#jordyn is reading….

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (February 11th, 2025)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Releases:

The Forest King's Daughter by Elly Blake

Wicked Darlings by Jordyn Taylor

Where Shadows Bloom by Catherine Bakewell

Dropping Beats by Nathanael Lessore

(S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi

New Sequels:

Reign of the Talon (Talons #3) by Sophie Kim

Once A Castle (Carrick Hall #2) by Sarah Arthur

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Happy reading!

[depoteka]

"dave grohl having a child from an affair" wasn't on my bingo card. what's going on

[hiswrlds]

Actually you know what . One comic is 100% canon to this blog and it's Scrapnik Island .

[libraryofmaze]

Jordyn Alexander writes some of my favorite monster romance! Between this series and her holiday series, I’ve been obsessed with her!

[druggeddraccus]

August

Favorite book this month:

The Chalice of the Gods was really good!! To go from the house of olympus books to the original 3 was really really fun and brought me back to reading the original Percy Jackson series as a kid.

All books read:

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan (5/5)

The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan (5/5)

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (3.75/5)

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (3.5/5)

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (5/5) (reread)

Stats:

Books read: 5

Pages read: 1597

Average rating: 4.45

Yearly goal: 18/30

[simthorium]

After graduation, Jordyn moved to an apartment in Bluewater Village. She was hired on full-time at Zarro Health Incorporated, and would be working with her Uncle Nathan at the hospital. The apartment was just down the street, making her commute an easy 15 minute walk. She hadn’t been to the neighborhood much, but was soon starting to love it.

The only problem was a particularly loud upstairs neighbor. She took the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the door, prepared to chew out whoever this heavy-footed person stomping around was. When the door opened, her breath caught in her chest as she gazed at a very, very handsome man in a suit. “Can I help you?” he asked. “Um,” Jordyn said, all but forgetting what she’d come to say. “Hello.” “Hello...,” he said slowly. “Do you need something?”

“Uh, no actually,” Jordyn said, sticking out her hand to shake. “I’m, uh, new to the building, and I’ve just been going around introducing myself to all my fantastic new neighbors. I’m Jordyn Platz.” “Wyatt Quinn,” he said, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.” “Likewise,” she said, her voice a little too high-pitched. “I’m right downstairs.” “Ah, ok,” said Wyatt. “Sorry for all the noise, maintenance is fixing a leak. I promise I’m not usually this loud.” “Oh, no worries at all,” Jordyn said, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Um, well, I gotta go. But, hopefully we run into each other again soon!” “I hope so,” said Wyatt with a smile.

Jordyn felt a bit weird at how fast she seemed to develop a new crush. She’d just broken up with Johnny, the only relationship she’d ever had, and was already interested in a new guy? She wasn’t sure if that was normal or to be expected, and figured it was time to have a chat with her cousins to get to the bottom of her feelings. Before that, however, she treated herself to a few nice things at the Bluewater Micro Mall.

“I’m new in town,” Jordyn said as she plopped down in the chair at the salon. “Just graduated college, first real job and apartment on my own. I’m looking for something that signifies my new chapter in life.” “You’re trying to impress a man,” the hair stylist said, raising her chair. “Got it.”

“Wait no, that’s not what I--” “Heard you loud and clear, honey,” the guy said. He quickly got to work, engulfing Jordyn in a cloud of pink smoke as he gave her a complete makeover. 

“Voila!” said the hair stylist, showing Jordyn her new look in a handheld mirror. Jordyn’s eyes widened as she looked at herself. Her puffy hair was sectioned off into darker locs, and her makeup was sharper and less subdued than it had been. She smiled at herself in the mirror. “I love it!” she exclaimed. “This is so cool, thank you!” “Anytime, sweetheart.”

Jordyn hoofed it up the steps to her apartment, a million thoughts zooming through her head. Unfocused, she slammed into Wyatt at the top of the stairs, nearly sending him flying. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “God, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.” “No worries,” Wyatt said, dramatically rubbing his shoulder. “Wouldn’t be the first time I got bowled over by a beautiful woman.”

“Beautiful?” Jordyn repeated, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Very,” Wyatt said with a smile. “I like the new look. Reminds me of my MCR days.” Jordyn laughed. “You had an emo phase?” she asked. “Didn’t we all?” Wyatt said. “Is this yours?” “I think this is more of my ‘I have no idea what I’m doing and just trying to figure my life out’ phase,” said Jordyn. “Well, I think you’re pulling it off very nicely,” Wyatt said.

“Thank you,” Jordyn said bashfully. Wyatt leaned in closer, making Jordyn’s breath catch in her chest. “This might be a bit forward, and I understand if it’s too awkward seeing as we live in the same building, but would you want to go to dinner?” Wyatt asked. “Dinner?” Jordyn asked. “Like, on a date?” “Yes, like on a date,” said Wyatt with a charming smile. Jordyn gulped. She wasn’t sure! She’d only just broken up with Johnny; was it too soon to be dating someone new already. Wyatt noticed her apprehension. “It’s ok if the answer’s no,” he said. “I completely understand.” “I’d love to,” Jordyn blurted out, unable to spend anymore time thinking on it. 

[danielleurbansblog]

Meet This Author: Jonni Jordyn

Author Bio: Jonni Jordyn was born in Oakland, California in 1957. She started writing at an early age, writing music, poetry, short stories, radio, film, and stage scripts. She didn’t start writing novels until later in life, after she retired from playing music, and found herself travelling away from home for extended periods. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado. Q: Tell us about your…

[boysbeware2]

all the old tptm girl journal entries w the new (if anyone wants to see them again and compare them)

please proceed with caution as many of these could be upsetting to read

disposable girl (jordyn)

(old)

i cant fucking stand this. i try so goddamn hard to make friends, to be attractive to people, to be even somewhat appealing to them etc etc. it never works. i thought it would get better the older i get. thats what i was told. guess what! i was fucking lied to!!! im alwasy left out of EVERYTHING i never get invited to shit and my own friends ignore me all the time. everyone looks at me weird. i cant go in public anymore im so fucking terrified of everyone. nobody fuckinf wants me, man. im so close to doing something stupid i feel so gross and ugly and dumb i should actually just die id be doing everyone a favor LOL

(new)

man, i havent been on here in forever. the internet is kind of dumb. what is there to say? my friend group celebrated our outpatient graduation anniversary the other day, that was pretty nice. we’re all trying to figure out housing stuff, nora’s been helping with that. freyja + mayra + kairi found a place already (how are they so responsible??) and the rest of us are trying to find places near them so we can visit more often. i never expected to have such a big group of friends. if you told me 2 years ago that i’d be living like this, i wouldn’t believe you. it’s still surreal to me. i’m not sure what i did to deserve them. same goes for my girlfriends. i don’t wanna say who just yet, we’re still figuring things out, but i’m just so thankful for them. i feel so lucky to have a second chance at life. i really didn’t believe people when they said it would get better, and then it did. how funny…..

irreverent girl (kairi)

(old)

I do not want God to see me anymore. I do not want anymore eyes on me. This is near unbearable. I have no one to turn to. My mother is in the church. Many of my friends are in the church. They would tell me to find hope through Christ. They would tell me to pray to Him. They would tell me that He will save me. He must not remember He made me, and if He does, He simply does not care. I know this is unbecoming of me, and I don't mean to be dramatic. I am simply depressed, nervous, and I cannot tell what's real and what isn't anymore. I know I'm supposed to hear God speaking to me, but I do not, and I am tired of straining my ears. I just want to see a doctor. I want some kind of tangible solution. I do not want to pray anymore. Praying hurts. I only do it when I am afraid, but I am afraid much of the time. I don't want to be unheard anymore. I do not want to hold out hope for someone who does not act like they're there. I am hurting. I am hurting. I am hurting. Belief is hurting me. The idea of God is hurting me. I need an out. I am hurting.

(new)

When I have a job and money and I can move away from my shitty Mormon parents

splitter girl (tahira)

(old)

theres something so broken in me thats beyond saving. so i dont know why i keep trying to be saved. i meant to kill myself when i was 18. i didnt. all ive wanted to do lately is kill someone or something. i havent. im too much of a pussy to plan anything concrete, no matter how much i hate everyone around me. no matter how much i get off to videos of people dying or how much i love cutting myself i cant actually take action against other people. i am fucking purposeless. i was born from evil and i will always be evil and i cant even live up to that. i hate myself i hate myself i HATE myself and the universe hates me too. i dont know what to fucking do at this point. i talked to one of my friends about wantingto die and they said smthn about hospitalizing myself. maybe. i dunno. i dont know what else there is for me/. my eyes are fucking burning from lookign at my computer for so long adn not getting any goddamn sleep. i am not a good person. i dont think i can be helped but i just dont wanna fucking keep goign to school and being around people and pretending like everything is norma;l. i cant keep doing it. what the fuck is wrong with me whagt happened. why cant i be loved or feel love for other people when did something change in me that switched the aggression and affection parts of my brain. im hyperventilating ill be back. maybe

(new)

getting myself onigiri from this one good boba place 2nite bc im 8 months clean…… its the little things~ ^^

fainéant girl (freyja)

(old)

i know i dont hate being disabled... i just hate being disabled in a society that makes existing difficult... but sometimes i really just dont want to be disabled anymore. i dont want my family to lecture me about how i could be helping out more, or how i should get a job. i dont want teachers to keep asking me whats wrong or the fuckin uni counselor to try to get me hospitalized. i dont want to be in so much pain anymore, to feel so exhausted that i cant even do so much as prepare food for myself, let alone do anything meaningful or fulfilling. its not fair. i shouldnt have to stay inside and sit in the dark all day,. i should be able to have friends. to talk to people and to go out with them and to feel like i am alive. its lonely and traumatic to suffer through this and on top of that no one around me understands, and they never fully will. i am tired of trying to justify my existence to everyone, to explain the pain that i am in and why i shouldnt have to experience it. i know the problem isnt me. i know i live in a world that isnt built for me. but if the world cant change then sometimes i truly feel that i should just stop living in it. my lifespan is already shorter than everyone else's anyways. what difference does it make

(new)

my qpps didnt seem to appreciate me playing Alien Kids Alien Rap for them. Do they even love me

caliber girl (nora)

(old)

唉～It is 3 AM and I should go to sleep but I can’t. I have a work zoom meeting early in the morning and I gotta hit the gym also because I haven’t done leg day in like… weeks. Oh well, it doesn’t even matter. My value is depleting but I don’t think I care anymore. The turnaround date for my code is also in a couple of days and I haven’t made any progress. I keep getting the same error and I’m too tired to figure out what’s wrong. I might get fired at this rate LOL(笑). If that happens, I think I’ll just consider ending it all. Not that anybody will miss me. God I sound so weak and pathetic right now. When did it get like this. How did it get like this. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse before and this is nothing. Ugh, why is it so hard to breathe? My chest hurts and I feel like something is wrong but I don’t know how to make it go away. Should I call someone about this? No. No one is awake or around to help. I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep it off. Shake it off… shake it off…

(new)

My Tamagotchi beeped during a meeting fml

chocolate box girl (morgan)

(old)

i thought i was doing better but i cant stop thinking about them. their touch, their interests, their smile, everything. the worst part is that i miss them, after all of what they've done to me. i was 13. i dont even feel justified calling it rape since our relationship was so muddy... they never yelled at me or was angry at me, they just got so sad when i tried to speak my mind, and got all my friends to hate me when we finally broke up. i never said no so i feel like im insulting actual survivors by feeling violated. i wasnt even trying to get into a relationship with them, it just happened... i feel like everyone around me wants me in the same way they did, even though im an adult now and i dont even try to make myself appealing. i wish i could trust people not to take advantage of me, and i feel disgusting and selfish for feeling like everyone has ulterior motives of getting me to fall in love with them, or worse. that's so self centered of me. i dont know how long i can keep doing this

(new)

girl help i cant stop looking at anime figures on japan yahoo auctions !!!!!

taxidermy girl (mayra)

(old)

I don't remember ever not having a sex drive, is that normal ? I was born and then it was all downhill from there, something happened to me sexually i think, I don't know what happened, because I don't remember much, but something happened and I was beaten for it and yelled at and my mother hated me, and now I am an adult and I try to have sex, and I'm not there mentally, even if my body is participating, I feel like I am in the past again, being beaten and yelled at . I want to keep trying, I want to have fun, to feel safe in someone else's arms, to reach the heights of pleasure, but my mind scares me so much, I haven't been able to eat anything today because I feel so horrified by my body . If I was good I would have been born as a nonsexual being, no parts, no desires, no instincts, a blank slate, too empty to be enjoyed . Do you know what it feels like, to have your mother tell you people want to sexually abuse you when you are a child, and then to be made fun of by your peers for being so ugly, to have your middle school and high school classmates joke about how much they don't want to have sex with you ? I am illicit and undesirable at the same time, I am everyone's last option, I am nothing and still too much, rotting deer meat on the side of the road . I wish I had been born as something beautiful and pure, I wish I could start over, that whatever that initial sin was had never been committed .. I want to start over

(new)

Went to a kink event the other night and everyone was so nice … The low lights were fucking with my vision so one of the hosts helped me navigate the place . I ❤️ you random disabled ally with a pup mask on

chemical girl (joy)

(old)

LMAOOOOO im too angry and miserable to be around. i think i just need to give up at this point because theres clearly like. something broken inside me that cant be fixed. that has 2 be it because i try to talk and i just sound cold, i try to make a joke and it comes out overly edgy and unfunny, i try to be like everyone else but its too much. i cant even be a collection of the positive traits i see in others, i try to replicate it and it comes out warped and wrong. im either fucking enraged or in abject misery or way too happy and nobody can keep up with me. the thing is i dont even blame them. i wouldnt want to be around me either. do u know what thats like? being someone you wouldnt want to know? i keep hoping that one day ill wake up and suddenly be normal, the mood swings will be gone and everyone will like me and i wont do stupid shit that pisses them off. but i know that day isnt coming. theres no hope for me and i want to say sorry to everyone who has ever had the misfortune of knowing me but i know it wouldnt do anything. theres nothing i could ever do to make myself right

(new)

i need to convince my gf to take me to Round One again soon

refraction girl (nataana)

(old)

i don't want to do this anymore. i'm going somewhere better

(new)

talked with my psych and i’ll be starting TMS soon, it’s some thing where they put magnets to ur brain and it’s supposed to treat depression.. trying to temper my expectations bc i’ve tried so many treatments that just do nothing for me, but i’d be lying if i said my hopes weren’t riding on this. i want to confidently say i’m glad to be alive. i feel like i’m getting closer to that

nurse parallel/machine girl (xiomara)

(old)

I am so excited... Tomorrow my experimental outpatient treatment plan begins!!! I'm beyond delighted. I have complicated feelings about my DID being in remission, but it's nice to feel stable enough to be in charge of something this big, and to not have terrible gaps in my memory anymore. I still don't remember everything that happened to me, but maybe I don't need to. At this stage of my life, I feel content. I can confidently say everything was worth it. I want to help others feel that way, too. I think I can.

(new)

I’m meeting up with a new friend tomorrow… I feel nervous, but it’s a good nervousness, I think!

[daylifesims]

FANTASY HAIR SET - Steampunk Master

Here is a new set for you all ^^ Inspired by some popular fantasy eras. Thank you so so much to Jordyn for suggesting this idea and for sending me images to create this incredible hair set <3

Please read my TOU before download.

New mesh

Base game compatible

24 EA colours

Hat compatible

All LODs

Custom Thumbnail

Male and Female versions

DOWNLOAD (Patreon Free)

CREDITS

Gradients by Simandy

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (November 7th, 2023)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Standalones/First in a Series:

Artifice by Sharon Cameron

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

With or Without You by Eric Smith

Swarm by Jennifer D. Lyle

Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens

The Revenge Game by Jordyn Taylor

No One Left But You by Tash McAdam

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt

Finding My Elf by David Valdes

Emmett by L.C. Rosen

Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates

New Sequels:

Vengeance of the Pirate Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King #3) by Tricia Levenseller

Nightbane (Lightlark #2) by Alex Aster

The Way I Am Now (The Way I Used to Be #2) by Amber Smith

Loveboat Forever (Loveboat, Taipei #3) by Abigail Hing Wen

Dawnbreaker (Salvation Cycle #2) by Jodi Meadows

The Hunting Moon (The Luminaries #2) by Susan Dennard

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Happy reading!

[the-bi-library]

Finally, here are February's bisexual releases!

Books listed:

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

Benefactor to the Baroness (Seductive Sleuths, #3) by Melissa Kendall

A Fix of Light by Kel Menton

The Billion Dollar Dynasty by Dominique Davis

Yelen and Yelena by C.M. Rosens

Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Becca Podos

Spring Awakening (Training Seasons, #1) by J.S. Jasper

Wicked Darlings by Jordyn Taylor

Dead in the Frame: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery by Stephen Spotswood

Casual by Koji A. Dae

Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy, #1) by Stephanie Burgis

Daughters of the Blue Moon by Millie Abecassis

How to Slay a Demon Lord and get away with it by Devi Letalis

Mere Flesh by Catherine Labadie

Shoot the Moon: A Rainey Hall Mystery (Rainey Hall Mysteries) by Ava Barry

Monsters, Mayhem & Wild Magic by Noah Bodie

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Two Friends in Marriage by Jackie Lau

Down to a Science by Kat Paige

Dance with the Fae by Elisabeth Hobbes

Cyrus: a Dark Tragic Love Story by A.E. Cosby

On Her Terms by Amy Spalding

Painting My Roommate's Sister by Echo Lark

The Trial Period by Auburn Morrow

Sirens & Snow by Finnely Ray

14 Days to Resist Your Valentine by D.K. Sutton

To Free a Magpie (The Raven's Daughters, #2) by Joyce Gee

Reading the Waves: A Memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch

Bar Down by Stef C.R.

A Match Made In Evan by Anna Sparrows

He's All That by Lillian Empire

Icing on the Cake by Christopher J. Brice

[flemingsfreckles]

Physio’s Daughter Pt 8

Read the other 7 parts HERE

Warnings: cursing, suggestions to sex, mentions of throwing up, that should be it!

WC: 4.8k

A/N: hello 👋

“Really? You still have interest?” Jessie looks baffled, her eyes wide with raised eyebrows.

“Oh don’t act so surprised, you saw me staring earlier.”

“Yeah I did.” She smiles, thinking back to how she had intentionally wiped her forehead while facing in your direction. She was more than pleased with herself when she put back down her shirt to see you had been watching.

“Look, you said terrible things, and if anything even remotely close to that happens again, I will never speak to you again. But Jessie I really like you. I want to give you a second chance even though maybe I shouldn’t but I’d like to believe what you and Janine both said is true. This isn’t your typical behavior, you’re just under a lot of pressure.”

“I promise I’m not usually like this.”

“I know, that’s why I like you. But that’s also why this is so frustrating and why the other night hurt me so much. I know you’re not usually like this, I know how kind and caring and sweet you are. And if it wasn’t for all this, the fact that we work together, in this dynamic, I would’ve asked you out on a proper date weeks ago.” It’s true, if you haven’t worked with her, if you’d met her at school, at a cafe, just walking down the street, you would’ve already taken her out. You would’ve asked her on dates, but you couldn’t, not when you worked together.

“Then fuck all this,” she gestures to the room and the Canada logo on her own training top. “Just ask anyway.”

“I don’t want to get you or myself in trouble.” You look at the logo on her shirt, it wasn’t that easy to just say fuck it to the team, the team Jessie had represented since she was 15.

“We can talk to whoever we need to.” She spits out.

“Oh be for real Jessie we haven’t even gone on a date, we don’t need to be in Helen’s office signing paperwork already.” You give her a smile, it was nice she was willing to talk to Helen but a little too early.

A smile breaks on Jessie’s face. “Okay, maybe that was a little premature.” The smile from her face fades as she speaks again. “So, maybe we go with the original plan? Wait until these games are over, see where we’re at?”

You nod in agreement. “But for now, coworkers.”

“Coworkers.” Jessie repeats looking at you before a mischievous smile comes across her face.

“What?” You ask, somewhat afraid of what her answer might be.

“This is I think the third time we’ve agreed to be coworkers.” She scoffs.

“No, this time I’m serious.” You do your best to give her a stern look.

“You said that last time.” She laughs

“Shut up.” You can’t help but laugh with her, you two were terrible at being coworkers.

“At least it’s only a few more days and one more game.” She says softly after she’s done giggling.

“Only one more game.”

You quickly found yourself getting ready for that final game. The reality that you were helping prep players for an Olympic gold medal match had you a little extra nervous. Canada was taking on Spain. Reigning World Cup Champions Spain.

The first 90’ minutes of the game felt like they went by in a blink. When the whistle blew the score remained 0-0. Both teams had good shots, both keepers making impressive saves.

The extra time came and went as well and suddenly you felt like you were back a few days ago.

Penalties. Again.

You watch the first few players step up. Julia makes her penalty 1-0, a Spain player makes her’s as well, 1-1. Feeling overwhelmed, you stare at the ground for the next few players. You watch your feet, you don’t even need to watch. You can hear the silence followed by the kick and you get the answer on save or miss through the reactions of the staff standing next to you. Chloe misses, 1-1, Spain makes theirs 1-2, Jordyn makes it 2-2, a player from Spain misses 2-2, Ashley makes her kick, and the Spanish player misses wide, 3-2.

You feel a quick pinch at your side where your Mom’s hand was resting around your waist. You look up to her and she subtly nods toward the field. You turn and watch as Jessie picks up the ball. You can practically feel the air get sucked out of your lungs. She was taking Canada’s fifth and final kick. If she makes it, it’s over. If she misses, Spain has the chance to tie.

You watch her meticulously place the ball, adjusting it a few times. Once she’s satisfied with the ball, she takes three steps back, and looks down, closing her eyes for a moment. You held your breath, beginning to subconsciously time how long she was waiting. You started to panic, feeling like you could puke, it felt like she was waiting too long again, or maybe it just felt like time had frozen. Jessie opened her eyes, and began her approach. She kicked it and you watched as the ball slammed against the back of the net.

You’re practically yanked onto the field by those around you, you’re not even sure where you were running besides the mass of red and white in front of you. You end up in the mob of bodies, receiving random hugs from whoever was around you. You kept your eyes scanning hoping to find Jessie, her height not helping her stand out. You also know she’s likely in the middle of the mass of her teammates, scoring the winning penalty.

As the initial celebration dies down, the players begin to spread out. Some find their families in the crowd, others moving to sit and soak in the moment. You keep your eyes scanning, hoping to find the girl with the armband.

While you’re busy spinning in circles looking for her, someone grabs your hand from behind.

“Come here.” The captain had found you before you could find her. Jessie grabs your hand, pulling you out and away from the crowd. The two of you move over to the side of the pitch, not far off from her teammates but enough to be in your own space. She turns you toward her, dropping your hand.

“I thought about you.” She says, tears in her eyes, her hands holding your face between them, her thumbs gently rubbing your cheeks. “I thought about you when I took that kick. You were my calm person.”

“I almost threw up.” You admit to her.

“What?” Jessie says, a mix of concern and a smile across her face. Her hands are still on your cheeks.

“I was so nervous watching you kick.”

“Oh.” She laughs. “You’re the reason I wasn’t nervous.” You’re grateful Jessie was able to quickly move past the fact that you had almost thrown up from nerves, embarrassed that you even said it to her.

“Congratulations, you deserve it Jessie.” You say, finally getting out the words you prepared and meant to say when you first saw her.

“I wouldn’t have been here without you, you deserve this too.” Her eyes are still locked with yours. You both stand listening to the rest of the team celebrate behind you. You both break eye contact hearing some screaming getting louder.

“Wooooooooo” you watch as Janine goes running by, a flag in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other hand with Jordyn and Julia following shortly behind her yelling to give them back the bottle. You watch as Jessie rolls her eyes at her teammate’s behavior. You both turn back toward each other. This time Jessie’s eyes move down to your lips, then to your eyes and back to your lips. She moves her head slightly toward you.

“Jessie.” You warn her, you don’t want her to stop but you want to remind her that you’re both standing in a packed stadium with hundreds of cameras taking photos.

“Who cares.” She whispers before she starts to lean in again. You start to close your own eyes, not leaning in, wanting this to be her choice to kiss you in front of her team, her coaches, her family that was likely here.

“Congratulations Jessie.” You hear a voice you know all too well to the side of you. One of your Mom’s hands coming down on your shoulder while the other comes down on Jessie’s shoulder. You feel a slight push back on you, breaking up how close you and Jessie were.

Jessie’s hands fall from your face as she turns to look at your Mom.

“Oh, um, thank you, hey congratulations to you too, none of us would be here without all your hard work.”

“Thank you Jessie, assuming you were just thanking my daughter as well?” Your Mom gives you a quick glance, you know she’s teasing both of you, Jessie doesn’t get the message, trying to explain herself.

“Yeah, of course. I mean, she’s been great, um obviously, with my injury of course, my calf, she helped me a lot. I was thanking her for all that.” The way Jessie starts to stutter, tripping over her words as she tries to subtly deny the fact that she was about to kiss you, it was cute. You’re sure if she wasn’t already red in the face from playing, her cheeks would be from embarrassment.

“Hey if I don’t see you again before you players go out tonight, be safe, look out for each other.”

“We will.” Jessie assures your Mom before she walks away leaving you two again.

“She really has impeccable timing doesn’t she.” Jessie looks at you.

“She does.” You say before muttering “cockblock” under your breath only it comes out a little bit louder than you expected.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

You both stand for a second, your chance to kiss clearly over as you’ve both been brought back to reality of standing in the stadium, Jessie’s teammates still running around. You watch as she scans the crowd before her head stops moving and she waves.

“There’s my family.” She points in the direction she waved in and you see a small group of people waving back at her.

“Go.” You shove her in their direction and she looks at you giving you one last smile before taking off running in their direction. You watch her, looking at the back of her jersey as she runs away to be pulled into a group hug. You turn back to go find the rest of the staff, giving your congratulations to whoever you passed in a Canada shirt as they did the same back to you.

The stadium is soon only filled with a sea of red, the Spain supporters leaving. The podiums are brought out at you watch as they begin to set up for the medal ceremony.

The team is quickly ushered back into the changing rooms put on their designated podium outfits. They quickly come back out, lining up to step up and receive their medals.

You stand off to the side, watching as France steps onto the bronze medal platform, followed by Spain. And then you watch as the Canadian team steps up. You can’t help but feel tears in your eyes, watching the girls that you’ve been working with for countless days helping at training, at matches, helping them stretch on the bus or in a hotel room, all those moments, all they had worked for and they did it. You watched as they got their medals Jessie receiving hers from Janine and putting one around Sabrina’s neck.

You watched as Jessie picked up the medal around her neck, examining it with her hands, flipping it around. You watch as Janine leans over, saying something into Jessie’s ear, Jessie immediately picking up her head and looking in your direction. She gives you a smile when her eyes meet yours. Janine must’ve noticed you staring and told her. You give her a thumbs up before they begin playing all the national anthems.

Once the ceremony is finished you stand around a bit longer, watching all the players soak in the moment together. You find yourself catching Jessie’s eye every once in a while until she finally makes her way over to you.

“You’re coming out with us, right?” She slings an arm around your shoulder.

“Tonight?”

“Obviously, we’re going to go celebrate, we’ve got a bar rented out.” You had heard discussions of the post game celebrations, but never really read into them too much, you didn’t want to get too ahead of yourself thinking they’d win, it felt like you’d jinx them.

“I don’t want to intrude, if it’s a player thing.”

“It’s not, everyone’s invited, coaches, staff, families, everyone.” Jessie turns so her lips are against your ear. “Plus, I want you to be there.” She says quietly. You feel your skin prickle at her low voice and the feeling of her breath on your body.

You stumble over your own words as you agree to meet them at the bar later, your brain short circuiting from the feeling of her lips against your ear. “Oh, then yeah I’ll be there.”

You quickly found yourself a couple drinks in, courtesy of the Canadian foundation, in a rather large, but dark bar. Loud music and conversation filling the air. You had only arrived about an hour ago, thankfully it was within walking distance from the hotel. You had gone back and changed into a nicer pair of gray jeans and a simple Canada sweatshirt. Since you opted to change you did not arrive at the same time as Jessie, you had been unable to find her since arriving. You felt like you were back searching for her on the field after the match. Most of the players had remained in their sweatsuits, some changing into other t-shirts, sweatpants. You had found just about every other player, who all led you astray in which direction they last saw their captain.

You make your way back to the bar to get another drink, deciding you’ll just go sit with Olivia and the rest of the staff at the table they had occupied.

“Hey, where have you been?” You feel hands grab tightly onto your hips and you turn to see the brown eyes you’ve been looking for.

“Hi, I changed.” You gesture down to the fact that you were no longer wearing athletic clothing like you did while at work. “but I’ve been here an hour or so, I’ve been running around looking for you.”

“I’ve been looking for you.” Her eyes graze over your body. “You look good.” You can smell the alcohol radiating off of Jessie you’re not sure if it’s alcohol she’s consumed or if it’s just a mix of the champagne that was sprayed across her skin in celebration along with the smell of the bar. Her hands are still firm on your hips. “Come here.” She gently tugs you away from the bar.

“Hang on, let me grab this.” You reach for the beer the bartender had placed in front of you and then let yourself be pulled away.

She moves to grab your free hand instead and keeps pulling you, through the mass of red and white, back to the back corner of the bar and into a small hallway.

“Where are we going?” You ask when she finally stops walking.

“Here, where it’s just you and me.” Her hands find their way back to your hips and she pushes you back so you’re against the cool brick wall. “So we can do this.”

Her hand comes up to your cheek as it did after the game, but this time it doesn’t stop at your cheek she keeps moving it to the back of your neck, gently pulling you toward her and she moves in. This kiss was different than the rest, the rest had been timid, soft, gentle. This kiss was firm, her lips starting to move against yours immediately, its only a few seconds before you feel her tongue against your lips. You part your lips and let your own tongue graze against hers. You get the answer to your earlier question as you can taste the tequila and what you think is vodka on her tongue. The taste has you pulling back.

“Hey.” Jessie protests, a frown across her face.

“Are you drunk?” You put your hand without the beer against her chest, holding her back from leaning in to kiss you again.

“What?” She cooks her head at you.

“Are you just making out with me because you’re drunk? I can taste the liquor.”

“No you idiot, I mean yes I’ve been drinking, but I’m not drunk, plus I’ve wanted to makeout with you for weeks.”

“Okay but we’re in public. You team could see.” It’s not that you don’t believe her when she says she’s not drunk, it’s just you couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy with her choices to suddenly makeout with you in a bar, knowing she had definitely consumed something.

“I don’t care.”

“Jessie, no.” You step away from her..

“What? Oh come on? Because I’ve had three drinks? How many have you had?” She posed a fair question, she had had just as many drinks of you but you had been at the bar for far less time, if anyone was the problem here it would’ve been you.

“I just think you’re not fully considering the consequences of making out with me in a public bar. When you’re sober, we can do this.”

She leans down close to you and you think she’s going to kiss you again, but she brings her mouth toward your ear. “Okay, then I’m done drinking because I want to makeout with you. I promise I’m not drunk, not even tipsy, but if you want to wait that’s fine.”

“Okay.” You reply and Jessie turns walking back into the room. You follow her and watch as she makes her way to the bar, when she turns back she has two bottles of water in her hands.

“You should drink if you want to drink, it’s your night to celebrate.” You say when she comes over to your side, shaking one of the bottles of water at you. You don’t want to be the reason she doesn’t celebrate.

“No, I’m not a big drinker anyway, I had already decided to be done, I just got peer pressured into some shots with some of the youngsters when I first got here.” She takes a large sip of water.

“Jessie.” Your conversation is interrupted by hearing someone call from behind you and a girl runs up to her followed by two other men and a woman.

“Hi! Oh I’ve miss you.” Jessie takes the girl into a tight hug before releasing her and moving onto the next person hugging the next person.

“We’re so proud of you honey!”

“Thanks Mom.” Jessie mutters into the women’s hug. That's when you’re able to make the connection, this was Jessie’s family standing in front of you.

“This is my family, my mom, dad, sister and brother.” She points to each person. She introduced her family to you. She starts explaining how you’ve helped her with her injuries, and how you help everyone with stretching and staying healthy. She’s singing your praises to her family, making you blush standing next to her.

You stick around for a couple minutes as Jessie continues to talk about you. Not wanting to force her family to listen to stories about you, you tell Jessie you’ll be over at a table and leave her to enjoy the moment with her family.

You slide into a booth next to Janine and a few other people you didn’t know, assumed friends and family of the team. It doesn't take long for Janine to bring up the topic of Jessie.

“Just so you know,” Janine claps her hand hard against your back, giving you a slight shake. She leans in close to you. “I’m spending tonight, and probably the rest of the nights we’re here in his hotel room.” She points at the man next to you who now you recognize from photos to be her fiancé. “So there won’t be someone else in Jessie’s room.” You pull back to just look at her, you couldn’t believe what she was implying.

Janine must’ve thought you didn’t understand what she was suggesting when you didn’t respond. “Ya know, if you and a certain someone want to-”

“I know what you meant!” You spit out quickly. Taking a sip of the water you had. Upon your snappy response Janine quickly changed the subject, eying up the medal around her neck again, showing it to her fiancé.

It wasn’t long before you felt the booth sag next to you and Jessie alone with her sister found themselves next to you in the booth.

“Elysse!” Janine exclaims reaching over you and Jessie to attempt to hug the girl. Both of them leaning in pushes you and Jessie practically into each others laps.

“Sorry.” You apologize to Jessie, it wasn’t your fault but you felt like you were squishing her.

“All good.” She gives you a sweet smile before returning to her own personal space as Janine removes herself from across you two.

“Hey.” she slaps Jessie’s leg getting her attention. “I just finished telling this one that-” You almost go to cover Janine’s mouth with your hand. You know she’s been drinking and you also knew what was about to come out of her mouth. But you don’t stop her, instead you tilt your head down clenching your eyes hoping it’ll stop Janine’s words, only it doesn’t. “I’ll be in Ethan’s hotel room the rest of the trip, if you want to use it.”

“Oh.” You can feel Jessie’s eyes burning into the side of your head as you slowly open your eyes and send a pointed look in Janine’s direction.

“What?” She says, reading the uncomfortable looks you and Jessie were both giving her. “Oh what, do you two really think you’re doing such a good job of keeping it secret? You were practically making bedroom eyes at each other during the medal ceremony today.”

“Janine!” Jessie shouts at her friend before just shaking her head. You finally have the courage to take a glance at Jessie, her eyes are wide, she looks uncomfortable, you can also see her sister behind her looking between you and Jessie, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Alright, it might be time to get you out of here.” Janine’s fiancé says, grabbing Janine’s hand as he stood up. He gives a quick wave at the table, half as an apology, half as a goodbye. You all wave back to him and Janine and they walk into the mass of people.

You sat for a little bit longer, some teammates coming to join your table for a few minutes to chat before they’d run off to talk with someone else. It was only an hour later that Jessie’s Dad found his way to the table. “Jess, we’re going to get out of here, it’s late and we’re not young anymore, we’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah of course.” Jessie responds, she smacks your leg a few times then pointing to the side of you. You get the hint and stand up to let her out of the table. You watch as she stands up giving her Dad a tight hug.

“Coming now or later?” Her Dad looks at Jessie’s sister.

“Now, just give me a second to use the restroom.” She nods and her Dad walks away after they agree to meet outside.

“I don’t have to pee, I just wanted him to walk away. You two enjoy your night without Janine.” She says with a wink and a look between the two of you. You look over to Jessie who’s sporting a blushed red face. Her sister stands up to hug her and whispers something into Jessie’s ear, making her turn even more red. She gives you a quick wave and heads in the direction of the door.

“I think I’m going to call it a night too, feeling tired.” You say, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the day hit you all at once. A yawn coming out of your mouth.

“I was actually thinking the same thing.” Jessie flashes you a smile. “Would you want to walk together?” You’re not sure if Jessie actually was ready to go or just decided she was going to leave since you were.

“That would be nice.” You take the empty water bottle from her hand and toss it onto the bin with yours. “Do you need to say bye to anyone?” Jessie just shakes her head.

“Do you?” You shake your head back. Your Mom had gone out with some of the older training staff, not wanting to be in a rowdy bar, Olivia was still around but you’d text her later letting her know you were back in your room. You’re not sure even if you said goodbye to anyone if they’d remember it in the morning or not.

The night was quiet when you stepped outside of the bar, Jessie shortly behind you. You start walking in the direction of the hotel and she quickly jogs to catch up. The two of you walk side by side down the roadway.

“Does it feel different the second time?” You break the silence asking.

“Does what feel different?” Her pace slows down as she turns her head to look at you.

“Winning gold.”

You hear her breathe in and then watch as she tilts her head slightly, deep in thought.

“It’s different, but I’m not sure if it's the winning that’s different. Last time it was an empty stadium, we didn’t get to do the celebrations with family and friends, there weren’t people watching, it felt so isolated, but it was in a weird way more peaceful. We got to just sit on the field, really soak it in.” She took another breath. “We didn’t get to do that, even if we could’ve there would’ve been fans, it would’ve been rowdy. Not to say one is better than the other, but yeah it’s different. I also wasn’t captain last time, so this time was more stressful, I felt like a lot of it was on me. Even though I know it wasn’t, it just felt that way.”

You hum acknowledging her answer as you walk into the lobby of the hotel. It’s thankfully pretty empty, Jessie's teammates still out celebrating and only a few other country’s athletes sitting around. You both get into the elevator, you press the button and you can feel a tension building as you ride up in silence. When you get out you walk Jessie to her door first, wanting to be polite and make sure she gets in alright.

“I’m sorry if Janine made it weird earlier. I'm not sure why she said that. I mean I get it but, I don’t want you to think I told her that was going to happen or anything. I don’t expect it to.” Jessie turns before she puts her keycard to the door.

“It’s all good. Little uncomfortable, especially with your sister there but it’s alright.” You shrug. It was uncomfortable but you didn’t mind too much, you had already forgotten about the conversation until Jessie brought it up again.

“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll have to explain myself to her later, she thought it was funny, she teased me for how red I got.”

“Yeah.” You both stand awkwardly outside of Jessie’s hotel room, you shift your weight between your feet, swaying slightly.

“Um, do you want to-”

“Have a goodnight-”

You both speak at the same time.

“Go ahead.” She gestures to you.

“I was just going to say goodnight.” You didn’t want to invite yourself into her hotel room despite Janine’s offer.

“Oh, yeah okay.” You can tell she seems a little disappointed.

“What were you saying?”

“I was going to invite you in?” Jessie looks up at you, her eyes with a glimmer of hope in them. She blinks quickly a few times before adding “Only if you want to, you don’t have to, I’m not expecting anything, you don’t even have to stay very long if you don’t want to, I just thought,”

“Jessie.” You cut her off, able to tell she was starting to overthink by the way her hands were fidgeting. “I’d like to come in.” You say before you lean down, now it’s her back pressed against the wall as your lips find hers. You pull away before any of her teammates or god forbid your mother decides to take a trip down the hallway and sees you two. Jessie turns to unlock the door and you follow her inside. You pull your phone out quickly texting Olivia.

You: Probably not coming back to the room at all tonight, or if I do it’ll be late, don’t worry about me I’m safe.

It takes a minute but she responds.

Olivia: Thanks for the heads up, I expect all the details of your escapades tomorrow

Olivia: seriously though, be safe, don’t do anything stupid.

You look up from your phone over at Jessie, thinking to yourself at least if you “do” anything, it wasn’t considered doing anything stupid, Jessie was smart.

[druggeddraccus]

December:

Favorite book this month:

Imogen, Obviously was super cute i was surprised by how much i loved it. and Dreams of Gods and Monsters was a really good finale (though i hope to have more to read from that world lol)

All books read (this month):

True Love Bites by Joy Demorra (5/5)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (3/5)

My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham (2/5)

Small Things like These by Claire Keegan (3/5)

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor (5/5)

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (4/5)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (3/5)

All books read this year: (italics = reread)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Sanderson (5/5)

The Martian by Andy Weir (2/5)

Foster by Claire Keegan (5/5)

Everything Leads to You (4.5/5)

Little Women (4/5)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (4/5)

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (4/5)

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (4.5/5)

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)

Frugal Wizard by Brandon Sanderson (3.5/5)

Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (4/5)

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (3/5)

Spiderwick Series by Black & DiTerlizzi (5/5)

Homebody by Rupi Kaur (2/5)

Lucky List by Racheal Lippincott (4/5)

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wisner (5/5)

Something to talk about by Meryl Wisner (4/5)

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (5/5)

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen (5/5)

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Sanderson (3.5/5)

Are You There God? It’s me Margaret by Judy Blume (3/5)

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (3/5)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (5/5)

Wool by Hugh Howey (5/5)

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (5/5)

Shift by Hugh Howey (4/5)

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Racheal Lippincott (5/5)

Narrow Road between Desires by Pat Rothfuss (2.5/5)

True Love Bites by Joy Demorra (5/5)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (3/5)

My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham (2/5)

Small Things like These by Claire Keegan (3/5)

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor (5/5)

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (4/5)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (3/5)

Yearly stats:

Books read: 40 (reached my goal!!)

Rereads: 3 (counting Spiderwick series as 1)

Pages read: 14,060

Average rating: 4.08

[naughtyneganjdm]

Threads of Desire - Chapter 7

Summary: Arriving to work late is rough when a surprise visit from both Negan and Daryl interrupts an already hectic day for Y/N.

Characters: Negan Smith, the reader (OC), Guy (OC), Jordyn, Maggie, Daryl Dixon, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61111030/chapters/161820370

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, etc.

Notes: I am sorry it takes so long for me to update these days. Real life has been so busy, but I'm doing my best. Thanks to those that read! If you want to read the other chapters, be sure to check them out here.

Being late was never something that Y/N was. Since she took this job under Maggie four years ago, she had always been to work early. However, today she found herself waking up long after her alarm went off. Sleeping through her alarm clock was not something that she had done in a very long time. Showing up late to work was not something that was on her checklist of things to do after Guy offered her that brand new position at Vixen. Originally, she planned to be just like she was before. Dedicated to her job and hard working. So when she woke up this morning, she panicked. What she wanted to do was make a good first impression. Starting her new job off like this was the last thing she wanted. Instead, she ended up showing up to work almost two hours late.

Getting ready was rough since she was anxious as it was. Everything felt like an obstacle this morning. No doubt Maggie would be upset with her for being late. This was the first time she ever had been, but since she had been pissing Maggie off over the last few days she knew that it would be bad. And then it made her wonder if Guy would have told Maggie about her promotion. With her being late, that would be enough ammunition for Maggie to try to convince Guy to go back on his decision.

Rushing to work just made things harder. Trying to get into the doors of the building was extraordinarily complicated because she had her arms full. The fact she was able to get into the building was an accomplishment in itself. Scrambling into the building, all she could think about was how Guy had offered her this brand-new position and she had already fucked up.

“Hey!” a raspy voice called out from behind her in the empty lobby of the building. Hearing it had her jumping since she wasn’t expecting it. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Negan pulling himself up from the same seat he was sitting in last night. Scrambling to get to her, Negan pointed to everything that she was attempting to carry. “Let me help you with that.”

Frustration flooded her veins. Now Negan was showing up at her work in the morning waiting for her. With everything going on this morning already, dealing with Negan was not something that she was ready for. Especially since she had so much going on already.

Instead of waiting for her answer, Negan was reaching for some of the things that were in her arms and he flashed her a big smile, “Did you carry all of this here on your own?”

“Yeah,” she didn’t know how to respond, her throat going dry. What the hell could she say to Negan? Waiting for her at the end of the workday was one thing, but showing up in the morning was another. “Negan, what the hell are you doing here? You can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?” Negan tipped his head to the side, completely oblivious to what she was hinting. Then again, by the big cheesy smile that slowly tugged at his features, it made her wonder if he knew what he was doing and this was purposeful. “Helping you?”

“You know what I’m saying to you,” she scoffed, taking a quick look around the lobby noticing that it was completely empty except for the employee that was sitting at the front desk. Adjusting the items that she had in her arms, she was actually thankful that Negan managed to help her because she was certain she would have dropped something if he hadn’t. “Were you really just sitting there for the last two hours waiting for me?”

“Well, I wasn’t sitting there the whole time, but…kinda?” Negan bobbed his head about, his thick eyebrows bouncing up when she released a stressed sound. Turning on her heel, she started to head for the elevators knowing that she couldn’t do this right now. Especially since she was already so late. The sound of Negan following her not far behind was heard and she very much expected that. “Fuck, you really aren’t in the mood to talk, are you?”

“Not really, no,” she was blunt, huffing out when Negan ran into her from behind in his quickness to follow her as she came to a stop at the elevators.

“Fuck, sorry,” Negan apologized managing to reposition the items he took from her so he could carry them under one arm. “Listen, I didn’t think you’d run off last night. I thought you’d let me walk you home and we could talk.”

“If I let you walk me home and we talked, we’d probably just end up having sex,” she noted under her breath realizing that what they did last night in the restaurant wasn’t right as it was. Taking a look around, she was happy that no one else was there to hear her. “And that would have gotten us nowhere. You know I’m right.”

“Well…” Negan paused, a crack of a smile tugging at his tired features. Tipping his head from side to side, his Adam’s apple bounced in his throat and he sighed. “Touché.”

Silence surrounded them and she found herself condemning the elevator for always taking this long, “I just didn’t like the idea of you running off upset. And then when you didn’t show up to work on time this morning, I panicked.”

“I just slept in Negan. I haven’t slept well in days,” she reasoned with him, her chest heavy at the idea of everything that was bothering her. “You could have just texted me, showing up here is not going to do anything right now.”

“You told me last night that doing things through text was wrong,” Negan mentioned what she had said when he went to break up with Maggie through text message when she was upset with the idea of him still dating Maggie. “Ever since the day of the event, I haven’t been able to sleep much because all I think about is you.”

Dropping her head down, she tensed up at the idea and there were still a lot of things running through her mind. Why now when he had so many years previously when he could have done this?

“Are you a moron?” she hissed out eliciting a confused expression from Negan. An uncomfortable laugh escaped his lips before he let out an amused sound. “I’m serious. I’ve been fawning over you for eight years. Eight years, I’ve wanted you to be in love with me. And for eight years, nothing. I finally tell you how things are and now I can’t get you to leave me alone. So it’s a genuine question. Are you a moron because anyone with half a brain could see that I was in love with you. Did it really take me physically telling you that I felt that way for you to realize there was something here?”

“Well, when you put it like that and shit…” Negan considered her question, waving his free hand about and letting out a huff. “Then yeah, I guess I am. I’m a man. We’re not exactly the brightest. It’s a horrible excuse, but sometimes we let our smaller brain lead our decisions. Unless we’re not directly told something, we don’t always pick up on the subtle hints.”

“That’s an awful excuse,” she snorted, shaking her head in response. After a moment, she realized that there was something missing when it came to Negan. “Where is Jordyn?”

“She’s been in the office,” Negan pointed upwards, educating her on the whereabouts of his daughter. How simply he put it made it seem like it was no big deal. “She’s been with that lady that she really likes at the office. The one that’s always been nice to her.”

“I’m sure Maggie is thrilled about that,” she muttered under her breath, clutching tightly to her things when she reached to push the button of the elevator a few more times. There was no reason for it to be taking this long. Especially since no one was lined up for it. “You know, I am enjoying that I get to see you more. I’d be lying if I said otherwise, but you can’t keep showing up at my work like this. You’re going to get me fired if this keeps happening.”

“And?” Negan countered, getting a glare in response that had him throwing his free hand up in defense. “I’m just saying Y/N, if they fired you, I have that job that I offered you the other day. If you didn’t have a job, I would take care of you. So it’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s a big deal,” she hated the idea that a job that was important to her could be blown off like that. But then again, last night she hadn’t told him about being offered the position and accepting it, so it only made sense that Negan would honestly think that way. Right now was definitely not the time for that discussion to come up. “You haven’t told me why you are here.”

“You know why,” Negan frowned, exhaling loudly when he moved beside her to rest his shoulder against the wall. “I’d like to think that you were thinking about me as much as I was thinking about you.”

“I’ve been thinking about you since the day I met you Negan,” she responded knowing that sounded really pathetic. And truthfully? It was.

“So, with last night…” Negan started, using his free hand to reach up and rub at the back of his head. “Did you uh…did you like what I did?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me that,” she whispered, her chest aching at the thought of what he was undoubtedly bringing up. A lot of her night was spent condemning herself for letting it happen, but another part of her thoroughly enjoyed it. And that made her feel like a terrible person. “Obviously, I liked it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have…you know.”

“And you like my cock?” Negan’s eyebrow arched in curiosity, his dimples sinking in with an amused rumble falling from his throat with her face flushing over. “The size of it and everything.”

“Is this where you want me to praise you and stroke your ego?” she inquired, her eyes narrowing and by Negan’s expression, she knew that he was longing for it. “Yes Negan, you have a nice cock and you’re good with your mouth. Do you feel better now?”

A smirk tugged at his handsome features and he shrugged his shoulders before clearing his throat, “I also think you’re great with your mouth and I can’t stop thinking about being inside of you. It’s all I can think about. I can’t tell you how much I’ve jerked off in the last few days because of it.”

“Negan, this is all happening really fast and it’s happening at a very complicated time in both of our lives,” she hinted to him, having a hard time looking at him. Because hearing him say something like that had her body heating up with a fire flooding through her veins, but at the same time she knew that the timing was horrible. Right now was really not the time or place for this. “I have always loved spending time with you Negan and in different circumstances, I might really enjoy this conversation, but we’re at my work.”

“I realize that,” Negan huffed following her onto the elevator when it opened. “But there is something going on between us and I just, I don’t want you mad at me. And I really wanna work things out with us. I think the two of us can make things work.”

“Did you break up with Maggie?” she wondered causing Negan’s hopeful expression to leave him and it was replaced with tension. “Yeah, that face is a no. Which tells me you are still dating Maggie and the things that we need to talk about, we can’t.”

“I haven’t talked to Maggie yet. I went home and I told you she was doing something with her family. We didn’t even text or talk last night,” Negan declared, adjusting her items in his arms and he scoffed. “I just wanted to talk to you because I’m fucking upset that you might be angry with me.”

“I’m angry at myself,” she announced, swallowing down hard and staring out at him with an uneasy expression. “You’re still a taken man. You have been for four years. And I very much have a hard time denying you because of how I feel about you. What I’ve done? It’s unforgiveable.”

“It’s not when it’s the person you love,” Negan suggested drawing out a disgusted breath from her throat. “I don’t mean it to sound as bad as it does, but you’ve loved me for such a long time. It should have been you that I ended up with in the first place.”

“But I wasn’t,” she stated clearly what was factual, even if Negan didn’t like to hear it. “It was Maggie. And we can’t go back and change things. You made your decision. It was Maggie. Not me.”

“But now I’m picking you,” Negan insinuated, his head shaking when she looked to the floors that they were going up.

“Who said I even want you to pick me?” she snapped at Negan under her breath as someone else got onto the elevator with them. A dramatic exhale escaped Negan, his thick eyebrows furrowing with him turning toward her. “Maybe I don’t want you anymore.”

“You don’t?” he whispered and it looked like she had just kicked him in the gut. That wasn’t exactly the response she was expecting from him. Especially since he was the one that was dating someone. “But what happened in your apartment and at the bar…”

“They were mistakes,” she insisted, her chest aching at the look that Negan was giving her. “Things we shouldn’t have done. Things that were very wrong.”

“It can’t be wrong when something like that feels so right,” Negan countered and by the body language of the person on the elevator with them, she knew that they had an idea what they were talking about. “It’s not just the sexual stuff either.”

A warmth flooded into her face since they weren’t the only people on that elevator, “it’s the fact that my eyes have been opened to what was really going on. I was taken advantage of. You were treated like shit. And we were purposely kept apart by someone who just wanted to fuck with you and used me to do it.”

“This is a complicated conversation for another time,” she thought aloud noticing that the person in front of them was turning a light shade of red. Having Negan acknowledging that Maggie was using him was something she was surprised to hear, but it wasn’t something that should have been talked about around strangers that worked in the same building as her. “There is a lot to process between the both of us. I know that for sure.”

Thankfully the stranger got off the elevator. Honestly? They pretty much rushed off the elevator once they got to their floor. The moment the elevator doors closed, she felt Negan’s hand reaching out to grasp at her chin. Getting her to turn toward him, Negan’s mouth covered hers in a hungry kiss. Even if she wanted to fight him back, her arms were so full that she couldn’t. But then again? She wasn’t fighting it.

When the door opened again for the elevator, Negan was the one that tipped back leaving her breathless and realizing that it was her floor. Shakily moving out of the elevator, she had Negan following her not far behind. Leaving things like that had her body tremoring with her heart hammering inside of her chest. Negan knew what he was doing to her and he did it well. On her way to Maggie’s office, she managed to take a quick look inside of Guy’s office to see that he was inside talking to someone. When he spotted her, he stood up straight and waved.

Just tipping her head, she acknowledged him, but that didn’t seem to be enough as Guy rushed around the person he was with. A moment later she watched him hit the ground hard after his foot caught the table. Immediately she stopped which had Negan running into her from behind.

“What happened?” Negan looked toward Guy’s office watching Guy pop up from the ground that he had fallen to. Fixing his hair and then his shirt, Guy flashed the person he was with a nervous smile. Without saying anything else, Guy pointed toward the glass door and was swift to pull it open.

“I can’t help but notice that you’re late,” Guy’s dark eyes narrowed giving her a big cheesy smile when he blatantly nodded his head toward Negan as he headed over toward them. “Did you do what I said you should do?”

“Why is he nodding toward me like that?” Negan felt awkward with how obvious Guy was being in the moment. With the three of them standing there, everything was silent between them. Both Guy and Negan were staring out at her, both of them expecting answers from her. “Is this about me?”

Well this was awkward. Guy was asking her if she had sex with Negan and Negan was obviously picking up on it. Pointing to Guy first, she felt hot with his eyebrows bouncing up, “No to you,” she answered Guy who frowned and then when she pointed toward Negan he let out a nervous sound, “And yes to you.”

“I’m confused,” Negan announced, his eyes narrowing when he looked to Guy. “Were the two of you talking about me?”

“Why wouldn’t she be talking about you?” Guy responded making Negan smile and look to her with a tip of his head. Guy gave Negan a scrutinizing look with how he was gazing upon Y/N and Guy huffed when he returned his attention back to Y/N. “Why do I feel like you’re lying to me?”

“Where have you been?” Maggie snapped at Y/N when the sound of her door being open distracted all of them. This was the first time that Y/N found herself thankful that Maggie was there to interrupt something. “You’re hours late and I’m running incredibly behind.”

“Good morning to you too,” Y/N moved around Maggie, rushing into the office. Both men were following her not far behind. Setting the things down that were in her arms, Negan moved in beside her and carefully put down what he had carried for her. Turning to face Maggie, she let out a tense breath with Guy standing behind Maggie. Without Maggie noticing, Guy pointed between both Negan and Y/N. After he did, he made a circle shape with one hand and used the other hand to make a lewd gesture. From what he was doing, she knew that he was asking if she had sex with Negan again. The bad thing? Negan saw it too. With an amused expression, Negan pointed between the two of them and it seemed to excite Guy that Negan was interacting with his question. Holding his hand out, Negan wiggled it from side to side which had excitement flooding into Guy’s features. Maggie was waiting for an answer from Y/N while Guy continued to have a silent conversation with Negan now from behind Maggie. When Guy made a blowjob gesture with his hand and mouth it had her wanting to die on the spot. Instead of seemingly being offended Negan smirked and nodded his head once showing a sense of arrogance with him answering. “Stop it!”

“Stop what?” Maggie asked looking over her shoulder at Guy who immediately stopped doing what he was to act like he was brushing his fingers through his hair. With Maggie turned away, Y/N smacked at the center of Negan’s chest with the back of her hand having Negan dramatically throwing his hands up in the air. “Why are all three of you acting so weird? And Negan…? Why are you here?”

“Oh,” Negan didn’t know what to say, his face hot with amusement that Y/N was so embarrassed with what him and Guy had just done. There was a look in Y/N’s eyes that showed she was nervous with Negan’s expression becoming determined. “Actually Maggie, there is something that I need to talk to you about.”

“Not here you don’t,” she stressed to Negan, placing her hand in over the center of his chest trying to get him to leave.  

“Yeah, yes I do,” Negan didn’t seem to agree with her, fumbling with her hands to get her to stop trying to force him out. By everything that was going on, there was an obvious excitement growing inside of Guy. He was just happy to be there in that moment. Dramatically moving over toward the couch in Maggie’s room, Guy lowered down and sat at the edge. His brown eyes were locked on them. Moving around Y/N, Negan motioned Maggie to take a seat at her desk. Feeling like the world was spinning around her, Y/N headed over to the couch to take a seat next to Guy. Burying her head into her hands, she felt Guy nudge her and she gradually lifted her head up. “I think we both can agree that things have been kinda different over the last few weeks between us.”

“So you gave him a blowjob?” Guy questioned, lifting his hand just enough to hide from Maggie what he was saying while whispering. Glaring at Guy, she tried to hush him. There was color flooding into her face and she wished she was somewhere else. “Did you like it? How big is it? Did he go down on you? Was he any good?”

“Not here,” she stressed to him, her face tensing up realizing that Maggie had noticed the two of them whispering and bickering with one another. Waving her hand about Y/N acted like it was no big deal with Guy snickering. Lazily dragging himself back, Guy got comfortable on the couch and wrapped his arm around the back of it. With the other, he brushed his fingers through his dark hair and sighed.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about how the last few weeks have been different for us,” Maggie spoke louder drawing both Guy and Y/N to look at her while Negan and Maggie interacted. “I know things get very busy during the holidays both here and in our lives.”

“It’s not just that,” Negan interrupted Maggie, his hands raising trying to get a moment to speak even though it seemed like Maggie wanted to take over the conversation. “I just don’t think the two of us are really like we used to be.”

“Oh, you must be good,” Guy turned toward Y/N, whispering in her ear when he picked up on the fact that Negan was attempting to break up with Maggie. “You blow him once and he wants to dump her on the spot.”

“Knock it off,” she begged of him, pushing him slightly away from her with Guy sucking down on his bottom lip.

“I’ve been slacking, I know,” Maggie reasoned with Negan and it was obvious that she was distracted with both Guy and Y/N being there. She didn’t like it, but Y/N also knew that Maggie was irritated that Guy was so relaxed with Y/N at this point. “And you’re probably upset about tonight. You wanted me to go to that dinner with your parents and I never really gave you an answer…”

“Dinner with my parents?�� Negan thought aloud. A moment later realization seemingly struck when he lifted his hand and pinched at the bridge of his nose. “Right, we’re supposed to meet my parents for dinner tonight.”

“Well, tonight I have something I have to do for work,” Maggie announced with Negan scoffing at the idea of it, dropping his hand down at his side. “But after tonight, I think we should really focus on us honey. The two of us can just spend every night after work together. Do things for Christmas like you like to do.”

“You have something to do for work?” Guy called out, crossing his legs with his expressive eyebrows bouncing up. “Really? What is it that you have to do? Because I’m unaware of any meetings going on.”

“That’s because one of our clients called me this morning to change the date,” Maggie was quick to excuse what she was saying with Guy’s face twisting in confusion. “So I’m having dinner with them tonight instead and…”

“Really?” Guy feigned being surprised placing his hand in over the center of his chest. “Which client was that? Because I should probably make sure that I make a note of it in the calendars.”

“We’ll do that later,” Maggie insisted, waving her hand about to silence Guy who gave an amused wrinkle of his nose with the way that Y/N was staring out at him. “Regardless Negan, I think we should start focusing on us more.”

“And that’s what I want to focus on for a minute,” Negan asserted, placing his hand in over the center of his chest. Stretching out his fingers, Negan cleared his throat and shook his head. “I’ve been thinking a lot about things and…”

“You know what?” Maggie interrupted him, throwing her finger up in the air to motion him to stop speaking for a second. “I know it’s early, but since it’s close to Christmas, to show you how much I look forward to spending time with you, I think I should give you one of these.”

“Maggie, come on,” Negan slurred, throwing his hand up in the air again frustrated when she headed over toward a filing cabinet that she had. When she opened the bottom drawer it had Y/N scoffing out when she realized what Maggie was going for. Presents that Y/N had previously bought for the people in Maggie’s life. Presents that Maggie had never even seen nor wrapped. After digging around, she pulled out one of the presents and pushed the door closed. Heading over to Negan, she held it out toward him and it had Negan sucking in a sharp breath of air. “What’s this?”

“A Christmas present,” Maggie pushed the wrapped present in closer toward Negan who swallowed down hard when he looked at it. “Go ahead. Open it.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Negan suggested going to set it down, but Maggie instead grabbed the present. She unwrapped it herself and shoved it toward Negan who looked down at the box. Huffing out, Negan pulled open the box and his face twisted with an emotion they couldn’t read. Reaching for the pocket watch that was inside, Negan gazed upon it and let out a trembling breath when he dragged his thumb down over the front of it.

“Do you like it?” Maggie was curious drawing out an anger from Y/N who tried to keep her mouth shut. “It was made specifically for you.”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful,” Negan looked at the engraving over the front that had a compass with a butterfly at the center of it. “It’s a very thoughtful gift Maggie.”

“Yeah, wow…” Y/N stood up from the couch in beside Negan to place her hand in under his. Looking over the pocket watch, she cleared her throat. Out of the corner of her eye she could tell that it looked like Guy was having the time of his life watching them. “Where did you get this done?”

Glaring out at Y/N, Maggie looked furious. There was no way that Maggie knew where it was from because Maggie had nothing to do with it, “I just think this is such a nice design that maybe I would be willing to do one myself for someone.”

“I don’t uh…I don’t really remember the name of it,” Maggie lied, her green eyes locked on Y/N’s when Y/N gave a firm nod. “I’ll get back to you with it.”

“And of course you know the meaning behind this, right?” Y/N confirmed knowing that before Christmas she would often go through a rundown of the things that she had bought people for Maggie. What they meant to them and anything of that sort. This one? Maggie would certainly have no fucking clue what it was for.

“Y/N?” Negan breathed out, his eyes narrowing with him staring down at her with confusion. Yeah, this was petty of her and she knew that, but it was clear that Maggie picked up on the fact that Negan was going to try to break up with her. So she was using the present as a way to guilt him into not doing it. It would be one thing if it was an actual gift that Maggie got for Negan herself, but since it was one that Y/N had gotten for Negan, it really pissed her off.

“I’m just curious what the story behind it is,” she didn’t care if this made anyone feel uncomfortable because it had been too long that Maggie got away with taking advantage of things. “I’m sure you know it’s a nod to Negan’s father with the compass and the butterfly, right?”

There was a silence between them. Even Negan’s eyes were locked on Maggie waiting for her answer and it made Maggie feel on the spot, “Of course I know it’s something to do with his father. I’m the one that got it for him after all.”

A long exhale escaped Negan’s throat and he stood there for a moment longer. Lowering his stare down to the pocket watch, Negan closed the box back up and lowered it down to set it on the corner of the desk, “Negan?”

What Maggie didn’t know is that it had nothing to do with Negan’s father and everything to do with Jordyn. So her answer only proved to Negan that she didn’t have anything to do with that present and he was visibly disappointed with her.

“We really need to talk,” Negan whispered to Maggie only to be interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking back over his shoulder, Negan scoffed when he saw Daryl standing at the door of Maggie’s office. “What the fuck?”

“Hey,” Daryl grunted, a sense of awkwardness flooding through him at the sight of everyone standing around looking so tense. All eyes were on him and it was a different array of emotions. Negan looked frustrated. Maggie was angry. Y/N was surprised and Guy was genuinely curious. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything here.”

“Oh no,” Guy could tell that Daryl meant something to Y/N with the way she was staring out at him. And that only intrigued him more. “We’re not really going through anything too intense here. Who are you?”

“Daryl,” he said bluntly as if Guy would know who he was. Daryl’s blue eyes locked with Y/N’s and he could sense that she was uncomfortable. Pointing between him and Y/N, Daryl didn’t bother to look at Guy when he spoke. “I’m a friend of Y/N’s. I was just dropping off something for her that I thought she would like to have.”

Right now? She didn’t hate the idea of having Daryl interrupt things. It was awkward enough as it was being between Negan and Maggie. Things had gone south and Daryl offered up an escape from all of this. Moving forward, she grabbed a hold of Daryl’s arm and motioned him to follow her out in the hallway. If Negan was really going through with dumping Maggie, her nor Guy should have been in that office. It was something that should have been done alone. And after the ass she made of herself to prove that Maggie was a liar? Y/N didn’t think she should be around if Negan did indeed break up with Maggie because it would be partially her fault and enrage Maggie.

Daryl stumbled to keep up with her when she took him to the lobby area of the office. From where she was standing, she could see that Guy was straining his neck to watch her with Daryl. Occasionally he seemed to steal a quick look back at Negan and Maggie, but it seemed like Guy couldn’t decide who he wanted to pay attention to more.

“What’d I just walk into?” Daryl snickered, pointing back toward the office where Guy was still very much watching the two of them together. “Everyone looked like they were gonna shit themselves.”

“I…I don’t know,” she lied, waving her hand about trying to get Daryl to give his attention back to her instead. As of the last few days, she really hadn’t kept up with Daryl about the things going on in her life and she figured he would be upset if he knew that Negan was attempting to break up with Maggie for her. “What are you doing here? You never come here to see me at work.”

“Oh,” Daryl pointed down toward the bag that was on his arm. “I finished that painting you paid me for. I was supposed to give it to you tonight, but plans came up. I can’t hang out. So I brought it here. In case you needed it.”

“You have plans?” she repeated, amused to hear that since Daryl never seemed to be someone who had something to do. The whole time she knew Daryl, he was a loner. For the longest time she thought she was his only friend. “Since when?”

“Oh, haha,” Daryl rolled his eyes, shaking his head and brushing his hair over his shoulder. Avoiding her question about plans was odd for Daryl. Having him be vague with her was not normal for him. “I think you’ll like the painting.”

Reaching for the bag, she gave him a weak smile and stepped forward to wrap her arm loosely around him to pull him in for a hug. Uncomfortably hugging her back, Daryl didn’t seem to know what to do when she released an overwhelmed breath.

“What’s wrong?” Daryl questioned, leaning back enough to stare down at her with his blue eyes. That was the kind of relationship she had with Daryl. Now, he could realize when something was wrong by the way she was breathing. That was both a good and bad thing. “I can tell something ain’t right.”

“I’m just overwhelmed. These last few days have been intense,” she explained and it had Daryl’s face scrunching up since he expected more from her. “It’s just been a crazy time here. One thing after another keeps happening and I’m doing my best to keep up with everything. You only know a small bit of what has happened.”

“There’s more? Since I was at your apartment?” Daryl questioned, folding his arms out in front of his chest when he rocked back and forth on his feet. “What’s up? You always tell me things.”

“It’s just been…busy and I’ve been lacking sleep,” she made an excuse that she knew wasn’t a good one. This really wasn’t like her friendship with Daryl. Most of the time she told him everything, that’s how they had grown so close. “Yesterday, Guy offered me an official position. One like Maggie had when she first started working here. At the beginning of the year, I will have my own office and everything. Today he was supposed to up my pay. He had me work one-on-one with him the other day and I guess he started to see my talent.”

“Huh?” Daryl scoffed, his face scrunching up in disbelief. There was a disgust that flooded into his features and he dramatically shook his head. “You’re not that ignorant, right?”

“I’m sorry?” she didn’t know how to respond because that kind of blunt response was not what she was expecting. “I don’t…”

“You can’t believe that shit, right?” Daryl snorted, his hands dropping down at his sides when he shook his head. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Guy had pulled himself up from the couch to sit on the arm of it to watch them when he noticed the body language changing between her and Daryl. There was no hiding that Guy was snooping on them together. “I thought we both agreed that this company was bad for you.”

“Well, yeah…” she paused to consider what Daryl was saying and she cleared her throat. “It took something ridiculous to get Guy to notice me, but…”

“Did you fuck him?” Daryl interrupted her, surprising her with the venom that was added to his tone when he asked her. “That how you got your job offer?”

“No, of course not,” she responded, her throat growing dry that he would even think that she would let that happen. “We just worked together the other day and he was impressed with what I was doing. About my knowledge of things and he offered me the job.”

“What about Carol?” Daryl reminded her of the offer he had for her with leaving this company to go to a rival one where someone he used to date worked and was in charge.

“I considered it,” she reasoned with Daryl feeling guilty with the way that Daryl was gazing upon her like she had done something horribly wrong. “You know that I wanted to make it on my own Daryl. And while I appreciated you wanting to help me with Carol, I was never comfortable having you hook me up with someone that you slept with when you were younger.”

“How are you making it on your own when Vixen only hired you because he wants to fuck you?” Daryl snapped at her causing a lump to develop in her throat. This was a feeling that she wasn’t used to with Daryl. “You’ve been here for four years and you got squat. But now you are okay with getting the intro job that Maggie got when she started? Does he know that you have been doing Maggie’s job since the moment she got here?”

“No, I haven’t said anything…” she swallowed down hard with that question. Even though she was angry with Maggie, she still didn’t have the want to get Maggie completely fired. Because there was still that promise that she made to Hershel years ago to take care of Maggie. “I thought maybe this was my chance to make a name for myself.”

“And when he finally has sex with you, then what?” Daryl threw his hands up, his brow line creasing as he waited for her to answer. “You’re putting everything on the line for a guy that just wants to have sex with you. He’s pulling out all the stops. You’re a game for him. Something he can’t have so he wants it. When you finally give it to him, he is going to spit you up and throw you out.”

“And what makes you think I’ll sleep with him?” she retorted, almost offended that he wasn’t saying that like it was a possibility. No, he was stressing what he was saying like it was a fact.

“Oh come on. Look at him,” Daryl threw his hand up in the direction of Guy who was now standing at the glass panel walls watching them with his hands pushed into his pockets. When Daryl pointed at Guy, Guy looked over his shoulder to see what Daryl was pointing at, but then realized it was him that Daryl was now directing things toward. “This guy was your fucking hero growing up. You hero worship his ass. And it don’t hurt that he’s pretty too.”

Truthfully? She was offended. How was she going to respond to that?

“He also was fucking Maggie too and you seem to be drawn to men like that,” Daryl slurred, growling as the words left his lips. The expression that flooded over her features showed him that she was hurt by that comment and he dramatically shrugged. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Ouch,” was all she mustered up, lowering her head down to look at the ground. “Obviously you don’t agree with my decision to accept the job position here.”

“No, I don’t,” Daryl answered, throwing his hand up in the direction of the office again. “I thought the idea was to get you away from Maggie. Being here? You’re going to be just as abused if not more. Does Maggie know about this?”

“Not yet,” she admitted, knowing that things would be much worse if Maggie knew the lengths that Guy had gone to get her to agree to the position he was offering her. “We both know that she wouldn’t be this calm if she knew.”

“You do remember that this guy ignored you for four years, right?” Daryl reminded her what had been going on since she started her job here. A warmth flooded into her face feeling like she was being scolded like a child from Daryl. “Guy Vixen is a piece of shit. No matter how much you looked up to him.”

“While I don’t deny that,” she started, but Daryl held his hands up to silence her, scoffing when he looked her over. What could she say to disprove that? Both her and Guy agreed the other day that he was an asshole. “I think Guy and I have an understanding with one another…”

“If you would have just let me help you from the start, you could have had a job for the last four years doing what you love. Sure, it wouldn’t be under your damn hero, but it would have been a job. Where you wouldn’t have been somebody’s slave. You might have actually been successful. Better than Maggie,” Daryl lectured her realizing that he was making her feel bad about everything, but he was just letting things go at this point. “But no, you remained loyal to every asshat in that room. Maggie cus’ of some stupid promise you made to her dad. Guy cus’ you wanted to be exactly like him. And Negan cus’ you were just so damn in love with him. And what has it gotten you?”

“Please stop,” she begged of him, looking around the office noticing that people were hearing them fighting and it made her ill at ease.

“Here, I’ll tell you. Maggie treats you like scum. She ain’t your friend. She never was. And Guy? You’ve been a nobody to him until he decided you were worth a damn cus’ you clean up well. And Negan? Would you like the list of what it’s gotten you? What will it get you?” Daryl continued on, embarrassing her even further when he rolled his eyes at her. “He’ll fuck you, more than he already has. And then when he gets the cake, he won’t need the cow. No cus’ he already has the cow. And he doesn’t want another one. You’re the person people just want to fuck Y/N.”

“What has gotten into you?” she spoke up finally with her voice broken alerting him to the fact that what he was saying was upsetting her. “You really don’t think very highly of me right now. Do you?”

“I’m just pointing out the obvious. Do you really think Guy is gonna give you what you want?” Daryl’s southern drawl dragged out allowing his frustration to shine through. “You’re putting a lot of faith into men that have treated you like shit lately.”

Even though she didn’t like what he was saying, she realized that he was right about her. She knew that she was pathetic with things, but she was actually hopeful that something good could come from this job.

“In that room are two men that have treated you like shit and have taken advantage of your hard work along with your kindness for years,” Daryl repeated what he had already pretty much said to her, pointing again toward the office, but she didn’t need to look. “Now that they both want something from you, you’re allowing it.”

“It’s not that I’m allowing it,” she tried to defend herself, taking a moment to think things over. What exactly could she say to Daryl? The longer Daryl waited for a response from her, the angrier he seemed to get with her.

“Daryl!” the sound of Jordyn’s voice called out, interrupting the two of them. Looking back over his shoulder, Daryl saw Jordyn running up to him and he turned to meet her halfway. Picking her up in his arms, Daryl brought her in closer to his chest with Jordyn wrapping her arms tightly around him to hug him. “It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too pipsqueak,” Daryl tapped at the tip of Jordyn’s nose causing her to giggle at the nickname he always called her. This was normal for the two of them. Since she had been in Jordyn’s life for so long and she was pretty much Jordyn’s adopted mother, Daryl was very much someone that Jordyn was used to. “Damn, you’ve grown at least a foot since I last saw you.”

“No I haven’t,” Jordyn dropped her head in against Daryl’s shoulder while he worked to keep her safe in his arms. “You saw me like a month ago.”

“And I swear you’ve grown that much since,” Daryl continued to play with Jordyn, his expression becoming very dramatic with the way that he was talking to her. Quickly he was able to put up a front with Jordyn hiding that he was irritated with Y/N rather fast. “You were supposed to come over and finish that painting with me.”

“We have to make time to do that,” Jordyn confessed pulling out a big smile from Daryl which was pretty rare. One of the last times that Y/N had taken Jordyn over to Daryl’s place the two of them painted together and Daryl had given Jordyn her own canvas to paint on. “You got any good stories for me?”

Hearing that from Jordyn made Y/N smile. Daryl was always telling her over the top stories that would make her laugh. A lot of the stories would be something that matched whatever painting Daryl was working on at the time. And Jordyn always got a kick out of them. Before Daryl could respond, voices were heard and they looked to see that everyone had left Maggie’s office. Slowly the group approached them and that just made everything even more uncomfortable.

“Negan and I talked about tonight,” Maggie spoke up, surprising Y/N that she didn’t seem at all upset with whatever was going on. Negan was looking down, his expression distant while Maggie waved her hand about to get Y/N’s attention. “Tonight, you are going to go with Jordyn and Negan to have dinner with his parents.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I have plans,” Daryl whispered under his breath looking to Y/N with his eyes narrowing out at her. That was meant to be a dig at her since they were originally supposed to spend time together tonight until he came here to cancel.

“Since I have that important meeting tonight,” Maggie began making Y/N furious that she was still lying about everything and telling Y/N what she was going to do with her life. “You’re better to go to that than me. I know you love Negan’s parents, so this will give you the opportunity to spend time with them.”

“Maybe I should have been asked first?” she blurt out, looking between Negan and Maggie throwing her hand up in the air. Guy was unhurriedly walking behind the two of them, his big brown eyes wide while he eavesdropped on everything. “I could have had plans for tonight.”

“I think that’s a great idea having you come,” Jordyn spoke up, her voice drawing Y/N to look back at her again. “I would love to go to dinner with you tonight.”

Of course having Jordyn say that meant that she would undoubtedly go because she wasn’t about to tell Jordyn no now that she got the idea in her head. Instead of responding, Y/N just nodded her head and it made Daryl scoff at how easily she crumbled.

“The hell are you doing here?” Maggie scowled when she realized that Daryl was there beside her. It always irritated Maggie whenever Daryl was around because they hated one another and never hid it. And more so it always pissed Maggie off that Jordyn appeared to like Daryl more than she liked Maggie.

“It’s great to see you too sk…” Daryl paused, sucking down on his bottom lip when it struck him that Jordyn was in his arms. “Maggie.”

Stepping forward, Negan pushed his hands into his pockets and was making himself known to Daryl which had Daryl smirking, “Hey there Negan. How are things doing today? Are you a little less stiff than you were the last time I saw you?”

Immediately, color flooded into Negan’s face and the lines in his forehead grew deeper knowing what Daryl was hinting at. Reaching for Jordyn who seemed confused, Y/N pulled Jordyn into her arms making sure to have a good grasp on her when she back stepped away from the group.

“I’m doing great Daryl, it’s so damn nice to see you,” Negan responded, his eyes locking with Daryl’s when he extended his hand out to place it in over Daryl’s shoulder to give it a squeeze. “Thank you for your concern about everything, but I’m doing just fine now. I’m glad to know that you couldn’t get that off your mind. I’m sure you weren’t used to seeing something so big.”

Coughing from behind them, Guy’s brown eyes were big with everyone turning to looking at him. Feigning coughing again, Guy placed his hand in over the center of his chest and winced, “Allergies. They are killer this time of year.”

“When did the two of you see each other last?” Maggie questioned trying to get Negan’s attention with Negan’s hazel eyes still heavily focused on Daryl. “And what are you talking about?”

“A while ago,” Daryl lied, his eyelashes fluttering when he looked toward Maggie who was expecting the answer from Negan. “Negan here had a muscle cramp that he just couldn’t get rid of. And he started a project that he couldn’t finish. A very disappointing one at that.”

“Oh, I could have finished it. And it would have been amazing, but then you showed up,” Negan explained and it had Y/N rolling her eyes. Guy let out another amused sound but tried to turn away from the group to hide it. “You’re pretty good at showing up unannounced.”

“And you’re pretty good at never coming on time,” Daryl responded, tipping his head toward Maggie with a huff. “Or in the right place.”

Realizing that was Daryl’s subtle way of attacking him for sleeping with Maggie, Negan’s Adam’s apple bounced in his throat and he sucked in a sharp breath of air, “Now I feel I’ve overstayed my welcome. I have some things to get done before my plans tonight.”

Moving forward, Daryl patted Negan on the stomach with the back of his hand. A scoff escaped Negan’s throat when Daryl’s eyebrows bounced up when he looked at Maggie. Yeah, he wasn’t going to say goodbye to her. Stopping beside Y/N, Daryl placed a faint kiss at her cheek before doing the same with Jordyn. “Don’t forget that painting we have to finish pipsqueak.”

“Bye Daryl,” she waved as he back stepped toward the elevators.

“It was nice to meet you Daryl,” Guy piped in from behind everyone, throwing his hand up having both Negan and Maggie look back over their shoulders at him from where he was standing between them. “He seems like a nice guy.”

“Come on honey, I think we should allow Y/N and Maggie to get to work,” Negan held his hands out for Jordyn to join him, but instead Jordyn frowned. Clinging tighter to Y/N Jordyn shook her head and Negan frowned.

“Can I stay at work with Y/N?” Jordyn asked, hooking her arms tighter around Y/N’s shoulders.

“I don’t know if Mr. Vixen here would be okay with that,” Maggie spoke up, pointing back toward Guy who shoved his hands into his pockets. “It’s really busy right now and…”

“Nonsense, she can stay if Negan is okay with it,” Guy interrupted Maggie’s thoughts, stepping forward to make his opinion known. “I actually was still in need of Y/N’s help today and I have a big table in my office. We can set her up at a place and give her something to draw if she’d like. We’ll make sure that she gets some juice and I’ll even buy her lunch.”

“Are you sure?” Negan confirmed with Guy who nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders before giving a nod. “Yeah, I guess that’s fine if Y/N is okay with it.”

“I will never turn down getting to spend time with Jordyn,” Y/N announced with Negan bobbing his head from side to side. Something in Negan’s expression showed that he was uneasy at the idea of leaving Jordyn here. Maggie had never really let her stay before like this, so it wasn’t something that Negan was used to. “I’ll call you when we’re done so you can come and get us.”

“Sounds good,” Negan stepped forward, considering kissing Y/N, but stopped and instead pressed a loving kiss against Jordyn’s temple. If anyone had half a brain, they could tell by the body language between Negan and Y/N that something was going on between them. “You be good for Y/N, okay?”

“Promise,” Jordyn gave Negan a big, cheesy smile with excitement flooding her veins at the idea of getting to stay at work with them.

“Why don’t you follow me into my office?” Guy waved them on, leaving Maggie to herself out in the hallway. Maggie hated this and Y/N knew that. Even though Maggie wasn’t terrible with Jordyn, she never really went above and beyond with her. So having Jordyn here was a discomfort for Maggie. And Maggie probably wanted to rip Y/N’s head off after the stunt she pulled with the pocket watch. Inside Guy’s office, he was already setting up a place for Jordyn while she stood with Jordyn in her arms. “Why don’t you go get your things that you were working on yesterday Y/N and I can set Jordyn up here with something.”

Carefully lowering Jordyn down to the ground, she allowed Jordyn to follow Guy who was talking in a different tone of voice while he was having a conversation with Jordyn. Being alone with Maggie was not something that Y/N was looking forward to. But what was a nice surprise was that when she headed into Maggie’s office, she found it empty. Maggie wasn’t there and that was strange. But it made it easier for her to grab her things and make a quick escape.

Heading back into Guy’s office, she smirked when she saw that Jordyn was already in a seat at the side of the desk with a drawing pad in front of her. Guy was kneeling down beside her handing her over a pencil while Y/N set up her things at the end of the table.

“Do you like dresses?” Guy asked Jordyn, who gave him a dramatic nod and a big smile. “How about this, you draw me a dress that you would like to wear and I will have it made for you. What do you think about that?”

“Really?” Jordyn seemed shocked to hear that and Guy gave her a firm nod. “You mean it?”

“I promise,” Guy swore placing his hand in over the center of his chest. “Your mom here works really hard and I think that would be a nice present for you to have.”

“My mom?” Jordyn repeated what Guy had said looking back toward Y/N with her big hazel eyes. Giving a tiny smile, Jordyn nodded. Never before had she really called Y/N her mother, but when she turned back to look at Guy she giggled. “Yeah, my mom is pretty awesome.”

“I think so too,” Guy winked, his eyes locking with Y/N’s noticing that she was getting emotional over the fact that Jordyn just called her that. He could tell that it meant something to her. Trying to avoid embarrassing her about it, he stood up from the table and moved over toward his miniature fridge that he had in his office. “Is there a juice that you like sweetheart? Apple? Orange? Grape?”

Tipping back in her chair, Jordyn’s eyes squinted getting a look at what was inside, “Can I just have some water?”

“You got it kiddo,” Guy grabbed a bottle of water and closed up the fridge. Heading back over toward Jordyn, Guy held it out and she happily accepted the bottle from him. “If you need anything, you just let me know, okay?”

“Okay,” Jordyn kicked her legs about looking back to Y/N who was staring upon the two of them with awe in her eyes. “This is awesome.”

Throughout the day, Jordyn had asked Guy if he would give them a tour around the place. Which was kind of silly since Maggie and Y/N had done it before, but Guy happily obliged taking them from place to place. Surprisingly Jordyn was very good and focused on the things that she was doing. Other than the walk they went on and the break they took for lunch, Jordyn was focused on the job that Guy had given her. Toward the end of the day, Jordyn pushed the pad of paper forward.

“Can I get your opinion on this?” Jordyn looked to Y/N who stood up from her end of the table and made her way around. Looking down at the drawing that Jordyn came up with made Y/N smile. It was very colorful and had flowers in the design, but for a child it was a pretty good drawing. “Do you think this would make a good dress?”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Y/N complimented Jordyn, pulling the pad of paper in close to give it another look over. “Would you like wearing something like this?”

“Yeah! Do you know how cool it would be to tell people the dress I’m wearing is something I designed?” Jordyn boasted drawing Guy to stand up from where he was seated to move in beside Y/N. Reaching for the pad of paper, Guy gave a weak smile and Jordyn looked back at him. “So what do you think? You think you could make me that?”

“I think we can do that,” Guy winked, heading over toward his desk to set the paper down. “Your talented just like your mother. You’ll be working here in no time.”

“No shit! You think so?” Jordyn’s reaction had both Y/N and Guy bursting out in laughter and Y/N hushed her. Most children her age didn’t talk like that so it wasn’t something people were used to. “What? I’m excited.”

“And that’s where her father’s genes shine through,” Y/N noted, knowing that the swearing definitely came from Negan. “Her father has the mouth of a sailor and her first word was probably…well…”

“It’s a bad one,” Jordyn explained to Guy very dramatically, waving her hands in the air like it was no big deal. “It starts with an f and I’m pretty sure it’s my daddy’s favorite word. We have an agreement that I can swear as long as it’s around my family. But out in public I have to hold it in. Have respect.”

“They do say people who swear are actually smarter than those who don’t,” Guy told them seemingly amused with the whole thing. “I used to always tell my mother that whenever she tried to correct me on it too as a kid.”

“I think I wanna go show Maggie,” Jordyn seemed excited to show someone else the drawing, getting up from the table. Grabbing the drawing for her, Guy held it out and she eagerly accepted it. “I’ll be right back.”

Waiting for Jordyn to leave, Y/N sighed loudly when Guy stepped in beside her, “Thank you for this.”

“For what?” Guy stammered, his dark eyes locking with hers when she turned to look at him.

“For being nice to her,” she reminded Guy, throwing her hand up toward where Jordyn had just run off to. “You didn’t have to be this nice to her. She’s going to think this is the coolest thing ever for a while. And she’ll probably tell everyone about the dress that you are going to make for her.”

“I do intend to have it made for her,” Guy promised with a bounce of his eyebrows, his English accent growing stronger. “I keep my promises.”

“Good,” she gave him a nod, leaning forward to loosely wrap her arms around Guy who seemed to not know what to do when she hugged him.

“What are you doing?” Guy grunted, holding his hands up and letting out a tense sound.

“Just give me a hug you weirdo,” she requested, amused that it took Guy a good minute before he wrapped his arms loosely around her to return the gesture. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that you were nice and you hugged me.”

“Good because I’m not going to start handing out hugs for group moral,” Guy hissed at the idea as she stepped back and away from him with an entertained expression. “I’m willing to make exceptions for you because of your kid being here, but…”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re a stone-cold prick, I’ll keep it in mind,” she teased him, shoving playfully at his shoulder getting Guy to stumble back and give her a tiny smile. The sound of the door being pulled open was heard and they both looked to Jordyn returning. “Did you show her?”

“She wasn’t here. She must have left, but I showed it to that lady that is always really nice to me,” Jordyn announced, returning back to Guy to hand the drawing over to him. Setting it down on top of the desk, Guy opened one of the drawers and pulled out one of his measuring tapes. “What’s that for?”

“Well, if I have to make your dress, I need to know what size to make it,” Guy educated her, having Jordyn stand a specific way so he could get her measurements. After writing them down, Guy went to get up, but he felt Jordyn jumping forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders to give him a hug as well. “Oh, wow. Your family is very hug happy.”

“Thank you Mr. Vixen,” Jordyn appreciated what Y/N’s boss was doing for her, giving Guy another big squeeze before stepping back. “You’re a pretty cool guy.”

“Well thank you,” Guy blurt out, standing up to see that Y/N was staring out at him with a small smile tugging at her lips. “You’re a pretty cool kid yourself.”

“Here, why don’t you call your daddy to let him know that we will be done soon,” Y/N reached for her phone handing it off to Jordyn who eagerly accepted her phone. “I’ll just finish up what I have here and then we can get going.”

“So,” Guy moved over toward the end of the table where Y/N was still working. Jordyn headed toward the corner of the large office to call Negan leaving the two of them to themselves. “Are you going to tell me about your Daryl friend?”

“Since when did you become my girlfriend that I gossiped with?” she tipped her head to the side causing Guy to feign being offended, dramatically placing his hand in over the center of his chest. “Daryl is just a really good friend of mine.”

“Just a friend?” Guy’s eyebrow arched in curiosity, biting down on his bottom lip and humming out. He was making it clear that he didn’t believe her. “See, it felt like there was a war going on between two alphas over you. Either that or they had sex and they were angry at one another.”

Hearing that caused Y/N to choke and then laugh, looking to make sure that Jordyn was still distracted on the phone with her father, “There wasn’t an alpha war between them,” she denied that idea, clearing her throat when she realized that Daryl did seem to be a smartass whenever he was around Negan lately. That wasn’t a lie. “Daryl just isn’t the biggest fan of Negan.”

“Because of your affection toward Negan?” Guy pushed further wanting more details, but she wasn’t about to give it to him. “What was the comment about earlier with the whole stiff thing? Did Daryl walk in on something between the two of you?”

“Guy, Jordyn is in the room,” she pointed off toward where Jordyn was on the phone talking to Negan. Guy was desperate for an answer but she wasn’t about to give him one. “We’re also not going to start talking about my sex life together.”

“Who cares if Jordyn hears? You both are her parents. I think children will eventually understand that their parents have sex in their life,” Guy suggested, waving his hand about, but still remaining silent. “Did Daryl see the two of you having sex?”

“Guy!” she huffed out, her eyes getting big when she dropped down the pen that she was using. Throwing his hands up in the air defensively, Guy acted like what he said wasn’t that big of a deal. “Listen, I haven’t…the two of us…we haven’t fully….”

“Had sex?” Guy finished for her, nodding his head about. His chiseled jawline flexed with her looking down toward the ground with color flushing into her face. “Okay, so there was something that happened between the two of you. From Negan, I know that you gave him a blowjob. But what about Daryl? Have the two of you had sex?”

By the expression that she gave him, that was all Guy needed to know that he was right about the two of them having something more than a friendship, “That one surprises me. He doesn’t look like he would be your type. Does he have a big…” Guy paused, looking toward the corner again to make sure that Jordyn was distracted. “You know?”

“I’m not doing this,” she warned him trying to go back to working on what she had to finish, but Guy stopped her from doing that. “Daryl and I have been friends for a very long time. He’s always been there for me when I needed him and vice versa.”

“Hmm…” Guy hummed, stroking his fingers against the side of his face and he huffed loudly. “So you can’t fit me in as one of your moments of being there for you before you hook up with either one of them?”

“I’m not having sex with you,” she snapped, quieter than before causing him to chuckle at the way she reacted to herself when she said that in the same room as Jordyn. “I told you why I wouldn’t do that.”

“I know you told me why, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep trying,” Guy frowned, looking to make sure that Jordyn was still distracted while they were talking. “Clearly you are in some kind of love triangle and I’m okay with that. We can just do it once, we can be over with it and I won’t fall in love with you. I wouldn’t want to make things worse between the two men already fighting over you.”

“Gee, thanks,” she snickered at the idea provoking Guy to nod like it was actually a good thing that he offered her. It made her laugh that he was so oblivious to everything, but it was what it was. Nothing would change the way that Guy was. “I’m sure you have much hotter people falling at your feet. I’m nothing in comparison to some of the people I’ve seen hanging all over you.”

“Yeah, but they are fake,” he insisted with a loud sigh, leaning back against the table to rest on his elbow drawing out a laugh from her. “I don’t think you would ever use me to get what you want. You’re not like other people that we know.”

Hearing Jordyn start to finish up, Guy frowned and shrugged his shoulders, “The offer is always on the table. Whether you want to talk to me about your personal life or you want me to be part of your personal life. I’m just putting it out there.”

“Thanks for that,” she tapped her hand against the top of the table when Jordyn returned with her cell phone. Getting up from the table, Guy gave her a dramatic expression as he backstepped toward his desk. Reaching for Jordyn, Y/N pulled her up into her lap and wrapped her up in a big hug. “Did you get a hold of your father?”

“I did, he said he would pick us up in a few,” Jordyn informed her, giggling when Y/N peppered kisses against her cheek.

“Did you have a good day?” Y/N questioned noticing that Guy was watching her and Jordyn from where he was seated at his desk.

“It was fun,” Jordyn answered, leaning further back into Y/N’s arms. “I’ll be excited to see how my dress looks in real life.”

“I tell you what? I’ve been following Guy’s work most of my life and if he makes it for you? I promise you that it will be beautiful,” she reached up to tap at the tip of Jordyn’s nose causing Negan’s daughter to smile brightly. There seemed to be something running through Guy’s mind when he lowered his head and let out a long exhale. Instead of focusing on her boss, she gave her attention to Jordyn and wrapped her up tightly in her arms. “So I promise you, it will be amazing. Just like you.”

----

Tags: @slutlanna976​ @fuckthis-and-fuckthat @jennydehavilland @pixelb4rbie @ibelongtonegan

@smallsadjellyfish @labyrinthofheartagrams @msjamesmarch @thebeautysurrounds @hotfornegan

@redmercysugar @caprithebunny @tuttifuckinfruitty @emoryhemsworth @a-girl-interupted

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@sanctuaryforthelost @burningredaffair @killaweiser @dead-of-niight @ayumi-wolf

@promiscuousbarnes @lanadelnegan @peachihellcat @dilfsandmartinis

[mattszombie]

FAKING IT? || M.STURNIOLO

chapter 8

enemy!matt x fem!reader. YOU ARE TESS!!!

Tess kept her head high as she walked down the hallway with Sophie and Jordyn, determined to act normal even though her heart was still racing. She could feel the whispers, the curious glances, but she refused to let it get to her. This was all part of the game.

Sophie finally broke the silence, her eyes wide with curiosity. “So… you and Matt? Since when?”

Tess shrugged, trying to look casual. “It just sort of happened.”

Jordyn’s eyes narrowed. “And you didn’t think to tell us?”

Tess laughed, rolling her eyes. “It’s new, okay? I’m still getting used to it myself.”

Sophie’s face lit up with excitement. “Oh my God, you guys are actually cute together. Who would’ve thought?”

Tess forced a smile, ignoring the weird twist in her stomach. “Yeah… crazy, right?”

Jordyn gave her a knowing look. “You know he’s liked you forever, right?”

Tess almost choked. “What?”

Jordyn shrugged. “Come on, Tess. The way he always messes with you, the way he looks at you… we’ve all seen it.”

Tess forced herself to laugh, shaking her head. “Yeah, sure. Matt’s just… Matt. He messes with everyone.”

Sophie grinned. “Maybe. But not like he messes with you.”

Tess rolled her eyes, determined to change the subject. “You guys are reading way too much into this.”

Sophie and Jordyn exchanged glances but thankfully let it drop.

As they turned the corner, Tess felt her phone vibrate again. She pulled it out, another text from Matt lighting up the screen:

Matt: How’s the acting going? ;)

Tess clenched her jaw, quickly typing back:

Tess: I hate you.

Matt: You seemed pretty into that kiss for someone who hates me.

Tess: I’m going to kill you.

Matt: love you too!

Tess groaned, shoving her phone back in her pocket. She couldn’t believe him. One kiss and he was already milking it for all it was worth.

The rest of the day was a blur of curious looks and whispers. Tess played her part perfectly, casually letting Matt sling his arm around her shoulders between classes, laughing at his dumb jokes, and even letting him steal her water bottle during free period.

She was so focused on staying in character that she didn’t notice Ethan approaching until he plopped down next to her at free period, his expression a mixture of amusement and suspicion.

“So,” he began, leaning back in his chair. “You and Matt, huh?”

Tess kept her face neutral. “Yep.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “And this happened… how?”

Matt appeared behind her, dropping his tray on the table as he leaned in, his face close to hers. “What’s wrong, Ethan? Jealous?”

Ethan scoffed. “Please. I just never thought Tess would actually fall for your bullshit.”

Matt laughed, slipping into the seat next to her and throwing an arm around her shoulders. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

Tess rolled her eyes, leaning into his touch just enough to make it look convincing. “Or just really persistent.”

Ethan eyed them, his gaze skeptical. “Yeah… I’m not buying it.”

Tess’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face calm. “Believe what you want. Doesn’t change the facts.”

Matt’s fingers brushed her shoulder, his touch light but steady. “Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, Ethan.”

Ethan made a gagging noise. “God, you two are disgusting.” He stood up, shaking his head. “This better not mess with the team, Sturniolo.”

Matt grinned, completely unfazed. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Ethan walked away, still muttering to himself, and Tess let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Matt glanced at her, his voice low. “You’re pretty good at this.”

Tess shrugged, her expression casual. “I’m good at everything.”

Matt’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “I’m starting to believe that.”

Tess rolled her eyes, but her heart did a stupid little flip anyway. “Don’t get used to it.”

Matt leaned in, his voice dropping. “Too late.”

Tess swallowed, refusing to let him see her flustered. “Whatever. Just don’t get too comfortable, Sturniolo.”

Matt’s grin was infuriatingly confident. “Oh, Tess… I’m just getting started.”

Tess crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. “Keep talking, and I might just end this whole thing right now.”

Matt just laughed, his arm still resting comfortably around her. “You wouldn’t. You love this too much.”

Tess huffed, pretending to be annoyed even as her heart raced. “You’re delusional.”

Matt leaned back, his grin never fading. “And you love it.”

Tess looked away, forcing herself to stay calm. This was just a game. Just an act. But Matt was playing his part a little too well, and it was starting to mess with her head.

And the worst part? She was starting to think he was actually enjoying this.

Which meant she was in serious trouble.

The sun was beating down on the lacrosse field as practice dragged on, tension hanging thick in the air. Tess’s jaw was clenched, her movements sharp and aggressive as she fired another shot at the goal. Her teammates watched warily, clearly sensing her foul mood but too smart to say anything.

On the other side of the field, Matt was just as fired up, barking out orders to his team and throwing his body into every play with a force that bordered on reckless. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was pissed.

The argument had been stupid, really. But Matt had this way of getting under her skin, and Tess had never been one to back down from a fight. One snarky comment had led to another, and soon they were in a full-blown shouting match right in the middle of the field.

Now, they were on opposite sides, stubbornly avoiding each other.

Matt jogged back to his team, ripping off his helmet and running a hand through his sweaty hair. One of his teammates, Tyler, grinned, slapping him on the back. “Dude, you and Tess are insane. How do you even keep up with her?”

Matt glared at him, his jaw tight. “I manage.”

Tyler smirked. “Yeah, I bet you do. Must be nice, huh? Getting to make out with the captain of the girls’ team whenever you want?”

Matt’s eyes darkened, his voice dropping. “Shut up.”

Tyler raised his hands in mock surrender. “Whoa, chill, man. Just saying… you’re living every guy’s dream. Tess is hot as hell, and you get to hook up with her.”

Matt’s grip tightened on his lacrosse stick, his shoulders tense. “We’re not hooking up. So stop talking about her like that.”

Tyler’s eyebrows shot up. “Alright, alright. Didn’t know you were so sensitive about it.” He glanced over at Tess, who was aggressively calling out drills to her team. “Though, she looks ready to kill someone. You two fighting or something?”

Matt’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing. “None of your business.”

Tyler held up his hands again. “Got it. I’ll shut up.”

Matt turned away, his expression stormy as he watched Tess from across the field. He didn’t even know why he was so angry. They were fake dating. Fake. So why did it bother him so much that they were fighting?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Tess was in no better shape. She blew her whistle sharply, her team flinching at the harsh sound. Jordyn jogged over, her eyes wide. “Alright, who pissed you off today?”

Tess gritted her teeth, her eyes locked on Matt. “Take a wild guess.”

Jordyn followed her gaze, her eyebrows raising. “Trouble in paradise?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing.”

Another teammate, Emily, came up, grinning. “You and Matt are ridiculous, you know that? I can’t believe you’re actually together.”

Tess forced a smile. “Yeah. Crazy, right?”

Emily wiggled her eyebrows. “I mean, you’re basically living every girl’s fantasy. Captain of the boys’ team? Total heartthrob? I’d kill to be in your shoes. You must be having the time of your life hooking up with him.”

Tess’s grip tightened on her whistle. “We’re not hooking up. And it’s not like that, okay? So just drop it.”

Emily blinked, taken aback by her harsh tone. “Okay, geez. Didn’t realize it was such a sensitive topic.”

Tess took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. “Sorry. I just… I’m not in the mood.”

Jordyn gave her a knowing look. “You and Matt had a fight, didn’t you?”

Tess glanced over at him, her heart twisting at the sight of his angry posture, his shoulders tense as he shouted instructions to his team. “Yeah… something like that.”

Jordyn sighed. “You two are so stubborn.”

Tess looked away, her jaw clenching. “Tell me about it.”

Practice continued, both captains throwing themselves into drills with a level of intensity that bordered on dangerous. Their teams watched in confusion, not sure what was happening but smart enough to stay out of it.

When practice finally ended, Tess was the first off the field, storming toward the locker room without a backward glance. She heard Matt shouting at his team, his voice sharp and unrelenting.

Jordyn jogged to catch up, her voice low. “You’re gonna have to talk to him eventually, you know.”

Tess’s shoulders tensed. “I know.”

But right now, she was too angry to even look at him. And she had no idea why.

[atlantis54]

i present to you all......... tptm girls in Tomodachi Life :3

(PLEASE NOTE: the girls' outfits and interiors will only load if you are playing the American version. any other version they will not show up and be replaced by the default stuff. also, since i don't have any hair dye in my save, the girls' hair colors aren't completely accurate. sorry for these little inconveniences ig)

since this is a long post i'll just put it all under Read More lol

Disposable Girl (Jordyn-Mae Thomas)

Irreverent Girl (Kairi Herring)

Splitter Girl (Tahira Rashid)

Faineant Girl (Freyja Maria Mendoza) (her full name wouldnt fit lol)

Caliber Girl (Nora Qu)

Chocolate-Box Girl (Morgan Moretti) (her full nickname wouldn't fit lol)

Taxidermy Girl (Mayra Tikuna) (i couldn't replicate the "bangs over eyes" thing she has, sorry)

Chemical Girl (Joy Sinclair)

Refraction Girl (Nataana Nchoko)

Nurse Parallel (Xiomara Huapaya) (her full nickname wouldn't fit lol)

aaaaaaaaand that should be it. feel free to use these for YOUR Tomodachi Life island or just for any mii-related thing on the 3DS in general. add them in miitopia and make them beat up Dark Lord Garfield for all i care lmao. anyway thanks see ya