#in a perfect world it would've been done two week ago

[silverskye13]

Oh I'm going to make you take responsibility, holy shit I will not be able to sleep thinking about this. Oh. Oooohh you will pay for this.

In other news, do expect me to make art of this hypothetical. I am mentally being absorbed by this concept - Dove

You know that feeling you get where you're walking down the stairs, and you just don't pick your back foot up quite enough, and you don't exactly trip and fall down the stairs, but you do stumble, and it makes your stomach do a flip because, oh boy, that was close, and now your ankle hurts a little, and you're going to have to intentionally focus on picking up your feet for the rest of the stairs, because if you're not careful you're going to break your neck on the staircase?

[allthelovehes]

Field Day Reunion* | Part 2

Summary: Harry finally takes Y/N home when Charlie is with his grandmother for the night.

Pairing: Singledad!Harry x Teacher!Y/N

Word count: 5K

Warnings: Lovemaking, oral f receiving, eager babies, exes to lovers?

A/N: I imagine Harry and Y/N to be British in this universe, so they went to highschool from age 11 - 16(ish) and college from 16 - 20(ish). Idk why but I felt the need to specify haha ENJOY LOVES

Harry and Y/N agreed to take things slow for the sake of Charlie. This means that they have been going on dates every now and then, but not every weekend because Harry doesn't want to just drop off his kid at Anne's, so he can go out with this woman. That doesn't mean however that they don't see each other.

Y/N started teaching Charlie's class a couple of weeks ago. Ever since then, Harry sees her every day because he is the one who drops Charlie off at school and picks him up later in the day. Those little moments are filled with loving glances and private jokes but also Harry teasingly flirting with the love of his life.

Yes, Harry is absolutely smitten by this woman. Given their history, he now believes that he shouldn't have let her go back then. Yes, being high school sweethearts who are going to different colleges isn't the perfect scenario for two love birds. They didn't want to do the long-distance thing when they were only 17, but Harry now knows it would've all been worth it.

He doesn't regret their decisions though. If the two of them never broke up, Harry would've never become a dad to Charlie and he wouldn't want to miss him for the world. The kid is his life, he'd literally give everything to see that little cheeky smile on the four-year-old's face.

Anne was a big fan of Y/N when they were teenagers, she was the sweetest girl so of course she approved of Harry dating her. So when Harry told his mom how Y/N is now Charlie's new teacher she was excited, to say the least. But when he told his mother that they had been on a date, her heart was filled with love. She was rooting for his son, finally meeting that happiness he was so dearly craving.

So, from the moment Harry announces to his mom about him and Y/N taking it slow, Anne has done anything in her power to help Harry out. Taking over babysitting duty whenever she can and just keeping the little boy out of her son's way. Hinting at her son how she's free next Saturday, in case Charlie wants to come play at grandma's house. Just, everything.

And that's exactly why, this afternoon, he decides to take his mom up on that offer. Harry and Y/N have been on four official dates so far and not once has he taken her home. It felt a bit too forward, too soon. But today was different, Harry invited her over to his house, show her around and make his intentions very clear, she's a keeper.

“Char, come on. Put your shoes on, grandma is waiting for you.” Harry tells his son, picking up the overnight bag he packed for his son.

“Where are you going, daddy? I wanna go too!” The little boy cries, pouting at his dad with such innocence.

“I'm sorry, buddy. But you are staying with grandma.” Harry explains to his son, feeling a bit guilty. But he also didn't want to specify anything about his plans for today. See, Charlie is the biggest fan of Y/N at school and it warms Harry's heart to see him so fond of her. But that only gives him more reasons to keep his love life in the shadows for his son.

“But why?” Charlie whines, but knowing it's already a lost battle, he slips on his shoes in silence. Harry shakes his head, suppressing a giggle. Once a kid starts asking why, you know there is no ending to the discussion.

“Let's go, Char.” Harry states instead, dragging his boy out of their house and into the car.

After he drops Charlie off and Anne's, he drives straight back home. His heart pounding with nerves. He'd be lying if he said that he isn't a little bit anxious right now. He hasn't had a girl over for years on end, not in this context. And he's really hoping she's going to want to stay over. He told her to bring an overnight bag, just in case she wanted to stay. He also mentioned how Charlie is sleeping at his mother's place, hoping it would send the right message, but he wasn't quite sure.

When he arrives home, he finds Y/N just parking her car a little further down the street. She's on time, more like half an hour early. Harry lets out a nervous giggle and he hopes that it isn't too obvious that he's anxious right now.

“Eager much?” He jokes as soon as she reaches his front yard. She giggles slightly embarrassed and Harry simply wants to kiss that cute blush off her face.

“I didn't want to run late. Traffic, you know.” She explains, a small smile gracing her face.

“Relax, babe. I'm glad you are early, actually.” Harry smiles sweetly, pulling her in for a quick hug and placing a quick kiss on her lips. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Y/N lets out a flirtatious giggle, getting on her toes to press her lips on his. Harry instantly melts into the kiss, holding her tightly against his chest.

“C'mon, let's go inside.” Harry whispers, pulling away a bit hesitantly. Y/N softly nods in agreement and Harry loosens his grip on her, only to grab her hand and guide her inside. “Welcome to our home.”

“It looks lovely.” Y/N compliments, letting her eyes roam around the living room. You can tell by the way his space is organised that Harry is a neat person, the room is filled with all things the father and son love dearly. A nice TV hangs against the wall, some family pictures are scattered around the wall above the couch and the wall across the room holds shelves filled with movies, video games and records. It's all Harry and it takes the man's breath away knowing that she likes his place.

“Thank you.”

“Let me give you a tour.” Harry says, tugging on her arm and guiding her through his entire house. She had already seen the small hallway when she first entered the house, and a glimpse of the living room, but there is more. There is an open kitchen concept which leads out into the backyard with big sliding doors. It's really neat and pretty, every one of the rooms in the house has little Harry vibes. The house screams family home, it suits Harry really well.

When they finish the tour downstairs, Harry hesitates to show her his upstairs living space. He feels like taking her upstairs is something very intimate, maybe even too forward, yet he would love to show her around. With an unsure glance at her, Harry points his finger to the stairs, silently asking if she wants to continue the tour.

Y/N nods softly and gives him a sweet, yet excited smile. “Let's go, I'm very curious.” She says causing Harry to chuckle and they continue their walk through his house.

“Okay, so this is Charlie's room and his bathroom.” Harry explains. Y/N takes it all in as if he's giving her the time of her life. Harry is beyond grateful because he really does love her and he hopes that she is going to melt into their lives and live here one day.

They move over to the other side of the hallway, Harry gestures at the next room, rubbing the back of his neck a bit nervously. Y/N opens the door carefully when Harry speaks up. “This is uh- my room.” She pushes the door open further and carefully walks inside.

“This is very you.” She giggles when he walks in after her. Harry doesn't know why, but a blush creeps up his cheeks. Y/N isn't mocking him or making fun of him, her giggle sounds very fond, maybe she is just as nervous as he is.

The bedroom is decorated with warm colours and it features a king-sized bed that looks comfy and cosy. Y/N's gaze is glued to the bed, no doubt in her mind that she'd like to sleep in a bed like that. Especially if that means Harry would be right next to her.

She doesn't ponder her thoughts for too long because she knows that it will end with an almost unbearable aching between her legs.

When they dated in high school, they were only 15 years old. So sleeping with one another was out of the question. They kept dating until they were 16 and 17, but it still didn't feel right for them at that moment to take that step. Now that they are both adults and they want to take things a bit more seriously, Harry would like to finally take the next step in their relationship. Maybe tonight.

“Uhm- so behind you is my ensuite.” He points to the door behind her, gesturing at it with a little nod.

“Oh my.” Y/N's attention is immediately turned to the door when Harry mentions it. She slowly opens the door, stepping into the big room. It's modern and clean, and oh so spacious. There's a walk-in shower and a big tub next to it.

Harry just watches her in awe as she explores the bathroom. She almost seems mesmerised by his place and that makes his heart flutter. It's like she belongs in here and it is her house.

Y/N makes her way back to Harry with a dreamy look in her eyes. She wraps her arms around Harry's neck and pulls him close. She sighs. “Your home looks very lovely, Harry.”

“Not as lovely as you.” He blurts out in a weak attempt at flirting, but it comes off a bit nervous so he might have failed miserably.

“You're cheesy.” Y/N giggles. Harry tightens his grip on her waist and pulls her impossibly closer, flashing her a dimpled smile. Y/N leans in and lets her lips softly brush his in a very gentle kiss. Harry immediately melts into the kiss, tilting his head down to kiss her deeper, but she abruptly pulls away after only a second.

“I- uh- I'll go put my bag in this room, if that's okay?” She asks and Harry crooks his head to the side.

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Depends on what you're thinking.” She winks and pulls away from Harry.

“That you are going to stay over.” Harry flashes her a flirtatious smile.

“Exactly.” Y/N nods in agreement, a smug smile on her face and a glimpse of hope flashing in her eyes. “If that's still alright with you?”

“Of course, you don't have to ask.” Harry reassures, making her grin widely. He squeezes her hand for a second and then releases her hand, letting her step away and put her bag in the room.

Harry is beyond excited now, hoping for them to take their relationship to the next level. If they hadn't broken up back in high school, Harry might've even proposed by now. Yeah, he'd love to be married to her one day. But maybe it's too soon to be thinking about marriage, he remembers how it felt to be with her, back when they were only kids, hopelessly in love. He wants that back, now more than ever. ***

Y/N comes back downstairs to see that Harry is already making dinner. He greets her with a wide smile and places a soft peck on her lips.

“Mmh, what's that smell?” She asks curiously, leaning on the counter in the kitchen and watching Harry move around confidently.

“You, I reckon.” He smirks. Y/N lightly shakes her head, failing to hide her smile. “I'm making you pasta, love.”

“Mmmh, my favourite.”

“I know.” Harry smiles proudly.

Harry lets her know how she can pick a wine if she wants, and where she can find some glasses. She of course doesn't miss the obvious fact that Harry has planned everything ahead. That certainly turns her on.

They eat in a comfortable silence, their ankles playfully tangling with one another. Harry does the dishes while Y/N takes a second in the living room to scroll through her phone. As soon as the kitchen is clean, Harry joins her on the couch. He lifts her legs, placing them on his lap and letting her lean into his side.

“Charlie was a little upset to leave.” Harry says all of a sudden. Y/N chuckles, knowing just how clingy that four-year-old is to his dad. She finds that unbelievably adorable.

“Is he going to be mad at us?” She asks, not knowing how to proceed. She doesn't want the cute and innocent little boy to dislike her in any way.

“Us? No. Me? Maybe. I haven't told him about us yet, don't want him to tell the whole class and make it awkward for you at work.” Harry explains causing Y/N to smirk and nod, loving that he cares that much.

“So what does he think we are?” Y/N pries.

“I've told him you are my friend and that I like you a whole lot.” Harry tells her, making her smile.

“A whole lot, huh?” Y/N giggles and wiggles her eyebrows. Harry flashes her a cheeky smile and runs his fingers through her hair. “Sounds like you have a little crush.” She teases.

“Hmm, kinda do. Can't help it though.” Harry admits and leans into her, planting a wet kiss on her cheek. Y/N squirms under his touch, silently letting him know that this is okay. Then, she dips her head slightly and closes her lips on his.

The kiss instantly deepens and Y/N quickly crawls into Harry's lap, getting a better angle to kiss him passionately. His hands rest on her hips and hold her in place as he slowly kisses his way down her neck. Y/N closes her eyes, taking in the touch and taste of Harry. God, he really does turn her on.

So far they hadn't had the opportunity to make out like this. It's all been dates outside of either of their homes and kisses over the console of his car or at her front door. Feeling her thighs on each side of him and her lips working his like it's her favourite pastime makes Harry understand how badly he wants this to work out.

She lets her arms drape around his neck as her mouth finds his again, this time kissing him hungrily. Her lips sloppily brush against his, her teeth leaving grazes against his already tender bottom lip. He's just as eager to make out with her as she is.

She eventually breaks away, though, just to reconnect with those green gems Harry calls his eyes. He gives her a warm smile and his thumbs run under her shirt.

“You are so beautiful, love. Always been.” Harry murmurs against her lips before going in for another kiss. The gesture takes her back to high school, them sharing kisses on her porch after he walked her home from school. Always ending with a tight hug and whispers that went something like this.

But she's not in high school anymore, and so are her urges. Now, she simply can't get enough of Harry, and by the feeling of a firm swelling in his pants, she knows he is affected as much as she. It's quite the ego boost.

Harry had spent many nights, imagining how his first time making love to her would go. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her heat deliciously dripping, his name leaving her lips in a quivering cry when they both reach the peak of their pleasure. But he always kept the fantasy bundled up in his mind, he knew that it was too soon for that. Not anymore, though, because Y/N makes it very clear to him that she wants him.

“Harry.” She whimpers and rolls her hips into his. Her core grinds against his crotch and she swears she could make herself come from this. Just humping his bulge will be enough to have her reeling.

“I'm taking that as your consent, love.” Harry murmurs, pecking her lips. But she doesn't reply, she just hums in agreement. Enough for Harry to lift the two of them up, causing her to squeal slightly. He carries her upstairs and drops her on the bed.

It's happening.

Harry climbs on top of her, pressing her down with his weight. His lips crash back on hers and she accepts his passionate kisses with just the same amount of passion. She tumbles her hands around his neck, making sure he stays exactly where he is right now.

After a few minutes of more intense making out, Harry needs to come up for air. His chest is rising and falling and his hair is a hot mess, Y/N giggles teasingly, running her fingers through it to arrange it neatly.

“You're gorgeous.” Harry utters and places a delicate kiss on her jaw, Y/N lets out a shaky breath. Her heart soars when Harry compliments her. Her chin tilts towards him, their mouths closing in for more sucking and licking and biting and tugging. “But I'm dying to know how gorgeous you are underneath all this.”

She can't help the blood that rushes to her cheeks, and she can hardly breathe. Harry reaches down, lifting her shirt over her head. He wastes no time as soon as the fabric passes over her body. He's sucking the skin at her shoulder with eagerness.

“Fuck.” She curses as his teeth nip into her, his lips brushing it so faintly as soon as there's the red and purplish proof he's marked her. For a moment he feels guilty, thinking it's inappropriate, but he can't help but want this. He wants to become one with her and claim her as his own.

Harry gently kneads her breast with his hands, eliciting an erotic moan from her. Y/N isn't shy about her body. Her hand reaches to her back and she unclasps her bra, pulling it off and letting her boobs bounce freely. Harry gulps at the sight, they are just as magnificent as he had imagined them a few years back.

Harry kisses his way down her upper body and without a second thought, takes a nipple into his mouth. The man toys with it with his tongue, making Y/N's centre burn with desire. She hisses at the warmth of his mouth sucking and licking and nibbling. He then moves over to the other nipple, giving it equal attention before Y/N groans and speaks up.

“Fuck, I- I can't take it any longer, Harry.” Y/N whimpers, feeling her core starting to pulsate. She needs him there and she needs it now.

“Tell me what you want then, love.” Harry husks, his cock painfully straining in his trousers.

“Touch me. Eat me out, lick me clean. I don't care, but for fuck's sake-“ She heaves, her hands roaming down to the lining of Harry's trousers.

He doesn't need to be told twice, within a few seconds he is standing next to the bed, tugging off her trousers with her panties. Before quickly stripping down, he catches her eye looking longingly at the obvious erection in his boxers. She has been waiting for this to happen.

Y/N smiles as she observes him, he is so beautiful to her. His every flaw is precious. Y/N sees how his veins are straining underneath the thin layer of his skin as his fists clench around his bed sheets. How those plump pink lips are slightly parted, allowing his rapid, ragged breathing to escape.

Harry palms himself through his briefs, stroking his erection while keeping his eyes focused on the woman beneath him. With her lying on his bed in all her beauty, legs spread, his name on her parted lips. She is truly the epitome of sheer loveliness.

Harry kneels down at the side of the bed before he wraps his arms around her thighs to pull her closer to the edge. “You sure, baby?” He asks once more, although Y/N has been very clear with what she wants.

“Positive.” She mutters and in less than a second, Harry gently presses his lips against her folds. Kissing all around her pussy but never quite touching the most intimate parts. This drives her insane and her hands reach out to tangle in his curls, pulling him closer to her center. “Please.” She whimpers needily.

Harry doesn't make her wait, instead, he runs one finger through her folds before spreading them apart as his tongue prods over the heated skin. A loud grunt escapes his lips when he realises how sweet she tastes. It's everything he could've imagined and more. He then gets to work, flicking his tongue over her clit expertly, making Y/N buck her hips in appreciation. She pants, trying not to explode from pleasure at the feeling.

His free hand slides up to her lower stomach to hold her down and withhold her from squirming too much. Her juices are escaping from inside her, soiling his lips and chin and the duvet. Harry just can't get enough. His thumb scratches at her pelvis and as Y/N looks down, she sees him bobbing up and down eagerly, his eyes closed shut as he devours her. She hisses at the obscene sight.

“Ah- f-fuck!” Y/N stutters out, Harry now digging his fingers into her and slightly curling them inside her, hitting her g-spot and bringing her closer to her orgasm. “Harry!” She warns, her eyes practically rolling back at how he licks her, but that doesn't make him stop, no, he speeds up even.

His lips are locked on her clit, sucking as his fingertips massage her inner walls and let her slick seep out. She can't keep her legs still if she tries, her toes are curling and her thighs are shaking.

“Mmmh.” Harry moans lowly, tasting her juices as they keep flowing, signalling she won't last a second longer. “Come for me, darling.” He releases for a split second only to murmur those words, causing her body to respond with a shattering climax.

“Oh-ffu-Harry!” Y/N cries out as the burning knot inside her undoes and explodes. It's nothing like she's ever felt before, men never really seemed to know how to satisfy her, but Harry is all it takes for her to let go and forget about all the bad sex she ever had. She gasps loudly, riding out her orgasm as he keeps working her gently with his fingers and mouth. “Jesus fuck.”

Her legs fall to her sides. Harry comes up and wipes his mouth clean, chuckling at how Y/N is gasping for air. Her chest heaving as she does her best to try and breathe. “Good?” He hums and kisses her collarbone as he awaits a response.

“Too good.” She chokes out a laugh as soon as she can catch her breath again. She reaches down to caress his cheek, causing him to glance up. “Need a taste.” She huffs, as her hand goes down to his cock. Harry smirks and stops her. Gaining her attention with a quirked brow, indicating she doesn't understand.

“I desperately want to be inside of you, and I won't be able to last as long as I plan to if your puffy lips would work their magic on my cock right now.” He tells her bluntly, keeping his lust-filled gaze on her. And honestly, that might've just been the sexiest thing anyone has ever told her. She gives him a coy nod before he props himself up. He pushes his boxers down his legs and hovers over her.

Harry reaches for his nightstand to grab a condom while Y/N finally has her tiny fingers wrapped around Harry's erect and dripping cock. It's long and hard, the tip glistening and soft. Her hand runs down his shaft, paying close attention to the pattern of those prominent veins. His big hand reaches for her wrist.

“Hate to stop you, love, but you'll be the death of me.” Harry breathes as he slowly rolls the condom down his shaft. Y/N smiles adoringly, holding back laughter. Harry shakes his head amused, glad he brings that same childlike chuckle to Y/N's face that he used to adore when they were younger.

Then Y/N's face changes to surprise as Harry wraps his arms around her upper body to place her further on the bed, her head now resting on his soft pillows. Harry takes his position above her and cups her chin as he gently kisses her.

“Are you ready for me?” He asks. His cock now directly at her entrance, he holds it with his hand, teasing her.

“Yes, H. Please, yes.” She eagerly replies. So Harry presses a firm kiss on her mouth as he carefully pushes himself in. Just the tip before he pulls back again, teasing her incredibly slowly. Y/N groans in annoyance but lets him. Instead, she circles her arms around his neck and lets her fingertips draw nonsensical doodles on his scalp.

Her eyes shut when he finally thrusts himself forward, inserting his cock fully and feeling her pussy clenching around him. At first, he moves slowly, deliberately waiting for the satisfying burn to fade. His palms are pressed flat next to her shoulders as he secures his balance above her. She just can't keep her moans inside, not when he fucks her with all the love in the world.

“Fuck.” Harry grits, noticing how tight she is. Y/N keeps her eyes closed and lets him take control, simply doing what she feels is right, and that is responding to Harry's pace and needs. She finds solace in his sweet scent and she's sure she's addicted to it from now on.

As his hips rock, he slips his tongue into her mouth. Y/N's walls clench around him as his pace picks up. Her slick dripping out of her, coating their inner thighs as he slowly dips in and out.

“Give me your leg.” He says as he taps his fingers on her right thigh. Y/N obediently pulls her leg up and Harry positions himself a bit differently, the tip of his cock hammering against her cervix, reaching spots she didn't know could feel so good.

He places her leg on his shoulder and holds it in place with his arm wrapped around her knee. The newfound angle allows him to fuck her deeper and Harry can't hold himself back anymore. He slams into her, she moans in pleasure when he picks up the pace, making their sweaty bodies become one.

“G-goddamn, love.” He grunts, loving how they move as one. The muscles of his abdomen tense up under his skin with every hard thrust he delivers, he simply can't bear to slow down his movement. Harry continues to rut in and out, bringing both of them higher.

His left-hand reaches down, pressing down on her pubic bone for extra stimulation as his thumb finds her clit. Harry then knows he won't last long. Feeling her pussy already milking his cock, he knows she is close too.

Y/N squeezes her eyes shut, feeling the butterflies in her stomach building up again as Harry hits her G-spot every time he slams back into her.

“H-Harry- shit.” Y/N pants rapidly. She can feel how her juices are dripping from her and covering Harry's dick, definitely creating a wet spot underneath her bum on the duvet. She rolls her eyes back. She can't hold out for much longer.

“Nghh, yeah? Come for me, again, baby.” Harry groans as his pace starts to get sloppy. Y/N loves how his brows furrow and his jaw tightens up every time he pushes in.

“Aah- I'm-“ She starts and her walls clench around him, squeezing his hard cock inside her as she comes. The sensation is too much for Harry to bear. His hot liquid explodes into the rubber as her warm pussy milks him.

“Mmph.” Harry moans and with the last bit of power in his limp body, he slowly rocks back and forth to ride out their orgasms until they both collapse, tired and sweating messes.

“God, I can't believe that just happened.” Y/N puffs as they lie next to each other for a few moments. Harry hums, rolling to her side and pulling out of her in the process. Y/N catches his glance, seeing how his green eyes look like they shine even in the dark, love and affection radiating from them.

“I finally had sex with the girl of my dreams.” He murmurs, scooting a bit closer as Y/N feels him reach to her hand to twine their fingers together. She giggles at his sweetness before opening her mouth to speak.

“I now understand why you didn't want Charlie here today.” She remarks, earning a playful look from Harry. She brings her fingers up to brush the hair off his forehead. “I love you.” Y/N suddenly utters, surprising herself. “I mean it.”

“I love you too.” Harry says without a second thought before placing his wet lips on hers. It's not like they hadn't said I love you to each other when they were younger, but adult I love you's are different, stronger, more meaningful. Y/N grins, nudging her nose against his cheek and pecking his lips.

“We should do something about the stickiness, shouldn't we?” Harry says running his finger on the inside of her thigh. Y/N chuckles as she nods her head in agreement, slightly ashamed but just couldn't care less right now. She's happy, Harry's happy and that's all that matters.

Harry picks her up from the bed again, gaining another squeal as he carries her to the bathroom. They hop in the shower and their touches remain gentle. Just soft kisses and long glances. Once they're all washed up, they slide back between the sheets in an after-sex, shower-fresh bliss.

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[sheyri]

Ash needs a job

The last couple days had been hectic and chaotic, but now things were slowly falling into a routine. Callum spent most of his days with his brother, trying to reform the redguard. Ramsay was handling House affairs and continued her research whenever she had time to spare.

Ash... Ash was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. He saw his partners on the weekends when they were home, and sometimes during the week. But in between that, there was just lots of empty time.

He had done some odd jobs around the house. It hadn't been in perfect shape when they bought it, there were some small things to repair and walls to paint. He could do that.

He had started a small herb garden in the back, planted some flowers as well. He'd gotten some more exotic plants for Ramsay, since all of hers had been blown up with Lancaster. Taking care of plants, and especially Ramsay's plants, was just something he'd gotten used to over the last year.

He had a license now, but he didn't really know what to do with it. It had always been his goal, but he'd never considered what would come after. It had always been so far out of reach. Sure, he used his alchemy for small things around the house and it was nice to do that without having to worry about being caught. But that wasn't really much, not really taking full use of what he could do.

Ash would've considered studying, but Lancaster was gone. Kensington was gone. Rebuilding would take time. The other colleges were already overrun by former Lancaster students who needed a place to continue their studies and graduate. He wouldn't be able to get in, especially not in the middle of the semester.

No. What he had to do now was find a job. Something, just anything. He'd been idle for too long anyway.

~~~

“So, how was your week?”, Callum asked. He'd come home about half an hour ago and they'd just sat down with some tea, waiting for Ramsay.

Ash sighed, frustrated. “Annoying. And kind of exhausting”, he said.

“That bad? What have you been up to?”

“Not much, actually. I've been trying to find a job.”

“I take it you weren't successful?”

“You'd think there'd be plenty of jobs, lots to do. But with all the refugees from Kensington, there's just more demand than open jobs. And I waited too long to put myself out there.”

“That makes sense. But this also means this town is growing and new businesses will open, meaning more jobs. I'm sure you'll find something eventually.”

“Yeah. It's just frustrating.”

“What's frustrating?”, came a voice from the front door. Ash turned towards Ramsay to greet him. His hair was loose and a bit messy. Ash felt the sudden urge to brush it for him.

Ramsay got himself his own mug before joining the two of them in the living room. “So?”, he prompted.

“I can't find a job.”

“Why would you need a job?”

“Well, there's just not much to do for me while you're away and busy. Besides, I have to start earning some money again”, he mumbled.

“No, you don't.”

“What? Of course I do!”

“Why? I mean, it's fine if you want to, but we have more than enough money. In case you missed it, I'm kind of rich. And Callum has a steady income, too.”

“Yeah, but that's your money. I can't let you provide for me forever. I'm already living here without paying rent or anything.”

“Ash”, Callum said. “This is your home, too.”

“I know, but-”

“No but”, Ramsay cut him off. “You saved the world. You saved our lives. You shouldn't have financial worries.”

Ash remained silent. It made sense, what they said. But it just didn't feel right. He was just leeching off of them without contributing.

“I understand your worries, Ash. You don't get things for free, that's what you're thinking, isn't it?”

He shrugged, then nodded. “That's just not how the world works, is it? Can't get anywhere without money.”

“You're right, but that's not true in a relationship. A relationship isn't a transaction. Besides, you do give back. You care for us, you love us. And in a more material sense, you take care of the house while we're gone. You cook, which is something Ramsay could never do.” “Hey!”, Ramsay shot in. Callum ignored him. “We grew up in completely different circumstances, and I think we all need to understand that.”

“I guess you have a point”, Ash admitted. “Though that still doesn't solve my problem of too much spare time.”

“Don't you want to continue studying alchemy? Now that you can legally do so?”, Ramsay asked. Without waiting for an answer he went on. “I'll bring you some books, and the course material for my first years. Source knows you're still lacking some basics.” He sat down his mug and leaned over to Ash.

“Now shut up. Right now all we have to do is enjoy our weekend together”, Ramsay said and kissed him.

[llclown-kittyll]

Hi I love ur work - but could u do a yandere septiceyes x reader who is disabled and always unintentionally hurts them self? U didn't have to but the idea is here

I saw this a couple weeks after Anon asked. I hope you're still around to read the fic you inspired!

TW's: Stalking, undiagnosed/ untreated medical issues.

I based this on my experiences and the reader is gender neutral

The world was set up to fail you from the very beginning. This much you knew. You didn’t know who was leaving you small trinkets and small love notes for you in your workplace- but you knew that the world couldn’t care less about you or your ‘issues’. 

Since you could remember, you had episodes of dizziness and lost your coordination skills- that could last minutes to hours, it varied. Pair that with anxiety and sensory issues, and it equaled out to your worst day when both showed up. Realistically, you knew you should get a cane or something. Since the path for a required diagnosis and treatment wasn’t covered by your healthcare plan, it was the next best option. 

But your anxiety would sky-rocket if your coworkers and friends saw you with a cane, and then you’d have to explain why you used it to every single person. It would be none of their business, really, but the social pressure of explaining why and letting strangers invalidate or validate your reason was an expectation- and you didn’t have the strength to go through that.

Punching out, you were just done with today. It was 9PM and today had been hectic to the max. Frustrated customers, cleaning every nook and cranny cause the area managers were visiting, stocking- bending up and down, again and again it was way too much. But trying to be the perfect worker to prove your worth, you pushed. You were the last one leaving, the mall already closing two hours ago. You spent 10 minutes in the break room earlier, sprawled out, trying to get some feeling back into your bones. And in your tired, weary mind, when you saw that the escalator was shut down- you picked the stairs, forgetting about the real possibility that you could die if you had an episode then and there. It was 2 floors- so not awful. Trudging down, you loosely held onto the railing, just wanting to get home already. Everything became a blur slowly, losing awareness because of how stressed out you were and the feeling of dizziness becoming more prominent minute by minute. Stopping a couple times, you took a break so the symptoms slowed down- playing the waiting game and then moving again. Missing a step, you almost fell…

Black sleeved arms caught you around your waist, holding you up from face-planting into the concrete floor. If you weren’t ‘alone’, at a mall, at night- you would've said thanks. But the fact that you never heard a single door open or footsteps fueled your action to grip onto the rail harder and turn around- nothing. Nothing was there... No-one was there… The next morning you forgot all about it, blaming it on your delirium from working a ten hour shift on four hours of sleep and a red bull. It was nothing.

Months passed since then, you almost hurt yourself countless times because of your perfectionism and by ‘chance’ you didn’t. A ‘gust of wind’ pushed the door closed just in time for you to lean on it. Your phone appeared, ringing so loudly in between your couch cushions that you had no choice but to crash instead of continuing cleaning during a dizzy spell and a migraine once. How convenient that you didn’t burn an arm trying to cook while your head was spinning because the electric stove shut off randomly that day. The small gifts from your secret admirer ramped up in price and became spot-on choices of what you liked. Word got around fast- despite your 50+ coworkers. So, you assumed whoever it was, was listening. Small detailed jewelry, costly gemstones, your favorite snacks- it should’ve been alarming. But who were you to question gifts given out of ‘pure romantic obsession interest’? 

Tuesday, on the way to work in a uber, you checked your missed texts. One was sent 4 A.M. and you didn't recognize the number. Your blood ran cold when you read it.

Don’t push yourself to be a perfectionist today, Y/N. I can’t watch you every second like usual- I’ll only be able to check on you every hour today. I’m making everything perfect for our 8 month anniversary and need to spend some time on getting it all ready for tonight. Be careful, Doll. I love you~

The same number showed up as calling after you read it, and with shaky hands, you answered. 

“̶̥͙̬̂͊R̴̢̲͈̿e̴̹̤̲͊͠ă̵̞͇ͅd̸̙̤͘̕͝y̶̤̭͛͋͐ ̵͔̒f̵̣͉̉̎ó̶̧͖̩͗r̵͉̼͚̿̈͆ ̷̙̲͕͂̚o̵̪̓̋ų̴͋r̶̼̬̍̕͜ ̸̬̪͆d̵͓̑̂ą̷̬̦̀t̷̩̩̪͆͒̾ḛ̵̓ ̶̘͌̌̈ẗ̶͉́̐͋o̸͖̟̼͑n̶̳̍̚ḭ̶̔͊ĝ̸̰̲h̵̺̒̒̕ͅt̷̻̠̬͌͝,̵͇͐̾ ̵͓͌͝D̸̦̦̽̀ạ̶̫͊̀̉r̴̙̈́l̸͕̫̭̓̒ī̷̻n̷̩̂’̴̧̓?̸̠̖̍̀”̸̦̈́̑̕  *

*”Ready for our date tonight, Darlin’?”

[lbova]

Rodney Proposes to Cappy

Hi everyone! Me again. Back with another Rodney x Cappy fanfic. I really didn't know what to write about, it was tricky lol. But I finally decided to write this story. Anyways, enjoy!

"What if she says no? What if she's not ready? What if I'm pushing it to hard?"

You would think being the CEO of Bigweld Industries would be the most stressful thing in life, but as it turns out, trying to plan the perfect moment to propose to your girlfriend of two years is the most stressful task of them all. Rodney Copperbottom was in his and Cappy's apartment, pacing back and forth in the living room, anxious and nervous. Cappy and Loretta were out shopping at the Robot City Mall, which gave Rodney time to prepare the perfect late-night date to finally propose to Cappy. He had bought a ring for her a few weeks ago. It was a ring with an emerald in the middle.

Rodney loved Cappy very much. He wanted to make her the happiest bot in the world. He just wasn't sure if proposing to her was the right way to make her happy. Cappy had always done the most for Rodney, always supporting and comforting him when he needed it. He wanted to show just how much he loves her. But now, he's starting to second guess himself. What if she says no?

Fender was also in the apartment, sitting on the couch, watching his best friend pacing around the room. He was concerned for him and wanted to cheer him up. "Why would she say no to you? You know that woman loves you lots! And you love her, don't you?", Fender said, hoping to lift Rodney's spirits.

Rodney stopped pacing and turned to look at Fender. "Of course I love her, Fender. But I'm just so afraid she'll say no. I'm afraid that by asking her to marry me, I'll only scare her away", Rodney said. He hung his head low and sighed. "I just... don't want to lose her", he spoke with a sad and quiet voice. Fender stood up from the couch and put his hands on Rodney's shoulders. "Come on, buddy. You're not gonna scare her or lose her. If I was Cappy, I would say yes", Fender said. Rodney let a small laugh escape from his lips. Fender always knew how to cheer people up, even in their lowest moments. Fender spoke again, "You can do this. I know you can." He patted Rodney on the back. "Now go get her, tiger!"

Rodney smiled at his friend and nodded his head. Fender was right. He can do this!

*************************************

And hour and a half later:

After Cappy and Loretta returned to the apartment, Rodney and Cappy went to the Robot City National Park. Fender walked Loretta back to her home. At the park, Rodney and Cappy walked for about 20 minutes, talking about what they did the past week. Rodney was hoping to stall more time because of how nervous he was, but he had to eventually pop the question to her.

Rodney and Cappy sat on a bench by a little pond. The pond glistened from the moonlight, which made the park even more beautiful. It was time for Rodney to ask the question. He placed his hand on top of Cappy's hand, and cleared his throat. "Hey, so, um, Cappy? Can I tell you something?" He asked, trying not to sound nervous. Cappy turned to look at him, no doubt admiring the pond a few minutes ago. She looked at him, her green eyes sparkling as she blinked. "Yes, you can tell me whatever is on your mind", she said softly. Rodney almost couldn't form words, for her eyes had him hypnotized. He could swear he saw the universe in her eyes. He had to clear his throat again.

"Cappy... you are an amazing person. When I first arrived to the city, my main goal was to meet Bigweld and become a great inventor. I had no idea that I would have met you. You helped me find Bigweld, and you helped me defeat Ratchet and his mother. I don't know what I would've done without you. You are kind, sweet, beautiful. I love you, more than you know. And... I want to show that to you in the best way possible."

This is it. This is what he's been preparing for. Rodney got off the bench and kneeled down, his hand still holding Cappy's. He used his fee hand to pull out the ring box. "Cappy, will you marry me and become Mrs. Copperbottom?"

Cappy was shocked, and shock turned into happiness. Tears started to form in her eyes. Cappy eagerly nodded her head and shouted, "Yes! Yes yes yes, a million times yes!"

Rodney, upon hearing this, also started to form tears in his eyes. He carefully took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Cappy's finger. Cappy admired the ring before jumping on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck. The couple laughed and cried together, then shared a long and sweet kiss. They were now engaged, and both of them were happy to be together.

***********************

And done! Yay they're getting married! This story was kind of cheesy, but who doesn't love cheesy love stories? lmao. Thank you for reading!

[chidoroki]

I decided to wrote a fic, about the idea i shared with you few weeks ago, where Isabella is forced to have twins after the escape (one boy to replace Ray, the girl to be a perfect sister/mother like her)

The worse? Peter forces her to take care of them for a year, until the moment where they would be send in a orphenage. It's a punishment. He wants her get attached and to suffer. Maybe because he thinks that she is not fully innocent in the escape, maybe because he's just a sadist.

Isabella tries to stay distant. But she can't. She loved all her children, so her owns? she'll be unable to not love them. And during her pregnancy and this first year, she thinks a lot about Ray. Her first pregnancy, baby Ray, little Ray….ect…and realize that she loves him a lot more that she thought, she just couldn't fully admit it before because trauma and fear to get attached to him. now that they are away of each other, she can think about him more and more fondly.

I decided of two things

Ray gaves Isabella a photo of him (he had asked Norman to take it) while saying "here you can have a little memory of me, to remember what you did to your own child!" like the day before his birthday. She had it in her pocket when the fire started so she kept it. With Ray's letter, it's her most precious possession.

When the twins started to talk, after they said "mama" for the first time, she decided to show them the photo of Ray to teach them to say "Ray". Whatever the revolt that she plans (while waiting Emma and the others to come back) is a sucesss or fails, she want the name "Ray" to be their second word. So as soon they see him in the human word, they start to be "Lay, Way!" and he's super confused that these two babies, that he doesn't know, call him by his name XD

I remember the twin thing! Yes! (okay but little side note before I ramble on.. the kids would be gorgeous. I mean, any kid Isabella would have would be lucky since she's stunningly beautiful and we already got Ray as the perfect example of how adorable those kids would look!)

Anyways, you're just giving me reasons to despise Peter more than I already do because that's definitely a cruel trick he would've pulled off. He should've done something like that too, if he was smart, but thank goodness he isn't and believed Isabella would help him with little to no resistance. He really thought it was that easy to pull her in as an ally. What a dummy.

Too bad this woman is a professional at keeping secrets and her emotions on lock. The fool fell for her "woe is me" act hook, line and sinker.

She completely played this boy. She looks all thankful for the second chance at life on the outside but underneath she is seething with rage.

Gonna try to put all my love for this woman aside so I can focus on the rest of this, aahha..

But yeah. No matter how strong her facade is, Isabella cares so much about her children. It evident with all the toys of theirs she kept as mementos in the secret room, even the farewell note of Ray's. Not to say that the love she showed them on a daily basis was a lie, because her feelings were genuine, but there's still a reasonable distance between caretaker and mother that she lives by.

She would absolutely think of Ray again during that next pregnancy, about whether he's doing alright outside the farm, all those years watching over him as a caretaker, the moments she wishes she could act like a mother to him, etc. You're right that she'd think of him more fondly as this would happen post-escape, so she's already given up her facade and accepted her defeat. She's got nothing else to lose at this point. Well, except for the twins now.

You dunno how badly I wished that Isabella had kept the photo that Ray took of her. It might've been a weird thing to grab before the fire happened, especially when she had to prioritize the safety of the other children, but I had hoped the Isabella photo survived somehow if only to show human-world Emma what she looked like. One headcanon I have is that Yvette could always draw a portrait of Isabella so Emma has a face to put to a name, but it wouldn't be quite the same ya know? I'm still surprised Ray's goodbye note managed to survive the fire and I can only suspect that Isabella had the note on her person prior to all the panic since it was the night before/morning of Ray's intended shipment. Perhaps she was feeling nostalgic. Or she just so happened to grab it when she went back inside to retrieve the radio or the blankets for the younger children afterwards. Either way, I still find it sweet she kept something that dear to her.

Going back to the idea of twins though.. OH. Okay, sorry, ignore everything I just said because I originally misread the whole "Ray gave Isabella a photo of him" and not her. MY BAD. Yeah, he could've been that spiteful towards her. I mean, if he was ready to lit himself on fire then one final jab at Isabella would be easy. No doubt the photo would be of him flipping her off though.

With that in mind now, it would've been real cute if she did hold onto a photo of him and show it to the twins (so long as it isn't such a rude photo like the example I gave, wouldn't want the babies to pick up on horrible manners right away pfftt). But to have them both learn his name and recognize him once everyone crosses over in the human world.. awww. That would be so darn sweet! It would confuse him at first yeah, but I'm sure he'll pick up the relation he has with them soon enough, especially if they inherited their mother's good looks. It would be over if the twins also knew the lullaby too. Aahh just imagine!! Ray learning that he had siblings the same way Isabella recognized her own son. Ohh my heart.. I'm weak.

[liugeaux]

Linkin Park’s Papercuts: A Track-by-Track Breakdown

A week ago Linkin Park dropped their first "Greatest Hits" collection, or as it's branded "Singles Collection 2000–2023". I have much to say about it and I need to put my feelings out into the world. Let's go!

First things first, LP is one of my favorite artists so there was really no way to screw this up. The criticisms I'll throw out during this piece are more preferential issues I have with the collection. As a whole, this is a hugely welcomed release that puts most of the songs you want to hear all in one place. We needed this 5 years ago.

With that said, if I were in charge, there would be some changes I would have suggested before sending this to manufacturing.

I'm going to break this down track by track, critiquing placement, inclusion, omissions, etc. If I were grading this entire package I'd probably give it a 8 out of 10 and that score is coming from a VERY nit-picky place.

LP chose to go with a custom track listing, rather than the popular chronological order. The latter is a convenient choice that leaves bands not needing to make a decision on what songs should be grouped together. Chronologically also presents the collection as a biography or story, telling the history of the band in a logical order.

If a band chooses to curate a tracklisting for their Greatest Hits they really need to "get it right" for the package to be more compelling than a standard chronological release and I don't know if they do. There's an art to constructing a tracklist just like there's an art to building a live setlist.

That's enough preamble, let's get to the nitty-gritty.

Tracks

1. "Crawling" from Hybrid Theory

"Crawling" has never been a favorite of mine. It's one of the weakest tracks on Hybrid Theory and is a bad song to kick off this collection. The track should definitely be included, but the back half would have been a much better home for it.

2. "Faint" from Meteora

A perfect song in the perfect position, "Faint" batting second gets the blood flowing as the biggest hits should be rolling in. No editorial notes on this one.

3. "Numb/Encore" from (mashup with Jay-Z) Collision Course

The whole Collision Course project was a cool gimmick in 2004, but "Numb/Encore" hasn't aged well, and including a Jay-Z collab this early in the tracklisting is a misfire. If they must include it, the back half is the right place. If we're going with novelty tracks I'd prefer "Pts.OF.Athrty" from Reanimation and even it shouldn't be in the #3 slot. #3 should be an iconic hit. Also, two versions of "Numb" in one collection is tacky, imo.

4. "Papercut" from Hybrid Theory

THIS is your track #1! It kicked off the Hybrid Theory album, is the namesake of this very collection, and would've set the proper tone for what is to follow. Just swapping the track placement of "Crawling" and "Papercut" would make a HUGE difference in the overall package.

5. "Breaking the Habit" from Meteora

At this point, we're 5 tracks into this thing and we've got nothing from Minutes to Midnight, ew. "Breaking the Habit" is a fantastic song and a fan favorite, but it is both a later track on Metora and a later released single from the album. I would have put this one in the final cluster of songs. If you swap its placement with "Leave Out All the Rest" you solve two problems.

6. "In the End" from Hybrid Theory

As one of LP's biggest hits, the #6 slot seems a bit dubious. I'd rather see it at or around #3, but I guess it's fine here.

7. "Bleed It Out" from Minutes to Midnight

As previously stated, there should have been some Minutes to Midnight representation before now. I like "Bleed It Out", I'd rather this include "Shadow of the Day" or "Given Up", but I understand "Bleed" is the bigger hit and more representative of the album as a whole. Ultimately I think "What I've Done" should have been here.

8. "Somewhere I Belong" from Meteora

Perfect placement for this song, but if I were to vote a Meteora song out to be replaced by something from say ... The Hunting Party ... this one would be on the chopping block.

9. "Waiting for the End" from A Thousand Suns

This is one of my favorites and as the lone representative from A Thousand Suns, Track 9 feels right. No notes.

10. "Castle of Glass" from Living Things

Living Things, as an album, is kind of a mess, and I've never loved "Castle of Glass". This should have been omitted in favor of "Guilty All the Same" or one of the missing Minutes to Midnight songs. On a 20-song collection, this being in the 10 spot is a misrepresentation of the collection itself.

11. "One More Light" from One More Light

This song holds a precious spot in my heart and while it 1000% belongs in this collection, I can't even begin to say where in the tracklist it should go. One More Light is such a weird and exciting album it's almost a shame the title track is the only one that ever gets attention, with the obvious reason for that being devastatingly sad.

12. "Burn It Down" from Living Things

This should be the only Living Things track on here and #12 seems to be low enough. No further notes.

13. "What I've Done" from Minutes to Midnight

Track 13? Really? This might be the biggest WTF placement on here. Outside of "Numb" and "In the End", "What I've Done" is THE LP anthem. It's the song that should play during the trailer of the LP biopic. It's a great uniter of a track. 13 is whack. It should be in the first 5, without a doubt.

14. "QWERTY" from LP Underground 6.0

"QWERTY" isn't necessary here. It doesn't fit the theme of the overall package, and it was never a "hit" song. It IS, however, a fan-favorite that's never found its way to official streaming platforms, so while it may be the black sheep, it's welcome to steal a slot. For you fans that might have never heard it before, enjoy!

15. "One Step Closer" from Hybrid Theory

I guess you've got to save at least one big hit for the end of the compilation, and I guess "One Step Closer" is a fine one to fill that role, but this really feels like the slot "Crawling" should be occupying.

16. "New Divide" from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Finally, "New Divide" is on an official LP release and a singles collection is the perfect place for it. It may be a bit too low on the tracklist, but it works here just fine.

17. "Leave Out All the Rest" from Minutes to Midnight

As one of LP's best songs, leaving out "Leave Out All the Rest" would have been a cardinal sin, but since its popularity is nowhere near the bigger hits, number 17 is a fine pace for it.

18. "Lost" from Meteora20

It's good to see even the recent success of "Lost" is being highlighted. No notes.

19. "Numb" from Meteora

It's simple, "Numb" should be last. I get "Friendly Fire" is new and the new stuff on releases like this is usually either first or last, but "Numb" should be the exception. It should be last.

20. "Friendly Fire" from Previously Unreleased

"Friendly Fire" is a great track and its tone lines up nicely with the One More Light album (for which it was originally written). My only note is informed by my love for that album. This track should have been held for an anniversary or special edition of One More Light. I know it's presumptuous to assume anyone wants a deluxe edition of one of their least popular albums, but any extra attention we can throw its way would make me happy.

Total length: 67:57

I'm sure by now someone is jumping into the comments to argue with me and honestly don't care about your opinions. No energy will be wasted fighting over stuff this dumb. What I WILL address though is logistics. With the re-emergence of vinyl as a dominant distribution platform, tracklistings can't be as freeform as they were 20 years ago on Compact Disc.

Your basic CD holds about 80 minutes of music. This collection fits on one disc and easily slots into the few remaining CD shelves at your local Walmarts and Targets. If CD was still the dominant platform, LP and Warner might have shoved 3 more tracks on it to better represent the catalog.

Vinyl is not as forgiving. Sure, since each sind of a 12" record is holds about 20 minutes, a full 80 minutes is still in play, but since their are 3 forced record-flip moments, song length is a huge factor in the final tracklisting.

I've seen weirdness on vinyl releases that specifically address this problem. Like, I've seen the vinyl versions of albums have different track orders to accommodate the 20-minute sides, I've seen mostly empty sides on records, but most egregiously, when blink-182 re-released their 2003 self-titled album on vinyl, Side D was completely blank.

This next section is me trying to build a tracklist that meets my needs as a picky fan-boy, but still fits on the 4 - 20 min sides of 2 vinyl records. Here we go.

Side A - 17:03

"Papercut" 3:05

"Faint" 2:42

"In the End" 3:36

"What I've Done" 3:25

"One More Light" 4:15

Side B - 17:15

"One Step Closer" 2:37

"Bleed It Out" 2:44

"Somewhere I Belong" 3:34

"Waiting for the End" 3:51

"New Divide" 4:29

Side C - 17:42

"Leave Out All the Rest" 3:29

"Burn It Down" 3:50

"Crawling" 3:29

"Pts.OF.Athrty" 3:38

"Breaking the Habit" 3:16

Side D - 17:00

"Shadow of the Day" 4:16

"QWERTY" 3:22

"Lost" 3:19

"Friendly Fire" 2:56

"Numb" 3:07

Well, I thought that would be harder. With most LP tracks being 3-4 minutes in length, the re-arraignment was super modular. All four sides of the records have room to spare. If I really wanted to be a jerk I'd load one or two sides up with short songs to allow the addition of a couple more tracks. Instead, I decided 20 is a nice round number and 5 tracks per side looks good on packaging.

I swapped out "Castle of Glass" and "Numb/Encore" with "Shadow of the Day" and "Pts.OF.Athrty" and it makes the whole thing feel better. I wanted to include something from The Hunting Party, but the best track "All or Nothing" wasn't a single, and the best single "Guilty All the Same" is almost 6 minutes long. Also, after listening to it again, The Hunting Party is not a great representation of the band's best work. I feel comfortable leaving it out completely.

The newer/non-single tracks are bunched up towards the end because that's how it should be and as stated above "Numb" is now last. THIS is a 10/10 collection. I could go deeper and put together a Digital Deluxe collection, or I could throw out all industry standards and rebuild both records with the maximum physical limitation of 25 minutes per side, but that would be overkill (he says after typing 1900 words). Imagine the songs I could put on this baby if given an additional 20 minutes to work with.

Last note, the name of the release is Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023), a fine name, but why include the years? Doing so suggests more is to come. Also, technically, "Friendly Fire" was a single this year so shouldn't it be 2000-2024? Jay Gordon of the band Orgy recently let slip that Linkin Park has a new female singer, but this news has not been corroborated. Is Papercuts simply the end of the Chester era? Is the band working on new music or a tour with a new singer? Is the reason this collection's name stops at 2023 because they plan on releasing more music later this year? Why am I able to come up with so many seemingly justifiable questions from what should be a straightforward Greatest Hits package?

Let me wrap this nonsense up, I'm starting to sound unhinged.

Go listen to Papercuts!

Cheers!

[itstheghostofmypast]

🌻Imperfections🌻

Draco malfoy x (f)Reader (Hufflepuff)

Summary: Perfection is what defined those who were above the rest- yet, she could not be part of the perfection that defined him. Defined his society and very presence- defined her own family but not her. She was the imperfection within his world of perfection, the bright sun in his cool, pale blue sky. For even if she was the warm sun, he was nothing more than the silver moon- both destined to live in the same sky but never together.

Genre: Fluff, Angst

AU: NO VOLDEMORT - Plus Cedric is vibing, I'm sorry he's too precious.

Warnings: None

Part- 1/?

Masterlist/ Next

A/N: Legit told @ryugujitr about this a week ago- and ended up turning a drabble into a series, please excuse any spelling errors- I'm about to dip from life. But, I hope you (the reader) like it. Also, I have yet to make a TAGLIST for this, so if you're interested, feel free to msg me 🌼

Draco Malfoy, the definition of a being blessed by the heavens. Born with a golden spoon in his grasp, the lad had the wealth, looks, and the brains to put many to shame. As such, he had been bred and raised with the ideology of perfection and beauty. Elegance was what would define the pure blood, perfection was their motto and beauty was their existence. The upper cream of the society, the best. And like any other pompous rich daddy's boy, he had let this get to his head- at least till he hit his teens.

As he got older, he became more irritable. Any and everything would aggravate him, years of listening to his father had gotten him nothing but hate from most of the people in his school and as usual minimal recognition from his father. The golden trio being part of the many things that would tick him off, his own 'friends' could easily trigger the 6th year, leading him to throw a sissy fit for a good 30 minutes. He could hear them whisper and murmur in every corner, the professors, the students, and even the paintings. The older he grew the louder the voices became, increasing in numbers. He was lucky enough to have a solo room, which was possible due to his influential status. 

In the calm of the night, he would lay in bed, staring at the stoned ceiling, wondering why perfection was something he felt that he needed but could not attain. He'd wonder why he was still alone, he had done everything his parents had asked and was excelling in his studies, so what exactly had he done wrong? Potter? Was Potter really that important? Potter didn't have anything he had, but he had that one thing the blue-eyed boy had been craving for a long time, friends. Perhaps he didn't deserve friends, real ones, part of being him was being alone- perfection often tends to exist solo. Or so he thought.

Quidditch, the only thing that made him feel alive, made him feel like a normal 16-year-old, one who had a purpose. A game that was perfect- at least according to him. He had made captain too- yes, he had bought his way into the team initially, but he was a pretty good player (according to Slytherin standards), which is why as the new captain he had made sure to change up the laid-back training schedule of the team. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to check things, the pre-existing schedule of the other teams and the weather for the next day.

Hence, the drenched team in green stood by the bleachers, as their 'new captain' was busy arguing with the captain of the Hufflepuffs.

"Listen Malfoy, we gave our schedule a week before yours, the field is ours for the day-"

"THE DAY? Bloody hell Diggory, you pastry puffs really got some nerve, huh?"

"Mind repeating that Malfoy?" The brunette took a step forward, glaring at the blonde, neither wanting to back down. Perhaps if the blonde had asked politely, the older one would've given him the field but not if he thought it was HIS BIRTH RIGHT. 

"Cedric."

The two turned to look at the person who had dared to interfere as the two were trying to "alpha" the other out.

"Lovely to see how hormonal boys get when they don't get their way, but the storm's getting worse and we're leaving. Can't see a thing." Y/N stood there, holding her broom, uniform clinging to her body as she pushed back her wet hair that was bothering her vision. 

"And who might you be" he snapped at her, trying not to drink in her image, something was off about her, he couldn't tell what it was but he felt this thing.

"The keeper. Anyway, we're leaving now, Cedric." She cut him off before motioning for the brunette, walking away with the rest of her team, not giving either of the captains the chance to speak up.

"She's uh- vice-captain by the way," Cedric muttered, as a matter of fact, he didn't just let anyone tell him what to do, so technically, she was allowed to since she was vice-captain, not just anyone on the team. 

Draco stood there, with his team behind him, the sound of the rain growing angrier echoing behind them as he mumbled to himself, "Is she new?" Only to be heard by Zabini who responded, "Not really, I think she just made vice-captain this season...a looker ain't she." He looked at his captain who gave him a certain look of disgust- to anyone else it was the usual grimace he would express at the mention of any and everyone, but right now, unknown to everyone on his team, his expressions expressed not his disgust but possessiveness. He had no idea why, but as the words slipped past Zabini's smug face he wanted to sock him in the face, punishment for disrespecting her- what in merlin's name? Shrugging him off the blonde stormed off, everyone else exchanging a look, Boyle sending Zabini a look, 'Really man?" Who let out a chuckle, "It's true though...too bad she's a puff."

That night he couldn't sleep, he didn't know what it was, perhaps the fact that he had never noticed her before was bothering him. The notion of that thought bothering him was bothering him even more because why in Merlin's name would he care about noticing a Hufflepuff, even if she was on the quidditch team, why would he notice her? He barely ever noticed anyone anyway. Huffing in frustration he pushed away the soft comforter, jumping off his bed as he groaned, perhaps a walk around the halls would do good, the cold weather is always a good way to clear one's mind. Putting on his robes he walked out into the dimly lit common room, glad no one else was awake at this hour. Grabbing a green apple on his way out he made sure to keep the noise to the minimum so no one could catch him roaming around past curfew hours. 

Hopping up the last step he took a deep breath, exhaling to watch the white puff come to life. The wind howled around the corridors as he reached the base of the giant door, it was usually locked, but perhaps the Slytherin prince had found a way to undo the spells that kept it locked. Opening the door he entered the astronomy tower, and that's when he saw the reason for tonight's insomnia, sitting there at the edge of the window, legs dangling out, eyes closed, looking all peaceful- and here he was somewhat annoyed.

"You'll fall at this rate." He spat, well, it came out ruder than he intended it to. It was supposed to be laced with concern but his usual mood and inability to control his temper had gotten the best of him, again. And now, she'd probably insult him or -

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that." She shrugged, scooching back a bit, "wouldn't be missed much." Turning her head to him she cocked a brow,  "The real question is, why are you here?"

"Fresh air."

"Ah, I see." With that she turned back around, choosing silence over the conversation. He thought he'd appreciate it but instead he pestered her further;

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Hufflepuff?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, then I couldn't sleep so I came up here."

"I've never seen you up here before."

"Well, let's just say something happened today and I needed to be alone." She spat back, only to sigh at his raised brows, "sorry...I was about to leave anyway." She lied, but she was in no mood to start an argument with him. She'd seen how he got when he'd be in full Slytherin mode and right now she was too tired to handle it-

"You can stay." Mumbling he closed the door behind him, locking it as he walked over to the other end, another window, "Get off the window though, don't want to be blamed if you fall and become a scrambled egg." 

Her laugh bounced across the walls, ringing like bells in his ears, eyes darting to her form that was now seated right under the giant window, back pressed against the stone wall, facing the room. Clearing his throat - he didn't mean it as a joke- he looked away, peering out at the view, the dark lake reflecting the moon, the mist settling in across the fields, covering like a bride's veil. 

The land was silent, other than the occasional howl that would echo across the valley, but that was it, it was at this exact hour of the night when he felt at ease, free from all and everything that had him all riled up. However, he had never expected to share that moment with anyone, let alone the Hufflepuff keeper- one who had been playing as long as him but he had never noticed. Possibly because they had beat the brightly colored house in numerous matches. Bringing his cold hands to his lips, he blew out a puff, hoping to warm them up, and it hit him, she was sitting in nothing but her uniform- quidditch uniform. Frowning at the thought he turned to take a look at her again, only for their eyes to meet. 

Quickly averting her gaze she pretended to look elsewhere, the wall across the room becoming too interesting all of a sudden. Yes, she had been looking at him because she liked him, no, it wasn't because of that she had been avoiding him since day one. She had been looking at him simply because he was beautiful- she had seen many like him, like her, beings that belonged to prominent families, but none looked like him, radiating a glow like him. It was...intimidating. Though she could not judge, for she had never conversed with him before,  usually she'd avoid everyone during class, especially when the Golden Trio was involved, the usual banter was quite irritating, why couldn't everyone just get along? Perhaps this was why she was sorted in Hufflepuff, a lot of things didn't matter to her; family names, intellect, race- who cares? As long as one is within the boundaries of a decent person, why must there be an issue?

"So, why are you here?" He asked, placing the skeleton of the eaten apple beside him, "In uniform?" Once again, his tone of choice was harsher than anticipated, which led him to expect a flinch or a retort, and once again, he received neither but a simple answer.

"Had a lot on my mind today...and uh" she looked down to realize she hadn't changed from her gear anyway- well she did come here directly from the field. The rain had just added to the flare of angsty thoughts, which is why she had spent almost all day after practice, in the astronomy tower.

"What is it?"

"Well, aren't you a nosy hen?" Snorting at him, her gaze met his for a split second, crystal orbs wide, as if he had realized how he was prying. 

"Sorry." He mumbled, turning back to the view, ignoring her, brows knitted together, cheeks flushed- from the chilly wind mind you.

"Are you...brooding?" She gasped before letting out a sweet chuckle, "And here I thought you were ready to fight Cedric in the morning-"

"Please, I'd beat him to a pulp."

"Very mature." She smirked, knowing she was able to get a reaction out of him, "Though I'm glad you didn't..." Whispering she looked at her hands, she didn't eat anything after practice, was she starving? Probably but-

"Here." She heard from beside her, squeaking and jumping a foot away, when had he moved closer to her? Noticing his extended hand, she saw the contents that lay in his palm, wrapped in shiny foil were a dozen Fizzing Whizbees, "Bet you didn't eat if you've been here all day." 

Clearing her throat to cover up her reaction she nodded, slowly reaching out to grab one, fingertips brushing against the skin of his palm, which was surprisingly soft and warm. Sitting back down beside him she popped it in her mouth, savoring the sweetness as she closed her eyes in contentment.

He watched her silently, not knowing why he was being like this, confused as to why she hit didn't think this was out of character for him. Then it hit him like a mad witch on a broom, he wasn't bothered because she was the reason he couldn't sleep in the first place- why he was roaming around the halls like a ghost, all because she was stuck in his mind. He had been thinking of looking her up, thinking of ways he could, if not talk then, learn about her a bit more, enough to satisfy his curiosity and remind himself of how mundane and boring she truly was.

"Yeah, I didn't" she peeked at his hand, to see if she could take another, only for him to place the rest between them, glancing at her and then looking ahead, "So, why are you here?"

"Well, since you were oh so kind to bribe me with sweets, I'll tell you."

"I'm not bribing you-" he frowned only for her to giggle, "It's a joke, Malfoy, haven't heard one before?"

"O-oh."

"Anyway, I came here to clear my head...family stuff, y'know."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed, not like he had the best relationship with his father, the man he would listen to at all costs. Feeling her sigh in return he muttered, "What's your name puff?"

"Well, it's definitely not Puff. I'd also appreciate it if you don't call me that." She snapped back, glaring at him. He frowned in return, not really sure if he should argue back, being polite was never his strong suit, especially to anyone else but, for some reason, he muttered an apology to her. That earned him a ....smile.

"Apology accepted. It's Y/N L/N"

"WAIT"  

Flinching at the loudness of his voice she groaned, she knew where this was going, "L/N- you're the...oh..." he paused for a second then continued, a bit calmer this time, choosing his words wisely, "The last child of the L/N family....the one that..."

"Yes, yes, you can say it, stained the family name. I am aware- apparently being sorted into Hufflepuff was a real issue for my parents." 

"I'm-"

"You say you're sorry and I swear I'll hex you." 

"Yeah..." and then there was silence, for a good time too, neither exchanged a word. To be honest, she thought he would make fun of her or walk away as soon as she told him her family name. Her family made fun of her and walked out on her too, she was no longer invited to family dinners- rather was not allowed to attend any, no galas or birthdays or parties of any kind, hell, not even funerals. To make it all easier, she was a resident of the school, a deal signed by her parents and submitted to Dumbledore, requesting she stay there till her school years are complete. After that, she was sure they'd either ship her away or cut off all ties with her permanently. Yet, here he was, the lad of one of the most prestigious families, sitting there, feeling sorry for her.

"I don't feel sorry for you though."

"What." turning a whole 90 degrees she looked at him with eyes as big as saucers, trying to stare right into his soul as she squinted, "Excuse me?"

He knew she was looking at him, but he did not dare look back, he knew the moment he locked his eyes with hers, he'd lose the newly formed confidence. Clearing his throat, pulling his robes closer to himself, "I mean, I don't, I - you don't seem like your father...or your mother, you're different." Simply put, the Malfoy heir had met the L/N family, naturally, they were one of the few families his father would invite to their annual dinner- yet he had never met her, even when he was younger, he has no memory of it. He knew she had an older sister and an older brother, the sister sorted into Ravenclaw, much like her mother while the brother was a resident Slytherin, both graduated when he was a wee lad. 

"Why have I...never seen you though? Even at dinners- prior to Hogwarts?"

"Oh, funny story actually," she sat facing him, knees pressed to her chest, conversing casually like they had known each other for centuries, "So like, I was 5, right, and we were in Paris, family vacation and stuff. And there was, playing in the park with the rest of my siblings when out of the blue this weird lady pops up and grabs my hands!`` She reached forward and grabbed him, too engrossed in the story, to be honest, she considered him a friend now anyway, her hands gripping his wrists. He flinched but didn't pull away, wanting no more, "She was bald and had no teeth, dressed in all black- her eyes were sunken in and she smiled at me with those gums wide." He made a disgusted expression at this oh-so-vivid description, nodding as if signaling her to continue, "And she said with glee 'You, the youngest of the L/N, will bear a curse like no other, one that would shatter the family name~' and then everybody was panicking okay and before anyone could get a hold of the weird sorcerer lady, she vanished" gasped, amused by how his expressions were changing as the story reached its climax, "Thus, I was taken to another fortune teller, one who advised my parents to keep me locked up to protect me, hide my existence till I could come to Hogwarts." she finished, letting go of his wrists, as she clapped her hands together, "the end."

The dent between his eyebrows increased, first of all, that story made no sense, and secondly, the lack of contact made him realize how warm her hands were, the cold air on his skin burnt as if her touch had engraved into his soul.

"Your bloody wankers." He scoffed, "No wonder they locked you up-"

"It's true! Turns out the dishonor part came when I was sorted into Hufflepuff." she argued, somewhat enjoying this conversation, "After that they barely kept any contact with me, I am to stay at school until my education is finished, and I was upset today because I had sent an owl with news about becoming Vice-captain- though my father said it would have only mattered if it wasn't the house I was in and he'd appreciate if I only sent an owl out if it was an emergency. Like how do I do that? What if I'm dying? Won't really have time to write then, would I?" she whined, reaching for another sweet. 

"Well..." he muttered, not really knowing what to say next. Honestly, he didn't want the conversation to go in so deep, he just wanted her to give her a pathetic story, so he could insult her and move on but now, he felt as if he owed her something, not sure why.

"So, why are you here?" she finally asked, neatly folding the wrapper of the sweet, and stuffing it in her pocket.

'You'  he thought to himself-

"For fresh air."

"Doesn't seem like an actual reason."

"It is."

"Well, I mean now you know my secret and I don't know yours."

"You do know my secret." He muttered, standing up, dusting himself as he looked around.

"I do?" she looked up at him through her lashes, eyes wide.

"Yes, you know I come here sometimes."

"That's not a secret, that just makes me an accomplice to your crime."

Letting out an uncharacteristic chuckle, he looked away, so she couldn't see his face, slowly walking towards the door, in a few hours they'd have class and he didn't want to be late in the morning. At the door he turned to look at her, "Aren't you going to bed...Y/N?" he asked, holding onto the door, choosing not to call her Puff anymore, or by her last name since it would bring up bad memories for her- WHY DID HE CARE?

"Nope." she responded, "I will in a while."

"You'll be late for class."

"Please, I need two hours of sleep max."

"You know...I can't really tell if you're a good liar or just all talk no bite."

"Bit of both Mr.Malfoy."

Raising his eyebrows he scoffed at the name he was given, she had some nerve, he'd give her that. Part of him wanted to converse with her, the more logical part knew the two probably would not interact after this, she'd live on with her life and him with his, and perhaps they wouldn't even interact in class- usually Potter would keep him busy anyway. 

"Goodnight Y/N" with that he walked out, feeling that all too familiar feeling settle in his bones once more, back to being Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince. He did wonder if she would actually be on time tomorrow- wait, did they even have class together?

They did, in fact, for the next morning, Draco Malfoy had stepped into Potions class early morning, a bit tired, but not enough to sneer at the golden trio that was sitting on the opposite end. Crystal orbs looked around the class, scanning for a particular person, perhaps she was not in his class anyway. He turned back to the board when Snape walked past him, tapping on his desk to gain his attention, "Eyes front Mr.Malfoy." 

Almost twenty minutes in, Snape stops to talk only to glare at someone, though half the class freezes, Draco is one of the few that turn to look at the poor person, and there he sees her, standing there, staring at her professor sheepishly, wearing a few extra layers- of course, she probably caught a cold.

"Miss L/N, where have you been?"

"I um...overslept Sir."

"And how is that my problem?" he snapped back at her, only for her to flinch, mumbling an apology. Exhaling through his nose the man waved his hand, "Sit down. And 10 points from Hufflepuff." 

She scurried to the empty seat in the back corner, sitting down to look up and lock eyes with shiny blue hues, smiling at him meekly as she looked back down at her desk, though he was still staring at her. She looked different in her usual uniform, strange, not to mention he had told her to go to sleep and-

"Mr.Malfoy, if you're done staring at Miss L/N, look in front." he flinched when the professor gripped his head and moved him to look forward. To say the Prince of Slytherin was embarrassed was an understatement, he was blushing mad, especially when he heard a few students giggle- including WEASLEY. Oh, how he wanted to punch him in the face. The rest of the Slytherins were confused though, mostly Draco's group, why had he been staring at the Puff in the first place?

The class was over and he was glad, he was pissed and right now his hungry eyes were looking for someone to destroy, to bully enough to make them feel worthless. That's when his eyes landed on her sleeping form. For heaven's sake, had she fallen asleep too? How, just how did Snape not see that???? Walking over to her sleeping form he stood there, wondering if he should wake her up and yell at her for embarrassing him in front of everyone- but technically, she had nothing to do with that, he was staring at her by choice. He was alone, she was asleep and no one else was there. Frantically, his eyes scanned the books that lay beside her, what other classes did they have together? a few- wait, they've had almost every class together? 

"You comin' mate?" His head whipped to the door to find Zabini standing there at the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah," he muttered as he walked towards the exit.

She felt someone poke her, groaning at the disturbance. She opened her eyes, only to spot Luna smiling at her, "You look like a little pixie when you're asleep." 

"OH MY GOD." She sat up, staring at the people around her, this wasn't her class, wait, how long had she been asleep? Turning to look at Luna she whispered, "What time is it?"

"Well, it's half past noon."

"I'M LATE FOR PRACTICE!" she gasped, slamming her hands on the table, gathering her stuff, and almost out the door when Luna called for her, "Wait, Y/N, you forgot this!" She turned to look at the blonde, spotting a familiar shiny object in her hand, a Fizzing Whizbee. had he put it there for her? Clearing her throat she thanked her and took it from her hand a bit too abruptly then dashed out. 

"Pretty pixie didn't realize she missed half the school day too." the blonde giggled before going to her seat, glad she had woken up before the next professor had come in.

As soon as she reached the field she bumped into someone, "Oh sorry- Cedric hey." she smiled up at him, praying to any and everything he wouldn't make her do laps.

"You're late."

"I may have overslept."

"How?"

"In class....been asleep since the first one-"

"You've been sneaking out again?"

"Not sneaking out if I never came in, don't go all Prefect on me now."

Sighing in defeat he moved so she could get her gear only to grab her wrist, "Did you say you've been asleep since the FIRST CLASS?"

"...Perhaps."

It was this conversation that had led her to run laps around the field, while everyone else was up in the skies, even the benched keeper was there- replacing her. 30 rounds- Cedric was mad, nothing else- she wasn't even much of a runner. On her 25th round of running - walking out of breath- she fell to her knees, panting as she looked up at the sky, squinting to see the people that looked like ants, "Bloody Diggory."

"Oh, would ya look at that, a Puff with broken wings," she turned her head to look at whoever thought that was a clever insult. Goyle, who else, ah yes, the rest of the Slytherin team behind him. Standing up she dusted her clothes and looked at them, "Field's taken, as you can see."

"Well, we want the skies, not the field, you can continue with your running though." Zabini stepped forth, a smirk adorning his face as he leaned closer to look at her, "Got Malfoy in trouble today didn't ya?"

"Your boy got himself in trouble- now get out of my face or-"

"Get out of her face Zabini, the hell's wrong with you."  He spat, pulling him back with his robes, "Now, act like a good vice-captain and get your captain." He looked at her, slightly annoyed by the morning's events. 

"Okay, 2 things." She raised her hand to show two fingers, "1)I'm the vice-captain, not a messenger, 2)I can't, he took my broom."

"Sorry?"

"Apology accepted." 

Zabini snickered, looking away when Draco turned to glare at him, then back at her, "What do you mean he took your broom?" Why was he angry- wait, was he angry for her? 

"He's the captain, captains can do that- please tell me you've read the handbook?"

"There's a handbook?"

"Yes?" She answered, utterly confused as to how he even made captain. At this point, the rest of the team was growing restless, wondering why their captain was even conversing with her.

"Come on Malfoy, show her the damn paper so we can kick'em out!" Zabini cut her off, kind of tired at this point.

"What- oh yeah. We have a signed-HAVE YOU NO MANNERS?"

She snatched it from his hand, reading his very clean and pretty writing, a new schedule, approved by Professor Snape. Of course. 

"PFFT" she looked up at him, "You.. realize you have to get this signed by all house masters and the team captains?"

"SAYS WHO?", He yelled, gone was the patient Malfoy, because no she was testing him and he was done. 

"The Handbook. Would've known it existed if you didn't buy your way in the team." She snapped back, shutting him up. Two could play that game. She didn't want to pick a fight with him, but he just wasn't listening.

"What did you say to him?" Another player in green stepped forth only to be stopped by the captain, his hand in front of him as he peered down at her, "Watch yourself, L/N. Let's go." 

"What?" Goyle spat, "We don't have to play by the rules Draco-"

"When I say let's go, " he turned to the boy, walking closer as he glared at him, all his anger now addressed to him, "You shut up and listen, like a good little boy, do I make myself clear?" He seethed through gritted teeth, ever ready to knock some sense into him. 

Gulping the pale boy nodded, quickly turning around and following the rest of the team, none waiting for their captain to follow. Turning around he frowned at her, "I didn't buy my way into captaincy."

"I know." She shrugged, handing him the paper that he snatched back, "Then act like you didn't." With that she jogged away.

The loud crunch of the paper could be heard as he walked away, back to his dorm to change, for lunch. He did not expect to be confronted by Zabini, sitting on the couch, staring at the blonde who had entered but chose to ignore him.

"Mind telling me what was that about?"

"What was what?" He asked, stopping by a table to peer through the snacks and sweets. He was glad the common room was almost empty at this hour, unfortunately he had not anticipated being confronted by an idiot.

"You didn't say anything to her- no wait, you let a Puff talk back to you, it was almost like you two know each other." He suggested getting up to go to Draco, who had grabbed a fistful of Fizzing Wizbees and stuffing them in his pocket.

"I saw no reason to, also, don't get up in her face- wait, don't get up in any woman's face, that's weird." He spat back, and stomped away, assuming he had offended him. Unfortunately, the other male just snorted in response muttering an 'interesting.'

Seated for lunch he poured himself some juice and began to eat. Act like a captain, what did that even mean? Scoffing, he smashed the potatoes, even more, wondering where he could get himself that book, the old captain had never told him about it- then again, the old captain didn't care much about the rules either. They were Slytherins, they never did. But the way she had said it, like he had to prove something to everyone, prove something to her. Who was she anyway? Hell even her own family didn't want her- but it's not like she chose which house to be sorted in. Shaking his head he groaned, staring at the plate of now cold food. She wasn't like her family anyway, she was cunning or a cheater and wasn't the brightest out there too- he had met the family, the siblings, but neither reminded him of her. They were elegant beings, one that looked at most with a glint of disgust in their eyes, yet, there was her, she had nothing, but it didn't bother her. Isn't perfection having everything? Her father had practically told her off just yesterday, highlighting her insignificance and here she was, joking around and sleeping in the class- why was he thinking about her anyway-

"Draco you haven't eaten a thing! Are you alright", Pansy's shrill pushed his train off its tracks, instantly igniting a fire within him- he was triggered, once again. 

He got up abruptly, the group around him quieting down, he glared at the person who dared interrupt his thoughts. "I'm not hungry." He spat and walked away, shoving any and every kid that got in his way. Harry being one of those poor souls, earning a, "Watch it, POTTER."

Scoffing in response the brunette went to sit at his table, "What's his deal." He said as he put himself some food. His friends in response shrugged, Hermoine pitching in, "He's been weird all morning, I think he's embarrassed about being called out by Snape."

"He did that to himself though." Ron mumbled with a mouthful, only for Ginny to grimace then, "I heard he fought with Cedric yesterday and Y/N called it off." They heard another Weasley, of course, the twins would have all the hot gossip.

Fred shoved Ron aside to sit next to Harry and smirked, "Apparently they had a little argument today too." He said as he picked up a berry and popped it in his mouth. Harry just shrugged and snorted, "How is that any different?"

"Oh, dear boy." George gasped, standing behind Hermione, "She won the argument and from what we've heard, he even told off one of his goons- you don't just stare at someone in Snape's class, mate. That's just dumb."

"Shouldn't we not presume stuff?" Ginny asked as she placed her empty dish aside, sighing at her brother's antics. 

"It's not presuming," Fred announced, only for George to continue, "It's an observation."

Draco had spent almost all day in the library and he could find no such handbook. What the hell was that woman about? Was she lying to him? She wasn't like that, right? Or was she just messing with him, trying to mock him, some sort of stupid prank to satisfy her pathetic self. Angered, he marched up the stairs to the tower, he wasn't even sure if she would be there, though he prayed that she wasn't. A part of him wanted to yell at her, insult her and make her feel as worthless as everyone had deemed her to be, but the more compassionate side of the boy, the one that was often asleep, had been urging him to remain patient, to see how things unfold before jumping to any conclusion.

Slamming open the door he looked around the empty space, shoulders slouching as he let out a shaky breath, muttering something under his breath. She wasn't there, it was half past 8, he had skipped dinner to come up here, not for her though, or so he was telling himself as he entered, closing the door behind him.

Choosing to sit by the window she had yesterday he sighed, he was used to feeling angry, this temperament had become a part of who he was, a feeling that would bubble up at the thought of any and everyone, but right now, at the thought of her, what he felt was not anger but...disappointment. What was the purpose of last night's events? He was sitting there like a fool, with a pocket full of sweets, why? Not to mention Zabini had been trying to gain some form of entertainment from this situation, first the class' events, then he caught him staring at her asleep, then he was up in her face at the field- exhaling he closed his eyes, head tilting back against the stoned cold wall. His hand reached for his pocket, feeling the rustling sweets, as he opened his eyes and looked at the door, then getting up in defeat and disappointment-

"BLOODY STAIRS"

Flinching at the loud slam of the door he hissed, "Quiet down!" Eyes landed on her hunched-over frame, heaving, and panting. 

"Shh- " she waved her hand, holding onto the door as she tried to stand up properly, stretching her back. Closing the door, making sure no one was there she turned around to smile at him, only to shiver under his icy cold glare. "N-no one followed me, don't worry" she cleared her throat, averting her gaze.

"Better not have." He scoffed, staring at her, she had her bag with her. He wanted to ask her why she was late, but since he was "mad" at her, he didn't.

"Umm...I'm sorry about today's class...you got called out because of me." She muttered, staring at her feet.

"And the field?" Crossing his arms over his chest he stared at her.

"You did that to yourself."

"What?" He gasped, shocked, utterly shocked at the audacity of this being-

"Well what else!" She exclaimed walking over to him as she reached in her bag, which hung on her shoulder, "what kind of captain doesn't know basic rules?? What good is it to be one of the best players in the school and not know basic rules?" She took out a small battered book, showing it to him, "Don't lose it, okay? I borrowed it from Cedric for a week."

He was...touched. She had gotten him the book and explicitly stated how he was one of the best players? He reached out for it, fingers gripping onto the opposite end of it, only to stop and frown at the last moment, "You sure talk a lot about Diggory."

"He's my friend." She muttered, pulling away once he took the book, "Anyway, I'll be off now! My legs hurt and I had to get you this-"

"Wait." Grabbing her wrist he stared at her, frowning, as if he was angry at her. Well, it seemed like that to her, he kinda looked constipated. "Yes?" She asked, staring up at him, the world around them slowing down, nothing existing but them.

"I - You- here." She felt him place something in her palm, glancing down at the sweets then up at him, biting her lip to stifle a laugh, failing horribly.

"HAHhahah-" she covered her mouth with her free hand, stuffing the sweets in her bag as she looked away, trying not go embarrass him anymore. "S-sorry hah..." Turning to look at him, she burst into another fit of laughter, his face growing redder by the minute.

"Are you done?" He spat, ears as pink as his cheeks at the moment. Yes, he was embarrassed, but he dared not avert his gaze, he took his sweet time drinking in the scene before him. The way she was laughing, the way her nose would crinkle, face flushing as her melodic laugh filled the world around him.

Gasping she shook her head, "Man....I'm sorry, I'm- you looked so serious and...I...its like you pay me with these."

"I don't pa-"

"Again, it's a joke...but thank you." She smiled up at him, "I'll consider moving you up from 'acquaintance' to 'close acquaintance' ." 

Pausing at the responde he looked away, hoping she didn't notice the way his lips had slightly curled upwards, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Anyway, I'm going to go now, I'm exhausted and I don't want Snape to throw me out tomorrow".

"Goodnight...Y/N." 

Only waving at him in response, she noticed how majestic he looked, standing there under the moonlight, shimmering hair being caressed by the wind- a being made with perfection to the dot. 

The Malfoy heir woke up next morning before the birds could begin their usual tune. He was ready before everyone and was out of the common room, heading straight to class, passing by professors, muttering quick good mornings to them, while they were still trying to blink away the sleep. 

Opening the classroom door he entered the cold room, shivering at how Snape would keep his class covered from anything warm- may it be sunlight or anything else. He was early, good, no one would be there and he could sit and brood in silence for a while, he had sent out a letter to his father in regards to his studies a while back, though his father's response was more of a lecture on how to be better. Hence, after tearing it up he had decided to come for class.

"You're up early."

"Shit." Almost jumping out of his skin he turned to look at her sitting in her usual spot at the back, head resting on her palm, fingers of her other hand drumming against the wooden desk.

"What are you doing here?" He frowned, choosing to sit close to her yet at a distance, sitting at the opposite edge of the same bench. It would be easier for him to pretend he had just entered and was going to his desk. 

"Woke up early, apparently if you sleep on time you can wake up early." She stated like it was a newly discovered fact, then sat properly and reached for her bag, "May I interest you in some candy? A young fellow has been giving them away recently, I feel like he has shares in the business." She said, taking out a shiny wrapped sweet and showing it to him, "Breakfast is very important."

"Chocolate is breakfast?"

"Anything is breakfast if you believe in it." She exclaimed, sliding it over to him as he caught it in one swift movement. A small smile gracing his lips as he stared at the dark desk, the way she had just commented on his way of thanking her was somewhat...comical. 

"So," clicking her tongue she glanced at him, his side profile, "You seem...upset." 

"How can you tell?" He asked, eying the toffee wrapper he was now nervously playing with, fingers trying to smooth over the creases of the foil. 

"Stop that." He was unsure of when she had moved next to him, he never even felt her body heat, unt she gently took the wrapper away from him, fingers brushing against his colder ones. Just like that she was gone, back in her place again, keeping her distance like he was initially.

"Why did you-"

"Let it be, the wrinkles and folds, they're a part of it. Let things be, you don't have to fix everything, nor must everything be perfect." Smiling softly she glanced at him, "Accept the imperfections, with the perfection. The sooner you accept it...the better you'll feel " she whispered, no longer looking at him but looking ahead at the empty class. He wasn't sure if she had said the last part to him or herself. Sighing he looked in the same direction as her, "I am not a perfectionist, but you won't understand- it's easier for you".

His only response was a scoff, "You got that right. No longer existing for my family is super easy."

"At least no one expects anything from you-" he countered, turning around to glare at her, he did not want her to lecture him about any bullshit. He had it hard, his father's expectations, the burden of carrying the family name, trying not to break down everytime his mother asked him if he was okay. He stopped though, he had turned to find her staring dead ahead, yet her quivering lip twisted his heart. Had he made her cry?

"I- I didn't mean it like that-"

"It"s fine." Letting out a shaky breath she looked away, wiping her eyes. He wanted to reach out to her, he never meant to hurt her- he had never even seen her frown let alone cry-

"It is easier." She let out a sad chuckle, turning to look at him with glassy eyes, "But it's also a constant reminder of how useless you are. I'm not saying you have it any better, but at least you have parents who know you're there." Sighing, she reached for her bag again and took out her books and quill, "You should go sit in the front now, it's almost time and I- its best if no one sees you here." 

"Y/N I-" he stopped at the approaching sound of students and had him stand up abruptly by reflex. Hissing he marched to his usual spot, turning to look at her, he wished she was upset with him- he deserved it but the way she gave him a small smile and went back to reading had his brain working in overdrive. That was it, the moment was gone, and he let it slip past his fingers once more. He knew she'd pretend as if nothing had happened like there had been no argument, no hurt feelings, nothing. He didn't get it, how, just how could she do that? In one swift motion, she'd normalise everything around her.

To make it worse the students that they had heard were not in their class, so now the two were sitting in silence, at opposite ends of the class and he had made a fool out of himself- again. He wanted to start a conversation with her, fix the thing he had broken, but how? As his brain pondered upon the current matters, something hit him smack in the head. Wincing he reached up to touch the aching spot, turning to glare at her as she stifled a laugh, "I thought you'd catch it." He looked at the Fizzing Whizbee that had bounced off his head and landed on the bench beside him, "Did it occur to you that you didn't give heads up?" He snapped back, reaching it and stuffing it in his robe's pocket.

"Well, at least now we know you have a thick skull."

"I am aware of that- diD YOu just insult me??" He gasped as she laughed at him, however, both froze as the door slammed open. A man in black robes and an eerie flare walked in, looked at both of them, and exhaled in defeat.

"May I inquire as to why both of you are here?" The professor mumbled, eying the girl then the blonde who cleared his throat, "For class professor."

"I had announced yesterday that there will be no class today. Seeing as to how Miss L/N was asleep yesterday and you were busy watching her, it is no surprise you two...missed the announcement." He spat, staring at Draco until they heard her snort, quickly ducking her head when both of them looked at her.

"Is something funny?"

"N-no Sir. Sorry Sir"

"Miss L/N, let me add more to your amusement, you've failed your recent test."

"Oh"

"Oh?" Draco reacted before their professor could, only to realize his mistake when Snape turned to him with a cocked brow, "Well, as Mr.Malfoy seems to be distracted by you these days, he'll be tutoring you."

"But Professor-"

"Think of it as a punishment for both, for Miss L/N's horrid grades and...for your lack of knowledge about the Quidditch Handbook".

Before Draco could ask him something about how he knew the professor walked out, leaving the two in the class. A minute of silence passed until she chuckled.

The two walked out of class, though he could tell she was keeping her distance, looking around as they passed the halls with filled classes. She had slowed down, in hopes that he'd get the message of walking away, but clearly, he was as slow as a sloth. Neither had any real destination to go to right now, which is why he turned to look at her, "Library?"

"Is that a...question or a ?"

"We could start on your ...potions stuff." He shrugged, slowing down, letting her catch up, though he did look around to make sure there were no other students there.

She paused for a moment, as if trying to think about it, then nodded, "Very well, lead the way, professor." With that she marched ahead, leaving him standing there, a blushing mess.

Choosing to sit in an empty corner he motioned for her to sit quietly, "I'll be back with the books. Don't do anything stupid." With that he walked off, he needed time to think. How did Snape know about the book? Moreover, he saw her asleep in class but didn't call her out? Why? And what was he going to do when his housemates would ask him about tutoring a puff? Zabini had been up in his arse lately. Sighing in frustration, he grabbed another book, he didn't even know how bad she was in the subject, considering she had failed one of the easiest tests he had given. He was glad the library was almost empty though, he was in no mood of conversation or rather, no mood of arguing with anyone right now. It was also bothering him how she was all normal again. He had offended her, she had failed a test and now she was being tutored by someone whose friends would insult her at every given moment.

Coming back to the desk he placed them on the table, she was scribbling something only to stop when he had come. Closing the small booklet and stuffing it back in her bag, "Those are...a lot of books." She muttered before glancing at him, who in return shrugged and sat down next to her, shoulder brushing against hers as he pulled his own books out of his bag.

The smell of fresh mint and aftershave engulfed her senses when he moved closer, making her dizzy. Side-eying him she made sure to take in the view, his uniform had not a single crease, the way everything was tucked in properly- it was at that moment she noticed that he had taken off his robes before sitting down and rolled up his sleeves too. Clearing her throat she looked up at his face, eyes focused on the things before him, there was a spark within them, one she had never seen before, is this what he usually looked like while studying? Trailing down they landed on his hands, that ring, she knew the purpose of such family hand-me-downs- they were symbols of status. Each of her siblings had one, you receive it once you come of age, but she was not to get any anyway, naturally, she never expected one either. It was the first thing she noticed when his father had given it to him, he would constantly fiddle with it, especially when he was nervous, like the time he had to present in Herbology. 

"Y/N?" 

"Hmm?"

"If you're done staring into space, shall we begin?" He scoffed, he had noticed her staring at him, he didn't stop her though or say anything, he liked the attention, which was weird because obtaining attention from any woman had never been an issue for him. Though he had never expected to feel like this under her gaze, at least she wasn't talking about Cedric anymore. It took him an extreme amount of self-control when Zabini was getting too close to her in the field. So, yes, even though he was aware he was being inspected by her, he chose to use different wording, to not embarrass her and for he had been relishing the attention. That and he had been helping himself with her image, from the way her tie hung loose, she hadn't even buttoned up completely, she looked so imperfect, yet so ...perfect? Sleeves rolled up, no sweater west, a skirt that ended above her knees, and the choice of wearing black tights. He had noticed in the morning how she wasn't wearing her robes, but never commented on it.

"Y-yes." She cleared her throat taking out her books and stuff, turning to him, "please proceed, professor."

Biting his lip he looked at the notes, "Well um...how about you write down the answers you wrote in the last test." He said, retracting his hands to his lap, under the desk, his fingers going to his other hand, fiddling with the cold ring, waiting for her to begin.

A moment or two later of staring at the blank pages he cleared his throat, was he making her nervous? 

"Do you...want me to look away or-"

"I just realized I failed because I left my paper blank."

"...WHAT?"  His voice echoed around the shelves, instantly earning him a "Shh!"

"I fell asleep yesterday...and that's when he took the test..." she trailed off before shrugging, "So, like if you remember the questions-"

"Y/N. I...I mean- how, just how did you get away with that? Snape never saw you??" he snapped, flipping through his own notes, where he had jotted down the questions, so he could work on them in his free time as well. 

"Oh, I think he did, but a day before class, the day before I kinda got caught taking potions from the storage area, and Snape caught me and;

"Miss L/N, what are you...doing here?" her professor glared at her, though she had assumed she had hidden successfully, "I can see you behind the shelf."

"I umm.." Clearing her throat she came out from behind the shelf, "I was looking for ingredients..."

"For?"

"Sleeping Draught Sir."

"Why is that? and have you any permission."

"N-no Sir." she clutched the letter behind her, yes, she had read the letter in the morning, but it was almost midnight and her thoughts were getting too loud for her to sleep. Part of her thought of going to the astronomy tower, but the sight of the potions storage room was more tempting, and honestly, easier. So she had snuck out to get a few ingredients, she had the herbs anyway, so all she had to do was take a few other potions, and boom perfect brew. But fate was not with her tonight.

"Give me that." He snatched the paper from her hand, quickly reading it and for a split second, the headmaster's stern eyes softened, only to revert back when he looked at her. "We do not use potions to deal with such petty emotions Miss L/N."

"Yes Professor." she stared at her boots, she was still in her quidditch uniform.

Neatly folding the paper he handed it back to her, clearing his throat, "When the mind is hazy and filthy, one takes to nature, not magic."

She didn't really understand what he meant by that, but she was grateful he wasn't going to give her detention or take away house points. She was about to take the paper for him only for him to pull it away further, "Burdens must be dealt with as soon as possible." He said as he brought his wand to the paper, pressing against the skin of the paper, as it slowly started to disintegrate, evaporating into nothing, "Once they disintegrate, they bother you no more."

"With all due respect professor, I have no idea what you meant by that."

"Get out."

"And that's probs why he didn't wake me up since it is his fault I dozed asleep" she stated as a matter of fact, before stretching her arms over her head, leaning back against her chair, only to slump afterward.

Draco had never been more confused in his life, six years in this school and Snape had not once gone soft on anyone- why on Earth did he- "Wait, the hell did he even mean by that?"

"Oh- so I didn't get it, and after he kicked me out, I came to the astronomy tower right? After practice yesterday, I went to Professor Sprout because my legs hurt and ended up asking her if she knew what Snape meant. Turns out the two are actually friends- or at least, she claims to be, I mean, I know she's super friendly but-"

"You're derailing."

"Huh? Oh- sorry, she told me that Snape had once told her to write down her feelings and then burn the paper, some kind of therapy to make herself feel lighter. So, I guess he was trying to tell me to do that."

"And he'd help you because? You aren't even a Slytherin?" she frowned at his statement, only for him to quickly cover it up with a, "I mean...he's not the friendliest person out there, and we're in his house yet he barely talks to us in a decent manner." 

"Good save," she chuckled, resting her chin on her palm as she looked at him, "It's probably because he was the professor my father contacted after I was sorted into Hufflepuff, demanding it was some kind of mistake- then they made arrangements and you know the rest~"

"So, the small diary-"

"Yes, I'll burn the pages soon, see if it works out. Didn't know Snape could actually pity someone," she shrugged, reaching for his notes, reading through them, the neat cursive, not a splotch of ink- what a freak.

"I don't think it's pity though," he muttered, reaching for another book and opening it to a specific page. "Oh~ Then what is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Start reading from here, I've marked it, we got questions from this chapter and the next five."

"FIVE?"

"Yes, now off to it."

They had been sitting there for an hour, while she was reading through the notes occasionally muttering a "This is so stupid." He had been silently reading a book beside her, not bothered- which was amusing, for anyone whining would make him want to smack them, the only one allowed to whine was him. Yet, he didn't mind her, he found it amusing how she had put herself in this situation.

"Been looking all over for you," the two looked up to find Zabini standing there leaning against the shelf, "Neat corner, what's going on here?"

"Clearly, a tutor session- why were you looking for me anyway?" Malfoy slammed his book shut, an irritated huff leaving his lips. The moment was gone, thanks to this idiot.

"Well, I woke up and couldn't find you anywhere, plus Pansy's been bothering everyone about you not feeling well."

"I was feeling spectacular, that is before you showed up." He spat, radiating completely different energy, she had just been watching the two, she could tell Zabini was just enjoying himself, while Draco was slowly losing his temper with the passing minute.

"Oh? Spectacular with  Puff- oof" he clutched his nose, glaring at the girl behind Draco. It was only at that moment that the blonde realized what had happened, somewhat horrified by the speed of her reflexes. She had thrown a book at him, right in the face.

"You filthy-" he took out his wand only to realize that Draco was pointing his at him, "Stand down, Zabini"

"Malfoy, are you blind!? She threw a-"

"It slipped!"

"NO, IT DIDN'T-" 

"THE THREE OF YOU OUT OF THE TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE"

Hence, the three were standing in front of Snape, who was staring at this with the most annoyed look he could muster. "Mr.Zabini...I suggest you go to the infirmary after this."

The three were standing in a row, Draco in between the two as Zabini was pressing the robes against his nose. They were waiting for Professor Sprout, the librarian had thrown them out and Zabini had marched into Snape's office without announcing, which their headmaster had found extremely bothersome. Draco looked conflicted, somewhat confused, yet amused by the turn of events, he never thought a Hufflepuff had it in them to hit someone, let alone talk back- he learned his lesson though, if he were to ever call her a Puff again, his nose would be next. Y/N on the other hand was not even bothered, she had two plans, though plan A required Malfoy to take her side, if he did not, plan B was simple, accept your fate and hope it's not suspension.

There were three knocks against the door and it opened to reveal a worried Sprout, "Y/N, dear are you okay?" she asked, eying the girl who seemed perfectly alright and then Malfoy who was okay too, but when her eyes landed on  the bleeding boy, she gasped, "What happened to you!?"

"Your little goblin! That's what" he snapped back only for Snape to slam his hand on the desk, "Enough. Narrate the incident."

"Yes professor," Y/N began but stopped when he raised his hand, "Not you. Or Mr.Zabini, Mr.Malfoy, what happened?"

Never had Draco felt so conflicted in his life, on one hand, it was a housemate, on the other, it was well... her. The only person with whom he had not once lost his temper, the only person who had gotten him in trouble two days in a row, the only person who had dared to throw something at him- the only person who had not triggered him once for these past three days. On the other hand, there was Zabini, his loyal....housemate, someone who had been with Draco through thick and thin, one who had helped him with obtaining notes from the Ravenclaws and had helped him with the useless schedule change notice. So, what was he going to do? Remain loyal to his house, or side with a Hufflepuff- one that had possibly claimed his heart...not that he would say that out loud, or accept it, he didn't like her, he was possibly just, amused by her, to say the least. He had been staring at his shoes when Professor Sprout cleared her throat, "Well, what happened, dear?"

"It slipped out of her hand."

"WHAT?" Zabini snapped, glaring at Draco who shrugged, "He had his wand out too, I think L/N was probably scared, and seeing how clumsy she is, she got up to run with her books and one must have hit him in the face-"

"That's NOT what happened!" he growled, only for Y/N to cover and hide behind Draco, muttering, "yes, I was so scared professors." as she gripped onto Draco's arm, peeking from behind him.

"You took your wand out?" Professor Sprout huffed, before Snape could comment, "Dear boy, whatever had happened, why would you take out your wand-"

"But Professor! That's not how it even happened, she threw it first-"

"That's enough. Mr.Malfoy, Ms.L/N, you may leave, make sure I do not see you here for a long time. Professor Sprout and I'd like to have a word with this hooligan." 

The two had never run faster in their lives, they were running down the halls, and at some point, he had grabbed her hand and led them outside to the courtyard. They had passed by many students, not that either cared at the moment, their first priority was reaching a safe zone. Coming to a halt near the big tree in the square, the two leaned against the tree, panting, still holding hands. He looked down at her, meeting her gaze, earning a cheeky smile in return. Her face was flushed, cheeks a bright pink, much like his own. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins- he had never felt like this before, this excitement, this thrill. 

"You're insane." He breathed out.

"Me?" She gasped, using her other hand to point at him, "I didn't even have time to tell you my plan and you had one that was even better."

The two glared at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter. This was a moment he would remember for a lifetime.

"Oye what do we have here?" The two instantly looked ahead to find the two ginger prefects standing across the field, their badges shimmering in the sunlight 

"Well, Fred, I see a little naughty badger and a slithering snake skipping class."

"You're right George, so what do you suggest we do?" The other seventh year asked, then looked at Y/N, "Whaddaya think Y/N?"

"None of your business, tweedle dee and tweedle dum-" Draco snarled back only to stop when he felt her tug his hand, almost falling on her, "What?' he hissed at her who mouthed "Shut up."

She looked at the twins and smiled, "Sorry, we are just on our way to class."

With that the two walked in the opposite directions, only to stop when their held hands pulled each backward. 

"O-oh." She cleared her throat letting go of his hand as he quickly moved his hand away too, "S-sorry." The two stood there, a blushing mess, looking around until George cleared his throat, "Are we gonna stand here all day?" 

"Shut up Weasley." He finally snapped back and marched away, she chuckled and waved to the twins before skipping in the opposite direction.

Both of them had different classes at this time, which wasn't an issue, but what he wasn't prepared for was lunch. He had walked only halfway down the corridor to stop before turning the corner, Pansy's shrill echoing across the hall, unleashing her wrath on some poor soul. Was Draco Malfoy ready to face all of this once again? 

Nope.

Y/N entered the dining hall, eyes scanning for a specific platinum blonde head until she bumped into someone, "Oh sorry". She looked at the person, fixing her bag over her shoulder, "Sorry Harry." 

"Who are you looking for?" He asked, only to receive no response as she continued to walk away, towards her house's table. Maybe he wasn't hungry? She sat down at her usual spot, pouring herself something to drink, stopping when she felt eyes on her. Glancing up she saw Cedric sitting across her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Mr.Diggory?"

"Three days in a row is a new record, isn't it?"

"Well, I thought Hufflepuff needed to freshen up its image."

"Y/N"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! I was busy being tutored."

"So I've heard."

"Then why am I being interrogated-"

"I wanted to ask if you're okay?"

Slamming her cup down she glared at him, as the people around her silenced, staring at the two before continuing with eating.

"I'm fine."

He let out a sigh in defeat, standing up as he looked around, "Just...don't invest in someone who'll hurt you ...okay? I've done that before and it's... It leaves a mark." With that he walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts before one of her housemates nudged her, smiling at her as she offered her a bun.

Draco had decided to go to his room, he wanted to be alone right now, and there were many things to think about. Sure, in the heat of the moment he had elaborated a lie to save her, had gotten his closest housemate of a friend in trouble- granted he did start the fight but it's not like the other Slytherins would care about that. To some extent, he had betrayed his own house, his own reputation, and his own family. He lay in bed, it had been hours since he had come here, just thinking about what to do- what could he do? He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it. It had been only a few days, but they had been days that he would remember in bright, warm colours. Though he'd have to go back to the greys now, honestly, he was no longer sure whether he could put up for any longer. Sighing in defeat he turned to his side, closing his eyes as he almost let slumber take over him, but a knock on his door interrupted the sandman's task.

Hesitant he walked over to the dark oak, pondering over it, should he open the door or not? The person at the other end was persistent, however, for a series of knocks erupted, triggering him to slam open the door with a loud, "WHAT!" Only to come face to face with Zabini, a giant band-aid plastered on the bridge of his nose. 

"Mind explaining yourself?"

"How is your nose?"

"It's been better. How is your feral friend?"

"No longer my friend."

"Wait, what?" he asked, shoving past the blonde, so the two could talk without the others hearing them. No need to get common folk all riled up. Turning to look at Draco he frowned, "First, you break my nose, then you get me in trouble with Snape- BLOODY SPROUT WAS YELLING AT ME, CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT??" 

Chuckling Draco leaned against the closed door, "Well, I've met Y/N, I can imagine it-"

"And now you tell me it's over?" raising an eyebrow at his friend, he clicked his tongue, "What is this about Draco- what is going on? You've been weird as f*** since the start of the year and honestly Pansy was annoying enough, if you plan on turning into her-"

"I'm not turning into her, Zabini, I- look, my time with her was short but sweet and as much as I regret to admit it, I have to end it, for the sake of my house and my - wait, you're not upset with what I've done?" he asked, utterly confused.

"No. I mean I was initially, I wanted to hex her and punch you in the face but then when I was in the infirmary I got to thinking- you've been as a** all year round, and suddenly this feral thing-"

"Her name is Y/N."

"Yes, Y/N L/N, the girl rejected by her own family, turned into a ghost."

"Wait, you know that?"

"You should really listen to school gossip-"

"I'll pass." He spat, "You were saying."

"After you met her, you seemed well...less of an a**."

"Thanks. But, you and I both know how creative our housemates can be...I'd rather have her hate me than...hurt."

"You sure you can handle that, mate?"

"She literally broke your nose."

"Yeah, break her heart. I agree."

[imagineimagineimagine]

What If You Were Found By Your Main While In The Genshin Cult Imposter Au? (Written By A Jean-Main)

As Jean slowly trudged her way towards the ever calming sight of the Windrise Tree, she took one quick look around to ensure that she was well and truly alone. Having confirmed that she was, Jean at long last released the sign of exhaustion that she had been holding in ever since news of this "Imposter" had reached the gates of Mondstadt.

Up until a few months ago, things had been rather peaceful in the City of Freedom. While the severe lack of knights on account of Varka's expedition had certainly caused a massive slight increase in the amount of duties that she had to personally oversee, it was somewhat manageable for the most part as the most urgent requests were often related to missing pets and food deliveries.

This changed once a warning arrived from the Tri-Commission of Inazuma. In its report, the Tri-Commission stated that a mysterious heretic had appropriated both the name and visage of the Creator. In the few shorts weeks since their first appearance, the heretic had caused an untold amount of chaos to the nation.

While certainly frowned upon, it wasn't too uncommon to see people from time to time mimicking some aspects of the Creator's appearance. For the most part however, it had always been limited to things such as matching the Creator's hair style or clothing. No one in their right minds had or would ever think to alter themselves so completely as this Imposter had done.

Jean was quite content to let the Tri-Commission handle this reckless attention-seeker until she read and re-read the last passage of the report.

"In the short time since the heretic's arrival, the wildlife in Inazuma has become alarmingly erratic. Droves of Hilichurl, Slime and other beasts have risen up to rally behind this heretic. The monsters have been repeatedly spotted aiding the heretic, provided (him/her) with food, healing, and often times protection with little to no regard to their own lives. How the heretic has managed this level of control over the monsters is unknown. Given the monsters recent return to normal behavioral patterns however, it is with great shame that we must conclude that the heretic has escaped Inazuma and is heading for either Mondstadt or Liyue."

In a perfect world, no one in Mondstadt would have known about this Imposter until Jean had had time to converse with Lisa and Kaeya and prepare a proper statement. Unfortunately however, fate had not thought to been so kind to her. As they talked, a young knight had heard snippets of their conversation through the door, and within 10 minutes all of Mondstadt had heard the news; each having heard increasingly wild stories regarding this demonic being that had stolen the face of their Creator. The hysteria became even worse when some realized that the first appearance of this Imposter coincided with the last time the Creator's presence had been felt by any of those who had been granted Visions.

For months now Jean had had to personally & repeatedly reassure every individual citizen that they would be safe, personally schedule & organize increased patrols around Mondstadt, Springvale & Dragonspine, and personally oversee every aspect of the city's rather quickly put together "improved" fortifications. However even someone as iron-willed as Jean had limits. And so, Lisa "accidently" scheduled a second patrol near the Windrise Tree knowing that Jean would be the only knight available to carry it out.

Though she had initially been resistant, Jean was thankful to Lisa for having given her this small respite from her now daunting amount of additional responsibilities. And as Jean made her way towards the trunk of the gigantic tree, she came to an immediate halt when she noticed the battered body of a (man/woman) nearly completely hidden between two the tree's massive above-ground roots.

While ordinally Jean would've immediately rushed to the stranger's side to offer aid, this time she hesitated. Outlining the area around unconscious body were the various flowers that were most certainly not there the last time she had visited. Windwheel Asters, Small Lamp Grass, and more than any other plant were Dandelions. The gentle light they casted on the surround area was what had allowed Jean to just barely spot you even though most of the moon's light was hidden behind the thick cloud cover. And it was thanks to their light that she was able to see berries and other fruits being dropped off by birds and other animals before they immediately left to find more.

Approaching cautiously to see what the extent of your injuries were, Jean slowly brought her hand to your head so that she could move your face into view. And the moment her fingers touch your skin she feels it once more.

Jean knows what it feels like to bask in your warm embrace. Those who had been gifted Visions by Celestia were often candidates to receive their Creator's blessing. And though your focus had often rotated between your various chosen, Jean had always been given your undivided attention. Having been with you the longest, Jean knew what your presence felt like better than any other being on Teyvat. And she knew instantly that you were no Imposter.

It is the sudden yet gentle wind caused by her "Dandelion Breeze" that causes you to stir. But as she slowly strokes your cheek and whispers soothing words of comfort you close your eyes once more knowing that you are safe. You were again reminded why Jean had always been your favorite. Perhaps that is why you had chosen to lie down in the shadow of the Windrise Tree in the small hope that it is here you would've be found by her.

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Basically I started playing Genshin a little before Version 1.3, and I got Jean from the Tutorial Roll. She was my fulltime main from then on all the way till the last half of Version 2.2. Other party members got changed out all the time, but Jean never left the first slot. Even now I still use her pretty regularly, so I thought "If the cult au happened to me, would she still not recognize "me" even after all that time together?"

[jakesguitarstring]

...now everything is easy cause of you {gvf blurbs, a little suggestive}

i spent this weekend moving, which i hate, so to make myself feel better... here's some blurbs about moving with each boy 🥲

listen to our house by crosby, stills, nash, and young as you read for good vibes 🌻

jmk -- you wiped sweat from your brow as you looked up into the moving truck and prepared to grab the last box. josh came running out of your new home and shouted that he'd get it. you shook your head and smiled, he'd been working overtime unloading and making sure you didn't lift anything too heavy. honestly you had no problem with manual labor and would've been fully capable, and josh knew that, but it was nice to be taken care of and looked out for. he climbed into the moving van with surprising energy. he was nonstop all day. he walked down the ramp and read the label on the box. "babe, this one says memories." you told him to put it in the living room because it was full of pictures and photo albums and other things you'd kept as momentos of your relationship. you followed him inside and once he set the box down he bounded over to you and pulled you into a kiss. you laughed in surprise and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss. it would have gone further if the sound of fake gagging from sam didn't interrupt you. "ew. get a room." the two of you turned toward josh's brothers and danny who had all come over to help you move. "technically every room in this house is ours now, so..." josh joked and pulled you in for another kiss. hours later the sun had set and the boys had left, everyone full of pizza and beer, which had been the boys payment for helping with the move. you sat on the floor in your living room and looked around at the empty book shelves, already imaging what they would look like full of your knickknacks and books. but for now you were too exhausted to move. most of the boundless energy josh seemed to have had also depleted as he rested his head in your lap as he laid on his back and you played with his curls. he hummed a melody, his eyes closed. "i can't believe this is ours." he said. you couldn't help the huge smile across your face. you couldn't believe it either. "we get to create a home together." he murmured sleepily. your heart fluttered. you were home.

jtk -- you placed the final plate in the cupboard and looked around your new kitchen. it was perfect... finally. you and jake had moved in a few days ago, but it was just now starting to really feel like a home. the move had been delayed due to several frustrating issues and unfortunately the week you moved, jake had a concert that weekend. so he helped the day of the move and ran off to catch a flight that same evening. but you used the opportunity of him being gone to really put in a lot of work into unpacking and decorating. you knew jake would help and you could have sat on the couch for the whole weekend and he wouldn't have said a thing. but the idea of him coming home to a place that actually felt like home was too irresistible. you mentally went through your checklist to decide which room to focus on next. the bedroom seemed like a good option so you headed upstairs. after turning on some music you set to work. you started with making the bed. you had slept on the couch the last few nights, too exhausted to make the effort of putting the bed together. once that was done you started on the boxes and boxes of clothes. you hummed and sang and danced as you hung and folded clothes, completely in your own world. you never heard the front door open and close nor the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. it wasn't until you heard a familiar chuckle that you jumped and spun around to look at the doorway of the bedroom. jake stood there, leaning on the frame with a smirk. "don't stop on my accord. i was enjoying the show." you wanted to roll your eyes and pretend to be annoyed at him for making fun of your dancing, but you couldn't help how excited you were to see him. so you dropped the shirt you were holding and ran to his arms. he grunted a little when you sprung yourself into him, but he quickly wrapped his arms tightly around you as you both whispered how much you missed one another. after he gave you a kiss he held your face in his hands. "you didn't need to do all of this over the weekend. i was coming home to help." he laughed. you nodded and explained why you'd done it. he looked at you for a long time, a look full of love, and then he kissed you again. "anywhere would feel like home. as long as you're there." he said in between nipping and kissing down your jaw and neck. you moaned in response. he pulled away from you, a devious glint in his eye. "now what do you say we officially christen the house." he mused. and you laughed as he backed you toward the bed.

sfk -- moving was a disaster. you looked around your new living room, piled high with boxes and you felt completely overwhelmed. you kept thinking that there was no way you had this much stuff. and what made it worse, sam had completely disappeared. annoyance boiled under the surface. half of this shit was his and he wasn't even helping. he finally popped his head into the living room with a bright smile. you were ready to start a fight, but he spoke before you could. "come see what I did." you began to protest and told him that there was too much to get done. but he just shook his head with a smile and waltzed over to you and grabbed your hands in his. he kissed your forehead and you nodded. he continued to hold your hands and walked backward down the hall to the room you'd both decided on as 'the study'. "close your eyes." he murmured. you looked up at him, annoyed. and he gave you his sweet smile that you always complied with and you closed your eyes. he pulled you into the room and told you to stay there. you waited as he moved around the room, you heard a light switch turned off and the click of something else being turned on, then the familiar sound of a needle being placed on a record. he told you to open your eyes as your favorite album began to play. he had turned off the ceiling light and strung up your christmas lights up and down the various boxes and random furniture.  the only thing unpacked was the turn table and a few of your vinyls. your eyes finally landed on him. "dance with me." you wrapped your arms around his waist when he pulled you close and you rested your head on his chest. "we've got the rest of our lives to unpack. let's enjoy the small moments." he whispered into your hair and you melted into him.

drw -- it had been a little spontaneous on both of your parts. you'd talked about buying a place together and decided to go to an open house just to look and get an idea of what you wanted. but it ended up being absolutely perfect. the house you both didn't even realized you were dreaming of. you'd placed an offer that day and finally today you'd gotten the keys to your first home with danny. when you had unlocked the door this afternoon, neither one of you could help it as you both took off running through the house. you ran and laughed euphorically to and from each and every room. "we bought a house." he sighed in disbelief that evening as you both laid on the floor of what was to be your bedroom and stared at the ceiling. you giggled and agreed. it was crazy. but it made so much sense for the two of you. you couldn't wait to fill every single inch of the home with life and love and memories. your stomach grumbled and danny looked over to you. "first meal in our house?" he asked and left quickly. you wandered around the house and made mental notes of rooms that needed a fresh coat of paint or any other little changes. when you found yourself in the kitchen, you noticed a candle and a little note from your realtor welcoming you to the house. the door opened just as you finished lighting the candle. danny kicked off his shoes and came into the kitchen with a beautiful smile and, more importantly, hands full of take out from your favorite restaurant. "it's freezing outside." you kissed his cold nose as you took the bags of food from him. as you started to set out the food on the kitchen counter, danny came up behind you and enveloped you into him. he pressed his chest into your back and kissed the back of your neck. you ignored him and opened containers to see what was inside. he placed another kiss on your neck, his hands firm on your hips. you told him the food would get cold and he laughed and gave you one more feather light kiss before pulling away. he helped you carry the food into the living room and you both sat on the floor, the new place had absolutely no furniture yet. you spent the rest of the night eating and laughing and making plans for the new home. and maybe a tiny argument about the color of the walls for the master. but it was quickly resolved. at the end of the night, the two of you stood outside in the driveway and stared up at the house, it felt wrong to be leaving and going back to the apartment, but the house wasn't quiet home yet. but it would be soon and your heart constricted with love and pride at this new adventure.

taglist: @ageofflowerpower

let me know if you'd like to be added to my brand new taglist ✌✌✌

[guns-in-the-desert]

Alone Time- Germany(NSFW) one-shot

IT’S FINALLY HERE, MY FIRST ONE SHOT ON THIS BLOG, To the angel that requested it, I’m sorry it took so long, I hope you love it. I tried my best to keep it gender neutral as possible. So tell if there are any slip ups (specifically with pronouns).

anyways, here are the warnings

Pet-play(she was on a leash), Boot licking, Oral sex (reader giving), Germany being hot, and bad writing.

Status: Unedited

“Stop it, Ludwig,” I say, feeling my boyfriend's lips on my neck. “I'm trying to cook.” 

“I'm not doing anything, just relax.” and me, being the idiot I am, I listened. I tried my best to focus on not burning the pancakes in front of me, but Ludwig was making this the most difficult task in the world. I feel his cold hands slowly begin to caress up my waist, and under my (his) shirt. He reaches over my shoulder and turns off the stove. He begins to bite my shoulder. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Ludwig starts to rub up my thighs, I bite my lip, in anticipation. He slowly inches his hands closer to my core. He begins to slide my underwear to the side, I feel his finger start to enter my.

“Ass face, I need powdered sugar.”  Monika’s (nyo!Germany) voice rings through the house. I hear the front door slam and turn around to see Ludwig, eyes wide, and cheeks red. He Immediately removes his hands from me, and goes upstairs. Great, now I'm horny with a half cooked pancake.

It’s been a week since Ludwig’s sister caught us in a less than decent position, and he hasn’t laid a hand on me since “You need to get over your weird paranoia, no one is gonna walk in.”  I say crawling towards him, leash around my neck. There’s no way he could resist me like this, I'm practically the  perfect puppy. He looked right at me, and turned right back to his laptop. My eyes were saucers, at this point. I stared at him in awe. He completely ignored me. I see my boyfriend's eyes look in my direction.

“Don't give me that look.” he says, my face twisted into a confused look. “Stop it.” Ludwig commands. 

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” He gives me a stern look and I begin to catch on. Slowly I start to crawl towards my boyfriend, tongue out, eyes wide. 

“Sit.” I stop dead in my tracks, look at him, cocking my head to the side. “Stop, I'm working.” I bite my lip and whimper. He takes a deep breath and continues to type. I continue crawling forward. “I said stop!” he said, his jaw tense. 

“But master,” I pause, “I've been so good.” Without hesitation, he grabs the leash and yanks me in his direction.

“I've spoken to you about talking back, haven’t I?” he questions, his voice lowering. I nod in response. “Then what exactly am I gonna do about that mouth of yours?”  he asks while he pinches my cheek. Despite the way it was phrased it wasn't much of a question.

Ludwig unzips his pants and takes his length out, he grabs the back of my head, and not so gently places my mouth around his cock. 

“HEY WEST!” The obnoxious sound of my boyfriend's older brother, Gilbert’s, voice fills the home office. I'm immediately yanked off of my boyfriend's cock by my hair. “I don't remember what I came in here for, but mine is way bigger.” and before I knew it, we were both being kicked out. Joke’s on him, I could hear his porn through the door, that he had the nerve to lock me out of.

At this point, Ludwig’s refusing to even glance in my direction, and doesn’t seem to like the idea of taking back the keys he gave to his siblings, so once again, I'm forced to take matters into my own hands. I wait for him to come home, on the couch, in nothing but a collar and pink thong, this has to work or I might actually explode. 

I hear the lock on the front door turn, and I perk up, “Hey, Ludwig, how was work?” I greet him casually

“Oh, it was fi-” he cuts himself off upon seeing me, I can't but feel proud of myself for triggering this reaction from him. I look up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I cock my head to the side. “Long day?” Ludwig can’t seem to find words. “If so, I know what you need.” I say guiding him to the couch. “A good ol’ fashion boot cleaning.”  I state lowering myself onto my knees.

“No, I'm okay.” My boyfriend says in retaliation. 

“D-did he just say no?” I think to myself. I'm pretty sure my jaw literally hit the floor.

“Would you prefer a foot rest?” I ask, switching my position to my hands and knees. He stays silent and doesn’t move an inch, it’s like he’s frozen. “Welp, I guess boot cleaning it is.” I state lowering my face to the boots in question. I start by licking up the side, my tongue only grazing the rubber sole.  I make my way to the steel toe, and just as I'm getting to my favorite part.

“HEY BROHAUS, I'M GOING THE STORE, YOU WANT SOM- OH!” 

“GODDAMMIT JJ!” I shout in frustration.

“You're just gonna let her talk to your big sister like that.” JJ says, sitting on the chair, in the living room like she didn't interrupt us. Ludwig looks as if he’s frozen. “Damn Luddy, you’ve kinda disappointed me here, you gotta make her lick it like she means it.” Ludwig doesn't say anything in response to his sister just lowers his head in shame. “If she doesn't, what's the point?” his sister continues. 

“Umm..” I begin but I can't figure what I could possibly say in this situation.

“Anyways, do you need anything from the store?” JJ offers with a smile. I'm in absolute shock by her nonchalant nature.

“Just some milk.” Ludwig says, eyes still on his lap.

“No problem, baby.” She says in an endearing, motherly tone (no one has ever confused me more than this woman has at this moment), getting up to pinch her baby brother's cheeks. Her demeanor immediately changes to her regular, obnoxious one, as she exits through the front door. “DON'T FORGET TO CLEAN THE SOLES!” She laughs while closing the door. I stay on the floor stunned at what just happened, as my boyfriend just goes upstairs to take, what I assume to be, a cold shower. 

I wake up to hear water running, I quickly get up and make my way to the bathroom, and strip down completely. I hop in behind my unsuspecting boyfriend, and wrap my arms around his torso, I feel him jump slightly. 

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” Ludwig questions turning to face me.

“Saving water, I thought it was obvious.” I say a playful tone in my voice. I lower myself onto my knees, to take his half hard cock into my hand, and slowly start to pump.

“Stop, what if somebody co-” I shush him 

“Who is going to come in, while your showering?” I say before putting my mouth to good use. 

“Well, I suppose your right.” he says, grabbing me by my hair, and bringing my nose to his toned abdomen. I feel myself choke slightly. 

“What’s wrong, can't take it, all of sudden.” He chuckles. “Pathetic.” he presses my head down with a firmer grip. “Suck it like you mean it, or don’t suck it all.” I'm suddenly hit with flashbacks of his sister from two weeks ago. I'm not gonna lie, It threw me off a bit.

Ludwig continues to bob my head back and forth on his length, watching me intensely. I feel him start to twitch in my mouth, he tenses and I feel his warm load glide down throat and dribble down my chin.

“GERMAAAAAANYYYYYYY” I hear the voice of Feliciano, Ludwig’s best friend,  as I'm met with the cold air, from the curtain being torn open. “Oh hi Y/N, you look awfully pretty today.” I see ludwigs eyes darken from his friend's comment. 

“What do you want?” Ludwig says, visually irritated.

“I wanted to know if you had seen my spatual, I used it yesterday and now I can't find it.” Feliciano had said it so fast, I almost didn't understand him.

“Why the hell would I know, YOU DON'T LIVE HERE!” I jumped a little at his sudden increase of volume, it was kinda hot. 

“I'm sorry Luddy, I forgot?” I giggle at Feli’s response.

“You mean to tell me you walked all the way to my house, and still didn’t remember you lived somewhere else?” Feliciano just nodded in response to my boyfriend's question. “GET OUT!” and with that, Feli was out the door. 

Ludwig reaches over to turn the water off. “Um, what exactly do you think you're doing?” I say and he shoots me a confused look. “You get to finish, and I don’t?” He stops and stands straight up. “I think the fuck not, you trick ass bitch.”

Ludwig sighs, hoisting me up against the wall, and rubbing circles on my clit. “You’re right, that was rude of me.” he says, biting my neck.

“That's quite a subby response, if you ask me.” I say earning me a slap on the ass, the water only amplifying the sting caused from his hand. Thank god, I don’t know what’d I would've done if he left me hanging again. 

Up next: Axis with a bratty s/o

Until next time😚

[barbenheimer-core]

AUDERE EST FACERE !

하나. chanel : part two — 1.7k words

TURN.

The lights in the shop lowered in their intensity, and Ahyeong gasped, drawing in heavy breaths of air as her limbs finally moved of her own accord, bending low to clutch her knees and balance herself when she slightly stumbled.

"Are you okay?" Wangja the Shop Owner asked, concerned about the sudden change in demeanor.

"I,"— Ahyeong found herself at a loss for words, what was happening to her?— "I don't know."

An abnormal lucid dream, she thought, that was what she was experiencing. One in which she was aware of her made-up fantasy world but couldn't control her speech and actions at times.

It was like the dream itself had a script of its own.

Huh. Maybe that was it. She just had to follow the script.

"Umm... I think I should get going," she mumbled, hoping her hunch was right.

Wangja looked a bit disappointed that he couldn't carry on the conversation, but nodded in agreement. The sleek black car outside that he had spotted while coming in was probably her driver waiting on her.

Suho was still coughing on their way out, and upon the two shooting concerned looks at him he merely ignored them, gaining his composure and zooming past them and into the dimly lit night in his mildly flustered state.

As Ahyeong stepped into the cold night air, she saw her family's personal car, finding Driver Kwon sitting in front of the wheel through the tinted windows.

Her family and acquaintances must be the same as before then.

"Well, do come by often," Wangja said, handing her the copy of Shiver that she had been sifting through previously, and when Ahyeong looked at him confusedly, he winked, "as an insurance that you do visit, I'm letting you borrow it. Remember, the shop's policy only lets you borrow items for two weeks. Any more and you'll have to compensate."

The girl tucked the comic under her elbow, amused at his antics as if she'd known him for a long time, and said without thinking, "Does ramyeon work as compensation?"

The shop owner grinned, "Aye, you know me so well. Now go. Your driver is giving me the creeps with his glare."

Ahyeong chuckled at that. Driver Kwon was rather overprotective over the Song siblings and got suspicious of anyone who got within six feet of them, even the people the two kids had explicitly stated were their friends.

Bidding Wangja goodbye, Ahyeong slipped into the leather seats of the car, fastening the seatbelt around herself as was the clearly stated rule by the person in front of her who turned the key as soon as she got in, revving the engine before taking off into the night and to, presumably, her home.

Ahyeong paused at the front door, looking at the front lawn with puzzled eyes.

Why did it look even more extravagant than it was on a usual day?

The flowers were in full bloom despite spring having passed months ago, the garden lights were still switched on, illuminating the finely-trimmed shrubs and foliage, and the cars were displayed out in the open instead of being in the garage.

It was as if someone was trying to make a drawing of a picturesque rich household, perfect in every aspect with next to no flaws in its design.

The mahogany doors opened abruptly, halting her thoughts, and the housemaid, Eunjung, hurriedly ushered her in, putting slippers in front of the girl's feet as she toed her shoes off.

"Why were you out so late? It's past curfew. Thank goodness Mrs. Song hasn't returned from work yet, or you would've been in trouble," she fussed.

Trouble with her mother? That was odd. That never happened because Ahyeong usually informed Eunjung of where she was going, and her mother didn't really mind if she was out past curfew as long as she had alerted someone of coming in late.

"I'll prepare your dinner while you wash up. Do you want to eat at the table or should I bring it to your room upstairs?"

"My room, if it's not too much trouble."

Eunjung waved her hands, dismissing her, and scurried off to the kitchen while Ahyeong headed up the stairs to the West Wing of the house where her bedroom resided.

Contrary to what she thought, her room had not been what she expected.

It was littered with cardboard boxes and suitcases, most of them unpacked and organized but there still being enough to do that the floor looked messy.

Ahyeong remembered her involuntary words back at Prince Comics.

So her family moved to Seoul in this dream?

From where though? She's never lived anywhere else other than this city.

Oh well, too bad. There was no use dwelling on it. Her dream would end as soon as she would go to sleep and wake up anyway.

But her nagging mind urged her to clean her room up, and despite knowing that her efforts may be in vain she obliged, and by the end of the hour, her room looked just as it had been in real life.

Setting her towel by the bathroom rack to dry, Ahyeong sat down in front of her desk in her pajamas, where the maid had spread out a variety of steaming dishes on fine china while she had been tidying up.

Leave it to Eunjung to make mouth-watering food for any time of the day.

Just as she raised her spoon to eat the seaweed soup, her door swung open.

Gilyeong stood by the threshold, racing to her and shoving his phone in her face, a rather horrible picture of a mangled body on its screen.

"What the-" Ahyeong dropped her utensils with a clang, pushing the device away from her face with a disgusted expression and glaring at her brother, who giggled mischievously, "I'm trying to eat, you gremlin. Don't make me lose my appetite."

"It's payback for the time you showed me a clip of a gutted person when I was trying to eat pat-bingsu. Now get a taste of your own medicine, grinch," Gilyeong laughed evilly, shoving his phone into Ahyeong's eyesight as she tried to stop him from ruining her eyes in front of her food.

Even in dreams, her brother was as nasty as they came.

"You evil little-" Ahyeong wrestled the phone out of his hands, making the younger Song frown and whine at her to give it back to him, and got an idea as she glanced at the shelf on top of her desk.

"If you promise to behave yourself this week, I'll let you borrow that," she said, pointing at the Junji Ito comic that Wangja had let her borrow.

Gilyeong looked up, and his eyes glimmered in anticipation as he jumped up to grab it from the shelf.

"Woah, where did you get this from?" He exclaimed as he started to peruse the pages, "It was out of stock in every bookstore I dragged you to."

"I got it from a hippie who starred in a drama," she smirked at her brother's puzzled face , "so, do we have a deal?"

She raised her hands as she said so.

Her brother looked up at her suspiciously, eyes narrowed in contemplation, then nodded briefly, "deal."

He raised his palms, meeting Ahyeong's halfway as they did their Handshake of Temporary Truce.

Yes, they had different handshakes for a whole list of situations.

"But you still have to pay up for your flinches from yesterday and now," he drawled while walking out of her room.

Wait, yesterday?

"What do you mean the flinch from yesterday?"

Gilyeong stopped midway and turned around, confused.

"Don't tell me you've been getting amnesia too. We were at the restaurant yesterday with Mum and Dad's investors, remember?"

With that ominous comment, he stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

Sunlight peeked through the half-open blinds, beaming on Ahyeong's face as she woke up and looked around her room, same as ever.

What a crazy dream.

She remembered it as clear as day.

But it was over and done with, and she was in reality now.

For a moment she pondered how she had gotten into her bed, but then trashed the thought. One of her parents had probably carried her here when she had fallen into a deep sleep in the lobby of the restaurant.

She got up, picking up her phone to look at the day and time.

It was around 8 on a Sunday morning, and Ahyeong yawned, kicking off her blanket to freshen up. She woke up too early for a weekend.

Deciding to explore the city for the day, she changed into a button-up and denim trousers, picking up a set of Doc Martens on her way out for breakfast.

"What's new this mornin', gremlin," she greeted Gilyeong while running down the stairs, who sat by the couch reading something, its cover blocked out of her eyesight.

She slightly tripped on the last two steps and hit her knee on the railing, hissing in pain and lightly hopping towards the dining table.

"Good morning, Eunjung-ssi," Ahyeong smiled through her discomfort at the maid, in complete contrast to the way she greeted her brother, and he scowled at her from his spot but didn't say anything.

Eunjung rolled her eyes in good nature at the sibling's antics, all too used to it, "Good morning to you too."

She set down two servings of rice, soup, and a variety of side dishes for breakfast, and the siblings came to sit at the dining table.

As Ahyeong scooped up a spoonful of rice, she saw Gilyeong putting down his book, finally spotting its cover.

She paused.

"Hey, dongsaeng, how did you get that?" She said as she pointed at the copy of Shiver.

The young Song stopped eating, pointing a fake grin at her.

"From the grinch who got it from a hippie who starred in a drama."

This was not a dream.

masterlist

© 2021 Alfia Sheikh, All Rights Reserved

[cc-pdf]

Eclipse

Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Word count: 2400

Warnings: none

(Quirkless AU)

The fluffy haired boy had finally worked up the courage to ask you out, although he didn't tell you where you two would be going. He was so flustered when he asked you. His face was so red it looked like he was going to explode. He mixed up quite a few words too. Of course, you couldn't say no to those precious little eyes of his. If it wasn't for how bad you felt for him then you probably would've said no. You barely even knew him, but you knew it took him a lot of confidence to ask you out. Most of your friends had picked on you for saying yes.

Izuku was pretty shy and most definitely a nerd. His hair always looked like he just rolled out of bed. And, well, his fashion choices were.... okay. A couple people would pick on him sometimes, but not too often. You could tell he was pretty smart, but most of the time he seemed kinda awkward. As expected your friends would prefer you to go out with a popular boy that's on varsity teams and always pays attention to his looks. You would probably prefer that too, but you didn't want to hurt the little green haired boys feelings. You knew he was a pretty delicate boy.

A couple months ago your boyfriend had broken up with you. He had brown fluffy hair that always looked perfect and shining blue eyes. He was on the varsity football team of course too, his dad was the coach. He was nothing but perfect to you... well at least you thought. Your friend had set the two of you up at a football game several months ago in the fall. You liked him a lot especially because of how most girls were jealous you were dating him. It made you feel above everyone else. He was pretty nice but sometimes he would pick on other kids. Not harshly though. A couple months ago he had started to slowly ignore you. You took the hint and you haven't talked since. He found another girl. She was about 5'7 with beautiful long caramel hair. She had perfect skin and her body's curves were sure to make any boy swoon. Every time she walked past you could smell the sweet sent of expensive perfumes. She was any boys dream girl. The way he had just forgotten about you left a gaping hole in your heart. You're still not over him. His name just makes your stomach swirl in sickness.

Izuku Midoriya is smart enough not to go for bitchy popular girls, but he knew you were different. You were much nicer than the rest of them and he could tell you especially hated it when they picked on people like him. Sometimes it made you giggle though, which you felt wrong for doing. You didn't really act as cocky or stuck up as the rest of them either which confused him. He thought you were just absolutely stunning with that luscious h/c hair and those bright e/c eyes. During class he would always study your features in awe. He felt as if you were almost trapped in the world of popularity. He knew he could never get with someone that's friends with the populars, but he couldn't help but try.

It was a Saturday night and for the past half hour you had been working on getting ready. You were dressed in a comfy crew neck and a light colored skirt. You only had light makeup on, just some lipgloss and mascara, you didn't really need to impress the boy too much. You and your friends group chat was blowing up that night, they wouldn't stop teasing you about your little date. You ignored the messages, it annoyed you how petty they were sometimes, although you could agree with most of the things they were saying. You were startled as you heard a quiet knock on your front door.

"Sweetie! I think your somebody might be at the door!!!" Your mom said sweetly.

"Coming!" You yelled out from your room quickly finishing your mascara. You sighed and walked out of your room and to the front door. You slowly turned the door knob and opened it to the boy, as expected with his wild evergreen hair and his lazy outfit.

"Hi, y/n." He said almost shaking from nervousness.

"Hi!" You said with a smile. His cheeks were growing furiously red and he was trying his best to hide it. It made you giggle a bit.

"I'll be back Mom! Bye!!" You said as you quickly shut the door behind you.

"So, you never told me where we're going." You said trying to break the silence because you knew he was too scared to speak.

"Oh.. uh I thought we could go to one of my favorite places." He said shyly scratching the back of his neck.

"And where's that?" You asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." He said trying to hide his blushing face once again. He couldn't believe he was even talking to a girl like you.

"What's that you have?" You asked pointing to the long box in his hand. You really hoped he didn't get you a present. You already felt bad enough.

"You'll see." He said while starting to walk on the sidewalk.

"How long will it take to get there?" You questioned him.

"Only a few minutes." He said looking down at his feet.

You two silently walked along the sidewalk in the brisk night to your destination. It was pretty awkward but you dealt with it.

Finally you had arrived next to a cement wall. It didn't look too exciting. It was pretty confusing as to why he would bring you here. It looked like the outside of a dump.

"Here I'll help you over the wall." He said nervously.

"What? We're climbing that wall? I mean I don't usually scale walls on dates. You're nuts." You said sassily.

"Come on you can do it." He said trying to encourage you.

You ran up to the wall on your tip toes peering over it.

"Woah..." You said underneath your breath.

"Neat, right?" He said walking up next to you.

"What even is this place?" You said gazing over the wide field.

"It's the plane graveyard." He said trying not to sound too nerdy.

(Here's some pics if you don't know what a plane graveyard looks like. It's basically where they bring a bunch of old planes from wars and stuff.)

He grabbed your waist gently and helped you over the wall. He was trying so hard for his face not to turn extremely red. He then jumped over the wall after you. He led you over to one of the planes, stroking it as he walked by.

"This is the real history, not the stuff we see in those history books." He said studying the plane.

"Wait, are these real bullet holes?" You asked closely examining the holes in the metal. He smiled at you, he didn't know you would actually find this interesting.

"Yep!" He responded, walking over to the next plane.

He dragged his hand along the wing of the next plane as he walked towards it. You tried to too but you couldn't reach since you were just a bit shorter than him.

"The Navy found this one last year off the coast of Japan." He said looking at the wreckage.

"They did a corrosion study on it... after 40 years at the bottom of the ocean this is all it rusted." He said focusing on the front of the plane.

"Our grandparents sure knew how to make stuff." He admired the plane with only a few spots of rust.

"H- how do you know all of this stuff?" You asked looking up at him.

"Well, a pilot from 44, came back a few weeks ago to look at this. He stood here and looked at this thing the whole day..." He replied while taking a few steps back to take in the sight of the whole plane.

You looked at him in shock. You knew he was smart, but you didn't know he knew all of this.

"Hey! come on." He said jumping into the plane.

"A- are you sure we're allowed to do that." You said starting to get nervous.

"Yeah, nobody ever comes here anyways." He said waving you over.

You sighed and jumped into the seat next to him.

He opened the slim box he had been lugging around, only to see a small telescope.

"Here." He said handing it to you.

You gently took the telescope into your hands. You looked up into the dark night sky through it.

"Oh my god... look at all those mountains up there." You said fascinated while studying the bright full moon through the telescope.

"And valleys, canyons, and planes..." He trailed on.

"What's that thing up there that looks like a... star sapphire? What's that?" You said studying the different sections of the full moon.

"An asteroid hit there... it made a crack in the moon 100 times the size of the grand canyon." He said looking over at your precious face.

"And... on the right is the sea of tranquility. The first space ship from earth landed there. The day I was born..." He said looking back up at the sky.

"That's why you're so into astrology, right?" You said passing the telescope back to him.

"Astronomy." He corrected you softly.

"No, well up there it's just a future world..." He said looking into the telescope.

"By the time I'm my Dads age, people will be living there, and working. Maybe even us..." He continued on, placing the telescope on his lap looking back into the shining stars.

(Queue music. I would suggest listening to Eclipse by Pink Floyd right now.)

You looked over at him and gazed into his dark green eyes. You couldn't help feel fascinated by the way he explained those things. You weren't much of a person to be interested in space, but there was something about the way he stated these things. Were you falling for some nerd you barely even knew? You questioned yourself. It couldn't be. But nobody had ever done something like this before for you. It was a whole new feeling. For sure your old boyfriend would've never gone out of his way to do something like this, let alone even know anything about astronomy.

You two sat in silence for a few minutes gazing up at the thousands of stars in the late sky. You looked over at him and smiled a bit. He jumped a little when he realized you were looking at him.

"Oh, sorry." You said looking away.

"The moon, it looks different now... It's not as mysterious or romantic." You said playing with your hair.

"Well I'm sorry I ruined it for you." He said quietly looking down to his feet.

"You didn't ruin it, you just changed it, I guess..." You said staring into the big moon.

"You know... I had never actually studied the sky like this. Because of you, I think I have a whole different perspective on it now..." You said still admiring the different sections of the starry sky.

"What do you mean by perspective..." He asked in shock. He didn't know he would have this much of an effect on you.

"Like, I didn't know there was so much to look at... It's actually pretty interesting." You said pointing to each star trying to count them.

He gently smiled at you.

"You're different." You said.

"W- what?" He said confused.

"All of my friends think you're just some little loser. They pick at you all the time. Before this I thought you were just some random nerd that cared way too much about school." You said with a saddened expression.

"Yeah... I know." He said looking down, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're not though..." You trailed on.

"W- what do you mean?" He stuttered.

"You're actually pretty interesting. Now that I realize it... there's a lot more to you than what people say. You're pretty cool, you know." You said looking down at your feet.

"Oh, I- I didn't know you thought I was c- cool..." He said still stuttering.

"Could you ever count how many stars there are up there?" You questioned him, changing the subject.

"No." He giggled at you.

"Actually, theres supposed to be a solar eclipse happening soon... maybe we could go see it." He said turning around to look at your e/c eyes.

"That sounds pretty intriguing... How about, make it a date." You said looking over at him. You were actually pretty interested in him. He was much more than you thought before. Your friends were all wrong. Even if he is just some nerd like they all say, he really knew how to make you feel... special.

His eyes had lit up from your response.

"Uh... yeah sure." He said rushing his words while looking away trying to hide his rosy cheeks.

"Oh my gosh... it's already 9..." You said while looking down at your watch.

"Wait... that's a pretty nice watch." He said looking over to see it.

"Oh yeah... it was my grandfathers. Actually he was in the Vietnam War." You said moving your finger around the rim of your watch.

"Well, he must of been a great man." He said while jumping out of the plane onto the dirt.

You two had walked home that night, holding hands, while still studying the night sky. That night he had changed your whole perceptive on humanity. From now on you wouldn't focus on what everyone else said about someone. If you wanted to know they type of person someone was you would get to know them, not base them off of what everyone else said. Although your friends weren't thrilled by the fact you were falling for the schools so called loser, he was nothing but perfect to you. That night Izuku Midoriya had faded all of the thoughts of your old boyfriend away. He was different from the other boys... in a good way.

AAAA okay that was kind of cheesy but I hope you liked it. :)

[notfeelingthyaster]

Imagine (based on the incomplete fanfic Son of Underworld) (3/5) (Son of Hades! Percy AU)

Before reading, check the masterpost - and read the warnings before proceeding :)) Good reading!

Percy goes back to Yancy, and things proceed as normal. He has nightmares, he misses his mom, who he only saw for a week. He thinks back on last summer and asks himself if it's worth going back to.

Annabeth tries to go back to her father's family. It doesn't go well, but at least they could keep contact using a landline for the three months she can deal with the monsters in her father's new location. There's a weekend he tries to visit her in San Francisco - but he still isn't perfect and lands in Sacramento.

It takes him an hour and a half to reach her - and it's the best weekend of the year, even if he doesn't meet anyone in her family - she is afraid they'll double the monsters in her house.

And her stepmom is racist. So there's that.

Annabeth makes fun of his Academy Uniform, the blazer and the black gloves, the red tie that he hates, and he calls her Wise Girl - he is two grades over her because of her years as a runaway.

It feels a little like a date. There's pizza, and they hold hands when she takes him to see the Golden Gate. He notices that Annie's eyes look literally like molten silver - every demigod carries a trace of their parent, he finally notices.

He can't come back after that - they were attacked by a Hydra, and killing it was only possible because he managed to use fire - a green, weird fire that he did not know he had - to cauterize the stumps.

Blackjack shadow travels him back to Yancy Academy and he and Annie keep the contact for another two weeks before she has to go back to Camp since San Francisco is becoming too dangerous.

It's his last year of middle school. Next year, he doesn't know if he'll continue in Yancy or go for a scholarship at Phillips Academy, in Massachusetts.

It's far. It's almost four hours from his mother, it's six hours from Camp. But it's the best school on the East Coast.

He does his midterms exams. He is in all high of A+ in Geometry, Algebra II, Economics and Government, Ancient World History, and Health&PE.

U.S. History and Science keep between B- and D+, and he is okay with that.

Language Arts and World Cultures can go die in a hole. He hates reading, writing makes him anxious and the only language he can get a C+ is Latin.

They give him a tutor for English - his GPA is only sustained by math. His grades raise a little: They go from F to E+.

There's a girl being tutored with him. She is Cherokee and a grade below him - her name is Piper.

He hates verbs. He hates To Kill a Mockingbird. He will kill a mockingbird if it stops them asking him to read again.

He cheats in his essays - makes skeletons write them for him. They suspect - it's not his handwriting, it's not the way he writes, it has no errors.

They can't prove it, so he scrapes Language Arts with a D+.

His midterm GPA is amazing. He goes see his mother for Christmas, even though he thinks there's no Christ. Maybe. Who knows? He is not celebrating Jupiternalia anyway.

He barely put his bag down when his four weeks with his Mom go down the drain - Thalia and Annabeth appear in his door. He grabs his backpack, his weapons, and go.

Annabeth looks at his hands with wonder - it's the first time she sees them bare in two years, but he puts his gloves back quickly enough.

Thalia is less skittish around him, and that's good. Better, at least. He notices that her eyes aren't only green - there are waves in them, it's like looking at the sea. It changes with her humor, perhaps? He doesn't know.

They make fun of his uniform - but they are going to Westover Hall, and he will merge better if he looks like a preppy kid from a boarding school.

Percy knows about the Mist this time. He helps Thalia to control it - his heart aches when he thinks of his friends. Its been a year and a half now. He misses them.

The daughter of Zeus asks him who taught him.

"The same person who taught you"

She looks at him appreciatively now, but he knows he'll come short of whoever she is measuring him against.

They see the kids. There's a girl looking nervous and overlooking the gym, and a boy by her side fiddling with his cards. Their hair is black just like his - he wishes for a brother and a sister.

Their skin is not like his - but it doesn't matter that they have a different mom, does it? In the end, it's family. Grover says they're powerful - so Big Three might be a possibility.

They're not children of Poseidon - their skin lacks the tan and the hair lacks the messiness, the windswept look - And Zeus is a lot of things, but a hypocrite isn't one of them, is?

Percy dances with Annabeth, and he feels alive. Then, he is running to save the children.

He doesn't shadow travel them. Shadowtravelling with more than one person is tricky, and he still hasn't mastered not going to Wyoming.

He kills the manticore with his Warhammer, but as it crumbles to dust, Annabeth falls.

The earth trembles at his feet - but it's Thalia's hand in his shoulder that remembers him there's two kids here, and Artemis Hunt is all looking at him with varying degrees of disgust and fear.

It's nothing he is not acquainted with. For being black (and not even a normal shade of black), for his clothes, for not having a father, for having a father and it being Hades. Just now, he was being judged for being a man.

Misandry is news for him. His mother raised him to respect all genders (even when he discovered a few months ago there's more than two), that women deserve the same as men. Annabeth fights alongside him frequently enough. Clarisse wipes the floor with his ass. Katie Gardner doesn't - it doesn't make her weaker, or less deserving of respect.

He knows women have to fight for their place in society much more than he has to. He knows these women are probably traumatized by violent men and unable to fight back.

It still doesn't make it right for them to be bullies. It gives a reason, but not a justification.

And when they take Bianca Di Angelo, who has a little brother and barely has any idea of what she is doing, who was just attacked by a thing that shouldn't exist and is probably still in shock, he wants to scream.

Artemis sees something in Bianca - and he finally looks at the girl's eyes. There's a storm raging in them.

Zeus is a hypocrite, after all.

But it's not his place to say anything, nor to the children, nor against Artemis, so he just leaves the tent and goes ask the only other boy here to teach him Mythomagic.

Nico Di Angelo asks way too many questions and has an infinite source of energy. He is prideful - a trace common of all Zeus children. His eyes aren't stormy like his sisters, there aren't clouds in his irises. They are white, like his probable father's lighting bolt.

Nico asks him why he has green eyes - and why they turned black after the question. He doesn't know the answer.

Apollo appears and says something about flying in the sun car - it's the first time he and Thalia agree on something.

But calls for Blackjack. He is not flying, not even under a god's asking. Apollo understands.

Thalia goes with him. Better through shadows than through air. He doesn't want to leave Nico with the misandry archers - but he has Grover, and Percy would probably land them in Iowa.

The daughter of Poseidon holds his waist while they ride on the hellhound. He focuses the best he can - and, for the first time, he lands exactly where he wants to land: in the woods at Camp.

Thalia helps him get to the Big House under weird looks of the year-rounders. They are there at least three hours before Apollo.

"You're kinda heavy, Corpse Breath. But that was cool."

"Shut it, Kelp Head"

He is anxious to just leave and go back to his mother, but Annabeth is in danger: They need a quest.

He has dreams. He can't fault Annabeth for doing what he would've done without a second of hesitation. It's Luke.

He helps Nico settle at Cabin 11, and avoids the huntresses. Connor hugs him, and Clarisse wipes the floor with him in wrestling - they are his friends now.

Clarisse, Connor, Annabeth, Grover, Charles. Luke, Ethan, Alabaster. The scales are tipping. He doesn't care for masters - he cares who is the defending.

Artemis goes missing, and they finally get a quest. Zoe Nightshade doesn't want a boy in the quest but tough luck: He is the most experienced camper here right now AND the quest goes through a desert, so he is going.

There's some doubt about taking Thalia - she is a daughter of Poseidon and can't do much in the wasteland.

So it's decided: Phoebe, Bianca, Zoe, Perseus, and Grover. No one is happy about it, and Percy knows Thalia is going to follow them.

He introduces himself as Perseus to them. He is stoic and doesn't smile around the girls.

Capture the Flag is horrible. He doesn't leave his post and blocks Zoe with skeletons for enough time that Thalia manages to snag the flag and cross the river.

The huntresses get mad and try to fight the campers - Phoebe tries to hit Nico with the pommel of her sword and a lightning bolt hits her, putting her out of commission.

He is claimed. Bianca isn't, but it doesn't matter: She is not a camper, she is a hunter. Her loyalty is to her half-sister now.

They leave in the morning without Phoebe before anyone wakes up.

Bianca looks at him weirdly because of his soft white and blue sweaters and scrunchies that he started using to take off hair from his face, and the contrast it makes with his dark skin and demeanor.

Newsflash: He doesn't care for a prejudiced daughter of Zeus's opinion.

Zoe doesn't even look at him twice: They have trans girls in the hunt, they're caught up with modern times. Except for the misandry and the exclusion of genderfluid, agender and non-binary people. But sure, caught up.

Nico asks him to protect his sister. He says he is going to try, but he understands death better than some. He says it'll be dangerous, but he'll do his best.

For some reason, Nico doesn't look worried.

Thalia joins them in the Space museum. She came in her Pegasus, Porkpie, and they fight the Nemean Lion together. His hellhound startles the hunters, and Thalia laughs.

They kill the Nemean Lion, and Perseus thinks he finally perfects his power over the earth when he uses a stone spike to pierce the monster through the mouth and barely gets tired.

The duster is not his style, but beggars can't be choosers. Zoe is warming up to them, he thinks, but he doesn't care either way: his objective is Annabeth.

He still hasn't managed to open the ground or to control metal's proprieties, but he controls the earth beneath his feet, shadow travels (very badly controlled, but sure), raises armies of skeletons and money and gems just sprout when he wants them. He has power.

But he isn't completely in control yet, so he doesn't want anyone touching him. And it's been such a long time since anyone except his mother ever been close to any skin below his neck.

Perseus has dreams. He is grateful that Artemis took the sky for Annabeth, so he burns the coat in her name.

Thalia says she has met Apollo, and Perseus is glad at least one god is on their side.

Perseus feels in the air: life. This town is cloying with the smell of life, of forests and waterfalls. He hates it on principle but wishes she could enjoy it.

He kills a spartoi. He doesn't manage to kill more, but now he knows. He wishes he could open the ground and swallow all of them, but even his own skeletons he only manages to turn them into piles of bones.

The boar carries most of them: it's still just a boar and they are five, so both he and Thalia enjoy Blackjack, who now is almost the size of a small rhino.

Perseus meets Ares awake this time. He didn't snitch on him to the gods, but he wishes he did.

Meeting Aphrodite is awful. Percy looks at her, and he sees blonde hair that he can't decide if it's golden or brownish, he looks at her eyes and see the blue and grey fight for dominance in the irises. Her skin flicks, and he sees a scar crossing her eye.

For a moment, her skin turns as black as his - his desire for family.

He hates her more than he hates Ares when she looks at him with a smile and says that his love life will be the most interesting tale she has ever woven.

They cross the junkyard. Bianca dies for a figurine of Zeus, and Perseus wants to scream at the skies for the injustice. He isn't close to Bianca, he won't miss her, but he blames himself.

What if he was good enough at shadow traveling to take all of them away? What if he was able to kill Talos before? If he saw the figurine in her hand, if he was clearer in his warning, if, if, if.

He is a son of Hades, and death follows him. The stench of it grabs at his clothes, but he doesn't cry. Bianca is not the first to die in the name of the gods - she won't be the last one.

Perseus tries and tries to reach for any part of her body - everything is gone.

The Hoover Dam goes exactly the same way - Percy finds the mortal girl cute, but he doesn't ponder on it. It's not the time. He tells her his name is Percy, because why not. He is not seeing her again.

He laughs at the dam joke and feels a little freer. He cares about Zoe. It's difficult not to.

They fly away, and Perseus doesn't like it, but he barely flinches.

They get closer - all of them. Perseus always makes friends in quests, and he is happier for it.

Thalia catches Nereus - and she tells them all about Bessie, the ophiotaurus. Percy thinks that, for a serpent cow, it's pretty cute.

Grover leaves with it back to Camp Half-Blood and away from the temptation that Thalia feels. He knows it - he feels it too, deep inside of him, the urge to kill all of them.

But is Kronos any better?

They meet Annabeth's father. Her stepmom caught a glance at him and sneers like he is covered in blood.

Luke is in Mount Othrys. Percy doesn't join him. He wants to. The drachma is still in his pocket. But Luke needs to pay for what he has done to Annabeth. This is not about the war that looms on the horizon, this is about his best friend.

They fight. Perseus holds the sky, but the thing in his fingertips is not the earth, it's something older and harder, that presses him to his knees. He draws strength from the earth, and he holds on.

They win, but at what cost? Luke falls. He cries and throws the drachma over the cliff - a promise gone with one of his first friends.

Zoe is dead. Three people dead, for a goddess who couldn't care less about them. Perseus wants to go back in time and accept Luke's proposal.

He wants to cry and he doesn't. They go to Olympus. Thalia joins Artemis, and he feels betrayed: just because she is afraid of power, she is going to throw the weight of this prophecy on him?

And on top, she just joined the eternal misandry group, and something in his heart festers. He thought he had one more friend in her, but she was just another pawn.

Annabeth basks in her mother's praise. He wants to vomit - two people are dead, but who cares.

Thalia pleads for the ophiotaurus life, but she doesn't lift a finger when they talk about his death. He hates her. He holds a grudge for his cousin just like his father holds one for his brother.

He just saved their asses for the third time, and they're talking about murdering him because he might not save them a fourth.

The gods. They take and they take and they take and the demigods keep giving.

His father saves him - no one dares to go against Hades' vote to let him live, because he is a hero.

They go back to camp, and Perseus is charged with the task to tell Nico.

"Well, so bring her back"

The boy says it non-chanlantly like he is counting on it. Percy feels guilt creep at his heart like a plague, all the ways he failed to save Bianca. If he just had a better grasp in his powers, if he was just better. And here it was, something else he couldn't do.

"I can't, Nico"

Nico yells at him. He screams that he killed his sister. Percy starts to retract, and they end up in the pavilion. Everyone is there, and they don't lift a finger to help.

Percy is so tired. He hasn't seen his mom since October. He just lost one of his best friends. He was on a mission for a week. He held the sky in his hands. Zoe is dead. Thalia is gone. Death follows him. The guilt claws at him - for not being enough.

Nico shouts and shouts. The final straw is when he says that he shouldn't have trusted a son of Hades, how everyone told him not to. He tells no one wants him here, and before anyone can say anything to contest it, spartoi appear.

People scramble for their weapons, but Percy opens the ground and swallows all of the skeletons. When they're gone, so is Percy.

Turns out? Percy doesn't want to be here anymore either.

Nico is prideful. People in camp scrambled for his attention. A couple of kids of Aphrodite tell him that Perseus wasn't a good company, trying to get in his good graces. This time around, there's no one to sing the praises of Percy Jackson.

Grover takes him aside and explains, a little against him own will, what happened with Bianca. He gives him the figurine.

Nico feels guilty. He is too prideful to admit, but he feels it burning in his heart - so he tries to understand what he just did. Grover tells him about the last two years. The guilt now fights with admiration, and resentment battles with adoration.

Some people steer clear of him for a while. Charles Beckendorf is too kind to isolate him - but Nico sees the sadness in his eyes. Annabeth doesn't talk with him - she just lost three best friends in a swoop. Grover reluctantly tells him more about Percy. Clarisse wipes the floor with him - and he doesn't complain when he wakes up and his makeshift bed in Cabin 1 is crawling with bugs - He is pretty sure Connor hates him.

Katie Gardner doesn't talk to him anymore. Will Solace - who is his best friend - consolates him. He tells Nico he was pretty awful to Percy last summer, and Percy still came back.

Pretty awful doesn't even begin to cover what Nico did. But he nods and settles. It's going to be fine.

Perseus wanders the Underworld. He plays with Cerberus, and it's finally time to go make peace with his father and meet Persephone.

There's the heavy weight of a drachma in his pocket.

[somersetmummy]

(A/N) This chapter takes place right at the beginning of the story, prior to TNA Chapter 1. Some characters property of Pixelberry.

Original characters: Katie Hide (MC), Jenny Blake

New characters: Lucinda Hansen

Rating/Content Warning: Mild adult language

Word count: 2005

Summary: MC Katie Hide is an English rose, living in New York. She’s down on her luck and desperately needs a job before her visa expires and she’s sent back to London. A chance conversation with a friend leads to an unlikely opportunity. Little did she know that one little interview would change the course of her life forever.

- Bonus social edits at the end -

Just like any other Thursday morning of recent weeks, Katie and Jenny were killing time together in their favourite coffee shop just down the street from their shared apartment. It had become Katie's haven and her go-to place when she wanted to lose herself for a few hours people watching, letting the stories of their lives unfold around her.

She'd always had a knack for paying attention to the details, noticing things which passed by most others. It was a skill she'd relied on heavily in her work, always giving her the edge, at least it had until the time it led to her downfall at Panacea Labs.

Katie had recently walked out of her job after piecing together a scheme under the radar to roll out a costly new drug for treating MS, despite there being multiple warning signs that it was ultimately ineffective but instead just masked the symptoms. Anyone else would've just glossed over the signs, not even noticing, but to Katie, the anomalies jumped off the page unmistakably. It was when she tried to escalate her concerns that she was shut down and her life in the lab made a misery by the VP, Declan Nash.

It hadn't taken long for her to realise that the company was more concerned about profits than actually helping people and she knew that the battle to fall in line and keep her job wasn't worth it. After calmly and quietly sending a company wide report on her findings, she gathered her things and walked out before she could be accosted by security. Little did she know that Nash had already been keeping tabs on her communications, in his eyes she was a trouble maker, and the report never saw the light of day.

Unfortunately for Katie, the current opportunities for young women in the biotech and pharmaceutical world just weren't what they should have been and she spent the next few weeks furiously searching for something else to avoid her work visa being revoked. 

Having moved from London to attend the New York Institute of Technology and graduating with a Masters in Chemistry & Bio Engineering three years ago, she'd fallen in love with the city and the life she'd built. She didn't know exactly what the future held and couldn't put her finger on why, but she had a very strong feeling that she needed to stay in New York.  

Today, Katie had planned to work through all the job adverts remotely relating to her experience and qualifications, with Jenny on hand to offer moral support. Tiring quickly of hitting one brick wall after another, they'd long forgotten the laptop and instead had spent the last 30 minutes idly chatting about Jenny’s upcoming gallery event when Lucinda arrived, phone to her ear, her body tense and voice sharp as she wrapped up a call with her boss.

"Of course I've got someone Angela, I wouldn't put my name in the mix if I didn't. My candidate is going to blow the others out of the water, I just know Mr Dalton will be impressed....no not just impressed, he'll be awestruck..."

While waiting for her to wrap up her call, Katie heads to the counter to order Lucinda a much needed coffee and returns to place it down in front of her just as she hangs up. She tosses her phone onto the table and slumps back in her chair, defeated.

Jenny stares her down waiting for an explanation which she and Katie both know Lucinda desperately wants to give but is holding off for dramatic effect.

After a long sip of coffee and a moment of holding her head in her hands she finally exhales.

"I am so SO SCREWED."

Katie and Jenny share a look before returning their attention to Lucinda.

"I've just promised my boss that I have the perfect candidate for some billionaire business man's nanny position....." She glares at them both as if they should understand why that's a problem. "I never touch these sorts of jobs, I only ever look for candidates in finance, nannying isn't worth my time."

Katie chooses her words carefully, knowing how Lucinda can bite back pretty quickly when she's stressed. Speaking softly, cautious not to poke the bear, she looks Lucinda in the eye and internally braces herself for whatever might come next.

"So what made this one so different?"

Fortunately Lucinda seems to finally be relaxing, she replies more quietly.

"Filling this position will put me on the map, nobody in the firm has been able to secure someone for this guy, they only seem to last a few weeks before they quit so the sign on bonus never kicks in. If I could find the perfect person I wouldn't only get a great bonus, I'd be next in line for promotion to Senior Head-hunter."

Her demanding demeanour melts away and she's left looking almost vulnerable. Something Katie knows Lucinda doesn't find at all comfortable.

"Anyway, I'll figure it out, I always do."

She gives Katie and Jenny a soft smile, allowing herself to momentarily forget about her woes so she can refocus the attention back to them.

"So what were you guys talking about before I came in?"

As Katie opens her mouth to speak Jenny cuts in on her behalf.

"Oh Katie's just been trying to work out how to get a job before her visa renewal date comes up in a couple of weeks."

Katie lets out a sigh of her own, suddenly remembering how dire her employment prospects are and feeling equally as defeated as Lucinda.

"I can't believe I've worked so hard for my degree, I found the perfect job in the perfect city but now it's all gone down the drain and I'm going to have to go back home and never see you all again."

Jenny wraps her arm around Katie's shoulders, pulling her close. "Oh come on, like you'd be able to shake us off. Even if you are in another country!"

As suddenly as Lucinda dramatically entered the coffee shop she slams her hand onto the table making the others jump.

"THAT'S IT!" She cries, her idea almost exploding out of her. "This is just too perfect...."

Katie and Jenny share a confused look before turning back to Lucinda who is practically foaming at the mouth, clearly onto something, though they're not quite sure what.

"You need a job, I need a candidate." She says in her signature matter of fact style.

Katie still has no idea where Lucinda's going with this.

"It's win win. I'll put you forward for the nanny position, you'll get a great job which means you get to stay in New York, I'll get my bonus. Not to mention I'll look like a damn superhero at work!"

The cogs start to turn in Katie's brain as she begins to digest what Lucinda is proposing.

"But I'm not a nanny....and what about my visa, it's only valid for work in relation to my degree."

Lucinda waves her hand at her, dismissing her concerns. "No problem there then. This guy's family owns one of the biggest Biotech companies in the country, surely that's related to your degree? He's so desperate for a successful match I'll make sure the visa thing is part of the contract."

She cuts back in quickly just as Katie opens her mouth to object.

"And as for you not being a nanny, what about all those times in the lab when you had to pull rank and sort out the shit that went down between your useless colleagues? You've done more nannying of adults in the last two years than most actual nanny's do in their whole career with children."

Jenny suddenly chimes in "OH MY GOD, this is genius!"

Defeated, Katie turns to look at Jenny in disbelief. She may have had a chance saying no to just Lucinda but with Jenny on board with this idea as well she may as well give up now.

"This will solve both your problems, I mean come on, who wouldn't want to work for this guy..."

Jenny turns her phone to Katie, clearly having been searching while she and Lucinda were talking. On the screen Katie sees the most devastatingly handsome man she's ever come across. He's nothing like the guys she'd known before, this person, was a real man and the sight of him caused her stomach to flip.

While undeniably handsome, it's not just the physical attraction that she's drawn to. Her eyes move to the company bio underneath his headshot and in true Katie style, she scans all of the accolades and achievements the company has to boast about. Her mind races at the possibilities. There's no mistaking that working for this man could open the door to so many opportunities and experiences in the future.

With a sigh she resigns herself to the fact that Lucinda might actually be on to something, this could be the break Katie had been waiting for and would certainly solve her imminent visa problems if she could get it taken care of as part of the contract negotiations.

With a silent nod and slight shrug of the shoulders, she begrudgingly agrees, much to the delight of her friends who squeal at each other in delight. Lucinda immediately pushes her shoulders back, standing to attention, furiously beginning to type on her phone.

"You TA'd for your old professor right?"

"Yes, I did a year as their assistant after graduating. Mainly doing research and going to conferences with her."

Lucinda's eyes never leave her phone as she works her magic, spinning Katie's words into an impressive resume. After a moment she raises her eyebrows and flits her eyes over to Katie, a small gesture which Katie realises is an invitation to elaborate.

"Oh, yeah so that's actually how I got into Panacea Labs, I met a rep at one of those conferences."

Jenny rolls her eyes at the mention of Katie's old company, now affectionately known by them both as Pariah Labs. Despite what she felt about Katie's previous employer, she was immensely proud of Katie's achievements and wanted to make sure they were included.

"Weren't you the youngest lab boss thingy they'd ever had?"

"Senior lab technician." Katie corrects, knowing full well that Jenny hasn't got a clue about the finer details of her work. "Well, yeah eventually, after two years of working my butt off. But I hardly think they'd rave about that in any reference they give me. If they even give one to begin with..."

Lucinda waves a dismissive hand at her.

"With this resume, you won't need any reference from those bastards. Trust me."

Katie had no idea what Lucinda had written or how she'd managed to spin her experience to be more favourable for a nanny position but it must've worked because half an hour later Lucinda slammed her hand down on the table once again, causing everyone around them to jump out of their skin.

"YES! It worked...he wants to see you, you've got an interview tomorrow at the Dalton Enterprises headquarters".

She turns her phone to Jenny to show off the email and they fall into an animated conversation, no doubt planning how they're all going to celebrate once Katie inevitably gets offered the job. As they fall into a blur in the background, Katie looks back over the picture of Sam Dalton on Jenny's phone, not quite sure how she can be so hypnotised by someone through a photograph.

There's something about him which feels familiar, something drawing her in. It's almost as if they're viewing each other through a looking glass and she wonders whether in this exact moment he is feeling the same magnetic pull towards her, a stranger whom he hasn't even met yet. Tearing her eyes away from the phone, Katie's tries to steady the stream of unanswered questions flooding her mind and focus on how she's going to win this man over.

"Here goes nothing."

TAG List: @shewillreadyou @chemist-ana @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123

- Bonus - pre-interview pep talk with the girls -

[bobasheebaby]

70 Scrubs Prompts

Yup, another prompt list. Most of these are actually light and funny, though some are a little heavier. I tried to pick ones that would work outside of a hospital setting. Again it’s super long so cutting at 15. 

1 “And who’s to say this isn’t what happens? Who can tell me that my fantasies won’t come true? Just this once ... “ — John JD Dorian

2 “Look NAME, I don’t know if it’s possible for me to put how I feel about you into words, but I guess I’ll give it a shot. I never really believed I’d find somebody that I love as much as you. I love you more than anything in the whole world. NAME, I love you more than FRIEND.” “Oh my god” “It's kind of hard for me to say, but it's true.” — John JD Dorian and Elliot Reid

3 “I grew up on the street ... No, not the hood. The Sesame Street.” — John JD Dorian

4 “As I looked at all the relationships around me ... Some that had gone on forever ... some that were reigniting ... and some that had just begun ... I realized something: It should have been me.” — John JD Dorian

5 “NAME, you can’t test love. When I met NAME, it seemed he/she was more in love with his/her best friend than with me.” “Honey, they’ve got that almond biscotti FRIEND loves, so I was wondering if I could borrow some money so I can get him/her some.” “No, you got him/her a present yesterday.” — Carla and Turk

6 “You’ve been wrong so many times that I'm not even going to say something is wrong anymore. I'm going to say that it's 'NAME'.

— Perry Cox

7 “I just took a pregnancy test, just tell me when a minute's up.” “I just put some pizza rolls on the microwave oven; the minute that bad boy rings we're good to go.” “Oh, my god, I can't stand it, 30 more seconds.” “OK baby, don't get too excited, they have to cool off for at least a minute.” — Carla and Turk

8 “So, uh, you going to lunch with your brother/sister?” “Yeah, I... well, you know, I would've invited you, but I already made the reservation for two.” “So call and change it to three.” “Ohh, I'm not gonna mess with that hostess. You know, she uses sharp tones.” — Elliot Reid and John JD Dorian

9 “Nothing in this world, that's worth having comes easy.” — Bob Kelso

10 “Yeah, I'm not that great with kids. They've got such tiny hands. It's creepy.” — Elliot Reid

11 “I love this moment so much, I want to have sex with it.” — Perry Cox

12 “Oh, my God! I'm gagging and vomiting at the same time. I'm... I'm gavomiting!” — Perry Cox

13 “So he/she has a cute butt. Everyone has a cute butt. I have a cute butt.” “You should bring it in someday.” — John JD Dorian & Carla Espinosa

14 “The problem with people who only want what they can’t have is that once they have what they want, they don’t want it anymore.” — John JD Dorian

15 “I guess when you care about someone, you’ll do whatever you can to make ’em happy.” —John JD Dorian

16 “The truth is, it is all your memories, the joyful ones and the heartbreaking ones that make up who you are as a person” — John JD Dorian

17 “‘Cause even if it breaks your heart to be ‘just friends’, if you really care about someone, you’ll take the hit.“ — John JD Dorian

18 “The easiest way to lose something is to want it too badly.” — John JD Dorian

19 “Sometimes in life when you get what you want, you end up missing what you left behind.” — John JD Dorian

20 “Sex is only good for two things. Making babies and revenge.” — Jordan Sullivan

21 “What's going on?” “I love you too dumpling, but I have to work late. I'll make it up to you this weekend.” “NAME’s on the phone with his/her mom/dad/parent, so we're taking five.” — Jordan Sullivan, Ted Buckland and Perry Cox

22 “By the way, NAME’s here but I'm not going to kiss and tell.” “Oh really? Cause I just got your text that said "bone city".” “Oh really? That came through?” — JD and Elliot

23 “You're gonna love it here, sport.” “Get out while you still can.” “Uh...” “Seriously, get out while you still can.” — Bob Kelso, Ted Buckland, and Keith Dudemeister

24 “Ted, what are you doing?” “I like to do stomach crunches after lunch.” “Ted, lunch was four hours ago.” “Yep, I wasted most of my Tuesday.” “It's Wednesday.” “Aw, man! I missed SHOW!” — John JD Dorian and Ted Buckland

25 “Well, it took a whole tube of gel, but I finally got my hair down.” “No one male or female ever cared, NAME.” — Ted Buckland and Perry Cox

26 “Thirsty, huh?” “Helps the tears taste less bitter.” “Cheers.” — John JD Dorian and Ted Buckland

27 “I have to get ready man. I want my date with NAME to be perfect. What do you think about a romantic horseback ride on the beach?” “Ooh, like you and I did for your birthday.” “Yeah but except this time with two horses.” — John JD Dorian and Turk

28 “I am wearing red. Should I not be wearing red around her?” “She's pregnant, she's not a bull.” — Elliot Reid and Turk

29 “This is why the headache didn't go away, it is actually pronounced 'analgesic', not 'ANALgesic'. The pills go into your mouth.” — Turk

30 [She/he sees NAME holding a beer] “What are you doing? [He/she threatens to open it] “You better not open that.” [He/she opens it] “Okay, you better not drink it.” [He/she takes a sip] “All right, You better not enjoy it.” [He/she expresses enjoyment, person A bitch slaps his/her beer] “Did you just bitch slap my beer?” “Are you calling me a bitch?” “Yes. Yes, I am!” — Carla and Turk

31 “Is there another guy on this planet who is that sensitive?” “Okay, let it out. I've got you. NAME has got you. Hold me tighter, a little too tight...There is a good spot.” — Turk and JD

32 person a “This plan is fool proof.” Person c “That is impossible. You two are involved.” Person c “We will see about that!” [Person a and c crash into each other as they try to walk away] — JD, Perry Cox and Turk

33 person a “I don't think we have anymore wine. NAME, can I have some of yours?” [Person C’s narration: I felt like NAME was starting to blame me for all of this.] [person b Spills his/ her wine in person c’s face) “I spilled mine too, honey. You know what you should do? Ask for some NAME’s.” [Person C Spills his/her wine on his/her crotch] “I spilled mine too.” — Carla, Turk and JD

34 “Wait NAME! I have an idea.” “You have another idea? Well I've got to tell you, I'm done with your ideas and not just for now but forever! Okay, are we clear on that?”  “It's a good one.” “I'm listening.” — JD and Turk

35 “He/she is not allowed to dream about me. It gets too freaky in there.” “Cirque de Soleil freaky. One time, he/she was skinless.” — Carla and Turk

36 “How often do you make love?” “Twice today.” “Actually it was three times. You were asleep for the last one.” ��Wow, that really happened? I thought it was weird that you were in one of my sex dreams.” — Marston, Turk and Carla

37 “How was your first stress-free day?” “Horrible. And you?” “Worse. Let's make a baby. If it doesn't work this time I'll kill myself.” “Not helping with the stress.” — Carla and Turk

38 “Dude, there you are. Two things; First, the aliens are here and they're wearing track suits.” “Oh, that's Nana.” — Turk and JD

39 “Are you nude right now?” “Yeah! How'd you know?” “Your voice is always higher when you're nude.” “That's true.” “It's not weird you know that at all.” —JD, Turk and Perry Cox

40 “You know, I actually like NAME. So, don't do that thing you always do.” “If you're referring to the game "Find the Saltine", relax. I don't even play that with NAME anymore.” [Later] “Behind your ear.” [Withdrawing Saltine from behind his ear] “My friend, you have found the Saltine. Uh, but, don't tell NAME we're still playing.”— Elliot Reid, JD and Turk

41 “Dude, he/she keeps a hug schedule with his/her friends!” “Okay, NAME ... looks like someone's getting crossed off their 2 o' clock spot and getting penciled in for never! How does that feel? Does it sting?” Person B Narration: He's hurting! Hug him/her ... hug him/her now! — Turk and JD

42 “Dude, don't sweat it - It says here that the ostrich is generally a docile creature.” “Thank God!” “It also says their kick can kill a man!” — Turk and JD

43 “Just don't repeat the same mistakes you made with me. For instance, don't speed down the road pretending your brakes are out. I don't care if it got you laid once in high school. It is not funny and I still have not forgiven you for killing that pony.” — Elliot Reid

44 “NAME, I don't photograph well. On my driver's license, I look like Gary Busey.” — Elliot Reid

45 “We have a very complicated past.” “Yeah, I hurt him/her, and I'm not proud.” Person B narration: I'm a little proud. — Elliot and JD

46 “NAME and I keep it superficial.” “Love the superficial. Dynamite teeth today!” “Oh thanks buddy!” “Sparkly.” “Yeah!” — Elliot and JD

47 “Will you tell me what NAME’s fantasy was?” “Nope.” “Did it involve chains?” “No.” “Whips?” “Mm-mm.” “Candle wax?” “No.” “Role-playing?” “No.” “Lasers?” “Mm-mm.” “Hamsters?” “Negative.” “Was he/she a Mexican apple thief?” “If only ...” — JD and Elliot

48 “Why don't you just move into my place?” “Oh, great, then we'll be two losers under one roof.” — Elliot and JD

49 “NAME, what you said before ... I knew you were right. Anyway, I'm sorry I got mad. You were wrong about one thing, though - we are moving forward.” “NAME, I'm thirty years old; I'm single, I'm homeless, and I'm pretty sure I just soiled myself.”

— Elliot and JD

50 Person A “Ohhh, my God, you're right.” Person B “Don't let him/her be your puppet-master.” Person C “Hey!” Person B “Hey.” Person C “What's up?” Person B “I have a headache.” Person C “Take some aspirin.” Person B “Don't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me!” — Carla, Elliot and Jake

51 “I've never connected with a guy/girl like this before. I mean, even though it's only been two weeks, I already feel like I know NAME better than I know myself.” “What does he/she do for a living?” “I should know that.” — Elliot and Carla

52 “Look, the reason I've been acting so weird and having my friends hang around us all the time is because I really think that we have a shot for something great, and I don't wanna go and ruin it by sleeping with you too fast. I mean, what was I supposed to do?” “Well, you...you could have just told me that.” “Yes, but you're forgetting I'm a crazy person!” — Elliot and Jake

53 “I've seen the Wiggles live in concert ... twice.” “Did they perform 'Big Red Car'?” “They opened and closed the show with it. It was awesome.” — Perry Cox and Turk

54 “What's wrong with me?” “You're an annoying, whining man-child.” “That question wasn't directed to you!” “What question?” — JD and Perry Cox

55 “I’m notifying all my old boyfriends/girlfriends today that I'm officially off the market.” “I'm sure the 'pulse' setting on your shower head will be devastated!” — Elliot Reid and Perry Cox

56 “If there is one thing I have learned, it's that you can't schedule love.” “I think your credit card statement would beg to differ.” — Bob Kelso and Perry Cox

57 “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present, Man/Woman Not Caring.” [points to self] — Perry Cox

58 “If you're worried about people seeing your ass, do what all the other girls do and tie a sweater around your waist.” — Perry Cox

59 “Should I talk slower or get a nurse that speaks fluent moron?” — Perry Cox

60 “Do you actually listen to yourself when you speak, or do you find you drift in and out?” — Perry Cox

61 [thinking] Why don't I ever listen to me? — JD

62 “And you know what else? I quit!” “No you don't!” “Well I'm leaving early today!” “No, you're not! You're coming back to my office to do busy work!” “Fine, but I'm getting a soda first!” “Whatever.” — Ted Buckland and Bob Kelso

63 “Your dog is creepy.” “Aww...be nice to Rowdy. The guy we bought him from used to keep him in a box full of old hats.” — Elliot and JD

64 “I thought we cared about each other ...” “Oh please, if you didn't want to sleep with me, you'd have done the same thing.” “Well, I'll tell you one thing, the last thing in the world I wanna do is sleep wit'cha now!” “Do me right here.” “Okay.” “See!” — JD and Elliot

65 “Huh! I put all those fliers up, and nobody wants me to live with them!” “Oh, come on, NAME. I'm sure you'll eventually find a roommate who's a... clean, non-smoking vegetarian that rinses the shower thoroughly after each usage.” “Oh, well, if you don't, it gets mildewy.” “You know, you should move in with my friend: Anal McLooney.” — Elliot and JD

66 “You know, I've been thinking a lot about us lately.” “Me too.” “God, you drive me crazy.” “Oh, you drive me crazy!” “Sometimes I just lay awake at night, thinking about how unbelievably lucky I am to have you in my life.” “Sometimes you're so controlling it makes me want to strangle you..” — Paul and Elliot

67 “Tonight, I am going to make all of your fantasies come true.” “You know, NAME, I would be happy just to have sex above the covers once.” “Yeah ... never gonna happen.” — Elliot and Paul

68 “You know, it's funny... when I said "I love you," it was an accident - and I never really loved you at all.” “That is an absolute riot.” — Elliot and Paul

69 “Okay, here's what you do: First you say that, even though our relationship is ending, you don't have any regrets.” “Oh, my God! Are you actually telling me how to break up with you?” “You're right. Go ahead.” “If you could just start me off, that'd be super.” — Paul and Elliot

70 Person A “You never explained that U2 thing, did you!” Person B “You know, I've been thinking about it, and maybe it's not such a bad thing that that happened! Right? I mean, things have been going really well between us, and maybe it was fate! I could've been looking at my Bel Biv Devoe CD and said, "I love Bel Biv Devoe" - which I do, by the way. And I'm not ashamed of it.” Person A and B “That girl is poison..." Person A “NAME, look, I just think that if you guys are meant to get to this point, it'll happen... naturally.” Person B “You're right! "I love U2!" Dammit! Why do I always have to say every little thing that comes into my head!? Ugh, I really wish you wouldn't stand so close to me after you take your hummus break. See! I didn't need to say that! I'm gonna tell him.” Person C “Love you!” Person B “Love you more!” Person A “Ugh!” Person B “You know what - brush your teeth, then judge me!” — Carla, Elliot and Paul