#is getting on my last nerve
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sorry to bring up that snake post again but I think the replies/reblogs of it are a really good case study in people on tumblr forgetting that op is a real person whose complex views and experience are not entirely contained in the >100 word post they made for fun on tumblr dot com.
like this?
this is not what it looks like when people are remembering that op is an actual person with a worldview not entirely contained by their tumblr post who can see the comments. and that's fine, if annoying, when it's a post about snakes*
*also occurs when the post is about star wars, bank robberies, blood drinking kinks, and presumably just about anything else in the galaxy
but as someone who's been afflicted with enough popular posts to have firsthand experience with this sort of pattern of behavior, I wish people would try a bit harder to:
1. assume good faith from op (ex. op is not dunking on the UK, just surprised)
2. assume op knows about the topic they're posting about (ex. op literally just got a degree with a focus in ecology. she knows why the UK/pretty much all of europe doesn't have a lot of snakes)
3. allow for personal experiences shaping op's worldview (ex. the fact of the matter is that just yesterday op saw two copperheads within ten feet of each other and barely goes a week without seeing some sort of wild reptile, so it's reasonable that the idea only of three native snakes would feel odd to her)
#I'm not going to put anyone on blast for their comments. but if you want to have a look. boy are there some#i will say this post has gotten on my nerves more than most of my other ones specifically because i DO have a degree in this#and people snarkily informing me that the british isles are a higher latitude than I probably thought they were (they aren't)#is getting on my last nerve#snakes#tunglr#tumblr
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unclean (Roman Godfrey x reader)
WARNINGS: angst, jealousy-schemes, mentions of sex, weird biblical references lol, ANGST (ouch ouch ouch)
summary: will you ever feel clean again? this has become too much-- how are you supposed to make a decision when the people in your life are pulling you in different directions? all you can do is try not to break.
word count: 6,150 (warming y'all up for the last chapter oop)
PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 15
a/n: THANK YOU FOR 1K FOLLOWERS!! enjoy the second-to-last chapter and the calm before the absolute shitstorm;) MWAH, thank you for all your support my lovelies!!<333
"Think you'll ever be clean again?"
Roman's words echoed in my mind over and over; I realized that my answer was no.
I felt dirty.
Dirty, unclean, and filthy, all the fucking time.
The hallway was loud today, but Letha walked beside me like she was floating through a quieter world, untouched by the noise, untouched by all filth. She always had that kind of ease, that effortless grace that made people part around her without her having to ask them to. Was Letha maybe the modern equivalent of Moses?
... That was an odd thought; certainly not one I wanted to think again.
Then again, it was either weird biblical references or thoughts about Roman. The weirder my thoughts were, the more they interfered with anything Roman-related that could bring forth a hefty blush to my cheeks, or a feeling of doom settling in my chest.
I was unclean.
And I felt like a dirty fucking whore.
I kept my head down, tugging my jacket higher over my shoulder, conscious of the way the collar barely covered the faint smudge of the hickey Roman had left on my neck from our time in the library. I did my best to conceal it this morning, but I was still terrified the blooming colors were shining through-- Letha hadn't noticed it yet, and I wanted to keep it that way. I had even tried to scrub the hickey off in the shower despite knowing it wouldn't work; I was getting desperate. I had cried, brought my hands over the marks over and over, like I was begging them to go away and disappear.
Marked.
Unclean.
Filthy.
Filthy fucking liar.
"So..." Letha started, brushing a strand of golden hair behind her ear as she smiled knowingly. Immediately, I sensed that this wasn't going to be good. "There's this guy... his name is Jack, and he told me to tell you that he's into you."
I blinked. "What?" Who?
"I also told him I'd ask if you were interested," She cast me a sideways glance, beaming at me like she was serving me the best news of the century. "I think you should be."
My stomach twisted. "Letha!--"
"Don't say no yet!" She looped her arm through mine, warm and insistent. "He's sweet. You need someone sweet!"
I didn't want someone sweet-- I wanted the devil reincarnate that haunted my every waking moment, also known as Roman Godfrey. "Jack... Wang?" I tried. "Which Jack are we talking about?"
Letha bit her lip to contain an excited giggle, squeezing my arm; "Jack Edwards!--"
"No!" The words slipped past my mouth before I could stop them. I cleared my throat, hoping to recover from my outburst. "Not him... He's one of Roman's friends. That's really fucked up."
Letha sighed; disappointment read all over her face. "You'd never have to actually like the guy," she pressed. "Just... entertain it for a little while. Give Roman a taste of his own medicine. Don't you think he deserves it, after keeping... that from you?"
She couldn't say the word out loud in the hallway-- upir.
Because that was the reason we were in this station in the first place, the fact that Roman was a upir.
The idea of making him taste his own medicine made my stomach twist, and not entirely from disgust. I hated the thought of stooping to his level, playing some shallow game... But the image flickered unbidden through my mind; Roman's dark eyes snapping toward me across the room, his smile dropping as I lean just a little too close to some other guy, making him watch me the way I had been forced to watch him too.
I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking away the thought. "It's childish,"
"He's been childish since the day you broke up! Why should you have to be the bigger person?"
If Letha knew the real truth of what Roman had actually done after we broke up, she'd have a heart attack. There was no way in hell I'd tell her about what happened in the library some days ago. My heart thudded unevenly in my chest; maybe I was being the bigger person because I wanted to be? Because I still loved him, even though I hated him for everything he had done to me, even though he had been a upir all along. Despite my attempts at staying calm and neutral, Roman's voice echoed in my head, images of him curling his fingers inside me with that evil smirk on his face flashing before my eyes; "Think you'll ever be clean of me again?"
Never.
Never.
Letha watched me disassociate and shudder, and her eyes gleamed like she already knew she had me hooked. "This will help you get over him, y'know? I only want what's best for you,"
I exhaled slowly through my nose, fingers curling into fists. It was a terrible idea-- reckless, messy, everything I wasn't supposed to want. But God, how I wanted him to hurt too, for all the lies, all the girls, and for the pathetic mess he had made of me in the library.
Maybe this would scrub me clean of the mess we'd made?
My silence was enough of an answer for Letha. Her smile turned smug as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "There ya go,"
I shot her a glare, but she only giggled under her breath; "It's perfect," she purred, voice teasing. "It'll drive him crazy!--"
"Shouldn't you maybe be a little more worried about your own life?" I snapped. "Why are you so obsessed with mine?"
It took me a second to realize what I had just said. My eyes widened at the same time as Letha's, and her hook around my arm lessened. Oddly enough, there was something satisfactory about seeing her like this-- I had no idea what came over me when I continued; "Instead of setting me up with more guys, why can't we talk about who you're fucking?"
"No one!" Letha huffed, retracting her arm. "What's come over you?!"
The more I watched her bewildered and offended expression, the more I wanted to dig my thumbs into her eyes and split her skull open; that way, I could maybe finally get to see what she was plotting in there. "Don't you have anyone running around you? You always do,"
"Not--" Letha cleared her throat, attempting to save face. "Not recently, no."
"Are you sure?"
"I-- Seriously, I don't get you!" Letha stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, staring back at me in disbelief. "I'm trying to be nice and keep you distracted, and this is how you repay me?"
I placed myself in front of her, folding my arms over my chest. "Why are you getting so defensive?" It felt like I had found an odd rope in the forest, and I was pulling at it with all my might-- I had struck gold, hadn't I?
Letha's lips parted, wanting to argue, but nothing came out. A shadow flickered over her face-- too quick, too subtle, but I caught it. There was something there. For a moment, I thought she might actually tell me. But then, just as quickly, she smoothed out her features, letting out a soft, breathy laugh like I'd said something ridiculous; "You're impossible," she muttered, shaking her head.
I cocked a brow. "I'm... impossible?"
"You're just lashing out because you don't want to admit I'm right," she teased, looping her arm back through mine like I hadn't just cornered her. "But I get it. It's scary, right? The idea of actually moving on?"
My pulse stuttered. I opened my mouth to push again, because I knew I was right, I could feel it-- but Letha was already moving, already steering the conversation back onto safer ground.
She gave me time to let her words sink in, studying my face with that keen, knowing gaze, like she was waiting for me to break.
"Letha--"
"I just want you to be happy," Letha murmured, reaching forward to put her hand on my shoulder with an earnest touch. "And I know you won't be if you keep waiting for Roman to change."
If only she knew I wasn't waiting for him to change-- I was waiting for the end of the week, when I hoped my answer would come stumbling into my mind with no effort at all. However, it was such a clean, practiced shift in her tone, that for a second, I doubted myself; had I really imagined that flicker of something in her eyes? Was I reading too much into this?
Letha wasn't the enemy here.
She was my friend.
... Right?
"I have to go," she eventually said, giving me a final squeeze before slipping away. "But think about it, okay? Being seen with a friend of Roman would fry his crazy nympho brain." Letha didn't wait for a response-- Letha Godfrey never waited for anyone. She was already blending back into the flow of students, graceful as ever, like she hadn't just left a rock lodged in my throat.
I let out a sharp exhale before I turned back to find my locker, shaken up by the conversation. This was nuts-- was I supposed to let one of Roman's friends flirt with me? Why was he even interested in me? Roman didn't have that many friends in the first place anyway, so I knew this was risky.
With shaky fingers, I worked the combination of my locker, still rattled from the conversation--
Until my body froze.
There was torn page splayed on top of my unorganized heap of books. Someone had snuck it in between the cracks of my locker.
I pulled it out slowly, staring down at the words, ink sinking into the delicate paper; it was a passage from The Picture of Dorian Gray.
You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave great substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid.
What...
... The actual fuck?
I held back a gasp of shock and disgust, fighting the urge to crumple up the page and throw it to the floor to stomp it. It was clear as day that Roman had left me this-- who else would assume this was a good thing to leave the girl you're begging to take you back?
Was he trying to prove a point?
Was he trying to tell me that I was shallow and stupid for thinking about throwing everything between us away?
With an angry huff, I stuffed the page into my back pocket-- I was definitely going to burn it when I got home.
... Maybe then, I'd feel clean?
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
I had been angry before, yes; but nothing could beat the tsunami of rage ravaging through me after seeing that stupid passage.
I sat on the bleachers during lunch the next day, tucked into one of the higher rows, the sun casting sharp shadows along the field below-- I angrily picked at the edge of my water bottle label, trying to drown out the chatter of the students scattered around the stands. Letha sat beside me, legs crossed, her chin delicately propped on one hand; "Don't look now," she murmured, voice soft and secretive. "But... I think your admirer is on his way."
My head snapped up to look at her before I could stop myself. "There's no fucking way," I hissed under my breath. "He's here? Now?"
Letha's grin flickered, bright with amusement. My stomach turned as I followed her gaze-- and sure enough, there he was. Jack Edwards, one of the jocks from Roman's cocky friend group. He strolled across the field with some guys I recognized from before, hands stuffed into his pockets, cutting through the groups of lingering students like he owned the place.
My pulse quickened. Panic rose in my chest as I glared at Letha; "You didn't,"
"I might've... suggested you needed some cheering up today," Her eyes sparkled, wicked and bright. "He was more than happy to oblige!"
"Cheering up?! Letha, I didn't agree to this!" With a groan, I buried my face in my hands, hoping the ground would open and swallow me whole. I didn't want anyone but Roman anyway-- fucking hell, I should've been more clear with Letha.
On the other hand, she looked proud as ever; "I'm the best, aren't I?"
Heat flooded my face. I gripped the edge of the bleacher so tightly my knuckles ached. "Letha, I'm two seconds away from lobotomizing myself with my fucking water bottle because of you!"
"Oh, come on," she whispered, leaning in close. "It's just a little harmless fun! You need some distractions, we talked about this!"
But there was nothing harmless about the way Jack's eyes locked onto mine as he climbed the steps.
Unclean.
Filthy.
I felt dirty-- I shouldn't be indulging in this.
Trapped, pinned beneath Letha's gaze, I tried to contain my panic; "Why the fuck is he even into me? He's, like, very close to Roman, no?"
"Well..." Letha cleared her throat, shooting Jack a sweet smile as she waved him over to us. This would've been the perfect time to catapult myself out of my seat and up into the sun's orbit. "Men are primitive, y'know? If they think they can get laid, they don't really care how or with whom."
"Ew, Letha!" I was sick to my stomach just imagining that I'd sleep with anyone that wasn't Roman.
"Relax," she cooed, brushing her fingers lightly against my arm. "It's only a game! You don't have to do anything but lead him on a bit."
I couldn't breathe.
And then Jack approached-- standing just below our row, flashing a grin that made my stomach flip. "Hey, girls," he murmured. "Need some company?"
I wished the ground would swallow me whole. Before I could even muster up a half-hearted response, Letha was already smoothing down her skirt and rising to her feet. "You bet! I'll leave you two to it," she said sweetly, flashing me a look that was both knowing and victorious before slipping down the steps like she had just orchestrated the most harmless, innocent thing in the world.
But it wasn't harmless, not when my stomach was twisting itself into knots, and definitely not innocent.
And then, like a twist of fate, I felt a shiver run up my spine— I knew that feeling like I knew my own breath. There was a tingling sensation at the front of my brain, sending repeated signals to turn my head.
... Oh no.
I knew who could be doing this to me.
With a pit in my stomach, I turned my head slightly, pulse pounding in my ears, and sure enough, there he was.
Roman appeared at the far end of the field with the rest of his friends, just beyond the fences, half in the shadows of the trees. The upper button of his shirt was unbuttoned, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, but his posture was rigid, unreadable.
Except I could read him.
The tight set of his jaw, the slight flare of his nostrils, the way his head tipped, just barely, like he was daring me to keep looking at him.
I opened my mouth (whether to call out to Roman or to breathe, I wasn't sure), but before I could do either, Jack's voice pulled me back; "So," he drawled, taking the empty space beside me. "What's a pretty thing like you doing all the way up here, huh?"
I barely heard him. My eyes flickered back to Roman instinctively, but--
He was already gone.
A cold wave of panic crashed over me. I sat up straighter, scanning the field, searching, aching--but there was nothing. No sign of him, like he had never been there at all.
Except he had been, and he had seen everything. He had seen Jack sitting down next to me, he had seen the hungry look in his eyes; I had an inkling that this was going to bite me in the ass. I had screwed over my one-week truce with Roman, all because of Letha's convincing. Swallowing the thick rock in my throat, my mind raced with everything unsaid, everything unfixable. What had I done?
I turned to Jack, not bothering to sweeten my tone; "Let's cut the bullshit, yeah? What are you doing here?"
Blinking, he let out a shocked laugh. He fixed his hair in an oddly familiar manner (it wouldn't surprise me if he had picked it up from Roman) before he recovered. "I've been... trying to get your number for a while. Before Roman got to you, actually,"
... What?
I felt my face soften. "Oh,"
Jack chuckled, shaking his head as he darted his gaze to the field in front of us. "Godfrey called dibs out of nowhere," he explained. "And if we are to follow bro-code, I had to pull away."
"This isn't very bro-code friendly, though?" It was true-- I had seen Jack hanging out with Roman recently, so they couldn't have had a falling out. "Roman could rip your throat out for this."
He could. He genuinely could.
I held back a shudder as I watched Jack, and the way the sun reflected off his pitch black hair. Eventually, he spoke; "Roman's been preoccupied with other girls as of late, so I figured I'd shoot my shot," He was smiling at me now, so smug, so sure of himself-- it was almost charming. "I mean, I had to see if the rumours were true."
I blinked at him, barely processing. "What rumors?"
Jack only grinned wider; "That you're finally over Godfrey,"
My stomach dropped.
Over him? Over Roman?
The laugh that almost escaped my throat was so bitter I had to bite down on my lip to keep it in. I had spent every second of every day thinking about him, hurting over him, wanting him. There was no version of my life where I just moved on.
I should have shut Jack down immediately. I should have told him to go find some other girl to bother, that I wasn't interested, that Letha had put him up to this for her own amusement-- but instead, I just stared at him, hollowed out, my hands tightening around the hem of my skirt as my mind spiralled.
Had Roman lied to me? Was he actually preoccupied with other girls? Was he maybe so desperate to keep me around because I'd be an easy lay? Maybe he was scared I'd tell his secret to people if he didn't keep me close?
I felt my breath constrict in my chest; "He's sleeping with the cheerleaders, isn't he?"
Jack blinked. "Roman?"
"Is he?" Please, please, no. If he had lied to me about this, I would die on the spot.
Something in Jack's charming eyes changed, but I didn't need Sherlock Holmes to decode that look for me-- they softened with the realization that I would probably never be over Roman. I would always be Roman's girl, just like every other girl at this school that had ever been involved with him. Therefore, I watched as Jack sighed, shaking his head; "Nope. I would've heard the details by now, if so,"
I instantly felt my heart fall into its right place. "Thank you," I whispered.
Jack sank back into his seat, looking back at the field in front of us while he nodded to himself. I peeked the small smile; was he maybe relieved to get a proper answer? "Sorry to bother you, then," There was a certain ease about him that made me feel beyond comfortable-- he wasn't snappy about this becoming a failed attempt (unlike how a certain other blonde asshole would react), but he was simply accepting of the facts before him. In another universe, I would've probably gone for someone like Jack, someone confident, someone quietly strong.
I had no idea what came over me when I suddenly found myself smiling too; "You didn't bother me. It's kinda nice to talk to someone that isn't Letha,"
Jack glanced at me with a flirty chuckle. "She's a bit intense, right?"
"A bit, yeah,"
"I think she gets it from that Rumancek dude," Jack continued, shrugging matter-of-factly. "They're always hanging out, the both of them. Did you know that the guy once threatened to gut me for being a bad group partner during a lab project? Funny man... I don't get what she sees in him, but I guess the weirdos gotta find love somewhere too, right?"
... Wait.
What?
I straightened up in my seat. "Peter?"
Jack's eyes widened with intrigue-- "Why do I sense this is news to you?"
"They're not together like that," I huffed. "That'd be nuts. If Peter and Letha were sleeping together, Roman would have a field day chewing them out to the bone."
"Okay..." With a cocky laugh, Jack shrugged again; "I might've misinterpreted it, then. They hang out a lot behind school, that's all I've seen... looking all gooey and shit."
I had to put a stop to this rumor before it got to Roman. Knowing him, he'd jump to conclusions, and Letha could really, really suffer; "No, no... Even if they talk, then it's nothing like that,"
"Alright," Jack snorted. "Don't come running to me when you see that I'm right, though."
The sun, now dipping lower, cast long shadows across the field. It felt like the calm before a storm, and my ease began to settle into a rhythm. I was about to say something, maybe even something nice, but then, I heard it; the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps approaching. The air instantly grew colder, and I turned my head, dread pooling in my chest. My eyes locked on him-- Roman.
His presence was like a sudden freeze, like he was the shift in the atmosphere. He moved with a quiet intensity that made the world seem to shrink around him; I wanted to shrink into nothing as well, sucked into a black hole where I could hide.
Before I could process it, Jack spoke again, his tone lowered, almost conspiratorial. "I don't know what it is about you two," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear. "But you both always act like you're untouchable... and with him hanging around, I suppose you'll always be."
When Roman eventually reached us, he was completely still, frozen in a way I had never seen before. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they passed over me, barely acknowledging my presence. I felt my pulse quicken, my breath catching in my throat. There was something about his stoic expression that made my stomach flip, and it made me feel like I was about to be disciplined for acting out, just like the old days in elementary school.
It was as if Roman couldn't quite let go of the distance between us, eyes flickering back and forth for a good second or two. Then, his gaze darted to Jack with unnatural speed-- upir, upir, upir. "Seriously?" Roman said, snapping his fingers at him as his condescending tone fuelled my anxiety. "You've really got nothing better to do than this?"
Jack froze for a split second, and I could almost hear the gears turning in his head, trying to process the shift in Roman's tone. His voice hadn't risen; it was the kind of tone that made it clear he wasn't in the mood for games, but it wasn't outright threatening-- just... annoyed.
However, to my surprise, Jack shot a grin. "Well, well, if it isn't the big bad Godfrey! Finally decided to join us, huh?"
Roman didn't seem amused at all by his antics-- quite the contrary. "She's not your problem, dude,"
Jack shrugged, undeterred, but his words were sharper than before; "She's not your property either, Roman,"
I held my breath. I really, really didn't want to be here. Little by little, I started sliding down my seat. Maybe if I hit the ground, I could slither away?
But the confrontation wasn't over-- Jack's grin became little more pointed with every second. "You sure you're not just holding onto her out of habit, man? You seemed pretty done before, when you were talking to Jessica,"
That name made me want to barf right down on Roman's shoes, and for my vomit to burn through the leather of his shoes. Jessica, the same girl that had tried to flirt with him at a party a while ago-- Jessica, the same girl he had threatened with his lighter, saying he'd burn her extensions off if she didn't shut up about me. Was he really that mad at me? Was he so mad that he was actually talking to a girl he despised just to get revenge for the heartbreak I had caused him?
Roman's jaw tightened, but he didn't immediately respond-- I knew this was the Godfrey look of mortification. It was clear that he didn't want me to know that he had talked to Jessica at all.
To make matters worse, Jack sensed this and kept pushing. He pointed between Roman and I, biting down on the look of glee spreading through his face. "I mean... you two aren't even together anymore, right? So why do you care if I'm talking to her?"
I could see that he was getting to Roman. A part of me wanted to grab Jack, shake him, and warn him that he was going up against the most dangerous carnivore on the planet, a upir, yet... another part of me wanted to see if Roman would actually snap. After his illustrative show of his control in the library last week, I wondered how this would apply in real life the second time around.
Roman's chest tightened for a split second, and for just a moment, I was sure he'd flip, I was sure he'd just lunge at Jack to get it over with.
But alas--
"We might not be together anymore, but we still fuck,"
... No.
Oh God, no.
There was a beat of silence.
My heart sunk in my chest, and I felt the blood drain from my face. It wasn't just the words-- it was the coldness in his voice, like he was speaking in a way that made it clear that pursuing me wasn't something Jack should even be thinking about.
On the other hand, Jack's grin faltered as his gaze flickered between Roman and I. I wondered whether he imagined when we had managed to have sex, where we had done it, what the timeline was-- that must've been a mortifying thought to think. I was certainly not jealous of him. Still, he opened his mouth to say something, anything, to salvage his pride.
But Roman cut him to it; "Maybe you should ask your little friend here what depths of desperation one must sink down into to get fucked on a library floor?"
I felt like the air had been sucked out of me, and it got to a point where I started pondering whether to get up and push my stupidly pretty ex-boyfriend down the bleachers. Then, my next thought was that it probably wouldn't hurt him at all. I hadn't expected to, but I missed thinking about other things, like whether Letha actually was the modern-day Moses or not. And Jack... poor Jack's face went pale.
Roman's eyes never left him, and I spotted the evil shimmer in his eyes, the look of complete and utter evil glee. Beyond happy with himself, he let out a huff of pride before he stuffed his hands into his pockets-- "Get lost, dude," he said, his tone final, deadly. "This one's mine."
Jack didn't say another word. He was quick to get up, muttering something under his breath that was unmistakable; "Freaks,"
I sat frozen to my seat, my heart still racing, trying to process what had just happened as I watched him leave, huffing as he disappeared down the bleachers. It felt like someone had just poured a bucket of cold water on me, and now I was left to shiver and shudder.
Eventually, Roman turned to me with that same evil smirk I secretly loved; "You should stop talking to guys like that," he cooed, his tone soft with false concern. "You know they can't keep up, baby. Shoot a little higher, if you want to get over me so bad."
If I could kick the bleacher seat away from me when I shot up, I would. Stepping closer, I buried my pointer in Roman's chest; "Fuck off," I hissed. "You don't get to do this!--"
"No, I do," In an instant, his smirk was wiped off his face, and it revealed the bitter glimmer in his eyes as he grabbed my hand, urging me to get my fingers off of him. "We decided on a week's worth of peace, did you forget?"
Angered, I yanked my arm away from Roman with a groan. "You decided that! You cornered me with your fucking fingers inside me! How the fuck do you expect me to think clearly in that state?! On top of that, now you've managed to tell Jack we fucked, so congratulations! Letha will probably find out in an hour or two, and you've screwed me over again!"
Getting all of that in his face didn't seem easy-- Roman broke eye contact, letting his gaze fall down to his newly polished shoes. "Jack won't say anything," he mumbled. "And if anything, you simply deny it. I won't tell Letha anything if she asks me."
It took me a minute to really feel the weight of what he was saying. At the start of my whole journey with Roman, he was dying to tell Letha everything, and he would do anything for an opportunity to rat me out and get me in trouble-- but now, he was protecting me. From now on, I was sure he'd always want to do that. This snapped me out of my anger, and I retorted to a simple nod; "You owe me, by the way,"
Roman's eyes peeked up, his eyebrows raising-- "That's my line,"
I struggled to bite down on the smile that immediately threatened to crack across my lips. This was highly ironic. "Stop it," I whispered, carefully nudging him. "You owe me forty-nine ninety-nine."
Roman's cheeks seemed to warm from my touch. "What for?"
"The, uh..." I swallowed hard. "The plan B."
It took him a few seconds to figure out what I had needed that for. Had he forgotten that he had come inside of me? Seemingly not; "Oh," Roman's hand shot to his pocket again, finding his wallet. "You took care of it?"
That line annoyed me to the point where the following words simply slipped past my mind-- "Of course I did! You're crazy if you think I'd have babies with you,"
Roman's hands froze as he reached for the dollar bills in his wallet. It wasn't for many seconds, and I would've missed it had I not been watching his every move. I felt like I had punched myself in the gut, and now I wondered whether he felt that way about it too. In silence, he gave me fifty dollars, not looking me in the eyes anymore.
"Don't look so sad," I breathed, feeling my heart clench. "Roman, I--"
"I would've been happy," His jaw tightened, and he shoved the bills into my hand with more force than necessary, like he couldn't stand to have them in his grasp a second longer. "If it were with you... I would've been happy."
Roman didn't wait for a reply-- he didn't dare to. Turning on his heel, he stormed off down the bleachers, the sound of his boots echoing in the empty space.
The fifty dollars burned in my hand. It felt like they were about to turn my flesh into burning lava, making a hole in my palms. I let Roman walk away, I let him leave; what else was I to do when I was this shell-shocked?
I crumpled the dollars into my pocket, sniffling.
When had the most beautiful relationship in my life managed to become... this?
。゚•┈୨♡୧┈• 。゚
There comes a point when you have nothing more to say. There comes a point when it doesn't feel worth it anymore, when the pain becomes too much to bear, and your body materializes it-- most days, I could feel the sorrow like a ball in my hands, vibrating, ablaze in a cloud of fire, burning my fingers before slipping through them.
Being without Roman felt like waking up in a dead man's bedroom. Empty. It used to be a place filled with life, with love, yet now it was abandoned, destitute. I used to be a person filled with life, with love, yet now I was alone, rotting.
I had done it all to myself. This was my own doing, and I had done it while wielding the sharpest of swords, forged just to fight the scariest of beings--
But Roman wasn't scary?
He wasn't even a full upir, something Letha had failed to mention.
If I closed my eyes, I could still see him kneeling before me, clutching onto my body as he sobbed into the fabric of my shirt. Pleading, crying, begging, begging, begging. The broken look in his eyes, the way his fingers trembled against me, holding me like he was breathing his last dying breath and wasting it on me.
In my mind, when I visited the memory, I'd sink down to the floor with him. I'd bury my fingers in his hair and let him cry into the crook of my shoulder. I'd caress him, hold him, tell him everything was going to be alright, and that I loved him like I had loved no one else.
Roman Godfrey used to be scary. Now, he was just a boy.
Wailing for comfort.
Begging for forgiveness.
Pleading for another chance to get back the life he had once led, the one I had so cruelly ripped from his trembling arms.
I couldn't breathe. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't want to? Maybe if I stopped breathing for long enough, I'd no longer have to feel the pain of being conscious? I could die of my own volition, on my terms, in my own time.
Yet then I'd...
I'd leave him.
Roman would be alone.
He'd continue walking this earth with no one by his side. He'd wander through centuries alone, he'd eat alone, he'd cry alone, he'd live alone, he'd be alone.
So I whispered; "I don't want you to be alone,"
I adjusted my phone where it lay on my pillow, making sure he'd be able to hear me when he got this voice message. "I don't want you to be alone... All those years, when everyone you know is dead. That was the most heartbreaking thing about all of this, Roman, that I found out that you're destined to live forever if... if you kill yourself..."
My lower lip quivered as I shifted in my bed, rubbing my tears into my skin. I shouldn't have bothered-- I had already drenched the pillow.
"So, whatever I end up choosing, Roman, you need to live,"
Please.
Please.
"You need to go on, and you need to stay strong... and make your heart steel if you must. Do whatever you need to do, just-- just don't do what would need to be done for you to... to be a full upir. Don't ever think about it. Don't even consider it. Could you promise me that?"
I blinked away my tears, rubbing my forehead in a circle with my pointer to hopefully alleviate the pain.
Nothing ever did.
Nothing ever would.
"You said I'd never be clean of you," I whispered. "But you're not something I need to wash off my skin, Roman."
Sniffling, I shifted-- I wondered whether he'd be able to hear the shuffling of my bedsheets. "I just want you to be happy. I really, really want you to be happy. So, if we don't end up together... think of me once in a while?"
I hoped he would.
I so desperately hoped he would. "... Please?" And with that, I broke. Letting into a loud hiccup of a sob, I hung up on Roman's voicemail. In the bleak dark of the night, I caught the time; 02:04.
And at 02:27, I got a twenty-three minute long voice message back.
I pressed play over and over;
"I love you,"
A whisper. Barely there.
"I love you, I love you, I love you,"
Again and again, soft, rhythmic, almost like a prayer. Like if he just said it enough times, it would make things right. It was the only thing he could say.
My thumb hovered over his name, over that tiny glowing green button. Roman was awake. I knew he was. Somewhere out there, he was awake with his phone still in his hands, maybe just waiting... maybe just hoping?
I choked my sobs against my pillows, my whole body trembling beneath the weight of the crushing heartbreak-- it didn't matter. None of it mattered, because I couldn't call him.
So I played it again.
And again.
And then I saved it twice; once on my phone, and once on my USB the next morning, just in case I ever forgot how it felt to be loved like that.
"I love you... I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,"
Roman loved me...
But would that be enough to save us?
At least I had until Friday to figure it out-- at Jasmine's party.
(a/n: AHHH I can't WAIT for y'all to see what's gonna go down at the party!! this was like a teeny tiny little appetizer... omfg. thank you so so much for reading this far!! 🥹💕)
here are all the chapters!!<3: PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 15
loveliest taglist of all time:
@mentallyscreamingsincebirth @putherup @corawithfanfiction @vladsgirlxx
@iamaslytherin0 @sexualparkour @the-universe-is-complicated @heavenly-bratt
@lafemme-nk @namiusedbubble @useyourwandbro @strmborns @literally-lani
@virgosapphire79 @star-girl-04 @veyzus @ddipotassium @pecxiebu
@mil88691 @iloveyoutodeathbutimdrowning @katifefe @sn0wybowie-blog
@lilithskywalker @likecherriesinthespring @sadheartjellyfish @vadersangel
@shehangsbrightly @burningmiraclekingdom @dollforaswan @austinswhitewolf
@nico-velvet @shiiiii-okayyyy @theantagonistalwaysdies @blackbluerose666
@obexes @rosecoloureddudez @amoure020 @itsaeasykill
@succubustacy @carmillavalentine @scarledy @chaneloberlin62727
@belovedmoony @lokitargaryen @vienneviennaxx @ellie1725
@taintandviolent @sweatyconnoisseurstrawberry @amidthechaos
#roman godfrey#hemlock grove#roman godfrey x reader#x reader#bill skarsgård#fanfiction#oneshot#bill skarsgard#angst#fanfic#highschool!au#hemlock grove fanfiction#I caved and gave y'all half the last chapter lol#although the LAST chapter was supposed to be half of the last chapter#this is what happens when u don't have a plan ouf#THANK U ALL#MWAH#letha is getting on my nerves though oh my fucking god#THIS IS BOUTTA GO DOWNNNN Y'ALL AIN'T READY
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in curiosity au satoru and you always spend new year’s eve together (just the two of you! it’s like a tradition for you since you were little) and he always always makes you eat 12 grapes under the table along with him hoping that maybe this year you’ll finally notice him. if you start talking about other boys he will eat your grapes too and sulk for the rest of the night. you will either date him or nobody else
#— ai rambles#meanwhile you’re super oblivious#ily curiosity reader she gets on his nerves so bad AHAHAH#ok that’s my last headcanon for 2024 i think#unless the wine invites more thoughts#fic: curiosity#[ ♡ ] — satoru
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me when they had an entire build up for snufkin and joxter finally meeting but then just made him walk out the door instead
#like just go after him or something??#this entire season is getting on my last nerve i swear#snufkin#joxter#the joxter#moominvalley season 4#moominvalley
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Sneak peak time
#faceee art#dandys world#dandy’s world fanart#Watch as the the others in the bg will get less and less opacity#im pretty sure imma leave dandy for last and never actually draw him#he gets on my nerves I can never make up a design that I like#anywho the girlies (and cosmo)
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you ever meet people in your life you can immediately tell nobody has ever told them to shut the fuck up
#and you're the first one to do so. what a fucking bitch holy shit she has managed to get on nerves in ways nobody has managed to in last#year or so and so fucking immature too. even my friends were surprised that someone is actually beefing with me cause i try to be as nice a#possible to people no matter what and yet. yet. i don't want to cause a scene but one more push from this bitch & i am actually going#to lose it🙏
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I have a bad bad habit of falling in love with fictional men that I would 100% not last an hour with irl
#Butch deloria#oh he would get on my nerves sooo fuckin bad#astarion#vulpes inculta#even the Roman history lover in me could not justify that serial killer#also I wouldn’t last an hour with vulpes because he would certainly SA and enslave me#fallout 3#fallout#baldur’s gate astarion#baldur's gate#bg3#personal
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Bradley looks around the bar. None of his friends are in sight and the quiz is meant to start in less than five minutes. Their regular, weekly, quiz, which they all confirmed they were coming to not even two hours ago. And yet here he sits alone, nursing his bottle of beer and picking at his bowl of fries. He’s been stood up by his friends. Assholes.
“Where’s the rest of your team?”
“Good question,” Bradley mutters sulkily, then turns to look at how has addressed him and he scowls. It’s the hyper-competitive guy from one of the other teams, the one who had shoved Bradley out of the way one time during a spot-prize round, tossed a you snooze, you lose over his shoulder and since then he’s sort of hated the guy. Of course, he’s let all his friends know about it too, ignored their sighs and eye rolls at his dark muttering; reminded him that it was meant to be fun. Not whatever thing he was turning it into.
“You can always join our team for the night? If you want? Give you a taste of what winning feels like.”
Bradley wants to be petty, wants to stomp off, wants to shove him.
But his friends have made him come here and then left him alone. He’s not an idiot. Maybe he should have lightened up before they took to drastic measures.
He looks at the other guy's easy smile, he’s clearly not been stewing by how annoying Bradley is, and he’s not sure how he feels about that.
“Thanks. Buy you a drink?”
“Yeah. I’ll have what you’re having. Name’s Jake.”
“Bradley.”
“Bradley,” Jake repeats, “nice to meet you.”
#ficlet#Hangster#Sereshaw#meet cute#Top Gun Maverick fanfic#Does Jake have a space on his team because Javy finally got up the nerves to ask out someone on Bradley's team? YES - YES HE DOES#Jake's team have been sick of him waxing poetic about the moody angry looking asshole on the other team#it's been a whole team effort to get the two idiots to talk to each other#inspired by the interesting dynamics at my regular quiz night which I was completely in the dark about until last night
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who needs a valentine when you have a pug that never leaves you the fuck alone 🥲
#he is getting on my last nerve not gonna lieeee#he’s lucky he’s so cute#but he’s destroying my goddamn ottoman because i won’t hold him#he’s worse than a toddler
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I’m patient with PJO show fans that haven’t read the books. I really am. Getting to experience the story for the first time is great and I want to encourage them to get into my favorite fandom I’ve ever been a part of.
But I’m going to lose it if I see another “Percy and Annabeth are related! 😱😱😱” post.
No they’re not go read the books 🙄
#pjo#percy jackon and the olympians#percy jackson#pjo hoo toa#rick riordan#percy jackson disney+#percy pjo#pjo percy#annabeth pjo#pjo annabeth#percabeth#percy and annabeth#I really hope it gets explained in the tv show like it does in the books#because some of them are getting on my last nerve#for anyone wondering it’s canon that the gods don’t have DNA#none of the half-bloods are actually related to each other#but siblings still don’t date each other bc it’s like step siblings it would be weird
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‘terrifier has no story, it’s all gore!’ ‘terrifier is just one big gore fest!’ ‘it’s just gore porn!’ ‘people who watch this are sick!’
1. It’s a slasher movie, plot was never gonna be that serious to begin with. they never are.
2. Saw is gore porn too, and it’s been in the cultural realm since the early 2000’s. When it first came out it was said to be torture porn, too. I know—I was there.
3. It’s transgressive media, it’s a breath of fresh air. Liking a clown cutting people up doesn’t make you fucked up in the head, never has and never will. Put down the christian right wing talking points and chill. It’s not that serious. It was never that serious. And moreover it’s not real.
#tiktok has been really just tearing into my last nerve and i know it’s a matter of time until people shut up about it like they did saw#but boy it’s so exhausting#if you don’t like it that’s fine just leave it at that#when’s the last time we had a new slasher to this caliber? LEAVE POOKIE ALONE#anyway................#I had to get this off my chest in a safe space#the pervasiveness of purity culture and assumption of someone’s morality based on what they consume is so… capitalistic and wrong?
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Ms. Webber, if ya nasty. 😛
#oc: marguerite webber#my brain can not wrap itself around gameplay today#so CAS it is. . .#miss ma'am here gets on my last nerve#but she's become my boo for real#she's so fun to dress up
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Wakfu The Great Wave : Chapter 20
What in the cliffhanger was that thing?!!!
Beware of spoilers and ranting
Chapter 20 was 90% filler and 10% cliffhanger.
At this point, I'm glad those two haters are back because the slow pace was getting to me.
I did the mistake of reading Chapter 20 first thing in the morning and I was NOT OKAY !
How am I supposed to wait until the next chapter ? Especially after seeing the queens of Bonta (one of which is Yugo's biggest hater after Oropo) and those Osamodas royals acting all chummy like this father-daughter duo from hell didn't try to overthrow my darling Amalia. Why are these two never in the Osamodas kingdom ? At this point, it's no longer Yumalia adventuring (honeymooning) away from their kingdom but every sovereign who would rather be an overstaying guest in another country than do their job back home ! I bet those opportunists didn't waste a second to complain about Amalia and Yugo to the Bontarian queens and their court of sycophantic snobs.
Call me petty but, I won't shed a tear over whatever will happen to them at the end of The Great Wave.
Hopefully, Volume 3 will focus on the main plot or, at least, give a proper conclusion to the side plot with the Osamodas in-laws. However, I'm not looking forward to Yugo and Amalia getting continuously denied, dissed, dismissed and disrespected.
I can't believe I'm saying that but... that Stalker demi-god Harebourg was onto something with his idea of autarky.

The Sadida kingdom has been looked down upon for years. Its monarchs have been denied assistance and even basic courtesy, time and time again, from King Oakheart to Queen Amalia.
Much like Sufokia did back in the day, it is high time the Sadida-Eliatrope kingdom starts looking for number one ! The new leaders, Amalia and Yugo, must accept that they have no allies and act accordingly.
One day, the Sadida-Eliatrope kingdom will stand up for itself :
#wakfu spoilers#wakfu the great wave#wakfu la grande vague#yumalia#yumalia mentioned#those people getting on my last nerve#that cliffhanger was illegal !#I'm stressed and tired over fiction (again)#send help!#rant post#i have lots of thoughts
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a day in the life of clementine: 1. working, 2. watching her precious baby, 3. getting simultaneously cyberbullied and told jokes...yeah
previous // next
imagine getting cyberbullied by your (kind of) exes roommate??? its okay cece out here cheering her up with dad jokes
#lovestruck with clementine#*clementine darling#*anthony darling#cecelia hughes by zleepyhollow#ts4#ts4 gameplay#sims 4#sims 4 gameplay#sims 4 lovestruck#simblr#carmen is getting on my last NERVE#she does this EVERY DAY#she better watch out is all im saying#and then theres the angel cece <3
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This show never allows Corlys the right to his grief. Each time, he tries to express his grievance, he is shamed into submission.
Season 1 Episode 10:
Corlys is angry over the death of his son and also his brother. But he’s not allowed to express his feelings on the matter.
He actually gets shamed for abandoning his family (purely a show invention and now I understand the reason why).
Season 2 Episode 5:
There are several similarities to the scene from season one. Corlys is once again denied the right to express his grief (apparently it’s dehumanizing towards his wife who he is treating as a thing by shedding tears over her!). He is always presented as the unreasonable one unnecessarily blaming Rhaenyra. Baela is compared to Rhaenys in this scene and there is a clear purpose behind this writing choice.
Once again, Corlys is shamed for abandoning his family (literally never happened in the book but it’s obvious now that it’s a plot point invented by the show runners to make Corlys look bad). His family’s suffering is Corlys’ fault apparently and the writers have managed to cleverly deflect attention away from Rhaenyra every single time.
#this show is getting on my last nerves#house of the dragon#corlys velaryon#rhaenys targaryen#baela targaryen#rhaenyra targaryen#text#anti hotd#that scene with baela was giving me too many red flags#there are so many issues with how that scene is presented but people refuse to see it#this has got to be the most ignorant fandom I’m in
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Y’all aren’t allowed to get on your soap box about any of the actions of the fictional characters in the show when you can’t even just not bully an actor for being a person and dating someone who isn’t their friend/coworker

#bridgerton#this is probably my last post about this because I hate getting into actors personal lives but some people are getting on my last nerve#‘I didn’t want them to announce it’ okay tough usually when people are in relationships they like showing it off and talking about it#if it really effects you that much then you need to look at yourself your feelings are your responsibility not their problem#luke newton#nicola coughlan#lukola#penelope featherington#colin bridgerton#polin
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