#like literally have and had the stupidest biggest smile on my face

[xochimillilili]

IN LOVEEEEEEE YAYYYYYYY

[babyleostuff]

THE NIGHT WE MET

・❥・ for the 2k followers event

summary: the one where you meet a handsome stranger in the art gallery who is as beautiful as the paintings

[ pairing: idol!minghao x fem!reader

genre: fluff

word count: 2k

warnings: a couple of swear words ]

song recommendation: the night we met by lord huron

Your steps echoed through the empty hall, as you entered the last room of the building. It was too early for anyone to be rummaging through the art gallery, even for you. It seemed like the universe wanted you to be here, though. At least that's what you were telling yourself. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that school had been putting you in an emotional spiral for some time now and you wanted to be anywhere but there. 

So, as usual, you ran away to the place you always knew would cheer you up. 

Looking around the room filled with paintings all covered in beautiful pastel colours, depicting people who looked like they didn't have a single care in their lives, you stopped at your favourite, the biggest out of the collection. Every time you looked at it you felt a sense of peace and... carefree? You weren't sure why, but the girl on the swing looked so free, like she could do anything. Like she was truly happy. 

You’d do anything to feel like she did for just a moment.

"Don't you think The Swing is a bit overrated?" You were so lost in thought that you didn't hear someone approaching you. You huffed, shaking your head. If he was going to insult the painting, why did he say anything at all? Jerk.

“I wouldn't say that,” you stated, not looking at the stranger. You could tell it was a guy and he sounded like he was around the same age as you, maybe a little older. But you didn't want to give him the satisfaction of getting under your skin, so you continued to stare at the painting.

He chuckled lightly, as if he sensed that you were annoyed, which made you dislike him even more. Why did he have to speak at all, couldn't he look at the painting and just walk away like any other normal person?

"What do you like so much about it, then?"

"And what about it bothers you so much?" You muttered. A moment of silence passed and you started to wonder if you weren't being too harsh. "I'm sorry if, um... I offended you in any way. That wasn't my intention, really," he said, and you could tell from his voice that he meant it. You sighed, rubbing your forehead. If this continued, your social interactions would drop to zero.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to be so rude. I'm just not in the mood," you said and turned to the stranger. You were going to smile so you wouldn't look like a total bitch, but instead of doing that, your lips twisted into an 'o' shape.

This stranger, or rather the most beautiful guy you've ever seen, was looking at you with a curious expression.

"I-I'm tired lately and it turns out I'm not very nice to other people either," you wanted to hit yourself because that was literally the stupidest thing you could have said. "And it turns out I'm not very nice to other people either"? Well done. 

However, the stranger didn't look like he cared too much about what you said, he just nodded as if he totally understood what you meant. "I feel the same way sometimes," he admitted, turning his gaze towards the painting. "That's why I'm here now," he added.

You had trouble taking your eyes off his profile without looking like a total creep, but you honestly didn't think guys like that even existed. He looked perfect in every way. And it wasn't like you fell in love with every handsome guy you saw - love at first sight was overrated, but there was something about him that made you unable to take your eyes off him. 

"I'm guessing you're not from around here?" You asked. For a second, surprise crossed his face and his eyebrows furrowed, and you began to wonder if maybe you shouldn't have asked. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have,” you said, and with every second he didn't say anything, you became more and more convinced that he was the one pissed now. 

"No no. It’s okay" he said and looked back at you. His dark eyes, hidden behind glasses that you were sure were fake, landed on you. "It's just not often that I meet people who don't know who I am," he smiled and adjusted the sleeve of his white cardigan that had slipped off his shoulder. You gulped as your eyes landed on his sculpted arm, his white sleeveless shirt doing nothing to cover it. 

"Should I know who you are then?" You asked, taking a quick breath to calm yourself down. You were sure you had never seen him in your life, though, not even on the internet. Was he some sort of influencer? Maybe a YouTuber?

He chuckled, ruffling his black hair as if you had said something funny. "God, that sounded so pretentious. No, of course you don't need to know who I am."

But now you wanted, no - needed to know who this handsome stranger was, the one who decided to talk to you, a random person in the art gallery. Although it wasn't like he had much of a choice considering you were completely alone here. 

"Let's say I'm an artist."

"That doesn't tell me much. What type of artist?" You asked curiously. He looked at you, amused. "I create art on stage."

"Can't you just tell me who you are?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Now you were the one who couldn't stop from laughing. You guessed you wouldn't get more than that from him. "But it's not like Magic Mike, with you getting naked on stage and all?" Where the fuck did you get that from?

Great, it was your official self-embarrassment day. “Not that there's anything wrong with that,” you cleared your throat sheepishly.

You expected him to give you some sort of sarcastic remark, but instead his cheeks turned a light shade of pink and he looked just as embarrassed as you were. "No, but I dance too."

“Ah, that's where the painted nails and earrings come from,” you pointed to his ears and he touched them as if to make sure his gold jewellery was still there. “Yeah.” 

For the first time, a comfortable silence fell between you and you honestly didn't want it to end. You no longer cared whether he liked the painting or not, but you didn't want him to leave. You felt a certain comfort in his presence that you couldn't quite explain.

"I like this painting because when I look at it I feel calm. Like I don't have any worries and the world is covered in nothing but pink colours, making everything more beautiful," you said, getting lost in your thoughts again. "I wish life was sometimes just about swinging on a swing.” You felt his eyes on you, but he didn't say anything, as if he was thinking about what you just said.

"I never looked at it that way," he said, tilting his head. 

“Sometimes you just need to look at things from a different perspective,” you smiled. For some reason you couldn't stop it when he was next to you.

“I'm Xu Minghao,” he extended his hand towards you, which you shook lightly. It was a miracle that you even managed to say your name without fainting, his hand still in yours. "So assuming you're not from here, how long will you be staying in town?” You asked, finally letting go of his hand, no matter how much you wanted to keep holding it.

But then… Why did he seem to hesitate when he let go of yours, too? Your stomach seemed to do somersaults and your heart was beating twice as fast.

"I’m leaving tomorrow," he admitted, though you couldn't tell from his voice whether he was happy or sad about it. Looking at him, his thoughtful face that didn't look as content as yours when you looked at The Swing, you had a sudden urge to hug him.

He had a comforting presence, but for some reason you felt that he himself needed some comfort. 

“Um, would you like to maybe,” you held out one of your headphones towards him. "We can listen to something,” you proposed. He nodded, so you walked up to him, heart beating like crazy, with the headphone still in your hand. “Do you have a specific request, Minghao?” You asked.

“Let’s listen to the last song you listened to.” 

Your hands touched again as you handed him the earbud, and you could have sworn Minghao let out a nervous breath then. It turned out the wire was too short for you to keep a big distance, so you stood side by side, shoulders brushing. You unlocked your phone and played your most recent song, rewinding it to the beginning. 

The night we met.

“How ironic,” you muttered, as the first rays of rising sun poured through the gallery windows. Minghao smiled gently, looking down at you, with the softest gaze anyone has ever looked at you.

You felt like the whole world stopped at that moment - it was just you, Minghao, and the paintings, which for the first time weren't the most beautiful thing in the room. 

I had all and then most of you,

Some and now none of you,

Take me back to the night we met.

You wondered how long it would take you to forget Minghao and he would become just a memory of the handsome stranger, like a ghost that wouldn’t stop haunting you. 

I don't know what I'm supposed to do,

Haunted by the ghost of you.

“You have no idea how glad I am that I came here,” he said so quietly you thought you misheard him. "Actually, no one knows I'm here," he snorted. "My friends will kill me when I come back," Minghao shook his head. You felt like you had crossed every line of being a stranger, so you laid your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes.

When the night was full of terrors,

And your eyes were filled with tears,

When you had not touched me yet,

Oh, take me back to the night we met.

“I'm sure they'll understand,” you said, just as quietly as he did. “Everyone needs to get away for a while now and then.”

You stood like that for the next three minutes, your head on Minghao’s shoulder, his hand dangerously close to yours, connected by the cable of your headphones, staring at the painting that meant two different things to the both of you. You dragged out the moment when the song had to end, you wanted to stop this moment forever. "When do you have to go back?" 

"I still have one," he looked at his watch. "two hours. Then I have to leave.” You nodded. No matter how much his words hurt you, you decided it was better to use the time you had left. "I know this may be a bit lame, but would you like to go for some tea?" You asked.

His face immediately lit up and his eyes sparkled as if you just gave a new toy to a child.

"You're reading in my mind. Of course I'd like to go," he beamed as he said it. Now he was even more handsome, if that was possible. "Let me guess," you tapped your chin thoughtfully. “You're a green tea type.” He chuckled, causing your shoulders to brush again.

"You are amazing." For a moment, there was no air in your lungs and no words in your mouth. How were you supposed to respond to something like that? 

“Let's go then, Mr. Xu,” he smiled and extended his hand to you and you gladly took it. 

This time, however, you didn't let it go.

Take me back to the night we met.

[...]

You opened Twitter because you knew that if you wanted to find someone, it was there. You clicked on the first video that appeared to you. "I don't understand but I love you" fancam. Interesting.

You sat up more comfortably on the bed, as the first tunes of the song started playing. So he was a singer, right? What did he mean by saying he did dancing too, though? 

But with every second that the video was playing, your eyes were getting bigger and bigger.

"What the fuck?"

taglist (if you want to be added, check my masterlist): @weird-bookworm @sea-moon-star @hanniehaee @wonwooz1 @byprettymar @edgaralienpoe @staranghae @eightlightstar @itza-meee @immabecreepin @hyneyedfiz @honestlydopetree @dkswife @marisblogg @whatsgyud @aaniag @jeonghansshitester @daegutowns @carlesscat-thinklogic23 @embrace-themagic @soul-is-a-strange-kid @ohmyhuenings

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 6: Hour of Power Part 1

~In the Man Cave~

"And according to city officials, this mistake at Swellview prison is the biggest mistake in the history of prison mistakes." Those were the words of Mary Gaperman as Charlotte, Jasper and (y/n) watched the afternoon news on the supercomputer.  

Some big-time criminal had escaped from jail and for some reason, it put the young woman on edge, but she wouldn't let anyone catch on to her nervousness.

"Wow, so disturbing. And now, we go live to Swellview Prison with reporter, Barnie Viragosa." Trent rolled the Latino name as (y/n) glanced at the news roll at the bottom of the screen. A criminal named "Drex" was out and she suddenly felt a chill of fear run down her spine.

"Want some soup?" Jasper asked the two girls, breaking (y/n) out of her worry. She didn't want to sound rude, but drinking someone else's soup was a bit gross.

"You don't share soup," Charlotte told the boy, rolling her eyes at her friend's weirdness. Even after many years of friendship, Jasper still knew how to catch her by surprise.

"I share soup with my mom." He noted, not seeing anything weird about what he just said.

"Do we look like your mom?" (y/n) asked him sarcastically, wondering at his oddness. She'd heard all about Mrs Dunlop and knew that she wasn't going to be winning any Moth of the Year Awards soon.

"I wish..." He said wistfully, but (y/n) shushed him as the reporter came on screen. She wanted to know everything about this escape since it could very well be the end of everything in the Man Cave.

"I'm here outside Swellview Prison with Mark Landry from the prison parole board. Mr Landry..." The reporter turned to the pale-faced man, who looked extremely worried and for good reason.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He grabbed the mic so he could apologise profusely as he knew that he'd released a literal menace into society.

"How could you have accidentally released one of the FBI's most dangerous criminals by mistake?" Barnie asked him sharply, grilling the poor guy with his stern words.

"Um, see, today is bring-your-daughter-to-work day and my daughter, Molly, was playing with my computer and somehow, she released Drex from prison. Again, I'm so sorry." He explained, gulping at the thought of the rampaging criminal cutting down people in his path.

"Molly, how could you release Drex, knowing how dangerous he is?" The reporter bent down next to the girl, who looked very innocent with her half-eaten banana.

"I'm five." She gave him a gummy smile, proving that it wasn't her fault that Drex had been released. She was just messing about.

"Oh, kids do say the stupidest things." The reporter chuckled, although he was making himself out to be the stupid one by picking on a small child.

"Uh, Barnie, any news on the location of this criminal named Drex?" Trent asked, just as the psycho himself crept into the shot and strangled an unsuspecting prison officer. 

"Not at this time, but investigators are using all available resources to conduct a complete search of literally everywhere," Barnie answered as (y/n) gasped at the sight of Drex. And to make matters worse, here came Ray.

"Charlotte! I need you to log into the Man Copter's computer guidance system." The superhero instructed his assistant as he came trotting down from the sprocket in his super suit. He must've heard about Drex and was preparing for the battle if the numerous weapons he was collecting were anything to go by.

"Ooooo, you're taking the Man Copter?" Jasper asked, excited to see his favourite hero in the helicopter. It was always so awesome to see him in action. 

"I don't have time for questions," Ray replied sharply, lifting a hand to Jasper's face and marching over to where a stash of blasters and bombs had risen from the floor. He'd need everything in his arsenal to take on Drex.

"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked her box, but (y/n) already knew the answer and it terrified her. The was a bitter history between the superhero and criminal, for more reasons than she cared to remember. 

"To catch Drex." He said, strapping a load of grenades and ammo to his chest. He ignored the wide-eyed stare given to him by his darling girl and kept loading up his pockets. He was doing this to protect her.

"You answered her question." Jasper pouted as (y/n) took out her gumball tube. If Ray thought he was going alone then he had another thing coming. 

"What?" Ray frowned at Jasper's pouting but didn't notice the tube in the young woman's hand. 

"You said, you didn't have time to answer any questions, but I guess that only applies to my questions." He sulked whilst Ray grabbed several blasters. It seemed like overkill, but he knew the violent rage of Drex and he knew that it might not be enough to stop him.

"Thanks for understanding." He smiled sarcastically at the curly-haired boy, who just picked up a grenade and shoved it into his back pocket. Maybe it would come in handy.

"Okay, I'm logged into the Man Copter computer," Charlotte reported and turned around to await further instructions.  

"Good. Set all weapons to the ready position. Locked and loaded." Ray told her and lowered the weapons cabinet back into the floor, much to (y/n)'s annoyance.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what about my blasters?" She looked at him with knitted eyebrows. and he returned her confusion. Why would she need blasters?

"What do you mean?" Ray asked her and his blindness made her roll her eyes. She saw how it was, he didn't want her to go and risk her life, but it wasn't up to him, not this time. He needed help to take down this bastard and she was going to stick by him.

"How am I meant to fight Drex with no weapons?" She questioned and wiggled her gum tube under his nose, which caused his eyes to darken. No, she couldn't, not against him, he wouldn't allow it.

"You're staying here where it's safe. I'm outta here." He pushed the tube out of his face and tried to run off before she could say anything, but it was a dumb move. Jasper and Charlotte shouted at him to stop and a soft yet strong hand on his wrist pulled him back. Like he could run out on his girl like that.

"What? I gotta go." He grumbled at her and his heart twinged at the hurt in her eyes. He knew she wanted to fight and he loved to see her kick ass, but this wasn't a just fight and Drex wasn't some petty criminal. He was dangerous and would only use her as a weapon against him, so he just couldn't risk putting her in harm's way.

"Why can't (y/n) go with you? And Henry's not here." Jasper frowned, wondering why he was so quick to get away. Normally, he'd get all moody if his sidekicks couldn't go with him and now, he wanted to go solo. Very weird.

"You want me to text him and find out how far he is?" Charlotte offered, thinking that she was doing a kind thing, but it just freaked Ray out. He was going alone, end of.

"Uh, no! No, no, no." He quickly rambled, stopping Charlotte's thumb from tapping on her PearPhone.

"Why not?" The girl asked him in suspicion, noting how (y/n) was being unusually quiet around her boyfriend. Something was going on here and she didn't like it.

"Uh, 'cause I already contacted him. Yeah, and he said he's gonna meet me there, so..." He lied, making (y/n) fold her arms in irritation. He was a terrible liar, particularly when he was squirming under her studying eyes. 

"Really? That's the best you got?" She asked, pursing her lips when he chuckled nervously. He couldn't bullshit his way out of this.

"Hey, look! That's Henry calling me right now!... Hi, Henry." Ray grabbed his phone from his utility belt and pressed it to his ear in the hope that they buy it. However, his friends weren't stupid.

"I didn't hear your phone ring," Jasper commented and the girls agreed. He'd have to try harder than that if he wanted to fool them. 

"It's set to silent." He lied and because he was so engrossed in keeping up his elaborate fibbing, he didn't hear the elevator ding or see how Henry stepped out with a snowcone. Well, this was awkward.

"Uh, sorry, Henry, Jasper was bothering me. Oh, you do? So, you're gonna meet me there? Great." He smiled into his phone as a puzzled teen walked up behind him. How he hadn't noticed Henry's presence was astounding, but then again, so was his belief that they fall for this crap.

"So, let me get this straight, you're on the phone with Henry, right now?" (y/n) pointed at the phone with a smirk, loving how Ray was such a doofus and hating how he was lying to her. Drex was a sore spot for both of them and it hurt to know that he'd rather make something up than be honest with her.

"Yeah, obvi. Sorry, Henry, I'm back. Yeah, girlfriend trouble. Great, so I'll meet you there---" The young woman wrinkled her nose at his distasteful behaviour and that's when Henry decided to jump in. He needed an explanation.

"Gonna meet me where?" He asked his boss, making the man jump at his voice. He turned around slowly and saw that Henry was in fact in the room, which blew his story to bits. Well, now he looked like an idiot.

"I gotta go, Henry...Winkler, ehhh..." He mumbled and put down his phone, feeling very foolish in front of his friends. It was safe to say that his plan had been a complete disaster.

"Why are you in uniform?" Henry gestured to Ray's suit and looked to (y/n) for answers too, but she just glared at the back of Ray's head. Girlfriend troubles indeed.

"Uniform?" He repeated, struggling for an answer that Henry would believe and him being a smart kid meant that it would have to be good.

"Yeah, you know, bright costumes, red and blue. We wear them a lot." (y/n) wandered over to Henry's side, running her fingertips over Ray's arm as she brushed past. It made him stumble even more as he knew that it wasn't her usual teasing touch. 

"What's with the extra weapons?" Henry asked, looking at the bombs, blasters, guns, whatever was strapped to Ray. It told him that he was going. against something big and it didn't sit right with him.

"Weapons? Uh---hey, Schwoz!" Ray returned to his original plan and grabbed his phone again. He was dumb at times, he should've learned that pretending to be on the phone was never a roaring success, especially when you were calling your friends.

"Your phone didn't ring." Henry pointed out, picking up the same point from earlier, although it seemed like Jasper had fallen for it.

"It's on silent." He hissed to his best friend, making (y/n) snort in amusement.

"Absolute bullshit," She shook her head with a bitter smile, not buying it for one moment.

"What's that you say, Schwoz? I should leave the Man Cave right now and Henry and Charlotte and (y/n) and Jasper should stay here and not ask me any questions? Good, good idea." He moved past his girlfriend and upheld his fake conversation, which was then promptly ruined as Schowz came skipping in.

"Here, I got it, I got it! Right here!" He exclaimed, staring at the weapon he'd brought along. Ray growled in frustration as his plan was ruined yet again and he was once more the fool.

"I gotta go, Schwoz...Winkler!" He "hung up" and faced a wall of angry teens and a disgruntled girlfriend. Oh geez, he was in deep shit.

"Hey, I thought you said you were going to leave before (y/n) noticed and Henry got here." Schwoz pondered when he saw their presence, not realising that he was ruining Ray's poor attempts to keep everything under wraps.

"Oh, will you be quiet! Ever?" The large man snapped and snatched the weapon from Schwoz's grasp so he could clip it to his belt. Honestly, how Schwoz kept his feelings for (y/n) a secret for so many years was a mystery to him.

"Raymond, please tell me what's going on here." (y/n) pleaded with her boyfriend, crossing her arms and swallowing the lump in her throat. Since when had there been something he couldn't tell her about? When had he started lying to her?

"Uhhhh..." Ray panicked, not knowing how to tell her and his sidekick that this was a fight they couldn't handle.

"Dude, if there's something going on, tell us, we're your sidekicks," Henry added to the argument, also feeling like (y/n). If his boss had a problem, he wanted to help him solve it.

"Wait, I'm confused. I thought your plan was to go fight that guy, Drex, and not tell Henry and (y/n) so they'd never know about it." Schwoz said, ignoring the subtle shushes given to him by Ray. Loose lips sink ships and now, Ray was left with two pissed off sidekicks.

"Oh, that's it! Come here! Until you learn to be quiet..." The superhero wrapped an arm around Schwoz's neck and forced him to walk to the supercomputer, where a basket of fruit was sitting. He picked up a pineapple and held it in front of the poor handyman's face.

"Ray, not the pineapple!" Charlotte and Henry begged him to let Schwoz go, but a bellowing order from Ray made them shut their mouths swiftly. The small guy turned around and they all winced to see that a fun pineapple had been shoved into his mouth, leaving just the green leaves poking out.

"Okay, you kids have fun. (y/n), take care of them, I should be back by dinner time." He told them calmly, like what had just happened was nothing, leaving the teens to stutter as he walked away.

"Ray, please! Talk to me, I'm your girlfriend." (y/n) cried, sniffing as he tried to leave without so much as an explanation or even a kiss. She hated this, it was like he didn't care, but that'd the thing. He cared so much and he didn't want to upset her, but there was no way he could do this without doing so.

"Sweet girl, I gotta go fight a really bad guy, you know that. And...I gotta fight him alone." He sighed, stroking her cheeks softly with gloved hands as she and Henry processed the information. Alone? No way.

"Why?" Henry asked, not seeing why he got to do the work while they sat on the sidelines. He and Ray and now (y/n) had fought so much together, surely, they could take on this asshole.

"'Cause we know Drex, he's--he's bad on a whole 'nother level," Ray replied whilst Schwoz tried to tug the pineapple out of his mouth. It couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Well, how do you both know him?" Henry asked, making the couple freeze up. Did they have to answer that? Wasn't the knowledge that they knew Drex enough for the kid?

"I'm sorry, what?" Ray played dumb, gulping at the memory of the evil dude. It was so long ago, but it still infuriated him and his hate ran deep, much deeper than anyone could ever understand. What that man did to him and her, just to be cruel, was something he'd never forget.

"How do you both know this guy, Drex?" Henry repeated, not letting up. There was history here, he could sense it, but he could never guess how deep it really went.

"Oh, you know, just from...stuff," (y/n) excused anxiously, not wanting to dwell on the past either. Usually, she was happy to talk about anything with Henry; he was like her younger brother and she loved talking about her experiences so he'd learn from them. But Drex, he was something she'd rather stay buried.

"Stuff?" Henry frowned, not liking how secretive they were being, but he wouldn't have to wait any longer for an answer, because Schwoz had finally pulled that damn fruit from his mouth. Maybe it would've been better for Ray if he'd shoved it in a bit deeper.

"Why don't you just tell Henry that Drex used to be your sidekick and (y/n)'s boyfriend?!" He exclaimed, making Ray and (y/n) shudder in panic. 

"Schwoz, you dick!" The young woman shrieked at him as Henry dropped his snowcone. Drex, sidekick, boyfriend? What the fuck? 

"You had a sidekick before me? And you dated a criminal?" Henry gawped at his boss with utter betrayal written across his face. The couple felt trapped by the truth, especially at how it seemed to crush the boy, who had always thought he'd been Captain Man's first. And (y/n), sweet, kind, innocent (y/n). He couldn't believe that she'd go out with someone so evil, the thought of her with anyone but Ray was simply...wrong.

"Uhhh...hel--hey..." Ray tried to try the phone trick again, but it wouldn't wash this time. Henry was disgusted and hurt, he didn't want tricks. Charlotte grabbed a towel to clean up the melting snowcone on the floor and Henry began to pace. How had he not seen the lies and the guilt?

"I can't believe this. I cannot believe this!" He gasped at the couple as they watched him. He could've been overreacting, but he could have also been underreacting. This was a big shock to him and it felt like his relationship with them had been built on a lie.

"Oh, you say that every week." Ray dismissed his feelings with a wave of his hand, which earnt him a smack on the chest.

"Ray! Be nice." She hissed at him. She was worried that the kid thought badly of her now, but he had to know that she was very young at the time and Drex seemed so lovely for a twenty-year-old with questionable feelings for her boss. He was closer to her age and Ray seemed so out of her reach that she just thought "fuck it" and went out with him a few times. But that then turned into a lot of times and a few kisses later, she found herself with a boyfriend. 

"I don't know, I just thought that I was your first sidekick. And (y/n) dating him, ugh..." Henry rubbed his neck and tried to seem less sad than he was. 

"Well..."

"It wasn't like that--" Ray and (y/n) tried to soothe his worries, but they couldn't. Lies hurt, especially when they were told to a kid who'd idolised you since he was a small child.

"You had a sidekick before me and you never told me?" The boy whimpered, breaking their hearts. He'd grown so much since they first met him and he was no longer a child, not really. But at that moment, they saw a glimpse of the same kid who stumbled through the elevator door and jumped on an old lady's back to help Captain man. They'd hurt him and it sucked. 

"Well, no, but only because I didn't want you to know." Ray offered him an excuse, which didn't go down very well with the kid. 

"Oh, shut up, doofus...Look, Hen, it was a really long time ago and...I just want to forget that I ever looked his way. I'm sorry that we've upset you." (y/n) put her hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him her best soft smile in an attempt to tell him that they never wanted him to find out like this, but she never got a reply.

"Hey, something's happening upstairs in Junk-N-Stuff." Schwoz interrupted from his place at the supercomputer, making everyone sprint over to see what was going on. 

"Hello? Hello? Where do you go? I need my change." A lady shouted on the monitor as she held a funny-looking statue. 

"Jasper, why aren't you up there?" Charlotte asked her friend as she realised that the poor woman had been left alone for a long time. God knows what would've happened if she had wandered into the back.

"I was but I came down here to get change for a twenty and then I just got distracted." He. recalled, suddenly feeling like it would probably be best to get back to work.

"Jesus, that was forty-five minutes ago!" (y/n) gasped and the group pushed the teen in the direction of the elevator so he could go serve the customer before she wrote a bad review online. Honestly, how they hadn't gone out of business yet was anyone's guess.

"Son...give me the proton grenade," Ray stopped him before he could return to work, remembering how the boy had nicked one of them from the weapon stash. Looks like nothing got past Captain Man. Well, almost nothing. 

"But it's so cool." He whined, holding it in his hand so he could look at the bomb in his hand. None of the other kids in his school got to work as he did, he just wanted a bit of action. 

"Curly!" (y/n) snapped at him with a scolding face and he relented. No one wanted to get one of her teacher-like lectures.

"Fine." Jasper sighed and chucked the grenade back to Ray, making Henry, Charlotte and Schwoz duck for cover. Just because Ray and (y/n) would be fine, didn't mean they didn't want to get blown to bits.

"So, this bad guy, Drex. He was your sidekick and your ex-boyfriend?" Henry picked up where they had left off once Jasper had disappeared into the elevator. It seemed like he wasn't letting this go, despite the apology given to him by (y/n).

"Yes, for a little while," Ray answered, deciding that the truth was the only option now, even if it stung. God, he hated to remember how Drex got to have his girl first and made him sit and watch how she fell in love with him. It was a brief romance but it was Ray's first taste of jealousy over a woman he was genuinely falling for and it still infuriated him to know how that bastard knew the taste of her lips and the feel of her skin like he did.

"Look, I hired Drex nine years ago, it was before I even had this Man Cave," Ray exclaimed, feeling antsy at how he was being forced to revisit the events of nine years ago, back when (y/n) was fresh out of college and nowhere near as in love with him as he was with her. 

"Why did you date such a bad guy, (y/n/n)?" Charlotte asked the young woman, who had chosen to stay silent unless she was spoken to. People make mistakes in their youth, it's normal and it was safe to say that Drex was one of her biggest. A way of ignoring the tugging on her heart for a man she thought she couldn't have.

"Because in every way, he was perfect." She shrugged, looking at her feet shyly as she was forced to talk about her ex in front of her current boyfriend, who hated seeing her so flustered about another guy. A guy who at present, had dated her for longer than he had and that made him insecure. 

"Well, w-why? What made him so perfect?" Henry stuttered, feeling just as envious as Ray, although his jealousy was for a different reason. He was a better sidekick than this Drex, he was sure of it.

"I don't know, Drex just had it all. He was sweet and handsome, brave and strong." She shrugged, trying to think of all the reasons her younger self fell for Drex, but looking back, it wasn't love. It was meaningless and nothing compared to what she had now, just the fantasy of a young girl who knew nothing about the real world or how manipulative people could be.

"Hot mom." Ray shrugged, making her snap her head to him with offence in her eyes. That wasn't necessary, but it was the bitterness speaking.

"Ray!" Henry hissed, seeing how the hurt flashed across the woman's face. That wasn't something you said in front of your girlfriend.

"Well, not as hot as yours!" It slipped from Ray's lips before he could stop himself, a rehearsed comment from years of turning to other women when his heart ached for its soulmate. But it wasn't needed now, or ever again, he had the one he wanted, not that his words told her that.

"Yeah, Henry's mom is lovely." She sniffed and stared at the floor, wanting to avoid Ray's eyes so he wouldn't see the tears in hers. She knew it, she just knew it. All those girls before her, Henry's attractive mother, were still on his mind and she was just the next idiot in line. She had told herself that everything was too good to be true, but she didn't want to believe it, not when he told her those three little words with such sincerity. He must've been a good actor because she thought he'd played her for a fool.

"So, why wasn't Drex the perfect boyfriend and sidekick?" Charlotte moved on quickly, hoping the older girl would forget what had just been said, but it was already putting doubt in her mind.

"Uh, well, he...has a dark side." (y/n) shrugged, willing her voice to stay steady as she spoke. She was a big girl, she could handle this, even though she was feeling very, very small.

"Dark how?" Henry frowned, finding her choice of words unusual.

"Evil, mean, he started to change one day. I just remember realising that he was violent and cruel and dangerous...we..." She stopped halfway through, wondering if the kids needed to know the worst of it. 

"You..." Charlotte leaned forward, wondering what could be so awful that she couldn't say it. They were all friends, she could tell them, there was no need to be afraid.

"Had an argument, he shouted at me and pushed me against the wall and threatened me. He...wasn't very nice after that and then Ray found out." (y/n) skipped around the finer details and left it open for them to interpret everything. They got the gist of how badly it ended, particularly when they saw the Ray tensed in anger. No one messed with a defenceless girl, especially when she was as sweet as she was.

"One day, Drex and I...we had it out," Ray revealed, remembering how he just lost it when he learnt about how evil his former sidekick really was. He couldn't bear to have that kind of filth wearing his uniform and sullying his good name, not to mention harming the woman he'd fallen in love with. 

"You guys fought?!" Charlotte gasped, not believing that Ray would challenge someone who was supposed to be his greatest ally. But, then again, if it was for (y/n), he'd do anything.

"It was horrible. Drex treated (y/n) very badly." Schwoz piped up, recalling how it was one of the darkest times in Captain Man's history, which was why neither Ray nor (y/n) liked to talk about it.

"But you won, right?" Henry looked at his boss with a hopeful expression. Obviously, Ray had been the victor; he was standing here and for nearly a decade, Drex had been behind bars, but that didn't mean it was a battle easily won.

"Barely," Ray whispered, growing quiet at the thought of how he'd almost lost his life.

"Barely?! But you're like the best fighter in the whole world." Charlotte pointed out his skill and strength and how Captain Man was known to be one of the greatest superheroes there was.

"Even that wasn't good enough against Drex. He came home all battered and exhausted, I'd never seen him like that and I haven't since." (y/n) mentioned quietly, remembering how Ray had stumbled into the old Man Cave in a terrible state after a whole night of waiting for his return. He had fallen into her arms and told her it was done, but the fight had taken a toll on him. 

"If I wasn't indestructible, believe me, I would've been, y'know, destructed." Ray shrugged, reaching to wrap an arm around his girlfriend so he could comfort her, but she didn't want it. How many other girls had he put that arm around and whispered sweet nothings into their ears? Did it feel the same for them as it felt for her? Real and honest?

"I just can't believe I'm not your first sidekick." Henry reiterated, still baffled at how the secret had been kept for so long.

"Hey...you're the first sidekick that I really care about." Ray put a hand on his arm since he couldn't give (y/n) any comfort, which baffled him too.

"Oh, you tell that to Drex too?" Henry scoffed, rebuffing Ray's touch with a scowl. He found himself in a similar situation to the young woman, not the first and possibly not the favourite.

"No!...Well, maybe." Ray admitted that the conversation might have cropped up between him and Drex back when they were still friends and it soured the mood even more.

"Henry, Drex was only here for, like, six months. He never fought any crime with...him and I never made my chocolate chip cookies for him, like I do for you." (y/n) butted in, moving past her boyfriend and gave Henry a small smile. Drex would never match up to him, he was a good kid, she just needed to get it into his head.

"Did you think about it?" He asked, sensing that it could've crossed her mind at some point.

"I beg your pardon?" She muttered quickly, feeling a bit stuck since she had technically thought up the recipe for Drex, but had never gotten the chance to make them.

"Oh, god!" Henry took her nerves and the following silence as her confession and turned away in anger and hurt.

"Just say no!" Schwoz told her when she looked to him and Charlotte for help. She wasn't sure if her heart could take looking at Ray at the moment, she just wanted to be on her own for a while.

"Uh, you guys. There's breaking news." Charlotte piped up as she scrolled on her PearPad. This looked big and they all needed to see it.

"What news?" Ray asked in a tetchy voice. This was all too much for him, the secrets being aired, Drex on the loose, (y/n) avoiding him, what was he meant to do?

"It says that mistakenly released criminal, known only as Drex, has been spotted in North Swellview travelling south on East Avenue." She read out, making the hair on the back of (y/n)'s neck stand up, Ray's too.

"I know where he's going." She realised, getting the picture that he was playing some sort of game.

"The bakery district." Ray seethed, knowing exactly what happened there and why he was luring him to it: to taunt him.

"Our first date." She remembered the memory of sharing pastries with Drex on a chilly Saturday in autumn and knew that it was his way of being cruel. She was the one who got away and Ray was the one who stole her heart from him. This was about them.

"And when he gets there, he's gonna have to deal with me." The superhero growled and ran to the tubepads, but Henry wasn't going to stand idly by. Neither was (y/n), even if Ray had been so careless with her feelings, she still wasn't going to let Drex anywhere near him.

"No, he's going to have to deal with us," Henry spoke confidently and the two sidekicks walked towards Ray with their gum tubes in hand. 

"No chance!" Ray hissed at them, scowling at the determination on their faces. This wasn't some day trip to go fight bad guys, this was gonna get bloody.

"We're going!" (y/n) snapped back, ready to have an argument with her boyfriend if he wanted one. She'd taken enough shit today.

"Forget it, you can't!" He told her sternly, making her and the boy next to her sigh furiously.

"Give us one good reason why we can't go. Give us one good reason!" Henry dared him, pushing Ray's temper even if it was a dangerous game. 

"Because, he was my sidekick and your boyfriend and now you're my sidekick and I'm your boyfriend and we're all be there together and I don't know, man, it's just gonna be weird." He ranted, trying to disguise his jealousy under some awkwardness.

"If we're going to see your sidekick, then we're going." The boy demanded, making Ray whine. He didn't want to be in this situation.

"Henry!" He groaned, not liking how both his sidekick and his girlfriend were so stubborn. It was nice to have help, but not when they refused to take no for an answer.

"Oh, just let them go." Charlotte sighed, knowing that if she didn't butt in, they'd be there all day.

"But Drex will go crazy when he sees (y/n)." He pointed out, trying to make them see that he didn't want her to be around her first boyfriend again. The one who had left him in second place.

"I'm not afraid of him! I'm with you, for better or worse." She stepped up to his height, or as near as she could get and looked him straight in the eye. Even if he thought about other girls and didn't see the relationship the same way she did, she had pledged herself to him long ago and was certain that she'd never love anyone else as much as she loved him.

"All right, fine. If you're coming with me, you better put this on." Ray caved and passed the weapon he'd received from Schwoz to her. He was with her too, for richer or for poorer, he just needed to work on his problem of saying stupid things at the wrong time and letting her know that she was the only one.

"Here, you have it. I've got a superpower, you don't." She immediately passed it to Henry, who looked at it in wonder. It looked cool, but what the hell was it?

"What's this?" He asked, strapping it to his wrist as Schwoz came over to tell him about the nitty-gritty.

"It's a glove that shoots tranquilising darts. You can use it to take down Drex." He explained and. Henry pressed a button near his thumb that made the glove extend down his arm.

"Okay, how's it works?" He asked, feeling a little unsettled at having to use a weapon he'd never seen before against a psycho like Drex. 

"Just aim it at Ray's neck and pull the trigger," Schwoz told him and Ray reluctantly offered his neck for testing. The dart pinged off his skin as expected and he felt nothing more than a sharp sting for two seconds.

"If Ray wasn't indestructible, the dart would've stuck in his neck and delivered enough hippo-grade tranquiliser to knock him out cold and we could draw a moustache on his face," (y/n) joked, but they had a small problem.

"Where'd the dart go?" Henry asked, suddenly relating that he couldn't see the red feathers anywhere on the floor. But that was probably because it hadn't fallen on the floor.

"It's right here," Charlotte slurred woozily. She had the dart sticking out of her forehead and the tranquiliser was working fast in her bloodstream. She was getting very sleepy...

"Charlotte, that's dangerous. Give it back to Schwoz." Ray told her like she wasn't about to pass out, but she plucked the dart from her head anyway and passed it to the small genius.

"Hey...has the Man Cave always been covered in glitter?" She questioned, seeing nothing but a sparkling haze as her eyes drooped shut and her legs gave in. Well, that was her unconscious.

"Aw, Charlotte's so cute when she sleeps." (y/n) smiled, liking how peaceful the girl looked. She'd not be waking up for a while though and Ray had bigger things to worry about.

"Whatever. If you're both coming with me, you better pop a gumball in your mouths and fast." He told his sidekicks begrudgingly, not wanting to lead them into danger, but they necked one anyway. 

"How will you find Drex in the bakery district?" Schwoz asked his boss as the sidekicks chewed their gum, but it was easy to answer.

"There's only one place he'd go and I know that place," Ray growled at the thought of Drex and (y/n) on their first date together and all the cupcakes and crap they ate. It made him sick to his stomach, but also thankful that she'd chosen to give him a chance.

"Okay, let's go meet your first sidekick slash boyfriend. That you used to love." Henry grumbled to both of them, not liking the details but he could ignore them to get the job done. He sure knew how to rub it in. 

"Oh, come on, I was twenty and I wanted a boyfriend! It's not my fault he turned out to be pure evil." (y/n) complained, stepping up to wrap her arms around Ray so they could share a tube. It was funny; she wanted some space but she didn't want to leave him at all and that was her with Ray all over. She just wanted to know if he was all in like her and that what they had wasn't a meaningless fling.

"You wanna say it?" Ray asked Henry, who was standing adjacently in a sulk. Geez, it wasn't easy for him to see the ex either.

"Nope. Probably wouldn't say it as good as Drex would." He grumbled, feeling second best to a guy who was evil but also had it all apparently.

"Oh god, up the tube!" (y/n) shouted and sent them all flying off. She was the one who was supposed to be sulking about exes and jealousy and now, Ray had to deal with Henry too. Today would be double the fun.

~The Bakery~

Ray cautiously burst into the store, a large blaster in his hands. He was on edge and more nervous than usual. He could only predict that in the past nine years, Drex had been getting stronger and it worried him that he had too enthusiastic yet inexperienced sidekicks behind him. 

"Y'see anything?" He asked Henry and (y/n), who had followed just after him and took a look around the bakery. There wasn't much going on and there was no one around, just bread baking in the ovens.

"Yes. I see some cakes...some breads...various pies." Henry replied, listing off every baked good he could see on the shelves.

"You know what I meant!" Ray snapped, not liking Henry's cockiness. He just needed to know if there was any sign of Drex.

"There's no one here! All right?" (y/n) rolled her eyes, but she still had a tight grasp on her blaster. She had made up a rule; when Drex was about, get your gun out, 'cause you'd definitely need it. She had no idea what she'd do if they came face-to-face with the madman, but she didn't have to worry about that yet.

"Except that dude behind the counter, talking on his phone," Henry added, gesturing to the man, who was hunched over in the corner and chattering away on his cell. 

"Hey...that dude is Mr Schneider, the owner of this bakery." Ray scolded his young sidekick. He was starting to get a little cheesed off with how moody Henry was being and the kid's grumpy attitude was unusual for him.

"Oh, big whiff." Henry scoffed, not caring about some dumb baker and his pies.

"It is a big whiff!" The superhero hissed back, forcing (y/n) to stand in between them to keep the peace.

"Okay, okay. Let's just leave it, all right?" She told them both, making Henry back off just a bit, but he was still tetchy.

"Why are we here?" He questioned, not seeing why they had to stand around like idiots and wait for a guy who might or might not turn up. All this crap, just for a grudge.

"Look, I know Drex is coming here. (y/n) loves this bakery...and he still loves her." Ray revealed, growing sombre at the thought of his girlfriend's ex still being hung up about her. Drex was convinced that Ray had stolen (y/n) from him, but it wasn't like that at all. She had realised several months into the relationship that she saw nothing happening with Drex and she was in love with someone else. In the name of being honest, she had tried to come clean with him so they could split amicably, but let's just say that Drex didn't take the news that his boss had caught the eye of the young girl very well.

"How do you know that?" (y/n) asked him, wondering how on earth he'd know that Drex still held a candle for her. She had a few suspicions, mainly because he was a nutjob and had never taken the breakup well, but she'd never discussed it with her new love.

"Uh, 'cause Drex and I used to come—-" Ray mumbled and his words blurred together until they were incomprehensible. He didn't like this; Henry was jealous and (y/n) was walking back into Drex's trap. Everyone's first love always stays in a special place and Ray was worried that by some terrible miracle, he'd fall foul of Drex and his status as her first kiss, her first boyfriend, her first everything. Would she remember the thrill that her younger self did? Would she leave an old idiot like him for a younger, stronger man?

"What? Did, uh...you and Drex used to come here? Together?" Henry pressed Ray, who was feeling corned by all the questions. 

"Yeah, okay, yes. We came here a couple times." Ray sighed, hoping that Henry wouldn't be too hurt. They did stuff together too, it was just one of those things. Drex had been his friend for a while and friends go out together and eat pastries, no biggie.

"So like, twice?" Henry asked, thinking that twice in their entire friendship was...okay. He still wasn't happy with Ray having another sidekick, but as long as he knew it wasn't a regular thing, he'd be able to deal with it.

"Yeah, twice...twice a week," Ray added and the sheer frequency of their little bakery dates made Henry see red.

"What?" He gasped, feeling like all Ray was doing was lying to him. Twice a week for six months was way too often for his liking and it stung to know that their partnership was that close.

"Look, I'm not talkin' about this anymore!" Ray groaned, wanting the conversation to end there. Yes, Drex had been his sidekick, he couldn't deny that anymore, but he'd moved on and now, he had Henry Hart and (y/n) (y/l/n) as the only sidekicks he needed and wanted.

"Well, good." Henry pouted and Ray walked past him since they were both moody now. Honestly, they were like an old married couple.

"You two are terrible." (y/n) tutted, but all of sudden, Ray wasn't listening. He'd spotted something tantalisingly tasty on the counter and they were free...

"Oh, wow." He gasped softly, not believing that he had chanced upon some free nut clusters, also known as, Ray Manchester's favourite snack.

"What?" Henry asked when he heard the amazement in his boss's voice and wondered what had caught his attention now. 

"Nut clusters!" Ray squealed, making (y/n) groan. They were a menace and his kryptonite, well, his second kryptonite.

"I'm sorry...what?" Henry questioned, frowning at the odd name. Why was he getting so excited about a dumb nut cluster? They were in a bakery, of course, there would be sweet stuff around.

"It says, free nut clusters, just reach in hole." He read out the sign on the box, feeling his excitement build at the prospect of scoffing the lot.

"What's a nut cluster?" Henry asked, having never heard of anything like that, which was surprising considering how crazy Ray was for them. 

"Oh, man! Imagine if a cookie and brownie got married, fell into a pool full of caramel, and then just rolled around in a big old sack of nuts." Ray smiled and wiggled his fingers in preparation for snack time. It was nut cluster time and they had an appointment in his belly.

"Wait, wait! Did Drex know how much you loved nut clusters?" Henry suddenly had a troubling thought and (y/n) could see what he was driving at. Ray though, not so much.

"Aw, kid, you gotta stop bein' so jealous." He sighed and gently shook his head at Henry. The boy knew that coming from him, it meant zilch, nada, nothing, but luckily, he had a pretty young woman on hand, who was an expert at getting Ray to open his ears.

"Ray, he's not jealous. What if...what if this is a trap?" She asked softly, setting the idea going in his head. It was a possibility and she really didn't want to see him hurt or captured. She wanted him to stay with her, forever.

"Oh...okay." Ray took a second to mull the problem over and then promptly sneezed loudly. Oh god, now (y/n) remembered why she tried to ween him off them.

"Doofus, you're allergic to nuts, don't go near them!" She whined, not liking how he made himself miserable for days on end just for a few minutes of pleasure. She'd have to come up with a better alternative in the future if she wanted him to resist the caramel, chocolatey goodness. 

"But I don't care." He replied, making her fall into a moody silence. She just wanted to look out for him, but he wouldn't listen. 'Maybe he'd listen to Henry's hot mom.' She thought bitterly, feeling like, for some reason, she was losing him. She'd seen this happen so many times with his flings and fancies, a brief interest and then the discarding. However, she'd always thought that with her, he was different and he genuinely wanted things to work. She wanted to be his one.

"Wait, no, no, no! What if it's a trap?!" Henry repeated his and (y/n)'s point, feeling extremely worried that they were walking themselves into crisis. 

"Oh, okay...we'll each just get one nut cluster." Ray compromised, thinking that a little nibble couldn't hurt.

"No, no nut clusters for anyone. Don't put your hand in the—-" (y/n) begged him, but Ray was like a child with a candy jar, he just couldn't help but reach in. As soon as he had his wrist through the space, a mechanism clamped around his hand, making him squirm to get free. Oh, shit.

"Okay, what just happened?" Henry asked him, seeing him struggle against the box. His panic was taking off and he got the picture that they were in trouble.

"I dunno...I can't pull my hand out. That's weird." He chuckled nervously, making (y/n) move over to see if she could help loosen the lock.

"Why can't you just leave well alone when I tell you to?" She grumbled at him and began to poke around the box. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tried to yank him out, but it was no good. He was well and truly struck. It was time to try a hairpin, but she wasn't sure that it would work either. Drex wouldn't be fooled by something so simple and that freaked her out.

"I told you it could be a trap." Henry groaned, shaking his head and tutting at his boss. Just once, he wished that he had listened. He and (y/n) weren't doing it to be stick-in-the-muds, they just saw the danger and wanted to stay away.

"It's probably just broken. Y'know, defective." Ray responded, believing that they were being overly cautious and dramatic. He was Captain Man, he knew what he was doing. Probably.

"Your brain is defective, I can't pick the lock." The young woman sighed and gave up trying to trick the lock into springing open. She was beat and Ray was still in schtuck.

"Here, let's try a peanut butter one." Ray was hurt by her annoyance with him no decided that a chocolate nut thing would heal the pain. Her love would be better, but he didn't want to upset her anymore.

"No, don't put your other hand—" Henry was too late to warm him and predictably, the box locked Ray's other hand parallel to his other. 

"Man, both these holes are defective." He shrugged, trying to keep his cool, although things were starting to look more and more trap-like.

"It's a trap!" Henry exclaimed as he and (y/n) rubbed their temples in frustration. Nothing ever went right for them, not when Ray's childish side was running the show.

"Who for?!" He asked in return, not seeing the bigger picture. He was in denial and it showed.

"Oh, I dunno...you? Us? Any idiot who's dumb enough to stick their hands in those holes?!" (y/n) retorted, her voice laced with sarcasm. 

"Well, I'm sorry, sweetness. Henry, go tell Mr Schneider to call a handyman before (y/n) bites my head off." Ray instructed his younger sidekick. He didn't know why she was angry with him, but he thought it was a bit unfair to pin the blame solely on him. The nut clusters were partially to blame.

"'Kay. Hey...Mr Schneider, can you call a handyman? 'Cause my friend's girlfriend is gonna kill him—ah! Ahhhh! Ah!" Henry did as he was told and put a friendly hand on the baker's shoulder, but to his horror, his head wobbled and fell from his shoulders. The boy jumped back in shock and his terrified screams drew the attention of the bickering couple. 

"His head just fell off of his body!" Henry shrieked at them and began to hyperventilate as he thought about how he'd be spending the rest of his life in jail for decapitating an innocent baker.

"Calm down! Calm down! Obviously, that's probably not the real Mr Schneider." Ray theorised, keeping his sidekick calm as he thought about what to do. This was bad, really bad. If that was a dummy, then that meant...

"Ray, I'm scared...something's wrong." (y/n) whimpered, pushing aside her insecurity so she could be honest with him. Her gut was right, the situation was about to go from bad to worse. The door opened and in walked a man with blonde hair, dark clothes, a black bandage tied across his forehead and an evil smirk on his face. Drex.

"You," Ray growled and tried to shift his shoulder in front of (y/n) so he could shield her from that monster, but it was a bit tricky when both of his hands were locked up.

"You." Drex snarled in return and glared at Ray as he tried to hide his girl away. She had just gotten distracted, that's all. She was his, she loved him and if he couldn't have her, then no one could, especially not Captain Man.

"Who?" Henry looked so confused, but Ray was too busy trying to get free to answer any questions. Like this, he was useless and his darling girl and faithful sidekick were in serious danger.

"Drex." (y/n) swallowed and tried to keep her face free from fear. She was terrified of him, even with her newfound confidence and superpower. She still remembered how rough his hands were when he threatened her into submission and it had left her so quiet for so many years. She didn't want to go back to that or see Henry hurt.

"There's my little cupcake, still sweet for me. And poor Ray, did you want a nut cluster?" His smooth, sinister voice made her shiver and she clenched her fists to stop them shaking when he started to walk closer.

"Don't talk to her! And you know I did...Tease." Ray glared at his enemy, hating how he was deliberately making moves on his girl more than any mockery that was pushed his way. He'd die before he lost her, he couldn't bear to live a loveless life without her again.

"Why shouldn't I talk to my girl? After all, I loved her first and she was such a good little thing for me. My cupcake." Drex chuckled and stepped towards the stony-faced woman as Henry circled around him. (y/n) watched his every move and Ray jerked against his restraints as his girlfriend was subjected to the leering gaze of Drex. No man could have her, she was his, he'd waited too long finally have her in his bed at night, calling out his name. One finger on her blemish-free skin and there would be hell to pay.

"Henry, use the thing!" (y/n) directed the young boy and he nodded from behind Drex. 

"Okay, that's it, jerk! On the ground, right now!" Henry ordered the criminal, pointing the tranquilliser glove directly at the man's neck. It was primed and ready for firing, but Drex was uncaring. Truly, he couldn't be happier. He had his perfect girl metres away from him, quivering in his presence, the man who took her away from him rendered helpless and an inexperienced boy left to stand alone.

"Mmmm, what a nice pie. Share a slice with me?" Drex offered him, but he was being anything but kind. This was one of his mind games.

"Maybe I want my own slice." Henry shrugged, not trusting the man for a moment. 

"Kid, stay away from him," Ray warned the boy, fearing for his safety as Drex waited for Henry's first move. He might be calm now, but the man was a monster and Henry was so unaware of what he was facing.

"Why? We gotta take this guy in." Henry replied, keeping his disgusted expression. But then, something unexpected happened.

"Don't move! This is a robbery! Now, I want everybody to—ah, geez." Two robbers kicked the door open and stormed into the bakery, but they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of three superheroes already embroiled in a fight.

"It's Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger." One of the robbers whispered to his friend and they both gulped at the sight of the heroes catching them red-handed.

"Both of you, on the ground!" (y/n) instructed the men sharply and pointed her blaster at them confidently as she tried to move closer to Henry. But Drex wouldn't have her being so brave, he wanted her to fall into line like she had done nine years ago when she idolised him. 

"Shush, cupcake. I don't want to hear anything from your honey lips." His voice was supposed to be soft, but it held a darkness that made her falter. That was how he kept his control, cruelty disguised as kindness. Ray tugged his hands in the box at the reference to what her kisses tasted like and it enraged him to know that Drex was up to his old tricks. He didn't deserve to know her so intimately, she deserved the softest treatment, not this pig-headed bully.

"Hello, idiots. Would either of you morons like to share my pie?" Drex asked the two thieves, who weren't too happy about being insulted, but they'd picked the wrong villain to mess with.

"I don't like your attitude!" The thief in a beanie snarled at Drex, who was scared about some dumbass who was an amateur at the art he had honed.

"Well then...do something." Drex dared them to make a move and the beanie man threw a strong punch at his face. Henry and (y/n) flinched at the violent impact and were disturbed to see how it barely phased Drex. What would knock most men out was like a small tickle to him and he then calmly proceeded to dish out their punishment. Without dropping his pie, the psycho brutally kicked the men to the floor, ending their burglary before it had even begun.

"Scary. I almost dropped my pie." He joked psychotically, turning to face the three spooked superheroes. He was insane and he was enjoying how he was unsettling them.

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes. You and I were about to fight." Drex smirked at Henry, who looked to (y/n) with a pale face. She didn't want him to be kicked so harshly and to be honest, neither did he.

"Good...I just need to use the restroom first." Henry lied, trying to buy himself a few minutes to come up with a plan. Without Ray, he wasn't sure if he and (y/n) would survive. His silence and anxiousness told the evil asshole that the kid would be easy to break and if he was broken, (y/n) would be his for the taking. 

"So, Captain Man, I hear that you've been messing around with my girl." Drex seethed, looking between the couple and noticing the way (y/n) instinctively returned to his side when she was frightened. Of course, Ray had stolen her away from him and now, he was going to pay.

"She's my girl now. She doesn't want you." Ray glowered at him and (y/n) stood proudly next to his side. It was true, she hadn't even thought about Drex for so many years and there was only one man she wanted now and he was the one defending her honour.

"Oh, really? She wants you? The guy who makes her scrub floors and live in fear? You've never been able to stick to one girl, she's just another plaything for you." Drex accused, reading the insecurities in the relationship like an open book. Even after ten years apart, he still knew Ray's ways and the role (y/n) had in the Man Cave. Ray thought that he was holding her back and she thought he would ultimately lose interest in her; there was trust but also doubt, which was a dangerous combination when it was being provoked by the man who wanted to see the relationship burn.

"I love her and only her. I...I just want her to be happy." Ray growled back, staring at Drex like a cornered animal. His heart was open and every insult was calculated to sting where he was most vulnerable. He wasn't the playboy everyone thought he was, all his life he had been waiting for one woman to be the one and the moment he had her, the frivolous dates stopped. He didn't want anyone else, just her, but he was still aware that because of him, she lived a challenging life. He was sure that whilst no one would love her as he did, some other guy could give her a peaceful life, where no villains would threaten her in a bakery.

"And that's what she'd be with me. She'd never get hurt or upset, she'd be loved. More than you ever could." Drex hissed, preying closer and closer on Ray in his cruel torture. Why fight when you can mentally wreck your opponent into giving up? Not that they were, one girl wasn't going to be trampled over and lectured to about how happy she was with the man she chose.

"No." She told Drex coldly and cocked the blaster that was still being pointed at him. Who was he to tell her who could give her a good life? She wasn't a prize to be won and was more than happy in the life she lived. She was a superhero's girlfriend, for god's sake!

"Be quiet, (y/n). I'm talking." Drex snapped at her, not used to hearing her backchat. He'd have to sort out that problem after this was finished.

"That's funny, 'cause so am I, so how about you listen to me? I don't care if I scrub floors or fix machines and have to fight assholes like you, because I have a damn good life. I have great friends and a great boyfriend. Even if he looks at hot moms or supermodels and leaves me behind, I know he's the only one for me, not you. So, get on the ground before I shoot your ass." She glared at him and stepped forward so the blaster was less than a metre away from his chest. 

Ray couldn't believe how courageous she was or how happy she was living with him. It broke his heart to learn that she was still intimidated by the mistakes he'd made in his past and he was cursing his younger self for putting her through so much heartache just so he could be selfish. He wanted to get down on his knees and tell her until his words dried up that he would never even think about anyone else. His stupid words had left her unsure of his love for her and he felt like he'd broken his promise. His girl was hurt and it was thanks to him.

"So, Captain Man, before I spank your boyish sidekick and put MY girl in her place...some pie?" Drex's rage was reaching the surface and seeing a formally compliant girl so defiant made him see red.

"Nobody wants your filthy pie," Ray growled, hating what he was being put through. God, he just wanted to break free and throttle Drex for even thinking he could go near (y/n) again. He wouldn't allow it, not after how far she'd come from the unassertive girl he'd abandoned. 

"You're done, Drex," Henry told the criminal and it was obvious that he was vastly underestimating the extent to which Drex would go. He wouldn't stop just because he was a boy, in fact, it just made him easier to beat.

"Careful, kid." (y/n) warned him, not liking how close Henry was getting to Drex. 

"Why?! I'm the one with the cool thing on my wrist." Henry exclaimed. God, he just wanted to kick some ass. Surely, it couldn't be that bad, his famous last words. Drex took advantage of Henry's brief distraction and yanked the tranquillising glove from Henry's hand. Oh shit, that was Henry rendered useless.

"That's why." (y/n) sighed, feeling the blood drain away from her face as Henry stood there without a weapon.

"Fetch, boy!" Drex taunted Henry and threw the glove out of the door so Henry would have to run and retrieve it. It was humiliating, but that was Drex all over. Knowing that he needed the tranquilliser more than anything, Henry sprinted to get it from the bushes outside, leaving Ray and (y/n) alone with their former friend.

"You will show me respect!" Henry hissed at Drex as he stomped past, but the man didn't give a shit. He just fake-yawned and slammed the door shut.

"Now, old friend...I have a gift for you. And for my cupcake. She's always loved the little gifts I get her." Drex growled and Ray and (y/n) stepped in front of her boyfriend protectively. The psychotic guy leaned past her and reached into a cupboard so he could bring out a box, helmet thing.

"What is that? Some kind of crazy box with a wide-hose bottom?" Ray asked as he continued to wriggle his hands in the holes. He'd had enough of boxes, thank you.

"Whatever it is, we don't want your gifts, Drex." (y/n) stated in a cold voice, but he just smirked at her. She was so cute thinking that she stood a chance.

"You'll take whatever I give you, cupcake." Drex bellowed in her face and swiftly jabbed her in the neck before she could blink. (y/n) stumbled back and hissed at the sharp prick she felt in her neck.

"What the fuck have you done to me?—-" She slurred and suddenly, her mind felt woozy and the room was spinning. Her fingers ran down her throat until they came to a small metal needle sticking out her skin and she yanked it out. She held it up to the light and Ray's temper exploded when her legs turned to jelly and gave in.

"What did you do to her, Drex?!" The superhero yelled in pure rage as his girl slumped to the floor and battled to keep her eyes open. She wanted her legs to move but they weren't listening, all she could do was mumble incoherently.

"Good girls stay quiet and that hypnotic sedative will make her go to sleep for me." Drex petted her hair "lovingly" and (y/n) did her best to jerk away from his touch. She had to stay awake, she just had to.

"Drex, I swear, if you hurt her..." Ray warned him in a dangerously calm voice, but everyone could hear his anger. His muscles were tense and if his hands were free, he'd be raining down hundreds of punches to Drex's face for even thinking that (y/n) would ever be forced to love him.

"M'okay, Ray. Just gotta heal--need to heal..." (y/n) panted, willing herself to sober up quickly. Her toes felt fuzzy and she could almost wiggle them, but she was a long way off getting back on her feet.

"Why don't I show you what this does?" Drex nodded his head to the box, helmet thing that was still in his hands and raised it over his head so he could slot it onto Ray's, who wasn't too keen on the light's being turned out.

"No. D-D-Drex! Don't do it, Drex! No, I mean it!" Ray panicked and bent down as far as he could to try and avoid the box being locked onto his head. Henry was thumping his fist against the glass of the door, but he couldn't get in. The door was locked and (y/n) was out of action, leaving Ray defenceless.

"Leave him, Drex...M'not gonna let you hurt him..." (y/n) mumbled slowly, trying to get her fingers to twitch to life around her blaster. God, this was like torture, she could see and hear everything, but her paralysis meant that she was useless.

"Leave him alone!" Henry's muffled voice could faintly be heard in the shop, but there was nothing that they could do to help their leader. Drex put the box over Ray's head and flicked a switch on the back, illuminating it and telling him that Captain Man was now good for nothing.

"Uh, Drex? What just happened, Drex?" Ray asked from inside his new prison and he had to rely on his hearing alone. 

"Drex, let me in!" Henry demanded, whacking his hands on the glass pane as he watched on helplessly. (y/n) was now able to slightly flex her ankles up and down and her fingers were starting to creak into life, but it wasn't enough.

"Hang on, we have a customer." The villain smirked and dashed over to unlock the door. He didn't care if Henry could move around the shop now, Ray couldn't help him, neither could Miss Danger, perfect.

"Captain Man! Captain Man! What is—what is this? Are you okay?!" Henry ran to his boss's side and his eyes grew in fear when he saw (y/n) almost lifeless on the floor and Ray totally blind.

"Is (y/n) okay, kid? Where is she?" Ray ignored the questions about himself and focused on his girl instead. The last time he'd seen, she was on the floor with Drex leaning over her and now he was panicking for his sidekicks' safety.

"I'm still here, doofus. And good news, I can move my hands and neck now. How about you?" She replied for herself, her voice much clearer now the drug was being combated by her super-regeneration. Just a few more minutes, that's all she needed and then she'd be back in action.

"I can't see, sweet girl! Henry, help me get this thing off my head!" Ray instructed his sidekick, feeling relieved that she was okay and on the mend. It meant that he could focus on his problem, not being able to move his hands or see a damn thing.

"Stop smirking, you prick." (y/n) lolled her head in Drex's direction and glared at him whilst Henry tugged and pulled at the box. She hated how smug he looked and wobbled her leg a bit to try and get it to move. Her weak limb just flopped over the other one and she grumbled at how useless she felt. 

"Kid? Kid, what's happening?" Ray asked when he felt Henry let go. The boy had seen Drex's cocky face and knew that the box wouldn't be coming off soon, so he might as well test out the glove on him. A taste of his own medicine, that's what he needed.

"Henry, watch it, he's sneaky!" (y/n) warned him and gasped when Henry fired a dart at Drex, only for the criminal to pick up the pie and deflect the tranquilliser with the metal dish. Sneaky indeed. Henry fired two more shots, both blocked on each try and Henry gulped when he pressed the trigger again and was met with a beep. He was out of ammo.

"So...are things going well?" Ray asked his sidekicks, who panicked as Drex stepped forward and squared up to Henry. 'Come on legs, I need you to work!' (y/n) thought in worry as she tried to get her torso and hips to wake up. 

"Uh, no not really. (y/n)'s still floppy." Henry replied shakily as he backed away from Drex and the woman could only watch in terror as the boy tried to keep away from harm.

"You need to get out of here!" She advised him, seeing that with no one to help him, Henry was at a serious disadvantage and at risk of being beaten to a pulp.

"Agreed." He gulped and quickly shuffled towards the door. The couple would be fine, hopefully. Once (y/n) got her legs back then they could think of a plan, but for now, Henry needed to get to safety.

"Don't worry about us! Get out of here!" Ray shouted, agreeing with his girl that there was nothing Henry could do here to help. It was a mistake to bring him along, not that it was worth complaining about now.

"That's an order!" (y/n) insisted, not liking that how he was still being chased around the store by the deranged criminal. 

"I'm completely on board!" Henry answered, shuffling around a table as a crowd gathered outside the bakery. Adults and children alike were marvelling at the site of their favourite superheroes in action, but they were unknowingly providing a stage for Drex to humiliate them.

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" A cop banged on the door and peered into the store when he and his patterned passed and spotted the ruckus going on. 

"Hahaha, woo! Hey, Drex, looks like you're going back to jail." Henry chuckled in the criminal's face and pointed to the police officers outside the building. It was nice to have backup, but this was the Swellview Police and they were notoriously crap.

"Oh, man! It's Drex!" They cried and legged it when the villain turned around and scowled at them. One look, that's all it took and they were running for their lives, leaving Henry alone again.

"Uh...I think you're supposed to follow those cops." The boy awkwardly told his enemy, who was thoroughly amused by the situation. The police were terrified of him, meaning they wouldn't be a problem.

"Get him, Kid Danger!" A young boy yelled from outside and his enthusiasm set off the crowd's cheers. They thought that Kid Danger could beat anyone, but they didn't know Drex.

"You heard 'em. Get me." Drex dared Henry, who tried the tranquillising glove one more time before harshly discarding it when he knew it was futile. It was time to get physical.

Henry stormed forward and threw two punches at Drex, who blocked them instantly. He was fast and experienced, so Henry switched tactics and tried to send a kick to his stomach, but his foot was grabbed by Drex and shoved back. As Ray struggled and (y/n) rolled around to get on her feet, Drex grabbed Henry's weaker body and forced him into a large cooking vat. 

"Kid Danger!" (y/n) gasped as she tried to use the counter to pull herself up, but her muscles were still unresponsive when she willed them to start working, so it was to Ray to bring the action. He grunted and strained, pulling with all his might until his superhero strength was enough to yank the box from where it was nailed to the counter.

"Miss Danger! Where are you?!" He shouted, spinning wildly around as he tried to search for his girl and a tap on his leg gave him an answer.

"Down here. I'm still floppy, but it's getting better." She replied, rolling her shoulders to loosen them up. Okay, she was nearly back to normal and it was agonising to wait and do nothing. How strong was this sedative?

"Where's Kid Danger?" He asked next, stumbling down her body clumsily as he tried to not do her any more damage by treading on her arms or anything. Geez, you don't miss your sight until you don't have it.

"I'm afraid he's a little battered and bruised right now." Drex quipped, confusing Ray with idiomatic phrasing. He really didn't need any hidden meanings right now.

"What does that mean?! Are you being literal or is that wordplay?!" He questioned, taking a few baby steps to see if he was walking into the room and not into a wall.

"He's in a cake batter vat thing." (y/n) groaned as she grappled herself onto the counter and hauled herself up. The sudden movement made her head spin again, but she was determined to stay up, even if it meant she was practically half-laid on the surface.

"Drex? Where are you, Drex?!" Ray growled at the information and bashed his boxed hands against a table. Whether he was trying to get them free or taking a stab in the dark in the hopes of whacking Drex was anyone's guess, but all it resulted in was Ray cracking a chuck of table off. Not his best idea ever.

"Well, you certainly showed that table." Drex hissed, making Ray panic when he realised that the map he had of the room in his head was getting harder to focus on. Had the floor always been this big and how many tables were there again? Was the counter in front or behind him?

"Kid? Kid Danger?" Ray called out for Henry, but his voice was muffled by all the gooey batter in his face and it left Ray open to Drex's tricks.

"Oh no, Kid Danger just ran out the door." He lied and opened it so he could fool Ray into going outside. 

"Hang on, kid, I'm comin'!" He cried as (y/n) blanched at how easily he was trusting Drex's word. She stuttered in shock as she watched him crash through the tables and into a wall. It was painful to see as well as painful to endure.

"Ow! That's not right. Uh, where's the exit? Is this the exit?" He rambled as he drunkenly headed towards the door. Oh shit, no, no, no!

"Ray, don't listen to him! Kid Danger's right here—oh, god!" (y/n)'s eyes widened as Drex slammed the door shut and locked them in with no Captain Man, no police and a gang of spectators with their phones out.

"Hello? Oh god, I'm so sticky! I need some paper towels. Paper towels?" Henry suddenly emerged from the cakey darkness and (y/n) gulped when she saw how disoriented he was. His entire upper body was caked in a thick, vanilla cement and it clung to him in a disgusting embrace. Things weren't all about the batter though, because now that he had literally shoved Ray away, Drex was able to make his dastardly move on Henry.

"Put him down, Drex!" (y/n) snarled as she pulled herself away from the counter and tried to reach out and help the poor boy, but her knees gave in again just when she needed them. Damn this drug, even with her healing, it was taking a good fifteen minutes to get it out of her bloodstream, but she didn't have the time to wait.

"No, I don't think I will, cupcake," Drex smirked and seized the young superhero by his collar and tunic so he could lift his body and sit down on a vacant chair. With Henry's body laid across his lap, the humiliation could begin.

"Spanky, Spanky, spank your butt, doo-dah, doo-dah. Spanky, spanky, spank your butt, oh dah doo dah day!" Henry was close to tears as he watched the kids pull out their phones and laugh at him. It didn't hurt, not even close, but the jeers and heartless giggles were the cruellest things he'd ever had to go through. 

"He's just a kid, leave him alone! Hurt me, just don't hurt him!" (y/n) urged her loathed ex-boyfriend, not being able to bear seeing the children and their parents enjoy Henry's pain. Sometimes she forgot how unkind people could be and that's what Drex always played on. The world would never be as kind to her as she was to it, allowing him to exploit its harshness. 

"Cupcake, I've heard and observed your little superpower, another one of Captain Man's tricks. You can't get hurt, well, not yet. I'll see to you later." He jibed at her, his face twisting into a sneer at the thought of the girl who used to be his spending her life with the man he had sworn to kill. Nine years in jail had given him a lot of time to think; all those times he saw Ray eat with (y/n), work with (y/n), laugh with (y/n), that was him drawing her away. His plan all along, steal his girl because that's what Captain Man does, but not again.

"You bastard..." She growled and crawled along the floor in their direction, hoping to do something, anything. This was working out rather well for Drex. Ray was neutralised and no longer his concern; Kid Danger's spirit was seconds away from being broken and (y/n)? She was fiery and defiant, something that had infected her from too much time spent in the Man Cave, but she'd learn. Drex was determined to make her his perfect little doll again and Ray Manchester wouldn't stop him.

How were they gonna get out of this one?

[crymeariveronceagain]

How did Keefe become friends with Fitz? How did his father react to it?

ooohoohohohoho *cracks fingers* okay so

Keefe Sencen met Fitz Vacker at school. They're in the same grade, it's only natural that they be friends. There's elf primary school, imho, a lot less time consuming and intense than Foxfire, but they met when they were like 6.

Keefe had the biggest smile in the class, and he was friends with everyone already. Fitz was jealous, and glared at him across the room, because of all the things Fitz is not good at one of the things he's always felt awful at is making friends. He has to go and talk to people and they'll look at him and they'll giggle because he's not good at coming up with things to say!

So Fitz avoided everyone. For years. Literal years. This boi was socially awkward and decided "who needs friends I get good grades and my teachers like me".

But anyway, they were eight when Keefe Sencen finally talked to Fitz. Because there was no way Fitz was gonna talk to Keefe.

Keefe had, while Fitz was avoiding friends altogether, been going through a realization period. Keefe was friends with everyone. But he didn't have a best friend. He saw clusters of boys and girls on the playground, close, strong, good friends, and he migrated through them, never belonging in any specific group, never fitting in right. None of them were his friends, all the way. He was the link between everyone, but no one was a link for him.

So, one day, Keefe was looking out at the group of kids milling around the playground, and he say Fitz. Fitz was always on his own. Keefe knew his name, sure, but that was all. His father had mumbled something about how stupid he was when he'd asked about Fitz. Keefe tilted his head to the side, looking at the dark haired boy, where he was working on making a fort out of sticks.

Keefe walked over to Fitz, looking at him. "Whatcha doing?"

Fitz whipped around so fast that he full on hit Keefe in the side with the big stick in his arms.

"Ow!" Yelped Keefe. "What the heck!"

"What are you doing?"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted help but you whacked me with a stick!"

"It wasn't on purpose!"

Keefe grumbled and got to his feet, the ache in his ribs slowly dulling.

"You scared me," Fitz said. "Nobody comes over here, usually."

Keefe blinked. "Why not?"

Fitz shrugged. "It's my spot."

Keefe said nothing, inspecting the careful craftsmanship of the fort. It was really well done, honestly, he thought to himself. It had multiple layers of sticks, and leaves and vines woven through it to keep it together. "That's a cool fort."

Fitz looked up from where he was putting the stick he'd whacked Keefe with. "Yeah. I've been working on it forever."

"What's it called?"

Fitz turned and looked at Keefe.

"You know," Keefe said, "Everybody's house has a name. What's your house's name?"

"It's not a house," Fitz said, his eyebrows scrunching. "It's a fort."

Keefe squinched his lips to the side of his face. "Looks like a house to me."

Fitz sighed, deeply. "It's called 'Fort'."

"That's the stupidest name I've ever heard of in my life."

"You think of a better one, Smarty."

"Emerhaven."

Fitz was quiet, looking at the sticks. "That is a much better name."

Keefe didn't tell him that it was a mashup of a councilor his dad hated's name and a pretty house on a hill's name. He didn't think Fitz would like knowing how stupid it was. But, Fitz put him to work, and the two of them did more in that day that Fitz usually did in a week.

They were friends from thereon out. It was some pact between them, some treatise they'd formed. Every day at recess, the two of them wound up at the edge of the woods, picking up sticks, making forts, and playing pretend.

Fitz wasn't huge on playing pretend, Keefe found out. But he would if Keefe came up with the story. So, when Keefe decided that Emerhaven was actually a pirate ship, and that they were the swashbuckling buccaneers, fighting to protect their treasure, Fitz leapt into battle against the tree-shaped sea monster with as much vigor as he could.

The two of them were inseparable, and bettered each other. Fitz was more clinical, more realistic. Keefe was more creative than ever. Keefe came up with ideas, and Fitz would collapse in giggles, telling him it would never work.

One thing Keefe noticed was that Fitz didn't think his ideas were stupid. Fitz thought all of his ideas were either funny or smart. It made something in Keefe's heart happy.

They started hanging out at each other's houses. Or, rather, Fitz invited Keefe over, and Keefe was thrilled to go to someone else's house after school. Fitz showed him around Everglen with the thrill of someone who has never had a friend to show his own world to. Biana wanted to play with them, and they had to come up with a reason she wasn't allowed, she was too little, and Keefe grinned at his friend, and Fitz grinned back. They played swordfights in the front yard with sticks they'd found, they drew art on big pieces of paper, they made forts all over the grounds of Everglen. Everything was fun, everything was exciting, as it always is, when you have a best friend.

But they never went to Keefe's house. Fitz asked, once, and Keefe went super quiet.

"What's wrong?" Fitz asked, after a second.

"My house is quiet," Keefe answered.

Fitz shrugged. "Then we'll make it loud!"

Keefe paled, inexplicably. But he shrugged. "I don't care. You can come over, I guess."

The house was quiet, Fitz thought, that afternoon, when he walked into the arching door of the house. It was far too big, far too cold, and far too quiet. It was nothing like his house.

Keefe walked to the elevator, and explained, in an oddly soft voice, how it worked. There was none of his excited, nearly arrogant happiness. There was a quiet, as though the house had breathed itself into him, and he was so affected by it that all he could do was stay as quiet as this icy mansion. So Fitz got on the elevator with him.

When they got off, he nearly lost his lunch, and Keefe giggled, brightly, as though he'd seen something hilarious. Fitz swallowed some bile, glared at his friend, and the two of them walked into Keefe's room.

Instantly, once the door was closed, Keefe relaxed. He was back to his normal self, quiet forgotten. His room was a Keefe-colored mess, covered in art and drawings and in toys and dirty clothes. Fitz grinned at the disarray, as though it made sense for Keefe to have such things around him, since he was such an object of disarray, himself.

They had fun, in Keefe's room, and neither of them wanted to leave. There was so much of Keefe's life contained in his bedroom, and Fitz felt like there was no better explanation of someone than their bedroom. There was a safety and a warmth found in the chaos of Keefe's room. From the drawers full of cool rocks, sticks, and leaves, to the mural on the wall that Keefe said was going to piss his dad off so much, the whole place made sense.

Fitz left, his eyes bright, at dinnertime. Keefe took the elevator down with him, and lost it, happier than ever, giggling at Fitz's discomfort.

However, Keefe's peels of laughter shut off as though by a faucet. Fitz looked up, and straight into the eyes of an unfun, adult Keefe. He did a double take. Kid Keefe was standing to the side, looking like a saddened dog, shoved to the side. Adult Keefe inspected him.

"So you're the Vacker child, then," Adult Keefe stated. "I knew one was attending school with my son."

Adult Keefe was Keefe's dad, Fitz realized. Hmm.

Keefe said something, but his father shot him a glare.

Fitz knew that look. His father looked at Alvar like that. It made Fitz uncomfortable. It always had.

The older man sighed. "What are you doing associating with my son? He's not good for your reputation."

Fitz didn't know what was going on, not really, but he'd heard these words before. Alvar always made his dad say them. But he remembered what Alvar had always said in response, so he pulled it to the front of his mind and looked Mr. Sencen in the eyes. "Keefe's my friend," His voice, miraculously, didn't stutter. "It doesn't matter what'll happen to my reputation."

Keefe's father made a noise, his hand gesturing towards his son. "Really?"

Fitz nodded, firm in his answer.

Mr. Sencen turned on Keefe, who tried to shrink himself. "Good for you," the older man said, and Keefe didn't move, for a long moment. "Making a friend who's actually going to help you along in the world for once."

Keefe smiled, as though the sunshine had come out from behind the clouds. "Yeah! We were playing--"

His father waved him off with a dismissal that reminded Fitz of how his dad treated Biana. "I don't care. Go do your homework. You're failing all your classes."

Keefe sprinted up the stairs, and waved at Fitz, once, and Mr. Sencen raised his eyebrows at Fitz. "I trust you'll be able to get home on your own, Mr. Vacker?"

Fitz nodded, feeling something sick settle in his stomach.

When he'd gotten home, he told his mom about the whole thing, and she told him that he wasn't allowed to play at Keefe's house for a while. "But," she said, gently, "Keefe is always allowed to come here."

[lalaangeldust]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

[ 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 ] : none :)

[ 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 ] : kaminari denki // bakugo katsuki // sero hanta

𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐢

ah yes, the bakusquad's resident pretty boy

he would definitely be the most obvious about his crush

two words: shitty flirting

horrible pick-up lines and just overall bad flirting

he pulls through sometimes though ( with sero's advice ) and his ego inflates through the roof if he can get you flustered and blushing

but if you give him the same energy, he will immediately combust

all function out the window

congratulations, you broke denki

none of your possessions are safe when denki is within the vicinity

shirts, hoodies, skirts, hats, jewelry, hair accessories

if he can grab it, he will have it

he has worn / stolen everything in your closet at least once, if not it is most definitely his goal

it does not matter if he fits it or not, he will make it work

he has no shame

but one time he stretched out one of your favorite skirts and it tore a bit and he felt soooo bad

"it not my fault i have a fat ass, y/n"

but he brought you to the mall on a date with him to get a new one, so it's all works out ;)

denki honestly just lives to make you laugh

every time he's the reason you're laughing, it makes his chest puff up so big

DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON MF TICKLING

if you two are close, he will without a doubt start a mock wrestling match and it always turns into a tickling fit with you pinned underneath him and wailing

but do NOT under any circumstances tickle him

he with shriek like a girl and accidentally activate his quirk

you nearly died

HE FELT BAD FOR THAT TOO

he's also just so infatuated with like- everything you do????

it doesn't matter how mundane you think it might be, as long as you're doing it, denki is so enthralled watching whatever it is you're doing

it's rather endearing

in all honesty, he'd probably blurt out he likes you outta no where while in the middle of a convo

he lights up every time your name is so much as mentioned

or- or

he'd be day dreaming, completely lost in his own world and someone would come up to him and ask him what he's thinking ab cus he looks basically dead to the world

still in a daze from being abruptly brought back to reality he'd just dreamily sigh, "y/n~" without even realizing

mans was SO embarrassed afterwards

face was beet red

*frantically looks around to see if you heard him or not*

----------------------------------------

bonus: love languages!!

physical touch // giving

words of affirmation // receiving

----------------------------------------

𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐠𝐨 𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐢

he's so emotionally constipated

that's not to say we wouldn't know he'd have feelings for you

he's actually pretty emotionally intelligent, and would be very perceptive of your emotions contrary to popular belief, he's just oblivious to his own feelings and emotions

he'd just ignore them

try his best to ignore you

key word try

but he always gives in and he'd make up dumb reasons to come bother you like-

he'd barge into your dorm while you're studying and he'd be like

"y/n i need a pen,"

"oh? uh ok, here you can have this one," you hand him a pen that you happened to have tucked behind your ear

"no not that one,"

...????

"can't you go to momo and ask her to make the pen you want..?"

bakugo starts to get grumpy at this point lmao

"no, she doesn't know how to make it,"

"well, what pen do you want..??"

bakugo hesitates cus he doesn't wanna admit that he doesn't actually want a pen, he wants to be with you

"that one," he lamely points at a beat up tinkerbell pen that you've had since you were like twelve

"really?? out of all the pens you choose that one?"

"shut up and just get it"

"... you can grab it,"

he goes and grabs it and goes to walk out the door without a word and right before he leaves he leans back and looks at you

"i need a pencil"

"OH MY GOD BAKUGO"

he kept the tinkerbell pen btw

like denki, bakugo would steal things from your dorm and not just anything, things that are actually inconvenient to misplace

he'd take your bobby pin container or your favorite brush so you'd come to him to ask where it went, he'd give it back ofc but not without a fight

he'd act totally clueless and he'd wait till you actually start to get pissed to tell you where he actually put your thing

so back to how he'd actually be very aware of your emotions

he'd notice the smallest changes and can always tell when you're upset but he wouldn't exactly know how to help you

so instead of using words, he'd use actions

you had a really bad day and he walked you to your dorm and when he came in he's like

"shit, your dorm is a fucking disaster, how do you live like this," you scowl at bakugo cus like- wtf i'm rlly emotional here you're not helping

he scoffs and bends down to start picking up your shit

"seriously, i have no idea how you find anything in here, nothing is organized" and he'd just keeps grumbling like an old man while completely cleaning and reorganizing your room

dont you dare try and help him though, he will yell at you

-----------------------------------------

bonus: love languages!!

acts of service // giving

quality time // receiving

-----------------------------------------

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

sero SCREAMS besfriends to lovers troupe

like- you two are already practically dating without even realizing it

the romantic tension

you guys banter and flirt with eachother so often, you both have no idea whether you're serious when you jokingly call the other sexy or not

the oblivious idiots troupe

sero makes everything a competition

not nearly to extent as bakugo would, but still goes a bit over the top

he'd use anything as an excuse to show off for you

one time, like the spiderman fanboy he is, he challenged you to see who can hang upside down the longest without passing out ( literally the stupidest idea, sero, you're going to loose braincells )

sero won, obviously and he takes full advantage of bragging rights

everyone says how denki's the flirt and whatever but NO

sero is the biggest mf flirt and denki got his game from him

so with that being said, you are not safe

HE IS A BULLY

he respects boundaries of course but that doesn't mean he's not gonna try and test his limits a bit and mess with you

he's always trying to get you flustered

god forbid you're shorter than him because he will tease the shit outta you for it

when you two train together, mf goes on overdrive ESPECIALLY if you two happen to be sparring together

he'd hover over you and lean his face in ever so slightly while your talking to him just to get a rise outta you

TILT YOUR HEAD UP WITH ONE FINGER

"could you repeat that? i'm having a hard time hearing,"

SHEEEEEEEE

but you also make fun of him for being tall, so it checks out

whenever he says some slick shit you're just like-

"I'm sorry, what? That's funny coming from someone who's above the national average height. you're disgusting, tall man; shrink perhaps" ( if anyone knows what tiktok audio i'm referencing, i'm in love with you )

hope you have your casket ready because sero's gonna slaughter your ass for that shit

ok but one time while you two were partnered up for hero training, you got on his nerves and he tied you up and left you hanging and the mf just left

maaaan were you livid

15 minutes

15 minutes you were left up there while sero was doing god knows what

you gave him the silent treatment for the rest of the day and sero was genuinely distressed cus he didn't mean to make you so mad

but lucky for him, he always knows how to get you to smile no matter how sad or are or how angry you are with him

he shoots you a piece of tape with his handwriting on it

he made up some stupid, horribly written poem asking for your forgiveness and he's just looking at you the entire time you're reading it with an exaggerated pout

how can you say mad at him?

on the topic of him sending you notes on his tape

he'd totally leave pieces of his tape in really obscure places in your dorm or even under your desk

they'd be really stupid messages too like-

"you stink"

or a really random inside joke you two have that makes literally no sense but even just the thought of it makes you laugh to tears

he'd also leave little origami figures he made with his tape in random places for you to find too

or he'd just give them to you

you have a shelf specifically dedicated for the things sero has made for you ( and he's really touched you actually keep all his shitty arts and crafts projects )

in conclusion, sero is the best and he is my favorite and i'd die for him

-----------------------------------------

bonus: love languages!!

gift giving // giving

physical touch // giving and recieving

-----------------------------------------

If you guys want, i can elaborate on their love languages in another post! <3

𝒇𝒊𝒏 . ✩

[captainimprobable]

part two of that thing I posted last week! This is also an unedited first draft, so take it with a grain of salt

~ ~

She arrives in the dead of night, clothes singed and skin burned.

The knock wakes them all, but Hooty is the loudest.  He bursts through Luz’s window, a worm shaped interloper, and announces “HEY LUZ, YOUR GF IS HERE!!!!! SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE WAS DIPPED IN A POT OF ACID, BUT I’M SURE IT’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.”

Before Luz can even open her eyes fully to focus, he slides back out of her window with a loud “HOOT HOOT”.

Blinking sleep out of her eyes, Luz thinks she might be dreaming, until she hears the knock at the door.  It’s insistent, quick, and somehow a little desperate.

Something is wrong.

She is instantly awake and on her feet, flying down the hallway just in time to collide with Eda, whose hair is sticking up at all angles.  Before she can fall, Eda steadies her, and says “Did I hear Hooty say that Boots is in trouble?”

“I’m not sure,” Luz says frantically, “but we need to get to the door.  Now.”  She’s already running as she’s talking, and finally, finally, she makes it to the front of the house.  She wrenches open the door and standing there is Amity, eyes red rimmed and body shaking.  

Behind her is a sheet of boiling rain.

“Oh my gosh, did you run here in the rain???” Luz asks, grabbing Amity’s hand and tugging her inside.  Amity nods wordlessly, staring at a spot on the floor.  Now that she’s closer, Luz can see the damage; the rain has singed the sleeves of Amity’s dress, and dark, angry burns march up and down her arms.  “Dang, kid, are you okay?” Eda asks, sounding genuinely concerned.  

Something inside Luz tugs insistently, and though she wants to panic, she knows Amity needs her more right now.  So she takes a deep breath and says “Let’s get you patched up, okay?”

Amity doesn’t move.  She’s still staring at the floor with a blank expression, and Luz suddenly has no idea what to do.  She wants to wrap Amity in her arms, protect her from whatever’s going on, but she knows that might not be appreciated, so she decides to ask.  

“Do you want a hug?”

Amity nods so imperceptibly that Luz thinks she might have imagined it, but she nonetheless takes it as a yes.  Careful to loop her arms around Amity’s waist and not her neck so as to avoid touching the burns, she wraps Amity in a loose hug.  For a second, Amity does nothing.  She stands there shaking with her arms hanging at her sides, until all at once, like a dam exploding, she grabs at Luz almost desperately, pulling her tighter as she bursts into tears.   

Luz has never been in a situation like this before.  Eda is sitting on the couch a respectful distance away, watching but not getting involved.  Luz doesn’t know what to do, so she decides to follow her instincts.  She reaches up to stroke Amity’s hair and whispers “It’s okay, you’re okay”.  Amity cries herself out a few minutes later, Luz talking to her in a soothing voice the whole time.  When only sniffles remain, Luz asks “Can we go to the couch? Eda wants to treat your burns.”

“Y-yeah,” Amity hiccups.  It’s the first thing she’s said all night, and something in Luz loosens at the sound of it.  She keeps an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders as she guides her to the couch.  She doesn’t want to let go, so when they sit down, she instantly grabs Amity’s hand.  

“Is this okay?” she asks Amity.  Amity nods, gently brushing her thumb along Luz’s knuckles in silent consent.  

“Wow,” Eda whistles.  “The rain got you good.  Why were you out in that anyway, are you crazy?”

“Eda-” Luz starts, but Amity holds a hand up.  “It’s okay,” she says.  As Eda begins pulling potions out of the cabinet, Amity says “It’s- it’s my parents”.

Luz goes cold.  She remembers them well.  It’s hard to forget people who tried to kill you.  

She hasn’t had much contact with Alador, but Odalia...Odalia gives her a feeling she can’t describe.  Just the sight of her makes Luz unspeakably angry.  Looking at Amity now, though, she realizes that Alador is just as bad.  Complacency in the face of abuse is just as bad as the abuse itself.

“We had a fight,” Amity continues.  “And you ran away? In the boiling rain? That takes guts, kid,” Eda says, a mixture of impressed and concerned.  

“Not exactly.  They, um...they kicked me out.” 

“WHAT?”

“It’s not forever,” Amity hastens to say.  “Just for the night.  My mom said she...she said she can’t even look at me right now, and my Dad just agreed with her.  Like he always does.”

Luz’s grip on Amity’s hand is tight as steel now.  She’s ready to get up and give the Blights a piece of her mind.  She wants to take them down, and make them pay for what they’ve done.  

“So,” Luz says in a low voice.  “Your parents left you alone in the middle of the night in rain that can literally kill you?”

“Yeah,” Amity says bitterly.  “They’re not the best parents.”

“I’m going to make them pay for this. I’m- I’m going to go over there, and I’m going to-”

“Luz,” Amity puts a hand on Luz’s shoulder.  “No.  You can’t- I don’t want you in the same room as them ever again, okay?” Amity sounds scared.

Luz remembers the abomiton that tried to kill her, and the disappointed look on Odalia’s face when it didn’t succeed.  She also remembers Amity’s righteous anger, and the steely eyed glare she gave her mother.  

“I can’t have you hurt again,” Amity says, sounding almost frantic.  “I just can’t, okay?”

“Okay, okay, shh it’s okay,” Luz assures her, cupping a hand to her face.  Neither of them have the energy to be embarrassed about it right now, but it’s probably the most romantic gesture they’ve shared.  Amity leans into Luz’s hand, breathing deeply.

“This might sting,” Eda says from the other side of the couch.  Both Luz and Amity jump, having forgotten that she was there.  Sheepishly, they part, still holding hands.  Eda smirks at Luz and gives her a wink that Luz hopes Amity didn’t see.  She gets the feeling Eda is going to be talking to her about this later.

Eda dabs a bit of blue potion onto Amity’s arm, and Amity hisses, breath whistling through her teeth, but she doesn’t flinch.  “Is it- ow- is it okay that I came here?”  She asks Eda, looking at her shyly.  

Eda snorts, like it’s the stupidest question in the world.  “I practically take kids in for a living, now,” she says.  “What’s one more?”

“It’s just for the night,” Amity hastens to assure her.  “I’m going home tomorrow morning.”

Luz shakes her head.  “I hate the idea of you living with them.  I can’t believe they treat you like this and just get away with it!”

“I’ll get out of there eventually.  When I join a coven…” Amity trails off, and an awkward silence ensues.  They haven’t talked about the whole “Amity’s biggest dream being potentially crushed by the Emperor being evil” thing.  

“Well, the point is, it’s not forever,” Amity finally finishes.  

“Aaaand done,” Eda says, wrapping the last bandage around Amity’s wrist.  She stands up, knees creaking in an entirely unnatural way.  “And now it’s bedtime,” she yawns.  “You two get some rest, too.”

“Thank you, Eda,” Amity calls, and Eda gives her a lazy wave over her shoulder as she leaves.  

The adrenaline is wearing off, now, and Luz suddenly realizes she has no idea what she’s doing.  She glances at Amity out of the corner of her eye, and the image of her cupping Amity’s face floats into her brain.  She flushes a deep scarlet, and suddenly, she needs to be doing something, anything else.

“Well, okay,” she says loudly, standing up abruptly and walking towards the closet.  “Let me get you some pillows and a blanket, the couch is old and creaky, but it’s comfortable.”

As she’s rummaging through the closet, she hears Amity say “Luz”.

“Yeah?”

“Would you- I mean, if you wanted to, could you- could you stay with me for a little while?” She sounds so scared, and so sad, and it’s so unlike Amity that Luz melts immediately.

“Of course,” she says.  “Here, scoot over.”

Amity moves a few inches, wincing at the pain in her arms.  Luz sits down next to her and drapes a blanket over the both of them.  They sit there awkwardly for a few minutes, and Luz is absolutely freaking out.  She has no idea what to do now.  Before she can agonize over it any further, Amity’s head lands on Luz’s shoulder.

This is unprecedented.  

Nobody ever told Luz how scary the beginning of a relationship is.  Nobody warned her that every little thing Amity does could change her mood instantly, or that every time she touches her she can swear to god she feels electricity.

Nobody told her how bittersweet it could be to have Amity Blight resting her head on her shoulder, exhausted from a horrific night of what can only be called abuse.  

Her internal alarms are going off, she’s losing her mind, and she hopes Amity doesn’t notice.  In the midst of this emergency, Amity calls her name sleepily.

“Hey, Luz?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re my favorite person.”

Oh.  Oh wow.  Oh. Wow.

This is a whole new level of scary.  She feels a mixture of nerves and elation swirl through her, and she can’t help but smile, and she feels a little bit like crying but she doesn’t know why.  She doesn’t know what to say, so instead, she does something even scarier: she kisses the top of Amity’s head.  

She freezes, hoping that was okay, hoping that Amity doesn’t feel weird about it, but before she can ask, Amity starts quietly snoring.

She’s fallen asleep.  Luz breathes a sigh of relief, marveling at the fact that Amity felt comfortable enough, after an awful night, to come to her house and fall asleep on her shoulder.  How did she ever get so lucky?

After awhile, Luz yawns and checks her watch.  Four forty two am.  It’s definitely time for bed, but she doesn’t want to wake Amity up by leaving, so she decides that she’s going to stay up all night, watching over her girlfriend and making sure she’s okay.

Two minutes later, she falls asleep, resting her head on Amity’s.  

When they wake up in the morning, it’s all apologies and blushing and everything Luz has started to get used to.  But Amity has a small smile on her face despite her blush, and Luz has to admit: it’s the best nap she’s ever had.  

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Here to Misbehave (Pt. 23 | S.R.)

Series Masterlist | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Finale |

Summary: Spencer’s birthday plans get interrupted by a case. Frustrated by Reader’s busy schedule, Spencer finds a unique way to spend time with her. Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Smut (NSFW, 18+) Content Warning: Mild exhibitionism, fingering, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, Dom/sub, light choking, degradation/praise, sub space Word Count: 7.3k

MASTERLIST

—————————————————

Waiting for Spencer Reid was an interesting position to be in. It was also, unfortunately, very, very common. You would think the IQ points would translate to efficiency, but you’d be very wrong. The only thing that boy does fast is read, and even that didn’t follow through to text messages, considering he’d read none of the six I’d sent him in the past hour.

So, naturally, as one does in an emergency, I called him. Unsurprisingly, the phone barely rang a second time before he picked up. Talking was, as we were both aware, his forte. Without even waiting for my greeting, his groggy voice came through the receiver with a song-like sound.

“Hello, little girl.”

But it wasn’t his turn to sing, and he knew damn well why I was calling. I could hear the smirk on his face so well that I could also envision exactly what he looked like in that moment, with his fluffy hair sticking up from constantly running his hands through it and his eyes only half-open as he tried to finish reading whatever horrible thing that he had in front of him.

It wasn’t how anyone should be spending their birthday. Especially not him. There wasn’t really anything I could do about it, though that didn’t make it any easier to hear the exhaustion and sadness behind that scratchy voice.

“What’re you doing up late? It’s past your bedtime, you know,” he chastised before I even had a chance to speak. He wasn’t wrong — It was 3AM where I was. But where he was, it’d just hit midnight.

“I just wanted to wish a happy birthday to my favorite old man,” I purred back once I’d managed to calm my fast-beating heart. I wondered if I’d ever get used to the brief rush of adrenaline and relief when I heard his voice for the first time after some time away.

I hoped not.

Spencer didn’t seem impressed by my reasoning, though. “You’re sweet. Go to sleep.”

“You’re up, too,” I whined, still picturing the way he would undoubtedly pull the phone further away to lessen the noise. I almost asked if he was also picturing me but stopped when I realized that whatever he had in mind was probably a lot more exciting than reality. Then again, he often told me that moments like this were his favorite. When we’re both too tired to keep our eyes open but too happy to be with each other to let them close all the way.

“Barely,” he corrected.

“Besides, I had to stay up. It’s your birthday.”

I’d meant to lift his spirits, but the long pause after I finished made it evident that my efforts were for naught. He almost seemed even more upset than when he’d answered, and I tried to convince myself that it had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t that hard, considering he was probably staring at images or words of dead people.

“Yeah, sure feels like it.”

His tone alone ensured me it was worse than my imagination.

“Put your work down and pay attention to me instead,” I suggested as softly as I could with the neediness bleeding through, “That’s the first part of your present.”

“You’re my present?” he asked through a gruff laugh that made my heart skip a beat, “I like that present.”

He was trying. I could feel it in his voice, and I wished more than anything that I could teleport to where he was and hold him until it was too difficult for his mouth to form a frown.

“You already have me. That’d be like regifting,” I pointed out with only a pinch of self-deprecation. It was still too much for Spencer, though, who swiftly shot back the ever cheesy, “Every day with you is a gift.”

“Gross, don’t get all sentimental with me,” I ordered playfully.

He returned the energy with all the sass I always knew he was capable of. Once his whining ceased, he mumbled, “Do you come with a gift receipt?”

“No returns or exchanges allowed, I’m afraid.”

Spencer just let out a strained sigh, and in my head, I imagined how it would feel to climb onto his lap as he leaned back in his chair. I could almost feel his arms wrapping around my waist and his lips peppering kisses wherever he could reach. I could feel his love for me flowing across the country, persisting past the cell tower obstacles to make its way back to me.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” he whispered, his first purely sincere statement of the night.

It was an unfortunate choice, too, because it also reminded me of the biggest bummer that I unfortunately had to share.

“Oh, I meant to tell you, it’s midterm season, so…”

He was, thankfully, not as bummed as I was expecting. He was almost certainly thrilled to have a chance to sleep spread out on his bed without having to satisfy the very needy girl beside him, but he still managed to come up with enough bratty energy to scoff, “Are you telling me that I don’t get my gift when I get home?”

“It’ll just be a few days. Promise,” I spoke through the biggest, cheesiest smile I’d had yet. “You’re very distracting, Dr. Reid.”

“When are your exams?” His enthusiasm gave away just how disappointed he was with the news, but any frustration was clearly aimed at my poor professors.

“My last one is on Wednesday.”

The gasp that left him was too funny not to laugh, followed by exasperated, blubbered nonsense that didn’t ever get much clearer. I barely managed to understand him when he cried, “Don’t they know Halloween should be a national holiday?!”

“You should call my professors and yell at them.”

He actually considered it for a moment, but then returned the same silly intonation, “Maybe I will.”  

“Do it. You’re probably more qualified than them to teach me, anyway.”

After a short silence that was filled with more sexual tension than I’d expected considering how the phone call started, I heard Spencer gruffly comment, “You’re a cocky little brat tonight.”

It was so familiar to me that I jumped on the opportunity, giggling through my sleep deprived delirium, “I’m in rare form for your birthday.”

The explanation earned me a chuckle, but not much else. At least, not that I could see. The static on the other end of the phone sounded a lot like the way it looked when Spencer leaned his face against his palm and tried to see something that wasn’t there.

But I was there. Sort of. We’d done a lot more with a lot less, after all. So, that’s what I offered him.

“You know… we could have a redo of the last time I called you late at night on a case.”

“That did not end well for me last time,” he droned. I tried not to laugh at the manufactured memory of Spencer holed up in a hotel bathroom because he just had to have me in whatever way he could.

“Only happy endings for your birthday. I promise.”

But then, as it always did, work got in the way. Filled with only the greatest sadness and regret, Spencer quietly but honestly replied, “As much as I would love to, I don’t think it’ll be possible on this case.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Unfortunately.”

I bit my lip because there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t help Spencer with his work any more than I could fix the distance. All I could offer him was a safe home to return to. He would always find that with me.

“Well, in that case, I will be equipped with cartoons and kisses upon your return,” I offered with grace.

But I wasn’t the only one in rare form. Without skipping a beat, Spencer corrected with a smug sadness, “You mean your return. Considering you’re abandoning me on my birthday.”  

“Oh my god, the drama!” I cried before remembering that it was, still, in fact, 3AM. The light grimace I gave after remembering would be the only apology my neighbors would get from me. I was too busy building a narrative happy enough to drown out the horrors in front of him. “You’d think I was the one who was away all the time.”

“I’m allowed to be selfish; it’s my birthday,” he sang, and I soaked in the sound, storing it away for any rainy days.

“Fine. What do you want, brat?” I asked in the worst attempt at an impression I’d ever given.

He was just waiting for the question. Drawing out the first couple of syllables, he laughed through the stupidest birthday wish of all time.

“I want… you to go to bed.”

“Ugh!” I yelled again, not even bothering to feel bad about it that time. My exasperation fell on deaf ears, both from a willful desire to ignore my suffering and a literal ringing from the constant yelling.

Still, that impossible man drummed up enough compassion to gloat with a simple, “I love you.”

“I love you, too, jerk,” I grumbled, only to be swiftly corrected with a playful, “Try that again.”

“I love you, too, old man.”

He was satisfied enough with that answer, despite the sarcasm dripping from it. He still knew that the words were true, and that was all that mattered. Any punishments that might be necessary for my broken promise to behave for his birthday could always be doled out later. When the distance between us was narrowed to inches and clothes could be removed like cheap wrapping paper.

“Thank you, little girl. Sweet dreams,” he whispered, reminding me once more of just how empty my bed felt without him. I stared at his pillow for just one second before I threw myself into it. He chuckled at the sound of rustling sheets over the receiver but said nothing else.  

“You get some sleep tonight, too, okay?” I asked, uncharacteristically and openly vulnerable in a way that used to scare me.

Spencer’s voice was filled with pride and love as he answered, “You can’t see it, but I am giving you a pinky promise.”

“Good.” Burying my face in his pillow again made it easier to remember that it wouldn’t be forever when I said, “Bye, Spencer.”

“Goodnight, little girl.”

—————————————————

Autumn on campus felt pretty similar to the rest of the year. I wished that it were different, a little more exciting, to reflect how I felt about the impending holiday. But no, it was just students stumbling into their usual classes and hectically scheduled midterms with hangovers and a total lack of holiday cheer.

It was, in a few words, a complete bummer. The only thing that kept me going through the last of my exams was the knowledge that I’d be seeing Spencer. Unfortunately, he was still doing that rather annoying thing where he refused to answer my text messages. It wasn’t until he ignored even my most ridiculous threats that I realized something was going on.

The ‘Read’ notification sat menacingly on my screen, and I was so fixated on it that I almost didn’t notice the familiar mop of brown curls visible in the front row of the auditorium. But once I saw it, the phone was forgotten faster than ever before. I ran down the steps at a ridiculously dangerous pace, dodging the others still grumbling from their previous exams.

I landed in front of him with only enough breath left to sneer, “You’re in my seat.”

“Surprise,” he said with my favorite smug, self-assured smile.

“Adorable. Now move,” I ordered with a wave of my hand. As much as I loved the guy, I wasn’t about to change my seating arrangement for him. It was beginning to make sense, though, why my friend told me that she wouldn’t be sitting with me today.

“Fine,” he sighed, taking his sweet time moving seats and watching me happily bounce on my feet in the meantime. I snuck behind him into the seat before he’d even fully stood up. That little amount of friction between our bodies seemed to be enough to cause the tension to mount. It’d only been seconds, but I was already seriously considering abandoning the class. To hell with the professor who’d already seen me.

But Spencer’s eyes locked on mine, and he leaned onto the armrest with that same silly smirk.  

“It’s a workday, Dr. Reid,” I whispered, forcing my arm next to his and watching the way his pupils grew as I came closer.

“I might have pulled a few strings,” he replied just as quietly, keeping the illusion of secrecy despite many prying eyes around us, “Might’ve told Hotch I was invited.”

“But you weren’t,” I snorted.

Spencer’s head hung in just a little bit of shame, but his wide smile never waned. It was still there, bright and pure in its simplicity as he softly admitted, “Yeah. I lied. But I’m here now.”

There were no complaints about that fact, either. His pinky reached out to mine, twining together in the dim light of the auditorium. Somehow, for a brief second, I forgot about everything else. The noisy chatter meant nothing to me, the two of us lost in some alternate pocket universe that felt safe and warm from the cold air outside.

But time resumed, and I watched as Spencer took his eyes off of me first, turning instead to the lecturer watching us with a knowing glint in his eyes.

“Good morning everyone! We have a special guest with us today.”

I wanted to pay attention to his little introduction, but I couldn’t. Every word that was said about him sounded so clinical. It felt so empty compared to the truth I knew about him. He was so much more than a collection of publications and PhDs.

He was… indescribable. Even as his mouth formed a flat line and his awkward handshake was granted to the crowds of disinterested students, all I saw was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Even if it was only from the shadows of his greatness. Then again, I don’t think he’d ever let me feel that way.

Speaking of…

"Dr. Reid, the only thing I ask is for you to give these wonderful students a chance to show you what they know,” my professor started with a laugh before he so kindly continued, “So go easy on them." 

In any other situation, I might have let it slide. I would have accepted the fact that Spencer was far beyond my intellect and not stand up for myself. But this time, Spencer was on my turf.

"All due respect to Dr. Reid, I don't think he needs to go easy on us,” I called from the front row, only audible to the other dutiful students that cared enough to sit up front. I heard Spencer laugh beside me, shaking his head just a little bit at the challenge. He didn’t say anything though, and I returned my eyes to the professor who was already familiar with my antics as I boasted, "At least not on me." 

While Spencer caught on to the fairly obvious double entendre, shifting his crossed legs closer, the professor just wrote it off as my usual academic pride.

“I did try to warn you that that one might get competitive,” he commented. At this point, everyone had definitely figured out my relation to the man next to me. It was kind of hard to hide a bullet wound from your school. But again, I was so caught up in the man beside me that I didn’t even feel a little shame at their playful teasing.

Spencer’s commentary was the only thing that mattered, and he gave it with a dreamy sigh. "I'm not offended at all. I'm sure she's very clever." 

The little bit of light left in the room started to fade, and once I was shrouded by the shadows, I felt confident enough in my plan to dig through the bag at my feet to pull out probably the nerdiest item in it.

A fucking back-up clicker. Which, I promptly handed to the man beside me.

“You’re in seat B4,” I whispered gruffly, earning yet another snarky chuckle from my boyfriend.

“Is that a challenge?”

I didn’t answer. Not him, anyway. What I did answer was the question that had appeared on the screen.

“Ms. (Y/n)?” My professor called, recognizing my seat number without even looking up.

Luckily for me, today was nothing but a review day of the midterm I’d already taken. While I knew all of the questions and, what I’d hoped were the right answers, Spencer had to read the questions from scratch. Really, it didn’t give me an edge. It just put us on equal playing ground.

As I gave my answer, I watched in my peripherals as Spencer’s eyes narrowed and tongue peeked out from lips that I still hadn’t gotten the chance to kiss today.

It was a bad thing to think about, because my brief reverie of the things that mouth was capable of reminded me of another one. I didn’t even notice another question had appeared on the screen, and when I heard the familiar buzz of an attempted answer, I shared my Professor’s temporary confusion.

“Ah, Dr. Reid,” he laughed, probably already regretting welcoming the bastard here, “Please explain the answer.”

But there was another thing working in my favor: My boyfriend’s giant fucking ego. Really, it should be impossible that someone who was normally super insecure could enjoy showing off as much as he did. My professor didn’t mind, because Spencer’s long-winded answer was a wonderful review of… basically the entire course, and I didn’t mind because it granted me the one thing I needed.

Time. Time to slowly remove my jacket and reveal the sweater underneath. Spencer’s eyes caught the motion, glancing over only a couple of times while he managed to give his answer. It wasn’t until I started to remove the sweater that he cut his answer short.

His throat clearing told me he wanted my attention, but I was still just too distracted for him. I fanned my chest that felt warm for reasons other than the temperature of the room, guaranteeing his eyes would stay there long enough for me to catch the next question before he had a chance.

Or so I thought. Because before the question appeared, I made the positively stupid mistake of meeting his gaze. As soon as I did, my mind was stuck there, drowning in molasses and honey and���

“Dr. Reid, please feel free to continue to do my job for me. Lord knows I would love a break,” the professor joked, and I almost felt guilty for just how genuine he sounded. Not like Spencer would have noticed passive aggression if it existed.

Not like either of us would have cared. Per usual, we were so lost in the space of B4 and B5 that we didn’t care about the rest of the alphabet. All we cared about was winning. It was growing more and more obvious to me, though, that I would have to become a little more ruthless if I wanted to bring down the bona fide genius.  

The sound of his voice rang through the auditorium loud, clear, and confident. He didn’t need to worry if he was right or not, because he knew he was. The smugness was grating to my ears. I knew I couldn’t trick him into making a mistake, but there was one thing I could do.

I’d learned one thing very well in my time with Spencer, and that was how to manipulate that pretty little voice of his.

For example, if I wanted to hear it catch in his throat and come out a few pitches higher, all I would have to do is touch him. The riskier the touch, the higher his voice would go. Which was why I spread out the jacket over my lap, making sure that our legs were close enough that it covered him, too. Then I waited, calmly and kindly listening to him drone along until there was a natural enough inflection to hide evidence of any nefarious actions. Just as his voice started to rise, I slid my hand over his knee.

Spencer barely stuttered, just enough for me to know he was affected, but not enough for anyone else to notice. He took the loss with grace, quickly ending his answer with a summary that contained only half as many words as he would have normally provided.

He kept a few for me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, shifting close enough to me that I could feel his breath on my ear.

“All’s fair in love and war,” I hummed. His breath caught again when I began stroking my thumb over his leg that had just started to bounce.

“This is wildly inappropriate.”

“How perceptive,” I returned with my own little smirk. The interaction caught us both, trapping us in the alternate dimension that existed when we held each other. His hand found its way to mine, and his thumb brushed over the back and sent goosebumps shooting over my skin.

I’d practically abandoned our pursuits altogether when I heard my friend’s voice as she took the question that we’d both missed. I should’ve been upset for losing after all that I’d gone through for my strategy to succeed, but it was hard to feel anything other than butterflies when Spencer was still looking at me like that.  

Even when I looked away, he stayed, patiently waiting for me to take the final question in the review. I granted him a chance to take it, but he just shook his head, implicitly asking me to take the win for the both of us. Even when we were competing, we were always on the same team.

There were no more distractions as I explained the answer as simply as I could. I was positive the rest of the class was tired of hearing our voices, but Spencer never stopped smiling. I could feel the pride rolling off of him, his hand growing tighter around mine as he took in a deep breath.

“Very good, (y/n),” my professor announced, signaling the end and initiating a large sigh of relief from everyone else.

Spencer sighed too, although his was with a different kind of relief; a dreamy, soft sound as he muttered under his breath, “Just like I said. Very clever.”

The air felt positively electric, and I never hated my class more than I did in that moment. The rest of the period ticked by so slowly that I almost swore the clocks were broken. Once we were allowed to leave, Spencer insisted on sticking around to thank the professor for his hospitality.

I knew it was necessary, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. I tried to be as patient as possible, even though it seemed pointless. Spencer’s little grin told me he knew very well what he was doing. The conversation had dragged on for practically five minutes of agony while I idled by the door.

But then my professor passed, and I felt the adrenaline course through my veins in seconds. As anticipated, we didn’t even make it out of the building before the tension broke. We’d barely even made it down the goddamn hallway before I shoved his scrawny ass into the first empty classroom I found. Once the door clicked shut behind us, the roles were quickly reversed.

I hadn’t seen him that excited in so long that I’d almost forgotten how easy it was to get swept up in his undertow. I couldn’t keep track of his hands or his mouth as they marked any bare skin they could find. But no matter how frantic and uncoordinated the movements were, they never ceased to send chills down my spine.

“This is wildly inappropriate, Dr. Reid,” I managed to slur between sloppy, heated kisses. It was barely comprehensible through the pent-up lust that had driven us there in the first place, but it still felt worth saying.

Spencer, however, made his feelings very clear with a gruff, forceful, “I don’t care.”

His hands were already roaming over my hips, pulling me so close to the edge that I nearly fell off the counter entirely. While I was laughing at his haste, he was busy leaving angry marks on my collarbone, pulling the top of my shirt down to grant him more access. And despite how badly my body burned with desire and need, I drummed up just enough self-preservation to force out a few, regrettable words.

“Take me home.”

Even though I tried to make it sound more seductive than a normal request to stop, it brought the momentum to a halt. Spencer immediately stopped his kisses, but let his hands continue to stroke loving patterns over the sides of my thighs.

“Don’t you have other classes?” he asked. The feeling of his breath against my ears making me second-guess my already voiced decision. But as enticing as the idea was of having him now, having already waited over a week, I knew we could have so much more fun with a little bit of privacy.

“Don’t you have work?” I teased, hoping that it would spur him to take the action we both knew was safer. At the same time, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to poke fun at the academic in him.

“Unless this is your way of telling me you've always wanted to fuck a girl in a lab because, I must admit I'd be more than happy to oblige." 

Spencer’s whole body tensed as he imagined just what it would feel like to take me in such a public place. After a couple seconds that I can only imagine were filled with fantasies and a reasonable fear, he pulled me from my seat on the counter and placed me back on the ground.

“Let’s go,” he said, pulling me by my wrist towards the door.

I only barely managed to stop him with both hands on his arm. He turned back to look at me like I’d done some horrible thing, but I was too busy trying to stop the laughter that was spilling from my chest.

“You’re uh—” I cleared my throat, pointing to the very noticeable tent in his slacks before I keened through the giggles, “You’re gonna have to do something about that.”

With a quick glance down, Spencer remembered the very unfortunately obvious trait of the male anatomy. “Fuck,” he stated plainly.

I couldn’t resist.

“I mean, I’m down,” I joked one final time.  

“Shut up!” Spencer laughed, too, trying and failing to adjust himself in his pants while I just enjoyed the show.

After all, we both knew that once we were alone, he would get a reprieve from my ridicule. He would get whatever he wanted.

—————————————————

The chaotic clashing of hands and mouths continued seconds after we’d reached our destination. The empty apartment had all of the sounds of our desperation echoing back to us, and after soaking in the melodious noise for a few seconds, I snapped back to reality.

“Okay, she doesn’t get home for another 30 minutes at the earliest so, we’d better hurry,” I urged, trying to shove Spencer off of me to convince him to move. It barely worked, with his arms clutching tighter the harder I struggled to get away.

Wrapped together just like that, the two of us barely made it a few feet before we almost tumbled to the ground. That was just enough of a reminder of our lack of coordination for Spencer to finally, begrudgingly, release me. Kind of. His hand still held tight to mine, and our laughter still combined the whole way to our bed.

From there, Spencer felt confident in our privacy to answer, “That’s fine. I usually tear open my gifts pretty quickly.”

It was a very good metaphor for the way his hands worked over my clothes. I didn’t even try to pinpoint the moment where being naked no longer made me feel nervous. I let the scar tissue show because neither of us were going to look at it, anyway. We were too caught up in the slight shifts and nuances of our faces as we rushed towards our one mutual goal.

“I missed you,” I mumbled, the words feeling as natural as breathing itself.

“I missed you, too,” he returned, and I felt the raw emotion, the sincerity and desire in every syllable. But once it was over and he had finally managed to remove everything but my underwear, all that was left was an all-encompassing, mind-altering level of lust.

“God, watching you in class was so fucking frustrating,” he strained, his upper lip curling with disdain as he watched my body squirm against the sheets.

“Why’s that?”

“I wanted you so badly.”

There was no denying that it was the honest truth, and I didn’t even want to try. I wanted to gloat and bask in the confirmation that his presence was dangerous for my academic career. Not to mention my sanity.  

“Like I said. You’re very distracting.”

Then, to prove my point, that brilliant bastard shoved his hand under the band of my underwear. He only held me softly for one second before he slid his fingers through the slickness and thrust them roughly into me. It hadn’t been that long, but the emptiness I felt before was even more apparent now that I had any part of him inside of me again.

“Am I?” he chimed with a smile.

I wanted to be bratty, to fight the tension that was building and appear unfazed by his ministrations, but there was simply no pretending. Not when my body was already on the verge of spasming around his fingers that seemed to stroke the perfect place within me with every movement.

“Jesus Christ,” I sighed. I should’ve known better than to give him ammunition.

“You’ve resorted to blasphemy already?”

Spencer partnered the tease with a ruthless thrust, burying his fingers to the knuckle inside of me and holding them there. He waited until I ran out of breath and struggled to take another while also trying not to scream in a mixture of frustration and devastating need for more.

“I thought I told you we had to hurry?”

“We’ve got time,” he shot back without pause, “You’re just being a needy little brat.”

“Yes, I am,” I whined just as quickly, “I’m a fucking brat and I need you.”

He almost seemed disappointed in my compliance. His fingers began moving again, eliciting noises that were louder, higher, and sweeter after the anticipation. He tried to draw the attitude out of me by stopping again, waiting for a quip that didn’t come.

“Awww, no fight?” he cooed.

“I can’t. It’s your birthday,” I grumbled before biting my tongue. The pressure was becoming so unbearable I thought I might honestly draw blood. But after another few seconds of torture that felt like a lifetime, Spencer withdrew his hand completely.

He was testing the limits, watching how far I would let him go before begging. But even when he took the same soaked fingers and began rubbing me from the outside of my underwear, I only opened my mouth to steal quick, soft breaths and give pitiful whines.

“Oh, I like this…” he laughed, apparently having gotten past his concern about my sudden compliance, “I could get used to you behaving.”

The song-like cadence got to me, threatening to spark and ignite everything I was holding back. I almost bit back. I almost let the desire scorch my throat with a few choice words for the very rude genius, but I didn’t. The only thing that stopped me was the feel of cotton sliding down my thighs as he removed the final barrier between us.

“You’d miss my misbehaving,” I said with a chuckle. The sound mixed with another, a deep moan that filled my chest when I felt him press himself against my entrance. My back arched, causing him to slip inside of me just enough for us to both lose our words.

“I don’t know…”

If I’d wanted to say anything, my mouth wouldn’t have let me. It was too busy singing his praise while simultaneously begging him to silence it. My lips floundered for a kiss that he hung just far enough away from me to deny. Satisfaction was painted over every feature as he started to enter me, brushing his lips against my mouth every few seconds just to pull away before I was granted the intimacy I sought.

“You do look rather cute when you’re begging.”

It was strange, the way my body started to predict his movements. I met him in the middle of every motion, and I swore even our breath became synchronized in its rapid firing. It wasn’t until his hand rested over my throat we broke the rhythm. I wasn’t going to complain, letting the energy flow down my spine that arched towards him on instinct. His hips never stopped, and I could tell by the way his breath hitched and his fingers grew tighter around my neck that the new angle was as wonderful for him as it was for me.

“You look so sweet when you let go of every ounce of self-preservation and dignity you have and put your life in my hands,” he whispered with an affection that almost seemed odd considering the context. But then there was something else in his moans, a genuine gentleness that made my already arrhythmic heart beat faster.

“You know I’ll take care of you, don’t you?” he asked as his movements stayed calm and careful. Loving and safe.  

I didn’t even notice my eyes had closed, but it ultimately didn’t matter. Because when I opened them, I saw the same man that existed in every image behind my eyelids. The only indication he got that I was still capable of communication was the gentle curve of my lips that dropped open in a pleased sigh as his hips continued a slow, tender pace.

It still felt like too much, but not in a bad way. It was too much in the sense that I was reminded once again just how ruined he’d made me. And the smug little shit knew it, too.

“You don’t have a single thought in that pretty little head, do you?” he cooed, dragging his hand up the column of my throat to force his fingers against my tongue. True to my word, I didn’t try to fight back. I soaked the digits that still tasted like me with my jaw left open. His pupils dilated as he watched the spit pool in my mouth that awaited his instruction.

“You just want to be used. Like the perfect little doll you are.”

Unlike my own, his smile was more of a smirk. A crooked, ever so slightly wicked quirk that made my muscles tense around him in their own version of an affirmative answer. He took it, happily. His body crashed into mine, but it merely felt like an extension of myself returning home like the waves meeting the shore. I could feel him claiming his rightful place at the deepest parts of me, making his home with every powerful motion of his hips.

I could hardly breathe, let alone think. I didn’t want to. It felt unnecessary.

“My sweet little girl,” he muttered with an unbelievably chaste kiss in the center of my forehead, “You’d do anything to make your daddy happy.”

I felt detached from myself in a way that didn’t feel me with fear or pain. I could feel myself through his hands, strong and working the pliable flesh of my thighs as he held them up so that he could drive into me harder.

His eyes, also only half open, burned with intensity. I could feel the determination, the undying desire to grant me a serenity that no one else could. His need for me to feel safe and loved with the seemingly contradictory brutality.

But it wasn’t contradictory. The power behind every movement, the insistence on being as close to me as he possibly could, might have caused some physical pain, but it was nothing compared to the pleasure of sharing this space with him. Of sharing my body with him just to see what he would do with it. I already knew, but I wanted to feel it again and again. Because with each stroke of his hand and thrust of his hips, I felt it.

Spencer had free rein to do whatever he wanted, and he chose to love me.

“I’m so close. You know what I want,” he pleaded despite holding all of the power. He handed it to me with a low groan, trying to kiss my lips while he commanded, “Do it. Come for me.”

My body obeyed his command, falling to pieces around him with shockwaves breaking over every inch of me. My vision went white, crafting a halo of light around him as he also found himself reaching a peak that seemed different than the times we’d shared before.

I tried to figure out what had changed, what about this time made it unique. But as the euphoria faded, all I saw staring back at me was the same face as always, radiating a joy and understanding that warmed damp, chilly skin. Spencer’s release provided a similar warmth within me, and my body clung to him even tighter despite the exhaustion.

My breathing took its time to even out, but I was in no rush to leave him. I would have stayed like that forever, with Spencer covering me like the silliest, boniest blanket. If it wasn’t for the dead weight he eventually dropped on me, we probably would’ve spent the whole day lost in the covers. But he could thank the scars for me being a little less forgiving.

Of course, thankful is not the word to describe him at all. Whiny was more like it. Even as I turned our bodies together so that I would still be sitting on his lap, he did nothing but groan and bitch about it. That is, until I silenced him with a kiss that barely brushed over his lips.

That was enough to turn his frown back to the dopey smile I loved so much.

“Happy birthday, old man,” I purred, enjoying the way his hands grabbed me tighter at the loving nickname. But age wasn’t what was on his mind. I could see it in the way his eyes tore past my defenses and he held me closer like we could actually become one if he tried hard enough.

“I’m so in love with you, it’s infuriating,” he whispered.

“I’ve heard that one before.”

Spencer wasn’t in a joking mood, though. All of his humor seemed to be expended earlier in the day, and now he was just left with all the mushy, romantic innards that I normally kept at bay.

It wasn’t that bad, though, I thought as his hands framed my face so our foreheads would touch. There were worse things to be trapped with.

“It’s true,” he mumbled with his voice still high and slurred together, “I look at you and there is just… nothing that can be said that would ever explain the way it feels.”

“Gross,” I joked.

“Get used to it,” he returned. And if that wasn’t enough to make me laugh, he stuck his tongue out in the most childish display I’d seen from him since he’d fucking licked my hand on our picnic. It was also just charming enough that I was willing to let the sappy stuff slide.

“I’ll be nice to you this time,” I grumbled. “But also, speaking of time, you’d better hurry up if you don’t want to do the walk of shame with an audience.”

Spencer’s arms fell limp with a dramatic cry before he used them to cover his face once more.

“Ugh. Go,” he ordered. Despite his words, he still made me fight against greedy hands to wrestle my way out of bed. It would have been smarter to let me go quickly. I really don’t know what he was thinking, but he would learn his mistake soon enough. Because as I was finishing up in the bathroom, I heard a very amused voice chiming down the hall on the other side of the door.

“Good afternoon, Spencer.”

I debated not opening the door and freeing Spencer from the unbelievably uncomfortable position he’d just found himself in, but ultimately decided it was too cruel. Still, the stalling had taken up enough time that the poor guy felt compelled to reply.

And, of course, the only thing he could think to say was a pathetic, high pitched, “Hi.”

Somehow managing to contain the absolutely riotous laughter I felt in my gut, I opened the door with the straightest face I could muster.

It wasn’t enough. Spencer saw the pleasure I took in his humiliation and practically shoved me out of the bathroom to take my place behind the doors. While I found the action endearing in the most awkward way, my roommate was mostly just confused about how the fuck I’d managed to find someone as stupid as me.

“I didn’t know he was coming,” she said once she managed to smile at the silly situation.  

Clearing my throat, I tried to sound sincere in my bullshit apology. “Me either, sorry.”

In a way, I think the fact I couldn’t pull myself together worked in my favor. Normally, she would have scolded me (albeit playfully) for not alerting her of what she might be walking in on, but this time, she just tried to withhold the smile that still stretched over her cheeks despite her best efforts.

“You’re fine,” she sighed, giving in to the desire to go against her usual grumpy demeanor before retreating to her own room. “Have fun, you hooligans.”

Once her door clicked shut, I heard shuffling on the other side of the door next to me. Spencer’s shadow was visible from the light peeking out underneath, and I waited a few more restless seconds before I announced, “You can come out now, Spencer.”

Cautiously, the door creaked open just enough for his head to poke out and confirm that I wasn’t trying to trick him.

“I’ve never been a hooligan before,” he said with a bounce in his step and his eyebrows halfway up his face. To think that he was the same man who threatened to arrest me for existing at a nightclub was, in a word, hilarious.

“Well, good news for you,” I purred, and the sound must have reminded him of my more devilish nature, because his jubilance quickly shifted back to an obvious anxiety. I wrapped my arms around him even when it meant that his muscles tensed, dragging him down so I could whisper in his ear, “I was just about to ask if you wanted to help me play hooky.”

“And do what?”

It felt strange to say that I hadn’t really thought about it. That the second I’d seen him I knew that the day would be good and free and fun. That everything felt so perfectly fine that I didn’t even want to challenge it with a schedule.

Spencer looked at me, his answer apparent in the way he started to relax the longer we stayed wrapped up in a shitty apartment hallway. It didn’t matter what I said. Spencer would have followed me, just like I would have done for him.

And without the angst or uncertainty of what could go wrong, there was only one thing left for us to do. With a shrug and pout, I proposed the riskiest plan we’d had yet.

“Whatever we want.”

—————————————————

| Finale |

[littlenahsstuff]

In love, I swear.

A/n Literally my first time writing actual fanfiction. This might be a flaming dumpster fire idk. I will persevere and cringe later, but for now, enjoy.

supreme!Cordelia Goode x reader

TW:nothing much, just a big old fluffernutter sandwich. A little angst. Swears I guess.

Synopsis: Cordelia has just recruited you to be a counselor at Robicheauxs and it's safe to say you are head over heels for the supreme. Unfortunately, you aren't the one to tell her.

You always thought that you weren't too special of a witch, you had the basic witchy spells down and specialized in the people who struggled on the inside... but in a more witchy sense. You also helped the witches who needed to get their powers more developed or who ones that are just behind in school. A sort of glorified counselor you suppose. It's sorta funny, especially since you aren't the most confident, how you can talk to all of the girls. When it boils down to it you are just a witchy gal searching for love. Specifically Cordelia's. It could never happen though.

Your love life wasn't the only area you lacked in before Robicheauxs, you had been struggling to find a job suited for your interests. Let's just say that you have a lifetime ban from one of the Mcdonalds in Louisiana. Fire and grease doesn't mix.

Of course, if it wasn't for dear, sweet, precious, Cordelia, you would be living on the streets. Luckily that didnt happen and so here you are today, three months in to your teaching position at Robicheauxs.

Oh, the moment, "You're hired. I look forward to expanding the academy's family and getting to know you better especially," left the Supremes lips, the better off you were.

And yet, even with all of the joy that comes with finally getting paid, there were the challenges as well. For starters, everyone was extremely nice to you, even though you kept mostly to yourself, there was this one person that made this heaven more hellish. Madison the bitch witch Montgomery.

You had been warned by Zoe, your closest confidante in this new place and also Madisons freaking girlfriend, that she was no pleasant peach. Never in all of your doubtful thoughts, had how bad it actually was crossed your mind. It was never the cockiness that got to you, you had a different appreciation for it than most. Found the confidence refreshing almost. No, no no no no. It was in fact, that she was constantly trying to dig up dirt on you.

"You're too much of a goody two shoes y/n," she once stated with a glare. The same day you had heard Zoe squabbling about something and your name came up. Your name and the fact Madison had stolen your wallet to look at your license. It turned up later on your bed stand.

Madison's a lover of Zoe and drama you've come to find out.

It's harmless though really, you dont mind the extra bit of attention that comes with it. Its flattering so no need to complain to anybody, especially not Cordelia.

Cordelia, mmm, yeah now shes the biggest threat here. She is the reason you got this job and might be the reason you lose it.

She once caught you with your doodle journal. It was a harmless question,

"Y/n, what're you drawing?" She looked over your shoulder. You almost jumped out of your skin and your sketchbook went flying.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" She worried her lips a bit. Her big, plump, kissable lips. Come on Y/n, get out of it.

"Yes," you squeaked. Sinking farther into the sofa. She chuckled her beautiful chuckle and sat on the couch arm.

"So, what was my favorite school counselor drawing just then?" She questioned. Glancing to the thrown book.

Your face went red.

"Uh-" you paused, come on you're making it a bigger deal than it has to be, "you." You couldn't look into her eyes.

She gazed at you at you and it felt like a hole was being burned into your skull.

"Okay," Cordelia said, leaving it at that. Stood up and made to walk away.

"Wait!" She paused and turned back to you, seeing you scramble to get your sketchbook.

"Yes?" Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I- don't you want to see it?" You said and you slapped yourself mentally for about the hundredth time she walked in.

She smiled softly at you, "Of course, I thought you didn't. You looked scared to death, like bambi."

"Okay," you flipped back towards the page and cringed. It wasn't your best peice. You could never capture her beauty right.

Her eyes scanned over it, widening before squinting with her grin.

"It's so good!" She gasped.

"Yes, that is Cordelia Goode," you joked in a monotone manner. She slapped your shoulder jokingly, making you snort.

"You nerd, I didn't mean it that way. Either way, you did a fantastic job! I wished I looked as good as you make me seem," she muttered the last bit, bit you heard it. It saddens you to remember the damage Fiona did.

"Hey, Cordy," you started. You realized that you used a nickname that Madison did, but she doesn't seem to care.

"You know what I think? I think that you're wrong. You see I just can't for the life of me get your soft proud loving smile right. Your eyes aren't as warm and glowing as they are in reality. I couldn't manage to picture the right placement for those worry lines or crowd feet you have. You might not like them, but to me they show that you worry and care and that you laugh at the stupidest of things, which is a trait I adore. You are more perfect than any Davinci or Van Gogh," you say. You don't like when your friends feel bad about themselves.

Cordelia's tearing up a bit and wiles it away. "Didn't know you were a goddamn poet too?" She joked with a giggle, "thanks y/n, sometimes I need to hear something like that."

"No problem Cordelia," I can't help it, you're my muse, is what you want to say.

"Well, I have some paperwork, but it was nice to see ya," she hurriedly excused and rushed out.

Unbeknownst to you, Madison was watching. She knew exactly how to get dirt on you now. She had something all along.

The next week you spent daydreaming about Cordy...elia, you couldnt help but go back to that conversation. You needed to be more discrete, way more descrete.

So you made sure to draw your crush no more. That didn't change the fact you forgot to destroy the evidence in writing.

You had slept in a little too late, so in a rush you were to get to your office. The reason you had being you daydreaming about Cordelia and yours faux life together a little too long.

A bunch of new juicy stuff for Madison as she snatched it from your bedside table. It was too easy really.

She opened it up to the first page. It acted like a normal diary, just stating checklists of things to do and things you did. The size was fairly large, so skipping a few pages till she got to the juicy stuff and the part where you actually did know Cordy wasn't harmful.

It was a barf fest of emotion. "Oh Cordelia is so awesome, oh I'm so lucky to work with Cordelia, oh my, I won't ever get a chance with Cordelia, she's the supreme!"

"Ew," Madison groaned, whipping out her phone.

Then she found it, the goldmine of confessions. It was all the way in the back, meaning you had wrote it recently.

"Dear, myself

Cordelia today caught me drawing a picture of herself and said something I didn't particularly enjoy listening about herself. I can't believe Fiona would send her into such a deep hatred of herself that even with her gone she's hurting. She's no mother. Cordelia is the love of my life, even if I'm not hers, she deserves all the love I can give. She's not broken, but she just needs someone to love her and I do. I promise to give her as much love as possible without her finding out what kind it really is, I'm in love, I swear.

Sincerely, Y/N."

So she snapped a picture of the page.

After school was over Cordelia was not expecting Madison to barge into her office. Let alone with something regarding YOU of all people.

"Cordy, I've got something to tell you about y/n!" Madison sang out, waving her phone in front of Cordelia's face as she sat on top her desk.

Madison was just careless with others and too carried g about herself. It was the perfect storm. The only person who could ever take it too far to just prove a point. That there was something wrong with you.

If Madison Montgomery had taken one moment to actually think about it, she was just jealous. Jealous that another person at the coven was better than her to Cordelia. She was one spoiled bitch growing up. Guess it backfired.

"What?" Cordelia questioned in concern, "Is she okay? Madison what did you do to her!?" Her thoughts raced, Madison's pranks often went a little too far. She did kill Misty.

"Now now Cordy, don't get your panties in a twist. Here read this," Madison demanded to her supreme, she shoved it into her face and Cordelia grabbed it.

Her eyes expected headlines on the news or a mugshot, but she realized it was just your writing.

"Madison," she warned.

"Come on, I know you can read!" Madison poked Cordelia's forehead, prompting a slap from the Supreme.

Ms. Goode exhaled, "Fine."

Her eyes fluttered over the words, brows furrowing with every sentence. She couldn't comprehend, could she read?? It seemed to her as if her brain was creating what she wanted to see, but no, you wrote it. Unfortunately.

Everything's silent. Then the thought flits across her head, you like her back.

"In love, I swear."

Oh she's mad. Not at you, no, she could never. Madison on the other hand better,

"Get out of my office right now," Cordelia whispered. Madison's smile faltered.

"What, didn't you want to know your feelings are reciprocated? Come on, I'm just trying to get you two to speed up the process." Madison hopped of the desk and sauntered out.

What has she done.

Cordelia was wracked with guilt for awhile, with no way to tell you either. How does one even go about telling someone they read their deepest darkest secrets. How!?

She couldn't, so she did what she could. She pulled away from you and into her work. All of those lunches spent together stopped. The nights in the green house gone. Reading together on the weekends by the fire, gone.

And it left you empty. You had no idea what you did, but you must've done something.

So you decided to confront her, you hadn't gone much sleep since, so you were literally and figuratively tired of all of this shit.

Your knock on the door startled Cordelia, but your presence startled her even more. Both of you looked like wrecks.

"Oh, Y/n! Please, come in," Cordelia gestured and you did, closing the door behind you.

It was then that you finally broke down.

"What did I do Delia!?" You sobbed, falling to your knees. Yes it was dramatic and not even you expected it but you were holding your emotions for so long.

"Oh," Cordelia briskly moved over to you, concern painted on her face. She was watching you carefully, you looked so fragile. Just like she had felt at times.

"I'm sorry," you whimpered, "What did I do?" Her hand tilted your head towards her, but you still couldn't look into her brown eyes, opting for the floor. If you did, you probably wouldn't be able to look away.

"Y/n look at me sweetie," the nicknames never failed to make your heart soar. It was your weakness, your eyes met and they were glued there.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing nothing!" She took a deep breath, "I saw a page from your journal."

You froze, terror crept up your spine.

"Oh my god. Um Cordelia I am so sorry, you, wow I- god I'm so creepy! It's perfectly fine if you want to not be my friend or fire me. I didn't do it to be weird, it was how I expressed myself. I was trying to hide it I promise, i dont even know what happened!?"

"I'm gonna kill Madison, faster than my mother did," Cordelia groaned.

"Wh-" your brain malfunctions. Is-Is Cordelia kissing you? Right now?

Indeed she was and just like you dreamed about, her lips were so soft and her kiss gentle.

Maybe Madison could be forgiven... but not without a harsh talk.

"In love, I swear," she repeated in a whisper against your lips.

[aellynera]

The Best Years of Your Life (Reeves x Reader)

THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE

(hey hey, this is my other submission for @wasicskosgirl and her 800 follower celebration! and yes, you read that right - it’s REEVES. i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it! CONGRATS Amanda!!)

Word Count: um like 6200ish oops it was supposed to be a blurb

Summary: They say the best years of your life happen in high school, but what do they know?

Warnings: Some language. Female reader implied but no pronouns/description. Teenage angst. Adult wistfulness. Mostly fluffy tho. No promises about proofreading. Frog murder. 

with the prompt - “Like what you see?”

It all started back in high school. Sometimes you wonder how often people say that, and if it’s really true or they’re just falsely remembering how things happened because high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life.

But in this case, it’s true. Because high school is when you met Reeves.

Sophomore Year. High School. A Friday. 

It was the third day of sophomore year, fourth period on a Friday morning, your last before the lunch break. Biology class was maybe the one you were least looking forward to, not exclusively because of the required frog dissection, but pretty damn close. Gross. And you never understood why the school year didn’t just start on a Monday, but you were new here in San Diego. Maybe they just did things differently.

It was bad enough being the new kid. It was worse when you walked into class halfway through the lecture, even if it wasn’t your fault. The timing of the move was weird, and you’d spent most of the first two days, and this morning, doing placement tests and talking to your counselor. 

And now you were being called out in front of the entire class.

“Ah, there you are,” your teacher announced as you walked in the door. “Everyone, this is our new student, please make them feel welcome. You can sit over there.”

Your eyes followed as she motioned to the empty seat at the lab table in the back of the room. Suddenly you weren’t sure if your face felt hot because of embarrassment or because of the boy in the other chair.

Dark, curly hair cut close on the sides but longer on the top. Deep brown eyes framed by long, long lashes. Full, plush lips curling up into his cheek on one side. A nose that, okay, maybe might be a bit oversized but for some reason worked on his handsome face and--

Well, shit. Definitely not the embarrassment.

You shuffled your way to your seat and slid into it with your head down. A few students watched you curiously but soon turned their attention back to the lesson. You tried your best to focus on what was going on, to not look to your left at the distraction next to you.

You weren’t very successful.

By now you thought you’d sneaked enough covert glances to know that we was wearing a leather jacket, had a small diamond stud earring in his left ear, a bunch of silver-studded brown suede wrap bracelets around both wrists, a silver ring on his right index finger, and oddly precise handwriting as he took notes. In between relevant facts the teacher was sharing, he was doodling tiny music notes in the margins of his notebook.

And he totally caught you looking.

“Like what you see?” he leaned over and whispered.

Your mouth felt drier than the Sahara but also somehow so moist you were afraid you might have actually drooled on yourself. You should have opened your mouth to respond but your brain refused to make the connection. Probably for the best.

At least, at first. When it finally caught up to you, the only response your brain could provide was, “Maybe?”

Now would be the perfect time for the floor to swallow you whole.

He just winked at you and his attention went back to the doodles around his notes.

You shifted your gaze back to your own notebook, but you don’t know if anything else of importance was said, and don’t remember writing anything down. The bell ringing sharply pulled you back to reality and you hastily shoved your books in your backpack, ready to escape.

Just as you were about to leave, a voice called out. “Hey, sorry about earlier. If I freaked you out or anything.”

You looked up. He was smiling at you, a little shyly. You bit your lip, your brain and mouth still refusing to connect.

He stuck his hand out. “I’m Reeves. You’re new here?”

“Um…” you smacked yourself internally. This was ridiculous, you weren’t really shy, you knew how to have a conversation, he was just introducing himself. You were going to have a serious conversation with your brain later about proper communication techniques.

It felt like hours had passed, but you finally pulled yourself together enough to respond. “Yeah. My- my dad got transferred for work, we moved here like a week ago. He literally dragged the family across the country. I’m originally from New York City.”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! I always wanted to go to New York City!”

You found yourself smiling back.

“Do you...wanna sit with me at lunch?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe you could tell me a little about the city? And...about you, since we’re gonna have to commit heinous acts of violence on an amphibian together? I’d like to know who’s wielding a scalpel next to me.”

The giggle that escaped your throat could not be contained. This boy - Reeves - was adorable. “Oh. Okay, yeah. I’d really like that.”

The Present.

Poor Lenny the Frog never stood a chance. Then again, neither did you.

To be fair, Lenny was already dead when you and Reeves got your hands on him. Well, when you got your hands on him, because for the full first half of that specific class period, Reeves refused to touch him and nearly turned as green as Lenny once was. That’s when he insisted on naming your cadaver, because somehow giving it a name made it easier to deal with.

You were pretty sure Reeves was nuts.

By the middle of sophomore year, you were dead too, but not for the same reasons.

By the middle of sophomore year, you weren’t sure how you were still alive, because every time he looked over at you and gave you a sly smile during class, gave you that look, you felt your heart go taut and you forgot how to breathe and certainly, rightfully, should have been dead.

Your friend Alexis stuck her head into your bathroom. “Hey, we’re just waiting on Vanessa, and then we’re good to go. Drinks first? The show doesn’t start until 8 so we have time.”

You glanced up from your makeup and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Alexis grinned. “Aaaaaah I’m so glad you agreed to go out tonight! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Oh, it’s gonna be something,” you muttered, going back to your eyeliner.

Alexis had been the first one to see the concert announcement about a week ago. A benefit show at one of the clubs down in Greenwich Village, some punk revival thing (for charity) with a bunch of different singers and musicians. Not normally your scene, but Alexis scanned through the names and suddenly remembered you’d known Reeves in high school. You said yes, he was in your class, and you’d been lab partners once. Vanessa squealed in excitement and Alexis announced you were going to the show. There was never any actual agreement.

Because of course Reeves was going to be there. And of course, you had to be too.

Junior Year. The Parking Lot. A Tuesday.

“I’m just saying, it was a ridiculous foul, and it should never have been called,” Reeves groused as you walked out of the gym.

“We also should have made like twenty more of our own foul shots,” you pointed out.

The Lake Howell Silverhawks had fallen to their arch-rivals in a somewhat glorious fashion. You didn’t even like basketball that much. But that didn’t really matter. The games were just an excuse to go out for burgers before and hang out with your friends during.

It was definitely an excuse to hang out with Reeves.

Junior year, you were both disappointed to find you didn’t have any classes together, but you still almost always ate lunch together. He’d come over to your house to study during the week and sometimes just to chill out on the weekends. Over the past year, he’d shown you all around the city and taken you to his favorite places. You told him all about New York, how you missed it and one day you’d go back, and all the famous sites and which ones were tourist traps that he was only allowed to visit the very first time and then never again.

You spent so much time together, even your mother liked to tease you about why he wasn’t your boyfriend.

It took a while for you to find the words to tell her it was because he was someone else’s.

As much as you liked to pretend she didn’t change anything, Randie Rustenberg changed everything. It was gradual, like a creeping vine of ivy, and she slowly took him over. There was no malice; it was just one of those things that happened. Reeves spent less time with you, his best friend, and more time with Randie, his girlfriend.

The girlfriend you desperately wished was you, because ever since that first biology class you’d had the biggest, stupidest crush on him.

Eventually you had a boyfriend of your own. Theo was a nice guy, he really was. Polite, friendly, had a good sense of humor, liked your family. And your family loved him. Your mother was so happy that you had a boyfriend, she seemed to forget to ask how Reeves was and if you’d seen him lately.

Of course you saw him. You saw him every day, in the cafeteria, at his locker, passing by in the halls. Sometimes you could find him playing the grand piano on the stage in the empty auditorium. Yes, if your mother bothered to ask, you saw Reeves all the time. Now it was just always with her.

Except this week. It was a break of sorts, no classes, just some sports and other school activities. Randie was on some trip with her parents for some kind of church function, and Theo was fishing with his dad on some lake up north. He’d told you where, but you honestly couldn’t be bothered to recall. So when a bunch of your friends and a bunch of his friends all said everyone was going to the basketball game, there was no debate.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

Sometime during the game, your friends wandered off to the snack bar and never ventured back. His friends started a game of hacky-sack under the bleachers. And you found yourself pretending to understand all the finer points about hoops strategy, cheering and yelling along with Reeves and having a great time, just like you used to.

“Where’d you park?” he asked as you left the gym and headed out into the sea of cars. You vaguely pointed in the direction of yours and he grinned. “Oh, good, I’m that way too. Come on, I’ll walk you.”

The faint glow emitted by the lampposts in the parking lot bounced off his curls and his eyes, when you could catch a glimpse, were bright beneath them.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

The walk wasn’t very far, but it felt like it was over in a second. You hadn’t said anything on the way, just soaked in the comfort of walking next to him as he kept commenting on the game.

He was waving his hands everywhere, looking at them as he talked as if his hand motions would make things make any more sense to you, in the middle of saying something about your center and how they needed to get better about blocking out when you finally spoke.

“Oh, shit.”

Reeves looked up at you. “What, you don’t agree?”

You dropped your bag on the ground and rolled your eyes. “No, my car is locked and I left my keys inside.” You pointed to the passenger seat. Your keys stared back at you derisively.

You both stared back at them for a moment, then he grinned. “Hang on, I got you.” He held up one finger and trotted off to his car, coming back a minute later with something in his hand. “This should take care of it.”

You took a step back. “Reeves? Um. Okay, why do you have a coat hanger in your car.”

He rolled his eyes back at you. “For emergencies, duh.” He quickly twisted the hanger into a hook shape and went to your passenger side window.

“And why do you know how to break into a car with said coat hanger?”

“Like I told you,” his tongue poked out between his teeth as he worked, “for emergencies. You think I haven’t locked my own keys in my car once or six times?”

“Did Randie teach you how to do this?” The words were out of your mouth before you could think. She probably had. She might have been churchy when required, but she was also responsible for about half of Reeves’s stints in detention (the other half just being him making the wrong joke at the wrong time and pissing a teacher off.)

Thank god he didn’t seem to hear you as he kept working at the lock. Finally you heard a *click* and he pumped a fist into the air with a little “yessss!”

And then you’re not really sure what happened. You bent down to pick up your bag and then you were standing up and Reeves’s face was literally about three inches away from yours and for the eight thousandth time since you’d know him, you forgot how to breathe.

Neither of you said anything for what felt like days. You just stared at each other under the dim halo of the parking lot lights.

“Here you go.” He took your hand and dropped your keys into it.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

“Like what you see?” the corners of his mouth quirked up, just the slightest little bit.

“...Maybe.”

And the staring recommenced. Were you two getting closer? Physically closer, you meant, of course you were close, you’d always been close. Well, at one time you were really close but then Randie Restenberg happened and it wasn’t fair that she got to know what those lips felt like and did he always smell this good or--

“Yo, Reeves!” A pickup truck full of guys skidded to a stop behind your car and one of his friends - Jake? Jack? you barely remembered your own name right now - stuck his head out the window. “Fight to the death ping pong tourney at Matt’s house! You in?”

Reeves bit his lip and closed his eyes for a second before he pulled back with a soft “I’m sorry” before turning to his friends. “Um, yeah, sure. Sounds brutal. I’ll meet you there.” 

The pickup sped off, tires screeching out of the parking lot. Reeves turned back to you, but you’d already gotten into your now unlocked car and started the engine.

You rolled down the window a fraction and gave him a weak smile. “Hey, um. Thanks for saving my butt. Now go kick theirs at ping pong, yeah?” Your face felt so hot, and for once you were grateful for the dim lights in the lot.

“You could, um, come along if- if you want.”

“Nah, I’m...I’m tired, I’m just gonna...um, head home. But I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?”

Reeves looked like he was about to say something else, but he didn’t. He just stepped onto the curb in front of your car, smiled, and raised his hand in a little wave as he watched you drive off.

The Present.

A series of shrieks and the slamming of the door told you Vanessa had finally arrived. It sounded like they were jumping up and down on the tile just inside your front door, which was ridiculous since you’d all just seen each other the day before. But typical.

You smoothed a pinkie under your eye, checked your makeup one final time, and went into the living room.

“Oh, you look hot,” Vanessa gushed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and plopped down on your couch. “Who are you trying to impress tonight?”

“Reeves, of course,” Alexis laughed, leaning on the kitchen counter. She sorted anything she might need from her big purse into a little evening bag as she talked. “You know we go to all his shows. And you know they went to high school together.”

You snorted. “That was a long time ago. I’m not even sure he’d remember me.”

Vanessa waggled her eyebrows. “You’re probably right, No offense, honey, but no one was that hot back in high school.”

He was, your brain supplied. Very helpful. You smiled wanly.

Vanessa continued. “But you were friends, right? You’ve never really talked about it. God, it must be so cool now to think that you were friends with Reeves back when he was an awkward high school teenager.”

“Reeves was never awkward,” you laugh. “It was kind of unfair.”

“But you totally had a crush on him,” Alexis offered.

Had? What do you mean, had? Oh my god, shut up, brain.

A pillow flew in your direction and you ducked as Vanessa giggled and Alexis rolled her eyes. “Come on, tell us something about him,” Vanessa goaded. “Wait. Was he, like, your prom date? That’s your secret! You totally went to prom with Reeves and you never told us!”

Senior Year. Prom. A Saturday.

The night was not supposed to go this way.

It was supposed to be limousines and corsages and dinner with dates and friends. It was supposed to be endless pictures while your mother told you how gorgeous you looked and how handsome he was and your father gave a thinly-veiled shovel talk about how he knew what happens on prom night and what would really happen if that actually happened. It was supposed to be punch and cookies and balloons. It was supposed to be dancing closer than the chaperones were comfortable with and kissing with tongue when they weren’t looking.

It was supposed to be the best night of your life. It was supposed to be fun.

Nowhere in your weeks of dreaming of this night did it involve sitting on a bench in the girls’ locker room, knees pulled up to your chest, while the party carried on in the gym just beyond.

It definitely didn’t involve crying.

The bass beats of the deejay and the harmony of laughter temporarily got louder as the locker room door opened, and then faded back into a muted thumping as the door closed again a second later. You could hear footsteps headed in your direction but before you could unfold yourself and wipe your tears away, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, there you are!”

Being able to find the words to describe how he looked in his tux, his curls slightly tamed by some gel, the blue rose (of course it would be an off color, why would he pick something standard?) pinned to his lapel, his lopsided grin… Finding the words was nearly impossible.

Of course he would show up now. Because your night wasn’t already crappy enough and half the reason you were sitting there weeping instead of out there dancing was standing right in front of you.

You realized that wasn’t fair. It was probably more like, twenty-five percent of the reason, and it wasn’t his fault. But that didn’t make it any better.

“Why are you in the girls’ locker room, Reeves?” you sniffled.

He furrowed his eyebrows and his nose scrunched up in concern as he took in your mascara-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. “One of your friends said you came in here like half an hour ago and nobody’s seen you since. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Clearly not.” He sat down next to you. “Wanna talk about it?”

A deep, shaky sign left your chest. You didn’t really want to talk about how, earlier in the evening, you’d excused yourself to use the restroom and come back to the gym to find Theo dancing with...you didn’t remember her name, nor did you care. You didn’t mind that he was dancing with another girl, in theory, but it was another matter entirely when his hands were on her ass and she was sucking a deep purple mark into his neck. And he was laughing. 

A short, vicious argument ensued in the coat room after you’d cut in and dragged him off by the elbow. And it turned out that he’d been seeing whats-her-name for months, somehow, behind your back while pretending that everything was perfect with you. When he was supposedly visiting his grandparents? He was with her. When he had to work an extra shift? He was with her. When he got off the phone with you, saying he needed to get to bed early? He was calling her.

Prom wasn’t supposed to involve a very public break-up.

And things didn’t get any better when, deciding you needed something to drink, you went back into the gym and immediately saw Reeves and Randie, dancing cheek to cheek, arms snugly wrapped around each other as a soft, romantic song wafted through the air. Because of course he was with her. She was his girlfriend and Reeves wasn’t a detestable cheating asshole.

There was always another her.

You couldn’t handle it.

So you took off to somewhere almost guaranteed to be empty. You figured the locker room wasn’t really the kind of place kids would want to make out, and you were right. It was blessedly empty. Until now.

But you couldn’t tell him the second part, so you just went with the first. His eyes got wide as you blubbered through the sordid details of Theo being a complete and utter twat. Another quivery sob half-burst from you and Reeves got up. He grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to you as he sat back down.

“Thanks,” you hiccuped.

“I never liked him,” Reeves announced.

You found yourself choking on a huff of air. “What? Yes you did! Everybody loved him. That’s what makes it extra shitty.”

“Did you?”

“What?”

Reeves cocked his head and looked at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. “Did you love him?”

Your mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Why did you always seem to forget how to make words when Reeves asked you questions?

“What?”

He shrugged. “Everyone else loved him. Did you?”

You used every last ounce of willpower you had to not jump up on that bench and shout that of course you didn’t love Theo, you idiot, because I love you.

That would not make this night any easier.

The next thing you knew, Reeves put an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest, hugging you soundly. He rested his cheek on the top of your head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re better off without him.”

You dabbed at your eyes. Nope, still couldn’t make words.

Minutes, hours, days. You had no idea how long you stayed like that, pressed to him and feeling him breathe beneath you. You no longer had any idea how long it had even been since everything crashed around you and he’d come to try and help you pick up the pieces. You just listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, as the muffled music and joyful shouts of classmates went on past the closed door.

Finally he spoke again. “Hey, you wanna get one of those complimentary pictures?”

“What?” Oh, great. You were finally able to answer his question but you could still only come up with that one word? Stupid brain.

“Well, I…” he sat up straight and, after the briefest look into your eyes, he glanced away. Was he blushing? You weren’t sure. “I always kind of...I kind of thought we’d have a prom picture together. I mean, I just figured, y’know, we’d go with a bunch of friends, but I always hoped I’d get a picture with my best friend.”

The sniffles were back in an instant. Damn him. “Reeves, I...you really want to get a picture now? I look horrible, I can’t get a picture taken like this!”

He took the paper towel from your hand and gently dabbed at your cheeks. “You couldn’t look horrible if you tried. Come on, it’ll be fun. And just think how excited your mom will be when she gets a copy of it.”

Despite your best efforts, you had to laugh. “Okay.”

You headed to the photo area after you washed your face, Reeves helped you wipe off the stray streaks of mascara, and you reapplied just a bit of makeup to make yourself feel better. You were never sure what Reeves said to the photographer before the shots, but he seemed quite happy to take multiples. Reeves stayed pressed against your back with his arms down around your waist, hands clasped together in front of you, for each and every one.

At some point between the second and third shot, he leaned just a little closer into you and you suddenly felt his breath against your ear. “Like what you see?”

For maybe the first time that entire night, your face broke into a genuine smile. “Maybe.”

For a few minutes, your night was absolutely perfect.

The Present.

It was the greatest date that never was.

“No, Reeves was not my prom date,” you told your friends with a shake of your head.

You left out most of the other details, partly because you didn’t want to answer eight hundred questions from Vanessa and partly because, well, you just wanted those moments for yourself.

After the pictures, Reeves had asked if you would like to dance. Until then you didn’t realize it was possible for eyebrows to shoot that far up a person’s forehead, but yours were up for the challenge. You’d mumbled something about if Randie would mind, because you were sure she absolutely would, but he brushed it off. Randie had gone off with her friends when he came to find you, and he really wanted to dance with you, just one dance with his frog murder accomplice. And he said that with a straight face and a twinkle in his eye and there was no way you could refuse.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

One dance turned into two, and then several, until the girlfriend in question finally did show back up and Reeves was pulled away, leaving you with a soft smile and a mouthed “sorry”.

Definitely the greatest never-date.

After prom, life returned to what vaguely resembled normal. Your love life sucked and Reeves still had a girlfriend that wasn’t you, and you didn’t see him much. To be fair, the end of senior year and graduation did creep up pretty fast so there wasn’t a lot of time anyway. Graduation was there before you knew it; he cheered for you and you cheered for him as you each walked across the stage. You made brief appearances at each others’ graduation parties and talked a bit and then, once again before you knew what happened next, it was time to leave for college.

You went back to New York. Reeves stayed on the west coast.

And over the years, like so many other people before you and after you, you just fell out of touch.

“And anyway,” you asserted, “we were just kind of friends. Yeah, like I told Alexis before, we were lab partners sophomore year, and we hung out sometimes, but that was it. Really.”

Alexis snorted and Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Mmmhmm.”

You threw the pillow back at her. “Mmmhmm.”

“All right, you two,” Alexis chided. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Somehow, you managed to get down to Greenwich Village without further interrogation and minimal shenanigans.

The Present. One Hour Later. Another Saturday Night.

The bar inside the club was pretty packed. Granted, it was a Saturday night down in The Village, so it wasn’t too uncommon, but you were honestly surprised that this many people showed up for a punk retrospective.

There were a few other relatively big-name acts you recognized on the bill, and a fair number of people were wearing t-shirts with Reeves’s most recent album cover on the front. There were even a few that had shirts with his face on it, which was frankly kind of weird.

“Looks like you’re not his only number one fan,” Vanessa smirked.

“I just enjoy his music,” you said off-handedly as you tried to flag down a bartender. “But anyway, tonight isn’t even about him. We’re just here to support charity, right?”

Alexis pretended to agree with you. “Right.”

You glared at both of them before turning your attention back to the bar. Yes, you came to every one of his shows in the area. When you had time. When you could take the night off. When you could rearrange your schedule and switch shifts at the last minute and promise favors to be able to attend them. When you maybe once or twice just called out sick because nothing else worked. So what.

They were really starting to get on your nerves. 

The bartender finally noticed you and took your order, and you looked around the club again while you waited.

Lots of people, ranging from just-allowed-to-buy-booze to mid-sixties businessmen. A few folks that looked to currently be in their golden years but were clearly once punks in their prime. Many people in black and chains and mohawks and neon hair and piercings, to the point where you honestly couldn’t tell who was a performer and who was a patron.

The one person you were looking for was the one that you couldn’t pick out of the crowd.

“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” Vanessa’s voice shouted from somewhere behind your shoulder.

“Vanessa, you’re getting a little weird about this,” you called back as you grabbed your drink and turned around.

“Like what you see?”

Eyes wide and mouth slightly hanging open, you almost dropped your full glass.

Vaguely, nearby, you heard the sound of glass shattering and shot a glance to your left. Alexis really had dropped her drink, and Vanessa was clutching onto her arm for dear life. She was holding her glass at a slightly odd angle and the contents were dripping onto one of her shoes.

The crowd silently pulsed backwards as one, clearing out around the four of you for a respectable distance. Several people watched curiously; surprisingly, they just stood back and stared instead of trying to get involved.

Reason Number One why you really couldn’t blame them: Reeves stood there, right in front of you. Literally less than two feet away, looking right at you. His mouth pulled up into his familiar lopsided grin, his hair still dark but shot through with strands of silver, curly on the top and shorter on the sides. His nose with the little dent, perfect on his face under those dark, luminous brown eyes and...holy shit, was he wearing eyeliner? He was wearing eyeliner.

Reason Number Two why you really couldn’t blame them: Leather pants. Under his old, faded t-shirt and black leather jacket (you were used to seeing him in brown, but you had to admit the black looked good) he was wearing leather pants.

Reason Number Three why you really couldn’t blame them: Quite simply, Reeves was standing in the middle of a bar in New York City and he was talking to you.

You blinked once, then twice. You may have blinked more times but all you could think about was the fact that, after all these years, your brain still couldn’t make words when Reeves asked you a question.

That same old question.

Suddenly you were grinning back, completely ignoring your friends and their dumbfounded squawking and sputtering next to you. You were smiling because even though your brain couldn’t make full sentences of words, it could pull one particular word out of the void and let it come out past your lips.

“Maybe.”

Reeves grinned fully now, his eyes lighting up and the crinkles at the corners deepening.

Someone - maybe Vanessa, maybe a total stranger, you couldn’t be sure - might have swooned from the sidelines.

“Always told you I wanted to come to New York,” he said.

“Always told you I’d go back.”

And the next thing you knew, the next thing that made any sense anywhere in your mind, was that Reeves had stepped forward, wrapped his arms around you, and placed the softest, sweetest, most heart-achingly gentle kiss on your lips.

You pulled away in a daze, felt the heat rising in your cheeks, as you heard a muffled choking sound halfway behind you. Definitely Vanessa.

Alexis and Vanessa’s eyes, already bugging out of their faces, nearly fell out of their sockets when Reeves turned to address them.

“Hey, ladies. I’ll come talk to you after the show, but for now, I just need to borrow your friend for a few minutes, okay?”

There were somehow still more bizarre, mostly inhuman noises that came out of your friends and even later, when they’d deny ever acting like that in front of a famous rock star (and rolled their eyes at you when you corrected them that he was a musician, not a rock star), it wouldn’t matter because you weren’t paying a single bit of attention to them them anyway.

You only had eyes for one person.

He took your hand and pulled you past the bar, into a little room in the back; the office, presumably. The second you were both inside, he wrapped his arms around your waist and looked you in the eyes. He just stared for a few minutes, or maybe hours, you weren’t sure.

It really didn’t matter.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he whispered.

“Third day of school, fourth period biology class, sophomore year?”

Reeves smiled softly. “The second you walked in that door.”

“Why didn’t you?” you tilted your head to look at him. Okay, to gaze into his eyes. You tilted your head to gaze into his eyes and your subconscious hoped to any gods that would listen that you did not have actual hearts or stars in your pupils.

Not that it really mattered.

His arms never left you but he gave a little shrug. “Never seemed to be the right time. And then I had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “And I ended up with that lame excuse for a boyfriend. But do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that?”

“When you couldn’t stop staring at me when you sat down at the lab table next to me?”

“Hmmm, maybe. But definitely when you told the teacher we had to have a funeral for Lenny.”

“Hey, Lenny was a fuckin’ hero,” Reeves batted his eyes at you innocently. “He performed a brave and great service to his country.”

“I am oddly happy you’re still an idiot,” you giggled.

“I’m ecstatic that you kept coming to all my shows in the city.”

You pulled back slightly and looked at the ceiling. “You noticed?”

Reeves gave you that look. That look he always gave you, when you were teenagers, when you said something either completely ridiculous or completely profound. That look he gave you when he thought you might not be looking, even though you were always looking. That look that said he always had your back and you were his best friend. That look that you thought you’d be lucky to see one more time but probably never would.

That look.

“Of course I noticed. I thought about having security make you stay back, but that’s just...no. You always looked happy, and I don’t know...I just didn’t want to intrude, I guess? Just always wondered why you never stuck around after the shows, never stayed to talk to me, never came knocking on the dressing room door.”

You thought about that for a minute. You really did try, but you couldn’t come up with a decent answer. You were happy. Just seeing him was enough, you told yourself. Just hearing him sing was enough, just being in the same room with him, just being near. Just like it was back in high school.

Only it wasn’t high school anymore, and now that he’d finally, finally - after years of would’ve and should’ve and maybes - kissed you, you knew enough wasn’t going to be, well, enough.

So that’s what you told him.

And Reeves pulled you close, leaned in closer, and kissed you again.

You pulled apart, breathless again, and rested your foreheads together.

After minutes, or maybe days, or maybe hours, and definitely years - it didn’t really matter - Reeves was there. You were there. And for once, you were really there together.

“Like what you see?”

“...definitely.”

The Future. Any Day. Every Day.

You always thought, and your friends always said, that the best years of your life happened in high school. And to a certain extent, that was true and you believed in that notion for a very long time.

But ever since that night, that one glorious night in a Manhattan bar, you realized you were wrong.

The best years of your life were still happening.

~end~

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[thesmokingguns]

Wendy and The Lost Boys

CHAPTER FOUR

WARNINGS: Mentions of smoking and drinking, there is sexual content so please be 18+

Tommy was twirling his drumsticks backstage getting ready to go on stage for the Halloween show. They were playing with Ratt at the Solari Ballroom and were supposed to go on in five minutes. The band had all dressed up as vampires for the set. Tommy peaked out and saw the place was packed. He felt a hand on his shoulder turning to see Nikki smirking at him. They headed on stage cheers rising up. The amount of chicks that were filling the club in their little costumes. It was going to be a hell of an after party.

Nikki saw the bunny ears and smirked knowing exactly what that girl would be wearing. He watched the ears bob to the front of the crowd bouncing along to the music and missed a fucking note when he saw Sasha, tits pushed up and almost spilling out of the Playboy bunny suit she was wearing. She looked exactly like one of his dirty dreams but she was there in person. Her blue eyes landed on him and the way she smiled made him almost fall off the stage. How the fuck did she look so good? Was it because he wasn’t seeing her everyday anymore? He watched her singing along to the music, her blonde hair shaking to the beat. If she kept moving like that she was going to pour right out of her top. As much as Nikki wanted to see that he didn’t want anyone else to see it. He said a silent thank you when she seemed to notice and tugged that tighter than life outfit up the half inch it could go. She still was pouring out of that top land he couldn’t focus on the set at all watching her dance in front of him like that

When they finished up playing Nikki wanted to yank her out of the audience but she was headed to the bar, her bunny tail shaking along with her, before he could grab her. It was like everything he was thinking she was already one step ahead of. He quickly headed into the crowd, trying to avoid the crowds of girls that all seemed to want to talk to him. Sasha turned a glass of Jack Daniels in her hand that she handed to him. Nikki was surprised but thankful as he slammed the liquid back in two burning gulps.

“Do I look like a magazine cover?” She asked him with a teasing smile on her face as he set the empty glass along the bar, nodding to the bartender that he wanted a refill. His hand was on her hip pulling her closer to him so she could talk to her without anyone hearing their conversation. Her long eyelashes swooping to look down at his hand and back up into his green eyes nearly knocked Nikki on his ass. What was it about her tonight that was making him so crazy?

“Why do you have to be the biggest tease? Don’t you know hard it is already without you putting in any effort?” He asked her, he felt her hand on his cheek and knew she was going to take the cigarette behind his ear. She smirked as she plucked it from him, Sixx opened the lighter for her, moving back and breaking the contact he had on her. “I like your costume but you know I’m a Hustler guy. I’m all about full nudity.” He threw back the comment from a couple months ago, watching the way that she smirked up at him. Sasha leaned in her lips kissing his earlobe with each word she spoke.

“I’m a Hustler girl in bed. You can ask my boyfriend about it later.” Her voice was like velvet and razorblades as she delivered the burn to him. At the mention of her having a boyfriend Nikki frowned. She flicked her ashes turning back to look through the crowd.

“What are you talking about?” He was getting angry with her comment. She didn’t respond to him, only finished her drink, taking a drag of the cigarette she had stolen from him. Nikki was getting riled up way earlier in the night than she had expected him to. “Do you hear me or am I talking to-“ he stopped talking when this blonde guy walked over wrapping Sasha up in his arms and giving her a kiss. And not her usual peck on the cheek she’d greet some of the guys with but she leaned into his arms kissing him deeper than Nikki wanted her to kiss anyone.

“Sugar Pie, I couldn’t find you during the show.” His hand stayed on her hip where the bassist had been holding a moment before. He wanted to know who this stranger was and why he thought he could walk up to Sasha like this. “Let me buy you a drink, sugar pie.” The guy didn’t even seem to notice Nikki standing there as he ordered her a drink handing it to the blonde girl with a smile on his face that the bassist was thinking about punching, “Are you going to say hello to your brother before we leave for the party?” Nikki was watching her face that she has masked in this perky smile despite her blue eyes being bored with this person.

“Yeah, Cherry Pie, why don’t you come backstage and say hello to Tommy.” Nikki butted in coming up with his own spin on the nickname the man had been using for her. She gave Nikki a pointed look making his smirk just widen knowing that the nickname had done it’s damage. The guy, who she had obviously come with, turned looking at the bassist like he was just realizing that he was standing there.

“OH! You just played.” He said nodding his head like he was understanding who he was standing with now, “Not my favorite music but you guys are a good club band. I could see you doing some of the Top 40’s with your chick singer. She was great.” The guy tucked a hand in his khakis before wrapping his arm around Sasha who had the biggest shit eating grin on her face as Nikki fumed at what the prick had just said to him. Be should punch that fucking asshole right in his mouth. They were already walking away, her little bunny tail shaking with each step she took. She turned to look at him over her shoulder and mouthed ‘club band’ before making herself laugh so hard she leaned against the blonde man.

Sasha was sitting backstage, perched on the side of the couch, her legs draped effortlessly between the college preps legs. His name was Len, short for Leonard which was the stupidest name Nikki should think of. Nikki couldn’t stop looking at the dumb bunny tail that would shake when she laughed. It had been two months of college for Sasha and he could see the way that she was changing. Nikki wasn’t sure that he liked seeing all the changes.

“Sugar Pie, we should get going now. The party has already started and I still need to pick up the keg for the house.” She looked down at the man on the couch who was staring up at her like a lost puppy dog.

“Why don’t you head over there, Len? It’s Friday night and I haven’t had any time to spend with my brother. I’ll take a taxi over later.” She didn’t really give him any room to argue as she moved her legs for him to stand up. The boy was flustered but tilted her head back letting him kiss her. The way her cherry lips attached to his, turning his mouth the same color as her lipstick had the boy flustered when he pulled away. Nikki watched her swipe her lip over her top lip and the guy swallowed. That fucking guy couldn’t handle her. He left shaken and the smile on her face was bright. With him gone the first thing Nikki did was slide across the couch so he took the man's spot.

“You’re not really dating him, right?” Vince asked, squeezing the bunny tail as he passed with a look of pure delight on his face at her costume, “That’s a real playmate costume.” She rolled her eyes at the lead singer. Leave it to Vince to be able to tell just from squeezing her tail that she was in the actual Playboy suit.

“He’s in the Frat that my sorority is close to. We’ve been out a lot together.” She shrugged her shoulders, her feet slipped between Nikki’s legs, one of her ankles resting on his left knee. He sat back, his hand sliding to rest on her ankle. He did it casually so it didn’t look like he was freaking out like he was inside. Fucking Sasha and her easy going nature were throwing the bassist off so much tonight he felt like he was in a fog, “And I got a job as a waitress at the Playboy club which is why I’m in uniform. So I have a favor to ask you.” She plucked the cigarette out of Nikki’s mouth that he had just lit to keep his mind off whatever game she was playing. “I work late a few nights and I don’t want to have to go back up to school so can I crash on the couch a couple nights a week?” She looked at Tommy who was already jumping up picking her up and spinning her around. The energy the drummer had at all times was absolutely insane. He woke up going 100 miles an hour like he was now.

“HELL FUCKING YEAH! You’re going to be back on the Strip with us!” He set her down watching the way she smiled at him, she had called a few nights from school and she wasn’t sleeping. He was sure she took the job in hopes of getting a couple hours of sleep a night, “I can walk you back too. That way you’re not out late by yourself because mom would kill me.” Sasha looked past Tommy to where Nikki was sitting on the couch watching her.

“Good. Can I sleep over tonight?” Her eyes didn’t leave Nikki’s and he looked away grabbing the bottle of Jack off the table. Something was almost aggressive about her tonight and Nikki needed to make sure he stayed ahead of whatever was going on. Which was going to be very hard because she was literally dressed like his fantasy.

“Of course!” Tommy didn’t seem to see the exchange between her and the bassist. Or if he did he knew better than to comment on it.

“Won’t your boyfriend get mad about you not going to the Frat party?” Nikki asked from the couch, he was grumpy like Mick usually was, and she knew it was because of her. Sasha smirked knowing her plan of making him jealous was working.

“I said we went out a few times. So he’s not really my boyfriend. Are you guys going out or back to the apartment for an after party?” She turned to Tommy as she swatted Vince’s hands away from her bunny tail he was trying to squeeze again. “Down, boy.” She teased giving the singer a look that made Nikki stand up.

“Apartment. Let’s go.” His hand was on her upper arm already dragging her out. He tried to put his leather jacket over her shoulders to cover her but she kept shrugging it off. “It’s cold.” He commented as a car drove past catcalling and whistling. When she blew them a kiss he turned to give Tommy a look for some support but the drummer was just laughing.

“Stop walking so fast.” She complained, pulling her arm out of Nikki’s and falling back a few paces. Vince squeezed the tail again. “Stop.” She smacked his hands away watching him smirk at her as the boys all got ahead of her. They were all idiots, she decided watching the way Tommy ran with Vince through traffic to a group of girls across the street. They were probably going to spread word about a party that was BYOB so they wouldn’t have to buy anything.

Sasha’s high heels clicked against the concrete as she walked and she shivered wishing she hadn’t been trying to make Nikki jealous of people looking at her. She could use his coat now that they had been walking for a few minutes. She looked up seeing the bassist waiting for her on the corner. Sasha reached out her hand smirking when he laced their fingers together and turned into the street. Nikki had slowed his pace, realizing she was teetering in the high heels. She leaned into him, her skin cold.

“You’re really working at the Playboy club?” He asked as they headed up the stairs. The way her hips swung side to side he could see why Vince had a hard time keeping his hands off her bunny tail. Sasha nodded her head, moving to the window that was open about an inch. She was glad that they had made it back to the apartment first. She wanted to sit down without hearing a thousand people talking over each other. “Aren’t you worried about what people might think?” He asked as she stepped inside. Sasha looked up at him, confused.

“What would anyone think of me being a waitress?” She asked him. Nikki didn’t want to say it was him that was worried. All the men that went to those clubs and her in that little costume of hers, spilling out so that eyes didn’t want to leave her. She could see his eyes on her outfit and she nodded her head in understanding. “Well, I’m wearing more than what Tommy wears on stage and I’m making more money in tips than you probably made for the show tonight.” He didn’t mean to offend her but there was this annoyance in her voice.

“I have vodka!” They both turned to see Tommy coming in the window, followed by a group of people all trying to push their way through. “Take shots with me.” He was pulling her into the kitchen, both of them laughing like little kids.

Nikki watched her all night only losing sight of her when his head was down to snort a line. She had been practically glued to Tommy’s side. They called him and the drummer the terror twins but the way that Sasha and T-Bone were together was even worse. They took turns pouring vodka down each other’s throats like water, they had set fire to the carpet when she pointed out a cockroach, and she was this wingwoman for him having girls feel comfortable around him so he could pull three girls at a time in his room- which he was sneaking away to do now. But as soon as Tommy left her she was swarmed by guys and he could see she fucking loved it.

He watched the way she would pull a cigarette from her pack and how they would light it for her. This party trick never ceases to make her laugh. At one point she was looking for a place to sit and someone had lifted her up setting her on the counter. Nikki had almost dove across the room when he put his hands on her. But he knew better. He was going to keep his distance because there was no way she was going to do something bad. He was able to contain it until some fucking guy leaned in whispering in her ear. He could see the pink blush sliding over her cheeks and only could imagine what he was saying. She wrapped her arms around the man's neck letting him lift her down from the counter and letting him lead her to his fucking room. Nikki was to them before they even had a chance to turn the doorknob.

“Get the fuck out.” He warned the guy. The man turned stunned to see Nikki standing there but the bassist wasn’t in the mood, “In the room, Angel.” he told the girl watching as she pulled away from the man and opened the door to Nikki’s room.

“I know her from school-”

“I’m not going to ask you again to get out of my apartment. If I need to make you leave it’s going to be a real problem for you.” Nikki warned. He could see the kid calculating the words being spoken to him. In the end the kid left and Nikki opened the door to his room.

Sasha didn’t bother to turn to look at him. She had her back to him, her hands tracing over his bureau. She had kicked off her shoes leaving them in the middle of the floor for Nikki to trip on when he woke up in the morning. Sasha had been around Nikki enough to know when he was angry and she had been pushing all of his buttons tonight. The sound of his door locking and the soft scraping of his chair against the rug to go under the handle made her heart catch in her throat. She could feel him behind her, close enough that the warmth of his body was radiating against her. His hands were on her leg sliding up the tights, chuckling deeply as he flicked the bunny tail, her hands still moved up, over the curve of her hips to the small of her waist where he squeezed as if realizing for the first time how slim she was, before moving up again.

Nikki wanted her. All the teasing and flirting with other men. Seeing her parading around in the bunny costume, kissing boys, the hands of men reaching out to get a touch of her had been driving him crazy. Then she had the audacity to try and take another man into his room. It was too much for him to take. He tugged down the zipper, without a word, letting the tight costume come loose from her body. She didn’t say anything, just stepped out of the outfit, watching as he reached out her to lay it flat on his bureau.

Sasha licked her lips, his hands were moving to her tights and panties that he rolled off herin one careful motion, laying them on top of her costume. The fluttering feeling was in her stomach and she could feel this weight between her legs of warmth as she thought about what was going to come next. Nikki turned her around, his eyes taking in the fully naked girl in front of him. Her tits perky with pink nipples already pointed, just begging for his mouth to suckle them. He wanted to leave purple hickeys all over her, marking every inch of Sasha as off limits to anyone but him. She was watching him take her in, her blue eyes curious as to what he was going to do with her now that he had her naked.

“I didn’t like you bringing a boyfriend to a show.” he told her, watching the way she rolled her eyes at him, “It’s not funny, angel. I’m not laughing. I’m not smiling. It’s not a fucking game.” he didn’t like how she was just looking at him smiling. Sasha reached out, her fingers stroking his cheek, her simile widening as NIkki’s eyes closed and he pressed his face into her hand. He was getting right to where she had wanted him to be.

“It has to be a game with you, Nikki. You don’t want to date me because you refuse to be serious with anyone. So it’s like a game of cat and mouse.” her nails scratched at his face softly, “Gotcha.” she whispered, making his green eyes flash open. He had played right into her hands. She had done everything to make him jealous and make it to this moment in time. Now that she was naked in front of him, the emotions rising all night what was he supposed to do.

“No one is going to win this game.” he warned her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She was going to end up hurt and Nikki liked her too much for that to happen. Sasha shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“Why don’t you just kiss me, Sixx? Instead of reading off your warning label. I don’t want anything other than you to kiss me right now. It doesn’t have to be anymore than that.” she was lying to him and they both knew it. They both could see how they wanted each other, all of each other in that selfish way like kids who couldn’t share toys. NIkki had proved tonight that he didn't want her around anyone else. But she was giving herself to him and he was going to take it.

His hands slid to her ass lifting her up easily, letting her wrap herself around him. If she wanted to play with fire he was going to make her burn. As soon as he pressed his lips to hers in the desperate hungry kiss he felt like he was falling. It was like the first time he did drugs. The overwhelming comfort of something to get lost in. She surprised him with the wetness of her tongue exploring his mouth before he could slide his into hers. She kissed just as desperately as he felt. The feeling of her tongue round his, his teeth biting her bottom lip, pulling it closer into the kiss. How could he only have just a kiss? He pressed her against the bed, feeling her hands pulling at his clothes. Sasha didn't want anything between them. She wanted to feel Nikki against her, all of him without a barrier.

“Just the shirt.” he begged her as she went to untie his leather pants, “Just the shirt, angel. If I’m naked I won’t be able to control myself.” his mouth was trying to find hers again but she pulled away, the way she looked at him. Those blue eyes lustful and shining like stars, her lips pouting accented only from the fact he had been roughly kissing her, he was fucking screwed. He would have done anything she wanted at that point.

“Nikki, please, I just want to see all of you. I want to touch every part of you. Please, Nikki.” The way she said his name and how polite she was. He didn’t even realize he was untying his pants until they were bunched up around his ankles. “Oh my god.” It was worth it for that reaction from her. She gave him a shy blush then and he knew he needed to control himself. Sasha made room for him to come back onto the bed, her legs moving to weave with his as they continued kissing, like sloppy teenagers. His hands went to her breasts, the hiss she released, as he tugged at her nipples. She was so sensitive, bucking against him.

“You like this, angel?” he asked his thumb and pointer finger rolling her nipples, tugging at them and getting the soft throaty moans to come from her. Nikki used this opportunity to kiss along her throat. He wanted to leave little marks for that piece of shit college boy to find later. He wanted to see her tomorrow putting cover up on the marks or tying a scarf. He felt so possessive over the girl who was very much not his. He had made it clear he didn’t date and she had made it clear she still wanted this. Sasha’s hand crept up between them gripping Nikki’s hardness in her smaller hands, moving up and down  as she kissed him. Wet mouths so hunger for each other and desperate to make the night they were having to last for as long as it could. “A little faster, like this.” he moved her hand up and down his length, watching the pink of her cheeks as he bucked against her motion, NIkki was trying to open up her thighs, he wanted to dip his fingers into her honey and lick up the sweet taste of her body. But she was managing to keep her legs together despite the ache between them wanting him. Her mouth was hungry for him and greedy as she took in his taste. It was like he was made of alcohol and sorrow; it was all she could taste on his tongue and she was in love with it.

“Oh fuck, Sixx.” Sasha whimpered feeling his mouth move down, a tongue licking over one of her hard nipples. Her hips pushed forward making her moan as she pressed into the solid thigh. She was stroking him like crazy now, a puddle in his arms as they laid in the bed beside each other. Nikki could feel her wetness against his thigh and pushed his leg against her hearing her moan loudly. Thin layers of sweat were on both their bodies now. His hand moved to her back and hip, helping her grind into his thigh, the wet pussy of hers throbbing against him as he helped her ride him.

“I’m going to cum, angel, but I want you to keep riding my thigh.” she nodded weakly moving her hips like he was directing her to do. This build up in her stomach happening like nothing she felt before. To overload her senses more Nikkie was kissing her again. He was rougher now, his teeth gnashing against hers like he couldn't get enough. Their bodies mixed up buckling together as Nikki spilled himself onto her stomach, the warmth of his cum causing a gasp from her as he smiled against her lips. She sounded so surprised but the way she pressed her hips down spoke volumes to him, “Keep going, good girl.” he cooed watching her. It happened suddenly like she wasn’t sure what the hell was going on but she came, open mouth and moaned from her lips his name.

When she opened her eyes, she was gasping for breath and feeling like she was waking up from a dream. But he was there with her, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears, kissing the side of her mouth as if he knew she had just used up all her energy with him. She blushed looking at them both covered in each other.

“I would offer to go shower but there is a full party going on outside this room so all I can offer you is a tshirt to clean up with.” she nodded her head watching him get out of bed and pull a tshirt she had probably washed out of the drawer gently tossing it to her. He watched her clean up, this silence settling over them that he wasn’t sure how to break.

“We should probably try and get back to the party.” she was standing pulling on her underwear. It was obvious NIkki didn’t really know what to say or do, “I know you can’t do anything serious, Nikki, but I don’t want people thinking I’m just the chick you’re banging for the night. That’s just not who I am and it’s not who I want to be. But I’ll probably come back to sleep tonight if that’s cool.” she told him. “Maybe when you grow up, Peter Pan, I can be your Wendy.”  she teased reaching behind him to grab a t-shirt she could wear out to the party.

He let her leave the room, slightly baffled when she pulled out a beat up pair of Keds from under his be. She also stole a cigarette laughing as she waltzed out into the room of people like she had never left it. Only now he knew her differently. And she was covered in hickeys that were peeking out from where she tried to cover them with her hair. Nikki wished he wasn’t the way he was but part of him was grateful she knew that he wasn’t going to be serious about her. Even though he liked Sasha he didn’t want to disappoint her. It would save them both a lot of heartache if they just didn’t get together, he hoped; right now all he could think about was she would leave after the weekend and he didn’t know what happened at that college campus but it left his stomach turning. Nikki redressed not wanting to think about anything at the moment because for someone who usually knew what they wanted he had no fucking idea.

[iwach4n]

req by: anonymous

characters: yamaguchi tadashi, yaku morisuke, lev haiba, tendou satori, semi eita

request:  FIRST KISS WITH THEM

warnings: none <3

at the start of your relationship, yamaguchi would probably hold back on the physical affection. he’s a little bit shy, but he’s also careful not to make you uncomfortable. honestly, if it wasn’t for that, he probably would’ve kissed you the second you confessed to him

as it is, he’s dropping you back to your house after a date at the local fair. it’s already late, the sun setting behind you, but he really wished this walk back would last forever. still, he can’t admire how cute you looked with that teddy bear he won for you for all eternity, and you reach your house almost too soon

“i know i’ve said it a million times today, but you look really nice today”

you can’t help but chuckle as you hear the compliment again, having given up denying it or returning the compliment a couple of hours ago

you’re in the middle of thanking him, for the compliment and the bear and a great date, when you notice his gaze flitting to your lips every few seconds, and feel your face heat up as you realise what he’s thinking about

you jump on your impulse and, when you finish speaking, you lean in, gently pressing your lips to his

he stiffens in surprise for a moment, then responds, cupping your cheek with his hand and softly kissing back

his cheeks are tinted red when you pull back, and your heart is hammering out of your chest. you manage a quick goodbye before almost running into your house

when the door shuts, yamaguchi is immediately pulling his phone out to text tsukishima, a dopey grin on his face all the way home

yaku is definitely the sort of guy to ask if he can kiss you almost every time, even when you’ve been dating for ages

the first time he does, though, its in a mundane, goofy moment between the two of you

he’d come over to your house, and you were curled up on the sofa under a blanket, chatting about anything and everything

he’d currently been in the middle of ranting about lev again, using a variety of creative insults that made you giggle as you sipped on your drink

at some point, one particular line of his rant sent you into a fit of laughter, choking a little on your drink as some came out of your nose. you managed to set the cup down, spluttering a bit as you laughed and repeated what he’d just said

and for some reason, that was when he realised he needed to kiss you, and that he was a fool for not doing it on any of the handful of dates you’d had before. the words slipped out of him before he could stop them

“can i kiss you? please?”

you stop laughing, startled a bit by his request but still grinning as you nod, leaning in in time with him

dating lev includes a lot of random dates, just walking around a shopping centre and going into whichever shop catches either of your attention

this time, you were pulled into a toy store, your boyfriend claiming he’d seen something cool that he needed to show you

and he continues kissing you for a while after, cuddling on the couch under a few too many blankets

you’re quickly directed to the plushies, and before you can even comment on any of them, he’s picked up two cats - one ridiculously long and grey, and a fluffy one with fur that matches your hair colour

“look, its us!!”

you giggle as he compares the second cat’s fur to your hair, commenting about how its almost the exact same, and you feel absolutely smitten as he touches the faces of the two plushies together, making a loud kissing sound as he does

in your mind, you know you just have to kiss him. so you lightly push the toys out of the way of his face, and lean up, placing a quick peck on his lips

he’ll freeze for a moment, processing what just happened, and then burst out into the biggest, stupidest grin you’ve ever seen on him

before, he never saw kissing as that important in the relationship, but now he’s got one he can’t get enough. he is going to randomly kiss you, on your lips and cheek and nose and forehead and literally wherever. also doesn’t shut up about it for like a week

he also buys the plushies, and gives you the one that looks like him. when he gets home, he kind of just stares at the one that looks like you and gives it a lil kiss on the forehead

ok tendou would definitely be the type to respond to your confession by kissing you

you plan it out quite well, finding a quiet, pretty part of the local park and dragging him out on a walk (not that it takes much convincing, he’d follow you pretty much anywhere if you asked)

once you reach the spot, you stop, taking a moment to work up the courage while he admires the place you’ve found

he makes some sort of goofy comment about the place being straight out of a shoujo manga confession scene, but you barely have time to process his words before you start talking

“if life was a romance anime, i’d be pretty sure you’re about to confess your undying love for me-” “i really like you, tendou. like, as more than a friend,”

he’s stunned into silence as you start going on about all the reasons you like him and that its okay if he doesn’t return your feelings-

and he’s so happy and at such a loss for words that all he can do is lean forward and kiss you

when he pulls away, he’s looking at you like you’re the most amazing thing in the universe, and his face is still mere inches away from yours

“i’ll take it you’ll be my boyfriend, then?”

the two of you were setting off back to the dorms after a date

it was a cozy cafe date, perfect considering it was the middle of winter and starting snow outside

it hadn’t been quite so cold when you’d set out, though, so the only thing keeping you warm as you stepped out of the doors of the cafe was the raincoat you’d grabbed and the hot chocolate you’d drank

semi only took a couple of minutes to notice your slight shivering and the way you had buried yourself as far as possible into your thin coat

so he stopped you, a chastising yet fond look on his face as he took off his scarf and hooked it around your neck

but before he tied it, he stopped, taking in how you looked with stray snowflakes in your hair and that bashful expression on your face

he tugged lightly on the fabric, pulling you closer to him and giving you a quick, soft kiss

then he tied the scarf, as if nothing had happened, and slipped his hand in yours, continuing the walk back to the dorms

you took in his scent from the scarf, your smile hidden under the fabric as you basically got tugged along by your boyfriend

“i- thank you” “… for the kiss?” “for the scarf !!!”

yes he does kiss you again when he drops you off at your dorm (and he lets you keep the scarf)

[portalford]

I Can Picture You So Easily

AO3

It hits Stan at the stupidest times.

Well.  That makes it sounds like Stan just forgets, when really it never quite goes away — sometimes it’s just more.

Like now.

He’s looking in the mirror — he found it tucked way, way back in a closet (and he’s gonna skip right over that because when he got here the mirror in the bathroom was broken, cracked until you couldn’t see a thing and why was Ford—nope) — and he’s trying out a new look for Mr. Mystery.

Gotta keep it fresh, right?  Accessorize?

Glasses aren’t accessories, unfortunately.  He can’t go without them anymore.

(Really, he needed them years ago, but he was too stubborn to admit it, or too broke, or whatever, but he’s literally tripping over his own feet now.  Needs must).

Ford wouldn’t be caught dead in this getup.  No sense of fashion.  So that’s fine.

The glasses—

(Ford started wearing glasses when he was six.  Stan had laughed himself silly when they went to the drugstore and tried on the biggest, most obnoxious frames they could find.  Ma had scolded, but she’d been too distracted checking price tags to do more than scold.

In the end, they went with some cheap horn-rimmed frames that Stan wouldn’t be caught dead in even now.  Old-man glasses, at six.  But that was Ford all over).

—they bring some stuff up.  The twin thing sucks, sometimes.  

(Looking in a mirror and seeing the changes, the lines in his face, the grey in his hair — does Ford have crow’s feet now?  Is his hair going silver?  It was always unmanageable — is it thinning like Stan’s is now, or is it still thick and flyaway, like it was when Ford was sixteen?  Did he even live long enough to get lines in his face and aches in his joints, or is he forever twenty-eight, dead somewhere in the universe?)

Time to stop thinking.

Notice the differences.

Stan’s ears and nose are bigger than Ford’s, always have been.  He’s heavier and his shoulders are broader.

(Has Ford gotten bulkier, fighting to survive?  Or is still he halfway to gaunt, like the last time Stan saw him?)

Definitely time to stop thinking.

Stan flashes a smile, and yeah, that’s all him.  Cheerful, magnetic, and a hundred percent fake.

Time to work the crowds.

*****

There’s an ad for the nice ink pens Ford saved up to buy when he was fourteen.

Stan turns it off.

*****

Mabel finds a picture, once.

“Grunkle Stan!”  Her eyes are all lit up as she shows him the torn photograph.  “I found this under a floorboard in the attic!”

If Stan ever had any doubts about his poker face, he can lay them to rest now. It’s all on the ropes and his expression is perfectly level, maybe even a little curious.

Mabel is still talking.  “I didn’t know there were pictures of you before you were all old!  Do you have any others?”

Oh.

Stan still forgets sometimes, even after everything, that most people can’t tell him and Ford apart.

He knows better.

The young man in the photograph is unmistakably Ford, taken while he was living in Gravity Falls.  He’s got his head bent over that journal of his, but the photographer managed to catch the eager light in his eye, the edge of his smile.

Stan wonders who that photographer was, all those years ago.

A tug at his shirt reminds him he’s not alone, and he definitely can’t get messed up about this picture of his secret twin brother.

Mabel’s face has fallen a bit.  “Grunkle Stan?  Are you okay?”

Stan gives himself two more seconds to look at the picture — Ford just looks so happy; Stan can’t even remember the last time Ford looked like that, even before it all fell apart — and turns to Mabel.

“Yeah,” he says.  He smiles and ruffles her hair.  “Pretty good picture, huh?”

*****

The name is the worst.

Stan never thought identity theft could involve so little fun.

Usually he can get away with just “Stan Pines,” and that’s fine.  That’s his name.  That’s who he’s supposed to be.

Sometimes, though, that’s not enough for whoever’s asking.

“What did you say your name was again?”

He smiles.  Lays it on thick.  “Stanford Pines.”

“Could you sign here?”

He does.  His blocky, uneven handwriting looks even worse than usual where he’s expecting to see neat, flowing script, the way Stanford Pines is supposed to be written.

“This is Stanford Pines,” someone will say.  “Mr. Mystery.”

Stan smiles some more.  Yes, Stanford Pines is certainly that.

Gideon is the worst.  Stanford this and Stanford that and Stan’s never wanted to punch a child so much in his life.

“Stanford Pines!”

He smiles, and he lies.

*****

Dipper halfway drives him nuts sometimes.

It’s not like the kid’s a mini-Ford — he reminds Stan enough of himself, sometimes, though Stan’s not sure that’s great either — but he’s got the brains and the stubbornness and the love of weird nonsense, for sure.

He’s also got that obsessive edge, the drive that sent Ford right off the metaphorical cliff.

Usually Mabel tags along on the weirdness hunts — they make a day of it.  They go out, just the two of them, and come back laughing and joking and shoving at each other.

That’s enough of a painful reminder, but sometimes Stan will catch Mabel sitting by herself, coloring or crafting with a little less energy than usual, and he’ll realize that Dipper’s buried himself in monster theory again.

He tries to keep the kid busy with chores and hustle, but it’s a losing battle.

It was the first time, too.

*****

There’s this old song that Ford used to love when they were younger.

It’s got no words, and Stan used to make fun of it — what's the point of a song with no words?  But Ford insisted it had Meaning, capital M.

It comes on the radio now and then.

Depending on how masochistic Stan is feeling that day, he might let it play.

He still wonders what Ford heard in this song, and if Ford would hear it now.

*****

He realizes, one day near the end, that he’s been Stanford longer than he’s been Stanley.

What’s the point, really?  What does a name matter if it’s so easy for someone else to take your place?

(Did Ford matter so little, in the grand scheme of things, that not one person could recognize him in a place he lived for six years?

Does Stan, in a place he’s lived for almost thirty?)

If he could just stop catching Ford in his reflection now and then, that’d be great.

*****

It’s not any better once Ford gets back (once Stan brings Ford back, the ungrateful bastard).

“Stanford!”

Stan’s got a smile on his face before he even turns around, and what’s wrong with him that he’s halfway made this lie into a Pavlovian response?  Someone calls him Stanford, he smiles and lies.

(Stanford — the real Stanford — is in the basement right now.  He doesn’t even exist, as far as anyone else is concerned.  Stan is Stanford, Stanley is dead, and Ford is a nonentity.

What a life this is).

*****

“So how was it?”

Stan grunts.  “How was what?”

Ford rolls his neck, wincing a little as he works out the unavoidable crick from hunching over a drawing for twenty minutes.  “Being me.”

Stan shrugs.  “Wasn’t hard.  We’re basically the same person, y’know.”

Ford snorts.  A long time (a lifetime) ago that comment might have gotten him worked up, but he’s steadier now, softer around the edges.  “Very funny.  I saw your lease renewal.  You didn’t even change your handwriting, for heaven’s sake.”

“Ford, I rolled up to town, said I was you, and started a tourist trap.  You had a total personality transplant and nobody noticed.”  Stan grimaces.  That sounded really bad.

Ford’s expression has gone rueful and a little sad at the edges, but he doesn’t seem like he’s about launch into full-blown self-recrimination, so that’s fine.  “Yes, well.  That’s what happens when you isolate yourself for six years and your only friend erases his mind to cope with the mistakes you made.”

And that’s Ford trying to shoulder all the blame again, but Stan keeps his mouth shut.  They’re both too comfortable to argue right now.  “Being honest — for once — it kinda sucked.”  Ford’s looking at him, open and encouraging, so Stan keeps going.  “Everyone thought I was you, and it—I wasn’t.  I didn’t want to be.”  Stan shrugs.  “I wanted you you.”

Ford smiles, and it’s a little more worn than Stan remembers, but it’s real, and it’s him.  “I understand.  I met a few parallel versions of you on my travels, and they were you, but — they weren’t really you.”  Ford closes his journal (his new one) and sets it aside, tipping his head back over his chair.  More playfully, he adds, “I wouldn’t want to be you either, Stanley.”

Stan laughs.  “Yeah?  Couldn’t handle the salesmanship?”

“Have more self-respect than to wear any part of your wardrobe.”

“Says the man who wears sweaters in the summer.”

Ford lifts his head and smiles, and this time it’s almost exactly how Stan remembers — quick and a little crooked.  “Fair enough.”  Ford stretches, rolls his neck again.  “For what it’s worth, Stanley, I am glad to be back.”  A wry look.  “Even if it’s going to take ages to sort out the criminal record you gave me.”

Stan slouches deeper into the couch.  Any further and he’s going to slide off, but that’s a risk he’ll take.  “Yeah, yeah.  Talk to me when you’re legally dead.”

“You did that.”

“And?”

“I legally don’t exist.”

“I was trying to learn theoretical physics at the time, Stanford; cut a man some slack.”

Ford laughs, quiet.  “Did I ever thank you for that?”

Stan cracks an eye open.  He didn’t realize he closed them.  “What, learnin’ physics?  Because I’m pretty sure that’s some of the stuff that’s not coming back.”

Ford rolls his eyes.  “For saving me.”

“Hm.”  Ford’s thanked him several times, but lately it’s been less Ford kicking himself and more Ford cautiously trying to engage in the old back-and-forth they used to have, and Stan can get behind that one.  “I dunno.  Might have to say it again.”

“You’re burning through my gratitude very quickly,” Ford says mildly, “but all right.  Thank you for saving me.  You knucklehead.”

Stan never got called that when he was Ford.  He thinks he’s missed it, at least the way Ford says it — like it means something completely different.

“Uh-huh.”  Stan’s eyes are closed again.  He figures he’ll just leave them closed.  “Missed you too, nerd.”

And maybe there’s something to be said for being your own person.

It feels pretty good.

[pikapikabishes]

It's Okay Now(Kirishima x gn!Reader)

Disclaimer: all characters rightfully belong to their original creators, only thing that is mine is the plot. Also do not copy my writing. Thank you

Summary: Class 3A's Y/n was having a jolly day hanging out with the BakuSquad, including her amazing bf of over 6 months, Eijirou Kirishima, even with all the stress piling up, like a shaken soda bottle ready to burst, until said explosion finally happened. Triggered by the littlest, probably stupidest event

Warnings: anxiety (?), panic attacks, not eating for days, mentions death, suggestive themes, a bit of swearing

Mentions: mental breakdown, overworking oneself, starvation, hyperventilating, ugly crying, kiri being absolutely biggest sweetheart, daddy!Kiri breifly

A/n: this is my first fic on Tumblr so please be nice, and if you enjoyed it, like and comment

Everything hurt. My head, my eyes, my chest, my mind. I don't even know what happened. One minute I'm perfectly fine, having a good time with my friends, the next I'm in this situation.

Im sitting in the middle of my dorm on the floor, crying and sobbing over the smallest thing. I admit being stressed with everything going on in my life; with upcoming school exams , training every single day to improve my ultimate moves, and the biggest clicher... my dad's passing a couple months prior.

This whole time I've just been bottling it all up, trying my hardest to put up a brave front as to not worry my mom, who already has a lot on her plate, my friends and boyfriend, Kirishima. To be frank, I haven't even told my class or Kiri, keeping a bright smile as to not hint them in on my life crashing down around me. Some days are easy to keep up my smile, to let my mind focus on something else, and then there are harder days when everything reminds me of my dad.

I was real close to him, we did a lot of fun stuff together; going to amusement parks, going out to see movies we both were really excited to watch, going out to eat at our favorite restaurants.

It still doesnt feel real after all this time. It felt just like yesterday he was perfectly fine, we were celebrating my grandma's birthday, and literally the next day, I find him stiff and eerily still in his bed. And then everything crashing down on me as the paramedics regretfully tell me that my dad was no longer of this world, when I sob into the phone to my mom that my dad was gone, when I listened to my grandma's wails as my mom told her of her son's passing.

It all felt so surreal, like if I go over to see my grandma at her house, I'll see my dad sitting there in the living room, greeting me with his smile and warm hugs and kisses.

I sob harder as I remember all the times we watched Disney movies and me crying at some scenes as my dad happily comforts me. Buying me a toy from one of the movies I adored at the time. Him gifting me a puppy when he moved into a new neighborhood and I didnt have anyone to play with.

My head's pounding, a deep pressure in my brain, as I clutch tightly to the same doll he bought me all those years ago. My screams silent as I try to keep my classmates from finding me in such a pathetic state and worrying about me, my brain not processing that everyone was still at school. I fought to take control of my emotions again, wanting to be strong for my mom, grandma, and my friends. Unknowning of the pace of my breathing as I desperately tried to grasp my emotions.

My stress and anxiety climbing higher with each panicked breath. All those late nights I stayed up studying as much as I can for the midterm exams, catching up to me. I even forsaken eating as to study so I can at least get a passing grade. And the times I didnt spend studying was spent training to try and get my mind to focus on anything rather than fully face the reality that I no longer live in a world with my dad in it.

When was the last time I had a fulfilling meal? Three days?? And the time before that?? I dont even remember, the pounding in my head preventing me from thinking too much. All I can think about is what caused this stupid meltdown in the first place, my frustrations climbing higher with my stress and anxiety.

~~~

Today was one of those days where it was hard to keep up my smile for people. In an attempt to cheer myself up, I made myself the same lunch my dad and I used to make together for later, excited to eat as this was my first actual meal in days.

As I stroll down the hallways to meet up with Kiri and the rest of the BakuSquad, someone in a rush, bumps into me full force, causing me to fall and drop my lunch on the floor. I only had a moment to grieve as I see my precious lunch splattered all over the floor before the person that bumped into me uttered a measly, rushed "sorry" before hurrying on their way, stepping my lunch in the process.

I stayed there in my position on the floor, looking at my lunch with grief. I know it was stupid to start crying over something that can be replaced with something else that Lunch Rush made, but there the crocodile tears were. My heart and mind had wanted that lunch.

Without thinking I got up and ran out of school and towards the dormitories, deaf to the calls of my fellow 3A classmates and the incoming call on my phone.

~~~

I was brought back to the present by the sound of pounding coming from my dorm door. I was still fighting for control, not able to send a reply without my sobs mixing in with my voice.

"Y/n? Are you okay?" A familiar voice sounded through the door. Of course it would be Kiri to be checking up on me. "I tried calling you to see where you were, but you didn't answer. Tsuyu told me she saw you running off upset when I went to go looking for you."

For some reason I sobbed harder, barely able to keep quiet.

"Princess/Prince, please tell me what's wrong, I'm getting really worried."

He stayed quiet for a moment, anxiously waiting for my response. And of course my body betrays me when an ugly sob wracks through my very being, unable to quiet it down.

"Princess/Prince, are you crying?!" Kiri's voice carried his panic and worry. "I'm coming in!" He warned before slamming the door open.

I barely raised my head to meet his worried crimson eyes as his giant frame took up most of the doorway, frozen. His expression falls at the sight of the giant crocodile tears running down my face, distress written all over my expression.

Without saying anything, he rushed over to my side, his big, warm hand landing on my back, immediately rubbing gentle circles as to comfort me.

"Baby, what's wrong? Tell me," he asked, voice trying to soothe me. I shook my head, unable to say or utter a word and I dropped my head again, breathing erratic. "You're hyperventilating, baby. You need to try and calm down a bit."

More sobs was the only thing I responded with. Hearing some shuffling, a moment passed before a soft calming melody sounded through the storm in my mind, along with the sound of gentle falling rain. It was the same several hour music track that I would usually listen to when something was bothering me.

I've always loved the sound of falling rain and ocean waves.

Kiri dropped his phone to the floor, letting the music wrap us in its soothing melody. He brought his hand to my cheek to gently bring my face up and face him. His expression sad as he gets a better look at my distraught, of the crocodile tears streaming down my face, of the deep sadness in my eyes.

Letting his other hand to join my face, he gently wiped away my tears as I tried to control my breathing. "Baby, you have to calm down. It's okay now, I'm here," he said in a gentle voice, bringing me up onto his lap, and wrapping his strong arms around me.

I clutch onto his uniform jacket, burying my face into his chest as I sobbed away, ruining his uniform with my tears and snot.

He gently rocked the both of us, bringing one of his hands up to my head as he softly brushed his fingers through my hair. "Shhh, baby. It's okay. It's okay," he whispered in my ear.

I don't know how long we sat there, listening to falling rain, Kiri rocking us, whispering calming words into my ear before my breathing was back to normal and my sobs turning into sniffles. Even long after I've calmed down, Kiri still held onto me tightly, grounding me from the storm whirling in my mind.

Only when I lifted up my head from his chest to look up at him did he give me a soft smile, reaching up to brush away strands of hair from my face and eyes. Then, Kiri reached over to his phone, pausing the music before turning back to me.

"Feeling better?"

I slowly nodded my head, my voice hoarse as I finally managed to give a reply, "Yeah, a little bit."

"What happened back there?" Kiri asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

Tears were already welling up in my (e/c) eyes, my bottom trembling as I fought to hold back the tears. Kiri reached up one hand to hold my chin, his thumb softly brushing my bottom lip.

"Please baby, I hate seeing you so distraught," he told me, eyes full of concern as he continued to stroke my bottom lip, as if trying to coax the words to come out, to explain what was paining me so much so he can fix it.

"I-" I stuttered, sniffling back the tears. "I miss him."

"Miss who, baby?" Kiri asked, confused.

"M-my dad," I said, voice now shaky as the tears started falling again. "I m-miss him so much."

Kiri seemed to come to the conclusion that I might have only been extremely homesick. "Why dont you go visit him today then? It's Friday, so you can just stay with him for the weekend."

I violently shook my head. "I-I can't."

"Why not, baby?" He started stroking my back again to try and comfort me.

"H-he died! Two months ago!" I sobbed, pressing my face to his chest again.

"Oh fuck. Shit, I am soo sorry baby. Why didn't you tell me?" Kiri asked, hugging me tightly to him. "I would've been there for you."

"I-I didn't w-want to w-worry y-you," I cried.

Kirishima started rocking us both again, his grip on me tighter as if trying to hold me together. "Of course I'm going to be worried baby. I have been worried about you. I noticed you've been distancing yourself for a while now, but I didn't want to make you talk when you weren't ready. God, I'm so unmanly, not realizing that you were in so much pain all this time." He placed his hand on top of my head. "I am sooo sorry, baby."

I sniffled, shaking my head. "D-Don't be. I w-was the one who d-decided not to t-tell any of you g-guys. I-it's not your f-fault."

"But why didn't you tell us baby? You know we all would've been here for you."

I shrugged. "I-I just wanted to be s-strong for y-you guys. I d-didn't want to w-worry any of you."

"Oh, babe." He pulled back enough to look at me. "You are strong. But it's okay to lean on us, on mee. Just because you're crying, doesn't make you weak. You're mourning, and its okay to cry when you're mourning. It just shows how close you are with your dad and how much you're missing him."

"But... But it feels like my fault though," I cried.

"What do you mean?" His brows furrowed again in confusion.

"I... I was there that night. The night he passed." I wiped at the tears even though it was fruitless with how the tears continued to fall. "We were all happily celebrating my grandma's birthday. We were all laughing. And I went to sleep a bit late that night. I noticed how his was position in his bed when I got up to use the bathroom, but I didnt think any of it. My dad sits in that position sometimes, and I know that he goes to sleep way later than me. And when I woke up at 11 the next morning because of my grandma calling for me, I got up to see what she needed. You remember, that my grandma cant really move around that well anymore?" I asked him.

Kiri nodded his head, remembering that I helped my grandma when the two of us had dinner with my dad and grandma. "So when I got up and headed towards her room, I saw my dad in the same position. But figured he must've just fallen asleep... Then I went to use the bathroom after helping my grandma, and when I looked closer, I noticed how swollen his feet were. I... I knew my dad was always sick and his legs getting swollen all the time, but... I-I just didnt think I'd find him like that." I cried, covering my mouth as another sob wracked threw me. "Vomit... All over the blankets and his bierd... A blood clot hanging from his nose-"

"Shhh, its okay, baby" Kiri hushed me, rubbing my back, "If it's too much for you, you don't have to explain anymore."

After waiting for my breathing to stabilize again, I continued, "I... I just feel like if I had checked up on him before I went to bed... Maybe... Maybe the paramedics would've been able to save him..."

Kiri grabbed onto my shoulders to pull me away so as to look me dead in the eyes with a stern look. "Y/n, listen to me. It is not your fault," he said firmly. "Okay? It is not your fault. Sometimes these things happen."

"But-" I started, but he cut me off.

"No but's. Okay? I know I havent known him as long as you, but I could tell from the first time I met him that he was soo proud of you. And probably still is." His words made me cry harder, my bottom lip trembling again as I tried to pull myself together in front of this amazing man in front of me. "There's no need to beat yourself up over this," Kiri said, pressing a kiss to my forehead as I started bawling my eyes out again. Kiri started rocking us again, holding me tight as I let out all my sadness and anguish.

"Shhhh... It's okay... Everything's will be okay..." He mumbled in my ear. "Let it all out."

We stayed like that for the next hour as I let out all my suffering, the scent of his cologne, the comforting words, and the sound of the music track all lulling me to sleep, my mind and body too heavy to fight it off.

~~~

I woke up to a dark room, the sun long gone over the horizon. I blearily blinked my eyes open, feeling my tears dried over the skin of my cheeks. All of a sudden, a warm hand slides under my shirt, rubbing a thumb on my stomach. A face was then buried into the back of my neck, a soft pair of lips kissing at the skin.

"Morning beautiful/handsome," came Kiri's sleep filled voice

"Mmnn what time is it?" I mumbled.

Kiri pulled away for a moment, turning to reach behind him for presumably his phone on my nightstand. Squinting at the glare of the phone, Kiri gave me an answer, "7 o'clock at night, so its just about dinner time." Dropping his phone back onto the nightstand, he resumed his position of spooning me, completely dwarfing my body with his giant frame. "You haven't ate lunch right?"

I shook my head. "Or breakfast. Or dinner last night. Or any meals for the past few days."

"What?" Kiri shot up, glaring down at me. "And the time before that?"

I shrugged, my brain too drained to think of a solid answer. "Couple days."

"Y/n!"

"I know, I know. I shouldn't be skipping my meals everyday. I should eat at least once a day."

"Is that why you look thinner? Cause you've been skipping your meals??!"

I shrug at him. "I was busy studying for the midterms. Besides I never went 3 days without eating something."

"That's not the point!" Kiri rubbed his hand down his face before looking at me with worry. "You shouldn't be skipping any meals or overworking yourself like this." He reached over to brush a lock of hair away. "Babe, my heart hurts at the thought of you not taking care of yourself."

I place my hand on top of his, leaning into his touch. "I know... I'm sorry. I didnt mean to worry you like this. I just... couldn't come to terms with reality so I busied myself to make me forget the pain. On the bright side I came up with this new, awesome ultimate move I've been dying to show you," I said with some excitement, trying to cheer him up.

He scowled sternly at me for a moment before sighing, shaking his head, any trace of worry and frustration gone from his face as a small smile took over his lips. "Alright fine." But then the stern look came back as he firmly told me, "But I'm not letting you skip any meals anymore, even if I have to force you to eat. And you're not doing no studying or training this weekend."

"Wait, but-" I tried to counter, stopped when the stern look in his eyes intensified.

"No if's, and's or but's. Unless its yours up in the air as I fuck you so hard you wont be able to do anything this weekend but relax."

I blushed and swallowed loudly. "Good, now wait here while I go get you a plate. Bakugou's supposed to be cooking tonight." He leaned down to plant a kiss on my lips. Then another. Then another and another before pulling away only slightly to look into my eyes with that familiar dark look in his eyes, a smirk forming on his handsome face. "Maybe I should grab you two plates. You're going to need it for fuel for tonight."

My faced burned as I realized what he meant. He chuckled darkly before standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll be back in a few. And you better be stripped down to nothing by the time I get back." Turning back towards me with a seductive look. "Don't you worry about a thing, baby girl/boy. Daddy's going to take real good care of you this weekend." Then he opened the door and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

I gulped loudly, already feeling that familiar heat down below.

It was going to a long weekend.

[anika-ann]

The Best Mistake of My Life - Pt.1

Type: One-shot/ch1 of a series

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 4100

Summary: A soulmate AU. They say having a soulmate is a blessing. Who wouldn’t love the idea of star-crossed lovers, right?

Neither Steve Rogers nor you consider yourself lucky though. It probably has something to do with the lines written on your skin. Because if the words are anything to go by, you’re not sure you want to meet each other.

Warnings: swearing, light angst, FLUFF 

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Steve Rogers was born a sickly baby.

Born a sickly boy to a single mother in the time of great depression, money thin, his health even thinner and having a pathetic number of friends; though that never really bothered him. What his friendships lacked in quantity was hundred times compensated by quality. Bucky Barnes’ loyalty was everything Steve could ask for.

And what Steven Grant Rogers himself lacked in height and strength of body was made up for by the strength of will, amount of determination and a great compassionate heart, ready to welcome anyone sans bullies there.

Perhaps God had seen that Steven would grow into a man carrying his heart on his sleeve and decided that this man should be blessed with a love so magnificent they would tell stories about it; people always had. People were always telling tales about soulmates.

Having a soulmate wasn’t necessarily rare, but not everyone was bound to have one. Being one of the lucky ones was an amazing gift; a promise of a connection as unbreakable as the thread of fate, a promise of an unconditional love.

To know person had found the one, their soulmate, those who were blessed with one wore a brand on their skin, a clue to allow them to recognize their destined partner; a set of words.

It was the set of words what was troubling Steve Rogers the most. Despite Bucky’s reassurance, despite his mother’s last words, despite Steve willingness to fight everything else the world would kick into his way, he found moments in his life he cursed the words written on his skin, reminding him how weak he would always seem to people.

Above the visible line of his collarbone, sticking out on his rather skeletal frame, there sat the words of doom:

‘Oh no, there must be a mistake.’

The very first time his soulmate would spoke to him… they would be disappointed and silently praying that whatever force was behind bounding souls together made one hell of a misstep. A mistake.

That was what Steve was going to be to his soulmate; a mistake. A failure. A disappointment.

And why wouldn’t he be? Ninety pounds of rattling bones, list of illnesses longer than his birth certificate…. Every girl Bucky had ever tried to set him up with out of pity (which Bucky would deny until his last breath) had been disappointed.

“Maybe she’ll be more into brunettes. Maybe she won’t believe her soulmate is blond at first,” his friend would say, “or she’ll be from Queens and wouldn’t get over the fact you’re not, but once you’ll show her the true Brooklyn charm, she’ll fall to your feet.”

Then he would always pat Steve’s shoulder, pulling him into a one-arm hug and tried to get him a date once more.

Steve didn’t believe him. He never did, but recognizing his friend felt better if Steve played along, he would smile and poke his ribs in return.

“Whatever you say. Jerk.”

…

Much later, when he said to Peggy Carter that he was waiting for the right partner to dance with, he was starting to admit to himself that he wasn’t thinking about his so-called soulmate as the one. After all, he went against all odds, against rules, against destiny itself when he had been accepted to the army regardless of his fragile body. Maybe, just maybe it meant that not ending up with his soulmate was what would happen one day.

When he crushed the Valkyrie to the ocean, not even having taken a chance on Peggy Carter despite her obvious interest, he must admit he had been lying to himself.

His last realization concerned his soulmate; despite wanting to fight against the whole world, he couldn’t make himself to take a chance on Peggy Carter, a brilliant woman who was not carrying the right set of words.

His last regret was that he would never meet his true love.

His last thought was that maybe, his soulmate never had a set of words spoken by him on her skin – her first words to him might as well be the ones spoken when reading his obituary, somehow knowing he was supposed to belong with her.

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The moment you were old enough to understand the meaning of the word ‘soulmate’, you were intrigued by the concept; it probably had everything to do with the fact that you too were supposed to have a person meant to be your other half.

Every parent was bound to be delighted when their child was born with that kind of blessing, but the older you were getting, the more you understood what kind of a shock might occur when a kid had rather strange line supposedly spoken to them by their universe-chosen partner for life.

There were people who had words like ‘shit’ on them; literally. Not very delightful. Sometimes there were general lines like ‘Hello, how are you?”. Good luck hunting down the right person. In contrary, some people had a name on them; ‘Hi, I’m Peter Cameron.’ Lucky bastards.

And then… then there were people like you, whose words were just… weird.  

“But I really am 95,” you mumbled under your breath, tracing the handwriting right under your collarbone subconsciously, the first thing you did in the morning if you remembered – which wasn’t every day, not by a long shot.

“This is the stupidest thing ever…”

You shook your head and started to get ready for your day at the office.

Your opinion on your soulmark had been changing during the years. You had had a period of fascination, simply being proud of carrying it. Then you had understood the meaning of your words, and you had been horrified and desperate at the idea of meeting your soulmate at such age or worse, having one that old while you would be thirty or something when encountering them.

Then had come the phase of how could I avoid having a grandpa as my soulmate. Maybe the number meant something different – your soulmate’s weight (you really wouldn’t care for that, you reasoned), his temperature (he might be hypothermic at the moment, no?), his hotel room number, the number of a seat in a theatre perhaps… there were so many possibilities, right?

Now, you just tried not to think about it too hard. You had had boyfriends, never lasting longer than few months sans the one exception of George, who had turned out to be the biggest asshole in the world despite your belief he had might have been the one; until you had caught him in bed with another girl.

Maybe it was that deep inside you had never believed in the relationships you had, because the guy never said the right first words. Or maybe you were full of shit and you couldn’t keep a guy interested, god only knew – hence not thinking about it too hard, going on with your life and taking it as it was.

You might meet him, you might not. It wouldn’t be the first case of never encountering a soulmate. Life was funny that way.

Best not to let it ruin your day. A rather nice day it was, today. If you only didn’t have to spend it in the crowded office with people demanding their licences and taking out their frustrations on you. Well. You were a grown-up; you had to be okay with things not always being okay. Which sucked. But that was life.

…

You had a chance to have a shortest coffee break to exchange ‘hello’s with Ryan – your actual favourite person in the world, your platonic ‘soulmate’ (not in the ominous sense of the word), your boss who never really acted like a boss – and that was it. Apparently, half of Manhattan had gotten their licence this very date years back, so the office was ridiculously crowded. Thank god for the glass between you and the jungle; it shielded you at least partly.

You grabbed the file of request no. 57 that day – you were like a machine, okay, you couldn’t remember the office ever managing to deal with so many in only three hours – pulling out the documents and the licence to make another driver happy.

Your hands were acting on autopilot and you didn’t even glance up when an ID was pushed to you through the small space between the glass and the counter, checking the renewed licence first.

Your first thought was ‘oh wow’. That guy on the photo was gorgeous. You couldn’t help but snap your head up, checking out the real-life thing.

OH WOW.

Scratch the ‘gorgeous’. Replace it with ‘unreal’.

You were tempted to ask if he was made by an ancient sculptor and then brought to life, because his body was as incredible as his face; the broadness of his shoulders begged for a touch. His muscular arms were not so hidden in the sleeves of his dark green shirt. The shoulder-waist ratio was clearly a God’s mistake, a one you were thankful for.

Forget ancient sculptures. His face must have been sculptures by angels and they left him with a halo of blond hair as a reminder. And his eyes. Oh god, such pretty eyes…

He gave you an unsure smile, opening his mouth to probably accuse you of staring and you quickly dropped your gaze, returning to check the licence before you would give it to him.  

Your hand froze hovering above the date of birth. You hesitantly looked up again, biting your lip guiltily despite not being the one who had messed up. You felt kinda sorry for him waiting the line for nothing.

“Oh no, there must be a mistake…” you half apologized, half said only to yourself, meeting his suddenly alarmed gaze.

You put on your most apologetic face, hoping he wouldn’t be too mad. How had someone messed it up again? The birth dates were with typos all the time. How?! There were only numbers for God’s sake! It wasn’t like the person inserting the data to the computer had to spell Buchwald or Mxyzptlk or something like that!

Damn you, Sheryl or Kira or you whoever have done this!

The man – Steven Grant Rogers, as you had learned from his sadly valueless driving licence – was staring at you, speechless. You were honestly getting worried, though you weren’t sure if you were more scared for him or for yourself in case of his reaction escalating.

So you went to explain.

“Uhm… I’m really sorry, mister-“ You quickly eyed the name ID he had given you, checking if the office got the name right at least. “-Rogers, but there seems to be a typo in… in your birth date. I apologize for the mistake our institution made, even though I wasn’t the one to-- you don’t need to know that, it doesn’t matter-- I’m so sorry you have to come here again, but I can’t really let you walk around or rather drive around with a licence claiming you were born in 1918, so…”

You had become so flustered, your cheeks burning, talking and talking without being able to stop, not making any sense even, until-

“But I really am 95,” he admitted sheepishly and you wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement, when something in your brain clicked.

The click was about as loud as an atomic bomb falling on Hiroshima. You were sure everyone had to hear it.

It shut you up immediately. Your whole body froze, your mind buzzing uselessly, not a single thought staying long enough for you to actually understand it. Until two words got stuck, shining in red letters like a neon sign in your brain.

Holy. Shit.

“Excuse me,” you squeaked, grabbing his useless licence and mechanically rising from your seat, walking away.

The moment no one could see you as you got into a hallway, you broke into a run. You acted on instinct. You ran and you ended up in front of Ryan’s office, stumbling in without knocking and without an atom of oxygen left in your lungs.

Ryan’s neatly combed hair swayed as he snapped his head to the door, his eyes strict until they took the newcomer – hint: you – in, widening instantly.

He quickly jumped to his feet, pacing to you.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, voice filled with worries.

You weren’t able to answer, because—holy shit. Your eyes frantically scanned the room, unable to meet your friend’s gaze. “I-- I-“

A hand landed on your shoulder, your eyes immediately falling on it on instinct. Shit, you couldn’t breathe. Could you?

Ryan’s free hand found you chin, tilting your head so you faced him. “Hey, baby, look at me! What happened? Was someone too much of an asshole to you?”

“I’m not-- he’s-“

Ryan’s face screamed concern, but he had fixed it in a second, soothing smile on his lips. He led you to his sofa, the calming blue cushions enveloping you.

“Sit down on your ass and gimme that,” he maneuverer the document off the steely grip of your fingers, sitting next to you as he looked it over. “Huh, quite a looker this guy. So what did he do?“

“I—the- the licence says he was born in---in 1918,” you stammered, finally able to breathe in properly and speak.

Ryan squinted at the date and then rolled his eyes.

“Oh jeez, again? Why is it so hard to just get it right? I swear I’m gonna have to fire Sheryl, she’s a disaster. What’s wrong with her? It’s not like they would be making a licence for someone that old! There’s a photo goddammit!”

“Ry-Ry… he said he was 95.”

Another eye-roll was his answer. “Yeah, I can count. He would have been if he was born in 1918 instead of 1981.”

“No, you don’t-“ you licked your lips and swallowed against the lump that grew in your throat. Your voice was as shake as your hands. “He just told me that. That he really was 95.”

Your friend observed you silently for a beat, not following. And then realization hit him like a train.

“Oh. OH. No shit?!”

It was your turn to stare silently, your mind loud enough to make noise and fill the space of Ryan office.

“Damn, does he really look like that? Lucky bitch!”

“Ryan!” you yelped in surprise when his fist bumped your shoulder, almost knocking you off balance.

It worked though. It grounded you and threw you back to reality. You tried your best to calm your breathing, but damn. This guy… he was your soulmate. You just met your soulmate. And he wasn’t a grandpa. He didn’t weight 95 pounds either. You weren’t in a hotel, neither in a theatre.

No. The number was only about one tiny mistake— oh, ohhh shit, what was the first thing you had said to him? Oh fuck. Way to go, girl!

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked rubbing the spot he had punched.

“No!” you shot back immediately, your mind racing.

“You know what I mean. You look better now. Though I gotta say, so is he. His face really is quite easy on the eyes. How about the rest of him?”

Ry-Ry, your bi-side is showing.

You chuckled at the easy talk, the tension from your shoulders falling a bit.

“Well… yeah, he’s like a model. So out of my league…” you muttered, remembering your ogling. This guy was your soulmate? Wasn’t it a mistake?

Ryan was suspiciously quiet; normally you would expect him to scold you for selling yourself short. Instead, he was staring at the licence, his lips parted in silent shock.

What now?

“What?” you demanded, following his line of gaze.

Ryan just chuckled, the incredulous sound ringing, echoing in the quiet space. “Girl, I hate to break it to you, but I might not fire Sheryl just yet.”

Your eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“Remember that one time aliens were falling from the sky?”

You blinked in surprise at that question, not following his train of thoughts. “Uhm… yeah? Pretty hard to forget that…?”

You were lucky you hadn’t been smashed under a building that day. Many people in Manhattan were, some sadly not. So yeah, you remembered.

“You remember the waitress from the café talking after the incident?”

“Oh my god, Ry-Ry, just spill it! I’m not following!”

Your friend huffed in exasperation, shoving the licence in your face, his finger on the name.

Steven Grant Rogers. Yeah, you could read too.

“That name should ring a bell, you dumbass! Would you say that this guy is handsome enough to be Captain America?” he hissed, making your heart stop.

Oh. Oh shit.

OH SHIT.

Your brain short-circuited.

“Oh my god. He really is 95,” you breathed out, your brain somehow choosing the least logical reaction to this whole revelation.

Ryan laughed. “Ding-ding, we have a winner! Holy crap, baby, I think you just got yourself a superhero soulmate!”

And just like that, you started panicking again. You gulped, watching the driving licence as if it could blow up.

“Shit, Ry-Ry! What do I do?” you whispered, desperation soaking through. What were you supposed to do upon that revelation? Captain America was your freaking soulmate!

Ryan smiled at you reassuringly, patting your cheek. “Not coming back to your spot behind the counter today, that’s for sure.”

“But-“

“I’m going in. I think this place won’t blow up if I fill in for once. I sure hope I remember the process, though I’m probably not gonna be as efficient as you are.”

You didn’t know what to say. Hell, you didn’t know what to do! But yeah, not coming back to the jungle sounded good, especially given your frantic escape.

“You really would do that?” you asked hesitantly and Ryan just rolled his eyes. “But… Ryan, what the hell do I do?!”

Your bestie gave you a lopsided smile and a wink, patting your cheek patronizingly once more before heading to take over your workplace.

“Whatever you want, baby. Whatever you want.”

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While you were having your own freak-out, Steve was standing at the counter, dumb-struck.

He couldn’t believe it. You had actually said those words. And judging by your reaction to his own, he must have said yours. Which… yeah, congratulation, Rogers, you had given your Universe-chosen dame an amazing note on her skin. To be fair, so had she.

Incredible.

Impossible.

His soulmate was in this century. In this millennia. That was what he got for ever thinking he could escape fate; a slap right in his face.

Because while for several cherished moments, he basked in the light on his soulmate not considering the pairing with him the infamous mistake the words on his skin claimed… he soon learned that it didn’t mean no heartbreak for him.

You had taken an abrupt leave to the back of the office and never came back.

Few minutes later, a man emerged from the door you had disappeared into, taking your seat and without a second look on Steve’s ID, he explained that Steve would have to come here again.

Steve didn’t care for the process of getting his driving licence renewed in the slightest, barely listening. His gaze was at the door to the hall, opened ajar, the door you didn’t return from after learning he was meant to be your partner.

When he had seen you behind the desk, he had considered you a beautiful dame, certain his heart had skipped a beat when your eyes met his. The sight of you was burned into his brain, now forever as a painful memory.

Clearly, you didn’t want him. Not because he was sickly, 95 pounds or 5’7’’ or all bones. Not because your words to him were about a mistake. Not because he was from Brooklyn. No. Honestly, Steve didn’t know why, what could scare you off so soon. He just knew you had escaped at the mere sight of him.

With his mind fuzzy, he walked out of the building into the bright nearly midday sun, blaming the sharp rays for the sting in his eyes. He sighed, running his hand down his face, suddenly bone tired.

“Mr. Rogers?” a shy female voice addressed him, instantly making him turn around to its source.

His lips parted in awe. There you stood, your airy floral dress reaching your knees, played with by the softest breeze. Hesitant smile on your lips. A tiniest spark in your eyes as he subconsciously took two steps to you, just to prove you would still be there if he came closer. You didn’t disappear.

“Y-yes?” he stuttered, actually feeling like the small man he had used to be before the serum.

You quietly introduced yourself, meeting his eyes once more, effectively stopping his heart again. You offered your hand for him to shake and he, feeling like he was dreaming, something else possessing his body, kissed your knuckles as he would have done if meeting you seventy years ago.

The most adorable heat warmed your cheeks at the gesture and you casted your gaze down; but Steve did catch a glimpse of the earlier spark shining brighter before you hid yourself from him

“I… I believe we have a lot to talk about,” you whispered and he instinctively gave your hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and shifting a half step closer to you. The corners of his lips unwittingly turned up, something warm building up in his chest as you returned the smile with hesitance.

“Yes, I think we do.”

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Nicolas J. Fury was sitting in his office, waiting for the door to finally open. There was something bugging him – and that something was about 5’7’’ tall, had red hair and was doing whatever it wanted, messing with his business. On top of that, she left him waiting; he had requested her ten minutes ago and she still hadn’t arrived.

He couldn’t help but let his sarcasm show when she came eventually.

“Agent Romanoff. Thank you for coming. Now, care to explain me why did you insist on Rogers getting his driving license renewed in person when we have done it for him already?” he demanded, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk.

The agent just shrugged. “He needs to meet people.”

“Don’t give me this shit, Natasha! What are you not telling me?”

Slow smirk spread Natasha’s lips, perhaps a bit smug, but she didn’t say a word.

“Romanoff-“

“Alright! Jeez, Nick, you have to work on your patience when it comes to Rogers, I swear…” she teased him. However, at least she started talking. “I might have run his… words through the system Stark provided us.”

Realization dawned to Fury. There was only one system she could be talking about. The soulmate matching one. Insert the words of a person and it would search the database for a possible match; everyone’s words were being put into the database at their birth. It made SHIELD’s work easier in case criminals happened to have a soulmate; the connection was so unique it usually offered a weak spot even for the rotten people.

Nicolas Fury raised his eyebrow expectantly, while Natasha just watched him, amused as she had the upper hand. The man rolled his functioning eye and sighed exasperatedly. Why was he keeping her around again? Oh right, she was his best agent.

“Fine. Did you find a match?”

Natasha snorted. “I didn’t even have to look for a match. There aren’t many women with ‘But I really am 95’ written on their skin,” she explained dryly and Fury just wanted to growl, cursing mentally.

How had no one thought about using the database in the first place?! It had cost them a lot of money, okay? They had it for a reason!

“She clean?” he inquired instead or swearing out loud and Natasha scoffed.

“Like a whistle, not even a speed ticket, which is rather ironic. She’s boring, really – she’ll be perfect for him. Can I go now? I have an ass to kick.”

“…Rogers’?”

“Barton’s, actually. Have a good day, Director,” Natasha spun on her heels and headed to the exit gracefully.

“Hey, I want her file!” Fury complained, already knowing he wasn’t going to receive it from her.

“Find it yourself!” she threw over her shoulder cockily, her red hair swirling with the sudden movement of her head.

The director of SHIELD tried to keep his amusement in check, controlled by the irritation, but he lost. The corners of his lips twitched as the door clicked behind his best spy.

Why did he keep her around again?

He started the search for the words Natasha had said, sinking into his chair comfortably.

Alright, no doubt future Mrs. Rogers. Let’s see how boring you really are.

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Part 2 (originally this was only meant a one-shot)

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Tags: @cxptain @mermaidxatxheart @smilexcaptainx​

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Thank you for reading!!

[bokutokoutarou]

@tsukideshima​ asked: Not sure if this is an emergency request but can I have headcanons for tsuki, bokuto and suga with an s/o who has depression and on days it's bad she completely shuts down like barely getting off the bed to eat her meals and tries to sleep the enture day off? Thank you so much, my depressions has just been acting up and quarantine is not helping—

of course this counts as an emergency request! i really hope you feel better soon, and if you ever want to talk then i’m here :)

warning - mentions depression

[a/n] - i’m formatting my posts like this from now on instead of answering asks directly because tumblr’s being mean to me and is inserting a ‘read more’ right after the ask :(

⌜ •   °    +   °   •   ⌝

TSUKKI, BOKUTO, AND SUGA WITH A DEPRESSED S/O

masterlist

☆。*。☆。 Tsukishima Kei

Tsukishima’s no stranger to depressive-like symptoms, so that just makes him even more motivated to make sure that you don’t feel the same way

If you try to sleep in all day, he’ll straight up pick you up with no remorse and carry you out of bed

He may be a bit scrawny, but he can lift you up like it’s nothing

You’ll try to protest and squirm out of his hold, but there’s no way that he’s letting you win because:

“Nice try, [Y/N], but there’s no way you’re sleeping the whole day away on my watch”

If he ever notices that you’re not eating as much or that you’re skipping meals, he’ll go on a whole TANGENT about how your body needs nutrients to live

Once, during one of his rants about how you need to eat to survive, he made an offhand comment about how he wouldn’t know what he’d do without you alive and you both turned BRIGHT RED after what he said processed in your minds

“Kei, did you just say...” you trailed off, completely red in the face and speechless at his words

Tsukishima was completely stunned at what he said, but he didn’t try to take it back or deny it because it was true. He needed you just as much as you needed him

“Yeah, yeah I did,” he told you, and his lips curled upwards into one of his rare smiles that you had fallen in love with

Tsukki’s not very big on hugs or affection, but as awkward as he may be, he won’t hesitate to pull you into a hug if your depression is acting up

During quarantine, he’d try to cheer you up by sending you jokes and memes that are only funny because of how unfunny they are

Also, he’ll send you dinosaur memes because he’s a huge nerd and it’s adorable

Even though he tries to hide it sometimes, there’s no denying that he cares about you so much, and he will do anything to make sure that you’re okay

☆。*。☆。 Bokuto Koutarou

Honestly, if Bokuto’s around then there’s no use in even trying to stay in bed because this boy will find a way to get you up no matter what it takes

It’ll start off with him shaking you lightly and enthusiastically trying to convince you to get a fresh start to the day by waking up early

“RISE AND SHINE, [Y/N]!!!”

Of course, that never works, so then he’ll jump into the bed with you and start tickling you to try to wake you up

“STOP IT KOU,” you always say in between your uncontrollable giggles. “YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE ME PEE”

That method usually works, but one time it didn’t, so he texted Kuroo because he honestly didn’t know what to try next

Kuroo told him that he should play an alarm sound on his phone to straight up ANNOY you awake, and although Kuroo was half-joking, Bokuto actually listened

This boy straight up played the most ANNOYING alarm sound you’ve ever heard until you got so pissed off that you had to get out of bed and shut it off yourself

Kuroo almost pissed himself when you angrily texted him what Bokuto did

If Bokuto notices that you’re eating less because of your depression, then he’ll make you a “special” home-made meal that he thinks you can’t resist

Of course, Bokuto can’t cook for shit (although you’ll never tell him that), but you’ll end up eating the whole thing because you feel bad for him

Somehow Bokuto got the right result with the wrong formula, but hey, at least it worked

Bokuto will give you the BIGGEST hugs to cheer you up, and you can practically feel your serotonin boosting whenever he wraps his arms around you and peppers you with kisses

During quarantine, he’d spam you with the stupidest memes in an attempt to cheer you up, and he’d send you random selfies of him doing dumb stuff throughout the day to try and make you laugh

You always do because he’s so dumb that it’s adorable

Even though Bokuto’s kind of clueless sometimes, he just loves you so damn much and he means the best. He just wants to see you smile, because he can never be truly happy if he knows that you’re not

☆。*。☆。 Sugawara Koushi

Sugawara’s a literal sweetheart, but he’s not a pushover, ESPECIALLY when it comes to your mental health

He likes to brighten your day from the very beginning by bringing you breakfast in bed (as long as you promise to get up right afterwards), and unlike Bokuto, Sugawara can ACTUALLY cook

His meals are god-tier so you can’t even resist eating them even if your appetite decreases because of your depression

He’s literally getting you to eat and motivating you to get out of bed all at once

Suga always makes sure to check in on you and how you’re doing. He’s really understanding, and he always lets you know that he’s there for you no matter what

He’s so calming and therapeutic, so you find it extremely easy to talk to the boy about anything that you’re struggling with

Whenever your depression acts up, he tries to make you feel better by cuddling you and putting on a cheesy rom-com for you two to watch

He calls his cuddles “serotonin cuddles”. It’s literally the cheesiest thing ever and HE KNOWS IT, but that doesn’t stop him from calling them that

As much as you hate to admit it, you always feel so much happier whenever you’re wrapped in his warm embrace

During quarantine, he’d spam you with facetime calls to make sure that you’re doing alright

Also, he’ll make sure that you send pictures of your plate before and after you eat to make sure that you’re eating enough because he’s SUCH a mom

Suga honestly cares about you more than anything in the world, and he’s not afraid to show it

As long as you’re happy, he’s happy, and in his opinion, there’s NO better feeling than the feeling he gets in his chest whenever he sees you smile

[swervingkpoptrashcan]

I Wanna Be Your Favourite Boy - Felix (best friends to lovers fluff)

Summary: No one expected that acting for your friend’s film project would force you and your best friend, Felix, to act on your feelings. (lol)

Genre: Female reader, fluff, best friends to lovers AU, college AU, ft. Hyunjin

Word count: 1.4K

Note: The longer and more edited version of this blurb, the title and story is loosely based on the Rex Orange County song, Best Friend. I’m also a scriptwriting student and I LOVE dialogue so… I love Felix and also Hyunjin, tell me what you think and if there should be a part 2!

“Sorry, she can’t.”

You tear your eyes away from the cute boy in front of you, quickly glaring at your best friend who had just said the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard.

“Haha, you’re so funny Felix.” You replied in a (very obviously) forced joking tone, aggressively mouthing for Felix to cut it out.

You focus back on the boy in front of you, who’s fidgeting as he waits for your reply.

“Sure Hyunjin, just drop me a text and let me know when you need me.”

A smile grows on the boy’s face before he excitedly nods and bids you and Felix goodbye. You turn to face Felix who has a frown on his face as Hyunjin bumbles away.

“Why are you being mean to the poor kid, he just needs help for an assignment. Plus, aren’t you guys like friends?” You questioned.

A pout forms on Felix’s face, as he clings onto your arm and mutters, “Yeah, he’s in my dance team, but… He obviously likes you and I don’t like that.”

You couldn’t control your heart that picked up speed — it was difficult to not crush on Felix when he always pulled things like this, but you knew a relationship wouldn’t ever work out between the two of you. Felix just never seemed interested.

Although everyone thought you guys were dating, Felix would always deny any possibility of a relationship forming, replying with a firm, “We’re just friends”.

So you crack a smile at what he said, thinking that he was just protective over you since you had a terrible track record of relationships. You gave Felix’s head a pat before shoving him off your shoulder, him pouting and rubbing his head. 

“Anyway, why couldn’t Hyunjin ask me? I’m totally actor material. Psh, what a dumb excuse. He’s just too scared to ask you out on a date.” Felix grumbled, taking a sip of his tea. 

You tutted and shook your head, offering a bite of your cake to Felix so he would stop grumbling. Hyunjin was a film major, and needed a main lead for one of his class assignments. Though you didn’t know much about the film, he was a cute nice boy, and Felix’s friend, so you didn’t see any problems helping him out. 

“Just come with me if you’re so worried, I’m sure Hyunjin won’t mind.”

— 

Felix looked on in pure rage as Hyunjin talked to you. All Hyunjin was doing was rehearsing with you, demonstrating the actions the male lead — who was nowhere to be seen — was supposed to do. 

Stood by the camera equipment and the rest of the crew, Felix was far enough that he couldn’t hear the conversation happening. He could, however, see Hyunjin cozying up to you, stepping close and leaning down to look you in the eye as you struggled to hold back a laugh. When the pair of you look over, Felix quickly returns his gaze to check his empty phone lockscreen.

Unbeknownst to you, Felix was struggling to keep his feelings under wraps. Though it seemed so easy to just confess and call you his, he always saw the look you gave him whenever people asked, “Oh, why aren’t you guys dating”. Thinking you were uncomfortable, he came up with the bright idea to just deny any of these suggestions. The last thing he wanted to do would be to force his feelings on you and lose years of friendship.

Felix peeked and saw Hyunjin leave to talk to one of his crew members, leaving you standing in the shade under a tree, muttering to yourself. He walked over with your favorite drink, seeing your flushed face. 

“Tell me again how Hyunjin isn’t doing this to flirt with you?” He questioned, watching you slurp away at the ice cold beverage.

“Hyunjin’s just making sure I don’t mess up his project, that’s not flirting, dummy.” 

Felix shook his head at your lack of awareness, knowing full well what Hyunjin was up to. 

Except, he really didn’t. 

— 

“Felix probably wants to rip my head off right now.” Hyunjin states as he leaned towards you. 

You held back a laugh, shaking your head, “No, he’s like my biggest fan but it’s not like we’re dating or anything.” 

Both of you glance over to Felix who was looking at his phone, unbothered, just like you thought.

Hyunjin tuts and moves away from you. “No one buys that, by the way. As much as both of you say no way, we all know you guys like each other.” 

You blushed at his words but couldn’t deny anything. Hyunjin shot you a knowing look before he got called away by his producer. 

—

“No way dude, are you out of your mind! I’m not actor material!” Felix argued. 

By a stroke of luck (or well, misfortune), the male lead was down with a terrible case of stomach flu. Hyunjin had literally gotten on his knees to beg Felix to save his project, but the boy was stubborn and rejected him. With only a few hours left of sunlight, Hyunjin just needed a new lead to do some lines and Felix was the only choice.

“Please! I know you helped with her lines, why not just act with her then? Isn’t that just perfect?” Hyunjin pleaded, even going as far as to give you his puppy dog eyes.

You tugged at Felix’s arm and he leans down to hear you whisper, “Just do it and I’ll owe you a favour.” 

His eyebrows raise at that proposal, and he instantly agrees.

“Hyunjin, you owe me big time.” You smirked.

— 

Hyunjin watches the camera monitor as you and Felix complete yet another scene without any issue. Not surprising anyone, the chemistry between the two of you was perfect. 

“Okay, last scene, let’s move!” Hyunjin announced.

As the crew packs up, Felix reviews the script for the last scene. You bumble over and the both of you make your way to the next location, a classroom on the other side of campus. 

“I can’t believe I have to be all couple-y with you.” You joked, reading through the script.

Felix stopped walking, staring at you. “What does that mean?”

“I mean, if it was with some stranger it would be easier. But you’re like my best friend and I have to ‘almost’ kiss you? That’s so awkward.” You explained, tugging him along the hallway.

While what you said made sense, Felix couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart, but he could only let out a sigh and get dragged along. 

Upon reaching the empty classroom and deciding to rehearse the ‘difficult scene’ before everyone else got there, the pair of you sit criss-cross applesauce on some tables, facing one another. 

“You’re still my favourite girl. But...” Felix said.

His gaze was piercing and you had to force yourself to remember that it was just the script. It wasn’t real.   

“What?” You asked.

“I wanna be the one that makes your day.” He replied, scooting nearer to you.

His knees bump yours.

“The one you think about as you lie awake.” He leans in.

His hands are on either side of you.

“I wanna be your favourite boy.” He gently places his forehead on yours.

His breath fans across your face.

Your heart is absolutely pumping at this point and you’re sure Felix could feel your heartbeat through your forehead. You blink hard, trying to remember your next line but with Felix literally breathing on your face, it escapes you.

“I want to claim that favour now.” Felix mumbles.

Felix’s eyes flicker down to your lips, then up to your now open eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks.

You could have sworn your jaw dropped to the floor. Were you dreaming? Did you forget some lines? Was this in the script? It didn’t matter what breakdown your brain was going through because you ended up nodding. 

A soft smile spreads across Felix’s face, as he closes the gap between you two. His soft lips land on yours and you feel the warmth of his lips for a split second before he pulls away. 

Felix sees the dazed look on your face and chuckles, hopping off the table. Right on cue, Hyunjin comes crashing into the room with his trolley full of equipment.

“What did I miss?”