#if u somehow see this despite all that u have my permission to click through and read you were clearly meant to read it

[lsilvertongue]

On Nostalgia (continue reading)

[hwas-housewife]

Perfect U

Yoon Jeonghan x Reader

Word Count: 1.1k words

Summary: When Jeonghan comes home to a crying Y/N, he finds his own way of comforting her. 

Warning: pure, unadulterated crackhead Jeonghan. You have been warned 

A/N: this is a crack seventeen alternative of my other drabble, Support Squad. Special thanks to @nomnomsik and @kimseokmomjins for filling my head with crackhead ideas all the time, this one’s for you~

~~~~~

Your body shook as you choked out yet another sob in your attempt to quiet down your crying.

It had already been twenty minutes since the beginning of your breakdown, and the last thing you wanted was for Jeonghan to come home from practicing all day to this.

His girlfriend of over a year, crumbled on the ground in the middle of their shared bathroom, sobbing uncontrollably.

It started slowly, stemming from a prolonged look in the mirror. You originally wandered into the bathroom to brush through your knotted hair, for it had been a mess since you woke up three hours prior, and you had yet to touch it.

Grabbing the hairbrush from its location on the counter, you stood in front of the mirror on the door and began to brush through your hair.

Sadly, your hair decided it would refuse to cooperate today. No matter how many times you ran the brush through your hair, it never seemed to settle right on your head. One brush after the other, your hair just didn’t seem to fit your face.

From there, your gaze wandered elsewhere on your body. You squished your face a few times, noticing a couple of blemishes blossoming on your face and a few too many hairs around your brow bone. Your face morphed into one of disgust as you released your cheeks.

You looked at your arms, which just didn’t seem to fit the proportions you swore they used to be. They looked wrong for your body. Too long, perhaps? After that, you began to come to acknowledge how nothing on your body seemed to feel right.

Nothing looked particularly desirable. You weren’t a supermodel for goodness sake. You’re just a normal girl, who somehow managed to score one of the biggest idols to ever exist, as your boyfriend.

And that’s when the tears, which you didn’t even notice were already trickling down your face, morphed into a full-on breakdown.

How could anyone like you if you looked like this? How could your boyfriend like you like this?

Your body slowly sank to the floor, where it has remained for all of your breakdown. The cold tile of the bathroom floor underneath you has long since numbed your bare legs.

Your thought spirals, like this one, are not uncommon events. On the contrary, these spirals are something that has led to many late-night conversations with Jeonghan about the most random topics. But it would suffice to say that this was one of the most negative, and dramatic spiral yet.

You were so in your head about trying to stop crying before Jeonghan came home, that you didn’t even hear the click of the front door unlocking, or the padding of his footsteps as he approached you.

“Y/N?” Hannie knocked lightly on the bathroom, already hearing the muffled cries behind the door, “Can I come in?”

The sound of his voice was like a cold hard slap back into reality. You rushed to stand up, a big mistake since your legs were fast asleep below you. A series of loud sounds followed as you tried to regain footing, alarming you and Jeonghan.

Frightened by the aggressive sounds, Hannie entered the bathroom without your permission. A sigh of relief left his lips once he entered, as his eyes quickly glanced over your body for injuries and found none.

The relief didn’t last long, though, seeing your puffed eyes and tear-stained face.

“Y/N, baby, what’s wrong?”

His question echoed in the bathroom, which for some reason feels way smaller than you remembered it ever being. A moment of silence past as you stood there, your arms circling your midsection, before another sob escaped through your cracked lips.

Warmth engulfed your entire frame within seconds, as Hannie wrapped his body around yours. His entire frame surrounded your small one with a comfort that you welcomed openly.

For a few minutes, the two of you just stood there. Jeonghan rocked you back and forth, shushing you as a few more stray tears escaped from beyond your eyes.

Once you were calm enough to speak, you buried your head deeper into his chest and rushed out a few muffled words.

“Could you please say that again, angel? I didn’t quite hear you,” Hannie’s soft voice reverberated in his chest, mixing in with his heartbeat you were focusing in on.

Reluctantly, you pried your head away from his torso to stare meekly at the ground.

“Why do you love me? I’m not even as pretty as the other idols,” your voice might have felt small, but Jeonghan heard it clear as day.

His body went ice cold from fear and worry coursing through his veins.

“Is that what this is about? Do you think I don’t love you Y/N?”

He gently grabbed your face in his gentle hand, tilting it upwards so he can meet your eyes. All you gave him was a weak, defeated nod.

“Angel, I have so much to say, but I can’t seem to organize myself,” his words escaped his lips with a sign and ghost of a smile, “What I wanted to say is that on one fine day, you magically appeared and took my heart and attracted my eyes.”

Han made eye contact with you, noticing your wide-eyed stare, and decided to continue.

“We chose each other, Y/N, and when I see you, it's breathtaking. Normally I'm not like this, but I want to show you myself without hiding anything. What kind of expression can deliver my heart? Should I take my heart out to copy and paste on you?”

At those words, Jeonghan’s slender finger booped your nose, the ghost of a smile now on full display for you to see.

Tears began to well in your eyes for a second time, but this time from laughing. Jeonghan gave you a puzzled look.

“Aren’t those just the Pretty U lyrics, Han?”

A wide smile graced his face as he chose his next words carefully.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I can’t see anything but you. You’re so ice ice baby.--”

You cut your idiot of a boyfriend off and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Too obvious?”

“Thank you. I really needed that, despite you stealing those words from the others,” you whispered back.

He then laid a gentle kiss to the crown of your head. Jeonghan’s smirk gave away what he was up to as you listened to his next few words carefully.

“You’re perfect Y/N. One could say you’re a perfect u.”

The apartment echoed with yours and Jeonghan’s laughter for the remainder of the night.

[lifemuchgreener]

Brothers Trust - Chapter 9

STORY SUMMARY: You enter the Brothers Trust contest on a whim, not expecting to win. But what happens when you do?

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Your plans for the summer change suddenly when you don’t get a good grade in one of your classes and have to retake it as a summer class. Everything is going okay until an exposé is published about your relationship with Tom just days before the premiere of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

WARNINGS: Swearing and ANGST.

WORD COUNT: 1744

AUTHOR’S NOTE: 👀👀👀 also: Y/C/N refers to the name of the college or university you go to for the sake of this story. 

Prologue: here

Chapter/Day One: here

Chapter/Day Two: here

Chapter/Day Three: here

Chapter/Day Four: here

Chapter Five: here

Chapter Six: here

Chapter Seven: here

Chapter Eight: here

Your second semester of school flies by even faster than the first semester did. Maintaining a long distance relationship with one of the world’s current most popular actors, keeping up with all of your classes, and finding time for anything else is not an easy feat but you manage. At least you think you do.

“Yes!” your roommate exclaims loudly which startles you from packing up things on your desk. “Grades were just uploaded.”

She’s been refreshing her laptop browser for the last hour and a half, eagerly waiting to see what her final grades are. You’re not too worried so you’ve decided to get some packing done but you figure a five minute break to check your grades won’t hurt.

You open up your laptop, log into your student account, and click the link that will take you to your grades.

“Holy fuck,” you say, staring at the one unimpressive letter in front of your eyes.

“What’s wrong?” your roommate asks.

“I, uh.” You swallow hard, your throat suddenly feeling dry. “I got a D.”

She’s silent for a moment. “Ah, well...at least that’s a passing grade?”

You shake your head. “It’s a class for my major -- it doesn’t count. I don’t get credit. Fuck.”

She instantly tries to do some damage control. “What’s the course number? I’ll see if they’re offering it over the summer.”

You tell her the number and close your eyes as she does a search. This can’t be happening.

“They’re offering it over the summer,” she says. “It’s going to be okay. You can just take it again without disrupting your four-year plan.”

“Summer classes are so expensive. And it costs a lot of money to stay on campus during the summer, too -- I can’t afford that.”

“Move in with Andrew and me,” she says. “We’ve already signed the lease for an apartment nearby. He’s taking a couple of summer classes to get ahead and I’m staying in the area for my internship with the local newspaper. We were going to look for a third person to split the apartment with anyway.”

“Who’s Andrew?”

“That guy that tried to ask you out last semester,” she says. “We, uh, took a class together this semester and we’ve been dating for a few months. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it to be weird.”

You haven’t really talked to Andrew since that party in November. That’s why you don’t remember his name -- who needs Andrew when your boyfriend is Tom Holland?

“Could I? Is that okay?” you ask.

She smiles at you. “I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t okay.”

So you move from your dorm room into a cute little apartment down the street with your roommate and your roommate’s boyfriend, who just so happens to be the same guy who asked you out on a date during your first semester. The first month together goes smoothly despite this: you enjoy meals together at the tiny kitchen table, you have movie marathons, you binge-watch Netflix.

It’s the end of June when shit hits the fan.

You wake up to the consistent buzzing of your phone which is extremely annoying; it’s a Friday and you’d like to sleep in because your class only meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Normally when you post a selfie or something you’ll wake up with a few hundred notifications -- some of Tom’s fans still like and comment on every new picture you post despite the contest being nearly ten months ago. But you haven’t posted a picture recently which is what confuses you.

You unlock your phone and check Instagram to see what all the fuss is about since that’s where the majority of the notifications are coming from. Tom Holland fan accounts are tagging you in photos, which isn’t anything new, but it’s the actual photos that they’re tagging you in that make your heart skip a beat. They’re photos that nobody would have access to except for you and Tom.

Tom kissing your cheek. You kissing his. Your fingers intertwined. A selfie you took with Tom and Tessa. All photos you had taken together when you visited for New Years and had printed out on special paper in the school library so you could put them on your wall next to your signed picture with him.

Your first thought is that someone hacked into the school’s printing system somehow and released the photos on Tumblr or maybe one of the Reddit threads that has to do with Marvel. But then you notice that all the comments on the pictures are talking about some sort of article. You figure that doing some investigating will be easier to do on a bigger screen so you grab your laptop and do a search in Google for ‘tom holland girlfriend 2019.’

The first result is for some magazine that you have never heard of. The article in particular, titled “Tom Holland Has A Secret Girlfriend...OMG!” was evidently posted three hours ago. You click on the link and immediately begin to read.

Move over Zendaya...Tom Holland’s got a new girl! But is she really that new?

Her name is Y/F/N Y/L/N and she’s a student at Y/C/N. You may recognize her from this picture--

There’s a break in the paragraph to show the picture of you and Tom that Nikki had taken on the day you visited the Far From Home set.

--because she was the winner from a contest put on by an organization created by the Holland family back in the summer of 2018. Holland and Y/L/N started a long distance relationship in the fall and she spent a portion of her winter vacation at his place in London.

There’s another picture. This time it’s you and Tom laying in his bed post-sex. Both of you are topless and while the sheets are covering your chest, it’s pretty obvious that you two had just been at it: your hair is disheveled and your lips are more colored than normal from kissing. Beads of sweat glisten on Tom’s hairline and there’s a lovely flush across his cheeks as he presses a kiss to your bare shoulder.

You’re instantly infuriated. How fucking dare someone post such an intimate picture of you two without your permission? You scroll back up to the top of the page instead of continuing to read and your eyes widen with surprise when you find the byline.

You push yourself off of your bed and throw open the door of your tiny bedroom. Your heart is beating fast as you check the small living room and kitchen. The bathroom door is open and nobody is in the shower. Without a second thought you throw open their bedroom door, not caring what you’ll find on the other side.

But that’s empty too. There’s no sign of her or him.

“Fuck!” you swear loudly, tears starting to spill from your eyes. You fist your hands into your hair and let out an angry scream. “How fucking could she?”

You double over onto the floor like you’ve been punched in the stomach. You’re pretty sure a punch would hurt less than this betrayal of trust from a person you thought was your friend. You continue to cry and scream, pounding your fists against the carpeted floor. You’re grateful that nobody lives below you.

You stop crying when you hear the sound of your phone ringing in your bedroom. You pick yourself up off of the floor and sulk to your room, a whole new wave of tears coming over you when you see that it’s Tom who’s calling.

“I’m so sorry,” you sob into the phone, trying to control your voice the best you can. “Tommy, I’m so sorry.”

“Shh,” he says and even though you feel like the world is falling apart, his voice still manages to comfort you.

“I didn’t know she would,” you take a deep shaky breath. “I don’t know why…”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” he says. “It happened and now we have to do some damage control. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Well, I’m not okay.”

He sighs. “I mean, like, I wanted to make sure she didn’t have a knife to you or something.”

“She doesn’t. I can’t even find her. She’s not in the apartment.”

“You need to get out of there,” he advises. “I don’t want there to be a confrontation between you two. Go to a coffee shop or a park or something. Just get out of the apartment before she gets back.”

You put Tom on speakerphone as you get ready to leave.

“How do we do damage control?” you ask.

“I’ll take care of it,” he says. “I’m going to talk to everyone I know and see what they think I should do because babe, I know it might sound like I know what I’m doing, but I totally don’t. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before and I want to get advice on what to do.”

“So what do I do?”

“I need you to wait,” he says. “Don’t reply to anything yet. I’ll text you as soon as I figure out what to do.”

“Fuck, Tom, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault so stop apologizing. Lay low for a little bit. I’ll send you a message as soon as I come up with a plan.”

“Okay,” you say. “I can do that.”

“Good.” You can hear him smile through the phone despite the stressful situation. “I’ll talk to you later.”

You hang up the phone and dry your eyes off with the sleeves on your shirt. You grab your phone charger, apartment keys, and bag before heading out the door. Your feet lead you to a little coffee place not too far away and you sit at a table in the back, attempting to distract yourself with games on your phone as you impatiently wait for Tom’s message.

What do you think about joining me for the movie premiere on Monday?

Your fingers dance across your phone screen as you write back your reply of: That’s the plan you’ve come up with?

Will you or won’t you? Harrison’s already arranged for an Uber to pick you up and drive you to the airport and if we don’t cancel it within the next minute they’ll still charge him.

Yes, you type back. Yes. I’ll go with you.

Good. See you tonight, love.

Taglist: @deadlyaffairs, @strrwberries, @le-papillon-chatoyant, @smexylemony, @carolborges890, @ineedsomemoremetime, @loxbbg, @mac-demarco1, @howdycharlie, @rebekahs-worlds-blog, @parkersvinyl, @ballerinaphan, @lovesdeath, @tom-hollands-eyelash, @supercool-holland, @tomspideyweb, @literallygooutofmyfreakingmind, @corteousdolan, @iwillalwaysbevictorious, @simplechicwithacrazedheart, @allofthebitters, @julliene0806, @kittyisabel, @aliceinwhateverland, @tomshollanddarling, @emmyfignewton, @hollandfangirl, @tommyswolves, @saintlystark, @imthwipped, and @kristyesteven

[hiyo-silver]

"What's Up You Guys It's Me, Bdenbrough!" - Quarry Vlog ft. MY FRIENDS

Summary: Bill films a short video with Stan, Eddie and Richie at the quarry.

Chap 1 + AO3 + My Masterlist

Taglist: @fuckboykaspbrak @thesquidliesthuman @starboystan @rachi0964 @ahoybyeler  @beepbeep-losers @bigbilliamdenbro @jalenrose1122 @sleepygaybrough @itandstrangerthingsfanfic @boopboopbichie @peachywyatt @aizeninlefox @sockwantstodie @chaotictozier 

Bill looks down at himself in the camera viewfinder, chewing his lip anxiously before he even turns it on. He clicks the on button, toying with the straps of his swimsuit top.

"Hey g-guys! It's m-me, bdenbrough," he says with a small smile, pushing his ponytailed hair off his shoulder to hang down his back instead. "Today I'm d-doing a vl-vl-vlog!" He announces, still looking a little uncomfortable filming this intro.

"You're g-going to m-meet my friends, we're gonna sw-swim at the quarry today," he explains, picking up the camera to hold it up in line with his face.

"S-sorry for not u-uploading for s-so long, m-my parents d-don't know ab-bout m-my channel and they're o-out today. They're t-taking Georgie t-to the dentist, he's s-such a l-little booger," Bill chuckles, smirking playfully for the camera.

He starts walking down the stairs, huffing right into the camera unprofessionally. He reaches the bottom slipping on his pink flip flops that his mom had purchased for him at the local Payless shoe store.

He smiles to the camera. "N-now for the walk t-to the quarry," he smiles, turning the camera clumsily away from his face to the view ahead of him, planning hopefully to put some music over this part.

He films past town, nearly tripping over his slightly too big sandals. His mom is all about buying them big so they'll fit for longer, though they never seem to last to the point of fitting just right before he goes through another sudden growth spurt.

He pays specific attention to filming the trees and the squirrels and sometimes zooming in far onto towns people's faces if he thought their expression was silly. He finds that filming makes everything more interesting because now he's thinking about entertaining more than just himself, which by default makes him notice more things that could be entertaining.

He finally arrives at the quarry, his frizzy curls hopefully still held back in the loose ponytail he'd rushed out before he'd left the house. He walks up, being the only one there so far. Richie probably being distracted by random small animals, Stan likely paying close attention to the cracks in the sidewalk, and Eddie's mom probably being her awful self and venting to him all the reasons he shouldn't hang out with this group of kids.

Bill settles himself on the end of the cliff's edge, filming the sparkle the sun leaves on the water. He even slips off his flip flops and sets them on the dirt ground behind himself, kicking his feet on camera, showing the audience his chipped toenail polish that he's really tried to remove but failed miserably.

He hears some talking behind him, turning quickly, stopping the camera and putting it on the ground quickly so he could explain to what seems to be Eddie and Stan what his goal is today. "H-hey guys!" He says, pushing himself to his feet to greet them.

"Nice swimsuit," Eddie teases, poking Bill's bare but fully freckled shoulder. He knows Bill isn't very feminine for what he considers a girl, them still only being around ten years old. He's always surprised to see Bill in the forced pink that he only wears when it's his only option.

Bill sticks out his tongue in response, "I'm t-taking some video t-today for my YouTube ch-channel, is th-that okay?" He asks, not wanting to post something without their permission, though he plans to edit it to show them best.

"Yeah, as long as my mother can't see it," Eddie chuckles, taking his shirt off carefully, slipping off his own sandals to be ready for the water.

"Where's the trashmouth? It's too quiet," Stan chuckles softly to himself, his sense of humor too mature for most of his friends to understand. He's a lot like his mother, quiet and sophisticated, and he makes the same jokes.

"He's probably trying to ch-chase a squirrel," Eddie giggles, covering his mouth with a cupped hand that only amplifies and muffles the sound of his childish laughter.

Stan joins in laughing, nudging Eddie with his shoulder, "God, you're an ass," he says in a hushed voice, looking around them in the irrational fear that somehow an adult could hear them.

Just then, as if he could sense he was being talked about, the unruly blonde boy pops up into the clearing, "Ya miss me?" He calls to the group, patting Eddie's bare shoulder just a little too hard in his excitement.

"Speak of t-the devil," Bill laughs to himself, pushing Richie slightly away from Eddie for his shorter friend's own good.

"Asshole!" Eddie shrieks, pushing Richie himself, having always been firey and good at defending himself despite the fact that Richie never means harm, he's just a bit too much sometimes.

Bill walks over to grab his camera quickly, hoisting it up onto his shoulder to point at his three best friends. "S-say hi to th-the camera y-you dinguses," he giggles.

Richie immediately brightens, throwing his hands up in excitement, "Who's this video for?" He asks loudly, already making faces and trying to look handsome for the camera.

"Y-youtube," Bill tells him with a sure nod, "To m-make us famous," he jokes, turning the camera to Stan and Eddie next. "Th-these are Stan and E-Eddie, they're my other fr-friends," he tells, the smile evident in his voice.

Richie grins, "Roight my fine friends," he says, patting Stan and Eddie's backs, tearing off his shirt and shoes and immediately making a mad dash for the cliff, gesturing to Bill to film him jumping down to the water below. He doesn't look as cool as he wants to, flailing and screaming loud enough for the camera to pick up.

Everyone on the ground still starts giggling madly as soon as they hear him clumsily belly flop onto the surface of the water with a low groan. They walk up carefully to look over the edge at him, Bill letting the camera view the scene as well.

"Y'g-good, Richie?" Bill calls, creasing his eyebrows when it takes a few moments for Richie to pop back up from the water.

Richie dramatically shoots up from the water with a teasing grin, "Haha! Got you!" He shouts, feeling entirely like he's the most hilarious dude of Earth for scaring them.

"Asshole!" Eddie yells, cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify his sound

"Bitch boy!" Bill yells, a usual insult of his, which is what the girls at school often calls the boys and he's eventually picked up on.

Stan is quiet, still working through the original worry, working through it as if he's in a state of grief about it, he really does care about his friends more than he lets on.

Eddie looks to his right, "You good, Stanny?" He asks softly, putting his hand on Stan's shoulder which makes him jump a little before taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says with a sweet smile back to him, patting his shoulder in return, "Ready to jump?" He asks Eddie, his own type of playful smirk taking over his face.

Bill nods to them, stepping back with the camera upon his shoulder to get the scene on camera, smiling to them when he's ready, getting them jumping right off the cliff holding hands, it's quite aesthetic if Bill would say so himself.

Next, Bill shuts off the camera and sets it down, running his own to jump down and meet the others, feeling the water engulf him, the water filling his ears, making a face to himself as he pops back up.

They all look at each other with matching grins, nearly all splashing each other all at once, erupting into childish giggles, their favorite time of summer when they can all act like kids.

They spend hours and hours going crazy in the water. They dunk each other under, not doing it to Bill though because they've been told by their parents that they shouldn't, which gives Bill free game to jump them under the water all he wants without retaliation.

They get out of the water fully sunburnt, everyone but Eddie whose mother insisted in lathering him with the strong sunscreen she could find.

They rub at their backs, cringing at the soreness and the heat, Bill walks right up to the family camera that he uses to film, making sure his hands are dry. He aims it in front of his face, "Hi again! Th-the video was sh-short but taking a camera i-in the water means trouble," he says with a shy smile, looking back at the others, "g-guys! S-say bye to the s-subscribers with m-me!" He shouts, gesturing for them to come closer.

They all gather around, they always listen to Bill, he's always been a bit of a leader, simply for how demanding he can be. The all wave, attempting to all shout 'Bye!' at once but it ends as a layered chorus of chaos.

"See y-you next time," Bill says, going to shut the camera quickly, holding it close to himself for the walk home, slipping on his shoes again before saying real goodbyes to the group.

[mackinmacki]

Designer Flaw

Rating: K+

Word Count: 3325

Summary: Kanan gets ready for a first date with Dia, featuring Mari making Kanan take her advice.

Pairing: KanaDia

Notes: Happy birthday, Kanan!

Links: (FFN) | (AO3)

"So, what do you think?" Kanan came out of the closet, a proud look on her face. Mari, on the other hand, was immediately scrutinizing her, looking her up and down.

"Hmm... Kanan, do you take constructive criticism?"

"Sure. Lay it on me."

"Your outfit is ugly."

"That's not constructive." Kanan sighed, dropping down to the floor. This was getting hopeless. Every time she came out in a new outfit, Mari shot it down in no uncertain terms. At this rate, she was going to run out of outfits. "What's wrong with it this time?"

"For starters, wearing a shirt with fish on it on a first date is a big no-no. You look like a walking aquarium. Where did you even get sky blue jeans anyway?"

"They were on sale."

"There was a reason for that." Mari sighed and clicked her tongue, stepping over Kanan and walking into her closet. She began to browse the rest of the outfits, wondering why she let Kanan have a choice in the matter for this long anyway. "Islander shirts, tie dye shirts... Hmm, really Kanan? Underwear with dolphins on them?"

"Stop looking through my underwear drawer!" Kanan snatched the underwear out of Mari's hands and threw it back into the drawer, thoroughly embarrassed. "How can there not be a single outfit in here that you approve of? Even though I'm going on a date with Dia, not you."

"That's the thing, Kanan! Dia is a highly fashionable person. Like myself I might add." Mari always seemed so haughty when she talked about fashion. "What if I hadn't been here and you'd gone on that date in those ugly green overalls and those, those... things?" She pointed derisively at a pair of crocs next to Kanan's feet. "I couldn't ever admit to anyone that we were friends again."

"You're overreacting, Mari. I doubt Dia is as picky about clothes as you are. Besides, there's nothing wrong with crocs!"

"They went out of style the moment they were conceptualized." Mari kept going through Kanan's clothing, desperate to find anything at this point to prove that Kanan didn't shop with her eyes closed. "I'm going to burn all these clothes, okay? Starting with your clown pants."

"Don't you dare." Kanan narrowed her eyes, unsure if Mari was being serious or not. Sometimes it was hard to tell. "If you do that, I won't have anything to wear!"

"That actually might be a good idea. Just go naked. I'd bet she'd like that."

"Mari!" Kanan blushed and hid her face in her hands. She was regretting asking Mari for help with getting ready for her date. This wasn't worth the advice she might end up getting. She just wanted to look good and impress Dia on their first date. Dia was so beautiful and regal, somehow so much above her despite the fact that they lived in the same town. Still, she figured there was at least one outfit that would be good enough. Apparently nothing was good enough for Mari's ridiculously high standards.

"You know what? This is useless. There's not going to be anything acceptable in here." Mari stepped out of the closet and dramatically slammed the door shut, barely missing Kanan's foot. "We're going to go shopping, and since I'm such a nice, wonderful friend, I'll pay for the perfect outfit for you."

"You don't have to do that-"

"The money's nothing to me. I'm more loaded than an uzi. Now come on. Put on some real shoes and let's go shopping!"

"Alright, alright... Are you trying to say I shouldn't wear the crocs?"

"You shouldn't wear the crocs... or the uggs. Don't you dare put those on either."

"Why are we going into this store, Mari? They only sell suits."

"Because you'd look good in a suit, dummy. Dia won't be able to keep her eyes off of you." That did sound appealing... Kanan sighed and followed Mari's whims, deciding that it couldn't hurt to at least try on a suit or two. Besides, Mari was paying, so it wouldn't be her wallet taking the hit.

"Okay, so this one looks good... And this one. Oh, this will be nice!" Mari began to throw multiple outfits at Kanan, who caught all of them before they hit the ground. By the time Mari was done, Kanan could feel the weight of the clothes in her arms.

"Is all this really necessary? I don't want to have to try on all of these."

"Like you've got better things to do." Mari began pushing on Kanan's back, guiding her towards the changing rooms. "Come on, go in there and let's see what you got!"

"Alright, alright!" Kanan stepped forward, away from Mari's pushy hands and into the changing rooms. She made sure to lock the door before dropping all the suits unceremoniously on the floor. "Well, might as well get this started..."

One by one, she changed into each outfit Mari had given her, looking herself over in the mirror. She felt out of place in such fancy clothing, but if Dia might like it, then she could give it a shot. The biggest issue was with the tie. She had no idea why Mari thought she should wear a tie, and she had no idea how to tie it. Though she tried, it ended up in a strange knot that she wasn't able to remove.

"Uh, Mari? I'm having trouble with the tie."

"Unlock the door and let me in, then." Kanan did so, with Mari whistling appreciatively upon entering. "Woah mama, you look fi-i-ine!" Kanan rolled her eyes and pointed to the tie, which Mari stared at in disbelief. "How did you even do that?"

"I don't know! Can you please untie it? I can't wear this on my date!"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Mama Mari's gonna take care of it." With deft hands, she undid the knot that Kanan had accidentally created without any problems at all. "Tada!"

"Thanks, Mari... But please don't call yourself 'Mama Mari' ever again."

"No promises." Wrapping the tie back around Kanan's neck, she tied it perfectly, letting it rest comfortably against Kanan's chest. "That's perfect! You look so dashing, Kanan! Dia will be swooning for sure!"

"You really think so?" She looked herself over in the mirror, playing with the collar of her suit. She started to imagine being on that date, and having Dia unable to keep her eyes off of her. The thoughts made her smile, as well as made her cheeks turn pink. "Then we should buy this then, right?"

"Esattamente!" Mari clapped Kanan on the shoulder, scooping up the rest of the clothing and carrying it out of the changing room. "Now get changed back into your regular clothes. We've got a suit to buy!" Kanan quickly changed back into her regular clothes once the door was closed, carefully putting the outfit she had chosen back on its hangers and carrying it outside. Mari was standing just outside with a smile, the pile of clothing left haphazardly on the waiting bench.

"Mari, you can't just leave all those clothes there..."

"If you pay for the suit, I'll put them all back."

"... Never mind."

"So are you sure you don't want me to hide at another table while you're on your date? You can just say the earpiece is a hearing aid. I'm sure she'd buy that."

"I would rather you didn't do that." She was not about to have things become super awkward when Mari's cover was inevitably blown. She'd seen that one Spongebob episode enough times to know what would happen. Besides, she was sort of miffed that Mari didn't think she could do this on her own. "I'm perfectly capable of having a good date without your help."

"You say that, yet you were going to wear overalls like some kind of lime farmer. I don't know if I trust your judgement about yourself. You know, I don't even have to be there physically. I can use a drone-"

"I think we're good." Like that was going to be any better. "Thanks for the advice, Mari. The good advice, anyway. I'm going to go pick her up and take her to dinner now."

"Remember what I told you! Don't talk about dolphin mating rituals until the third date!" Blushing, Kanan left Mari's hotel and went into the parking lot to start up her truck. She wasn't going to talk about dolphin mating rituals anyway... Coelacanths, on the other hand...

She drove to the Kurosawa household, parking by the house and grabbing the flowers she had on the passenger seat. She'd had to argue with Mari about that, since Mari felt that a bouquet of diamonds would be a better thing to give to Dia. While she couldn't argue with that, she could argue that it was stupidly expensive and even a bit tacky. Mari was offended that Kanan of all people dared to call one of her ideas tacky, but she was adamant against the idea. That was one of the only things she'd gotten to choose for herself that day.

She knocked on the front door and waited, flowers in hand. Normally she wouldn't be so nervous, but this was her first-ever date, and she wanted it to go well. She wiped the sweat forming on her forehead, noticing that her hand was shaking. Curling it into a fist only made her seem angry, so she shoved it in her pocket and hoped that wasn't too informal. Then the door opened, and there stood Dia in all her gorgeous glory.

The dress she was wearing was red and modest, yet still screamed her beauty to the world. It hugged her just right, and Kanan found it hard to take her eyes off of her. "Good evening, Kanan. Are those flowers for me?" Thank God for Dia saying something, or she might've stood there gawking all night.

"Uh, yes, they are." She held them out to Dia, who took them with a soft smile.

"Thank you. They're beautiful. Do you mind if I put them in a vase before we go? You can come inside if you'd like." Kanan nodded, stepping inside with Dia's permission. Dia then left the entranceway to find a vase, leaving Kanan alone to check out the interior. Even with the small amount of the house she could see, she could tell that the Kurosawas were rich. It was a more regal richness, though. Different from Mari's way of doing things.

"U-Uh, Kanan?" Kanan jumped at the surprised voice, wondering if Dia had circled around to come back out from a different angle. But when she turned around, it was only Ruby. She breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at Dia's younger sister.

"Heya Ruby. Hope you don't mind me stealing your sister for the night."

"I-I don't mind." Ruby giggled, then looked up at Kanan with a surprisingly serious expression. "U-Uh, so..." She looked around, as if trying to make sure Dia wasn't in earshot. "S-Sis really wants you to kiss her, s-so kiss her before the date ends!"

"Wha-" But Ruby scurried away before she could inquire further, leaving Kanan confused. Dia wanted her to kiss her? Really? Woah... She was still trying to process that information, not even realizing that Dia had returned.

"Is something wrong, Kanan?" That snapped Kanan out of it. She turned to Dia, smiling sheepishly.

"No, not at all. Shall we go?" Dia nodded, then Kanan allowed her to leave the house first before following her down to the truck. She opened the passenger door for Dia like a proper gentleman, turning back to look at the Kurosawa household as Dia got inside the truck. Ruby was at the window, waving at Kanan. She gave a quick thumbs up, then ducked down to avoid being seen.

Kanan worried that everybody's expectations were going to weigh her down. She closed the passenger door and took a deep breath as she walked around to the driver's side. It was important for her to remain calm, or otherwise she'd say something stupid. She got into the truck and started to drive towards the big city, where they had a reservation for a fancy restaurant - again with Mari's help. There'd been one thing she'd at least been able to think of herself before Mari came up with it: music. She knew how much Dia loved idol music, so she got Mari to burn her a CD of Muse music that Dia would like.

"You don't have to play music just because I like it, you know?" Dia smiled, which made Kanan's heart thump a bit erratically. How could one girl be so beautiful? "Though I do appreciate it." Kanan beamed at that, happy to have done something right. Score one for the dolphin.

When they got to the restaurant, Kanan did her best to be a proper date for Dia. She held open both the car and restaurant doors, and pulled out Dia's chair for her. It wasn't that she didn't do these kinds of things, but it felt weird to be doing them in a date context. She'd been friends with Dia for all these years, and now they were on a date. It was too easy to want to slip back into the old, comfortable ways they always interacted. That wasn't very formal, though. She did her best to act like she knew Dia would appreciate.

"You look nice in that suit, Kanan. It really fits you."

"Thank you! That dress is really lovely on you." It took all of her efforts to not say that the suit really suited her. She felt that kind of restraint earned her at least one cookie, maybe two.

"I was hoping you'd like it." Dia's cheeks went pink, but she was saved from further explanation by the waiter, who came and took their drink orders. The one thing that didn't change with them on a date was that they were able to easily converse with each other. That was the benefit of knowing someone for years: there was usually something to talk about. She didn't even mention anything about mating. Not one time. Though she couldn't help but talk about sea life once or five times. It was something she knew a lot about. Thankfully, Dia's family business had a lot to do with the water as well, so the conversation wasn't entirely one-sided.

Normally, Kanan wasn't much for fancy foods. She knew that Dia and Mari were more diverse with their palates, but hers was more seafood-driven. However, this menu had a nice selection of seafood that she could choose from, saving her the embarrassment of having to ask if they had a kids menu. They chatted happily until the food came, then they started to dig in.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Kanan sighed happily, taking another bite of her food. Her eating wasn't quite as delicate as Dia's was, but that fact was never brought up. Dia just smiled and nodded, more than aware of Kanan's more casual eating habits. It didn't really bother her.

"It's quite exquisite. I'm glad you're enjoying your meal, Kanan." When they finished their meals, Kanan tried to pay for it all, since she was the one who had asked Dia out on a date, but Dia wasn't having it. Even though her wallet begged her to take the deal Dia was giving her, she still tried to insist on paying it. Dia wasn't one to not get her way, though, so they ended up splitting the bill. Kanan wasn't sure how romantic that was, but her wallet gave her a prayer of thanks all the same.

On the drive home, Kanan began to think about what Ruby had said earlier. She had put the thought of kissing out of her mind, but now that their date was almost over, it was front and center in her brain. This left her with one chance to kiss Dia, which apparently she wanted. Oh man... She'd thought about kissing Dia before. Maybe a bit too much starting in high school. Now that she actually had the chance, she was nervous. Maybe she should have practiced kissing before going on this date.

She would occasionally glance over at Dia, usually finding her staring back. Dia would smile, and she would blush and look back at the road. Was she even a good kisser? Well, she was going to find out. Unless Dia didn't tell her... Now she was sweating again, stressing out over something as simple as a kiss. She was playing herself here.

Parking by the Kurosawa's house, Kanan got out with intentions to open Dia's door, but she'd already opened it and stepped out before Kanan got there. She smiled awkwardly, suddenly unsure of what to do with her hands. They were walking up to the door, and she was going back and forth in her mind about what to do. God, why was she overthinking this? She'd never been this way around Dia before. Even when she was crushing hard, it hadn't been this difficult to make a decision.

They were at the door when she made her decision. Dia was saying something - "I had a really nice time, Kanan" - but Kanan was having a hard time paying attention. She could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, and before she could chicken out, she cupped Dia's cheeks in her hands and dipped in for a kiss. It was quick and a little sloppy, but it left Dia dazed all the same when Kanan pulled back. Her heart was still pounding like a drum in her ears. She was sure Dia could hear it.

"Well... You certainly are bold, aren't you?" Dia smiled, a light blush on her face as she looked at Kanan. There was a hint of shyness in her gaze. "Will you do it again?" Perking up instantly, Kanan nodded hard and swooped back in to kiss Dia again. This kiss was longer, and Kanan swore she could hear bells ringing louder than her heart. She wasn't sure if she was having aural hallucinations or Mari had snuck up on them and started ringing bells to mess with them.

"That was nice," Kanan murmured dumbly, a big, goofy smile on her face. "Does that mean you want to go on another date?"

"Why don't you ask me properly, and maybe I'll say yes?"

"O-Oh, right! Will you go on another date with me, Dia?"

"Hmm..." Dia rubbed her chin in thought, leaving Kanan to sweat it out for a moment longer. "Come up with an idea for our next date, and I'll be happy to go on another date with you." She smiled warmly, kissing Kanan on the cheek. "Thank you for the date. It was very nice. Call me, okay?" Kanan just nodded dumbly, watching as Dia went inside.

She might have stood there like an idiot until the sprinklers came on, until a phone call broke her from her stupor. She answered it in a daze, not even looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Kanan! Did your date go well?" Mari's shrill, excited voice burst through the speakers. Kanan had to pull the phone away from her ear to avoid going partially deaf.

"Uh, yeah, yeah it did. It went great, actually. Really great."

"That's great! That kiss was pretty steamy, huh? Glad you listened to little Wooby. Use some tongue next time!"

"Wh-What?" Kanan blushed, staring at the phone in shock. "How did you know that?!"

"Look up." She did so, and saw a robo-looking thing flying above her, a lens pointing directly at her. "Say hi to my drone, Miss Peekaboo!"

"Mari, I'm going to destroy your drone with a rock." She looked down to start trying to find something to throw at it.

"No, not Miss Peekaboo! Kanan, no!"