#managed to write 500 words the other day so i think maybe i'm getting over it

[twstfanblog]

*~500 Followers Fic: WaterPark Episode PT 2/Vignettes~*

A/N: Ignore me taking so long to get this out, AGAIN. I've been fighting to write for the past few weeks for no reason. That's a lie, it's because I wanna write things that are so far in my canon they'd make no sense if I did post them XD I was also consumed trying to finish my Halloween fic Word Count: 8K Warnings: They/She OC, headcanons on the sexuality of the characters Main Pairings: Malleus/Yuu/Jamil/Azul, Alluded-Riddle/Floyd, Jade/Trey, Leona/Ruggie, Cater/Idia, Vil/Rook, Sebek/Silver, Firstie Poly

Part 1

Now that Yuu was free from their duty of making sure the other students were checked into the park, they were able to meet up with the other first-years. They all sat huddled around, turning their lounge chairs into a circle as they planned out their day.

Yuu hummed, looking at the small map of the park Ace had managed to find, “Damn this park is big. There’s like forty slides in this place…”

Epel smirked, eyes roaming over the map and already planning out his route, “Ah’m gonna ride everythin’.”

Ortho had already scanned the map, making sure he noted every location of bathrooms and the park's first-aid station, “That could be detrimental to your health if you ride all forty in a span of our six-hour stay…”

“No pain, no gain.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, tucking his ears into the water cap he had pulled from his bag, “What are you trying to gain…?”

Leaping into Yuu’s lap, Grim smiled at the map while Yuu tucked his own ears into a water cap, “I'm gonna ride everything! And try all the food at every restaurant and stall! And-”

Yuu gripped Grim around his middle, holding him in the air and maneuvering him so that they could stare at the excited monster, “You will die. I need you to know this. If you do all that shit, you will die.”

Ace snickers, “Let him try. Maybe he’ll actually learn a lesson in gluttony for once.”

Deuce raised an eyebrow, glaring at the other Heartslabyul solider, “He’ll learn his lesson in death…?”

Huffing, Jack crossed his arms, “Alright, but seriously. Do we plan on sticking together for the day or are we splitting off until lunch?”

“Hmmm…” Yuu points to the largest slide closest to their rest area, “How about we all do this big slide together just to get used to the water temperature? And we can go on more rides together until we find other stuff we’d rather do. Because, Epel, I adore you. I’m not riding forty slides for you.”

“Fair.”

Deuce nods, “Sounds like a plan. We can still meet up for lunch and touch base, maybe go on more slides together.” He looked to his side, opening his mouth to ask Sebek if he had a slide he wanted to try only to see the serious expression on the half-fae’s face, “Sebek? You ok?”

“...” Sebek sighed, closing his eyes before looking to the side, “I don’t think I can spend much time with you all today…”

The others all whine a bit, even Yuu and Grim, asking Sebek why he couldn’t spend one day not directly attached to Malleus.

Yuu huffs, rolling her eyes, “I’m pretty sure Malleus asked you to just enjoy the park away from him today-”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about!”

Jack leaned closer to Sebek, his hand pressing to the other’s forehead with a worried expression, “Are you having a heat stroke.”

Ace quickly passed over his water bottle, “Here, have a sip.”

Sebek blushed, smacking both of his boyfriends’ hands away, “Enough! I’m concerned about Silver’s enjoyment in the park…”

…

The group as a whole looked over to another cluster of lounge chairs. Silver and Lilia were under an umbrella, Lilia applying a heavy layer of sunscreen to both himself and an already half-asleep Silver.

Sighing again, Sebek called the other’s attention, “Lilia-sama doesn’t do well in high heat nor direct sunlight. He was happy to come along even though he wouldn’t be able to do much. But, because Lilia isn’t able to enjoy the park, Silver doesn’t want to leave his father alone for the day. Plus…the sleeping…”

Epel groaned, seeming to finally make the connection, “Oh yeah…sleep disorders and water ain't a good mix to try…”

“I know we all planned on spending as much time together today as possible, but…I will most likely spend my time with Silver to make sure he can enjoy the park and not potentially drown.”

Yuu nods, “Fair and valid.” She smiles, slinging an arm around Sebek’s neck and ignoring the half-fae scowling at her, “So, the plan is to do the big slide together to break the ice so to speak. Then you can ask Silver if he wants to go on a few slides with us before we all start to break off until lunch.”

“...” Sebek huffed, “I like this plan.”

Floyd had instantly dragged Riddle toward the wave pool, a number of students already being swirled in the man-made current. The mer had been quick to assume his other form, his swimshorts snapping open from the inner seem to allow his tail minimal constriction, “Come on, Goldfishie! I wanna swim with you~!”

Riddle had agreed at first. He planned on swimming, riding the slides and simply enjoying this new experience. But as he walked deeper into the chilly water, his stomach started to roll. His reflection stared back at him as he had an embarrassing epiphany.

Swimming in a lazy circle, Floyd floated closer to a still Riddle, “Goldfishie~? Come deeper in the water, swimming in shallow water is annoying…”

“I can't swim.”

…

Floyd flipped himself over, his back in the water as he drifted to be in Riddle's line of sight. He almost asked if he was joking, only to see Riddle's cheeks flushed and brows creased in what Floyd coined his ‘thinking face’, “Wait are you serious?”

Riddle huffed, turning his head away, “I…I just realized…”

“How do you not know how to swim?”

“I never needed to learn!”

“You're seventeen?”

Riddle huffed and nearly stomped his foot, thankfully realizing it was a bad idea to do in thigh deep water, “Don't you judge me-”

A buzzer sounds, both Riddle and Floyd's attention being called to the far wall of the pool. Symbols eched into the wall start glowing, causing the waves to swell suddenly and easily sweep numerous others into the current and higher into the air. The wave hit Riddle hard, sending him tumbling back into the water as a prisoner with Floyd diving after him. Luckily, the waves calmed quickly, allowing Floyd to lift Riddle out of the water to take a desperate series of breaths.

Riddle hacked and coughed, hands gripping onto the clawed arms holding him up, “UNHAND ME, I'M GETTING OUT!”

Floyd cooed but still swam Riddle to the edge of the pool, letting him grip at the stone and pull himself out, “Aw~ poor Goldfishie…I really wanted to relax in the water with you though…” He thinks, looking at the map of the water park before smiling to Riddle, “I have an idea~!”

“Just help me out of this hell pool!”

Jade and Floyd quickly rushed off once their trio had found a comfortable spot to set as a rest space. Each twin having plans to find their respective Heartslabyul lover, leaving Azul to sit under the shade alone. And while he could enjoy the warm weather, maybe people watch or use his phone to review the past sales reports of the lounge. Instead, his eyes caught the bold numbers along a sign. For a few seconds he felt his brain stall once he fully understood what the numbers said. Now he sat on the lounge chair, staring unblinking at the price sign of a small ice cream stand.

Soon, Yuu walked up to Azul with a smile and holding something behind their back. They moved to speak only to stop at seeing the blank look on Azul's face, “Um…baby, you doing okay? Can you hear me-”

Azul reached out, grabbing Yuu by the underside of their swim top and yanking them down to his eye level, “ My pearl, what does that sign say?” He pointed across the way, his other hand leaving Yuu's top and gripping them by the face to make sure they were looking in the correct direction.

Yuu blinked, raising an eyebrow at the price “...Oh. Nice seeing park prices are the same even in other worlds.” They laughed lightly, smiling at Azul's expression.

“How are they getting away with charging $15 for a single scoop of ice cream?”

Giggling, Yuu leaned more into Azul's hand, “Maybe it's got gold leaf or diamonds in it.”

Azul growled lightly, turning Yuu's face to look at them directly, “You know very well that gold leaf costs basically nothing! Plus that diamond would have to be practically worthless in quality or size! Why even bother!?”

Yuu doesn't reply past making a kissy face to Azul, smiling when the second-year sighed and leaned forward to press their lips together.

Pulling away, Azul made the mental note to look more into the pricing practices for such parks, “Well, that blatant theft aside, how may I-why do you have a gun?”

Azul had finally taken notice of the brightly colored water rifle in Yuu's possession. While a water gun was clearly better than an actual gun, that didn't make him feel any safer.

Yuu smiles, holding the toy up and shaking it so that Azul could hear it was full, “I borrowed it from Vil.”

“Why does Vil have a gun?”

“Oh calm down, it's filled with sunscreen.” Yuu leaned over and pressed another kiss to Azul's cheek. Pulling away they pumped the water gun once, an ominous click sounding, “Now run.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Trey sighed, closing his eyes and adjusting his glasses, “Jade, I'm not getting in the water.”

Jade pouted heavily, a clear expression of disappointment so exaggerated it was almost believable, “Trey-san…so heartless, so cruel. To deny me the chance to swim with someone I hold so dear…boo…boohoo.”

Pointing to the shallower end of the pool, the few other mers and students keeping a wide distance from Jade, Trey spoke with a smile, “And the fact you've been bullying everyone who goes past the 6ft mark?”

“I'm not making anyone stay in the shallow end.” Jade fluttered his eyelashes, swimming in a small loop and having his tail flip in a teasing motion, “But if you were to…come in the water, I may be a bit friendly.”

“Jade, I'm not going to let you drown me a little just so you can give me CPR.”

Jade keeps his smile, but looks off to the side from Trey's eyes, “Oh, I could…never-”

“Do you want to come with me to the lazy river? Kalim told Cater that this park has a rather extensive one.”

“...” Jade huffed, glaring at the other students cowering on the other side of the pool, “I suppose…this pool isn't as entertaining as I had hoped.”

“Did you try the wave pool?”

“It was already packed when I looked…” sighing, Jade moves to pull himself from the waters, “Just give me a moment to change back into my human form. It takes a bit longer when wet-”

An arm loops around Jade’s waist, suddenly pulling him from the waters and over Trey's bare shoulder. The second year was stunned, eyes wide while Trey maneuvered him into a comfortable position for them both. Trey lets out a huff of air, his free hand picking up Jade’s slack tail before he starts to walk.

“Hm. Only a bit of my Unique Magic and you're pretty comfortable to carry. Are you eating enough?”

“How many children do you want?”

Trey's response was to laugh, leaving a flustered Jade’s question unanswered. An atmosphere that was easily switched once they reached the lazy river. It was as big as Cater said it was, multiple waterways and a number of functional manmade grottos to splash water onto those in the river. A few other students were in the current, but what gave them pause was Riddle and Floyd.

While Riddle was in one of the park's single-person inflatable tubes, Floyd was behind him, swimming at a breakneck pace to zip around the water. Riddle was screaming, struggling to keep a hold of the tube while demanding Floyd ‘STOP’.

Jade laughed, placing a hand over his mouth, “Oh, that looks delightful. Trey-san, we should try it.”

Trey kept his smile, gently tossing Jade into the shallow water and moving to grab his own tube, “Well, I guess this is what my day is gonna be…”

Leona had no plans to get in any type of water today. A fact that made Ruggie deflate, yet respect his wishes to not join him in exploring the park. And, sadly, instead of going with him, Cheka decided he wanted to stay with his dearly beloved uncle.

Sighing, Leona stretched himself on the lounge chair he had claimed as his own, the surrounding area completely empty since everyone knew to stay away from a sleeping lion.

Well…most everyone.

Leona groaned hearing Cheka perk up in excitement, his little tail whacking his uncle in the face from where he was sitting.

Cheka waved, smiling wide as he recognized the tall blonde walking over to their area, “Hi Mr.Vil! Hi! I haven't seen you in forever!”

Vil smiled from behind his shades, placing his bag in a chair beside Leona before he kneels to Cheka’s level. He quickly pulls out a bottle of sunscreen, pouring a bit of the liquid into his palm before he started to rub it onto Cheka’s cheeks, “Hello, Cheka. It's very nice to see you, too. You've grown much taller.”

Giggling, Cheka let Vil smooth the pleasant-smelling liquid onto his face and exposed arms, “Thank you, I ate all my veggies last month, even though they tasted bad. Do you and my uncle still kiss?”

Malleus, who had followed Vil and placed himself on Leona's other side, snorted. Catching the one-eyed glare the beastman threw his way, the fae prince simply laid on his front to sunbathe.

Vil sighed, opening the umbrella closest to their group before sitting in the shaded area, “No, Cheka. We don't do that anymore. We don't like each other like that now.”

Cheka hummed before nodding his head, as though Vil had delivered news from on high, “That's good. You shouldn’t kiss people you don't like…” He looked past Vil, climbing over his lap and sitting on Leona’s back to point directly in Malleus’s face, “Who’s this?”

Leona snickers, speaking before Malleus could, “A lizard.”

Cheka gasps loudly, staring at Malleus with a new sense of wonder, “Really! You’re a really big lizard! I like lizards! There’s a bunch around the castle in the middle of the day because it’s so sunny! They run really fast because I chase and roar and them like this- RAWR!!!”

…

Malleus blinks, the sound of Vil and Leona struggling to hold in their laughter as he stared into the beaming face of an innocent child. A child that just roared in his face, “...That was a very impressive roar for one of your size…”

“Thank you!” Cheka spread himself out on Leona’s back, his chin resting right between the older beastman’s ears, “I practiced.”

Walking the park was somehow the worst thing to ever happen to him. Not his overblot, not being nearly sucked dry of magic, not even being almost smooched to death by a very desperate ghost. But the combo of a blasting hot sun, open toed footwear, and the fact he was forced to use every braincell he had to take the ‘most camable shots’ of Cater taking his selfies, Idia wondered if the universe was getting back at him for attempting global genocide. He wondered if it had to be so cruel…

He knew he couldn't complain. He helped Cater with his blog a lot since they officially started dating; editing, getting him access to music for videos, taking photos with his freakish height stat.

A collection of yells, whooping, and splashes calls his attention. Idia grimaces at the group of students being launched into a pool from a slide. Loud extroverts, jovial casuals. A water park was such an attribute difference than his cozy room with his set up. Even under his coat, past the layers or sunscreen he put on before even leaving his room, Idia could feel his skin cells burning under the unforgiving sun.

Cater’s fiery curls and smile could only enchant him for so long. The fear, the dread building. He's seen the videos, people filming their trips on waterslides. The very fact Cater was using him as another POV camera for B-Roll only pointed to the fact his boyfriend was going to make him get on a slide at some point. He just hasn't said when or which.

Biting his lip, Idia made the choice to just bite the bullet and stop in his tracks, “Can the slide we go on please not be too high? Or have any crazy turns? I know you'll probably want different angles but, I really don't do well all wet and this jacket will only go from the weight of one byte to a kilobyte if I get dunked so-”

“Idia, what are you talking about?”

Cater had stopped, looking at Idia with a sense of mild bewilderment. He blinked, his phone still held up to capture the perfect angle for a selfie.

“Um…” Idia fidgets, looking to the side before pulling his phone out, tapping on it with quick fingers before his text-to-audio voice calls out, “I thought you’d want to go on a slide for ‘camable’ shots. I'm just begging it’s not too wild a slide…”

“...” Cater nearly topples over, bending forward and cackling so loud multiple people had turned and stared at the duo. Calming, Cater stepped closer to cup Idia’s chin and bringing him down to press their lips together. Pulling away he laughed again, “Idia, I’m not getting in the water. I spent two hours just on my hair for today. I’m not getting all messed up and going up a bunch of stairs for a single shot that might not look good. Maybe at the end of the day…but not anytime soon.”

Idia stuttered, being dragged behind Cater while the other junior raised his phone up to line his selfie back up.

“Now, come on. There’s an ivy wall somewhere in this park and I will find it…”

Leona groans, his brow twitching in annoyance as Cheka whined and pulled on his ears.

“Unca! Unca! UUUUUUUNCAAAAAAAAAA!”

Vil spoke up, turning the page of his book from under his parasol, “Leona, I believe your nephew requests your attention.”

“No? Really?” Leona let out a deep sigh, rolling over on the lounge chair and managing to catch the falling child with one arm, “What? It's been an hour.”

“Ouji-Tan! I wanna go play! Come play with me!” Cheka pouted, slapping his open palms against Leona's chest.

“Go play then…” Leona tried to roll back over, gently slipping Cheka to the pavement only to groan when Cheka started to yank at his hair.

“Noooooooooo! I wanna go in the water with Unca! Unca! Uncaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

Cheka had devolved into simply yelling, taking deep breaths before continuing to shout and tug at one of Leona's braids.

Malleus hummed, cracking an eye open to the scene only a foot away from him, “Beastmen child rearing is rather odd…”

Leona growled, pushing up from the lounge chair and scooping the child up in one fluid motion before he started to walk away from the lounge area. Cheka squirmed around, Leona piecing together that his nephew was not only bored but overheating. A quick dip was the easiest solution. Since the wave pool was out of the question and the normal pool was packed, all that was left was the lazy river.

He stood at the edge of the water, watching as a group of students floated closer. Rosehearts and Clover both lounging on innertubes, their respective Leeches circling around them in full forms.

Riddle perked up, seeing his fellow housewarden standing at the side of the river, “Ah! Leona, how can I-”

Leona barely moved, tossing Cheka into the air with his one arm and letting the child arch to splash into the water.

A moment of silence passed, the river group staring wide eyed as they watched a child disappear under the water. When Cheka doesn't resurface instantly, Trey called out to Leona concerned.

“Can he swim!?”

…

Leona glances down at the water, waiting silently while the two Heartslabyul students start panicking. Luckily, the bright orange ball at the bottom of the river started to swim up and break through the surface. Cheka paddled around making over exaggerated shivering sounds.

“It's cold!”

“Yeah, he knows.” Leona turned on his heel, the unspoken task of watching his nephew hung in the air as he walked away.

“Thanks for carrying the tube, Jack!”

“It's not even that heavy…”

Sebek scoffed under his breath, still mad the large tube had unbalanced him and made him fall, “It's ridiculous how big a four person tube is! Could this even fit in the slide!?”

Yuu hummed, looking at the large pipe of the slide beside them as they climbed the stairs to the top, “I would think so. Since that's kinda the whole point you know.”

Sebek had opened his mouth, either to actually respond or rise to Yuu's small jab, Jack didn't let him speak, “Why did you two want to ride this slide with us specifically? Didn't Ace and Deuce get in line before us since we had to wait for a four person tube?”

Epel mumbled, waving his boyfriend's question off as he and Yuu quickly raced up the stairs. At the top, positioning into the small pool before the mouth of the slide, the attendant looked…concerned when Yuu and Epel instructed them to sit on the opposite side of the tube from them.

Holding onto one of the handrails of the tube, the attendant gave both Jack and Sebek worried glances, “You um…you guys sure about this seating arrangement?”

“Just release us already, human!”

“Alright…your funeral…”

Only as he and Sebek descended into the mouth of the slide did Jack realize a few key things. One, physics was a subject he was decent at. Two, this slide had a large bulb filled with water half-way through after a drop. Three, he and Sebek were on one side of this tube and they both weighed much more than Epel and Yuu combined, “...Fuck.”

The resulting screams reached the three lounging juniors. Only Leona perked up at hearing the sudden increased intensity of the four very familiar voices before silence seemed to ring out. 

Vil spoke, not looking up from his book, “Were those ours?”

“...Yep.”

“Were those ‘broken bone’ screams?”

Malleus hummed, tilting his head but not moving elseway, “I don't believe so…”

Vil turned the page of his book, grabbing his bottle of ice water to sip, “They're fine then…”

A few minutes later, Sebek and Jack had walked over still dripping wet. The two taller boys had Epel and Yuu over their respective shoulders. While Jack had sat Epel down beside Vil, the cackling freshman having to lean against his housewarden’s chair. Sebek dropped a laughing, sopping-wet Yuu onto Malleus’s back before walking away without a word.

Leona raised his head, looking at the two still laughing freshman, “What did you two even do?”

Yuu all but cried into Malleus’s hair from how loud they were laughing, “We…we did a flip…”

Lilia sighed, waving a hand in front of his face as he sat in the shallow water opening of the lazy river, “Such a fun place…it's a shame it has to be so hot…”

It was nearly lunchtime, so it was only right to gather his charges and make sure they all managed to have a meal before the food area was overwhelmed. Malleus was easy to find, a large black mass lounging around in the sun. The real challenge was finding Silver and Sebek. While he was happy that his boy wasn't stuck lazing around with him, he could only worry not able to find him In the water park.

Luckily, Lilia had ran into Kalim, the Asim hier carrying the youngest Savanna prince on his shoulders after somehow gaining responsibility for him. Kalim had gleefully told him where he last saw Silver and Sebek, and that they were most likely still there. Parting ways, Kalim had invited Lilia to join them in the children's area after lunch.

He didn't have to wait long, chuckling lightly at the two underclassmen floating in the river.

Silver was asleep, but safely floating on a tube in a comfortable position. Sebek floated behind him completely face down in the water, hands lazily resting on Silver's shoulders. Lilia walked deeper into the river, standing in the path of the two guards. Seeing how neither moved nor noticed him, he could only giggle a bit more.

“Oh, dear…well…I have no choice then…” clearing his throat, Lilia narrowed his eyes and yelled, “SILVER! SEBEK!”

Silver shot up, nearly headbutting Lilia only to fall face first into the water as the general dodged. At the same time, Sebek had jerked and flailed in the water. A cloud of bubbles broke through the water as he jolted upright and saluted.

“SIR!”

Silver stood up in the water after getting his bearings, saluting as well, “Sir!”

Lilia laughed, “I’m happy to see you boys are relaxing on this lovely day. Now come out of the water, it's almost time for lunch!”

Yuu walked around the park, taking in the sights and sounds. They had made a quick stop to where the teachers were all gathered, asking if what Azul had told them earlier that day was true or not. Crewel had been too excited to explain what the numerous advancements in potions and chemistry had done in only a few decades. Allowing rapid growth and processing plants to be used as natural filters in real time. Making such clean and non-chlorine filled waters that were safe for every species.

For nearly five minutes they were trapped in Crewel's too happy gaze before Sam had distracted him with a bottle of suspiciously already opened scotch. Trein had shooed them away while Crewel tried to yank the bottle out of Sam's hands, telling them to drink plenty of water and to get out of the sun when they could. So walking around the park it was, sipping on a blue raspberry slushie and seeing who they could find to bother.

They had to do a double take as they spotted a messy braided bun. Calling out his name they rushed over before they could lose him in the crowd.

Jamil turned, raising an eyebrow as his datemate ran over and stared at him in astonishment. He glanced over to the side, waiting for her to speak, but seeing how they weren't he tilted his head, “Yes?”

“Where the fuck have you been!? I don't think I've seen you since you checked in?”

“I've been enjoying the park, hayati. That was the whole point of the trip wasnt it?”

“Well…yeah. But I haven't seen you, in like…hours… are you good?”

Jamil smiles, raising a fist to his mouth to laugh before leaning over to peck Yuu on the cheek, “I'm fine. I really have been enjoying myself. This day turned out to be more relaxing than I thought it'd be.”

Yuu blushes from his kiss, PDA from Jamil was rare and treasured. They press their slushie to their cheek, “Kalim hasn't been…well, Kalim? His top stay on so far?”

“Don't know, I only saw him briefly in another lunch line. But, he seemed to be doing ok.”

“...” Yuu pressed the slushie to Jamil's neck, ignoring the viper hissing and trying to escape the cold touch, “Are you fucking dying of heat stroke? Who are you!?”

Taking the drink from Yuu's hand, Jamil glared, “That's cold. Yuu, this park was already vetted by the Asims; a second look is only more thorough than the first with Kalim’s family. Since Kalim, the heir, is here, no doubt they sent much more security detail than normal. Just because most of the other students can't see them doesn't mean they aren’t there. And lastly, Cheka is here. Kalim actually engages all his brain cells to keep children both entertained and safe in his care. He's literally more safe and functional than normal so long as Cheka remains attached to him”

He hands the drink back, taking the time to flick Yuu directly in the center of their forehead, ignoring their whining as he speaks, “I'm having fun, don't worry about me. Just be sure to reapply sunscreen.” Jamil hugs them, one-armed and brief before he turns to walk away.

Yuu mumbles under their breath, speaking around the straw of their icy, “I don't need sunscreen-”

Though it was mumbled, Jamil heard them and whipped around to sprint toward them. Yuu screamed, the shriek sliding into a burst of hysterical laughter as they ran from the vice warden.

Deuce hummed, brows creasing as he and Ruggie walked over the multi-colored stone bridge that led to a new area of the park, “Isn't this…trespassing?”

Ruggie snorted, looking over his shoulder at the Heartslabyul first year, “I mean, Kalim’s family bought the park for the day; we can go wherever we want.”

“Really…?”

Sighing, Ruggie pats deuce on the back as they walk through the brightly colored gate of the park's kiddie area, “Don't think too hard about it. Kalim sure didn't when he boltcut the locks off…”

Kalim had almost gleefully explained to anyone who asked how he had magiced up a pair of bolt cutters to break the chains and locks of the park's kiddie area. It was only logical in his mind, since he plucked Cheka from Riddle and Trey's care in the lazy river, he had to take the five-year-old to the age-appropriate area.

The park was big in its own right, and while the children's area was smaller it still had the size to hold a hundred or so people comfortably. The area was whimsical, water spouts shaped as various aquatic and tropical items. Bright colors of every hue at every corner, making it almost an eye strain to both Ruggie and Deuce.

Deuce oo-ed, looking around the space and laughing at a rotating fish that squirted water into the air, “This is a lot, but really cute. I can see how kids love it here…”

Ruggie snickered, looking over at Kalim, Cheka, and Lilia playing on the massive jungle gym and spraying each other with stationary water guns, “Money really buys a plethora of experiences. The kids back home would never believe this place, just from the amount of water alone.”

“Ah…water is scarce in your town?”

“Not so much ‘scarce’. But we have other ways of staying cool than using fresh clean water; that's for cooking and cleaning.”

Nodding, Deuce looked around the space, “I guess when you put it that way…a water park does feel like a waste. But it has been pretty fun, right, Bucchi-senpai? I've never been to one before so I've been trying to go on everything.”

Ruggie hummed, turning a wheel and then sputtering when a ring overhead turned in tandum and dropped water on his head, “Yeah, it's fun. Just really reminds me how many rich people I've been around. I've only gone on a few slides because I've been…a little overwhelmed.”

Deuce nodded, closing his eyes, “I know what you mean. The queendom doesn't get that hot and even when it did mom and I were able to cool down with just ice lollies. But, thinking about how valuable a resource water is for some people…a water park seems kinda wasteful.”

They both sigh, Ruggie muttering good naturally under his breath, “Rich people-”

A loud buzzer made both of them jump. Deuce was well aware of the wave pools buzzer, an auditory warning to the incoming currents.  But looking around, neither could see what was coming. Only the gleeful squealing of Cheka makes them look up. The other three guests on the jungle gym all smiling and pointing upward. Deuce and Ruggie both look at the top of the gym, only now noticing the large bucket witht he park’s logo on it tipping over. The rush of water hit both boys hard and fast. Deuce was able to keep himself standing, sputtering and shaking his head to get the water out of his face. Ruggie wasn’t so lucky. The Savanaclaw boy having been knocked down and nearly waterboarded before the onslaught was over.

Ruggie coughs, sitting up and flicking his ears and brushing his hair out of his face, “This place is for the kids!?”

Cater tapped at his phone, screening through his photos and deleting ones that weren’t up to his standards immediately. Beside him, Idia was crouched before an electric keypad with his own phone connected to it via a cable. A few minutes passed before the previously red light turned green, a pleasant ding sounding as the door's lock disengaged, “Got it…”

Humming, Cater pockets his phone and holds the now unlocked door open for both of them, “Awesome, babes! That felt like it took longer than normal though…”

Idia shook his head, putting his phone back into his pocket as he followed Cater through the restricted area, “I was kinda impressed honestly; security was no real end-game event in difficulty, but it was pretty interesting how they structured it…” he smiled, his face looking smug, “Wanted to play with it a little…”

Cater snickered, bumping shoulders with the other third-year, “Bully.”

The two walk down the stone hallway, finally entering a large area of shallow waterways brimming with faintly glowing plants. The large foliage growing out of the troughs and interlocking under steel grate walkways. It was peaceful, the sound of water gently trickling through the park's systems. Small fireflies flew lazily through the air, repeatedly blinking as they went.

Ooh-ing, his phone already recording the area as he walked deeper into the room, “OM7, this place is amazing! The other influencers are gonna be #somadcraycraywithjel-layforcaycay!”

Idia sighed from his spot, inching away as a number of fireflies mistook his hair as a beacon, “Have I ever given you my opinion on your hashtags…?”

“Sorry~. Can't hear you over the sound of all the cute pictures I'm taking~.” Cater smiled, winking toward Idia as he held his phone high to take another 30 selfies in rapid succession. But, he blinks, his expression turning into one of surprise before he turned his phone camera toward Idia, “Babes, take your jacket off a bit?”

The other third-year instantly tried to hide in his jacket. Even fully covered he briefly brought his arms up to shield his chest from Cater’s focused eyes, “Why?”

“Ah. No, wait. Yeah, keep the jacket on; it's good since the background is so dull compared to you.” Cater moved around his shy boyfriend, the audible click of his camera going off only making Idia squirm more, “Don't move so much.”

“Why are you taking my picture…?” Idia blushed, trying to hide in his hair and hood as Cater teasingly pushed the phone directly into his face, “C-Cater!”

Cater chuckles, finally pulling away to look over the newest batch of photos while he twirls a strand of hair, “Sorry~. I couldn't help it. You look really good in this lighting…”

“...” Idia glared softly from behind his hair, “Don't post those…”

“Don't worry…” Cater leaned into Idia, pulling the other third-year down to whisper against his lips, “You know any pic of you is #MINE…”

Idia hair had flared for a brief moment, the electric blue overtaken by a soft bubblegum pink before it faded to his edges. He laughed nervously, looking away from Cater, “Wh-What kinda game plan are you even playing at…?”

“Well~...Since you were such a good sport today and helped me get all the Magicam shots I wanted. I thought we could chill out here, away from everyone else. Maybe makeout a little-”

“Yes, please.”

Waiting in lines was a factor Epel hadn't accounted for when he said he was going to get on every slide. He sighed, resting his palm against his face as he looked over the park from the tall walk up tower, the people below slowly growing smaller and smaller as he and Rook climbed higher.

“Monsieur Pom, the line is moving. Come along.”

Epel turned to Rook, walking behind the third-year, “Thanks for hold the tube for us, Rook. Those things get annoyingly heavy after a few hours…”

Rook chuckled, the two person tube looped over his shoulder, “It is no issue. I want to thank you for agreeing to ride this slide with me. Trey was my original target, but his beau would not allow him out of the river without him…”

“Yeah, the Leech twins are…really aggressive in the water Ah’m learning…” Epel had simply tried to ask Riddle if he had more sunscreen he had passed out among his dorm and where to find it. Deuce lost his tube, Ace needed an extra coating, and Epel honestly wanted a tube just to avoid Vil sniping him on the back of the neck with his ice cold sunscreen potion. He had barely walked into the lazy river before he was being round house slapped by a beefy eel tail.

“Ah…Oui. At least you landed further into the river and not on the pavement like moi…”

Epel turned to his senior, opening his mouth to make another comment only to stop and then hum, “Ah. Rook-senpai, hold still you have something on your back.”

“Oh?”

“Ah’ll get it.” Epel brushes at the center of Rook’s back, trying to remove the collection of spots that seemed to suddenly appear on his skin. But seeing they weren’t moved, Epel rubbed at the skin harder only to lean in, “What is on yur back…?”

Rook looked over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in an expression of surprise, “My back? I don’t remember laying down anywhere.”

“Yeah, It’s like a bunch of dots…wait.” Epel leaned in closer, squinting his eyes as he noticed even more darken speckles, “Are those…Are those freckles? You have freckles?” Epel leaned back in surprise, staring in almost horror at Rook’s back.

The third-year only laughs, tilting his head back, “Oh! Is that all? Yes, I freckle when in the sun too long these days. Though when I was younger you’d confuse me for one big freckle. The sun is a creature of wonder, life, and mystery. It’s light nourishes the soil and the flora, giving food to the beasts of man and the night. But its same light can set fire to the savana, burn and boil the skin of those who need it to survive.”

Epel could only stand and listen as Rook continued on and on about about the dangers of the sun while also waxing poetic about it. The longer Epel studied his senpai did he start to see more and more freckles along the third-year’s body. He mumbles under his breath, brows creasing as he thought aloud, “Wait, did you even put sunscreen on?”

Screaming in a more frantic frequency suddenly rings out. A two-person tube from above them flying far off course of the waterslide and sailing through the air until it landed with a massive splash into the wave pool. Epel nearly fell off as he slammed into the railing, screaming at the familiar two people who just flew off the slide, “THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YA TWO!? ACE, DEUCE, AH’M TELLIN’ RIDDLE ABOUT THIS YOU FUCKIN’ DUMBASSES. YA COULDA DIED!”

Rook leans over a screaming Epel, smiling and waving to the two still shell shocked freshmen, “BEAUTIFUL FORM! 100 POINTS!”

Azul looked up as a shadow fell over him. Blocking out the sun stood a dripping Jamil, his fellow second-year staring down at him with his normal expression of unenthused, a bright red slushie in one hand. Azul had remained seated, silent as he gripped his cell phone and wrote down a few ideas on a clean napkin.

Looking to the side, Azul cleared his throat, moving his arm away as Jamil’s hair sent down three drops of water in quick succession, “Hello, dear. Did you need me for something?”

Jamil continues to stare, bringing his straw up to his mouth and slurping loudly. Tilting his head to the side and letting his hair drip across Azul’s still-clothed arm. He smirked, watching Azul cringing his arm to his chest. He decided to be kind, flipping his hair over his shoulder, “Have you been sitting here the whole day?”

“Not…the whole day. I moved after lunch. But, Jamil!” Azul had gripped Jamil by the arm, pulling the other sophomore onto the lunch table bench he held up the napkins, “Look at these calculations, this park is performing theft in broad daylight! The markup is absurd. A single slice of pizza and a bag of chips is almost $20!” Azul turned away, one hand tapping at his phone and the other writing more numbers along the napkins, “That's a single slice and a small bag of chips, not a drink. The pizza wasn’t even good. Could you imagine how much more I could make at the lounge with actual decent cuisine?”

Jamil raised an eyebrow, sipping his slushie before speaking, “I could imagine the riot that’ll break out once you even think of raising your prices. It may have been last year, but people still haven’t forgiven you for the whole ‘School-wide Slavery’ plot.”

Azul stopped tapping on his phone, turning to glare at Jamil’s blank-faced inquiry, “As I’ve told you all multiple times, it wasn’t slavery; everyone signed a legally binding contract that was fully explained and outlined to them. They knew what they were-Stop trying to drip water on me!” 

Laughing, Jamil moves his hair back over his shoulder and away from dripping onto Azul’s arm, “You really don’t want to risk anyone seeing your true form that bad?”

“You know I’m…sensitive, about it…”

“Yuu says you look cute.”

“Yuu’s never seen me in my mer form, they’ve only seen what I looked like in overblot. And let’s not sit here and pretend Yuu is the authority on appearances. If I remember correctly, they saw your overblot form as very attractive-JAMIL! PLEASE GO DRY YOUR HAIR!”

Deuce blinked up at Ortho sitting on the pool's edge, “You don’t know how to swim?”

Ace floated behind Deuce, arms lazily waving around the water but he raised an eyebrow at the automation, “Can’t you just download how to do it?”

Deuce splashes him, glaring at the sputtering redhead, “Ace, that's rude!”

Ortho giggled, kicking his legs lightly in the water, “It’s not Deuce Spade. But, thank you. It’s not that I don’t know how to swim, I’m asking you to help me me figure out a way to swim.”

“Is there…a difference?”

Holding up a finger, Ortho stood up from the edge of the pool. Once he was sure the two other freshmen were watching him, he took a step over the edge and allowed himself to fall into the water. Ace and Deuce both stare as the still-shining blue flame sank lower and lower into the water until Ortho landed on the pool bottom. The robot tilting his head up and waving toward them.

“Oh…”

“Do… do we help him back up?”

“Deuce, what the fuck. How are we gonna-”

Trein looked at the teacher beside him. Crewel leaned back in his chair with his mouth hung open. He could only sneer as the bicolored man let out a loud, guttural snore. He plucked the empty bottle of scotch from the man's hands, recapping it and putting it back in his bag before looking over the rest of the faculty that came.

Oster was reclining in a lounge chair, a trifold in her hands to direct as much sunlight to herself as possible. An empty slushie cup half hidden under her chair with the actual drink poured into a deep margarita glass with a colorful paper umbrella in it.

Hui-Yan was covered head to toe, an ornate swim cover hiding all skin from view as she peacefully read under an umbrella. He at least thinks she's reading. She had on stylish shades, borrowed either from Crewel or Oster, that completely hid her eyes. And while she hadn't put her tablet down, he's also certain she hadn't actually moved…

Rohdri was doing…something. The stoic man had brought some compact contraption with him and he had been fiddling with it since they arrived at the park. He stood in his shorts, button-up short sleeve shirt, and a fisherman's hat, looking over the machine as it gave beeps. He would widen his eye a fraction of an inch every now and again, humming loudly and typing at his tablet.

Dubhghall was Seven knows where. What had started as him accompanying a few students that didn't meet the weight requirement for a ride, quickly turned into the massive teacher simply not returning to the teacher's table and running around the park as if he was a student himself.

And Vargas…

Trein's eyes trailed over, watching the shorter man drag Crowley away kicking and screaming. He laughed loudly, Sam locked under his other arm, stating that the ride he was taking them to would put hair on their chest. Crowley howled and wailed, ridiculous gold tipped claw rings digging into the pavement as he cried out he didn't WANT hair on his chest. Sam seemed to be resigned to his fate.

Looking back toward Crewel, he sighed. Even with Crowley's whining the other man hadn't woken up from his drunken stupor. Pulling out his phone, he could only frown at the text message his daughters had sent him. The both of them more than willing to cat sit Lucious for the day. At the image of his darling boy, tongue sticking out as he slept the day away belly up he could only sigh again.

“I miss my cat…”

Leona glared at his nephew, the five-year-old kicking and screaming on the ground after being told it was time to go home. Cheka was having far too much fun at the water park, not to mention the fact his uncle hadn't even gone on a single ride or swam in the water.

Rolling his eyes, Leona kneels down and scoops the wailing child under his arms, “Stop your yelping. We're leaving.”

“NOOOOOOOOO! UNCA! I DON'T WANNA LEAVE YET! YOU SAID WE'D PLAY IN THE WATER TODAY!” Cheka devolved back into simply screaming and flailing his arms around, climbing up Leona to clutch onto his back.

Leona stood still, glaring into the air as Cheka’s legs kicked against his collar and he screamed into his ears. The only time Cheka wasn’t screaming was when the five-year-old would lean over and try to sink his still dullish baby teeth into Leona’s ears.

Vil scoffed, his bag already packed and his sunhat back on, “Really? Are you going to just let him throw a tantrum?” Shaking his head, Vil leaned forward hands up to pluck Cheka from Leona’s shoulders, “Come here Cheka, you can ride back to the school with me-AH! MY HAIR, MY HAIR!”

Cheka didn’t detach from Leona’s ear as he gripped onto Vil’s hair and pulled at the locks, ruining his hairstyle and knocking his hat off of his head. Malleus even tried to help, if only to try to release Vil from the angry toddler’s hold. Instead, one of his horns were also gripped in a tiny hand.

Leona raises an eyebrow at Malleus, the large fae keeping bent over and doing his best to not move far from Cheka’s range, “You know damn well you can move out of his hold…”

Malleus looked away, pouting lightly but letting Cheka shake his head around from his horn, “I don’t wish to hurt him trying to remove him…”

“...” Only when Cheka takes a deep breath, unlatching from biting at Leona’s ear to let out another piercing scream, Leona speaks up, “FINE! FINE! Pick a damn ride and we’ll go on it!”

Cheka stopped screaming almost instantly, but kept his grip on both Vil and Malleus, “Really?”

“Yes. By the Seven, just stop your shrieking…”

Cheka spent only two seconds thinking over his choices before scrambling off of his uncle, tugging on his swim trunks as to say ‘Follow me’. Beaming and jumping up and down.

Leona stood under the bucket, glaring at the crowd of people all watching him with rapt attention. As the buzzer sounds, he closed his eyes feeling the rush of freezing cold water hitting him hard from the top of his head. It felt like a full minute before the water stops and he’s left soaking wet with a giggling Cheka still gripping onto his swim trunks.

Ruggie looked all too pleased with the current events, eyes just too low to be eye level, “Was the water nice?”

“Everyone get back on the fucking bus.”

“UNCA!”

[tranakin-skywalker]

Re: the tags in your last post about star-birth, I didn’t know you were updating chapters! Would you recommend rereading to avoid confusion further down the line, or is it more non-plot-essential stuff? (I’ll probably reread at some point anyway lol, but still curious)

The only part that might be confusing going forward without reading would be Beru's introduction (once I have it published). I've had the thought for a while that Shmi sort of adopts her after Anakin leaves, which is how Shmi ends up involved with the Lars. Realized that would work better if Beru was introduced earlier.

The rest is just some garnishing of Anakin's life on Tatooine. I think they're fun concepts, and expand on his relationships with the people in his community some, but none of it is essential.

I'm trying to avoid adding too much to already published chapters because I don't want to confuse anyone, but some things just don't work as flashbacks. Currently not planning on adding anything to any other chapters, but we'll see. The fun thing about fanfiction is that you can go back and change things as you see fit lol.

Going forward I'm going to be sure to announce on my tumblr when I've added anything to an already published chapter. I thought I'd done that with my last edit but turns out I forgor :/

[urf1lterr]

afterglow | pedro pascal [2/3]

"tell me that you're still mine, tell me that we'll be just fine, even when i lose my mind"

previous chapter: [1]

summary: being nominated for an oscar was a dream come true, until you had to spend the rest of the night near your deceitful ex who still loved you.

pairing: actor!pedro x actress!reader

genre: acting world!au, enemies/exes to lovers ?? au | angst, fluff, fighting, mature

word count: 15k

status: 2/3 complete

author's note: SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT LOVES. even though its gonna be three parts lol i still want you to want more. i've been confused on my writing because tbh- i feel like i could do better and keep rushing with these storylines and end up regretting them AFTER they are posted lol. not edited- it really isn't.

"Let's cut the chit-chat and get some real answers, why did y'all breakup?"

"Andrew!"

"Three days have passed, she's fine now," he defended, shrugging as Florence shot him an irritated look by his prying behavior.

It has indeed been a few days since the terrible night that consisted in you meeting your favorite artist, crying beside her, running awkwardly away right after, having a screaming match with your ex, and then passing out in the car.

So, you couldn't deny it wasn't a memorable night.

The past three days could've been better to say the least if your management team stopped spamming you with text messages concerning the fight, maybe even ignoring the loads of pictures of your crying face.

Oh, the pictures. Not a fun sight to see.

Luckily for you, the pictures were only ones inside the party near Andrew- not Pedro. Unfortunately, though, your picture was turned into a 'crying in the club' meme.

You couldn't exactly be mad over it, you loved memes.

Thank the Lords the paparazzi were clueless and never ended up catching your argument with Pedro or you wouldn't know how to cover it up.

You could never get away with the typical 'friends fighting' after he shouted how much he loved you.

And bless the celebrities near you for minding their business.

To clear up your meltdown, you took it upon yourself to send out a quick tweet the next morning with a "i'm sorry i'm an emotional drunk. one second we're talking about 500 days of summer and then...well you already know how THAT ends."

In that moment you couldn't care less if people believed you or not, this was going to pass fast anyway.

Now here you were, sitting in front of your kitchen bar as Andrew and Florence decided to pay you a visit because they missed you- or so they say.

Realistically, they wanted to see if you were still a hot mess.

Which you weren't, obviously.

Shailene would have tagged along, but she was busy doing grown up things, such as working on her latest project Andrew claimed which was a slight bummer. She was the mediator, now who else was going to stop the arguments calmly between your two friends.

Florence disagreed, shaking her head. "You can't just ask her that, it's impolite."

Sighing, Andrew sent you an apologetic glance. "Okay, I am sorry." Not taking his eyes off you, you could feel his curiosity and eagerness from the other side of the kitchen. "But we're all thinking it."

Judging by how unresponsive Florence became, you could tell she wasn't going to fight him on this. And well, she was secretly on his side because your fight with Pedro was seriously excessive.

She just wanted to know what he could've done to make you so angry, it didn't make sense to her if he did cheat. He didn't seem like the type, but some people do the most surprising things- so she couldn't really tell.

"Do you want the last reason or all of them?"

Widening his eyes, Andrew shares a glance with Florence for a swift second before finding your eyes. "Last reason?"

"The last fight we had that led us to finalize our breakup."

"Finalize," he giggled, leaning on the marble counter. "This isn't a divorce process."

"For a person who is so concerned about my relationship crisis, you seem to be catch on to the most irrelevant stuff."

"So you admit you still want to be with him," Andrew declared, giving a smug look as you tried to process his words. "If you're still stressing over him, it means you don't want to let him go."

"I never said I was stressing over hi-"

"Did she or did she not just claim she was undergoing a crisis-," Andrew interrupted, slightly raising his voice. "-a relationship crisis, to be exact."

Florence sheepishly looked your way, capturing your stern expression before slowly nodding.

Your male friend clapped his hands loudly before bursting out a wider grin, happy someone had his back. "There we have it, if he's on your mind that much to turn into a crisis- you still love him!"

Furrowing your brows, you didn't know how to respond. It was true, you had many moments where Pedro agitated you even when you haven't been near him for quite some time.

But isn't being wound up over an ex part of healing?

Truth be told, you knew your feelings for Pedro hadn't completely disappeared, but love? You weren't even sure love existed by your past experiences.

"I do not love him," you hiss, vigorously snatching the water bottle on the counter and aggressively opening it. "How can love be real? It's baffling."

"Questioning the real question with a question," he sneers, making Florence and you become confused as ever. "You're so in love him."

Florence cuts in, squinting her face in puzzlement. "Wait- what's the real question she's supposedly questioning with a question?"

"Love!" he cheers happily before placing his hand on his palm, dreamingly gazing at you. "You have your doubts on what love may be, but without knowing it you're having them because you're questioning your love to Pedro since you're too scared to admit you still love him."

"I don't get it."

Rolling your eyes, you swiftly turn away and head towards your living room to lay on your couch. You were not in the mood to have someone else tell you what your feelings were when they weren't you. "I'm done with this conversation."

Hearing a low slapping noise, following an irritated hiss, you could make out Florence's displeased voice. "See what you did! Now she's not going to tell us."

"So much for moral support, you really are nosy," Andrew fought back, whispering loudly.

A minute or two went by since you couldn't make out what they were saying before rushed footsteps soon made their way near you as your friends awkwardly smiled, hoping they didn't upset you too much.

Because they really wanted to know the drama.

Pushing him roughly from behind, Florence sent you an innocent smile as Andrew landed near your side of the couch, trying his best to hold his composure and not turn back around and start another fight.

Placing a light hand on your shoulder, you blankly glance at it before meeting his attention. "We just wanted you to know we totally understand if you aren't comfortable...expressing your past-"

"Get your hand off me and let's get this over with so you two can leave already."

Florence quickly sat right beside Andrew, both not offended with your statement because they were fully aware of how annoying the were becoming.

Before you could say anything, Florence quickly spoke aloud. "Start from the beginning!" Andrew slowly looking back to her, he sent her a confused look. "So we aren't lost, of course."

Laughing lightly, you nod before adjusting yourself on your seat. It was going to be hard to remember all the details clearly because there really wasn't an exact time issues occurred, it kind of just naturally appeared here and there.

Now that you think of it, majority of the tiny disputes during the earlier days of your relationship were probably on the same level as when you two were splitting, but maybe the dense ones created towards the end really made it hard to continue.

"If I'm being totally honest, we never really had problems when we first started dating. He was really great," you begin, clutching onto a pillow you found right beside you. "And he would always make sure to watch me make it inside my house before leaving, that was when I knew he wasn't some fling."

Andrew smirked, nodding proudly. "Classic move."

Smiling at the thought, you focused your mind to uncover the ugly truths that slowly tore you two apart.

"But then one day, I wanna say a few weeks after our second anniversary, we just started...fighting?"

Tilting your head, you look down as sad memories began pouring through your mind completely. "It wasn't our usual small fights over who left the bathroom floor wet or dropping his ipad in the pool-"

"-you dropped his ipad in the pool?" Florence coughed, bewildered by your scandalous actions.

"He wanted to know if it was waterproof," you defended.

"Was it?"

"No," you nervously reply, avoiding their eyes. "But he had it backed up and I bought him a new one!"

"That was kind of a bitchy move," Andrew muttered, catching your pissed gaze. "But at least you made up for it!"

Maybe it wasn't that great of an idea to just throw it in, but he did say he was really curious and wanted to dump it under the sink.

"Anyway," you start back up again, making Andrew lowly sigh in relief. "Our fights were never that serious, or at least not until he started filming for that new tv series he joined."

Florence spoke up, lightly questioning "The Last of Us?"

Nodding, you shrugged. "I guess it's normal to say the time apart did cause a rift in our relationship, but it wasn't too bad. He always made sure to call and facetime at least once every two days."

"But one day when he was visiting during his week break he just...snapped?" you frowned, not even wanting to visualize the tiny argument.

You had to for your own good.

"He had been home for maybe two days before he suddenly became moody. Like- his attitude was insane, I have never seen him like this ever," you sigh, closing your eyes for a second before continuing. "He didn't want to go out to eat, didn't want me to make him food, and when I offered to have it delivered he slammed the bedroom door on my face and claimed he was going to bed."

"Woah, why would he do that?" Andrew asked, seriousness splattered all over his face.

You wish you knew.

"Not sure, I just thought maybe work was stressing him out so I wanted him to have his alone time to clear his mind."

"Did that work?"

Sitting up straighter, you send a sorrowful smile. "For the rest of that week-yes. He ended up apologizing to me when I tried going to bed and said his manager was being tough on him for some scenes they had done."

You remember the moment you walked inside your bedroom, disappointed that he was awake. Not wanting to cause more tension, you planned to sneak under the covers and deal with the incident in the morning.

But his arms slowly wrapping over your waist as you had your back facing him said otherwise. Pulling you closer, you remember the soft "please don't be mad at me" he whispered near your ear, making sure you felt his tight embrace as if to prove you were his.

That night ended with you turning your body over to face him, accepting his open arms as a way to answer his pleading way of forgiveness.

Like always.

"Once he went back to work, we still talked- but I could tell he wasn't fully engaged like he always was," you sulk, remembering the first time you caught him not listening. "It got to the point where I purposely stopped answering his calls."

Your friends quickly send you a shocked look, you continue before they could intercept. "I couldn't handle his lack of attention, I would rather have him panic from the rejected calls than just tell him why I was upset."

It wasn't your best move, but you were frustrated. It wasn't fair that he was the one who got to treat you poorly and you had to accept it.

You admit, maybe if you communicated with him about these issues you could've prevented many future arguments and even saved your relationship.

But you were human and sometimes humans act human.

"Then what happened?" Andrew asked, a curious appearance plastering his face. "You continued ignoring him?"

Laughing lightly, you shake your head. It was the plan, but plans don't always work out. "Actually, he secretly took a flight back home one weekend and confronted me."

Gasping, Florence jumped up in her seat and moved her leg under her. "No way!"

"Yes, way," you sheepishly reply, embarrassed at the memory. You can still picture the way Pedro stood in your shared bedroom as you stepped out of your bathroom, jumping at the sight of him.

Standing with his arms crossed with his bags thrown by the door, he was determined to figure out what was going on with you.

"I wouldn't say we engaged in a heated argument, but it was surprisingly really emotional."

Andrew leaned his body closer, too interested not to let his questions slide. "Were you guys never emotional? I feel like every couple experiences those moments together- it's what makes them stronger."

It should've made you two stronger, but instead it made you weaker without you realizing it.

"Pedro and I had our minor instances, but it never involved problems we were facing," you began, sighing slightly. "All I remember was finding him standing near the bed with no emotion- none. I couldn't read what he may have been feeling, he just looked so....empty?"

"Empty? That's not good." Florence commented.

"That could mean a lot of things, not necessarily anger," Andrew added, trying to make you feel better.

"I knew deep down he was mad, as he should be- I was the one ignoring him," you defended him, taking full responsibility over your childish actions. "But I could tell he was more hurt that mad."

"What did he say?"

"What's going on?" Pedro questioned, his eyes not daring to leave yours as you freeze- stopping your attempts at brushing your wet hair, extremely confused as to why he was here.

He wasn't supposed to visit for another month, or so he said.

"Pedro?" you squint your eyes, still not sure if he was really in front of you or maybe you were daydreaming. You were high off many shots of espressos, it's finally hitting you. "Is that you?"

Still staring plainly at you, he stays right where he was. In any other circumstances he would have run up and wrapped his arms tightly around you, but this night was different.

He looked disorientated, out of place. His eyes lacked intensity as his body followed, looking as stiff as ever. Even his breathing matched his energy, calm yet unsettled.

You left him confused and he did not like that. "Answer my question."

Batting your eyes faster, you realize what was going on and where he was. Gasping, you do the exact opposite of what he wanted. "What the hell are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be home- you could get fired a-"

Taking a hold of your arms, he stills you and ignores your rambling. "What-" he begins, moving his right hand to the back of your neck and forcing you to focus on him only. "-is going on?"

Freezing, you try to back your head away from his grip but he tightens his grasp, making sure to not be too rough so he doesn't actually hurt you- he would never do such a thing. "I don't understand-"

"You haven't been answering my calls, what else is there to understand?" He sternly recalls, not wanting you to bullshit your way out of this. "So you either have been ignoring me on purpose to be petty or this is your way of hinting you don't want to be with me anymore."

Shaking your head frantically, you try to talk but he cuts you off again. "-And don't say you've been busy. You and I both know I would have figured out if you had added projects to your schedule- your mom tells me everything."

If this were a good time, you would have laughed at his side comment regarding your mother, but it wasn't.

"Not everything," you spit out, causing him to squint his face and release his hands from you.

"Are you trying to tell me something? Are you not happy? Is that why you've been avoiding my calls?" he questions, tilting his head in bewilderment, not liking your attitude at the moment. "Because if you really don't want to be with me you should've told me sooner than leaving me feeling fucking clueless while I'm out in another country working."

"I'm not saying I don't want to be with you-"

"But you aren't denying it," he intercepts, firmly nodding in realization. "I get it, I'm just glad I know now and won't have to wait another month to finally understand how you're feeling."

Walking away from you, Pedro walks towards his bags and reaches down for them. You scoff at his disturbed demeanor. There is no way you should be the only one at fault here- you both made mistakes.

Pushing his backpack off his hands, he watches at it lands on the floor before instantly finding your eyes. "Are you seri-"

"Just because I'm avoiding your calls doesn't mean I want to end our relationship" you shriek, glaring at him as his eyes soften at your hidden truth.

Your angered expression and stiff posture hits him like a brick, there was something really bothering you and he was too oblivious to acknowledged it until you began overlooking him.

Taking a deep breath, you watch as your boyfriend intently examines you as if he's trying to read your impractical mind. Sometimes, he wished you would speak up when something was bothering you, in fact- he has told you many times in the past to do so.

But the idea of patiently waiting until it erupts is what he's sure you've normalized in fear of desertion. Or maybe refusal of reality- the two of you weren't perfect.

"What's going on?" He calmly questions again, dropping any signs of fury and replaces it with worry and concern. Reaching out to you, he softly clasps your shoulder before moving in a few inches. "Am I making you upset?"

Slapping his hand away, you cross your arms over your chest in agitation. "I'm mad at you!"

Blinking a few times, he couldn't believe how fast you spilled and chaotic your energy was. He's never seen you act this hysterical and to be honest, he was really debating asking if you were on your period or not. "Why?"

Pursing your lips together, you release your arms and let them fall on your sides. "You know why!" With that, you turn your back to him and make your way back to your bathroom to hide.

At this point, you felt it was acceptable to act unbearable- he left you feeling insignificant and you weren't going to hold it in anymore.

If you stayed there any longer you knew you would break down into tears. Showing your vulnerable side this early into an argument was too easy, you have to show how bold you were in order to get your point across.

Or anger across.

But it was really hard to hold a grudge, he was just so- loving, despite your recent incidents. Deep down, he did care about you and wanted to validate your feelings- or as best he could.

Grabbing anything you could find near your sink, you begin opening some moisturizer and splatter it around your hands to keep you busy. You could feel Pedro come inside your shared bathroom but you don't dare to peep his way.

"Honey- please," you heard him release a soft sigh as he stood behind you, watching through your huge mirror in front of the two of you. He could make out your distressed appearance and you were absolutely not fine. "You can't just steer clear from this, we need to talk about it-"

Slamming the poor jar on the counter, you swiftly twist your body to his front and feel all the rage taking control. "But did you want to talk all those times I called you?! No, you didn't give one fuck about me or Leia!"

"You named your dog after Princess Leia? That's smart," Andrew butted in, grinning. "You know, since he's in the Mandalorian and Star W-"

"We get it."

Maybe it was wrong to bring your beloved corgi into such a serious topic, but she was abandoned by her father too.

"I did talk to you! I made sure to call you whenever I had time an-"

"I'm glad I made it into your schedule- but maybe if you considered adding some compassion and empathy it wouldn't feel like I'm just another business call you hate!"

Panting, you send daggers his way as his eyes widen. Did you just say he doesn't care about your calls? Impossible- he loves your calls, it makes his days better.

"You aren't a business call and you know that. Honey, please understand- hey!" He cuts himself off once you finally had enough of his poor attempts to defend himself, trying to flee but he ends up being quicker on his feet and yanking you back to his arms.

But once you were wrapped around him, even though it was for pure captivity and not warmth, you instantly broke down. He didn't know you were in tears until he felt his shirt become damp and still then he just thought you were trying to spit on him out of anger.

Hearing your tiny whimpers, he immediately glanced down and lifted you up to catch a clear view of your face, despite your protests and blockings. "Baby, I-I didn't mean to make you cry-"

"You don't mean a lot of things," you spit out, swatting his hands that dared to reach your face. You weren't in the mood to make up, all you wanted to do was sleep your troubles away, especially with the draining work day you had.

Continuing your pulling, Pedro began becoming annoyed with your strong protests against his affection. Isn't this what you wanted? "Why won't you let me hold you? I want to console you, can't I be your boyfriend for the night and tomorrow you can continue hating me?"

"You see my tears and now you want to hold me but admit we'll still be out of place tomorrow? That's acceptable for you?" you laugh ruthlessly, allowing space to be brought in front of you. "Do you hear yourself?"

Groaning, he rubs his face hard before speaking his mind, trying not to sound too furious and scare you. "What do you want me to do? I admit, I did lack some energy-"

"Some?" you snort to yourself, your face still wet.

"Don't interrupt me," he declared, shaking his head at how rude you were becoming. "I wasn't the best partner, okay?! There, I admit it, but you don't understand how it is working constantly and not being able to see family and friends and-"

"It's like you don't even know me at all," you ignorantly chuckle over his nonsense and walk towards your bed.

What a way to dismiss your feelings.

"That's not what I meant," he sighs, following after and stopping you from opening your covers and hiding underneath them. "It's just hard being away from everyone I love, I'm in a different country. It's not like I can drive an hour away and suddenly see them!"

"I can't do that either!"

"Can't you just please, please, please- consider that my mindset is not good right now," he declares, his eyes filling with sadness as his arms slowly find your waist. Taking a deep breath, you watch as he looked up at the ceiling before biting his lip. "I know I am not being the best partner right now- or for the past few months, but I am trying."

As soon as uncertainty flushed your face, his hands tightened as his expression deepened into an emotion you never seen him explore before- dejection.

"I can't promise you I'm suddenly going to wake up and give you 110% every interaction we have," he began, his voice lowering as he tried to keep his emotions in check. "But I confess- I am being a little shit and I am willing to work on that. Just please- please don't push me away. Try to understand my situation."

He wasn't wrong, his life switched around once he accepted the role of Joel Miller and you should've known from the start he would face some difficulties. Maybe you were being too self-centered and invalidated his feeling too, not just him.

Sometimes he wasn't good with words when expressing himself and made you feel as if you weren't as popular as him, but you knew it was never his intention to hurt you like that. He had a heart and loved to use it.

Fighting over work should never be a reason to be miserable especially when it's how you both get your income.

"I-I understand," you lightly speak up, watching as his eyes light up by the sound of your now calm voice filling his ears. "I just want you to know that it didn't make me feel good-"

"Of course it wouldn't make you feel good, I was being horrible," Pedro intercepted, pulling you into a tight hug and landing his face in your neck. "And if I wasn't thousands of miles away I would totally spoil you with kisses and chocolates as my sorry."

"Chocolates are still in favor," you joke and feel him softly swat your bottom in disapproval.

Pulling away, he leans his face closer to yours and plants a sweet kiss upon your lips before backing up an inch and whispering softly, "I love you, you know that right?"

Smiling, you slowly nod and surprise him with a deeper kiss before answering him back with a familiar, "I love you, too."

"You better," he smirks, pulling his body on top of yours, hearing your light squeaks once your back hit the mattress and his lips snuck their way into the crook of your neck.

"Did you end up getting chocolates?" Andrew immediately questioned once you finished your long recollection of memories.

"That's not important," Florence rolled her eyes.

"I mean he did promise her it."

Chuckling at his curiosity, it amused you how focused he was about some candy. "Yes, he did- for like a month and then I got over them."

"Understandable," Andrew replied, looking down at his lap.

Florence jumped over him, making herself sit closer to you as he winced at her sudden movements. "Then what happened?! I mean, there had to be more right?"

"My god woman, I hope you're not working for TMZ," Andrew joked.

She shushed him before leaning closer to you, signaling you to continue on with your memories. "After that fight, things became pretty normal again. We would call each other with far more energy than before and he would even fly back home often to keep our communication strong."

"And how long did that last?"

Frowning, you took a small breath. "Like three months- then we started fighting more."

"Over?"

Rubbing your face, you groaned. "He went back to lacking energy! But that's not even the worst part."

"Please don't tell me he cheated," Andrew begged, covering his eyes with his hands while pulling a sorrow look. "I would never be able to look at him the same."

"I don't know if he did cheat- but I did find out two months before we ended things that he stayed the night at his exes."

Loudly gasping, the company you had began freaking out with their jaws dropping- literally. Florence angrily furrowed her brows, "you've got to be kidding? How is that allowed in a relationship?- It's not!"

Crossing your legs, you shrug as a way to answer her. You really did wonder what was going through his head when he did that. Sadly, you couldn't believe a word he said after you found out what he did.

Maybe that's why you were fine with ending things- because the trust was slowly disappearing.

"Not to mention he would always be with her and ditch plans with me," you form a tight smile, trying not to make things awkward but it was too late.

Who could possible hear this and not feel embarrassed for you? Classic move on his part to follow the 'being friends with my ex is okay' stereotype, but it only left you feeling unwanted and flawed.

Were you not good enough to be in his arms all those times he ditched you for her? And why couldn't he tell you what was really going on- unless he was truly hiding something unspeakable.

"Spill the beans."

Hearing a door slam, you jump up in a daze. You could feel sleep still linger on your body as you crank your neck to the side, capturing the bright '12:47 pm' located on top of your nightstand.

Slowly yanking your body up, you don't stretch as you hurry out of your room to the living room in search of the mysterious person who was either your missing boyfriend or an intruder.

Catching sight of his bright yellow t-shirt as he opens the refrigerator, you could feel your body boil up. "Where have you been? You snuck out last night without even telling me- do you even understand how worried I was?!"

Watching as he gradually turns his head to face yours, Pedro closes the fridge before leaning against the kitchen counter- completely relaxed despite your current state.

"I was out with friends," he declared, grinning to try and take pressure off from you- it didn't work. "I'm sorry, I will tell you next time. I didn't mean to worry you, my love."

Placing your hands on your hips, it pains you that you secretly don't believe a word he's saying. Normally, if this were the case, he would text you if you were sleeping or call you in the morning to inform you with what he'd done.

He did neither one.

Maybe you should test him? Ask him questions and see if he'll freeze up?

"And who were you with?"

He smiled, grabbing a cup from the pantry while easily answering, "Diego and Oscar- we had a couple of drinks and Oscar thought it would be best I stay the night."

Nodding swiftly, you examine him to see if there were any signs of him lying- there weren't. Fuck, you forgot he was an actor. It's literally his job to control his emotions! "And why didn't you call or at least send a simple text?"

After hearing your words, Pedro sends you a small smile before gently placing his cup down. Walking up to you, he opens his arms. "Baby, is that why you're so upset? Because I didn't call?"

Before you could answer, he engulfs you in his arms before swaying you both around. Feeling vibrations as he let out light giggles, you instantly dropped any suspicions you may have had because he had to tell the truth- he would never lie to you.

It's surreal how easily you could throw any convictions out the window when he touched you. It's like he jogged your memory.

"Well, why didn't you at least text?"

Removing his head from your neck, he squeezes you waist and sends you an amused smirk . "Because I was insanely drunk and if I would've used my phone it probably would have resulted in me leaving you hundreds of drunk voicemails confessing my love for you."

"And that's bad?"

He chuckled, shaking his head before pinching your side. "No, but it sure as hell is annoying."

Standing up straighter, you cautiously nod at his answer and watch as he lovingly smiled down at you. "Okay, I believe you."

"Did you really believe him?" Andrew asked.

"I call bullshit," Florence confidently declares, strong on her view that Pedro was not an honest person.

"Let me finish the story!"

Loud footsteps could be heard near your hallway as you stood behind the oven, trying your best to not burn these damn chocolate chip cookies.

Such a basic recipe yet so complex- it was truly aggravating.

"Y/n? Where are you?!" you heard you assistant squeal from a distance.

Trying to properly put your mitten on, you murmur a small "kitchen" before preparing yourself to open the oven. The amount of times you burned yourself thinking it was cool enough not to wear protection-

Point is- always wear protection.

Opening the oven door, you pull the tray of freshly baked cookies towards you as the footsteps became clearly audible. Right when the cookies were in your grip and being lifted, you heard your assistant yelp-

"Pedro was caught leaving his ex's house two days ago."

Throwing yourself up into a standing position, you forget about the tray of cookies until you feel the burning sensation upon your left arm. You accidentally pulled the tray too close to you. "Ow!"

Instantly panicking, your assistant rushes to your side in support and grabs a towel to fill with ice. Pressing downwards on the wound, you wince at the pressure that was building.

"What the hell are you talking about?" you still question, extremely curious to uncover what this situation was.

His ex? That's absurd, he hasn't dated anyone in years when you first met. It's definitely not like he was in contact with them when you made it official, he was always firm when it came with communicating with past relationships.

That was a big no-no, especially when one of your ex's tried reaching out after your last movie dropped. Pedro made it very clear how unhappy he was when he made an appearance at your premiere- your boyfriend not daring to leave your side and even blocking your view whenever your ex had the chance to gawk you up close.

At the time, people thought Pedro only attended because he was close with the director and has always been friendly with other actors. Little did they know he was being extra friendly with you behind the curtains.

"Someone snapped photos of him outside of her door! It looks like he just woke up, too." Grabbing the phone from her hands, you pull it closer to your face and watch what the screen uncovered.

There he was, your boyfriend of two-years smiling brightly as he steps outside her door in the clothes he wore the night before. The same ones he manipulated you with about being with Diego and Oscar that night.

Not just that, but peering on the side of the door was indeed his tall, beautiful ex who definitely aged like fine wine. Hell, she was gorgeous and everybody knew that.

And the fact that they broke up due to their long distance, at the time, did not help this situation. Now that they lived a few cities away, what now? Were you just a doormat he could walk all over and eventually throw away whenever he wanted something new?

Placing a gentle hand on your shoulder, you refuse to take your eyes off the screen as your assistant begins speaking. "Did you know he slept over?" Glancing up, she takes your downcast face as an answer and swiftly pulls you in a tight hug. "Oh no, I'm so sorry."

You were sorry for yourself, too. How could he lie right to your face so easily knowing he was doing it- intentionally. And the most fucked up part was he probably knew you would believe him- just like all the other times you did.

"I saw that picture!" Andrew exclaimed, bewildered at his recollection. "I thought the paparazzi caught him lacking after a hook-up- damn, I wish I would've known you were together sooner."

"Same, I would have unfollowed him," Florence added. "And nobody would've known it was because of you- since you two never been public."

Forcing a smile, you give her a tiny nudge on the arm. "Gee, thanks for being so considerate."

"Continue!"

"Open the god damn door, y/n. You are being overdramatic- it was one night! Nothing happened!" Pedro yelled, pulling the car handle harshly as you searched through your bag that sat on your passenger seat- looking to see if you had everything you needed before your flee.

Let's just say, things were pretty...eventful once you discovered his scheme.

For starters, after bawling your eyes out on your poor assistant's shoulder, she made her departure in order to clean up the spare bedroom she offered you to take if you weren't comfortable staying at your own place.

You accepted.

Once she was out the door, you fled to your bedroom and grabbed any suitcase close by and began stuffing it to the brim, not caring how disorganized it was professing as you reached for more clothes.

You were almost done packing your second bag full of makeup and bathroom necessities when you heard your front door open. Jumping up, you felt your eyes widen once you heard your name being chanted on by your boyfriend. "Y/n?!"

"Fuck," you whispered to yourself, drastically glancing around your now messy bathroom to make changes to your plan- only take things you really need.

Seconds pass and you find yourself zipping your bag and rushing out the door, that was until your body roughly collided with another- causing you to drop your belongings and land on the floor. Groaning, you hesitantly rise, immediately finding your boyfriend's body nearing yours as he pleads to help you off the ground.

"Baby, I'm sorry! I didn't see you coming out," he apologizes, using his fingertips to clasp your forearms to level you. "Look, I need to tell y-"

"Get off of me," you grit, forcibly slapping his palms off you, causing him to cease and stare stunned. He has never seen you once be this aggressive. Sure, you would reject his embrace whenever you two fought here and there, but slap? Not ever.

Brushing roughly past him, you gripped your larger suitcase by its handles and made a beam to the closest exit. You couldn't be around him, not when thoughts of him being unfaithful constantly drowned your head.

A strong tug of your makeup bag made you halt your movements, not by choice, as Pedro made sure to tighten his grip to prevent you from leaving. Glancing down at his now white, clenched hands, you glare. "Let go."

Shaking his head, he stared you down- irritated that you would just pack up and leave so quickly without even hearing his side of the story. Yes, he should have told you what really happened that night- but he knew how you'd react.

It was better to keep it sealed until he was ready to unveil- or so he thought.

"You let go," he hissed, raising one of his hands and smacking yours with it. You hate how much stronger he still was while only using one hand while you had two- fuck his strength and your poor muscles.

Groaning, you dig your feet onto the ground harder as you continue your tug-a-war charade with your selfish boyfriend who didn't seem to believe space was an understandable coping mechanism after he shattered your small heart.

"Fine," you yelp, shoulders falling slightly as he eases his grip- still holding on though. "We both let go on 3."

Tilting his head, he suddenly grew suspicious by your random middle ground. He knew you well enough to know you don't give up that easily, especially when he's fully sure, by your bolting efforts, you saw the picture. "How do I know you won't just run off after?"

"You're faster and stronger than me, you'll catch me eventually."

Internally agreeing, he knew you had a point. Even if you did escape, your little legs weren't going to get you far- he knows from all the times he tackled you down after you countlessly would steal his food.

"1," you begin, eyeing him to see if he would follow.

"2," he stared at you back, cautiously watching your every step.

Taking a deep breath, you count again. "3!" With that, you release your grip from your bag and watch as he still clutches on to the strap. "What the hell- we agreed on 3 we'd both let go!"

Nervously chuckling, he placed the bag on the ground and sheepishly smiled at you. He was glad to see you finally calming down. "Sorry, I didn't think you would actually do it."

Sending him an annoyed glance, he scratches the back of his neck for assuming you wouldn't follow your word. "Trust me, I always tell the truth."

Wincing at your cold tone, he frowns by your hard demeanor. "About that- I was going to tell you-"

Softly placing a hand over your head, you release a sound of discomfort and miss the way his eyes wander in curiosity.

"Can we talk about this after I take my supplements? I am not feeling too good," you cut him off, slowly touching your forehead as you watch his concern grow. "I forgot to take them this morning."

"You know you get bad migraines when you don't take them," he declared, sighing as he raised his hand and began softly rubbing your temple in ease.

He believed you were being serene because you weren't livid and allowed him to stop you from leaving- how wrong he was.

"I know but I had a crammed morning-"

"This is why we need to hire someone to walk Leia, we don't have enough time majority of the week!" he exhales, making you stare at the floor for the point taken. But there was no way you'd hire someone to walk your dog, that's ridiculous and a waste of money. "We'll talk after, let me grab them- stay here."

Sadly nodding, you allow him to flee towards your bathroom in search for your medicine. Peering you head a few inches to the side, you wait till the coast is clear before slowly, but firmly, grabbing your once lost bag and dashing out of your bedroom.

"I almost forgot about Leia," you muttered to yourself, instantly feeling bad at the thought of how quick you were to forget your baby. How terrible of a mother were you.

And what even was more mind blowing was how Pedro didn't catch your innocent acting. Truthfully, he must be trying to be extra helpful so you would believe him. Too late.

Finding your white corgi near the kitchen, you whistle lowly for her to follow as you peddled your way to your garage. "C'mon doggie, if daddy notices our escape plan he won't let us leave that easil-"

"Y/n?!"

Jaw dropping, you shoot a glance of panic to your dog, who only blankly stares back, before rushing to your parked car. "Just like Batman and Robin- now jump in," you hushed, opening the back seat so you could not only throw your bags back there- but also your tiny-legged corgi who struggles at first, but eventually makes it in.

Once you jumped into your seat and turned on the car, you catch a breathless Pedro rushing out through the door to your side. "Fuck."

"You tricked me!"

"You slept with another woman, asshole!" you yell back, glaring as he rolled his eyes- outraged by how unreasonable you were becoming. All he wanted to do was sit you down and have a normal conversation about this, but instead you kept running away.

Once again, he thinks you need to work on your communication skills.

"You used your failing health to your advantage- how sick are you?" he yelped, offended.

"They were gummy supplements!"

Touching your car door, he sternly peers at you as you quickly lock your doors in case he tried opening it. "I did not sleep with another woman," he started, inhaling strongly before releasing it. "Why would I do that when I am in a committed relationship? Huh? Do you think I am capable of cheating?"

Shrugging innocently, you pull a sarcastic face. "Not sure, I do know you're capable of lying- maybe infidelity is the cherry on top?"

Mouth gapping, he sends you a look of hurt and for a second you feel terrible by your choice of words. In your heart, you wanted to take it back- but your head thought otherwise.

"I would never be unfaithful to you- that's not who I am," he firmly states, feeling like absolute shit that you would even accuse him of being with another woman when you were all he thought about every single second of the day.

Dryly chuckling, you nod along to his words. He feels his heart ache, as if hundreds of knives jabbed through the delicate muscle by your painful mien. Did you really think that lowly of him?

"That's who you are to me now."

Once those words flew out of your mouth and he was able to process it clearly, he paused. Whole body turning stiff and cold, he scolded you profoundly before fiercefully charging towards your car door and pounding for entrance.

It was like a nerve was touched and he was not willing to be forgiving anymore. You struck him hard and he knew you meant it out of pure anger- not genuinely, but his awareness soon became replaced with treachery and he so badly wanted you to pay for your foul words.

"Open the god damn door, y/n. You are being overdramatic- it was one night! Nothing happened!" Pedro yelled, pulling the car handle harshly as you searched through your bag that sat on your passenger seat- looking to see if you had everything you needed before fleeing.

Mentally checking off your items before departure, you inhale sharply before lowering down your car's mirror and pressing your garage remote- allowing the door to gradually rise and Pedro to panic.

Cursing in his head, he couldn't let you drive away or else he might never see you for days and he couldn't bear the thought of you moping around in agony without at least hearing from him- the man in the picture- what actually happened that night.

Pressing on the lever and angling down to reverse, you nervously press on the gas and allow your car to drift back as your poor dog watched through the backseat his dad embarrassingly urging you to not go.

You prayed the neighbors couldn't hear a thing, if the cops came you're sure you would never go out in public for at least six months.

Realizing that it was now or never, you see from the corner of your eye a figure running towards the back of your car before a loud thump was heard.

Shakily, pressing on the brakes and putting your car on park, you jump out in horror by the sight of legs near your back tires.

You hit him.

"Shit!" you gasped, involuntarily sprinting- as if your body just knew how to react- and dropping down to your boyfriend's lifeless body-

"You ran him over?!" Andrew and Florence shrieked, interrupting your storytelling, causing you to glare and shush them.

"Shut the fuck up- it's getting to the interesting part!"

Hugging his body tightly, you could feel your face began to fall down and your body slowly begin to tremble. In a matter of seconds, you just knew your garage wasn't going to be a pretty sight to see.

Hitching your breath, you run your hands to your boyfriend's chest and shake him softly in hopes he would open his eyes- he didn't. With tears flushing down your face, you sniff as you grip onto him harder. "Please w-wake up," you begin, trying your best to keep your touch on him but you were a jittering mess. Not being able to stay still, you press your ear over his chest to see his he still had a pulse.

Sighing in relief, he did.

Squeezing his face, you frown as his expressionless face stills. Realizing he might have passed out over a concussion, your lips begin to tremble as you finally breakdown in tears and cradle him.

Leaning over from his side, you bend your body and embrace his head into your neck. "I am such a-a fucking idiot," you squeak, your eyes shutting as you don't have the power to keep them open. "I-I love you- I should've just stayed and t-talked-!"

Cutting yourself off, you ironically feel like the lifeless one despite your literal unconscious boyfriend being in your arms at the moment. Bitch, you really had the nerve. Swiftly kissing his cheek, you plunge yourself into his neck and cushion him with your body- being as fragile as ever when handling him.

Quivering in misery, you keep a strong grip onto him before you felt pressure along your side. "It's been minutes and you still haven't called 911? I could've been dead by now."

Screaming, you instantly drop the figure once on top of you and force your thighs to back up, causing you to sit perplexed on the concrete floor.

Glancing back up, you find your boyfriend brightly grinning your way, using his arms to hold his upper portion up as you looked back in confusion. Didn't you hit him?

"I was my own stunt double for some scenes," he speaks up, smiling to himself proud as you continued staying still, confused as to what had just happened. "As long as you have the right mentality- you can take a pounding."

Registering where he was going with this, you scoff and quickly allow your feet to hit the ground. Following after you, Pedro jumps at your unpleased sight and watches as you cooly open your back door to let your dog jump out before marching towards the door to your house.

"Wait? Are you mad at me for that, too?" He calls out, tilting his head in question and proceeds to get his answer by the slamming of the door behind you. "Never mind."

Angrily storming through your hallway, you accidentally run into the wooden desk placed against the wall. "Ugh!" you scream, turning around and giving it one hard kick before making your way towards your destination- the kitchen.

"What did the desk ever do to you?" Pedro mumbled to himself, stopping right by it once you were out of sight and fixing it back up against the wall, making sure the books settled on top were nested properly before going after you.

"So that's why one of the legs is chipped? I noticed that-"

"Shut up, Andrew."

"Sorry, go on."

Finding you near the blacked marbled kitchen bar, Pedro ceased his movements. To be honest, he was nervous to confront you. Not only did you find out he slept at his ex girlfriend's house, but he made you believe he was dead.

This was not going to end well.

"How could you do this to me?" He hears you ask, you back being in his peripheral view as you leaned your body over the counter, hands gripping the ends roughly.

"Do what?" he idiotically responds back, mentally slapping himself for having the audacity to question something he surely knows.

Slowly turning around, capturing his soft yet worried eyes, he catches onto your tear ones and breaks down on the inside. "Tell me the truth." you gulp, averting your eyes to your feet as you sense him bobble his head. "Did you sleep with her?"

Choking on air, he frantically shakes his head in dismay, not believing you would actually think that despite the past half an hour of him comprehending that you might so. Maybe he just couldn't believe it would ever come out of your mouth- but this whole situation made him nauseous.

Steadily finding his balance, he inched towards your frail body as you kept your contact with the floor strong, not daring to move it even when the sight of his shoes play in your mind. "Honey," he lowly calls out, lifting his fingers to your chin and hastily bringing your vision to his own. "No- I did not sleep or engage in any sexual nor romantic activity with her."

"Then why did you go to her house and not tell me?!" you cried, nudging his hand off your face, him immediately aiming towards your waist to still have you near. "Why would you do this to me? Why would you sleep over when you know how I would feel?"

"I can't tell you," he confesses, whispering softly. Feeling your face fall, you erupt into tears again as you lift up your palms to hide behind them.

Hiccuping, your hands twitch as they support your weight and force you to fall on top of the counter and continue watering your tears there. Everything was unfair and he couldn't seem to realize how bad your fights have progressed throughout the months.

"If you really care about me," you whimper, still behind your hands as he rubs circles on your waist. "You would consider my feelings and understand why I should know what you did with her."

Sighing, he releases you waist and rubs his forehead in frustration. Pedro wasn't the type to hide things in relationships. In fact, he was amazing when it came to expressing feelings and being honest while you were the same- but you typically took longer to reveal your troubles than he did.

But no matter how loyal he was to you, it wasn't his place to share someone else's business no matter who the association may be.

"I know, baby. I know- believe me," he whispers, pulling you in for a hug and lifting you off the counter as your sobs were felt among his chest. It broke his heart. "But I can't betray her, she needed me and trusted me to see her. I can't just deceive her."

"But you can do that to me?" you reply, catching him off guard as he shuts his eyes tightly by how accurate you were being. "It's okay, I understand."

"No," he shakes his head, groaning before staring you down. "You don't understand, hell- I don't understand this either. But what I need you to know is I did not kiss, flirt, wink, tease, or touch her in any sexual way. We did not have sex - there was no removing of any clothing-"

"Then why did you sleepover?!"

"She needed me," he simply replies, causing you to laugh ridiculy.

"I needed you and you left me," you spit out harshly, not believing how he could defend himself and think you would ever fine with it.

Grunting, he runs his hand over his hair before pouring all of his stress onto you. "What do you want me to do? I told you what happened- she needed me, I helped her, it took longer than expected so I fell asleep on the couch- do you want to touch my knotted back for proof? Because you can!"

"Why am I the one being yelled at?" you respond, watching his face fall in disappointment.

Staying in your position for a minute or two, you continued examining him as he did the same, not knowing where this was headed. That was until he motioned with his hand for you to move closer.

"Come here."

Furrowing your brows, you pause at his words. Did he think hugging was going to solve all of your problems- because it wasn't. "No-"

Feeling his arms glide up along your upper body and finally wrapping around your shoulders, he pressed you up against his chest into the warmest bear hug you might have engaged in.

It was...peaceful.

Sighing, he felt your body soften by the touch. Relaxing, you closed your eyes as he made it his mission to not ease up on his grip. "I didn't do anything with her," he whispers, laying his face comfortably on your shoulder. "I promise, I love you."

Sadly, his confession made you break down more as tears flooded your face and your body fell upon his grip. Easily wrapping his palms on the back of your head, he cradled you tightly and never left your sight once the rest of that day and week.

And that's how that fight ended- with you trusting his sweet nothings and letting him take over your body with his hugs and kisses because he somehow made you believe him.

Every single time.

You wish you could have moved on from that topic that night as you allowed him to show you how much he loved you, but unfortunately that wasn't an option.

Especially when paparazzi exploited more pictures with him and his ex the following weeks later.

"And what about your last fight? You know- the one that ended things," Andrew started, making you halt. "What happened then?"

Quickly standing up, you brushed your sweatpants down before sending him a tight smile. Now that you talked about sad memories you hadn't really thought of in months, you knew the mention of your last fight would only break you.

You weren't ready to undergoing the same pain you felt that night.

"I didn't know these talks about my past would take a toll on me, but they have. I don't want to talk about it, but I appreciate the two of you checking up on me- I really do, but I think its time for me to take a shower and maybe nap- it's been a tiring day."

Feeling your discomfort, Florence and Andrew exchanged a weary glance before looking back up to you, hesitantly nodding. Probably an intense memory, they were determined not to mention it again unless you came forward.

"Alright- but give us a call if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or just plain old company!" Florence smiled, wrapping her arms around you for a quick hug before pulling back. "We can even have a sleepover."

"Count me out on that one," Andrew joked, bending down to give you the same hug. "But for real, you can cry on my shoulder any time."

"Thanks," you giggle, soon following them towards your front door as they say goodbye to your dog before departing in their own cars.

What an emotional day it has been.

-

"Do I really have to go? It's no use- I already seen the film. I don't want to rewatch it," you whine as your manager hushes you.

Walking down the side of the theatre, you clutch onto the oversized, black leather jacket you were wearing as your manager and assistant walked on either side of you, directing to to the entrance of a random theatre in the city.

Since the Oscars, nothing has really changed. It's been about three weeks now and there wasn't chaos anymore- it seemed like news about that night had already faded.

Regularly, you did chat with Florence, Shailene, and Andrew on the phone- individually at times throughout your past weeks- but nothing too crazy.

You all had your busy schedules and your manager was still being as hardworking as ever trying to exploit more of you to the press and on the screen. Safe to say, every time she had news it would always be something impressive.

Except for today, when she proudly announced after barging into your house during breakfast that there was a new film premiere you had to attend.

It's not like you opposed the idea- but you watched the film when the production team invited you to their private screening. It would be useless watching it again.

But as persistent as ever, your manager claimed there would be great press and directors attending the public's premiere, following with "an Oscar-nominated actress like you must make themself remembered."

As dramatic as always- but at least she was highly active in your career.

She did everything to make you get noticed, especially when you were at your lowest point mentally after your breakup.

Now onto past relationships, you hadn't heard any news regarding Pedro since you last saw him. Not that you wanted to, but for some reason he was still on your mind. Due to the fact you did sit with your friends ranting about your shared troubles, that's likely the reason.

But all jokes aside, you seriously can't stop thinking about him.

However, you were too scared to admit this to anyone. You tried telling Florence, but every time you mentioned his name she would immediately disregard him, pissed by how he treated you.

Which you loved that she had your back, but you needed someone else to have his own- oddly.

Maybe it was your head deep in thoughts that revealed how you were feeling, but your assistant seemed to notice that you weren't okay- mentally.

After checking in and finding a small crowd, you accepted that maybe most of the audience were in their seats already despite the film starting in almost an hour. Nudging you once your manager left to find one of the producers, you glanced at her as she motioned you to move towards the wall.

"What's up?"

She made a face, practically laughing at your question before continuing on. "Why don't you tell me 'what's up?' The whole ride here you've been silent and I know it's not because you were tired- you slept all afternoon, what's really up?"

Chuckling, you roll her eyes at how nosy she was being- but you knew she only wanted to help you. After working together for years, it was a ritual both of you performed: don't let the other be sad.

Surprisingly, it worked every time. She would hide you from people who upset you while you let her have more vacation days whenever she felt the same.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're thinking about him, huh."

Eyes widening, you shake your head quickly as she laughs at your poor attempt of denying her idea. But she knew right from the moment you got lost in your head that he was the one to blame.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," she whispered loudly, causing you to shove her as she laughed louder.

"Shut up, someone might hear you," you hiss, watching as she tried holding her breath to stop herself from cackling again. She just looked like a fish in need of water.

"Don't think about him then," she teased. "If it's making you lost in your thoughts! Wait- why is he in your head? I thought you hated him?"

Coughing, you shake your head. "I don't hate him- I could never."

"Never?" she raises a brow in shock. "I think we're seeing some progress here. You're falling back in loveeeee with him."

"No way," you scoffed as she grinned heavily. "I'm just thinking about the Oscars since that was the last work-related event I've been to since today and you know- he was there so he ended up in my mind...for a little."

She slowly nods, teasing a smug as makes it pretty clear she did not believe one word you said. Your assistant has seen everything, so she is quite familiar with your thoughts regarding Pedro.

She knows when your happily, sadly, angrily, and crazily daydreaming about him. In this case, she's stuck between happily and crazily- not seeming to find any hints of fury and sorrow through your expressions.

But definitely warmth and frustration- all due to him not being able to leave your head.

"When are you just going to admit you still love him?" She blurts out, causing you to snap your heard towards her. "Everybody sees it, you obviously have a soft spot for him if you let him be near you."

"Near me? He's never near me," you laugh. "And I never show signs I want him back, I don't. I made it clear for months now after perfectly avoiding him at all costs."

"Yeah, but he's still on your mind- that must mean something," she declares, causing your small grin to fall into a tight line.

That must mean something.

Did it?

Shaking that thought away, you reject her idea. "It means he traumatized me."

"It means you're in denial and scared to be with him again," she replied, placing her hands on her hips. "Look, I just know you two are meant to be. Next time you see him, talk to him. Tell him how much you care for him- even if you don't want to admit it in a lovey-dovey way. It can be friendly!"

Giving her a strange look, she lowers her energy quickly before looking around the room, making sure no one saw how enthuastic she became.

"You get the point!" she rolls her eyes. "Just be nice, maybe the both of you can form a friendship or just drift apart knowing there's no hard feelings."

"But there is hard feelings," you declared, pointing out the obvious.

There is a reason why you two broke up, like there is also a reason why you despise him. It all comes down to history and actions, which you've both experienced- which is why, again, you broke up.

"Just..." she started, thinking about it for a second before sending you a sincere glance. "-give it a shot. If you don't hate him, like you said, it wouldn't be terrible to be civil."

Slowly nodding, you understand where she's coming from. This tension between Pedro and you was getting old, and the fact it was only you adding fuel to the non-existent fire since you've broken up is sad.

Especially when all he's been around you was sweet and considerate of your feelings, leaving you alone when he felt your energy- except for that one night, but you have to admit that was your fault for riling him up.

The roughness of heels came marching your way, forcing the both of you to instantly lift your head- finding your manager striking a fake breaming grin with two men beside her. She was trying too hard.

"Girls! This is Greg and Shawn- the writers of the film!" she exclaimed, fluttering her lashes rapidly as both men awkwardly raised a hand, waving it.

Releasing a tiny chuckle, you do the same as your assistant walks closer, sticking out her hand to fully gain their attention and introduce herself.

What can you say- she was a charmer.

Wrapping an arm around your shoulder, your manager slightly pulls you closer to the strangers and strangely bobbles her head- preparing whatever gibberish was about to spit out of her talkative mouth.

"Y/n- the boys thought it would be a great idea to sit in the vip selection among other A-listers- isn't that just lovely? We are very grateful for your offer-"

Boys? Oh god- now she was bonding for her hopeful chances of getting a call for an audition.

Compelling a sweet smile, you feel the only possible response you could give them was a meaningless 'thank you so much' after she literally put you on blast to communicate more. The funniest part about this situation was- you already watched the film!

Clearly you never met these writers- but instead the director himself! Your manager should be satisfied enough with that.

"Would you look at the time,-" Greg- you believe, softly gasps while raising his arm to examine the tiny apple watch planted. "Guests are probably filling up in their seats by now, terribly sorry- but we should probably go."

"I hadn't realized how close we were to showtime- we certainly must continue off our conversation after the film is over!" Shawn proclaims, making your manager nod far too quickly. "I look forward to meeting again."

With that, the two men inclined their motions of farewells before taking off down a dimmed hall, likely finding the exact destination set to premiere their comedic film.

Sighing, you send daggers to your managers who barely blinks before coughing out a swift, "What?"

"You really couldn't wait till after the film was over to sweet talk them?"

Dramatically rolling her eyes at your annoyance, she waves you off by your sudden introversion. It was her job to throw her best compliments about you too them, and she knew you were still too young to understand that everything she did was for a cost.

You.

"C'mon grumpy, let's locate the theatre before you start whining that your feet hurt, too."

Feeling your mouth slightly drop from her remark, you hear your assistant cackle right beside you, using her right palm to hold in her giggles while you mentally prepared for what comeback to throw her way.

You got nothing.

Huffing, your legs followed hers as she guided the two of you towards the same hall the men approached minutes before. The closer you've walked, the larger the capacity gathered around.

For such a low-budget film, it sure did gain quite the crowd.

As the rolling of the ending credits flooded the screen once you sat the last two and a half hours trying to act as if you didn't know what was coming next, you wish you had it in you to say the second time made up for the first- but it didn't.

There we have it, tonight was just not your night and endlessly enough- you couldn't blame it on some silly excuse of watching the same film over again.

Not even your assistant's sneaky offerings of her red licorice lifted your blues- and that speaks enough volume to say the least.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" the whole-heartedly voice of your manager's voice filled your ears as the three of you sat in the same lobby as before, still not finding a way to escape a cold room.

Oh how you abominated the sharp hits of the air conditioning- it frankly made coming to the theaters a horror unless layers of clothing and a blanket was tagged along.

"Why can't we leave? The film is done and people are walking out."

"We still have to talk to Shawn and Greg!" your manager declared, presenting a look of pure determination to get her way with their levels of skill.

Groaning, you throw your head in absolute exhaustion. Fairly, if your manager hadn't had made such an early visit during the morning hours you're sure you would've been in a better mood.

It was like the more you interacted, the less energy you had to give.

In order to survive the next few hours, you needed your phone or who knows how your fake laughters will sound.

And you call yourself an actress.

Sliding your hand to the back of your pockets, you wait for the feel of your large iphone to surface- but that moment never comes. Swiftly, you check your leather jacket ones just in case you slipped it there without realizing.

You didn't.

Anxiously glancing towards your assistant, your trembling hands find her arm. "Have you seen my phone? It's not on me."

Examining your hands before meeting your eyes, she shrugs it off. "Relax, no need to have a nervous breakdown- I'm sure you left it in the car with your bag-"

"No, I had it on me during the previews."

"We did go to the bathroom, too- why not just go check those two places?" she suggests. Concerned filled you, hoping nobody was capable of actually stealing your phone- it would be such a hassle getting another one. "I'll check the bathroom, you check our seats."

Agreeing, the two of you sneakily escape your manager when her back was turned, unpleasantly speed walking down the familiar hall before parting ways to your needed locations.

Opening the thick, black doors and striding up the long runway, your eyes are met with the same darkened seating area you were in less than twenty minutes ago.

Then and there, you use this desertion in power- running towards the middle rows consider 'vip' and begin your inspection. Fuck, you wish your had some form of light to help- you couldn't see shit.

Sliding your fingers among the seat, you lift up the cushions in hopes it mysteriously pops up, but all you find is pieces of popcorn and gum glued down.

Gross.

Feeling your eyes begin to water, you were sure you were seconds away from crying like a little kid over the loss of your beloved possession before you heard a deep voice call out for your attention.

"Is this yours? I heard it ringing when I came back in and- uh," the person froze, not having the ability to finish off their sentence as you gradually lifted your body off the floor into their view.

Hopelessly praying the stranger was regarding your phone, your eyes search for their hands first and there it was- your phone!

The corners of your mouth lift up, as well as the creases around your eyes as you internally cheer for your discovery. However, it faltered once you noticed a familiar tattoo laying on one of their palms. Moving your eyes up, you're sure your smile completely disappears once you recognize those brown eyes.

How did you not catch onto his voice from down there?

"Uh- yeah- that's mine," you nervously reply, choking on your words that probably made you sound like you were about to lose consciousness by how strung you were, and hesitantly reach out for the device.

Pedro quietly lets you grab it, not saying one word as your hands collide for a split second before the object was back in your own. You didn't miss the name that appeared on the lit up screen when touched- your assistant must have tried calling you to see if the phone would ring in the bathroom.

Smart.

Avoiding awkward farewells, Pedro swiftly turns around and makes his way down the theatre stairs, not daring to continue on with the barely existing conversation you shared. He's leaving, that fast?

Thinking about all your past interactions, he would always try to chat with you- even when you did give him the coldest shoulder of all time- because that's who he was: kind.

But now he's...walking away?

"Hey- uhm," you begin, following clumsily after him, almost tripping on one of the steps as he reaches his final steps and doubtfully turns your way. Once you stood another step ahead of him, you feel that swirling feeling in your stomach again.

You were nervous- you've never felt this way around him during your breakup- never.

Adjusting your arms inside your jacket, a small smile is extracted out of you as you watch his stay flat. He did not look interested one bit and it frightened you to death. "Thanks for finding my phone- I-I was really scared there for a minute."

Not reacting to your little laugh at the end, he replied- dull. "I didn't know it was yours, I would have given it to guest services if so."

Ouch, you're sure you're hurt expression was recognizable on the outside as much as it pained you on the inside. He really did not want to talk to you, even when you're showing your appreciation.

He really was over you.

"I know," you squeak out, not missing the way his eyes tiredly scanned your own as his body stood there stiff as ever. "I just wanted to thank you, that's all- you saved me a lot of trouble."

Coldly laughing from that, he nods. "I'm sure I have."

Your body tingled with rage as he carelessly ignored your warmth and threw jabs in return. "What's with the attitude? I'm doing nothing wrong here- I'm trying to be friendly."

Inching up, his face presents a sullen one and you immediately feel intimated by the height he owned and used as his advantage. Just the first few seconds before he spoke alone made you feel his displeasure. "And what about all those times I was friendly? I received shit so forgive me for allowing you to experience the same treatment you give others."

Loss for words, you were speechless and didn't know what to say back. For one, you were alarmed by his hard demeanor he gifted to you. Second, humiliation soared throughout as he called out your imperfections.

In other words, he wanted you to know you were a bitch.

"And I take that back but-"

Pedro was about to burst out laughing in front of your face, but he held himself together in sake of your feelings. Can you believe that, despite the misery he still cared for your state of mind. "Taking back isn't apologizing."

Sneering, you cross your arms as his eyebrows furrowed in irritation. "Apologize for what? You were the one who fucked my life over."

Scoffing, he shakes his head in vexation by your lack of empathy- as always. "Countless of times we would contemplate our faults and how we could move on and now you're discounting your wrongdoings- typical."

Pedro did not want to have another unpleasant argument with you, especially in a public setting again, and decided it was best to just walk away. If he kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't make this altercation worse.

Meeting his broad back, you lightly gasp as he ignores you altogether and makes his leave far too early for your liking. Charging towards him, you feel his back solidify once your fingers yank him to a halt.

You were not done with this conversation, but you did know once you got home you were definitely going to regret how toxic you were radiating in the room.

"Typical? What do you mean by that?"

"Knock it off and let me walk away, y/n," Pedro warns, still facing his back towards you after blocking your attempts of moving him. "We both know how badly this will end."

You know, but for some reason you don't want him to leave. Was that so bad?

"No, I wanna hear exactly what you have to say about me- maybe it'll make me recognize the ignorant ego I have."

"You're talking out in anger, you're trying to cause a fire that I won't let you ignite," he simply replies, his eyes still not found by his hidden appearance.

Very poetic.

Scowling profoundly, you don't realize what you're doing until you're finally met with his provoked display after. Stalking around his body, you stand in front of him and jab a finger towards his chest. "You're preventing me from bettering myself, isn't that what you always wanted?"

Leaning down until his face with inches away from yours, you make out his hard features clearly now. His face expressed discomfort as his eyes creased while lifting- even his lips stayed hard as a rock. "I'm going to tell you one more time, let me go."

Ignoring his cold shoulder, he inhaled a sharp breath before taking matters into his own hands. You don't want to listen? Fine. But he wasn't going to let you drag him into this any further.

Right as you push another finger up against him, your wrist was taken and roughly pushed down by your side as Pedro's body practically belted against yours. "Get off me!"

"Not until you stop fucking around," he grunted, immediately widening his eyes in realization. He knows you don't like when he casually curses directly to you- even when he doesn't harm. "Sorry- I-I meant when you stop playing around."

Praying that a smile doesn't escape you, it made you feel some type of way capturing his manners and how even though you two were on rocky terms- he still had some respect for you.

"Why are we even fighting right now?" you sigh, slowly softening your muscles in forfeit.

"You tell me- it sounds like you want my attention," he casually replied, releasing your hands and stepping back an inch. "Considering you won't let me leave."

"I'm just trying to have a normal, polite conversation! Is that so wrong?"

Softly laughing, he shakes his head in disappointment. "You don't get it."

Scrunching your face, you become lost by his words. "Get what?"

Scanning the wall before meeting your eyes again, Pedro motions his hands between the two of you. "What do you think will come out of us having a conversation? Acquaintances? Maybe a friendship?"

Thinking about it for a second, you feel your head eventually nod as he squeezes his eyes shut in return. Was that not what he's been trying to do- end in good terms? "It's what's healthy for us."

"Us?!" Pedro groans, sending you a tired gaze that had you weak to the knees. "There is no 'us' anymore. You made that perfectly clear after causing a scene last month in front of your friends."

"I didn't plan on that happening a-"

"I'm even letting go the bigger scene you caused inside the after party- isn't that enough to understand why I feel this way?" he adds on, frustrated that you would think otherwise.

You were the one who caused the attention and brought a bad look on his name. He should be shouting at you like you would have done to him if the roles were reversed.

"I'm not saying we should get back together, all I want-"

"-is a friendship? Some sort of relation that won't make us strangers?" he interjects, causing you to stay silent. That was all he needed to understand what you really wanted: not to let him go. "Look, we had our history, but I don't think it's good we keep in contact anymore."

You swear you felt all air leave your body as your face felt cold. Was he breaking up with you- in life itself?

"I-uhm don't- I don't understand," you cough, scared to make a bigger fool out of yourself. You're sure you probably look like a ghost by how much color you've lost since his recent reveal and again- you were grateful this room was dim. "Why can't we at least be friends? Not even that- why can't we at least know we have each other in our lives? Why end up as strangers?"

"What do you mean? We hadn't talked to each other in almost a year till last month! We basically are strangers," he exclaimed, causing you to look down at your feet as your heart ached.

He wasn't wrong- you just hadn't realized he's been right. And to blame was you, not him. You pushed him away in the first place, he was only kind enough to oblige.

And it was surely pathetic how now you wanted him back in your life, even if it meant not even talking just to assure yourself he still had your back.

He didn't.

"Y/n..." he sadly muttered, trying his best not to hurt your feelings as you were still continued to stay downwards- not wanting to disclose more hurt. "You didn't even say happy birthday to me, how can you be considered a friend? Friends don't do that, not to me at least."

This caused you to glance back up to him, disagreeing immediately as to what he was trying to get at. Of course you knew it was his birthday, you celebrated two with him in the past! "I didn't want to make things weird-"

"You never do but still avoid me like the plague and breakdown whenever I'm too close to your liking. I'm sorry for trying to do what's best and leave us in the past,-" he explains, closing his eyes in discomfort, "-but I can't keep letting this go on. I'm too old to be going back and forth as if this is some high school relationship- it's not."

High school relationship- you never knew simple three words could have you shrinking in guilt.

"And I know things will be easier for you when the time comes- I won't be around to nag you," Pedro tries to lighten up the mood but you can't break the line upon your lips. You were emotionless and it made Pedro upset.

Why would he be upset? You finally deserved learning your lesson after treating him as if he was nothing to you. But despite all your flaws, he still cared for you.

He cares so much that he's willing to let you go so you can do better things in life- without him.

Trying to find the right words to say, you give up. There isn't much to discuss now that he wants nothing to do with you.

You fucked up- for real this time.

In fact, you shouldn't even be hurt- you wanted this. Or at least that's what you thought before last month when he wasn't on your mind 24/7.

Maybe it was the way he begged for your forgiveness after not seeing each other for so long that made you realize how badly you adored him nearby.

Maybe it was the attention he was giving you after you continuously rejected his pleads, furthering the argument until he stormed off in the end.

And maybe you should've took his concluding estrangement announcement seriously before he left you last month.

But just like they say, you never know what you have until it's gone.

"I see," you quietly respond, slowly nodding as a faint grin forms among Pedro's lips, appreciating your cooperation over this mess. "Maybe it is best if we stray away from each other- you can even delete my number."

"I already have," he accidentally blurts out, not realizing how bad that sounds until he hears it himself and cringes. Your sufferable reaction didn't make things better.

"You know what," you fake a laugh, trying to calm your voice as you feel it about to crack any second. The tears were heading your way- you just knew it. "Fuck you."

Pedro's face falls, taken back by your inappropriate language. "Excuse me?"

Noticing your rushed attitude, he wanted to stop you and tell you everything was alright. That everything was going to be easy and how the two of you would get passed this.

But he knew he'd be lying.

"You heard me, fuck you," you casually slip out, scoffing as his eyes darken. "For someone who's so kind to others, I would have thought you would know what words were right to say."

"You're one to talk, sweetheart," he chuckled, staring at you in repulse. "Every time you talk you always have to neglect someone else, I'm fucking glad I don't have to witness that ever again."

"Me too, my family was right- you are a joke who wasted my time."

With that, you make your leave to have the chance of having the last word. Maybe if you left this room faster he would forget about your comment. You knew it was harsh but you didn't know what else to say.

You wanted him to hurt- but to what extent?

Your arm was instantly tugged as Pedro pulled you back, not letting his grip go as his face was still filled with resentment. "And your team was right, you are a bitch."

Freezing, you stare at him in shock as his face doesn't fall once. What the hell is he talking about? "Get away from me or else-"

"Or else what? Weren't you the one physically blocking me from leaving minutes ago? What has changed?" he tries to smirk, manipulating you into believing how ruthless he could be when really he was dying to tell you the act he was pulling. "Cat got your tongue?"

Your face felt hot with rage as you yanked your arm off his hand, catching him by surprise as you glared at him. "I'm so glad I never took you back, you're fucking pathetic."

"And I'm insanely glad you didn’t, saved thousands returning that fucking ring."

Those twelve words made you halt and even made Pedro speechless. By the staggered look planted on his face, you could tell he didn't mean to say that.

Ring? As in, an engagement ring?

Weakly failing to stand straight, you felt your voice crack. "You were going to propose?"

Shaking his head, he swiftly backed away. "I need to go." Before you could stop him, he was already out of the theatre and probably near larger gatherings of people that would only prevent you from talking about this more.

Holding your face with your hands, you couldn't even cry. You didn't know what to do, you were utterly lost for words.

If he was really going to propose like he hinted at, what meaning did your last fight have? Nothing made sense and you don't know how you could move on from this now that he wanted you out of his life completely.

Hearing doors open, you instantly averted your gaze in hopes he had come back in and planned to properly finish what he started.

Instead, you manager came barging in while gripping onto your assistant's wrist harshly.

"Where the hell have you been?! I've been looking for you everywhere and to find out your stupid assistant-"

"Don't you dare disrespect her," you sternly cut her off, watching as her face falters by your sudden tone. "If you're here to pester us some more, feel free to walk home."

Laughing in shock, your manager tilts her head at your rudeness. "Excuse me? It wasn't my fault your assistant wondered off. After everything I have done to protect you and your career you feel the need to throw me out-"

"Did she hurt you?" you cut her off, focusing on your assistant who has gone quiet. You notice the redness on her small wrists before she slowly nods, looking down in fear your manager would try something else.

"You're fired," you simply state, pushing past your frantic ex- manager as you lightly guide your assistant out the door.

You ignore the rage your ex- manager unveils as you make it back to the lobby. Ignoring the waves random people sent your way in hopes of finding your destined car sooner so you could help your assistant with her injuries and be home already.

And in bed to think about what the fuck just happened tonight.

+

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[fakesimp]

Congratulations for 500 follower!🎉🎉Hmmmmm how about a fluff Ver x Reader? Hope you like it Chia✨✨

"Can I kiss you?" , With Ver Vermilion

Warning !

Fluff ; Friends to Lovers ; Confession ; Established Relationship ; Shy ! Ver ; Mentions of Kissing ;

A/n : I am liking this so much to my delight, I finally have a reason to write Ver's kissing idea I had a week ago.

No, a few days ago? Yeah-- i think.. uh..

Also thank you for the congratulation Anon ! 💜

A-

I, hope you like this. (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

➶◜◝➴

You admire his hardwork, everything. How he manages the student council, how he acted so friendly with other students. You remember the day when he told you, you can come over to him. Or should I say, The president of the student council, Ver Vermilion. For ranting about almost everything, he said he looked forward to it.

Do you remember?

That was a few months ago..

The way he smiled at you, constantly patting your head. His kind words, flows through your eardrums, his voice. Oh-so-addicting to listen to,

You've gone closer to him ever since that day, you sometimes would go visit him at the student council room when you had the time, not only for ranting sometimes you just go there, visiting him.

Socializing with the other student council members, Kotoka, Zaion, Doppio, Meloco. even the student counselor is there too. Hex.

. . .

"..y.. ey.. Hello? (Y/n)? Earth to (Y/n)?" You blinked back to reality thanks to a certain familiar voice calling out your name. "H-huh? What-" you were spacing out, as you unconsciously stare at the..

President of student council.

Oh, wait, you're staring at Ver this whole time?! And you didn't even realize you were staring, you look up at Ver. Who was standing not too far from you, "Hey, you were, kinda uh, spacing out there. Are you okay?" He asked you, with a very visible worry plastered on his face. "Ah, I- I'm okay, I was just thinking about yo- I MEAN UH, YOGURT- yogurt? YOGURT YEAH." You panicked.

You don't even know why you spat out yogurt, you look away flustered, now you're a flustered mess. You almost expose yourself and your feelings to him! You closed your eyes tightly and took a deep breath, you didn't even realize how Ver just stood there a bit flabbergasted. "Yogurt huh.. do you, perhaps? Want some..?" He hesitantly asked you, you look over at him trying to explain yourself but you only ended up getting more flustered than before when you see his cute confused face.

"I-, Kaichou, I'm sorry, I was, just, blabbering out nonsense, forget that I said anything" You said as you scold at yourself internally, mentally yelling at yourself. "Oh- Ah, I see.. I, uh I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable by approaching you, but you.." Ver went quiet before he could finish his sentence, you look up at him, confused. Why did he not finish his sentence.

Noticing your confusion, he slightly chuckled, "No, nevermind, it's nothing, So how's your study?" "Huh, hmm.. well it was ..."

. . .

Both of you talked for quite awhile, the bell rings, and that is both of your queue to go to your classes. You bid goodbye to Ver, and walked away as he went the opposite way.

As you walk to your class, you ponder, how should you confess your feelings to Kaichou, to him, Ver Vermilion. But you're guessing by doing so, you might just risking your friendship with him.

What if he rejects you?

What if he doesn't feel the same way?

What if..

You slowly shook your head and sighed, maybe later you thought. You enter your class and went to your seat, your classmates asked you bunch of questions since they saw you talking with Kaichou.

But all you can say is nothing since you both talked about are mostly about school, nothing much.

. . .

The bell rings again, it's your second break, you're currently talking with your friends about the lesson you just learned a few minutes ago. Until one of your boy classmate called you out,

"Yo (Y/n), Kaichou is looking for you" He said, your friends coo at you, teasing you endlessly, making your face red not only because you're flustered but you're also a bit mad about their teasing. You sighed softly and walked out of your class, and there he is standing right in front of your class door, arms crossed, face looking to the side, watching at other students.

"Kaichou, you're looking for me?" You asked as you approach the president of the student council, He turned his head to you and smiled. "Yeah, I'm sorry if I bother you, I want to talk to you about something, do you have a minute?" He asked as he fixed his uniform. You slowly nod your head, "Okay, good, uh, do you mind if we talk somewhere else tho?" "Sure, lead the way Kaichou! I'll follow you" You said to Ver, making the male smile at you sheepishly.

"I'm sorry if I request too much, but I hope you don't mind." Ver said as he scratched the back of his head, "No, it's okay Kaichou, I'm more than willing to help you!" You said and smiled at him. Your words made him chuckle softly, he then pat your head, "Well then, come with me." He said as he lead you to somewhere less crowded.

And that is the student council room.

Here you are staring at Kaichou's table that is almost full of stacked papers on his table, you look over at Ver to see him pinching his nose bridge. "Those papers..." He whispered to himself and sighed, "Well, I'll finish those later.." he said and took a deep breath.

You smiled at him, a bit guilty, "Must be tiring huh?" You said, making the male's attention move to you. "Ah, well, I would be lying if I said it isn't haha" Ver replied and lead you to the nearby chair, "Have a seat..!" He said as he gently pull out the chair to let you sit, like a gentleman he is.

"I was wondering, if you're, uh, free this weekend?" He hesitantly asked you, "I am, free. Why do you ask?" You asked, eyes sparkled with curiosity. "I was wondering if you want to hangout, with me." He said, "With the others too-! O-of course." He continued a little bit stuttering at the end. You blinked a few times at him, you frowned for a moment.

"Don't force yourself if you can't, I am not forcing you to.... ..." "I thought it would just be the two of us" you spattered out, and the next second you slap your mouth after realizing what you said. You look up at the male in front of you, standing there a bit stunned, "Well- uhm, I mean, That could also work- if that's what you want." His reply is making things nowhere near better.

You bury your face into your palms, slightly screaming into it. You want to run away and hide now. You did not just spat out your disappoinment right in front of the male, now here you are in an awkward situation.

Ver stared at you with with a soft gaze, he sat himself across you. He watches you try to calm yourself down as he put his chin on his palm. He stared at you, with not only admiration, but also something else. If only you notice the way he look at you right now. "Are you okay?" He finally asked after a long silence of you trying to calm your nerves down.

You look up at him, blinked a few times and looked away again. "I'm sorry, I swear I did not mean to spat out that sentence.." you tried to explain yourself, but then you realize the male in front of you doesn't even seem to be bothered by it. Instead he just smiled and chuckled, "It's okay, if that's what you really want, we can do that. Hanging out only with the two of us." He said as he stands up from the chair and approached you, he put his hand on your head once again patting your head.

"I'll be waiting then, meet me at .."

. . .

The time moves so fast, it's already weekend. Right now you're preparing yourself for the da- the hangout, With Ver. You look at yourself on the mirror, you fixed your clothes, you look at yourself one more time before leaving your house.

You walked down the road, a bit frowning, you wonder how today's 'hangout' will go. Doesn't this feel like,

A date?

You look down at your bag, you opened it and there is a small present that you made specifically for Ver. You were planning to give him this at school, but you didn't have the chance to. Now you do, last night you almost didn't get any sleep due to how nervous you are. You're planning to confess your feelings today, you can't stop thinking about what he would say to your confession.

What would happen if you got rejected?

Is he still going to act the same? Or is he going to change?

So many questions flooded your mind.

When you snap back to reality, you've arrived at the location where you would see each other. You stood there idly, looking around to see if you can find the familiar looking male. And then there he is, walking down the path, with a coat on, black turtle neck.

The weather is indeed quite cold, maybe you should've wear something more warmer. But you did bought yourself some shawl to warm yourself. Ver when he spotted you he immediately smiled, he quicken his pace to you and stopped a few steps away from you. "Sorry I'm late.." he apologized and smiled sheepishly, "It's okay Kaichou, I just arrived too" you replied and smiled at him. "Haha, is that so? Well then shall we go?"

. . .

How long has it been? Both of you went here and there, went to some shops, even went to the arcade. Both of you had so much fun until you're both currently waiting in a line for food, you both waited for quite awhile to finally reach your turn. The owner looked at you both, "For couples?" Both of you stared at the owner surprised, "Uh- does that make any difference with the original ones?" Ver asked trying to not make things awkward. "Yes, of course! You're a couple right? Both of you look cute together haha" the owner said complimenting both of you, "T-thank you, uh, we will take the couple one then.." Ver said.

. . .

Now both of you sat across each other, eating the food together. Like a couple, but you're both are not even in relationship. Yet. You stared at the food In front of you, you slowly scoop another one. And put them in your mouth, you frowned. Couldn't stop thinking about what the owner said, "(You look cute together)" you spaced out again as you think about that one sentence. "(Y/n)?" Ver called you out, noticing you've stopped eating.

You look up at Ver, tilting your head in confusion, "Yeah?" "You're spacing out again, what's wrong?" He asked worried. "Oh, I was just, thinking about, something not important don't worry." You replied, making the male raise his eyebrow. "Not convincing enough but okay, I won't push you to tell me." Ver replied and smiled at you, "Well, is there a place that you want to go before I take you home?" He asked. "Uhmm.. there is, come with me." You said, as you stood up from your chair and extend your hand to him. He stared at your hand for a second and then your face, he then chuckled softly, a little bit flustered. He put his hand on top of yours, you smiled at him and gently pull him off his chair, not forgetting the half finished food. You then pull Ver to a spot, that there's barely people to be seen there.

"Oh, wow." Ver was in awe looking at his surroundings, "This is," He smiled as he watch his surrounding once again. "It's beautiful isn't it?" You said and smiled at him, "I thought you knew about this place?" You asked, he slowly shook his head. "No, I don't, but now I do." He said as he let out a chuckle, "Thank you for taking me here." He thanked you.

There's a bench nearby and both of you sat down there, watching the scenery in front of you. You on the other hand, fiddling on the bench, trying to figure out a way how to confess to this man that's sitting next to you.

"Ah, the sun is setting. We should head back, no?" Ver said as he stood up, extending his hand to you. "We should go now, before it's getting darker" he said waiting for you, you stared up at him. Then at his hand.

You slowly put your hand on top of his, he smiled at you as he gently pulled you off the bench. You both stood so close, you didn't pull your hand away. Instead, you hold it a little bit tighter.

Ver, who felt you still holding his hand, gently rub his thumb at the back of your hand. "Are you okay?" He softly asked, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You look up at him, both of you made eye contact for a moment. You slowly open your mouth, and say

"I like you.."

The male in front of you stood there, staring at you, surprised. He blinked multiple times, "M-me? You? Like me??" He repeated your confession. You slowly nod your head, you look down to your foot. Ready for rejection.

You feel his hand held yours tighter, he then gently pull your hand, make you walk closer to him. Until you're like inches away from his body, you look up at him. And oh boy, his face is so close to the point you can feel his breath. Smell his perfume. "You like me?" He whispered, staring into your eyes, seeking for the truth. As if you're getting hypnotized, you repeated your sentence. "I like you"

The male smiled, you can see a faint blush on his cheeks. He immediately engulfed you into his arms, "I, like you too.." he whispered into your ear. He slowly loosen up the hug, "We're official now huh?" He said as he smiled sheepishly. You nod your head and chuckled softly, "Let's go home.." you said as you pull Ver's hand, leading both of you away from the spot.

. . .

After walking for awhile, you're both now standing in front of your house. Both of you did not let go each other's hands at all on your way back home, you opened your bag and decided to give him the present that you have been waiting for the right time. And Right now is the right time, "Ver, I want to give you something." You said as you rummage your bag. "Hm?" He hummed curiously, he looked over at your bag.

You found the present and took it out, it's small. You gave it to him, he accepts it. He look down at the present, he smiled at it. He then reach down to his coat pocket, he took out a present too, and the size is almost the same as yours. It's also small. "I also prepared one for you.." he said, "I was planning to confess today, but you beat me up to it." He said and chuckled. Your eyes brightens up as you stare at the present and Ver, he wanted to confess too?

"here you go.." Ver offered you his present, and you took it. You stared at the present in awe, you wonder what's inside. You gave Ver a bracelet. Simple yet fashionable. If that make sense. "Open it." Ver said as he stared at you, "It's okay, open it." He said smiling. You look down at the present and slowly opened the present, it's a small box, and then you opened the box.

It's a necklace, you gently took it out from the box and touched the charm. You look up at Ver, "I, hope, ahem, I hope you like it.." he said, clearing his throat. "I love it, thank you.." you replied to him, you stared at the necklace once again. "Can you help me wearing it?" "Of course, here let me help you."

You turn yourself around, letting Ver help you wearing the necklace. You can feel his fingers brush against your neck, it's cold. Your body slightly shiver from the sensation. "Are you okay?" He asked when he noticed your body was shivering, "Yeah I'm okay.." you replied, "Thank you." You thanked him as you turn yourself back facing him.

Both of you stared at each other for a second, Ver slowly reach out his hand and put them on your cheek. Gently rub his thumb on your cheekbones, he slowly open his mouth

"Can I kiss you?"

Your eyes widen at his sudden request, you placed your hand on top of his. You slowly nod your head, giving him the permission to kiss you.

Chu.

You felt his soft lips on yours, your face felt warm when he kissed you. He pulled away and stared at you in awe, adoration, he smiled sheepishly. "Thank you for allowing me to kiss you, haha.. also,

Thank you for choosing me."

©fakesimp

Bonus scene !

You laid on the bed, playing with the necklace that Ver gave you.

You heard your phone buzzing, you took your phone and look at the screen to see a message notification from Ver!

He send you a picture, you opened it to see him wearing the bracelet you gave him.

There's a message, he wrote,

'Thank you for the bracelet, I love it'

A/n : This is longer than intended, oh dear.

(1/6) - 500 Followers Event !

[engazed]

Writing Group Proposal

I'm going to put an idea out there with no expectation of interest or response:

I very much want to finish this next chapter (and the rest of Blackbird, Fly) in the coming weeks and months. I've been struggling to find the time to just sit down and do it, and I think part of that is lack of pressure, deadlines, and accountability. So I'm going to make a proposal: a writing group.

For the month of December, I want to write. A little here, and little there, and add a little to a little and you get quite a lot over time. I'm sure many of you out there have similar goals but could use a little extra motivation that like-minded creators can provide.

So why don't we form a small writing group? Here's how it would work:

Anyone interested, send me a message on Tumblr, and come December 1, we'll hit the play button. We'll announce our individual goals for December: Week 1. It could be anything: "This week, I want to write 1000 words" or "I want to write 300-500 words a day for five days" or "I want to write notes on character/chapter/scene" or whatever it might be. It doesn't even have to be fanfiction. Maybe you're working on a paper for school, or want to journal more, or want to read a dozen stories and leave comments, or, I don't know, want to try your hand at an epic ballad (I hope it's that one!). We'll declare our goals, and at the end of that week, we'll check back in with each other, report on our progress, congratulate and encourage one another. Then we can move on to December: Week 2.

To keep this from being overwhelming, I'm only proposing this for December (though, if we are successful, we may want to do this again in a month or so). I know December can be a hectic month, so we can keep goals small and manageable (or, you know, go nuts, you do you). I just know that sometimes writing groups can be great fun and helpful, which is what I'm looking for at the moment.

So anyone who is interested, anyone at all, whether you follow me or my work or not, whether you've ever interacted with me or not (I'm a friendly person, I promise), just shoot me a message and we'll get this party started. It can be two of us or a dozen, we can grow or shrink at will, and we can make this whatever we want it to be.

Feel free to reblog, tag your friends, or just keep scrolling. Like I said, no expectations, no demands. Just an invitation to write.

[dandelion-wings]

Ragnbros and 12? :o

I love how I keep saying I'm going to keep these under 500 words and then writing like... double that. Anyway I kept thinking about circumstances in which one of them might ask the other for help, and so it was almost about Adelinde instead, but then at the barn this morning I had an even worse thought, and that's the one I ran with.

ETA: Now archived on AO3.

---

Kaeya doesn't have to wonder *why* Diluc picked the Delusion up. Their foes are innumerable, literally so; every one who falls comes climbing back to its feet, if that's the right word, within moments, or if it's too badly broken dissolves into a dark mist that reforms into more of this domain's shadowy foes. It's peril enough to have them fighting side-by-side with the Fatui who'd stumbled into it with them.

So when the last Fatuus had fallen, directly at Diluc's feet, Kaeya can understand the temptation that had led him to reach down and wrench the woman's weapon from her hands before she dissolved into the shadows herself. Diluc has used a Delusion before, after all. Kaeya doesn't even worry. He doesn't have the time. And he trusts Diluc to know what he can handle.

The Delusion serves him well. Diluc manages to buy them a brief breathing space, every foe within twenty feet toppled by a massive Overload and only gradually reforming. In that space he must spot something, because he nudges Kaeya's shoulder with his own.

"That way," he says tersely, pointing, and then sets off without looking back, in full expectation that Kaeya will follow.

Which he does, of course. There's only ever been one time he hasn't.

Soon enough Diluc's instinct proves correct. (Or maybe his observation. You *can* see a bit better with two open eyes.) As he carves a path through their enemies and up a set of crumbling stairs, a ley line monument rears up at the top. It's wreathed in the same moving shadow that their foes arise from, thick with the stench of the Abyss. Diluc swings at it without hesitation, and Kaeya moves in to do the same, Melt and Superconduct and Overload together cracking smoothed stone and shattering the monument from top to base.

The shadows that had been many small monsters coalesce into one in its rubble, and they're once again fighting for their lives--but this time the battle is for keeps. At the end the thing crumples not into more shadow but into light, whatever remnants of memory it once had been draining back into the leylines until the day they gather together again. A day that will hopefully come far enough in the future that Kaeya and Diluc won't have to deal with it again.

Kaeya flicks absent blood from his blade in an unthinking motion before sheathing it with a flourish and turning to Diluc. "Now, can you lead us back out, as well, or is it my turn to-"

Diluc is doubled over on the floor, clawing at the pendant that he'd jerked from around her neck. Static sparks from it, blackening his fingers as he tries to get it loose. Chains stretch from it to wrap around his throat, dark and barbed and far too familiar. Kaeya's breath catches in his throat.

Looking up at him, Diluc's eyes are hard and shadowed and full of the same terrible memory that chokes Kaeya. *"Help me,"* he mouths.

For one frozen moment, the only thought in Kaeya's mind is: was that an echo?

Then he shakes it off and drops to his knees beside Diluc, reaching himself for the Delusion. It jolts against his hands, too, the Electro worse than any shock Lisa has ever given him, but he grits his teeth and gets a grip and tugs--and the chains only tighten. He reaches for them next, but there's no *end* to them, no clasp, the length disappearing into the Delusion's glow on either side and winding tighter and tighter around Diluc's neck. He can hear Diluc gagging as it chokes him.

His brother is sheet-white, slumped over, his hands trembling so hard he can barely fumble at the Delusion any longer. The light in his Vision gutters ominously. Kaeya tries to slip a hand between the chains and flesh and gets shocked so hard it slams him flat onto his back for the trouble. He sits up, hissing out a curse, and catches sight of Diluc's eyes again: wide now, afraid, terrified and open in the way Kaeya hasn't seen him since- well.

*"Help me,"* he mouths again, and his hand drops to the hilt of the claymore, seizing convulsively around it, though he seems drained of any strength to lift it from his sheath.

Ah.

"Sorry," Kaeya says, reaching out again and grasping the Delusion tight. "I've never been as good as you are at letting go."

He makes himself ignore how its power crackles up his arm. He pours Cryo into it in response, insulating against the Electro, pushing back just as hard. Ice flows over the metal in which that shadowy violet pendant is set, over the chains, over Diluc's skin. Flesh that had been sheet-white goes blue with cold. Kaeya's own fingers are darkening and going numb.

Not enough. He forces more Cryo through, letting it sink into the metal until he can feel the cold radiating from it. Then he draws his sword. Diluc tilts his head back the little bit he can, a look of acceptance in his eye. Kaeya doesn't roll his own. He's proud of himself for that.

Spinning it in his hand, he brings the hilt down. Not against the chain; it would be frozen brittle if it was metal, but it's not, not truly, not emerging from the Delusion like it's a living thing. No, he slams it against the metal casing around the Delusion's edge. The metal shatters, and he yanks the Delusion free.

His numb hand is still clenched around it. Kaeya drops the sword and pries it from his own fingers, then hurls it away, off down the stairs, watching with satisfaction as it skitters all the way down and then goes careening off the edge of a crumbling walkway into the shadowy haze of the Abyss far below.

Then he turns back to Diluc, watching with equal satisfaction as his brother gasps and hacks and sucks in air. He's still paler than white, greyish and almost translucent around the edges, but the glow in his Vision, while dim, has stopped guttering. Kaeya catches his shaking hand before he can lift it to rub at his neck.

"We'll need Bennett to see to that," he says, deliberately light, ignoring the chill all through him. "But first, it seems it *is* my turn to lead the way."

Diluc looks at him, that openness lingering raw in his gaze. Kaeya can see his face shift as he shutters it away. Then he nods, starts to rise, hisses when his knee gives out under him, and holds himself stiff and unyielding as Kaeya gets a grip on his arm and hauls him to his feet. Behind them, past the ley line monument, an opening has appeared in the wall.

"Come on, don't freeze up on me," he teases Diluc, taking on as much of his weight as he can and pretending not to notice how his brother is still shaking. He chuckles at Diluc's hiss of distaste for the joke. It's better to laugh than to acknowledge that he's shaking, too.

[justsome-di]

🍆 : unpopular opinion about writing communities? online or in-person?

Honestly, the grind. Or maybe not the grind so much as the toxicity that comes from The Grind. (This ended up being way too long)

Because a lot of writers do overwork themselves just to get some writing done. A lot of us work or go to school and come home to write when we have the chance. If it's important to you, then it's okay as long as you're giving yourself time to rest.

And sidenote: the burnout is real. I think we should talk about that more than we talk about "writer's block." If you're struggling to write when you're exhausted, that's not writer's block. That's you being exhausted. Give yourself permission to take a break and eat a meal and get some sleep.

But there's so much that pushes this grind mindset as being the only way you will ever accomplish anything as a writer. Too often I see advice that's like "writers make time to write." Sometimes... you just don't have time. Sometimes there's a kid that needs you or a job that's draining your energy that week. Maybe you're in school to further your career that isn't writing-related because you need to keep a roof over your head and keep your health insurance.

It's stuff like NaNo communities every November that really gets to me. Some people enjoy NaNo and challenging themselves and doing a marathon. Some people have the free time or the time management skills to manage this! That's awesome!

But other times I see people get way too pretentious like, "Well, I'm used to writing 3k words a day, so NaNo isn't anything new to me. I'll beat it in two weeks. I just treat writing like it's my job. I went to school for this, you know." Not even joking, I have been in writing discords where people talk like that. It makes you feel like real shit when you come home from a long day of work, do your homework or something, go to other social obligations, and then only manage to type of 500 words before you pass out. And that's when you leave those writing groups, by the way. When people are bragging about their word count in a way that implies they're more serious of a writer than you, you leave that Discord server or forum or whatever.

And then you get people doing absolutely crazy things to push their books like faking their own death or starting discourse around other authors' books or harassing people over social media. These are outliers, but I feel the need to mention them bc they blow my mind.

I think all writers are a bit pretentious. And we all want our stuff to be read. That's fine, but I think people go too far at times. And maybe it's just me seeing stuff and needing to find new people to follow online or something. Maybe it's not overwhelmingly like this. But idk I feel like writing can be a very relaxing hobby but once you get in writing groups you see a lot of toxic mindsets about how much you should be writing, how often you should be writing, how much you should pay someone to design your book cover instead of making something yourself to try to save money so you can eat, etc.

Some days I feel like being in writing communities is more demoralizing than anything else. It's part of the reason why I don't interact with a lot of other writing blogs anymore.

Anyway, that went on for way too long! I definitely put that option down on the ask meme to get some stuff off my chest lmao

send me a fruity ask!

[karolinarodrigueswrites]

"A Drabble a Day to Chase the Blocks Away" is silly but I was also really going to cry this morning over how badly I wanted to write in ways I can't at the moment

Not even skill, just emotional connection and exploration of my own

It got really bad, really dark, when I realized it's like I'm standing in front of a huge a wall of an obstacle and I can maybe bring around a brick per day, and it's going to take hundreds of it to even have an idea of the other side

But then I got the mental image in my head that this is a really long writer's block issue so lets just try to get better the same way it got this bad: "a 'square' a day"

And that relaxed me enough to later manage to write 500 words, tho I didn't get any of the emotional exploration I wanted

Still, what matters is that now I can accept 100 words and so as a defined step of progress from myself instead of getting suicidal from thinking about the possibility of months like that because me seeing the value of it in how others did it is not the same as me seeing any value in how I do it

[kkgore]

yellow, grey, brown and gold for the ask game?

Hey, thanks for the ask!

Yellow: tips I ignore. Honestly, writing an epistolary most tips go out of the window, but particularly those on prose. Most of the documents I produce for my writing are minutes of meetings or memos between colleagues, so describing what characters or settings look like is rarely a concern.

Grey: tips I (try to) follow. When I'm on a roll I follow Pratchett's advice of aiming for about 500 words a day (although I usually aim a bit closer to 750). I can usually do this in a few hours and most of my entries are around 750-1000 words so I'm happy to go a bit over just to finish each one off.

Brown: writing space. I am currently bereft of a writing space. I sometimes write on my husband's computer but his mechanical keyboard tends to aggravate a strain I have in my left hand. Other times I write on my laptop in bed but then I also read there so I tend to get easily distracted. I'd like to get a bike so I can start easily going to the lakeside library to write and also maybe film some book reviews. As it is getting a grab there every day is unrealistic.

Gold: lessons and morals. My work doesn't so much contain explicit lessons and morals as explore moral conflicts created by political events. I usually start from a premis for a world and from there work my way down to what the culture and moral crisis would be. So my current WIP is about how various cultures might cope with the reintroduction of faster than light travel after a period of 250 years of communication being purely digital, and their cultures having had 250 years to develop or calcify free from physical external influence. Another WIP that is currently stewing in the back of my mind is about a race who excrete a stress hormone in high conflict situations that induces a semi catatonic state or extreme listlessness in all those within a certain radius, and what would happen if they managed to somehow weaponise this against other races as a form of enforced pacification.

I have no idea how to sign off on these things, but thanks for sending it to me. It's been interesting thinking about my writing as a whole instead of just my current WIP.

[arvandus]

Congratulations on the big 500 ^-^ I'm so happy for you! Could I get a fluffy #24 with Dabi, pretty please? 🥺👉👈

I’m finally getting to thissss! I’m so, so sorry for the delay. For some reason I struggled with this one for a while, then suddenly something clicked, and inspiration took over. I really enjoyed writing this, it felt very cathartic. It might feel a little heavy/emotional at first but trust me when I say that it ends with fluff.

#24: You're The Only Thing That Matters

Pairing: Dabi x GN!Reader

Word count: 1825

Warnings: light angst(?), fluff

---------

You hadn’t meant for this to happen. Then again, no one ever does. It’s not like anyone ever plans for their apartment to get broken into, their personal items stolen...

Then again, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, not with a neighborhood like this. But it was the neighborhood you could afford. Now here you are, hanging out across the street at the local market, too afraid to return upstairs to your ransacked home. You don’t have a car to drive yourself to a motel to stay the night, you don’t trust nighttime public transportation, and you don’t have enough money for an Uber. But you have to go somewhere. So, you take your phone and called the first person that comes to mind...

Dabi.

You can’t help but laugh that his number is the first one you think to dial. From the surface it makes sense – you two have been seeing each other, so of course he should be someone you can trust enough reach out to. But this is Dabi. Even with your intimate relationship with each other, he is often distant and, more often than not, entirely unavailable. It doesn’t surprise you too much... he’s a villain, after all, and sometimes that villain life requires him to disappear for periods at a time.

Which is why you are honestly surprised when he picks up.

“What?” he says gruffly, like he doesn’t have your number saved in his phone; he knows it’s you on the other end.

You bite your lip before answering. “Um, hey, Dabi. It’s me.”

Already you’re struggling to keep your voice from quivering with unshed tears. If you let yourself cry now, you wouldn’t be able to stop, and this really isn’t the place for it. You watch as an old man pushes a cart past you at a snail’s pace, his gnarled fingers grabbing a bag of rice from the shelf.

Dabi must have heard the emotion in your tone though, because his next words come out slightly softer. “Hey, doll. What’s up? Ain’t it a little late for a phone call?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just...” you take a steady breath through your nose in an attempt to ease your jitters. “My place got robbed, and... I need a place to stay for tonight.”

You hear voices in the background, and Dabi growls at them to ‘shut the hell up.’

“I’m sorry,” you say quickly. “Am I bothering you? I didn’t realize you were working...”

“It’s fine, doll.” Dabi replies. “Yeah, you can crash here.”

More arguing. But a moment later, you hear the click of a door being closed and the background noise disappears.

“I’m headin’ over.” Dabi’s voice comes through clearer than before now that there are no other voices coming through the receiver. His deep tone makes your pulse slow down to a manageable pace, and you take a deep sigh a relief. “Where are you?” he asks.

“I’m at the grocery store across the street.” You reply.

“Stay there.” His words are an order, his voice unusually firm. Is that... concern you hear?

“They close in fifteen minutes.” You say nervously.

“I’ll be there in ten.”

You hear the click and the call ends, and you really wish it didn’t. Then again, there was no telling where Dabi was, or what he was in the middle of when you had called.

The minutes tick by slowly as you wait, each minute dragging on longer than the last until you’re certain that you’re in hell, watching time slow to an endless crawl. The ten-minute mark comes and goes, and Dabi is nowhere to be found, and now you’re struggling to keep the panic down. What if he doesn’t come?

But just as the dreaded thought enters your mind, he’s there, appearing next to your shoulder like an apparition, a dark angel disguised in a black hoodie, his mouth covered. You nearly jump out of your skin when he puts an arm around you before you quickly realize it’s him, your protector.

Already you can feel the tears brimming in your lashes, but his words quickly interrupt the flow like a stopper.

“C’mon, doll.” He whispers in your ear. “None of that now.”

He guides you out of the store into the dark night and you stare across the street at your apartment complex. The building is tall and old, looming over you like a bad dream as visions of your ruined home flash in your mind.

“D’ya need to grab anything from your place?” he asks. You shake your head. You don’t want to go in there, even with Dabi present.

“Didja lock the door?” he asks again, and you shake your head again.

“Whoever it was broke it.” You reply. “Please, I just want to go...”

He stares at you for a moment, his blue half-lidded eyes reading the look on your face before he looks away.

“Well, c’mon then.” He says. He guides you to the subway. Once you get on the train, you sit next to him and rest your head on his shoulder as the empty train car sways and bumps on the tracks. You can feel the fear begin to fade away with each passing of the flashing lights through the dirty windows, graffiti carved into their acrylic surface. You interlace your fingers in his, and for once he doesn’t fight it, doesn’t recoil his hand to the safety of his pockets.

The ride is silent and so is the walk to his hideout. He leads you in through the rickety door with the dented doorknob where a ragtag group of people lounge on dirty couches. Your body stiffens instantly, your hand tightening around his as if doing so would fill you with courage you didn’t have.

A man with white hair with the slightest tint of blue-grey glared at you with red eyes. “I thought we agreed on no outsiders?” his voice comes through with a growl, carried on a sneer past scarred lips.

“Shut up.” Dabi snaps at him as he leads you past the group to another door that leads to a hallway.

A couple doors down and he pulls you into what you can only assume is his room – after all, it’s your first time being here; Dabi had never let you visit him before.

“It’s not much, but it’s safe.” Dabi comments as he closes the door behind you.

The bed is messy, the mattress old. You don’t care though. The space smells of Dabi, and as soon as your brain registers that you’re no longer in danger, you buckle down onto his bed and begin to cry with your face in your hands as the aftermath of emotions overflows into your palms.

Dabi removes his hoodie and kneels before you. He watches you in silence, the glaze of his eyes never betraying the emotions tucked away in secrecy. He hates seeing you like this, hates watching you fall apart in front of him. It makes him feel useless. Cautiously, he reaches out and takes your hand from your face, holding your fingers in his warm palm. He can feel the wetness of your tears on them, and he fights the urge to increase his body temperature, to evaporate the evidence of your pain from his skin. Your eyes catch his, red and puffy, and before he can react you throw your arms around his neck and fall into his lap. He catches you – how could he not? – and holds you to him as you empty your emotions into his shoulder.

When the well of your tears has finally dried, you wipe your eyes with the heel of your hand and pull away from him slightly. Dabi can see the exhaustion falling over you in real time, your shoulders slumping and your hold on him loosening into a relaxed grip.

“I’m sorry, I... I just... it’s been a really bad day.” You say, your eyes downcast.

Dabi can’t help but give a dry chuckle as he helps you up to your feet. “Yeah, no shit.”

He sits on the bed and pulls you with him until you’re both lying down on his messy sheets, with you curled into his side.

“Thank you for coming to get me...” you whisper as you rest your cheek against his chest.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?” he teases, but his smile falters when your breath hitches and you don’t answer.

It cuts him deeper than he expects, but at the same time he’s not surprised... he hasn’t exactly been the best boyfriend – is that even what he is? Is that what he’s been to you? It wasn’t like you two ever discussed it; you two just... were. He’s given you so little...

Dabi swallows before he continues, his voice quieter this time, quieter than he’s ever been with you before. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt.” The confession feels weird on his tongue, like a foreign language, but he pushes forward, determined to say what he should have told you sooner. His voice drops even lower to a barely audible whisper. “I’ll always come for you.”

Despite the hush of his words, they feel like a shout. The admission leaves him feeling embarrassed and vulnerable, and a part of him wishes he could take them back, simply because of what they mean. But they don’t come without their own reward - you relax at his words, your body molding against his as your arms tighten around him. It’s the first time he’s been so open with you and the nervousness in his veins gives way to a light euphoria at your acceptance. His arm tightens around you as if he’s afraid you’ll melt away, as if his touch is the only thing keeping you real, his perfect dream come to life. Within minutes, your breaths become deep and even, and Dabi realizes that you’ve fallen asleep on him, your body giving way to its exhaustion after all that had happened. He stares down at you for a long, quiet moment, watching you sleep on him.

Dabi had never put anyone else first before, not even you despite your closeness. But when he answered your call and heard the fear in your voice, it was as if the ground had been pulled out from under him, his entire world thrown into chaos. If anything had happened to you... If you’d gotten hurt in any way...

His grip on you tightens a little more and he brushes his lips against your hair. Maybe it’s the bravery he’s feeling at your acceptance of him. Or maybe it’s the fear of what could have been. But his next words come out in a hushed whisper, a secret confession meant more for himself than you.

“You’re the only thing that matters.”

And even though you’re supposed to be asleep, your soft words hum into his chest, burying themselves like sunflower seeds.

“I love you too.”

[sweetbitterimpossiblecreature]

A Brief And Concise Summary Of Is Wrong With The ACOTAR Series

I think we can agree that a lot of ACOTAR is pretty iffy. Consider this a very brief refresher.

What's Wrong With Feyre/Rhysand (juxtaposed against Feyre/Tamlin)

Rhysand drugs and sexually assaults her in Book 1

This is "for her own good". Because he "has no choice". Despite the fact that, from what we know of the plot, Amarantha thinks that Clare Beddor was the one Rhysand was diddling, and is only interested in Feyre because Rhysand, "her" man male, has taken an interest in her.

If we extrapolate from this we can figure that Rhysand is the one directly putting her into danger.

Now, let's be clear: drugging someone is bad. Sexually assaulting someone is bad. One could argue there were extenuating circumstances. But if, in such a situation, what your mind goes to is "I know, I should assault this person... for their safety" I have questions about your moral qualities. There were a million things he could have done. He could have done whatever he did to Clare - that is, remove her ability to feel any pain - easily. He could have helped her escape. Under The Mountain, he - while still there unwillingly - has a lot of power, as Amarantha's side piece. Maybe this would have resulted in him being punished- however, he is hundreds of years old and a badass motherfucker, and she is a nineteen year old human girl.

Now, onto Tamlin. Obviously not a lot of people really ship F/T anymore after ACOMAF, because compared to F/R, it's boring. I read another person's post about it, which was very enlightening: they said that Feyre's personality is essentially a mirror. When she is with Rhysand, she's snarky and malicious- because she is "bouncing off" his energy. When she's with Mor she's super feminist and "in awe of her strength". On the other hand, Tamlin is kind of an empty character. He's a pretty boy with anger issues, which should be more interesting than it is. SJM manages to make him bland. Because Feyre has nothing to bounce off of, (a lot of this is from the person's post), she and Tamlin together is mainly just him introducing her to his world.

What Tamlin Does: prevents a skinny twenty year old from going on dangerous missions with him and combat-trained soldiers, accidentally blows up a room with her in it, and, at the end, prevents her from leaving the house.

This is not a Tamlin apologist post. Obviously it was really fucking gross of him to do that, and their relationship was toxic. However, a lot of his abuse stems from their inability to communicate, as well as own negligence. He does not knowingly and purposefully sexually assault her or rape her mind. And tbh, leaving a girl without combat training at home while he goes on missions with a bunch of muscled sentries is... kind of reasonable?

Again: not a Tamlin apologist post. It was abuse. However, if Rhysand is "allowed" to sexually assault, mind-rape, and drug Feyre "for her own safety", why is Tamlin demonized for preventing her from leaving his mansion "for her own safety"?

Another pertinent point: Rhys is never punished for sexually assaulting her. It is brushed off as part of his "mask" or that his hand was forced. Jesus Christ my dudes, his hand was not forced under her skirt. If he has to maintain his gross rapist abuser tyrant oppressor mask... why? Who did that benefit beside him? None of his actions remotely helped Prythian. They were done solely for his buddies - five people safe in a rich hidden city - and no one else, which is explicitly stated.

Finally, the power dynamic is fucked up. Feyre is less than twenty five years old. Rhysand is 500. There is a tendency in fantasy romance to romanticize a centuries year old man with a young girl, because the man does not show symptoms of age, and so it is easily ignorable. However, can we just briefly acknowledge how fucked up it is? Rhys is over five times older than Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and other known predators/abusers. She is twenty. That is really fucking gross. She is in a vulnerable position and he takes rampant advantage of that.

If he had wrinkles, liver problems, and erectile dysfunction, more people would acknowledge it.

Let's be clear: I'm not saying writing a book with an uneven power dynamic is automatically bad. For example, in The Locked Tomb series, which is in my opinion THE BEST FANTASY SERIES THAT HAS GRACED THIS EARTH (lol i'm starting fires), one main character Harrowhark Nonagesimus is in a position of power over Gideon Nav, the other main character. However, this is not glossed over or romanticized. Gideon resents Harrow for this- there is a relationship of mutual antagonism, fraught with unwilling familiarity and intimacy from growing up together. They are roughly the same age. While there is a certain power dynamic (in that world, there is a dynamic of necromancer and cavalier, i.e. sorcerer and sword) the "empowered" character (Harrow) emphatically respects her and does not abuse this power, although both would of course deny this, and she does make a show of threatening and being aloof. In short, while Gideon obeys her, Gideon also has power over Harrow, and the idea of what is essentially slavery is not romanticized.

Feyre Doesn't Face Any Consequences For Her Own Actions

Let me present a radical notion: a guy preventing you from leaving his house does not justify completely fucking ruining his country and harming the people inside it.

In other words: Tamlin does not deserve what she did to him.

I know that sounds iffy. We're conditioned to think that if someone is an abuser, then they are the scum of the earth, they deserve to die, torturing/murdering/doing anything to them is completely A-OK. However, here's another radical notion: someone harming you does not justify you doing worse.

Obviously, the effects of psychological abuse can cause you to hurt other people (see: Nesta), but Feyre deliberately and maliciously (oh, God, that insufferable POV of her in Spring Court; she reads like a cartoonish Disney villain) dismantles his country. She uses sexual manipulation (Lucien), torture (causing the sentry to be whipped), and mind-rape (who didn't she do this to? lol).

A summary of the entire first half of ACOWAR: "It smelled like roses. I hated roses. For this capital offense against my olfactory system, Tamlin and the entire Spring Court deserved to burn in hell. I knew exactly what I was doing. I smiled at him sweetly: no longer a doe, but a wolf. He didn't see my fangs.............." *aesthetic noises*

Man. I'm starting to think SJM had a horrible experience at a Bath & Body Works and took it out on the rest of us. Don't do it, Sarah!! I know Pink Chiffon and Triple Berry Martini are way too strong, but don't take it out on an innocent population!!

She steals from Summer Court (there are, yk, other solutions to theft. Like maybe asking politely) and ruins Spring Court. Her boyfriend - yeesh sorry, MATE - does nothing while a dozen Winter Court children are murdered.

Now: moral ambiguity is not automatically bad. Again using The Locked Tomb as an example, in the second book (spoiler alert), Harrowhark has a sort of moral ambiguity. She was raised from the beginning to worship the King Undying as God, and so she obeys him without question. Because of this, she commits a lot of crimes in His name: she "flips" - i.e. kills - the life force of planets, and she plots murder (albeit the murder of someone who tried to kill her first). There is no attempt to justify this. There is also no attempt to paint her as a virtuous and yet also badass Madonna figure. She is desperate, plagued with the "wreck of herself", and the book clearly displays her moral pitfalls. While her POV is of course colored by her mindset, it also is limited by her lack of information, and we as readers can acknowledge that.

BACK TO ACOTAR: Feyre is seen by everyone as gorgeous, formidable, and essentially perfect. Rhys sees her as flawless, "made for him", wonderful, beautiful, blah blah blah. (THEY ARE SO BAD FOR EACH OTHER; THEY EXCUSE AND GLORIFY EACH OTHER'S CRIMES, IT'S SO BAD, GUYYYS). Tamlin is insanely batshit in love with her, or whatever. To the Night Court she's the High Lady. In this way she personifies the Mary Sue character. (Excerpt from the TV Tropes page on Mary Sues: "She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal." Sound familiar?)

There is the Ourobous scene. And yet, paradoxically, while presented as an acknowledgment of her flaws, it is in fact a rejection of them. She sees her own brutality... and instead of recognizing that she has these deep, deep moral flaws and realizing that she needs to grow and be better, she in fact "accepts" them.

Guys: Self love means: "I'm important to me, so I'm going to get a massage today after work", or "heck, why not splurge on some expensive lotion, you only live once" or "you know what? I had a tough day today. I'm going to get that strawberry cupcake". SELF LOVE DOES NOT MEAN "oh, I accept all the war crimes I have done, I love myself". LOVING YOURSELF DOES NOT MEAN ABSOLVING YOURSELF OF ALL WRONGDOING.

It's this refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing that is so grating about ACOTAR. It's so goddamn one-sided. And you can tell that after Book 1, SJM decided to completely change the trajectory simply because of how jarring Book 2 reads compared to the first one.

Also: Feyre is a very, very young girl (compared to the other ruling fey) who did not know how to read for the majority of her life. She has no experience whatsoever in politics. Her being High Lady is not a win for feminism.

Rhysand: He Sucks

First, he is 500 years old. He should be written as such, not as some 20 year old virile frat boy feminist. Fantasy is all the more compelling for its elements of realism, which is a concept that SJM does not appear to grasp.

Second of all, his morals are absurd. He is written as the Second Coming of Christ, as someone who can do no wrong, ever, and his flaws only serve to make Feyre love him more. Anything shitty he does is written as part of his "mask" and she can See Beneath It and knows that it "hurts" him to maintain this "mask".

Fellas, WHY DOES HE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THIS MASK???? There is no reason for it. If A) he does not give a shit about Court of Nightmares (we'll get back to that), only about Velaris, and B) Velaris is hidden/protected from the world, what is he pretending for?

It would not hurt him politically to be seen as someone who cares about his country.

"Pretending" to be "Amarantha's whore" does not in any way shape or form benefit the macro-world that is Prythian. In Amarantha's name, he commits atrocities. He commits war crimes; he systemically oppresses entire societies. It doesn't even really benefit Velaris, because Velaris is already hidden.

Let me put this in a real-world perspective. This would be like if Donald Trump was suddenly like: "I know I was a shitty president but IT WAS ALL PART OF MY MASK, WHICH WAS TO PROTECT THIS MICROCOSM OF PRIVILEGED PEOPLE THAT I CARE ABOUT". Like: okay? Sorry, or whatever, but I don't actually give a shit. What about the parents of the children who died? What about Clare Beddor? What about the people who were held in slavery, murdered, tortured?

Rhysand: omg it sucks that my cousin Mor was oppressed by this toxic misogynistic culture from the Court of Nightmares.

Also Rhysand: lol whatever, who gives a shit about Court of Nightmares. They all suck. They meanie. Lol what did you say? That there might be other girls just like Mor who are oppressed by this system? Lol whatever. I can't do anything, I gotta maintain my Mask. I gotta sit on this throne and show the entire Court that not respecting women is completely okay.

In summary: by parading Feyre around as his "whore" (!!) he demonstrates by example that it is completely okay for the Court of Nightmares to abuse their women.

A good ruler cares about all his people. Rhysand cares about a tiny tiny fraction of his people: those who were fortunate enough to be born into Velaris.

God, I'm exhausted. Onto Nesta:

The only character who successfully breaks the Mary Sue effect Feyre exerts on her people is Nesta. Her POV for the first half is a joy to read.

Obviously it sucks that Nesta was a huge bitch to Feyre for the beginning of her childhood. However, it was wrong for Rhysand to threaten her- he is a man male with a huge insane amount of power, and it is not okay for him to threaten to bring the brunt of it down on a young girl because she was a bitch to his girlfriend.

I've seen a lot of discourse on the morality of F/R sending her out of Velaris. Here is my two cents:

It was okay for them to cut her off of their money. If they don't want to enable her self-harm, that is their choice. Again, it's their money, even if it wasn't fairly earned (Rhysand born into an enormous fortune).

It was not okay for them to banish her from Velaris with the implication that she was an embarrassment. Let me explain.

If Rhysand and Feyre are talking to her as sister/brother-in-law, then that is that. They have the complete right to express disapproval and try to help. However, they should not be using their royal privilege against her.

If they are talking to her as ruler to subject, then they have the power to banish her from the city. However, a ruler would not give a shit about a random subject getting drunk and having sex. So, they should not be talking her about her problems as a ruler to subject.

I've heard it compared to her being sent to rehab. However, rehab is a system designed to help people with certain problems. It has specialized medical centers and involves therapy. Nesta gets her life threatened multiple times. It is not rehab.

In summary: why did SJM inflict this upon us. Throne of Glass was actually good! GAHHH! After the first few books she completely whipped around and introduced the idea of males and mates and fey and that C is actually A and the quality took a huge nosedive. Sigh.

Final horrible but unmistakable truth: The entire ACOTAR series reads like a bad A/B/O fic. I hate to say it but it's true. We're lucky there were no heat cycles. OH WAIT

[atherix0]

This is the time where we collectively find out how long I can make this ask because OH MY GOD

FIRST OF ALL as someone who loves horror I've always really loved the imagery of a safe place, ESPECIALLY in the day, being empty. A place that should have people in it just. Empty. *The streets were empty*.

Also they way you write fight scenes continues to be magnificent. Even without the flair of Scar being there, Grian's got his own flair to the way he tries to fight back and fails. And somehow grian getting KIDNAPPED is gonna be even better than them finding him half dead [or maybe,,,,all dead] on a boatem alleyway but also. Imagine. Imagine if they went looking for him and he was just a body in the road holy SHIT

OH AND THE TORTURE! The ripping at each other, Grian seeing red?????????/ I'm all in. All hands on deck, I can literally F E E L how good the rest of these chapters are going to be

[👀👀 the blood on the glyph was a nice touch]

OHOHOHO 'THEIR' FAVORITE VAMPIRE, I SEE.

oh mumbo my BOY oh my god yes cause Scar is just sitting there like "haha im definitely not going to panic" and mumbo abandoned that at like, the hour mark s2g. Oh my god the way you went back in time and had the realize things were happening prior to the glyph being activated with blood is genius but, once again, imagine if somehow they hadn't been alerted to it and suddenly scars hand is just *burning*-

oh my god Mumbo just shadow walking to Scar's home too its a good thing they went to aqua town before this because the absolutely insanity mumbo would have fallen into because Scar is like the only thing keeping him from ripping into grian's poor manager for answers. Imagine if he had to wait for scar to teleport and then just like. found blood on his own. My god.

Also as a side note i really love how shadow walking is less like teleporting and more like being funneled?????? truly that cannot be a comfortable method of transportation and yet here they are anyway.

Oh and the way Scar uses his magic here is INCREDIBLE I mean like - he's pushing magic in, pushing magic out, having to keep Mumbo from getting caught in all of it, waking all of Boatem back up, AND finding MEMORIES????????? I *LOVE* that explanation for the earlier boatem history lesson he gave grian bc I assume that's what he was doing there, too

FERAL FERAL FERAL FERAL FERAL!!!! AHHHH mumbo my BELOVED look at you GO oh my GOD - just standing there, getting darker and darker and yet Scar *trusts* him oh my *god* please just get engaged after this. Please admit a whole lotta things.

Also I reaaaaaaaaally love how you use the curse words for emphasis in this story it is GENIUS. I dont normally subscribe to the idea that characters should only be allowed to curse like once or twice to get their point across [because that advice often ignores character intention and vocabulary] but it works REALLY well here. It's so striking because Ive gotten used to the fact that the hermits dont cuss in their videos and most people dont make them cuss in fanwork, really a smart move.

OH THE BLOOD ON THE GLYPH BURNS SCAR, ALSO GENIUS because now Mumbo is holding him so gently to HELP and this man just wants to rip apart like. 500 people. But he's being SO gentle with scar PLEASE just admit you like each other at a more opportune time.

DOC MY BELOVED everyone's my beloved but DOOOOOOOOOOOOOC was not expecting to see Doc here but frankly, so smart to stick some of the characters as '''bad''' guys but have them not be bad. oh my sweet doc my poor man because this coven wants power and lord if Doc isnt power lmao and him telling grian to hide the glyph, I love him

ALSO THEY CLIPPED GRIANS WINGS AND I REALIZE I DIDNT MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT IT EARLIER BUT OH MY GOD

Leave it to Grian to be kidnapped over his blood and be like "I think we can save the turned vampires here, actually". Also frankly, doc's broken things was a great mirror to the utter chaos that happens later on wow

FERAL MUMBO MY BELOVED THERE YOU *ARE* AGHHHHHH YES also Grian just standing there and letting Mumbo kill somebody [well, a lot of somebodies in a sec] magnificent. Perfect. Mumbo really knows how to pick em

God and Scar, also, trying so hard to keep such a level head but you know underneath all of that masking he's doing he's been panicking for god knows how long and is just better at not showing it on his face.

Obsessed w grian "Well I wouldve felt bad for you but. um." sir I love you.

ALSO the way you wrote the chaos of the scene while still including visceral detail is GENIUS and I am taking NOTES because I've got a chaos scene like this in my novel that I have been struggling with and wow wow wow

Also Grian you delightful little bird you are such a GOOD fighter WOW you know, no wonder he killed his gods. He's got the skill to show it.

AND MUMBO JUST RIPPING INTO PEOPLE THIS IS EVERYTHING IVE WAITED FOR AHHH ITS PERFECT I loves him. I loves him your honor. The way he just slowly slips to become more and more inhuman, how he loses himself entirely by the end AH its everything.

Please know that i was sitting here practically screaming "grian let him dribnk your blood GRIAN LET HIM DRINK YOUR BLOOD-" for like a solid minute and then actually had to cover my face with a pillow and scream because SCAR is letting MUMBO drink his BLOOD wow. Did not see it coming yet. It's perfect. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And poor Doc man, he's just like "Uhhhh yall good" and no. No they are not. I mean yes they are but no. And Mumbo is treating Scar as a mate and just DRANK from his NECK on the old BITE MARK so that it's HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS bite mark now??????????? Gay, your honor. Mates, your honor. GET ENGAGED

I just love that Mumbo, half delirious, is like "Yep. Yep. Right here's good *snatches Scar down*" AND GRIAN JUST SITS THERE IN HIS GAY THOUGHTS WATCH MUMBO *DRINK SCARS NECK FROM AN OLD BITE WOUND OH MY GOD* and hes PLEASED about it, please for the love of god SCAR

There's something about Mumbo being a threat even coming out of a blood loss fueled delirium and lying on the floor that is just magnificent in every way. Hair thrown out behind him, blood still on his lips, still looking like a fucking mess with Grian and Scar trying to collect themselves in a room full of dead vampires, and mumbo is still a *threat* god bless him.

OHOHOHOHOHO hello Scar, tired, need to be in the manor, mhm mhm. Right. I just love that he's like "I finished with this coven business so I've come here to Definitely Just Talk About The Coven Business" right mhm. Obsessed with the fact that grian AND mumbo BOTH offer the manor up too like. MMMMMMMMMMM mmm mmm please the three of you are so deep into it

Mumbo whisking Scar away to make him sleep because everyone including tubbo is lecturing him about sleeping is everything to me. Mumbo, stood in the guest room where Scar sleeps, starting at HIS mark on SCARS neck to replace the Bad Mark tm that was not His AH and to be mixing his feelings between guilt and pride is everything

But also Mumbo proving that he's not totally competent in reading this relationship they've got going on because not only does he wrongly thing that Talking to Scar about his Feelings would push Scar away but also that Grian doesnt feel the same way??? Mumbo please use that fae blood to power your brain

AND THEN TO FINALLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MUMBO MY POOR MAN WOW no wonder he's still a threat when he lying on the floor recovering from his injuries, man is threatening. Crush your sire w shadows, perfect. Everything I could have wanted except that I want to crush her again. Poor Mumbo's got PTSD, understandable, but my poor man.

AND THEN THE FACT THAT HE'S RISKING EVERYTHING TO FIND THEM AND FINISH CRUSHING THEM LIKE A BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG because their very EXISTENCE is a threat to his MATES, PLURAL, EVEN IF HE DOESNT REALIZE IT YET [Well. He does. But he doesn't] MUMBO YOU GLORIOUS CREATURE YOU truly this is the vampire politics that made me love Castlevania I LOVE where this is headed. and the way Grian reacts to this news????? and only makes mumbo love him more??? And then they have their little gay bonding moment of being in love??? everything I couldn't asked for, totally worth being up at 3:30, wow. wow wow wow. I'm gonna try going back to sleep with all of this just racing in my mind.

But also 👀👀👀 I did notice the fact that Grian got withered and it didn't eat through him with nearly the zest it got Scar, and Scar used Fae magic to keep it from eating him alive. Oh Grian, little godlings, whatcha doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin. between that and his clipped wings Grian is having a TIME and truly I cannot wait for them to awaken whatever is about to happen.

Also. SHOCKED the askbox didn't cut me off. How far down can this thing go.

HAHA me dropping a whole 4 chapters at the same moment <3

My answers might not be as detailed as usual bc I am super tired today and have work in two hours so <3

This one is really long so read more <3

YEAH me too, liminal spaces are just wild and I love them as a setting <3

Ahhhh thank you so much <3 I always think my fight scenes are lacking so this makes me feel better thank you <3 HAHAHA Mumbo and Scar would have never recovered from that <3 <3 <3 It's wild that Grian being kidnapped was the better of the options so <3

Think Grian is going to just lie there and take it? Aw heeellll no <3 He's gonna fight back tooth and talon, which is exactly what he at least tried <3

[Haha blood magic my beloved <3]

OH HO HO YEAH indeed, THEIR favorite Vampire~

Scar be like "level head level head" and Mumbo is just "I am going to tear this town apart" hjfsdjkfsd that's Scar's masking coming in handy again <3 Oh yeah no there is no way Mumbo wouldn't wake up, find Grian gone and start getting anxious about it- no note, no sign that Scar is in town, nothing, just gone? Haha yeah no that won't fly with him they would totally realize something is wrong and Scar take one step in Boatem and is just like "the fu-" hjfdsk ACTUALLY that was the way Scar was going to realize something was happening, but then I wanted to show Mumbo reaching out to Scar about the situation so <3

Mumbo just like "this is faster let's git" lmao it really is, because Scar would have arrived at Boatem like 10-15 minutes later just to find Mumbo absolutely feral and freaking out and panicking worse than he already was <3 Finding blood and GRIAN'S FEATHERS all alone- hfdskjfds

Ahahaha teleportation isn't the most comfortable either, Scar is used to it so hardly notices teleporting (same for Mumbo with shadow walking) but yeah- it was important to me that these two things be different even though they have roughly the same end result <3

This is one of the reasons I had to establish him as being powerful, despite his limitations jgffdlk because mans did a LOT in just a few seconds <3 YEAH in that history lesson I did try to hint a little that it was actual memories they were looking at by the amount of detail/how real it all felt and the fact that it showed events that Scar would actually cut off (figures dissolving into magic moments before their death would have been seen) instead of simply implying like he might have had it been just an illusion so~ It also doubles as a way to emphasize Scar's, and Elves' overall, connection to the world around them, as he's drawing out the memories of the very land beneath their feet so <3 I love writing about Scar using his magic hjfsdlkfds

Scar really saw murder in Mumbo's eyes because his MATE has been TAKEN and HURT and they have no ANSWERS and he trusted Mumbo to not hurt him even in that mad state <3 And he was RIGHT because Mumbo LOVES HIM but Scar doesn't KNOW THAT AND HJFSJKS-

I know the Hermits are PG and I do want to be respectful of that but also these characters are adults and in stressful situations and serious adult relationships, I think they're allowed to say fuck when things are going bad <3 I'm glad it doesn't bother you, I always make sure to put a warning in the tags of the fics that have cursing in them because I do know some people don't like it <3

It was ALSO important I think to remind people how fucked up the Covens can be and that there are other victims besides our lovely trio <3 Doc is just HHHH I love him and want him to be safe and he just wanted to go home to his family but it's far too late for that </3

Blood magic is a very tricky thing, most people fuck it up and Scar certainly did not intend for the glyphs to be activated using blood <3 So one side of the connection is active using blood and his side is not... magic is all about balance <3

YEAH Mumbo even feral and angry and panicked and all murder-y sees Scar in pain and just- hjfdsjkfds so gentle so <3

YEAH THEY DIDN'T WANT HIM TO TRY FLYING AWAY IF HE MANAGED TO ESCAPE JKGDKS

Grian is such a good heart, the moment he realized Doc and some of the other Coven members were victims too he went "save them" and just <3 Haha thank you~! <3 Not like Doc needs them anymore, this mans is getting *therapy*

YEAAHHHHH he finally gets to be feral and tear things apart and remind everyone around him that he's really not human anymore <3 Grian just watches him rip these people apart and is just thinking "my love <3 my hero <3" and then he helps hjflsdkkjfsd

Oh god yeah, imagine if he didn't work for the Council and had never been in this kind of situation before and wasn't nearly as good at masking as he is- oh man he'd be an absolute mess hjfdslkfds-

I mean Grian is such a mood on that, like he sees what looks like a genuinely loving relationship between two Vampires who had him tortured and threatened Mumbo and is just "serves you right" so <3

HJFSJKDSJKFS chaos scenes are so much fun and I just hjfjkds I'm so glad I didn't lose any detail or meaning in the chaos <3 thank you thank you hhhhh <3

If Grian hadn't been taken by surprise and shot in one of the most painful non-lethal places a person can be shot, there wouldn't have been a story because he would have ripped that Vampire apart with his own two hands <3

YEAH he keeps just enough sense to keep track of Grian and Scar but he is not human anymore and this really highlights it and they both love him anyway and just want to help him and hjfhjdj <3 And he's feral and angry and so protective and just hjfdjs

HAHA I had originally planned on Grian letting Mumbo feed on him but A, he's so injured and even as a godling his blood isn't that much different from a Natural's right now so it would take a LOT of his blood to heal Mumbo, and B, I don't want Mumbo to know yet that Grian has the hints of non-Natural blood <3

Scar was silently freaking out about it bc he was about to let a Vampire feed on him, even though he's recently had a traumatic run-in with being unwillingly fed on, but it's MUMBO and Mumbo is too injured to safely move and Mumbo is also in this feral semi-conscious semi-catatonic state and he TRUSTS Mumbo to not hurt him and really it's just a little bite on the arm no big deal a little Fae blood to help heal his wounds faster right-

YEAH HAHA Grian is just like "woah wait oh my god" and Scar is panicking because the man he loves is biting him on the NECK and Grian is just WATCHING and they're both having very Gay Thoughts about this and just hjfgdsjkfg GRIAN THINKING IN THAT TWISTED LITTLE HEAD OF HIS just PLEASED that Mumbo has basically marked Scar with a very visible bite on his neck and now when he looks at that scar they're all gonna remember MUMBO biting him instead and just hjgfdsjkgds they're all such disasters I'm-

Doc really be like "tf did I just witness I think I should be scared and I think I am ok he's hissing at me to leave I better leave before I die ok" hjfdslkfgds mans has had a hard life and even being rescued he gets the bad end of the stick hjgfdjkfgd

YEAH HAHA Scar offer his arm and Mumbo being semi-conscious just looks at him like tf no and then, cuz Scar was wearing his work clothes including his hair braided down his back and his neck was exposed, seeing that old bite mark from a different Vampire and just HJSVFJKS I may have hinted before that Mumbo would do that hehe <3

Oh god yes, that's the power of absolutely being a Lord and a proper Lord at that- none of this rinky dinky weak-ass mofos relying on their mates or the twisted ones who send their followers to their deaths, he is protective and he is a THREAT at all moments, don't get too close on a normal day but when he's like this- hjfdjkfds literally bleeding out on the floor and Doc knows not to get anywhere near close hjkfgdsl

Hahaha and they really went "nope <3 sleep" lmao Scar is so tired and needs so much rest <3 HAHA "offered" that was a fucking demand <3 I feel like you're gonna go absolutely feral the first time Scar ends up sleeping in Mumbo's bed hjfdslkfs THEY ARE SO DEEP IN <3

Scar, being an Elf and only sleeping once every five days, being lectured about the importance of the very little sleep he already gets <3 Mumbo just being like "yeah time to go to sleep come on" and just hjkfdk HE FEELS GUILTY FOR DOING IT BECAUSE SCAR OFFERED HIS ARM NOT HIS NECK BUT HE ISN'T SORRY HE DID IT AND JUST HJFSDKJS now it's HIS mark and jhfklkluglf-

HJKFHSKJFDJLKFS YEAH lmao <3 he thinks Grian would be against it because he's a possessive little bird but he hasn't yet realized that Grian would be for it BECAUSE he's a possessive little bird jfgdlsf ALSO he's not 100% wrong about it pushing Scar away, bc Scar is oblivious and doesn't realize Grian's caught feelings too so if either of them confess without the other all he sees is his best friends' partner confessing to him without him knowing that they BOTH feel this way and Scar loves them but he isn't that kind of person </3 So Mumbo is absolutely right that Scar would have distanced himself out of respect for Grian, they BOTH have to tell him at the same time or else Scar will feel like he's hurting their relationship and just fhjkdsgjkds-

Mumbo won't let them take everything away from him again <3 magic when it is first developing can be a scary and unpredictable thing <3 Mumbo is terrifying, he's a threat and he's oh so protective and even other Vampires are low key afraid of him, the first time he ever used his shadow magic he DESTROYED his Sire, and he may have taken out some of the Coven on his way out <3

HE WILL PROTECT THEM NO MATTER WHAT even if it puts him on that Coven's radar again <3 he absolutely intends to finish what he started nearly five centuries ago, this man will take on the world if it means his new family will be safe <3

Grian, who knows nothing of Vampire politics or values, hearing Mumbo confess to all this and just being like "you were well within your right and I don't blame you, I will stay by your side no matter what" and just cfjykfif Mumbo falls even more in love and gnkfdnhg lays it all out for him to hear, loves everything from his greatest strengths to his greatest flaws and they are equally matched in their love and just fnfjgjifgkf

Haha well I hope you slept well after all this <3 I was up til 3 am to post it so I understand hahaha <3

👀 👀 haha Grian is suffering rn but one day he'll make them pay <3 I can't wait for the moment he 'awakens' it's gonna be so much fun gdgnnhfg

Tumblrs ask box has no power over the feral Mumbo enjoyer <3 haha ngl this took me an hour to answer I'm literally finishing it on the car ride to work and this delights me <3

[buckybarnesdiaries]

bucky barnes x reader. masterlist.

part 1 — part 2 (soon)

a / n. this is a series of 15 mini-drabbles to celebrate the 500 followers' milestone, based on one word for each story. this first part contains 8, and the next one contains 7. it was supposed to be posted one story per day, but by that way, it'd take me to last an eternity to post other works / requests.

words. 1.533.

warning, tags. none, just a bunch of fluffy and cute situations with bucky.

join my tag list.

necklace;

It was the first time since you started to date that Bucky had to leave for a mission. Neither of the two of you knew when he'd be back, and that got you worried than ever. You were conscious of what he did for a living when you met him, but you couldn't help but feel scared. Next to the front door of your apartment, Bucky left his backpack on the floor, leaning to cup your cheeks on his palms and kiss your lips tortuously slow.

“I'll be okay, (Y/N)”. He murmured keeping his eyes closed.

“You better”.

Your hidden threat made him giggle. The soldier felt goosebumps bristling his skin as your fingertips toured his neck blindly, just to put in place the chain of his necklace. But soon, Bucky stopped your moves to take it off from him and place his dog tags on you.

“I'll come back for them”. He promised, fixing his pale blue orbs on yours, holding your hands to bring them to his lips and place fond kisses on every knuckle of both. “I love you, don' forget it, okay?”

“I won't... How could I, Buck?”

eclipsed;

Bucky was sweating, still not believing he was about to get married to the love of his life. He was on the altar, waiting for you and surrounded by all of your friends in common. Steve had had to help him with a panic attack he had suffered while dressing up, thinking that maybe you could change your opinion at the last moment. He couldn't blame you. But all those doubts vanished at the second you crossed the huge, heavy doors of the church. Your beauty eclipsed him, wearing a white lace wedding dress and seeming like you floated over the floor. Just like an angel.

His heart jumped. His oceanic eyes got covered in tears. A giggle escaped his lips, stretching a hand towards you, still praying it's not a dream. And you noticed the tension and the nervousness running his veins, leaning forward to kiss his cheek with all the love you felt for your future husband.

“Can't wait to say yes”. You whispered into his ear, causing Bucky to lace his arms around you and embrace you tight and tenderly. “I love you, James, from now and forever”.

sunset;

After his most recent nightmare and walking all grumpy from one side of another around your house, you decided to cheer him up only like you can do. With reluctance, you managed to get him out of your apartment and drag him to your car. Bucky was like a child, cross-armed, lips puckered and frowning annoyed. He tried to hide the fact that he had another nightmare to not worry you, but you weren't stupid.

Thinking that glimpsing the beach throughout the large front window would make him feel happier, your boyfriend just reclined himself on the seat, causing you to roll your eyes. That mood changed as soon as Bucky was sitting on the sand, between your legs, tho. His back was resting against your chest and his neck was wrapped by one of your arms, watching fascinated the sunset on the horizon. He wouldn't recognize it, but he felt much better hearing the waves crashing into the shore, while you stroked his scalp tenderly using the tip of your nails.

“You're welcome, grumpy mummy”.

clingy;

You didn't want to drink, but Sam and Sarah wanted to celebrate that the family business was picking up. On another occasion, you wouldn't mind, but Bucky was there. So, when everything started to spin around, you lead your clumsy steps to the edge of the harbor, having a sit there and let the soft breeze help you.

“Stop”. You heard from behind.

“Uh?”

“You're stealing my antisocial personality”. Bucky chuckled, taking a seat by your side. “What's up? Why are you here all alone?”

“Truth or lie?” You asked tilting your head towards him, raising both eyebrows.

“Truth”. He scoffed as if it wasn't obvious.

“I'm too clingy when I'm drunk”.

“Can't see the problem there”.

You chuckled, shaking your head inevitably, causing him to pucker his lips with a funny grimace.

“What?”

“Tru—”.

“Truth”.

“I've been all night wanting to rub your beard”.

Bucky exploded in loud laughter, not believing your words until you put your hands on his jawline. “God... It's so soft”.

His laughs increased, causing you to burn in shame. “No more drinks for you, ma'am...”

But the fact was that he turned to you, so it could be easy to caress his face.

safe;

Bucky was deadly tired on the sofa, warmly cuddled between your arms. A while ago, he stopped to pay attention to the movie, turning his back to the TV to hide his exhausted expression on your chest. You placed the cozy blanket over your bodies, making sure it covered both of you, being aware that tonight you'd sleep there. You felt sorry just at the thought of waking him up, seeing him peacefully breathing and his face more relaxed than the last few days.

Shutting off the TV and stretching an arm above your head, you turned off the small lamp on the auxiliary table close to the sofa, before getting comfier by Bucky's side. Your boyfriend purred delighted, still sleepy, as your fingers got tangled on his hair and started to scratch his scalp slowly, urging you somehow to place a leg over his waist, so he could settle between both a little more closely.

“Feel better?”

“I feel safe”. He replied in a low breath, to exhale the sweet scent concentrated on your neck.

“You're safe, James. You're at home”. Your calmed tone made him sigh, snuggling you strongly.

stay;

You snapped awake because of some knocks on the front door. Tossing the sheets to a side of the bed, you grabbed the gun under your pillow. It was stupidity. If somebody wanted to kill you, that would be the last thing they'd do: knock the door. You walked slowly, step by step, through the main hallway aiming to the door, more than ready to shoot your assailant.

“It's... Bucky”. You heard from the other side.

Sighing in relief and closing your eyes for a split second, you left the weapon on the dinner table in the living room. Not doubting on opening the door, you couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when you noticed the reddened mark around his left eye and cheek.

“Can I, uh... stay tonight with you?” Bucky inquired, licking his upper lip ashamed, bowing his eyes down to his boots covered in dust.

“C'mon, Sergeant”. You invited him to walk in, using such a sweet tone, while holding his cold hand.

He looked like shit but felt much better when his arms got wrapped around your waist and middle-back, hiding his face into your neck. Kicking the door shut, you embraced him tighter to your body.

notebook;

You were lying on the opposite side to Bucky on the sofa, but keeping your legs tangled. It was a rainy evening with nothing to do and you decided to start to read the book you bought last week. Your boyfriend was silently doing something in a notebook. Maybe writing memories, maybe doodling, you didn't know. But the third time you caught him staring at you, you had to ask.

“What?”

“Uh... nothing”. He whispered focused on the paper in front of his eyes.

“Whaaat?” You kicked his right leg with your bare foot causing him to chuckle.

“Nothing!” Bucky replied using the same playfully tone of voice.

Putting the book on the coffee table, you sat up to lie on top of him, cuddling between his legs and resting your head on his chest. Glancing to the sketch of yourself he was drawing, you raised your heart-eyes to his. It was such a piece of art. The drawing and Bucky. Both.

“I learned in Romania. It kept me sane sometimes”. He confessed, leaning to place a kiss on your forehead. “I want to remember you forever”.

marshmallow;

“Truth or dare?”

Bucky narrowed his eyes, leaning on the table just like you did, challenging him. He was trying to read your mind to figure out which were your intentions.

“Dare”. He answered firmly.

“Put twenty marshmallows in your mouth”.

The soldier stared at you in silence, watching him lick his inner cheek and push it with the tip of his tongue. He nodded his head then, grabbing the plastic bag without losing eye contact, to start to place —one by one— the sweets into his mouth. In less than thirty seconds, he looked like a squirrel with his cheek swollen. Bucky squinted at you again, triumphant.

“Hold on, I need to capture this moment”. You laughed, catching your phone to take a picture.

When the flash went off, he spitted a marshmallow like a shotgun. And you couldn't help but laugh.

“C'mon, Bu—”.

You didn't finish the sentence, being hit by another marshmallow slightly wet because of his saliva. Your grimace turned into a funny disgust, grabbing it back to throw it to his face.

“You're like a five years old in a body fos— STOP!” You ended up giggling as he spitted you the third one.

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[loudandsilent]

Yandere! Jeon Jungkook

On the Lookout: Part 1

Warning:The story quoted below is only a story for entertainment and does not demonstrate who are and attitudes of BTS members.Read at your own risk.

This story contains descriptions of abandonment, Yandere behavior, and physical violence.

Author's Note: This is my first story, I've written and rewritten it a million times and I hope you enjoy it. It's very likely that there will be a sequel, but I will only do it if you like it, please give me your opinion. If you have any requests, constructive criticism or questions I will be glad to answer them. Also let me know if you prefer longer or shorter stories, I was really confused about how much I should write. The next story will probably come out next week,which is a request from someone very special to me,so I'll try to do it as soon as possible. See you soon ! 💜

Words: less than 1k

New life,new city,new school and maybe new friends. That's how Y/N's head was at that moment. After her father still in childhood abandoned her mother and her,Y/N's mother tried every way to support herself and the little girl,which unfortunately did not happen as planned . Even with her heart in her hands Y/N's mother sent her to live in Seoul with Y/N's grandmother, as there she believed the girl would have a better life and future than she had in Gwanju. Y/N could feel the trembling in her hands, as that winter morning was one of the coldest the little girl had ever witnessed. Walking towards the school the girl could feel the blood rushing through her veins, caused by nervousness. Her grandmother had informed the girl that that school was attended only by the upper class and that she had managed to get Y/N a place there only because she had an old friend who worked there and because of her granddaughter's grades, which were easily seen to be excellent. When she went to cross a street there was a screeching sound. Quickly the fragile girl's body was thrown forward . Y/N could feel the deep pain all over her body. At lightning speed Y/N heard door slams. It was then that she saw a tall young looking man in a black coat who had just stepped out of a black Rolls Royce.

- The light-skinned man was shouting to the four winds and Y/N was sure that anyone who was more than 500 meters away could easily hear the man's fury against the girl.

- D-sorry - Even though Y/N knew she was right she didn't have the courage to defend herself as he looked too scary for her. The girl couldn't even look at the man, he was much bigger and extremely scary to her.

Before the man could utter even worse curses at the girl there was another knock on the door.

-What is going on here?!- Y/N could see the expensive shoes and uniform pants of the owner of the voice, but she couldn't look in his direction.

At that moment she didn't know, but that voice would terrify her for the rest of her life.

- Young master, you'd better get back to the car, it's very cold out here. - The driver was trying to persuade the young master to get into the car, he knew that the young master's mother would not be at all happy if he became ill.

- So now only I feel cold? You ran over this girl on the first day of school and you want to leave her here? - The boy shouted, he could be much scarier than the other man.

-I'm sorry young master, this won't happen again. -The driver said this with his head down, a way he thought might have an effect to get his pity.

-Hey, are you all right? Do you think you broke a bone or something? -The owner of the most expensive shoes in his house in Gwanju crouched down to his size. Now Y/N could see his face, if someone asked her what he looked like she couldn't even describe him, she only knew that he was for sure the most beautiful guy she had ever seen. The girl looked at him for so long that she started to turn red, automatically in a natural act she lowered her face so he couldn't see her blushing face. But he had already seen it.

- Are you all right? - With one hand he lifted Y/N's chin so that he could see her face.

- I-am- The girl stammered, because of the cold and embarrassment she felt.

- If you say so. - In one swift act he picked the girl up and lifted her, leading her toward the car. He could see the girl's visible reluctance to get into the car.

-The girl was confused and reluctant, her mother had always taught her never to get into a stranger's car.

-Yes, we're from the same school. You're not going to tell me that you haven't realized this until now?- He was looking intently in Y/N's direction. Now that the girl went to realize that the school blouse was the same,she was so impressed with his beauty that she hadn't even noticed.

-You don't have to take me, I'll walk," said the girl walking away from him.

- Of course not, it's too cold and besides I owe you one," he said holding her wrists so she couldn't move away, "stay calm, we're just going to school, my name is Jeon Jungkook and you are? - he let go of the girl's wrists and extended his hand to her.

- Park Y/N - he said extending his hand and squeezing her small hand in his.

- It's a pleasure to meet you Y/N. Here, take my coat, it's cold. - Jungkook smiled at her as he pushed her into the car.

The ride to school was short, about seven minutes. And they remained without exchanging a single word. Stopping the car Y/N could already see many luxurious cars getting in and out and the noise of young people talking and laughing, it was visible that this place was not for her.

- Don't worry, you'll get used to it," said Jeon Jungkook looking in the same direction as her. The "scary" driver opened the door for Y/N who got out followed by Jungkook.

- Thank you so much," she said as she took off her jacket and handed it to the taller man.

- Not at all, good class," she said as she sent a smile in the girl's direction. She just turned around and started walking as fast as possible. Y/N had no idea where her classroom was, so she thought about asking someone, she knew that if she took longer she would be late.

- Hi, do you know where this room is?

- Yes, this is my office. My name is Jung Hoseok, your future classmate," she said as she sent a bright smile to Y/N.

It had been two months since Park Y/N had started going to school and in that time she and Hoseok had become good friends. He was always very kind to her and unlike everyone else he didn't criticize her for not being in a higher social class, just like he was. About Jeon Jungkook, she talked to him once in a while, but the girl preferred to stay away from him since the girl started to have feelings for him, and in her mind Jungkook would never look at her that way, he had a legion of fans in high school that were girls with extremely beautiful faces and bodies and were in the same social class as him. Furthermore it seems that Jeon Jungkook didn't like Jung Hoseok at all, whenever he was with Y/N he was bothered by Hoseok's presence. What he felt for her was just compassion,it sure was.

While Y/N was looking for Hobi in the break, she heard noises coming from a room. She went into the room and turned the knob, opening the door. The sight she saw was horrible and she would never in her life want to witness that scene again. It was two of Jungkook's friends, Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin, who, while one was holding Hobi, were beating him, who already had a pool of his blood on his feet. While all this was going on Jeon Jungkook was sitting on a school chair, just watching this horrific scene.

- What is this? - said Y/N in a loud and clear voice with tears on her face, making everyone there look scared.

-Shit!

Continue ?

[admiringlove]

“you were the one that accidentally got coffee in their hair.”

— welcome to sam’s brewery, where we commemorate reaching 500 customers! this event lasts for one week, and will only take up to twenty orders(as above that can become quite overwhelming).

+order: hiya, it's review anon. i love the way you write and congrats for hitting 500!! i want to give you something challenging because you've done a couple hurt/comfort pieces before with good dialogues that fit the story. how about something like, "you were the one that accidentally got coffee in their hair" + akaashi? you write for him really well :) [submitted by review anon]

+word count: 0.6k

+author’s notes: i do think i write for him the most ahah! i have the most experience when it comes to his personality <3 here is the link to the event masterlist, requesting is now officially closed for this event!

Akaashi's been stressed. 

With mid-terms approaching in less than a week, he's scared that his scholarship won't last. Balancing college, work and expenses felt easy at first—spoilers, it's not. Living alone in a shabby apartment with couples as his neighbors was already hard, and on top of that, the only entertainment in his life was that one novel he decided to bring back from home(along with his phone, but he really doesn't like being on it much). 

So yes, Akaashi Keiji was a sleep-deprived college student, whose life almost ran on coffee, and his will to continue on with his studies was slowly dying. Without Bokuto by his side, he didn't have anyone to keep him grounded. Everything was dull. Anyone would think it's the opposite, because Akaashi is supposed to be the level-headed intelligent boy whereas Bokuto was the obnoxious yet welcoming friend. They used to work on a tandem; Bokuto being the one who calmed him down when his anxiety leveled up, and Akaashi doing the same for his owl-themed friend. 

He hadn't felt more lonely in the past four years.

Until today, when for the first time in weeks, Akaashi ended up laughing out of pure joy. Well, not exactly pure joy, he felt bad for the person who got coffee spilled on their hair in the café line, but it was still atrociously hilarious to him. For the first time in almost forever, he was happy(the guilt was seriously downing him, but he laughed anyway). 

What a wacky morning indeed, he thinks to himself. The doubt-solving sessions are almost of no help during his lectures. He wonders to himself why he's even paying for them—because the teacher wouldn't listen to people's questions, and just ramble about how Shylock decided to scheme out a revenge plan in the Merchant of Venice. 

He sighs for almost the hundredth time in the same day, making his way to the library. If he planned this out correctly, he had a full day to study. Without motivation to, that is. Groaning, the gunmetal-eyed boy strolls over to the back of the library, where almost always a certain seat is empty, and he usually has the place to himself.

Emphasis on 'usually'. 

Because if today couldn't get more hectic, someone was sitting on the other side of the table. His shoulders immediately droop at the thought of having to share his usual spot with someone, but he walks over anyway because he doesn't have the time to procrastinate anymore. With less than a week left, he has to memorize almost half of the intentions behind the stupid characters of Shakespeare's play's actions. And he also has to prepare four essays in that amount of time. 

Akaashi opens up his laptop, his eyes focused on the screen as he types his essay while thinking. He's trying his best, but his mind wanders to his deskmate, who's sitting across from him and is humming. With earphones on, and a white shirt with a slight brown stain on it, he recognizes this person. 

"You were the one that accidentally got coffee in their hair," he points out. They look up at him, their eyes widened as they remove their earbuds one by one and ask, "You saw that?" 

"Yeah, I was actually in line with you," he chuckles, "Unfortunate, really. Thankfully the other person's coffee wasn't hot."

"Nope, they just managed to ruin my favorite hoodie," you groan, putting your earphones in your bag swiftly as you say, "I'm [L/N] [Y/N], currently having an existential crisis because of exams."

"Akaashi Keiji," he mumbles back, "Almost dead because of sleep-deprivation."

Somehow suddenly, he thinks that maybe his life wasn't so dull. He thinks of the possibilities he has with you, and that maybe, you might just turn out to be a better friend than he thought. 

And that, you do. 

© all works belong to admiringlove on tumblr. plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

[mcgnussen]

stop writing 1000 word essays. As you love to bring it up, Kevin has 8 seasons of experience! And he was not sitting idle in his gap yr. Also drove from the likes of Mclaren to Renault. Mick has had one season, which he spent at the back of the grid in a horrible over 2 sec off the pace car, in a somehow put together team with a russian daddy's spoilt son . And this pre season testing he didn't even do 100s of laps becoz of haas's poor reliability. he didn't have an advantage over kevin. Also the reason haas has a good car is because of Ferrari's support. And Ferrari are not helping out of the goodness of their heart. But so that their drivers are looked after in the team.

and yet you still read them, dear anon <3 but my reply was only 500 words and i shouldn't have to write anything because this should really be obvious to everyone.

haas has had a contract with ferrari all their years in f1. no, that contract does not depend on drivers. mick is the first one. he was part of an extended deal, but guenther has confirmed that ferrari does not have total say about their drivers. ferrari is “helping out” because they get paid. it is a business transaction. their "help" does not fully depend on mick even if they managed to negotiate his seat with haas. his contract is up this year and it's good he is starting to show some promise, otherwise haas would not have kept him and it remains to be seen if they do.  

and thank you for beautifully summarising why mick should not be the first to be given the upgrades to test because of his lack of experience in f1!  

mick has never said anything about being unhappy in the team, you do realise that, right? they have celebrated him, tried to refrain from saying anything bad about him even when he kept crashing the car (and only really said something when directly asked about sky germany who is also on the conspiracy bandwagon because mick is a schumacher). basically all guenther said is that mick needs to stop crashing the car, which no one would disagree with - least of all, mick. this conspiracy about haas being mean to him is entirely made up. haas is a "stop complaining and drive the car" kind of team. they always have been, they were long before mick joined the team. it is mick who has to adapt to the team and not the other way around. and i see no proof of mick not being able to do that (other than maybe whining too much sometimes), it is you guys who are painting mick out to be a victim and i honestly don’t think he’d appreciate it. i don't expect kevin to receive special treatment and neither does he. so maybe you should stop expecting it for mick.

but i'll be honest, you sound very young, so i'm guessing you are a pre-teen who is obsessed with mick, so i won't be answering any more of your anons. i understand how deep that obsession goes and one day you’ll look back at this with a different perspective, but right now no amount of logic is going to change your mind about being angry at haas. so be angry at haas, i don’t really care, i’m sure they will survive 🤷