#in my head i am cooking dinner for you while playing music on my stereo

[wakingfromthewater]

Feeling very in touch with my capacity for romantic love tonight lads.

[babbushka]

please can i have 9 from the nsfw prompts with pale please;)

2.2k, NSFW (rough sex at the dinner table, naked woman clothed man spanking, PIV, fingering, dirty talk)

The first time you sigh, Pale doesn’t think anything of it. You sighed sometimes, for lots of different reasons. Not everything had to fuckin’ mean something. It was a lovely evening, Pale was home early from work, you had the day off so he gave you some money so you could pamper yourself from head to toe, he cooked up a big delicious dinner -- if he says so himself, which he does -- and he even turned on the stereo set to play some soft music while you both ate.

The second time you sigh, Pale debates bringing it up. But then he figures nah, you’re the type of woman that says what’s on her mind. You don’t dilly dally around your opinions like some of these other broads do, trying to get their men to guess at what’s botherin’ them. No, that isn’t your style, not usually anyway.

“Alright,” He levels you a look, setting his fork down on the third time that you sigh, eventually giving into the bait and asking, “What’s the fuckin’ matter with you?”

Your eyes widen at the sharpness of his voice, and it’s then that Pale realizes maybe you didn’t know you were makin’ all them huffing puffing sounds as you pushed your dinner around your plate.

“Nothin’!” You frown, shruggin’ with one of your shoulders in that way of yours that meant something was definitely wrong. “Nothin’s the matter. It’s just...”

“Just what, c’mon, spit it out sweetheart you know I can handle it whatever it is.” Pale steels himself for something disastrous, holds his breath.

“You didn’t fuck me this morning.” You announce, sounding halfway between sad and annoyed, and if Pale had been chewing anything, he’d be choking.

“What?” He stares at you with a frown, and you shrug again, waving your hand around, sounding too much like your feelings are hurt when you explain;

“This morning. You left, without wakin’ me up, you know. Without givin’ me a good morning.”

Pale wracks his brain, because that didn’t sound right. That didn’t sound like Pale, not fuckin’ you or at the very least makin’ out with your cunt before he had to go to work. But then, oh right, he remembers that he had to leave too early, and wanted to be sweet to you for once, wanted to let you get your rest. Especially because,

“The last time I woke you up on your day off, you threatened to scratch my eyes out with your nails.” He reminds you, pointing the fork in your direction, belatedly noticing, “Which look real good by the way, I like that color.”

“Thank you I got them done before lunch, I thought I’d try somethin’ new out.” You brighten up for a moment, holding your hand out properly for him to take a good look at, before sighing again, “But you didn’t fuck me, and I’ve been thinkin’ about it all day.”

Raising your brows at him from across the table, he catches the desperation in your voice. That was the edge he had heard: you were hungry, but not for dinner.

“Oh, I see.” He pushes himself back from the table then, real slow-like.

It’s an invitation, one that you take immediately. Standing up from your chair, your hand trails along the table-cloth as you round the corner and settle yourself between his spread legs. From here, Pale can appreciate the tight, short dress you’ve got on, the gold chain around your throat, the diamonds in your ears. You look like a million’ fuckin’ bucks, and he’s hard in his pleated trousers because you’re all his.

“Do you?” You whisper, your voice gone all sultry as you bite at your lip. “Do you really? Because it’s real mean to make a girl wait all day long, especially when she looks like this.”

Tantalizingly slowly, you reach behind yourself and grasp at the little zipper that holds your dress up, tugging it down down down, the dress loosenin’ around your body and fallin’ to the floor as it goes.

“Are you asking me to fuck you stupid right here?” Pale’s gaze immediately goes to your breasts, his hands rushin’ up to give them a firm squeeze, thumbs rubbin’ circles over your nipples as they stiffen against the cool night air, “Is that it?”

“I’m not askin’.” Your eyes glint.

With one quick movement, Pale’s surging up to kiss you, hot and heavy right on your mouth, messing up your pretty lipstick, smudging and smearing it all around. And then as quickly as he’s there, he’s pulling away, turning you around and bending you over the table at a nice clean spot that doesn’t have any dishes, kickin’ your feet apart.

He doesn’t waste time shoving one of his hands between your legs, because of course you ain’t wearin’ any panties, of course not -- why would you when it’s just the two of you here in his apartment?

“Christ look at how wet you are baby, been wet for me all fuckin’ day huh? Did you touch yourself and think of me? Think of how I can do it so much better for you?” He drapes his body over you, relishes in the way your ass is already pressing against the hard line of his cock in his trousers.

Pushing his pointer and middle finger all the way up into your pussy, it’s all you can do to gasp out a moan and clutch at the tablecloth. He wishes he could watch the way his fingers disappear into you, but he’s glued to your back and biting sucking licking at your exposed shoulder, drinking in the sound of your moans and that’s good enough for now.

“Yes!” You push your hips back back back against his hand, grinding down as they crook and curl up inside you, searching for that special spot that has stars dancing behind your eyelids, “Fuck I love your fingers, you make me feel so good Pale.”

“My little slut can’t go one day without somethin’ up her cunt, ain’t that right. I’m sorry sweetheart, I shoulda known better, shoulda given you somethin’ to hold you over ‘til I came back. But I’m here now, I’ll take care of this pussy just the way you need.” With his other hand, Pale fumbles around with his belt buckle, wrenching it open so that he can yank down his zipper and fish out his cock.

“Please! It’s no fun comin’ when you ain’t here.” You moan as he slips in his ring finger too, the stretch of all three making your knees turn in, your thighs shake.

“That’s what I like to hear baby, spread your fuckin’ legs for me.” Pale grunts, and you do as he says, knowing you’ll get the best fucking of your life for it -- because that’s what every time you have sex with Pale feels like.

Barely the tip is in before you’re already having to take deep breaths, having to steady yourself and open up your hips, because of how fucking huge his cock is. You’d been together for damn near two years, and it still always came as a surprise. He rubs the head of his cock through your soaked folds, and even though he fingered you open, it’s still an effort to thrust himself in, his cock so big that if you didn’t know you could take it, you might panic.

“Shit you’re tight, damn, relax for me, one day without my dick ain’t an eternity, your pussy remembers, just relax.” He’s right there, draped over your back again, his mouth right on your ear as he coaxes you and soothes you, and he’s right, even though it doesn’t feel like it.

“It feels like an eternity! Oh fuck, yes Pale, keep goin’ please, please I want more.” You moan when your body listens, when you let your hips widen, your legs spreading even further, thighs already shaking and toes already curling as he manages to push in deep deep deep -- bottoming out with only a few more thrusts.

And then, once it’s in, Pale’s pulling out -- thrusting back into you so hard that the sound of your moan is swallowed by the scrape of the table against the floor, as he builds up a brutal rhythm that has you holding on for dear life, your mouth dropped open from pleasure.

“Got you trained for my cock don’t I? Ruined you for everythin’ else, just my girl. Goddamn you’re beautiful. You know I don’t get to see your back all that fuckin’ often?” With his fingers pulled out of your pussy, Pale keeps one hand on your hip to steady you, and slaps your ass hard with the other one, the sound of sweaty skin smacking together going straight to his cock.

“Yeah ‘cause I’m always layin’ on it.” You laugh brightly, the tail end of it dissolving into a throaty moan that has Pale sweating in his fuckin’ dress shirt, has him biting down against your shoulder, marking you up.

“When’s the last time I told you you’re perfect?” He grunts as he thrusts into you hard hard hard, fast and steady, his cock pulling out and then slamming right back in, slapping your ass again so hard that you’re keening, that you’re shouting out his name.

“Pale! Tell me again anyway -- oh! Oh right there, fuck, oh my god!” Your shoulders jolt and shiver, because he’s found the spot his fingers had missed, and he’s got to press you back down onto the table when you try and snap up from the surprise of it.

“That’s it baby feel how deep I am inside of you, I’ll treat you right, make you come so hard.” Pale pets back your hair as he grinds his cock into your pussy, his dick hard and throbbing inside the tight clutch of your velvety walls.

You’re getting fucked so hard that your feet are barely on the floor anymore, legs kicking up from the sheer overwhelming sensation of being so full.

“Yes!” You moan, clenching and squeezing around him, wanting to give as good as you get, “Yesyesyes, more Pale, harder I can take it.”

“That’s fuckin’ right you can, my best girl, fuck, fuck you’re so good on my cock, I could live here, right inside this pretty pussy that’s all for me, feelin’ you come again and again. You want that? Want to be my little cockwarmin’ slut forever?” He grunts, punctuating his sentences with slaps to your ass, licking up your cheeks where tears have spilled over, your chest heaving against the table, begging for more.

“Yes!” You keep pushing back against him, chasing the feeling, hot pleasure coiling up inside your stomach, rising on the edge of tipping over, you’re so close, just a little more, that’s all you’ll need -- and Pale knows it.

“Gonna come all over me?” He asks, but it’s more of a plea, and he kisses at your throat as he fucks you through your tears.

“Y-yes!” Your body is pinching up then, and you’re hiccuping around a moan, and your pussy throbs and pulses around him as you shout, “Oh fuckfuckfuck -- !”

“Attagirl.” Pale doesn’t let up even as you come, even as the slick drips down your thighs, soaks into his trousers. The hand that’s resting on your hip reaches around and toys with your swollen clit, making you whine out his name, “That’s okay baby keep sayin’ my name, let the neighbors know who’s treatin’ you right.”

“Pale...! Pale oh -- oh I’m --!” You shudder again, whole body goin’ through it, as pleasure crashes through you hard, hard enough to pull Pale over the edge too, and he presses you against the table a little more forcefully under the weight of his own body going limp on top of you.

After a moment, when you’ve both had the chance to catch your breath, he blindly reaches behind him until his hand manages to grasp his chair, and then he’s sitting back down onto it, taking you with him.

You look like a fucking mess, completely glassy-eyed and smiling like the cat that got the damn cream, and Pale doesn’t want you anywhere or anyway else all night, saying as much, “You better just sit here for the rest of the night.”

“Oh yeah?” You giggle, love drunk in the best way, your bones like jello.

“Yeah, it’s safer here.” He kisses your cheek, wishes he had a cigarette to light up. He could go get one from his jacket pocket, but then he’d have to get up, and there’s no fucking way he’s doing that.

“Okay. But my dinner’s over there.” You protest, settling firmly on his cock that’s still hard, still pumping you full of his load.

“Yeah well, shoulda fuckin’ thought about that before you decided to go and be a brat.” Pale sighs, making you lightly swat at his chest. “Alright alright alright, you can have some of mine.”

Brightening up at that, you reach for his fork that had gotten all jostled in the meanwhile, and reach out to pluck something off his plate, being nice enough to let him have the first bite, before eating the rest.

“And then when we’re done eatin’, I’ll fuck you again. Ya know, for good measure.” Pale licks across his teeth, making you grin, because as far as you’re concerned, he’s got a whole day to make up for.

-----------------------------------

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Tagging some Pale loving friends!

[malfoyfarms]

Broken

“can you do a jj imagine where the five of you are out on the boat and you all want go swim, but jj gets insecure about taking off his shirt cause he doesn’t want you to see the bruises from his dad because he hasn’t talked to you about it yet. lots of angst please. Ily🥰” -nonnie

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Triggers/Warnings: Mentions and implications of abuse, drug usage

Word Count: 975

A/N: idk how I feel about this one, but I should have a JJxKie and a John B prompt finished up by tomorrow morning. 

You looked across the boat at your friends as John B through the anchor down into the water. It was boiling out and you couldn’t wait to jump into the water.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” you nagged at JJ and the rest of them as you were already out of your clothes, and standing on the edge. “Kie headband off? Sarah shorts off! Pope everything off! John B, you know what to do with the bandana. And you sir--” You said as you turned to JJ, gripping the edge of his tank top, “OFF!” 

His hand quickly gripped your wrists, stopping them in your tracks. “Mmm, not today kiddo.”

The look he gave you was pleading, as if asking you not to fight back, but it flew right over your head as you pushed on. “You said we’d go swimming today if I helped you deliver all those groceries! JJ!” You pouted, but JJ wasn’t letting up anytime soon.

“Y/N, I’m not taking the tank top off, and that’s my decision. Now go swim, I’m sure as hell not going to stop you.”

You rolled your eyes and jumped off the side of the boat into the water, everyone else following suit. 

~

Once the crew finally convinced you that four hours of swimming was plenty, John B drove everyone back to the dock. You stared across the boat at JJ, trying to figure out what his issue was from before. He never turned you down when you wanted to go swimming. He caught your stare causing you to look down at your feet.

As you pulled up to the dock, you gathered your things and headed toward the road. It had been a long day, and you wanted nothing more than to crawl into the soft sheets of your bed. 

“Y/N/N, you want to stay for a beer?” Kie asked you. A silent nod was given, and you started the trek home. 

The small house was unsurprisingly dark and empty. Once walking in, you started to cook yourself dinner and turned on some music. Looking through the close to empty cabinets you pull out some noodles to cook. The water was on the stove approaching a boil when you heard a knock on the door. Much to your surprise you came face to face with the angry bird from earlier. 

“Can I come in? Steal the couch tonight maybe?” JJ asked. You smiled and nodded, making room for him to enter the bungalow.

You both shot the shit while you finished the pasta, and ate dinner together in the living room. The stereo quietly played Mallrat, and you scooted closer to JJ, grabbing his empty bowl. 

“I’m sorry today for trying to take your shirt off, it was out of line,” you apologized. He sent a smile your way and followed you out to your kitchen to clean the three dishes. 

The two of you goofed around, until your eyelids were heavy. You bid goodnight, setting JJ up with a pillow and blanket on the couch.

~

A tap on the shoulder was what pulled you from your sleep? “JJ? Is everything okay?” 

“Can you hold me?” You moved the quilt back and scooted your legs apart for him to lay in between. He climbed in almost immediately. 

“Y/n, my dad, he…” He paused, taking in a deep breath, almost as if the breath would stop the tears. “He gets angry at me sometimes. That’s why I wouldn’t take off my shirt today, I didn’t want to be reminded of how awful I am.”

The last part of his sentence broke your heart into tiny pieces. The usually energetic, and spicy teen was now a weeping mess in your arms. You could feel him shaking, and his grip on your midsection tightened. 

“JJ, look at me,” He followed your instructions, making eye contact, “You are not terrible, you are so fantastic. You are loyal and protective and funny and kind. Your father is the monster not you. I will spend every waking moment trying to convince you of how loved you are.”

“Do you mean that?” He whispered. Your left hand rubbed his back while the right was running through his hair. 

You placed your lips on his forehead, and mumbled. “I would never lie to you.” 

He nuzzled his head into your neck while he cried. “I’m broken, I don’t deserve to be laying right here,” he sobbed as he tried to get up. 

“JJ Maybank don’t you dare get up. I will hold you here until I can squeeze all the broken pieces of you back together.” You mustered all of your strength to pull him closer to you, holding him as he cried, sniffled and eventually drifted to sleep. 

You sat there watching his breathing, feeling the occasional twitch of his leg. You hadn’t moved at all, hands still tangled in his hair. Emotions were never your strong suit, and the whirlwind that unfolded in your bedroom had taken a toll. Now that JJ was 100% asleep, you let the tears flow down your face, your own heart breaking in the hopes of healing him. You stuck out your hand to open the drawer on your bedside table, looking for one of your pre-rolled emergency joints. 

You quietly lit up, and took a deep breath. Sad smoking was one of the most sacred things you knew of, taking another hit for time you imagined Mr. Maybank striking his son. The joint had almost been finished when you felt the blonde stir on top of you. He took the doobie out of your hand and finished it. 

“I’m in love with you,” you said lazily. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I’m in deeper than I can even fathom. I am hopelessly and crazily in love with you.”

[mylutteoheart]

Playing Cupid

I’m finally back with a new chapter. This was easier to write than I thought. I missed writing this fic. Hopefully, the next update won’t take months but since I have more free time, I can update more frequently. Anyway, enjoy!

Luna and Matteo have been building their lives together slowly. Fresh out of college, they’re planning their future. But by planning this, they have an underlying plan no one knows of. Bringing their best friends together after 4 years of not being happy without the other. How well will their plan of playing Cupid work?

Prologue | Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 | my other fics

Chapter 7: What The Future Holds

Luna and Matteo walked into the dining room together, Nina and Gastón didn't notice their entrance, they were still in a conversation about some book they read. Luna wasn't sure but she was happy they seemed to get along. It was just the first step though, there was still a lot of talking ahead of them.

She didn't want to interrupt their discussion but they had to tell them what their role was in the wedding. The more she saw them talk, the more doubts she had about telling them.

Is this really the right moment to do this? They just saw each other for the first time in 5 years. She looked at Matteo in question and he seemed to have the same thoughts as her, he was also hesitating. They looked each other in the eyes and they silently communicated and went to a corner of the room, the two exes still not realizing they weren't the only ones in the room.

"I don't want to drop this on them now, they just started talking again." Luna started, looking at the two sitting at the dining table.

"Me neither, I'm afraid of how they're going to react and it might be too much for them now." Matteo agreed and continued, "Maybe we should wait and see what their reaction is after dinner. They might be talking comfortably now but that doesn't mean everything is back to the old."

"You're right, we'll wait and see and maybe we could talk to them about it seperately. I think that might soften the blow." Luna said, thinking about the best way to approach the situation.

"Sounds good, now let's serve dinner and see where the night takes us." Matteo smiled at her and went to the kitchen to get the dishes and she followed suit.

They both brought the dishes to the dining table and only when Luna and Matteo stood between their best friends did they look up from one another. Nina looked shyly at the table, not realizing how carried away she got. Talking to Gastón felt like it did 5 years ago, before they broke up and Nina finds it even more foolish that she ever thought she could replace Gastón by being with Eric. It never felt so comfortable and nice with him, it always felt forced.

Luna and Matteo joined their friends at the table and started serving their guests. Luna didn't like the sudden silence so she started talking about how much she loved learning how to cook from her mom. She learned a lot the past few years and she always loved to cook whenever she and Matteo had guests over but Matteo insisted on cooking today since he wanted to show off that he could cook great food as well.

After dinner was served, they all talked about what they've been up to for the past few years. It was more for the benefit of keeing the conversation flowing and lighthearted. They already knew everything about each other, even Nina and Gastón knew what the other was up to. They couldn't hide their curiosity to know what the other one was up to. Relationships were still a forbidden topic though.

Dinner went smoothly and after dessert, Nina and Gastón decided to head home. They said their goodbyes to each other but that got awkward pretty quickly. Tonight might have seemed normal but they were far from that and they knew it. They were both unsure of the future and all they could do was to be patient and see where they go from here.

***

The next morning, Nina was back at Jam & Roller, she was working on her next article, the deadline was coming up soon and she's been really distracted lately. She needed to catch up on a lot of work.

Despite trying her best to be productive, Nina was more conflicted than ever. She had a great time last night but that doesn't mean anything is back to the old. She doesn't know if it ever will. She has no idea what will happen next but she was willing to wait and see how it's all going to turn out.

It felt nice to be able to talk to him like that again though and she was hoping they could do it more but she was well aware that they're far from okay. A lot has happened between them and it doesn't help that they've been apart for so long, she'e sure they'be both changed a lot in that time.

But just for that night, it felt they were back to their younger selves, discussing a book they both read and analysing it. Both giving their arguments why it was a good book and also reasons as to why it wasn't.

Her mind kept wandering to possible scenarios that could happen between them now that he's back for good. Some had happy endings and some didn't. But was she fooling herself by doing this? There might be a huge possibility that he doesn't feel the same way as she does anymore.

The thought made her sad but she had to consider the possibility. All she could do now is hope that they get to spend more time together and get the chance to figure out their relationship, whatever it may be. With that in mind, she continued to work and told herself that she really needed to talk to Luna and see if she could help her with her conflicting feelings.

***

"So what exactly am I doing here again?" Gastón wondered aloud. He was standing with his back to the mirror that covered an entire wall while Matteo was getting ready to rehearse his dance moves. He didn't know how it happened but for some reason, Matteo dragged him to his dance classes. He needed to prepare for his upcoming music video. He's supposed to do a complicated choreography in it.

"You're here because I need to proof that my choreography is amazing and it would make an even more amazing music video." Matteo said absentmindedly while fidgeting with the stereo system of the room.

"Isn't that something you need to do in front of the director instead of your best friend?" Gastón frowned at his answer, it didn't really make sense to him.

"It will help me more to convince him if I have someone to back me up." Matteo said, "Besides, you need to know the choreography if you're going to be part of the song."

Gastón was surprised to hear this, he was never told about this: "Who said I was going to be part of this song?"

"Well, you already are part of the song, remember? We wrote and sang Aquí estoy together." Matteo said this like it was the most casual thing.

"Wait a minute, that's your next single?" He was clearly out of the loop.

"Yes, I think it's the perfect song since you're back for good now." Matteo was starting to feel a little shy, he didn't want to admit how much he missed his best friend.

"I haven't really sung much in the past 5 years." Gastón admitted. It seemed weird to sing while he was at Oxford without all of his old friends around.

"You haven't?" Matteo looked surprised but continued, "Well, maybe it's time to pick it up again. It would mean a lot if you'd be part of this."

Gastón couldn't keep the smile off his face and walked towards Matteo. He didn't see him approaching. But when he looked up, Gastón was already hugging Matteo and he returned the hug. "I'd love to be part of this." Gastón just said.

They pulled apart and smiled at each other. After a pause, Matteo spoke up: "How are you after last night, by the way? You really seemed to enjoy yourself at dinner."

"Honestly, I don't know. It felt nice to talk to her again but I still feel like there are miles of space between us and it's hard." Gastón admitted.

"I'm sure it can't be easy to spend so much time together after not talking for so long." Matteo looked at Gastón and waited to see what his response was.

"It's not and it just made me realize even more how much I missed her."

"I can't possibly imagine how you feel but I want to help you and that's why I'm helping you two get back together." Matteo sounded way too enthousiastic to Gastón's liking.

"Why would you do that? I'm not even sure she feels the same way as I do." Gastón was sceptic about this, he didn't want to force Nina to do anything she doesn't want to.

"Because after seeing you two last night, there's no way I'm not making sure you get back together." Said Matteo with a pointed finger and Gastón couldn't argue with this because he wanted that exact thing, he still remained sceptic though.

"And how are you planning to do that?" Gastón was very curious about what Matteo has to say about this.

"That's easy, we make a plan." Matteo said like it was the easiest thing in life. "And I think I might have come up with something good."

"Tell me what you have in mind?" Matteo had Gastón full attention now.

"Well, why don't I make sure you and Nina get paired up at our engagement party?" Matteo suggested.

"I'm not following, how is this going to help me and Nina?"

"Well, the ultimate goal of this plan should be that you get back together with her, preferrably before my wedding with Luna. What's a better occasion than at a party where we celebrate the future union of two people? At the party, you'll dance and it'll all be magical and boom, you're in love again." Matteo said, so convinced of this plan. But Matteo's track record doesn't make Gastón relax but he couldn't wait to see where it'll take him and Nina.

[kitsutaes]

strawberry afternoons

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre: fluff, est. relationship, & a strawberry loving min yoongi

word count: 2.2k

warnings: none

a/n: hi! this is for @bangtanscenery​’s event, april showers bring may flowers! i had to change my fic last minute since i’ve been in such a writing slump agh. well, i hope this one’s alright! just something short, fluffy, and warm :-) thank you to the wonderful @sketchguk​ for looking this over!

summary: in yoongi’s eyes, you were the sweetest strawberry out of the bunch and no one could tell him otherwise.

“Min Yoongi, where are we going?”

Yoongi’s hands grasp yours as he’s tugging you out of your apartment. Your free hand pulling your apartment door shut, you’re letting go of Yoongi’s hand for a bit to lock the door before taking his hand in yours again. Intertwining your fingers, Yoongi huffs at your question, “___, you need to learn when to stop asking questions. C’mon we’re gonna be late.”

You scoff at his response. Late to what exactly? Curiosity was eating you from the inside out. Not necessarily a fan of surprises, you were someone who wanted to know where they were going and what they were doing. 

It was 9:30 in the morning when Yoongi called you on the phone, insisting for you to wake up and get dressed with absolutely no explanation whatsoever. Whining over the phone as to why exactly you had to open your eyes and get up, Yoongi hung up on you leaving you to stare at your ceiling in confusion. Nevertheless, you forced yourself to get out of bed and fix yourself up for the love of your boyfriend.

Yoongi arrived at your door a couple hours after he woke you up on the phone. With the baseball cap on his head and looking ever so warm in his favorite sweatshirt, you couldn’t help but smile.

The first time you met Yoongi was at your brother’s wedding. He was Seokjin’s best man—the two becoming best friends in college. Min Yoongi was seated beside you at the wedding reception, dateless, like you. Seeing as you both had no one to talk to and both awkwardly picking at the food on your plates, you summoned all your courage to tap on his shoulder with a small smile gracing your face.

With that one tap on Yoongi’s shoulder, you two ended up bonding over wedding cake and exquisite music taste the both of you actually shared. After Seokjin’s wedding, you would’ve thought that it was the end between you and Yoongi’s wedding connection but you were so wrong.

Before you knew it, you were texting each other until it was 3 AM (having exchanged numbers before the reception had ended), rambling about anything and everything—conversations jumping from which cooking shows you liked to watch on Netflix to why this one album’s songs were all so good. You ended up spending so much of your time with Yoongi as well. Coming over to each other’s apartments, the two of you would just be talking on opposite ends of the couch or watching films together, softly laughing at each other’s lame jokes or watching the figures on the screen intently. Sometimes you’d go to the park, just plainly sitting on a bench doing some people watching. Other times you’d be at this cafe that was near your place, working on whatever your career asked of you with Yoongi doing the same.

It got to the point where Yoongi became your best friend rather than Jin’s.

You weren’t really sure who fell in love first. Maybe it was you, stealing glances at the man who often made your days pleasant; catching his small smiles and chuckles that made your heart melt. Yoongi did what he loved, and you admired him greatly for it. He had this great passion for music, often hearing him play the piano whenever you were over at his place. Despite not showing much at times, you knew Yoongi always meant well. His small actions made up for his loss of words. 

But, maybe it was Yoongi. Maybe it was Yoongi who fell in love first. You weren’t the only one stealing glances. He loved to watch you read. Nose scrunches, eyebrow lifts, teary eyes, and all as you turned a page to read another. He loved seeing your eyes brighten up, whether it’d be being able to talk about a book you loved, seeing a puppy when the two of you went to the park, or when you tried something he cooked that ended up being so delicious.

It was Yoongi who asked you out officially.

He had asked you over a dinner at this place you both adored. He took your hand in his, the words leaving his lips while you gaped like a fish out of water.

Your relationship with Yoongi hadn’t changed much, from when you became the best of friends to each other’s significant other. You continued to share music with one another, cook together, debating on who really was the best Avenger out of all.  You two continued to share stories on the couch, only instead of being on opposite ends of the couch, you were in each other’s arms. Hands would grasp your own, his arms would wrap themselves around you, and his lips would find their way on your own.

In the car, the only information Yoongi gave you about your mysterious trip was that it would maybe take one or two to arrive at your destination. Although you continued to ask him questions about your trip, pleading him to at least give you a hint—he left it at that, only telling you how much longer it would take to get there.

Instead of continuing to bug your boyfriend to his wits end, you played music instead; some tunes were what brought you and Yoongi together in the first place.

“Do you wanna guess where we’re going?” Yoongi asks, looking at you for a bit before bringing his eyes back to the road. You had left the city around thirty minutes ago, slowly leaving your busy life behind. You hadn’t been able to take a break like this from work in months, always cooped up at home typing on your laptop or at the office, surrounded by the sounds of keyboards tapping, mumbling, and papers printing—always waiting for time to pass by for when Yoongi would be able to bring you a snack or pick you up.

So you were very grateful for this surprise trip, well wherever you were going.

“My best guess would be a beach,” you started, staring out the window, ”but we’re not even really dressed to go to the beach.” The two of you wearing a sweatshirt and a hoodie to the beach, on a still somewhat chilly day. Well then again you could be going to the beach. You remember your parents would take you and Jin on road trips, jamming out to songs from the 80s, and sometimes they’d take you to the beach despite the cold weather. You were able to see some lighthouses and experience the freezing waters of the seas.

Yoongi hums at your response, “Good guess, but no.” He chuckles, catching your nose scrunch as he takes a look at you once again.

This time, instead of asking him to tell you where you were really headed, you’re silent; foot tapping against the floor of the car to the beat of the song playing from the stereo.

“You’re not gonna ask?” With a curious tone, Yoongi’s taking your hand with his free one from your lap. Shaking your head no, “I mean curiosity's killing me, but a surprise is a surprise.”

Yoongi nods, “You’re right, well props to you for trying.” He has a small smile on his face, matching yours as you roll your eyes at him playfully.

“A strawberry farm?” Your eyes light up at the sight of the sign, nearing closer as the sign eventually passes you on the right as you enter the parking grounds. The entire trip took about 3 hours, with the two of you stopping to get some food at this burger joint along the way, plus bits of traffic that had slowed you down. Coming from a bustling city with honking horns and lively streets, this place utterly seemed like a whole different world; and you loved it.

Tranquil and serene skies, this place seemed to calm your heart down. It was as if your worries were washed away and that it was just you and Min Yoongi along with ethereal fields that you hadn’t really seen for years since you moved to the city. It wasn’t like you didn’t travel, because you did; leaving the country to explore another. But it was also easy to forget pleasant places like these your own country had in store.

“You ready?” Yoongi asks, hand on the handle, ready to open the car door.

“Super.” You grin in response, hopping out of the car with your feet hitting the dirt.

Yoongi was soon at your side while you were taking in the scenery. The small farm you were at consisted of agriculture farming tents plus a stand covered in pre-picked berries and only two other cars were parked in the lot beside yours. 

“Hi! You two here for some picking?” A lady approaches the two of you as you near the three tents. She was wearing some boots and gloves, previously tending to some of the plants that were still in the flowering stage before she saw the two of you walking towards the tents.

“Yes, we are.” You smile, hands tucked into the pocket of your hoodie. Yoongi stood beside you, placing his car keys in his jeans, taking a look around.

“Then, here you go,” She handed the two of you some  red baskets. “You can head over to the first tent, right here.” Pointing to the one on the right. “Just pick as many as you please, then you can pay for it at the end. There’s also a sign inside that’ll tell you how much to pay for each pound you pick.” She explains, giving you and Yoongi a small smile and a nod. The two of you reply with a “Thank you!” before she walked back to where she came from.

“C’mon,” Tugging on your boyfriend’s hand, you lead him to the strawberries the lady told you to go to.

Inside, rows full of strawberries could be seen as you walked in. Ripe red rubies with little green tops, ready to be picked. You and Yoongi split ways, heading to different rows to find only the best strawberries for the two of you to share later. Like busy bees, you and Yoongi scanned the rows, taking a good look at each and every berry.

While you were doing so, every so often he’d check if you were doing alright. He noticed how serious you’d gone, inspecting each strawberry with such laser focus it made Yoongi want to laugh.

In Yoongi’s eyes, you were the sweetest strawberry out of the bunch and no one could tell him otherwise. Some strawberries end up being deceiving, tasting sour although possessing a sweet appearance. But unlike sour strawberries you were actually sweet. Someone with a kind heart and always looked for the best in others. Yoongi knew you deserve a break from working all the time and he was always willing to give it to you.

Looking up, your eyes make contact with Yoongi’s. His eyes held something—a combination of adoration and mirth that brought redness to your own cheeks in embarrassment.

After quite a while of picking, your basket was full of luscious strawberries to the point if you added one more, they’d topple and fall out. “Are you done? If I add any more I think my basket will collapse,” you snort, walking up to your boyfriend with your heavy basket in your arms. 

Laughing, you see his basket and it’s the same as yours; overflowing with berries. “Yeah, I’m done too.”

Leaving the tent, you see that time has passed by with a blink of an eye. The cloudless blue sky is now painted with tints of tangerine and honey that look so alluring to the eye.

Side by side, both of you head towards the stall you saw earlier. It was being manned by an older man. He had a grin plastered on his face when he saw you two coming his way.

“Did you two enjoy?” He asked, taking the baskets from your hands. You both nod, “Yeah, it was a pretty great experience.” Yoongi answers while the man begins weighing your combined strawberries.

“That’s good to hear,” He starts, “It’s a shame not a lot of people come by, we got some good strawberries this time around and they’re missing out!” He says with a sigh, now packing your strawberries into a carton and some green plastic berry containers.

“Hopefully we’ll be back soon,” You respond, unaware of the fact Yoongi had paid for all the strawberries. Anyway it was his treat, and it would be no good if you argued with him.

“I hope so too, have a great rest of your day!” He grinned, waving the two of you goodbye as you take the bag with your strawberries.

You did enjoy picking, very much actually. Today ended up being one of your most favorite days, and it was all thanks to Yoongi. Getting back into Yoongi’s car, you let out a sigh. With the bag of strawberries in your lap, you turn to face your boyfriend who’s putting on his seatbelt, unaware of the fact you’re staring at him. As he turns, his eyes meet yours, raising an eyebrow at you.

“Thank you,” You say, kissing his cheek. “I really enjoyed today.”

Yoongi’s cheeks are flushed and his stoic expression melts into one of a bashful smile as you’re looking at him with such endearment that’s evident in your eyes. 

“Anything for you, ___.”

[sushinoyuhh]

Gardenias.

Haikyuu Various x Reader

Credit to the artist who made that ↑

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Synopsis + Characters

Various Haikyuu boys show you their love on Valentines Day!

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

Characters: Kuroo, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Bokuto, Akaashi, Atsumu, and Suna.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Genre and Warnings

Genre: Romance, very slight nsfw undertones.

Warnings: slight angst on Iwa’s part

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tetsurō Kuroo

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You sat in the classroom, mindlessly looking through the window beside you. A hum escaped your lips while listening to light chatter being passed around the occupied classroom. It was Valentines Day, so of course the girls in the classroom were squealing about what their boyfriends or girlfriends did for them. Of course you feel a little envious. Your own boyfriend hasn’t said a word to you this whole day.

You felt as if either he forgot or he’s just not caring about this special day. You sighed, tapping your foot against the floor. You became annoyed with the sudden outcome of this day. ‘I’d be fine with just a card, you know..’ you thought to yourself. Suddenly, several gasps started to make its way through the room. Cocking a brow, you turn to right to see your own boyfriend standing in the door way.

Your mouth dropped. There stood your boyfriend, Kuroo, with a freakishly larger teddy bear in one hand, with a big bouquet of roses and chocolates in the other. Now he walked up to you with such a sweet and caring grin.

“Hey shortcake~ sorry I didn’t get this too you sooner. It was a long walk to the florists..” he purred next to your ear, giving a quick kiss on your cheek afterwards. “No no, it’s fine..!” You gushed while taking the goodies he got you. Maybe he didn’t forget after all huh?

“Don’t worry chibi-chan~ I’ll be sure to treat you better later..~” he winked at you before leaving the classroom. At this point you were more red than a tomato at his smoothness. Suddenly it was the people in the classroom who were jealous now.

Tōru Oikawa

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The first thing you saw when you walked into the boys volleyball gym was a big bouquet of flowers shoved in your face. “Y-Y/N! Please except these!!” You saw your boyfriend, Oikawa, bowing down to you while shoving roses and gardenias in your face. “Tōru! No need to shout..” you said with a flustered giggle.

“Oh wait you actually liked that gesture? See Iwa she doesn’t want more!!” Oikawa looked behind him to glare eye his friend, “He couldn’t stop pestering me about how just roses and gardenias wouldn’t be enough.” You took the bouquet with a cheeky grin while shooting your head no. “These are just fine, Tōru.”

“But I do have one more thing. Meet me at the back of they gym after practice. Alright, little cutie~?” He pured while giving you a kiss on the cheek. You nodded quietly, feeling you cheeks heat up more.

After what seemed like forever, the practice had ended and you’ve already made it to the back of the gym. You looked at the ground, anticipating for what’s about the happened. You wondered what he could be planing, but nothing came to mind. Soon, you heard footsteps fall into place behind you. You saw your boyfriend with something in his pocket.

“Hey uhm,” He got in front of you and bent down on one knee, “I know we can’t marry now but I truly do want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me so happy and I just can’t bare to see you with anyone else..” he pulled out this gorgeous butterfly promise ring. Before you knew it, happy tears already fell from your face. “Yes..” you whispered, putting the ring on your left pointer finger.

Hajime Iwaizumi

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was the day before Valentine’s Day. The air had a slight lovingly buzz to it, yet your heart couldn’t feel the same. Your boyfriend, Iwaizumi, has been acting a little differently towards you lately. He’d been canceling dates and constantly on his phone lately. A part of you couldn’t help but think he’s cheating on you. Whenever you came up to him, he would frantically put his phone in his pocket. You would ask if everything thing is fine, but all that Iwaizumi would do was brush you off and change the subject. This behavior has gotten you sad and feel uneasy near him.

“You know, Y/N is going to think your cheating on them.” Oikawa said, spinning a ball in his hand. You weren’t the only one picking up on his behavior. “You realize how strange you’ve been acting near them, right..?” Iwaizumi tracked the ball, eventually landing a spike on it. “Wait what do you mean? I haven’t been...” he paused for a second. Everything came coming back to him. His weird behavior, him constantly checking his phone. “Shit.”

Meanwhile, you walked into the boys volleyball gym. You weren’t expecting much, just to be once again ignored by your boyfriend. Instead of trying to pin point his location, all you did was casually walk to the bench. “Y/N!!” Iwaizumi called out your name while jogging up to you. “What do you want.” You said coldly, turning away from him.

“Please, hear me out Y/N...I know what you’re probably thinking..no, I am not cheating on you-” Iwaizumi was cut off, “then what am I supposed to think? You’ve been sneaky around me, hiding your phone from me, and hanging out with me less! Then what are you doing, Iwa.”

Iwaizumi tensed at your accusations. I mean, you weren’t wrong. It’s true, he has been acting like that for a while now. “Babe, I was trying to get tickets for that local carnival that’s going to pop up on Valentine’s Day! I’ve been super distant because it’s been hard just to grab two tickets. Apparently every other couple had the same idea as me..” Iwa told you. Your face slowly lit up, realizing everything meant know harm with his peculiar behavior. “Carnival..? Ah, thank you Iwa!!” You smiled cheekily as you engulfed your boyfriend in a sweet hug.

Koutarou Bokuto

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You looked at the vanity mirror in front of you, basking in your entire appearance. Today was Valentine’s Day and Bokuto had a date planned for you both. It was at night so, you had a few ideas for what might happen. “Planetarium date, night time picnic..?” You said softly too yourself. Ideas began swarming your mind before adjusting your outfit. Suddenly your phone began to buzz, notifying you someone is texting you or calling you. You picked it up, seeing your boyfriend Bokuto spam text you saying that he’s at your front door. You told him you’ll be right there and swiftly grabbed your bag filled with personal items. You made it downstairs and opened your door to see a very excited owl.

“Y/N!!” He chirped before grasping you in a big bear hug, “Are you really for our date, hun?” He asked with his big goofy grin. Ah, that smile. That smile could blind anyone or any cure disease it came across. “Yeah I am. Do you know where we’re going, Bo?” You closed the door behind you, locking it as well. “It’s a surprise,” he snickerd.

After what seemed like hours, you both arrived at the local park. Despite being night time, the park was buzzing with life. “You see, I don’t know much about space en-stuff like Kuroo, but there’s supposed to be a big meteor shower tonight..I thought you might be interested seeing it with me.” Bokuto looked away from you with pink dusting his cheeks.

“No I would love to see the meteor shower with you!” You smiled up at him before kissing his cheek. He giggled, leading you to a designated spot away from other people or couples. He pulled out a big picnic blanket from his own bag and spread it out on the lush grass. Once he finished, you sat on it with a soft smile. Eventually Bokuto joined you but he layed his head ontop of yours while intertwining his fingers with yours.

“It should be starting soon. Kuroo said it should be starting around nine or nine-thirty,” He said with his usual gleeful attitude. Nodding, you looked back at the dark painted sky speckled with white glowing stars. It was so gorgeous, it made a nice feeling well up inside you. It made you feel good to be alive with your boyfriend. “LOOK IT’S STARTING!!” Bokuto couldn’t help but shout happily while pointing to the left of you both.

One by one, shooting starts began to dance around the barely lit sky. Softly illuminating the sky for you. Each shooting star began to happily show its own dance, fading in and out whenever it wanted to. Your eyes had marvled at the spectacular event. Suddenly you felt a hand under your chin, guiding your line of sight to face your boyfriend. After a quiet session of kissing him softly, he let go of it. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Y/N...”

Keiji Akaashi

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was all so..astonishing. The home cooked food, the flickering of the cherry smelling candles, the arrangement of roses and gardenias, the soft romantic music in the background...everything seemed to be so handled with care and planned out neatly. But you’d expect nothing less from the amazing Keiji Akaashi. You patted your lips with cloth napkins, you couldn’t help but notice that smelled of cherries too. A lot of things were red so something cherry smelling wasn’t so surprising. “Please, I want to say thank you! This was all so amazing..I-” little happy tears began to prick the corner of your eyes. You felt overwhelmed with love and joy.

A soft smile formed on Akaashi, “it’s really nothing. I wanted to do something special for you, so I thought that maybe this would be something good. He motioned his hand to sway around the dinner table and room. “Oh uhm, are you done? I want to show you something.” He smiled a little wider as he stood up. You nodded while watching him pick up the dirty plates of food and dessert.

Eventually, he asked for your hand. Of course you complied with a smile. He guided you to the open space in his living room. “I’ve gotten a new stereo,” he took the remote next to hit and turned it on, flipping through songs afterwards. You glanced at him and then the new stereo. It was slick and clean. It definitely looked new.

A song started playing. It was quite familiar, it sounded like something you heard on the radio or a friends playlist. “Would you have this dance..?” Akaashi looked at you with his teal eyes. You nodded, eventually falling into a perfect stance for dancing. The song started playing as you started swaying. Your head rested on his shoulder. This was probably what heaven felt like, or is. Dancing in the dark with your boyfriend, feeling nothing but his warmth and love..yep, definitely heaven.

“I love you, angel..”

Atsumu Miya

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You see, while others got homemade chocolates and beautifully decorated floral arrangements, you’ve gotten..almost nothing. All you’ve gotten today was obligatory chocolates and a few friendly cards made for everyone in your class. Part of the reason you never really liked Valentine’s Day. You’ve never gotten anything more than a “happy Valentine’s Day!” Or “Can you please past these on?”.

This year was no different. You’ve actually already had someone ask to past these onto someone. You said no but it still bothered you. The end of the day came to a start and you eventually made it to the boys volleyball gym. You’re the manager so your obligated to get there before anyone else. Taking out the key, you held it out to the key hole but the door was already open. ‘Have I forgotten to lock up? No that’s impossible, Kita watched me.’ Thinking, you furrowed your bows.

The gym was very well lit up. “Someone is probably here.” You mumbled before speaking in a more louder tone, “Is anyone here!?” There wasn’t a response after you called out. Just a rustling in the storage closet. Atsumu on the other hand started to sweat. “Did they hear me? Ah shoot, this was supposed to be perfect..” he sighed softly while hearing your footsteps grow closer and closer to the storage closet. He saw the door open gently and the lights fully flicker on.

“A-Atsumu..!” You gasped, looking around the perfectly decorated room. There were roses all of the floor while all the other places were occupied with dimly lit candles and other red, pink, and white decorations. “W-who is this possibly for..?” You said, looking around. A part of you wished it was for you. You’ve had a crush on Atsumu for a while now, but you wouldn’t dare tell him. Not while the chance of rejection still stands.

“T-this is actually for you..” Atsumu looked down at you with an embarrassed expression. This was supposed to be a surprise but you got here early..” he pouted. “For...me?” You blushed profusely, looking at him with your jaw dropped. “Do you like it?” He asked. “Like it..? No, I love it! This the best thing anyone’s ever done for me, thank you..!” You cheered, eventually pressing your lips against his cheek. He smiled cheerfully, eventually pressing his lips onto yours. ‘Best Valentine’s Day Ever..’

Rintarō Suna

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You sat on the bench near the schools entrance with a patient gaze. You also couldn’t help but hear the grotesque snickers of girls off to the side of you. They were going on and on about how you didn’t seem to have a partner this Valentine’s Day. They also did a poorly job hiding their snarky laughter and teasing expressions with their dollar store bouquets and small stuffed bears. It also didn’t help that you could see their expressions either. They looked at you with such a discountenanced attitude, it made you feel vunrable.

You sighed, this’ll all be over when your boyfriend gets you, wherever he may be. Unfortunately you might go to different but neighboring schools. He’d often pick you up early but this time he was running late of all days. You groaned to yourself, still subconsciously listening to those girls awful assumptions about you. Soon, you hear sounds of louder gasps and the sound of a skateboard.

There he is, your wonderful boyfriend coming to your aid on a skateboard and wait..a freakishly large bouquet of flowers and a teddybear? It almost looked like it was taller than you. “Hey babe, sorry I’m late. The teddybear slowed me down.” He sighed before kissing you on the cheek. “Why thank you!!” You said obnoxiously. The girls near you had angry expressions now. Suna cocked a brow, “huh? Why are you..” he glanced at the girls beside the two of you.

“Ah that’s it.” He said with his usual deadpan look. Although you could of a swore he made a tiny smile. He got closer to your lips, forming a public makeout session near the girls. Now you heard them whine that their boyfriends could never compare. He let go softly, licking his lips too. “Sorry of those girls have you any trouble. Here, let’s get out of here.” He winked at you while handing your bouquet and skateboard.

“Yeah let’s get out of here.” You said with a blush. You smile as you grabbed his hand and started skating off. You looked behind you, giving a cheery smile and a nice big middle finger. That’s what you get for messing with Suna’s girlfriend/boyfriend/joyfriend. “Hey.” Suna called out to you with a soft look in his eyes, “if anyone gives you a hard time, tell me. I’ll handle it.” You looked at him with sparkles in your eyes, nodding with a soft smile.

woooo, I’m finally done! this took way to long, anyways enjoy!

[mytwilightimagines13]

Vampire (Caius Volturi)(Part One)

Word count: 1180

“Welcome, dear. How was your flight?” a woman said as she opened the door for me. Esme Cullen, I knew. She had pale, beautiful features. Something about her heart-shaped face, her billows of soft, caramel coloured hair reminded me of the ingenues of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender, yet less angular, more rounded than the others. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” I said as I took my leather jacket off and hung it on the coatrack in the hallway. The house was beautiful, in the middle of the German forest. “Call me Esme, dear. Carlisle is still at the hospital, and the children are at school. They should all be home soon. Can I get you anything?” she asked as she made her way towards the kitchen. I followed shortly behind her, letting my eyes wonder in awe at the interior of the house. How nice and open it was. “I would like some water please, thank you.” I said politely as I took a seat at the bar stool in the kitchen. Esme smiled friendly at me and poured me some water. “Thank you once again for letting me stay here for my job. The apartments near the theatre are way too high in price for me.” I said as I gratefully took a sip of the water. “It is our pleasure dear. Besides, Carlisle and I have a love for the musical theatre. And we cannot wait to watch you perform. Besides, it will be the first time that a woman will be playing the part of death in Elisabeth, well apart from the version form the all-female theatre group of course.” She said as she leaned on the bar across from me. “Yes, I am very excited. It is only a bummer that some fans of the musical are against it.” I said, frowning at my glass, remembering the comments I had received once the news was shared of my participation in the musical. Some fans ought it to be wrong for Elisabeth to be seduced by a female death.   “People keep forgetting that Death doesn’t have a gender. So I do not know why so many people are bothered by it. But it is their loss, they will be missing out on a spectacular musical.” Esme said as she gently placed a hand on my lower arm. I gasped slightly at the ice cold temperature. Esme pulled her hand away quickly and shot me an apologetic smile. “I am sorry, I forget how cold my hands can get at times.” She said as she gently folded her arms in front of her chest. “No, no problem. It just took me off guard, that is all.” I said, giving her a gentle smile before taking another sip of my water.

Esme and I kept talking for about another hour when the sound of the door opening made us halt our conversation. Many excited voices soon entered the room, yet they halted when their eyes landed on me. I turned around and studied the seven people whom had just entered. Every single one of them must have been between 17 and 20 years old, and every single one of them more beautiful than the last. They could have easily stepped out of the paintings of the angels by Francesco Solimena. But the one peculiar thing I noticed, well apart from their godlike features, where their eyes. Every single one of them had these caramel golden eyes, well everyone except one. Only one of them had eyes that were a different colour, a warm chocolate brown. Esme smiled warmly at her adopted children and walked from behind the bar to greet them. “Welcome home. How was school?” she asked, waiting politely for an answer. “It was fine, Esme. Same old still.”  The man on the left side said. His facial features were perfect and angular—high cheekbones, a strong jawline, perfect eyebrows, a straight nose and full lips. His untidy hair was an unusual bronze shade and he stood at 6'2", with a thin and lanky but muscular body. “Children, this is (Y/N). Like Carlisle and I told you before, she is a niece of mine and she will be staying here for about a year, while the newest production of Elisabeth das musical takes place in Berlin.” Esme said as she addressed me. I smiled politely at them. “Hello everyone. I am truly grateful that I am allowed to stay here.” I said. Many of them smiled politely back, all but one. The tall and statuesque woman glared at me. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen and I heard her walk up the stairs. “My apologies for Rose, she doesn’t handle strangers very well.” One of the males said with an apologetic smile. He was very tall and big-muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark curly hair. He shot me one more apologetic smile before following Rose upstairs.

After meeting the other Cullens, and soon after that the head of the family, dr Carlisle Cullen, Esme made me and Renesmee, the only one of the family with chocolate brown eyes, dinner. It was a simple pasta dish, yet it was delicious. Esme had insisted on cooking for me, and keeping up with my special diet. Normally I wasn’t someone who kept a strict diet, but for my role in the musical I needed the right amount of calories and proteins, to keep my muscles strong during the performance.

After dinner, Esme showed me my new room. It was large and spacious, with many windows. A large queen size bed was placed in the middle against a wall in between two large windows that lead to a balcony. The walls where painted a nice, calming red, and a desk, chair, stereo, tv and closet finished the room completely.

“If there is anything you are missing, do not hesitate to ask us. We want you to be as comfortable as possible.” Esme said, smiling kindly at me once more. I returned her smile widely.

“I am fine, this is more than I could wish for. Thank you once more.” I said as I gently sat down on the large bed, feeling it’s softness seep through, making me realise how tired I was as a yawn escaped my mouth.

“My apologies, I guess I am more exhausted than I initially anticipated.” I said, looking at my black sneakers. Esme giggled softly, a sound that sounded like soft bells in the wind.

“Please, get some rest. I am sure you have another long day of rehearsal tomorrow. Goodnight, my dear.” Esme said before leaving the room.

“Goodnight, Esme.” I said before quickly getting ready for bed and burying myself in the large and thick bedsheets.

[justtoarguewithyou]

9/28: New Beginnings

day 10 of @swottypotter comfort minifest. something completely different from me. i’ve had so much fun. thank you, @swottypotter!!!

Sirius stood outside Remus’ house with a boombox, playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.”

The first few times he’d played the song, he’d held the boombox over his head, like Lloyd Dobler in “Say Anything.” He and Remus had been to see that in the theatre three times that spring. Remus loved romantic comedies. Sirius loved Remus.

Sirius had put the boom box down, and sat on his longboard in the drive way instead, yelling at Remus to come out.

“Come on, Remus,” Sirius yelled. “I’ll stay here all night.”

Hope twitched open the living room curtains, and gave Sirius a small wave. Sirius was drinking from the bottle of water he’d brought in his backpack. He was trying to follow the shade as it shifted along the driveway. He’d been out there for 45 minutes. The song was starting for the 9th time.

Hope, who had started singing along under her breath, turned to her son. “Remus, I really think he would stay all night. I don’t see why your father and I should have to suffer through all that noise.”

She covered her burgeoning smile with her hand, and did her best to not sway along to the music. She loved Sirius, and all his grand gestures. It reminded her of her husband, Lyall, when they were young. And she loved her son. But she also knew her son could hold a grudge like no one else. She wasn’t proud that he had inherited that from her.

Remus stomped over to the couch and sat down with a huff.

“Remus!” Sirius yelled. “I gave you my heart! Please don’t give me a pen!”

Sirius had used his brother’s tape recorder held up to his own stereo to dub the song onto an old cassette single. With just this song on both sides, and no need to rewind, he could keep this up all night. Or at least, as long as his batteries lasted. He’d put in new ones, and packed extra, just in case. He also brought the power cord. Sirius had never been a Boy Scout. But he did believe in being prepared.

Lyall came to the window as the song ended. He gave Sirius a big wave. Sirius waved back.

“Hi, Lyall!” Sirius yelled, and then flipped the cassette over. He shrugged apologetically.

Lyall turned to Remus and said, “Tell me, son, what exactly did he do?”

Remus looked away from his parents and mumbled.

“Louder, dear,” his mother said.

“He came up behind me while I was working and grabbed me. I didn’t see him come in, and I wasn’t expecting it, so I screamed like a little girl in front of everyone. All the customers, and my boss,” Remus emphasized.

Remus was working at the mall that summer to help save up for his college expenses. Sirius’s Uncle Alphard was helping him pay for college, so Sirius was unemployed. He often loitered around the mall food court, waiting for Remus to take his breaks. He always had an Orange Julius ready for Remus’s lunch breaks.

“Did he apologize?” Hope asked, biting her lips together after asking the question, to keep from smiling. She knew she wouldn’t improve Remus’ mood by appearing amused.

Sirius answered as though he could hear her.

“I said I was sorry. Come on, Remus. It’s so hot out here…” Sirius lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off forehead. Hope sighed. She remembered when Lyall had abs…

“It was undignified!” Remus pouted on the sofa, his arms crossed.

Lyall rolled his eyes, and went to the kitchen to pour Sirius a glass of cold lemonade. He walked it outside.

“I think you’re breaking him down,” Lyall said, and sat down on the driveway.

“Remus!” Lyall yelled. “Come on out!”

Sirius gave Lyall a high five, and the two of them laughed. Sirius gulped his lemonade, and put the empty glass down in the grass. Lyall usually took Sirius’s side, as he knew his son could be very stubborn. Lyall remembered what it was like to be on the receiving end of Hope’s stubbornness. He swayed along with the chorus.

“You’re both off to college soon,” Lyall said, pulling himself out of the song.

“Yeah. I’m really looking forward to it,” Sirius said.

Sirius had been accepted to the California Institute of the Arts to study animation. His uncle had also put him in touch with some friends at Pixar, a relatively new company that was getting into computer animation. Sirius was excited about the possibilities.

“It won’t be easy, being so far apart,” Lyall said, with a sneaking suspicion his son was upset about more than the incident at the mall. Remus was planning to study math at UC Berkeley.

“No,” Sirius said. “But, I know I want to be with Remus. And we can write, and I’ve already bought us some long-distance calling cards so we can call each other, and we can see each other on weekends and breaks. Alphard said he’d help me buy a car.”

“I’m just not sure a long-distance relationship…” Lyall began.

“Mr. Lupin,” Sirius said solemnly, holding his hand out to stop Lyall’s train of thought. “I love your son. I know your son. I know he’s in there pouting because I embarrassed him today. I know I’ll probably be in your driveway for another couple of hours unless Mrs. Lupin can talk him into forgiving me sooner.”

Lyall groaned. The concrete was very hard. But he had chosen to cross the battle lines.

“But,” Sirius continued, “there’s nowhere I’d rather be. I know you think we’re 18, and we’re idiots, and that I sound like a moron for saying Remus is my destiny. But he is. I know he is.”

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Lyall. What else could he say?

Lyall sighed, thinking Sirius sounded very young. And he looked very young, Lyall thought, as Sirius sat there in his neon green board shorts, and old white tank top. Sirius had let his hair grow long, and Lyall thought he looked like a surfer more than ever.

Maybe when Remus has gone, and he and Hope had time for themselves again, he’d take up surfing, Lyall thought. He’d had abs once. He wondered how long it would take him to get them back. He was still a relatively young man. Not even 40! He’d just turned 37.

Even though he’d never let on, Lyall Lupin was a firm believer in young love. He and Hope had married shortly after high school graduation, even with the threat of the Draft looming over him, and had Remus 9 months after that. They were still so happy together. He loved his wife, he loved his son. He loved this doofus, sitting beside him in “the light, the heat.”

Inside, Hope sat on the much softer couch with her son.

“Is this just about what happened at work?” she asked knowingly, pushing her son’s hair out of his eyes.

“No,” Remus said, curling into her lap.

“What is it, then, baby?” she asked her only baby. Maybe she and Lyall would have another. She was only 36. It had been so hard when they were young, working in a canning factory. Then, she’d had Remus, and had stayed at home with him. They’d never had that much money. Lyall joined the Navy, and they ended up in California. But she loved her husband, and her son. She was excited about his going to college—the first of their family to go.

“What if we go away to college, and Sirius decides he wants to break up?” Remus asked. Hope sighed. “What if we grow apart? What if he meets some devastatingly handsome surfer person, or some artistic soul and decides that they have more in common, and he doesn’t want a nerd like me who loves poetry and math?”

“Well, my dear, my crystal ball is in the shop. But I can tell you that Sirius must love you an awful lot if he’s been sitting outside in the heat for this long.”

“I’m scared, mom.”

“I know, dear,” she rubbed his shoulder. “I can’t tell you what the future holds, but I can tell you not to be stubborn and make yourself miserable for no reason. Believe me, baby. It doesn’t make your life any easy to hurt before there’s any reason to.”

She smiled at her kiddo. Her smart, stubborn, grudge-holding kiddo.

“Ugh, I love you so much. Just like me. Go on. Take pity on Sirius and your father. Let’s go get a burrito down the street. I’m not cooking tonight. And then we can go to the beach for a while. Okay?”

“All right,” Remus sighed, and his mother squeezed him tight.

“It won’t be easy, but you’ll be ok. Look me and dad. We’ve lived through so much. College will be a piece of cake.”

Remus smiled, and got up smoothed his shorts, and wiped his eyes.

Remus opened the screen door, and looked sheepishly at Sirius, who jumped up the second Remus opened the door.

“Hi,” Sirius said, turning off the boom box, and tucking his hair behind his ears.

“Hi.” Remus said.

“Thank goodness,” Lyall said, pushing himself up, and smiling at his wife. He picked up the glass, and put it inside the door. Hope came out with her purse, and their beach bag packed with towels, and a blanket, and sun screen. She jingled the car keys at Lyall, handed him the keys.

Lyall smiled at her, and kissed her cheek. “Stubborn, just like his mother,” he whispered in her ear.

They got into the station wagon, and rolled down the windows, and waited.

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said, reaching out to hold Remus’s hand. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just knew you were about to get off work, and I was excited to see you.”

“I’m sorry, too. I’m just…”

“Hungry,” Lyall said from the driver’s seat. “Come on boys. Talk on the way.”

Sirius kissed Remus’s cheek, and Remus smiled at him.

They went to dinner, and laughed, and Hope and Lyall told stories about their being young and in love. Sirius smiled at Remus with all of his easy confidence, and Remus knew that he was a lot like his mom: patient and loving and strong.

“If you guys can make it through deployments, I think Remus and I can make it through a few semesters apart,” Sirius said, holding Remus’s hand under the table.

Lyall grinned at them. Dorks, the both of them.

They went to the beach after, and while the boys swam, Lyall pressed play on Sirius’s boom box, and the song started somewhere in the middle.

Lyall sang into Hope’s ear, and she giggled, as he grabbed her behind.

“In your eyes, the light, the heat, I am complete,” Lyall sang.

[supernaturalee]

Green and Gold: Part 2 - Gwilym Lee x Reader

Pairings: Widow/Single Father! Gwilym Lee x Reader

Warnings: Some swearing, Mentions of X rated thoughts, and more KAREN

Word Count: 4.4k

Previous Parts: One

Summary: When Gwilym lost his wife two years ago he feared raising his daughter alone in a small coastal New Jersey town would be difficult. In the two years since her death, Gwil and Brianne are finally ready to start moving on. Following the words of a child psychologist, Gwil signs Bri up for cheerleading with the local youth squad, something Gwil knows nothing about. As he is thrust in the world of cheer bows and back handsprings, he will learn it takes a lot more than green and gold uniforms to mend his and his daughter’s hearts. Hopefully through the squad they will find strength, friendship, and possibly a spark of new love for the widow himself.  

Taglist:@the-baby-bookworm​ @ixchel-9275​ @slutforbritdick​ @kurt-nightcrawler​ @radio-hoo-ha​ @imgonnabeyourslave​ @queendeakyy​ @girllety​ @im-an-adult-ish​ @what-wicked-delights​ @drivenbybri​

Author’s Note: It’s almost 2 am EST and I thought to myself, why not post part two. We are getting into meat of the story here, y’all! Again, this update is late, but my writing was hard to come by for a while. So without further ado, he is part 2 of Green & Gold. Please let me know if you want to be tagged in future installments. 

In the four short weeks since Brianne had started cheerleading practice, Gwilym had come to learn three absolute truths. First being that cheer made Bri happier than Gwil had ever hoped. In the time since that first practice, he had seen her smile more than he had seen since before Angela had passed away. Her eyes lit up now whenever she spoke about how the routine was coming along or how she was learning all of these different things. Such as stunts or new tumbling passages or jumps that had odd names like toe touches, herkies, and pikes. While Gwilym cooked dinner or checked over her homework, he could always hear her routine music coming from the stereo in the living room. Once he got her to wash her hands and then settled at the table. It would become Gwilym’s inquiry into the world of cheerleading and Brianne was more than happy to oblige his many questions. 

Bri had taken to cheering like a fish takes to water. It was in her blood, Angela’s cheerleading history flowing through Brianne’s veins now. It made Gwil so happy. She spent three nights a week on the mat now and Saturday during the day at either the home field or away fields cheering on the young football players. The football team’s age coincided with the cheerleaders of Bri's team’s ages. Or the Mustang Pee Wees as Gwil had learned. He had finally found out the difference between the game cheers and the competition cheer as Bri had once told him. He usually sat in the game bleachers trying to decipher how American football was more popular than actual football. Or as Y/N lovingly reminded him every time he complained, “It’s soccer here.” she would say with a smile. At first he thought it was kind of annoying but now anytime she reminded him, he found it endearing. The way her lips curled up in a smile as she said it, he found himself mesmerized by it. 

When Brianne wasn’t cheering and once her homework was done, she could be found hanging out with her new friends Jasmine, Joey, and Selma. The carpool Y/N had promised had been fruitful for Brianne and Gwilym on the friendship front. They had been the type of cheer parents Gwilym had hoped for and luckily he got in with them instead of the others. That was the second absolute truth he learned that, cheer parents were absolutely bonkers bananas insane. Karen Diguimi was just the tip of the massive iceberg that was the “Stepford Stangs” as Joe lovingly coined them. Gwil had now become a member of the mailing list. A dreaded place to be that he wouldn’t have agreed to had he known what a nightmare it truly was. 

He had now started to receive daily emails with updates on fundraising and how close they were to the nice buses. Game schedules, rule changes, and low fat recipes to keep your little cheerleader in proper cheering shape were among the other important articles. Plus little snide comments on the surrounding towns’ teams and how far superior the Mustangs were to them. It was like a tabloid magazine that Gwil now had a daily subscription too.

 Y/N had sent him a long paragraph text about the low carb recipes and how dare the “Stepford Stangs” imply that only certain shaped children could be cheerleaders. ‘It is the middle of October and they are nine and ten years old. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE SWIMSUIT READY?! Gwil, you will have to stop me from strangling Karen at the next practice.’ It made Gwilym feel a swell of pride for a moment that he read her text. It caused the return of a certain set of emotions. These feelings that he was feeling were something he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

Often he would check over the email for that week’s game schedule then file the email away. His new gang of misfit parents would mock the over ridiculous links in the emails or the fact that they received a new one every day. Joe always sent a meme or two about them, while Rami commented on the complete lack of email etiquette. ‘It’s too many emails and too many people hit Reply All instead of reply. It is chaotic!’ Rami had sent in their group chat. ‘I think its nice to keep us informed with the same information that we knew yesterday.’ Lucy had added. Gwil finally being able to put a face to the name as he met Rami’s other half at the first football game of the year. She was blonde, slim, and in a way almost fairy like. Her movements were graceful but she had this hidden strength to her. Rami and Lucy complimented each other well. Rami was a computer engineer, who like Gwil, could do most of his work from home. Lucy, on the other hand, was a certified midwife and a nurse at the local OBGYN. Often traveling between the hospital and the doctor office. Their schedules mostly allow for their twin girls’ busy sports schedules to work. Joe ran an accounting firm but swore he was bad at math. He stated he liked the business but preferred leaving the accounting to his dedicated small team of accountants.

Finally, the third absolute truth that Gwilym Lee knew was that Wednesday nights were now his favorite night of the week. It was the only night parents were allowed to stay for the whole practice. This meant about two hours of watching Bri have the most fun and grow into an even stronger, more beautiful young woman. It also meant getting to spend time with his new friends including Y/N.  Y/N had quickly become Gwil’s confidant in all things cheer related. Any question or need he had, she had the answer and was always there with a smile. It was just another reason why Gwil was now harboring a crush on this woman. He and Bri had not seen her coming. He thought he would scrap by with googled information and keep his head down. He would be quiet and lonely,  knowing just enough to get by. 

Yet there was Y/N with her intelligence, her helping hand, and her kind heart. Bri also loved her and Jasmine. She was treated with so much love, respect, and care by Y/N. Gwil found it hard to keep himself from melting every time he was in her gaze. He felt like a teenage boy with a crush. He had confided in Ben who told him to get back on the horse. However, to Gwil, the horse was a twenty foot tall bear that was very hungry. Angela was still on his mind, in his life, in his heart. He saw her every day in the brown eyes of his daughter. He feared that any new relationship he would start would be doomed to be branded as the rebound relationship for the man with the dead wife. Even if he found someone, they had to pass the most important test in his book, being well loved by the most important person in his life, Brianne. He shook away the heavy thoughts as the red light turned green. He pressed his foot on the gas as he continued the drive to practice. Bri and Jasmine chatting in the back of his car. 

Y/N had asked him to pick Jasmine up from school and drive her to practice. Y/N had a meeting with the college board about one of her students. She would meet them at the cheer gym later. Gwil’s mind couldn’t help but wander to Y/N. He hoped her meeting went well. He knew in just the short few weeks of knowing her that her job meant a tremendous amount to her. Professor Y/L/N had a very nice ring to it. His mind wandering further to dirtier thoughts. If they were ever to be together would she let him play the teacher's pet. His fantasy slowly took form in his head when Bri’s voice snapped him back to reality. 

“Dad?” No answer came from the driver’s seat. “Earth to dad. Father?” She laughed. Gwil pushed all X rated thoughts from his mind and looked to the rear view. 

“Hmm?” He answered, putting on a small smile to show her that he has really been paying attention the whole time. 

“Could Jasmine and Ms. Y/L/N come to dinner with us?” Bri asked sweetly. The two had joined them for dinner every Wednesday night since that first practice. 

“Please Mr. Lee!” Jasmine used the same sweet voice. Gwil rubbed his jaw with his free hand as the two girls started repeating the world please. 

“Please please please please please please please please please please please please please!” Bri and Jasmine begged together. Gwilym laughed, smiling. 

“It is fine with me but we will have to ask your aunt, Jasmine, when we see her.” He said.  Both girls cheered happily as they looked at each other. 

“Of course Mr. Lee!” Jasmine smiled. “Aunt Y/N likes getting dinner with you and Bri.” Jasmine said. Gwil felt his cheeks heat up for a moment. This came as a surprise to him in a way. Sure he knew she cared about their friendship but maybe this meant she also felt something more for him. He quickly pushed this thought away, no it wasn’t a good time for him to get into a new relationship. I’m not ready. His thoughts continued his mantra. 

“Well we like having dinner with both of you as well, dear.” He answered her. Jasmine’s smile grew. She was a wonderful little girl who Gwilym had grown to care for. She didn’t know what she was doing for Brianne, but Gwil did and how it helped her improve immensely. He had known his daughter had tried to hide her sadness from him. It was something she tried to do to prove she was strong like Angela but she didn’t need to. Gwil and her grandparents knew that Brianne had every ounce of Angela’s strength tenfold. 

As he pulled into the parking lot of the cheer gym he saw Y/N’s Jeep had not yet arrived. He also didn’t see Joe’s or Rami’s cars either which meant he would be alone. He would most likely have to face yet another conversation with Karen. Or he could just hide out in his car until his friends arrived. He shook his head for a moment, he had to go inside, he could handle this. As both young girls made their way inside, Gwil followed behind them making sure both safely got in the building. 

He signed both in at the desk where the young man who Gwil had learned was one of the coaches’ sons sat. He gave the teenaged boy a wave before moving to his usual spot in the bleachers. He had settled into the groove of sitting with everyone, Gwil sat on a lower bench due to his height, while Y/N sat on the bleacher bench above him so she could make eye contact easier. Rami would sit above her and then Joe would sit beside her, the four almost making a little diamond of security. His blue eyes looked around the room before he spotted her. 

Karen was talking to some of the other team parents, her eyes scanning the room for him. He dropped his head down trying to hide himself from her.

“Oh Gwilym!” She exclaimed, moving to him. Gwil sat up straight, damn he had been caught. He politely smiled and nodded. Please don’t come over, please don’t come over, please don’t come over… He repeated in his head, it was too little too late. She made her way over to his place of peace and quiet. 

“Hello Mrs. Digumi.” He said politely. Her smile grew. Damn, his British charm. She stood in front of him. 

“Please call me Karen.” She smiled still. “I wanted to ask how everything was going with Brianne. She is quite the little cheerleader. One of the best on the squad. Almost as good as my little McKenna.” 

“Thank you. I will tell her that later. She certainly seems to be enjoying it and that makes me happy.” He said honestly, maybe he was wrong about Karen. 

“You should have her over for a play date with my McKenna. You and I can exchange parenting tips or tips of some other kind.” She batted her heavily mascaraed eyes at him. He gulped softly. 

“I will have to talk to Bri about it and get back to you Mrs. Dig-Karen.” He corrected himself. 

“I am just saying Brianne seems like a very sweet girl and you don’t want her to get in with the wrong crowd before middle school. Popularity is key and my little McKenna is going to be one of the most popular girls in school. Just like I was. If Brianne settles herself with the likes of those children, her social life is over and I don’t want that for her or for you. Popularity is everything.” She said as she sat next to him. No, he wasn’t wrong about Karen.

Wrong crowd? What the hell, they are children not teenagers. He thought to himself before defending the children of his friends. Popularity is everything. What a bunch of bullocks. 

“Jasmine, Joey, and Selma are good kids. They are smart, fun, courteous, kind and they are Bri’s friends. They were the first ones to welcome her with open arms,” He said. Gwil was a bit taken aback that a grown woman would say something like that about ten year olds. If Bri and Jasmine weren’t on the mat about 50 feet away, he would have forgotten his manners and let Karen have it. 

“I don’t appreciate you talking that way about my friends’ children or about your child’s fellow teammates.”   He continued, his tone was serious and sharp. Her eyes went wide as she heard the manner in which he spoke. 

“Oh! I didn’t mean the kids! I meant, um, the parents.” She was quick to backtrack and try to fix her mistake. Her chance with the Welsh man slipping away. “Gwilly, you are new to all of this. I should have specified that I meant that if Brianne settles herself with the likes of the parents of those children, her social life is over. You both deserve so much but you are still so naive, honey.” 

“My name is Gwilym.” He stated. She had called him Gwilly, a nickname that Angela would lovingly call him after a few glasses of wine. How dare this woman even try to put herself in the same realm of love as his wife. 

“I am so sorry honey.” She smiled to try to cover up the large hole she had dug for herself. “Like I was saying to you that first practice those parents you have chosen to bond with don’t understand the mustang way.” It was clear to Gwilym that Karen intended to keep digging. “Especially Y/N, I mean she likes to pretend she was a good cheerleader because she was once a national champion herself. But she was the worst one of that team, I should know, I did date her brother.” Karen said as jealousy slipped between each word. It was clear to her that Gwilym cared more for Y/N than he would ever care for her. “They carried her to the gold medal and she got the recognition for it like everyone else. Even made her brother break up with me, how dare she. That bitch.” That was the final straw for him.  

“I am going to stop you right there, Mrs. Diguimi. I do not want to hear you ever bad mouth my friends or their children. Please understand I am friendly with you because I have to be. You are the team mom and I do not really like having issues with anyone. However, my daughter is the only reason I am here. Y/N, Joe, Lucy and Rami plus their amazing children came as an incredible bonus to all of this. You did not.” He said calmly. “Now please step away from me and know, this is the last conversation we will have that is not about fundraising or cheering information. I do not take kindly to people belittling others or their children for their own personal benefit. Thank you and have a good night.” 

Karen let out a breath of air through her nose, standing up quickly. Moving from the bleachers, staring him down. 

“Oh I understand.” Her voice dripped with sweetly sickening venom. “If you ever change your mind I am right over there with the good parents.” She moved to the other waiting ‘Stepford Stangs’. Gwil let out a long breath as a smile appeared on his lips. God, how good it felt to let her have it and god how he wished Y/N had seen him. She would be so proud once he told her. It was the sudden sound of two voices that drew him away from his fantasy. 

“I see you are on the list now.” Rami said as he and Joe joined Gwilym in the bleachers. 

“List?” He asked, tilting his head curiously. 

“I’ll let Joe explain.” Rami smiled. 

“It is Karen Diguimi’s way of saying you are cancelled until you apologize.” Joe smirked. “We just caught the tail end of what you were saying but from what we heard, it was fucking brilliant.” He said quietly enough for just the three men to hear. “Welcome to the list. I have been on it since the ‘I won’t let my underage child wash stranger’s cars in the shortest shorts debacle of last summer season.” Joe said. 

“Rami, how did you end up on the list? It seems like she likes you the most out of all of us.” Gwil asked. Rami chuckled. 

“I once asked her if the pom poms for adults were necessary at a competition because it was just one extra thing to carry.” 

“That’s not too bad.”

“She also hates my wife.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So we both reside on the list with Joe and Y/N.”

“What did Y/N do to get on the list?”

“What hasn’t she done to get on the list?” Joe laughed. “First it was being Dominic Y/L/N’s little sister during high school. Then it was becoming Jasmine’s key guardian when he died, then it was a few other arbitrary things I don’t remember, but most recently, it was getting you to be our friend instead of hers.” Joe said. 

“It’s a rite of passage to get on the list.” Rami said. All three men laughed as Gwil felt more at peace than ever before. Even though Karen had basically verbally bashed children in front of him and badmouthed Y/N, she did provide one key piece of vital information. Y/N as a former national champion for the Mustangs, maybe even on the same squad as his late wife. He marked it in his brain to ask her later. 

As practice started and the three men continued their conversation, still no Y/N. Part of Gwilym began to worry that something bad had happened. He checked his phone to see if she had called or texted but nothing. He tried to push the worry to the back of his mind as Joe began to talk about the upcoming competition this weekend. It was the same thing Bri had not stopped talking about for the past week. Even as he got her and Jasmine into the car today, they talked about their nervous excitement for it. 

Joe was going to ride up with Rami and Lucy. Figuring Gwil would want to carpool with Y/N. Actually all three of them, Joe, Rami, and Lucy, hoped something would blossom between the two. 

“Oh I hadn’t even thought to ask her. It is probably too late, I will just drive up myself.” He said he was a bit disappointed he hadn’t asked. 

“She’ll say yes if you do ask.” Rami smled. 

“She might not.” Gwil continued. 

“Oh no, she will definitely say yes.” Joe smiled slyly. Both men looked at each like they both held the same secret that Gwil wasn’t privy to. It was at that moment Y/N moved into the gym still in her work clothes. Her blazer that was once covering the purple silk blouse, was replaced by a jean jacket. She wore black slacks and black vans. 

“I don’t drive in heels, I don’t want to be responsible for that many lives.” She had told him their first Wednesday night dinner out with the girls. He knew that she kept a pair of black lace up vans in her Jeep for the drive home from the university. 

“Speak of the Devil and she shall appear.” Joe teased her as she sat in her usual spot. She laughed and Gwil’s heart skyrocketed into flight. 

“Ha ha. Good to see you, Mozzarella.” She snarked. 

“That’s Mr. Mozzarella to you.” Joe answered. Both tossing their heads back gently and laughed. There went Gwil’s pulse racing for a moment. 

“Did I miss anything?” 

“Gwil’s on the list.” 

“No!”

“Oh hell yeah!”

“How? Tell me! I have to know how Karen’s little lust for you somehow got you on the list.”

“Karen’s little what?” Gwil said. 

“Dude, she wanted to bone you.” Joe said. “Hard.”

“Bone?” He asked.

“Sleep with you, knock boots, cherry pick, dude I know too analogies for sex.”

“She’s married!” Gwil exclaimed quietly to the group. 

“Hasn’t stopped her before.” Y/N said. “Anyway, tell me how you got on the list.” 

Gwilym began to tell the story of her confrontation with Karen. His own smile grew as he watched Y/N’s own smile grow as he got to the words match. 

“Mr. Lee you are bloody brilliant.” She said, her hand rubbed his arm for a moment before she withdrew it. Gwil blushed. 

“It was nothing.”

“This is cause for celebration. You being on the list. We will all go out kid free and celebrate soon.” Joe said. 

“Sounds good to me.” Rami agreed. Y/N nodded, her eyes looking up and waving to Jasmine as the girl waved back. 

“Hey Y/N, did you know Gwilym here was going to drive to Trenton all alone?” Joe stated. Gwil’s eyes went wide as he looked at the man over Y/N’s shoulder. He felt his cheeks heat up.

“Really?” She asked.

“Yeah. He was going to drive by himself.”

“Why don’t you ride with me? It isn’t as long as a drive if you have a partner.” She offered him. Her Y/E/C eyes meeting his blue. A small smile on her lips.

“Um, you won’t mind?” He asked shyly. 

“No, it will be a treat to spend time with you alone.” She said honestly, all the room felt almost like it was silent around them. Joe and Rami watching the two just share prolonged eye contact. Gwil could almost swear there was a light pink tinge on her cheeks as well. 

“Then it's all set. I’d love to ride with you.” He smiled. The tinge got a bit darker. 

Joe poked his head between the two, “Is your, um, neighbor coming?” He asked her. His voice was almost giddy, like Gwil’s when he talked about Y/N on the phone to Ben. Who was this woman  that was making Joe act like the same lovestruck teenager he was?

“Oh no. Unfortunately, Jolene had one of her advanced painting classes rescheduled to Saturday. It is too much money to miss out on but she promised Jasmine she was coming to Regionals.” Y/N said as she raked her hair up into a messy ponytail. 

“Oh.” Joe’s smile faded quickly. 

“You know you could just ask her out. She likes you too.” Y/N patted her friend’s shoulder. Joe shook his head. 

“The divorce is still too fresh to Joey. It wouldn’t be fair to him for me to get involved with someone new so soon after his mother and I split up.” Joe admitted. Gwilym understood that point. A divorce was a similar loss to a child as a parent passing. Everything became different over night for them, changing so suddenly. Joe and his ex were friendly enough to a point for the sake of their son. The one thing that will keep them forever linked. 

“Okay honey. One day though, Joey is just going to want his dad to be happy.” She said with a soft smile to their friend. Joe just nodded looking over at his son. 

How Karen could ever call this wonderful woman a bitch was past Gwilym’s arena of thought. He looked at Y/N and smiled. God how beautiful she is even in the lighting of this gym. He thought to himself. As more time passed for the practice, the three experienced cheer parents told Gwilym everything he would need to know to be ready for Saturday. How he would have to have Brianne ready before 6 am to get her to the gym so that the team could take a bus together to the arena before driving there with Y/N. He would have to make sure he paced enough bobby pins, snacks, water, everything. His worry level that he would mess this all up grew. Especially the idea that he would have to do her hair in a high slick back ponytail. Brianne had hair like her mom’s thick and wavy, he could barely get it into braids without at least three Youtube tutorials. 

“How about this? I bring Jasmine over at like 5. I can do both of their hair and you can make sure they have enough snacks?” Y/N offered, once again being the incredible person that she was. 

“Please. I fear what I would do to my poor girl’s head.” He said honestly. 

“I think you would be fine, but the first competition is the scariest for both the parent and the cheerleader.” 

“It will put not only my mind at rest but Bri’s mind too. Thank you Y/N.” 

“Anything for you, Gwil.” She smiled. “Oh and um, thanks for standing up for the kids earlier with Karen. She can talk all the crap she wants about me but Jasmine doesn’t deserve that. It means a lot to me and it shows me how wonderful of a human being you are.” She said before turning her attention back to the mat. His heart raced again. God, Wednesday nights really were his favorite. 

[claryaastark]

Endlessly

04162020

March 25, 1920

Dear You,

I am writing this letter just to let you know that I still miss you so much, my love. Being far from home is not easy, I made a lot of adjustments here in our dormitory. We do a lot of scheduled daily tasks, also the housemistress is very strict. I cannot eat my mom's special calderata, I don't really like the foods here, the amount is small and it tastes way too different from my mom's cooking. I miss the smell of my father's brewed coffee as I woke-up every morning. I miss the sound of the water from the Estero and the cool breeze of the wind from my window. I miss Binondo, and most importanly, you.

It's 8:30 in the evening, the housemistress will do the head count and evening checking at 9. Writing this letter for a short span of time is not easy, especially now that I am expressing how much I long for you. I still remember the first time that we met. I was riding the Kalesa with ate Maria, on the Calle Escolta. And I saw you lifting a sack of flour on the famous Pan De Sal bakery. You held my hand and help me get down from the Kalesa to get the orders from your shop. And that moment of time, I fell inlove with you. I remember the times when I used to sneak from our house's window during dark and we are going to ride the boat and roam along the Estero de Binondo. You are holding my hand, and we are both hoping not to get caught. As we look at the stars above, and the moon shines through us. We used to do a morning walk on the Calle Real Palacio and enjoy the scent of the fresh Kalachuchi. You also love to pick a pink gumamela, and put it beside my ears while telling me how lovely I am and how much you want to be with me.

I can't also forget the time that you held the guitar and sing for me in the Plaza Moraga during the town's feast. I was so happy that time and I feel like I was the luckiest woman in the world. You held my hand, and asked for the permission of my parents. And we danced. We danced under the stars while you speak to me, telling me how beautiful I am that night, telling me how much you appreciate me. After that, you ask me to marry you and I said yes. We were just so happy.

But the world is uncertain and things always change. Two months before our wedding day, a letter came to me. I was accepted by my dream university here in Baguio City. This is something that I've been waiting for a very long time, this is my dream. But chasing this dream for myself also means losing you. And I don't want that to happen. I tried not to chase this dream for myself and just be happy with you. But you pushed me, you pushed me to do this for myself. You made me choose this dream instead of you. It's hard, but you promised that you will wait for me. Even if it takes forever.

But promises are meant to be broken. I know that you won't read this letter and there is no chance of seeing you again. But I want you to know, that I still mourn for you. That I will never have the chance to move on and get over from that night. That night when a letter came to me telling that you died from an accident. It still feels like a dream to me. All our hopes, all of the things that we planned together were just gone, in a snap. I can't do anything, I can't force things to happen. It hurts, I still cry every night my love. I miss you so much. And writing this letter is just my way to live in a dream. A dream that you and I are still together. Maybe another place, maybe another time. Till then, let's say goodbye I see you in another life. You will always be my love, my life and my everything. I know that will meet again, someday. Someday.

Forever Your Love

~

Today is March 25, 1970. It was so weird that I saw this letter out of nowhere while cleaning my dorm. And upon reading this, I didn't notice that I was already crying. I can feel the pain of the woman who wrote this. I don't know who this person is, nor the ending of their story but I hope that she found her happiness.

I pick the letter and put it on the box of my stuff. I insert my newly purchased CD on the Sylvania console stereo. This is a gift from my father before I left Cebu to study here in Baguio city. He knows so well that I love music so much and it was some sort of magic that makes me feel comforted. I played Let It Be, the last song that was released by my favorite band, The Beatles. Two weeks had passed since Paul McCartney stated that he is leaving the band. It was heart breaking especially for me, who is a big fan of this band. Sadly, I prepare for my morning class while listening to their last song.

Long day was over. Everything is just typical. Acads, people, routine. Though it was still tiring. I am a Fine Arts student in University of The Philippines here in Baguio City. Living an independent life is not easy. I miss my family so much, I miss my mom's cooking, my dad's silly joke as we spend our time under the mango tree during siesta. I miss my friends in Cebu, the sea, the farm. I miss everything about my home. The sun is setting and I am walking along the busy street of the Session Road while wearing my earphones. I decided to eat my dinner alone on Inihaws, my favorite restaurant here. While eating my dinner, I noticed a boy who keeps staring at me. I tilted my body to block his view, it feels awkward and creepy. As I continue to eat my food, I can see on my peripheral vision that he is still staring at me. I heaved a sigh and look directly to his eyes, I waved my hand and patted the seat beside me. Asking him to come and sit.

“What are you staring at?" I asked arrogantly.

He pouted his lips, pointing my plates and artworks. Ah, so he's looking at my artworks.

“What about them?" I asked him.

“They're nice and classic, I love them. Fine arts?" He talks so manly and attractive, uhh?

“Yup. There is just something that I saw this morning which inspired me for my plate today"

I explained as we both looked on the sketch of a woman riding a Kalesa, and a man who is holding her hand, they are both alive and smiling. They are the people on the letter that I read this morning.

The conversation went smoothly. I found out that he is an Architecture student on Saint Louis University, we are both into arts. I got no stuff to do this evening, so I decided to go with him as he asked me to have an evening walk along the Session Road. We talk about our interest, arts, music, things that we are fond of. We got a lot of things in common. He talks a lot, and I like how quick-witted he is as he tells a lot of jokes. We didn't notice the hour, it was already 10 in the evening. I do not as well, but I don't feel scared on this man that I just met few hours ago. I feel comfortable and we have this sort of connection like we knew each other on the past. We spent the night telling each other's story. We went to his small art room, and he painted me. He ask me to hold a plastic flower as I smile while he is painting me. It seems like I met a stranger, and this whole night is like a fairy-tale.

It was already 3 in the morning, we are sitting on the grass while we look on the city lights below. It was so beautiful. As well as the man beside me, he is lovely. I didn't ask for his name but it feels like I already know him so well. He tilted his head on my direction and caught me staring at him, he smiled and out of nowhere, his face turns sad.

“I'm married" he said.

I was shocked. I was hurt, and there is something that stings on my chest.

“I know you since we were freshmen, I first saw you sketching on the Inihaws. You are alone and you seem so committed with your passion. I find it so adorable, the way you move your hand, the way you put your hair on the side of your ears. The way you frown your forehead as you make some mistakes. I fell in love with you, the first time I saw you. Since then, I always follow you. I see you walking on the street while wearing your earphones. I always see you eating alone on the Inihaws. I always see you smiling on the street vendors, you are adorable as you say your good morning to them. And when I finally decided to introduce and show myself to you. My mom from Sagada called me. Asking me to come home. That day, I went home to Sagada. I saw my ex-girlfriend, and she has a child — our child. We were a stubborn, inlove teenagers during high school. We broke up just like a typical puppy love story. But I didn't know, that I got her pregnant. My son is already two years old when she showed up. She can't raise our child alone, so she decided to tell it to me and my family. Two months after, we get married."

My heart is aching as I listened to his story, I feel bad for him, I feel bad for us. I didn't speak a word. I just let myself stare on the city lights below. I can't process my thoughts right now. Feels like the fairytale is finally over. Surprisingly, he held my hand.

“I love my son, he is the reason why I am working hard to become an Architect. I love her mother, but not the way that I love you from a far. I fell in love with you and you deserve to know it. I was so happy loving you from afar, and thank you for that. Maybe another place, maybe another time. Till then, let's say goodbye I see you in another life, Stella"

He called my name, and he left.

Those were the last thing that he said that night. And I never saw him again. Maybe, maybe someday we will have the chance to love each other not just from afar. We will be together, someday.

~

March 25, 2020. This is it, this is the day that me and friends are finally seeing each other! After one year of not meeting everyone because of College, we're finally going out today. We chose the art exhibit as a venue for our date today. I'm excited! I kissed my mom as I went downstairs for breakfast, she teased me that our plan for today will be cancelled because of my excitement. I love my mom so much but sometimes, I hate her for ruining my moments hmp. I eat my favorite egg roll and decided to ignore her.

The time is 2:30 in the afternoon. I am already prepared for today's meeting. I drove the car and play my classic OPM playlist. I love music so much, and I can't live without it. Kamikazee's Tagpuan is currently playing, I bang my head and sang along with the melody of the song. It's 4 in the afternoon when I arrived at the venue. It is odd because I see no familiar face here. I opened my phone to ask where they are, and found out that the exhibit plan was cancelled during the last minute. And they decided to just eat on the restaurant nearby our place. I don't know what to feel, I feel bad for not checking my phone before leaving the house. I feel bad for being excited, mom is right. I don't know but I kinda felt lazy to go on the restaurant near our place because I traveled to get here for 2 hours. My excitement just all went down. I get in the car and think. Upon fighting with my thoughts I decided to just stay here and continue the exhibit plan, alone. It is a new experience though.

I went inside and everything feels amazing. I’m not an artsy kind of person, I don’t have any talents in art but one thing is sure — I really do appreciate art. I love to spend my time on looking at the green grass outside, the blue sky above and the beauty of nature. I do love aesthetic things because it reminds me that despite of being cruel, beautiful things on this world still exist. The ambience is nice, the people are few but I can see that they are enjoying the paintings inside the hall. I walk and took a photograph of the artworks. After that, I posted it on my instagram story and send it to our group chat to tell them that I can’t make it on our dinner anymore. And I decided to just stay here and stick to the original plan.

I roam around the hall and appreciate the beauty of art. While walking, a painting caught my attention. It was a woman with curly hair, and she was smiling from ear to ear. She was wearing a floral dress and holding a piece of rose. The woman seems so happy and I can feel the genuine emotion of the one who painted it. Is her boyfriend the one who painted her? It was romantic. Suddenly, I feel something weird and unexplainable on my chest, I can really feel something on this painting. Something that is connected with me.

“It was nice and classic, isn’t it lovely?”

I was shocked when someone has spoken out of nowhere, I tilted my head on the direction of the voice, it was a man. He was wearing a black shirt, and he is holding a camera. He is smiling sincerely while looking at the painting, weird but it seems like the voice came from the painting itself.

“Uhh yes. This painting feels so real and sincere. I can feel the emotion of both the painter and the subject” I said while looking directly at the painting. And I was smiling.

Our conversation went smoothly, and it seems like I found an instant date. He talks a lot and I found out that we were on the same University. He is an Engineering student, and he loves to play the guitar. I felt fascinated because I was attracted with men who are inclined to music. We roam around the hall and we were just so happy. Finally, long day is over and we bid our good byes. But before that, he asked for my phone number.

Oh shoot. I forgot to ask his name. But nevermind, I still have a lot of chance to meet him again. I smiled as my phone beeps and I got a text message from an unknown number.

“Take care, I had a good time. See you around” -Mr. Engineer

That’s the text message. I went home with a big smile on my face, the date with my friends have been cancelled. But I found a new experience today. Something more happy, and amazing. I lay in bed and look at the ceiling of my room along with its fake galaxy. I smiled as I remember the man that I met few hours ago. While giggling, I replied on his text message.

“Good night, Mr. Engineer! Had a good time too” -Ms. Psychologist.

To sum it up, we talk on the phone everyday. He always made my day, he always make me smile. He jokes a lot and he had a lot on his mind. He is quick-witted and very manly. After a few weeks of talking, I admit that I already had a crush on him. Along with that, we decided to spend our time together. And as time passed by, I am knowing him more and more.

We had the same interest in almost everything. We watched the same movies together. We listen to our favorite songs. We eat our favorite foods. Though we never share any of our favorite foods, especially him who can fight with anyone who touches his food, even me. We travelled places to taste various delicacies. We went to church regularly to pray. He became a part of my everyday. He loves picking a flower and putting it on the side of my ears. He loves playing the guitar for me.

It was really nice, to found someone who appreciates every little thing on you. Someone who can lend his ears and shoulder to listen. Someone who can cheer you up whenever you are feeling down. He loves kissing me, but loves hugging me more. I felt home and safe on his arms. It was weird but there is something that is telling me, that we really had the connection and we knew each other a very long time ago. All that he made me feel was something new. It was my first time, to fall inlove with someone. I had no doubts and regrets.

But the world is always uncertain, there are lots of things that we are unsure, so is us. We are just happy, and then in just a snap we parted our ways, and we fell apart. Maybe another place, maybe another time. Till then let’s say good bye, I see you in another life. I know that he is a blessing from God, and whatever it takes. We will meet again, someday.

Parang isang panaginip, Ang muling mapagbigyan, tayo ay muling magkasama.

Panatag na ang kalooban ko, At ika’y kapiling ko na Kay tagal kitang hinintay

I smiled as this classic song by Spongecola played on my car’s stereo. Today is 25th of March, 2025. And I am finally seeing him again. I smiled, a nervous smile mixed with excitement.

It was weird because last night, as I was fixing my stuff in our Ancestral house in Bagac, Bataan, I saw an old box . It was a collection of CDs, some of the albums are from The Beatles. And I saw a very old letter, the pen was already disappearing and it was already stained. The letter was from March 25, 1920. It was very old ; a hundred and five years ago. Along with the letter, I also saw an artwork. A sketch of a woman riding a Kalesa, and a man who is holding her hand, they are both alive and smiling on this artwork. I asked mom about this stuff, and she said that it belongs to my great grandmother, Stella. It was her stuff during her college days on Baguio City.

Anyway, after the very long wait. I am finally seeing him again.

The hall is full of people. I am wearing a red polka dots dress, I know that black is his favorite color but I want to show him something new. It seems like I was lost in the crowd and I can’t see him anywhere. But as I was walking through the sea of people, someone held my hand and whispered.

“You look so beautiful, baby. You never changed” I got teary-eyed as I heard his voice. Oh God, I miss him so much. I miss this man. The man that I lost and the same man that I found again. The long wait is over, we finally have the chance to be with each other. I hugged him tight, the only man that I ever loved, love and I will love wherever and whenever.

“Baby, I’m no angel, I’m just me. But I will love you endlessly” those were the words that I whispered through his ear.

“We parted our ways together, we fell apart but fate will always make a way for us. Time will always tell. In another place, in another time, we will always be together, our love is endless”

Words that I said, while directly looking into his eyes.

It’s 25th of March, year 2030. And today is our wedding day.

[1-1snailxd-art]

Libraries are for Meetings

Master List ----- Chapter 5 

Chapter 6 - The art of living in a library

Warnings: there is some threats/blackmail made towards Virgil

Summary:  Despite the unusual evening, Virgil's morning is very routine as he continues his life as normal. Logan and Patton, on the other hand, are finding out what it is like to be separated from your closest friend when you need them the most. (Lots of Royality and platonic Logicality energy)

Note: reading on mobile can remove the paragraphing. Use desktop site or visit my Ao3 page if it bothers you as much as it bothers me.

EDIT: Art by @the-pastel-peach has been added to this chapter. Pass your appreciation to them. Please don’t repost the art anywhere (with or without credit). If you want to share the art, reblog this post.

______________________________

Virgil’s alarm sounded at 4am, the screen barely lighting the reading area as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

“Do correct me if I am wrong, but I think you are in a dark place too, Virgil.”

Sitting up, he ran his fingers through his oily hair as Logan’s voice replayed in his mind.

“Should you need a guide to find your path again, I would be happy to provide the service.”

 Groaning, Virgil finally silenced his alarm and set about his morning routine. Boil water. Pack up makeshift bed into duffel. Make coffee and instant noodles (beggars can’t be choosers). Use kitchen sink to wash hair and face, before moving on to the small bathroom for a half-arsed attempt at bathing (a washcloth and baby wipes proved effective between Virgil’s stints at a motel).

 He had just finished tidying the kitchen when his next alarm sounded for 5am. Grabbing his duffel and backpack, Virgil disarmed the alarm before setting it to rearm as he left. His duffel was heavier today as he walked in the morning breeze to the laundromat. Routines like these helped Virgil immensely; they made him feel normal, despite his circumstances. Not to mention, the laundromat was a warm sheltered place he could work in until the hour became more reasonable.

 *************

 The apartment was too quiet when Logan’s alarm went off. To say he woke up would be an insult, as he barely managed to get a wink of sleep all night. The apartment felt cold and empty as he shuffled out to the kitchen in his dressing gown and placed a cup under the coffee maker. Normally, at this time, music would be flooding the apartment and Patton would be heard singing from the bathroom while Logan prepared breakfast prior to going out jogging. Without Patton, Logan couldn’t bring himself to turn on the stereo, cook his usual breakfast or even jog. Had he not been so sleep deprived, Logan might have realised how mentally unhealthy his choices were; but sitting at the table with a cup of black coffee and buttered toast, he was just a shell of his normal self.

 Despite the change in routine, Logan still managed to get himself ready for the day and was about to leave for work when his phone chimed in his pocket. Seeing Patton’s name and face on the lit screen left Logan feeling confused overall. Yes, he missed having his friend around, but seeing his face reignited his frustration. It was the perfect form of emotional torture, and Logan took his time walking to his car as he considered how to respond to Patton’s message.

  *************

 On the other side of town, Patton was waking up in Roman’s arms. It was different. His last boyfriend had been too rigid for Patton’s liking, and waking up with Roman was different to the more platonic bed sharing he had had with Logan and Jason.

In that moment, Roman had one arm carefully laid across Patton’s middle and the other  was tucked neatly under his pillow. Patton could feel his breath against the back of his head, soft and rhythmic. Though he was comfortable and happy, Patton could still feel the ache in his heart for Logan and he questioned how his friend was doing.

 Carefully reaching out to the side table, Patton slid his phone and glasses down next to him and adjusted the phones brightness settings before angling it toward his face.

No new messages

Nibbling at his bottom lip, Patton looked at the time and considered whether to message Logan or leave him alone. As time ticked on, he finally built up the courage to send a message.

 Pats: morning Logan.

Pats: im sorry again for yesterday.

Pats: I hope you slept ok.

LogieBear: *seen*

 Patton held his breath as he watched the ellipsis appear and disappear with no new messages coming through. Roman stirred behind him, yawning and releasing his partner as he combed his fingers through his hair.

“Morning P.B.”

Propping himself up, Roman could see the screen that held Patton’s attention. Anger started to bubble in his gut as the seconds dragged on. He was just about to grab the phone when messages finally started coming through, and Patton’s body relaxed against him again.

 LogieBear: morning Patton. Thank you for your message and apology. As I said yesterday, I forgive you.

LogieBear: but I would still like some space today if possible.

 Roman lent forward, pulling Patton closer towards his chest; fearing he was about to see Patton break again.

 LogieBear: Do not forget to eat today. Take care of yourself. I love you.

 To Roman’s relief, Patton giggled and quickly typed a response.

 Pats: I 💜 you too

LogieBear: Have a good day Patton (and Roman)

 “Oh, pass me the phone.”

Roman reached around to take the phone from Patton’s hands, using the other hand to pull the hood of the onesie over Patton’s head.

“Ha-ha-Hey,” Patton giggled, “what are you do-oo-ing?”

“Just letting Logan know what he is missing out on.”

Roman quickly snapped a picture of the pair; Patton peeking out from his hood and Roman pulling his usual selfie face with his tussled hair. Yanking the hood down over Patton’s eyes again, Roman sent the photo and a message for Logan.

 Pats: *image sent* 

(art by @the-pastel-peach - Please don’t repost)

Pats: luv ya specs

 As Patton finally escaped Roman’s arms and hood, he grabbed at his phone and groaned.

“You are such a tease, Roman.”

The phone chimed as Logan’s reply came through and Patton hid his phone.

“What did he say? Come on P.B, share with the class.” Roman rolled onto his back, pulling Patton down so his head was laying on his chest.

 LogieBear: I will be sure to provide you with this when I see you next, Roman. Clearly you require it.

LogieBear: *image sent*

 Patton held his phone with his finger on the lock button as Roman took in the image of Logan with the book ‘Talking for Dummies’ in front of half of his face. 

“Oh no-“ Patton quickly locked his phone as Roman reached out for it; now laughing hysterically. “Why does he even have that in his car?”

“We-we fff-ff-found it,” Patton was struggling to speak through his laughter. “For y-oooo.”

“Oh, is that how it is, is it?”

Roman grabbed Patton, tickling his sides and causing his laughter to increase in volume.

 Katie started bashing on the door as the two continued their childish game.

“Would you two keep it down or cut it out! The third party is uncomfortable.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, it’s PG in here!” Roman called back.

“Oh, well if that is the case,” The door swung open and Katie threw two white paper bags at the pair. “Breakfast is served.”

“Thank you, Katie!” Patton beamed as he sat up and peered at the pastry inside the bag.

“Gotta make sure my boys eat.” The smile dropped from Katie’s face suddenly, as she fixed Roman with a stern look and pointed finger. “You need to get your butt into gear today. You have class in an hour and work at 12. Don’t. Be. Late. I’m not covering for you again, got it?”

Roman nodded, pastry already in his mouth, “-ot it.”

“And you are cooking dinner tonight, Roman; no takeout.” 

“I’ll make sure he gets everything done. You can count on me, Kaaaatieeee.”

Katie smiled at Patton’s attempt to rhyme. “Thanks, Patty Bear. Hopefully your influence will rub off on Roman eventually.”

“Not if my influence rubs off on him first,” Roman joked, rubbing his shoulder against Patton.

“Ew. Mind. Gutter. I’m out.” Katie turned to leave, “catch you later, boys.”

“Bye Katie!”

“Later bitch- I mean witch.” Patton gave Roman a disapproving look and elbowed his side. “I mean I love yooou…happy?”

“Very,” He kissed Roman’s cheek before climbing out of the bed and heading for the bathroom.

 Roman lent over to his other side table and grabbed his phone to find a new message from Logan.

 Specs: thank you for helping Patton through this. I know the timing isn’t great.

Princey: don’t stress over it, Logan. Take all the time you need. We’re ok.

Specs: thank you Roman. I will see you soon enough.

Princey: C ya

Specs: 🤦

 Roman shook his head; regretting the day he showed Logan the face palm emoji. To that day, it was the only emoji they could get the man to use on a regular basis. He knew how much the other hated text speech and took great joy in ensuring their messaged conversations had some form of grammar or spelling error. He didn’t have a chance to continue to mock the other, as Patton came back in and held his arms out.

“Time to get up, my prince. I promised the queen you wouldn’t be late today.”

“Ah, yes,” Roman accepted Patton’s hands and climbed out of bed, “and we wouldn’t want to upset the queen of hearts or it would be off with our heads.”

Patton giggled and graced Roman with a gentle kiss on his lips; pulling away when Roman started to embrace him. “Get ready for class now, Roman.”

“Awwwww,” He whined, pouting and dropping his arms dramatically.

“If you are going to get greedy, I might have to sleep in the spare bed next time.” Roman crossed his arms and continued to pout. “Off you go, kiddo.”

Roman played up his childish behaviour as he grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower. Patton glanced around the room, still in the onesie. Once he heard the shower turn on, he set to work tidying the room and found some of Roman’s clothes that he could borrow for the morning.

  *************

  The sun was warm against Virgil’s freshly washed hoodie, as he laid on the grass in the park; duffel acting as a perfect pillow for him to lay on. It wasn’t often that the weather was right for moments of bliss like this, and Virgil wasn’t one to miss an opportunity to get reacquainted with vitamin D. Unfortunately, his moment of reprieve was short lived as his phone chimed with alerts.

 Email - funds successfully transferred from acc629 to …

Email - Account Alert: available balance below $50…

New message - Ben: Hey Asshole, your 20 short o…

 ‘There goes my day.’ Virgil thought, sitting up and pulling his notebook out of his backpack.

Logging in to the banking app on his phone, Virgil started assessing his limited money flow. His pay from the library was the only constant influx of funds he had, and he had it carefully split to save towards paying his phone bill and  paying Ben and his aunt. Any money he made from repairs, was also split between those three goals and he got whatever was left.

Carefully analysing his notes, he knew money was tighter that fortnight, but he was certain that the correct amount had been sent to Ben.

 Ben: Hey Asshole, your 20 short on your payment. Pay up

Virgil: I just checked my accounts and everything looks fine on my end.

Ben: you forgot about interest bitch

Virgil: that wasn’t part of our original agreement

Ben: I changed my mind

Virgil: you can’t do that. That’s not fair.

Ben: I don’t give a shit about fair. You should have thought about that before you punched me.

Virgil: I can’t afford an extra $20. I’m barely surviving as it is.

Ben: not my problem, unless you need me to come and have a chat at that little library of yours.

 Virgil’s blood chilled at the thought. He wasn’t sure of Ben’s full intentions. Was he implying that he would tell Katie who he was? Would he come and damage the library? Would he hurt Katie?

It wasn’t worth the risk and he watched his tiny $30 drop to $15 as he transferred some money to Ben.

 Virgil: that’s all I can do right now. Give me a day or so and I’ll send you the other 5.

Ben: you better.

 $15 wasn’t an ideal, amount at all. The $30 was going to be hard enough, but he could have at least had one day in the comfort and safety of a $10 motel without worry. $15 would barely get him extra food, or even extra supplies to fix anything. Not to mention none of his former ‘friends’ had responded to his requests to stay over for at least a night. That left his options for the weekend as either, use the library or spend it on the streets.

With those thoughts in his mind,  Virgil packed up and left the park. He had a new daily plan in mind; drop duffel off at library, revisit local businesses to check on work availability, return to the library to test his gaming system rebuild. While he walked, Virgil searched all the University social pages to see if anyone was seeking computer support. All social anxieties had to be pushed aside; he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on things like that now.

  *************

 Logan sat at the pet store counter, scribbling notes as he completed his reading assignment for the day. He had finished restocking the shelves 15 minutes prior and wasn’t in the mood for organising anymore of the store. The sound of the doors sliding open had him quickly shutting his books and putting on his best customer service face. He didn’t need it though as Roman appeared at the counter.

“Looking good, Roman ,” he grinned as the other approached in a stained subway uniform.

“Hilarious,” he held out a bag, “want a sandwich? Or 3?”

“What’s wrong with them,” his question was all in jest; Logan knew Roman wasn’t the sort to pull harmful pranks. He gladly pulled out a sandwich though, as Roman hoisted himself up to sit on the counter.

“So, get this, I added the wrong slices of tomato to one, the other had too much lettuce, and - and- the final one,” Roman was holding his arms out like it was the most dramatic thing that had ever happened to him. “She asked for olives, then suddenly remembered she didn’t like our olives, and I couldn’t just pick them off because they had already ‘tainted’ her sandwich.”

Logan smirked as Roman sighed and started to eat. “Sounds like it was a busy day for a poor, misunderstood, sandwich artist.”

“Take pity on me, Logan. The world is unforgiving and will never understand me.”

Logan rolled his eyes as Roman bent over backwards and draped his arm across his forehead.

“I don’t even understand you.”

“My point exactly,” sitting up, Roman readjusted himself on the counter so he could eat more easily. “So, what is happening?”

“I’m eating a sandwich with a drama queen, while I wait for my shift to end.”

“Wow, I couldn’t see that with my own eyes. Seriously, spill.”

 Logan sighed and put his sandwich down, wiping his hands on a napkin.

“Virgil is working on saving more of my files, I’m looking at getting a second-hand laptop, and Julie is making a cake for the anniversary.”

“Nice dark ending there,” Roman softened as he looked at Logan, “I was ignoring that invitation, too.”

“I understand why she wants to do it, but I…” Logan screwed up his face as he tried to find the right words, “I’m not sure I’m ready to turn the anniversary into some weird … party of sorts.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s going to be all cake and karaoke. I’m pretty sure Julie just wants everyone to come together again.”

“I guess…I can see your reasoning. You are much smarter than you look, Roman.”

“I’m not sure if that was meant to be an insult, but I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

 The store doors slid open and Roman quickly jumped off the counter as customers entered. Logan wrapped up his sandwich, and Roman quickly did the same.

“I should get this one to Patton, he’s been avoiding food again.”

Logan paused and looked sadly at the ground as he stepped around the counter, “I hadn’t noticed. I guess I’m probably not helping either.”

“Don’t worry about it, Logan.” Roman roughly pulled Logan into a hug; Logan keeping his hands down by his sides. “Just, don’t forget to take care of yourself. All jokes aside, I care about you too.”

Squeezing his eyes shut to suppress tears, Logan returned the hug. “Same to you, Roman. Same to you.”

 Separating, Roman headed out the door with his bag of sandwiches while Logan headed over to check on the customers in the store. The pair were only just beginning to explore the boundaries of their friendship; especially since he and Patton had started officially dating. Not that Logan cared to admit it, but Roman was maturing from the brat of a boy he had first met six years ago.

  *************

  Katie strode over to Virgil's self-proclaimed office, using the master keycard to gain entry, and found Virgil groaning with his forehead on the desk.

"Tough day," Katie enquired, causing Virgil to jolt upright in his chair.

"Jeez, Reels, way to scare a guy out of his skin."

"Well 'a guy' deserves it for ghosting my messages all day," Katie perched herself on the edge of the desk and looked down at Virgil with her arms folded across her chest. "Where's my recap on the evenings events?"

"Why don't you ask, Logan." Virgil grumbled, tapping a few keys on his keyboard to activate a new program, "he's your friend."

"Ouch. I thought we were friends too." Virgil shrugged and Katie shoved his shoulder, "don't be like that, Sparks. Come on. Talk to me. What's going on? What did that nerdy idiot do?"

 Sighing, Virgil lent back and ran his fingers thoughtfully through his hair.

"The, as you put it, 'nerdy idiot' did nothing wrong."

"So, what's with the sour puss look today then?"

Shaking his head, it took all of Virgil's self-control to not start crying on the spot. "I may have overreacted to something Logan said aaaand I'm kind of regretting it now. There. Happy?"

"Hardly."

"Gah!” Virgil threw his hands in the air, causing Katie to roll her eyes at the overly dramatic expression. “What else do you want? If you want a play by play, you're not getting it from me. Go talk to Logan."

"Why don't you?"

"Wha - I - you-" Katie smirked, raising a knowing brow as Virgil stumbled over his words. Virgil frowned as he took in Katie’s expression. "I hate you right now."

"Oh, I know." She mused, sliding off the desk. "Don't hide from everything, Virgil. You're right, I'm not going to get a play by play of last night, and nor do I want it."

"So, what is it that you want then?" Virgil was genuinely interested in Katie's response and couldn't hide the intrigue from his voice.

"Honestly, I want to see both of you stepping outside of your work zones. You spend so much time locked in here Virgil, and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get Logan out of his study hole. It was nice to see my two workaholics’ go out into the wild."

"I can't see that becoming a regular thing, Reels." Lowering his head, Virgil tried to forget how nice it was to be out with Logan: despite his anxieties throughout the evening.

"Says who?" Virgil looked up to respond, but Katie cut him off. "It was your first time meeting each other, and honestly, it wasn't under the best circumstances. Don't let those first impressions be your only impressions. Take a chance, Virgil." Katie walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up through his lengthy bangs. "I took a chance on you and I am yet to regret that decision."

"Fine."

A small smile pulled at Virgil’s cheeks as he realised just how highly Katie thought of him. The moment was short lived though, as he remembered he was abusing her trust.  

 "That's a good lad. So, what are you gonna do?" Suddenly sitting back on the desk, Katie propped  her chin up by resting her elbow on her knee.

"Well...um..." Virgil glanced around as he thought, eyes landing on a USB that ignited his memory. "I still haven’t returned the files I managed to salvage."

"Perfect," Katie exclaimed so loudly that Virgil jumped at the sound. "Now, you have some options for Thursday's. Logan doesn't have class on Thursday, so he works at the pet store from 8 until 1, then he would go to the labs and study, and then he usually heads to the university track field around 4."

"Jeez, stalker much." Virgil was slightly concerned with the fact that Katie had Logan's whole routine memorised.

Katie simply shrugged, "I keep tabs on where my boys are. When I don't..." Katie's expression saddened so fast, Virgil's heart skipped a beat. "...bad things happen." 

_______________________________

End Note

Soooo, I have to go back to work next week 😭 I got so much story planning done over the past 3 weeks. I'm going to miss having so much creative freedom. If things get slow, it's because work started badly (sorry in advance). If anything does happen, I'll be sure to put it on Tumblr.

Next time: Logan's nightmares. Does Virgil make a friend? More platonic logicality. Nice feelings, but dark thoughts.

EDIT: I do hope you enjoyed the art. It was a lot of fun to work with  the-pastel-peach to bring that scene to life.

UPDATE: again, please don’t repost the art by Peach. Reblog this post. Respect the artist and give her some love 💜🐌

_____________________________

Chapter 7   — Master List

What else have I done:

The Perfect Ring (oneshot - analogical proposal)

You Promised (oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)

Sides of a Hero (Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

The Shield to your Sword (WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton) 

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles

[cynoirsure]

coconut pancakes | cyj

pairing — little brother!yeonjun & older sis!reader

word count — 2,148

genre — fluff

summary — your brother comes to stay during your last few weeks of break. did you forget to mention he was famous and part of the rookie group tomorrow x together? and he’s the idiot who threw out his back too.

warnings/tags — some minor language, but nonetheless this is all just pure sibling love!

a/n — originally this was gonna be part of the rush!beta tau universe and this was gonna be choi sib fluff :] but i decided to not do it!! i love yeonjun like a little brother although hes a month older than me, and also the reader and yeonjun are irish twins! so they’re born within a year of each other but they’re not twins, hence the reason why they’re so close! enjoy some fluff!! 

also, there’s some lingo in here that i totally forgot to edit to say what they were, but konbini is slang for the convenience store and TLJ is just tous les jours, which is a bakery hehe~

---

The last days of your first summer vacation of university were upon you. 

You had spent a majority of your time either in summer classes (which was seriously, your worst decision ever. It might have been to get the classes you do during the fall and spring semester out of the way, but sitting in a film class from 7 to 10 pm every night? Not only was it hard keeping awake in class every night, but now you can’t watch a movie without analyzing the camera angles and if the music was diegetic or non-diegetic) or working, and while you were happy you had a stable job with a good pay, this meant that you were rarely ever home. The restaurant that you were working at was only open for dinner service, and you as a server worked until midnight and didn’t get home until 1 am. 

Thankfully enough, the summer classes had ended. You had two weeks before you had to pack up everything and move back into your dorms for 15 weeks and repeat the whole process over again, and you were going to spend every moment that you weren’t working catching up on the sleep that film class robbed of you.

Or at least, that’s what you thought.

See, your younger brother was an idol. An idol from the group Tomorrow X Together, who had been real popular in recent months for being a popular rookie group. You knew they were two awards in and you knew something in your gut was telling you that the end of the year awards show might either make or break them personally. 

Alas, their schedules had been stopped for a while. Their leader had an infection in his eye and the eldest member had thrown out his back out or something.

Your brother had been the one to throw out his back, by the way. 

Your parents thought it would be best for you to have Yeonjun stay over in your apartment, which was near your university in Seoul. You didn’t mind, but you felt a little bad because you were rarely home and that meant Yeonjun was lonely for most days.

On days you were home though, you tried to spend as much time as you can with him. The two of you would usually lounge around on the couch and talk about what the other missed while they were away, things that couldn’t be said in your family group chat. Yeonjun filled you in with all his wild stories from when he was in America with his band mates, and you filled him in with all your stories from your first year in college. It was something that you dearly missed, and since you two were close in age, you had a lot of similarities that weren’t just physically obvious.

The only difference between you two was that he was an early bird and you were a night owl. Yeonjun was used to the schedules waking him up at the hours that you would call it a night. The two of you had attempted to adjust your sleep schedules for the other, but he had also only been over for a few days and you were still getting used to sleeping earlier to adjust.

“Noona… I’m hungry.”

Yeonjun sleepily walked into your room, ruffling his hair. You were knocked out asleep, given the fact that you had only gone to sleep an hour or two prior to your younger brother coming into your room. He made his way to lay on top of you, earning a groan from under the bedsheets. You reached over to hit him with one of the Apeach plushes on your bed, the weight on your bed dipping and the younger boy clinging onto you.

“Why can’t you just cook for yourself? You keep saying in your lives that you’re the best cook but honestly, I’m starting to doubt it.” You mumbled sleepily, Yeonjun whining above you. 

“Because noona, you don’t even have spaghetti. I can’t make spaghetti olio e aglio without spaghetti noodles…” Yeonjun nudged you softly, the pout that’s usually in his voice coming out more. “Plus, it’s like, 8:30. You need a regular eating schedule too, noona.” Yeonjun managed to pull you upright, letting you sit up on your own. You grabbed onto your pillow, blindly patting for your glasses before unfolding them and putting them on. Yeonjun had moved off your bed and opened your curtains, the bright light that’s usually hidden by your no-show curtains feeling like the artificial light after watching a movie in class. 

“That can’t be the only reason, you and I both know that there’s a konbini and a TLJ across the street from here, you could’ve easily just bought yourself some like. Cake or something, I don’t know what you were craving.” You felt the weight dip down on the other side of the bed, and a little huff. 

“... I missed noona’s cooking.” He whispered, leaning onto your shoulder. You stopped fiddling with the bedsheet, before sighing. You shifted slightly, Yeonjun moving off of you and both of you exiting the bedroom to go into the kitchen.

You opened your pantry, humming under your breath as you contemplated what to make for both of you for that morning. Your mind immediately went to pancakes, thinking about an early memory you both had shared.

“Yeonjunie, can you pull out the coconut milk from the fridge? Oh, and some butter and eggs…” You were busy yourself reaching for the dry ingredients from the fridge, Yeonjun’s smile splitting into a grin when he realized what you were making for him. He grabbed the refrigerated ingredients and some bowls for you, a small thank you in order as you began to measure everything. 

“Coconut pancakes? How’d you know I was craving those specifically?” Yeonjun asked, grabbing a cup from the cabinet next to your head. He began to pour himself some of the mango juice in your fridge, following you around the kitchen like a baby duckling.

“It’s your favorite. You might be famous and all now, but that doesn’t mean your taste buds have switched up on me, right?” You shooed Yeonjun out of the kitchen, the younger one already knowing that you couldn’t do anything without music playing in the background. He walked over to your speaker system, plugging in his phone and scrolling for music. After a few beats of silence, Post Malone and Swae Lee’s Sunflower started playing on the stereo, a smile creeping up on your own face when you heard the song choice.

“I approve of this.” You laughed at the way that Yeonjun wiggled along to the song, your brother grabbing a glass of juice from the refrigerator and looking out of the window. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much light in my apartment either.” You noted, combining the dry ingredients into the wet. Yeonjun only laughed at your revelation, shaking his head. 

“Because you wake up so late, noona. I thought you died when I woke up the first day here.” Yeonjun joked with no harm, but nonetheless a gasp came from you of fake offense. 

“Bitch, I thought you died when they sent out the MGMA announcement that you weren’t performing. Did you throw it back too hard? Is that why your back hurts?” You teased, the playful banter familiar to you two. Yeonjun only laughed at your worry, shaking his head.

“I didn’t know you kept up with us that heavily, noona.” You froze, the batter of the pancake that you were beginning to flip over sizzling due to the uncooked side sliding over to the heat of the pan. You continued to flip the pancake in order to prevent further damage, rolling your eyes.

“Alright, you caught me red handed. I have Twitter notifications on for you guys… And I tune into all your V Lives too.” You confessed, a grin spreading on Yeonjun’s face. He set down his glass on the kitchen island where he’d start to clear up some of the mess of papers from your classes, stacking them in a corner before sneaking up behind you and hugging you from behind. You almost screeched, thwacking his hand gently with the rubber spatula you were using to cook the pancakes. 

“Why don’t you just be affectionate with your brother like a normal sister?” Yeonjun pulled away, soothing the slap on his hand. He pulled the placemats from the drawer, placing them down and searching for the plates he had washed last night so you could put the pancakes on them after cooking them. “Hyuka’s sisters always text him, it’s cute.” 

“Because I forget the family chat exists until you text us.” Your reply comes with a soft laugh. You place half of the pancakes on your plate and the rest on his plate, grabbing the whipped cream from the fridge and putting dollops of it on top of the stacks of pancakes you had just made. “It’s not intentional, but sometimes I’m so busy that I forget to look at my phone… The only time I look is when you post something or if you send pictures to our group. And then I realize it’s too late to text you…” You frown, picking up the plates. Yeonjun reaches for one of the plates you’re carrying, humming along to the music playing. 

“You shouldn’t let that stop you, noona. Besides, we’re probably still in rehearsal by the time you’re done doing your school stuff.” Yeonjun smiled at you, nudging your shoulder as you round the table to sit next to him. You purse your lips, thinking over what your younger brother just said. “Plus, you make it seem like I’d be too tired to talk to you. Which, I never am, since we’re so close without being twins.” Yeonjun and you said grace before cutting into your pancakes, giving you time to let everything sink in. You stopped mid-chew, tears brimming at your eyes. 

“Noona? Are you okay?” Yeonjun spun your bar chair around as well as his own, squishing your cheeks. You leaned forward and gave him a tight hug, a squeak coming from him before he laughed and hugged you back. 

“I’m glad you’re my little brother, Yeonjunie. I would give you the world if it guaranteed us as siblings.” You smiled at him, Yeonjun only laughing as he rubbed your back. Sure, you weren’t the perfect older sibling, but Yeonjun knowing that you’re doing so many little things to contribute towards the success of their group was just enough for him. You decided it was a good idea to keep the conversation light again, so you hummed a note before you asked your next question.

“Are the babies treating you well?” You pulled back and continued to eat your pancakes. The mention of his younger members made Yeonjun groan, causing you to laugh. 

“I swear they’re such bullies to me, noona. You watch the lives too right? I’m BULLIED by my members every time I invite them to play games with me!” The pout in his voice was enough to make you laugh, shaking your head. 

“This is why they call you the fake maknae, Yeonjunie. You allow yourself to get bullied by the other members…” Yeonjun punched your arm lightly, grinning.

“That’s why I love staying with you, because you don’t know it but you baby me. I don’t have any responsibilities when I’m here.” He grinned. You sighed, rolling your eyes as you swallowed more of the pancakes. 

“Because you threw it back too hard. I’m supposed to look over you, I’m not a shitty sib, Yeonjunie. And because you said you don’t have responsibilities here, I’m making you wash the dishes.” You heard a whine from him, the two of you finishing up your pancakes while Jeremy Zucker played in the background. 

The dishes ended up being a partner deal, and after breakfast you two decided to go to the supermarket to pick up some more things before you headed off to work. The car ride to the supermarket was filled with music, the two of you singing obnoxiously loud to Fancy (no matter how annoying you thought the song was), as well as peppered with Yeonjun’s terrible dad jokes. (“you need to stop hanging out with Seokjin oppa. He’s tainting your already bad dad jokes.” “that’s not very nice of you”)

“Noona?” Yeonjun called your name as you were putting away the yogurt in the refrigerator, him putting the spaghetti away in the pantry. You closed the refrigerator, raising an eyebrow at your younger brother. 

“What’s up?” You saw a smile spread across his face as the two of you made eye contact, his head bobbing. 

“Nothing, I just wanted to say you’re the best, but I’m pretty sure you already know that.”

[high5nerd]

The Misadventures of Fanty and Pitch Black---Chap. Five

Since it was Halloween, Fanty arranged a party with everyone, including Pitch. The Nightmare King watched Fanty set up streamers of gold, black and orange, and blow up balloons of black and orange. She set out a pile of Blu-Ray DVDs like The Nightmare before Christmas, A Charlie Brown Halloween, Sleepy Hollow, and her Harry Potter collection. She even baked a giant cake that looked like half a pumpkin, lit orange candles on the table, and set up bowls of popcorn, m&ms, caramels, gummy bears and lollipops near the TV. Pitch was offered to help cook the chicken fingers, but he ended up just putting the ketchup and BBQ sauce on the table instead.

Fanty didn't like how he handled the stove.

What really creeped the hell out of Pitch was that Fanty dressed for the party. He knew kids did for Halloween, but not teens. Apparently he needs to really learn more in order to become stronger and take in more fear. She dressed as a pirate, with the whole embroidered coat, feathered hat, heavy boots and swashbuckling cutlass. Good thing the cutlass was fake, because she whacked him with it when he tried sneaking a caramel.

It startled him even more that everyone else wore costumes as well. Mystic was the first to arrive with a bowlful of fruit salad, dressed as Artemis Fowl. She looked very fancy and mature in the costume, unlike Angel, who dressed as a giant kitten with the bell and everything. Xion dressed as a man named Doctor Who, who Pitch didn't really know but the name sure did sound familiar. He must have heard his name while searching for fear. Star dressed as a mermaid, and she even dyed her hair a bright blue and green and painted scales on her legs that almost looked real. Drago was the last to arrive, but came with the delicious mint fudge and bottles of root beer, cream soda and Sprite. She wore a shaded hat, a whip by her side, high brown boots, a leather jacket that looked well worn, light brown pants and a button up.

"Indiana Jones." She smiled at Pitch, shaking his hand while trying to balance the tray of mint fudge in one arm.

"Wow." Pitch could only blurt.

The merriment lasted for about four hours, just three hours to midnight. Music blared from the stereo, and all the girls jumped to dance to Thriller. Pitch simply watched and ate caramels to his heart's content, pretending to be bored but really fascinated by their way of celebration. It was strange, because he was so used to people shuddering and hiding from fear while these girls literally laughed at its ugly face. He couldn't help but smile at their bravery.

After eating to their fill of dinner consisting of chicken fingers, fruit salad, French fries and pasta, they sat around the TV, surrounding Pitch completely and blocking off any escape. Fanty sat to his right and Angel to his left.

"So what's it like being immortal?" Drago asked, resting her head in her hand as she slowly chewed on a caramel.

"Boring at times, but you certainly have your freedoms." Pitch honestly replied, feeling oddly warm and flattered at the attention that was on him.

"What do you do for fun?" Xion asked, leaning forward as if Pitch were to tell a secret.

Pitch shrugged indifferently, "Sometimes I like to go for a ride on one of my nightmares or take a stroll through the forest. Maybe even read a good book."

"Really? Have you read Brothers' Grimm?" Xion beamed, her eyes shining.

Pitch nodded, and started listing off his fingers, "Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Grimm, Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, you name it."

Fanty rested a hand on his arm, and he looked at her. She gave him a warning look, a look that really made her appear like the pirate she dressed as. "Be careful, Pitch, or Xion might swoon."

If Xion could, she'd have flowers and light flares erupting from her very body like in those animes she loved so much.

They continued to talk, making sure they avoided sensitive topics like why Pitch had contempt for certain spirits. Once it finally hit midnight, the sugar rush exploded. The girls were perky and bouncing up and down, wild smiles on their faces. Pitch couldn't help but laugh at them. They all voted to watch The Nightmare before Christmas, and Fanty quickly popped it in before snuggling up into the couch once the movie started.

Everyone laughed at certain parts and enjoyed the film, but Pitch and the girls-besides Fanty-laughed at the introduction to Oogie Boogie. Once the shot of his actual buggy form came forth from the shadows to torment Santa Claus, Fanty gasped and jumped behind the sofa, peeking out so only her hat to her eyes could be seen. Pitch laughed cruelly, understanding why Oogie Boogie freaked her out. All those bugs crawling out of him didn't scare him, but it did gross him out. Still, the music was entertaining. Everyone turned from the screen to watch Pitch, who tapped his foot along with the music and had a happy smile on his face as he bobbed his head side to side. He imagined himself in Oogie Boogie's place and North in Santa Claus's place, strapped to the table after being kidnapped.

But then Fanty and the girls giggled at Pitch's face during Jack and Sally's duet, which was twisted into a grimace.

"They just had to put romance in it. Maybe if he bit off her arm I would rate it five stars." Pitch said as everyone sat in a circle in Fanty's living room, the lights dim and the candles lit to tell ghost stories.

"Jack does have scary looking teeth." Mystic nodded, understanding where Pitch was coming from.

"I dunno, romance is pretty cute. Just not for some movies." Fanty said dreamily.

Pitch scoffed and shoved a lollipop in her mouth, and she glared at him, but then began eating it since it was in fact her favorite kind.

"Pitch, have you ever been in a relationship?" Drago asked, playing with her candy wrapper.

Fanty choked on her lollipop as she hooted with laughter, causing half of the girls to glare at her or smirk. Pitch gave her a look, and without a warning, growled and bared his teeth at her with his fingers curled, getting into the right light of the candle to accent his cheekbones and his eyes and teeth. Fanty shrieked, and then slapped the lollipop onto his nose, and Pitch exclaimed at the disgusting cavity on a stick that was glued to his nose.

Drago, Xion, Mystic, Star and Angel burst out laughing, making Fanty grin happily that she was able to outmaneuver Pitch without making a mess. Pitch finally yanked off the lollipop from his nose and tossed it into a nearby garbage can, before gently rubbing his nose at the feeling of air hitting his skin.

"But really, have you?" Star asked, eager to know.

Pitch cast one glare at Fanty before replying, "Yes, I have."

Everyone gasped. "Really?! Who!? Mother Nature?!"

Pitch looked horrified, "She's my daughter!"

Everyone held up their hands in apology, and Pitch could tell from their wide eyes they meant no harm and they sincerely were sorry. The pose they were all doing looked as if they were about to do a ritual in a witch's coven.

"Awkward!" Xion exclaimed, and Star couldn't help but laugh it off.

"We're sorry, Pitch. We're not very knowledgeable on spirits and stuff you're so used to." Drago said with a gently smile, handing him a napkin to get rid of the remaining lollipop goo on his nose.

"And I asked about the Tooth Fairy earlier, and that was a definite no." Fanty informed the five other girls, who nodded understandingly.

"I was married before I became the Nightmare King," Pitch said lowly, really not wanting to talk about it, "I had a daughter, too."

"Was that daughter Mother Nature?" Mystic asked.

Pitch nodded, and something in Fanty clicked. She could see he didn't want to talk about this, so she vouched for him immediately, "Hey! Let's hear Pitch share a scary story. I bet he's really good at it!"

Everyone agreed with unison of "Yeah!" and compliments on his work as the Boogeyman and making Halloween so spooky. Pitch felt truthfully flattered, and he couldn't help but smile proudly as he shifted his legs, making him look even taller than he was before.

"Well, I am pretty talented. Hmm…which story?" Pitch playfully tapped his chin, and the six girls grinned and leaned forward, wanting to hear the best horror story from him.

"Ah! Well, long ago, during my first centuries as the Boogeyman, there was this tiny village somewhere in Mexico, and in this village was this beautiful woman named Maria. She was loved by far, and I couldn't blame them. She had silky looking hair that nearly reached the floor, and her eyes were the color of rich chocolate. Back then, chocolate was a luxury, but she received so much of it, it made her fill with pride at knowing how beautiful she was."

"She sounds high-strung." Fanty crinkled her nose, but the other girls shushed her for Pitch to continue.

"But then this traveler came into the village, and once he saw Maria, he fell in love just like the rest of the men. But unlike them, he was persistent, clever, and knew just how to woo her and earn her heart. Maria, thinking he was the perfect match for her since he was handsome, fell in love with him and immediately agreed to his marriage proposal. It sounds promising, does it not? They even had two beautiful children, and they seemed to be such a happily family. But…"

"There it is, the but!" Xion exclaimed, and Drago covered her mouth with her hand, enraptured with the story and Pitch's deep, velvety voice.

"Maria's husband returned to the praries, where he originally came from. Days turned into weeks, and he would then leave at dawn and return in time for supper. Maria, confused and suspicious at his departures, asked the other villagers where he goes, yet none knew. She knew he would come back, for he always did. Just before their two children got into bed, he would come home and spend time with them, like telling tales of his adventures and his family's history. Yet…he paid no attention to Maria. She was starting to get irritated. Was he no longer enraptured with her beauty? Her suspicions got the best of her, and slowly she grew more angry every day he left. But one fateful Sunday, a day of Sabbath, Maria's husband admitted to seeing another woman of his own class and wanting to never see her again.

Maria was furious. Her anger turned into red-hot hate. She even started to hate her own children, for they got his attention and love when she received none. To her, it was their fault. But that afternoon she was on a stroll with her two children, her not-so-faithful husband drove by in a richly decorated carriage, and sitting beside him was a wealthy looking woman. He only stopped to greet his kids, wish them a pleasant day and continued on down the road.

That caused the final blow to Maria's pride, for she was so angry and spiteful, she grabbed her kids by their necks and threw them into the river, and they drowned."

"Oh no…" Drago whimpered, her eyes widening in shock.

"But just as their bodies floated down the river, she realized the horrible mistake she made. She cried out in fear, and tried to reach for them, but they were gone. The following morning, a lone traveler on his way home found her dead body by the side of the river. The village buried her in the exact spot where she was found dead.

Yet…every night, the villagers could hear a woman crying in the night, somewhere close to the river. She cried for her children. A foolish villager went out around midnight to confront the sound, but never returned nor was heard from again. Some say her red-hot anger turned her eyes red and she attacked him, drowning him just like how she drowned her kids. Even now, she still roams the rivers, sobbing for her children."

Pitch looked at every individual girl, and grinned in victory. They all shook with fear, had gumball sized eyes and were either biting at their nails or hugging themselves, their mouths wide open.

"I've heard the story before," Mystic finally choked out, "But you made it ten times creepier."

"You definitely have the voice for it." Drago nodded in agreement to Angel's opinion.

"Well! I think that sums up this party. Bedtime!" Pitch clapped his hands, like he was the king of the court.

All the girls groaned and whined, falling limply to the floor in a mini tantrum. Well, besides Drago. She merely shrugged while looking at her watch, knowing Pitch was right. She was the most mature of the group anyways.

"Aww, why!?"

"Do we have to?"

"Noooo…."

"I don't wanna."

"This isn't fair!"

Pitch grabbed at his hair, feeling ashamed. "Oh MiM, I feel like I'm your father. This is terrible."

After everyone left, everything was cleaned up and Fanty was out like a light and sleeping in her bed, Pitch sat on the couch in the living room, peering at the DVD case of Sleepy Hollow.

This story was true, he thought to himself, flipping it over to see the actors in the movie, I remember. The sense of fear was so thick. Even I couldn't approach the Headless Horseman. Not that I was scared. He was just rude.

He silently put the DVD case down and rubbed at his head out of exhaustion. What am I even doing? Why am I even sticking around here? I could just leave and never come back. The thought made him sit up and berate himself, You wished day and night for someone to accept you, and you finally got your wish. Granted, they may be insane teenagers, but you were having fun and you like having them around, admit it.

"Darn. I'm stuck." Pitch muttered to himself, standing up in frustration and pacing over to the window, where he could see Man in Moon shine brightly in the navy blue sky.

He glared at the moon, and hissed rudely, "You did this, didn't you? Fate. This was all fate caused by you."

Pitch listened to his reply, and scoffed. "Don't play dumb. Why do you choose to speak to me now and not when I needed you most?"

He listened again, and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Dark Ages Shmark Ages."

He waited. He then furrowed his eyebrows and spat, "I am not turning into Fanty!"

But then Man in Moon said something that caught his attention. "Wait, why do I need her?"

Man in Moon explained himself, watching Pitch's expression fall from suspicious confusion to utter disbelief. "Wait…I'm…why?"

Man in Moon was silent for a minute, and tried explaining that he was trying to help Pitch, but Pitch was…scared. He was too scared. He stepped away from the window, half hidden from the line of sight of the moon.

"But why? Why am I dying?"

[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Magic and Miracles and Beyond Chapter 12

I did not give up on this and I didn’t abandon it, I just...got a much busier life. I’m going back to school, full time. Am I stalling doing my homework? Yes. Do I have an exam on Tuesday that I should be preparing for? Yes. Did this writers block that’s been in my way FOR MONTHS Magically go away and I found my spark for this story again? YES. But you know what? This little chapter was what I needed. What my soul needed. @the-immortal-marshal. Girl, you’ve been SO PATIENT and so good to me. This is for you. That good good. 

Chapter 12

Ada was in the middle of getting a massage, her and the girls had gone to their favorite spa for a spa day and Ada had just gotten her new bank cards in from getting added as a signer to Luche’s accounts and Luche told her to get anything and everything she wanted and not worry about the cost and she was going all out, getting a mani pedi, a hair cut and some highlights and lowlights and a facial and her makeup redone, her bruises had faded and her body had healed and thanks to a lot of ongoing therapy, her mind was healing too. 

Meanwhile Luche, Ravus, Nyx, Libertus, Gladio, Tredd, Pelna and Craig were all going from each other’s apartments to make sure they would have dinner ready and waiting for their girls when they got done having a spa day. They were going all out, making sure the dinners were several courses long, the apartments were perfectly clean and had gotten rose petals by the case and made sure each place was picture perfect for a huge romantic gesture while each guy made his partner’s favorite meal.

Ada came home and gasped when she saw the way the rose petals had been strewn across the floor leading upstairs, there were candles everywhere and the scent of her favorite foods filled her nose and made her stomach growl. 

“Oh Luche,” Ada cooed as she looked at everything and just couldn’t stop smiling as a few tears came to her eyes. This was beautiful and romantic and so thoughtful before Luche greeted her properly by kissing her after he put the prime rib roast on the table. 

“Hey,” Luche grinned proudly as he put it down and went up and kissed her as his arms wrapped around her and held her tight. He was dressed in a dressy casual fashion and Ada felt like she had stepped into a magazine. Everything was picture perfect. 

“How was Twilla? You look amazing. I love what you did with your hair.” Luche asked as they broke for air and he took the bags that had dropped from her hands that she had been carrying since they had done some shopping before the spa and she had let them go to embrace Luche and she was so happy that only his face pulled away but he otherwise kept his arms comfortably around her while she did the same to him before they both seemed to sway to soft music that was playing on the stereo in the apartment. 

“Thank you, yeah it was amazing. You need to come with me next time, they have couples massage, that’s what Noct and Iggy had and they had nothing but high praise about it.” Ada grinned. 

“Sounds great, we could do that...well not next weekend but the weekend after that.” Luche mentally calculated. 

“Really?” Ada smiled brighter. 

“Yeah, go ahead and schedule it and let me know what time so I’ll put it in my schedule.” Luche confirmed. 

“I will, but first, food.” Ada said as she nodded over to the beautifully set table with real china and silverware and a steaming pot of tea waiting for her before Luche let her go and pulled her chair out for her before he got her bags and stowed those away so she could focus on the meal which they happily dug into. 

“Have I told you how much I love it that you cook?” Ada moaned around her food as she devoured everything and was so touched that Luche had done all this work and made a gourmet meal for her to her liking and even noticed that he had done some housekeeping because everything was immaculate and smelled fresh and clean. 

“I tried, Rae, Nyx and Craig helped a lot.” Luche admitted. 

“Yeah but the fact that you even try and put forth so much effort means a lot to me.” Ada fawned as she poured herself a cup of tea and took a tentative sip. She had made a dent in Luche’s tea cabinet and together they had weeded out which ones were going to be repeat buys and which ones were not and this was one of her favorites, it was a good evening tea since it was decaf but had an amazing flavor that went with everything. 

“I know. That’s why I do it.” Luche grinned proudly, happy that she noticed and recognized his hard work before he reached over and took her hand to kiss the back of it sweetly which melted her in her chair before she mirrored his actions then used her hold on him to pull him over to kiss her again since they were sitting kitty corner from each other. 

“I got you something.” Ada giggled. 

“Yeah?” Luche grinned wider. Tickled that she did. She always had great taste whenever she bought gifts and he had yet to not love whatever she got. 

“It’s for later.” Ada giggled as her cheeks stained cherry which got him to smile wider as a giggle escaped him. It was that kind of something. 

“Can’t wait.’ Luche smiled even brighter. “So I wanted to ask you about something.” Luche changed the subject. 

“What?” Ada returned as she tilted her head curiously. 

“So Sylva is a helicopter pilot and a small aircraft pilot too and she’s offered to help Rae and I and her other “kids” to get our pilot licenses.” Luche began as Ada’s eyes lit up. 

“Really?” Ada beamed happily. 

“Yeah, so what do you think about that?” Luche asked. 

“That would be amazing!” Ada fawned. 

“Good, cause it’s your dad is coming back to teach us.” Luche revealed. 

“Really? Wait what? Us? Like you and Rae us or you and me us?” Ada posed. 

“Both,Sylva apparently made him an offer he couldn’t refuse so your parents are moving back but your brother is staying in London, if you want to learn it too that is and if you’re ok with me going into that as well.” Luche clarified. 

“Hell yes!” Ada immediately agreed before she kissed him excitedly. “Why wouldn’t I be ok with that?” Ada asked after she kissed him. 

“Well because flying, as you know, has it’s dangers and I didn’t want to agree or jump into anything without talking about it with you first and making sure you’re ok with it.” Luche explained. 

“Aww, thank you, no that doesn’t bother me at all, it’s a lot of fun.” Ada grinned happily, touched that he would be so mindful and thoughtful about that and obviously concerned to take her thoughts and feelings into account. 

After dinner Luche led her upstairs and Ada nearly burst into tears when she found the bed covered in rose petals and the room was glowing in candlelight and she was excited yet nervous to see what he would think about her “gift”. 

“So what did you get me?” Luche asked as Ada damn near was bouncing in place and biting her bottom lip in half to keep her face from splitting in half from the smile that threatened to take over her face as she gave him one of the bags and in it was more cologne, some new ties and shirts and sweaters, some moisturizers, hair products and then inside the larger bag was a smaller bag...from a sex toy shop and Luche damn near had a giggle fit as he reached in and got the bag before he eagerly opened it and nearly dropped it when he found a box and in that box...was a cock ring set. A C ring, a regular cock ring and a vibrating one and Luche’s soul nearly left his body because...that’s how he could please Bethany, Caitlin, Andrea and Olivia in Cancun for a week during spring break and Luche had flashbacks. Shit that had only been six months ago but it felt like a lifetime ago. 

“Too adventurous?” Ada worried. 

“No, no, not at all.” Luche quickly reassured her. 

“What?” Ada asked as she looked at him and studied his face trying to figure out if he was weirded out or anything. 

“Um…” Luche stammered as he frowned in concentration while his face burned. 

“Cor never wore one, if that’s what you’re wondering, I wanted to try something new and spice things up a little.” Ada offered, mentally berating herself for not realizing that that is what it looked like. 

“Oh, uh, no that- that wasn’t...um...going through my head at all.” Luche assured her. 

“You can say you’re uncomfortable with it, it won’t hurt my feelings.” Ada concluded. 

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with this or these or anything like that-um, it’s just that I...I know exactly what these are and how they work because I’ve..used them before.” Luche confessed before Ada’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. 

“With...Vivian?” Ada frowned in confusion, trying to remember who he dated before her. 

“No...with Bethany... in Cancun.” Luche revealed. 

“Ooh!” Ada answered before she started laughing which broke the tension as Luche laughed too. 

“Ok, so...do you never want to use them again? Will they make you think of her while we, if we were to use them?” Ada winced. 

“Well, no, because it’ll be with you.” Luche grinned before he simply put them down to wrap her up in his embrace to kiss her and get them both back in the mood. 

"Don't ever compare yourself to anyone else ok?" Luche insisted as he sensually undressed her before he gently pushed her back into the bed before he put the vibrating one on. 

Ada hissed in pleasure as he entered her and because of the placement it hit her clit just right and Luche grinded himself into her so that the vibrating bit wouldn’t leave her clit and smiled happily when Ada writhed under him as he did his best to commit this to memory so he could please her in the future before he gave her more hickeys on her neck and chest while her newly manicured nails raked down his back, mindful of the few moles on his back and his itchy spots before she prompted him to roll over so she could ride him as Luche laid down and pushed up into her as his hands gripped her hips and pulled her down as Ada rode him and put her hands on his chest to hold herself up as her eyes screwed shut in concentrated bliss as her mouth hung wide open to moan, pant and keen.  

“Lu!” Ada whined as she found the perfect spot and pushed herself down onto it as hard as she could before she came and spasmed on top of him, her legs shaking and her arms buckling while she rode out her orgasm before Luche sat up and gathered her in his arms again and continued to hike his hips up into hers as he kissed her senseless, absolutely determined to get her to a second orgasm because this cock ring was tight and keeping him hard enough that he could last at least two to three intense rounds and by the time they both wore the other out did they collapse in a heap of sweaty limbs and satisfied smiles before Luche took the ring off and set it aside. 

“Yeah I think that worked out well.” Luche panted as he fought to catch his breath. 

“Oh yeah, total win.” Ada giggled as she curled herself into him, her clit still buzzing as her senses were drowning in endorphins.  

“I love you.” Luche grinned proudly as he kissed the crown of her head. 

“Love you too Lu.” Ada cooed back before they fell asleep. 

The next weekend they were all at Craig’s farm since his parents had a better set up to handle a wedding as they were going through dress rehearsals as Craig Sr. grilled some steaks, chicken and pork chops as Chelsea and her team finished setting up all the tents, decorations, chairs and tables. 

“Hey Lu,” Sylva said as she managed to catch him by the punch bowl. 

“Yeah Sly?” Luche answered. 

“I just wanted to let you know that if you happen to get swept up in wedding fever tomorrow and perhaps you were to be moved to propose to Ada, could you just give me a heads up so I’m next to your mother when you do it because I’ve been talking to her for the last hour or so and when I hinted at it she was, understandably, apprehensive to the notion and it’s going to take a lot for her to make peace with that.” Sylva warned him. 

“Yeah…” Luche grimaced. “What do you think it’ll take for mom to come around to the idea?” Luche asked cautiously. 

“A prenup, otherwise she will be the biggest bitch any of us has ever seen.” Sylva answered. 

“Yeah, I figured.” Luche nodded in understanding. 

“Good you’ve made peace with that idea, it’s already drawn up.” Sylva grinned triumphantly. 

“For how long?” Luche frowned. 

“Since May.” Sylva beamed. 

“Really?” Luche deadpanned. 

“Yes really, and once you do I have gifts, they’re already wrapped and the dresses she showed interest in at Kleinfelds are already on hold for her as are a few others.” Sylva revealed. 

“And that’s why you paid her dad extra to come ASAP.” Luche realized as his gaze traveled over to Ada sitting and catching up with her parents who had come just a few days before. 

“Yup, they wouldn’t want to miss it.” Sylva smiled proudly. 

“Do you ever just...take a day off?” Luche teased with a chuckle. 

“No, when you have your kids, you’ll see and understand and you won’t either.” Sylva reminded him with a fond smile. 

“Thank you.” Luche thanked her gratefully before he hugged her as she hugged him back.  

“You’re welcome, now I gotta go tell Chelsea to make the “inlaws” table extra big to include them and I’ll have your mother right next to me so I can keep her from making a scene.” Sylva explained after she pulled away and clued Chelsea in on what would happen as she made the adjustments.

[exyjunkies]

wonderful tonight

Summary: Right after hosting the Foxes Christmas party, Neil and Andrew have a moment to themselves in their living room. (read on AO3)

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I got this finished a day later than I said I would HAHA anyway, I hope everyone’s having a great Christmas <3

Neil doesn’t remember how they got to own this much tableware. He knows he didn’t buy any because they already had the standard set back from the Columbia house, and he’s sure as hell about Andrew not caring enough to get anything new. Maybe they accumulated over the numerous fan presents they’ve received, because some fans were thoughtful enough to really go the extra mile. Maybe they all came in the form of Christmas presents, from those of their circle that believed that he and Andrew were capable of having a family (Nicky, maybe even Matt). 

What was funny was that their owned tableware didn’t match, sets upon sets upon sets getting all jumbled up in their cabinets that they didn’t bother matching anything up with counterparts. Which is how when they hosted the Foxes Christmas party in their household, they had more than enough random sets of tableware for everyone to eat with. 

This year, they decided to hold it in the backyard, seeing as some of the Foxes needed to bring their kids with them - Kevin and Thea with their four year-old daughter, Nicky and Erik with their twin sons, Dan and Matt with their two kids and newborn, and Aaron and Katelyn with their six year-old son. Renee and Allison were still processing their adoption, so it really was only Neil and Andrew that didn’t opt for having children. It was fine though, because Neil thought that if their house could have any purpose, it would be having the Foxes - his family - over.

Their house was big, probably too big for the both of them and their cats. Andrew had it built after deciding to sell the Columbia house, feeling like they’ve outgrown it and all. Plus, with them being on their respective pro teams, a home in a new location was only logical. The commute to and from each of their teams’ bases was a lot more comfortable after they moved, and they decided to stay there even after the both of them were signed to the US Court.

Being Court meant seeing a lot of Jean and Jeremy around, but they weren’t able to make it to Neil and Andrew’s Christmas this year, much to Kevin’s dismay. Something about Jean finally deciding to go to France for his family’s Christmas, and bringing Jeremy along with him. Jeremy had seemed fine with the idea, but Neil knew that Jean had yet to overcome his family’s disapproval with him and the way his life turned out. He hoped they were okay, and sent a care package around a week ago.

With their several sets of tableware, Andrew’s cooking, and Neil on the logistics of the party, everything went smoothly. They all sat to an amazing dinner out on the backyard and sang to songs on Nicky’s procured karaoke set while the kids played on the blankets set out for them just a few feet away. What was notable to Neil was how the group dynamics were completely different from back then. The Foxes were all truly grown up now, far from their wild, carefree selves back in PSU. It’s been almost ten years since they all left the university, and they all led different lives now.

In all honesty, Neil could sit there for hours and think about how much his life has changed.

“Hey.” 

Andrew’s voice from behind him made him jump a bit, almost knocking over his mug of tea. The guests had all gone home an hour ago, and Andrew had made him sit down instead of helping with clean-up. Too preoccupied with not wanting to fall asleep just yet, Neil just nodded and yawned in Andrew’s face in reply.

“Done already?”

“It’s a talent.” Andrew went up to one of their cupboards and took out a tin of chocolate biscuits. Neil shook his head after Andrew tilted the tin towards him in a silent offer.

“You really outdid yourself with dinner tonight. The whole five courses and all.”

“Didn’t want Nicky to be a little bitch about me not wanting Erik to help out. Besides, the kids needed options.”

Neil knew he was talking about Kevin’s daughter in particular, a dark-haired girl named Aubrey. He had talked to Kevin beforehand about not letting the girl get everything she wants, but the girl’s attitude that night made it apparent that Kevin was still behind on discipline. At least Aubrey had more than two dishes on her plate.

The clock on their kitchen wall read 12:03 AM. Neil blinked sleepily at Andrew, the edges of fatigue already around his shoulders. This was the latest they’ve been up in a while. Still, Neil knew they’d stayed up later back then, talking up on the roof and smoking. They really were getting old.

“Well,” Neil said, pushing back his chair and standing up. “We should call it a night.”

Before he could turn around, Andrew said, “Wait.”

“What?”

“Let’s go.” Andrew offered a hand, and Neil was honestly too sleepy to contest.

Still, he asked, “What’s this for?” as Andrew maneuvered the both of them out of the kitchen. They kept walking until they reached the living room, and Andrew let go of Neil’s hand and went up to their stereo.

Neil sat on one of their armchairs and yawned, his third one in the last hour. And he might’ve actually fallen asleep for a bit, until a couple nudges to his foot shook him back awake.

He heard the first few notes of a song he wasn’t familiar with, and saw Andrew offering his hand to him yet again.

“Andrew Minyard, what is going on--”

“Do you not know how dances work, Josten?”

Neil stared at Andrew’s hand dumbly for a few more seconds, until Andrew sighed and yanked Neil up.

“This’ll be quick, I promise,” Andrew murmured in Neil’s ear, and Neil nodded, putting both his hands on Andrew’s hips.

“Is this alright?” Neil patted Andrew’s hips, and Andrew nodded. Slowly, they began moving to the song, finding a slow and steady rhythm.

It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair And then she asks me, “Do I look all right?” And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight.”

“Huh, this song isn’t bad,” Neil said softly, a little more awake now. He stared into Andrew’s eyes and smiled. “Softie.”

A small frown came across Andrew’s face. “Shut up. You’re ruining the song.”

“Whatever you say.”

Neil had long grown accustomed to Andrew’s off-brand gestures of affection, as rare as they were grand and meaningful. He already knew he was the more expressive of the two of them, and he was perfectly okay with that. Still, each and every gesture tugged at Neil’s heartstrings, even after having been married to the man for four years.

“Mmm. This is nice.” Neil hugged Andrew closer to him. “Did you feed the cats?”

“Yes. The leftover salmon went to King and Sir.”

“Great.”

After a beat, Neil spoke again. “We’re gonna have to sleep soon, Andrew.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’ll carry you to the bedroom if I’ll need to.”

“Oooh. Can’t pass that up.”

I feel wonderful because I see The love light in your eyes And the wonder of it all Is that you just don't realize how much I love you

Neil pressed a small kiss to Andrew’s forehead. Just because he can. “I love you too, dummy.”

And Neil was expecting some sort of clever retort, because that was what they did, but instead, Andrew just stared back at him. Like... like he was everything. It was enough to make Neil nervous that he wasn’t good enough.

Maybe that was how Andrew looked at him sometimes, when he didn’t notice.

“Yes or no?” One of Andrew’s hands went to Neil’s jaw, cupping it gently.

“Four years really doesn’t do much, huh? Yes, of course.”

They kissed, and the music in the stereo was not loud enough to drown out Neil’s beating heart. Andrew’s other hand went to the back of Neil’s head, angling the kiss better. Neil was in jogging pants and a hoodie, and he felt so warm and comfy against Andrew’s body. In the soft light of their living room, the last few words of the song made it to Neil’s ears, and he hummed against Andrew’s mouth.

I say, "My darling, you were wonderful tonight Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight

Andrew broke the kiss, and after smirking at Neil momentarily moving forward for more, he said, “Okay, Sleeping Beauty, off to bed it is.”

“Aww, and I was getting so into it too--”

Neil’s words were interrupted as he was lifted up, bridal style. He laughed, and threw his arms around Andrew’s neck.

“I thought you were tired.” Andrew’s grumpy tone made Neil laugh even more.

“Am not.”

Neil spent the whole way to their bedroom kissing the side of Andrew’s mouth in his own form of protest. As Neil opened their bedroom door for the both of them, one of the last things he heard was Andrew's murmured, "I love you too."

And if Neil fell asleep almost immediately after Andrew set him down under the covers, Andrew didn’t say anything about it the next day. 

[pixieungerstories]

Housemates - 5

View the pictures and learn about the sticker promotion here. Plus LOTS of other great stuff.

Vinny was arguably too young for him. Derick had become a werewolf in the early days of punk. He had been working at a bar and there was an accident. Now it was more than 50 years later and he was still at the same bar, or at least the same location.  

He owned it now. No one knew that. He had a manager handling almost everything. He was still on the floor as a bartender and kept a really close eye on the books.  

A big part of the attraction from renting from Bazur was that he wasn’t the oldest person in the building. Eventually, it would be him and the living statue after everyone else had passed on. At least the bar kept him young and current. He didn’t really get on with the local packs. They were too old fashioned around a few things he felt strongly about. He could see the attraction to having a family who wasn’t going to die on you. But there were some things he couldn’t be bothered to put up with.

Vinny was cute, but she also had zero bullshit tolerance. It gave them a lot in common. Derick nearly choked when he was listening to The Clash version of “I Fought the Law,” and she came in and asked if it was a remake of that old Green Day song. He appreciated most of the music she listened to. And it was one more vote against letting Tristan play country on the stereo.  

After the first week of figuring out schedules, they started running together every morning. That was nice. It meant that he stopped getting reported as a stray and she didn’t have to worry about assholes commenting on her running pants. And, damn, her ass really did look good in those tights.

From morning runs it didn’t take long to ease into breakfasts together. Derick always cooked eggs. Vinny generally had cereal with added fruit or yogurt with added nuts. He started making her an egg, then two and talking about getting more protein in. She started out just humouring him before admitting that she wasn’t as hungry by coffee break any more.  

The way he saw it, it was on him, Kogan and Bazur to help her settle in. Thea was useless around her. No one trusted Kevin to be alone with her. Dren was just too damn busy. Tristan would accidentally sprinkle double entendres into the conversation, then be mortified when he realized what he had said. Even if what he said was so obscure that she likely didn’t get the reference.

And Derick was fine with that. Tristan really was, as far as he was concerned, the competition. Nether Kogan nor Bazur was going to make the first move and Vinny wasn’t about to throw herself at them. Derick, meanwhile had long term goals with this arrangement and having Tristan get there first was not part of them.

Wednesday at dinner he opened with, “Hey, Vinny? We used to have movie night on Thursdays. Dinner in front of the TV. Think you could stick around and join us for that?”

She blinked, clearly taken aback. “Um… OK. Something that can be eaten on the couch then?”

“Or we could order take away so you can have a night off.”

She looked a little confused. “I thought the point of having me here was so that you didn’t have to eat take ways all the time.”

Kogan rumbled at that, “One night a week isn’t all the time. ‘Sides, it will make it easier on you when you head back to school. I promised your mom that we wouldn’t let your grades slip.”

Derick mentally rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, ok,” Vinny agreed. “What movie?”

“We take turns picking,” Bazur explained. “Is there something you want to see?”

Vinny shook her head, “I’m not going first.”

Dren cleared his throat, “Don’t go giving away my turn just so you don’t have to watch The Life of Pi.”

Vinny blinked. “What?”

Dren shrugged and went back to slowly absorbing his food, “Bazur doesn’t always like my picks, but if I can put up with his period dramas, he can put up with-”

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies doesn’t count as a period drama!” Bazur protested.

Tristan snorted, “I agree to disagree.”

“What kind of movies do you like?” Vinny asked.

Everyone started to laugh.

“What?” she demanded.

Kogan cleared his throat, “He likes chick flicks.”

“Romance,” Tristan corrected. “Nicholas Sparks style of thing.”

“Huh,” Vinny said, sound slightly baffled.  

Derick watched Tristan brace for the comment about romance not really pairing with his rodeo back ground. It never came. It took a moment for the minotaur to wind down.

“Any way,” Vinny continued oblivious, as she got up and took her plate to the sink, “I have to rush to make it to work on time. Skipping cooking tomorrow, got it.” She finished scrubbing her dish and put it in the drainer. Then dried her hands on the towel. “Supper tonight is Boeuf Bourguignon,” she pulled a crock out of the new fridge and set it on the counter before digging out the slow cooker base, “It just needs to stay on low and it will be ready to go at six. I’m baking buns to go with it. See you at five!”

And with that she picked up her purse, walked out the front door and promptly missed her bus. Kogan laughed and picked up his spare helmet off the hall tree.  “Let me,” Derick requested, “I’ll drive her.”

Korgan shrugged, and tossed the helmet to the werewolf. “Watch the speed limit. The rest of traffic doesn’t have your reaction times,” Kogan warned. “And neither does your passenger,” he added.

“Got it.” Derick opened the door just as Vinny got back to the house. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride.”

Vinny smiled up at him, “Thanks!”

Yeah. That was worth it.

——

Derrick saved Vinny a spot on the couch. Next to him. Kevin was currently an egg chair.  The pizza was great, the movie was eventually not bad, in the meantime Vinny settled in against him. She was warm and soft and she smelled good. She was comfortable here.

That was surprising.  It had taken so little time. They were monsters. However much humans preached inclusiveness, it hadn’t been achieved yet. They barely tolerated each other. Monsters, non humans, others were only as tolerated as they were useful. Driders worked in construction, gelatinous were frequently ended up as sex workers, even if Dren had spent years at school until he was overqualified to work as a therapist for people with sensory processing disorders. Tristan had used sex work to pay for his degree because minotaurs couldn’t get other jobs. Werewolves were seen as diseased, it was only the transient nature of bar patrons that kept him employed.  

Orcs worked as soldiers because they were good at following orders. And at killing.  

And Derick was half convinced that more than half of Kevin’s issues were that he was generally considered furniture. He had no legal status.

Gargoyles were the history keepers.  People paid extra to hire a real estate agent that could remember the history of a building.  But they didn’t want them participating in society otherwise. And really, the only reason that they were all living in this house was that no one would rent to a single male non-human. Except another non-human. Even then, most were speciesist. Any other werewolves he had met considered humans to be prey.

Kevin just flat out left movie night at the first killing. By the time they got to the horrible ending, everyone was thoroughly uncomfortable.

Derick stood up and stretched, “Well, I feel morally superior for having watched that.”

Vinny shook her head, “I knew the ending. I just feel emotionally drained.”

Kogan coughed, “My turn next. I always pick comic book movies. Have you seen the first Deadpool?”

Vinny snorted, “Am I going to get to see the second?”

Kogan nodded, “Next week, myturn.”

Vinny nodded and yawned and stretched.

“Can I walk you home?” Derick asked. She blinked at him in confusion. “In case you get lost on the way upstairs, I mean.”

Vinny laughed and nodded and took his arm.

“God, I miss this.”

“And what is that?”

“Women who treat me like people,” he said simply. There was probably a better way to dress it up, but he couldn’t quite think of one just now. Maybe he should have taken the time because she stumbled on the steps at his words. His faster reaction time meant that he had a steadying hand at the small of her back before she could fall backwards down the few steps they had climbed.

He expected the flinch. It still stung when it happened.

“Whoa! How did you move that fast?”

“Practice,” he teased. Then as he started to pull his hand away, he felt her arm come across his back and up onto his shoulder.

“Good thing you decided to walk me home. Who knew this was such a dangerous area?”

He smirked; she laughed.  

The third floor landing was freezing. “Shit. I know Bazur sometimes forgets to close the window, but he was downstairs with us all night.” He sniffed. “Smells like rain,” he said uneasily.

Vinny noticed. “Afraid you will melt?” she teased.

Derick blushed and pulled away. She caught his hand and pulled him in for a kiss. To his shock and horror he was too unsettled to even enjoy it.

Her face fell and she took a step back. “Wow, that was awkward. I… I’m sorry I overstepped.”

He didn’t move his hands from around her waist. “I really don’t like thunderstorms. It isn’t you. That was nice and if you try again tomorrow, I promise I won’t be distracted. I just really, really don’t like storms.”

She cocked her head and frowned at him, “My Nonna had a dog that would hi-”

Now he stepped back. “Don’t do that. I am a person, not a dog.”

She shifted awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I just thought… Well, it was the only time Baxter ever slept on her bed, was during thunderstorms. I have a big enough bed for both of us while you are… changed. I thought… I’m sorry. You’re right you are an adult. I’m sure you have this.”

Derick blinked. There was no way he could be understanding this correctly. “You are offering to let me sleep with you?”

Now she was embarrassed. She looked at the floor. “I’m not offering to have sex with you. Just… I … yeah. You can sleep in my room if you want.”

At that point, there was flash of light followed immediately by a crash of thunder that rattled the window. August storm season was officially upon them and Derick had kicked it off with an undignified yelp in front of his crush.

Vinny opened her door. “It’s up to you. But you are sleeping on top of the covers, whatever form you are wearing.”

He followed her into her room. He watched as she closed the windows. He could smell Kevin, but couldn’t see him. Vinny pulled a night shirt out from under her pillow. “I’m going to brush my teeth.”

Derrick watched her leave. He was stripped and changed and trembling by the time she got back.

Vinny looked at him, then closed the door. She crawled into bed then patted the spot next to her. “Come on then.”