’ve- should’ve- lived. She couldn’t totally regret the path she had taken, because it had given her Betty and Polly and her grandchildren, but sometimes she wished more than anything that she could go back in time and try harder to make it work. To make Chic and FP work.

Surely, it would have been difficult but would have it had been as impossible as it seemed when she was 17? She didn’t know.

There was no use in trying to change the past.

All she had was the future, and she hoped with her children and FP beside her that she’d be strong enough to face it.

I was going to wait to post this but I was too excited to share it with all of you. Read the original at https://archiveofourown.org/works/15598116 and let me know what you think. Reviews welcome as always. 

[girls-scenarios]

Let it Happen (Sequel)

Idol: Sana (Twice)

Prompt: Can you please do a sequel to Twice Sana's Let It Happen scenario? I really like it, and I wanna see what happens next~ 😆

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Based on some things that have already happened to me this semester, like a ton of homework and a professor being missing the first day. Again, sorry this took so long, but I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: There are some curse words and one innuendo. I think that’s really all.

Let it Happen

“I cannot believe our first class was cancelled and the professor didn’t even tell us. I could have slept in an extra hour.” Sana stood staring at the sign taped to the door in front of her, eyes narrowed and lips pouting. Behind her, you laughed.

“I can’t say I’m that disappointed, honestly. We can go get the breakfast we didn’t manage to eat before coming here.”

“You just don’t want to do a public speaking class,” Sana said, turning to look at you and crossing her arms. You rolled your eyes and tugged at her arm, pulling her away from the class and towards the door heading out of the building.

“Only communications majors would want to take a public speaking class, Sana. You guys are the weird ones.” She gave in and let you hook your arm through hers as the two of you walked. It was the first day of Fall semester classes and there were people everywhere, with their maps of the campus out and their phones glaring their schedules up at them. Sana effortlessly moved through the clumps of confused freshmen and tired seniors, pulling you along behind her.

“You never know,” she said, speaking over the voices of all the other students. “Maybe taking this public speaking class will end up helping you. Maybe you’ll switch majors.” You scoffed and tightened your hold on her arm so that she didn’t leave you behind, shaking your head vigorously.

“The only reason I passed Interpersonal Communication is because I had you to slowly explain each and every single point to me. I was lucky there weren’t any actual exams, or I probably would have failed.”

“You’re being dramatic.” As the two of you exited the building, you breathed a sigh of relief at the feeling of being able to move your shoulders without bumping into another person and steered Sana in the direction of the mess hall. The sun was shining bright outside, beating down onto the campus below, and Sana squinted her eyes against the light, looking up at the clear blue sky above.

“I wonder why he cancelled,” she said as she looked around. “It’s a nice day out here.”

“Maybe he was dreading public speaking too.” Sana turned and playfully punched you in the arm, making you wince and whine dramatically.

“I’ll check the class shell. He probably said why there.” She pulled out her phone as the two of you came up to the mess hall. You opened the door for her and untangled your arms so that you could make sure she didn’t run into the door as she squinted at her phone screen, grumbling under her breath. She’d already forgotten which password she’d chosen to use this semester.

“What do you want to eat for breakfast?” She glanced up when you spoke, giving the food options a once-over.

“Anything that I can get coffee with. I’m going to need caffeine if I’m going to have to deal with you making jabs at my major all day.” You smiled and took her arm again, pulling her along towards the waffles.

“I’m not that bad,” you said, “you’re exaggerating and you know it.” Sana huffed, side eyeing you as the two of you stepped up to the counter to get the coffee.

“I’m getting the largest one here. And you’re buying.” You laughed, and she felt a rush run through her body that had nothing to do with the promise of coffee at her fingertips.

“Fine, two large coffees and two waffles. Would you like anything else, Princess?” She liked that nickname. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she put on her haughtiest look and sashayed away, making you laugh again, loudly. Some of the students in the mess hall looked up from their phones and conversations to give the two of you weird looks. “People are going to think you’re a drama major if you keep this up.” As the two of you walked up to the counter to pay, Sana flipped her hair again.

“Really? You think I’m that good?”

“No. I think you’re just that over the top.” She stuck out her tongue at you.

“Well, since you’re paying, I’m gonna go find a table. Keep being rude and I’ll make you stand while you eat.” As she walked away, you raised your voice so she could hear you over the hum of conversation that filled the room.

“You know you love me.” As she walked away, Sana shook her head and looked down at the ground. That was the problem. She was actually falling in love with you, and she was totally, completely, absolutely screwed.

“I feel like this is deja-vu.” Jihyo sat at her desk, leaning back in her chair to look at Sana with her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m not a communications major, you are. You’re the one that’s good at relationships. I haven’t dated anyone in two years.”

“I could set you up,” Sana said immediately, causing Jihyo to give her an unimpressed look and turn back to look at her laptop.

“I will not hesitate to kick you out of my room.” Whining, Sana flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

“I just need advice on what to do. Can I not ask my smart friend for advice?” The fan in the corner of the room began to squeal, filling up the empty air as Jihyo typed something on her laptop instead of replying. Sana started counting the pieces of glitter on the ceiling as she waited for a response.

“You can ask me for advice, sure, but my specialty is in math and science, not relationships. You should ask Jungyeon.” Sana stopped counting (so far there were 153 pieces of glitter) and lifted her head off the bed.

“Jungyeon?” Jihyo placed her chin on her palm and glanced Sana’s way.

“Yeah? She’s dated like, six people. She’s dating Nayeon now, and I’m pretty sure she dated Momo in high school. She has the experience.” Sana let her jaw drop open, quickly sitting up.

“I knew she was dating Nayeon, but wow. I can’t believe I’m friends with a player.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that. Also, you didn’t hear any of that information from me, okay? And don’t tell Nayeon.” She squinted her eyes suspiciously at Jihyo, but the older girl just looked back at her laptop, obviously done with the conversation. “Now go bother her, please. My art history teacher already assigned a shit ton of homework and it’s all due tomorrow.”

“Damn. Good luck with that.” Jihyo groaned and leaned forward in her chair, closing her eyes and wincing a bit.

“Thanks. I’m gonna need it.” With one last glance at her friend, Sana jumped up from the bed and headed out the door, pulling out her phone as she closed the door behind her to send a warning to Jungyeon that she was coming over. She’d already walked in on her and Nayeon once, and she really didn’t want to do that again. As she walked through the halls, she noticed that she’d gotten a message from you and opened it.

The professor for public speaking will be back tomorrow :(

She laughed and sent a few emojis back before stopping at the door to Jungyeon’s shared dorm with Nayeon. Her knuckles had barely touched the door in a knock when the door was jerked open.

“Welcome. Make yourself at home. Thanks for the heads up this time.” With a roll of her eyes, Sana slipped past Jungyeon into the room. Nayeon was sitting on her bed eating some kind of chips from a giant bag, and Sana remembered why she never hung out in their dorm room. Clothes and stuffed animals cluttered the already small room, and Jungyeon’s shoe and hat collections had been getting out of control for the last few semesters already.

“Did Jihyo get tired of listening to you whine about (Y/N) and kick you out again?” Sana decided to sit on the desk chair instead of the bed. She didn’t want to know what happened on those sheets.

“She said that she’s not the person to ask for relationship advice. She said you guys would be better.” Jungyeon rolled her eyes and hopped onto the bed beside Nayeon.

“She didn’t happen to mention that she’s been talking to that freshman girl, did she.” Sana huffed and pulled out her phone again, quickly going to Jihyo’s number.

“No, she didn’t! Why am I always the one to be left out of the loop?”

“You were probably too busy fawning over (Y/N) to notice,” Nayeon said, letting Jungyeon take the chips. “Anyway, what do you need to know? It’s obvious you guys are totally all over each other. Just ask them to go on a date with you or something. It’s not that hard.”

“But what if I’m wrong and you’re wrong? What if they just want to be friends and they’re naturally super friendly?”

“Sana, you guys literally hold hands all the time. They always buy you food and make sure you eat and you’re both totally whipped for each other. Plus, you’ll never know if you never try. Wanna know how I asked Nayeon out?”

“No,” Sana said, shaking her head so fast it hurt her neck. “Please spare me the details. You guys are gross.”

“You don’t have any room to talk,” Jungyeon replied, shrugging her shoulders and shoving a handful of chips into her mouth. Nayeon leaned forward.

“Listen. Just take our word for it and ask them out. I promise, you wont regret it.” Sana sighed and looked down at the phone in her hands. You’d replied with a crying emoji, and a skull.

I need comfort food, let’s go get ice cream.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll do my best. Now you guys can get back to doing whatever you were doing before I came in.” Nayeon grinned and wiggled her eyebrows, making Sana fake gag as she stood from the desk chair and headed to the door.

“We believe in you, Sana,” the older girl said, at the same time that Jungyeon yelled “get some” at an embarrassing level. Sana made sure to slam the door as she left, hoping the blush on her face wasn’t too obvious.

Meet at the regular?

Yes please :)

Be there in 10.

The little ice cream parlor near the campus had been Sana’s go-to spot since she’d started as a freshman, and it had been the best decision to share it with you. Jihyo and Mina were always too busy with school to come with her, Momo was always watching her diet unless it came to meat, and Jungyeon and Nayeon were gross to go with anywhere anymore. It was so much better to go with someone, because otherwise she was usually the only single party there.

When she opened the door, she was greeted with the usual sight of a quiet interior, decorated in a retro theme with records lining the walls. The owner waved when she came in.

“The regular for you today?” She nodded, walking up to the counter and watching him scoop it into her favorite waffle cone. Just as he scooped up the last bit, the bell over the door jingled and Sana turned around to see you walking inside, framed by the bright sunlight shining in through the windows. The smile that crossed her features was involuntary, and her heart skipped a beat when you smiled back, walking up to the counter.

“Hey. Miss me?”

“Always,” she replied, bumping her shoulder against your own. The owner cleared his throat, and Sana gave him an apologetic smile, reaching over to grab her cone.

“For you?” He asked you as he rang her up.

“The regular. For the start of the semester.” He chuckled and gave Sana her receipt before grabbing your cone and leaning over to scoop up your favorite flavor.

“I had almost forgot you guys were already starting. I guess this is one way to kick it off.”

“Starting this semester right.” As he handed you your cone and began ringing you out, Sana wandered over to one of the tables and sat down, tasting the ice cream. It was sweet as ever, and she closed her eyes for a second, savoring the taste.

“You really like this ice cream, don’t you?” She opened her eyes, and you pulled out the chair across from her, grinning.

“How could you tell?”

“Call it a hunch.” She giggled and decided not to reply, taking another bite of her ice cream instead. As she ate, she let her eyes wander over you, taking in your relaxed figure and the way your lips closed around the ice cream, leaving remnants behind on your lips for you to lick away. Realizing she was staring, she quickly looked back down at her own ice cream, remembering the advice from her friends. Well, it was now or never.

“Hey, (Y/N).” You looked up, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to speak. She licked her lips, wetting them and steadying her heartbeat. “Do you want to go out with me sometime?”

“Aren’t we out right now?” Sana shook her head.

“Well, kind of. But I don’t mean like this. I mean. Do you want to go to dinner with me? As a date?” Your eyes widened, and there was still some ice cream on your lips, left behind in your shock. Sana wanted to kiss it away.

“Wait. Are you finally asking me out?”

“What do you mean finally?” You chased away the ice cream with your tongue and smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out since we met, pretty much.” Sana’s mouth dropped open in shock for what was at least the third time that day.

“Why did I have to be the one to make the first move here?”

“You’re the communications major. I’m way too shy to do anything like that.” She huffed.

“Just because I’m a communications major doesn’t mean I’m automatically good at knowing other people’s feelings.”

“Better than me. I almost failed the relationships class.”

“Interpersonal communication, you mean.” You laughed, and Sana’s heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest and fly away.

“Yeah, that one.”

“I take it back. No dinner for you, because you’re being rude to my major.” You leaned across the table, grabbing her arm.

“Wait no, I want dinner. I’ll stop making jokes about communications, just for you.” Sana tried her best to look disbelieving, but whenever she was around you, she just could stop the smile from spreading over her face.

“Somehow, I don’t believe you.” You pouted, sticking out your bottom lip, and damn, did she want to kiss you. “Fine, fine. My offer for dinner still stands.”

“Good. For a communications major, you’re really bad at this stuff.”

“You lied to me,” Sana said, narrowing her eyes playfully and leaning forward. “Will you ever stop using my passion to make fun of me?”

“Make me,” you said. The owner had disappeared into the back of the shop, and there was no one else around to care. So Sana leaned across the table and did.

[lunzmoonliteteaparty]

**Mini Story** Evil Newton X Newton (Fluff) A day and night fun time with the Newtons ~Morning~ Newton runs and jumps on his lover E. Newton as he tries to sleep in their bed. "Good mornin ol' chap! You need to wake up!" He hops off and pulls open the curtains letting in blinding bright sunlight. This causes E. Newton to hiss and fall off the bed. "Ugh! Newton dear. You know I hate that." He groans and looks up at him. His boyfriend chuckles and strolls back out of the room. "Rise n shine my jelly bean. I have breakfast waiting for us in the dining room and let you know what our plans are today. So up and at em!" E. Newton groans as his head plops back on the floor feeling of defeat. "Fiiinnneee..." He gets up and drags himself to the dining room. On the table rests plateful of different foods. Plump chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and cheese egg omelette, and home fries. E. Newton stares in awe at the yummy smelling food. "You made all this? That's...n-n-" he tries to hold back a gag. "Ni-ni-..." He inhales a deep breath. "Thank you." E. Newton clears his throat and takes a seat next to Newton. The happier Newton sits down too and starts munching on the food he made. "So, I thought we could go see a movie. Then walk around the mall for some new things. And then I'd like to go to dinner and then walk around the park." He lists. E. Newton rests his head on his hand and eats as he half listens and half tones out what Newton was blabbering about. "Greeeaaattt. Just what I wanted to do is deal with people." He sighs as he brings up the food to his mouth. His boyfriend notices E. Newton's lack of excitement about the day. An idea pops into his head and he leaves the room and comes back a few moments later with a cup of special coffee. "Here. I made this with for you. It has a few sparks for flavor." He smiles with glee. Taking the cup and looking at it, Newton notices a dark blush appears on his lit face. "Thank you dear. I love it." He smiles again as he watches him take a drink. ~Afternoon~ E. Newton groans as they sit down in the theater. Newton picked the new Slenderman movie and E. Newton hates scary movies. Not because they were scary but because he thinks they're stupid. During the film they both munch on popcorn and E. Newton eats his Junior Mints candy. A huge jumpscare pops up that makes Newton jump and scream while grabbing onto his boyfriend's arm. E. Newton smirks at him and wraps his around his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm here baby." He soothes. Newton looks up at him and smiles feeling more safe and secure. After the movie they walk through out the busy mall. E. Newton groans because he hates malls and large crowds. Newton gladly skips around between the stores. One store in particular catches his eyes, Hot Topic. "By golly this is a sight! Let's go inside and look around." E. Newton looks over at the store across from Hot Topic. He looks back at his lover. "I'm going to check something out. You go ahead and I'll meet you at the Twisted Bake." He kisses Newton's cheek and walks off. Newton nods and goes into the store. He starts looking around at the goth clothes, band t-shirts, and many accessories for sale. Newton ends up buying a t-shirt that says 'I don't wanna Taco about it' with a sad cartoon taco on it. He skips out of the store and waits on a bench for his boyfriend. After a few moments E. Newton walks back to Newton holding a 'Build-A-Bear Workshop' box. Newton looks at him curiously. "What cha got there?" He questions him as he points to the box he is holding. His lover hands it over to him. "Here. I bought this for you." He explains. "Go ahead and open it." E. Newton smirks at him. Newton takes the box and opens it excitedly. When it's open, there lays a brown teddy bear with a black suit and a cute little top hat. "Awww! I love it!" Newton exclaims and jumps up giving him a huge hug. E. Newton pats his back since hugs makes him uncomfortable. "Good I'm glad. Let's go to dinner now. I'm feeling extremely uncomfortable here." ~Evening~ After a fulfilling and delicious dinner of Korean barbecue, E. Newton and Newton stand in line at an ice cream stand before they want to go to the park. E. Newton starts growing a bit restless being out in public. They finally get to the front of the line up to the window. "I would like a chocolate chip and M&M waffle cone and he would like just plain chocolate." Newton points to his boyfriend behind him. E. Newton smiles a bit. He loves how his boyfriend knows exactly what he likes. The ice cream guy nods and takes the money while placing the order. A few moments later they receive their ice cream. As Newton turns to walk towards the park he accidentally bumps into someone a bit bigger than him. "Oh! Sorry ol chum. I didn't see ya there." He bows politely. The man he bumped into scorns him harshly. "You punk! Watch where you're going!" The man scolds. E. Newton glares at this random person yelling at his boyfriend over a trivial accident. "I...umm." Newton manages to stutter out. Newton's lover steps in between them. "Hey. It was an accident. He apologized so step off." "Oh really shorty? Just what are you going to do?" The man pushes Newton's arm, making him stumble a bit. E. Newton's light glows purple as he throws his fist back and punches the man square in the jaw. The man falls down in a daze holding his jaw. E. Newton quickly grabs his lover's hand and they rush towards the park. An hour passes as they sit on a metal bench looking at the beautiful illuminated swan statue that rests on top of the fountain. "That was nice of you, but you didn't have to do that." Newton explains. "I know. But I felt threatened and I was scared for you. I had to made sure you were protected." He smiles at his lover and pulls him into a hug. Newton smiles and rests his head on his shoulder. "Thank you. So, same thing tomorrow?" He jokes. E. Newton chuckles at his remark. "You know it." Requested by: @the-imaginative-potato Hope you like it! Sorry it took so long :) also I tried something different with the type of story!

[chocobro-hijinks]

Chocobros ordering ice cream

Noctis

would get a Phoenix Orange creamsicle because he couldn’t be bothered to decide on any one flavor

strangely likes to have ice cream on cold days

“it balances the body heat to the outside temperature” he’d say

the lack of science behind it bothers the others but they say nothing about it

he’s awkward enough as it is, no need to nitpick his excuses on the few occasions he allows himself to indulge in food

besides it’s always funny watching him try to figure out what to do with the stick once they’re in the car and there’s no where to put the trash

Prompto

first considers ordering a massive Leide Mango and Ulwaat Berry ice cream sundae with roasted almonds, syrup and shaved chocolate

is reminded by Ignis that he’s gonna get fat

doesn’t want to get fat

so the sad chocoboy settles for vanilla-mango-swirl in a waffle cone

it looks good on camera tho!

"(ง •̀_•́) IM DOING IT IM ADULTING

Gladio

orders whatever is on sale and eats it like any other food

just straight up bite and chew

popsicle? bite that mofo

vanilla in a cone? bite that mofo

shaved ice? spoon and chew that mofo

his teeth are made of diamond ore

would rather eat something hot than something cold

give him a shot of Ebony or a cup of noodles and he’ll savor every sip

but ice? nah

tastes good on a hot day tho so count him in whenever

Ignis

orders anything new he hadn’t tried before

Cactuar juice and mint frozen yogurt? he’ll have that

Ravatogh mountain yams on shaved ice? yes please

he’ll even try your experimental Galdin Quay sea salt soft serve

what’s this i hear about Old Lestalum carrot puree used as ice cream in mochi? give it to me!

always orders it in a tiny pot tho

never in a cone

it’ll ruin his gloves and drip everywhere

besides, it’s more civilized to use a spoon

except for when the others want to have a taste and there’s only one spoon

he will give them all the test tastes they want because if they like it he might want to recreate it for them later

at some point it stops being a taste test and he’ll end up with someone’s bland chocolate ice cream cone or someone’s licked Jetty’s Popsickle and none of his actual order

he says nothing

he lets them have all of his ice cream

he never liked cold foods to begin with

Bonus Ravus

Says he doesn’t like ice cream or cold foods or happiness in general

actually craves the cold jello shots the maid used to make with honey, collected from bees living around Tenebrae’s wild flower fields

The town doesn’t produce honey anymore, not even after Luna planted that whole field

the bees just never came back

honey from other regions make him simply gag

he screams internally whenever he is offered something cold or sweet

(for fucks sake)

(just stop giving me your awful commoner treats)

(i’d rather eat a malboro’s entire ass)

“No thank you, I am on official business.”