#like half the shit on her playlist like only a couple lines in the song Really vibe w me idk

[toytulini]

can i access the tunglr on work wifi but not discord. insane

[smileyerim]

right where i left you

jaehyun knew he’d be fine if he never saw you again — until he saw you again. overwhelmed with the realization that you’ve moved on, jaehyun must come to terms with his feelings for you… again.

part 1: in hell there’s heaven

pairing: ex!jeong jaehyun x ex!reader

genre: angst (shocker i know) !!MDNI!!

length: 3k

warnings: adults smoking weed, adults drinking alcohol, mentions of cheating, mentions of vomiting, it’s alluded that a character has a panic attack but not explicitly stated

net tags: @kflixnet

playlist here!

Jaehyun isn’t quite sure why he’s here. The bass feels like it’s thumping deep in his bones in an uncomfortable way, and only other guy in the smoke circle just asked him to Venmo him for the weed. Jaehyun just shrugged and pulled out his iPhone, but in retrospect he feels like he was done dirty. All he can do about it now is shrug and let out a huffed breath.

“You okay?�� A very pretty girl sitting a bit too close to Jaehyun asks with a coy smile. Under any other circumstance, or on any other day, Jaehyun would have indulged her. Taken her home, maybe. Certainly wouldn’t have passed up on the opportunity to see what she could do for him.

Except today isn’t just any other day, it’s November 16th. What would’ve been your 2 year anniversary as a couple.

“Yeah.” Jaehyun let’s out with a blunt tone, tearing his hazy eyes away from her equally as hazy ones to stare into the crowd at the party.

His decision to ignore the beautiful blonde to his left brings back the same question that’s been circling in his brain ever since he faked a smile all the way to the stoner corner— why is he here?

He thinks about you in that moment; as he does a lot these days, and especially on days like today. He thinks about how you would’ve hated to be here, that you wouldn’t be caught dead in a scene like this on a Wednesday of all days.

Well, maybe Jaehyun is wrong about that because there you are.

Woah, he thinks, eyes nearly bulging out of his skull in shock.

His heart picks up in pace when he focuses his eyes on your figure. You’re really here, holy shit.

There you are.

There you are standing in the archway to the living room scanning the crowd. There you are looking as beautiful as ever, obviously looking for someone.

He frowns, trying to follow your line of sight to whoever it is you’re searching for. He scans the faces in the crowd, hoping to see the familiar faces of your girlfriends.

For a moment he ponders if you’re looking for a man, but he shakes that thought off pretty quickly. There’s no way you’ve moved on, he thinks. Jaehyun still can’t listen to certain songs because they’re attached to memories too painful to relive. You must be as hung up on him as he is on you.

Right?

Jaehyun panics, sitting up straight from where he was sinking deeper and deeper into the old sofa that was once a bright orange, but now a muddy brown in the corner of the room. He leans his elbows on his knees and rests his chin in his palm as he zeroes in on you walking across the floor, and into the sea of people.

Quickly, Jaehyun stands and follows after you into the crowd with just enough time to see a man clad in a leather jacket place a welcomed kiss on your lips. Your own arms are looped around his neck, and Jaehyun can see the shimmer in the man’s eyes as he stares down at you once he pulls away. Which, by the way, seems to be unfavorable for you. Jaehyun thinks as he watches you pull the man closer to chase his lips.

Holy fuck is all his flabbergasted brain can come up with as he stumbles back, hand coming up to his chest.

Thank God nobody in this swarm of bodies is sober enough to notice his odd behavior. He takes full advantage of that as he turns on the heels of his Nike’s to run away from the scene before him. An overwhelming feeling of nausea cloaks him from head to toe at the shock.

Before he even knows it, he’s outside with his hands on his knees as he dry heaves into a half-dead rose bush. When he coughs, they feel an awful lot like painful sobs. When he shuts his eyes to try and equalize his spinning world, all he sees is your lips against those of another man.

He shakes his head, spitting into the dead branches of the bush as he stands up straight with a pained groan.

He sighs, eyes shutting tightly as he lets the scene play over and over in his head. It’s too much, but also not enough to make him cry, so he just sits and swallows back the painful choking feeling in his throat.

All Jaehyun feels is overwhelmed. Uncomfortable, unsure, and overwhelmed. He’s never been all that great with identifying or expressing his emotions, he didn’t even know he loved you as much as he did until you were gone, and today is just like the others.

He wishes he could articulate the thoughts running through his head. He wants nothing more than to call his friends for support, but he doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know how to tell them what he just encountered. He doesn’t know how to tell them how it made him feel. He doesn’t know how to even build the courage to take his phone out of his back pocket and just do it.

He’s still standing with his eyes screwed shut next to the bush when you find him. Your heart churns when you see how pained he looks, but you quickly shake yourself out of it enough to call his name.

His head whips up at the sound of your voice, and you’d be an idiot not to recognize the look in his eyes as he stands before you.

He then quietly calls out your name back to you, and you aren’t sure if he’s in shock, or trying to confirm that you’re actually here in front of him.

“Hey.” You say and offer him a small smile. You can feel your palms beginning to get clammy and your heart thud in your chest. You hate confrontation. Breaking up with Jaehyun was the hardest and bravest thing you had ever done.

He doesn’t respond, just trailing his eyes up and down your body. Not in a sensual way, but in the way that you can tell he’s attempting to read you but failing. His eyes do stop for a moment more on your lips, and it’s not hard to know why. For the last fifteen minutes all Jaehyun could think about is your lips. Your lips pressed against a man that isn’t him, to be specific.

Ignoring the creeping memories of the last time you stood in front of Jaehyun as he ignored you, you continue on the one sided conversation, “Why are you over here?”

That seems to do the trick with knocking him out of his thoughts. He stands up straighter, looking down at the bush and sniffing back his congestion awkwardly.

“Threw up.” Is all he says. It’s the same nonchalant tone he spoke in during your last fight.

“What? Seriously?” You yelp out, stepping in closer to look at the bush with morbid curiosity.

“Nah,” he says, having watched you step in closer with caution, “almost though.”

He isn’t sure why you’re talking about this, or why he’s even letting you lead the conversation in this direction, but soon the follow up question comes.

“But, why?” You say, frown in between your brows. He looks at you with a disbelieving look on his face before he realizes you weren’t kidding. He wants to laugh at how classic it is, at the fact that you don’t even recognize how much he’s in love with you still.

He shrugs, digging his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. He pauses for a moment in the silence, distracted by a water spider skimming the surface of a muddy puddle that is just inches away from your foot. He wants to laugh, you would freak out if you knew a spider was this close to you, but he doesn’t point it out to you. If he did, he would just be cruel. He’s not yours to joke around with like that anymore.

With another scrunch of his nose and a sniff, he looks up into your eyes. His heart skips a beat, and that delays his speech, but he gets out his proposal nonetheless with a dry voice.

“Can we talk?”

You smile a sad smile at him and nod, turning on your feet to walk towards an old sun bleached cooler that’s been sitting in the front yard of this house since Jaehyun’s been coming around. Jaehyun wants to urge you not to sit, he doesn’t trust the structural integrity of the cooler, but he doesn’t. Wouldn’t your new boyfriend be weirded out by your ex looking out for you?

It’s a real question that passes through his mind, one that he doesn’t have an answer for.

“So,” is what you say to urge him to speak and it takes Jaehyun by surprise.

His stupidity really blows him away sometimes, he thinks, as he realizes that his total lack of foresight led him to starting a conversation he doesn’t know how to have.

“I don’t know what to say.” He says in honesty, noticing how you have a slight pout on your lips as you stare up at him from your sitting position on the cooler.

He wants to kiss you, of course he does. You’re the most beautiful girl on all of planet Earth and you’re sitting only two feet away from him with your lower lip slightly jutted in a confused pout. Jaehyun is a man after all.

You giggle and look at him with much more grace than he deserves and say, “Tell me how you’re feeling right now.”

“I don’t know, I’m feeling a lot.” He says honestly, and you validate him with a nod before asking your next question.

“Is the party making you anxious? Is that why you were over by the bush?” You ask, choosing to play the long game to get the answers you want out of Jaehyun. It was common practice in your relationship, and you surprise yourself by how quickly you’re able to slip back into that role.

Do you want to be here? You aren’t sure. Usually you’d be too afraid of him abandoning you to even ask yourself such questions.

Jaehyun wants to roll his eyes at how oblivious you’re being to the cause behind his behavior. He’s fed up with you not noticing him.

“Do you know what day it is?” He says, empty eyes piercing into yours. You gulp, your sweaty hands sticking together uncomfortably as you rub them together.

You were hoping he wouldn’t bring it up. You figured he’d be acting too laissez-faire to show his cards in such a way.

“Of course I do.” You say, almost shouting out the phrase.

“Then there’s your fucking answer.” He spits and you detect the creeping feeling of anger climb up your belly and into your chest.

Jaehyun did that a lot while you were together, bottle up all his feelings until they came out in bitter anger. You always had enough grace for him. You never left him without a second chance. You did it to protect him, protect you two together. You were consumed with fear of losing him, so you gave him shot after shot.

But what’s left now? What’s left to protect? Why does he need any more chances?

Suddenly empowered, you stand and look him in the face, “You won’t get away with that now.”

This only fuels his fire, “What the fuck is the point!”

You step into his space and look up into his angered eyes, “Why did you ask me to talk?” Your tone demands more than asks. Your knees are shaking. Confrontation still doesn’t come easy to you.

He breathes out and seems to calm a bit when he answers your question with one of his own, “Who is that dude?”

A knowing look finally crosses your face as you look at him with disappointment, “Why can’t you ever just tell me how you’re feeling, why do you play these… these mind games!?”

You step away from him, frustration overwhelming you as you look up at the moon as you say your next phrase, “Why do I always have to figure it out myself?”

You look at him, pleading eyes. He’s never heard you speak with that tone, you’ve never looked at him like this before. For the countless time this evening, he’s in shock. What did this breakup uncover in you?

He says nothing, finally being brought to silence. He has no answers for you, he wishes he knew himself why he did what he did. Why he could never be fully honest with you— with anyone, for that matter.

That’s one of the reasons he loves you so much, you met him where he was. You never expected him to rise to your level.

“Look, I need to tell you something.” You break the quiet and step closer to him. He meets your gaze with desperate and sad eyes, no longer cold.

You sigh, feeling very small under his gaze, breaking eye contact and shaking your hands by your sides to dry off the sweat. Fighting the anxiety, you look back into his eyes and ignore the way your heart skips a beat.

“I would’ve stayed if you had fought for me out on the porch that night.” You breathe out, the fear of rejection always associated with vulnerability hitting you like a truck. His face morphs into an unreadable one, and your palms start to feel clammy again.

After what felt like hours of eye contact, he finally speaks.

“But I didn’t.” He says very quietly, eyes darting between your two as he attempts to commit them to memory. This is the last time he’ll have you like this, he suspects.

“No,” you sigh, “you didn’t.”

He shuts his eyes tightly with a sharp inhale and he looks like he’s about to cry. Your heart squeezes and you feel your own tear ducts threaten to awaken.

“How about now?” He says with a playful lilt in his voice once he collects himself. It almost makes you giggle, his natural charm shining through and reminding you why you were with him in the first place.

You break eye contact with him for a moment and suck your lips in between your teeth and look down at the distance between your feet.

The ball is in your court. Would you be crazy to consider taking him back? Something deep inside of you urges you to take the leap, which feels terrifying. Logic tells you to run away, but your heart won’t let your feet move back.

Instead, they move forward as you step to wrap your arms around Jaehyun’s middle in a tight hug.

He stiffens for a moment before melting into your embrace, one hand coming up to hold the back of your head with the other arm around your waist. He pulls you in closer. Closing your eyes and letting out a deep breath, it feels exactly as you wished it would.

“I missed you.” You say, and Jaehyun’s heart picks up a beat when he realizes what this means.

Are you giving him a second chance?

“I won’t ever— I… fuck,” Jaehyun stumbles over his words as he attempts to pick the right ones to make you not regret your decision. So many words are bouncing around in his head, he considers just kissing you the way he used to when he got overwhelmed with his feelings for you.

He feels over the moon with joy at this moment, but also weighed down with pressure. His heart is beating a mile a minute and you can hear it, nuzzling in closer to give him time.

He closes his eyes, reveling in the feeling of having you back. He was right. You are the love of his life. He’s never felt this way before, and he’s sure he won’t feel this way ever again.

For the first time tonight, what he says comes easily.

A whisper of “I love you.” Escapes his smiling lips. He’s bouncing with excitement to hear you say it back. You bite your lip and anticipate the giddy feelings to wash over you to urge you to share in his sentiment.

But they don’t.

The feelings never come, in fact, you feel the opposite. A dreadful feeling sweeps over you as you frown, biting your lip until it hurts.

“Say- say it again.” You request with a small voice that Jaehyun is far too love struck to notice sounds a little off.

He pulls you out of the hug this time to hold you by the shoulders and look straight into your eyes. He’s positively beaming with love. He’s never looked at you like this before and it only breaks your heart more at what you know is coming.

He says your name very slowly before speaking, “I never stopped loving you. I love you so much.”

Suddenly, the glass shatters in your heart and a sob escapes your throat, cowering over yourself with tears beginning to flow.

It’s wrong. You can’t describe it any other way. The feeling in your gut and the lack of feeling in your heart are telling you all that you need to know.

This, whatever it is now or once was, is wrong.

You continue to sob as Jaehyun stands before you with a confused frown on his face. Is he supposed to comfort you? His heart has been tugged around like a dog on a leash all evening long, he’s nearing the end of his rope. All he has left to give you is his honestly. All he has left is his love.

But something’s wrong. So wrong that Jaehyun, the most emotionally unintelligent and unaware person you know, notices.

“I— I can’t do it again.” You sob into your hand and Jaehyun quickly attempts to reassure you. He feels a sweeping sense of relief, he still has you.

“Baby, it won’t. I will never cheat on you again.” Jaehyun says with as much sincerity as he can physically muster.

His obliviousness makes you cry harder, shaking your head and directing your teary eyes to his.

“No, Jaehyun. I can’t.” You blink tears out of your eyes and swallow your sobs as confusion paints over his features again.

“I don’t get it.” He says plainly and you frown, taking a shaky deep breath in and out.

“We aren’t getting back together. I’m sorry.” You say before brushing your shoulder past Jaehyun, leaving him speechless in the front lawn alone to run indoors.

Jaehyun feels like he just got the wind knocked out of him as he stands, speechless and unmoving. Each inhale he takes feels more and more shallow, a dry cough escaping his throat. He has to remind himself to blink, counting his breaths as he inhales and exhales rhythmically.

Slowly, Jaehyun trails his gaze up to the full moon shining bright above. It was a full moon the night you first left him too, he remembers.

Unlike last time, though, all Jaehyun does is stare. He doesn’t scream, he doesn’t beg, he doesn’t plead for answers. He just stares.

Just like before, Jaehyun stands with the midnight breeze and the bright full moon. Alone, devastated, confused.

Right where you left him.

a/n: i know you want me to talk about the twist ending but i want to talk about how much i love all you readers <3. this is my first and only fic to ever have a consistently interested reader base. like i have people coming into my inbox with theories. theories!!! y’all are paying THAT much attention? man that means the world to me fr. thank you so much for loving ihth and i hope this fic did it justice, you waited a long time for it.

taglist: (if you responded to in hell there’s heaven i added you<3) @matchahyuck @maliakealoha @the-universe-in-you-jjh @yutanology @peachy-hoya @jinniect @cocopuffcrunch @mint-yooxgi @yuskitty @methneo @lovesuhng @sadchonkks @silcry @cryingforjae @soobsfairy444 @wife-of-tyler

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

i'm outta my head over you Pt. 6

prologue (Pt. 1) | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5 | AO3 | playlist

ok, i really love this one; i hope you guys do too!

today's @steddie-week prompts are: together and Hold the Line - TOTO

C’mon, Munson, get your shit together. You’re the music guy here!’ He tells himself. Okay yeah, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean he’s great about expressing feelings. ‘ That’s what the music’s for, dumbass. ’

Eddie spends the rest of the night and into the next morning pouring over what other songs he could add to the B side of Steve’s tape (and what songs he’s gonna use for the Party Tape…he’s gotta have a blank tape around here somewhere…).

He has a couple contenders, he just doesn’t quite know how they fit yet. Steve had a reason or an explanation for each song on his side, so Eddie wants to do the same. Only problem is that the songs that already do remind him of Steve, are ones Steve’s already put onto the A side.

Fuck, has he been telling him his feelings all this time? The first half of Steve’s side of the tape were his go-to songs whenever they’ve hung out together, while Eddie was recovering at his house.

He goes to sleep that morning with a handful of possibilities, but nothing concrete, then is awoken just before lunch by his phone ringing. 

“Shit,” Eddie hops up groggy and disoriented with sleep, but scrabbles down the hall to the phone so Wayne doesn’t wake up.

“Munson residence, the fuck d’ya want?”

“Eddie! Ste– Ok, rude.”

“Rob? What’s up, Birdie?” Eddie scrubs his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Steve’s coming back a day early!” Eddie’s hand freezes. “Do you have the tape done??”

“N-no, no I only have three fuckin songs on it! Damn it, I thought you said he was coming back tomorrow!”

“Hence the call telling you he’s coming back early. He’s landing in Indy at noon, will be here by 3, and somehow Dustin’s already found out so now I’m roping you into ferrying Steve’s children to the arcade with us after he’s back.”

“Hey, they’re my children too!” Wait, what? “Wait, I didn’t say that. Why’d I say that? I don’t even want kids.”

“Nope, too bad. You already said it. You and Steve have joint custody of the shitheads.”

“We’re divorced now?”

“You were married in the first place?” Robin snarks back then mumbles, “Didn’t I just have this conversation?”

“What?”

“Nothing. You coming with or what?”

“No, Buck, I gotta finish his tape now!”

“Too bad, you’re coming. And I’m going to tell Henderson you are so he won’t let you back out.”

“Robin don’t you dare-”

What is with her and hanging up on him??

He’d just gotten back to his bedroom door when the phone rings again. Just barely stopping himself from screaming, he goes back to the handset.

“Hello..?”

“Dude. Would it kill you to sound excited?.”

“Henderson, your sarcasm is not appreciated this early in the morning. And why would I be excited about being volun told to pickup you hellions for the arcade?”

“‘Cause you like spending time with your friends, maybe? Now, do you and Max wanna come pick up me and Lucas? Steve will pick up Will and El at theirs, and pick up Robin and Mike on his way.”

“Sounds like you’ve already got everything planned out, Dusty.”

“Your exasperation is not appreciated this late in the morning.”

“...I don’t have to come, you know.”

“But you know you wanna.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. See you at 2:30.”

Just once , Eddie’d like to be the one hanging up on someone else.

Whatever. Looks like he’s got plans this afternoon.

Eddie looks at the clock on the wall above the fridge. Four hours. Now, does he nap, or does he eat and start getting ready?

They’ll probably grab pizza while they’re at the arcade…nap it is.

Eddie wanders back to his room and is out as soon as his head hits his pillow.

—

Miraculously, he wakes up exactly two and half hours later; just enough time for a shower and to get ready before picking up his half the goblins.

He showers, scrunches a majority of the water out of his curls (Steve’d shown him that little trick, would start on about “Eddie, we went over this! You gotta take care of your curls!" and, "They’re so gorgeous and you’re soooo handsome and hot and I totally wanna pull that hair when I fuc—” OKAY maybe that last part was just wishful thinking, but Steve’d definitely have a conniption if he shows up today with flat hair), and gets dressed.

From the extra spluttering their feeble A/C is doing, and the not-at-all refreshing breeze that crawls through his window when opened, Eddie can confirm that it’s definitely too fuckin’ hot out.

He pulls on his most ripped, well loved pair of black jeans, the holes in the knees long since flayed mid-thigh to mid-shin, a sleeveless cropped Metallica shirt, and his vest.

Grabbing up his rings and chain, he leaves a note for Wayne as to where he’s gone, slides his feet into his reeboks, and heads out the door, keys in hand.

He’s just got the back end of his chain hooked around his hip when he makes it to Max’s door.

“Y’ready Red?”

“Just a minute! It’s unlocked!” she calls back through the door (and slightly cracked window over her sink)

“Need any help?” he asks, closing the front door behind him.

“Nope, just gotta get my other shoe on and I’ll be good. Did you bring the van over?”

“I…did not. That’d probably be a good idea, huh?”

Whoops. He spins back around and jogs back across the street to hop in his van. By time he’s parked outside the Mayfield trailer, Max is hopping her wheels over the threshold onto the tiny step outside the door.

“Whatcha want me to do?” He’d learned real quick not to just start doing things for her, no matter how much he assumes they’d help. Max did not like anyone thinking they have to help her with every little thing, so now they all make sure to ask what it is she’d like them to help with before doing it.

“I just need to lock the door and you can help me into the van. You’ll probably have to come back for the chair though.”

“Of course, your highness.” he gives her a low bow while she locks her front door. “Your hand please, m’lady.” 

She rolls her eyes, but takes his hand. 

Max is able to walk across flat areas pretty well and for an OK amount of distance before getting too tired, but the breaks to her leg really did a number on her. 

She’s got steel pins all through her leg, and has just gotten out of her cast so she wants (and needs) to walk more often to get her strength back up, but has her chair to get around much easier.

So until she gets stronger, she needs help going up and down stairs, and will need help getting up into Eddie’s van, but should be okay for a while once at the arcade.

Once she’s settled, Eddie goes back for her chair, loads it into the back of his van, and they’re off to Henderson’s.

He and Lucas are already waiting out front when he pulls up.

“About time.”

“Dustin. It’s literally 2:31. Calm the fuck down.”

“You guys better get all your swearing out before you see Steve again, you know he’ll go all mom on you.” Lucas laughs. “Here, I’ll start. Hey Max, how the fuck are ya?”

They’re all in so Eddie starts off towards the arcade.

“Hey, show some fuckin’ respect for your mother, Sinclair.”

“Shit Eddie, didn’t know you were our goddamn father.”

“Of course he didn’t fuckin know, Steve hasn’t gotten his shit together enough to propose.”

“Damn, alright, calm down”

“Don’t fuckin’ tell me to calm down! I swear, I’ll put my foot straight up your ass.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuckfuckfuck.”

All four bust out laughing at that, not quite able to catch their breath before one of them is saying some random curse. 

They’re all red in the face from laughing so hard by time they pull into the parking lot between Steve’s beemer and Nancy’s station wagon.

Dustin runs in immediately after the van stops, and Eddie slyly leaves his keys with Lucas so he can lock up after helping Max, heading inside himself

Now, up until the exact moment he saw Steve (2 whole seconds ago), Eddie thought he was taking the whole “Steve Harrington has big sappy feelings for you” thing really well. Perfectly, in fact! 

No freak out, no huge feelings of doubt, just full focus on ‘responding’ to him.

But now, seeing him again after finding this out…It’s a wonder he doesn’t collapse. 

This beautiful, perfect, amazing man standing in front of a whole herd of teens (two of whom are at eye level or taller than he is now) with a scolding glare, hands on his hips, and flanked by the two most badass ladies he knows…wants him.

Eddie Munson.

It still doesn’t seem real.

Eddie immediately wants to be simultaneously on the other side of the planet, and wedged so close to him that they’re basically the same person.

“Pizza in an hour and a half!” Steve yells after the herd as they disperse. Even Robin and Nancy head off toward the skee-ball machines.

“You okay big boy? You look like that trip took a lot outta you.” 

‘Wow, nice one. You just got here and you’re asking him why he looks gross? Great job, Doofus.’ Why does his inner voice sound like Robin?

He looks over, and Eddie sees his face light up. “Eddie!” he breathes, pulling him into a tight hug.

Steve lets him go, and reaches up to rake through his travel-mussed hair. “And yeah, it was fine, always nice to see my grandparents.”

“Yeah, Robin mentioned you needing to go over their will or something? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, they’re—“ he cuts himself off with a half-hearted chuckle, “They wanted to meet with my parents and I to let them know that their estate is being split 50/50 between us when they pass. Like, half to me and half to both of them.”

“Damn. It’s nice to know I’m marrying into money.” Eddie jokes, leaning into Steve’s side to whisper: “Max spilled your secret on the way here; I promise to act surprised when you finally get the guts to propose.” he whispers with a wink.

Steve’s face turns bright red, but he smiles all goofy. Fuck, he’s cute.

“Aw shit, I really wanted it to be a surprise.” He says, his voice getting gravelly with how low he’s speaking. 

It most definitely does not make Eddie flush red himself, nor do his jeans start feeling tighter, thank you.

Steve gently pushes Eddie back, his hand lingering on the back of his arm a moment too long before his fingers trail down and off his elbow. He starts again, back at a normal volume. “But yeah, Richard and Denise were not happy; I was surprised, though. I’m really appreciative that my grandparents would do that for me.”

“Okay, so it was good news! Why the…” Eddie gestures to all of him. “…glum.”

“It was just the plane ride man, I flew from Cali to Indy with a screaming baby next to me. It was hell let me tell you.”

“I bet.” Eddie winces.

“Plus, Robin stole my favorite tape while I was gone so I couldn't even listen to it on the way here. And that’s been like, the soundtrack to my life lately. Felt weird coming home and then not having it in my car already.” he shakes his head “I dunno, it's dumb, but they are my favorite songs.”

“I know what you mean,” Eddie nods, his heart in his throat. “Can't you just like, go get it back from her house?”

“She’s ‘gotta find it’.” He sighs, throwing up air quotes around Robin’s flimsy excuse. “Which for her, is code for ‘I lost it.’. It's no big deal though, it’s just music.”

“Nah man, music is important, you can communicate a lot with it.”

Steve just shrugs again, a good ol’ ‘What can ya do?’ , so Eddie pats Steve’s shoulder sympathetically and walks over to the far wall of machines. He leans up against the one that Max is bashing away at and looks around the side, like he’s watching what she’s doing.

“What’re you doing over here? You’re not gonna beat my score, Munson.” she snarks from her perch on one of the arcade’s few padded stools.

“Huh?” He looks at the cabinet. Dig Dug. “Oh. Wouldn’t dream of it, Mad Max, just came over to try and look cool, scope out the scene,” ‘Scope out the scene’?? WHO ARE YOU?? “Don’t mind me.”

She just rolls her eyes, “For some reason, Steve already thinks you’re like the coolest guy in the world. You don’t need to fake it.”

Eddie blinks down at her. “OK, seriously, how do you know so much?”

“I dunno; something about losing one of my senses? Or maybe my brush with death left me wise beyond my years…” she sighs wistfully.

He snorts, “Oh yeah? Then I should be way smarter.”

“Yeah, you should be.” She fights to keep a straight face after that one. Damn that was slick.

“Good one, Red.” he pats her once on the shoulder, then goes back to watching her play. It’s actually pretty impressive being that she’s got brand new coke-bottle glasses she should be wearing.

“I’m not gonna wear ‘em. I look like a doofus when I do.”

“Aw, I thought you just said I was cool!” he pouts.

Her mouth twitches up at that. “No, I said Steve thinks you’re cool. I think you’re a Doofus.”

“Exactly! And if the big man himself thinks I’m cool, then you’d definitely be cool.” He leans in and looks around conspiratorially, “and I have it on good authority that the rest of these goblins think whatever he thinks is cool, is cool too.”

She smiles, and her game bleeps to an end. “Yeah, they all do think he’s like, the greatest ever.”

“And you don’t?”

Her face blushes a soft pink. “Shut up, Munson. How do you know so much?”

He stands up straight and grabs hold of his vest lapels like some stuffy professor. “I’m smart ‘cause I died,” he says in a haughty tone “...or something.”

A couple of unhinged barks of laughter burst out of her. “I’m gonna go with ‘or something’.”

Eddie spends the next hour trying to mess up the other shitheads’ games. 

Smack a wrong button here, a poke under Dustin’s armpit there, general fuckery. 

And every time he and Steve pass one another, there’s some sort of touch. 

He didn’t notice it the first time, thinking Steve really did need to hold onto him while passing behind him. A classic midwestern “Ope, lemme just sneak by ya” just to get close to him.

When he looked back, there was no one at the cabinet behind him.

So Eddie gave it back tenfold the next time he encountered the party’s beloved babysitter.

Walked behind him on his way to where Mike and Lucas were now trying their hand at DigDug, and gently squeezed his hip.

Steve jumped about five feet, but it was worth it when Steve came up to his side later and wrapped his arm around Eddie’s lower back, settling his large palm briefly on the exposed skin of his hip and stomach where it peeked out from under the cropped shirt.

Eddie immediately felt the need to pull his hair up; Fuck is it hot in here?

Bun secured, and Steve gone off to bother Robin and Nancy at the air hockey table, Eddie knew what he was going to do next. 

He left Wheeler and Sinclair to continue to lose to Max, heading toward the water fountain. 

Steve’s standing with his back to Eddie’s path so when he passes, it’s just too easy to reach out, grab a lock of hair, and pull .

He’s rewarded with the sound of a poorly muffled moan (that he’ll be thinking about forever, thanks), and Steve is gifted an unobstructed view of his ass while he bends over to get a drink.

Eddie stands when he hears Steve’s panicked “Robin, can I talk to you a second?”

He comes back to take Robin’s place next to Nancy where they’d been playing two on one with Steve.

After a beat, Nancy says, “I hope you’re ready to have Robin as a permanent third wheel.” She’s still looking forward at the other end of the table.

Hah! That’s hilarious. “Won’t be as bad since you’re the fourth.” Eddie shrugs, then puts his fist out towards her, also looking off to where he can see Steve panicking at Robin.

Nancy’s knuckles knock into his, and he’s never felt closer to anyone in his life.

Only one half of the Harrington-Buckley twins come back, coming up to her girlfriend and linking their fingers behind the folds of Nancy’s skirt.

“Mama Harrington is getting the pizzas now; we’ll go get some tables pushed together, will you herd the cattle?”

“I feel like they’re more like cats. Especially that Max one, she’s got her claws out like, all the time.” Eddie says, half over his shoulder, as he heads off, hunting down the gremlins.

Mike and the elder Sinclair are still nowhere near Max’s high score, Dustin’s getting berated by baby Sinclair over how bad he’s doing at Donkey Kong, Will and El are together at the Polybius cabinet, Max in her chair now at El’s side.

‘ That’s all of them right? ’ Eddie counts them in his head while he looks around. Yep, that’s all of them.

He heads back to the little arcade pizzeria area, freezing in his tracks as he rounds the corner into the open arched doorway.

Every little thing he’s ever noticed about Steve Harrington over the last however many years feels like they’ve just been building to this moment.

Every damn day spent thinking he was the most beautiful person to ever grace the halls of Hawkins High (he is), every story he never believed about how badass he was from the mouth of his oldest adopted kid, every moment he spent shielding each of these people that have become so beloved in Eddie’s life.

Every painful scar, every dreadful day spent healing with Steve at his side, every. Single. Thing. Has built up to this one.

The most mundane of them all. 

The nine most important people in his life, the biggest family he never wanted but now can’t even think about a life without them, sitting around three tiny tables and clamoring over one another for a slice of the pizzas in the middle of them all, being hovered over by Steeeeeve Harrington.

“Careful Mike, don’t put your elbow in Dustin’s face! That thing’s sharp…Max, do you want me to grab you some? What kind do you want? No, Ellie, sweetie, I’ll hand it to her, no powers needed today, okay? Will, which pop do you want, bud, you gotta speak up so Dustin doesn’t drink all the Vernors. Lucas, will you grab some more napkins—no arguments you little shits, everyone needs napkins. Erica, are you good? Okay, good. Ed—where’s Eddie, he needs to eat too…”

Oh.

Oh.

Part 7 here!

yes, i did have the wonder twins playing Polybius.

also, mayfield/munson sibling vibes are so important to meeeeee.

also also, i love max getting adopted by steddie just as much as dustin BUT you cannot tell me she doesn't also have just a lil' crush on steeb.

tagging the lovelies: @hellomynameismoo, @messrs-weasley, and @manda-panda-monium

[aleniksimmer]

Miraculous the movie

Final thoughts:

-if you watch it alone without any prior knowledge of Miraculous it feels extremely random, the characters are flat, the powers blurry, their objectives kinda lost in the songs, which are there but don't really clear the situation or move the plot forward

-if you watch it knowing the show it does make even less sense, the powers are completely fucked up, sometimes the suits protect them, sometimes not, the characters feel a very faded copy of what they're supposed to be and most of the times the plot doesn't plot, things just happen cause it's fanservice and "a laugh for the kids", it really feels like a fanfiction in which the author was focused in a couple of scenes and then tried to connect them together even if they don't work. Conflicts starts and are closed at random, there's zero build up, as I said before it all feels like it happens because the "author" wanted it to happen but not because the story makes sense developing in that way through the characters (as it should be with a well written story)

In the end, I enjoyed some visuals, I enjoyed some 3d models, but in general it's not something I would want to watch again, it feels uneventful and it does feel like you just have to be a casual/passive spectator. There's no foreshadowing, no messages between the lines. They tried to make the line "save a life, save the world" meaningful but it really gave nothing.

Last very personal opinion, as a hardcore fan of Frozen movies and shorts, it feels like the animations/camera angles/songs were heavily inspired by that and classic Disney in general instead of focusing on the canon material. I get they wanted to retell the story in a shorter format but it didn't quite deliver the intended result for the mentioned reasons.

Spoilers

So I finally decided to watch the movie cause I need something lighthearted rn, and a few seconds in I'm hating how they are presenting the miraculouses "they were only given to heroes but the butterfly is the most evil one cause evil butterfly ohhhhh" like the fuck did you just smoke Fu? Seems like Zag didn't really watched the show and had this vague idea that the butterfly miraculous is EvIL. It would be a long watch. I will edit this post each time I have to say something.

-

I'm a DIE HARD fan of musicals, like half of my songs on Spotify are from musicals, I have playlists of Disney songs. But this?? Seems Zag watched more Anna from Frozen than the actual show. I know Mari was very insecure in the beginning, but this is all over the place, and the dialogues, they are so detached (and I don't want to shit on the animation, but for fuck sake she wants to be a fashion designer, her whole room is pink, her sketches are colorful but the best she can imagine is a gray smoking and a white dress?? Not even a hint of color?? And she stops in front of a white dress?? For frick sake she's Marinette not "I love a sterile environment with bland people" Gabriel Agreste). And I'm 5 minute in. God save me

-

At least I can relate to the flute scene. What a vile instrument c_c

-

Ahh I don't know how to feel about them using that tune and those scenes that resemble so much the parts of the show that make you heart skip a bit in a context that feels so less deep. I think I'm missing the build up to the crucial point.

-

The long hair?? Gabe with the long hair?? I'm crying 😂😂

-

Oh come ooooonnnn. They give Nooroo a fuking bad reputation like this. And it doesn't make any sense design wise. If the butterfly is the worst of the worst why does it have a random place in the circle of secondary miraculouses. I hate it.

-

And now the jewels fly. Okay. OK. I need to forget about the show.

-

Ok. Now I'm 100% certain that Fu is high on something.

-

No Tikki, the butterfly is lost due to Fu and you perfectly know what it is capable of? Otherwise you wouldn't call it the eViLlllll.

-

So, what did we learn today. The gargoyle is there to do nothing, no objective, no plan, no correlation between the emotion and the akumatized result. Gabe should want their miraculouses but apparently the akuma is just trying to play with them through the city? Why sneaking behind? Why attacking CN at random and then going around? Why staying in Notre Dame and just make noise in the beginning? Second, the yoyo is doing all the work, God forbid Mari learns how to use it. Just make the yoyo do the job and LB is just there like a sack of potatoes. Everything is so random.

-

Who needs heroes when you can crush the akumatized person with a train, right?? Also that poor akuma got fried to death just to make the batman symbol.

-

He keeps making fun of her, treat her like an inferior but he's in love?? I'm face palming hard right now. Also, a fucking God of destruction apparently has a digestive system he can't control. Nice. Really really nice. So funny. Ha ha. 😑

-

He really went for that disney villain vibe..

-

I NEED a figurine of them on the moon.

-

I am weak for Ladynoir, ok? Ok. Don't care much about the song but how they interact now it's adorable. They're dancing. My poor heart. 😭

-

Really, hawkmoth decided to become batman.

-

And now he's a Jedi, ladies and gentlemen!

-

Oh, the flying superman shot was really missing now.

-

Physically and canonically everything doesn't make any sense but okay. God feels like a fanfiction.

-

Show Gabe would have laughed maniacally and grabbed that ring without any second thought. Oh well.. This is anticlimactic.

-

So.. Are we finally going to see a lucky charm at the end of the movie ooooor... Nope, just some dust and Elsa building skills.

-

NOT EVEN THE KISS??? YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE US THE KISS??? YOU REALLY WANT TO MAKE A SEQUEL OF THIS?? Like what, Mayura and the other 3 heroes? Oh for God sake. I would prefer this investment in the quality of the show animation than in this.

[ryusaidate]

posting a bunch of song thoughts because 50% of the way i do fandom is by thinking too hard about blorbo from my shows while listening to the same ten songs over and over.

kind of want to make a saidate playlist but my taste in music means it will just be the most "no children + kiss with a fist" playlist ever conceived. also the dismemberment song lives in that part of my brain but it's entirely because of "i've got no angel to keep me in line / so i'm taking your narrative and i'm making it mine" (aiba is the angel) (do you get it. do you g

ryusaito playlist... yeah :) fun fact only like half of these are songs i regularly listened to before and the other half are from me beating the shit out of the 'refresh recommended songs' button until it started giving me the vibe i actually wanted

i was flip flopping on adding pygmalion but then i was like "i have at least one song on here that if pressed i would defend with 'i need it on all my playlists for emotional support'" so i added it. "you covet her warmth like a wolf at a corpse, so it's fair to assume your intent's to consume her (and she lets you feed, 'cause her love's in need)" is the most lyric ever written. honestly tsj has a bunch of really good ones i might go over their discography and add a couple more

i'm slightly embarrassed having that many mitski songs on there especially one of the super popular ones but it's not my fault she simply understands the human experience. "you'd learned from movies how love ought to be, and you'd say you love me and look in my eyes, but i know, through mine, you were looking in yours" makes me sooo. AND DID YOU KNOW THE LIBERTY BELL IS A REPLICA, SILENTLY H- Oh speaking of mitski and also post anni: should've been me.

"when i saw the girl looked just like me, i thought 'must be lonely loving someone tryna find their way out of a maze'" "i'm sorry, it should've been me" You Know.??

and to finish the thought, hypothetical ryudate playlist:

mr bright side + whichever song named 'i wish you were a girl' is funniest. (sorry. my second actual song pick is against the kitchen floor. mr bright side is real though)

or my even worse idea, post-post annihilation: a pearl + song for a guilty sadist

[kiwichaeng]

I'm sorry it took me a while to get to this but I wanted to take my time to articulate my thoughts on them because there are A Lot Of Thoughts. Fair warning this will be long so it's under the cut

I'll start with Alice! I was really into The Mortal Instruments book series for quite some time as well as all the other books in the shadowhunter chronicles. There's this couple in there Malec (Magnus and Alec) and one day I thought "hey what if I gave them another kid" thus Alice was born. (I will try to explain book canon events as best as I can going forward)

Alice Solaria Lightwood-Bane (she/they) was orphaned during a canon war in the books (The very last one in the dark artifices if anyone knows what I'm talking about) and taken in by Alec and Magnus Lightwood-Bane (in my defence, they were collecting babies like Pokémons) She belonged to a prominent shadowhunter family and was kinda the only one left of her line. They were six btw. They were born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on a farm that had been in the family for generations. She still visits every winter as a tradition.

Alice goes on to become a centurion (a shadowhunter scholar basically) and has a tendency to get too attached sometimes to the cases she's assigned. Her preferred weapons are her trusty twin daggers.

They're really close to her family, loves to read and can play the guitar and piano. Alice's a pretty decent cook but has recently taken up baking and is enjoying that far more. A pretty good artist too actually. She's a cat person through and through and right now has both a cat and dog (we'll get into this in a sec). She pretty much keeps to themselves most of the time but isn't one to take anyone's shit. They also have one (1) friend group they are emotionally attached to. You'll have to drag those people away from each other with a crowbar. (More on the friend group in a sec too!) One of their favourite things to indulge in is fashion and mixing and matching outfits.

She loves so fiercely and cares deeply. Every single person who's ever touched their life has a special place in their heart that's not going to change. Alice isn't the best at getting over people and will always have a door open for them. Unless you really did something. Then they're holding that grudge forever. There's a reason Alice can relate to Poison Poison by Reneé Rapp

Alice is also one stubborn bitch /affectionate. Headstrong, perfectionist with a tendency to use her words more sharply than knives. Probably has an anxiety disorder but they'll admit to something being wrong with them on their death bed. Extremely curious individual but doesn't always know where to stop.

Here's my Pinterest board for Alice, a song from my Alice playlist

and the moodboard

Okay let's get into Olivia! Olivia kind of just happened. I was shaping Alice in my head when I started to imagine someone with them. A friend first and then more later. Pretty soon I was looking at Olivia and I absolutely loved her.

Olivia Stormrose (she/her) is half fae half shadowhunter which was quite controversial, mostly because of the timing. She spent the first few years of her life in the faerie realm with her faerie father but then because of events that took place the relationship between Shadowhunters and faeries declined BADLY. Like, fuck you, don't talk to us ever again, badly. Olivia's mother (shadowhunter) wanted her daughter to be with her because she knew if it didn't happen now she would never get to see her daughter again. So yeah it was controversial as hell because "we just said we hate faeries and are not gonna have relations with them WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT COME FROM" it was not good! But! Legally there wasn't anything wrong (she was conceived before relationships soured) so she got to stay! Did people like it? No her life in the academy was absolutely miserable for the most part.

There's an academy where shadowhunter children go to and learn how to be a Shadowhunter. It's optional (at least that's what I remember) and many children are trained by their Shadowhunter families instead. Both Alice and Olivia went, which is where they properly meet for the first time. They're assigned to be roommates! Or rather, Alice is the first person who doesn't mind sharing her room with a half-faerie after a long list of kids who refused. They become friends fast and their friendship is the only highlight of Olivia's time there. Olivia also gets to meet Alice's Shadowhunter friends Safah and Zach and they all form a nice group.

Olivia's in the academy when her mom dies; a demon hunt gone wrong. She's 15. Instead of facing living in institutes (Shadowhunter headquarters sort of) she gets herself into the scholomance (school to become centurions). She keeps her head down and gets herself through.

Alice and Olivia are nineteen when they stop tiptoeing the line of friends-maybe more and a drunken night leads to finally getting together for good 🩷

Olivia is an amazing cook, loves collecting vinyls and cassettes, has a soft spot for cheesy queer romance novels and horror movies, a total dog person. There's a reason Alice and Olivia have both a dog and cat. Olivia is not the best socially and inadvertently hurts people sometimes but she's working on it! She loves to dye her hair from time to time (her hair is crying) and researching obscure topics. Oh and an obscene amount of coffee. Alice and Olivia's kitchen is a constant battlefield with tea on one side and coffee on the other

She holds herself at a distance from everyone and can come across as off-putting at times. There are very few people who have managed to scale the mile high walls around her. Olivia has a tendency to shut everyone else out. She tends to put up extremely high standards for herself and will do anything to get to them

As she grows up, Olivia learns things about her family and her mother that makes her question her entire childhood. A discovery changes everything she ever knew about her childhood. I'm still figuring out the minor details and am hesitant to share more for now.

Here's the Pinterest board , a song from her playlist,

And the moodboard!

I'm gonna talk a bit about these two together! They're really good for each other and my favourite thing is that they are best friends first and foremost. They love each other so much I get happy thinking about them 🩷. Absolutely will tear the world down for each other :)

One of my favourite things ever is to put them into different universes and play with them. My most loved universe is the one where Alice is a Shadowhunter and Olivia is a mundane (a normal human). Shadowhunters and mundanes cannot be together unless the mundane becomes a Shadowhunter (an extremely difficult process that the mundane may not even survive) or the Shadowhunter gives up Shadowhunting (has their powers stripped, lose all contact to their Shadowhunter family, extremely painful). I love putting them in pain basically. They're my babies

Anyway check out the moodbaord I made for that specific universe

Obviously this isn't the only universe but we would be here all day if I started going into those.

Right, friend group! Zach, Aaron, Trixie and Safah. They all came to me one by one and I fell in love with them. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because this is Very Long. In the traditional Shadowhunter au, Safah and Zach are Shadowhunters while Trixie and Aaron are werewolves. They're all really close and adopted Olivia into the group.

Trix and Alice bond through TV shows and moves. Safah, Alice and Zach are always discovering new restaurants together where all of them go together later. Aaron and Alice are artists. Olivia and Zach bake together all the time. Trix got Olivia into running and now it's their thing together. Together, they will have group hangs as often as they can and as they grew up they became a monthly thing when they would all get together

I can go into more details but this is so fucking long I will not blame you for not reading most of it. This is definitely more than you bargained for but like...these are my children who I love more than anything so...

Bye!

current hyperfixation?

Oh wow okay! Do my own OCs count? Because I've been thinking about Alice and Olivia A Lot. Been writing for them too which I've been too hesitant to do. Nothing substantial because I don't really have the time for that and I need to finish my Lone Star fic before I do any other writing but yeah I'm gonna go with my OCs for now!

[bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky]

Scotty Doesn't Know | Bucky Barnes x Reader

Hi, friends! Okay so this fic isn't smutty at all like the song would lead you to believe, but I'm including the song because it absolutely slaps.

Send me your comments, suggestions, and/ or requests!

Tag list: @beefybuckrrito @shadytalementality @everything-burns-down @rainbow-unicorn-pony @mandersshow @breakablebarnes @glxwingrxse @psychoticmason @deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy @lonewolf471 @dreamerglassesgirl

Bucky let out an exasperated sigh and collapsed back into his chair, taking a sip of his beer while Sam took his turn at the pool table. Their conversation seemed to be going in relentless circles, much to Sam's annoyance,

"Come on, Buck. Seriously, give me one actual reason why you shouldn't do it..." Bucky hemmed and hawed as he thought over the long list of reasons in his mind, wondering which to present to Sam first.

"She's so young..." he groaned, taking another long swig of his beer.

Sam scoffed at Bucky's words, taking another shot at the striped billiard balls, "She's twenty nine! She's not so young- you’re just so old. And do you really think you're gonna find anyone in your age group? No. Next bullshit reason?"

Bucky huffed at Sam and rolled his eyes, garnering a sarcastic shrug from his best friend. The only sound in the room was the cracking of billiard balls crashing into each other as Sam made quick work of the table. "Okay, how about this," Bucky began, "she blipped- I'm sure she's still trying to recover from all of that".

Sam dropped his pool cue in protest, "Dude- you blipped. I blipped. Half the world blipped! Not a good excuse. She's smart, she's funny, she's real cute- like really cute, and she clearly likes you! Come up with something else". He grabbed his cue from the floor and lined up his next shot, ready to take it just as Bucky spoke up with a very legitimate reason: "and she's Scott Lang's daughter".

Sam missed his shot completely, just like Bucky hoped he would. A quiet, "oh shit" was all Sam could manage to say as Bucky nodded emphatically at him. '"Wait, no- No, Cassie is Scott's daughter and she's like sixteen". Bucky finished off his beer and cracked another one, knowing full well the alcohol would have zero effect on him.

"Right, but he has another daughter. She's Cassie's older half-sister...showed up after the blip to reconnect with her dad. She has a different last name, so I didn't realize they were related until-".

"Until you'd already fallen for her..." Sam said. He cringed a little at the thought of Bucky trying to date the daughter of a fellow team member, but didn't completely hate the idea. "Okay, well, you have feelings for her right?" he asked, prompting another strong nod from Bucky.

"We haven't spent that much time together, just a couple hours every week when she comes by to see her dad, but-I don't know, there's just something about her..." Bucky said, mostly to himself. Sam waved a hand at him, pulling him out of his daydreams of you and back into reality.

"Alright, then...I think you should do it. Ask her out. It's not like Lang can kick your ass..." he joked. Bucky doubled over with laughter until he remembered that Scott could be as tall as a skyscraper if he wanted- that's when the laughter ceased completely.

"Shiiiiiiit, you're right", Sam said with wide eyes. The pair was quiet for a moment as they remembered Scott becoming a giant before their eyes during the fight in Germany.

"Well, I guess...Scott doesn't have to know," Sam eventually muttered, making Bucky's eye snap to meet his. Bucky's protest died in his throat as Sam talked over him, "I know, I know- that's not how you did things back in the day. But it isn't 1942 anymore! You're both adults." Bucky knew that Sam made good points, but he still felt dirty going behind Scott's back. Just as he tried to protest, his phone buzzed with a text from you:

"I listened to that playlist you made me-loved it. You got good taste, Barnes :)"

The dopey smile plastered across Bucky's face made it obvious to Sam that it was you texting him. "Just ask her out, dude. Seriously, you're little lovesick smile is gonna made me puke", Sam teased with a smirk. Bucky shot him an eye roll and gave him a very shiny middle finger as he quickly strode out of the room to find somewhere quiet. Back in his room, he pressed the call button on your number and heard the phone ring only once before you answered.

"Hey- uh, Hi…” Bucky's words fell clumsily from his lips as he prepared to ask out a woman for the first time in over seventy years, "I'm glad you liked the playlist, we should listen to it together some time...after I buy you dinner?" He heard a little squeal from your end of the phone before you cleared your throat and told him you'd love to go out with him. Just as the two of you were about to hand up, you heard Bucky desperately telling you to "wait, wait, wait".

"Yeah, Barnes?" , you waited for him to explain until you eventually heard a groan. Through gritted teeth, Bucky asked you a favor: "Please don't tell your dad". His words made you feel like a teenager sneaking around behind her parents' backs, dating the school bad boy in secret. Bucky's worry was assuaged just a bit as you promised to keep your date a secret. He told you he'd pick you up at your place at seven the following night before hanging up and whispering a victorious "yesss" to himself.

The day couldn't pass quickly enough. Every time you checked the clock, it seemed as though time were actually standing still. Bucky was going to be at your apartment in six hours, but you couldn't stand to wait any longer. Bucky Barnes was everything you wanted in a man: sweet, funny, smart, and so hot that you wondered if him asking you out was a prank. As the hours slowly passed, you took a shower, dried your hair, painted your nails, and eventually did your make up before slipping into the short but sweet sundress you'd chosen for your date.

The loud, metallic sound of Bucky's vibranium hand knocking against your front door boomed through your apartment. If there was one thing Bucky wasn't, it was subtle. When you pulled open the door, Bucky's jaw dropped. He took you in slowly, his eyes raking over you from head to toe as though you were the most beautiful mirage in the world's most miserable desert. He stood before you in tight, dark wash jeans, a tight black t-shirt that left nothing to the imagination, his trusty black leather jacket, and black motorcycle boots. "Hi..." he finally said, a sweet smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Hi" you giggled back at him.

"You look...wow, you look incredible," he gushed, making your cheeks burn, "oh, these are for you". His sharp features and deep blue eyes had kept you so distracted that you didn't even notice the bouquet of violets in his right hand. With a gasp, you took the flowers from his grasp and admired them carefully, your heart melting at the gesture.

"I know you said you like purple, and-I mean, I don't think flowers can get more purple than a violet so...do you like them?" he was clearly nervous and hoped desperately that he hadn't made a big mistake by not giving you roses instead. "I love them...they're perfect. Thank you, Buck," you gave his cheek a light peck and quickly headed back inside to put your flowers in a vase. Bucky remained in the hallway, frozen completely as his brain struggled to process the fact that you'd just kissed him on the cheek.

As you made your way back into the hallway, Bucky cleared his throat and tried to play it cool, "Ready to go?" With a nod, you shut the door behind you, turning away from Bucky to lock it, internally freaking out as you did so. He said you looked incredible- Bucky Barnes thought you looked incredible. And he brought you flowers. Quickly, you composed yourself and turned back to Bucky, your cheeks beginning to ache from how hard you were smiling.

He was a perfect gentleman, opening your car door for you, pushing in your chair at the restaurant, and letting you order first. He asked question after question about you and your life, listening intently to your answers and wanting to know everything about you. The way you smiled at him made him melt completely, and he swore he'd be nothing but a puddle and a metal arm on the floor by the end of the night.

When you asked him about himself, he darkened just a bit, giving you the quick and dirty version of his life story- the parts he could remember, at least. He watched your eyes swim in deep pools of sympathy and understanding, your caring heart never once judging him for anything he'd done as the Winter Soldier. When he finished, you were eager to know about the other stuff. "What other stuff...?" he asked, taking a sip of his whiskey and searching your eyes for clarification.

"Well, you know, the other stuff. Your likes, your dislikes, your favorite ice cream- the other stuff. Don't get me wrong," you said, reaching out and placing your hand lightly on top of his, "I really appreciate you telling me everything about your past, and I'm glad you felt comfortable enough sharing that with me, but- you're more than that. There's more to you than Hydra and weapons and a metal arm." Bucky's expression softened as you spoke, and he let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He had no idea what to say to you- he didn't even know his favorite type of ice cream.

He grasped at the periphery of his mind, looking for anything he could possibly tell you- but he came up empty. The smile slipped from his lips and he sighed quietly, a small "sorry" tumbling out with it. Once again, your hand found his. He lit up at the sensation, feeling his heart warm as your stroked a finger across his knuckles.

"How about this: do you like animals?" you asked, and Bucky nodded. A smile curved his lips upward again and you watched him get lost in one of the few happy memories he had. When he finally spoke, his voiced dripped with a fondness for the past- for people and places he'd never see again, "There were a lot of stray cats in my neighborhood growing up- Steve, my sister, and I always used to feed 'em. Spent my whole allowance once just to buy kibble for them".

The man who sat before you was a six-foot-four, 220 pound wall of muscle, an ex- assassin super soldier who'd killed more people than you could even imagine- but he loved cats. People always misjudged Bucky based on how he looked or what he'd done under Hydra, but you'd always known that he was a good person with a kind heart. "That may just be the cutest thing I've ever heard in my almost thirty years of life", you shot him a wink and gave his hand a squeeze, shooting a jolt of electricity through him.

The two of you talked and talked until your waitress kindly mentioned that the restaurant was closing in five minutes. "Five minutes? It's only-" you glanced down at your phone and saw the time was 11:55, "oh holy shit, it's midnight". Bucky shook his head in disbelief until you showed him your phone, "oh- our bad. Sorry," he said to the waitress. She waved him off and eyed the unpaid check before walking away, definitely wishing the two of you hadn't been sat in her section.

"Damn, we're closing this place down", you joked as Bucky snaked the check out of your grasp, "woah, hey- who says you get to pay?" He chuckled as he pulled out his wallet and thumbed through his cash, pulling out the correct amount as well as a healthy tip to apologize to the waitress. "Says me, sweetheart" he said with a wink. He helped you up from your chair, and it was good that he did- him calling you 'sweetheart' was enough to make your knees buckle.

As the two of you walked back to the car, you snaked your hand into his and let your fingers weave in between his large, cold ones. "Well, thank you for dinner, Sarge", you teased, "you're such a gentleman". He chuckled when you used the nickname you'd given him, but his smile fell when he noticed you shiver. "Oh, hey- here, doll", before you could protest, he was slinging his warm, worn leather jacket around your shoulders and pulling it tightly to your body, protecting you from the late night chill, "Better?"

He gazed down into your eyes and waited for a confirmation, but you couldn't just say 'yes'. Pushing yourself up on your tiptoes, you met his lips with yours in a soft kiss full of adoration. He took your face between his hands and let his thumbs rest against your cheekbones as he deepened the kiss ever so slightly while your hands rested against his firm abdomen, tugging on his shirt to get him that much closer to you.

He only pulled away when you shivered again, and insisted he get you into the car so you wouldn't freeze to death. He opened the door for you and watched you slide into your seat, still in disbelief that someone as incredible as you had feelings for him. He joined you in the car and turned on the heat for you, making sure you were as comfortable as possible. "Oh, hey," Bucky said as he pulled out his phone, "I made you another playlist".

He didn't expect you to kiss him just because he made you another playlist, but he wasn't complaining. As the pulled away, he paired his phone to the bluetooth in his car like you showed him and hit play, letting the sounds of some classic 40's crooners fill the small space.

He held your hand the entire way home, lightly stroking your thumb with his in rhythm with the music. No part of you wanted him to drop you off, but you also knew he was way to old fashioned to come in for a "drink" after the first date. He escorted you upstairs to your apartment, and an obvious look of disappointment crossed his face when the two of you arrived at your door.

"I had the best time tonight, Barnes" you murmured as your hands rested against his chest. He smiled down at you and placed a soft kiss on your lips before whispering "I can guarantee I had a better time". He winked at you and you rolled your eyes, capturing your lips with his once again. He was hungry for you, dying to keep his lips against yours until the end of time- but he didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Slowly, he pulled away, chuckling at the whine that fell from your lips.

"You better call me, Barnes" you teased, knowing he'd probably call you the second he got back to the compound. As you fished in your purse for your keys, you became suddenly aware of the long, leather sleeves that hung past your fingers. "Oh, hey- your jacket", you began shimmying out of it until he stopped you, wrapping it around you and loving the way you looked in it. "Nah, keep it. Looks better on you anyway, doll", he kissed you to silence your protest and smiled against your lips when you pretended to be mad about it.

His lips felt so right against yours, like nothing in the world could ruin this perfect moment- except your dad's voice.

"HEY! BARNES! WHAT THE SHIT, MAN?!"

"Shitshitshit- you might wanna go", you told Bucky, pushing him toward the stairwell a few feet from your door. He couldn't resist giving you one last kiss before running for the stairs, yelling over his shoulder a promise to call you.

[sibsteria]

valentines [spn cast and characters]

summary: how much do they care for it? what do they do?

warning: fluff, smut-ish, my frazzled single brain

Cast:

Misha Collins:

• he won't admit that he kinda loves it

• he'd definitely cooks

• but always gets distracted

• by you

• if you have kids, they are away that night

• the traditional dinner doesn't last long before you're both attached by the lips

• whatever alcohol is being consumed has a cute romantic twist

• you're up all night

• so many hugs

---

Richard Speight Jr:

• he kind of cares for it

• like, a sweet gesture is as far as it goes

• a gift and a movie

• but also

• he so buys heart printed boxers to make you laugh

• and you do, you laugh so hard

• like, everything is so serious and going smoothly

• and his pants are off and just-

• absolute hilarity

---

Sebastian Roche:

• it's more of a 'if you do, he does' situation

• you'd bake together

• even though he's awful at it

• everything comes out half decent and edible

• he just wants a chill day

• hardly any movement and you don't leave the house

• I repeat

• don't

---

Rob Benedict:

• fucking cringy bitch, he likes it enough to make you blush all day

• writes a small song about you both

• obviously on an acoustic

• he recreates your first date because he's that guy

• meaningful gifts rather than expensive ones

• the affection king

---

Mark Pellegrino:

• he doesn't care for it but will do anything to make you smile

• rolls his eyes at the cringy sexual jokes you aim at him

• but then he makes up for it by bringing them to life at the end of the evening

• y'all just kind of act like it's a normal day

• with more affection

• mostly from Frankie

---

Alexander Calvert:

• thinks he has to impress you, so he tries

• definitely a flowers guy

• the kind to steal kisses at any given moment

• a romantic at heart, but he hides it well

• that evening though-

• the hottest sex you've had in your life

• he wears the necklace

• it's a cold opposite to the heat of the moment

---

Felicia Day:

• when I say valentines, you say romance

• she's the queen of making you feel loved

• she can't pull herself off  away from you

• wine and her romantic spotify playlist

• you wear her t-shirt and nothing else, all day

• the sex? absolutely spectacular

---

Mark Sheppard:

• he cares for it more than he'd like to

• but not enough to give you the satisfaction of a romantic dinner

• did someone say takeout? mark sheppard did

• you don't even care, just not being alone on valentine's is enough (yes I'm looking at you)

• bed ridden and pyjamas

• sweet hugs that last forever

---

Ruth Connell:

• you try your hardest to refuse all the romance

• in no way is she going to let that happen

• chocolates, flowers, candles, dinner, music

• she doesn't waste time

• big softy

---

Characters:

Castiel:

• has no clue why there's heart shaped confections and objects everywhere

• asks Sam and Dean what's going on

• if you two aren't dating he will absolutely ask you to be his Valentine in a traditional way

• valentine's alcohol bottle? check

• sweet card? check

• innuendoes that make you choke on your spit? bingo

• if you are dating already he'll give you a bouquet of chocolate roses

• you'll get him a custom tie with everything he loves on

• pb&j, bees, dean

• he has no idea what is going on, but wants in

---

Gabriel:

• to be frank, he doesn't give a shit, but loves you so-

• he will wear the moustache with or without your protests

• try every line in the book to bed you

• chocolate ! covered ! everything !

• -and that's just for him

• turns your room into a valentine's dungeon, hearts, banners, flowers (so many), everything is pink and red and- ugh

• you hate it but kind of love it

• and you love him for doing this without asking

• he will talk you into some food play with like, chocolate and whipped cream and shit

• you get it in your bellybutton and slap his head away before he can get it, wiping it off yourself

---

Chuck:

• wants nothing to do with the 'holiday'

• you reassure him it's fine and that you don't care

• but your thoughts say different

• so he caves and writes you a poem

• it's the most beautiful thing you have ever heard

• man has a way with words

• and you have your way with him

• the one ability he can't give himself is the love he feels for you

• he hardly says it, but he doesn't have to

• because you know

• from the way he looks at you, treats you, talks to you

• it's so obvious

---

Jack Kline:

• much like Cas, a discussion between him and the Winchester's gives him the knowledge he needs

• omg sweet baby is obsessed with Valentine's day

• he keeps handing you things, one after another throughout the day

• not everything is store bought

• 'I made this for you!' you fucking melt 'I saw it online and- I thought of you, I wanted to make it so I could make you happy'

• but you don't need things to make you happy

• he makes you happy

• and when he hears your thoughts say that he just-

• he almost cries, he hugs you tighter than anyone ever could

• 'you make me the happiest'

• he's just a big bundle of cuteness

---

Lucifer:

• just, no

• neither of you care

• you torment all the couples on dates, making things go wrong

• making them spill things on themselves

• the waiters 'slip' with their food

• a little more sinister ones like- making it look like their s/o is cheating

• and if you don't like that, he will stop

• deep down, it kind of is a date

• two people who love each other to the ends of earth, doing something that makes them happy

• he takes a break from rough fucking to make you feel adored

• even though you always feel adored

• because Lucifer himself, is taking up his time with you

---

Balthazar:

• he asks you if you want to do anything and you say no

• he's so confused and sceptical

• he's lowkey kind of hurt that you don't want to spend romantic time with him, lowkey

• oh, if only he knew your plan

• you ask him if he wants to watch a movie

• he hops at the opportunity to do something with you and goes all out

• expensive wine, snacks, flowers, so many snacks

• he lets you pick

• he looks at you like your his world

• and then Titanic starts

• his soft grin drops and he rolls his eyes

• 'really?' 'really.'

• he doesn't really care though, he has you

---

Crowley:

• tells everyone to fuck off so he can have time with you, completely alone

• he just wants to be loved, and so you do that exactly

• you muster up all your romantic stops, and bam-

• you pester your angel friend to help set up décor and snap up some things

• he has no idea until he actually sees it for himself

• he wants to cry, but uses everything in himself not to

• no one has ever done anything like this for him

• he know your special, and he knows he can't let you go

• that night, if you don't already have it, he offers you immortality

• to be with him forever

• you'd be the queen of hell for eternity

• you instantly say yes with no hesitation

• he is taken back by your acceptance

• but in a heart melting way

---

Charlie Bradbury:

• she loves it when she has you to spend it with

• you send each other valentines card memes throughout the day

• fancy takeout with candles and music

• bathing together because intimacy

• you but new lingerie

• so does she

• 'love that colour on you' you make her blush so much

• she likes to think she hold the reigns in the relationship

• she is so wrong

---

Rowena MacLeod:

• like, no

• she'll kiss you like her life depends on it but

• not much goes on

• you might treat each other to a stamina spell so you can really stay up all night

[outerbankspreferences]

50 Wordless Ways to say I love you

Word Count: 1683

MASTERLIST SERIES MASTERLIST

A/N: Every time I sit down to write a shirt blurb it always turns out long. Every time I sit down to write a long blurb it always turns out long. I can’t seem to win. I’m always taking request, and message me if you wanted to get added to the tag list :)

#14. Singing and dancing to their favorite song.

  It was Madison Bailey’s birthday coming up and you had started a tradition last season on everyone birthday to make them a cake of their choice. You always loved baking and found it therapeutic and soothing. You and Madison were roommates while filming season two of the show, and you kicked her out of the apartment so you could surprise her.

You asked Drew to come over and help considering him, and Austin lived in the same building. In all honest, the two living in the same apartment worked out great for you because you had a huge crush on Drew. You had since you meet him at the beginning of filming season one. Your characters were love interest, and at first you didn’t know if the lines of acting were getting hazy, but you soon realized it wasn’t. You had some serious feelings for him, but you were too nervous he didn’t like you back.

 You were greasing the pans for the cake when you heard a knock on your door, and then was greeted by Drew. “What’s cooking good looking?” He laughed kissing the top of your head, giving you butterflies. “Only the best birthday cake in the entire world.” You said in a half serious tone, “where’s your partner in crime?” You asked looking for Austin. “Uh-he went to play basketball with JD, so just me and you are today. Is that okay?” He asked walking over to your speaker. A whole afternoon just to two of you, of course you were okay with that. “Yeah sure, did you download that playlist I showed you?” You asked, the two of you having similar taste in music.

 “Of course, I did, I don’t know how you find such good playlist.” He said turning on the music, “so how can I help?” “Well, do you know how to bake Drew?” You asked, have never done this with him before. “I would rate myself like a seven and a half out of ten” He said confident. “Okay, well why don’t you measure all the ingredients, and put them into these little bowls so I can post something cute to my Instagram and then we’ll get started.” You said handing him the recipe with the measurements.

 You preheated the oven and got the stuff together for the frosting. You prepped all the pipping bags and sprinkles in Madison favorite colors. “Did you get Madison something for her birthday?” Drew was the first to break the comfortable silence. “I did, I got her a gift certificate for a spa place for her and Mariah this weekend.” You told him proud of your gift. “Shit, I forgot to her something, I’ve so busy filming, do you know what she wants?” He asked. “Um- she broke her Bluetooth speaker last week, maybe get her that? That’s why we’ve been stuck using my crappy one.” You said laughing finishing get your stuff together. “Okay, are you done with the measuring?” You asked, looking over his shoulder. “You know that’s a good idea, do you want to come with me when we’re done this?” He asked moving out the way so you could see he finished.

 “I would love that.” You say grabbing your phone and taking a picture of Drew’s hard work, adding a cute filter before posting it to your Instagram. “You know she’s going to see your “Why are you posting that your IG story, she’ll know that’s what you’re making.” Drew said not understanding why you were taking a picture. “I know she’ll see it, that’s why I made cookies earlier. She’ll think I was making those and not her birthday cake.” You explained, grabbing some bowls to mix the stuff in. “Okay, you mix the wet ingredients together, and I’ll mix the dry and then we combine them together in the end.” You explained handing him bowl. “Why can’t we just mix everything in one bowl, you’re making more of mess.” He asked looking down at you, “uh-I don’t know, you just can’t. Those are the rules Andrew.” You responded sarcastically. “Oh god, not the full name. Remind me not to question your authority again.” He said shoving you shoulder playful.

 Drew loved to hear you say his full name, normally it was something he despised but not with you. He was excited when you offered for him and Austin to come over and help bake the cake. When you asked him the day before you told him the Austin was welcome too. Normally Madison would help you, but you didn’t want to ruin the surprise. He didn’t invite Austin though, wanting to spend as much time alone together as you could. He would take any chance he could whether it be running lines, watching a movie, carpooling to work.

 Everyone in the cast knew you guys had a thing for each other and encouraged the both of you to make a move, but nether of you did. Drew nor you ever thought you guys would have chance with each other. So, you guys would just spend time together, dancing around feelings, and awkward moments.

 As you guys finished mixing the ingredients together you poured the batter and put it into the oven. “Okay, that should take about twenty minutes to bake and then we can make the frosting while it’s cooling.” You said grabbing some of the dishes putting them in the dishwasher. “Who taught you how to bake?” Drew asked, curious on how the habit started. You smile thinking about your childhood. You turned around to face him, leaning against the counter. “My mom taught me. When I was kid, she used to bake all the time. If it weren’t someone’s birthday, she would say they’re ‘I love you’ cakes. I guess after that I always found joy in it. I know it’s kind of cliche girl thing, but”- “No I like that you do stuff like this, it’s not cliché.” Drew said cutting you off before you could bad mouth your favorite pass time.

 That’s when your favorite song on the playlist came on. Drew looked over at you, knowing it was your favorite. He loved seeing the light in eyes when ever it came on. “Ugh, I love this song” you say humming along to the words while looing at your phone. Drew got up from the chair he was sitting on, and grabbed your hand pulling you close to dance with him. “I know, that’s why I added it to the queue, come dance with me.” The two of you danced like idiots while you sang to the song. Drew spun you around, and you almost tripped and fell but he caught you, the two of you giggling. You looked into his eyes, the two of you close enough you could feel his breath on your face. ‘Just do it, kiss him’ you thought to yourself, and the next thing you know, you’re closing the small gap between you two.

 Drew was shocked at first, not believing he was kissing you. Your lips were softer than he had expected, and they tasted like raspberries, most likely from your lip balm. He placed his hands on your hips, pulling you closer kissing you back. You guys made out for a couple more minutes before you pulled away from lack of air. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me”- you started to stumble over your words when Drew leaned down and kissed you again. “it’s okay Y/N/N, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for while I just didn’t think you felt the same way for me.” He said with a little grin.

 You couldn’t believe you waited that long to show him how you felt, and now that you had you were glad, he felt the same way. “I was worried that you didn’t feel the same way, I didn’t want to make things awkward between us.” You said almost in whisper, a blush creeping on your cheeks. Drew leaned down and kissed you again, “of course I feel the same about you. How could I not? You’re such an amazing person.” His kind words causing a blush to form again. You hid you face in his chest, making him laugh.

 The two of you were pulled away from your conversation when the timer went off for the cake. “Oh, it’s ready!” Drew said rushing over to the oven taking the cakes out. “I’ll grab the stuff to start making the frost, and you can take the cakes out of the oven.” You directed. “Yes chef.” Drew saluted you in joking matter. Once he took the cakes out, you tested it with a knife to make sure it was cooked all the way through. You cut a bit off the top to make sure it tasted okay, giving a piece to Drew.

 Once you took a bit you immediately made a face, the cake tasted terrible. You looked at Drew trying to judge his reaction, laughing when he made the same face you did. “I don’t mean to be an asshole, but this taste terrible Y/N/N.” You grabbed the recipe off the counter and read the instruction. “I don’t understand I made this recipe a hundred times, it always turns out good. Three cups of flour, a teaspoon of vanilla, two teaspoons of salt, a”- “did you just say two teaspoons of salt?” Drew asked with wide eyes. “Yeah, why how much did you put in?” “Uh, well I though it meant tablespoon, so I put two tablespoons of salt.” He said rubbing the back of his neck cheeks turning red.

 You start to laugh at him, finding his embarrassment hilarious. “Oh, come on love it’s not that funny.” He says wrapping his arms around you from behind. “Don’t worry I can bake.” You say mocking him. “I guess Madison is getting a store-bought cake this year.” You say turning around kissing him. “At least I can kiss better then I can bake.” He said making the both of you laugh.

TAGLIST:

lemur46  

fttayla

drewstarkeysbitchh

[artificialqueens]

Me and You Together, 1/? (Taywhora) - Ortega

fic summary: The cardinal rule of having flatmates is that you Do Not Catch Feelings For Your Flatmates, because everything inevitably goes to shit and gets made horrifically awkward. A’whora and Tayce both know this, but being in first year of uni and making good decisions have never really gone hand in hand.

a/n: i honestly have begun this wip with glitter and jesus. i have no idea how many chapters it’s going to have or what exactly the plot is going to be…all i know is that it’s fwb (flatmates with benefits) to lovers taywhora with a background love triangle involving Ellie bc she’s my fav. pls enjoy and pls leave me love because i am a keyworker so really one comment = one 6pm clap xo

P.S. the Friday mentioned in this fic is the one A’whora’s obsessed with and was dancing to on her insta…not the popular Rebecca Black song. also 100 points to anyone who knows the song Lawrence and Ellie get excited about in the club.

content note: they’re freshers at uni in the UK and this country has a binge drinking problem xo. please don’t expect any of these girls to be acting responsibly. if you think you might be influenced by a fic talking about alcohol, smoking, sex and drugs, this might not be for you luv xo

**

December- Fell in love with her in stages

A year ago if you had asked A’whora what she was doing on a Tuesday night, the answer would’ve been mundane.

Homework, maybe, if she could be bothered. She could always copy it from Mocha in registration, after all. Making tiny outfits for Barbie dolls out of fabric scraps, very probably; she hadn’t stopped doing that just because she was older, the only difference from when she was nine was that she didn’t make her Barbies talk anymore. Invariably she’d stay up til’ well past her bedtime, earphones plugged in to her laptop and trying not to sing along to the playlist of dance music she’d spent a year cultivating. She’d poked fun at her Mum for still giving her a bedtime at the big age of eighteen, but she’d maintained that while her girl was living under her roof it would be bed by eleven on a weeknight and out no later than three on a weekend.

These rules, however, were quickly disposed of as soon as she’d got the keys to her uni flat. As soon as she’d found out her other flatmates were just as riotous and chaotic as she was and loved a night out just as much, her weeks had been filled with nights she’d never forget in bars she couldn’t remember, heads against speakers and sore feet from heels and ridiculous pre-drinks with even more ridiculous cocktails.

One such cocktail is the one her flatmate’s making for her now. Ellie doesn’t have any of the professional equipment a usual bartender would, but that doesn’t seem to stop her- the messy countertops are a treasure trove of obscure liqueurs and alcopops, and Ellie twirls a yellow-blonde curl around her finger before giving a gasp of satisfaction as her hand settles on a sticky green bottle.    

“One shot of apple soors, half a can of blue Monster, top up the rest with vodka,” she explains as she works with the various bottles and cans quickly, pouring into the pint glass they’d stolen from one of the pubs on a bar crawl during Freshers Week. She hands it to A’whora with a cheeky, mischievous grin on her painted face.

A’whora sniffs her glass and feels her nose wrinkle up involuntarily at the concoction her flatmate’s poured for her. “Els, if I drink that I’ll die.”

Ellie, to her credit, simply gives a snort of disapproval in response. Her pink acrylics click against the quarter bottle of vodka as she tightens the lid and replaces it in their freezer, all shiny and slick with frost. “Well if you are gonna take three hours to get ready then you’re gonna have to deal with the consequences of playing catch-up, babe.”

“Bitch,” A’whora jokes, rolling her eyes before sipping from her glass. The mixture makes her screw her face up so she takes another sip, then another until the weird sour-sweet-burn in her throat becomes more like a cocktail than cough syrup.

“Good, right?” Ellie prompts her, leaning against their kitchen counter proudly.

“No,” A’whora deadpans, causing her friend to burst out laughing. Then, realising something, she cocks her head. “Wait a second. What the fuck did you call the green drink?”

Ellie frowns. “Soors.”

“…Sourz?” A’whora says back to her, already giggling at the difference in dialects.

“Don’t play the pronunciation game with me, bitch.”

“Oh, I absolutely will when you’re just saying it wrong.”

“Lawrence!” Ellie shouts through to their other flatmate, sitting on the sofa and frowning at the bluetooth speaker as if it’s personally committed some crime against her. Ellie holds up the bottle as Lawrence snaps her head round, dark curls flying over her shoulder. “What’s this?”

“Liquidised heartburn,” she says instantly. A’whora snorts as Ellie rolls her eyes.

“Fuck’s sake. What’s it called?”

“Soors,” Lawrence shrugs back at her, and Ellie gestures triumphantly at A’whora who can only pout in reply.

“Listen, I can get Tia, Bims and Tayce through here and they’d all outnumber you, so. Shut it.”

“Yeah bet you’d love to get Tayce through here, A’whora,” Ellie smirks, raising both her eyebrows at her in an infuriatingly smug expression.

A’whora is clamped for a couple of reasons, the first being the God-awful nickname all her flatmates use against her. She’d managed to acquire it the first time they’d all played Never Have I Ever together and A’whora had drank for pretty much every situation or scenario presented to her. Before she’d known it, her very lovely, very Disney Princess-esque first name had been replaced by a pun that Bimini had come up with in the midst of their third rum and coke, and thus Aurora was dead and A’whora was born.  

The second reason for her silence is a result of the mention of one of the girls she’s living with. A’whora had never really expected to develop a crush on any of her flatmates, which had been a ridiculous thing to assume- given the fact she’s attracted to girls and was going to be living with other girls, the odds would dictate that at least one of them would be her type. Luckily, though, she hasn’t developed any feelings for any of them. At least, that’s the lie she’s telling herself, as the cardinal rule of having flatmates is that you Do Not Catch Feelings For Your Flatmates because everything inevitably goes to shit and gets made horrifically awkward.

Tayce is different to Ellie, Lawrence, Tia and Bimini, though. None of the others get A’whora so flustered when they speak to her, none of the other others get her heart racing so fast it threatens to fly out her ribcage. She doesn’t feel the same sense of dizzy joy when she’s alone with any of the others: only when Tayce makes dinner with her, or when she comes to her room at ten at night for chats, or when they play Tayce’s stupid video games together and she beats her way-too-many-consecutive-times in a row to be considered fair. A’whora has tried to explain it away as just wanting to be liked, just wanting to be good friends, just just just until she can’t justify her own excuses any more and has instead resigned herself to repressing the feelings she has for her friend. The tension between them is building, though, and it’s only a matter of time until something happens.

“BITCH!”

A’whora jumps a little, flinching as she realises she’s gone too long without a comeback. Ellie’s expression is expectant and impatient as she clicks her fingers once, twice, three times in her face.

“Shut up, Ellie-phant,” A’whora manages to mumble almost incoherently as she turns on her heel, walking through to the living room area to sit with Lawrence and join her on her quest to making their speakers work.

Their flat is an odd one. The front door leads to a prison cell-style line of equally pokey rooms- Lawrence’s, Tayce’s, A’whora’s, Bimini’s, Ellie’s and Tia’s respectively- and two bathrooms. Then another door opens out onto two hobs, endless cupboards and grimy, cluttered countertops, and a scrub of shitty green carpet and three worn out red-purple sofas that look as tired as Bimini does when they come home from a random afterparty just as A’whora leaves for lectures. It doesn’t in any way look like a normal flat, but A’whora supposes they’re about as far away from normal as a sentient slice of cheese.

“Oh babe, you must be crushing crushing. I don’t think I’ve heard you come out with a comeback as shit as that in the whole four months we’ve lived together,” Ellie continues the conversation, buzzing behind her like an annoying fly.

“It wasn’t shit, it was good!”

“Lawrie, what’s a good comeback to me calling A’whora a whore?” Ellie appeals to her friend again.

“Rich of you to be calling anyone a whore. You come from a long line of whores. You’re a whore, your maw’s a whore, your maw’s maw was a whore. There’s cave paintings of your ancestors wi’ twelve dicks in their mouths. There’s tapestries of them gettin’ shagged left, right an’ centre. There’s clay sculptures of them being whores. Pipe the fuck doon,” Lawrence reels off, Ellie growing more and more breathless with hysterical laughter beside her and A’whora falling into giggles too.

“Well this was a weird time for me to enter the conversation.”

A’whora feels her heart lift and her face light up when she turns around and sees Tayce walking through to join them, the posture of a model with her fingers curled elegantly around the stem of a wine glass. She flicks her long, dark hair over her shoulder as she sits down on the small sofa beside A’whora, and she wonders how Tayce can sit in a way that makes the stained, battered, scratchy upholstery seem like the set of a high fashion photoshoot.

“Just talking about you,” A’whora sticks her tongue out at her, laughing at the way Tayce reels in fake horror and Lawrence explodes with laughter across from them.

“The valour, the bravery and the backbone,” Tayce grumbles, rolling her eyes. Her gaze rests upon something behind A’whora- the back of the sofa. Maybe there’s a new rip in it, God knows how that can have happened. She holds back a gasp, though, when Tayce reaches out and runs a gentle finger down her spine against her bare skin; an advantage of the sparkly backless cowl neck top she’s wearing that she hadn’t known existed until now. “Speaking of backbones, you’re such a skinny minnie.”

“Did you go to the school of backhanded compliments?” A’whora teases, deflecting from the way her heart’s still thrumming in her chest at the contact.

“Shush, you. You know you look bloody gorgeous,” Tayce says back to her, and even though there’s a laugh to her voice A’whora knows she means it. Her heart’s still going like a train but she can chalk that up to the half can of Monster Ellie’s dumped into her drink, so when she mutters out a thanks hun, same to you she hopes it doesn’t sound as insincere as it feels.

The thing is, she does look gorgeous. She’s dressed in a black lace bodysuit with straps that criss-cross up the back and a tight leather skirt that makes her legs look even longer than they already are. She’s opted for heels like A’whora has (unlike Ellie and Lawrence who have designated night-out trainers stained with spillages of drinks gone by) but hers have straps that are laced all the way round her calves and tied with a knot at the top. Everything about her outfit makes everything about her look outrageously good, and A’whora thinks it should be illegal for anyone to be this ethereal.

Tayce looks as if she’s about to fire something back at her judging by the little smile on her face but she’s interrupted by an outrageously loud boom from the speakers, as something that could be Lady Gaga but is too deafening to be deciphered screams through it. As the girls all flinch there’s a frantic diminuendo that comes from Lawrence mashing the volume button until the pitch is finally bearable and they can all take their hands off their ears.

“Lawrence, did you get the speakers working?” Ellie quips sarcastically, to which Tayce and A’whora burst out laughing and Lawrence almost elbows Ellie off the sofa opposite.

In the melee A’whora almost doesn’t notice Bimini and Tia come in, and they look ready to start the night if a little panicked.

“What the hell was that?” Tia asks quickly, opening the fridge and grabbing her bottle of premixed Malibu and pineapple before perching herself on the couch beside Ellie. “I thought part of the building had exploded.”

“Nah that was just my vagina, babes,” Lawrence says offhandedly, the others either screeching with laughter or groaning in anguish. Bimini crosses the room with their selection of drinks cradled in their arms and budges Tayce and A’whora up with an oi, oi!, A'whora’s pulse thudding at her wrist as a result of her close proximity to her crush.

No- her friend. Her friend who’s never going to be anything more than that.

With the six flatmates assembled, drinks poured, and tunes on, their pre drinks can begin. Pres at their flat often look like drinking games, yelling along to early 2010s pop, tipsily booking taxis and then touching up their makeup in the waiting time before they arrive. Tonight is no different; they bicker about where they want to go and eventually decide on the union because although it’s “too het” according to Ellie, it’s admittedly cheap and a good night out. A’whora chips into the conversation every five minutes with shady, catty jokes that Tayce howls at and leans into her side and clutches her arm or her hand or her thigh.

The contact is nice. They’ve reached that stage of their friendship where they’re touchy and close a lot of the time- A’whora’s constantly playing with Tayce’s hair and Tayce thinks nothing of just walking into A’whora’s room and getting under the duvet with her. They throw their arms around each other and bump shoulders as they walk and touch legs on the sofa, much like they’re doing now. A’whora has never been a cuddly type of friend- to be honest, she still isn’t- but there’s something about doing all this with Tayce that she doesn’t mind. It’s a comfortable kind of intimacy, a knitted blanket of sorts, but it’s a fragile space for Tayce to occupy too and A’whora knows it’s risky to let her rip a wall down she’s never been aware of til now.

The night rolls along and with every refill of A’whora’s glass the music gets turned up a little more, a little more, a little more until they’re all having to yell over each other as they play wiggly wiggly woo, who’s most likely to. It’s all fun and games until it gets to who’s most likely to sleep with a flatmate, and there’s a confusing mess of finger-pointing where Lawrence points to Ellie, Tayce points to Lawrence, and Bimini, Ellie and Tia point to A’whora.

“Fuck off, why’s it me?” she screeches in outrage, trying to cover up the fact her cheeks are burning and that Tayce seems suddenly all too close to her.

“Because! It’s you! It’s A’whora!” Bimini laughs, their accent making them seem all the more mischievous and shit-stirring.

“Well! If I’m sleeping with a flatmate that must mean one of you’s gonna be involved, doesn’t it?!”

“Right, sorry, yeah,” Bimini nods understandingly, before immediately switching to point to Tayce. There’s an arena-crowd roar that erupts from the others, one that makes A’whora laugh and blush scarlet at the same time. She sneaks a look at Tayce, who’s regarding her with much the same expression.

“I’m down if you are, hun,” A’whora jokes-but-not-really, shaking Tayce’s arm as if it’ll take away from the weak joke she’s trying to make. Tayce only shoots her a wink with her tongue trapped between her teeth.

“In your dreams, love.”

A’whora’s glad of the others laughing so she can pretend to join in, occupy herself with something other than the overwhelming urge to reply to Tayce with exactly.

The rest of pres fly by tipsily and incoherently. They get a noise complaint from the weird flat underneath them which seems solely comprised of six boys who never go outside, which prompts them to book taxis even though the union is only about a ten minute walk away. A’whora helps Tia re-glue on her eyelashes in a rush and Bimini spontaneously fills a hipflask with Ellie’s apple sourz, “for the road”. When the taxis roll up outside Lawrence hurries them all out the door with the urgency of a mother of five, and before long they’re standing in a queue around the block, Bimini and A’whora sharing Tia’s huge puffer jacket because neither of them thought to pick up coats in their haste to leave.

Tayce pulls a packet of cigarettes out of her pocket, flips the little cardboard lid of them open and offers them round to the others. A’whora takes one because Tayce is offering, and really Tayce could offer them grenades with the pins pulled out and A’whora would accept if only to get her smile flashed at her again or the chance that their hands might touch during the transfer. A’whora thinks Tayce is every public health campaign’s worst nightmare as she watches her hold the cigarette between her index and middle fingers, wrap her lips around the end and inhale. Her cheekbones are razor-sharp as she drags then lets the breath go, red lipstick on the paper and the smoke curling up into the sparkly, dark night sky.

She is beautiful.

It’s because she’s beautiful that A’whora shouldn’t be surprised by the events that begin to unfold as they enter the club. Ellie immediately makes her way over to a booth, picks up the little sign that says it’s reserved and chucks it onto the dancefloor to get trampled underfoot and covered in sticky cocktail spillages. Tayce’s round is first because she lost Ring of Fire back at the flat so she goes over to the bar for shots, promising she’ll be only a couple of minutes and the others believing her; the way she looks ensures she never has a long wait time at the bar.

So they wait. And they wait. At first they don’t even notice how long they’ve waited- the tunes are good and loud and so they all yell along happily. Until Lawrence turns to the others with narrowed eyes.

“Here. Where the fuck is Tayce? She’s been ages.”

They all scan the bar, and Ellie suddenly points dramatically over to the other end of it. “Oh!”

Because Tayce is standing at the bar with no drinks and no interest in any of the bartenders taking drinks orders. She’s talking to a tall blonde with a dazzling smile and a low-cut crop top, and something inside A’whora burns and sinks at the same time. Tayce is allowed to be talking to a pretty girl. She’s not not allowed to. But it doesn’t make her any less jealous of the attention she’s giving her.

It’s a horror movie she can’t look away from. She’s aware that Ellie has gone to get the drinks instead, but that’s all she can absorb from her surroundings. She tunes out of the conversation at the table as she continues to watch the two of them interact. The girl’s got muscles, and her hair falls in neat waves on her shoulders, and she’s smiley and charming and doesn’t talk much, preferring instead to listen to Tayce. A’whora is different. A’whora is constantly on transmit; loud and opinionated and gobby and, okay, sometimes a little bit judgemental. She can’t do charming and demure. She can’t be what Tayce is very clearly interested in.

A thud next to her causes A’whora to whip her head round, tearing herself away from the scene playing out in front of her and ripping the plaster off.

“Fuck’s sake. Jaegerbombs with Red Bull? Puh-rison!” Ellie half-whines, half-shouts.

“Red Bull is the standard, not everyone can have the same taste in energy drinks as a sixteen year old virgin gamer,” A’whora narrows her eyes, gratefully accepting the drink from her nonetheless and shotting it back as if it’ll help blind her, or perhaps forget what she’s seeing.

“God. Who pissed in your coco pops?” Ellie fires back, rolling her eyes dramatically.

“Bold of you to assume anything specific has happened to make her this bitter, mean and salty,” Tia jokes from A’whora’s side, and as the others scream and laugh A’whora in turn fixes her with a glare, wishing momentarily she had laser beams for pupils.

“Ooh, that’s made me want a tequila,” Lawrence cries enthusiastically, too loud even from the other side of the booth.

“Eh, excuse me! I just got you a Jaegerbomb, finish that first,” Ellie chastises her like a world-weary parent, pushing the glass towards her friend and sliding her hand over the table, sticky with the ghosts of questionable drinks’ past. A’whora has to snort at her tone.

“Yeah Lawrence, finish your Jaegerbomb or you won’t get any dessert. Listen to your responsible Mum whose eyelash is coming off.”

A big roar of laughter flies up from the others, and it’s Ellie’s turn to glare at A’whora this time. She looks as if she’s about to say something back when Bimini sniffs their glass and frowns.

“Is Jaegerbombs vegan?”

Everyone apparently wishes to ignore the lack of grammatical sense to their sentence, and it’s Lawrence who responds first. “They’re vegan in the same sense that bleach is vegan?”

Bewilderingly satisfied, Bimini raises their glass to the middle of the table and the girls join them, cheering as they all clink them together and chuck the drinks back. The fact A’whora can’t join in leaves her eyes to fall on Tayce and that girl again. Tayce is smiling and it’s the brightest thing in the club, laughing as the girl flips her hair and touches her hand and tells some joke that’s obviously not as funny as anything A’whora could say. She wonders if she’s ever made Tayce smile like that. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but she can’t remember.

“You know they used to use Jaeger as cough medicine? And for ages it was drunk by, like…old Tories who went on deer hunts,” Tia reels off excitably, and A’whora can’t help but roll her eyes affectionately at her friend’s bizarre general knowledge. “There’s this rumour that it’s got deer’s blood in it.”

Bimini splutters, coughs, and chokes all at once. As Lawrence slaps their back entirely too roughly in a way that’s about as helpful as a water gun at a house fire, A’whora can’t help but turn to face Tia incredulously.

“What the fuck did you say that for?!”

Tia shrugs, too tipsy to register A’whora’s disbelief. “Fun fact.”

“You didn’t think to pipe up with that when Bims was asking if it was vegan?”

“It’s just a rumour!” Tia says defensively, then turns to Bimini to check they’re okay. A’whora huffs in exasperation, folding her arms and throwing her back against the supposedly cushioned walls of the booth. As she stares straight ahead and ignores the fuss her friends are making, her eyes fall on Tayce again and her heart hurts more than it should to see her with her phone out and the girl beside her doing the same. They’re so clearly swapping numbers. They’re allowed to swap numbers. It’s not like A’whora’s got dibs on Tayce, it’s not like she’s got any right to feel a burn in her stomach and a flame in her heart and a feeling of something slipping away.

“Right!” Lawrence all but yells, forcing A’whora to tear her eyes away. “I’ve finished my Jaegerbomb, Mum, can we get tequila now?”

Ellie sighs. “Fine! But you’re buying me this one, bitch.”

“I’ll come with,” A’whora says, thinking she’ll need at least ten more units of alcohol to stop feeling feelings.  

“We’re going for a boogie, catch us up,” Bimini decides, as Rhythm is a Dancer blasts on the overhead speakers and Tia lets out a whooo! that’s way too white for a mixed-race girl.

So they move, A’whora bum-shuffling her way out of the booth and following Lawrence and Ellie, her feet sore in her heels. She purposefully blocks Tayce out of her peripheral vision as she leans against the bar, but she’s only separated from her by about six people also waiting and if she tilted her head forward she could definitely catch her eye if she wanted.

“Rhythm is a dancer, two for one at Asda,” Ellie sings along, bopping her head enthusiastically. A’whora laughs weakly, her proximity to Tayce and that bitch she’s talking to entirely too distracting.

“Shut your hole and tell me what you’re wanting,” Lawrence orders her. Ellie drums the palms of her hands against the bar as she semi-shouts sambucaaaaa, and A’whora asks for a vodka. She’s aware she’s mixing entirely too many spirits and her hangover tomorrow will be potentially life-threatening, but she doesn’t care.

“Tayce is still there. Should we shout her over and see what she wants?” Ellie suggests, craning her neck. A’whora firmly shakes her head.

“She’s wanting that baby Hulk she’s been talking to all night, apparently,” she all but spits, shocking herself at her venom. It’s clear she shocks the girls as well, and Lawrence turns around and simply raises her eyebrows at her.

“Men’s dress trousers in a hotel.”

A’whora can only blink. “What?”

Lawrence pauses for dramatic effect (or perhaps that’s just the Jaegerbomb making its alcohol content known). She points a finger at A’whora, then finishes whatever point she’s making. “Pressed.”

“Purrr!” Ellie laughs in agreement, grabbing A’whora’s shoulder and shaking it in an action that’s probably meant to be gentle but almost shakes her bone out of its socket. “Oh my God, that totally explains why you’ve been such a bitch all night.”

“This wee cow’s been a bitch her whole life,” Lawrence joins in. A’whora knows she’s got a proper face on by now, Dot Cotton licking piss off a nettle, but she can’t help it. She hates being wound up and she makes this perfectly clear to her friends via her furious silence.

“Nah, but tonight she’s a jealous bitch,” Ellie sticks her tongue out at her, and A’whora huffs.

“I’m not jealous!” she lies. “I’m just pissed off that she comes on a night out with us and she spends it talking to some random bitch she barely knows instead of her friends.”

“Wait. Oh my God, do you fancy Tayce?” Lawrence asks, a bull in a china shop on cocaine. Before A’whora can defend herself Ellie barks a laugh.

“Aw Lauzza, come on to fuck! Have you ever walked in when it’s been just the two of them? They’re so fucking flirty it’s disgusting.”

“DISGUSTEN!” Lawrence shouts, and it goes about ten percent of the way to drawing A’whora out of her mood.

“I don’t flirt with Tayce! I don’t fancy her either!” A’whora cries, exasperated. She realises too-late that her volume may have been too loud, but when she looks over at the topic of conversation again she’s both disappointed and relieved to see that she hasn’t registered a thing. “Anyway, you know you can’t shag your flatmate. It’s like the first rule of having flatmates. It would just make everything awkward.”  

“That the only thing stopping you?” Lawrence looks at her pointedly.  

“The bartender’s free,” A’whora glances just over Lawrence’s shoulder, and she turns around so fast it almost makes her feel dizzy. While Lawrence orders it leaves Ellie to turn to A’whora and pat her hand sympathetically.

“Why don’t you just go up to her?” she suggests. “I mean would it be so bad if you did just shag and get the pent-up tension released and then you can both just move on? I mean it’s not like you want to be her girlfriend or anything.”

A’whora presses her lips together and doesn’t reply. Her silence seems to communicate too much as Ellie’s mouth drops open a little and she fixes her with a pointed stare. “Oh, A’whora.”

“Look, I don’t know,” A’whora rushes to defend herself, her words spilling out over themselves in the way they sometimes do when she’s tipsy. “Like obviously she’s gorgeous but also, like…I do like her as a person as well, and I like being around her and just enjoying her company-”

Ellie splutters a giggle. “Enjoying her company, are you eighty years old in a care home?”

“I’m gonna slap you in a minute, shut up!” A’whora laughs incredulously. “But, like, I just…I don’t know if she likes me back like that, you know?

Ellie frowns. “I think, then, my advice would be…don’t shag her if you don’t think you can keep it to just that. ‘Cause obviously you don’t want to end up getting hurt.”

“Right, yeah,” A’whora replies, nodding.

If she’s honest, she’s disappointed. Obviously she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to sleep with Tayce- because fucking look at her- but just like Ellie said, she knows she would end up getting hurt if anything happened between them. Tayce would probably consider it a one-time thing and A’whora would be let down, or it would turn into some long, drawn-out friends with benefits scenario that would probably make everything worse.

The thing is she can only repress her feelings so much and tonight she’s feeling like one of Ellie’s cans of Monster that Tia shook up as a joke and ended up spurting out its contents so violently that there’s still a green-blue stain on their kitchen wall. A’whora’s way too close to telling the girls about every time she’s pictured her and Tayce falling asleep together and waking up together, every time she’s imagined them planning actual dates, every time she’s wanted to kiss her on the sofa- not necessarily even a kiss kiss but just a peck on the cheek, a soft one pressed to the crown of her head, a little one against their knuckles as they hold hands.

It all sounds ridiculous and silly and way too high school. Nothing seems to work the same at uni. Everyone just seems to shag, hook up, kiss strangers they’ll never see again in the shadows of grimy clubs. Everything seems to happen when everyone’s drunk. Everything’s done out of lust rather than love. Everything is so short-term because you can’t plan for the long term if you wake up and don’t remember the night before.

A’whora loves uni, but she doesn’t like that.

Besides, she’s already done all that in high school anyway. Sixth form had been like a crash course in freshers’ week; if she wasn’t drinking in parks or going to house parties she was sneaking into nightclubs using a fake ID that even Stevie Wonder could’ve seen right through. She’d half-heartedly slept with boys and figured out she liked girls when a sleepover after a party took a turn. She’d tried smoking and she came to the conclusion that she didn’t like it enough to buy her own cigarettes, she’d tried mandy once and that was once too much for her. All of that has prepared her well for uni- she’s street smart and has her head screwed on (for the most part- she’s still testing her limits as far as alcohol’s concerned). But feeling like she’s feeling for Tayce is uncharted territory, and out of everything she’s already done and experienced A’whora finds it hard to believe there’s not an age limit on this sort of thing because it all feels more risky and dangerous than smoking roll-ups in a children’s playpark at one in the morning ever did.

A wayheyyy! from Lawrence cuts through her thoughts and she accepts the shot she’s holding out to her, wordlessly clinking it together with Lawrence’s and Ellie’s and slamming it back as if it’s some form of medicine she desperately needs.

“It’s so weird that you don’t do the whole lime and salt thing,” Ellie wrinkles her nose at her friend, who in turn punches one of her own tits with what seems to be pride.

“‘Cause I’m made of strong stuff, babes. Right, what’s the conclusion on this one? Does she fancy Tayce or no?”

“Surely this is a bathroom stall conversation?” A’whora pouts, annoyed that her feelings for Tayce have been brought back up.

As Ellie relays to Lawrence what she’d said to A’whora, A’whora momentarily wonders if she’s in control of anything in her life any more.

Lawrence nods when Ellie’s done. “Smart advice. ‘Cause it would make things awkward for the flat. ‘Magine trying to make a Pot Noodle in the middle of a live-action episode of Eastenders.”

A’whora screws her face up in confusion. “All episodes of Eastenders are live action?”

“Y’know what the fuck I mean,” Lawrence rolls her eyes in exasperation. “Well we’ve given you our blessing and basically we represent the whole country, so. Go for it.”

“Thanks, Nicola Sturgeon, good to know I have your approval,” A’whora smirks at her, amused. When some Becky Hill song comes on over the speakers she takes it as her cue to smooth down her skirt, flip her hair over her shoulder and rest her little shot glass back on the bar. “Right, we going to have a dance or what?”

As she takes her friends’ hands they all but strut over to the dancefloor, and A’whora can see Bimini and Tia pulling shapes that they probably think make them look mysterious and sexy but actually just make them look as drunk as they no doubt are. Before A’whora can push through the crowd, Lawrence tugs her and Ellie back a bit.

“Here, I think I’ve remembered something Tayce told me once, if this is of any use to you?” she begins.

All of A’whora’s nerve endings light up like one of those colourful optical fiber lamps she had when she was small. Her eyes have clearly flown open and her mouth’s dropped slack without her even having to try, so desperate is she for what Lawrence is about to tell her. Ellie’s beside her equally expectant and anticipative, and Lawrence laughs at the pair of them before she continues.

“It was the pair of us and Tia…Christ, when was it…cannae mind. Think you’d gone home for the weekend and Ellie was doing something wi’ Bims…anyway, coupla’ bottles of wine in and we start playing wee stupid games. We’re doing snog, marry, avoid and Tia gives her…fuck, cannae even remember. Let’s say it was Ellie, Bimini and you. Now I can’t remember what she said for the other two but…” Lawrence pauses dramatically, and A’whora is a hair’s breadth away from practically begging her for the information she’s taking so long to impart. “…she said she would marry you because then she’d get to shag you more than just once.”

A’whora doesn’t think her eyes can go any wider but she somehow manages it. She doesn’t really know how to react but Ellie’s doing enough screaming to suffice for the two of them.

“When the fuck were you gonna tell us that?! Fuck, I can’t believe you never told me that! When did this happen?!” Ellie practically screeches in her face.

“Telt you I cannae mind! Maybe like…a month ago? I don’t know,” Lawrence supplies unhelpfully. Usually A’whora would try to rip the piss out of the way her accent’s gone ten times more Braveheart than usual after her series of drinks, but all she can think about is what she’s been told and, well…she can’t help the butterflies in her heart and the way a satisfied, triumphant grin spreads slowly onto her face.

Ellie’s equally as excited beside her. She whacks A’whora on the arm as she squeals with enthusiasm. “See! Now we know she likes you too!”

A’whora feels as if she’s made of glitter and confetti as she spins around in the direction of the bar. Her heart gives a dip on its rollercoaster of emotions as she sees that Tayce has somehow caught the attention of a different girl- long, dark hair and a blue and orange outfit and a mouth that’s moving at about a mile a minute.

There’s a second before A’whora makes to turn away in disappointment when Tayce’s pupils suddenly flick over to rest on her. Tayce’s self-assured expression and body language seem to falter when she catches A’whora’s eye, and she shoots her a little smile that- if A’whora didn’t know the girl better- she’d say was shy.

“Now the challenge is actually getting a chance to talk to her,” A’whora pouts. Chatting up Tayce and maybe getting to fall into bed with her really isn’t a time-sensitive issue; it doesn’t need to happen tonight, but A’whora’s had a chaotic combination of alcohol that makes her think there’s really no time like the present and hey, maybe this is her one and only chance.

“Well, we can keep an eye on her and when she’s free, then that’s your chance,” Ellie smiles, supportive and excited.

“What chat-up line are you gonnae use? I’ve got a cracker you can have if you want,” Lawrence insists, and A’whora and Ellie share a doubtful look.

“Go on.”

“What did one haggis say to the other haggis?” Lawrence begins. Without giving the other girls a chance to interject, she finishes. “…’Gonnae shaggis?’ ”

“And on that note,” Ellie shakes her head and rolls her eyes, taking both of them by the hand and pulling them into the crowd to join their other friends.

It’s amazing how easy it is to forget about the object of her affection chatting to random girls on the other side of the room when Bimini’s grabbing her and almost launching her across the dancefloor with their euphoric pogo-ing along to each and every song that gets played. The five of them drunkenly bum-ba-ba, bum-ba-ba along to Head & Heart and cheer for Tia when she does Nicki’s rap in Swalla without even stopping for breath. A’whora laughs in confusion with the other girls as Lawrence and Ellie get way too excited, squealing and clutching each others’ hands when some clubland tune that’s apparently much bigger in Scotland than it is in the other three corners of the UK gets put on, the lyrics of which seem to consist solely of the words up-up-up and awayyy. Bimini and Lawrence collect more drinks from the bar and A’whora very nearly knocks Ellie’s out of her hand when Friday comes on and she punches the air.

And then Tayce is on her own.

A’whora’s heart almost siezes up with how fast it jolts into full-blown palpitations because this is the moment she can finally go over and talk to her, the chance to turn their friendship into maybe something more even if that something more is only a random hookup after a night out, but it only takes the time for her to shake Ellie’s arm and point in Tayce’s direction for her to see that, yet again, she’s been approached by someone tall and confident and stunning and everything that A’whora wishes Tayce thought about her.

Her face falls and Ellie snaps her fingers in her line of vision, forcing her to look at her and the motherly expression of tough love she’s wearing.

“Hey. When has anyone ever stopped you getting your own way?” she yells at her over the music, and A’whora laughs half in amusement and half in agreement. As she falls silent, Ellie jerks her head towards the bar. “Go get her, bitch.”

It might be the alcohol, but it hits A’whora with a ironically sobering clarity that Ellie’s right.

So she takes a breath in and struts confidently over to the bar, practically able to feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins (although that could well be the caffeine from the second Jaegerbomb she’s downed this evening with Bimini’s encouragement). She smooths down her skirt so the split runs up the front of her thigh and not the side, adjusts the neck of her top so it’s framing her chest the way she wants it to. She could be nervous but the combined alcohol she’s drunk so far this evening pushes that feeling to the back of her head, replacing it with all-consuming confidence that she can feel from the inside out. She looks good, better than good, and she knows she can flirt even though she’s never really tried to flirt with Tayce. Well, never intentionally.

Okay, that’s maybe a lie.

The realisation that she’s actually going through with this is enough to make her want to freeze to the spot but by some miracle she’s still walking forward until she’s three, two, one steps away from her flatmate and the girl at the bar with too much plastic surgery and hair the shade of a vomit-coloured highlighter pen. A’whora wedges her shoulder in between the pair of them, hears the girl give a little tut/sigh hybrid from behind her but A’whora’s not really interested in bickering with her, not when Tayce’s eyes have fallen on her and she’s looking at her, really looking at her with a little playful smile on her painted lips.

“Hey baby boo,” Tayce says by way of a greeting, and A’whora feels her heart melt just a little. She’s being adorable, but she’s not going to let that damage her confident, composed exterior. Until Tayce follows up by running a hand down her arm and lacing their fingers together. “I haven’t seen you all night, I missed you.”

With that, A’whora feels the little cocky smirk she’s wearing break out into a shy grin, one that she hopes doesn’t look as ridiculously goofy as it feels. “Well. Maybe you would’ve seen more of me if you hadn’t been playing Take Me Out with half the bloody girls in here.”

“Who, me?” Tayce gasps, clutching the gold chain around her neck and pretending to be affronted. A’whora doesn’t mean to roll her eyes but she clearly does, and the small giggle she draws out of Tayce as a result makes it almost worth it. The squeeze Tayce gives her hand turns that almost into a definitely, as does what Tayce follows up with. “You’re cute when you’re jealous, you know.”

“You’re cute…all the time,” A’whora claps back, wishing she had some sort of drink in her hand to press against her face as she feels her blush start to bloom across her cheeks.

“I know, babe, that’s why I’ve been getting my drinks bought for me all night,” Tayce winks.

If Awhora uses that as a signal to pull her bank card from her bra, that’s nobody’s business but her own. The way Tayce’s gaze flicks to her chest lights a match in her heart. “Well…let me buy you one and then you won’t have to miss me so much.”

Tayce’s awed smile spreads slowly onto her face and they agree on tequila shots, the phase of the evening where they were nursing their drinks left firmly in the dust as the bartender hands them a salt shaker, two little shot glasses and two wedges of lime. The way Tayce’s tongue slides over the side of her hand before she sprinkles the salt and the way their eyes meet as she licks it up makes A’whora’s mouth dry, so the tequila’s welcome for a split second before she remembers why she hates it, the flavour and sheer strength of the alcohol akin to being hit by a truck.  

As she grabs desperately for the lime like it’s an oxygen mask on a crash-landing plane, Tayce laughs and shakes her head pityingly. “You always end up ordering tequila and you always, always hate it.”

A’whora blinks as she composes herself, gives a little shiver of recovery. She cocks her head at Tayce inquisitively. “I didn’t know you remembered that.”

Tayce looks to the ground as she smiles, tucks a piece of her long hair behind her ear. It’s endearing and soft and it makes A’whora panic, so she presses her lips together and raises an eyebrow at Tayce questioningly. “So, how’d your little episode of Blind Date go anyway?“

"Gosh, you’re really pressed about this, aren’t you?” Tayce’s eyes are narrow as she smirks at her, and now it’s A'whora’s turn to look embarrassed. The soft laugh Tayce gives is reassuring so A'whora’s gaze drifts back up again and their eyes meet as she speaks again. “Well, there was, uh…blonde lady. Blonde lady with the muscles and the eyeliner. God, what was her name?”

“This is off to a flying start.”

“Kameron!” Tayce yells in her face as she remembers. It makes A’whora snort with laughter, something that’s probably wildly unattractive but she knows Tayce has seen her do it before. “And then there was, uh, Priyanka. I remember her name because she kept telling me every two minutes. That was a wild conversation.”

“Uh-huh. Who was the bitch I elbowed out the way?”

Tayce smirks at her, wobbles a little in her heels and steadies herself against the bar. “That was…Detox.”

“Radox?”

Tayce splutters. “Detox!”

“Should’ve called herself Botox, would’ve been nearer to the mark,” A’whora turns up her top lip. Tayce explodes in an outraged laugh beside her, clutches her wrist in a way that makes A’whora hope she won’t be able to feel her rapid pulse.

“Says Aurora Georgia Boyle, who asked for lip fillers for her eighteenth and was actually allowed to get them!”

“Don’t full name me, piece of shit!” A’whora gasps in mock-offence, shakes herself away from Tayce’s grip but finds her inexplicably nearer to her than she was before. She’s not necessarily complaining, though, because her whole left side is against Tayce’s right and there’s some form of other-worldly magnetism that seems to keep them pressed together. It makes her heart flutter so she tucks a section of hair behind her ear before she frowns. “I never told you that. How come you know that?”

“You did tell me! Back in freshers week! You just don’t remember,” Tayce giggles, poking her cheek with one acrylic nail. It should hurt more than it does. Maybe it does hurt and A’whora can’t feel it. She’s had a lot to drink.

It’s the alcohol she blames when she hooks an arm around Tayce’s waist, tilts her head and drops her volume to a murmur. “You seem to remember a lot of things about me.”

Tayce’s eyes widen just that little bit. “Well you’re a bit of an unforgettable person, really.”

Her words make A’whora’s heart light up so much that she can feel herself glowing from the inside out. She brings her other arm around Tayce in a tight hug, her hands joining at the small of her back, and Tayce mirrors her so they’re both anchoring each other. It’s hard for her to remember whether they’ve ever shared a hug like this before. It seems too intimate for friends, but A’whora doesn’t mind.

“Tayce.”

“Rory,” Tayce replies, mimicking her whine and the way she draws her name out. A’whora likes the nickname she gives her probably more than she should; she supposes it’s because only Tayce uses it and because it’s rooted in her actual given name.

A’whora pouts, squeezes Tayce’s waist. “I missed you tonight, you know.”

“Missed you too. Missed you so much,” Tayce murmurs back.

She’s already said it, A’whora knows she’s already said it, but with the way they’re both gazing at each other it seems to mean something more, something different. It’s ridiculous- they’re both drunk, and famously no good decisions have ever happened when two people have had this many assorted shots, but somehow it feels like all of this is just right.  

A’whora drops her head to rest it on Tayce’s shoulder and she feels her arms tighten around her in response. Her lips graze her neck as she murmurs against it. “Not leaving me again.”

There’s a pause where she can’t really see Tayce’s expression or how she’s reacted. Her heart freezes, and the terror and reality of having crossed the line between friendship and whatever the hell this is suddenly consumes her whole body. She’s relieved, then, when Tayce eventually mutters against the crown of her head.

“All yours, baby.”

And she presses a kiss to her hair. Just like A’whora’s been dreaming about for so long.

She feels giddy and dizzy with absolute euphoria, so it’s that she blames when she puts her lips against Tayce’s neck again and plants one, two, three little kisses there in quick succession.

“Tayce,” she whispers again. She doesn’t really know what she wants to say or how to say it, but she knows she doesn’t want to go back to the dancefloor, and she doesn’t want to be with their other friends. She just wants her and Tayce together for however long she’ll let it be that way, and she doesn’t even care about the busy bar or the drunk students that bump into them every so often or the stares from the rowdy group of rugby lads that would usually make her feel intimidated, but not when she’s with Tayce.

When she’s with Tayce everything seems a little bit better somehow, just by her being there.

So maybe it’s that, or maybe it’s the tequila, or maybe it’s the feeling of having Tayce’s arms around her that makes A’whora tilt her head back up again and meet Tayce’s waiting lips with her own. There’s none of the usual hesitation or awkward pause that comes with kissing someone new because really the amount of times A’whora’s imagined this, dreamt about it, thought about it in daydreams that completely unhook her from reality, it’s as if it’s happened before.

Nothing has prepared her for the real thing though. How Tayce brings a hand up to rest at her jaw and how the other stays placed against the bare skin of her back, warm and supportive. How the both of them sway a little, unsteady in their heels as if they’ve been knocked for six. How Tayce’s body is close against hers and A’whora pushes a hand in her hair in an attempt to somehow bring her even closer. How kissing Tayce leaves her breathtaken and satisfied yet somehow amplifies her feeling of longing, because the more she gives to her the more A’whora wants and with every second that Tayce’s lips are on hers she can only feel the heat that’s pooling in her stomach growing more and more intense.

When Tayce pulls away and A’whora can only catch her breath, she fixes her with a lazy, half-lidded smile that makes her insides turn to melted honey.

“That was nice,” she blinks, and she’s a second away from kicking herself- because, really?- when Tayce giggles softly under her breath. She brushes a little piece of A’whora’s hair off her face, and the gentleness of the action throws her a little. A’whora brings her arms up to loop around her neck, and she leans in close again. “I wanna do it again.”

“I want to do…a lot of things. With you,” Tayce says, casual and chill as if her words haven’t just sent A’whora up in flames.

“Like…?”

“Like…maybe come back to mine and I’ll show you, baby.”

The whole moment’s perfect enough for A’whora to almost overlook the blunder Tayce has just made, but her nature dictates that she can’t let her get away with it. “We…we live together.”

Tayce lets out a snort, bumps her forehead against A’whora’s as she despairs of herself. “Right. Well…we gonna go home, then?”

A’whora doesn’t need to be asked twice. She laces her fingers in Tayce’s, resolves to text the others to tell them they’ve left, and stumbles towards the exit with her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

When she blinks, she’s tired, she’s in bed, it’s bright, and she’s confused as all hell.

The headache hits her like a sledgehammer to the face and she blinks slowly and heavily, adjusting herself to her surroundings. She’s in her own room, she can tell that much from the photos of her and her friends from back home on the cupboard and the fairy lights on her desk that aren’t switched on. Her mouth feels like a badger’s shat in it and her eyes are all achey, and as she throws an arm up to rub at them she’s surprised when she doesn’t see any leftover eye makeup on the back of her hand.

“The kraken awakes.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” A’whora flinches, her head whipping over to the foot of her bed to find Tayce sitting cross-legged leaning against the wall, her phone in her hand. She’s wearing her old leggings with the bleach stains and the hole at the calf, and a purple tie-dye sweatshirt that’s a size too big for her. Her hair’s loose and framing her face and the only makeup she has on is the little scattering of eyeliner that’s hanging tight to her lash line and has managed to escape the makeup wipe.

She looks disarmed and shy. There’s something comforting about it, because A’whora feels confused and completely on the back foot and she has no idea what’s going on. But there’s a warm smile on her face and it meets her eyes, so despite her disorientation A’whora feels safe.

“How long’ve you been there? Were you just watching me sleep like some…creepy Twilight vampire?” A’whora groans, sitting up and leaning forward and taking a deep breath as if it’ll make her headache go away.

Tayce laughs in a way that makes A’whora think the question’s flustered her, but she’s not sure. “The others went to get breakfast. I said I’d stay with you. Didn’t want you to be on your own feeling like shit and maybe having the fear.”

“I am having the fear. I don’t even know how we got home.”

The way Tayce’s face drops in what looks like abject panic makes her wonder what did happen last night. “Wait. What do you actually remember?”

A’whora’s heart is racing as she scans her mind for memories. Pres, club, drinks, booth. Tayce talking to some girl. Dancefloor. Tayce. Talking to Tayce. Kissing Tayce-

Kissing Tayce.

“Oh, no,” A’whora blurts out involuntarily. Her eyes are wide as she looks at Tayce. “We…did we? We did?”

Tayce’s face seems to relax as she bursts out laughing, and it all comes flooding back to A’whora and hits her like a train. Everything that had seemed like such a good idea last night now seems like the most awkward situation in the world now that Tayce is here, on her bed, and they’re both sober.

“Tayce, no,” A’whora whines, putting her head in her hands as her friend keeps laughing. “No! That’s so awkward. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it was a good kiss,” Tayce smiles back, somehow both coy and self-assured at once. It’s her reaction that causes a new wave of cold horror to crash against A’whora, a wave on a rock.

“Oh, Jesus. Did anything else happen?”

Tayce grows animated. “God, yeah, we had the best sex ever. Sixty-nines, scissoring, we got the vibrators involved. It was bloody lush.”

A’whora’s too hungover to realise that Tayce is winding her up until she screeches with laughter right in her horrified face. “Oh my God, Rory, your face! No I’m joking, ‘course I’m joking.”

“Thank fuck,” A’whora sighs a world-weary sigh of relief, throwing herself back down against her pillows and immediately regretting it for the way her brain ricochets against her skull and makes her headache ten times worse. “So what did happen?”

“Well, you wanted to walk back because you wanted to look at the stars, so when we got to the square we lay down and looked at the stars for a bit. And then I wanted to go get chips and cheese but you were dragging me back home because you were so horny,” Tayce looks at her pointedly, and A’whora groans with embarrassment, grabbing her pillow and shoving it over her face. “But then after we got up the stairs and in through the door you said you felt sick, so I then had to hold your hair back while you threw up last night’s pasta bake and what looked to be about fifty different kinds of alcohol into the toilet bowl. Then I had to put you to bed and stay up half the night making sure you didn’t choke on your own tongue while you were asleep. Best one night stand I’ve ever had.”

When A’whora takes the pillow away, Tayce winks at her. She feels like putting the pillow back.

“I’m honestly so sorry,” she pouts. She is sorry. Part of her wishes she could at least properly remember what it had felt like to kiss Tayce. All the memories of the moment are much too paper-thin and flimsy, butterfly wings that’re all too rapidly flying away. Tayce isn’t giving her any cause to be embarrassed, but A’whora is anyway.

So she’s not sure what Tayce is going to say when she leans forward, takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. “Go brush your teeth.”

A’whora thinks she might be the first person in history to have cause of death: cringe written on her birth certificate. “You’re really adding insult to injury, aren’t you? Telling me all the embarrassing shit I did while I was off my face and then basically telling me my breath smells like dog shite.”

Tayce laughs as she shakes her head. “Just go do it, idiot.”

She’s never been one to say no to Tayce so A’whora drags herself out from under her duvet towards the little sink tucked away in the corner of her room, the cold chill of the freezing air hitting her bare arms and her feet and rendering her even more miserable. It’s only when she’s halfway through scrubbing at her teeth when it registers that she’s even got pyjamas on.

“Did you have to put my pyjamas on for me?” A’whora asks around her toothbrush, realising all too late that trying to talk through a mouthful of toothpaste is probably as unattractive as vomiting into the toilet bowl.

(The toilet bowl is definitely worse, but she’s just thinking this to help herself feel better.)

Tayce looks up from her phone and raises an eyebrow. “Nah, you managed to do it yourself. You did make me watch you put your stick-on bra on your forehead, though. Apparently it was the funniest thing in the world.”

A’whora just groans as she turns back to the sink, spitting out the toothpaste and following it with mouthwash just to completely clean her mouth of the various alcoholic sins of the night before. She crawls back into bed with a wearied sigh, and she’s surprised when Tayce falls on her side and scoots up beside her, laying on her side and facing her so their noses are almost touching. A’whora feels her heart lift and her pulse speed up, and it’s not helped by the way Tayce reaches out and tucks a little piece of hair behind her ear.  

Tayce trails her fingers across to cup A’whora’s cheek, and she’s almost whispering when she speaks. “Thank God. Just wanted to do this again.”

When she leans in A’whora shuts her eyes, meets her halfway, and feels every cell in her body electrify when their lips touch. If kissing Tayce in a club when they were both drunk was good, then kissing her hungover in bed is somehow even better, and A’whora’s mystified at the way her headache seems to completely disappear with every second she spends with her lips on Tayce’s, kissing her gently and softly as if they’ve got all the time in the world. Tayce smells of everything comforting- Tresemme shampoo, snow fairy shower gel, the fabric softener she uses that’s way too expensive for a student budget. Fresh and clean and somehow new. It’s the simplest heaven A’whora has ever experienced.

Tayce pulls away and they both giggle, embarrassment and awkwardness gone now that the elephant in the room’s been addressed. A’whora only realises Tayce has taken her hand when she lets it go, pushes herself off the mattress and crosses the room towards the door.

“We should do that again some time,” she smiles wickedly by way of a goodbye, and A’whora can only nod bashfully in reply and agreement. Tayce has given her hope to hold on to, and she knows she’s going to cling to it ridiculously until whatever this is happens again.

She can’t wait.

Just as Tayce opens her door and A’whora resigns herself to her leaving, she lifts her head off the pillow when she hears her flatmate’s voice again as she disappears into the hallway.

“And go have a shower. You smell like tequila.”

[some-days-we-get-sundays]

New Wildmoore fic I’m working on titled- “Silly Love Songs”

I made a Wildmoore playlist and I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate all the songs into Wildmoore fics. This is my first attempt at it. I might change it up with other songs or do one shots based off the songs as well. The possibilities are endless. You can read chapter 1 below and it will also be on Ao3. Here is the playlist too. I suggest finding the song and listening to it to get the full affect!

The scene is a bedroom with the sun rising but it hasn’t quite lit the room up yet so there is a soft darkness. We can make out the forms of two sleeping people. One is lying on their side with the covers pulled up around their shoulders. The other is lying on their stomach. The clock in the room reads 5:17am. A breeze flits through the curtains.

Devotion by Tone Stith plays as the camera slowly pans the room and the people sleeping. 

You said that you're tryna find Someone who will love you more than just on the side I said I'll give you my devotion Give you my devotion, baby, uh, oh-oh You scared of livin' a lie,  So baby let me give you somethin' money can't buy Give you my devotion, yeah Give you my devotion, baby, 

I'll adore you even if you left me broken If you take a step, baby I'll take two...

_____________________________________

Music slowly fades out:

Sophie Moore wakes up on her stomach. She notices that her face feels like she didn’t take off her make up. She pats her head and feels her braids so her wig must have come off or she took it off before crashing. Her head is definitely pounding a little bit. She feels comfortable besides the impending hangover but she knows this bed isn’t hers and this room smells like... Ryan? Sophie then notices the extra weight in the bed. She turns onto her side and comes face to face with a sleeping Ryan Wilder. 

“Shit...” Sophie rasps out, unable to control her shock at turning over and seeing Ryan Wilder in bed next to her. She quickly rolls onto her back and looks at the ceiling, she closes her eyes for a couple moments and then opens them again. She knew she was in Ryan’s bed but she was afraid of the fact that Ryan was there with her. And now her fear has been confirmed. Should I wake her? Is she a morning person? I hope she has clothes on. Whose shirt am I wearing? Why are my pants off... Thoughts ran through Sophie’s head at warp speed. What even happened last night. I remember tequila, lots of tequila, and another game of never have I ever. Sophie looked over at Ryan again. She’d never been this close to her without the Batwoman mask between them. Ryan was gorgeous. How had she not noticed those lips and that jaw line. Obviously Ryan was Batwoman stupid, how did you not see it before. Sophie chastised herself. Suddenly Ryan stirred and made a noise, alerting Sophie to the fact that she was waking up. Shit should I pretend to be sleeping, what should I do, what should I do. Ok breathe. At least stop staring at her. Sophie averted her eyes. 

“Sophie?” Ryan was sleepy and confused and completely 100 percent adorable in the morning. Sophie feigned a yawn and a stretch and sat up. She looked down at Ryan. 

“Hey.” Ryan rolled her eyes, not at Sophie but she just rolled them and then turned on her back. She seemed to be trying to figure out what was happening. 

“Why are you in my bed?” Ryan finally said. 

“Um.” Sophie started to say but Ryan interrupted with her own train of thoughts. 

“What happened last night? Mary! Mary Hamilton! MARY” Ryan started calling Mary’s name. Sophie fell back into the bed and tried to hide her ears with the pillows. Footsteps pattered across the floor, the bedroom door opened, and Mary appeared in the doorway looking half asleep herself. 

“Ryan, what is it? What happened? Are you ok? Sophie?” Mary noticed Sophie lying in Ryan’s bed trying to block out the noise. Sophie wanted to disappear. She wasn’t embarrassed. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, but she was not a morning person and all this yelling and confusion was starting to aggravate her. Could Ryan just go back to the quiet and peacefully sleeping cutie that she was a couple of minutes ago. Maybe they could cuddle. Sophie shook that thought away.

“Mary. Why is Sophie in here!” Ryan demanded an answer. 

“Well we all had a lot to drink last night and you didn’t want Sophie to go home drunk and alone so she crashed here.” 

“Ok, but why is she in my bed and not yours?” Ryan had a feeling she was the one who told Sophie she could sleep in her bed. Drunk ideas are not always the best ideas. 

“You told her she could! It’s not like anything happened.” Mary rolled her eyes and then she got a look on her face. ‘Wait! Did something happen! Did you two kiss!” Mary squealed excitedly! 

“What!” Sophie and Ryan simultaneously exclaimed. 

“Ew Mary, no.” Ryan added on. 

“Excuse me?” Sophie said feeling offended. Ryan looked at Sophie with wide eyes. “Girl please,” Sophie started, “I don’t know why you’re saying ew, all the women that I’ve kissed have had no complaints. You’d be lucky to kiss me.” Sophie got a smug look on her face and Mary raised her eyebrows. 

“Ok Soph, I didn’t mean ew like you’re gross. I just meant like ew no, like we’re friends and we weren’t in here doing the nasty.” Ryan tried to backtrack. This morning was rough. Now she offended Sophie who in all truth she wouldn’t mind kissing at some point, you know, under different circumstances or something. Ryan stole a glance at Sophie. Different circumstances for sure, different circumstances and she’d be kicking Mary out and putting a do not disturb sign on the doorknob. I mean Sophie freakin Moore was in her bed. Ok Ryan thought, I need to get dressed, get some food and water and clear my head. 

“Alright Mary, can you give us a moment.” Ryan said.

“Sure. I’ll go make some breakfast.” Mary said and closed the door. Sophie and Ryan were alone together once again. Ryan looked at Sophie.

“Hey, I’m sorry about the ew comment. I didn’t mean it like that at all.”

“It’s ok Ryan.” Sophie said trying to brush off Ryan’s apology. 

“No, it’s... I just.” Ryan couldn’t figure out what she wanted to say. 

“What, you can say it.” Sophie said trying to coax Ryan into whatever it was she was going to say. Ryan trained her eyes on Sophie and Sophie looked at Ryan. They both seemed to realize how intimate their position was right now. Both half clothed in Ryan’s bed only inches apart. Ryan took a deep breath and then glanced down at Sophie’s lips. She felt herself leaning in and then she stopped put her head down and pushed out a sigh. “We should get dressed. I see your pants over there, and I see that you’re wearing one of my sleep shirts.” 

Sophie breathed out a sigh too at the sudden change in topics and the loss of closeness that Ryan was providing. Had Ryan almost kissed her? Would Sophie have let her? Sophie got up and grabbed her dress pants and slipped them on. Then she turned her back and took off Ryan’s sleep shirt and put on her own top from the previous night that she found tossed over a chair. She could feel Ryan’s eyes on her and her face got hot. She turned once she had her own clothes on she saw Ryan quickly avert her gaze and then get up too. Ryan was wearing extremely short boy shorts and a top that barely fit, it was showing off her belly button ring. She also wasn’t wearing a bra and her nipples were poking hard against the fabric of the shirt. Fuck the only time this girl is covered is when she’s wearing the Batsuit. Sophie thought. She had to get out of this room. It was suddenly too hot, too cramped, and too Ryan. 

“Ok well I’ll see you out there.” Sophie quickly went to open the door and hurried out. 

The door shuts, and Ryan is alone with her thoughts. Shame by Summer Walker starts playing:

In a perfect world

You're understanding, I'm not a perfect girl

I would drop my fears at the door

I would only bring myself and nothing more

And you let me be, a woman

And you let me be, a flawed woman

You would yearn to hear all about my past

What I've done, what I've did and why

Hear all my sick thoughts

And if I needed to, I could cry

And you would catch my tears

You don't wanna be nobody else's pain no, aye, no

You don't wanna be nobody else's place, to hide from themselves

[Chorus]

Shame

And I'm the one to blame

[Bridge]

You see right through me

You see through the smile

You see straight through me

You push past the lies, oh

You got it baby

Oh, oh, oh

________________

Song fades out...

[stickyjjaem]

lover of mine theme song analysis pt 3: felix lee/stuck in the middle with you - stealers wheel

once again thank you to @sulfurcosmos for creating lover of mine, what a perfect procrastination strategy! nice guess, i have massive plan for chris, the ultimate clown (may involve me singing ;););) )

welcome back to lom!au theme songs, where i briefly discuss characters from the series and what i think their theme song (or ost per se) should be after weeks of sleep deprivation. on this episode, clownlix lee and his theme song, Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheel. you'll wanna hold on for this one bc it's a bit of a stretch but trust me, i kinda know what i'm going on about here

i guess a disclaimer should be put in here, yes a lot of these theories centre on the characters' relationships with sunshine and chris, but that's unavoidable. they are the main characters, but i love everyone equally!

first off, what an absolute banger, everyone from down under has heard this song on a roadie (it's in my playlist), especially the poor soul stuck in the middle seat, and partly that’s why i picked this song for felix. he’s been the poor guy stuck in the middle of sunshine and chris. this song is from felix's perspective of his friend group. it's v upbeat, like himself, and it does have a couple of decent jokes in it. kinda like his hyunjin meme collection (ti if you see this pls send me everything you have my flatmate is a hyunjin stan and i wish to use this against her)

line by line analysis

"Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right; Here I am, Stuck in the middle with you" the chorus, short and simple. he's got half his friends (the 4some??) to the left of him, the rest to the right, who's in the middle with him? minho! ep 19, lix is updating minho after sunshine chews chan out for being a 'pompous egotistic bastard.' ep 38, lix drives minho (and rekha bc they come in a pair no exceptions) looking for chris. lix is the one left debating whether or not to tell minho about chris's....... mishap I'M TRYING TO BE NICE OKAY

"And I'm wondering what it is I should do; It's so hard to keep this smile from my face; Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place" i was tempted to alter the lyrics but i came up with a better explanation so it's okay. felix is wondering what to do, does he tell minho? how does he support chris?? he's (hopefully idk) happy for sunshine though, finally she's said what she needed to say, he can't help but smile about that. but at the same time, he LIVES with chris. he can't just be mr happy virus like he usually is (but there is no way he didn't smile when chris agreed to come out of his room to The Fort. No Way.). man's is a MESS in the middle.

"And your friends, they all come crawling; Slap you on the back and say please" okay so this line is a bit of a dig and i'm so here for it. for context, basically it's the original singer giving the subject of the song a bit of shit because all his friends ask him for money. you see where this is going? who has money in the friend group? CHANGBIN. this is felix giving changbin shit, however he is of course one of the friends and will keep slapping changbin on the back for some spArE CHangE.

"Trying to make some sense of it all; But I can see it makes no sense at all; Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor?; 'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore" dude's just trying to keep up. WHERE IS THE SENSE? THERE IS NO SENSE. there's just so much happening, he doesn't know what's coming next but do any of us really? only ti knows at this point, if i were him, caught up in a whirlwind of tomfoolery, the floor would be pretty enticing. he really can't take any more of chris or sunshine being this heartbroken.

sources: 7 cups of coffee and roadtrip planning

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 87

Emma

Slow dancing and kissing in the middle of the floor had been as perfect of goodbye as a goodbye could be. Sebastian had updated his playlists. There was nothing sexual. Every song was I love you, I've been waiting for you, I'm happy you're mine. Intense love songs. I felt every one. I stayed in the moment, focusing on how good this felt. We held each other, swaying to the music and alternating between my head laying on his shoulder, gazing in the other's eyes, or kissing. We were in our own little bubble. There was nothing but how his body felt against mine, how he smelled, and the look of his face. All I felt was encapsulated in a swirl of feelings. Love, joy, and a touch of sadness hiding on the edge.

The bubble burst with the knock on the door. Time to go. there was no chance of getting through this without tears. Strong emotions always bring tears. I don't fight them. Letting them out feels better. I don't think emotions are anything to be ashamed of or hide. They're also not something to manipulate others with.

At the car, we were both crying. Not holding onto each other sobbing, just tears.

Saying goodbye was hard. His "I love you. I'll miss you. I'll talk to you Later. Send nudes." broke the sadness enough to get the car door closed. I watched him slide away. I wiped away a few more tears before talking myself down. Six weeks was a long fucking time, but it wasn't forever. It would probably feel like it, however.

My solution was to avail myself of the Air France business class lounge. Two shots of tequila and I switched to wine. It went better with the cheese. I was going to have to hit the gym hard when I got home. And eat better. Not today though I was sad and there was free cheese.

As usual, I was asleep before we reached cruising altitude. I woke up with about five hours to go. Fingers crossed that helped with the jet lag. I put on my favorites playlist and read until we landed.

Emma ~ I’ve landed Sebastian ~ Yay! Emma ~ Go back to sleep. Sebastian ~ XOXO

I knew he had an early call time tomorrow. It was only five pm here in New York. Closer to seven by the time I got back to Sebastian's place. I made it long enough to throw a load of laundry into the washer and the cheese into the fridge before crawling into bed. I took over his side of the bed, sniffing the pillows to find the one that smelled most like him. I curled around it and was out.

Five am was the latest my body was going to let me sleep. That was eleven am in France. So too early for New York and kinda late for France. I grabbed my phone to take a sleepy selfie but was distracted by my text notification. Sebastian had sent me a picture of him reclining on a couch, not in our rooms, with Guiletta asleep on his chest.

Sebastian ~ Found someone new to sleep on my chest.

I continued with my original plan to take an up-close picture of my eyes peeking out over the top of his pillow. My hair was a mess, my eyes look half-asleep, and there was a faint pillow crease on my temple. Perfect.

Emma ~ I miss you too

The sun was up with a bright blue sky. Since it was Saturday the traffic at this time of day would be much less. I had a clean pair of shorts, but not a shirt. No problem. My boyfriend had t-shirts. A little big, but perfectly functional. Runners, earphones, keys and I was out the door for an early morning run.

The city was beautiful. sunlight crept around corners and over the tops of shorter buildings. I ran south past the 9-11 memorial to Battery Park. I'd always been fascinated by the metal world with tears and chunks missing. The first time I'd seen I'd said out loud, "It looks like the world blew up." I guess I wasn't far off. The sculpture had been in the World Trade Center Plaza and been damaged by falling debris. I was only eight and all I remember was my parents being glued to CNN for hours. It would be years later, when I called the city home, before I really understood. As much as a non-native New Yorker could.

The worst thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. The best thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. I admit my shopping had been out of hand. In my defense, it had been a very long time since I'd had someone to dress up for. Don't take that wrong. Beacon dates with a man or friends was an opportunity to dress up. Coming into New York to be with Angie and Eli was a good opportunity. Both opportunities I used well. Still, having a man appreciate what you wear and how you look in it is another level. I know what I look good in. I'm not changing my choices for Sebastian, or any man, but I will take his preferences into account. Shopping right now would be a bad idea. I’m sure I'm packing around a few extra pounds of cheese, bread, and wine. I'm hoping all the walking mitigated some of the damage.

On my way back, a couple of blocks from Sebastian's the city was waking up. More people and sounds. I realized tonight would be the first time I'd been alone in the city in about five years. I made plans to sit in the dark and just listen. I picked up a bagel and a smoothie that I was told would rejuvenate me. I wonder if the barista could tell? I broke into Sebastian's stash of nut butter. Half a bagel with cashew butter the other with almond. Cashew was better.

Being alone in his space is weird. None of my stuff is here. It's like a hotel, but not. I got a little nosey after I'd showered and dressed. Not in a going through his drawers and medicine cabinet nosey. Looking at his DVD and CD collection. Running my fingers down the spines of his books, pulling out ones that caught my interest to thumb through. I made a stack of things I wanted to read. I did go through his kitchen pretty thoroughly. It looks like a single man who travels and eats out a lot lives here. He doesn't have flour. How does one not have flour? He does have quite a condiment collection. I threw out expired things and made a list to replace them. That led me on a short journey to see if there was anything else he was almost out of and added things to the list.

Time to call the best friends. Angie picked up on the third ring, her voice excited to hear from me, "You're home!"

"I’m at Sebastian's. I meet with my advisor Monday."

"I want to see all the pictures and hear all the stories. We're going out tonight. Some friends are playing. You're welcome."

"Can I let you know later? I don't know what the time change is going to do."

"Absolutely. So.... " the paused after dragging out the word, "are you missing him? How was goodbye?"

"Goodbye took forever. Neither of us wanted to let go. At least half a dozen last kisses. Sucked. I miss him, but I'm okay. I'll be fine when I get home and am doing stuff. I've cleaned expired shit out of his kitchen and made a grocery list."

"That's cute. Hope he thinks so."

I hadn't thought about his opinion one way or another. I was just getting rid of shit before it stank up the place. "He won't care."

We talked for a while, deciding we'd do brunch tomorrow.

I was bored. I didn't lack for things to do, but I didn't have a routine here. Especially not without him. It didn't feel like home without him. Once I'd figured that out I was good and went about making myself at home.

I'd changed Sebastian's ringtone from "Dancing Queen" to my favorite part in "Every Time I’m With You." It was near the end after a heavy drumbeat "cause every time I'm with you I feel wanted. We could make believers if we dare. We're just two believers if we dare." It was incredible the first time we'd danced to it and it was incredible now. I heard it about six, midnight in France.

I'd barely registered his face before I heard his voice, "If I put that picture on my laptop and my laptop in the bed, I can pretend it's you."

I felt warm all over and smiled, "Yes, you can. Tell me about the first day of shooting."

"It was good. Long, but good. I'm comfortable with Jess and I like her direction." He told me stories that made me proud and made me laugh. "I did well today. What have you been up to?"

I gave him a quick rundown on my day, leaving the bit about making myself at home until last.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't believe you restocked my kitchen. Thank you. Do whatever you want to feel at home."

"What if I reorganized your drawers because your way doesn't make sense?"

"Have at it. I'll just think I forget and think I did it."

"And your kitchen so it flows better."

He shook his head, "I don't know what that means. Knock yourself out."

I laughed, "I didn't do either."

I loved the lines that formed at the corners of his eyes when he genuinely smiled. Like now, "I don't care what you do. I just want you to feel at home.”

Now we were where I wanted to be, "Here's the thing... my favorite foods in your kitchen, finding where I'm most comfortable to work on my laptop, and figuring out where has the best view when I want to relax with a book are good, but it's not enough. Doing all that did help me figure what's missing."

"What's missing and where can we get it?"

"It's free and I already found it. You make where ever we are home. You're my home."

"I'm your home." He looked a little dazed.

"When you were in my place I felt at home. At your parents, I felt at home. Being at your place with you I was perfectly at home. Paris too. Now I’m back and I did things to feel at home. Took a while until I realized its missing something. You. When I'm with you, wherever we are, I’m home."

I could tell he was processing, by the way his tongue moved, "I like that."

He kept thinking, squinting his eyes a little, "I don't know if you're my home. Not sure where home is. Sometimes I don't feel at home in my own skin. I like that I’m your home." He cringed, "The next couple of weeks are going to suck for you."

I banred out a laugh, "No, once I knew what the issue was I adjusted. I'm good now."

"You don't miss me anymore?"

"Oh, I miss you a lot." Were transitioned into silly conversation.

"Ok, good."

I gasped, "You want me to suffer?"

"Terribly." His eyes were wide as he nodded his head. "So much so that when you see me again you throw yourself into my arms and hold on so tight I can't breathe."

"Therefore making you suffer."

"Yes, please."

I did end up going out with Angie and Eli. Thankfully it was a jeans sort of bar. My hope was if I stayed moving I'd fall over, get a good night's sleep, and get back on New York time. It was a good fun night.

Sunday I took a run before getting ready for Angie to come over. I'd bribed her with her favorite home-cooked meal. I had her take pictures of me in various outfits around his apartment. At one point Angie rolled her eyes, "I can not believe I'm taking pictures of you rolling around in his bed."

"Six weeks, Angie. I suck at selfies. I need a stockpile to pull from."

"What you need is a class in basic photo editing on an iPhone."

"I know."

We went back to her place, stopping for supplies on the way. A few hours later we were feasting on cilantro lime salmon,  a creamy garlic parmesan orzo, and a greek salad. I've taught Angie to cook this several times, but she tells me it's never quite right. I think she skimps on the butter and that's a big no. And a healthy splash of the Sauvignon blanc lifts the whole thing a little.

Sebastian and I exchanged texts over the course of the day. A comment or question with stretches of time between answers. Mostly from him. I got excited when an unexpected text came through. His response to my dinner picture was a request for the same meal. Maybe with his parents.

Monday was a busier day. I had to dress like a doctoral student, pack my bags, clean up after myself, and plant surprises like the notes I keep finding in my condo. Mine are more fun. The green g- string from concert night is mixed in with his boxers. A couple of dresses parked next to something they matched well. A peach tank top mixed in with his workout gear. I had Angie take a picture in each room. Printed and framed them. My favorite is me sitting on the toilet. It has a lovely frame and is now on the wall across from the throne. I wanted everything ready for me to leave for home straight from my advisory meeting

My advisory meeting lasted a little over three hours. Three good hours. Dr. Kershaw had been appointed my advisor. I'd taken a class with her while working on my Master's and my second winter in Beacon, but at the time I'd been excited to work with students and studying digital classroom technology was something I wasn't wanting to explore. I wanted to be hands-on molding little minds and still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I'd enjoyed working on our team's website. Google Classroom was functional but limited by design. Three hours later I had it narrowed down.

Sebastian had texted me good luck this morning with a picture of his face, eyes closed and lips puckered. I'd sent back a picture of my legs, crossed at the ankles with my skirt draped to the side, while sitting in his favorite chair. I was more than halfway home when his ringtone came through my vehicle's speaker. I hit the button, "Hey, baby."

I could hear his smile in his voice, "Sounds like your lunch went well."

"It did!" I was still excited from lunch and the phone call with Angie after. "I like my advisor. There's only ten of us in the program with the plan to add ten more each fall."

"Wow!" He interjected. "So being accepted is even more impressive."

"Yeah." I was proud of myself. "Small and first-year makes everything very personalized. All of the potential classes overlap with other programs. Cognitive theory from Psych, advanced reading from Education, some Education Law and leadership, computer tech, and even game design. We spent a lot of time talking about what I’m passionate about. In the and I’m thinking I want to focus on reading intervention and programming for K-3."

"Which is what you're passionate about."

I laughed, "and you."

"And me. Did you just talk about direction or is there a plan? What coursework did they accept."

"The fifteen hours I've taken will apply. We designed a basic timeline. I've taken six hours the last two years. I'm confident I can handle that with work and having a life. If I want to take more I can. I don't want to take classes in the summer. Those are usually compressed and pretty intense, plus I'm not in a hurry. Somewhere in the middle, I write a thesis, which looks at a problem or a hole in what already exists. That will feed into my dissertation. I can either do research and design an experiment like comparing existing programs or create my own product."

"Any idea which way you want to go?"

"None at all. I figure the thesis will help figure that out."

"And when do I have to start calling you Doctor?" The seductive tone in his voice told me "have to" wasn't going to be a hardship.

"Three to four years. No summers and using the last semester for my dissertation is four. If I add a class in a couple of semesters or summer and do my dissertation concurrently then three. I have to be done in ten. I'm thinking I’ll figure out what I want to do the first two then design and implement the last two. A lot will depend on how long that takes." He couldn't see me, but I was waving a hand in the air. "It will work itself out."

"I love you."

"I love you. Enough me, tell me about your day."

We talked the rest of the way home where we had some fun.

I called Seattle and went through it all again with Ed. He was as excited and proud of me as was Seb. I found it a little sadly ironic that my lover was in a time zone six hours ahead, my family was three hours behind, and the ones in the same time zone weren't going to know for a few days. I didn't trust them to not take away from my accomplishment, neither did Ed, which meant they'd have to wait. Hell, they barely knew I'd been in France. They'd get to know once I was finished celebrating with people who would just be happy for me. That pushed a Georgia phone call off to the weekend after the volleyball tournament. Maybe after practice tomorrow if I could get my school lunch bunch to come for drinks, I’d even buy. I had no problem funding my own celebration. I just wanted my friends there. Angie and Eli were coming for the weekend. Maybe I'd call while they were here. Eli could make angry faces while Angie tried to scold him. Then either way it went we could drink our way through. That was a good plan. I texted all involved and they agreed.

I ran back out to the grocery for fresh berries, yogurt, and wine to go with my cheese. I bought other good for detox items and healthy foods. A stopped by a smoothie shop for a raspberry white chocolate protein drink. It was amazing how quickly I slid into my summer schedule. Run to the gym to work out. Run home. Have breakfast and practice guitar. Do whatever until it was warm enough to go lay by the pool and read or float. Have dinner, meet up with friends, volleyball practice, or lay on the couch with Netflix

Sebastian and I would text sporadically throughout the day. About nine my time, so three am for him, I'd send him a picture. One Angie took or something I'd taken during the day. He always woke up to see me. Some days that was more arousing than others. We talked almost every day. Maybe five minutes or an hour. Night shoots were the worst. He was working while I was awake and I was asleep during his time off.

The weekend Angie and Eli came down was fun. Friday night we stayed in watching movies and drinking. Saturday's tournament was going well until storms came through. The radar said there were hours of rain left, so they canceled. Since all our plans had been canceled we decided on a bar crawl. Which meant Sunday was spent recovering. We went to brunch at the riverside restaurant where Sebastian and I had our first date. On the drive back I made plans for calling Georgia. Angie and Eli were my get away plan. We went out on the back patio. I set up my iPad where they would only see me, but I could see my support system.

Dad picked up almost immediately, “Hey, Emma. You’re home. Amy told us you were in France.”

“Sebastian had an event so we made it a short vacation.”

“Sounds fun.” My mom had entered the frame. “I bet you appreciated things you overlooked before.”

I laughed, “I did. All those things I saw pictures of later and wished I’d paid more attention to. We had a good time.”

“That’s great.”

Time to dive in. “I wanted to tell you some good news.”

Amy jumped into frame and interrupted, “Can I hear too?”

I ignored the question and just went on, “I was accepted into a new Doctoral program at NYU. It’s education and digital media. It’s new so we’re building my program as we go.”

“That’s great news, Emma.” Dad looked excited, “Dissertation and everything?”

“Yes, it can be research or designing a project. I’ve got about three years to get that figured out. They accepted the post-grad classes I’ve been taking.”

“Congratulations, sweetheart. We’re proud of you.” Mom’s smile was bright.

“My baby sister is going to be a Doctor. I need to figure out my future.”

I shook my head, “You’ll figure it out. What’s right for you and my beautiful niece. She’s a job and a half.”

“I am not enjoying this age.”

“That’s why I teach first grade and not kindergarten or preschool.”

We talked a bit more about school, what was going on there, and how things were with Amy and Max. Mom asked about Sebastian, where he was, and if things were good between us. Instead of shutting her down, like I had in the car, I talked about him.

Not a minute after we hung up Amy texted, “How’s Sebastian feel about calling you Dr? *wink*wink*”

I sent back, “Exactly, like that.”

I closed my tablet and looked at my friends. I was not comfortable. Sure, the conversation had gone fine, but it didn’t feel fine. “That went better than expected.”

“This time.” Eli grimaced, “Sorry.”

“That’s what makes this so hard. This looks normal, but it’s not. If it was, I wouldn’t have this not in the bit of my stomach and want friends here when I talk to them. That’s not normal.”

Angie came over to kneel beside me, bringing me into a hug, “No, it’s not. You don’t need us when you call Seattle.”

Eli joined us, “I don’t think they know what they’re doing, but it doesn’t change it, Emma.”

I laughed, “I know.” I kissed his cheek. Dealing with my parents was worse for him than it was for me. I hated seeing people I love hurt too. I wasn’t hurt though. It was a weird numb.

“You ok, Em?”

I met Angie’s eyes, “I am. Just weird. The happier I am, the more good things going on, the more distant I feel. The better I’m doing, the less supportive they are.”

“Yep!” Eli didn’t hesitate to agree. “And that’s not alright.”

I mussed his hair, “No, it’s not.”

The next week was more of the same. I registered for my fall classes and my books were delivered by Wednesday. I started reading. Yes, I'm that student. I liked to get a head start. I'd never taken classes in the fall. The first month of teaching was exhausting. It took time and energy to get first graders ready to learn. I wasn't sure how that would work with starting my classes. Getting ahead on reading seemed the safest approach.

Thursday afternoon Sebastian called. Drunk. I guess wrapping in Paris was worthy of a party. The rest of cast and crew were packing up and heading to Rome. Sebastian was flying halfway around the world to San Diego's Comic-Con. He'd spend thirty-two hours of his four day weekend in a plane, which meant he was drunk and a little grumpy. By the time I was done with him he was still drunk, but no longer grumpy. He was naked, smiling, and satisfied. Well, as satisfied as he could be over the phone. Even drunk he was insistent that he not see me masturbating for the first time on video. We should have taken care of this.

I set an alarm for the middle of the night to make sure he was awake and would make his plane. It was worth it to lay in bed together.

[thelittlestcheshire]

even if you have to cry, don't let your crown fall

a love letter to luxor’s ches elswood

Well, it’s finally time that I feel ready to post this, and while I’m aware it may be bittersweet with my upcoming departure, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Today I present to you a three hour Ches playlist, divided into sections and covering her entire time at Luxor, from when I first picked her up in June of 2019 all the way to now. There’s quite a few plot references, and small (and not as small) references to other muses throughout, especially when it comes to Elliot, so keep an eye out for those as well!

I’d like to thank Lex for giving me the idea to make these, and her support throughout the process because without her, these playlists wouldn’t even exist. And thank you to everyone who has gone on this journey with us, while I’m sorry I need to dip out early after this event to focus on my health, I love y’all so much.

The standard Ches tws apply (poor mental health, alcoholism, etc etc), and anything I think may be a bit abnormal / section exclusive is noted on the sections.

twist me like a key, then you open the lock | pre-luxor:

the section of time before I played Ches at Luxor, very James heavy. additional tws: Death (Sign of the Times), Toxic relationships (nothing explicit tho)

Sign of the Times (Jasmine Thompson) [ Remember everything will be alright. We can meet again somewhere, somewhere far away from here. ] // Sweet Ophelia (Zella Day) [ Singing like it's a full moon, careless now that he has you. Turns you on to the right songs, promises that you're hooked on. ] // Couple of Kids (Maggie Lindemann) [ Now I'm fallin' heavily, recklessly, trying not to lose my sensibility; but gravity, it pulls me into you. ] // Glowstick (Sofia Karlberg) [ You play me like a line-up; long con, you make me wise up. ] // Crying in the Club (Camila Cabello) [ Ain't no crying in the club, hey, hey, let the beat carry away, your tears as they fall, baby. Ain't no crying in the club, hey, hey, with a little faith, your tears turn to ecstasy. ] // Ember (Katherine McNamara) [ Reignite; you lost your grip on me, and now I blaze wild and free. ]

nobody shows up unless i'm paying, have a drink on me cheers to the failing | summer & fall 2019:

the first time I was at Luxor playing ches, from June - October 2019

7 rings (Ariana Grande) [ Been through some bad shit, I should be a sad bitch. Who woulda thought it'd turn me to a savage? ] // I'm a Mess (Bebe Rexha) [ “It's gonna be a good, good life;” that's what my therapists say. ] // OMG (Little Mix) [ Oh my gosh, I did it again. He said I broke his heart, it keeps happening. ] // Only Angel (Harry Styles) [ Couldn't take you home to mother in a skirt that short, but I think that's what I like about it. ] // LA Devotee (Panic! At The Disco) [ Drinking white wine in the blushing light, just another LA Devotee. ] // Woman Like Me (Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj) [ I made a few mistakes, I regret it nightly. I broke a couple hearts that I wear on my sleeve. ]

all of this emptiness i've been sharing, it never comes when i want it to | winter 2019:

the period of time Ches went home to be with her family and was away from luxor additional tws: vomiting (Habits (Stay High))

Carmen (Lana Del Rey) [ Darlin’, darlin’, doesn't have a problem lyin’ to herself ‘cause her liquor’s top shelf ] // How You Remind Me (Avril Lavigne) [ And I've been wrong, I've been down, been to the bottom of every bottle. These five words in my head scream, "Are we havin' fun yet?" ] // Playing God (Paramore) [ This is the last second chance (I'll point you to the mirror). I'm half as good as it gets (I'll point you to the mirror). I'm on both sides of the fence (I'll point you to the mirror). Without a hint of regret, I'll hold you to it ] // Habits {Stay High} (Tove Lo) [ Staying in my play pretend, where the fun ain't got no end. Oh, can't go home alone again, need someone to numb the pain. ] // Bedroom Window (The Pretty Reckless) [ As I look out of my bedroom window; is it all real or just fantasy? I have lost touch with what makes me human, I have lost touch with reality. ] // Impossible Year (Panic! At The Disco) [ There's no sunshine, this impossible year; only black days and sky grey and clouds full of fear. ]

i wouldn't say you got the best of me, i'd say you got me somewhere in between | spring 2020:

Ches’s return to Luxor, and the months following leading up to her mass text about Leo’s dad following the Lake Bash

3 O'Clock Things (AJR) [ Would you go running if you saw the real me? Maybe you'd love 'em, yeah, maybe you'd feel me. ] // Wild Heart (Bleachers) [ Well, everything has changed and now I can't tell what matters. I will find any way to your wild heart. ] // Rise (Katy Perry) [ When the fire's at my feet again and the vultures all start circling. They're whispering, “you're out of time.” But still, I rise. ] // Don't Stop Me Now (Queen) [ I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars on a collision course. I am a satellite, I'm out of control. ] // Princesses Don't Cry (CARYS) [ Girls, so pretty and poised and soft to the touch, but God made me rough. Girls, so heavy the crown, they carry it tall, but it's weighing me down. ] // Save Rock And Roll (Fall Out Boy feat. Elton John) [ You are what you love, not who loves you. In a world full of the word 'yes', I'm here to scream... no, no (no, no). ] // Making a Monster out of Me (Katherine McNamara) [ And I don't know how to recollect the morals that I always did possess. Don't know where its leading me. ] // We Don't Have To Dance (Andy Black) [ You're never gonna get it, I'm a hazard to myself. I'll break it to you easy. This is hell, this is hell. ]

tonight it's alright, i can see the tunnel at the end of these lights | summer 2020:

summer camp and the months leading up to a new school year

Night Owls Early Birds (Foxes) [ A wild fire inside me burns. Why do I look like I'm wear for worse? Save me, save me, go underneath the ground. ] // Too Much (Carly Rae Jepsen) [ When I party, then I party too much. When I feel it, then I feel it too much. When I'm thinking, then I'm thinking too much. When I'm drinking, then I'm drinking too much. ] // Royal Blue (Alberto Rosende) [ My regrets are a shade around my neck I know. It's torturous, and there's a burden that I can't let go. ] // Who You Selling For (The Pretty Reckless) [ And when Roger showed me I was building a wall. I've been waiting a long time, waiting a long time, waiting a long time, waiting for it to fall. ] // Heavy (Linkin Park feat. Kiiara) [ You say that I'm paranoid, but I’m pretty sure the world is out to get me. It’s not like I make the choice to let my mind stay so fucking messy. ] // The Archer (Taylor Swift) [ I've been the archer, I've been the prey; screaming, “who could ever leave me,” darling. But who could stay? ] // Everybody Lost Somebody (Bleachers) [ And there's a reason I wake up alone in strange places, a reason I see myself in a million faces, a reason I can't stop it all from changing. So come on, motherfucker, you survive, you gotta give yourself a break. ]

no cameras catch my muffled cries. i counted days, i counted miles | fall and winter 2020(/21):

a new school year, from the start of the semester right until the aftermath of the kings’ party

So It Goes (Guards) [ I don't know who I am but I do know who I'm not. I'm just looking for a friend, I'm still searching for the plot. ] // Wasabi (Little Mix) [ Love to hate me, praise me, shame me; either way, you talk about me. ] // Think Before I Talk (Astrid S) [ Maybe I should think before I talk; I get emotional and words come out all wrong. Sometimes I'm more honest than I want. ] // Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince (Taylor Swift) [ No cameras catch my muffled cries. I counted days, I counted miles to see you there, to see you there. And now the storm is coming, but... ] // Sober Up (AJR feat. Rivers Cuomo) [ Won't you help me sober up? Growin' up, it made me numb, and I wanna feel somethin' again. ] // The Show Must Go On (Queen) [ Empty spaces, what are we living for? Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and on. Does anybody know what we are looking for? ] // Waiting For A Friend (The Pretty Reckless) [ My head is like a prison cell, I'm all by myself. I'm waiting for my friend to come and break me out. ] // Sober (Demi Lovato) [ I'm sorry that I'm here again, I promise I'll get help. It wasn't my intention, I'm sorry to myself. ] // Eight (Sleeping At Last) [ I'm just a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut, and bury my innocence. But here's a map, here's a shovel, here's my Achilles' heel. ]

i got this handled, i don't need rescuing | spring and early summer 2021:

ches’s progress from the end of march until now

The Man (Taylor Swift) [ I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man. And I'm so sick of them coming at me again, 'cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man. ] // Princess (FLETCHER) [ But we're all going through it, so why do we do it? Why do we hide? ] // Humpty Dumpty (AJR) [ If I can't breathe, then you can't see, but aren't you excited that I'm giving you the best me? ] // My Mistake (Gabrielle Aplin) [ Am I jaded? Am I meant to feel this way?  I'm a loser, getting beat by my own game. But if I falter, well, at least it was my mistake. ] // The Climb (Miley Cyrus) [ The struggles I'm facing, the chances I'm taking; sometimes might knock me down, but no, I'm not breaking. ] // breathin (Ariana Grande) [ Some days, things just take way too much of my energy. I look up and the whole room's spinning. You take my cares away. ] // Clean (Taylor Swift) [ Ten months sober, I must admit just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it. Ten months older, I won't give in, now that I'm clean, I'm never gonna risk it. ] // Not a Pop Song (Little Mix) [ A hamster on a wheel that's how it feels tryna be real. These unrealistic expectations said we'll make it if we fake it. ] // Queen (Loren Gray) [ Eyes on me like I'm a prize but you better recognize I'm not your angel 'cause I belong to me. ] // The Cure (Little Mix) [ This happiness was always inside me but Lord, it took a minute to find me. ]

[deathbydarkelves]

I decided to make playlists for Cathala and Tarinne plus explanations for why I chose each song because I entered one of those ADHD fugue states and if I didn't finish this task I would die

Anyway here are the two links (they're youtube playlists because I don't have spotify. I would obviously recommend using an adblocker if you're just gonna watch on youtube) and the explanations for each song are below the cut :) Each playlist is about an hour long.

For Tarinne’s:

1. Foggy Nights: I consider this her theme so putting it first as a sort of intro only makes sense.

2. Here’s a Health to the Company: I think this works as an example of her general disposition. She’s a people person, and always a fan of singing these sorts of songs in taverns, on ships, or what have you. It also kind of feels like a sendoff to soldiers, which I imagine symbolizes her joining the Sentinel Army and quickly thereafter fighting in the Third War.

3. Wartime Prayers: Somewhat self-explanatory, this is symbolizing her seeing war for the first time, but I also included it because the last line transitions SO WELL into the next song.

4. The Hollow: This song is an intro to an album I've never heard so I don't know the context, but I really love it because it sounds like someone praying to their deity and like I mean c'mon. Elune. Tarinne's praying to Elune to guide her through the war. Do I need to elabo-

5. Wave Walker: KILL DEATH MAIM AHAHAHAHA

6. Isil Elun’falo: Just a super rad fan-made night elf song that's basically "wow we sure do love Elune" said in twenty different ways for four and a half minutes. But it ROCKS and I LOVE it.

7. Chewing Cotton Wool: This song is about losing a loved one (I did have to check but yeah that's what it is) and I use it to symbolize Tarinne losing her mom during the war. The last line, which includes the song's title, I especially like. It's referring to how morticians (apparently) put cotton gauze in a corpse's throat and mouth to keep body fluids in and make the face look more natural. So there's a fun fact for you.

8. See U Soon (Song for Dad): Just a short lofi piece to rest a bit, and it was also chosen because the title's in reference to Tarinne growing closer to her dad after losing her mom. She still visits him at his leathers and furs shop in Stormwind fairly often, especially after dangerous adventures. She just wants to make sure he knows she's alright ;-;

9. No Lullaby: Right back into it with a song that I use to represent Tarinne's general feeling of not being able to go home because it's not there anymore. She's felt like this since the end of the Third War, but it's especially strong since the whole Teldrassil thing. But I like the ending, "who said you're on your own," because it contrasts the repeating of "alone" in the rest of the song. And it's kinda like "hey, listen, you're not the only one who feels like she can't go home." I mean that's probably how basically every single night elf feels right now skxnks

10. The Moss: This song juxtaposes classic fairy tales with scientific facts about the world and I love it to BITS. I'm using it here to represent both Tarinne's love for storytelling but also her sort of... part-time historian/archaeologist/conservator career.

11. Rasputin: I just associate this song with her for some reason and this was the best place to put it.

12. Electric Feel: Moving on to focus more on Tarinne's relationship with Cathala now. This is an extremely great and somewhat 😏 song that I also included because the electricity theme is appropriate because Cathala has lightning powers and y'know it's from Tarinne's perspective or whatever.

13. Bedroom Hymns: You know why this is here.

14. Movement: I can't talk about love songs without talking about Hozier, okay. This is just a nice, slower song to relax a bit with.

15. Never Let Me Go: I have an entire goddamn music video in my head with Cathala and Tarinne for this song and it’s very dramatic and emotional and I had to include this song or I’d die. Basically just listen to near the end of this song when she's repeating the title over and over, and imagine the two of them seeing each other at opposite ends of a battlefield after the dust settles and they rush towards each other and fall to their knees holding on as tightly as they can because they got separated early on and each thought the other was dead. Then you'll know how I feel when I listen to this song.

16. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control: First of all I love the title, and second of all there's a big section in the middle (1:49 to 2:47) that I like to interpret as the two of them grappling with the fact that they're not really quite sure who or what they're fighting for anymore. Their people, yeah, but there's so many alliances and semi-permanent enemies and only-on-every-other-thursday-enemies all intertwined and the world is just so very confusing and they're trying to make the best of it. Elf school didn’t include international, interracial politics in its curriculum. It did however include how to properly plant trees, and AP calculus (this is a joke).

17. In Dreams: I like to imagine this song is something the two of them would say to each other, as a way of saying “even when everything we know is gone, even when the world ends, I will still be by your side. And if I’m not, don’t fear, for I will find you.” It makes a nice note to end on :)

For Cathala’s:

1. muse: Just a nice lofi intro to get us into things :) I don't see this song as her theme, like I do with Tarinne and the first song in her playlist, but I like it quite a bit. I don't actually really have a theme for Cathala yet, I'm currently going with a version of Way of the Monk from WoW's OST but I'm still looking for something better.

2. Frogs Singing: I included this because it's about just appreciating nature, which works because night elf and also mindfulness and meditation is a whole thing.

3. Tongues: This is a song about feeling distant from your peers which is like Cathala's whole existence! She's this weird mix of two cultures and ultimately she feels out of place regardless of where she is or who she's with. Also the theme with not understanding what people are saying works because the poor woman had to learn Pandaren from scratch and that shit ain't easy. I think blizz said somewhere probably that Common is just a language that EVERYONE knows inherently because Video Game but that's bullshit in my opinion. I'll allow spells that let you understand foreign languages to an extent (Comprehend Languages from D&D lets you understand the LITERAL meaning only, which I like), but every culture and species in the universe knowing Common is silly if you think about it for more than two seconds.

4. Kung Fu Fighting: I'm legally required to include this song. Also I prefer the Kung Fu Panda version, I'm sorry.

5. Harder Better Faster Stronger: I vicariously experience having a great work ethic through Cathala and that's why this song is here because she has 999 Determination and does Too Many push-ups every day or something idk. I was gonna say "every morning" but I have a headcanon that elves only need to sleep every couple of days (sort of a nod to "elves don't need to sleep at all" from D&D, and to explain why NIGHT elves are active at all hours of the day) so that doesn't work.

6. What's Up Danger: This song is Cathala's whole Vibe. Almost zero threat assessment skills in this woman's brain. If it can be punched, she will punch it.

7. Eye for an Eye: Fairly self-explanatory, it's a song about wanting revenge so... yeah. Checked that box. It was this or The Vengeful One by Disturbed but ultimately The Vengeful One's religious symbolism probably makes it fit better as a Tyrande theme lol ("I'm the hand of god, I'm the dark messiah." Did you mean: the Night Warrior)

8. Survivor: Cathala's survived a lot of shit and this could kinda be her making fun of herself for it because "Gods, man! Don't I deserve a break!"

9. Ashes: Really the reason I include this song is the last chunk (2:42 to the end) because holy shit. Listen, if I was gonna include a song with fire motifs, it was gonna be a somber one like this.

10. Into the West: This can kinda represent Cathala just trying to fucking breathe and recover from Teldrassil. Also works because I dunno it has stuff to do with the elves in LotR, I haven't seen those movies in a while. It sounds nice and is melancholy so I included it.

11. Like Real People Do: Cathala loves Tarinne a lot you guys have I ever menti-

12. Into the Wild: Tarinne changed Cathala's world for the better and she's super fucking grateful she has her by her side. Kinda goes without saying but you know.

13. Chasing the Moon: I have a vague music video in my head for this of them falling in love and it's very cute so there's that. Also it's in this specific spot because hey she may be deeply traumatized but she's still got a fair number of things/people in her life that make her happy so :)

14. Follow My Girl: I've got a theme going in my head that while Tarinne is fairly certain of her place in the world, Cathala is still trying to find hers. She outlived all her connections on Pandaria because Elf Lifespans(tm) and the only members of her family still alive are distant relatives she never knew very well.

15. Wish That You Were Here: This works both to represent Cathala on Pandaria feeling super homesick, and for more recently after Teldrassil. Either way, it's a message to her parents and sister.

16. Mr. Fear: She does her damnedest to hide it but she's absolutely terrified something like Teldrassil's gonna happen again! That fear drives her to do everything in her power to protect who and what she can. As long as they're not Forsaken, cause she's still got her biases, that compassion even extends across faction lines. She never really got the whole Alliance/Horde thing anyway. Innocent people shouldn't have to die, regardless of who or what they are.

17. Ordinary Day: Not to get super out there but I think this song works as symbolizing Cathala really trying to hold on to her faith in Elune, but ultimately feeling pretty abandoned. I mean she can clearly see Elune's influence everywhere. But Elune sure ain't doing Cathala any favors as far as she can tell! It also ends the whole playlist on maybe a bit of an uncertain/open-ended note, because this "losing faith" aspect is a new thing with her and will definitely be something she continues to struggle with for a while. On a related note, I should say Tarinne is still very much devout but she gets what Cathala's feeling and doesn't force anything on her, and vice versa. And Cathala wouldn't become atheist, the night elves aren't monotheistic and she still worships all the other deities, it's just specifically Elune she's a little :/ on.

[yikeswtfmate]

I Dare You

previous part // It’s All Fun and Games Series Masterlist // next part

main masterlist

Summary: The gang goes to the beach. Y/N is offered a dare.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: swearing

A/N: am i starting another series without realising it? Because this is definitely in the same AU as Bet? and those are without a doubt the same Bucky and reader  

The sun is rising on the horizon, the air is billowing through cracked windows, and a black car zooms past a blue one, horn pressed down as if announcing the arrival of an army. Natasha can’t be seen but she’s shouting in annoyance, while Sam laughs maniacally and throws his middle fingers up as Steve looks on confused. Peggy giggles on the passenger seat, softly enough not to wake Wanda who’s drooling in her sleep on Vis’ shoulder. Back in the black car, Bucky bats Y/N’s hands away, trying to avoid a goddamn accident because she wouldn’t get off the steering wheel.

“I did not let you ride shotgun so you could press the horn whenever we overtake Steve!” Bucky yells, waving his hand around the space between their seats.

“He drives like an old grandpa. I’ll hit menopause before we get to the beach if he won’t pick up speed.”

“She’s right.” Sam nods gravely, as if imparting a wise secret.

“I’ll drop you both off on the side of the highway if you won’t stop.” Bucky warns, casting a glance in the rear view mirror.

He catches Nat’s eye, who promptly smacks Sam and then Y/N over their heads. With a satisfied grin, she goes back to her book, while the two grumble quietly, too scared of her to overtly complain like the big babies that they are. Last time they dared say anything, she hid their chargers for two days, leaving them to fend for themselves, as all the others were warned not to help beforehand. It all ended in dead batteries, fat crocodile tears from Sam and fake swoons over the couch from Y/N (Bucky did lend Y/N his charger at one point, and although Nat suspected something was amiss when they huddled closer on the armchair, she didn’t say anything).

Bucky watches Y/N finally settling down, grabbing her knees to her chest, contorting her body in the passenger seat until she looks like a spring roll. He hands her over the aux cord, a concession after he yanked it out when she started playing the Baby Shark song half an hour ago. Sam then fidgets in his own seat behind her, snickering at the probably obnoxious playlist she’s put together. He points to various songs, before he lets out a guffaw when Y/N taps on the screen, puts it down and turns to Bucky. He casts them a short glance, enough to see that they’re both watching him with giddy expressions.

“Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!” Y/N shouts in time with the opening line, but Bucky’s disbelieving groan is interrupted by Sam’s own yell.

“So tell me what you want, what you really, really want!”

“I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!”

Bucky wants nothing more than to bash his head on his steering wheel repeatedly, already regretting his life choices. He should’ve known giving them the aux cord was a mistake, yet he was a fool, trusting Y/N too much, as usual.

“So tell me what you want, what you really, really want!”

His only hope is Nat, praying she’ll put a stop to it, seeing that she just put down her book. She takes in a deep breath, and Bucky is ready to thank all that’s mighty for her help, when she joins in the what now sounds like screeches.

“I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zig-a-zig ah!”

He can see Steve in the wing mirror, peacefully driving in what looks like complete silence, or maybe even a nice, smooth song that Peggy’s picked. He can only dream of that level of tranquillity, wondering once more why exactly he agreed on driving the biggest idiots on this face of the planet. He would’ve been able to recall a conversation along the lines of “couples are paired with couples and losers are paired with single losers,” if his brain weren’t knocking around his skull at the moment.

All three of them continue to belch the lyrics, and Bucky wonders if this song has always been five years long. Y/N pokes his cheek, and he puts his hand above her knee, softly squeezing his fingers into her bare flesh, trying to silently beg her to stop. She presses her cheek on his bicep and she hugs his arm, squeezing it tightly to her chest. He’s aware that she continues to sing between fits of laughter, but he’s a bit distracted now that his arm is clutched between her breasts.

“Baby, I can’t drive if you keep my arm in a death grip.” He murmurs, kissing her forehead, eyes still on the road.

Y/N lets go of his arm, when suddenly Steve overtakes them with a prolonged honk. Bucky honks back, and he flips him the bird at the same time Y/N does.

“That fucker, who does he think he is?” Y/N yells.

“Did he wake up from the dead?” Nat snickers, while Sam grumbles something about speed limits and snails.

Wanda’s head pops up, and she seems to be turning in the backseat, intent on fully facing them. She sticks something on the window, something that looks like one of Steve’s drawing notebooks, and all four of them are trying to decipher what is written in big black letters. Nat and Sam huddle between the front seats, Y/N’s face is nearly pressed to the window, and Bucky accelerates a bit until they’re almost bumper to bumper.

You lost your direction there for a sec Bucko

“Couldn’t she have just sent that in the group chat?” Sam groans with a roll of his eyes.

He leans back in his seat, taking out his phone in order to send just that, which results in a wave of messages that only he bothers to reply to. Nat pauses a second more, her gaze following Bucky’s arm that’s still resting on Y/N’s knee, but doesn’t do more than snort before joining in the chatter on the online group.

“Are we there yet?” Y/N asks Bucky, five minutes later.

“We’ve still got two more hours.” Bucky glances at her quickly, enough to pick up on her level of boredom. “There’s a pack of Oreos in the glove compartment.”

She squeals, instantly transforming into a gremlin in search of treasure – or Smaug, Bucky thinks, what with the menacing look she gets when it comes to the prospect of food. He can clearly see the debate turning the wheels in her head: should she share with Nat and Sam or just rationalise her greediness by thinking that they’re too busy with their phones and not wanting to bother them?

She plucks out one cookie from the wrapper, doing her best not to make any noise. Her hands lower in front of her, hiding the packet until it’s tucked neatly between her legs, and with a quick glance behind her for reassurance that those two didn’t hear or notice anything, she proceeds to pop the entire Oreo into her mouth as quickly as possible. Bucky snorts and shakes his head, but next thing he knows, she’s pushing a cookie into his own mouth, still trying to act inconspicuous.

“Why do you have so much junk in there anyway?” She asks a few minutes later, after they’re done with the cookies, jutting her chin out towards the glove compartment.

“Seeing as they’re all yours, I should be the one asking you why you won’t clean my car.”

Y/N pouts, but his reprimand does nothing to stop her from swiftly throwing the empty Oreo wrapper next to the others. Bucky scowls and squeezes her knee again in warning.

“Stop throwing shit in there!”

“It’s already filled with garbage anyway!” She defends, slapping at his hand that wouldn’t give.

“You’re cleaning it when we get there.”

“No, I’m not. It’s your car.”

“Just play one of your stupid games and she’ll do whatever you want.” Nat supplies from the back, not lifting her head from her phone.

“That’s not how it works.” Y/N glowers. “Plus, I don’t always do whatever he wants.”

“Yeah, you do.” Sam chimes in. “He just has to dare you.”

“Oh, look. Wanda and Steve both agreed as well.” Nat laughs.

Y/N crosses her arms, an affronted pout on her face. She looks at Bucky for reinforcement, but he’s just snickering under his breath, eyes still on the road. She slaps his arm, until he has to grab her hands again and place them in her lap – another warning.

“It doesn’t have to be one of ours dares, anyway. We usually accept your dares as well.”

“Fine, then.” Nat immediately jumps on the opportunity with a smirk, placing her phone on the middle seat. “There’s only five bedrooms, right? I dare you two to share a room.”

Sam snickers, furiously typing away on his phone, most definitely relating what is happening word for word on the group chat. The incoming pings signal Wanda’s excitement, while Peggy is doing her best at trying to keep up with what Steve is instructing her to write for him. Bucky and Y/N share a confused short look, before she turns back to Nat, who’s expecting an answer with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean, we were already going to.” Y/N shrugs, unaffected. “Sam snores and you tend to throw punches in your sleep. One time you pushed me off the bed.”

Sam drops his phone and while he’s scrambling to get it from under Y/N’s seat, Nat can only grumble a ‘what’ in response.

“We’ve slept together before, I don’t see why you’d be so surprised.” Bucky offers and Sam drops his phone again.

***

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