#leaving behind juniors who I'll miss

[moreclaypigeons]

I am soooo bad at transitional times of life. High school graduation ? More like, fuck,

[sturniqlo]

DRUNKEN MISTAKE- CHRIS STURN

summary: frat boy!chris and nerd!y/n have been dating for over a year and thier relationship has had many bumps and he does something unforgivable.

cw: cursing, toxic relationship, ANGST; mentions of bullying, crying, arguing, cheating, break up, rejection

an: wonderful idea by the one and only @monroesturnns | ps. i do not condone cheating! remember this is pure fiction!!

masterlist | join my taglist

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"god, i wish that you had thought this through, before i went and fell in love with you."- traitor, o.r

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"Come on, baby." Chris kissed down Y/n's neck as she was writing down some notes. "Just this one party, you haven't been to one of my frat parties in over two months." He continued his trail up to her jaw and eventually landed on her lips. "Chris, you know I don't like parties. I need to finish my notes for my exam. I'll go to the next one, okay?"

"That's what you said two weeks ago! It's the next time! Let's- just stop studying for once and go to this fucking party!" He raises his voice and Y/n sensed an argument boiling. "Watch your tone! You know how important school is to me, my parents sent me here to study! Not to get sucked into the partying lifestyle, that's not me!"

"Yeah, yeah, your parents this tuition that, you're like some fucking nerd! Let loose for once. Fuck!" He gets off of her. "Fuck you! Partying shouldn't be your top priority, Chris. Just stay in for once, miss one little party and study! I haven't seen you open your book in two weeks. Am I going to have to make space in my schedule and tutor you again?"

Before Y/n and Chris got together. They weren't very fond of each other. But, Chris was too busy partying and he was failing his classes. He was on the verge of being kicked out of his fraternity. Somehow Chris got kicked out of living in the frat house- but he was still apart of it- so he moved in with his two brothers. Chris wasn't doing anything about his failing grades so his brothers took care of it.

Their childhood friend, Y/n, was a very smart girl. Nick mentioned it to her when they hung out and she was hesitant at first. But when she realized Nick was concerned for Chris' grades, she agreed. The relationship between Chris and Y/n was rocky at first. It hadn't always been like that. Before high school, they were stuck to the hip but once junior year came along, Y/n started getting bullied by one of the popular girls and guess who ended up dating her? Chris.

Chris had known about this but still chose to date his friends bully. Y/n slowly started distancing herself from Chris. Fast forward four years, she was tutoring him and a couple of months later they eventually started dating.

"God! Are you ever going to let that go? You always bring it up in every fucking argument. Just come to this party!" She shakes her head. "No, whenever I go you always end up with your friends in the corner leaving me alone in a room full of people I don't know! No, is my final answer." Chris grew even more aggravated. "Fine, I'll go alone." He walks towards the bedroom door and opens it. "Just know, you aren't the only girl in my life."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" She said, her anxiety rising. "Exactly as it sounds like." With that, he slammed the door behind him and left. Y/n stayed there, sitting on his bed while he went to the stupid party.

"Where you going?" Matt asks as he sees Chris head for the front door. "A party." He says. "You're going to a party while Y/n is over?" He said. Matt has seen Chris do this a couple of times but he's never asked about it. "Yeah, so what? If she doesn't want to go why should I have to miss it?"

"It's a bit rude. You know? She's here, in your room while you're at a party." Chris scoffs at Matt's words. "Look, I don't need a lecture from you too. Let me live my life, if she doesn't want to go it's up to her that she wants to stay and read her fuckass books." He repeats what he did just a couple of minutes ago. He opens the door and slams it behind him.

Matt goes down the small set of stairs and knocks of Chris' door where Y/n is on the other side of. "Come in." He hears her say. "Hey, it's me. You okay down here?" Her eyes are glossed over and her face has tear marks. "I'm okay. I- you know how Chris is with his parties." She chuckles sadly. "I just wish he would put his school work first sometimes. I mean, he's paying all of this money to just party."

"Why don't you try to talk to him about it?" He says. "I have! All he say is that I should put my work aside and stop being a nerd." Matt shakes his head. Chris has always teased her about focusing on her work.

"Can I ask you something?" She says. "Go ahead." He says nodding. "Has Chris ever- I don't know- has he ever mentioned someone else?" He furrows his eyebrows. "Like, another girl?" She nods. "No, no, if he did you know I would tell you. Why do you ask? You think he's seeing someone else, or?"

"No?" She questions. "He just said something before he left and it had me thinking."

"I'm sure he just said it out of anger. I doubt he'd ever do that to you."

Later that night, around two in the morning, Chris came in stumbling. "Bro, you're drunk as shit." Matt scolded him, helping him down the stairs. "No I'm not." He giggled. "How'd you even get home? You better have not driven." Chris shakes his head. "I walked it. I saw sixty three- no! Sixty eight trees."

Chris opens the door and sees Y/n sleeping. "Okay, you can let me go now." Chris pulls away from Matt and pushes him out the room. "Okay, goodn-" He slams the door, causing Y/n to wake up. "Chris? What are you doing." She whispers. "Look at you, not studying for once. Not being a nerd right now?" He laughs. Y/n rolls her eyes. "I don't have time for this right now." She sighed and gets out of the bed and grabs her phone.

"Babe, I'm only kidding." He grabs her arm as she reaches for the doorknob. "Chris, stop. We'll talk in the morning."

Y/n stirs awake from the constant vibration of her phone. Stretching from her spot on the couch where she slept last night after Chris came back. She grabbed her phone and saw that she had many texts from her friends, even from people she hasn't really spoke to.

Still half asleep, she clicks on a message from a girl in her tuesday class. Furrowing her eyebrows at the message she replies back.

y/n

what's going on?

hailey

*video attachment*

The video started out as a girl posing for pictures. "Yes! Now pose like- oh my god?" The girl recording pointed to two people. "What is it?" She girl posing said and stopped posing. "Isn't that Chris Sturniolo over there?" The girl recording put the phone down but another girl spoke. "No, don't stop recording! Get this, he has a fucking girlfriend. And that isn't her." The camera pans up and Chris comes into view, but he's kissing a girl. Y/n gasps and her heart drops. This was from last night.

"What the hell!" Y/n's voice shakes and she sits up in shock. She continues watching the video. The camera girl zooms in on them. "What a fucking loser, like actually." The two of them continue kissing and Y/n has had enough and shuts her phone off.

Her tears start streaming down her face. How could he? Yeah they were a bit toxic but she never thought Chris would cheat on her. She gets up from her spot in her couch and runs down to Chris' room. Barging in she immediately starts yelling. "Chris, wake the fuck up!" Chris jumps up from his bed. "Is someone dying? What the fuck. My head is pounding." His eyes adjust to the bright lights.

"How could you Chris? Really? How fucking could you?" She cried. "What happened, babe?" He gets up and goes to hug her. "No! Don't fucking touch me! You cheated on me! You- you fucking asshole!" Chris' face went pale. "I- uh- what?!" He stutters over his words. "You don't have shit on me." He shakes his head.

"Don't act stupid! I saw a video of you making out with a girl last night! I don't understand, did you do it out of anger because I didn't go to a fucking party? Or have you been doing this our whole relationship. I- I should've listened to my friends, I can't believe I loved you." Her tears haven't stopped falling down. "Y/n, hear me out." He says hesitantly. "No! How could you explain that. You betrayed me, Chris!"

"I- we're done, Chris. I don't ever want to hear from you again. I've given you so many chances, Chris. So many- but this, I can't forgive you for it." She pauses before she continues on. "Maybe she'll go to all of your frat parties and not stay home like the nerd that I am. I really can't believe you've went this far. Goodbye Chris." She wipes her tears with her sleeve and turns around to leave the room.

"Y/n.." He starts off, but nothing else's comes out.

"Hey, hey, hey, what happened?" Matt gets up from the table when he sees Y/n come up the stairs crying. He had heard them arguing but it was muffled so he decided to go out in case things escalated. He knew they had been a bit tense since last night. "I- ask Chris. I can't- I can't be here right now, I'm sorry." Her voice cracks and she grabs her bag. "I'll see you around." She says before leaving their home.

For the next couple of days, Chris spent them in his room. Napping, watching his and Y/n's favorite show and youtube videos. He sent her many messages and called her many times. They were all ignored. Chris didn't blame her, he fucked up. He didn't know why he did what he did. He was drunk and angry.

Nick and Matt were furious at him. For one, Chris cheated on her. And two, they probably lost one of their childhood friends who was always there for them. Nick and Matt would text her but she would either send and bland response or not answer at all. They just wanted their friend back.

"Where're you going?" Nick says coldly when he sees his brother come up the stairs. "To Y/n's apartment." Nick furrows his eyebrows. "You talked to her?" He shakes his head. "Then why the hell are you going over there? Is her ignoring your calls and messages not ringing a bell? She doesn't want to talk to you. What makes you think she'd want to see you?"

"I just- I want to apologize and try to get her back. I miss her." He rubs his face with his hands. "Not to sound like a dick or anything, but she's not going to take you back. You fucking cheated on her! And dare I say it, with your ex fucking girlfriend who bullied her, Chris. You're delusional if you think you're getting her back. And thanks to you, she barely even talks to me or Matt. Do you not realize that not only did you ruin your relationship with her, you ruined mine and Matt's relationship with her. But go ahead and try to talk to her." Nicks hand comes down on the table as he gets up from his seat and walks towards his set of stairs.

"I still can't believe you would hurt her like that."

Chris sighed and slumped on a chair. A couple of minutes later, he got up and walked out of the house.

He walked up the stairs of her apartment building hallway and made his way to her door. Luckily he had remembered the code to get in the building. His first comes up and knocks. After a couple of seconds he hears her unlocking the door. "Iris you're here earl- what are you doing here?" Her face drops when she sees that her friend isn't at the door. "Y/n I want to apologize. I want you back, please." He begs.

"No, Chris. I can't put myself through that again. Do you know how much that hurt me? All because I didn't want to go to a party, Chris. A fucking party! I can't be with someone who cheats when I don't want to do something." She spoke loudly. "Y/n, baby, I promise I won't hurt you ever again. I promise." He begged her. "Please." His voice quivered.

She hated seeing him like this. But, for once, she decided to put herself first. "No, Chris. I- I can't do this anymore. I can't be with you anymore." His eyes welled up with tears. "Y/n." He spoke in desperation. "Y/n, please," She shook her head. "Go, Chris." She whispered.

"Don't make this harder than it should be."

[reverie-starlight]

this is my contribution to @tetzoro 's summer olympics collab! this is so late >.< but I can't wait to go look through all the other fics people have written for the collab!!

fem!reader, no physical descriptions. fluff fluff fluff (of course). suna and aran can't stand atsumu's antics, but what else is new? atsumu misses you and he makes it everyone else's problem.

atsumu has been staring at his phone for twenty minutes.

suna makes note of this from where he's seated in the tiny living area of their shared olympic village apartment. it irritates suna, actually, because for someone who made a such big deal of their room assignments and got a bit weepy over how it reminded him of their high school days, atsumu couldn't seem to care less about his roommates right now.

aran (the third occupant of their dorm) appears in the doorway and glances between his two juniors. "is he still on that thing?" he asks, seemingly surprised by this.

suna shrugs and snaps a picture of the blonde when he smiles at his phone, quickly sending it to osamu with a message of how much of a dork his twin is.

leave him be

he replies, making suna's eyebrow raise. osamu coming to his defence? that's new.

he's got separation issues when it comes to her, I swear. he's like a puppy.

there it is. he snorts and puts his phone away, throwing a pillow at atsumu. the setter just uses it as an arm rest and continues to ignore them.

"hey, loverboy," aran calls and finally gets his attention. "we're heading down to get some lunch, ya coming?"

atsumu's eyes widen a bit. "it's that late already? yeah, I'll be down in a minute, save me a spot."

the other two look at each other knowingly and shut the door behind them.

now normally atsumu wouldn't be so glued to his screen on the first day of the olympics, but then again- last time around they were in tokyo and his girlfriend was no more than a couple hours away at any given time.

this year, he's in paris and about a 13 hour flight away with a 7 hour time difference from his fiancée. it would still be manageable for him, of course- he's not as clingy as you or his brother make him out to be, he swears- if not for the fact that your boss denied your time off and you wouldn't be in attendance at any of his games.

as soon as he's alone, he's facetiming you and the ache of not being near you is lessened by the bright smile you pop up on his screen with.

"hi 'tsum, how's it going over there?" you're cuddled up on the couch with a blanket.

he shrugs. "there's no AC. the beds are cardboard again. but I'm rooming with rin and aran, so that's nice."

"not sakusa and meian? I thought the plan was to keep the ones who played on the same league team pre-olympics in the same room?"

he shakes his head. "we got to make room requests this time. he's rooming with ushijima this time around."

you giggle and his mind goes a little fuzzy. "I'm sure after what happened in tokyo, he'd be more than happy to be rooming with anyone other than you."

atsumu rolls his eyes. "he made it seem worse than it was. we didn't even get into that much trouble, I mean, what's a little scolding from our managers?"

you raise an eyebrow. "you almost caused the entire village to evacuate."

"anyway," he transitions to another topic before he can be reminded of that night. "what are your plans for the rest the night?"

you hum thoughtfully. "I dunno, maybe I'll watch a movie... maybe I'll rewatch that clip of you almost tripping during the opening ceremonies..." your lips stretch into a playful grin as you tease him for his blunder.

"HEY, barely anyone noticed!"

you snort. "if by barely anyone, you mean everyone watching then sure, baby. oh, what time is it for you?"

he lets your comment slide for now and addresses your question instead. "just after noon, why?"

"have you eaten yet?"

"was just about to," he shrugs.

you narrow your eyes. “miya atsumu, you’d better not be skipping lunch just to talk to me.”

he’s unable keep the guilty expression off his face when you hit him with that tone. “I wasn’t-”

“don’t even think about lying to me. as soon as I hang up you’re going to go meet your teammates for lunch and make some new friends.”

he pouts, but his heart warms at the idea that you still want to take care of him all the way across the world. although he is a little offended you think he needs to make friends. “ya sound like my ma.”

“for good reason! go eat, baby, you need to stay strong and healthy for your games. plus I’d feel so guilty if you missed out on all the fun stuff with your teammates because of me.”

he sighs, finally letting himself give into his hunger and agreeing with you. you say your goodbyes and he makes his way down to the cafeteria.

the days pass and while he’s not glued to his phone at all hours of the day anymore (thanks to practices starting up again on the olympic courts), his teammates often catch him snapping as many pictures as he can, no doubt to share them with you.

they don’t know how many texts you’ve received about how amazing the chocolate muffins are, but if it’s anywhere near the number of times they’ve had to hear him mention it in a day, they feel sorry for you.

and as the day of their first game grows closer, suna and aran can tell atsumu is more on edge than usual. he’s acting like he did in high school again, and they know it’s because he’s antsy about not having his fiancée in the stands for the first time in a while.

they’ve seen him double, triple and quadruple check the time zones to make sure he didn’t misread it. “she’ll probably be asleep…” he said when aran asked him about it one night.

they were getting a bit worried. obviously they know him well enough to understand that he’ll pull himself together in time for the game- he’d never let his feelings compromise his plays- but they’d much rather play alongside him in a good mood than a bad one.

but the problem seems to fix itself when he lights up along with his phone screen just before the game begins. suna looks over the setter’s shoulder to see a picture of you, cuddled up on the couch with your dog. your cheek has a small japanese flag painted on, and you’re wearing his MSBY jersey. it must be extremely late for you, but you’re smiling wide and holding up half a heart with your hand.

underneath the picture you sent a message wishing him luck and telling him how proud you are of him, telling him to play his absolute best.

and suna misses what your next message says, but he gets a pretty good idea based on how red atsumu’s ears get. he looks over at aran with a nod and the former inarizaki players silently thank you for your actions.

atsumu definitely wouldn’t be stepping onto the court in a bad mood now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel like this could’ve been better, and it definitely didn’t turn out how I originally wanted, but I’m still happy with how it turned out :3 hope u enjoyed !!

ty again to aims for hosting this collab and allowing me to join!!!

[reashot]

Red means Stop, Green means Go and Yellow means you can ride on Blondie. 🚦

Jaune: it's so great that you decided to stay here with us forever Jessica.

Ruby: Jess are you sure you're making the right decision? After all you're leaving everything you ever knew behind.

Jessica: Oh it's not really a big deal. I mean there's already like, what? ten Green Lanterns already. They won't notice one missing.

Meanwhile on OA...

Tomar-Re: Okay, are all the Green Lanterns from Earth already in attendance and counted for?

Hal Jordan: Here!

Guy Gardner: The one and only.

Kyle Rayner: Present!

John Stewart: Attention!

Simon Baz: Ready.

Jo Mullein: Let's get it started already!

Kilowog: Wait! We're missing one poozer.

Tomar-Re: Who are we missing?

Guy: Who knows? There's so many Green Lanterns from Earth that it's hard to keep track of... And while we at it. I'm not a geo/space-political egghead or anything like that, but don't you think it's kinda messed up that Earth is overly represented in the Green Lantern Corp. Compared to other planets?

Kyle: I hate to admit this, but Guy here have a point. Why do we have so many Green Lanterns from Earth anyway? Heck! I got to be one and all I had to do is be in the right place in the right time.

Hal: Huh? You know I never thought about it like that. And this kind of put all the Alien attacks we had into a new perspective. Do you think they attacked us because we have too many influence in galactic affairs? I mean Green Lantern aside there's too many notable humans in Galaxy despite us not being a space faring species.

Jo: This is definitely gonna make my assignment to the Far Sector a lot more problematic. I'm in the same boat as Kyle I was personally recruited by the Guardian in a club. I don't think that's normally how you get the ring.

John: What the heck with there's more humans in the Lantern Corp. Has to do with anything? All of us are Green Lanterns now and there's no changing that. Whether the ring chose us or the Guardians did, matters little, we still have the responsibility of a Lantern. And I don't think they are wrong in making their choices.

Simon: You said it John. You said it... Argus you getting any of this?

Meanwhile at Argus...

Amanda Waller: We hear you loud and clear Agent Baz. Make sure you keep them talking as much as you can. We need as much info as we can get from this glow in the dark clowns. Junior! Keep giving me constant updates on the Green Lanterns situation. You got that?

Gordon Junior: Yes mrs. Waller. We will monitor the situation as best as we can.

Amanda: It better be, for your sake too.

Returning back to OA...

Simon: While we wait for Jessica. How about we all talk about Green Lantern stuffs. Seeing we probably missed a lot by not being here. Preferably as loud and clear as you can...

Hal: Who's Jessica?

Simon: Ha, ha, ha, nice joke Hal. How could you forget about Jessica?

Jo: No. Seriously who's Jessica. This is the first time I ever heard of her?

Simon: I know you're new and all but that doesn't excuse for not knowing your fellow Green Lantern.

John: I don't know what you're talking about Simon? But there is no Green Lantern named Jessica.

Simon: Then which Green Lantern are we waiting for?

Guy: We're waiting for Keli Quintela. Who else are waiting for Baz?

Simon: A-am I losing my mind here. How could everyone in here forgot about Jessica Cruz?

Kilowog: Who the heck is Jessica Cruz?...

Simon: Not you too! You know Jessica. She's the... Eh, the.. Why can't I remember her?

And finally back on Remnant

Jessica: I'm sure it's fine...

Jaune: Well if you said so Jess... And Jess thank you again for choosing to stay with us. *hugs her*

Jessica: Oh Jaune... Now I know I'm making the right choice. After meeting you I can't imagine myself without you. You are everything to me Jaune...

Jaune: Jess...

Ruby: *grind teeth*

Jaune: Then we have to celebrate. I'll make a reservation at my favorite restaurant. And maybe afterward I can show you around the place.

Jessica: That would be lovely Jaune. And I think any place would be great as long as I am with you...

Jaune: *blush* Y-you do? Then I better go and make my reservation. Ruby can you keep Jess company while I'm out. Okay thank you, bye...

Jess: *blush* He's so thoughtful... 💕

Ruby: So you done trying to steal my man? 😡

Jessica: N-no I wouldn't dream of it Ms. Rose... He-he is way out of my league. With him being so tall, handsome, blonde... Oh I'm just making it worse for me, am I?

Ruby: *sigh* Look Jess it's not that I don't know where you're coming from but I love Jaune too and I have no intention of giving him up.

Jessica: I know that. Ms. Rose but I love him so much. If I met him first like you do I won't give him up. But I have no intention of stealing him away from you. I-I just want to be close to him that's all. Being with him makes me feel safe and loved. I feel I can be a better version of myself just by being with him... *tearing up*

Ruby: Oh Jess... *comforts her* You're just like me. Before me there was another girl named Pyhrra. Just like you I pretend I didn't want to steal him from her. But deep down I wanted him for myself.

Jessica: Pyhrra... Is that the red headed girl I met before right?

Ruby: Yes. But she died a while ago and Jaune loved her dearly. He was devastated by her death... And Jess if you decide to go after Jaune, I will allow it.

Jessica: Really?!

Ruby: On strict conditions of course. That I Ruby Rose will remain his number one girlfriend and you need to ask my permission first to go on a date with him and for other things to.

Jessica: O-of course I will always ask for your permission beforehand and I will never break your trust. (Yes. I can be with Jaune.)

Ruby: Oh, very well then. I Ruby Rose will allow you to go on a date. But make sure to keep it PG-13. Or else.

Jessica: Yes, of course. I will make sure to bring him home before midnight.

Jaune: Hey you two. I hope you haven't been waiting too long. So what are you talking about?

Ruby: Oh we're just talking about girls stuffs you know... Anyway, enough about us. Where are you taking Jess to on your first date together?

Jaune: I-it's not a date Ruby. I'm just showing her around her new home that's all. And Jess how do you feel about French food is it okay with you?

Jessica: I love it Jaune...

Ruby: Remember keep it PG-13 or I'm gunning for you Jess.

If anyone ask why do the DC characters suddenly can't remember anything about Jessica. Well that's just the price for abandoning your own reality unfortunately. I'm sure it's nothing...

[riveramorylunar]

You're Vampires

Pairings: Alice Cullen x Swan Reader, Rosalie Hale x Swan Reader, Alice Cullen x Swan Reader x Rosalie Hale & Emmett Cullen x Swan Reader(Platonic)

Warnings ⚠️: Vampires, huge age difference, height difference

Pet Names/Nicknames: None

Word Count: 1,722

Y/N Swan daughter of Charlie Swan and Renee Dwyer. She was two years younger than Bella and was in her Junior year of high school. Bella had already graduated from highschool and left forks with her boyfriend Jacob leaving her single father behind. Y/N had arrived a few days later and she had run up to her father before hugging him tightly. "I missed you so much kiddo" Charlie said as he hugged his youngest daughter. He pulled away and looked down at Y/N to see her hair was dyed a dark purple color and she had a nose piercing. "Well you sure have grown" he said as he ruffled Y/N's hair up. "Come on dad don't do that" Y/N grumbled out as she swatted his hand off before fixing her hair. "Still a grump though I see" he said before picking up Y/N's suitcases and walking into the house. Y/N followed him in and shut the door behind her. "Your room is still the same I hope you don't mind that" Charlie said as the two made their way upstairs. "No I don't mind" Y/N said as they walked to her room. Charlie set the suitcases down before opening Y/N's door. "Y/N walked in and looked around the room.

"I'll let you settle in then we'll go to the diner alright" Charlie said and Y)N nodded. "Thanks dad" Y/N said as she kissed her father's cheek before shutting the door. She walked over and flopped onto the bed sighing as she rolled onto her back. She looked up at the ceiling before sitting back up. She criss-crossed her legs before looking around the room smiling.

Y/N walked into school the next day looking at her schedule when she heard someone speak to her. "You're Y/N Swan right" a boy said causing Y/N to look up. "Yeah I am" Y/N said and the boy smiled before holding his hand out. "I'm Eric" the boy said and Y/N just smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you" Y/N said and the boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Guessing you don't like contact much" he said and Y/N just stayed silent and went back to looking at her schedule.

It was lunch time now and Y/N was sitting at a table with Eric and his friends when she felt two pairs of eyes on her. She looked up and over her shoulder to see five people sitting at a far table. The two women were looking at Y/N already causing her face to flush before she looked away. "Who are those five" Y/N said causing the group to look at her before she motioned towards the far table. "Oh those are the Cullen's the black haired boy is Emmett Cullen he's so hot, the blonde haired boys name is Jasper Hale the brown haired boys name is Edward Cullen and the two girls Rosalie Hale & Alice Cullen their dating each other" Jessica said and Y/N looked back over to see the two woman staring at her but with slight smirks this time. Alice had looked Y/N up and down before looking at Rosalie who looked back at her.

"Y/N" Angela said snapping her fingers in front of Y/N's face causing her to snap out of it. She looked back over at her friends to see them all looking at her already. "What were you saying" Y/N said and they all sighed. As her friends went back to talking she glanced back over quickly to see them all looking at her now causing her to whip her head back.

"I crave you in the most innocent form" Rosalie said as she stepped towards Y/N who was standing in the middle of the room. "I crave to say good night and give you forehead kisses and to say that I adore you when you feel at your worst" Alice said as she put her hands on Y/N's shoulders causing her to jump slightly at the cold contact. "I crave you in ways where I just want to be next to you and nothing more or less" the both of them said as Rosalie stopped in front of Y/N and leaned in while grabbing Y/N's hands with her cold one's causing Y/N to shiver. Rosalie's lips touched Y/N's before she gasped. She looked around the room and realized she was in her bedroom in her bed. She touched her forehead and she felt sweat making her rub her arm across it. "What the hell was that I've never had a dream like that before and why the hell did I dream about those two" Y/N muttered out as she stroked her hands through her dark purple hair. She fell back onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling. She sighed before getting out of bed and walked towards her computer desk.

The next day at Lunch Y/N waited by the door the Cullens had walked in through the day before. The group stopped when they saw Y/N standing there waiting. She pushed herself off the wall and looked at them. "What are you doing here" Edward said and was about to walk towards Y/N but Rosalie stopped him with a hand against his chest. "I want to know why you guys were staring at me all day yesterday at Lunch" Y/N muttered out. Rosalie and Alice looked at each other before looking back at Y/N. "We don't have to give you a reason on why we were staring at you and it's our business" Rosalie said with an annoyed tone causing Y/N to roll her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse" Rosalie said before the group walked past her. Y/N huffed before looking through the glass windows to see her friends looking at her. She groaned before rushing up to the group and grabbed Rosalie's wrist. The two froze in place when Y/N realized Rosalie's skin was cold to the touch. Rosalie froze since she never let anybody touch her except her family. "Get your hand off of me" Rosalie growled out as she turned her head. Y/N immediately let go and looked away.

Y/N was at the salad and fruit bar in the cafeteria when she dropped on apple. She looked up to see Emmett standing there holding the apple in his hand while grinning. "What you did just a couple minutes ago was brave" he said as he held the apple out. Y/N slowly took it and smiled up at him since he was pretty tall. "T-thanks I guess" Y/N said and Emmett nodded before grabbing a pear and walking away. Y/N watched as he sat down before he was hit on the back of the head by Rosalie causing Y/N to giggle quietly.

When Y/N got home she immediately went to her room and shut the door behind her before going to her computer. She searches through the internet for hours until Charlie knocked on the door. "Y/N dear come down and eat will you" her father said and Y/N looked at the door before looking back at the computer. "I'll be down in a minute" Y/N shouted and a couple seconds later she heard her father's footsteps disappear. She looked back at the computer and sighed. She was about to close it when she saw a weird website in the search history. She decided to click on it and he eyes widened in shock. She scrolled through the website and saw some words like Cold-skinned, pale, incredible speed, enhanced strength. When she scrolled all the way to the bottom she gulped. Vampire.

Y/N had stayed far away from them after that. Y/N was sitting outside in the gloomy weather. It was foggy and the sun wasn't out. Ever since Y/N had grabbed Rosalie's wrist that day she has been acting weird. "Rosalie why don't you go talk to her" Emmett said as he slightly shoved the blonde forward. "No" she growled out as she hit him in the chest. "She's looking this way" Edward said and Rosalie as well as Alice looked up to see Y/N looking at them. She looked away before grabbing her bag and headed towards the woods. "Go go follow her" Emmett said shoving the two stubborn girls towards Y/N. They both glared at Emmett but he just looked at them causing them to huff. The two went after Y/N and Emmett smiled. "You owe me 30 bucks" he said as he looked at Edward. Jasper looked between the two before rolling his eyes as Edward slapped a 30 dollar bill into Emmett's hands. "Did you really have to bet against them" he said and the two looked at him. "Loosen up brother it's called entertainment you should really try it instead of being quiet all the time and reading" Edward said as he snatched the book out of Jasper's hands.

The two followed Y/N into the forest and stopped when Y/N stopped while dropping her bag to the ground. "You're impossibly fast and strong. Your skin is pale white and ice cold" Y/N said not daring to turn around. You don't go out in the sunlight" Y/N said as she felt a breath fan across Y/N's neck causing her to gulp. "How old are you" Y/N continued. "We're both 19" Alice said as she stepped in front of Y/N "How long have you been 19" Y/N said still not looking at the two. "A while" Rosalie muttered out as her breath fanned across Y/N's neck from standing too close. "I know what you are" Y/N muttered out and the two looked at each other before their eyes darkened. "Say It" Rosalie growled out causing Y/N to gulp. Y/N stayed quiet for a couple minutes. "Out Loud. Say It" She said and Y/N breathed in and out. "Vampires" Y/N said as she finally looked up to see Alice standing right in front of her.

[foxes-that-run]

Now that we don't talk

In the 2012-2014 timeline our girl went through it in the space a week. It’s like an emotional advent calendar and we get the prizes:

Sunday:  Harry misses his flight because he didn’t have his passport. Keep Driving: “Passports in foot wells”

Monday: New Year’s Eve 2012 – The world’s most public kiss

Tuesday:  New Year’s Day & they leave for the Virgin Islands

Wednesday: Taylor's hair pinned up for Right where you left me

Thursday: (maybe) Maroon's hickie & the wine soaked dress

Friday: Taylor's boat trip Say don’t go and Is it Over now?

Saturday (maybe) From the Dining Table, then Harry goes to Richard Branson’s island …and that’s what you missed on Glee.

Update: Thank you @this-daydream-is-dangerous-13 and their ace detective skills, NTWDT is copyrighted 2014, so updated here, the old post is here.

In the voice memo Taylor says:

Now that we don't talk is one of my favorite songs that was left behind it was so hard to leave it behind but I think we wrote it a little bit towards the end of the process and we couldn't get the production right at the time. I think it's the shortest song I've ever had but I think it packs a punch I think it really goes in for the short amount of time we have I think it makes its point.

The last tracks were between January 2014 (Say don't go) and 19 February 2014 (Style).

The period they didn't talk was a minimum of 3 weeks to the NRG awards, in HYGTG she said 6 months which is June.

For context, Harry was 18 and it appears all he did was post photos in a hot tub. It was a s***ty thing to do, but when the song was finally written they were freshly back together and he wrote Stockholm Syndrome with:

"Who's this man that's holding your hand and talking 'bout your eyes? (Oh-oh-oh) / Used to sing about being free but now he's changed his mind (Oh-oh-oh)"

From then he was then a giggling BF he's adopting kittens and continued to sing about her eyes for another 10 years.

Lyrics [Verse 1] You went to a party I heard from everybody You part the crowd like the Red Sea Don't even get me started Did you get anxious though On the way home? I guess I'll never, ever know Now that we don't talk

She did hear from everybody, it was huge news.

'Did you get anxious on the way home' got me in the feels, in New Years Day she talked of him squeezing her hand three times in the backseat to say it will be OK. This breaks my heart so much to think that song and this are about 1 week.

[Verse 2] You grew your hair long You got new icons And from the outside It looks like you're tryin' lives on I miss the old ways You didn't have to change But I guess I don't have a say Now that we don't talk

2 weeks after Taylor left on a boat, Harry acquired his Butterfly Tattoo on 22 January. A week later they saw each other for the first time on 27th January at the NRG Awards in Paris. The Cannes sunset photos are from the hotel they both stayed in. Part 2 of also within a week:

[Chorus] I call my mom, she said that it was for the best Remind myself, the morе I gave, you'd want me less I cannot bе your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost And what it cost, now that we don't talk

Bless Andrea Swift all she has given this world, most especially for comforting Taylor when 18 year old’s pop stars hang out with billionaires. Everytime I hear this I imagine Andrew saying "put it in a song!"

They later did bury the hatchet People now reports them as friends. They have also sung about their chemistry in relation to that friendship though in Delicate, nice to have a friend and Fine Line. [Verse 3] What do you tell your friends we Shared dinners, long weekends with? Truth is, I can't pretend it's Platonic, it's just ended, so

Harry and Taylor shared (and continued to) share a lot of friends, to me this line is similar to Maroon where she refers to Rubies she gave up, the Junior Jewels shirt refers to her friends as jewels.

Taylor and Harry go on to have a discography just about this very line, can they be friends when they have such great chemistry? I have a list in Glitch

[Outro] I don't have to pretend I like acid rock Or that I'd like to be on a mega yacht With important men who think important thoughts Guess maybe I am better off now that we don't talk And the only way back to my dignity Was to turn into a shrouded mystery Just like I had been when you were chasing me Guess this is how it has to be now that we don't talk

Harry has diverse music tastes, but does love Pink Floyd and has a Grateful Dead ring he wears often.

To me the shrouded mystery line is a mystery, Taylor was ending the Red World Tour and later in the year embarked on the most active publicity of her career and 1989 World Tour, but in the moment I guess. She and Harry did not speak for some months, by the end of the year they were saying they were on good terms and based on later songs we know were back together before the end of 2013

[aesopsharpmybeloved]

Tess' Sharpuary - 25. Youth

Teenage Aesop learns something new about his closest friend.

chapter specific tags: friendship, attempts at humour, coming of age

relationships: aesop sharp & aesop's auror partner

a/n: I'll be honest, this is not my favourite drawing I did for Sharpuary, I'm not really happy with it. However, I've got a very different one made for after Sharpuary, whih I hope will make up for this one 👀😁

25. Youth (1.4k)

tw: none

“Forget it, Bramblethorn!” said the Fifht-year Slytherin impatiently, rounding a corner and continuing on his way towards the Library. “Oh, come on, Sharp!” whined the Gryffindor trailing behind him, struggling to keep pace because of Aesop’s considerably longer legs. Aesop’s latest growth spurt left him having to deal with a tall lanky body, but he got used to it fairly quickly. It was quite funny, really - last Christmas he was a few inches shorter than his own mother, now he towered over her. Nevertheless, he also learned he needed to slow his pace when walking next to his peers, as one of his steps were at least two of their own. Well, he wasn’t slowing down now.

“I told you, I’m not going to play a matchmaker for you and Ashley,” his voice was annoyed, and he cringed internally when it cracked upon saying his best friend’s name. Bloody puberty, he couldn’t wait for it to be over. Well, it could be worse, he supposed - unlike many of his classmates, he did not suffer from nasty acne breakouts; there was a pimple or two every now and then, but that was as bad as it got. “Why are you even asking this of me?” he questioned, suddenly stopping and making the shorter boy nearly collide with his back.

Once Bramblethorn caught his breath, he craned his head to look at the Slytherin: “Well, because you’re her best friend, aren’t you? Who better to ask her than you? Mind, she is kind of friendly with my sister, but once I asked Marianne to introduce me, or at least tell me some things Ash likes, she told me to mind my own business and quit pestering her.” Aesop huffed: “And so will I; Bramblethorn, mind your business and quit pestering me.” The tall boy turned to leave, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He shook it off, but turned back towards his classmate nevertheless.

“Please! If you do this for me, I’ll make sure you don’t regret it! You know Miss Scribner, right?” The black haired lad inquired, prompting Aesop to huff again: “How in Merlin’s name would I not know the junior librarian at Hogwarts? Bloody everyone goes to the Library! Well, perhaps save a few Gryffindors…”

“She’s my aunt!” replied Bramblethorn, not taking the Slytherin’s snarky bait. Aesop made a move with his hand that clearly said ‘So?’. “And you want to become an Auror, right? If you help me, I might be able to get Aunt Agnes to let you into the Restricted section, where you can learn about and study potions and spells that they don’t teach until later or even not at all. You’d have an advantage over everyone else!” 

Sharp actually considered the offer. Of course, it would not be his first time going to the Restricted section. He and Ashley managed to access the alluringly forbidden part of the Library on several occasions with the use of the Disillusionment charm, but having to evade the librarian and his apprentice, as well as the various ghost and the menace that was Peeves the poltergeist, there was never quite enough time to properly peruse the collection of various tomes deemed too dangerous in inexperienced wizard’s or witch's hands.

Having an actual permission to access this knowledge at his own leisure sounded like a very appealing idea. He sighed: “Look. I can’t promise you anything. I can tell her that you’d like to get to know her better, maybe invite her out on a Hogsmeade weekend, but that’s about as much as I can do. Can’t exactly force her to actually go out with you.” Bramblethorn gave him a wide grin: That is all that I ask for, really! Just please talk to her, and I promise I’ll get my aunt to see that you’re truly a future Auror wanting to study in advance, and that you won't use any of the books to become a dark wizard, or something. So - deal?”

They shook hands, and then Aesop was on his way to the Library again, the Gryffindor having left him alone finally. While at the library, the Fifth-year picked up one of the Potion books, casting a curious eye at the junior librarian. Now that he thought about it, there perhaps was a little bit of familial resemblance, but he had to squint his eyes quite a bit. Finally, he just shrugged his shoulders and headed up the spiral staircase to go to his favourite spot to study. It was at the far front, nicely hidden away and private, so he could calmly delve into his books in peace.

However, as he rounded the tall bookcase sheltering his little place from view, he suddenly froze on the spot. Not only was his spot already occupied, but he knew both people occupying it, one more than the other. Well, said persons were currently engaged in a very passionate snogging session, and the lad felt himself go red. “W-what the hell?!” he finally said, his voice once more cracking. He did not care that it did right now, definitely not when, with two loud squeaks, he was suddenly looking at the faces of no other than Ashley Montgomery and Marianne Bramblethorn. 

The girls soon turned as red as he was, and scrambled to get away from each other. All parties were quiet for several seconds, but then Marianne began quickly gathering her things. “A-alright, thank you for the-… the tutoring, Ash, I really feel like I’m beginning to get a grasp on the vanishing spell,” Bramblethorn stuttered, “I, um, I’ll see you around!” And with that, she was gone, running away from the two friends as fast as her feet could take her.

“Uh… so um…” Ashley said eloquently. “What the bloody hell was that about?” Aesop questioned, still looking after the black-haired girl. “Uh, well, you know…” the Hufflepuff started explaining, “she’s… nice. And pretty. And she smells good. And she’s a good kisser… Why, do you have a problem with it?” she sounded defensive all of a sudden. “Of course I bloody don’t,” Aesop replied immediately, finally looking at his oldest friend, “I just… I didn’t know, alright? It’s a bit of a shock to me, that’s all… Although, it does explain a few things.”

Ashley lifted her eyebrows at him curiously, and motioned for him to go on. “Well, firstly why your dad doesn’t have a problem with me staying over at yours during the summer. He knows it, I take it?” Aesop sat down into a chair opposite of the blonde girl. “Yeah,” she confirmed, “we talked about it when he explained, you know, sex and stuff to me. It was very awkward. I told him I thought I actually liked girls, and he said that he kind of knew I would. Dunno how, but I trust him.”

The two friends sat in silence for several minutes, Aesop toying with the book in his hands. Finally, he started chuckling quietly. “Shall you share with the class what’s so funny, Mr Sharp?” Ashley teased in an overly posh voice, imitating their DADA teacher. “Oh, nothing just… Matthew Bramblethorn is going to be completely gobsmacked. You see, he asked me to introduce him to you. And here you are, snogging his sister senseless in the Library. I don’t think he’ll get me the Restricted section pass now…”

Ashley made a mock-offended face: “Aesop Theodore Sharp, how could you! You would sell me for a Restricted section pass?!” Aesop rolled his eyes: “Of course I bloody wouldn’t. I just promised him to talk to you about him, nothing more, nothing less.” “To be honest, I would’ve agreed to that deal too, if it was me,” Ash shrugged her shoulders with a mischievous grin, “but for what it’s worth, you can tell him you did talk to me about it, and I, most gracefully and kindly, declined, as I wish to focus mainly on my studies while I’m staying within these ancient walls.”

“With your tongue down his sister’s throat,” Aesop finished flatly. Ashley closed her eyes and nodded: “With my tongue down his sister's throat.”

They laughed together shortly. “Still, maybe he’ll be grateful enough to get you that pass.. Or we could just sneak in on our own again. We’ll make a plan, ensure Peeves is off terrorising someone else, then maybe pinch a few books to be able to study them in our free time, and then return them back,” Ashley offered then, her eyes mischievous and filled with challenge. Aesop couldn’t help but reply in kind: “That sounds way more fun, to be honest.”

Thank you for reading! ❤ Smutty one tomorrow 😈

[AO3] - [Sharpuary 2024] - [Masterlist]

[themurderofcrowscollective]

A Distant Memory

While his life is getting better with his new friends and new lover Johnny MacTavish, Simon is reminded of a friend he once had as he had found an old tape recorder from his teen years when he used to run away from the house when he was a teen before enlisting. Looking through the tapes, he is struck with a heavy sense of nostalgia and sits inside all day rewatching the funny things they used to do as friends. Her name was Penny Brown, she was eccentric both in fashion and in her personal beliefs, but she was always there for Simon when he was at his lowest even when he was facing with his own homosexuality. At one moment, he pauses and stares at her.

He wonders if she ever made it out of that small town, it was way too small for someone with a mind like hers... Let's find out. + + + [Chapter: A Walk Down Memory Lane] 'Cheer up will ya? As long as I'm here, you'll never be truly alone.' He can remember the day she said that, it was the day they had met each other in middle school. She was much younger then from the Penny seen in the tapes, but she still kept her incredible smile as they grew. Originally she had honey-golden eyes with blonde hair however as she grew, Penny started dying her hair and putting red eye contacts in more often. The first day she started doing that, it was the first day of the new high school year in their junior year. Everyone was shocked but Penny wore her new appearance with pride. But as pretty and confident as she was, she was the weird kid for a reason. A multitude of reasons. (Fuck you I'm feeling silly) While Simon sits in his living room, looking through the tapes, he's reminded of the time they both were working on a school project for presentation day in social studies... Penny had the bright idea of making the slides herself and there were too many innuendos in there. She chose violence that day especially because their social studies teacher was a sweaty nerd in all the wrong ways, and it led to his arrest when the rumors were confirmed about his perversion. Everyone took note that day not to mess with Penny Brown. She also made a point very clear that she is a force to be reckoned with, and that she's a believer in equal rights because her hands were rated E for everyone. Yeah she threw hands with a cafeteria of bratty girls and boys, coming out victorious with a few bruises, a black eye and a few missing teeth. Simon was defended by her a lot of times, sometimes he'd defend her but she made it her goal to defend herself. They both were losers though, which sends Simon into a giggling fit before he feels a tap on his shoulder. " Hm? " Johnny looks at him with a bit of a giggle leaving his lips. " You alright there, Si? " " Yeah, I got reminded of a dear friend I had. " " Oh? " " Penny Brown, that's her from our senior year on the screen. " He points at the screen, Penny smiling. Johnny chuckles a bit. " Wow that's a style. " " It was the 80s, she had interesting taste in clothing. " Simon presses play on the old VCR and the tape plays out. " Penny, say something for yourself in the future! " " Are you fuckin' with me? Fine, listen up you bitch, don't give your number to that ass named Jerrod! He's nothing but a sleaze and you got this big ol baby to take care of! " She grabs the camera out of Simon's hands and turns it over to face each other, Penny sitting next to a very young Simon who blushes and giggles. " I'll never leave ya! " The tape ends and Johnny looks at Simon, seeing the tears roll down his eyes like he remembered what happened. " You alright? " " Yeah... I remembered what happened after this, she had to move away to America to live with her aunt after her folks passed away. She left behind just one note. " He looks inside the box again and finds the note, taking it out and unfolding it. It's as pristine as the day he got it from her. 'Dear Simon, sorry mate. While I may not be near you in person, I'm always with you in spirit. It'll take so much more than a mass tragedy to keep me away. - Much love, Penny.' 'P.S. I know you won't be able to take care of yourself out there easily without me, but know that someday you'll find someone to keep you safe. He'll always love and cherish you, so don't fight it, let love win. Stay happy, ya big baby.' There's a flower drawn by Penny herself, a forget-me-not. The one flower Simon always gets on a certain day of the year, keeping it watered for a good while. " Simon, why don't ya try looking for her? "

[stargazer-sims]

The Art of Redemption

(Part 4)

previous // next // story index

———

"How're you holding up, kid?"

Beth-Anne wraps both hands around the extra-large takeaway coffee cup and closes her eyes, concentrating on the soothing heat working its way into her fingers. She and Stan are in the corridor outside Nikolai's hospital room. It's eight in the morning, and the hospital staff have just finished bringing breakfast around to all the patients.

From inside the room, Beth-Anne can hear Ginger coaxing Nikolai to eat his oatmeal, "Because if you don't eat it, I will. Carbs be damned."

She sighs. "I'm okay, I guess."

"Now, remember who you're talking to," Stan says.

She lets another sigh escape, opens her eyes and raises her gaze to meet his. "I'm tired."

"You should go home and try to get some rest."

"I can't," she says. "I promised Nikolai I wouldn't leave him."

"Ginger and I can stay with him for a while. He won't be alone."

"But, what about Ginger's ice time?" she protests. "I mean, she qualified for Worlds. That date will be coming up faster than you realize."

"What do I always say? People before practice." He smiles. "That's why you asked me to get in touch with Brett and Mariah about their ice time today, isn't it?"

With a stab of guilt, she realizes she'd momentarily forgotten about Mariah and Brett. "I need to call them myself. I should apologize. And I'll have to call little Eden's parents too. He's got a thing next weekend that we're supposed to be getting ready for."

"You should call them," Stan agrees. "But, you shouldn't apologize. Just explain what's happening. They'll understand."

"Brett qualified for Junior Worlds," she says, half to herself. "Damn it! That's only—"

"Beth-Anne.” Stan holds up a hand. “Brain open, mouth closed."

"You haven't said that to me in..."

"A long time," he inserts quickly. "But it seems like you need it at the moment."

"You're right. I do."

"I put up a notice about your group lessons before I came over here, so that's taken care of," he says. "Now, listen to me for a minute. A missed day of training or two isn't going to hurt Brett at this point. If he's not ready for Junior Worlds by now, he's not ready for Junior Worlds. Understand?"

She nods. "I see what you mean."

"And if you're worried about me and Ginger, I can tell you a day off isn't going to harm her chances either. Besides, do you really think her heart would be in it today anyway, with her best friend in the hospital?"

"No, I suppose not," Beth-Anne concedes.

She sips her coffee. From behind the partially-closed door of the room, Nikolai's voice drifts out. "Ginger! Oh my God... stop. My hands still work, you know. I can feed myself."

This is followed by laughter from Ginger. "There. Mission accomplished! If I couldn't badger you into eating, I knew I could manipulate you into it."

Nikolai makes a strangled noise, as if he's trying not to laugh and inadvertently spit out a mouthful of oatmeal in the process. He sputters, coughs and then declares, "You are the living end, Vivienne Holmes."

She replies mildly, "Finish your breakfast, Nikolai."

Beth-Anne smiles, her worry easing slightly. Nikolai seems more like himself this morning, and it's clear that Ginger's presence is doing him good. He always seems to be happier and more relaxed when Ginger is around.

Perhaps Stan is right. Maybe it would be okay to leave for a couple of hours. She could go home, clean up the kitchen, and get the downstairs bedroom ready for Nikolai. She might even do a quick grocery run.

Peanut butter, she tells herself. She'll have to remember to get peanut butter when she goes to the supermarket. She rarely eats it herself, but Nikolai's taste for it has practically reached legendary status at this point, thanks in no small part to a handful of sports reporters at Skate America a few years back. The figure skating world had laughed collectively when a photo of Nikolai skating around at practice with a massive jar of peanut butter the girls had given him appeared in several online publications with the dubious tagline 'Peanormous'.

All Beth-Anne could do when she'd seen it was shake her head. The random nonsense regularly generated by Nikolai and his friends had been one of her biggest frustrations at the time. Now, she finds herself wishing for those times to come back. Some weird condiment-related publicity would be mild in comparison to what they're facing at the moment.

Beside her, Stan idly swirls his cold brew with the straw that's sticking out of it. Even in the dead of winter, he loves his cold drinks.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks.

"Too much, honestly," she answers. "How the hell did we get here? I mean, not that I begrudge Nikolai anything. I love him like he's mine, but how is it that I'm the one who's taking care of him? It's not as if his real family doesn't know what's going on. And where the fuck is Anya when he needs her?"

"You're angry," he observes.

"Damn straight," she says. 'Do you know, that woman had the audacity to kick me out of their house because she said I was hurting Nikolai? And then what does she do? She runs off and leaves him completely alone for three days. He fell down the goddamned stairs, Stan! Because she put his crutches upstairs and out of reach. And I'm supposed to be the one who's hurting him?"

Stan frowns. "That's not good."

"That's an understatement."

"Even so, you know it's none of your business. Their marital troubles, I mean."

"I think it became my business when he phoned me in the middle of the night, sobbing and telling me he didn't want to be here any more," she says. "I was terrified. I think I broke every speed limit on the way over there, and when I got there and saw the mess he was in and realized he was on his own—"

She has to stop and take a deep breath to calm herself. She's still not over what happened last night.

"Okay, yes. I suppose that part is your business now," Stan concedes. "But their marriage still isn't."

"You know what?" she says. "I honestly don't care about their marriage, if you can even call that fucked-up situation a marriage. Do I think he'd be better off if they weren't together? Hell yeah. And do I wish she'd stay far away from him? Yes I do, but I'm not going to interfere. I have enough on the go without intentionally looking for trouble."

"Good." Stan nods. "Stay out of it as much as you're able to. But just so you know, I think you're doing the right thing by taking him in."

"Thanks. It feels right."

"It's probably not going to do much for your love life, though."

Beth-Anne snorts and nearly spits out a mouthful of coffee. "Jesus, Stan! Where did that come from?"

"What?" His attempt at feigning innocence is an utter failure.

"You think I've had a woman in my bed lately? I'll probably have better luck catching one with Nik there than without him."

"Oh?" He quirks an eyebrow. "Came for the boy, stayed for the girl?"

She groans. "Oh my God. I know what comes next. Don't even say it."

He says it anyway, deadpan. "Came for the girl."

She laughs out loud. The emotional release is unexpected, and most of the tension leaves her body all at once. It feels good, but unfortunately it also clears the way for her to grasp exactly how wiped out she is. Suddenly, she wants nothing more than to go home, take a hot bath and then crawl into bed.

But, she can't do that. Not yet, anyway.

Stan is watching her. "Better?"

"Sort of. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I don't know why you have to ask," he says. "You know I did."

"Because you thought I needed it?"

"Didn't you?"

"How is it even possible that you know me better than I know myself?" she wonders aloud. "You always know what to do."

"Not always, but I try," he says. "So, what's your plan?"

"For right now, you mean?" she says. "If you or Ginger can stay here for a couple hours, I'll go home and straighten the place up a bit."

"Okay," he says. "I can stay, and I'm sure Ginger won't mind staying."

"Thanks."

"You want to go in and tell him now?"

"Yeah," she replies. "No time like the present, I guess."

When they enter the room, they find Nikolai and Ginger both sitting on the bed. He's finished his breakfast, and the two of them are huddled together, looking at a sports magazine Ginger brought for him. She'd obviously smuggled in some candy for him as well. The obnoxiously bright plastic bag is open and resting on the leg of one of them or the other. It's a little hard to tell exactly which, since they're so close to each other and Ginger is tucked under the thin hospital blanket too. Beth-Anne notices Ginger's shoes on the floor beside the bed.

Both skaters look startled and guilty when they notice their coaches' presence in the room. Ginger palms the bag of Jelly Fruit and attempts to conceal it beneath the blanket.

Stan clears his throat in a deliberate and exaggerated way. "Are we interrupting something here?"

This is met by an an awkward, "Uh..." from Nikolai.

Almost simultaneously, Ginger responds with, "Ah, no... not really?"

"You two have been trouble since the day I met you," Stan says, but there's no trace of annoyance or anger in his voice, only fondness and slight exasperation. "I hope you read the label before you started filling yourself with those sweets, Ginger."

Ginger holds up two fingers. "We've only had two pieces each. Right, Nik?"

Nikolai's voice says "Right," but his expression says something else entirely, and Beth-Anne doesn't need to be a mind reader to know both of them have had more than two candies each. Part of her wants to admonish Nikolai out of habit, but she lets it go. He can eat whatever he wants, now that he's not competing.

The reality of that hits her like a sudden punch in the gut, and she fights to keep from showing it on her face. She conjures up a smile somehow, and echoes Stan's sentiment. "Goddamned troublemakers, the pair of you."

"But you still love us, don't you?" Ginger says.

"Of course we do," says Stan. "But that doesn't mean you're not a pain in the ass. No more candy today. Understand?"

She grins at him. "There's always tomorrow."

Stan makes a gesture of surrender. "I give up."

There's movement under the blanket and then Nikolai's hand emerges with the bag of candy. "I guess the rest of these are mine."

He glances at Beth-Anne as if seeking permission, and she spreads her arms in the same way Stan had done. "I can't stop you, can I?"

"Boo," Ginger says. "You know those are my favourite."

"I'll owe you a bag," Nikolai tells her. "In the off-season, we'll sneak off somewhere and eat as much junk food as we want. I'll get you some of these, and I won't even make you share."

"We'll pretend we didn't hear that," Stan says.

There's an uncomfortable lull in the conversation following that. Nikolai and Ginger both understand the boundaries their coaches have set for them. He leans over and places the bag of candy on the tray table next to his empty breakfast dishes. As soon as he settles back into his original position. Ginger reaches for his hand, and they intertwine their fingers.

On the first day she'd met them, they'd done that after being scolded, Beth-Anne recalls. She can still picture them as they were back then, two hyperactive teenagers; Ginger with her easy laugh and boundless energy, and Nikolai with his mischievous little grin and propensity for unexpected hugs. It's hard to believe that was ten years ago. She's watched them change and grow in so many ways, but even after a decade, some things about them haven't changed at all.

As she observes Nikolai and Ginger, she tries to think of the gentlest way to tell Nikolai she's leaving. He seems to be in good spirits at the moment, but she's concerned his mood is tenuous, and she doesn't want to upset him.

She puts her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and shifts most of her weight off her bad leg. Her hip is throbbing dully. It's not overwhelmingly painful, and she knows it's nothing that an ibuprofen tablet won't cure, but it's screwing up her concentration and making her unable to come up with anything that doesn't sound either scripted or patronizing.

Damn it... I just need to hold myself together for a little longer. I need to get out of here with no fuss, and then I can crash when I get home.

Nikolai, sensitive and perceptive as ever, evidently takes notice of her change in posture. He says tentatively, "Beth-Anne, are you okay?"

"I'm good," she says. "My hip's aching a little, that's all. Sign of old age, I guess."

"That's not true. You're not old." He chews on his lower lip as his gaze travels around the room and eventually comes to rest on the plastic chair. He stares at it for a second or two, and then says quietly. "Oh my God. It's that chair. You sat there all night, didn't you? It's my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't realize—"

"No. It's okay," she says, wanting to forestall the rising panic she can hear in his voice. "I actually didn't sit there all night. I was walking around a lot. Don't worry. It's not your fault."

"Maybe... maybe you should go home and rest."

"Are you sure?" she asks. She hadn't expected him to suggest that she leave, but she's grateful he's the one to have brought it up. She won't worry less about leaving him, but at least this way she thinks she'll feel far less guilty.

"I don't want you to go, but I don't want you to stay here if you're in pain either." He shakes his head. "This is so messed up."

"It's not messed up," she says. "Some over-the-counter pain medication will fix everything."

"That's not what I mean," he says. "I don't know why I'm like this. Like, a minute ago, I thought I was fine, but now I'm... not sure. Not scared, exactly, but… anxious?"

"Why are you anxious?" she asks.

"I don't know why. It's like, I'm scared that if you leave, something bad is going to happen, but I don't know what and I don't even know why I think that. It makes no sense. It's..." He lets the sentence fade, unfinished, and lowers his eyes. "Sorry."

"it's okay, sweetheart. You don't need to be sorry," Beth-Anne steps forward to hug him, and he hangs onto her as tightly as he had the night before, when she'd first found him in his front hallway.

"If you leave, you'll still come back later, right?"

"Yes, probably around lunchtime. Ginger and Stan are going to hang out with you for a while, and by the time I get back, maybe the doctor will be ready to let you go."

"What if he doesn't let me go by lunchtime?"

"Then I'll stay with you until he does, but I can't see him keeping you much longer. He only wanted you to be here for observation, likely just until the medication wore off."

"I think it's worn off already," he says.

"If you think you need something else, you can ask the nurse."

"I can't," he practically whispers.

"If you can't ask by yourself, I'll help you," Stan intervenes. "Why don't you let Beth-Anne go and take care of whatever she needs to do? Ginger and I can look after you in the meantime."

"That's right," Ginger adds. "And if it's cuddling you're looking for, you know I'm brilliant at that. Hugs before drugs."

Stan makes a nondescript noise that might be the offspring of a laugh and a grunt, and says to no one in particular. "This is the child I've raised."

Ginger laughs. "You've done well, Stan. I wouldn't be who I am today without you."

Nikolai hesitates, but finally acquiesces and releases Beth-Anne from his almost desperate hold. "Okay," he says. "You can go now, but you have to promise you'll come back."

"I promise I will," Beth-Anne assures him. "Is there anything you want me to get from your house while I'm out?"

"I don't know. My glasses and my toothbrush. A change of clothes. I can't think of anything else right now."

"That's fine," she says. "That should get you through the rest of the day anyway. Tomorrow, I can take you over there and help you pack up anything else you're going to need at my place. Sound good?"

He nods. "Yeah. Thank you."

Satisfied for the moment that Nikolai is in safe hands, Beth-Anne says farewell and makes her way out of the hospital as quickly as she can, before she changes her mind about it.

She doesn't know how she and Nikolai are going to cope over the next few days, but she insists to herself that they'll get through it just like they've gotten through every other difficult situation they've encountered so far. She wants to be optimistic, telling herself that once Nikolai has been in a safe, stable environment for a while, he'll be less clingy and scared, and he'll start to feel better.

Staying occupied will help too, she thinks. She'll have to come up with some ideas to keep him busy until he's ready to venture out into the world again, because she certainly won't have him sitting around on the couch all day doing nothing and sinking deeper into the chasm of depression, hopelessness and self-pity. When he's able to be up and around... Well, she knows exactly how she's going to occupy him then, and she's already resolved not to take no for an answer.

The biggest problem she hasn't devised a solution for at this point is Anya. She has no clue where Anya is, whether or not she'll be back, or whether she'll want to see Nikolai if she does return. One thing she is reasonably certain about however, is that if Anya comes back and discovers Nikolai isn't at home, Beth-Anne's home is the first place she'll look for him.

Beth-Anne has absolutely no intention of letting Anya into her house. She knows she can't stop Nikolai from seeing his wife if he wants to, and she'd already told Stan that she doesn't plan on interfering in their marriage, but there's no way in hell she'll allow a potential confrontation between them to take place under her roof.

She'll have to discuss everything with Nikolai when he's feeling up to it, she concludes. He may say he doesn't want to see Anya at all, and that would make the solution a simple one, but she suspects it's not going to be that straightforward.

Nothing's ever easy, is it? says a little voice in the back of her mind.

No, most things aren't, she concedes, but she knows from experience there are outcomes that are worth the effort and people who are worth making an effort for. Stan likes to say 'people before practice', and Beth-Anne believes wholeheartedly in that.

People before almost everything else, because other than the basic necessities of survival, nothing matters more than people and the connections they build in one another's lives.

[sleepy-bunbun-ace]

Five injured White Knights laid on the forest floor while an automaton pilot struggled to get out of her damaged suit. An alchemist stood on the long hair of the oldest knight. "Fufu, how hilarious," Rui chuckled, "it seems that even though with all your talk about defeating us, you just simply can't do that. Saki was right in joining us instead."

The eldest knight simply coughed and let out a soft 'fuck you'.

"Well, as fun as this was, I simply cannot let you live, my dear Tsukasa-kun. Maybe in another life things could have played out differently. Goodbye, my dear Tsukasa-kun."

The other knights could only watched in horror as Rui raised his staff while the pilot only struggled harder in getting out.

"I would step away from the young one, if I were you." Rui's body involuntarily stepped away from Tsukasa. His eyes were wide as he looked around. Soon enough his eyes settled on an older woman walking out of the woods.

She had short brown hair with silver streaks coming to her neck. Her light brown eyes looked at him with a hardened expression but also... disinterest? She wore a long red dress with a white collar, her sleeves rolled up and an apron tied around her waist. She had black gloves on her hands and brown boots on her feet. Around her neck was a pendant with a crest that was familiar to Rui.

She continued forward until she was standing in front of the White Knights. "It's quite rude of you to call someone your 'dear' when you don't mean it, isn't it? Hasn't your caretaker taught you anything about manners?"

Rui growled. How dare she. How dare she say such things! "You-"

"Meh, it doesn't matter. What matters is this." She took out a small rubber ball from a pocket Rui didn't notice. "Take out all your anger on him, won't you?"

The ball seemingly came to life and immediately targeted Rui. It pelted him with attack after attack, leaving him no room to defend himself. Seemingly satisfied, the woman turned to the injured White Knights.

All of them tensed, ready to defend themselves if she attacked even if they were injured. It broke her heart seeing these young teenagers act like that. "Please don't worry, I'm here to help. I saw what happened and I just couldn't let it happen any longer." She knelt down to their level.

Tsukasa didn't know whether to feel relief or terror. She singlehandedly beat Rui. Rui! The strongest Alchemist and one of the elites of the enemy! She could easily kill them off! Not that he would let her, of course! His juniors were much too precious to him and he didn't want anything bad happening to him. It wasn't until her pendant caught his eye that he made his decision.

That familiar dragon head looking to side with its emerald eye was very familiar. Now that he thought about it, the woman looked very familiar too. A faint memory locked under a haze surfaced for a bit before disappearing. "Alright, I'll trust you for now. But if you even dare lay a hand on them..."

"You have my word that I won't, darling. Now, allow me to pick you up." The woman did so with ease. She held Tsukasa like a prince would hold his princess after he saved her from the villain. Such a strange thing to think about. Like a troupe from a fairy tale.

The woman walked over to Minori who had the least injuries as she was in her automaton. She was still struggling to open it up. "Let her out, please." The makeshift doors opened with ease and Minori clumsily got out.

"Thank you so much, miss!"

"Huhu, it's alright dear." A large, fluffy dog with white fur jumped out of the automaton too and into his owner. Akito jumped up and hid behind Mizuki who was shaky on their legs. Len was helping Shiho up.

"Oi, senpai, why are we trusting this powerful forest lady?" Akito questioned. Mizuki could tell he wouldn't be getting an answer from how their senior looked. "Look on the bright side, Lil' Bro! She isn't attacking us like a certain someone."

"I know, but..."

"I know I'm just a stranger to you all but I will gladly help all of you out. Please, follow me." The woman turned to look at the automaton and rubber ball who was still attacking Rui. "Both of you, please follow us. As for you, alchemist, I suggest running far from here and not following us." They all did as told.

The automaton hovered without its pilot and the rubber ball bounced over. Rui's legs started running off into a random direction. The group went into the same direction as the woman had came from. Minori allowed Shiho and Len to climb up on her automaton with her as Samo-chan guarded the woman and Tsukasa. Akito had Mizuki's arm around his shoulder as he half-carried them along.

Soon they reach a clearing where a large castle was. Well, it was more accurately described as an off-balanced mesh of buildings, canons, and disparate pieces of junk hanging onto one another. It was also on creaky legs. A scarecrow with a top hat on its head, a pipe in a crudely drawn mouth, and wearing some more sophisticated clothes came up to the group.

"My sun! You're home!" A voice called. The group looked up to see the faint shape of another woman high up on the castle. The other woman jumped down to join them. Well, specifically to be with the other woman.

The other woman's pink hair was done up in butterfly locs as they cascaded down her back. Some locs went over her shoulder. Her blue eyes looked over at the woman carrying Tsukasa with so much love in them. She wore a form fitting off-white button up. Some deliberately left unbuttoned. It was tucked into some black dress pants and covered by a pink and blue diamond patterned jacket with gold trim. Her jewelry was eye-catching. Beautiful emerald earring dangled from her ears as a gold necklace with a diamond sat snugly on her neck. Rings covered her painted fingers.

The knights recognised her immediately. "Y-you're-!"

"Oh! We have some guests! Hello there, you all are now in the presence of Luka Megurine-Pendragon! It seems you have already met my wife, Meiko. Allow us to help you in your troubles."

[goodnightjar]

230910 #SF9 #INSEONG #JAEYOON

🌰: D-10

"Tomorrow onwards there is only one digit left!!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"

"Been waiting for so long guys🥹🥹🥹"

(RE)🐣: D-376

" ........."

(RE) 🐣: D-376

"Fantasy!!!!!

shall we talk here??"

-🐾230910 riceball fc🐾-

🐣: 으아아아앙 (crying)

🐣: i really miss you (cutely)

🐣: fantasy

🐣: whats up!!!!!

🐣: i came early today!!!!!

🐣: 잉>< (ing)

🐣: im okay

🐣: really okay

🐣: i can go through it all^^

🐣: fantasy tears (cutely) don't cryㅜㅠㅠ

🐣: its my lunch time

🐣: i came before eating (cutely)

🐣: i'll come again after i eat fantasy!

🐣: i'm a bad guy who keeps you waiting everyday....

🐣: 애휴 (sigh)

🐣: i'll be back in a jiffy after lunch

🐣: need to get coffee as well>< (cutely)

🐣: baekgol! enjoy lunch fantasy

🐣: its not that im leaving

🐣: i'll back you know right

🐣: you really gotta wait

🐣: when i come back

🐣: if you ain't there

🐣: i'll be like a puppy who lost its owner in the street (cutely)

🐣: dumbfounded (cutely)

🐣: kidding; lets have lunch together & see you later fantasy!

*an hour later*

🐣: i came after eating & going to px ㅎㅎ

🐣: as today is weekend i have a bit of personal time!

🐣: did fantasy eat???

🐣: i brought one cookie N cream icecream & coffee ㅎㅎ

🐣: as today is break i plan to play Futsal with my friends & seniors!ㅎㅎㄹ

🐣: coffee is 레쓰비 (brand)!!

🐣: i think im gonna get a bit tanned today

🐣: gotta make sure to use sunscreen well!

🐣: Its my 1st Futsal; since i came to military. I'm a bit nervous

🐣: i'll do my best ㅎㅎ

🐣: i cut my hair well regularly

🐣: those who watched good guy behinds

🐣: will know my

🐣: my soccer skills

🐣: why are you laughing.....

🐣: i will do well without getting hurt ㅎㅎ (cutely)

🐣: Its its summer here in September... It's so hot here guys

🐣: is it the same in other places as well??

* few minutes later*

🐣: i'm here here here~~~

🐣: youngkyun-ah

🐣: did your fashion

🐣: preferences change

🐣: what choice have you made

🐣: but i respect you

🐣: I have also worn my mom's clothes when i sleep at home!ㅎㅎㅎ

🐣: it was cute!!

🐣: as there are lot of pajama pants

🐣: but the length is so short

🐣: but it's so comfortable

🐣: its worth wearing!!

🐣: these days

🐣: what's in trend

🐣: ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

🐣: thank you fantasy

🐣: the trend i know

🐣: maybe faster

🐣: than fantasy???

🐣: ain't that in trend these days??

🐣: 범죄도시3! (The Round Up: No way Out)

🐣: i heard it got released!

🐣: didn't it get released???

🐣: gotta go to movie theatre

🐣: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋkidding

🐣: You know these days

🐣 'Tanghulu' is hot

🐣: 'Moving' is hot

🐣: right??

🐣: and sepgu fancon is hot

*few minutes later*

🐣: im here!!!

🐣: fantasy

🐣: i still haven't gone yet

🐣: ah

🐣: its been a long while since I asked fantasy

🐣: but

🌌: "when are you going to sleep?"

ㄴ🐣 correct!

🐣: as its past 6 months; i see you have forgotten everything fantasy.....

🐣: 에휴 (sigh)

but i feel like its been 6 years miss you💔

🐣: but it can't be helped

🐣: cuz he are human

🐣: how would you know it all

🐣: right??.

🐣: i always think about it before i go to sleep.

🐣: if i could still ... say it to fantasy

🐣: "안잘거냐???" (ain't you going to sleep)

🐣: should I say it

🐣: that's right guys

🐣: but

🐣: this human

🐣: is so far away

🐣: that distance between people

🐣: but it's all right (cutely)

🐣: .

🐣: we can just do it again!

🐣:ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

🐣: i'm fine guys

🐣: i have time to talk to fantasy

🐣: like this

🐣: coming to fancafe

🐣: i feel it's really a relief!

🐣: cuz it's precious

🐣: ㅎㅎㅎ guys

🐣: now you can use mobile phone even in the training camp....

🐣: starting from for my juniors ㅎㅎㅎ..

🐣: but i like feeling of receiving internet letters on papers

🐣: In 10 days

🐣: there will be only 1 year left guys

🐣:후훗 (laughing)

🐣: we're almost there fantasy

🐣: its soon

🐣: oh and there are a lot of talk about the event ( the one he he did yesterday)

🐣: since I'm in the military

🐣: i can't tell you about all the events ㅠ

🐣: please understand meㅠ

🐣: I will definitely let you know when there is an event that you guys can attend easily

🐣: anw!!! im going to slowly get ready to go

🐣: fantasy have a fun weekend!!

🐣: as i'll read the fancafe letters when i get time please write a lot!

#Yooniquest

🐣: Today make sure to drink Green Grape Ade !!!!><

🐣:빠빠이~~~ (ppabbai~~~)

🐣 뿅!! (pyong)

[fallloverfic]

Webcomic Day Rec List

Admittedly I'm not up to speed as I used to be with webcomics, but since it's Webcomic Day, I'll compile a list of stuff here. Everything here should be free to read online in one form or another, but obviously if you can tip folks, use subscription services, support patreons, or just buy ebook and/or physical copies to support the artists/writers, that's awesome!

Complete comics

Two Rooks by Alice Fox (complete, can purchase the whole series as a PDF on Fox's store):

A sort of post-apocalyptic story set in a world where a pandemic ripped cities apart, and put the government in the hands of various criminal organizations. Stars a queer protagonist on a quest to maybe assassinate someone, maybe figure out a mystery, maybe both. It's got political thriller, flirting, gunfights, and suspicious friendships, and it's overall really great.

Check Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (complete, you can purchase it as an ebook or a physical copy)

"Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack—his very attractive but moody captain."

Inverloch by Sarah Ellerton (complete):

"The story of Inverloch centers around a young man named Acheron, from a horned wolf-like race called the da'kor. After becoming enamoured with an elven girl, he finds himself setting out on a seemingly innocent mission - that of trying to locate Kayn'dar, her childhood friend who has been missing for the past twelve years.

Meeting up with new friends and companions along the way, he quickly begins to learn that the world is not quite the peaceful place he believed it to be - embroiled with prejudice, racial segregation, and hidden danger. And the truth behind Kayn'dar's disappearance is something none of the party would ever expect..."

The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton (complete):

"On a cold December night, a gentleman stumbles into the town of Esk, gunshot wounds leaving a trail of blood in the snow behind him. Despite making a full recovery at the hands of an inexperienced nurse - and deciding to make a new life for himself in the town - he is unable to escape the supernatural beings, both good and bad, that seem to follow him like shadows.

As they try to discover why, the nurse must question her beliefs and risk her own life in order to protect her family, her friends, and those that she loves."

The Sword Interval by Benjamin Fleuter (complete)

"The Sword Interval is about a world on the verge of a supernatural apocalypse. Most of humanity goes about their daily lives trying to ignore the constant threat of magic and monsters, but a few face these dangers head-on. Fall is one such person. She has left behind the sheltered safety of the paranormal witness protection program in order to hunt down the monster that killed her family."

A great science fantasy apocalyptic webcomic.

ONGOING WEBCOMICS

My S-Class Hunters by geunseo, adapted by seri, with art by biwan

"Yoojin is an F-ranker overshadowed by his little brother, an S-ranker. All he does is get in his brother’s way, causing trouble wherever he goes. When a seemingly routine dungeon raid goes wrong and costs Yoojin his brother’s life, Yoojin decides to use the wish granted by clearing the dungeon to reset his timeline. The plan was to lead a quiet life from now on… but now it turns out he can help other people become S-rankers?! Maybe this is Yoojin’s chance at building his own entourage of powerful metahumans… but it may be easier said than done."

An absolutely phenomenal manhwa, entirely free to read in English on Webtoon. Some of the latest episodes are paywalled, but each week a new one comes out of paywall, so there's no rush if you just want to go the free route. Also on Tappytoon! The book it's based on is absolutely amazing as well: the main story is complete at 870 chapters, which was revised into 35 ebooks with added scenes, and is available to read in Korean on Ridibooks, munpia, and Naver. The sequel/Side Story is available in Korean on Naver, as it the manhwa.

Omniscient Reader by singNsong, adapted by UMI, art by Sleepy-C (volumes 1-2 are available to order in English, and volumes 3-4 are available for pre-order)

"Dokja was an average office worker whose sole interest was reading his favorite web novel 'Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.' But when the novel suddenly becomes reality, he is the only person who knows how the world will end. Armed with this realization, Dokja uses his understanding to change the course of the story, and the world, as he knows it."

Another absolutely phenomenal manhwa, entirely free to read in English on Webtoon. It's beautiful, funny, sad, angsty, with great world-building and wonderful characters, and the book it's based on is amazing: the revision is complete at 551 chapters, available in Korean on Munpia, and the sequel/Side Story is on-going.

The Glass Scientists by S. H. Cotugno (you can order volume 1, and volume 2 is up for pre-order)

"London isn’t the safest place for mad scientists these days. After that whole ordeal with Frankenstein, angry mobs have gotten awfully good at hunting down monsters and wiping out anything they don’t understand. In fact, if it weren’t for one extraordinary young man, every out-of-the-box thinker would have been locked up . . . or worse.

That young man is none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll. He believes mad scientists would thrive if they could just fix their public image, which is why he founded the Society for Arcane Sciences, a place where like-minded eccentrics could come together to defy the laws of nature in peace.

But everything changes when a mysterious stranger arrives, bent on taking the Society in a radical new direction. With everyone turning against him, Jekyll’s life starts to spiral out of control, shattering all his carefully laid plans and threatening to expose his darkest secret—one that could destroy everything he has built from the inside out."

A wonderfully queer science fantasy retelling of some famous classics, and it's free to read in English online. The art is gorgeous, the characters are fun, and the story is great.

Bicycle Boy by Jackarais (you can buy PDFs on their store)

"Bicycle Boy is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure comic by Jackarais.

Our protagonist--a cyborg who calls himself 'Poet'--cannot recall anything before the day he woke up in the middle of the desert, surrounded by corpses.

With no memories, no purpose and no idea what the hell is going on, he sets out to find answers."

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe (available to purchase as a physical book in lots of places)

"Witness what the gods do…after dark. The friendships and the lies, the gossip and the wild parties, and of course, forbidden love. Because it turns out, the gods aren’t so different from us after all, especially when it comes to their problems. Stylish and immersive, this is one of mythology’s greatest stories -- The Taking of Persephone -- as it’s never been told before."

A really fun modern science fantasy play with lots of Greek mythology, with a focus on Persephone and Hades and navigating complex relationships, worker rights, and trauma. The art is beautiful, and it's free to read entirely online.

Shot and Chaser by E.K. (you can support E.K. on Patreon)

"SHOT AND CHASER is a story about storms. Esoteric lifemates Tre and Olly set out together and experience a literal whirlwind of a day in the Texas panhandle."

They also have an nsfw side comic with the protagonists that you can purchase digitally called Sweet Abilene.

Partially free/paid webcomics

ENNEAD by Mojito (all the different ways to read, including a guide for the free options; currently available in physical release to varying extent in Korean, Taiwanese, English, German, Italian, and Japanese)

"The once peaceful land of Egypt has been stained with blood under the tyrannical rule of Seth, the god of war. Horus, son of the god Isis but not yet one himself, rises to challenge the throne and put an end to the chaos and destruction. Although the confrontation between Seth and Horus began with hatred, in time it becomes blurred by obsession and desire... The ancient mythology of Egypt comes to life as you've never seen it before in this compelling fantasy BL."

An absolutely wonderful boys love webcomic using ancient Egyptian mythology, that tackles a lot of neat themes, with wonderful characters and a great story.

[shion-yu]

Day 19 - "Why Wasn't I Enough?"

If he could go back in time and change it all, would he? Whumptober 2023! I’m using the @ailesswhumptober's prompt list. This story is about my OC Al - here’s his profile if you’re so inclined: https://toyhou.se/23743193.albert 

CW/TWs: Suicide (character death), self harm, chronic illness

"I think we should break up." 

The words lingered in the air, heavy and devastating for both of them. Al watched as Ollie's face turned from one of excitement to heartbreak in seconds. Al hated he had caused it; had taken that smile away. But he needed to tell Ollie now so his boyfriend - soon to be ex-boyfriend - could prepare. It wouldn't be fair to wait until the last moment to tell Ollie that their carefully laid plans would no longer be possible. 

"What do you mean?" Ollie asked him, his voice thin. "I don't understand. Don't say that."

Al sighed, adjusting the nasal cannula behind his ears and clearing his throat. He'd been listening to Ollie talk, once again, about how excited he was for the fall. How great moving into their own apartment in New York City would be. Al had let him exist in that dream for a long time - he hadn't wanted to ruin Ollie's finals, or graduation, or the high that had come afterwards. Plus, he'd hoped against hope that he'd miraculously be doing better by now. But it hadn't happened, and so he had to tell the truth no matter how much neither of them wanted to face it.

"You know I won't be well any time soon," Al said tiredly. He'd been in and out of the hospital all year with recurrent respiratory infections and had yet another one now. Although Al's CF had been relatively well controlled through most of his younger childhood, things had started to become a problem when he was in high school. He had missed so many days of classes that he'd had to repeat his freshman year. He met Ollie when he was a junior and Ollie was a sophomore. Ollie had no preconceived notions of Al and had just wanted a friend as he started at his new high school, having suffered terribly from bullying during his freshman year at public school. He'd managed to get a scholarship to Al's private school and Al had been drawn to his delicate but enthusiastic personality. They'd quickly become friends, and then much more. Al had always been the one to push their relationship farther, the gentleman of the couple if you would. He'd bring Ollie gifts and hold the door for him and pay for their meals out. He had been the first to initiate a kiss, then sex; the first to say I love you. He didn't regret it either, but now that he'd gotten sicker he worried that he was no longer the person Ollie had fallen in love with. The idea of holding Ollie back from the dreams he'd worked so hard for was one Al couldn't bear.

"You've worked so hard to get into FIT, with a freaking full scholarship," Al said slowly, looking down at his lap. "That's amazing. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. But because of my health, I can't go with you anymore. I'm sorry." 

Ollie shook his head quickly, his eyes immediately filled with angry tears. It hurt Al to see him cry, but it was unavoidable. He believed he was doing this for Ollie's sake, because Al knew Ollie would never do it himself even if he wanted to. "How can you say that? No way," Ollie insisted. 

Al sighed, rubbing his temple. "You have to go, Ollie. You earned it. Maybe in another year I'll be healthy enough to join you... But this year, I need to stay here." He'd grown so weak it was even a struggle for him to walk; the apartment they'd found for themselves in New York was on the fourth floor in an old building without an elevator. The nearest subway stop was a good ten minute walk away. His doctors and parents - the people who took care of him - were all here in Ohio. It wouldn't be a good choice to leave now when he was already doing so poorly. "I can't stand the idea of holding you back," Al said, swallowing the pit in his throat back. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Please, go to New York without me."

"Marry me."

Al was caught completely off guard by this question, although it was phrased much more like a statement than anything. Ollie's face looked frighteningly serious. "Wait... What?" Al asked him in shock. "Ollie, no, I can't do that. You know I love you. And I... I'd love to be married to you someday," he said, his voice wavering. "But right now you need to focus on building your career that you worked harder than anyone else to earn. You don't have time to drag me along and be my caretaker."

"Yes, I do," Ollie insisted with such conviction that it intimidated Al. "I love you, and I won't go to New York without you. It's not my dream, it's our dream. I'm sure I can defer my classes for at least one semester, right? That way we can wait until spring and hopefully you'll be all better by then."

Al shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know, Ollie. It sounds like you're sacrificing too much just for me. I can't hold you back."

"You wouldn't hold me back. I can take classes at the community college for a semester and it'll save me money overall," Ollie insisted. "It's my choice, and it's not a sacrifice if we're engaged right?"

"Ollie... Your whole life all you've ever wanted is to get out of this town," Al said sadly. "And what if I'm still not healthy enough by next semester? You can't know that."

"Then I'll stay longer. Yes my dream is to leave this town, but... I have another dream too. To spend the rest of my life married to you. So will you marry me, Al?" 

Later, Al would think back to this moment many times. Sometimes fondly, but mostly with regret. If he could turn back time, take it all back, would he? If he'd said no, things surely would have turned out differently. Ollie never would've lost his scholarship. He never would've had a reason to try to kill himself the first time. He never would've been successful the second time after failing to ever make up for that lost opportunity. In Al's most understanding moments, he realized that there was no way of knowing if these statements were true. Everything might've played out the same no matter what. But when Al was feeling most vulnerable, he regretted his answer because it made him truly believe it was all his fault. He should've known better. He was older, the more rational one from the start.

But instead, he'd said, "Okay." 

It was something he could never take back. They were married a month later, Al by proxy because he was too sick to leave the hospital. Their parents seemed reluctant to give their full blessing, but they did so anyway. They couldn't say no to Ollie's passion and Al, who at one point truly seemed like he might die. That was another maybe. If he'd never made it past twenty, what would have been different? Al felt such guilt related to his illness - both for being sick and for not being sick enough to die. If he had, Ollie would've been forced to move on without him.

It got worse when they moved to New York, trying to recapture that lost dream despite Ollie being unable to be re-accepted into the same program. Al was well enough to join him, but not well enough to work so he was always home. Ollie hated his day job answering complaints at the tabloid magazine and he hated his evening job of bussing tables at the diner. He hated their ugly and cramped apartment that was nothing like the brownstone he'd imagined living in. He hated himself for being so miserable, and he hated Al for being there for him to blame. Many times he lost his temper, usually when drunk, and told Al in no uncertain terms that he could be doing so much more if they weren't together. Al would cry, begging him not to go and Ollie's heart would melt every time. He'd feel guilty and play nice until his regrets overwhelmed him again. It was a vicious cycle.

Was it all bad? No - not most of the time. To the rest of the world, their marriage seemed infallible. They were Ollie and Al, always together and a beautiful couple. Most days, they both believed it too. But the cracks in their foundation could only hold so much regret, and at the end things had really started to crumble. Ollie's patience had worn thin and he snapped at Al often. "Maybe I should just kill myself. That or let's get a divorce." It wasn't the first time he said those words. But it would be the last time, and it was the first time Al had reacted so angrily, truly broken down from years of begging Ollie not to say such terrible things.

"Fine, if you hate me that much then just pick one already, I don't care anymore!" 

Al had regretted saying it even before it had fully left his mouth. He apologized quickly, his outburst leaving Ollie so shocked that it had completely diffused his anger. Eventually Ollie had nodded. Said he was okay. Kissed Al goodnight. They went to sleep side by side, the same as before: Ollie and Al. Together until the end, no matter what. Right?

Ollie didn't leave a note. They'd beaten everything they could have said to each other to death anyways, by the end. All the I love yous, the I'm sorrys, the thank yous. Any attempt at poetic justice would've seemed fake. But after so many threats, Al still didn't expect it to happen for real until he found Ollie's body, all signs of life long gone. 

Would he have done it all differently if he could? Al hoped he would've. But he was also a child, and Ollie had been too. When they were sixteen and seventeen, so in love and not afraid to promise each other the world, it seemed like nothing bad could ever happen as long as they were together. Every declaration of love seemed like the greatest feeling in the world. How could he have given that up? Al still treasured the memory of those early years, marred as they were by what had happened in the end. Even now he didn't want to give them up. So if he could go back in time and change it all, would he? Perhaps selfishly, Al didn't know.

[ddejavvu]

Ooo I have a great idea!

Eddie munson orders chocolate lava cake, childhood friends to lovers I'm a sucker for that

you are formally invited to ddejavvu's 10K dinner party, now serving coffee

mutual pining mutual pining mutual pining <3333

--

"Y/N! Look," Eddie gushes, racing up to you with something in his hand, "I caught one!"

You look at the creature squished between his fingers, a writhing beetle that looks furious at being held captive. It's buzzing threateningly, and your stomach churns.

"Ew, Eddie no!" You shriek, sprinting away from your best friend who chases after you with a devilish giggle, "You know I hate bugs!"

--

"'Course I do," Eddie's only a few measly steps behind you as you race through the woods, leaves crunching beneath your feet as the beetle pinched in Eddie's grip flaps its wings, "That's why I do it!"

You reach the door of his trailer, wrenching it open and slamming the door shut behind you. It's a safe zone, because the last time Eddie had followed you inside and let a centipede loose, Wayne almost made him eat it.

He's sitting on the couch when you arrive, your chest heaving as Eddie mocks you for your cowardice behind the door. Wayne glances up at you with an amused smirk, shaking his head, "All these years, 'never stop teasin' each other, do 'ya?"

"Never," Eddie's voice comes from the gap in the door you didn't know he'd created, and you squeal, rushing to lean against the kitchen counter. He holds his hands up in surrender at you, no bug in sight, but you're still angry with him for chasing you, so you take an apple from the counter and chuck it at him.

"Ow!" It smacks against Eddie's chest, and he yanks the neckline of his shirt down to reveal a slowly reddening spot above his pec, "What the fuck?"

"Language," Wayne hisses, launching a pillow off the couch at Eddie's head.

The boy barely catches it in time, his dramatic expression only deepening tenfold, "Would you two stop trying to kill me?"

"Wuss," Wayne rolls his eyes fondly at Eddie, "'F you keep bringin' bugs around here, Y/N's gonna kill you f'real."

"You'd never," Eddie gushes, tilting his head dramatically towards you, "You'd miss my pretty face."

"I'd throw you a nice funeral." You smile patronizingly at him, reaching out to squeeze one of his hands, "I'd even get a metallica cover band that costs more than twenty bucks."

"Well shit," Eddie balks, his weight shifting to his left foot and creasing the toe of his sneaker, "Might as well just get the real thing for that much dough."

"Over $20 was me being nice to you, Eddie." You scoff, swatting at his shoulder, "I'm still mad at you, remember?"

"Whatever! I just want you to know I let that beetle go far away from here, 's not like it's in my pocket or anything and I would never put it under your pillow."

"I'm staying here tonight, idiot." You back away, eyeing his pocket warily, "We sleep on the same pillow!"

"Well unlike you, I like-" Eddie pats his pocket, perhaps a little too hard, a sickening crunch coming from inside the fabric, "-Y/N Junior.. Oh no."

"You killed me!" You flop over the counter, tongue stuck out of your mouth theatrically, "You killed me!"

"Well, I'll throw you a nice funeral," Eddie mocks you, a frown on his face at the prospect of cleaning up Squashed Bug, "And for the record, I'd get the real metallica to play you off."

[thestoryden]

Hello, i hope you have a wonderful day ! My request is : Reader has been bullied by Jason's group and the cheerleaders, she decides to visit Eddie at his house for him to comfort her. (they are quite close) (Afterwards if an idea comes to you I'll let you do it ❤️)

Target

Eddie x Bullied!Reader Warnings: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Fluff, Smoking, Comfort, Language Word Count: 1.4 k

This came out far less fluffy than I anticipated, so fair to say I will be making a very fluffy sequel to this. I want to capture that cuteness and the soft moments. / Edit: the sequel didn't scratch the fluff itch. I think it might do better as a series

Once upon a time you had been Chrissy’s best friend. You had been the perfect fit, you had the award winning smile and were kind to everyone around you. But, your kindness had gotten you in trouble to the point of no return. Towards the end of junior year you had come upon Jason beating up Eddie. Jason had accused Eddie of taking something of his, and used that to justify his brutality against him. You threatened to tell Chrissy about what he was doing, and in response he had told Chrissy you made a play to get with him behind her back. Chrissy, wanting to see the best in Jason, believed him. You were devastated by the betrayal, but what happened next you couldn’t have possibly foreseen. Everyone you had called a friend for the past three years now sought your destruction. In their eyes you had dared to try and usurp Chrissy’s power and now her courtiers were after you. At first it wasn’t so bad. Just insults and nasty notes from the rest of the cheer squad. Then it was being shoved into walls and hit on the back of the head from the basketball team. Through all of this you had made fast friends with Eddie, who you had saved from a beating which he had actually taken to save a younger member of his club. He comforted you when the bullying happened. You comforted him when he flunked senior year for the second time. You assumed the bullying would cool down over the summer, but you were wrong. You had gotten a letter telling you not to come to summer cheer practice or else. Which meant you were off the squad. That night you cried hard in Eddie’s arms. He wanted to ease your pain so he offered to smoke with you. You accepted just wanting to relax for a moment. You two spent the summer together planning out D&D sessions, listening to music, and learning how to play bass. School was about to start again and you were nervous. Eddie reassured you that senior year was a breeze. You laughed in his face in response. Then you had gotten the fateful letter in the mail right before school started. In it Chrissy had said she had wanted to make up and be friends again. She wanted to meet you at the school and talk everything out. You wanted to be friends with Chrissy again and were elated to get her letter. That leads you to your current situation waiting for Chrissy in the school parking lot at about forty-five past seven. 

It becomes apparent to you that Chrissy is in fact not showing up. You had biked here about an hour ago and no sign of Chrissy this whole time. “Maybe I read the letter wrong,” you think. You look back over the letter. You are right on the time, place, and day. You start to mount your bike to head off when you hear a car pull up. 

“Thank God,” you say, “I thought you weren’t coming for a second.” 

You turn around and are greeted by Jason and his friends. 

“Miss me?” he asks. 

You freeze for a second unsure of what to do. Two of the players get out of the car and run up to you. Grabbing you on either side they hall you towards the trunk of Jason’s car. They open it up 

“Please don’t do this, please I’m begging you.” you reason. 

They hoist you off the ground and throw you in. You hit your head on a tire iron. The trunk slams behind you, leaving you in complete darkness. 

“Let’s have some fun boys!” you hear Jason yell. 

The music blares and the car bumps up and down the country roads of Hawkins then there is a sudden stop. The trunk opens with a click and there are bright lights shining in your face. Jason pulls you out onto the tarmac. He yanks you up to your feet. Tears are streaming down your face. 

“Please please don’t do this.” 

Jason drags you in front of his car, the headlights illuminate the dark road. You shake violently, sputtering pleas begging him to let you go. He raises his hand with a flashlight in it and brings it down on to your face. Striking on the side opposite where the tire iron hit. 

“Listen here you freak slut.” he seethed, “In a second, I’m going to get back in my car, and I’m going to tell you to run. When those words leave my mouth you are going to run like your life depends on it. And we are going to hunt you down like the dog you are. Got it.” 

Tears well up in your eyes and snot runs down your face. Blood drips down your forehead, matting into your bangs and crusting into your eye brows. Your throat tightens and your lips tremble. 

“Jason,” you croak, “Please.” 

He hops into his car and gives you a smile. 

“Run,” he says. 

At first you start off slowly as you can not see where you are going, but then you hear the engine rev behind you. You bolt into the dark. Your breathing gets heavy but the car sounds fainter, so you keep going. Then suddenly it is on your right and one of the boys is leaning out the side with a bat held up high. It makes a sickening thud when it hits your body. You stumble onto the ground. You hear the tires screech as the car flips round. The gravel crunches as it slowly approaches you. You begin crawling on your hands and knees into the woods.Your palms hit the pine straw and you attempt to stand, grabbing on to a tree for support. The car idles on the road and one of its doors slam. 

“Where are they?” Jason shouts. 

He flashes his light into the woods and sees your silhouette. You run faster than you ever had before. The boys flashlights sweep over the trees as you zigzag between the brush patches. Then you see a faint glow in the distance and head for it. It flickers and moves. Your whole body hurts as it heaves with your lungs trying to suck in as much air as possible. You hit a rock and tumble towards the wavering hope. You look up and can faintly make out a silhouette. 

“Please you have to help me.” you mumble. 

Everything is spinning and you can not reorient yourself. An arm slips under you and lifts you off the earth. Before you can get your bearings you are half running half being dragged till you hit a tree line.There are street lights and trailers and a gravel road. Your companion takes you towards a trailer. You are pushed through the entrance and the door clicks locked behind you. You look up from the floor to see a curtain of hair and a jean vest. 

“Eddie?” you mumble faintly. 

“What is going on?” he says. 

You try to explain what exactly happened, but your words become muddled. Everything is going in and out of focus. 

“No, no, no. You have to stay awake.” Eddie says panicked. 

He runs into the kitchen and grabs a towel and some paper napkins. He fills the towel with ice. He rushes back to your side and cradles your head into his lap. He gently blots away the dried blood and holds the napkins to your head trying to stop the excess bleeding. The light of the living room shines around his head making him look angelic. You laugh a little. You reach up your hand to his face and hold it softly. He smiles back at you with concern, before placing the cool compress on your forehead. The cold and damp sensation breathes a bit of life back into you. 

“It’s cold,” you groan. 

“It’s supposed to be,” he replies.

He pulls you into him and rises shouldering your weight as he drags you to his room. You try your hardest to stay uprightish as much as you can. You let out a cry when you fall into the bed. Your body explodes with new pain spreading out from your back. Eddie winces and rests his hand against your cheek. He sits next to you. 

“We're going to get through this okay.” he whispers. 

In your haze you finally say what you have always wanted to, “Eddie if this is my last night on earth I just want to let you know something, I love you.”

[mads-weasley]

Coming Home: Part Two

Andrew!Peter Parker x Wife!Reader

Coming Home Masterlist

Main Masterlist

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME SPOILER ALERT

A/N: Wow. I've gotten so much positive feedback on the first part of this fic, so I just had to do a part two!! I think I may write little moments from the lives of the Parkers under this title in the future! Thank you for reading!! I don't own anything but (y/n).

Summary: Now that Peter was finally home from the "multiversal mess" that caused him to go missing and worry his poor wife to death, he tries to find a way to make it up to her.

Warnings: mentions of death, violence, tooth rotting fluff

(y/n) - your name

(y/l/n) - your last name

(y/n/n) - your nickname

(y/h/c) - your hair color

(y/e/c) - your eye color

italics - flashbacks

Peter awoke to the gentle snoring of his wife, who was now sprawled out on his chest, hair sticking every which way. With a smile, he glanced to the clock on their nightstand. It was already 8:30, and (y/n) had to be at work in an hour. Taking one last look at (y/n) sleeping, he sighed and softly rubbed her shoulder.

"(Y/n), babe, you've gotta get to work. It's 8:30." He cooed.

She shifted, cuddling further into his chest while sleepily slurring. "No, Pete. I'm not getting up. You're my new pillow."

A chuckle escaped his lips, "Come on, (y/n/n)."

"No. I'm calling in sick," she started, peering up at him. "And we have a lot to talk about, mister."

Peter's heart fell slightly, already picturing (y/n) describing how she felt when he was missing. "Okay. I can call May and ask if she can watch Ben. How does a day to ourselves sound?"

Sitting up quickly, a huge smile painted her face. Of course, she loved Ben, but she couldn't remember the last time her and Peter had a date night, much less a whole day to themselves.

"That sounds amazing."

"Yeah?" he asked.

She kissed his bare collarbone, sitting up and pulling the covers off of them. "Yeah. I'm gonna go get Ben ready.

~

May came and picked Ben up with a smile at 9, leaving the rest of the day for the young couple to spend together. (Y/n) made doubly sure that she packed everything that Ben would need into his diaper bag. As all new moms are, she was somewhat nervous and explained every little thing that she did with Ben to May, who was used to the speech by now. The older woman understood that (y/n) only did so because she loved the little boy so much. Peter came to his aunt's rescue as he placed his hand on (y/n)'s lower back and spoke with raised eyebrows.

"Thanks again, May. We really appreciate it."

"Anytime. You two have fun, okay?" She replied.

With a nod and a smile, (y/n) crouched next to Ben's carrier, and Peter followed, tickling him softly.

"Mommy loves you."

"Be good for aunt May, Benny." Peter whispered in his goofy baby-talk voice that drove his wife crazy...in a good way.

As soon as Peter closed the door behind May, he spun around, picking (y/n) up over his shoulder, causing her to squeal with delight.

"Peter!" She exclaimed as he playfully laid her down on the bed, hovering inches above her, one arm on each side of her face with his signature grin.

"You, my amazing wife, are going to have breakfast in bed, served by your husband who feels terrible that he worried you yesterday."

"Okay then, Mr. Parker. I'll have some pan-"

"-cakes, bacon, and eggs. Coming right up, Mrs. Parker." He interrupted, kissing her lovingly on the nose.

As he was walking away, she yelled, "This doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you!"

(Y/n) sighed in content as Peter disappeared into the kitchen. Looking up at the ceiling, she wondered what she ever did to deserve her wonderful husband and love of her life. Thinking back on the years they'd spent together, she couldn't help but flash back to the day they had met.

10 Years Ago

As (y/n) was about to walk into the first class of her junior year of high school, she couldn't help but feel nervous. She had just moved from a pretty small town, so a ginormous city like New York was a huge change, not including the fact that she knew no one at school. Taking a deep breath, she mustered her courage and walked into the science lab with her head held high.

This confident façade quickly fell when all eyes landed on her. Some people were giving her confused looks, while others were silently picking her appearance apart, as high school girls often do. Her eyes raked across the room for an empty seat, finding that there were only two. One was beside a tall, lanky boy, and the other was next to a girl with freckles and glasses in the front. Going with the second option, she approached the girl with a bated breath.

"Hi. Is anyone sitting here?" (Y/n) asked kindly.

The look on the girl's face could be described as nothing short of disgust when she looked up at her. "Yeah. Someone is."

(Y/n) looked around for anyone else coming into class. She was the very last one. "Who?" She asked, daring to question the girl.

"Someone." She said bitterly, throwing her bookbag on the lab table, right in front of the open chair.

With a nod, (y/n) retreated to the back of the class, opting to sit next to the boy. Passing his side of their lab table, she stepped on something that started to roll, and before she knew it, her foot was leaving the ground as she yelped. Waiting for the ground to welcome her, she clenched her eyes shut. What she didn't expect, though, was for the boy to catch her. Much less by her hips in a dip that she'd only seen on tv.

Time seemed to slow as she looked wide-eyed into his own big brown irises. Studying his face, she noticed how handsome he was. A lopsided smile grew on his face at her reaction. His mouth was moving, but she didn't hear anything. After a few seconds, time sped up again, and she was brought up from his dip, back to a standing position.

"Hey, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" He asked, quickly picking up his skateboard and putting it in his bookbag.

Still somewhat out of breath, she huffed, "Yeah. Thanks for catching me..." she prompted for his name.

"Peter. Peter Parker." he answered, never breaking eye contact.

"Peter Parker." She finished, liking the way his name rolled off her lips. "I'm (y/n) (y/l/n). I just moved here."

"Makes sense. I would've remembered you."

(Y/n) felt her face grow hot as she took her seat next to the boy. Grinning, she turned her attention to the teacher at the front of the class, but couldn't stop thinking of the adorable smile right next to her. Needless to say, she didn't learn anything from the lesson, other than the fact that Peter Parker liked to doodle scientific formulas on the side of his notebook paper.

Present Day

After about 20 minutes of laying in bed reminiscing, (y/n) got up and silently padded down the hall, towards the kitchen. Halfway there, she heard something that always made her heart flutter; Peter's singing. He didn't do it much, and it was always off key, but it was adorable. The tune was a favorite of Peter's when they were in high school. She stopped at the end of the hall, leaning on the wall around the corner, out of his sight.

"You're my backbone," he sang, "You're my cornerstone. You're my crutch when my legs stop moving. You're my headstart, You're my rugged heart. You're the pulse that I've always needed."

Pushing off the wall, she turned the corner to see him wearing her Spiderman apron, cooking eggs in a pan, pancake powder streaking his face. Even with his super-hearing, he didn't hear her approaching. Well, maybe he just didn't act like her heard the almost silent patter of her feet on their hardwood floors. Coming up right behind him, she wrapped her arms around his torso, joining him in singing.

"Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you."

He put the spatula down and turning to face her, gently cupping her cheeks with a grin. As the song came to a close, he continued to sing with her softly.

"And long after you're gone, gone, gone. I'll love you long after you're gone, gone, gone."

He leaned down and wrapped her in his arms. To (y/n) it felt like a warm blanket of safety and adoration was wrapped around her. She buried her face into his neck as the words of the song processed in her mind. 'I'll love you long after you're gone, gone, gone,' the song had said. Just the night before, she had thought that he was gone. She thought he was dead in some alley somewhere, unable to see her and their son one last time. With this thought circling her mind, she began to cry softly into his neck. Immediately, he knew something was wrong, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." he assured, rubbing her (y/h/c) hair.

"It is now, but, Peter...I thought you were dead, waiting to be found in some alley somewhere. I was here, just waiting to get the call that my husband was dead." She angrily stammered between sobs.

Peter's heart shattered every time she cried, but this time was different: he was the reason she was crying.

"I'm so sorry," mumbled, "I'm okay. I'm in one piece. And I came back as soon as I got the chance, sweetheart."

She pulled back, peering up at him with pleading red-rimmed, tear filled (y/e/c) eyes. "What happened? Where were you, Pete?"

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a boyish grin. "It's a long story. Let's get you breakfast and then we can talk about it."

Nodding, she gave him one last squeeze before sitting at their breakfast bar behind them. A few minutes later, breakfast was done, and Peter made her a big plate of her favorites. He could still see the remnants of tears on her face as he slid it in front of her.

"Aquí tienes, cebolla," he announces.

A smile grew on her previously distraught face, "That's a new one."

"What?"

Laughing, she asked, "What did you make in our Spanish class, again?"

"I made a D."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, bug-boy. I ca-."

"Hey! You know you love me!" He interrupted.

"Yes, I do, but you just called me an onion, babe."

They both fell into a fit of laughter as he animatedly yelled, "Oops."

Once the laughter died down, Peter knew he owed her an explanation. "So," he began. "About yesterday..."

"Yes..."

He stood up excitedly and began pacing in front of her in the kitchen. "You're not gonna believe it, (y/n/n). I was just out patrolling when all of a sudden, I looked around and I wasn't in New York anymore. Well, not our New York, at least."

Her face was painted with confusion as she spoke with a mouth full of breakfast. "Our New York?"

"Yeah," he responded breathily, "You know how we argued about the multiverse and all that stuff?" She nodded. "Well, I was right! I was somehow in another universe and happened to meet that world's (y/n) (y/l/n), and babe, she looked exactly like you did in high school. She was even dating that world's Spiderman, who also happened to be Peter Parker."

"Wow." She loved watching Peter talk about something he was passionate about, and there wasn't much that topped science in that category. Her anger was slowly dissipating as he continued to explain.

"Do you remember Doc Connors and Electro from high school?"

"How could I forget? They about killed me, Peter." She sassed.

"They were there, alive, somehow. There was also a third Peter that showed up, and his villains showed up too. We devised a way to save them but things didn't go exactly as planned. Everything went great 'til Goblin showed up."

She about choked on the pancake she was eating. "Harry was there?"

"No," he said sadly, "It was Peter 2's Goblin. But anyways, we made it through the bat-Oh! There was this wizard guy who held the multiverse together while we were fighting. It was pretty cool actually. He kind of just threw his ha-"

"Pete." she interrupted, silently teasing him for not staying on topic.

"Right. We fought, won, and I was back here in an instant, thanks to the wizard guy."

It was a lot to take in, and (y/n)'s brain was exploding with all the new information. "You're right. That is a lot." She stated, standing up to meet him in the kitchen.

His voice lowered to barely above a whisper. "I missed you and Ben, though. So much."

She roped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his soft brown hair. "We missed you, too. I really was worried. I didn't know if you were coming back to me."

Eyes fluttering closed at the soothing motion, he tenderly gripped her hips, closing the gap between them as their lips collided. Through the kiss, he mumbled against her sweet lips, "I'll always come back to you."

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