#in the hot springs. in the mall. on the sidewalk.

[evilguywhoisevil]

when i get you mitsuki .

[sweetprfct]

Meet Me Behind The Mall

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: August by Taylor Swift (Joseph Quinn's Version)

Author's Note: This was one of my fave one shots to write even if it hurts. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: 18+, smutty-ish

Wordcount: 1.9K

He was never yours.

Never was. Never had been. 

You knew that too. You knew that whatever that was between you two was temporary. He never had to say anything about it because you knew. You felt it. So, how come that searing sharp pain in your chest wouldn’t go away? How come you were laying on your bed, hugging your pillow that was soaked with your tears? How come seeing that picture of him all over the internet with her was giving you the most heartache?

You knew it. 

You knew that he always loved her but how come you still hoped? 

“Hey!” You called out, parking the car next to the sidewalk. 

That was back in Spring. You saw him that one rainy day in California. You and Joe had been friends for a while. You two met through mutual friends, and you always thought he was someone that you were interested in. However, Joe was always busy. He was in town for a few months due to filming, so you never really tried to do anything about your feelings. So, when you found him walking down the sidewalk, soaked from the rain that was falling from the sky, you couldn’t help but stop and called his attention.

“Do you need a ride?” You asked.

“No, I’m alright.” Joe answered, his expression was melancholy.

You knew there was something wrong. You knew what it was, but you didn’t ask. 

You reached towards the passenger door and pushed it open. “Get in.”

Joe stood there frozen for a moment, hesitating towards your offer. 

“Joe, c’mon. Get in the car.” You stated. “You’re going to get sick from the rain.”

That was the decision you probably regretted because Joe did enter your car and at that time, you were happy about it. Looking back on it, you weren’t so sure anymore. Joe was soaked and wet from the rain and didn’t say one word all the way back to your apartment. You didn’t want to ask what happened because you heard about it from your friends, so you just kept your mouth shut. You just wanted to help him and you did. When you both arrived at your apartment, you handed him a dry towel, and you could tell he was already starting to feel sick. 

You liked Joe. 

You have for a long time now, and he needed you at this moment, so you gave in. You took care of him. You made him some soup, gave him some dry clothes and helped him onto your sofa, laying a blanket over him as he shivered from the cold. 

“Here. This will help.” You told him, sitting at the edge of the sofa and handing him the hot soup.

“I’m fine, really.” He argued, looking away.

“Joe.” You stared at him for a moment. “You’re sick.”

All he gave you was a scoff before he turned to look at you and stared at the spoonful of soup that you were holding in front of him. His eyes lingered to you for a moment, making your knees feel weak from those chocolate button eyes that were staring right at you. Then, he went ahead and took the spoonful in his mouth. He didn’t say one word for the rest of the night as you fed him the soup and gave him some medicine for the slight fever that he was having. The rest of the night was quiet in your apartment. It was just you cleaning up in your kitchen and the quiet snore that was coming from Joe. 

You knew that he was never yours. 

You knew it, but you still tried to hope that it was going to somehow change. For some reason, that was enough for you. 

So when morning came, you went to check on Joe on your sofa, and he was already awake. 

“Good morning.” You murmured. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Thank you.” He replied with a small sad smile.

You made your way to the kitchen, and you could feel his eyes on you. Every move that you made, he sat there and watched you. You wondered what was going inside his mind, but you didn’t have time to really process everything as you felt his presence suddenly in the kitchen with you. 

“Thank you for last night.” Joe said. 

He stood next to you as you tried to focus your attention on the food that you were preparing. 

“You didn’t have to do that, but you did. So, thank you.” Joe added.

You exhaled a sharp breath and turned to face him only to find him standing so close to you. He was so close that it made you hitch your breath. His chocolate button eyes were just staring at you. You froze. You didn’t know what to do because you could see the want in his eyes. 

“Joe…” You whispered, his hand slowly cupping your face. 

Your eyes were staring into his, and you wanted to scream. You wanted to just close that gap between the both of you. You knew this was wrong. You knew what you were doing, but you did anyway. You didn’t hesitate as you grabbed his face with your hands and kissed him.

He wanted it too.

That’s what you told yourself because he did. He didn’t hesitate to kiss you back. He didn’t hesitate to grab you by your hips and set you on your kitchen counter, both of your lips moving together. His hand suddenly found the hem of your shirt as he slid it off your body as you did the same with his. Both of your grabby hands were all over each other, and his hot kisses were lingering all over your skin as he took you in his arms and walked you back in your bedroom. 

He was never yours but just for today, he was. 

“Joe.” You whispered, pulling away from the kiss breathlessly. “Are you sure?”

“Are you sure?” He asked. 

You swallowed every guilt feeling you had and nodded your head before his lips found yours again. You gasped as you felt his lips trailed down your neck, between your breasts and down your stomach, making your body tremble. He was intense, and he was also gentle as he slipped himself inside of you, both of you gasping softly and letting out soft moans as your bodies moved together.

You wanted all of him. All the time.

But you knew. You knew that wasn’t going to be possible, so you enjoyed every minute that you were with him. You enjoyed every minute that summer. Since that night, he has spent most nights with you. Legs twisted in your bedsheets, his soft kisses on your skin, and the laughter that slipped out of both of you in small conversations. The way his fingers would intertwine with yours. The way he took you to the beach almost every weekend, and the both of you soaking up the salt air and the summer sun. You wanted to write your name on his skin. You wanted him to be yours forever, but you knew it wasn’t possible. 

“I’m going back home in September.” Those words slipped out of his lips one day.

He had asked you to meet him behind the mall after your shift from your office. You had plans to meet up with your friends, but you canceled them as soon as he messaged you. The set he was filming was close to it, and he had texted you that he wanted to see you. So, you gave in. You always had because as time passed, those feelings for Joe weren't just ordinary anymore. You were in love with him, and you hated yourself for it, but he told you that he wanted this too. That whatever he had with her was over. 

“Oh.” That was all you could manage. “You’d call when you arrive there?”

“Of course.” Joe smiled, leaning in to kiss you softly.

You believed it too. 

You believed every word he said. You believed that all of this was real between the two of you. That this could be something different. So, when August came, you wanted to make sure you spent every minute with him before he went back to London. Though, you could slowly feel him slip away from your fingers. You didn’t admit it to yourself because he had told you that this was something he wanted, remember? So, you blamed his long hours of filming. 

He was just tired. You told yourself. 

When he had spent a couple of hours on his phone when he arrived at your place, you told yourself that he was just talking to his manager. Work stuff. When he had started telling you that he couldn’t come over, you told yourself that he was preparing to leave and the thought of him being across the ocean from you was giving a sharp pain in your chest. You felt him slip away slowly, and you heard talks, but you ignored it. You ignored it when the both of you had decided that you didn’t have to drop him off at the airport just in case someone would see the both of you. So, he said goodbye to you at your place, and you wanted to tell him so much that you wanted him to stay, but you didn’t. You let him go. 

Upon arriving in London, he had called you. He called you for about a week and then he started fading away. You would only hear from him through texts, and he had stopped calling completely. Then, one afternoon, you just arrived back at your apartment when he had given you a call. 

You felt that ring differently in your stomach. You had it in your gut feeling. 

“Hey!” You answered, trying to make your voice as cheerful as possible. 

Joe played around the subject for a while. Apologized that he hadn't called because he had been busy, but you weren’t stupid. You had heard about it from your friends. You knew in the beginning that this was temporary, but you had hoped. You had hoped for it all that this was going to change, but you should have known that it didn’t.

“I think being far away from each other is just making this hard.” Joe had explained.

It was complete bullshit. 

You knew the real reason for it. 

“Did… Did you even love me?” You asked, your voice stuttering.

“What we had this summer was amazing, but that was just it. It was just this summer.”

His words made you feel like someone had stabbed you a thousand times in your heart, and you couldn’t breathe anymore. You just wanted this pain to go away because you he wasn’t yours, remember? You had told yourself that over and over again, but you were still stupid enough to fall for someone who didn’t feel the same way as you. You were stupid enough to think that Joe could love you. 

That was two weeks ago. He had broken this thing between you two a couple weeks ago and a couple weeks later, the internet had spiraled over the new photos that were all over the different articles of different gossip websites. He was back with her in London, walking down the street, both with smiles on their faces, and you had thrown up about three times that morning. You wanted to just take away this sharp pain in your chest. You wanted these feelings to go away because he wasn’t yours. You thought wanting him was enough, but it turned out to be just hell. 

He was never yours in the first place, so why did you feel this way? 

He was never yours to lose. 

The End.

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[homesweetvanlife]

Home Sweet Home

The best part of living in a vehicle, a van like Marty, is that I’m always home, no matter where I have to go, or what is going on. Of course, it would probably have felt similar before the world went crazy, but maybe the safety element was different. Here, now, when I shut the door and put up a blind across the front window and click all the locks, I’m not afraid of what’s out there. I have an escape from the outside world and a space of safety. I mean, nowhere is out of the range of the Big Lights, but everything else feels okay.

Over time, I’ve made little adjustments here and there to the living space. There’s a section that’s designated the kitchen, with a little more food storage than was originally allotted, and a large collapsible jug where I keep fresh water. There’s no sink or stove, but an electric hot plate if I want to heat something up or boil water. Opposite that there’s a comfortable bench which is on top of the power storage batteries. I found some great pillows and now the space is perfect for relaxing with a book or just a cup of coffee. 

The bed is at the front of the space and is actually quite wide. The space underneath has the other half of the conversion panel, tool storage, and the gas tank. Everywhere in the van that has a little bit of space is used, either for something specific, or for storage. I think that when Chip’s brother designed it, he just thought he would be using it for camping. I know there are people out there with better, fancier vans or motorhomes. But, even in this situation, where more people follow the Big Lights everyday, I just don’t like the idea of taking someone else’s home. Marty is my home, and if I have to live like I’m camping, that’s the price to pay for having such a home.

And, I’m not always alone either! Just last week I found a couple of kittens sitting on the sidewalk by a strip mall. They seemed to like me okay, so I brought them home. They have a little box of toys under the back of the driver’s seat and I’m training them to let me know when they need to go outside. I was nervous to try going into a pet store to get them food, not sure what I might find, so I went to one of the smaller ones. There was no one there and  it just had food and supplies, and the front door was propped open.

I hope that when I eventually “hear” the call of the Big Lights I will be aware enough to leave the van doors open and not shut the kittens inside. When the spring weather comes again, maybe I’ll find a tent and start sleeping outdoors, like real camping.

[smashboxgirl26]

vengeance / chapter 12: catching

chapter 11: manipulating | chapter 13: a new face

vengeance masterlist

Midoriya’s eyes lit up in an unexpected and almost unnatural way when he saw the man in dark clothing trying to act inconspicuous behind you. Even if he’d been doing it for a while, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t really good at his job since it’d been so easy for Midoriya to spot him in the crowd like that.

He pulled his cap down tighter, tucking his noteworthy hair under it to make sure it couldn’t be spotted by you or Ito. His pace quickened and he pushed his way through the crowds towards the “group” of people his eyes were locked on.

Ito hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, and he wanted it to stay that way so it could be done without you knowing that Ito had been there in the first place. You already looked scared enough, poor thing - you would probably pass out on the spot if you found out that your suspicions were actually correct.

No, he couldn’t put you in harm's way like that. Who knows what you’d do (to yourself or anyone else) if you figured it out.

Right now, it didn’t seem like Ito was going to put you in harm’s way. He just seemed to be following behind you and Camie (who should’ve noticed something like this by now, being a hero and all) and observing your actions as you both walked around the mall together. If anything happened, Midoriya knew that you would be okay. You were in public for one, and you had Camie and other legal enforcements around you.

He was basically the last line of defense.

However, he was the only one who was aware of Ito’s presence behind you. And that meant he should be trying to separate Ito from your group and single him out.

There was still anger residing in him from the day before, hot and bubbling in his chest as he followed behind silently. He didn’t know how badly he’d lose himself if he was able to get his hands on Ito right then and there.

It was something he’d been craving since he first found out what Ito was doing. He’d held himself back the day before, thinking he would instantly scare Ito away and out of the police’s clutches. But it looked like he hadn’t hit him hard enough, since Ito ran away from the scene anyway. It would’ve been better for the police to find him passed out in his apartment with questions as to how he got there rather than scrambling to find him in the first place.

Now there he was, slipping in and out of the crowd in attempts to follow you around a mall.

It was almost pathetic how desperate he was. He definitely thought he had you that night when Izuku showed up - and now he was grasping at the remaining straws to try and get you in his clutches.

Izuku was drawn out of his inner dialogue when his eyes caught you and Camie going separate ways.

That was not good.

Ito had been scared off enough because Camie was right there beside you. And now she was leaving you to walk on your own? What kind of hero was she?

He immediately noticed the quick steps that Ito took as he began inching closer towards you from the behind.

Camie was now heading in the opposite direction, and it seemed like your fears had been released enough that you weren’t constantly looking around you anymore.

Midoriya broke out into a short spring to cover the distance he’d left between himself and Ito, now cursing at himself for being so far away. He hadn’t wanted to scare you or Ito away accidentally and caused a whole panic at the mall, but he’d underestimated how desperate Ito actually was.

Ito was now directly behind you, practically looming over your shoulder and breathing in your ear as he began to attempt to make his move. Thankfully Midoriya’s legs were fast enough - that he was able to carry himself to where you and Ito were walking almost instantaneously.

He nudged himself into Ito’s shoulder, his head down and his brows furrowed as he did so, making sure that Ito stumbled over to the side and away from where you were. Ito crashed onto his knees, due to the fact that his legs crossed over each other when nudged, and huffed loudly in annoyance at the interference.

He glared up to where Midoriya was standing - but the look in his eyes diminished when Midoriya pulled his mask down.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Izuku apologized, holding out one of his hands towards the man. “Let me help you up.”

Ito took one look at his hand, and another at Izuku’s face before scrambling up and running in the opposite direction that you were walking in. Izuku inwardly cursed as he readjusted the mask and took off after him.

The two weaved quickly in between the crowds of people - with Ito constantly looking over his shoulder to see if he’d lost Midoriya yet. Unfortunately for him, Midoriya was hot on his tail, his eyes never leaving the sight of Ito’s head as he gained on him.

The exit of the mall was coming into view, and Midoriya pushed himself to run faster. He needed to try and get him in the mall’s vicinity or he wouldn’t be able to catch him easily. Here, there were other people and obstacles that he had to avoid, but the parking lot was mostly open space that made it easy to run faster and away from him.

Finally, Midoriya’s fingers were pretty much able to grasp the back of the hoodie that Ito was wearing to hide himself, and he quickly wrapped his fingers around the fabric and pulled as he skidded to a stop. But Ito didn’t.

He quickly unzipped the hoodie leaving it in Midoriya’s fingers, and lunged forward once again towards the exit. Midoriya quickly caught on to the charade and pumped his feet to move faster once Ito was almost touching the exit door handles.

Midoriya launched himself forward once again to grab at Ito’s arm, shoulder, anything - but Ito was already running into the parking lot and jumping into one of the cars.

Midoriya slammed the door open and chased after him but it was too late. Multiple cars were pulling out now and he couldn’t see which one Ito was using as his getaway car - most of their tinted windows being too dark to allow others to see what was inside.

Midoriya paused, his lungs and the rest of his body aching as he skidded to a stop on the sidewalk and watched as all the cars filed out silently. His chest was rising up and down rapidly with his fists clenched at his sides and his face twisted into a scowl.

He looked down at the hoodie that was still in his grasp, and glared at it before throwing it harshly to the ground.

He was right there.

Why wasn’t he able to get Ito in time?

Dammit.

Midoriya’s palms covered his head as he breathed out to the ground in anger and annoyance. His body was shaking, and his eye twitched as he berated himself, once again, for letting Ito get away.

But he finally calmed himself after staring at the hoodie that was still laying on the ground. He could actually use the little easter egg to his advantage, now that he was thinking about it.

After all, Ito had to have left some piece of DNA on it.

He gingerly picked it up and stuffed part of it into one of his pockets, staring back at the entrance of the mall.

At least now he’d scared Ito off enough that he wouldn’t try and bother you for a while. And that would give him enough time to try and use the old hoodie against him - just as Ito had tried to use it against himself.

…

Katsuki thought that he’d handled himself pretty well that morning, considering that he’d had a panic attack the day before when he found out what was happening.

The emotions he was feeling weren’t all that different from the ones you had - anxiety, exhaustion, anger. However it seemed that his emotions were much more amplified in their magnitude than yours were.

Your emotions were completely understandable. You didn’t know how to handle this situation. You weren’t trained to deal with it. But he was.

Was that why he was so much angrier than you were?

No, it was because it was his job to keep you safe from situations like these and he was failing. He was supposed to be trained to deal with stuff like this in the first place and he was failing - letting his emotions beat him easily.

Heck, if he’d been doing a proper job as your boyfriend, this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

That morning, he knew he couldn’t show you what he was actually feeling, since it would cause you to break down even further. He couldn’t dump his insecurities onto you like that, it wouldn’t help the situation whatsoever. He could tell that you were already struggling with wrapping the idea around your head, and he didn’t want to add any more stress to that.

So he pushed his feelings down. He had to be your rock, and keep you tethered to the ground. Otherwise, you would’ve floated off into your mind and all the harm that it could’ve caused.

It didn’t mean that he wasn’t angry, though.

Yesterday’s reaction had been a mix of shock and fear, but now that he had a better understanding of the situation, all those mixed emotions were replaced with anger. He was almost thankful when you’d told him that Camie had invited you out for the day, knowing that he couldn’t keep the anger inside him from bursting out any longer.

The problem was, he couldn’t even direct it to helping out with the investigation. Kirishima had called earlier that morning and said that the agency Monoma was working at decided that Bakugou shouldn’t be on the investigation, because of the ties that he had to Y/N. Because, for some reason, they believed that his bias would hinder the investigation.

Now he was fuming as he stomped his way to the agency to call the director of the Heroes Commission and give him a piece of his mind to let him join that investigation. If he refused to comply, he and his stupid LOV mission could go to hell.

But he was greeted by a new site when walking into the agency.There were cops everywhere, as well as other heroes that didn’t work there.

Bakugou’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, walking into the familiar space slowly as he observed the dozens of extra people around him, looking for anyone familiar.

Monoma was there, but he was not someone he wanted to talk to.

He finally spotted Kirishima on the side of the crowd, leaning against the wall and talking to Mina and Denki. They were all closed off from the rest of the other heroes, staying in their little group with worried looks on their faces and whispering to each other as they glanced around.

Bakugou quickly made his way over to them and raised eyebrows in question. They understood, and all four of them made their way to the elevator so they could talk in private on the 25th floor - without all the other people breathing down their necks.

“What was all that about?” Bakugou asked once the doors of the elevator opened. He didn’t bother walking into his office and set his bag down, just plopping it down on a nearby desk before glancing back at the others.

“We don’t really know,” Mina replied with a nervous look on her face. “Monoma just said that it was part of Y/N’s investigation, so he couldn’t tell us yet till he was sure of something.”

“This is part of the investigation?” Bakugou asked with a surprised look.

“Yeah,” Kirishima nodded. “It has something to do with the Ito guy but I’m not sure what.”

“That’s exactly correct, knockoff Tetsutetsu!”

Everyone turned their heads to the direction of the elevator, where Monoma was now standing with a large grin on his face.

“If anything, Tetsutetsu is Kirishima’s knockoff,” Denki rolled his eyes.

Monoma’s face twisted into a grimace at Denki’s words before taking a step closer towards the other three. He followed in Denki’s suit, rolling his eyes before picking at his nails and continuing.

“The reason we’re here is because Ito was working here, and none of you noticed.”

Everyone’s face twisted into shock and they all stared at Monoma in complete silence.

“There’s no way that’s possible!” Bakugou was the first to speak. “I would’ve fucking known that one of our employees was stalking my girlfriend.”

“Well there was, and you didn’t know,” Monoma replied. “And as much as I’d like to blame you all for it, I don’t think it was your fault. He applied here with a fake name and background, you wouldn’t have known unless you dived deep into his history. He’s got two restraining orders from two other women under the same grounds - stalking. One of them was actually his ex wife.”

“How’d you even know that he was working here in the first place then?” Bakugou quipped back. He could barely even believe what was coming out of Monoma’s mouth. Ito had been right under his nose the whole time, and he hadn’t even noticed.

“We only found out because the police were going through all the public CCTV footage they could find of him. They saw him entering your building with a keycard and assumed that he’d somehow gotten a job here. He was using the name Chikao Suzuki.”

“Wait, that was one of the guys who worked in filing downstairs,” Kaminari spoke up. “I talked to him a few times and he seemed normal.”

Bakugou couldn’t even speak anymore on the issue. He was going to be sick.

“Monoma, I understand that Bakugou can’t work on the investigation because he’s dating Y/N. But I should be able to work on it with you, right? Especially now that our agency is involved in some way. Not to mention that we’ll provide more resources since your agency’s a little smaller,” Kirishima pitched.

He quickly looked at Bakugou and sent him a short but firm nod. He was going to help obtain the details that bakugou wasn’t technically allowed to get at the moment.

Monoma let out a defeated sigh, “Fine. The agencies can officially team up. Come downstairs and I’ll show you the stuff we have so far. Only Bakugou isn’t allowed to see them, got it?”

Kirishima, Mina, and Denki nodded in agreement while Bakugou rolled his eyes. He knew Monoma was rubbing the fact that he couldn’t participate in his face - regardless of the severity of the situation.

The four of them walked into the elevator together, and Kirishima gave Bakugou one last glance before the door closed and they were out of sight.

What was he supposed to do now?

He couldn’t even keep you safe under his roof. You were with him almost every day, and you weren’t protected in all that time.

And when his mind brought this fact up to light, he couldn’t help but wander back to the fact that the two of you didn’t even live together. He couldn’t protect you at work, or at home. Because even though his presence around you was constant, and that the two of you practically lived at each other’s houses anyways, you were still unsafe.

` He couldn’t keep letting you live like this, and he couldn’t keep living with the guilt that was piling onto him.

He needed to convince you to move in with him, and fast.

At least his apartment building had more security, and he would feel the teensiest better about his failures if he was able to do this one single thing.

But now that that was decided, what else could he do?

He couldn’t even go downstairs and ease his frustrations and anxiety by working on the case with the others. If he called the Hero Commissions director to let him on the investigation, he already knew that Monoma would make his life a living hell for interfering in his work. At least right now, Kirishima and the others would be able to work with no other large interferences from Monoma’s side.

So what else was left for him to do but throw himself into the League of Villains problem that the Heroes Commission was forcing him into?

──────────────

haven't updated this one in a hot minute not proofread loll

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[august-grey]

i don't need your closure | chapter 10

read on ao3

masterpost

May 1985

“Honestly, Steve, stop being so dramatic. You can do so much worse than scooping ice cream for the summer.” Stepping out of the brand-new Starcourt Mall into the late-Spring sun, Alice slid her sunglasses onto her face. The day of job hunting had gone well, if she did say so herself. Claire’s certainly hadn’t been her first choice, but it was better than nothing. Plus, she thought, self-consciously, if you stood on your tiptoes in just the right spot by the earring racks in the front of the store, you could look directly into Scoops Ahoy on the lower floor of the mall. Alice chose not to dwell on why this fact was so relevant to her.

“Are you kidding me? This is bottom of the barrel stuff, Alice. You didn’t see the uniform they’re making me wear. Look at this!” Steve threw himself onto a bench and dug through the brown paper bag he’d been carrying before brandishing a white sailor’s cap in Alice’s face. She took it from him and swatted his hand away. Oh. Yeah, this was pretty bad. “Also, I’m pretty sure my coworker hates me already even though she barely knows me, so that’s gonna be fun.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Alice tried to console her obviously distraught friend. “This is just a stepping stone, Steve. We’ve gotta start somewhere.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve got that cushy job upstairs selling scrunchies to preteens. Meanwhile I’m going to be in the trenches, slinging ice cream to hoards of hot, hungry customers.” 

“Easy for you to say, you’ve got that cushy job upstairs selling scrunchies to preteens. Meanwhile I’m going to be in the trenches, slinging ice cream to hoards of hot, hungry customers.” 

“Think of the tips, though! People are going to be so grateful to you for providing respite from the heat, you’re going to be swimming in that sweet, sweet ice cream money.” Alice plopped down on the bench next to Steve, straightened out the cap in her hands, and placed it on his head. He immediately yanked it off and shoved it back into the bag out of sight, but not before Alice caught a flash of bright blue polyester. “Besides, it’s just for the summer, right? In a couple months we’ll be off to college and have to start the job hunt all over again.”

“Yeah, about that.” Steve’s voice lowered and she had to lean closer to hear him. “Turns out I’m going to be stuck in Hawkins a while longer. I didn’t get in, Al. No one wanted me.”

Alice’s stomach dropped. Oh god, she was an idiot. When her acceptance letters started coming in, she’d ignorantly assumed Steve’s were similar. He hadn’t mentioned anything to the contrary, at least. Regardless, she should have known something was off. Alice knew he’d been anxious when applying, but he’d worked so hard this year. Certainly the admissions offices could see how much improvement he’d made, why couldn’t that be taken into account? This was completely unfair. After what Steve had gone through…everything with the demodogs and the bullshit with Nancy and being bullied by Billy...Steve deserved so much better than feeling rejected yet again.

“Steve…”

“No, no. It’s okay. It doesn’t matter, really.” The catch in his voice gave away the fact that it did, in fact, matter to him. It pained Alice to see her normally overconfident friend like this; shoulders hunched, eyes fixed on the concrete sidewalk. She laid a comforting hand on his back and felt him lean into her touch. “Don’t blame them, honestly. Just didn’t have the grades. Probably should’ve started caring before my last year of high school, huh? My parents are pissed, obviously. Which is why I’m going to be working a fucking dead end job instead of starting with my dad.”

“Screw what your parents think, Steve. This isn’t the end.” Absentmindedly patting Steve’s arm, Alice wracked her mind for a solution. “First of all, don’t think of Scoops as a dead end job; it’s a jumping off point. It’s experience to add to your resume. Secondly, have you looked at the community colleges around, or maybe a trade school? You don’t even need to go to school, really. We can look for apprenticeships or get you in at an entry level position somewhere. We should grab a paper and check the classifieds, do you have any change?”

It looked like Alice had a mission now; there was no way she was letting Steve feel this badly about himself without exhausting every resource. Spotting the newspaper vending box near the entrance of the mall, she sprang from the bench, digging through her purse for a few coins. Before she could rush off, she felt a hand snake around her wrist, refocusing her attention. Steve was looking up at her, amusement and something else she couldn’t place was sparkling in his eyes. Heart beating a bit faster, Alice let herself be pulled back down onto the bench.

“Jesus, Alice, calm down. You don’t need to solve my problems all at once. God, you don’t have to solve any of my problems, that’s not on you. Besides, it’s not so bad. At least I’ll be able to keep an eye on Dustin and the kids next year. Make sure they don’t get into much trouble without you here to wrangle them. Let’s just enjoy the summer for now, yeah? We can take a couple months to have some fun and work our minimum wage jobs and take advantage of not having to literally fight for our lives. We can just be teenagers for once.” Steve slid his hand from it’s gentle grip on Alice’s wrist, shifting to lace their fingers together. “Then we can figure out the future, okay?”

Shit. Alice seemed to have forgotten how to breath. This was just some friendly, casual hand-holding, right? All friends did this, didn’t they? Of course they don’t, you moron. She shook away the thought. This was really beginning to become a problem. 

She had tried. Truly, honestly tried. For months. But despite her best efforts, Alice had continued the long and deep decent into a full blown crush on Steve Harrington. Of course, she outright refused to admit it to even herself, let alone Steve. Alice genuinely didn’t know what she would do if the relationship they had built over the past several months was suddenly gone because she did something stupid like admitting her stupid unrequited feelings for him. There was no way she’d even consider jeopardizing their friendship over that.

So instead Alice chose to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that stirred up every time she had any sort of physical contact with Steve. Which, to both her pleasure and dismay, seemed to be happening much more often lately. The occasional hug or accidental brush of limbs had evolved into much more purposeful touches. Ones that lingered maybe a tad too long. Thighs pressed against each other during movies or while studying. An arm draped over her shoulders or guiding hand on the small of her back while walking. And now, apparently, holding hands for no reason other than to just…touch.

“Okay?” Snapping back to reality, Alice nodded enthusiastically, giving him a tight-lipped smile. Steve grinned and squeezed her hand; Alice had to take a breath to center herself. She really had to sort herself out. “Speaking of being normal teenagers, what are we doing after prom?”

“Prom?” Alice parroted, brain not quite caught up yet. “You literally told me last week that prom was boring and overrated.”

“Well, yeah, it is. But I was mostly trying to make you feel better about being too sick to go last year. It won’t be so awful this year, not with you.” Catching the skeptical look on her face, Steve’s tone became more serious. “Alice…we can’t not go to our senior prom.”

“I don’t know…it’s only a week away and I don’t even have a dress or anything.” Alice bit her lip; it wasn’t that she didn’t want to go. Between college prep, extracurriculars, finals, and job hunting, prom had been the farthest thing from her mind. By the time she realized how quickly it was approaching, she thought it felt too late to consider going. “You really don’t have a date, already? No one asked you?”

Steve looked a bit sheepish before brushing off the question, “I mean, someone might’ve asked. But I don’t want to spend the night with some rando when I know for a fact I’d have an infinitely better time with someone I actually like.”

The fact that Steve had turned down going with an actual date for her did not escape Alice’s attention. Trying not to let it go to her head, she extracted her hand from Steve’s and stood up. 

“If this is your way of asking me to prom, I pity your future fiancé.” Steve rolled his eyes at Alice, biting back a smile. “She won’t even know you’re proposing. Very roundabout, Harrington. You could’ve been like, ‘hey Alice, let’s just go prom together as friends ’ and I would’ve been like ‘sure, Steve, sounds great’ and this would’ve been settled a lot quicker.” 

“Yeah…as friends…” Steve grumbled under his breath. 

“What was that?” Alice asked, not quite catching what he had said.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. So…is that a yes or are you going to drag this out for the rest of the day?” 

It was Alice’s turn to roll her eyes. Obviously she’d go with him. There wasn’t any part of her that would say no to Steve at this point. She was long gone, even if she wasn’t ready to reconcile that with herself just yet.  

“C’mon. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had nothing to wear.” Steve scrambled up from the bench, following Alice back to the entrance of the mall. She slid her sunglasses to rest on the top of her head. “We’re shopping, Harrington.”

***

How the prom council managed to transform the high school gym into an Under the Sea  fantasy completely mystified Alice. She had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Metallic streamers covered the walls and hung from the ceiling, papier-mâché jellyfish and cutouts of tropical fish bobbed above their heads, and the whole gymnasium was cast in a pretty, blue-green light that truly made it seem as though they were in whimsical underwater world instead of small-town Indiana. 

Overall, prom really wasn’t as awful as Steve had made it out to be. The food left something to be desired, but Alice was actually having fun. When she wasn’t dancing wildly with her friends from band or drama club, Alice was being swept away to graze at the snacks laid out and gossip about their classmates with Steve. Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much. Steve was right, this was exactly what they needed after everything they’d been through. 

The ending notes of a Pat Benetar tune rang through the gym, making way for the beginnings of a much slower song. Alice extracted herself from the small group of girls she’d been dancing with, face-flushed and fixing the straps of her dress, as her classmates began to pair off. Just as well, she needed a breather; her feet were screaming from inside the heels she’d naively convinced herself to wear, and she desperately needed a drink. She had somehow lost Steve a few songs ago and she scanned the crowd for him as she made her way over to the punch bowl.

Suddenly Alice felt a hand slide into hers. Before she had time to react, her arm was lifted above her head and she was being twirled straight into Steve’s chest. The emerald taffeta of Alice’s dress swished around her calves as she tried to regain her bearings after the sudden, full-body contact with her best friend.

“Dance with me?” He grinned down at her, wrapping his free arm around her waist to place his hand on the small of her back. He was gorgeous, almost ethereal, cast in the artificial light. His classic black tuxedo turned to a rich, deep midnight blue and the tie they’d scoured three different stores to find the exact shade of her dress, more teal than green now. 

“We’ve been dancing all night, dummy.” She took a half step back, moving her free hand to rest on Steve’s shoulder. They really had been dancing, if you considered hopping around like maniacs and shouting lyrics at each other when their favorite songs played as dancing. But Alice wasn’t an idiot, she knew this was different. This felt different. 

She swore she felt something shift as she and Steve swayed together to the beat of the music. Steve pulled her closer so that their bodies were flush with one another, so close that she could feel his heart beat against her own chest. Adjusting to the lack of space, she twined her arms around his neck. His hands settled on either side of her hips, holding her tight. Alice’s entire body was on fire. 

“You really do look beautiful tonight, Alice.” Steve leaned down to whisper in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. 

“Well, you clean up pretty well yourself, Harrington.” Alice bit back her smile, playing it cool. He didn’t make it easy on her, however. 

Alice’s mind spun as Steve’s head tilted, angling his face toward hers. He paused, gaze flickering from her eyes to her lips, as if waiting for Alice to grant him permission. Oh god, this was happening. Suddenly extremely grateful for the few inches her heels added to her height, Alice would only have to lean in to close the small gap between their mouths. If she did this, if she kissed Steve Harrington, everything would change. Their friendship would never be the same. But God did Alice want it. She wanted it so badly she could scream. 

Fuck it. There was no way she could know what would happen after, but there was only one way to find out. Not giving herself another second to overthink, Alice rose to her tip toes and gently pressed her lips to Steve’s. 

Or, at least she would have if someone hadn’t violently shouldered Steve as they passed by the pair. The sudden impact nearly knocked Steve off his feet, but Alice, already unsteady in her shoes, slipped and lost her grip on Steve’s neck, sending her toppling to the unforgiving gymnasium floor. 

Landing hard on her elbow, Alice stifled her grunt of pain. Steve was upon her in a second, crouching down to help her sit up and scanning her for injury. 

“You good?” Alice nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. She made to smooth out her skirt and make sure everything was covered when a shadow fell over them.

“Ooh, nasty fall, Henderson. My bad.” A voice drawled from far above her. Alice looked up into the smug, smirking face of Billy Hargrove; tie hung loose around his neck, dress shirt unbuttoned to show off a generous amount of chest. His date draped over his arm at least had the decency to throw Alice a look of pity. The couples around them had stopped dancing, finding more entertainment in the storm brewing in front of them. 

“Fuck off, Hargrove.” Steve growled, wrapping a protective arm around Alice and hauling her to her feet. Alice steadied herself, cradling her sore elbow. That was surely going to bruise by the morning. 

“What? It was an accident.” Billy feigned remorse, turning toward Alice. “Right, Henderson? You forgive me, right?”

“Leave us alone, Billy.” She muttered, just wanting to be done with him. Alice was so sick of this man. He’d already done enough damage, how much more could he possibly do to her and her friends. 

“Aw, c’mon now. Don’t be like that.” He crooned, condescendingly. Alice pressed her lips together defiantly, not willing to give him any more satisfaction. “I’m hurt, Alice, truly. I thought you’d be a little more understanding when you consider our, uh, intimate history.”

That last dig had the tears Alice had been swallowing down finally fight their way to the surface. She was absolutely mortified. There wasn’t a day she didn’t regret her drunken tryst, if you can even call it that, with Billy. Unfortunately for Alice, not only did he know it, but he found some sickening pleasure in taunting her with the knowledge of how much it bothered her. He’d shown his true colors that awful night at the Byers. Threatening physical harm to literal children, nearly killing Steve. Her stomach turned every time she thought of the genuine terror in Max’s eyes when she heard the revving engine of Billy’s car. As far as Alice was concerned, Billy was a monster. One that was somehow proving to be much harder to get rid of than the actual monsters she’d seen. 

Alice could feel the judging stares of her classmates on her. A few hushed giggles and whispers rose above the music, and her face burned with shame. The music and commotion of the gymnasium soon gave way until she could only hear the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. What once felt magical, soon turned almost claustrophobic as the room closed in on her. She could only think of getting out of there.

Seemingly satiated by the few, humiliated tears leaking down Alice’s cheeks, Billy gave her one final arrogant grin and sauntered back into the crowd, pulling his date along with him. 

Fists balled at his sides, Steve furiously made his way after the boy, but Alice clutched his arm, pulling him back to her. The fire in his eyes melted as he caught her expression, his attention torn between Billy’s retreating back and the pathetic girl before him.

“Can we get some air?” She sniffled, hastily wiping her face just for new tears to replace the old. He just nodded, jaw clenched. 

“Let’s get out of here.” Gripping her hand tightly, Steve wove his way through the throngs of teens toward the exit, pulling Alice along with him. He didn’t let go until they had safely pushed through the double doors in the back of the gym. 

Alice hadn’t realized how overheated she was until she was met with the cool, late spring air. Head spinning, she frantically searched the area for a private place to have her breakdown. Small groups of people littered the courtyard and parking lot; couples making out in the shadows, a trio of boys passing a flask back and forth, a gaggle of girls comforting a crying friend. 

Steve hot on her heels, Alice settled on a well-hidden spot behind a low brick wall. Deeming it far enough away from prying eyes, she plopped herself on the concrete, buried her face in her hands, (knowing fully well that she was ruining the makeup she’d spent so long perfecting that evening), and let herself truly cry.

What was wrong with her? There was no way the Alice of a year ago would have let a glorified bully get under her skin like Billy had. She did what she could to avoid him, but it was a small school. As if the taunts and snide remarks he threw at her in the halls weren’t enough, just the sight of him brought her back to everything that happened that fall. Everything that Alice was doing her best to put behind her. But there Billy was; a constant reminder of the horror they all had faced. Graduation couldn’t come quick enough if it meant seeing the last of Billy Hargrove. 

She felt Steve settle in next to her, his body pressed against hers from shoulder to thigh. Alice was suddenly struck with the memory of that first night when everything had gone to shit, at the hospital after she, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan had fought the demogorgon. She’d almost broken down then, too. But Steve had been there, offering a light and anchoring her reality. Things had been so different then. She had barely known Steve (or any of them for that matter) as anything other than the douchebag constantly interrupting every class they had together with pointless questions. Now, Alice couldn’t imagine her life without him.

Back then they’d been so sure that the worst of it was over. That the monster was dead; gone for good. How were they to know that the worst was yet to come? 

Even now, after once again narrowly escaping death via horror-movie monsters, Alice wasn’t convinced that their otherworldly troubles had come to pass. Hawkins had been so quiet since Eleven closed the gate between their world and the Upside Down. But deep in her bones, she knew it wasn’t over. Alice was sure that the others felt it, even if they didn’t say so. There was a kind of tension, as if they were all just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

But that wasn’t the current issue. For now, at least, Alice could focus on a problem much less deadly and more grounded in the present: fucking Billy Hargrove. Not only did Billy basically physically assault her tonight, he had interrupted the perfect moment between her and Steve. 

“I hate him.” She let out a shuddering breath, strategically wiping her face in an attempt to minimize the carnage of her eye-makeup. “Just one fucking night to forget everything and I let him ruin it. He shouldn’t be able to get to me like this. I’m so fucking stupid.”

“Stop that, c’mere.” Steve scooted over, angling himself toward Alice and gathering her in his arms, practically pulling her into his lap. Alice allowed herself this moment of weakness and melted into his side. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she took in deep, steadying breaths; Steve’s familiar scent of aftershave and salty sweat grounding her.“Hargrove’s an asshole, that’s all he’ll ever be. Don’t let him be what you remember from tonight. You had fun, right?”

She nodded, her cheek brushing against the slippery material of his tuxedo jacket. 

“Well then, there we go. We’re not going to waste our time on losers like him, okay?”

She nodded again.

“You feel any better?”

“I guess.” 

Steve sighed, his breath rustling her hair. Guilt ate at Alice. Billy may have ruined her night, but here she was ruining Steve’s. She couldn’t let that happen. Time to put on a brave face and endure the rest of the night. 

“You wanna skip Tammy’s afterparty and just go back to my place? We can forget about stupid prom and…I don’t know…raid my dad’s liquor cabinet, order a pizza, and watch movies all night.”

Alice shook her head, turning so she could properly face him. “No way. As tempting as that sounds, we’ve gotta go. What kind of friend would I be if I made you miss the last good party of high school?”

“We’ve got Sixteen Candles at home.”

“Seriously, Steve. I’m just overreacting. It’s fine, let’s just go and-”

“Splash?”

“-I’m not going to make you miss out on-“

“...Annie?” 

That made her give pause. An offering of Annie from Steve didn’t come lightly. Alice had made him watch her favorite movie about a half-dozen times since they started having regular movie nights. She’d been extremely hesitant to bring it up for the first time, knowing the musical wasn’t quite Steve’s speed, but she’d been having a particularly rough week and needed the comforting wholesomeness of Little Orphan Annie. And Alice was right; Steve hated it. But since then, any time Steve noticed her getting more stressed out or upset than usual, he’d put on a brave face and pop in the well-worn VHS without complaint. Alice liked to think he was coming around to it. 

“Are you sure?”

“There’s quite literally nothing I’d rather do, Al.”

[lucreziaces]

what vibes each taylor album gives me....

taylor swift: flowy white dresses and cowboy boots down the by lake, tall grass, late summer picnics at dusk, laughing and playing hide and seek after dark, sun-kissed skin, catching fireflies, faded blue jeans with sandals in the meadow chasing your first crush

fearless: waking up at six a.m., dancing around in your pjs, sticky lipgloss, staying up late with your best friend talking about boys, daydreaming during class, kissing in the rain, crying on your bedroom floor, staring at the castle on the outskirts of town, sneaking into gardens, jeans and high heels, small town 

speak now: over sized sweaters and leggings tucked into fluffy boots, playing chess in front the fire, gold leaves covering the lawn on Thanksgiving, roses in the snow, old bookshelves in a dimly lit room, conversations over coffee in traditional styled rooms, a small house in the middle of nowhere with snow surrounding it

red: brightly colored leaves falling from the trees on sunny days, giant scarves and gloves, lattes in central park, someone playing guitar on the side of the street, cafes in Paris, staying up late to watch the city, busy city streets and small apartments, red lipstick, old-fashioned skirts and peter pan tees, oxford heels

1989: laughing with your friends getting ready to go out, soft pink lipstick, high waisted jeans and white sneakers on rocky shores, NYC skylines on a partly cloudy spring day, late night drives with no destinations, painting your nails bright colors, driving past your ex’s house, silver chains reflecting lights, quiet moments on the sidewalk under starry skies

reputation: cloudy days and starry nights so cold you can see your breath, hot cocoa with your lover, sitting up on the roof top with plastic cups and blushing faces, breaking down in the middle of the night and having someone to hold you, tight black dress meant to impress in a dimly lit club, dark red lipstick, bare trees and coats that swallow your figure on the lake in late November, kissing at a New Year’s eve party

lover: playing piano in the middle of the night, taking down the Christmas lights with your lover, slow dancing in the refrigerator light at 2 a.m., pink skies, cherry blossom petals along the sidewalk, reading the books on your lover’s bedside while they sleep, jumping in an icy pool, floral dresses and red lipstick

folklore: walking through the forest on a misty summer morning, overgrown meadows on cloudy days, plaid dresses and tennis shoes, the sun kissing your skin on a late summer afternoon as you walk on dirt paths, meeting behind malls, tree swings and climbing giant cliffs, sitting at the bar drinking whiskey, longing glances in rainy parking lots, sneaking into motel rooms, the ocean crashing against the rocks, cliffs in the middle of the night, sunlit rooms, war torn beaches, stormy waves, cobblestone pathways

[shes-an-oddbird]

Christmas at River’s End Mall

Summary -  A Christmas AU in which everyone navigates their seasonal jobs, relationships and Christmas spirit, or lack there of, through woven together tales inspired by holiday prompts.

Chapter 9 - Christmas Parade

Summary - While at the annual Christmas parade, Mack and Elena discuss Hope getting older and Mack steps into help when when one of the parade floats breaks down.

Prompt - Christmas Parade Relationship - Mackelena POV - Daniel

Mack wonders if they should have brought chairs with them. Unless there was snow on the ground, they’ve always just watched the parade from the curb with a blanket folded up underneath them and another one pulled around them for warmth. But considering they invited Elena to join them, maybe a chair would have been nice to offer her.

“Dad I don’t see her!”

“Calm down Sparkplug, I just texted her a minute ago.”

“Well, that’s all some of us need.” His heart does a skip at the sound of her voice behind them. Her hands land on his shoulders, her long hair and festive red scarf falling over his shoulder and she leans down to say hello.

“Yoyo, you made it!”

“Of course, the parade is a tradition right?”

Hope nods. They have a few minutes before the parade arrives, although he thinks he can hear the first of the sirens that lead the parade in the distance. The parade, which sets up in the mall parking lot, would makes its way down the main road just outside the mall and then head down towards the small downtown area. They always stayed close by the start so they could head inside after for more activities.

Elena sets her own blanket on the ground next to theirs, sitting close although there wasn’t much other option as the street became more and more crowded. As they wait for the parade to come around the corner they talk about work and weather and other mundane topics.

“So what are we up to after the parade?”

“We’re going to go see the drones, dad finally decided on the right one which is the same one I wanted from the start.” Hope turns her eyes back on him. “Do you think Fitz will be there?”

“I’m sure he will be kid, he’s probably starting to think you’re after his job you ask him so many questions.”

“CANDY!” Several kids scream in excitement as a float from the public library drifts by and the riders dressed as reindeer toss candy canes and chocolate kisses from the sleigh. Hope and the other kids surge forward to collect them.

“I have to buy that damn drone today, I’m afraid if we go back again without buying anything their going to think we’re casing the place.”

“I’m sure they’re used to it, kids are obsessed with those gadget demonstrations.”

“That’s true and half the time we don’t even go in, she just talks with Fitz, the guy who demos them, goes well beyond what I know about them.” Elena looks at him curiously. “What?”

“Nothing.” She shakes her head but she’s grinning like she knows something he  doesn’t.

“What, tell me.”

Still looking far too amused she gives in. “It’s just, it sounds like Hope has a crush on him.”

“What?” Mack laughs. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“Oh come on, she’s only eleven, she’s not old enough to be having crushes yet.” Was she? No she was just a kid, it was ridiculous.

“Oh please, what do you know about it?” Elena laughing now at his utter disbelief.. “I was eleven when I had my first crush, and that was well after all my friends started too.”

“That’s just not like Hope, she still thinks all the boys in her class are stupid.”

She just shrugs. “Maybe that’s part of it, look I bet Hope is the smartest kid in her class right?”

“In the whole grade, maybe the whole school.” He answers proudly.

“Exactly and all her friends are starting to get crushes on these boys who are probably so boring to her, she starts to feel left out.”

That was reasonably to assume but he still only agrees with a hesitant, “I guess.”

“Then she meets Fitz, and Daisy’s told me about him, a brilliant engineer, someone who can have a conversation on her level who’s also nice to her and let’s her test all these drones and gadgets she’s preoccupied with.”

“But he’s– “

She cuts him off. “But he’s what, a grown up, you never had a crush on a teacher before?”

“Alright, I get it.” Mack contemplates this new revelation. When exactly had Hope gotten old enough to have crushes. Was he supposed to do anything about it. He had promised they would go there to get the drone after the parade. “Should I take her back there?”

“I don’t see why not, if you don’t and she finds out why she might think she’s done something wrong,” Elena advises. “But maybe give Fitz a heads up, it’s hard having your first crush at eleven but having your first heartbreak at eleven is ten times worse.”

Mack nods, making a mental note to pull Fitz aside and explain. Then he looks back at Elena a little in awe. “How did you get so good with kids?”

“I’m not, but I was a little girl once, it’s a tough life.”

She’s so pleased with herself. That was one of the first things he realized about her that he really liked; she was confident. Determined and straight forward.

And now they’re exceptionally close together. Forced into each other’s personal space as kids return to the sidewalk, arms full of treats. He blinks and she’s closer again, leaning in towards him.

There’s a deafening screech and they snap apart. The parade has rolled to a stop and a horrible grinding noise is emitting from the truck hauling the River’s End High School’s float. It rolls to a stop and cuts off. The crowd around them chatters in concern while the students frantically dismount the float and the truck bed.

“What’s going on?” One girl yells from the float.

“The truck must have stalled.” Another answers.

“Flint, what’s going on up there!”

The skinny young boy driving the truck leans out the window and shouts back at them. “It won’t turn back on.”

“Gabe, I thought your brother fixed up this thing.” A girl with white-blonde hair storms around the float, frustration evident as she addresses a boy still sitting in the bed of the truck.

“He had the guys at the shop take a look at it.”

“Well can you fix it?”

“Yeah Ruby, let me just jump right down from here and look under the hood.” The boy snapped back sarcastically.

The boy driving the truck jumps out and runs around to the front to lift the hood. “Yeah, I don’t exactly know what I’m looking for here.”

“This is going well.” Elena whispers to him as he watches them concerned.

“Old model, bad engine, probably something one of the kids picked up for cheap.” Maybe it was the mechanic in him but he was already assessing everything wrong with the truck. Even if it hadn’t stalled making it to the end of the parade would be a Christmas miracle.

“Dad, do you think you can help them?” Hopes asks.

“I haven’t got my tools, not sure there is much I could do.”

“I don’t think it could hurt.” Elena says, her eyes wide a the boy at the hood yanks his arm back as it crashes down. He’s joined by a girl with lots of dark curly hair and they open the hood again, steading it on the support.

“Alright.” He pushes himself off the ground “before someone loses a hand.”

Mack jogs out into the parade chaos. He has to clear a path through the crowd of students now converging at the front of the truck.

“This truck belong to one of you?” He shouts.

“It’s mine sir.” The girl with the dark curly hair speaks up.

“You have this problem before?” He asks. A glance over the engine and its not as bad as he anticipated, it’d clearly already had some decent work done on it but unfortunately it doesn’t show any obvious cause to the problem.

“Yes, but someone was supposed to have it checked out for me.” She glares at the boy now wheeling his way towards them.

“Shut it Tess, I’m trying to get Robbie on the phone.”

Mack tries hard not to groan. He’s so not ready for Hope to be on the verge of her teenage years.

He needs to check the radiator and fuel but its too hot to reach for anything with his bare hands. “Have any of you got an old rag or t-shirt?”

“There’s probably one in the truck.”

“Grab if for me, what about a flashlight.”

“I’ve got my phone.” Flint grabs the phone from his pocket and holds it out over the engine.

“Thanks kid.”

“Here.” The girl hands him a stained t-shirt. He manages to get the cap off the radiator but it doesn’t appear to be the issue.

“Was there any odds smells when you were driving?”

Flint shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Alright, that rules out a few possibilities.

“No, Robbie its fine, someone else is here already,” Gabe listened for a second, nodding along unimpressed before holding the phone out to him. “He wants to talk to you.”

Mack begrudgingly accepts the phone. “This is Mack.”

“Hey,” a voice with an accent like the boy’s greets him shortly, “the truck stalls on inclines and my brother won’t tell me where you are.”

That explains a lot. “They didn’t make it far, we’re on the main road outside the mall.”

“Dammit, my crew was supposed to fix the problem.”

“No worries, I think it’ll start again, its been down for a few minutes, doesn’t seem to have any other issues unless it’s the extra weight.”

“Give it a try, if they can get off that hill the parade levels out, should make it to the end.” Mack nods at Flint who jumps back in the truck.

“Easy.” He calls. Flint starts the engine which, after a long moment, stubbornly springs to life and relief washes over the students. “Alright its going.”

Robbie sighs. “I’ll get a backup truck over there just in case, first I gotta go fire somebody.” Mack chuckles, he doesn’t know this Robbie fellow, but he thinks they’d probably get along.

“I’ll follow along behind them down the hill.”

“Appreciate that.” Mack hands the phone back to Gabe.

“Alright everyone back on board, if you can make it down the hill you should be in the clear.” If there wasn’t a damn marching band in front of them, they could just throw it in neutral and roll. It takes everyone a minute to get back in place so he hurries over to Elena and Hope who are still watching from the curb.

“Everything alright?”

“Should be fine but I’m going to follow them for a bit make sure they don’t get stuck again.” Mack explains. “Do you mind hanging here with Hope?”

“Can’t we walk with you?” Hope asks.

“She can ride with us if she wants.” Tess, the curly haired girl offers. Hope’s eyes light up and she looks pleadingly up at him. Personally, he doesn’t want her anywhere near that truck but at two miles an hour she’d probably be safe.

“Alright, let’s go.” Mack lifts Hope up onto the float. Tess takes her hand and backs her away from the edge.

“Let’s go Flint!” Gabe shouts and the other boy waves his hand out the window. They being to roll and the crowd bursts into applause.

“You saved the day.” Elena nudges his shoulder as they begin to walk along side the float.

“I didn’t really have to do anything.”

“Well, you get credit for trying, I didn’t see anyone else run out there to help, just heard a bunch of moaning and complaining.”

“Yeah well, they’re good kids, but now all I can think about is how that’s going to be Hope in a few years.”

“Don’t worry about that, she’ll be just fine, she’s got an excellent role model to look up to.” She nudges his arm again, this time slipping her hand into his as they walk.

[wishingupontheskyandstars]

Our Secret This Holiday ❄️ Chp. 7

Fic Summary: As the Holidays approach, Arya and Gendry are a new couple spending a lot of time together before they reveal to everyone else that they are dating and what better day to reveal that than on Christmas…

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 

AO3 Link Here | Rated M

Chapter 7: Home

It was near evening when Arya and Gendry were driving on the main road in the town of Winterfell. There were shops with colorful holiday displays in front windows. People walked on the sidewalk with shopping bags in hand, passing by the shops, going in, and coming out of them. Festive lights were decorated around trees all along the road, leading to the large Christmas tree in the main square, near the town's largest theater.

"Hey, let's take a quick picture in front of the tree," Arya said with genuine excitement. She had already taken many pictures on their road trip.

"I don't know—It's pretty chilly, and it looks like it's going to snow," Gendry said as he parked the car in an empty spot in front of the theater.

Arya scoffed. "Oh come on—it was also like this, earlier today when we fuc—"

"Okay, okay." He gave in as he followed Arya to the large decorated tree.

Arya wore a gray scarf along with her teal sweater and jeans. She took one end of the scarf, and once Gendry was at her side, she wrapped that end around him. She stretched her hand, holding her phone, and as she continued to press the button to take pictures, she leaned in and kissed Gendry's cheek. He turned, and with no space between them, he kissed her hard. Arya stopped taking pictures and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him in front of the bright Christmas tree as the snow started to trickle down on them and all of Winterfell.

Half a block away, Jon and his girlfriend, Ygritte, came out of a sweets shop, holding hands. She was in a spirited mood, noticing the drizzle of snow in the air. She stuck out her tongue, catching a snowflake instantly.

"You know, you look cute doing that," he said, squeezing her hand gently.  

With her eyes still closed, feeling the beauty of snow on her face, she said, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." She grinned, opening one eye and saw her man chuckle at her nickname for him.

He brought her close and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. She kissed him back, feeling the snow rain on them.

As they continued to walk down the road, past a few shops, Ygritte looked over at the Christmas tree and then stopped.

"What is it?" Jon asked with brows raised.

Startled but with a grin on her face, she nodded her head toward the tree. "There's Arya."

"Where?" Jon looked around anywhere but at the tree.

She scoffed. "Near the tree."

Jon looked over, and his eyes enlarged as he indeed saw his younger cousin kiss some guy in a leather jacket. "I can't see who's with her." Jon started to walk their way when Ygritte pulled him back.

"Oh no, you don't."

Jon was surprised. "What?—Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "We're going to see her at the house in a little bit. Let her have some quality time with her man—whomever he is."

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend or that she's dating!"

Ygritte gave him an obvious look. "She's twenty-one. What do you expect?"

"I don't know, I—"  

"Come on, Jon Snow," Ygritte said as she grabbed his hand and walked away from the couple kissing in front of the tree.

"My parents are usually in bed before midnight, so I say we wait until a quarter past."

"Wait—what?" Gendry said with an incredulous expression as he drove and turned on to the road that lead to the Stark Residence. He quickly looked over at Arya and saw her wink at him.

"It will be fine—trust me," she said.

"I don't know, Arya. If they catch me leaving your room in the morn—."

"They won't—My room is literally on the other side of the house. You're just a few doors over, much closer than they are."

Gendry sighed, hoping she was right. Before he said anything else, the house came into view, full of different colored Christmas lights. It was overwhelming yet beautiful, he thought.  

"There's my dad," Arya said with a smile. Ned Stark, in his bulky coat, was putting more lights on the Weirwood tree as Gendry parked nearby. Arya opened the door and sprinted into her father's arms, knocking down the lights.

"Arya!" Ned was surprised as he held his youngest daughter in his arms. He smiled, hugging her tightly. "I missed you, my little wolf," he whispered.

It had only been a few weeks since she last saw him, but for some reason, it felt longer to her. "I missed you too," she whispered back.

"Ah—Gendry, how are you, son?" Ned said with a genuine grin as Arya pulled back.

"Doing well, thank you," he said, shaking Ned's hand.

"And the restaurant?"

Gendry rubbed the back of his neck. "It's great—You and Mrs. Stark need to visit sometime."

"There is some delicious food there, dad," Arya added in, with a smile towards Gendry and a wink, which made Gendry cough.

Ned rubbed his chin in thought. "Maybe once business at the ski resort has settled down—Perhaps in the spring." He shrugged.

Gendry nodded. "Sounds fine," he said as he looked down at the lights in the snow. "Let me help you with those."

"Thanks, Gendry," Ned said. He looked at his daughter and said, "You should take your luggage inside. Dinner will be—"

"At seven," she finished. She hugged her dad again before leaving him and Gendry.

The Stark's dining room was richly decorated with Christmas wreaths hanging on the walls, with lights sparkling above their wooden chandelier. A fresh mistletoe was hanging from the doorway, like almost every other room in the home.

At the dinner table, there was a couple of different conversations occurring. Arya and Gendry sat at one end of the table, near her father. Across from them was Sansa and her boyfriend, Theon Greyjoy.

Sansa pulled back her long auburn hair as she grabbed a lemon cake from a platter.

"Still your favorite food?" Arya teased with a grin.

Sansa nodded as she finished her cake. Theon smiled towards her as he said, "San—you have..." He pointed near the corner of his mouth.

"Oh!" Sansa wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, then leaned toward Theon and kissed him on the lips as she whispered, "Thanks, love.

Arya looked at her sister and Theon with an almost sad expression, wishing she could be affectionate with Gendry in front of them all. She took a sip of water as her other hand slid down and reached for his underneath the table.

Gendry gulped, not looking in her direction as he finished his salad. He felt hot even though he removed his leather jacket earlier. He still felt her hand on top of his. He squeezed her hand in response, circling his thumb over her skin.

Arya looked at her sister with a smile forming, feeling Gendry's warmth.

Next to Gendry was Jon. He whispered to Ygritte, "I should at least ask her."

She shook her head as she used her knife and fork to cut into her steak. "Nope," she said.

At the other end of the table was Catelyn Stark. Her youngest son, Rickon, was seated near her and next to Theon.

"I'll miss Bran this Christmas," he said with a sad face, using his fork to push his vegetables aside.

"I will too, but he told me he sent everybody's presents, including yours yesterday in the mail, so it should be here before Christmas Eve."

"Really?!" The young boy’s face was ecstatic.

“Yes and please eat your greens, Rickon.”    

He gave her an anguished expression as he started to eat his vegetables.  

Catelyn Stark drank from her wine goblet before her eyes diverted to her youngest daughter. Oblivious to the conversations occurring, she said, "Arya, I'm glad you made it up here at all—I didn't think you got any of my messages." She gave her daughter a sharp look.

The table quieted down as Arya said, "I got all six of them." She smiled at her mother as she ate a piece of boiled potato. She felt Gendry's shoe next to hers as if reminding her to cool down.

Catelyn smiled in return. "Good—I thought perhaps you lost your phone like you lost track of your days."

"Cat," Ned said with a tone of urgency.

Arya put her fork down and looked at her mother without emotion, "I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday. Let me know how I can make it up to you," she said convincingly.

"I'm glad you said that. We're all busy with the resort and getting ready for the family gathering on Christmas Eve. If you were here yest—" She shook her head. "Anyway, I have a list of Christmas presents for you to purchase for everyone, from your father and me. You'll go to the mall tomorrow."

Arya dropped her fork and heard it clatter against the metal plate. "What?! You know I hate—" She looked across the table at Sansa, who was looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Why can't Sansa go—she loves to shop!"

Sansa raised her brows and said, "Mom, I can go with—"

"I need Sansa at the resort tomorrow, Arya," her mother said calmly. "You did just say to let you know how you can make your mistake up to me, well, here it is."

Arya sighed and felt Gendry's hand over hers, underneath the table. She was going to reply when she heard a snort from Jon. She rolled her eyes and said, "Shut up, Jon!" She looked just in time to see Ygritte, one of her favorite people, shove his arm with hers. There were more chuckles from the table as Arya met her mother's eye, stabbing her fork in another potato, and said with a forced half-smile, "I can't wait for tomorrow."

[yespoetry]

Caolan Madden: Counterfactual

FRIGID BITCH

Uhhh I prefer sex-negative feminist?

The guy who scoffed it’s easy to be bisexual if you have zero sex drive

The idea I had of a kiss when I had never been kissed, the idea of like a fountain/and like a field of flowers/and like/settling your heels and shoulderblades into the floor/the idea of surface tension

My dad’s friend Phil, when I was fourteen, in the car, I can’t remember the joke. I watched my lipsticked disapproving mouth in the rearview mirror

I asked J, do you think I’d be a slut if I had the chance. J said, I think slutty from the waist up

They must be picking up on something

Kaleidoscope of hormones, the strangest flowers, double blooms, inversions, every time you shake the cylinder, recombinant, call them frostflowers, those blue crystals, snowflakes. Call it clinical. What burst into bloom when I stopped/when I started. My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around. How hot are yours? Your orange lilies, orange blossoms, you blushing brides, my bad science: Schrödinger’s sex drive, we can’t know until we take each other’s temperature, but. Killing frost. Check the evidence of architecture: have you ever put your fist through the wall? Wallflower, wallpaper, stay in bed, diagnose yourself, try to raise your core temperature

At the conference I found myself making small talk about Taylor Swift, how the best thing about her is that all the boys complain that she only wants to kiss. She buys all those houses for kissing in, overlooking the sea.

Cold shower, dead drop. Your heart beating, the only heat signature for fathoms.

COUNTERFACTUAL

those days when gentlemen used their own thoughts as evidence, experimented on their brains by thinking, then wrote a treatise and kids still have to read those and write papers about them: this table here and smack it the color blue is a quality but not I can hold the color blue in my mind separate from or like my friend’s husband who used to stop breathing until he had visions Is that different? It’s in the tradition

I use my body to feel the history of sexuality & you use your mind & we talk about it the physical revulsion, the revulsion that’s protecting something I love to theorize about my body as a microcosm in the absence of medical knowledge or supervision its millions of stars bearing debris from real stars If I had really been straight I would have felt but on the other hand if I had settled down in Providence feels very much like if I had slept with this guy junior year if I had married. but also if I had a bike & waited tables if I had been blonde. The stars in my body reveal that high-school boys are decorative, or grace, or power. If you had seen me first wanting to be looked at, against cobblestones Desire is different, weirder, declares my body, a coming-closer, or a shudder thirty-six hours later, then years later, in the park where no one actually would have wanted to lose her virginity at twilight in a linen dress

  QUIETING MUSE

I shall never get out of this said Plath in plaster, a yellow rose in a stiff white vase. But I think you don’t miss her ’til she’s gone: at eighteen, sweating in my dorm, I scribbled doppelganger elegies, remembering our doubled bones, our doubled fat bright in the cauldron of a summer-long half-nelson. Sister soup, I wrote, the only sisterless girl on my floor. I must have meant it. I must have missed her. When her shape filled up with flecks of talk, like tin confetti, high and thin and cold, her opposite. There was an absence. Who was she? What was she for? Reading my diaries? Listening behind me on the sidewalk. De Beauvoir said that Diderot said you all die at fifteen and I really felt it then at seventeen The one who died. I only know her from that doppelganger poem and from the caught breath at the double, at the hinge, the horn, the heroine in someone else’s. Even the tumor with its eyeballs. Even Emily-in-the-glass. Wallpaper. Why say divided. Why not doubled, why not luxury. She has her nails done in some strip mall in the South. She waits ’til I'm alone again. Some weekend. Some other life. She’ll stir a little, say hello. I'm not afraid.

from Dazzling Dresses: A Princess Activity Book

Uriel at Yale 1

In Physics for Poets, Ursula twirling her ankle-socked foot leaned over the aisle and murmured about the Velvet Underground and sucked her pencil expectantly. O how the auditorium filled up at that very moment, and the glittering ink spilled out of Uriel’s pen nib! Under the ground the velvet corridors were plush with newts and stalactites like staghorn sumac (another class she took with Ursula was “Local Flora.”) Under the water Uriel’s sisters embroidered their names on the delicate edges of manta rays; in her dorm room she lifted them from Fed Ex boxes, stroked their velvet coats absently, bent over a villanelle. The refrain was, “If you had seen my face above a wave”; her word processor had shorted out when she spilled a cup of beer on it one Friday early in the term, so now she wrote in longhand. Outside the second spring-term snow was falling.

MOTHERGLUT

It’s all coming back to me like I whistled and those rats came running white foaming pattering their backs undulating screaming stat screaming code white

I gained all those pounds on purpose I poured them on me like milk I put them in a jar and weighed them on a scale and stood beneath the scale and POURED

Until I was the white queen of fat Umbrella of leaf-lard Rat-queen redolent of lard Pelt of a thousand rats yawning Wicked stepmother luxuriously padded with the milk of with the blood of virgins

O medical establishment we are sorry to have been so sedentary We are sorry about our bad memories I am sorry that I poured the leaf lard on my memory I am sorry that I do nothing nothing nothing but make this enormous baby to fill up my hungry cradle Sorry the baby’s made of a thousand fat rats teeming over the ward and swallowing the tinies Sorry about its thousand mouths full of seed pearls Sorry that I forgot and made a blowjob baby out of swallowing If you could just lie down and do it the normal way just remember to just lie down             but also do some light cardio swimming for example, maybe some journaling

If there were more poems more dissertation more candies there would be less baby there would be less marvelous mantle creamtop mantle, glorious mantle, gluttonous mantle

I veiled the two of us               the thousand-and-one-of-us in my supreme gorgeous idleness

These poems originally appeared in our ebook The Queer Body.

Caolan Madden holds an MFA from Johns Hopkins and a PhD in English literature from Rutgers. Her poems have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Bone Bouquet, Black Warrior Review, Posit, Anthropoid, Split Lip, and Supplement. Her chapbook VAST NECROHOL was published last spring by Hyacinth Girl Press; as a member of the feminist poetry collective (G)IRL, she’s also a co-author of the collaborative chapbook GIRL TALK TRIPTYCH (dancing girl press, 2016).

[dimpled-gukkie]

Till Next Time!

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x reader 

Genre: Fluff 

Word count: 1.7k 

A/n: Basically this is like a recap of my date that wasn’t a date and dinner with my hot neighbor. 

Summary: Jeon Jungkook is your old neighbor who used to have a crush on you and when he returns suddenly you’re the one catching feelings.

You met Jeon Jungkook when you were just six years old, easily making his four year-old self your new best friend. He had just moved into the house next to yours and he was a little shy at first but you managed to make him come out of his shell. You spent eight years playing on the street together nearly everyday until a ‘for sale’ sign appeared in front of his yard. What were you supposed to do without your neighbor buddy? When he moved you were bummed but gradually made new friends on your block and didn’t think much about your old neighbor. That is until he came back six years later and his family wanted to have dinner with yours. Your cheeks warmed a little when your mom told you about it, slipping in that Jungkook used to have a crush on you when he was younger. Would he still think you were cute? 

Glancing through your closet you put on your best outfit, suddenly feeling like you needed to impress him. Maybe he had gotten cute? You roll your eyes at your own behavior, wondering why you’re trying so hard for a boy who lives across the country. Literally nothing could come out of this but that doesn’t stop you from making sure you look like a whole meal. 

When you get to the restaurant, nerves bubble up in your stomach and you glance towards the door in hopes to catch a glimpse of him early. Just what does he look like now? Your eyes widen when he leads his family towards your table because Jeon Jungkook is now hot. He’s grown into his nose and his black hair prettily frames his face. He’s broader and taller now too, coming to stand inches taller than you as he wraps both arms around you to pull you into a hug. Wow, he gives good hugs too. He goes to sit across from you but both of your parents push you to sit together and you can’t help the slight darkening of your cheeks. As silly as it sounds, you weren’t expecting for him to look so grown up. He smiles brightly at you as he turns his attention back to you and your heart stutters. Had you missed out when you were younger? 

You chat for a while, slipping into such a comfortable conversation it’s odd. It’s like he never even left. “What are you gonna get?” Jungkook asks, nodding to the menu set in front of you. You scrunch your nose in distaste not really in the mood for seafood. 

“Is it weird if I get chicken tenders at a seafood place?” Jungkook laughs, clapping his hands together. 

“I was thinking the same thing.” You give him a high five and can’t help but notice how nicely his hand would fit in yours. 

“I just hate spicy food and it’s cajun.” You pout. 

“Just order it without it.” 

“But I don’t wanna seem like a baby.” You whine and he smiles softly at you. 

“How about I order first without the cajun and then you can just say ‘same’.” Your cheeks darken at his sweet gesture. He would really do that? 

“Oh. You don’t have to.” 

“It’s no big deal.” Has he always been so sweet? His parents get your attention, urging you to sit closer to take a photo. The relatively dark restaurant is lit up by a bright flash making Jungkook immediately turn away, hands coming to cover his face. 

“Jungkook!” His parents scold, making you laugh. They raise the phone camera again and Jungkook groans at the flash. “Just keep your eyes open!” 

“Stop blinking!” You tease, lightly hitting his shoulder. Finally Jungkook manages to take the photo and you blink rapidly to get the flash out of your eyes. 

“I can’t see.” Jungkook pouts and you roll your eyes. 

“Yeah well I had to endure the flash three times because you couldn’t take a picture.” Jungkook only scoffs. You notice that while the parents are cooing over the photos, Jungkook doesn’t move away. Instead he stays close to you, only a few inches between you. Your heart beats a little quicker at the notion. Does he like you like you like him? You can already feel your crush developing, this is a mess. 

You spend the rest of dinner ignoring the feeling growing in your chest, trying to think of anything other than how tall he’s gotten or what it’d be like to go on a date with him. You have to keep reminding yourself that he doesn’t live near you, that it won’t work. When dinner is over you can’t help but feel disappointed. You wish this wasn’t over and that you could hang out for longer. “When are you leaving?” You ask as you stand up from the table. 

“Sunday.” Jungkook says and you can’t help but feel a little excited at the prospect of having another day to hang out with him. You nod in understanding, following him out of the restaurant. He holds the door open and you grab both of you a mint, your fingers brushing when you hand it to him. He doesn’t say anything about it and you carry on, giving the rest of his family hugs goodbye. 

“I guess I’ll see you next time?” You ask as you and Jungkook idle beside the car. 

“Yeah. Only eight months unless you come to visit.” He says quietly before pulling you in for a hug. His arms wrap tightly around your waist as he pulls you into him and you stand ups on your tip toes to put your chin on his shoulder. He’s nice and warm. The hug lasts for a moment before he pulls away and waves goodbye. 

You sit alone in your room that night, wondering if you should text him. He gave you his number, surely he wouldn’t mind. Would he even want to hang out with you? Your heart thumps loudly in your chest and your hands shake a little with nerves. Deciding the worst he can do is say no you send the text before you can chicken out, watching for the three little dots. When they appear you have a mini heart attack before grinning stupidly at his reply. All he said was ‘sure’ but you haven’t been this excited in a while. Why did he have to be so cute and your feelings be so weak? 

Anxiously you text your best friend the next morning before you and Jungkook are supposed to meet slipping in something about him being cute and much to your horror you send the text to Jungkook instead. You’d always questioned how people could accidentally send such a text to the wrong person and yet you just did. “I’m the biggest idiot I know.” You groan to yourself. Surprisingly though Jungkook is cool about it and responds saying, ‘I wish I still lived there’ which has you a little confused. Wait, does he like you too?

When you meet up at the mall Jungkook immediately greets you with a hug and you’re relieved there’s no awkwardness between you two. You were worried that perhaps when he dons out your feelings that he wouldn’t want to hang out with you anymore. 

You happily walk beside each other while venturing through the mall, your first stop being the Louis Vuitton store. “Let’s just pretend we’re rich.” You say, dragging Jungkook inside by his arm. 

“My shirt was literally $10.” Jungkook says wearily, not wanting to touch anything, 

“Yeah and my backpack is $6 but they don’t need to know that.” You follow Jungkook into the next door, hovering next to him in the boy’s section since the girls is too crowded. You pick out a horrid orange and green striped polo, a proud smile on your face at its ugliness. 

“Please Jungkook. Please get this.” You plead, laughing as he scrunches his nose in distaste. 

“No, that is awful.” 

“But it’d be so funny.” 

When you leave the store Jungkook turns to you and says nonchalantly, “I think people think we’re dating.” Your eyes widen and your mouth parts because you’re not sure about how to take that information. Why is he telling you if it doesn’t bother him? 

“Oh, well then you should be honored to be my boyfriend for the day.” You tease and Jungkook laughs. You wish you were bold enough to reach out and hold his hand but you don’t.

“You should come visit me.” Jungkook says suddenly as you’re strolling through Macy’s and you stop to stare at him. He chuckles nervously. “I-I can show you around all the monuments and stuff.” 

You can’t help your grin. “Yeah that’d be cool. Maybe I can come for spring break or something.” 

“That’d be cool.” He turns and keeps walking, making you jog to catch up with him. 

“Why do you walk so fast?” You whine. 

“You think I walk fast? All my friends tell me I walk slow.” 

“I have small strides.” You say and he gives you a small smile. All of a sudden a large family walks by and when he moves over he bumps into you, making you nearly collide with someone else. “Sorry.” You tell him. 

“Why do you always say sorry? Stop telling me sorry when you have nothing to be sorry  for.” 

“Sorry.” You say and he rolls his eyes. 

“See!” 

“Fine, bump into me again and I won’t say it.” He grins widely at you before purposely bumping into you and drawing out another ‘sorry’ from your lips. 

“What was that about not saying sorry?” He teases and you bump into him this time. 

“I didn’t say sorry that time.” You tell him fighting off the urge to stick out your tongue at him. 

“You really should come visit.” You’re standing on the sidewalk waiting for his uber to come when he says it. 

“Ahh so you do like spending time with me.” You tease, making him roll his eyes. 

“Nope.” You draw a fake pout and step away from him, but he closes the distance and stands pressed against your side. “I’m teasing.” 

“I know. So I’ll see you soon?” You ask as the uber pulls up. 

“Till next time!” He winks, waving at you through the window before he pulls off. 

[parkkjiminssi]

Forever.

one shot.

Halloween Special

pairing: Jin x Reader

genre: fluff, angst (if you squint)

warnings: mentions of death, a bit of profanity

a/n: well I’m back with another story! This is the first part of a Halloween Special I have prepared for you guys, I hope you all like it 😬. Idek why I named this a Halloween special if it isn’t even scary at all 😅 this might sound familiar to you if you’ve watched the KDrama “Goblin”, I got some ideas from there. I know I still have some requests to do, so please don’t think I’ve forgotten about them! It’s just I’m working on them whenever I get a break from work and school. Well anywayyyysss, I’ll let you guys go now. See you on the next one!

How long has it been since you’ve been doing this? A hundred? Two hundred years? To be quite honest, you had stopped counting.

You pulled out a card out of your pocket, a name with red letters imprinted on it. “Woo Shin.” You mumbled to yourself as you stood on the sidewalk, observing the man who had ignored the ‘do not cross’ sign. You tightened your black coat around you as you heard a loud bang. A car had just ran into the man. The driver quickly got down his vehicle and examined the person he had just collided into. People started to gather around. Some wanting to help, others just to be nosey. On the other side of the side walk you spotted a man that looked startled, not fully grasping what had happened. You slowly started to walk across the street, your heels clicking with each step you took.

“Woo Shin.” You called to the man. Mr. Shin turned to look at you, his eyes pleading. Hoping you’d make some sense of this situation. Hoping you’d know why he was thrown on the floor bleeding but yet he was also unharmed on the sidewalk. “24. Born on the 20th of October in 1993. Died at 11:38AM, October 17, 2018. Cause of death: car collision.” You took a step closer, your eyes locking with him in an attempt to calm him down. “That’s you, right?”

“Ten minutes till we start, guys. Let’s start wrapping up everything.” The manager called to the boys. The members of BTS allowed their stylists to apply the final touches to their outfits, make up and hair before they started to line up to go onto the stage. They were in the middle of their promotions and this was one of fan meets they had planned to hold. The ten minutes passed and the boys made their way onto the stage to greet their fans. They did their usual thing, everything went by smoothly. They signed albums, received presents, talked with the ARMY and so on. Before they knew it, it was all over. Another successful event, one would say.

“It’s always great to see ARMY!” Hobi exclaimed as they walked into the dressing room.

“I agree. They always show us so much love and support! I only wish to do the same for them.” Jin added.

The rest of the boys joined in. Talking about how much they loved ARMY and how they had lots of fun today. After five minutes or so, their manager came into the room and informed them that they had the rest of the day off. They immediately started thinking of ways they could spend the day. Yoongi wanted to stay in the apartment and work on some songs. Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook decides to go to a nearby mall and buy clothes, saying they didn’t have anything to wear. As if their closets weren’t already topped to the max. Namjoon said he wanted to take his dog out for a walk and Hoseok decided to tag along and take his. Jin just wanted to go buy a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop he’d been eyeing for a while. Once changed out of the fan meet’s outfits, the boys said their goodbyes and headed to their destinations. Jin typed in the name of the coffee shop into the navigation system on his phone. Within a few seconds, the application told him he was only ten minutes away. “Alright, lets go.”

You sat on the counter awaiting for the barista to call your name. Well... it wasn’t really your name. You didn’t have a name and it’s not like you could just say ‘Oh yeah, put it under the Grim Reaper’. Each time you had a different one. Alice, Laila, Katie and on and on. Today you were Y/N. You were trying to kill time, ha kill time, before the next card came in. Today was particularly slow. Not that you were complaining or wished for more people to pass away, it’s just that you preferred the days where you had lots to do that way you wouldn’t be having nonsense thoughts while starring at the living.

“Y/N! Ms. Y/N!”

At first you didn’t react, but the constant calling of the name reminded you that your drink was ready and it was you whom they were calling for. You quickly stood up and walked over to the counter, you apologized many times before grabbing the drink and turning around. You walked away while looking down, not paying much attention to your surroundings and just as you were about to reach the exit you bumped into someone, causing the hot liquid to spill on your white shirt. You felt the coffee burn the skin on your stomach, causing you to wince in pain. You’d think that being the Grim Reaper and all you’d be immune to this. Although you were immortal, you still had human emotions and needs. Part of your punishment you’d like to think.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” You heard a male voice. He quickly reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a couple of napkins. He handed them to you still muttering apologies.

“Ah no, it’s okay!” You said as you took the napkins from him. Your cold fingers touching his warm ones, causing you to slightly flinch. “It’s my fault for not looking to where I was going. It’s a bad habit I have.”

When you looked up, you felt a strange pain in your chest. If you had a beating heart, you could’ve sworn that it would’ve stopped at that exact moment. Perhaps the right word to describe him would be breathtakingly beautiful, because that’s exactly what had happened. You had forgotten to breathe until his hand waving in front of your face brought you back to your senses.

“I’m sorry, d-did you say something?”

“I asked if you were okay. I’m sure that coffee must’ve been scalding hot. If it’s okay with you, we can go to the hospital so they can take a look at you.” He repeated, a kind smile adorning his face.

You quickly waved your hand in dismissal. “No! That’s not necessary, I promise I’m okay.” If only he knew that things like these didn’t face you the way it would face a living human. Yeah it hurt like hell, but after a couple of hours the wound would disappear. “It’s really nothing.”

“Then at least let me compensate you for the shirt I just ruined.” He kept on insisting. “It looks expensive.”

At that, you looked down at your now coffee-stained shirt. To be honest, it was kind of expensive but after centuries of collecting offerings, money wasn’t really something that you concerned yourself with. “Ah, it’s fine really.”

“Nonsense!” He quickly protested and walked over to the counter where a barista was standing and asked for something. When he came back, he grabbed a napkin and started jotting down something. “Here!” He said extending it over to you, urging you to take it. “Just give me a call or text with the shirt price and I’ll make sure to reimburse you for it. That’s my cellphone number, so don’t be shy and please contact me.”

You examined the paper. “Jin?” You asked, looking at the napkin and it’s contents like something out of this world.

“Yup, that’s me!” He replied with a beaming smile. Jin then looked at the watch on his wrist and you saw that his eyes widened in surprise. “I’m sorry, I kind of have to go but please make sure to contact me. Don’t leave me feeling guilty for too long!”

And with that he was gone. Jin had been like a spring breeze of air that was so refreshing and new. You haven’t really had many experiences with mortals before so maybe this was one of the reasons why you were feeling like this, but you also knew that it was something other than that. It would be that fateful meeting with Jin that it would set in motion something that neither you or him were prepared for. Something dangerous and beautiful altogether. Something that would change both of your lives.

“Wait,” You whispered to yourself, finally looking up from the napkin. “what is a cellphone?”

Jin sped through the streets, having forgotten that he had made plans with his family to go out for dinner. He hadn’t gotten too far from the cafe when a thought popped into his head. He hadn’t asked for your name and that bothered him in a way he couldn’t explain. He only hoped that you’d end up contacting him after all. Although from the way you were behaving it left him with little to no hope.

When you got home later that day you researched on your laptop what a cellphone was. After your investigation, you couldn’t believe that you had a computer but not a cellphone but then again, you never really needed one. The laptop you did, for work purposes. The way it worked was still a mystery to you. The next day you went out to the store and bought one. There were so many options and so many things the store associate was telling you that they did, that you couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by all of it. Regardless, you choose the phone which you thought was best and got it over with. As soon as you got back to your place, you saved Jin’s phone number after a thousand tries and many google searches.

A week passed but you still hadn’t contacted him. Every time you were about to click on the call or text message icon you quickly talked yourself out of it and threw your phone across the room. “You’re the Grim Reaper but you’re scared of making a single phone call? How pathetic.”

One day, you being the intellectual that you are, pressed the call button by accident during your daily debate whether to contact him or not. You started panicking the moment you saw and heard the dial tone. You paced back and forth with the phone in hand, your index finger making little dances above the ‘end call’ button. Before you could do anything, the line connected and you heard his voice.

“Hello?” He asked but you were too shocked to mutter out a response. “Hello? Is this a spam call?”

You let out a shaky breath before you finally spoke. “Hello? Um, this is...” ‘Quickly! Think of a name, think of something!’ Your mind quickly went back to that day and decided to go with the name you had given the barista when you two met. “Y/N. We bumped into each other the other day at a coffee shop.”

“Ohhh, hello!” You beard him say excitedly. “I was starting to worry that maybe you weren’t going to contact me after all. I told you not to make me feel guilty for too long. So your name was Y/N, huh? That’s a nice name.”

“I-I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention.” You quickly apologized, you had no idea that he was actually joking with you. “I also called you to let you know that I don’t need any compensation. It really was an accident and to be completely honest, it was mostly my fault.” ‘Good save!’

“A-ah, no it’s okay.” You could tell that your response had taken him by surprise. “Are you sure, Y/N?”

“I’m sure, please don’t worry about it no more.” You insisted.

“Well alright, if you insist.” Jin finally surrendered. With that your conversation pretty much died and you didn’t know what to do in these type of situations. “So...” Jin decided to break the silence. “What type of work do you do?”

You quickly hanged up the phone. After a couple of seconds, you realized what you had done but panic had overcome you and this was just an immediate body response. You couldn’t tell Jin you were a Grim Reaper. A loud ding interrupted your thoughts. “Text message?” You read confused as you unlocked the phone as instructed by the screen.

Hey, Y/N. I think the call failed or something. I’ve been having bad reception these days, so I think it was that. Anyways, I was wondering if maybe you’d be up to for coffee? I want to make it up for the one that I spilled. I know, I know. You don’t want any type of compensation, but come on it’s coffee!

You wondered how to answer to his text. Damn this world and it’s technology! What happened to hand-written letters? However, you finally noticed that on top of your keyboard there were responses typed out like: “yes”, “okay”, “no”, to name a few. You opted for the “okay” and waited. Within a few minutes you received Jin’s reply, stating the place and the time of your meet up. You couldn’t help but smile at your phone.

Seokjin was very excited. He just couldn’t wait to see you once again. Weird, huh? Considering that he had only seen you once, and for a couple of minutes only. There just was something about you that seemed to pull him in, that left him wanting to know you better and be with you. However, he quickly jumped off his bed and headed for Namjoon’s room. Jin knocked on the door twice and waited.

“Come in!” The leader of BTS called.

Jin slowly opened the door but didn’t step into the room. He only wanted to confirm something. “Hey Namjoon, sorry for bothering you so late. I just wanted to ask if we had anything planned for tomorrow? You know, like meetings or recordings?”

Joon looked away from the book he was reading and reached for his phone. After a couple of minutes, he shook his head and turned to face the raven haired male by his door. “In the morning we have practice. We’re learning a new choreography but other than that it seems like the rest of the evening is free.”

Jin let out a sigh of relief. Before Namjoon could say anything Jin started closing the door. “Thank you! I’ll let you go now, goodnight!”

RM let out a chuckle. He wanted to ask Jin about his plans for tomorrow, although he could take a good guess at what they were.

You looked at your wrist watch and smiled to see that you were doing good with time. Today you weren’t wearing you usual black attire, instead you were wearing a pair of jeans with some black boots, a gray sweater and a pink coat. Pink was Jin’s favorite color, you had come to learn this during one of your past meet ups. At first, you had developed this habit of standing up and running away every time he asked you something personal, something a mortal would do. Like your last name or the type of job you’d do. As soon as he would sprung a question like that, you’d excuse yourself and say you had something to do, but end up calling him the following day to meet and give an answer to his question. It wasn’t until you were about to leave once again, that Seokjin grabbed your hand and told you that it was okay. That you didn’t have to share anything personal if you didn’t wanted to and that he’d wait until you were ready, but... there wasn’t really anything you could say. From there, you guys took off. You started wearing more lively clothes and putting lipstick instead of lip balm. Jin told you that he was an idol and that his group was named BTS. He was the oldest of the seven members and he likes to cook. He owns two sugar gliders named Odeng and Eomuk, with whom he plays with each time he gets. You liked the way his hair would be all over the place because he was running late to meet with you, but you didn’t mind because after a google research and many YouTube videos, you knew how demanding his job was. Or the way his lips pout slowly while he’s talking, or the way he always made you laugh with his great jokes. Oh boy! You hadn’t laughed so much in your four hundred years of being a Grim Reaper. You knew this wasn’t right, that there was no chance that the two of you could ever be anything more than friends but it was already too late. These feeling had already made its way into your heart and planted themselves there, only for them to grow more and more each time you saw Jin. Things had already been set in motion and there was nowhere to go but forward.

“Man, I’m running late again!” Jin exclaimed as he turned the corner. One of his practices had ran longer than intended to, which delayed his plans with you. He wanted to take you out this time to a proper date. Dinner and maybe some ice cream, no more coffee and cookies but by the look of things, maybe it wasn’t going to happen after all. He knew he wasn’t the only one that felt this way, he wasn’t the only one with feelings. Seokjin wanted more than a simple friendship. How long has it been that you knew each other already? Five, six months? Was he being greedy? Jin quickly shook his head, dismissing those thoughts. Once the coffee shop started coming into view, he stopped and started walking. He tried to regain his composure, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t running just a few seconds ago. When he saw you, he felt like his heart skipped a beat. You weren’t wearing black as usual, not that he minded it, but seeing you in something different only made him fall harder. As he walked through the doors, you quickly noticed his presence and waved with a smile. That smile that Jin wanted to protect, to cherish. He quickly made his way over to you and took a seat on the chair across from you. “I’m sorry for running late, again. Things just came up.” Jin said while brushing the back of his head embarrassed.

You quickly shook your head. “Oh, no! Don’t worry about it, I totally understand. It’s part of your job after all.”

“Thank you for understanding.” He said gratefully. “But still, I wanted to do something nice for you today.”

“Jin, you do something nice for me every time we see each other.”

“And what is that?” He asked, trying to recall of he really had.

“You being with me.”

Jin’s head immediately snapped up. His eyes widened and his heart beat quickened. He couldn’t believe how lucky he had gotten for meeting you. “I’m so grateful I spilled that coffee on you back then. You know what, screw it! Let’s go do something!” He quickly stood up from the chair and urged you to follow. You couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by that, but dismissed it. You were just happy that Jin was back to his usual, happy self.

That night Jin and you did so, so many things. First, he took you to watch a movie, a horror one. You found it cute how Jin tried to act all tough saying things like ‘if you get scared tell me and we can take off’, but ended up being the one that got scared instead. Then he took you to eat fish cakes on a stand and not to be dramatic or anything, but these were easily the best fish cakes you had eaten in centuries. Then he took you to the arcade and karaoke! Wow, his voice was so beautiful. It was like listening to angels sing but better, much much better! Just when you thought you were going to call it a night, he stopped by a flower shop that was weirdly still open at late hours of the night.

“Here, for you.” Jin said once he was back, handing the flowers over to you.

“F-for me?” This took you completely by surprise. You had never been given flowers before. To you, flowers meant that someone had passed away. However, tonight Jin have them a whole new meaning. You extended your hands to grab the bouquet but before you could get your hands on it, someone swatted them to the floor. Causing for the beautiful flowers to fall apart.

“What the hell was that?” Jin asked. You could tell he was fuming by the tone of his voice. When the two of you turned to the direction where the hand had come from, you noticed a group of four men.

“Aw, sorry. Did we interrupt you little date?” One of the me asked in a mocking manner.

Jin only ignored them, grabbing you by the hand and started to walk in the opposite direction of them. Suddenly you felt someone grabbing you by your other wrist, pulling you away from Jin. You hand lost a hold of his. You knew these men meant trouble, you wanted to put them in their place but you couldn’t. Jin was here and if you used your powers he would never see you the same way again. He quickly turned around, fear eminent in his eyes.

“We were talking to you!” The same man exclaimed. With a swift movement he threw you into the arms of another man and started walking towards Jin. You tried to struggle in the most mortal way possible.

“Let her go!” Jin hissed trying to walk around the man but before he could get closer to you, a fist landed on his face. The strength of it was so much that it made Jin fall to the floor, his lip busted.

“Stop! Leave him alone!” You pleaded, but of course it was no use.

“What’s wrong?” The man who had his hold on you spoke. “You don’t want to have a good time with us?”

“I said, let her go!” Jin exclaimed, trying once again to make his way over to you. “What do you guys want? Money? I can give it to you, just don’t hurt her!”

Your chest started hurting. It hurt to see him like this when you knew that you could easily take these punks. Your eyes started swelling up in tears, hating the fact that you were being so selfish just to protect your identity. You should be protecting the man that you love. ‘Wait, do I love Jin?’

Before you had time to answer that question, three of the men launched at him. Landing punches on his face and body, leaving him no chance to retaliate. Blood started coming out of his wounds. Even though he was being beaten to a pulp, Jin wouldn’t stop mumbling the words ‘let her go, please.’ Your blood started boiling, you couldn’t let this go on anymore. You didn’t care if Jin found out who you were. As long as he was safe, that’s all that mattered. With your right hand, you reached over and started peeling the man’s hand off you. The man started panicking, for he had never seen a woman with such strength. Once you had finally gotten him off you, with one swift movement you sent him flying again a wall, knocking him unconscious. At the thudding sound, the three men turned to look in your direction. They couldn’t understand how one of their henchmen had landed all the way over to that wall. There was nobody else in sight and you looked too delicate to do such a thing. What a mistake. You charged at them. The men only started laughing but when you threw the first punch and sent one of them flying, their blood drained completely out of their face.

“What the fuck are you?” One of them said, taking out some brass knuckles and putting them on. The other took out a knife and got into position. They were waiting for you to make the first move, they were also scared. You slowly walked up to them and they slowly backed away, trying to keep the distance.

“What bad manners the two of you have.” You said as you kept on walking. The man with the brass knuckles took a swing at you but you only swatted then away, making them fly off his hands. You then took his hand and twisted it behind his back, causing him to scream in pain. You turned him around and threw him against the wall that you had thrown the first man to. The one holding the knife threw it away and threw himself on his knees, begging to be spared. You only rolled your eyes. “Go sit with your other buddies over there, don’t you dare move.”

“Y/N.” Jin whispered. He was witnessing everything but he wasn’t sure if he was seeing things due to the state he was in or if you really had taken down four thugs all by yourself. Before he could say anything more, Jin passed out. Meanwhile, you were dragging the last man over to where the other three were. Once they were all together and had regained some sort of consciousness again, you squatted down and started bending all sorts of metals on top of them. Trapping them in a little cage.

“Look me in the eye.” You started saying. “The four of you tried bothering that young man and ended up getting beaten the crap out of you.” You said as you pointed over to where Jin was laying. “You will not be found right away but you will not also die. In two days time, you’ll be found by the authorities and be taken to prison for your constant suppression on this neighborhood.” The four men stared blankly for a moment, taking in your instructions. This was one of your other powers as a Grim Reaper, you could erase memories and replace them with new ones. Although you only used it when you were doing some sort of work, there were time where it deemed necessary. Just like tonight. Once you were done with them, you quickly rushed over to Jin’s side. He was unconscious and there were bruises already forming on his face, so you quickly picked him up and teleported the both of you to your apartment. You walked over to your bedroom and placed him carefully on the bed. Without a second thought, you started hovering you hands on top of him injured body. His wounds slowly disappearing with each passing second. A tear started forming in the corner of your eye. You couldn’t stop blaming yourself for what had happened. If only you would’ve acted sooner, then Jin wouldn’t have had to go through that.

“I’m sorry, Jin. I’m sorry for everything.” You said in between sobs. “I hope you can forgive me.”

The sunlight flashing on his face, awoke Jin from his slumber. As he sat up, he noticed that he wasn’t in his bedroom. Suddenly, the events from last night came rushing to his mind. However, no pain or soreness overcame his body. He touched his face and there was no lumps and cuts on it. ‘Was it only just a dream?’ He was about to get up from the bed, when he noticed your face laying on the edge of the bed. You must’ve spent the night sleeping in that uncomfortable sitting position on the cold floor. He felt so guilty for taking your bed, so he stood and tried scooping you into his arms to lay you down on your bed. However, the moment you felt someone trying to lift you up, you immediately pushed them away. You had forgotten Jin had spent the night.

“Ow!” You heard him complain, just after he had hit one of your room walls. “So last night did happen! I was actually beaten up but why am I not injured?”

You took a deep breath as you took a seat on your bed and patted the spot next to you, so he could join you. Once he did, you started explaining to him everything that happened last night. Then everything about who you were and what you did. ‘Might as well just be honest once and for all.’ You thought. As you talked, you tried to examine Jin’s face, to try and see what he was feeling but his face was blank. You couldn’t read it at all and that scared you. After what seemed forever, you finally finished talking. A deep silence permeated the room.

“So how old are you?” Jin asked. Random ass question with all things considered.

“Wow, my mom is not going to approve of this relationship if we tell her your real age.” He started saying while scratching his head. “But if we tell her you’re my age then that’s completely fine! You don’t look a day older than twen—“

Your giggles interrupted him, that then turned into laughs. You couldn’t believe it. You had just told Jin that you were The Grim Reaper and he was worried whether or not his mom would approve? This boy surely was something else.

“What’s so funny?” He asked skeptically.

“It’s just... aren’t you scared of me? Or mad that I’ve lied to you?”

“Were the way you feeling while you were with me a lie?” He asked.

“No, they were not.” You said looking down.

“Then that’s all that matters.” Jin said wrapping his arms around you. “I do have to admit that I never thought something like this would happen to me, but I don’t regret meeting you at all. The attraction I felt towards you since the moment we met was something I could never understand, but perhaps it was destiny who had it all planned out. For us to meet, I mean. From there my feelings just started growing more and more, until I had completely fallen for you. I love you, Y/N. Do you love me?”

You looked up to meet his eyes. How could you not love him? He was the most amazing person in the whole world. So caring, so understanding, so perfect. “Of course I love yo—“

Jin interrupted you with a kiss, taking you completely by surprise. You felt his warm hand coup the side of your face, causing you to give in. To his kiss, to his touch. A few seconds passed and the two of you finally pulled away. “I’m sorry.” Jin said. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“A-ah no,” You replied while looking away. “its okay. I liked it.”

“Oh, really? Then you won’t mind if I do it again?” He teased and before you could say anything, his lips were again against yours.

“Now,” He said as he pulled away again. “isn’t there something you can do to make me immortal too? Forever sounds amazing, if I get to spend it with you.”

“Jin... I’m the Grim Reaper not a vampire.” You said with a chuckle. “But leave it to me, I’ll see what I can do.” Because even if you wouldn’t admit it right there and then, forever with him seemed just perfect.

Masterlist

[nic-and-annie-in-france]

Italy

We traveled around Italy for Spring Break. Since we will be heading back to the States soon, we wrote shorter, co-written accounts of our travels as we went along. Annie is typing, so any references to “I” or “me” below mean Annie.

We began our trip by taking an overnight bus from our home in the Alps all the way to Rome. This was not our first choice of transportation; I’ve heard horror stories about overnight buses. However, I waited too long to buy tickets for our Geneva-Naples flight and it sold out. Any other option was going to take an extra day of travel and a couple hundred more dollars than we were willing to pay. So we bit the bullet and booked the bus, knowing that for better or for worse it would be an adventure.

Our rear ends hurt, and our sleep was interrupted frequently, but our ride went about as well as we could have hoped for. The bathroom worked (we’ve been on long distance buses before where this was not the case), and when we decided to give up trying to sleep, we got to enjoy the sun rising on the Italian countryside.

Naples

Nicolas says he liked Naples better than I did. It was probably one of my least favorite places we have been in Europe. Even though I didn’t like it that much, I thought its aesthetic was fascinating. The buildings had a weathered look about them, the people hawking trinkets and souvenirs were quite aggressive, and cars and mopeds racing down narrow alleys forced the crowds of pedestrians to flatten themselves against the sides of buildings to avoid being hit. At street level, people walked slowly and took up the whole sidewalk, and up above, dozens of clotheslines with drying laundry obscured the sky from view. It was claustrophobic to say the least, but in a uniquely Neapolitan way.

Good food, though, covers a multitude of sins. We ordered two pizzas for 6€ apiece at a pizzeria as our first lunch. At that price, we thought they would be small, but each pizza was about 14” in diameter, their edges hanging off our plates. Luckily we were able to take our two unfinished halves of pizzas with us to our hostel. We also had our first Italian gelato (brownie flavored 😋).

Our hostel was more bohemian than others we have stayed at—not in a dirty way, but in a convivial, share-your-story-around-the-breakfast-table way. We met a French couple who were traveling for the first time since they put their kids through college, and an Irishman attempting to visit 100 cities around the world (Naples was number 73).

Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius is an Italian national park, and going there reminded us of our tour of the national parks in the American West. We rode a bus about 45 minutes up the mountain, celebrating the fact that we were not responsible for squeezing a rental car around tour buses on the blind hairpin curves. When we got off, it looked like a different planet. The ground was composed of purplish-black volcanic rock, and not much except scraggly brush was growing on the jagged ridges of the mountain. We walked up and around the rim of the volcano; fortunately, there’s not much to see in there except rock and some hot steam escaping through the cracks in the cone.

Nicolas said that because Pompeii was so big, and lots of it was still in good condition, it almost felt like a Roman-themed amusement park. It is an entire city, and not just a collection of artifacts, so it gives you a more complete sense of what Roman life was like than you might get in a museum. We began our tour of the city cautiously, asking each other, “Do you think we are allowed to go in there?” We quickly learned that you can walk anywhere that isn’t obviously blocked off. So we were free to explore the homes and public buildings belonging to people who lived 2000ish years ago. We found the bigger landmarks, like the forum, the palace, and the two amphitheaters. But we especially enjoyed looking for small houses away from the crowds, perhaps with a little mosaic of a dog decorating the floor, and deciding that that’s where we would have lived.

Rome

We arrived in Rome in the afternoon, so after dropping our bags off at our hostel, we did a little bit of sightseeing. That evening, we got caught in an unexpected rain shower without our rain jackets or umbrella, but since it was still warm, we didn’t mind too much. We were walking up a steep hill to see a pretty public square when the sun finally started to come back out. On our way up the hill, we came to a clearing where there was a beautiful view of the whole city. The rooftops, spires and domes were all glowing yellow-orange in the early evening sunlight, thrown into contrast by the dark blue rainclouds above them. And for a few minutes, a rainbow appeared, with one end of the arc landing straight in the middle of Rome. We were exactly in the right place at the right time to see such a thing.

Shortly afterwards, we walked back down the hill for dinner. The neighborhood was beautiful—creeping vines, colorful façades, wet cobblestones reflecting the sky. Our dinner spot was a confusing hybrid of an establishment, serving only bottles of wine, charcuterie boards, and takeout sandwiches. All the tables were taken when we arrived, so with a layout like this we were unsure if or how we could get our name on the list. There was a sign on the wall explaining that the restaurant technically didn’t have a restaurant license, so the employees couldn’t set the tables, take our orders at the table, or even hand out menus. After a short wait for our seats, we ordered a dinner-for-two charcuterie board (even though charcuterie is normally an appetizer, not a main dish) and a small bottle of prosecco. Nothing about it was a familiar experience for us, and normally we’d be stressed out and put off. But our dinner was nothing short of a feast. We were served several kinds of meat, fruits, cheeses, vegetables, and breads. It felt like a celebration where we weren’t celebrating anything in particular except the fact that we were in Rome, the eternal city, and it had just graced us with a rainbow.

I have a bit of a head cold, and on the morning we were supposed to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I let us sleep in a little longer than we were supposed to, and scrapped the non-highlights on the itinerary that day, thinking we’d go to the Forum and Colosseum and be back in our hostel by lunchtime. But that extra hour of sleep cost us dearly. When we showed up to the back entrance that “no one ever uses,” according to the travel guides, there was a long, long line down the block, and we waited in that line for an hour. Fortunately for us, we enjoy each other’s company, so the time passed pretty quickly. When we got to the ticket desk, they gave us our ticket and told us that our “appointment” for the Colosseum was in one hour. An hour was too long to stand around at the Colosseum, and too short to have a complete visit of the Roman Forum. So, we ended up using that hour to see the nearby non-highlights anyway. All the sidewalks in the area were congested with tourists, tour guides, and worst of all, the aggressive souvenir/water/sunglasses hawkers. It was like navigating the mall on Black Friday, if every single salesperson was working on commission like the salt scrub kiosk people. Over and over again, I regretted my extra hour of sleep. Eventually, after more queueing, standing, and being jostled, we did see the Colosseum and the Forum. By that time, I was pretty tired and having trouble appreciating the sights. But Nicolas the history nerd was having the time of his life, so I really enjoyed seeing him light up at finding such-and-such temple dedicated to such-and-such deity. Oddly, one of our favorite things about the day was drinking straight from the potable fountains in the Roman Forum. We didn’t look as dignified as the people who used them to fill up their water bottles, but the water was so tasty and cold. Refreshed by the fountains, we made our way to the top of the Palatine Hill and enjoyed the view of the city with the ruins in the foreground.

We bought fresh pasta for lunch one afternoon and took it to a park to eat. We found a place secluded from the other people (and the pushy rose salesmen) and scarfed down our pasta so fast that we forgot to take a picture of it until we had only a couple of bites left. It was delicious and the park was beautiful. In the middle of a city of taxis and Vespas, we cherished the smells of grass and budding flowers (or at least Nicolas did because his nose wasn't stopped up). 

After succumbing to the long lines for the Colosseum, we weren’t making the same mistake when we visited the Vatican City. We didn’t get there right at 7am when it was supposed to open, but we still arrived in Saint Peter’s Square before 8am. Once we were there, though, we couldn’t find a way to enter the basilica. There were tables and a podium set up at the front of the basilica, with hundreds of chairs set up facing them. There were lots of tourists and tour groups sitting and waiting patiently in these chairs. We sat there for a while, but it was unclear what we were waiting for. Is this some kind of queueing system for entering the basilica? A Mass that we didn’t know about? Some other sort of event? When was it supposed to start? We saw a few people entering a side door, and asked the official who let them by if we could go in. He didn’t speak much English and simply said, “Private.” We sat back down. 8:00 and 8:30 came and went. Nicolas eventually went to ask someone else when the basilica would open, and he found out it wouldn’t open until one in the afternoon. 

We decided to go back outside the city to the Vatican Museums, which were located at a side entrance to the Vatican City. On our way there, we were stopped by a man with a badge, who asked us if we had a ticket. We didn’t. He pulled out a map to show us where the entrance was, but then suggested that we take a skip-the-line guided tour which would let us see the museums and the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica, all for a lower price than the normal admission. As he was gesturing to his map during the sales pitch, I looked closer at the credentials on the map and on his badge. He was working for a third-party tour agency, not for the Vatican Museums themselves. We told him we weren’t interested in the guided tour, we just wanted to find the line for the normal entrance. He said, “But I’m offering you a better deal. Why aren’t you taking it?” Then he offered to show us the end of the line, apparently to show us how unreasonable we were being. He took us to where we could see the line, and after we said a second time that we just want to join the line, he walked off. But in the time it took us to actually walk to the end of the line, we were approached by half a dozen other people selling other tours. We got to the line, where another man asked us if we had a ticket. We said no, we’re just waiting in line for a ticket. He said, “This isn’t the line, this is a tour group. If you want a ticket, you have to go to this office…” and started in on his sales pitch. We crossed the street to get away from him, nearly ready to give up and return to the hostel. We decided to locate the physical entryway to determine where the line really was. We did so, and found someone behind the barrier who surely must be trustworthy. He verified that the line we had just left was the real line, so we made our way to the back again. As we waited, another six or so men selling tours tried to approach us. Eventually we made it to the front of the line, and I was glad that we persevered and finally found the place we needed to go. The whole ordeal felt like a parable to me. “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” See that no one leads you astray!

Inside the museums, we had a great time. The museums’ collections were diverse, featuring ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan artifacts as well as modern art by Chagall and Matisse. Naturally, there was tons of religious art. We played our name-that-saint game, and got better at it as we went along. We learned to recognize Saint Francis by his brown habit and the signs of the stigmata. Saint Jerome often has a lion and always has a big red hat. And whether he is depicted as a child or as an adult, John the Baptist wears camel skin and has his staff with a cross. We saw several works by Raphael, including The School of Athens, which is basically a painting of the ancient philosophers’ hall of fame. Since we’re philosophy enthusiasts (Nicolas more so than me), this was probably our favorite work in the whole museum. That’s not counting the Sistine Chapel, which surely is in a league of its own. We strained our necks from looking at the ceiling for so long.

On our last morning in Rome, we went to the Scala Sancta, which are believed to be stairs that Jesus ascended during the Passion (transported from Jerusalem to Rome in the 4th century). If you want to climb the stairs, you have to do so on your knees. Normally, the marble stairs are covered by wooden stairs as a protective measure, but the wood was removed and the original marble was exposed just a week or so before our trip. We felt a little bit like impostors because many of the other people there were clearly Catholic and making the climb as part of a pilgrimage. We were definitely just on vacation, but at the same time, the stairs did have spiritual importance for us, too. We can’t say we had any kind of grand epiphany while we prayed our way up the stairs, but we were both grateful for the opportunity to do something unlike any other spiritual experience we’ve had.

Florence

Florence is the home of the Italian Renaissance, but our real reason for wanting to visit there was to have a home base from which we could get a glimpse of the Tuscan countryside. Our stay there was short, but sufficient for what we wanted to see in and around this smaller city.

On our first half-day in Florence, we walked around the historic part of the city. By the time we paid for our super-late lunch, the churches on our itinerary were already closed, so we only saw this historic district from the outside. But what we saw, we really enjoyed. There were several huge public squares which were much more pleasant than the ones in Rome because the pushy salespeople were replaced by art vendors and street performers. We were able to find a park bench in a couple of these squares and people-watch without fear of being repeatedly asked to buy sunglasses. We watched children terrorize pigeons, saw young women sit for caricatures, and admired the pink and green stone of the Duomo di Firenze.

Our only full day in Florence was spent on a bike tour of Tuscany, the event we were simultaneously most excited for and most worried about. I haven’t ridden a bike in ages, so when I booked the tour I was really counting on bike-riding being “like riding a bike,” as the saying goes. Thanks to my time as a pedestrian in Lexington, I also have a fear of cycling on a road I’m sharing with cars. But I figured that people less capable than us surely must have taken the tour and lived to tell the tale, so we were cautiously optimistic about the day. It turned out to be one of the most fun and memorable things we’ve done in our time in Europe. We had no trouble riding the bikes, and sharing the road wasn’t as scary as we expected. We had to tear our eyes away from the rolling hills and vineyards in order to watch where we were going. The countryside was beautiful, but it was also uncannily similar to Kentucky. We agreed that if you replaced the vineyards and olive trees with tobacco and horse farms, it would look a lot like the Bluegrass.

During our tour, we also got to visit a hybrid castle/winery/olive oil-ery and taste its wares. Only in Italy can you be given a free glass of wine and then be asked to hop on a bicycle with no questions asked! For lunch, we stopped at a traditional Italian restaurant and had a three-course meal. Our tour continued after lunch, but at that point everyone was allowed to go at their own pace. Nicolas enjoyed zooming down big hills, but when I got pretty far ahead on a long, slight incline, he asked, “Can we slow down? I’m full of pasta and I’ve got nothing to prove.” He had a point. We took it easy after that.

On our last day in Florence, we visited the Uffizi art gallery. We had heard of the museum only because it is mentioned in Civilization V, a strategy computer game we both play. Though we had heard of it, we had no idea what was inside. It turns out that its collection is mostly composed of Renaissance art. It was huge, and we didn’t have a ton of time to spend there, so we looked at the map and decided where we wanted to spend most of our time. Most of the rooms were either named for one particular artist who created everything in the room, or the region/time period the works belonged to. We focused on the names we had heard of—Botticelli, Caravaggio, Titian—and the Florentine rooms. Renaissance means “rebirth” in French, and right away, it was evident how art was “reborn” during that time period. Compared with the medieval art we’ve seen, these paintings demonstrate the Renaissance artists’ heightened awareness and control of perspective, light, and human anatomy. We happened upon a couple of iconic masterpieces that we weren’t expecting to see, like Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. We entered with virtually no opinion one way or another on Renaissance art, and left with a lot of appreciation of and curiosity about it.

Venice

Prior to beginning our trip, we were least excited about Venice. Amsterdam put a bad taste in our mouths for amphibious cities, and I had heard that Venetians resented the throngs of tourists for ruining their city. It was also the leg of our trip that I never got around to planning. So for our first day there, we decided to just walk around the neighborhoods that we heard were picturesque, and we booked a free walking tour that was advertised as a first introduction to the city.

The hostel we stayed in is part of a franchise, and we had stayed at another one in the franchise in Vienna, so we knew basically what to expect from our stay. This one was located on the mainland, and appeared to be very recently built. Apart from our ninth-floor room being a little bit stuffy, everything about it was modern, sleek, and comfortable. Nicolas said it was one of the most hotel-like places we had stayed in Europe. Something about it, maybe its spaciousness, felt very American. There was also a big-box grocery store around the corner that we went to. It was simply gargantuan by European standards, but it felt like home to us.

Since the hostel was on the mainland, we had to take a fifteen-minute bus ride each day into Venice proper. This was the least pleasant part of our whole stay. We usually waited at the bus stop with about 15 other sightseers, but only 3-6 people could cram themselves onto each bus that arrived. The crowded bus took us into the crowded city center of Venice. Past that point, no buses, cars, or bikes were allowed on the islands, leaving walking and boating as the only possible modes of transportation. We followed one of the main roads for a while, buffeted along by the crowds, then turned onto a narrow alleyway. Almost immediately, all the noise died away and we were alone in a quiet neighborhood. We wound our way around these streets, which thankfully were nothing like the ones in Amsterdam. I was most struck by the city’s color palette: all shades of yellow (though goldenrod was my favorite) for the façades, though sometimes they were salmon pink, with either emerald green or navy blue shutters. I talked Nicolas’ ear off, pointing it out each time I saw something pretty and dreaming out loud about how I’d decorate our future home with the same color palette. A yellow kitchen with emerald accents—mark my words!

In the afternoon, we went on our walking tour. Our guide taught us about the history and culture of Venice, from the biggest events to the smallest details of architecture. She took us to a sumptuous Jesuit church, whose interior was jaw-dropping. It was made almost entirely of marble, with white and green marble cut so that it resembled damask wallpaper. Even a “curtain” around a pulpit on the side was actually made of marble.

The next day, we visited St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. The basilica was unlike any we had ever seen. The walls and ceilings were covered in gold mosaics, and though the interior was barely lit, every surface glittered. Biblical people and scenes were hidden everywhere, even in places like the underside of arches that are barely visible. We also saw some Bible stories depicted that usually don’t make it onto church walls, like Joseph’s dream about the skinny cows eating the fat cows. The Doge’s Palace was the seat of government of the Venetian Republic. There, we learned about the government of Venice, as well as the art that covered nearly every flat surface in the building. We saw several more paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese. In one room, we saw one of the world’s largest painting on canvas, Il Paradiso by Tintoretto. We learned that the room had caught fire in the 1500s and had sustained heavy damage. The painting that hung where Il Paradiso now hangs was lost, so the doge held a contest for painters to design a new painting to go in its place. Tintoretto won the contest, and now his masterpiece is the largest canvas painting in the world. In light of the burning of the Notre Dame de Paris, I thought this was a good example of the way new creative life can be breathed into a place that has suffered tragedy.

Cinque Terre

The last leg of our trip was spent in Cinque Terre, a series of five little pastel-colored towns on the western coast of Italy. We loved the variety of the things to do and see in this area. There were mountains, winding streets, rocky coasts, beaches, and terrace farms, all within walking distance of each other. We didn’t have much on the itinerary there except to explore the five towns and do whatever struck our fancy along the way. After two weeks of squeezing as many activities as possible into each day, it felt like we were on “island time,” even though there were no islands involved.

Nicolas’ favorite thing to do was watch the electric blue waves crash against the rocky coastline. My favorite thing was walking by the gardens and farms, seeing and smelling everything in bloom. We saw orange, lemon, lime, kumquats, and fig trees, and I desperately wanted a fruit to fall where I could reach it. I felt like the fox in the Aesop fable jumping for the grapes.

Unfortunately, Cinque Terre doesn’t have the infrastructure it needs to accommodate the masses of people it attracts. The villages don’t allow normal car or motorcycle traffic, so the most direct ways to hop from town to town are a train and a long hiking path. There is only one section of the path (between towns #4 and #5) that is still open—the rest have been so badly worn down that they are impassible. The trains typically run 30 minutes late, and so many people accumulate on the platforms that there is hardly room to breathe. We fully realize that we are part of the problem! It’s just a sad paradox: a place that attracts tons of people because of its small-town charm becomes less attractive precisely because it attracts so many people.

We hiked the one accessible leg of the trail, and having done so, we think it will probably close soon too. We enjoyed seeing the mountains and the Mediterranean, but sections of it were too narrow to allow two-way traffic. We’d often have to stop in order to let a dozen people going the opposite way pass us, and in doing so, blocked about a dozen people behind us from advancing too. There was even a section where all but eight inches of the path had fallen away in a small mudslide. We were thankful for the opportunity to do the hike, but don’t think that opportunity will be around much longer. 

We took advantage of our proximity to the sea and ate a lot of fresh seafood. Nicolas discovered that he likes fried calamari and anchovies, while I discovered that I prefer plain old fish and chips. And of course, we ended our last full day in Italy in the proper fashion: with two scoops of gelato to share.

Bonus: traveling back home

We walked, trained, and bussed home from about 7am to 7pm. Along the way, we got to see some stunning Swiss mountains from the dirty window of our train. We even saw the real life Orient Express in the same station as us!

[manithetanuki]

Luxury 'n' Lust

[Shirtless guys do donuts on their dirtbikes; some of them with a girl on the back. Hot whips line up perfectly at the curbs and people step out in their finest attire. The style range resembles the foxiest people of the 60's to the 90's; platform heels, orange in every hue, leather, suede, curls, hairspray, rings and chains.

Some kids ogle at the cars and outfits in awe. Naked women dance, in lounges and clubs, laughing and shaking their ass while holding blunts and cups up in the air. Aavaara's (sexual vagrants) strut down sidewalks in their skimpiest, fuck in the open and party in harems and clubs. Market stalls and bodegas are swarming with people. Loud music plays from vehicles and the open doors of businesses. There's even some street performers on nearly every block. Today is yet another payday for most of the population. So we all come out flexin and stuntin in our hoods.

Malls are flooded with niggas, corner-stores jam-packed with children, parks and venues stuffed with naked, half-naked and fully dressed adults of varying melanated ethnicities. The racial diversity is what always makes me comfortable yet still in awe. Brown in so many shades and variations, meshing beautifully with the orange overlay of the world.

The sun is highest in the sky and beaming evanescent golden and bronze rays onto our gorgeous skin. And the festivities will not end until 6 in the morning, tomorrow.]

After having cleaned my house up, I found myself still tidying things up in my bedroom. As I organized my stuffies I reminisced on the amazing times I had playing with my sibling as a child. Our imagination was so elaborate and the amount of characters we'd had was numerous. We created worlds, concepts and relationships. A simple, precious time.

Leaving the crib with burning spliff in my hand, I hop in my ride and put the top down. Today is a really warm Spring day. I drive past the block with the hot rods line up and the uniquely dressed pimps, dancers, musicians and everyday citizens. Music is coming from every direction, overlapping and vibrating in every square foot of land. There's Latino music playing, Asian rap, trap music, jazz, bongos and dancehall.

I love my realm.

On my way to get my hair done, I hand a homeless couple some money and Kush. They thank me and the girlfriend flashes me her tits in gratitude. I cheer and laugh, give them a nod and continue driving. Today, I'm getting blonde locs and my baby hairs done. My hair is down to my shoulders now and I've been marinating on this decision for a little while before committing.

Last week I'd gotten a professional massage but I think I want to get one personally at my house from a friend or whatever. I'd most likely pay them in bud and pussy.

In the O.L.D, sex is an open and communal experience. People have sex wherever they so please as long as it is not in the presence of a child. With this being said, sexual practices help the world thrive through Tantric energy and the culmination of positive auric energies. All sexual exchanges must obviously be consensual and humane. R*pe and m*lestation are immensely frowned down upon and punishable by as far as death or torture based on degree of harm and other criteria. There are even Tantra festivals where a cornucopia of people dance and have orgies. It is honestly a beautiful and freeing event.

Looking and feeling like a million bucks, I drive down to the crowded market repeatedly glancing at my nails on the steering wheel. They look so fucking good! They're clear acrylic nails with glittery golden french tips and orange hieroglyphs. The sheen my nails have in the light is so eye catching. And my locs came out looking better than I'd expected. I had them lightly trimmed into a symmetrical shoulder length bob. My roots are still black which, in my opinion, makes the blonde pop.

I'm back in the house now and unloading the gifts and groceries I bought. While I was out, I paid my bills and my parents. Then I put gas in the car and headed home. Luckily, my feet actually don't hurt in these heels since I've been running around all afternoon. Amen to that!

I use the bathroom, touch up my makeup and grab a flask of kombucha liquor. This morning, I had tea and then coffee. Now that it's midday, I feel I deserve an alcoholic drink after handling business. Today is prosperous. School has been coming along well, bills have been paid, my career has been running pretty smooth despite a few hiccups, and my parents are well taken care of and in good health. My love partners are comfortable and taken care of as well. These things are all that matters to me. That, and my peace of mind.

I sat in my living room thinking about what to do next when all of a sudden I felt a wave of a weird sensation pass through my body. A brilliant flash of bronze appeared in my right blindspot and then disappeared. My mind was initially confused until thoughts, words and images began to blink into my consciousness. My heart felt big and my breathing got slower; my body more relaxed. A black silhouette with a golden outline danced behind my eyelids as I puffed on my blunt. The woman sways her wide hips and pretty breasts. She is so gorgeous and mesmerizing. "I am your deepest fantasy..." the curvy woman whispers seductively from the depths of my psyche.Eyes made of bronze lined with obsidian wings and luscious lashes bat at me from the black room within my head. Her eyes looked almost cat like, staring deep into the pit of my soul in such an erotic way.

But then she slowly faded away like the outro to an album.

When I opened my eyes, I leaned forward feeling a little lightheaded and giddy. Then I realized, "Oh my fucking goodness, I've seen her before!" I've heard her voice before, but I don't think it's happened in real life. I believe I'd seen her in some very lucid and recurring dreams I've been having over the past 2 months.

I take a long sip from my white and pink leather pouch that holds my golden flask. My mind keeps searching and pacing for more vivid memories of her sightings. Our encounters are such a haze to me right now. Dammit. As usual, the memories will hit me randomly in full detail and mental re-enactment. So I won't sweat it.

But what kind of contact was that? I saw a bright light, felt bodily changes and had a vivid...daydream? Did a mysterious woman possess me or telepathically speak to me?

"Snap out of it. It ain't that deep. Time will tell, Mani." I think to myself as I prepare to call a friend to go out and eat lunch with.

"Hell yeah, let's do it. And I'm hungier than a muhfucka, too?" Jonetsu says in his casually smooth voice. "I'll be over there in 10."

"Word up." I say before hanging up.

Jonetsu arrives and we hug and kiss, as greeting. This afternoon he's wearing a meshh tank top, matching black mesh shorts with orange briefs, and fresh black hightop sneakers. He smells like some dank ass Kush and fine cologne. I always bask in certain peoples' scent.

What I'm wearing unintentionally marches with Netsu, in a way. I'm wearing a tight orange halter dress under a mesh black shirt, with black pumps and orange thigh high tights. Even though us matching wasn't planned, I can dig it.

"You look good as fuck right now, Mani." Netsu says as he pulls a chair out for me. His eyes keep travelling between my eyes, hair and body. He bites his lip and looks away. I grin at his adorable nature.

"Thank you. You look good, too. Word up."

We're inside of a harem diner called Semaa where they serve masterfully made soul food and fresh coffee. Everyone can hear moans, screams, smacks and whimpers from downstairs, but we still enjoy ourselves and relish in the sexy and cozy atmosphere.

Soft jazz music plays in the glowing ambience of the packed diner. The staff brings food out to customers dressed in diner uniforms similar to the 70's or 60's. Me and Jonetsu converse as we enjoy our light yet hearty spread of a meal. Every now and then we'll look at each other, say something funny and then bug out laughing. He rolls a spliff and passes it to me to spark first. The initial hit gives me a strong buzz; lightheaded and vision swaying a little, combined with the liquor I had. My body feels as though it's melting into the chair I'm sitting in. My toes tingle in my high heels and my mouth gets a little drier after a few more puffs. I sip from my flask and inhale deeply. This feels fucking amazing.

"This is some good shit, right here." I say honestly. Looking up from my plate at Jonetsu, his aura is immediately revealed; vivid turquoise and sky blue with traces of fuchsia. The colors calm and soothe me. We discuss his aura for a bit, finish our food and head back to my house.

"This is for you, handsome." Standing in my bedroom, I hand Netsu a white box with a black ribbon around it. On a semi frequent occassion, I'll go out and buy friends, family and acquaintances gifts for their efforts and existence. Tokens of my gratitude, if you will.

"Thank you." He holds the box near his head and shakes it. "What is it? You ain't got nothing living in here, do you?"

We laugh. "Nahh, just open it. I know you'll like it."

A 6 pack of rose petal pre-rolled blunts and a golden chain are revealed when he unfastened the bow and peeled the lid back. He grins and gives me a hug and a sweet soft kiss on my lips. "Thank you, baby. This shit looks fire!" Jonetsu holds the chain up while smiling. He places the chain back in the box and grabs a blunt. "I ain't seen too many rose blunts in my lifetime. And they look like they gone hit, too!"

"You're welcome. And they definitely do hit. Like Backwoods but smoother." I grin and fold my arms over my chest, proud of the gift I gave him. Jonetsu really means a lot to me. A lot more than the way a friend means to someone. I consider him one of my partners. He has helped mold and shape me into a physically fit being and made me a more in tune with nature and myself. We spar and train at his dojo across town; sometimes we have sex there. He loves me through touch and passionate conversations of any topic, including romantic. That's what his name means actually; passion.

Examining the chain again, his eyes widen. "You even got my name on this?" He nods his head in approval and smirks at me. "Respect. I really fuck with this." Then he looks down at the carpet and sits on my bed. "I have to start getting you more gifts. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm mainly interested in martial arts, Kush and sex. But I do appreciate you, Mani. A lot."

I stand in front of him and cup my hands on the sides of his face. Our eyes make contact and I lean in for a kiss. His tongue slides against my tongue as our lips lock in the rays of the sun shining through my window. Rubbing his shoulder, I step away. Netsu sets the gift box down beside him and reaches out to grab my hand. So I just stand there holding it and looking into his pretty long lashed eyes. "I love you." He says solemnly.

My heart skips like several beats and my stomach feels weird. I can't help but smile hard and look down at his hand clasped in mine. "I love you too, Jonetsu."

"Come here." His arms spread, I sit on his lap with my feet on the bed and lean into his hard chest. We kiss and sit in silence for a couple minutes. Suddenly, his hand guides mine to his crotch. I feel his hard dick jump in his shorts and I look up into his eyes. Almost immediately, my clit throbs. I get up and undress in front of him. The liquor was making me hot anyway, but Netsu just made me hotter.

Standing before him in my naked glory (aside from my thigh high tights), I watch his eyes travel to my chocolatey D cup breasts, wide hips and trimmed pussy. Then he stands up and pulls his shorts and sneakers off. In his orange briefs, he grips his dick while looking into my eyes with a yearning I can't recall seeing from him before. We haven't seen each other in a few weeks because we've been busy.

Brent Faiyaz plays low in the background followed by a sexy trap instrumental. I turn to my dresser and grab the rosehip oil. As soon as I turn around, Jonetsu is right behind me; his underwear on the carpet behind him. Feeling his erection pressed against my butt makes turns me on more. I face him and look down at it. "You feel like giving me a massage?"

"Yeah. I gotchu." He kisses me, leading me to my lush bed. "Lay down."

I obey and jiggle my ass while grinning at him. His eyes go from my ass to my face his eyes become thin as he smiles like he was just told an inside joke. Ugh, his lips are so big and pretty.

"Wanna spark one of your new blunts?" I ask.

"Oh, yeah! For sure."

Netsu straddles me and teasingly rests his dick between buttcheeks. He starts rubbing me down as I do meditate, passing the blunt back and forth. Resting my shoulders on the blanket completely, I lay on the side of my face and deeply exhale the smoke. Slowly and steadily, Jonetsu starts easing his way in and out of my ass until he's fully inside. He does this thing where he flexes his dick while it's still inside my ass and it feels so fucking good! Sensually, he rubs all along my curvatures and crevices, my pussy practically drooling onto the bed at this point. I moan and curse as he speeds up. All we hear is our combined heavy breathing, music and clapping.

I cum 3 times before we meet a mutual orgasm as he turns me into a creampie. When he pulls out. he spreads my cheeks wider and licks in between them. Breathing heavily, my body still has little quakes and tremors followed by whimpers.

[ignis-et-equi]

I have homework I need to finish before tonight, but I keep getting distracted by thinking about my date yesterday. So maybe writing it all out (again) will help my thought process. FYI, this will get detailed, so if you don’t want to know about my sex life, move on.

So, I’m sitting in the super cute, picturesque coffee shop after driving 45 minutes through a whiteout, sometimes only going 35 mph because of black ice and low visibility. The drive was fucking awful. By the time I get into town, I’m already an anxious wreck. My hands are shaking so hard that I have to hold my hot cider in both of them so I don’t spill it. (Cider was bomb af, btw.) He was very polite and had texted me that he was probably gonna be a half hour late because of the weather. So I waited nervously and he showed up precisely when he predicted he would.

I think he was nervous too. He immediately found me and sat down across from me. We made small talk. I was so out of it that I don’t even remember most of the conversation. I was wrapped up in taking notes about his hair, eyes, and the sound of his voice and why it seemed so damn familiar. I do know that one of the first things he did once small talk had concluded was showing me a bunch of pictures on his phone of the various animals he’s lived with while working farms in Washington State. It was very clear that he adores animals and is absolutely unashamed of expressing that fact. My heart lept a little when he said the word “doggo.” (Because I’m a cliche white girl. Sue me.) We also discussed his time being a firefighter in Yellowstone and what he did working intelligence for the Army in Afghanistan. I also pronounced my jealousy at how much he’s been able to travel and told him about becoming an ESL teacher, why I’m in Wyoming, etc.

After we finished our drinks, we discussed what we wanted to do in spite of the snow and decided on me showing him the rest of Cody and potentially heading into the North Fork to see the mountains and lake. We really didn’t make it that far. It was snowing too much to even see the mountains that were literally surrounding us. So we parked the car and left the heater running while we talked about music and tattoos. I gave him a brief rundown of what polyamory is and told him more about my boyfriend and how I’m going on an extended weekend date in NYC with two other people before moving onto his knowledge about BDSM, which was null. He actually went through all 400+ songs on my Spotify playlist to see what I like.

I’m sitting there thinking, “This is prime first kiss territory,” and trying to make it clear that I definitely would like that to happen. But he was just so soft and gentle. I legit wasn’t sure if he was actually going to make a move on me or not, even after he lightly started stroking my hair and softly giving me compliments. I moaned instinctively the first time he touched me and then blushed immediately after. I’m not as coy as I’d like to be, but I think it encouraged him quite a bit. He drug out those moments leading up to that first kiss. It was torture. Glorious, savory torture. Finally, he asked, “Does your lipstick smear?” I was on autopilot, immediately realizing what this question was getting at.

“It stays on pretty much the entire day,” I responded. I’m sure there was begging in my eyes.

“You wanna make sure?”

I pounced on him almost before he could finish his sentence. It was light and warm and soft. He smelled like the forest, musky and familiar. His fingers wove through my hair, his other hand held my cheek in that way I absolutely adore. I followed his lead, for the most part, not wanting to seem too eager despite having already shown my hand. His lips moved down to my bare shoulder (thank you, off-shoulder sweater), my collarbone, my earlobe. I was blissed out and digging my nails into his chest. He came back to kiss me and nibbled on my lip, his hand drifting down to wrap around my throat. I felt the primal tear out of me and bit him back, which made him moan. I kissed down his neck and did more than just nibble, but I was careful not to use full force. I could tell how much he loved it and he returned my bites in kind.

We made out for a long time. My playlist was going in the background. There was lots of snuggling when we came up for air. It felt like a dam had broken and we just wanted to have as much physical contact as possible, sexual or not. We ended up talking some more. He bashfully told me that he’s divorced. I told him I’m not surprised. Any military guy over the age of 25 has to be divorced. They won’t let you out until you get an ex-wife. I wanted to sit there and snuggle and make out, but I knew I didn’t want to sleep with him in the back of an SUV, so I suggested we go to the bookstore downtown. He had no qualms against that.

We held hands the whole way there and talked more while I drifted on autopilot again. We walked hand in hand down the icy sidewalk. He made sure to put himself between me in the road, which a very Southern Gentleman thing to do. He showed me a bunch of books he’s read once we walked in and I showed him some of my favorites. He was always touching me, holding me, with his arm around the small of my back while we looked through the books. I didn’t even think about the fact that we’d known each other for all of a few hours and were already engaging in PDA. It was comfortable and safe. We lingered in the bookstore longer than was appropriate for two people who had no intention of buying anything.

The Thai place we ate at was just down the next block, coincidentally next door to the coffee shop. His eye had lit up in the bookstore when I mentioned wanting proper spring rolls, so that was the first thing we ordered. We shared pad thai and drunken noodles. We talked about sociopaths and Trailer Park Congress, a game he had played with his Army buddies while deployed where you take a stance that is wildly one-sided (like, “All abortion is mandatory”) and have to defend it. Once our plates were gone, he held my hands in his across the table and finished my glass of water for me once his was empty. Again, I didn’t even notice the quick sense of familiarity we had with each other. We lingered longer than we should have and neither of us cared.

The only place in Cody he hadn’t seen yet was The Hill that housed Albertson’s, Starbucks, and McDonalds along with a few strip malls. I never go to this part of town, so we ended up driving aimlessly for a while down the highway before turning back and discovering Beck lake, which apparently has walking paths and a dog park. We parked the car again on the road overlooking the lake. The view was shades of grey and white as the snow continued to fall. There was definitely some intention of getting out of the car and walking for a bit, but it was a long time before we made it that far. More kisses and nibbles ensued with his hand wrapped around my throat. He showered me with compliments as he petted my hair and made me moan. It was clear that we both wanted to completely let go on each other, but between the cold and the lack of a proper space, we knew it wouldn’t happen.

We caught our breath and removed ourselves from the vehicle only to end up holding each other in the cold. We kissed and his hand slid down to my left thigh before hitching it up to his waist. I dug my nails into his jacket as he dipped me backward, telling me to trust him. I squealed and totally lost my shit over the fear that he was gonna drop me. I’m not used to guys looking at my 230lbs and not thinking twice about it. He reassured me I would be fine before kissing me.

We made the short walk down to the lake. He’s excellent at skipping rocks, but it took less than 5 minutes for the wind to pick up and freeze our Southern asses to the bone. It was a prompt retreat back to the shelter of his car.

After more making out that lead to my direct involvement in him getting to 2nd base, we finally had to say good night. It was getting dark and he had a long drive back home through the snow. We discussed meeting up again, preferably somewhere with heat and a bed, and he mentioned getting a hotel room. I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to spend the night with him or not and told him why. He didn’t push. He never pushed for anything from me. But he did tell me he was going to see me next weekend.

It took forever for me to extract myself from his car, but I finally did and made my way home.

[hunty-booboo]

Las Vegas Hidden Secrets for Tourists

Even within the city that in no way sleeps - in which restaurants, bars, nightclubs and grocery stores hardly ever near. In Vegas, even 24 hours is every now and then still not enough time. With a lot to do and till a sunrise to do it, why waste time in Vegas identifying what to do? If you have been to Vegas before and you're interested in attempting some thing new or maybe you're greater interested by sorting out backstage of Sin City, you have come to the right place. Here's some guidelines and tricks EVERY local knows.

CLUB HOP  cach danh lo ngay nao cung trung If there's one Vegas membership you can not leave out, it is the XS Nightclub positioned in the Wynn Casino. If you are not from Vegas, you'll locate yourself paying a pretty penny for now not just access to the XS nightclub, but in all likelihood every membership in Vegas. The excellent factor to do is to connect with a nightclub promoter. You can find plenty of promoters soliciting alongside the streets of the Las Vegas Strip. You'll know them with the aid of their three piece fits, handing out cards and wrist bands hollering to the public about their free bottle service and limo rides. If you've got been to Vegas you understand precisely who I'm speakme approximately. Sure, they will seem a touch at the shady side, but as a nearby, I can let you know - those workers are respectable. Club promoters aren't the shady avenue hustlers and swindlers they seem to show. They are truely employed by using the casinos to carry people into their clubs. You see, soliciting on the Strip is illegal in Las Vegas and so, how are those promoters getting away with it? Well, who do you think is jogging the city? The Las Vegsa Strip Casinos! Talk to those promoters, good buy a chunk, hook them up with a pleasant tip and you will receive reductions on pretty much something. Looking for unique VIP carrier, all you have to do is ask.

It's beginning to become common information: the two:1 ratio is rule. If you will the membership with a set of humans, there wishes to be a ratio of at the least 2 guys to one woman if you want to growth your probabilities of having in. Use this records on your benefit. Also, membership promoters can hook you up even better in case your institution can abide by this rule.

WHAT TO DO BESIDES CLUB?

You're not confined to simply night golf equipment even as in Vegas. The sports available to you within the town of lighting fixtures are countless. Why no longer check out a Vegas Strip pool party like the Encore Beach Club. Domestic to DeadMau5, AVICII and other first rate electronic track DJs. Again, membership promoters are the people you need to speak to for discounted access and bottle service.

Or, why no longer take a two hour helicopter journey to the Grand Canyon and walk alongside the Grand Canyon SkyWalk? Experience the phantasm of floating over the canyon as you tip toe onto a obvious floor suspended 500 ft above the base of the Canyon. If you do not experience like flying all of the way to Arizona, you may always hover over the Las Vegas Strip in a chopper whilst toasting bottles of champagne. And, you could locate all of this, at the Las Vegas Boulevard.

If you want to "aid the financial system" or buy groceries but, you are on a budget, hit up the nearby's favored - The Premium Outlets placed in downtown Las Vegas. They're known for the excellent selection of stores and ridiculously low expenses on items you won't discover anywhere else. I as soon as purchased 2 pairs of footwear, 3 pairs of jeans and a pair of shirts occupied with underneath $a hundred - all name logo stuff too! Plus, the Premium Outlets mall is positioned at once on the brink of traditional Downtown Vegas where the cocktailes are reasonably-priced and the table games brag $5 minimal plays.

The strip golf equipment in Las Vegas are said through many to be the nice inside the international. Looking for the maximum suitable girls, then Spearmint Rhino is wherein you need to be. Right across the street is the Deja Vu membership, an 18 and over all-nude strip membership, the simplest one in Vegas. All your free access and loose drink reductions on the Strip Club could be provided by means of your street corner membership promoters. Oh yea, suppose of those membership promoters as the gate manner to reductions and the undergound. Whatever it's far you are looking for, probabilities are, they recognize.

GETTING THE MUNCHIES?

Las Vegas is thought for a number of the nice meals within the world and recollect, the Casino cafes are open 24 hours a day. Buffets just like the unknown Rio Seafood Buffet are, guaranteed, high-quality. Here's a brief tip: sign up for a gamers card every time you go to a new on line casino. Sometimes, simply by means of signing up, you may get a loose buffet dinner, like at the Silverton Casino. Also, with these player's cards, you could rack up points which could later be used totally free gaming, loose meals and other perks. You're going to should spend a couple of dollars playing to earn factors, but in case you're going to gamble anyhow, why not stack up factors to your card and win some thing each time?

A region you furthermore mght want to test out is the name of the game pizza spot within the Cosmopolitan. It's at the 1/3 ground subsequent to the pool tables via a hallway you will in no way guess brought about probable the excellent pizza in Vegas. Find a hallway with a checkered ground that looks as if it is only for personnel.

A Vegas winter can be mighty bloodless and once in a while a bowl of true Japanese noodle soup will keep you stage. Try the Monta Noodle joint on Spring Mountain and Decatur. If you need mother and dad, this is it. Delicious red meat, duck, or chook noodle soup served hot and fresh.

DOWNTOWN VEGAS LIVES

The Fremont Experience has come to be the icon for Downtown Las Vegas. Here, you may test out unfastened live tune suggests, grasp your self a delectable cocktail, a fried twinkie, you may strive your success on a $3 BlackJack table and if you obtain not anything to lose, zipline throughout Fremont Street. What many human beings don't know is that Downtown Las Vegas obtained a large $17 million facelift intended to restore Classic Downtown Vegas. So, you will be pleasantly amazed via the points of interest, made over antique timer casinos, like Golden Nugget's water slide through a shark tank, and truly the low low expenses.

If you're attempting to find something to do in the afternoon, take a gander on the Arts District also located Downtown. Here, you'll discover beautiful avenue graffiti painted on historic buildings and artwork interwoven into the town's structure.

On First Friday, the Arts District becomes a sidewalk facet show packed with road performers and artists growing stay art work on the market. Bargain for an original piece made by means of one in every of Vegas's very own. You may also want to test out the Cornerstone Art Gallery a low forehead avenue artwork current gallery of exquisite pieces.

At night, The Griffin Club, The Beauty Bar and the latest installment to what's going on in Downtown Vegas, Insert Coins, cram hundreds of devoted birthday party human beings and drown them in alcohol while damn the pix off the wall with the track of stay local DJs.

CASINO HOP

Hopping from Casino to Casino is the game we like to play. But, in case you do, obviously, you need to make sure you're carrying lots of coins. And, if playing is your component, be sure to recognize that the chances on the Strip are constantly going to be in favor of the residence. Of course, each casino has the percentages in their favor, however in keeping with local Las Vegas gamblers, you may have higher luck attempting your good fortune in the off-the-Strip Casinos together with The Orleans, The Gold Coast and any of the casinos in the downtown area. True, those off-web site casinos won't be as glamorous, but if you're right here to win, they are the location to be.

Las Vegas is and always may be the amusement capital of the arena. If you really want it, you will discover it in Vegas. Just make certain to take care of the enterprise employees, the hosts, waitresses, card sellers and so forth. Due to the fact the way to benefit VIP status right here in Vegas isn't always constantly through your pockets. If you show Vegas and it is human beings love, you will benefit special get right of entry to to the metropolis's riches - loose tables at golf equipment, unfastened liquids, loose limo rides, free food, and loose entry to almost anywhere you could imagine. Sometimes, you can even frolic in the perks of the VIP that even most Vegas locals can not get entry to. Just play your playing cards proper. Make certain human beings in Vegas recall you so you can for all time be taken care of.

[cutegirlmayra]

COLLAB

Summary: It’s the perfect night to dance. Amy is super excited for Station Square’s annual Spring Fling, and she’s hoping to get the slow dance of her dreams with the one and only Sonic The Hedgehog. But, her efforts to make her night amazing are greatly threatened by an unexpected turn of events that may lead to a not-so happy ending. Will Amy finally spend the perfect night with her hero? Or, will it be a perfect disaster?

    “So, Amy, what are we shopping for today?” Cream the Rabbit asked, happily skipping along a hot sidewalk in the middle of Station Square. Amy Rose smiled in response, taking Cream’s hand and swinging it back and forth as they made their way towards the Station Square Mall. 

“Well, I was hoping we could get some lunch, first! Then, we could get some new matching earrings for springtime!” Amy said with a smile. Cream’s eyes lit up at Amy’s splendid idea as they quickly made their way to a cute little cafe.

  They both walked in the door and each of them ordered their lunch. After Amy paid the cashier, the two girls found a table and sat down to chat. They talked the usual gossip, pausing every so often to take a bite of their sandwiches or a sip from their milkshakes. Cream flicked her pink polka dotted straw and let it spin around in her cup. “So, how are you and Mr. Sonic? Tell me everything!” Cream said, resting her cheek on her hand.

  Amy blushed and took a sip from her milkshake. She looked away in embarrassment. “Well, nothing much has changed. He’s still as stubborn as ever…I was thinking about asking him out on a date, but I don’t know where we could go.” she said, tapping her chin in thought.

 “Ooh! What about the Spring Fling? Momma told me that it’s this Saturday! Maybe you and Mr. Sonic could come too!” Cream said, gently clapping her hands together in excitement. Amy almost choked on her milkshake, and she slammed her hand on the table.

“IT’S THIS SATURDAY?!” Amy said, unaware of the cashier’s startled look. Cream quickly caught her sandwich before it toppled over the table, and shyly nodded her head.

“Mhm!” 

 Amy suddenly stood up and grabbed all of her things. Cream was dragged out of the cafe and ended up dropping her milkshake on the sidewalk. She felt a sting in her heart as its contents dripped all over the concrete floor.

 “Come on, Cream! There’s no time to waste! We have to buy our dresses!” Amy said, running as fast as she could towards the mall. Cream followed closely behind, not surprised with Amy’s excited behavior. She felt a bit of sweat drip down the side of her face.

 “Er, shouldn’t you ask Sonic to the dance first?” Cream asked. Amy screeched to a halt, almost causing Cream to crash into her. Amy crossed her arms, tapping into her Sonic radar, which somehow grew stronger the longer she spent with her hero. Cream tilted the side of her head as she watched Amy fall deep into thought. The young rabbit wondered how somebody could be so good at finding someone, it was so unusual. Then again, Cream learned not to question the power of love, well, at least the power of Amy’s love.

 Amy interrupted Cream’s thoughts by taking her hand.

 “Let’s go!” 

~~~

  Back at Tails’ workshop, Tails was slumped over a hunk of metal and groaning. Sonic was in front of him, laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. Tails abruptly sat up and rubbed his behind.

 “Oww! Watch where you point that thing!” he growled. Sonic wheezed and collapsed to the floor. “AhAHAHA! I-I’m SO SO-SORRY!!! PFFT HAHAHAHA!!” he barely had a breath to spare when Amy suddenly burst through the door. Sonic and Tails looked towards the entrance. Amy was standing proudly with her hands on her hips and a determined look in her eye, while Cream awkwardly poked her head inside and asked what was so funny. The boys glanced at each other and Sonic snorted.

“I may or may not have accidentally shot Tails in the butt with a laser gun.” 

“Yeah. And it HURT!” Tails cried, frowning and yanking the weapon out of Sonic’s hand. The girls giggled, which caught Sonic’s attention.

   Sonic made eye contact with Amy and felt his stomach lurch. As quick as he could, he stumbled past Tails and tried to make a break for it, but ended up tripping over the pile of scrap metal and smacking his face into the floor. He didn’t let that phase him though, and he tried to jump back on his feet. But, he was too late, and Amy easily pinned him down. 

  “Ha! You’re not escaping me this time!” Amy said victoriously. Sonic groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

 “You just got lucky that I tripped.” he remarked, but Amy seemed to ignore his comment. Cream gave Tails a weary look, as if she were apologizing for Amy’s behavior. Tails returned her gaze and shrugged his shoulders.

 “So, uh..what are you two doing all the way out here? I thought it was girls night..” Tails said, scratching the back of his head. Amy sat up and grinned. She hopped off of Sonic’s back and helped him stand up again. Amy batted her eyes as Sonic brushed himself off, which earned her an uncomfortable look in response.

 “Well, I came here to ask Sonic a question!” Amy said, clasping her hands together and rocking back and forth. Sonic raised an eyebrow and flicked some dust bunnies off of his gloves.

 “Oh really? Lay it on me.” he said. Amy felt her heart suddenly speed up. She wanted nothing more than to take his hand and dance the night away. She giggled, imagining how handsome he’d look in a fancy tuxedo. But, before any of that could happen, she needs to pop the question.

 “I was wondering if you would like to go to the Spring Fling with me this Saturday, as my date.” she said, dramatically turning away and covering her rosy cheeks. Sonic felt his face heat up and quickly averted his eyes, scratching the back of his head. 

“Oh, erm…” Sonic said uncomfortably. He shuffled his feet a bit and stared at the floor. Tails watched Sonic’s body language closely, and suddenly got a wicked, terrible, idea. He smirked, chuckling under his breath.

 “…It…sounds nice,” Sonic said slowly. Amy’s eyes lit up and she went in for a hug. Sonic stepped back, dodging her. He thought for a moment, dragging out his response. 

“I dunno, Amy…it’ll be kinda hard finding a suit. I mean, tomorrow’s Friday, surely there’d be nothing left by then?” Sonic shrugged his shoulders, hoping Amy would change her mind. Amy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and frowned. Sonic peered down at her expression and faintly smiled. He was in the clear!

 “Well, Sonic, that’s not exactly true, I’m sure we could find something to wear on Saturday!” Tails said abruptly. Sonic’s eyes widened. He gave the fox a look of terror. Tails merely shrugged his shoulders and shot a look of satisfaction towards him. Sonic felt as if he was literally stabbed in the back. Tails, his best buddy for life, was a traitor.

 “Oh! You wanna come too, Tails?” said Amy. Tails nodded his head. Sonic opened his mouth to object, but no words came out. Amy smiled and bounced on her toes.

 “Ooh! It can be a double date! Tails can go with Cream, and I’ll go with Sonic!” she cooed, taking Sonic’s hand and staring lovingly into his eyes.

“Wouldn’t that be fun??” she said.

“U-uh…but-”

“Oh, totally fun! We’ll see you there!” Tails cheered. Amy squealed and bounced around, still holding onto Sonic’s hands. Sonic gave Amy an awkward smile, then shot a dirty look in Tails’ direction. If he only knew the kind of sick revenge he was in for, he wouldn’t have dared to accept Amy’s request.

  “So, is that a yes?” Amy asked.

 Sonic stared at her and let out a defeated sigh.

He had no choice, didn’t he? 

 Sonic rubbed his finger just below his nose, feeling very awkward. He tried to smile to hide his betrayal by his so called best friend, and smiled at her. He glanced at Tails and Cream, and felt a bit of relief. At least he and Amy weren’t gonna be super lovey dovey around the little ones…he hoped. The last thing he wants is to give Tails the satisfaction of watching him become a nervous wreck when Amy got a little too friendly.

 “Tell you what, I’ll go with you. But…please, no cuddling or anything like that, deal?” he said. Amy hesitated for a moment, then nodded. She let go of his hands and jumped around some more.

 “Eep! This is gonna be so fun! And Tails and Cream would look so cute in matching outfits!” Amy said, looking towards Tails with a warm smile. Tails grinned, giving Amy a thumbs up. Cream nervously stared at her feet. She glanced at Tails for a brief second.

 “Um, I guess I’ll see you on Saturday, hehe.” she said bashfully, turning away.

  Tails’ face flushed. He laughed in an attempt to act like he wasn’t a little bit shy as well. He reached out to shake Cream’s hand, which was incredibly difficult for him to do all of a sudden. “Um…I guess so.” he said. Tails bit the inside of his cheek, not sure what to say next. 

 “Oh, that reminds me! You and I are gonna have to match too…so, don’t buy a suit until I buy my dress, okay?” Amy said, poking Sonic’s chest. Sonic nodded and waved goodbye as the girls left to go dress shopping. Once the girls disappeared, Tails laughed and poked Sonic’s side. 

“Next time, if you want me to save your butt, don’t shoot mine.” he sniggered, walking back inside. Sonic puffed his cheeks and growled. 

“It’s not like I wanted to shoot you in the butt!”

~~~

“Ugh, this is such a pain. Why did I ever agree to this?” Sonic said irritably, trying to adjust the white bowtie he had around his neck. Tails chuckled, standing still as Vanilla put his royal blue bowtie on. Vanilla walked towards Sonic and fixed the bow, grinning broadly at the sight of Sonic’s face.  

 “Erm…what are you so happy about?” he asked.

 Vanilla laughed and fixed his tux, pulling and yanking his body so he could stand straight, which quickly annoyed Sonic. Once she was finished, Vanilla winked and pulled out a boutonniere with a pink rose on it. She pinned it over his heart. 

 “Let’s just say, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” said Vanilla, disappearing into Cream’s bedroom. Sonic gulped nervously. He looked over to Tails, who looked very pleased with himself. 

“Would it be bad if I just ran away right now? Or would that seem inconsiderate?” he asked.

  Tails gave Sonic a confused look, unsure if he were serious or not. Tails opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. The two broke their stares when footsteps began approaching them. The boys both instinctively puffed their chests out a bit, awaiting their dates. 

  The first to appear was Cream. She was shy, slowly walking into view in her white gown. She also had on little blue flats and a flower crown made of blue irises. Sonic caught a glimpse of Tails smiling out of the corner of his eye. Tails quickly ran his fingers through his bangs and went to take Cream’s hand, which he did rather awkwardly.

 “Hello, hehe.” he said. Sonic smirked and nudged Tails with his elbow.

“Admit it, you think she’s pretty.” he whispered. Tails crossed his arms and ignored Sonic, trying to hide his red face. Cream smiled and stood next to Tails, bouncing on her toes.

 “Just wait until you see Amy, Sonic! She looks amazing!” she said excitedly. Sonic playfully rolled his eyes and nervously tugged at his collar.

Back in Cream’s bedroom, Amy was standing in front of a mirror. She ran her fingers through her quills to get rid of any tangles, and stared intently into her reflection, taking a deep breath.

“Okay, Amy, tonight is the night. This date is going to be perfect. Just stay calm, and he’ll sweep you off your feet in no time!” she said to herself, smiling nervously. She was so concentrated on her reflection that she didn’t notice Vanilla slip into the room. The rabbit walked over and tapped Amy on her shoulder.

“Psst, are you ready? Sonic’s waiting for you.” said Vanilla. Amy felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of his name. She glanced down at her dress, feeling a bit disappointed. It just so happened that her prefect dress was nowhere in sight while at the mall, so she had to settle with something simple. But, she didn’t want to let it get to her, so she spun around, giving Vanilla a determined look.

“Yes, I am! I have it all planned out, Vanilla. When we get to the party, it’ll be dinnertime, so I’m gonna try to get a table for Sonic and I to be alone at. Oh, and while we’re eating, we’ll confess our undying love for each other and then we’ll walk out onto the dancefloor and-” Vanilla placed a finger over Amy’s lips to silence her.

“Save the story until after the party, I wanna hear all the gossip!” Vanilla said with a wink. Amy nodded her head and gave Vanilla a hug. The rabbit sighed proudly, blinking back tears.

“You look so beautiful! It seems like yesterday when you showed up on my doorstep with Cream. Hehe, you were still wearing your cute little orange tutu back then,” she teased, poking Amy’s nose.

“And now you’re all grown up! Oh, I’m so proud of you, Amy. Sonic isn’t going to be able to take his eyes off of you! Just watch where he puts those hands!” 

Amy beamed. She was already itching to get the heck out of there and dance the night away.

“Did it really hurt that bad?” Cream asked, frowning.

Tails pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Yes, My butt was so badly burned I could barely move…”

Sonic groaned.

“Oh COME ON, you’re exaggerating!”

Just before the two boys could bicker, everyone’s attention was grabbed by gentle taps from a pair of heels coming from the hallway.

Sonic held his breath and squinted his eyes shut, waiting for the bone crushing hug that was about to come. But, the tapping of heels stopped, and Sonic was still breathing normally with no tackling or broken bones. He heard Tails quietly gasp and Cream clap giddily.

 “Hello?” said a voice. Sonic opened his eyes and saw Amy standing before him. Needless to say, he was pleasantly surprised.

 There she was, standing in a simple white dress with a pink floral pattern. It was strapless, and the bodice fit snuggly around her tiny body. The skirt flared out and ended just above her knees. It was like silk, with more flower petals distributed sparsely around the entire skirt. The fabric was so gentle and light that Sonic imagined it felt like a cloud when touched.

 Sonic’s eyes traveled up to her face. She was smiling confidently, batting her eyes. Her quills were curled at the tips, and she was wearing a flower crown with pink roses, most likely to match with Cream. Sonic studied her facial features a little closer, realizing that she was wearing a bit of lipstick and mascara. He was so distracted by Amy’s appearance that his mouth moved on its own before he could think of what to say next. 

“..Hi…” he mumbled, gawking at her. Amy raised a brow and leaned closer, smirking.

“What was that?” she asked, suppressing a laugh. Sonic blinked twice and stared at her for a little longer before snapping himself out of whatever void his brain fell into. He scratched the back of his head and nervously laughed.“You, er..You look going! Let’s get pretty, haha!” he replied.

“Huh?”

Sonic took a moment to think about what he just said, and he smacked his forehead into his palm.

“No, wait! I mean-um…hehe..ahem,” he looked away, feeling butterflies swarm his stomach. His cheeks were starting to heat up.

“I- er…You look…really nice..” he finally said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say, but it was too late now. Amy’s smile faltered a bit. That could mean anything! She decided to shake it off and hope that he was just nervous.

“Hehe, thank you, Sonic! You look very handsome in your new suit. It’s so…suave.” Amy cooed, stepping closer to him.

 Sonic gulped, feeling beads of sweat form on his face as she took his hand. He felt his heart rate suddenly skyrocket as soon as their hands touched. Sonic forced his lips shut and looked around. Why did she always have to flirt with him? It was like she knew exactly what it took to get under his skin. He was about ready to bolt out of there when Tails chimed in to save the day.

“So, shouldn’t we get going?” he said, pointing towards the front door. Sonic let out a sigh of relief and hesitantly followed the rest of the group. Amy squeezed his hand a bit, as if she needed a sign that she wasn’t dreaming. 

 It took about ten minutes before they finally reached their destination. The four stood in front of the giant banquet hall and stared in awe at the giant doors before them. Sonic watched as Tails and Cream skipped inside without a care in the world. He sighed, already wondering what kind of magical power Tails wielded to be so chill tonight.

Sonic and Amy stepped inside of the banquet hall and were taken aback by the amount of beautiful decorations everywhere. The walls were covered with hundreds of flowers, the dancefloor was lit up with pink lights, music was playing loudly, and there were a ton of people mingling and having fun. 

  Sonic let out a whistle, impressed by the decorations. Amy seized his hand once again and dragged him towards the middle of the floor, searching for a table for them to sit at. It was much harder than she initially thought. She frowned, unable to find a table that wasn’t already occupied. Sonic tapped her shoulder and pointed toward Tails and Cream, who were gesturing them to come over and sit.

  Amy stared at them for a moment, and reluctantly followed Sonic and sat down at the table. She took a deep breath and took the moment to sneak little glances at her date sitting beside her. She grinned, feeling her heart speed up again. 

 “So, how have you been? It’s been quite a while since we got to spend time together. I was missing flirting with you, hehe.” she said, hoping to keep him entertained with a bit of small talk. Sonic didn’t seem to hear her as he ripped tiny pieces of paper from his napkin. He rolled them up in tiny little balls to flick at Tails when the fox wasn’t looking. Amy pressed her lips together, feeling a bit awkward.

 “Er, Sonic? Helllooo….Sonic!” 

  Sonic looked over at Amy, twitching his ear with curiosity. “Yes?” he said. Amy opened her mouth to repeat herself, but paused. She glanced over at Cream and nodded towards Tails. The girls seemed to communicate without words, giving each other subtle signals and clues as to what to do next. Cream’s eyes widened and she immediately stood up. 

 “Hey, Tails? Could you come with me to get punch?” she asked, winking at Amy.  Amy smiled warmly as the two kids happily walked off, leaving her and Sonic alone. Sonic smirked as his little buddy disappeared into the crowd with his date.

 “Heh, it’s kinda weird seeing Tails with a date..and kinda funny.” he said, chuckling. Amy smiled and nodded. 

 “Yeah, I guess so,” she looked away, wondering what to say next.

“Maybe they’ll grow up and get married someday.” she said, laughing. Sonic gave her a weirded out look and rolled his eyes.

 “Now THAT would be somethin’ else..” he said.

 Amy looked around, her eyes scanning around the room in search of something they could do. Before she could say anything, Sonic suddenly popped up and grinned like a madman.

“HOLY CRAP, I LOVE THIS SONG!” he yelled, dashing onto the dancefloor and leaving Amy on her own. Amy blinked, in shock of what just happened. She gasped and hurried after him after realizing what he’d done.

“Sonic, wait up!!” she exclaimed.  

  Amy clawed her way through the huge crowd of people dancing, in search of her date. She began to sweat, this date was going downhill extremely fast, and she was totally freaking out. Fortunately for her, she happened to bump into Tails and Cream. “Oof! Oh! Have you guys seen Sonic? He just ran off to dance, but I can’t find him!” she said.

 The two kids gave each other a confused look.

“WHAT?!” they both yelled. 

 “I said, where is SONIC?” Amy replied.

 “WHAAT??”

 “WHERE IS SONIC?” 

“…”

“…”

“….WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF-” Amy was interrupted by a group of people cheering. She rushed over, trying to see through the crowd. When she finally found a spot to squeeze through, she discovered Sonic breakdancing in the middle of a circle of people, grinning arrogantly as the crowd cheered him on. Amy crossed her arms, shaking her head in embarrassment. She hoped that when it was time to dance, she’d be dancing with him, but he seemed to be having too much fun at the moment. So, she let this one instance slide. 

  Sonic got into a hand stand and made eye contact with her, giving her an excited smile. Amy playfully rolled her eyes, clapping for him. Sonic narrowed his eyes at her, and stood back on his feet. As the crowd cleared and flooded the dancefloor, he pointed a finger at her and beckoned her over. Amy grinned and scurried over to him, taking his hand and swaying to the music. 

  “You know, you could have at least told me what you were doing before ditching me. We’re on a date, remember? We’re supposed to dance together. ” she said, shaking her head. Sonic quickly averted his eyes and felt his face flush. 

“Oops, sorry…” he replied. Amy grinned, bumping her hip into Sonic’s, which caused him to stumble a little bit. 

“There, now we’re even! Haha!” 

Sonic bit his cheek, straightened out his tuxedo and brushed himself off. 

 “Be careful! This is a rental!” he said. Amy smiled and continued to dance.

  Across the room, Tails and Cream were standing by the snack counter, sipping on sodas and munching on gummy worms and cookies. The two watched as their best friends’ date seemed to be going really well. Tails took a sip from his soda can and leaned over towards Cream.

 “They seem to be having fun.” he said casually. Cream nodded as she took a huge bite from her cookie. 

 “Mmhm! I hope they kiss!” she said dreamily. Tails cringed and shook his head.

“Eww, gross! I hope I’m not watching if it happens.” he remarked, sticking his tongue out to prove his point. Cream giggled. She wondered why it grossed him out so much, though. Perhaps boys are just not into love like girls are. She was just about to ask when a stranger bumped into her.

 “Whaoah!” She fell over, saved at the last second by Tails. He caught her hand, and pulled her back up.

“You okay?” he asked, giving her a worried look. Cream blushed incredibly hard, She stared at him for a moment before brushing herself off in embarrassment. 

  “Y-yes! I’m okay, thank you!” she said. Tails raised a brow, perplexed by her odd behavior.

  Meanwhile, Sonic and Amy were still on the dance floor. Amy swooned as Sonic took her hand and playfully spun her around. Her heart swelled, loving the way he was smiling at her. Looks like her date was going well after all! 

 “So, Sonic, are there any new adventures you and Tails will be going on?” she asked, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. Sonic looked towards the floor and crossed his arms. 

“Nahh, I don’t think so. I think we might take a break on the big crazy stuff and chillax. It would be nice to go on a vacation.” he replied.

 “Sonic, your entire life is basically a vacation. I mean, is there anywhere on this planet you haven’t gone to?” said Amy. Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but had no words to contribute to the conversation. He shrugged his shoulders with a defeated look. Sonic suddenly felt his stomach grumble, and he looked down at his tummy. He licked his lips and glanced over to the snack bar, where endless treats awaited him. 

 “Hey, you hungry? I’m gonna get something to eat.” he said, pointing towards the gigantic cake sitting on the table across the room. Amy nodded her head and followed him, feeling a bit hungry herself. 

 Once they made it to the snack bar, Sonic grabbed a plate and started piling on food. Everybody knew Sonic was the type to eat with his eyes, but once they actually saw just how much he can shove down his throat in one sitting, people began to wonder how he was able to stay so thin. Amy watched in embarrassment as other party goers began to stare in shock. She tapped his shoulder.

“Erm..Sonic? Don’t you think you should leave some for the rest of us?” she asked. Sonic took a moment to inspect his mountain of sweets. He nodded in agreement, and put a single brownie back before happily trotting towards their table. Amy took a moment to apologize to the people waiting in line before awkwardly scurrying over to Sonic. She noticed a piece of jello slipping off his plate, but was too focused on the task at hand to pick it up 

  “Are you sure you won’t get sick eating all those?” Amy asked.

 “Oh, please. I got this.” 

  Amy shook her head in shock. How could he physically do it?! As humorous as it was, it still freaked her out very much. 

   She looked down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs. Sonic took his chair and placed it next to her. He sat down and stared at the crowd of people on the dance floor.

 “You’re such a goof.” she said.

  Sonic turned towards her, raising a brow. Before he could reply, the DJ’s voice came over the speaker.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time we take it slow. So, grab a partner and make some sweet memories!” he said in a low, flirty voice. Sonic looked up as the room became dimmer and a few pink lights lit up the dance floor. The music began to play and couples began to pull each other close. Sonic sat in silence and curiously watched the couples dance. 

  He looked over to Amy, who seemed to be too busy staring at the floor to even notice what was going on. He frowned, feeling like she may be a little bored with him. He silently examined her, faintly smiling at the way she nervously fidgeted.

 He suddenly had an idea. Smiling, Sonic stood up and offered his hand to Amy. Amy slowly looked up, her stomach fluttered at the sight of his hand. She slowly blinked in surprise. The two stared at each other for a moment, then Sonic took the pink rose pinned to his tux and stared at it in his palms.. 

“Look, I know this is probably the only reason you asked me to come here, so…” he knelt down. 

  Amy’s eyes widened. Was he doing what she thought he was doing?

Sonic stuck the rose over Amy’s heart. He took her hand and helped her stand up. Amy’s heart began to beat faster.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked. 

 Amy beamed, holding back giggles of excitement. The singer’s voice filled the silence between them.

“Pain is just a consequence of love, I’m saying sorry for the sake of us..”

Amy gulped and timidly nodded her head and reached out to accept his hand.

    “OH my GOSH! It’s Sonic The Hedgehog!!” said a female voice. A glamorous raccoon scurried over to them. She was wearing a very form-fitting purple dress with one shoulder strap gorgeous silver jewels decorated the bodice.

Her hair was twisted up into a very beautiful and elegant bun, and she was wearing purple eyeshadow and a matte red lipstick. The girl smiled confidently at Sonic, not even giving Amy the slightest inclination that she knew she was sitting there.

“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it’s really you!! Ugh, I’m such a huge fan! Can I please have a picture?!” she said excitedly, pulling out her cellphone. Sonic was a bit startled at first, but he decided to be nice and allow her to take the photo.

 Amy felt a huge spike of jealousy as the girl leaned over and placed her arm around Sonic. She pressed her cheek against his, puckering her lips as if she were about to kiss him. Sonic awkwardly smiled as the picture was taken. Then, suddenly, as the camera flashed, the girl turned her head and planted a kiss right on Sonic’s lips.

 Amy suddenly found herself almost lunging at the girl, but she caught herself at the last second. Her cheeks were heating up and a hidden flame erupted within her, causing her blood to boil with rage.

“Thank you so much! Say, you look so much cuter in person. You must have a really good girl in your life, huh?” said the girl. Amy felt her face soften a little as the girl glanced at her for a brief moment. Sonic swallowed air and tried to reply, but was so flustered by what she had just done that he didn’t come up with a response in time. The girl placed a hand on Sonic’s shoulder, sneaking a proud smirk towards Amy.

“Maybe not…look, if you ever want a woman in your life, give me a call~” she said with a flirty wink. Sonic frowned and touched his lips as the girl blew a kiss at him and sashayed away. Amy let out an angry groan, grabbing her fork and stabbing it into the table. Sonic turned towards his date and placed his knuckle in between his teeth. 

“Grrrr! She totally did that on purpose!” Amy said, ready to toss the table at the girl’s head. Sonic pressed his lips together and shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Amy. I’m sure she didn’t mean anything-” he said.

“She did too! I could tell! She was trying to get me jealous! That little..grrr!!!!” Amy puffed her cheeks out and her ears were getting redder and redder. Sonic stood up and cautiously approached Amy. 

“Well, you’re not gonna let her win, are ya? I know you’re mad, but it’s not worth it!” 

 Amy stared at Sonic for a moment. Her eyes landed on the red lipstick smudged across his mouth. Her gaze hardened and she sat down.

“Maybe not, but you didn’t do much to stop it from happening.” 

~Continue till the end, my dude <3~

~Alrighty! This is gonna be fun! :Db~

Sonic, in a moment of defeat, took a big breath in and let it puff out of his nose slowly… staring at Amy, he knew this wasn’t going to be easy to recover from.

Trust him, it wasn’t easy getting over the shock of a surprised kiss either…

He let his hands dangle a bit before reaching up and smudging away the lipstick from his face.

“Alright… Alright… fair enough.” he pretended to walk up to someone behind her, and peeked back to smile at her before continuing his act.

“Uh, excuse me? Sir? You wouldn’t mind kissing my date for me, would ya?”

Amy gasped, applaud by him even daring to-

She turned around and sighed in relief, before smacking his side as punishment for making her freak out.

“Not funny!”

He leaned back, lifting a leg up and holding his hands out by his face to protect it, before walking back in front of her and chuckling slightly.

He put his hands to his hips and leaned his head down, letting the last bits of laughter out of his system before gesturing his hand out to her again.

“I swear, Amy. I never gave it another thought.” he smiled, “Wasn’t special enough too.”

Amy had her arms refolded, one leg over the other and staring at the hand she had longed to take this entire night…

She glanced up at his eyes, seeing the integrity of sincerity in them, and sighed.

She pouted slightly, her anger slowly disappearing as she took the hand and allowed him to help her up. “But never again. Alright?”

“Is that something I pinkie-promise?” he teased, leaning close to her face and wiggling his pinkie at her.

She giggled and turned her head away, batting her hand out to his own to get him to knock it off and move it.

They walked to the dance floor, Sonic adjusting his collar once more before growing strangely… nervous again.

“E-eh…umm…” he smiled nervously up to her, before shyly looking to his feet as if uncertain how to coordinate this…

“I, uh.. heh. I don’t usually do anything… well, ‘slow’.” he made a comical look up with eyebrows raising before back down in a puzzled expression.

“Now.. um…” he tried to make this fun, looping her hand, before turning her back and criss-crossing their arms, and then shaking his head; biting his lower lip, he kept mumbling, “This..? No… no, not that… not that way either… well, let me see now…”

Tails, walking over to the table, suddenly remembered something and pulled Cream’s chair out for her.

“Heh-heh. I studied etiquette, just to be prepared for this evening.” he closed his eyes as if too bashful to admit he just wanted to be a gentlemen on his first, technically real date, and sweated a little in his awkward feeling.

His tails swished out as Cream’s bunny-bun tail rapidly shook at his impression.

“Oh! Mr. Tails, it’s wonderful! Thank you for being so prepared…” she happily sat down, flapping her ears enough to actually fully get up on the tall chair, and put her hands to the table.

He pushed her in and then happily sat beside her, before seeing Sonic and twitching his ear.

He laughed.

“It’s not rocket science.” Tails shook his head to lightly tease his friend. “I offered him an internet search article I found, but he refused to even give it a look!” he flashed out his hand and then shook his head in disappointment.

“Serves him right.” He stuck his nose up, as Cream lightly giggled in her own nerves and then looked down.

“Oh… but you shouldn’t judge Mr. Sonic on something.. w-well, that you’ve never experienced yourself either. M-Mr. Tails…”

Her little feet slid over the other, she looked down and away…

She was fidgeting with an idea she dared now speak, thinking it may be rude to ask when it’s usually the boy who asks a girl.. to… w-well, to..

She gripped her chair tighter beneath her.

“…H-huh?” Tails turned back to her, moving his hand off from under his smug little chin before realizing she was right.

“Hmm.” he gave it some more thought, “You know, maybe you’re right.”

He moved the fancy napkins that Sonic had started shredding away from him and scooted his chair back out, getting in front of her and bowing humbly with a swish of his arm over his chest.

She was amazed by the fluid movement, as her eyes lit up and followed the gesture down.

“Mr. Tails?”

“Miss Cream.” he spoke elegantly, as if trying to continue his ‘fancy streak’.

“Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the dance floor?”

He looked up and winked, trying to be just as charming as Sonic could be.

Her face all at once turned to a happy expression of surprise, as her hands gently caressed the sides of her face.

“Oh, yes please! I would love to!”

Taking his hand, she stood upright on the chair, and looked around her for a way down.

Tails broke his gentlemen like smile and realized he had to look around for a stool too.

Not finding one in time, he just looked at his tails, “Ah-ha! Hehe!” he flopped them out and they were the perfect stairs for her small stature.

She beamed and happily, lightly as to not hurt him, quickly stepped on his tails he had out for her to get down.

The two held hands before trying to avoid the bigger adults on the floor, but found a small space and began to try and dance slowly together.

Now, with an ~unexpected role-model~ Sonic looked ahead saw Tails and Cream laughing, twirling around as they went by.

He smiled, “Oh.. I get it!” he pulled Amy closer.

The new engagement sent a rapid flow of warm jitters up Amy’s whole being, and she felt the tingling sensation of it exit through her fingers and nose.

Her ears flopped back a bit as she looked up to Sonic, stunned speechless.

He saw no response from her, initially, and just tried to get her hands placed where Tails and Cream were.

“Like this?”

He looked behind him to make sure one hand was up around his neck, and then that his own was by her waist, and the other holding her hand out.

“Hmm.. something looks off.” He stretched his mouth out to the sides of his muzzle, before looking back to Amy when she gently breathed out his name.

“What?”

He suddenly was frozen in terror.

His eyes widened as he realized how close he was holding her.

“W-wha-woah!… woah…” he broke all the ‘hard-work’ he had just done in positioning them and rolled his arms around in a panicked like motion.

He then got all jumbled up before trying to straighten himself out again.

“Ehem.” he coughed into his hand.

“Maybe I’m not such a good dancer… with someone else.” he turned from her as his cheeks turned pink like the lights above, and itched his twitchy nose…

Amy softly lowered her hands and giggled, clutching her stomach before covering her mouth with the back fo her hand.

“Sonic, you’re ridiculous! Hahaha!”

Seeing her laugh… turning to fully face her and notice how beautiful she really did look…

His eyes drooped slightly but his mouth curled back and down nervously still… his head leaning back as his ears turned the same.

This odd feeling…

He had felt it seen she took his hand and asked him out on this crazy Spring Fling thingamajig.

He sighed though, and put a hand back to his heart where the flower use to be, and smiled.

“Amy.”

She suddenly stopped laughing, looking at his honest-to-goodness face.

He actually looked like he wanted to have fun with her now.

“Care to teach me?” he had wondered about that dress feeling like a cloud..

Now he could test his hypothesis.

If he could last five seconds remaining close to her.. that is.

Amy stepped happily forward with a bounce in her step, her face bright with love’s excitement as she moved her hands and his own in their proper places.

“Like so, but-..ah.” She turned and raised a finger up, “You have to lead.” she winked to him, being flirty again.

He looked away and sweat dripped down the side of his face, showing his awkward nerves as he tried to guide her.

Watching Tails and Cream twirl around didn’t help at all…

She wanted a big-girl dance…

He mouth kept slipping into a swingle of nervous tension as he tried to figure out the steps and moves.

Amy slightly lost her smile at seeing him fidget so much, and finally decided to help him out.

“Sonic.” she stepped up, stopping them from dancing.

“Wha-huh? What’d I do wrong now?” his hands were sweaty, and he really didn’t know if he could deal with Amy scolding him right now..

He already felt like a dweeb.

She shook her head lovingly to him, “It’s really not that complicated. Hold me close.”

“….Amy’s that the thing’s that hard…” he whined slightly.

“How am I suppose to know where both are feet are going if I can’t look down?”

“Look right here.” she tilted his head with a light tap of her finger, and swayed back and forth with him.

“My eyes will tell you where I’m going.. where I’ve gone, and where I’ll be.” she spoke very softly, almost as a whisper as her eyes lured his being closer.

Suddenly… Sonic could feel which way the ‘wind blew’ so to speak, and could easily guide her where he wished.

“Heh, cool.” He lightly breathed out, his eyes unable to look away from her own..

“B-but you know, I don’t really do slow. Heh heh…” he tried for the joke, feeling so skittish; he might just puke.

“One.. two… one… two.” Amy slowly helped picked up the pace, and lifted some of her skirt to be more ‘proper’ in her dancing.

His mind suddenly lost all nerves.

Going blank, his hand held her dress closer, and felt the light silk cotton underneath them, hot to the touch but just right under the night sky…

The lights complimented her natural pink blush and all of a sudden…

They were dancing the night away!

Tails laughed with Cream as he twirled her one more time, catching Sonic’s eyes for a moment from Amy’s hypnotic timing and mimicked it too, twirling her around before catching her again.

However, by doing so, his hands landed to her hips…

Her hands… around his neck.

They held their, posed for perfect…

A kiss not too far away?

“That was fun..” Amy’s nerves were finally getting to her. The shock of it all being more perfect than she imagined caught her in her own whimsical fantasies and left her unable to comprehend anything but his arms around her…

Sonic… couldn’t even see or hear anything other than her and her… lovely voice.

“Really?” he gently lowered his head to her forehead. “I hadn’t noticed...” he whispered, teasing her a moment as he went for her cheek.

Not letting him slip away with merely that, she tilted her head towards it…

He held back a moment, their swaying stopping as his eyes lowered to her lips… then back up at those.. fixed, taunting eyes…

Oh, he really wanted to.

Not to admit he kinda owed it to her after that other girl-

He shook his head, not wanting to relive that part.

Amy took that the wrong way and pulled out.

“I’m sorry.” she looked away, tears almost forming at thinking she was rejected.

“I promised I wouldn’t cuddle or-or flirt with you with Tails and Cream around. I-I’ll let you go now.” She started to move away, as if to part, and reached for his arms around her.

Fearing the sudden detachment, he instinctively stopped her, pulling her right up next to him.

“No!”

She was amazed by his quick reflexes but even more so by how he said…

“…No…” he started to breath in a more startled manner, before regaining himself.

He leaned his head closer, swallowing as if trying to work up the courage to-..

Well, at least try!

“Sorry, i wasn’t- I didn’t mean to- Oh, Amy.. you really do look beautiful it’s just I-” His head moved all around, and Amy’s eyes watched every movement until she heard him call her beautiful.

At that moment, she went for it!

Leaping up on her tippity-toes, she gave him everything she had in a forceful press against his own lips.

He was initially wrapped in confusion, before the moment took hold and he allowed it to be as it was.

Emm… more so than her dress actually feeling like how he pictured dry clouds to be.. she also tasted of sweets~

Addicted for a second to the feeling and being locked, even trapped in this other world by his own will- He was suddenly drawn out of it by a high pitch squee.

But it wasn’t Amy when he opened his eyes.

Instead, the two both looked confused before looking to Cream, having both hands in fists over her mouth at her excitement.

“I’m so sorry! Miss Amy, Mr. Sonic! But I’m just so.. I couldn’t help it! Hehe! Congratulations!” she thought they were officially together now.

Amy grinned with glee and hugged Sonic, kicking a leg up and not correcting her as Sonic tried too, waving his hands around in front of him and Amy, repeating- “No, no, no-no-no!”

Tails stuck out his tongue and tried to shove his finger in his mouth, before being tugged by Cream down as she politely pointed to his cheek.

“May I..?”

He blushed and looked away, panicking with his arms and tails before finally nodding and closing his eyes.

“Uh-huh.”

She kissed him likely with a peck on the cheek, and then shyly turned away and swayed herself back and forth with her rapid heartbeat.

He flung open his eyes and then sighed, drooping himself and his eyelids down as he let the strange sensation take it’s place…

The night was wonderful, but slowed down even more as Tails and Cream walked on ahead, carrying sweets for Vanilla, and Sonic and Amy tarried behind.

It was almost pitch blank now, and Sonic swung one foot out in front of the other, grabbing leaves from low tree branches by his side and flicking them off to his sides.

“So… About tonight.” Amy twiddled her fingers, hoping she could finish the date off by confessing.

“I just wanted to say.. I think we’re-”

“What?! I don’t know!? Maybe!? It depends… Why do we have to slap a title on it!? I don’t really care. Do you care? Well, of course you care- I-I mean, I kinda- well, it’s obvious that we- Anyway, who says we’re together?!” As if having been stressing over this topic coming up, Sonic started to rapidly relay the thoughts darting through his mind, acting it out, before Amy looked unamused at him cutting her off and smacked both hands to his face to hold him steady.

“I was gonna say in love.” she looked a little upset, but sighed as she held his face and stopped herself from walking.

Moving more towars him, she looked tenderly into his frightened expression.

“Why can’t you just remain still for five minutes?”

“…Why can’t you stop loving me so much..? Heh…” he nervously tried to joke again, but she smiled sweetly to him.

“I think you’re bluffing…” she smirked, raising her eyes to his own and tilting her head as if inviting him to quit the act and say he loves her already.

She was basically begging to be wanted and taken up by him again.

She wanted to be swept off her feet… at least… one more time.. before they parted ways.

“U-uhmm..” he backed up, but ended up against a tree and held a hand up to a branch, as if to steady himself.

“B-bl-bluf-bluffing what? My hand? Haha, don’t answer that!” he shifted a comical pointer finger out as if warning her to not go for the ‘wedding’ pun, but she didn’t.

She shook her hand and lowered her hands to her hips.

She then leaned forward, “Sonic The Hedgehog. I think you want to kiss me again and call me yours~” she flirted.

“Pfft! Preposterous.” he scoffed, before freaking out as she stepped closer and leaned himself more against the tree.

“They say.. don’t shoot until you see the white of their eyes.” Amy cooed, leaning her head directly up by his own…

“..I thought you were trying to kiss me. Not shoot me.” he frowned, not liking the anaolgy. “Though I guess love can sting just as much.” He couldn’t stop going for hte joke, he was too nervous!

“Isn’t that why cupid has arrows..?” She scaled her fingers up his chest, and he gulped in utter fright.

“Or.. a… big… fat.. hammer..?”

She went for the kiss but he turned his face and then skedaddled with the wind at his heels.

“OHHHH-OOOPH!!” She tightened her fist and puffed up her cheeks, wiggling herself aggressively at him getting away.

“That boy! It was all going so perfect! Why’d he have to bail!?” She huffed and stomped off passed Tails and Cream, head down, fuming with annoyance.

“Huh? Miss Amy?”

“I’m fine!”

“Uh oh…” Tails looked to Cream, worriedly looking after Amy who had stepped between their conversation.

“I think Sonic chickened out.” Tails sighed, shrugging, “Well, you gotta give him props for staying this long… Honestly, I thought he was planning to slip out hours ago..?” he scratched his chin, before Amy got halfway to Cream’s house-

She was suddenly scooped off her feet.

“WAH!”

“Wait!”

“Now what?!”

Amy kicked and squirmed in his arms, as he slightly dipped her and looked worried.

“Don’t freak out!”

“I’m not freaking out! I’m mad at you!” she fussed more but he cut her off, holding her close.

“Offph! What the-?”

He suddenly muttered something quietly.

She stopped fidgeting and shifted her eyes left and right, trying to hone in with her ears on what he was trying to say to save himself this time…

“I can’t hear you, you idiot!”

“..Grr..” his ears moved back, and he grumbled it out a little louder.

“What?”

His head moved from her shoulder to against her own head.

“I LIKED DANCING WITH YOU TONIGHT!”

She remained still.

Blinking, her face shifted to a quiet confusion.

“I loved tonight too.”

His ears kept shifting before he looked away, seeming embarrassed and annoyed at himself.

“I’ll keep the tux.” he finally spat out.

“…If you ever want to go again…”

Then her eyes rose in understanding.

“OH SON-!”

he plugged her mouth.

“But t-this time! No kids tagging along too, alright?”

“Fine by me~” she gently pushed the hand away and then started to kiss his face, making him flip out more and spread his arms around to try and avoid her.

“H-hey! Amy! C-calm down! I-I-I think one kiss is good for the nig-EMM!!!!”

And when Amy finally got back, her hair a mess and her dress all wrinkled and dirt-covered, she leaned against the door to close it and sighed; dreamily.

She swayed up the stairs as Cream and Vanilla looked to each other.

“You’re back late.” Vanilla rose an eyebrow.

“Oh, Miss Amy! What happened to your lovely dress!?” Cream exclaimed, seeing how ruined it looked.

Amy gripped the railing and pulled back, swinging around on it before skipping up the stairs.

“My perfect Spring Fling date night~ That’s what!”

“Date went well?” Vanilla was mostly sarcastic. She knew what had happened.

“Well, please remember you were suppose to take Cream home too. But she arrived with Tails as her faithful guard so I’ll let you off the hook this time. Did Sonic make it back alright?” She was implying something that went over Amy’s head.

“I don’t know~ He came and he went~ Teehee~” she was swooning like a drunk, but it was only because her feet couldn’t feel the ground anymore.

She was up on cloud-nine. But Vanilla was relieved it she was back home at a decent time.

(for further clarity, Vanilla was meant to imply that they only kissed a lot -kinda made-out- nothing more!)

Written by - (the-amazing-p3a) and (cutegirlmayra)