#my school didn’t have a homecoming ever we didn’t have a football team

[ghostickle]

All the schools in my area let out for the summer like a week or two ago and it’s just making me realize more/over again that I didn’t get a graduation or prom or a senior year at all I didn’t get those senior hoodies or grad bash no senior pranks and maybe I wasn’t like super into school spirit or anything but I still hate that I had to miss out on these life events that everyone else gets and like you spend years looking forward to prom and graduation only for your entire senior year to not even happen

[pitchsidestories]

homecoming II Ingrid Engen x Mapi León x Reader

masterlist I word count: 1573

a/n: the inspiration came from this request, your feedback is alway appreciated. <3

warnings: reader is confronted with her past body image issues while visiting her homecountry Norway with her lovers.

The sky was covered in light grey clouds, blocking out the sun. But that didn’t matter, the air was nice and mild on this summer day in the middle of Norway.

You enjoyed the warm weather as you walked through your small hometown, flanked by Mapi and Ingrid on either side of you.

Ingrid stopped and took a deep breath with her eyes closed like she was trying to soak up the smell of her childhood here.

You both had promised to show Mapi where you and Ingrid had grown up together for a long time now so you decided the summer break was the perfect opportunity.

You smiled as you continued you walk. You knew this route like the back of your hand. So many afternoons and weekends were spend running down this road, side by side with Ingrid. It was the start of both of your football careers.

Mapi beamed delightedly as she spotted the small football pitch. It was empty at this time of day but it smelled of freshly cut grass.

“So this is where the football journey started?“, she asked.

Ingrid nodded and absentmindedly stepped closer towards the fence encircling the football field: “Yes, that’s where I played my first games.“

Mapi nodded in your direction: “Y/n too?“

“Yes, that’s how we met. I mean we also went to the same school but we never had any contact there…“, you replied. Memories of you two at the age of seven, the only girls in a team of boys appeared in front of your inner eye.

Ingrid nodded and softly smiled at you: “That’s true. But we became close when we realized that we both like football.“

“And when you both realized you liked women?“, Mapi teased. You weren’t quite sure if she really meant it as a joke.

Ingrid playfully slapped her on her arm: “Mapi! That was way later!“

You forced yourself to smile: “Honestly.“

“We were basically babies!“, Ingrid laughed.

Mapi seemed satisfied to hear that nothing had ever happened between you and Ingrid when you were younger.

It’s not like she had not welcomed you into the relationship when Ingrid had told her that she fell in love with you, and it hadn’t taken long for you to adore Mapi as well. But the fact that you and Ingrid had history without her seemed to bother her.

You shook your head lightly. Back in your teens, you had no interest in dating at all, not even Ingrid. “And we had different problems back then…“, you said to no one in particular.

“Right.“, Ingrid bit her lip.

“What? What are you two talking about.”, the Spaniard frowned confused. She tried to think about what could have happened here which left such a mark on you.

You took a deep breath it was time to let the defender know about the dark moments in your past. No one in Barcelona was familiar with that story only Ingrid.

“Y/n?”, Ingrid approached you cautiously, sounding deeply concerned.

“I’m good.”, you wanted to assure her, so the worried lines on her pretty face would disappear.

They only grow deeper. The midfielder has noticed that you fainted during training. She saw right through your defensive behaviour.

“Yeah, sure you’re.”, the dark-haired teenager replied unconvinced.

“Really.”, you emphasized your words from earlier, you hoped she would let the topic fall just like your coach had.

“You just passed out.”, Ingrid reminded you anxiously, handing you a little snack.

“I can’t eat.”, you shook your head while pushing it right back into her open hand.

“You need to. Your body needs it.”, the midfielder stressed.

“But..”, you begun.

“Just eat.”, she interrupted you softly.

Her unwillingness to understand frustrated you.

“I need to be thinner like the rest of the team.”, you explained exasperated.

“What?”, Ingrid answered stunned.

“Even the coach said I could lose a bit more weight.”, you told her. The moment he said that was unforgettable, it was forever engraved into your memory.

It came out of nowhere and made the hit so much harder when you felt so defenceless and vulnerable against the authority of a man who might play a role when it came to you ever making it as a professional football player.

“That’s ridiculous. You’re perfectly fine.”, the midfielder disagreed with a passion which surprised you.

“You think so?”, you questioned quietly.

“Of course. You’re so good. That’s only what your body looks like.”, Ingrid nodded. The usual reserved and calm girl was gone, the remarks of your coach clearly made her furious.

“Ingrid.”, you stopped her from talking by putting a finger against her lips, but the dark-haired teenager shook it off.

“It’s true.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t know that.”, Mapi commented, her voice brought you pack into the present. It took you a few seconds to realize that you weren’t that helpless teenager anymore, that part of you has been mostly healed.

“It was a rough time.”, the fellow Norwegian admitted.

“I really thought my body wasn’t athletic, feminine and pretty enough.”, you confessed to them.

The three of you went on with your walk leaving the pitch behind.

“But your body was perfect.. still is. We just didn’t have the right representation back then.”, Ingrid remarked, looking at you admiringly. You blushed under her gaze.  

“That’s true. You’re beautiful.“, Mapi agreed, her voice soft and so was her face when you looked over.

She closed the distance to you until your arms touched as you walked.

“Oh… thanks.“ You kept your gaze fixed on the ground in front of your feet, trying to hide the blush in your cheeks. You felt a bit awkward, having your insecurities exposed like this but at the same time it was a bit of a relief.

“You both are.“, Mapi added to her previous statement.

Ingrid smiled adoringly at her: “So are you.“

“That’s true.“, you nodded. You may not have always found beauty in yourself, but you were sure to see it in others.

Mapi smiled: “Thanks. I really like that we get to change the view on female bodies.“

“Me too…“, you agreed. You knew too many young girls still felt the same pressure that you felt back then and if you could help at least one of them accept their body, it was all worth it.

There was a moment of silence before Mapi admitted: “And I understand the bond between the two of you better.“

Ingrid looked at her in surprise: “You do?“

“Yes.“

You gently took Ingrids hand into yours: “We’ve really been through thick and thin…“

You then turned to Mapi, intertwining the fingers of your other hand with hers: “And now with you.“

The Spaniard looked back at you, visibly touched: “So it’s the three of us against the world?“

“It is!“, Ingrid confirmed with a resolute nod.

“I like that a lot.“, she grinned.

“Me too.“, you agreed. There was a lightness rushing over you, your heart felt so full being here with these two.

Ingrid suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing you all to halt: “My girls, we have to go if we want to reach our first destination tonight.“

Walking through your home town and reminiscing your childhood, you completely forgot that you wouldn’t be stay here. The three of you had a roadtrip planned through Norway.

Mapi nodded: “You’re right. It’s time to go.“

You walked back towards your van, retracing your steps. You felt like fully different person when you passed the football pitch for a second time.

You wished that you would have known back then that your body was only doing its job and that you were always worthy of love, independent of your weight.

A two hour drive later, the sun finally came out as it began to set. Mapi parked your van at a lake, your first destination. You scrambled out of the passenger seat to have a better look at the nature right in front of you.

“This is beautiful!“, you marvelled at the sight.

“It is, right? Nice and quiet.“, Ingrid agreed, her black hair shining in the orange light.

“Stunning.”, the Spaniard hummed taking a photo of her two favourite Norwegians with her little camera hanging around her neck.

“You were supposed to take a photo of the nature.”, the midfielder grinned amused.

“Honestly, there’s a beautiful sunset right there.”, you continued gesturing to the sky, the red and orange was reflected in the lake, looking like a masterpiece an artist would never be able to capture or do its justice.

“I already saw the prettiest view today.”, Mapi countered, her eyes set lovingly on the two of you.

“Stop it, you already got us, charmer.”, you reminded her, hiding your burning cheeks with the hands.

“Okay, okay. I’ll take a photo of the stupid sunset.”, she gave in laughing.

“And afterwards a selfie.”, Ingrid chirmed.

“Come here girls.”, the defender nodded after she took a few photos of the nature around her.

Happily, you scanned the result of the couple photo, the Spaniard was standing between you and Ingrid, all of you had a happy smile on your lips and the background was breathtaking as much as the three women in front of it.

“Here to make new memories.”, Mapi announced solemnly.

The past was the past, you couldn’t change what happened to you in the country as a teenager, but the present Norway never looked more beautiful.

[sondheim-girly]

Here’s my submission for day one of @outsidersweek, sorry it’s so late!! Heres the masterpost for the rest of the fic October, 1966

Trip

Before Junior year, Trip hadn’t noticed Marcia. Whereas Brill had known he’d marry Bev since they were little kids, and Bob had had a crush on Cherry for years, it took Trip a while to see how much he liked the sassy brunette. In middle school, he'd just seen Marcia as the weird girl who talked too much. Once she got into high school he started to notice her more. The way her eyes twinkled when she talked with her friends, and the glossy shine of her hair. Then when he went into his Junior year something flipped, and suddenly she was all he thought about. The sight of this girl he’d known for years suddenly sent fireworks flying through his stomach. 

He didn’t really try to hide his crush, and the entire football team learned all about it instantly. He believed Marcia noticed fairly quickly as well. When someone literally stops in the hallway to stare as you pass by, how could you not notice? By the time homecoming was around the corner, Brill wouldn’t stop bothering Trip, telling him to ask out Marcia. Eventually Trip had given in, and he and Brill planned it all out. 

On the Friday one week before homecoming, he would meet her in the courtyard that was normally empty before school. He’d have a huge bouquet of flowers, and he would ask her to go to homecoming with him. Brill was convinced Marcia would say yes, and if Trip were being honest, he knew she would. And after the dance he’d ask her to be his girlfriend. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. Thinking about how she might smile up at him at the dance. How she’d be cheering him on from the stands of the football field during the big game. And now here he was, standing like an idiot in an empty courtyard with Brill, his hands filled with a bouquet of the nicest flowers in all of Tulsa. But when he saw the brunette walk into the courtyard, he knew it was all worth it.

Marcia

“Bev why are you dragging me! And where are we going??” Marcia complained, as her friend gleefully guided her through the school campus,

“Quit complaining, you’ll see soon enough.”

“The courtyard?” Marcia said as they finally arrived, “why would we…” she trailed off as she saw a boy standing there, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Bev ran over to meet Brill, and he strung his arm over her shoulders.

“See you guys in class!” Brill called back at them, the perfect pair unable to stop smiling at the evident success of their plan.

“Hey!” Marcia awkwardly greeted Trip, as she fidgeting with her dress.

“Hey. I was… I was wondering if you’d like to go to homecoming with me,” he asked, a shy grin on his face.

With those simple words, Marcia felt like she was floating on air. She’d spent so long feeling like she was going to be alone forever. Bev had Brill, and everyone knew they’d be together forever, the pair completely made for each other in every way. And then Cherry started going out with Bob last winter, and suddenly Cherry hardly ever hung out with Marcia. And Marcia knew she talked too much, she was always cracking jokes that no one around her ever found funny. She thought that no one would ever like her like that, no one would ever love her. But here was Trip. Cute, athletic, Trip. And he really liked her. He really really liked her! And he was standing there with a bunch of flowers and a smile, asking her to homecoming! Her fairytale was finally coming true.

“I'd love to,” she finally responded, and Trip stepped towards her, handing off the flowers. A huge grin spread itself across her face as she looked down at the bright colors, before she looked up at Trip again, “Thank you,” she said,

“I’ll pick you up at 6:30, alright?”

“Perfect. I should get to class now, see you later?”

“Yep!” He confirmed, and she gave him a small wave before hurrying out of the courtyard to find Bev and Cherry and tell them what had happened.

[legit9thlunaticwarrior]

alright, the kid stole my heart. let’s do some taylor swift songfic magic

|remember to leave feedback and i love all you heathens|

‘Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince’ Hook (Tyler) x fem!reader

^they grew up together. did everything together, even had a joint debut. but one day, her feelings bubbled over^

- taylor got so much gud gud for inspo my dudes - donna projecting and daydreaming again, dw abt it - i hate the concept of adults being like ‘oh theyd make such a cute couple’ with kids but for the sake of this fic, im letting it slide - also for shits and giggles, he played high school football - Y/F/N - your friend’s name - powerhouse hobbs (will) and i call taz mr. s

Y/N POV:

You know I adore you I'm crazier for you Then I was at sixteen Lost in a film scene Waving homecoming queens Marching band playing I'm lost in the lights

From the moment we met, I felt my heart rate rise anytime he was around me. Even when we were little, other parents and teachers said we would grow up to be together. Tyler and I had always been glued to each other since age four. We always got put in the same classes all throughout our school years; and when we got to high school, I always wore his jersey number on my cheek as I cheered him on with the rest of the cheer squad during his football games. 

 American glory Faded before me Now I'm feeling hopeless Ripped up my prom dress Running through rose thorns I saw the scoreboard And ran for my life

When the senior prom rolled around, we went with who we were dating at that point. Truthfully, I wanted to go with him but I couldn’t risk our bond. What I didn’t know is that Peter would ditch me for another girl halfway through the occasion. Tyler found me in the hallway by the lockers bawling my eyes out, “Y/N? Buzzy, what happened?” He rushed to sit beside me and held me close. “Peter dumped me.” He kissed the top of my head, “I’ll fucking break his face.” Since we started wrestling training together, his confidence grew. “Why were you looking for me? What happened to Alexa?” He laughed, “Turns out she doesn’t swing that way. No hard feelings though, the want to end it was mutual. I came out here because Y/F/N said you ran out in a rush.” We stayed sitting by the lockers until Tyler got up and helped me to my feet,  “Y/N, since we are now both dateless, how would you like to accompany me to prom?” I blushed and gave the obvious answer: “Of course Tyler! I would love to!” We went back in and danced like nothing happened.

No cameras catch my pageant smile I counted days, I counted miles To see you there To see you there It's been a long time coming but

We finally had our All Elite Wrestling debuts. As much as I would have liked to tag with him like we did before, I was so proud to see him in his element. After winning my match against Britt, I got to watch his. He came out victorious as usual and when we met back in the Team Taz locker room, I jumped onto his back. “I’m so proud of you T!” I congratulated him then kissed his cheek before getting down. “You did it too Buzzy. You beat Britt Baker!” Then, Tyler’s dad came over to us, “Both of you were stellar. Y/N, you have some of the greatest ring awareness I’ve ever seen.” “Thank you Mr. S, I learned from the best.” He kissed my cheek and left. He was always like another father to me; so when he suggested I join Team Taz, I couldn’t say no.

It's you and me That's my whole world They whisper in the hallway, "she's a bad, bad girl" (okay!) The whole school is rolling fake dice You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes It's you and me There's nothing like this Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince (okay!) We're so sad, we paint the town blue Voted most likely to run away With you

As our careers at AEW progressed, I was established as an important part of Team Taz. Provide distractions, take over the women’s division; both of which I did well. I was the only one in the group that no one knew where I stood: Heel or Babyface? We used it to our advantage, until Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti decided to run their mouths. That I was probably just a hot piece of ass getting passed around in the group. After that shot, Tyler and I had enough and we got our first match together. 

My team is losing Battered and bruising I see the high fives Between the bad guys Leave with my head hung You are the only one Who seems to care

This was so important to the two of us but probably for me more. I felt this need deep down inside that I needed to prove myself. I belong in this company and with the team. The match was going great and Tyler and I were so close to the win, until Sammy yelled to me from ringside, “You’re just gonna get replaced once they see you’re worthless in this business-” Tay took the opportunity to go for the roll up and got the pin. The two ran up the ramp while Tyler came into the ring and knelt beside me as the rest of the group came out. I couldn’t hear the rest of the scolding as I got up and left the ring to go to the locker room and change. I was about to just leave after I got my stuff until Tyler came in, “Buzzy, I know one of them said something. Talk to me.” 

And I don't want you to (go) I don't really wanna (fight) 'Cause nobody's gonna (win) I think you should come home

If we weren’t attached at the hip already, after what happened in the ring, he was even more close to me. It had gotten to a point where I brought up me leaving Team Taz. “Y/N, no.” I knew he was serious because he never used my name, I was always Buzzy, “You deserve to be here. And I don’t want you to go.” I sighed. “I don’t really wanna fight, Tyler. ’Cause nobody’s gonna win.”  He had decided that the crowd tonight would convince me to stay. The team was in the ring and Mr. S brought up the situation. The crowd chanted for me not to leave, “I think you should come home. They want you with us. I, want you with us Buzzy.” He spoke into the mic; something that felt more special than it seemed. He handed the mic to his dad and pulled me closer so only I could hear what he said next, “I can’t do this without my high school sweetheart.” He put his hands on my face gently and kissed me. It felt like fireworks went off and we were floating above the whole arena. When he pulled away “I love you Buzzy. I always have. Stay?” I nodded. Will yelled into his mic, “She’s staying!” “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince are official!” Ricky added. Tyler wrapped his arm around me and leaned down, “Does that mean you’re my girlfriend?” I kissed him again “Does that answer your question?”

We were cuddling in our hotel room when I finally asked him after all these years, “Tyler why do you call me Buzzy?” He smiled showing off those dimples that make my heart thump. “Once when we were at the park, a bumblebee had landed on your hand. You didn’t even flinch; you made it your friend. We had to be ten years old but that might’ve been the moment you stole my heart.” “Well now, It's you and me There’s nothing like this. I love you too T.”

~~~~~~~

lovely taglist babes (dm or comment to be added) @josiewrites @rubyred1980 @chrisdickinson @xkennyxomegax​

[natsbaby]

Stars and Rumors

Pairing: High School!Natasha Romanoff x High School!Stark!Reader

Summary: homecoming is coming up and everyone’s starting to ask other people out. Rumor has it that a certain Bucky Barnes has intentions of asking you and Nat isn’t okay with that

Warnings: just unedited ☠️

A/N: I have so many stories drafted and I can’t believe I manage to squeeze one in with my busy schedule HAHA I hope you guys like this one!

A/N 2: I added a song into the story so if you read this and didn’t read about a specific song, read it again because I added it! <3 but if this is your first time reading this and you see this then go ahead and read, i hope you like it! <3

“Come on Nat. It’s only two more weeks till homecoming, someone might ask Y/N already” Wanda whines at Nat, leaning onto the locker besides her as she puts her stuff inside. Nat then rolls her eyes at her fellow redhead and best friend, stopping midway of putting her book in to sigh then continues putting her books in.

“I’m sure she won’t accept the invite anyway, she’d rather stay at home play video games or watch movies” she reasons out as she puts the last book, closing her locker and faces the pouting Wanda.

“I know but it’s our last year, you might as well ask her out. Who knows? She might consider if you ask”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same person who ditched prom last year at the last minute because of a surprise video game release on the same day” she challenges her with a raised eyebrow and a slight teasing tone, making the shorter girl laugh at the memory.

“Gosh we didn’t even hear from her for a month because of that game” Wanda smiles at the memory, making Nat smile softly as well. “You should at least try, I’ve heard that one of the guys is planning to ask her out too”

Nat’s eyes widen slightly at the revelation, wondering who’d ask you out.

Ever since Tony introduced you to the group back in your freshmen year of High School, you’ve been hanging out with everyone ever since. Since the group consists of the most diverse niches of people such as the jocks (Nat, Carol, Steve and Bucky) and the Nerds (You, Wanda, Tony, Clint and Thor), you and Nat aren’t that very close but it didn’t stop her from having a deep crush on you. You can’t blame Nat though, she thought you were the most intelligent but dense person she has ever met and intrigued doesn’t even begin to describe how she felt about you at first.

Now in your senior year and with homecoming coming up, Tony and Thor had made it their mission to make sure you’d experience more things this year such as football games where Steve and Bucky are part of, softball games where Nat and Carol are part of, and now homecoming.

Nat sighs softly as she rests her hand down at her palm making Wanda chuckle slightly at the stressed redhead. “Come on Nat, she’ll say yes I promise”

Before Nat could say anything else, both of them hears music playing down the hall. They both look at the source to see another homecoming proposal happening between a guy from the football team and a cheerleader.

“See Nat, even he has bigger balls than yo- OW!” Wanda squeals out a little as Nat punches her on the arm. “I’m serious!”

“I’ll think about it okay?”

You walk to the cafeteria with Tony as he talks about his current project which is AI Glasses. You chuckle slightly as Tony shows you his 15th prototype that is now broken, opening the cafeteria door with your back while walking backwards. You turn to look where you’re going to see homecoming proposals happening left and right.

“Has someone asked you to hoco yet?” Tony asks as he puts his prototype in his bag. You shake your head no as you grab a tray, grabbing another as you give it to Tony.

“Considering not going if no one asks honestly” you say as you grab 2 plates and handing one to Tony. He looks at you with a raised eyebrow as he takes the plate from you and putting some food on it.

“You already ditched prom last year, you’re gonna ditch hoco this year too?” He picks up a sketchy looking piece of chicken, grimacing slightly at the floppiness of it making you laugh.

“Yea, doesn’t sound bad you know and it’s not like I’m gonna miss anything”

“The fun happens during these school events you know”

You sigh as you look at the rest of the food then look back at Tony. “Lets go out and get something better than.. whatever that chicken is?”

Tony smirks at your suggestion, grabbing your trays and putting it away. “Let’s invite the others, we can take my car and maybe Nat”

You grin and nod at his suggestion as he sends a blast text to everyone to meet at the parking lot. In your school, you’re allowed to leave campus for lunch breaks as long as you come back after so from time to time, you would leave campus with Tony and sometimes Carol and Nat. You head to the parking lot to see everyone’s already there with Nat, Carol and Wanda talking at the bed of Nat’s pick up and the boys rough housing by Tony’s car that’s parked besides Nat’s.

“Hey! Don’t scratch the car or you pay!” Tony calls out and groans as Clint curses while looking over at the car.

“No scratches!” Clint grins at Tony as you chuckle at their tactics. “So, where should we go?”

“We can go to the new shawarma place that opened at 37th street” Tony suggests while looking through his phone for options.

“Or we can go at my friend’s resto-bar at 35th and get a free meal” Bucky suggests as he flashes his credit card as the boys cheers while you raise your eyebrow.

“Come on Y/N/N, it’s a free meal from Buck it’ll be fun” Steve smiles at you as he pats your back gently.

“Come on Doll, you can get whatever you want” Bucky flashes his charming smile at you making you blush slightly while Nat glares at Bucky slightly.

“Then that settles it! Boys ride with me and girls ride with Nat!” Tony declares as everyone get into the respective cars. As you enter the passengers side of Nat’s car, Carol stops Nat from getting down the bed of the truck.

“I’ve heard Bucky’s gonna ask Y/N out at the restaurant” she starts as Nat looks at her with wide eyes. “I saw him putting his proposal banner at the back of his car and the boys are in on it”

“I’ve heard too, you better ask her out already” Wanda urges Nat as she thinks of her options.

She could ask you to at the resto-bar also but she’s not ready to give you a well thought out homecoming proposal. On the other hand, she could also be an ass to Bucky and ruin his proposal but she loves him as a friend so she wouldn’t do that too. Nat groans as she rubs her face in frustration.

“I’ll figure something out on the way. Come on, Y/N might wonder whats up”

Everyone enters the resto-bar and looks around in awe at the military style design with flags of all the countries around and memorabilia that would represent the different sectors. You sit down in between Tony and Nat with everyone else in a circle at the booth.

“Wow Buck this is insane” Steve states in awe as he looks at the little jukebox at the center.

“Right? If you put a quarter in and pick a song, it’ll cue and eventually play at the restaurant’s sound system” he explains with a smile as a waiter comes with menus.

“Come on Nat, you gotta do it” Carol whispers to Nat who’s sitting by her right side. Nat rolls her eyes slightly as she looks at the menu.

“I have something in mind” she replies softly for only Carol to hear.

“Wanna split on the pasta?” You look over at Nat with a smile. Nat’s heart skips a beat for a moment, nodding in response. “Sure, you pick”

After ordering, everyone starts to fall into a conversation about homecoming.

“Does everyone already have dates?” Clint whines as a good majority of the group nods their heads in response.

“Not yet birdbrain” Bucky chuckles slightly as he leans forward to rest his arms onto the table. “I still don’t have one and I believe Ms. Y/N/N doesn’t have one either”

“Only because no one has asked me yet” you chuckle as you fiddle with the napkin on the table. “I’m waiting for someone to ask then I’ll go when they do”

Bucky smirks slightly at your response. He looks out at the window behind you and motions for you to look at he stands up. Everyone looks to see some guys from the football team holding up a “HOCO WITH ME?” sign decorated in a football and video games design and some balloons. He goes up to you with a smile.

“Come to Homecoming with me and let’s have some fun doll”

You gasp softly at his question, taking a look around to see the boys grinning widely with their phones pointed at you and the girls shaking a very shocked Nat wildly. You look back at Bucky as he cocks his head to side slightly in confusion as you haven’t said anything or even stood up.

You stand up and hold Bucky’s hands with a sad smile. “I don’t know Buck..”

“It’ll be fun Y/N” he smiles encouraging as he brings your hand up to his mouth to give the back of your hand softly.

“Did my brother tell you to ask me?” You cock your head to the side slightly and notice Bucky’s eyes look at Tony for a brief second before looking back at you. You sigh as you let go, crossing you arms.

“I don’t want to be asked out because my brother told you to, I want to be asked because you genuinely want to” you start and give Bucky a soft pat on the cheek. “Next time, alright?”

“Nat this is your chance” Wanda whisper yells at Nat as she hits her arm. Nat snaps out of her trance as she frantically looks for a penny from her pockets, and she leans over the table to put a quarter in and find a song. Once she finds Yellow by Coldplay, she selects the song and it starts to play at the sound system.

Nat takes a deep breath as she walks up to you, gently tapping your shoulder. You turn around to see the shy redhead with a questioning look. Before you could say anything, Nat raises her hand for you to stop and gives you a shy smile.

“Me first before I chicken out, yea?” You nod at her suggestion as you give her your full attention while the boys watches the scene in front of them.

“I know we’re not really close but I really want to change it. Do you remember when Tony was sick a year ago and asked me to pick you up from a date but when I got there, you were really sad because you were stood up?” You flush in embarrassment at the memory as you nod in confirmation. Nat takes a step forward, allowing you to smell her vanilla and lavender perfume that makes you unconsciously smile.

“I remember taking you to the field so we could watch the stars and you told me that it was absolutely terrible” you both chuckle at the memory and allow Nat to continue.

“Do you remember what I told you that night?” You think about it for a moment and meet Nat’s eyes once you do to see her piercing green eyes already looking at you.

“Let’s do this again soon and to text you if I need an excuse out of a horrible date” you repeat with a fond look on your face. Nat smiles fondly as you remember. You finally notice the music playing the background, tilting your head in curiosity as you smile at Nat.

“Isn’t this the song that was playing at your truck that night?” Nat gives you a nod and a shy smile as Chris Martin sings the ending.

“Wanna see the stars again with me at homecoming? I want to see the stars shining for you one more time”

A/N 3: I wanted to add Yellow by Coldplay because I felt like it was a nice touch since I noticed that initially, I didn’t add a song so why not!! I hope this made the story a bit better because I feel like I prefer this a bit more <3

[f4iryjeons]

THE WINNING GAME J.JK

Quarterback! JK X Cheer captain! Reader

High school AU.

Drabble series

The bright lights burned your skin as your face filled with dread, he wasn’t getting up. You could only stand and watch hopping that he’d sit up and hold his thumb up to tell you he was okay, but he didn’t.

Another minute passed, players began to surround him. And that’s when you felt your stomach drop, your feet carrying themselves, you ran to him.

“Move! Jeongguk!” You called as you pushed through the crowd of players. That’s when you saw him, lying there, his ankle was without a doubt broken and he eyes were fluttered shut. You dropped to your knees, “Kookie, baby are you okay?” You whispered to him, stroking his cheek. His chest was still moving up and down softly, which indicates he was breathing, and that's all that mattered, he's okay.

You began to cry, your head falling into his chest as you cried. You were being picked up by a few of your squad mates. You watched as the EMTs cleared the large group from around him. Everything was a blur, the coaches yelling directions, the silence of the field, your squad whispering words of assurance into your ear, it was all a blur. “I wanna be with him.” you spoke when you saw them lifting Jeongguk on a stretcher. “Yn but we have to stay, the game has to go on and we need you.” Yeri added as she patted your shoulder. “No. I have to be with him. Lisa is the co-captain she can handle this.” you argued, before breaking out of their embrace as you jogged toward the EMTs.

You sat in the back of the ambulance, staring at him. The EMTs determined he probably had a concussion.

Just a few weeks ago, Jeongguk had described this game. How nothing could go wrong, he could face your schools biggest rivals and beat them again. Jeongguk was the quarterback, he was always working hard to be better and shape the team up. He was even called the best player your school ever had, his coach always said Jeongguk was the one who lead the team to victory, coach just took the credit for it. And he was right, Jeongguk had no losses this season, seven and 0, this would've been the last game. His eighth. You always felt unnecessary to Jeongguk, but at the same time, unavoidable. You were the most cliche couple ever, the popular quarterback and the equally popular cheer captain. You didn't feel like he wanted you but needed you, to make his image more perfect than it already was but, you knew deep down that wasn't true. He liked you, you hoped he did. You hoped your feelings were just insecurities that couldn't be helped. You looked down at the ring on your finger, a promise ring. He'd given it to you after your second year anniversary. It was a silent promise that no matter what your futures would be aligned in the end.

You and him met in your first year of high school, he wasn't as buff as he is now, and he was always hanging around the football players, at first he was a running back, whatever that meant. You had an algebra class with him and he sat next to you. He was always on his phone or eating and he annoyed you, but you couldn't help but like the boy.

You tried out for cheer with your best friend, and ended up making the team. By your second year, you began to like each other, although you liked him more than he liked you, the feeling was finally mutual. He asked you to homecoming that year and confessed to you, and that started your relationship. You'd been dating for almost three years, a part of you held on to that, your relationship was more than just cheer captain and quarterback.

His eyes fluttered open as he winced at the light.

“Oh my God your up.” you sat up, smiling at him. Jeongguk cringed at the volume of your voice, everything seemed louder and brighter to him.

“Oh sorry” you whispered, and he smiled at you.

“Did we win?” he asked, his voice was scratchy and quiet.

“Does that matter? You could've died out there” you answered, gripping his hand.

“You know it does.”

You sighed, “You got hit really hard by the 57 guy. You went out before the second half Kook.” you replied.

“Fuck I should've been watching out for that defensive end” he groaned, rubbing his eyes. He began to sit up.

“Babe please don't.” you quietly begged as you tried to push him back down, but he was so much stronger, even wounded.

“It’s just a concussion.” he brushed off, before flinching at the pain that shot down directly to his right ankle.

“And a broken ankle.” you added.

“Fuck.” he whispered

“Fuck!” he yelled, hurting his own sensitive ears in the process.

“It’s all ruined, we’re supposed to win this, this was our championship and it’s all ruined.” He seethed, fists balling up. “Kook, I know but I truthfully only care that you're okay.” your head was hung, unable to match the same passion he had for this game. “I was supposed to ask you to move in with me when we graduate” he whispered, his hand intertwining with yours. You smiled at him, “But Kook, I got accepted into Anglewood and that's-” you started but he let out a chuckle.

“My baby is so smart, I'm so glad they have a good sports program.” Jeongguk boasted, your eyes went wide. “Oh my God.” you smiled, “Does that mean you..?” he nodded, knowing what you were asking. “You got accepted too!” you beamed your voice accidentally reaching a loud volume, he flinched but his smile never faltered. You leaned down to hug him, his arms slipped around you as he kissed your cheek and exposed shoulder. “I love you.” he murmured into the skin of your shoulder, “I love you too” you responded.

Another ten minutes passed and you two were talking about your apartment together. “We can have a housewarming party, I'm pretty sure my parents want to see.” you effused. “White walls? That's so boring, we need maybe a tan color? That makes a house feel so warm” you added. He nodded, a grin still evident on his face. You felt your phone vibrate. The text was from Taehyung, Jeongguk’s best friend.

Taehyung: We won. We're on our way.

You jumped up on your feet, causing Jeongguk to look at you have with a confused look. “We won! They won! You won.” you cheered, bouncing excitedly. “We won? Oh my God!” Jeongguk’s eyes closed in relief, a laugh falling from his mouth, “of course they did.” he smiled.

“Since we won, you think I could get lucky tonight?” he grinned as he pulled you closer.

“By lucky you mean your ankle and concussion magically healing by tonight right?” you smiled down at him, and he nodded.

“Sure..” he sighed.

[missjanjie]

8i please !!

this was self-indulgent bcs im weak for 1950s aus and the idea of beatnik rosé + cheerleader denali was too perfect to not do

8. Rosé/Denali + I. Different Decade

“Hey, do you have an extra one of those?” Denali asked, tentatively approaching Rosé, who was leaning against the wall in back of the school, taking a drag from a cigarette. 

Rosé arched her brow curiously, looking the other girl over. “Sure, didn’t think you touched ‘em, doesn’t strike me as the sort of activity the head cheerleader would partake in,” she remarked, taking another one from the pack and handing it to her before lighting it. “Something snakin’ ya?” 

Denali just sighed and tried to take a drag, only to cough, then manage to do it successfully. “Just stress, we can’t all go through life not giving a shit about anything. I almost envy that about you.”

“I’m sure you’ve got a lot on your plate,” she nodded, dropping the cigarette butt on the floor and putting it out by stepping on it and pressing it into the grass. “I know your secret, you know.”

Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open, the cigarette falling from her lips. She felt her stomach tighten and now she was leaning against the wall just to keep herself steady. “Y-You do?”

“I know you’re not Italian, that your real last name isn’t Foxx,” she said, then furrowed her brows and added, “that’s not even an Italian last name, you’re lucky everyone here is fucking stupid. What are you, anyway?”

Denali’s entire body relaxed and she let out an audible sigh of relief, one that was perhaps too obvious. “Oh, that. My parents did that for my safety – My dad is Jewish and my mom is Mexican… I’m not sure where they got Foxx from either, I wanna say some cartoon character.” 

While Rosé’s initial question was answered, Denali’s reaction left her with a myriad of new ones, leading her to eye her suspiciously. “So you’ve got two secrets then, hm? Head cheerleader, homecoming queen, going steady with the captain of the football team, someone so perfect must have a dark secret to hide out with some beatnik.”

She untied her cardigan from around her shoulders, pulling it on as if it would hide her the way she desperately wanted. “I don’t… I mean… it’s not…” she shook her head and looked up at her. “You wouldn’t understand, I don’t think anyone would.”

“You’d be surprised, dolly,” the redhead replied, her expression softening when she managed to meet her eyes. “Tell me, when you’re neckin’ with your boyfriend, does it make your skin crawl? Does it feel wrong in a way you can’t explain why, so you just brush your teeth until you feel normal again?”

Denali’s face was deep red and she could hardly string a thought together. Finally, she timidly whispered, “I don’t understand how you could know all of that…”

“Because I’m a dyke, baby,” Rosé replied with a nonchalance that was jarring to Denali, who had only ever heard shouted at women who wore men’s trousers and had short hair. She was only loosely aware of what the word even meant, which must have read clearly because Rosé followed up with, “I don’t have a sweetie ‘cause girls aren’t an option around here, but that’s what I’m after.”

She was at a loss for words, she had no idea that was an option, always assuming that those thoughts and feelings meant something was wrong with her, that it was something she had to ignore. “Are there places where that is an option?” 

“Just a train ride away, downtown. Moving there as soon as school’s done,” Rosé put a hand on Denali’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You should let me take you sometime, help you realize you’re not alone.”

When Denali felt Rosé’s hand on her shoulder, she felt a spark shoot through her body that she’d never felt before, something lit up inside her. “I would like that.”

[theskzvibe]

FREAKY

CHAPTER 1

PAIRING-- park sunghoon x y/n

GENRE-- bffs2lovers, fluff, angst, zombie apocalypse au

SYNOPSIS-- you were at school one weekend due to your role as student body president. but unexpectedly, the city's chemical plant explodes, causing you and your friends to be trapped in your school. but being trapped in your school, was the least of your worries.

WARNINGS-- minor character death and cussing

FEATURING-- members of enhypen, members of txt, members of itzy

WC- 0.740k

MASTERLIST

it was 10 am on a saturday and you were at school. being the dedicated  student body president you are, you went to school to help set up for homecoming. you also forced convinced your friends to help out. so naturally a sleepy sunghoon, a bedhead beomgyu and an energetic chaeryoung accompanied you. “okay lets start by placing the banners around the bleachers” you passed out the banners and sunghoon released a loud yawn. “why am I here?” beomgyu questioned his existence as he just stood on the field holding the banner. “because y/n dragged us into this” chaeryoung pointed an accusing finger at you. “you wouldn’t want me to suffer alone would you?” you asked. “yes” beomgyu replied, and you threw a pom-pom at him. “helping out y/n is fine, but doing all this for the football team! obviously hockey is the better sport. and they are doing nothing to help out.” sunghoon feigned a disgusted look. “you only say that because you’re on the hockey team” beomgyu laughed. “the football team might be helpless but they are still hot. especially that one, what's his name...kai?” chaeryoung shrugged, and beomgyu rolled his eyes at her comment. “he is not as hot as me” he flicked his hair and chaeryoung huffed at him. “in your dreams.” before you knew it, the two were in a bickering fight, and sunghoon approached you, “they’re at it again” he whispered in your ear making you laugh. “I swear they are secretly in love with each other or something” you both walked off to the bucket of decorations and started decorating the fence together. 

“anyways, how is being student body president? you wanted this for so long, ever since middle school you wouldn’t stop talking about it.” sunghoon smiled at the memory. “yeah, its good, but just a lot of responsibilities. but luckily I got you guys to help me out” you smiled. “of course anything for you. we are you’re only friends anyway” sunghoon joked, and you playfully hit his arm. 

interrupting your conversation with sunghoon, and beomgyu and chaeryoungs bickering, was the sound of an alarm. you all looked at each other in confusion and listened to the speaker. “its the power plant drill” beomgyu shouts while walking with chaeryoung over to you and sunghoon. “we gotta go inside, if security sees us skipping a drill, we could get detention” you state, and your friends nod. you all start walking towards the school, when you see a red smoke in the distance. “guys I don’t think its a drill” chaeryoung nervously shouts. “shit. I have to get riki from soccer practice, you guys go in, ill meet you there.” you grab your stuff and prepare to run towards the soccer field. “i’m going with you” sunghoon grabs your arm. “no he’s my brother, its okay, you guys go in, i’ll be there fast.” you try to reassure him, but he won't let go of your wrist. “i’m going with you, chae and gyu, you guys go in now” sunghoon says, and without protest, you two run towards your brother, the other two running into the school. 

“riki!” you waved at your younger brother, who was grabbing his bag with the rest of his teammates. “hey y/n. big hoon” riki laughs, and normally sunghoon would laugh too at the weird choice of a nickname, but this time he didn’t. “you have to come inside now, its not a drill” you grabbed your brother while sunghoon told the other players to go inside now as well. you all ran into the building, meeting up with your friends in the lobby. 

“y/n did you contact mom yet?” riki asked as he placed his stuff down by his teammates. “no, I have no signal. but she should be fine, she doesn’t work the weekends remember. so she shouldn't have been at the plant” you tried to convince him and yourself that everything would be okay. “everyone stay inside,  it is toxic out there. I am going to try to find a radio. everyone stay put” soobin, the soccer coach announced. 

you and sunghoon closely looked out the window, and the red smoke started to roll in closer to your school, and it covered what was once the blue sky. sunghoon turned to you with a look of panic across his face.

“senior year is already off to a great start huh?”

TAGLIST-- @abdiitcryy @mykalon @liliansun​ @w3bqrl @sungookie

[ohtobeaspettyasleah]

Can we get more background on Lori and also a reason why Adele left

Adele Samuels and Lorelei Figgs had known each other for the better part of a decade, not the type of best friends to be attached to the hip 24/7-- they mostly went about their lives after high school following different pathways that would ultimately lead them to communicate on a casual basis. The every second-day check-in, the occasional Snapchat, Facebook tag under a meme that had them both crying with laughter. It was casual, a strong connection that didn’t need constant validation or communication to understand Adele would always be in Lori’s corner and Lore is Adele’s. 

That was until, well, until Lorelei started dated Jacob Marshall. A Character to say the least and Adele’s slightly estranged step-brother, from her Fathers second marriage. In Jacobs short 21 years on earth, he had racked up a pretty hefty tally in regards to misdemeanours and assault charges. Swearing he’d be a better man for Lorelei he enrolled in community college, straightened himself out a little more. Got a job that didn’t see him evading his taxes or being paid cash in hand for jobs that had him running from authority. Sometimes people do indeed change? Other times? It’s just a matter of time before the bomb explodes--you can’t change those who don’t truly want to change. Jacob Marshall was absolutely no exception to the eons-old rule. Adele knew that well before Lorelei ever sensed the change. 

She should’ve known better than to get mixed up with the kid from school who got caught selling cocaine under the bleachers to the football team before their homecoming game. But Lorelei and Jacob always had that on again off again classic toxic frenemies relationship. He had a spell on her, someone Lorelei nor Adele could ever explain. They were entangled well before Adele’s dad married Jacobs mum down at the courthouse on 5th ave-- whatever was meant to be had already been put in place years ago. It’s just the fact Lorelei and Jacob couldn’t have been more different, more polar opposites if they tried. Jacobs had always been the hardass, the guy with the home job tattoos, the roid muscles he swore were all-natural. The crackjaw that swung left to right whenever he’d get on the gear with the boys. The law-breaking, gym junkie with a white card that allowed him to work construction and heavy machinery.

Lorelei? Well, she could’ve had it all. But settling for the only guy that had ever given her the time of day was all she ever knew how to do- especially when throughout highschool? He wouldn’t let another guy ever get close enough to say hello. It was always mental mind games. The suttle manipulation-- always with the gaslighting that had Lore feeling less than. She was smart, bright. But her lack of street smarts always got the better of her. Especially when it came to Jacobs. Fuck, it was always Jacob. 

By the time Grayson had finished with his much need shit shower and shave routine, Lorelei was finishing up with Ethan in the podcast room. Taking in all he had to teach her and all she had to learn. 

“And don’t even sweat it, if you forget I can just show you again, or Gray can-- whoever’s around.” 

“Seems pretty straight forwards, it’s an amazing setup.” Lorelei sat on the chair Grayson would normally sit on for filming podcast videos-- feeling a little lightheaded. Nothing she couldn’t mask. Focusing on her breathing, Lorelei watched as Ethan powered down the monitor and flipped back to the cameras. “Pretty secure security system huh?” 

“We’ve had a few incidences, can’t put a price on security.” Ethan shrugged. “If you want we’re just gonna be hanging out for the rest of the day, so you can stay and chill or go home, either way, its a pretty full day tomorrow, have some errands and shit to do so we’ll need you here from what? Maybe 10?”

“That’s fine, I can do that, do you want me to bring over breakfast for everyone? Coffee?” Lore asked with a soft smile, she was just happy to be needed. Happy to be living. Happy to be in the presence of people who valued her. It was nice. A welcomed change. 

“Monty’s open at 11 so we’ll do burgers for lunch instead, you vegan?”

“Not exactly but I try--”

“It’s the thought that counts.” Ethan laughed as Lorelei followed him down the hall out to the kitchen. “So you staying?” she wanted to. Lorelei would’ve loved to have said yes, but she needed to sleep. Suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. 

“Id love it, but I better get going, still have some stuff to do at home so I better--”

“I’ll walk you out” it was Grayson. His hair a sopping mess of dark locks that could’ve used a towel dry. The Grey sweats hanging low on his hips as he pulled over his hoodie-- the same Ethan and gifted Lorelei yesterday. Her favourite. Lorelei stared for a moment too long but ultimately nodded in shyness. 

“Sounds good.” there was a short shared silence for a few minutes while Grayson walked slowly beside Lorelei back to her car. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say, how to act. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for the whole hiring process, kinda have a few things going on.” Grayson pressed his lips together as the pair approached Lore’s car. “Sometimes a bit of fresh air is all I need, but I’m here now and I’m excited to have you here, really, Adele, she uh-- she said good things about you.” Grayson was never a fan of lying, but he didn’t think this little white lie would hurt anyone. A victimless crime. He knew only what Ethan had told him Adele had said. Lorelei blushed. She could instantly feel the heat on her cheeks. 

“She’s such an idiot but I love her, she’s done a lot for me, especially setting this u, couldn’t thank her enough, or you guys, even if I wanted to.” Lore was speaking from her heart, Grayson could already tell she was genuine. Not a lot of people were genuine in L.A anymore. “I better get going.”

“Let me take you out for lunch soon? I feel like you and Ethan hit it off really well, I just want the same kinda opportunity to get to know you, you have access to my bank account I feel like I should at least have your number?” Lorelei chuckled but nodded in response. Grayson had never been so straight forward-- he wanted to crawl inside himself. Someone, anyone had to stop him before it was too late. Because he wasn’t about to stop himself, no not this time. Not with Lorelei. Her name alone had him making sure his inhaler was on his presence 24/7 and he’d known her for all of an hour. Grayson realised at that moment as she asked his assistant to go grab lunch with him, not for him, with him-- that he was in fact pathetic on a new simp level only unlocked by the very few men who fall in love in three seconds flat. 

“Oh yeah, sure lets us, gab lunch-- but I’m pretty sure my numbers on the fridge, I put it there on a pink sticky.” 

“Cool, alright well, ill see you tomorrow, uh here--” Grayson opened Lorelei’s car door for her. She beamed a bright smile. No one had ever done that before. Not for her, she thought it was something that only happened in movies. Sitting down, she strapped herself as her window went down. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, have a good day Grayson.”

“I’ll text you.” Lorelei laughed as she reversed, shaking her head playfully as she drove off biting her lip. Wondering if she was in fact reading too much into such a small encounter with the younger Dolan. Grayson stood in the middle of the drive speechless with himself:

“I need another shower.”

[hljournal]

Today’s author is perfectdagger / @perfectdagger ! Don’t forget to give the fics kudos and leave a comment!

a thousand miles away (from the day that we started) (WIP)

Five years after his break up with Louis and ten since they've left school, Harry finds himself hosting a reunion at his family bungalow, having to face his ex again and the feelings he had left behind.

Or, a time capsule au

A Twist Of Fate (59k)

Or a Just My Luck Au in which Louis, who apparently is the luckiest man in the world according to his friends, might have his fate and luck twisted when he crosses path with a handsome and mysterious bloke dressed up as Zorro at Syco Entertainment Press Corp’s Halloween party.

Make Your Heart Remember Me (97k)

When Harry’s daughter auditions for The Voice Kids singing One Direction, Louis unexpectedly finds himself remembering a boy from his past. This time, he hopes to have another chance to make sure he won’t let him slip away.

Can I bother you for a sex? (16k)

Reason #40 – Called/texted the wrong person, but he was into it anyway  

When Harry mistexts Louis, Louis realises that he wouldn't mind Harry bothering him with anything, especially not with sex.

Love Is On The Radio (35k)

To win a pair of tickets to watch Manchester United playing, Louis may have possibly lied to Nick Grimshaw on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, asking Harry, his best friend, to be his boyfriend. Problem is - Harry has always been in love with Louis and so, this Valentine’s he’s gonna see his dreams come true, with a tiny bit of a twist, in order to watch the football team they have loved together since they were kids.

Bright Eyes (26k)

Amongst the many things Louis hated at the moment, there was one thing that somehow still brought a little bit of hope into his days. Even if it was to come back home just to see Harry’s face, Harry’s bright green eyes, that alone made everything better somehow.

That night, seeing Harry smiling at him, it made his life a hundred times better than it had been for all those months he had already been there.

“What the fuck are you doing, Tomlinson?” Louis spoke to himself, closing his eyes at the sensation of the cold breeze. “You can’t let yourself fall for him, you just can’t. You don’t even know him. You aren’t even friends with him, fuck,” he shook his head, now looking up at the sky, trying to make out the moon amid the heavy clouds. “You can’t, otherwise you’ll never leave this place.”

Love Like Wildfire (21k)

Louis was an Omega and a Prefect. Harry was an Alpha and a little rascal. They were mates, drawn to each other since they first met in the Hogwarts Express. They worked well like that, or at least they tried, which only made their relationship way more interesting.

Friday I’m In Love (30k)

Or the one where Harry works at the coffee shop and Louis goes there almost every day and Harry is head over heels for him, making his love life look like a The Cure song. Inspired by Friday I’m in Love by The Cure (obviously).

There Is A Light (17k)

Christmas/New Years AU in which Harry and Louis are single parents and they meet at an odd encounter at the toy shop and somehow, they end up together, bonded by their little ones.

Hopelessly Devoted To You (2k)

The one where Harry gets home to find a sleepy Louis watching Grease while waiting for him.

A Way of Keeping You Inside (Ink) (5k)

Or the one in which Louis thinks Harry's "Hi" tattoo is stupid and doesn't get its meaning. Only until he does and also gets his first tattoo.

Home (1k)

The one in which for some reason Larry didn’t come out at the end of the tour and even though they had changed management, for publicity purposes, they still have to wait a few months to come out. So this happens during their break while they are at home.

The One After The Anniversary Concert (1,5k)

Harry talks to a couple on stage about their wedding anniversary on September 28th.

Louis wishes he had talked about their own wedding anniversary instead.

Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic (92k)

Part 1 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the Hogwarts AU where Louis is a muggle, Lottie finds out she is a witch and Harry is Lottie’s wizard friend from Hogwarts, with a lot of magic, letters, owl cuddles and crushes on boys from different worlds.

Sick Of Losing Soulmates (I Like You) (7k)

Part 2 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the interlude in which 3 years apart seems to be nothing and too much at the same time.

If You Ever Wanna Be In Love (119k)

Part 3 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the one when a Holiday season together might be just what a wizard and a muggle with a too complicated past between them need to find each other again.

Tell The World We Finally Got It All Right (56k)

Part 4 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the year when Louis and Harry finally decided to give themselves a try, (re)falling in love and making memories for a life time.

If we could only fly there’d be no more lonely nights (100)

Autumn Drabble Prompt #67: Migrate

Sometimes, moving away is the best thing one can do. For Harry, though, it means longing for someone he promised his love to.

Part 1 of The leaves are ready to begin falling again, as I am for you drabbles series

The wind keeps blowing somewhere everyday (100)

Autumn Drabble Prompt #17: Brown

It also means missing the little things about your life, one that reminds you of what you left behind.

Part 2 of The leaves are ready to begin falling again, as I am for you drabbles series

I’m going home soon and I wanna stay (100)

Autumn Drabble Prompt #57: Homecoming

And if after a year nothing has changed, all Harry can do is go back home and have everything he needs in his arms again.

Part 3 of The leaves are ready to begin falling again, as I am for you drabbles series

Two lovely berries moulded on one stem (100)

Summer Drabble Prompt #13: Beach house

Reminiscing his childhood at the beach house, Harry recalls an old friend.

Part 1 of the Joy and fresh days of love accompany your hearts drabbles series

Now I am fled, my soul is in the sky (100)

Summer Drabble Prompt #112: Shooting star

And more than just friends through the years, Louis and Harry became a promise under the midsummer night sky.

Part 2 of the Joy and fresh days of love accompany your hearts drabbles series.

The course of true love never did run smooth (100)

Summer Drabble Prompt #58: Frisbee

Thinking about a promise long forgotten, Harry is suddenly hit by the past and maybe a new chance to make up for the lost time.

Part 3 of the Joy and fresh days of love accompany your hearts drabbles series.

Accidentally (100)

Spring Drabble Prompt: Flourish

Louis finds himself drawn to a flower shop without meaning to. Something seems to flourish there.

Part 1 of the Belting out sunlight, shimmering love drabbles series.

Running down into the spring (100)

Spring Drabble Prompt: Airy

As cliché as it might sound, Louis does feel something different and special spring up that airy morning.

Part 2 of the Belting out sunlight, shimmering love drabbles series.

There’s no escaping your love (100)

Spring Drabble Prompt: Spring Fling

And maybe there’s no harm in thinking that he’s ready for an unexpected spring fling with the cute flower guy.

Part 3 of the Belting out sunlight, shimmering love drabbles series.

Walking in the wind (100)

Winter Drabble Prompt: Wind

Walking around a small village on a cold windy day wasn't one of Louis' favorite things to do, even if it was for the sake and warmth of their winter Holiday.

Part 1 of the Hurt/Comfort: A winter's tail (the fall and rise of Louis Tomlinson) drabbles series.

You got me slippin’, stumblin’ (100)

Winter Drabble Prompt: Slippery

Even more if it included Louis falling on his arse, and getting Harry laughing and singing Clumsy by Fergie all the way back to their cabin at his expenses.

Part 2 of the Hurt/Comfort: A winter's tail (the fall and rise of Louis Tomlinson) drabbles series.

Come on baby, light my fire (100)

Winter Drabble Prompt: Firewood

But in the end, it didn’t matter if Louis had lost his beanie, fallen on the pavement or had been made fun of. He’s got all he needed: his fire and Harry to warm him up.

Part 3 of the Hurt/Comfort: A winter's tail (the fall and rise of Louis Tomlinson) drabbles series.

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.10|Brittana

A/N - Am I heartbroken about that embarrassment of a game I had to witness last week? Yes. Do I wanna talk about it? God, no LOL. Hopefully the McKinley Titans do a better job in the playoffs! Might even mess around and make QB!Britt’s Game Day playlist 🤷🏽‍♀️

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut

Santana stomps her way over to Quinn’s locker and slams it shut in one big huff. Quinn looks up from packing her duffle bag, annoyed confusion written all over her face.

“Problem, Lopez?”

Santana continues to grimace but looks hesitantly around the locker room, her brows furrowed and her shoulders stiff. Her chest feels tight with everything she’s been holding in and she swears she’s about to burst at the seams if she doesn’t say something soon.

The squad filtered out minutes before and Brittany’s still practicing on the field with the Titans, but she can never be too sure. Someone’s always listening it seems and she can’t be burned a second time.

“Hello?” Quinn waves her hand at Santana, “Is there a reason that you’re going around slamming lockers?”

Santana can hear the annoyance in her tone but her facial expression says differently when their eyes finally meet. For as long as they’ve known each other, all it takes is one look to realized something deeper is going on.

Quinn softens, “Shit. What happened?”

Santana shakes her head and lets out the tiniest whimper, “I’m fucking this up.”

Quinn catches Santana just as she stars to slide down the lockers in trembling mess. She pushes Santana to sit on the bench instead.

Hot tears start to stream down Santana’s cheeks like the floodgates have finally opened. She hasn’t let herself feel the brunt of everything yet, not until now. It’s a little relieving, but it’s not enough.

“What are you talking about?” Quinn asks.

“I’m fucking this up.”

Quinn lets out a sigh but keeps holding Santana up as she continues to sob. Instead of pressuring her to talk, Quinn just let’s the girl cry it out first.

\\

Once Santana has finally settled down some, Quinn hands her a couple tissues from the travel pack she keeps in her duffle. She eyes her wearily before trying to get an answer out of Santana again.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on now?”

Santana’s averts her gaze to the ground. Her jaw is set and her lips are sealed as she wipes the angry tears from her face.

The reluctance to talk has Quinn rolling her eyes.

“Don’t be stubborn. You’ve been in a bad mood all day then you go and do that,” Quinn gestures to her locker, “Just tell me. Is it about your dad? Is he giving you a hard time again?”

Santana shakes her head.

Quinn thinks, “Is this about JBI’s blog? Because I doubt anyone is believing a word he says after his whole tater tot conspiracy was a bust. He’s already lost a ton of followers, I think he’s just reaching now.”

“It’s not that.”

“Okay…then what is it?”

Santana lets out a deep sigh, “She just wanted to talk and I couldn’t even do that.”

“Brittany?” Quinn asks hesitantly.

Santana nods.

“What’d she want to talk about?”

Santana threads her fingers together and squeezes, “Us.”

Quinn looks confused, “And you couldn’t talk about that because…”

“Why do you think?” Santana grumbles, “Because I’m a goddamn coward, that’s why. She wanted to talk about us and what we were doing and I just – I couldn’t.”

Quinn sighs and starts to rub Santana’s back.

“I knew it was coming. She’s been wanting to talk for weeks now I think. I just – I did what I always do,” Santana admits, “I got in my head about it. I let that stupid little voice take over. I told her I didn’t feel the same way she did. I told her that I wasn’t looking for something serious.”

Quinn stays quiet as Santana continues to rant.

“I don’t know why the fuck I said that! I thought I was getting better at this. I thought I was making progress but I still ended up doing the same thing!” Santana adds, “I fucked this up and now she’s done with me, Q. I didn’t think she’d do it. I thought I’d have more time to figure everything out.”

“What’s there to figure out?” Quinn wonders.

“I don’t know,” Santana shrugs, “How to have a girlfriend when most of the student body here are assholes? How to have a relationship with someone that isn’t solely based on sex or how to boost my reputation? How to do any of this when my dad can barely look at me because I’m gay! How am I meant to be any good for her when I can barely look at myself sometimes? I’m ready and I’m not and that’s the worst fucking thing about this. I’m my own goddamn enemy.”

Quinn looks a little surprised by Santana’s honesty but she nods like she gets it.

Santana moves to hold her head in her hands. That might’ve been the first time she’s ever owned her sexuality so easily but she can’t even enjoy it right now.

“What do you want to do?” Quinn asks but Santana only shrugs again.

She��s been thinking about that all night and day, but there’s only one thing that keeps coming to mind and it isn’t really an answer. It’s more like a realization that’s probably been in the back of her mind for a long time now, maybe since the Homecoming dance.

She doesn’t know how it’ll help now. This isn’t some rom-com movie where all it takes is this grand gesture, a profession of her true feelings and all is right in the world. No, there’s real work to be done first and she hasn’t a clue where to start.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Santana replies softly.

“Well, fix it then?” Quinn suggests which earns her a disbelieving look, “What? You’re Santana Lopez, resident bad bitch of McKinley. You’re not supposed to be afraid of anything, yet here you are letting all of these fears push you around.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Santana, you literally just said – “

“I know what I said!” Santana snaps.

Quinn purses her lips but relaxes, “We’ve had this conversation so many times. When you don’t try, you let them win. You want that? You want these people to be the reason why you can’t go out on that field tomorrow night and kiss the girl that you love?”

Santana doesn’t even waver at the word, she just wonders how long Quinn’s known.

“No.”

“Well then…”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Sure it is.”

“Tell that to Kurt,” Santana huffs, “He gets a slushie facial on the regular. Remember that kid everyone thought he was dating? He was bullied so badly that he had to transfer schools! I can’t deal with that. If I get into one more fight, that’s it for me. Honestly, I don’t think I could handle going through the rest of this year dealing with that shit and I can’t drag her down with me. She’s so much better than this place and everyone in it.”

Quinn narrows her eyes, “Well for starters, Brittany put a stop to slushie facials. There hasn’t been an incident in months.”

“That you know of,” Santana replies, “The football team isn’t the only ones capable of throwing a slushie in my grill.”

“You act like you’re taking on the entire world by yourself,” Quinn argues, “You realize you don’t have to do that, right?”

Santana frowns, “What are you talking about?”

“You’re trying to protect her and that’s thoughtful and all, but did it ever occur to you that she doesn’t need it?” Quinn replies, “You keep putting yourself in this position, but you don’t have to be in it. You have more people than you know that are rooting for you. Lean on them because you don’t have to face these people alone.”

Santana laughs bitterly at that, “You and who else? My mom? You guys going to create a secret service to follow me around everywhere to make sure nothing happens to me?”

Quinn lets out a frustrated sigh, “Well what now then? You just going to let them dictate your life? Just like your dad?”

Santana’s jaw tightens at that. She knows Quinn struck that nerve on purpose and she both hates and loves her for that.

“You can’t compare yourself to Kurt,” Quinn adds, “What you’ve both gone through is different so you can’t use him as an excuse.”

“He doesn’t deserve the way people treat him,” Santana replies, “The way I’ve treated him.”

“And neither do you, but there will always be assholes wherever you go,” Quinn says, “The difference between you and him is that one of you isn’t going to let them win. One of you is still trying.”

Santana’s at a loss for words and they both fall into silence.

“You said you don’t want to lose her?” Quinn mentions a moment later, “Well it doesn’t look like that from where I’m standing.”

“I don’t want to lose her,” Santana reiterates.

“Then you should probably talk to her before you give her the wrong idea, genius.”

Santana shakes her head and lets out a bitter laugh, “You make it sound like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.”

“It is.”

“Says the girl that has practically dated Mike Chang for months yet refused to put a label on it until two weeks ago!”

Quinn purses her lips at Santana’s outburst, “We didn’t put a label on it because Mike’s parents didn’t want him dating during his Senior year. It had nothing to do with what we wanted, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about you and Brittany.”

Santana sucks in a breath to calm herself down. It’s like a quiet apology that only she and Quinn share after years of friendship. They just sit together for awhile in silence while Santana’s mind works through it all.

“I don’t do relationships, Q,” Santana admits softly.

“You have an excuse for everything,” Quinn laughs, “You don’t do them because you’ve been dating boys this whole time when you’re gay as hell.”

Santana smiles at that.

“Are you really considering stepping back in the closet just because you’re too afraid to go out of your comfort zone?” Quinn asks, “Because that’s the kind of message you’re sending.”

“I don’t know,” Santana huffs.

“Jesus,” Quinn groans as she goes to face Santana fully, “The answer is no. You’re not going to do that. You’re a fighter, Santana. I don’t know when you forgot that but you are.”

Santana sits a little straighter. She doesn’t know when she forgot either.

“We’ve been friends for so long and I’ve seen the difference in how you are with Brittany versus all the dumbass guys you’ve dated,” Quinn says, “It’s a good different and you deserve it. After all that bullshit you went through last year, you deserve to have someone too. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that before it gets through.”

Santana feels a different kind of loved, a kind that only longtime friends can share, as she takes in Quinn’s advice. There’s few people in her life that she can trust to give it to her straight and Quinn’s one of those people.

“You hear me, Lopez?” Quinn urges, “You deserve this and so help me God, if anyone tries to  say anything to you or her I’ll – “

“Okay, okay,” Santana pauses her with a chuckle, “I get it.”

Quinn relaxes and gives her an encouraging smile, “Talk to her.”

“Tomorrow’s that big game or whatever,” Santana frowns, “I don’t want to be a distraction.”

“Then do it after?” Quinn suggests, “Whatever. The sooner the better though.”

\\

That night, Santana paces her room trying to screw her head on straight. It’s pep talk after pep talk, anything to ease the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she’s prepared well enough, then maybe it won’t be so scary to put her heart on the line like this?

At least, that’s what she’s trying to tell herself.

Tomorrow’s the final game of the Playoffs and she knows how important that is for Brittany, so she doesn’t want to cloud her concentration. She’ll keep to herself and leave Brittany be for now.

Santana decides that she’s going to approach Brittany after the game like Quinn suggested. Hopefully she’ll be in high spirits after a big win and Santana won’t have to compete with the blues of losing.  

Who is Santana kidding? She knows that if anyone can take the Titans all the way, it’s Brittany.

\\\\\

As Brittany returns home after her morning run, she’s surprised to see her mom up and about in the kitchen. She takes out her headphones and kicks off her sneakers just in time to hear her mom call out to her.

“Morning kiddo!” Whitney calls out cheerfully. She’s wearing her polka dotted apron and there’s a spatula in one hand, a frying pan in the other.

“Morning,” Brittany smiles as she ventures in. Her stomach grumbles at the smell of bacon, “You’re up early.”

“Got the day off today,” Whitney tells her, “Thought you could use a real breakfast to start off the day. It’s an important one.”

Brittany smiles before going to grab a water. She was hoping the run would help clear her head since her thoughts have been running a muck since her conversation with Santana in the locker room. It helped a little, but the brunette still lingered in the back of Brittany’s mind.

Santana was a mystery to her. A beautiful, frustrating mystery.

“Everything alright?” Whitney asks with her brows furrowed.

Brittany continues to stare off in space, “Totally.”

“Then maybe you should shut the fridge,” Whitney teases, “You’re letting out all the cold.”

Brittany snaps out of it and realizes that she’s just been standing there with her bottle in hand. She tries to laugh it off and fills her mouth with water before turning to watch Whitney cook.

She’s cracking eggs into a mixing bowl with one hand now, Brittany always thought that was so cool, but Whitney still looks at her skeptically.

“You nervous about the game today?” She asks.

Brittany has to think. She’s always a little nervous before a game, but those are good nerves and she’s use to those. The feeling inside her now though isn’t something she’s familiar with. She kind of feels suspended, still stuck in this limbo with Santana even though they’ve talked.

If you can even call it that.

Maybe that’s what it is? Nothing feels resolved, none of her questions have been answered. If anything, there’s even more of them! It’s not a good mindset going into the final game of the playoffs. She’s been trying to tell herself that all night, but it hasn’t seemed to work.

She’s hurt and a little disappointed by how everything turned out. She hasn’t liked someone so much before and it’s been so long since she has gotten attached to anyone. It’s hard having to be around Santana now; what is she supposed to do with all the little things she has learned about her? It seems wrong to throw them away, but she doesn’t know what the point is in keeping them.

She’s not gonna need them anyway at this rate, but that also makes her wonder. Was that it for them? A whirlwind two weeks then this? Is that all they are meant to be?

Call it crazy optimism but as much as Brittany wants to throw her hands up and call it quits, she can’t. She’s never been a quitter and this thing that pulls her and Santana together is too strong to ignore. She could barely go a day without speaking to her, let alone the rest of her time in Lima. Maybe she should try again, but that also opens her up to getting hurt a second time.

When she sees Whitney look up at her from the corner of her eye, she realizes she hasn’t answered yet.

“My head’s just full of other things right now,” Brittany admits as she plays with the latch on her water bottle, “It’s hard to concentrate.”

Whitney quirks her brow at that, “What’s going on?”

Brittany only shrugs.

“Boy drama?”

Brittany shakes her head.

“Girl drama?”

Brittany hesitates before shaking her head, “I don’t really want to talk about it yet.”

“Okay,” Whitney nods, “You aren’t in any trouble, right?”

Brittany smiles at that, “No, mom, I’m not in any trouble.”

“I’m just checking,” Whitney chuckles as she cracks the last egg into the bowl. She pauses for a moment before looking to Brittany, “Well kiddo, focus on one thing at a time. You don’t have to go solving all your problems at once, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I know I don’t need to tell you that,” Whitney adds, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, but everyone needs a little reminder every now and then. Whatever it is, it’ll work out.”

Brittany feels a tiny spark of hope within her and nods, “One thing at a time.”

“Exactly,” Whitney winks, “Now go shower. Check on your brother too, these eggs won’t take long.”

\\

Brittany decides one thing at a time means winning this game before anything else. Football is what she’s good at, it’s where she thrives and now is as good of a time as any to get back to that.

Being apart of the Titans and getting them this far was her first commitment when she came to McKinley and it’s only right that she sees it through.

\\

It’s the last day before Thanksgiving break so a lot the students – and even some of the faculty – have already checked out. With it being a half day, classes are also on a shortened schedule on top of the Pep Rally at the end of the day. Most people are super excited for the game later; everyone’s decked out in their McKinley High spirit gear and the Titans walk around in their home jerseys.

Everyone offers Brittany and the Titans their luck too – everyone except for the Hockey Team. They just stare bitterly from the outskirts of the crowd where they will always stay if they continue to keep a losing record.

Brittany doesn’t pay any attention to them. She just attends her classes as normal and tries to avoid running into Santana for a second day. Thankfully, she has done a pretty good job of doing just that. She doesn’t even look her way in the cafeteria during lunch although she knows Santana’s there. Like always, she can feel her eyes on her but she doesn’t give in – not this time.

It’s always a different story when she gets to her last class of the day.

\\

Ms. Holliday greets Brittany with a knowing smile as the quarterback enters the classroom. The English teacher is dressed in jeans and a McKinley Titans spirit shirt with her hair tied up with a frilly red and white scrunchie.

“Exciting day,” Ms. Holliday says.

Brittany nods, “Definitely.”

“You’re gonna crush it,” She replies with a pat on Brittany’s shoulder before handing her a worksheet.

Brittany heads to her usual seat, a little thankful that Santana isn’t there yet. She’s been anticipating this moment all day, wondering if it’ll be different than the day before.

Yesterday, they didn’t speak. They didn’t even look at each other. They just sat in a long uncomfortable silence until the bell rang and they both could get the hell out of there as fast as they could.

But Brittany feels different about today and she doesn’t know why.

She knows she should be focusing on the game ahead, but she won’t lie and say it’s easy to go another day without talking to Santana. She’s been the best part of her day for awhile now, it feels off to be without her – especially on Game Day.

Brittany shifts into gear as she sees Santana enter the room from the corner of her eye. She looks up and watches the Co-Captain near their table; her books are hugged to her chest but her eyes stay glued to the floor. It’s the same as yesterday and it has Brittany feeling a little deflated.

But it doesn’t last for long.

“Hi,” Santana whispers as she starts to get settled.

Brittany’s eyes widen and she’s so surprised by the unexpected greeting that she almost forgets to return it.

“Hey.”

“How are you today?”

Brittany tilts her head and smiles even though Santana misses it, “Good. Nervous, but good.”

“You don’t have anything to be nervous about,” Santana tells her like it’s fact, “You’ll be great.”

Brittany softens, “Thanks.”

Santana continues to busy herself with getting her materials out while Brittany patiently waits to see if something more will happen, but nothing does.

It’s another class of sitting in silence, but it feels different this time. It’s not as heavy as it felt yesterday and Brittany’s grateful for that. Really, Brittany just feels a little relieved as she watches Santana get dismissed early for the Pep Rally.

“I’ll see you later,” Santana says and it’s another surprise, “Good luck if I don’t.”

Brittany only smiles, “Thanks.”

\\

The Pep Rally comes and goes and now it’s just a countdown until showtime. Brittany does everything she normally would in preparation for a game and even heads to the locker room early to get ready.

It’s different without Santana there, but it’s for the best.

The Titans need her all because this kind of game is about all or nothing. With a loss, that’s it for them. Their season’s over and for a lot of Seniors on the team, this is it. This is potentially the last game they ever play in their high school career and Brittany can’t have that on her conscience if she doesn’t give it her all.

She gets dressed to the sounds of her Game Day playlist which never fails to get her in the mood to kick some ass. With having the whole locker room to herself, it’s easy to get lost in the music as she continues to get ready. She makes sure she grabs her lucky towel and tucks it into the waistband of her pants before sliding on her left glove.

All that’s left now is a bit of eye black and her helmet before she’s ready to go.

\\

When she and the Titans take to the field for the first time, the feeling is like no other. The crowd is a sea of red and white and it’s the loudest it has ever been. The team rips through the banner and pulses with unwavering determination.

They’re hungry for a win and they’ll take down anyone in their path.

Brittany can feel the roar of the spectators in her chest and pumps her fist in the air as she admires the packed stands. It’s one of the coldest nights so far in November but she feels warm beneath the stadium lights. She knows it won’t last long though and keeps her hands tucked in her handwarmer pouch as she makes her way to the Titans sidelines.

It’s kind of inevitable that she sees Santana and the Cheerios there too.

They’re facing the crowd and waving their pompoms as they call out cheers to get the crowd even more pumped. Santana and Quinn are front and center and Brittany can’t help but steal a glance in the brunette’s direction. It’s only a quick one – enough to catch the brilliant smile she wears – before players interrupt her view.

“Pierce!” Coach Beiste calls out, “Coin Toss.”

Brittany nods and jogs out onto the field with Mike and Matt to meet the referee and the Team Captain from Crawford County Day along with their two elected players. They shake hands and introduce themselves first before the Ref goes over their usual speech about sportsmanship.

Everyone agrees to do their part in keeping the game fair before the Ref asks the visiting team whether they want heads or tails.

“Heads,” The Team Captain calls out.

The Ref tosses the coin in the air.

Everyone watches it spin several times before it lands to the turf. They look to the ground and the Ref bends to call out the outcome.

“Tails!” He says before gesturing to the Titans, “Titans it is your call.”

“Defer,” Brittany replies, trying to keep the smirk from showing. Winning the toss is kind of like a good omen, but she’s not counting her lucky ducks just yet.

The Ref nods and announces the Titans’ decision before the players leave the field.

Crawford County Day’s special teams comes out and the Titans’ special teams does the same. Brittany hangs back by Coach Beiste as they watch Kurt kick the ball away, signaling the official start of the game.

They hadn’t played Crawford County since the early weeks of the season, back when Brittany was still working on her relationship with the team. It was a rough start back then, but the Titans were able to secure a win in the end. They’re in a much better place than they were so Brittany’s excited to see what this game offers.

\\

Crawford County ends up being an even better competitor than Brittany thought.

It seems like the Titans weren’t the only ones working on their rhythm and communication since their last matchup. The Titans trail Crawford County by two touchdowns. It’s like every time they score, Brittany and the Titans aren’t that far behind with one of their own.

However, the Titans were shut down in their last drive and came up without any points.

It’s an offense-led game, but Brittany doesn’t like the idea of playing catch up all night. Not when there’s a Championship Game on the line. She wants to get into a better position going into the half because she knows they’ll be getting the ball afterwards. By then, she hopes it’ll be a blow out once again but she can only judge it one play at a time.

\\

There’s still 6 minutes left in the first half which is a lot of time depending on what you can do with it, especially when you’ve got the ball – and right now, the Titans don’t. If Crawford County was smart, they’d waste as much time as possible so the Titans won’t have much to work with by the time they receive the ball again.

Judging by the current situation, Brittany thinks that’s exactly what they’re going to do.

“Shit,” Brittany mutters as she waits anxiously on the sidelines. She can faintly hear the Cheerios cheering and it makes her want to look over. She’s been doing well so far, why mess that up now?

Brittany doesn’t have a reason. She just looks over instead like it’s second nature.

And like always, Santana’s already looking back at her.

It’s cliché to say, but she steals Brittany’s breath away. She’s waving her pompoms and going through the motions, but her pretty brown eyes never leave Brittany’s.

There’s a hint of a smile on Santana’s lips, it’s barely there but Brittany knows it all too well. She knows all kinds of Santana’s smiles but this is the one she doesn’t see very often. The last time she saw it was the Homecoming bonfire. She can’t remember what they were talking about, but she definitely remembers the way Santana looked at her that night.

It has Brittany smiling back and for a moment it feels like it’s just them on the field. It makes her happy just as much as it makes her sad, because they could’ve been so great together.

“Damnit!” Coach Beiste curses when Crawford County gets another first down.

It jolts Brittany out of her staring contest with Santana and forces her head back into the game.

They need a miracle because at this rate, the Titans are going to be down by three coming out of the half. That’s not the worst scenario possible, but Brittany doesn’t need them getting ahead anymore than they already are.

She watches the ball get snapped and the opposing team’s QB drops back. He searches for a target and launches the ball downfield, but something miraculous happens – a Titan defender catches it.

The crowd goes crazy and the sidelines are even rowdier as Matt takes off with the intercepted ball. He zips through the other players until he’s ultimately dragged down by their quarterback of all people. They’re in great field position now and Brittany can’t be any happier.

“Do something with this, Pierce,” Coach Beiste tells her with a hard pat on her back.

“Yes Coach,” Brittany replies before tugging on her helmet and getting back out there.

\\

The Titans are able to score once more before the half is called thanks to Matt’s interception. They leave the field in high spirits despite still being behind on the scoreboard by a single touchdown.

Well, most of the team is in high spirits.

“I don’t know why we can’t run the ball more!” Karofsky complains, “Lady Lips can’t catch for sh–“

“Hey!” Sam snaps.

“What?” Karofsky flinches at him, “It’s true.”

“It’s not.”

“You’re right,” Karofsky frowns as he turns to Brittany, “I thought you said you were taking us to the Championship?”

“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink,” Brittany replies coolly.

“Did you just call me a damn horse?”

Brittany shakes her head, “I’m saying this is a team effort. I can only do so much. It helps no one by tearing each other down.”

“Your head is in the clouds and we can all see it,” Azimio says.

Brittany’s stunned, “What?”

“You’re distracted,” Karofsky answers, “You’ve been like that for awhile.”

“Shit, I would be too if I was hooking up with Lopez on the low,” Azimio mutters beneath his breath.

That puts Brittany over the edge and she’s rounding on him before she realizes it.

“You don’t know anything!” Brittany shoves at him so hard that he nearly falls off the bench. The amount of strength behind the shove shocks everyone because Azimio isn’t a small guy.

“Yo! Chill out!” Azimio pushes her away.

“Talk about her one more time,” Brittany shoves at his hands as Mike starts to pull her back, “I dare you. Talk about her one more time.”

“He was just talking shit,” Karofsky defends with a smirk, “But looks like he might be on to something.”

“That’s enough,” Coach Beiste says before looking warily at Brittany, “Easy, Pierce. Whatever that is, deal with it later.”

Brittany regains her composure while Azimio and Karofsky do the same.

“I give everything to this team,” Brittany states, “I put in extra time on the field. I show up early, I’m the last one to leave. Who else here takes that kind of initiative? I can’t do everything!”

Karofsky waves her off but that just makes Sam even more annoyed.

“You’re such an ass,” Sam tells him, “You’ve been holding up this team’s progress since Britt got here. Who knows if you really want to win this thing.”

“What are you yapping about now, Evans?” Karofsky rolls his eyes.

“You don’t put in the work!” Sam says, “Britt would’ve thrown at least three TD passes by now if she had more time in the pocket but you’re so crap at blocking!”

“What?” Karofsky scoffs, “Let’s count how many times she’s been sacked this game. Oh wait, you can’t because she hasn’t!”

“That’s not because of you!” Sam replies, “She’s slippery, she gets out on her own no thanks to you.”

“What about knockdowns?” Kurt asks, “There’s been a few of those.”

Sam nods, “Yeah, that too!”

“Maybe you just need to be faster?” Azimio cuts in, “All that Bieber hair is probably weighing you down.”

Brittany lets out a sigh as they all start to argue. One thing she hates about being on a team full of guys, their arguments are usually ridiculous and pointless.

“That’s stupid,” Sam grumbles as he fixes his shaggy hair, “Britt needs better protection from both of you. We can’t get downfield because you – “

“We’re doing our job!” Karofsky yells.

“Bullshit,” Puck grumbles, “We have to rely on the passing game because neither of you can create a gap in their D. I’ve been getting snuffed out all night!”

“That’s definitely not on me,” Azimio brushes off, “You couldn’t get yardage if you were the only one on the damn field!”

“The hell you say to me?” Puck snaps and lunges at Azimio.

“Hey!” Coach Beiste booms, “How about focusing on your own roles, huh? If anyone’s going to call out what’s going wrong with this team right now, it’s me. I’m the one coaching this team, not you so cut it out.”

Everyone quiets down but Karofsky continues to stew in his annoyance. It’s nothing new to Brittany, as soon as they’re down – no matter the amount they’re behind – Karofsky and Azimio never fail to complain. Instead of taking ownership, they point the finger at anyone else in the room and Brittany hates that.

“I don’t want to hear anymore of you blaming one another. Each and every one of you are responsible for the outcome of this game,” Coach says, “No one is above or below anyone. You share this load so you better be doing your part. If one of you fails, everyone does. You hear me?”

“Yes Coach,” The team says in unison.

“We might be behind right now, but we’re gaining on them,” Beiste says, “This team is in much better shape and they’re getting worn out. Keep at it and we’ll come out of this on top. You all know what to do, you’ve proved it time and time again. Stay focused. Just keep going, keep putting that pressure on them.”

Brittany inhales a calming breath. She’s done a good job of staying calm and cool under the pressure, she’s done a good job of not telling Azimio and Karofsky’s crap get to her, she can’t stop now. They’re so close to a victory, she can taste it.

Coach Beiste eyes everyone, her gaze steely with her fists resting on her hips. She looks larger than life in front of them, “This is your moment, Titans, take it!”

\\

The Titans take to the field once more after halftime and Brittany remains optimistic about their situation. They’ll be starting the second half by receiving the ball, so it’s the perfect opportunity to tie things up. She tries to forget about the arguing and Karofsky and Azimio’s claims about Santana and get her head back in the game.

\\

The Titans end up on thin ice after their opening drive of the third quarter is a bust.

Brittany was really banking on it to tie the score but Crawford County’s pass rush is too intense. She’s starting to see her O-Line getting worn down despite everyone thinking it would be Crawford County whose fatigue would start to show by now.

It’s been scoreless on both sides as the game clock continues to eat up the third quarter. The Titans are still a TD away from tying things up and Brittany really wants that to happen before they enter the fourth quarter.

They need a big play to get a new set of downs but like Puck said in the half, he’s been getting shut down all night. The first down is only a couple yards away and a running play would be perfect but it might as well be a mile against the re-energized defense.

They need something Crawford County wouldn’t expect, something sneaky.

So in the huddle, Brittany calls the play despite Coach’s detest. It was all or nothing, and this would be just enough to get momentum going again. They need a spark, something that would breathe life back into this team after the morale has been slowly chipped away.

This was the only way she knew how to do that.

“Peek-a-boo,” Brittany says and looks everyone in the eye to make sure they’re with her.

Her teammates look surprised but they nod.

“Alright,” Brittany nodded resolutely, “Titans on three. One…two…three!”

“Titans!” They yelled out in unison with a clap before getting back to the line of scrimmage.

Her heart was racing but this is exactly what she loves about the game. It’s all about the adrenaline and making every play count. She can do this.

Puck gets into position beside Brittany as she readies herself for the snap. Her eyes stay searching the defense for any movement, always scanning.

“Down…hut,” She says lowly. She watches her inflection and thanks her lucky stars that no one on her O-Line flinches, “Down…hut.”

Again, her O-Line are statues. She was hoping she could draw an offsides from the opposing team, but they don’t move either. She stomps her left foot and Puck changes positions, “Down…HUT!”

The ball is snapped perfectly and she quickly fakes the handoff to Puck before he charges to the left. Brittany watches the mob of players move along with him before she’s tucking the ball and taking off in the opposite direction. She just needs a few yards to get the first down and she runs like hell towards it.

She can see in her peripheral that Crawford County’s safety and corner have started to gain on her. Her feet move faster and she jolts her arm out in a stiff arm that connects with one of the players.

The corner tumbles to the ground but there’s still one more Brittany has to worry about. The safety wraps gives her a hard shove but she outstretches the ball in hopes that she can still land the first down before she falls out of bounds.

Brittany hits the turf hard and the ball pops out but she can hear the Ref’s whistle blowing. She glances up in time to see him signal the first down and suddenly her shoulder doesn’t hurt all that bad.

She hops up from the ground as her teammates rush her, but even in the swarm of red and white jerseys Brittany finds herself glancing to the sidelines where Santana looks visibly relieved. Her pompoms are clutched to her chest but when she sees that Brittany is okay, Santana narrows her eyes almost as if to say don’t do that again.

Even if things are weird between them right now, it’s still nice to know Santana worries about her. Brittany smirks though at the chastising look and mouths an apologetic, “I’m sorry.”

But Brittany isn’t, not really. The smile she wears after making an incredible play can probably be seen from space, but they’re not done yet.

“Hell yeah!” Puck shouts excitedly as he slaps Brittany’s on the helmet, “That was so awesome!”

“Let’s do something with this,” Brittany says as determined as ever before getting her team back to their new line of scrimmage. She calls the next play but she wants to keep this momentum going and calls out, “Hurry! Hurry!”

Mike and Sam are set up with Matt on the opposite side. Puck’s next to her again to offer extra coverage as the ball is snapped. She drops back and searches for an open receiver but the linebackers are quickly closing in. The more time she sits in the pocket, the bigger chance she has of someone on her team getting penalized for holding. She has to act now!

Suddenly Matt gets open and Brittany fires the ball into his open hands. It’s like a laser beam but he makes the catch and brings it into his chest before getting tackled to the turf. It was a nice grab for a good chunk of yardage, another first down.

“Let’s go!” Mike cheers as everyone gets back into position.

The clock continues to tick away but they’re in way better field position now, Brittany has to make something of it. The endzone is right there, if she can’t get a strike she’s going to be really disappointed in herself.

In the huddle, she calls a play that’s well-practiced amongst the receivers but the challenge is whether or not her receivers can put enough distance between them and their defenders. A pass like this could be easily picked off and if it does, that’ll be a big blow to the Titans’ morale.

“Down…” Brittany calls out as she readies for the snap, “Down, HUT!”

Similar to the play before, her receivers take off but instead of running up field they make quick slants in different directions. Brittany looks for the most promising target and fires towards them. This time it’s Mike and he leaps into the air to make the catch. The ball continues to stay secured in his arms as he drops back to the turf and heads for the endzone.

Brittany watches it all happen in slow motion. One step, two step, three step, SCORE!

The stands erupt in applause while the team celebrates. Brittany rushes down to join them and for the first time all quarter, she feels like she can recognize her team again. They head to their sidelines as the special team is brought out for the extra point.

While everyone watches and waits to see what Kurt can do, Brittany’s glancing to Santana again. At first, she’s looking at the kicking team too but then she turns to Brittany almost as if she could feel her watching.

Santana quirks her brow and tilts her head toward the field but Brittany keeps staring. Maybe that hit earlier has knocked a couple screw loose but Brittany can’t find it in her to look away. She’s been depriving herself for the past two days now and in this moment, while she’s surrounded by her teammates and she’s meant to be tuned into the game, she just wants to look at Santana.

And she knows she shouldn’t want to go over there and kiss her either, but she can’t help what her heart wants.

The crowd cheering again after Kurt’s kick is good is the only thing that breaks Brittany’s concentration. The Titans have now tied with Crawford County and there’s still a whole quarter left in the game. Everyone looks revived and Brittany has such a good feeling about what’s coming next once they get the ball back.

\\

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Titans lead by a field goal and they’re already closing in on another TD but again Crawford County’s D isn’t letting that happen so easily. They’re on third down and short but Karofsky’s already started up with his bullshit again after another pass was batted to the ground.

“I knew you’d choke,” Karofsky scolds after Brittany calls a timeout, “What the hell was that?”

Brittany shakes her head but continues to keep her cool, “It looked like they got the jump on you. Maybe you need to keep a better eye on your man.”

“I had my eye on him!”

Puck laughs, “I bet you did.”

Karofsky shoves at him and Puck shoves back. Matt quickly gets in between them and pushes them apart.

“You’re blowing this for us,” Karofsky claims as he glares at Brittany, “You were just all talk! Now that you’re here, you’re choking.”

Brittany frowns. She knows he’s just taking out his frustrations on her because she’s the leader of this team, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. She doesn’t usually believe a thing he says, but the more he runs his mouth the less she starts to believe in herself.

Is she blowing this for them? Should she be doing more? What more could she possibly do?

“How about you take some ownership?” Brittany says instead, “As soon as something doesn’t go our way, it’s my fault. Well, what about you? What are you doing to make this team work? What’s your contribution?”

“This is bullshit,” Karofsky growls as he takes a step closer to her.

Brittany doesn’t waver, “Yeah. It is.”

She just keeps her chin held high and her fists tight by her sides. She could go off right about now, unleash all the pent up feelings she has about him and his shitty attitude and the comments he’s made about Santana.

She could do it, but she won’t. For the sake of this team and for Santana, she won’t. She’s better than him and she can’t stoop to his level no matter how bad she wants to.

“It’s not her fault you’re outmatched,” Sam replies as he pushes Karofsky back to his side of the huddle.

“I’m getting tired of you always defending in her!” Azimio snaps.

“We’re a team, that’s what we do! We have each other’s back.”

Karofsky just shakes his head before Brittany takes back the huddle. She calls her next play and tries to rally a bit of support but she can see her O-Line is tired and it doesn’t help that Karofsky keeps making things negative.

“Let’s just focus here,” Brittany tells them, “One thing at a time.”

So Brittany and most of the Titans do just that.

It’s one play at a time, one touchdown, one win. That’s all they need to do to come out of this on top.

Brittany sets up another play action and has Puck get into position next to her. The ball is snapped and she fakes it to Puck but #87 for Crawford County is in her face in an instant. It happens a lot quicker than it usually does so she has to scramble. She tries to duck and dodge him while looking for someone to offload the ball, but then she’s blindsided by #99 coming in from the opposite side.

She’s hit hard once again and drops to the ground with two defenders wrapped around her. Miraculously, Brittany was able to hang onto the ball during that sack but she’s slow to get up.

Actually, she’s slow to even move.

[noyoucantpinmedown]

Springtime Swap

For this year's Springtime Swap I had to write for @totaldramablueyonder! This was a lot of fun. I've never written Katie and Sadie so it was good to try them out. I hope you like it!

Courtney didn't have friends. Never had. Never needed to. She got along well enough with her classmates to be somewhat popular, and that was all she needed to be named Student Council President.

But then Katie Ayala and Sadie Li joined the Student Council.

Those two were the chattiest girls Courtney had ever known. Whenever they bumped into each other in the hallways, they would keep her there for a good five minutes before she could excuse herself, and then she'd be late to wherever she was going. And Courtney hated being late.

So when she found out Katie and Sadie were being elected, she had to hold back the urge to slam her head against a wall.

But they impressed her. They showed up to the very first meeting in matching pink pantsuits- their outfits were always coordinated. They proposed doing a bake sale to raise money for homecoming, which Sadie made the budget plans for. Katie got half the school to buy something and charmed the other half into caving in and buying as well. In the end they raised a lot more money than they were aiming for. They were competent, and Courtney could always respect that.

"Courtney!" She heard Katie's high pitched voice from down the hallway, always distinct among the murmuring of the students. In a second, she and Sadie were standing by her locker. "Sadie and I were going to hang out at my house, do you wanna come?"

She blinked. "Oh, um...well thanks, but I have a lot of homework to do and--"

"Oh, that's okay, we do too!" Sadie piped up. "We can all do it together."

Shit. "I just--"

"Come on, it'll be so much fun!"

Courtney sighed and closed her locker. "Fine, okay, I'll come." The girls squealed. "But I can only stay until six, okay?"

Katie was already linking arms with her, Sadie on her other side. "Sure! We'll drive you home!"

The three climbed into Sadie's car, where the talking mingled with the music coming from the radio, which Katie had plugged her phone into.

Katie's walls were painted pink, and the white comforter on her bed was so thick and soft it almost looked like a cloud. "Do you guys want anything from the kitchen?"

Courtney sat down on the bed and began taking out her books. "I'd like some coffee, if you have any."

"I want coffee too!"

Katie nodded and left for downstairs, leaving Courtney alone with Sadie. Which was awkward, because while she wasn't close to either of the girls, she got on with Katie better. Sadie went quiet, so she guessed the feeling was mutual. She looked around the room, looking for something to make conversation with.

There were several posters of singers and bands on the walls. Courtney recognised Selena Quintanilla, One Direction and Little Mix among them. The desk by the window had been taken over by a sewing machine, pattern books and other sewing supplies.

"I didn't know Katie sowed."

"We both do. We make or alter a lot of our clothes", Sadie explained. She was laying down on the bed next to her. "That's how we always match. It's hard to find clothes that have both of our sizes, so..."

"That's really smart."

"Okayy, here's coffee!" Katie stepped through the doorway with a tray, which she set down on her nightstand. "I think we should start with math, just so we get it out of the way."

Courtney was worried that they would get distracted and not get any work done, but despite talking as they worked, they managed to finish all of their work, perhaps faster than Courtney would have done on her own.

When they were done, Katie put on some music and sat at her desk. She had brought a plate with cookies from downstairs. Courtney took a bite out of one while she checked her social media. Sadie was doing the same, and humming along to the music. The three weren't talking, but Courtney felt so relaxed. It really wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The complete opposite, in fact.

"Katie, I was thinking we could use the fabric from the pantsuits to make rompers, or like a cute top and skirt combo."

The taller girl looked away from the shirt she was replacing a button on. "What? But the pantsuits turned out so well! And taking the stitches out is going to be such a pain."

"Well, yeah, but when are we going to wear them? Like, we literally just made them for the Student Council, and the fabric cost a lot!"

Courtney locked her phone and put it down. "I think Sadie has a good point."

Katie sighed, looking over at the open closet where the hot pink pant and suit jacket were visible. "A top and skirt in this color does sound nice. Oh my God, if we work quickly we could wear them to Geoff's next party."

Sadie looked somewhat satisfied before the prospect of a party distracted her. "He's throwing another one? When?"

Of course he was throwing another party. Geoff was the star quarterback of the school's football team, and his parties were infamous. He was easily the most popular person in school- everybody liked him, and he liked everyone. If he had thought to run for Student Council President, he could probably have given Courtney a run for her money.

"DJ told me that two weeks from now, his parents will be out of town. Oh!" A sudden idea hit her. She patted Courtney's knees to get her attention. "Court, you never come, we should all go together!"

"Oh my God, you totally should! You're like, friends with Bridgette, right? I'm sure she can get you an invite."

Geoff's girlfriend was in the volleyball team with Courtney. They sometimes talked in the hallways, and she liked the girl's laid back, yet grounded attitude. "Yes, we're friend...ish, I guess. But my parents would never let me go. And I have a curfew."

That didn't phase Katie. "You can just tell them you're having a sleepover at my house."

Her eyes widened. "Lie to them? I can't do that!"

She had never lied to her parents, not once. She had never disobeyed them, either.

"It wouldn't be a lie, we'd actually sleep over here after the party." Sadie grabbed a cookie from the plate. "Come on, it'll be so much fun."

"Yeah! Who knows, you might even meet someone."

"Oh, stop!" Sadie rolled her eyes at the suggestive look her best friend gave her. "She's hellbent on finding me the perfect girlfriend." She explained to Courtney.

That made her smile. "That's sweet."

"Do you have your eye on anyone, Court?"

She thought back to Alejandro, the charming exchange student who was too much of a flirt and a sweet-talker for her liking. Then to Duncan, which her recoil- she would die if anyone knew she had ever been attracted to him. Finally they landed on the red-haired boy from shop class that had been so helpful during the bake sale. Just a few days before, she had opened her locker to find someone had slipped a daisy inside through the slits at the top. It was a little damaged from having to fit through such a small opening. She had turned around to see who it might have been, and he was watching her from the other side of the hall. When she caught his eye, he blushed as red as his hair then walked away as quickly as he could.

"Please don't tell anyone."

The girls squealed. "No, of course not!"

"Promise!" Katie offered her pinkie finger, and Sadie imitated her. Courtney pinkie swore with both of them, a giddy smile forming on her face.

"Okay, you know Scott? He built the food stands for the bake sale. Tall, ginger hair, a year below us."

"Oh my God! He totally did that because he likes you. I saw how he looked at you when you thanked him."

"Actually..." She told them about the daisy. The girls squealed again, and Katie reached down to squeeze Courtney's hands.

"That's so sweet!"

"Oh my God, that's so cute!"

"You guys think? I know I can come off a bit strong sometimes. He probably thinks I'm the annoying Student Council chick."

Sadie shook her head. "Why wouldn't he like you? You're, like, super smart, and super pretty too! And some guys like girls with strong personalities."

"Yeah, you're gorgeous. He totally likes you back. He'll probably be at the party, you know. He hangs a lot with Duncan, and Duncan and Geoff are super close."

Courtney cringed inwardly at the mention of the school's resident bad boy, but the idea of going to the party was getting more and more appealing. She could picture herself dancing with the girls, and maybe Bridgette too. Letting loose for once. Feeling as happy as she was feeling now. Maybe she could find Scott and talk to him.

She had been so wrong about these girls- not that she'd ever say it aloud. They weren't vapid, or stupid. They were geninuely kind and skilled.

"You know what?" She said, "the sleepover sounds like a good idea."

[navyhyuck]

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𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃, 𝐉𝐀𝐘.

↳ a love letter a week, and it has you wondering who’s your secret admirer. you have nine weeks, eight candidates, and one story to live. will you find out who your ‘jay’ is?

a/n :: hi guys it’s finally here!! this is an introduction sorta prologue type chapter here, and i, uh, apologize for the length but anyway, please enjoy and stay tuned for more! :) update :: repost because tumblr hates me

wc :: 1.6k

taglist: @childofthecycle @takoyakkun @the8luvr @staywrites

let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

“That’s the new kid? Shit—he’s kind of hot.”

You’re caught off guard by Ryujin’s confession, the usual slam of her locker faltering as you lean back on your heels, giving her a raised eyebrow. She’s not looking your way, however, her usually bored eyes watching an unfamiliar face stroll down the hallway; your best friend’s gaze isn’t the only one he’s getting. It wasn’t, especially eyeing him from the button-down shirt he has lazily tucked into his jeans to the clack on his dark shoes on the tiles—he had your mouth practically dropping open at the sight.

You’re absolutely sure, you realize as he walks out of sight—the only thing marking his past presence being the cling to his neck jewelry, that you’ve never seen someone walk through those halls with a fashion sense as exceptional as his. Though you’re shaken out of your trance by the girl next to you, a low chuckle leaves her as you blink back into the present.

“What’d I say?” She tests, wiggling her eyebrows in a way that makes you roll your eyes, turning towards your locker to open it. “He’s hot, right? Like not a jock sort of hot but more like a, oh! Like one of those anime guys that loves the girl but sort of wants to kill her, that kinda hot. You know?”

“...Right.”

“And he’s got a nice face too, don’t you think?” Ryujin adds slyly, a smirk spreading across her lips as you wince at her choice of words. “Plus he’s on the swim team apparently, at least from what I heard this morning. It’s kinda hard to believe it too, that you know, someone with better fashion sense than Han Jisung’s entered the school. And well, anyone other than Jisung is the one for me.” She ends off dramatically, leaning against the lockers with her eyes staring up at the ceiling as if they had the answers to the next calculus test on it.

The boy’s swim team, well, you could possibly call them the pride and joy of the school; from the way every bleacher is filled with a packed audience, they make a more entertaining group than the football team (which we don’t talk about, not ever since Lee Taeyong’s senior rebellion against the sophomore class for sabotaging the homecoming game). It would be a lie if you were to say you’d never gone to one of their many meets and watched them take every lap as if it was nothing on their shoulders—if anything, you give them the credit they deserve. Though it’s common for everyone to have a favorite from the team as well—from the current top (and most popular) seven—you never personally decided on one. If you had to pick, you’d be conflicted till your last day on the earth.

First, is Lee Minho, the captain of the swim team. It’s easy to tell why he’s a school favorite, considering the athletic drive he’s had since his days in elementary school and the contributions he’s made since his freshman year, but most importantly because of his spirit. The previous year, he single handedly took the team to the county championships with his skills in freestyle and backstroke—though he won first prize for freestyle—and earned the highest title yet. Because of that, the annual argument on the team captain had even been unofficially cancelled this year because of the coach’s final (and best) choice; no one had dared to say Minho didn’t deserve the role.

Next, is Bang Chan, the team’s best diver. You don’t know too much about swimming, the only facts being the ones you derived from watching countless meets beside your friends, but you’re certain you’ve never seen a diver better than him. The only other thing about him is that he has the hearts of everyone melting at any given time, the dimpled smiles he gives with every loss or win being the one that somehow channels energy each time. He’s also seen as the most optimistic, mainly for his cheesy cheers before meets actually start, and as the one with the most charisma.

After that, is Seo Changbin. If there’s one thing about him that the entire population comments on, it’s that resting bitch face he holds throughout the school day and practically anytime he’s not swimming. It seems like it changes completely when his skin touches the water, maybe it’s as magical as a mermaid, but it’s also how he manages to speed through 500 yards without a few pants of exhaust at the end. He’s always one to keep going, until past the breaking point.

Next, is Han Jisung, the team’s designated popular member. He’s Ryujin’s favorite (and it’s ridiculously obvious, regardless of how hard she attempts to hide it) as well as many others, clearly being yet another contributing factor to his popularity. But he’s not just popular for the sake of it, he’s also quite famous for his sleek backstroke. Being a dream it is to some to see Jisung swimming competitively in the evening on Friday, you’ve even seen some take advantage of the situation by taking snapshots. You don’t like to think what he might think of strangers taking pictures of him in a bathing suit, however.

After him, is Kim Seungmin. Maybe you could call him another school favorite, but he isn’t nearly as ‘famous’ as his counterpart, though you might be one to advocate for his backstroke over Jisung’s. He’s also known for his impeccable grades, rocketing higher than most of the students in the school and even placing him in the top 5% of the school. Not only is he a stellar athlete, but he’s got the A’s as well. (You can expect him to be a teacher’s favorite, too.)

Next, is Lee Felix, the team’s best individual medley swimmer. Out of everyone on the team, he’s known as the one and only to exhibit some of the best technique (he was even complimented on the local news, and your heart had almost stopped just seeing the pretty boy on your TV). He’s also on the dance team, the captain too, though he’s more well known for his skills in the water. You can guess that there are a handful that come to watch him dance as well.

Lastly, is Yang Jeongin. A junior, actually, but with a skill set much farther than of his age. He’s a bit cute as well, with a shy sort of persona that usually had people awing for him through his sophomore year, and it still hasn’t gotten out of your mind even after a year. He is, after all, a fantastic 200 yard racer, being able to snatch a medal at almost every meet.

Adding another swimmer to the team is common, but something tells you that the case of this boy walking through the halls of your school might make him a bit more than just another person joining the team. The aura he gave off, startling everyone in his way with nothing more than a simple walk down the hallway—it’s nothing, but it seems like much more than that. Perhaps, you’d even get to learn his name one day.

You snap out of your daydream with a smack from Ryujin, the girl nagging at you to hurry up; your hand grazes past the lock on your locker, filling in the combination before tugging violently at the metal until it gives away. Instinctively, you reach your hand in blindly for your books, but there’s a fluttering feeling on your arm as you glance back, confused. A neat envelope had fallen from above, probably having been stuffed into the top not too long ago, and a questioning hum leaves you.

“What’s this?” You say to yourself, mumbling underneath your breath as you turn it over in your hand, your finger tracing over the colorful washi tape placed on the borders. It’s decorated with stickers, all the way until your name is written in a bright blue. The last letter of your name branches off into a flower, one that leads all the way to the back, where there’s a stick over the flap that reads ‘open here’ in small font.

Might as well read it now.

dear y/n love,

i hope you’ve received this safely, and if you haven’t, i genuinely apologize! i’d say it’s not my wrongdoing, which of course it is, but you also have no clue who i am! hopefully. unless you saw me put this in your locker, but i really hope you didn’t. i’d be quite embarrassed if you did, so please just maybe, don’t tell anyone if you did? yeah, thank you in advance.

anyway, hi! i’ll call myself jay for the time being. hmm, just so i can stay anonymous! i wouldn’t want to reveal myself to you just yet. or hopefully, not at all, but i think i’ll eventually open up to the idea of confessing. oh, yeah, sorry i didn’t mention. i’m jay and i’m in love with you.

okay, that sounds pretty aggressive and a little arrogant but i promise i’m not!!! i just don’t have any extra letter paper to write on or else i wouldn’t even be writing the rest of this. okay, okay, i’m sorry. back to the main point. so, i guess you can call me your secret admirer or whatever, but anyway, i like you. like more than a friend, like you, but i’m too scared to tell you so therefore, here we are. expect to hear from me in the near future ;)

signed, jay

[stevesnailbat]

i shouldn’t be feeling this, but it’s too hard to resist | robin buckley

summary: Y/N is falling for someone, but it’s not someone they planned to fall for.

warnings: mutual pining, slightest mentions of homophobia

word count: 1.9K

a/n: this fic is loosely based off girls by girl in red!! i feel like the song just fits robin so perfectly, so here’s my take on it! i’m changing my writing style to be more inclusive also, so the perspective is different on this one! the gif used above is by @harringtown once again!!!

You knew you shouldn’t have said yes to it. But there you were, sitting on the edge of Robin Buckley’s bed, chewing on your lip nervously as you waited for her to come back into the room.

You and Robin were meant to be nothing more than coworkers at Family Video, maybe acquaintances at most. You had planned on it staying that way, and on keeping your distance. But, there was always just something special about Robin. There was something about Robin's smile that was so convincing, so inviting, so beautiful. There was something that kept pulling you back in for more. 

Just friends, you told yourself, nothing more. You didn’t want it to progress into anything more—it couldn’t possibly progress into anything more, not if you wanted to save yourself from the judgement that would most likely ensue.

When the door opened once more, you had to look away, avoiding eye contact with her. You could feel her eyes on you as she walked in with the widest grin, plopping down on the bed next to where you were perched. She sat a bowl of popcorn down on the bed along with a movie and a few boxes of candy after sitting down.

“I snuck a copy of Carrie from the store, I remembered you said you liked that one.” Robin said as she leaned down to rifle through some things under her bed. “Do you want to drink? I bought some wine because I thought it’d be fun to, y’know, let loose for once.”

“Oh—uh—yeah!” you reply with a nervous smile, only making eye contact with her for a fraction of a second. “I’ll take some.”

She smiled over at you again as she pulled the bottle and corkscrew from under the bed, working to open it as soon as she took it out. You cursed yourself for how awkward you were making the situation, but it was unavoidable. Every time you looked at her you felt like your heart was going to explode, so you avoided it at all costs. You knew it was wrong, what you were feeling about her. It felt so wrong that it made the pit of your stomach turn in knots and your heart ache. The feeling wasn’t going away any time soon, though. 

Robin could tell something was up from the moment you walked into the house, truthfully. In the past four months of working with you, she’d developed a theory that you just flat out didn’t like her, so she wanted that to change. There were shifts where you would ignore her completely, and others where you’d only give her a sympathetic smile when she’d talk to you. 

She didn’t know what she did, but Robin wanted to get to the bottom of it. She had randomly sprung the idea of hanging out on you in the middle of a shift with her and Steve, you couldn’t say no to her. When you said yes, she was downright thrilled to actually get to know you after working quietly alongside you for this long. 

You couldn’t help but stare at her as she worked the corkscrew into the bottle, taking in every little detail of her face for the first time. You couldn’t bring yourself tear your gaze away as she continued, eyes wandering as she tugged her lip between her teeth. It was impossible to not think about how soft her lips looked, and how perfect she looked altogether. If someone could read your mind, they might think you were just jealous of the girl. But, truly, the feeling was something much more than jealousy. It was something along the lines of a feeling of longing and desire.

“Finally!” Robin proclaimed, setting the cork on the bed beside her as you broke from your daze. “Here, you can have the first drink and get comfortable while I get the movie set up.”

You nodded and smiled at her, but suddenly lost all desire to drink the alcohol in your hands. There was already a feeling of intoxication building inside of you, built on being around Robin alone. Just looking at her was enough to make you feel a little drunk. Her beauty was overwhelming to you, almost painful to think about in a way. Slowly, you had come to terms with the fact that what you were feeling wasn’t temporary, that what you were feeling—despite how wrong it felt—was there to stay. 

“You alright?” she asked when she turned around to see you still sitting on the edge of the bed, frozen with the untouched bottle still in your hand.

“Yeah—yeah, sorry. I’m fine.” you lied, forcing a smile onto your lips as your heart pounded against your ribs.

“You don't seem fine.” Robin pointed out, setting the movie on top of the VCR as she furrowed her brows in concern. “What’s up?” 

“It’s really nothing, I—I guess I’m just tired, that’s all.” you lied, hoping she wouldn’t see through the thinly-veiled lie you were telling. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be boring and fall asleep as soon as I get here."

“It’s okay!” she said quickly, moving away from the TV to sit next to you on the bed again. “We can just hang out and talk instead, if you want, of course.”

“Yeah, that’s fine!” you stammered abruptly, looking at the bowl of popcorn next to you to avoid her gaze again. 

“Are you going to homecoming next weekend?” she asked, moving around on the bed to face you once more as she broke the odd silence. 

“Yeah, I’m supposed to.” you laughed bitterly, rolling your eyes at the thought of it.

“You don't seem too thrilled about that. Do you not have a date or something?” she implored, reaching her hand out to take the bottle from your hands. “Or do you have a date and just not like them?”

“Yeah—Yeah, that one.” you said, cringing about it once more. “I’m supposed to go with my brother’s friend from the football team but I’m not interested at all. He’s—He’s just not—“

“He’s just a typical jock who’s boring and doesn’t want to have any real fun?” Robin interjected, eyebrows quirking up as a smile grew on her lips.

He’s not you, Robin Buckley. He’s not the girl with perfect skin and pretty blue eyes that looks fucking perfect in a flannel. He’s not the one who makes you want to scream into a pillow about what you were feeling. That’s what you wanted to say. You wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her that you really, really wanted to go with her, but you knew you couldn’t. What would your family say? What would everyone at school say? And most importantly, what would Robin even say if you told her?

“Yeah, I guess that’s probably what it is.” you sighed, shrugging your shoulders to brush it off in the most casual way possible. “I don’t want to act like I like the kid for a whole night, it feels like such a stupid waste of my time.”

“Well, don’t go with him then.” she suggested simply, watching as you tilt your head at her straightforward proposal. “Is there someone else that you actually want to go with?”

“Yeah—I mean, I don’t—I don't know.” you stuttered, a blush settling onto your cheeks as the words slipped from your lips.

“I heard you say yes at first, you can’t take that back!” she said, her eyes lighting up with amusement. “Who is it? Is it that one kid who comes into the store all the time?”

“God no! That kid isn’t in there to flirt, I think he actually just watches a different movie every damn night.” you giggled shyly, heart skipping a beat at the sound of Robin laughing with you. 

“Well, who is it then?” Robin asked again, shoving her hand into the bowl of popcorn as if she was watching some interesting movie. “Actually, just tell me about them. You don’t have to name any names, just tell me why you like them. Is that easier?”

“Yeah, that works.” you sighed, chewing on your lip as you finally looked over to her. “I don’t really know where to start, I guess. They’re really like, one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. Obviously we’ve went to school together for a while, but I really have grown to like them a lot—like a lot—in the last few months. And—And I feel like shit for pushing them away for so long, but I just can’t bring myself to fully face how I feel.”

Robin continued to listen intently as you spoke, but was catching on rather quickly. She was shocked, to say the least. She never would’ve known that you felt this way, and would’ve done something about it a lot sooner if she had. There was a twisted feeling in your gut as you spoke, looking to Robin to see the waves of realization hitting her all at once. 

“Why don’t—or didn’t—you want them to know?” Robin questioned, tearing her gaze away from yours to stare at her hands. 

“Because I’m afraid of how they feel about me, and of what other people will say if I try to be with them.” you said softly, heart sinking as Robin’s smile faded into a focused frown. 

“Yeah, I was scared too.” she replied, making your eyes go wide in shock for a moment. “I still am, I guess. I just have people who I know will actually support me, instead of ones who would disown me.”

“You—You’re—”

“Yeah, I am.” Robin laughed softly, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “I’m not very good at this whole thing yet. Which is obvious, considering I didn’t realize you might actually like me until just now.”

“Might like you?” you laughed, making her look up at you with a hope-filled gaze. “I really like you, Robin.”

“Well good.” she sighed, inching closer to you as she spoke. “Because I’m tired of shoving my feelings away every time I see you.”

You smiled, looking away for a moment as butterflies filled your gut. There was a feeling of relief in the air that was quickly replacing the dread and doubt that had filled the room minutes before. Robin reached to put her hand on top of yours, making your heart flutter for a quick moment. Her free hand hooked under your chin, pulling your gaze back to hers as she smiled at you longingly.

“I’m glad you could finally talk to me about this.” she admitted, her thumb rubbing along your cheek gently. “And I’m glad we could both get this off our chests.”

“Yeah, me too.” you replied with a nervous smile. “And since we’re on the subject, there’s something else I’ve been wanting to get off my chest for a while.”

Robin knew exactly what you were doing as she saw your eyes flicker towards her lips, but the feeling still made her heart race. You both had wanted this to happen for a while, and it was finally happening. You cupped her cheek and pulled her into the kiss, keeping it short and sweet. Her lips were just as wonderful and sweet as you had expected, and that thrilled you. 

“Do you wanna watch the movie now?” you teased, brushing a strand of her behind her ear. 

“I think the movie can wait, because I wanna do that again.” she laughed, pulling you back in for another sweet kiss.

tags (join here!) : @sourapplebaby @harringtown @jxnehxpper @charmed-asylum @heart-eye-harrington @daddystevee @a-magey @lemonypink @igotmadskills @ilovebucketbarnes @simplesammyx @willowrose99

[annies-marvel-imagines]

Dusk Till Dawn - Part 5

Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Everything seems to be back to normal as you and Peter prepare for homecoming, but nobody seems to realize how much is about to change.

Warnings: Swearing, jealousy, 

A/N: I’m truly sorry this is late. There was some stuff I needed to deal with (but i’m fine now.). @rosaliestark01 will post part 6 very soon. GIFs are not mine. Credit goes to @spiderholland

Ever since the incident at the bank, everyone seemed to walk on egg shells around you. They probably didn’t think you’d notice, but you did. They tended to stay out of your way, only talking to you if it was about school or how you were feeling.

The only people you ever saw really were the Avengers, Pepper, and Happy. Ned, MJ, Harry, and Harley visited once but it only lasted a few minutes. You rarely saw Tony. As for Ellie, you were the one to tell her that you wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.

She seemed pissed. You understood why you weren’t allowed to hang out with her anymore, but that didn’t stop her from insulting every single one of the Avengers, especially Peter. It surprised you because when you first met her, she seemed like one of the sweetest and kindest people you’d ever met. 

After finishing an essay for your English class, you heard a knock on the door. Part of you didn’t want to open it in case it was Tony. Luckily, it wan’t. Peter was standing outside your room.

“Um... these are for you,” he says handing you a bouquet of your favorite flowers. You’ve pretty much been on house-arrest for a week and a half and he is just now visiting you. 

“Thanks,” you mumble. 

“So, um, I talked to Pepper and Happy and they said it would be okay if we hung out... if you want?” He asks hopefully. You may be upset that he’s been giving you the silent treatment, but you are itching to get out of your room. Besides, you can’t deny how much you missed spending time with him.

“I do,” you say. 

“I was thinking we could go to the park today,” he smiles as you set the bouquet on your desk. You notice Peter eyeing the USB, but he doesn’t say anything about it.

“That sounds good,” you say. “I haven’t been to the park in forever.”

When you both arrive at the park, you’re stunned at what you see. There’s music, carnival games, and food trucks. It looks like a fair.

“What is all this?” You ask as you take in your surroundings. You’ve never seen the park like this before. It was amazing.

“It’s a pep rally,” Peter say. Just then do you notice that most of the people hosting the games were on the football team. 

“I though that pep rallies were always held in the gymnasium at school.” They usually were. The few pep rallies you’ve been to were mandatory. The only way to get out of them were if you had to be somewhere else or if you were sick at home.

“I think Mr. Morita wanted to have the whole community involved,” he tells you. 

You ended up deciding to play a few games. You were pretty sure that today, he surprised the entire football team. Peter won at every game and at one point the football coach even tried to recruit him. Afterwards, you both decided to have lunch, but something caught your eye.

“Is that Happy?”

“Mr. Stark thought it would be a good idea,” Peter said. You knew that what he meant was Mr.Stark thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on you. 

“Of course he did,” you mumble under your breath. Peter caught it nonetheless. He knew that things seemed pretty tense between you and Tony, but he didn’t want to bud too much into your personal life. 

“Peter!” A familiar voice yells behind the two of you causing you to internally wince. 

“Oh, hey Gwen,” Peter says. You could tell that he didn’t really want to talk to her just as much as you didn’t want him talking to her. You knew that saying it out loud would make you sound like a jealous brat, but Peter was clearly uncomfortable talking to her, especially since he took a hold of your hand.

“I was wondering if you still had a date to homecoming,” Gwen asks as she bats her eyelashes and stares all doey eyed at Peter.

“Yeah, I’m still taking Y/N,” Peter said as he motions to you. 

“Oh,” she said, still not acknowledging your presence. “I just figured since Y/N doesn’t go to Midtown-”

“I’m still a student at Midtown,” You cut her off. Now, you’ve finally gained her attention, even if she is subtly glaring at you. “I’m just taking my classes online for now.”

“Okay,” she pouts.  “I’ll see you later, Peter.” 

She blows him a kiss before walking off. You didn’t understand what she saw in him. Sure, you were head over heel for the boy, but she had nothing in common with him other than that they both have “internships” with big companies. 

“So, you still want me to go to homecoming with you?” You ask. In all honesty, you didn’t think he still would.

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” he asks with furrowed brows. 

You shrugged, but that didn’t seem to be enough.

“I just thought that since you haven’t spoken to me in almost two weeks that you were mad at me for what happen at the bank,” you confess. Peter’s eyes widen a bit at your confession.

“Y/N, I don’t blame you for that. I never did.” He squeezes your hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited.”

“It’s okay.” You were so busy drowning your self in school work because you didn’t think Peter wanted anything to do with you that you didn’t even buy a- “Damn, I still have to find a dress.”

“If you want, I can take you to find one,” Peter offers. 

“It’s fine. I’m sure that Pepper can take me.” Lately, Pepper had tried spending more time with you and you were sure that she’d help you find a dress.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Pepper was busy with meetings all week. You then asked Nat, but she was leaving for a mission with Bucky, Sam, and Steve. In the end, Happy was the one to take you.

“Is this the last one?” Happy asked. You had already been to three stores before this and if you didn’t find anything you liked, then you would pick the one that you didn’t hate the most. 

“Yeah. I promise that this is the last store,” you said. You were getting tired of looking too and you felt bad making Happy rate all of your dresses. You just wanted to find a dress that you actually liked. Luckily, you didn’t have to look for very long. 

The first one you saw at this store was a dark blue dress that looked better than any of the ones you’ve looked at (picture below the tags). After trying it on, you were pleased to say the least. It was perfect.

“How does this one look?” you ask Happy. You were pretty sure that you were going to buy it regardless, but you still wanted a second opinion.

“It looks good. Can we go now?” Happy said barely looking at you. 

“Yeah,” you scoffed. You went back into the dressing room to change back into your regular clothes when you noticed something in your purse that definitely wasn’t yours. It was another USB that looked a lot like the one you stole from Hydra, except this one was blue instead of red.

“What the-” you say. Unfortunately, you must’ve said it a bit too loud because the next thing you know, Happy was knocking on the door.

“Is everything okay in there?” Happy asks, probably in security mode.

“Yeah, Happy, everything’s fine!” you call back. Once you’re fully dressed, you slip the USB back into your purse.

“Okay, let’s go,” he says. You say for the dress and head back to the Tower.

“Hey, Y/N, how was dress shopping?” Pepper asks. She looks like she just got back from her meetings. 

“It went well,” you say. You think back to finding another strange USB and you couldn’t help but want to know what was on it. “I have a physics test to study for, so I’ll be in my room.”

“Okay, you better pass,” Pepper jokes. You have straight As, so she knows that your grades aren’t something to worry about.

“I will,” you say before shutting yourself in you room.

“Okay, let’s see what this is about.” You are about to plug it into your laptop, but the sound of your phone ringing stops you.

“Hello?” you ask.

“Hey, Y/N.” Peter says through the line. You set the USB on the desk next to the other one.

“Hi, Peter.” you say.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come over and visit May?” Well, you haven’t seem May in a while and it’s not like the USB is just going to disappear while your gone.

“I’d love to,” you say.

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

Back inside his run down apartment, Ezekiel paces back and forth. He is angry.

“This is you’re fault! Go fix it!” He yells as he points an accusing finger at Eloise.

“I tried, but she won’t talk to me,” She explains, but it’s no use. “They won’t let her.”

“Do I need to remind you what happened last time you failed?” He yells. Normally, anyone else would’ve flinched at someone yelling in their face, but Eloise stood her ground. If only she could convince him that she’s not entirely useless, they could both they what they want.

“But I fixed that and I can fix this.” Ezekiel rolls his eyes at her words. “We both want the same thing. Without me, neither of us can get what we want.”

“All you want is to destroy Spider-Man,”He spits out.  “You’re little trap failed.”

She doesn’t need to be told twice how much of a disaster the bank incident was. If only you hadn’t gotten in the way, Spider-Man could be dead and you could be easier to manipulate. 

“I do want to squash that bug, but I still haven’t forgotten the mission,” Eloise says. Ezekiel smirks at her, causing her to roll her eyes at him. 

“Which is?” he presses. She knows he’s testing her. He should know that after everything she’s been through, that she could never forget their true mission.

“Eliminate Iron Man.”

Tag List

@eridanuswave @drishtisikarwar @spideygirl2003 @ilovespideyyy @purplekitten30 @slytherinambitious

[spnsisterimagines]

Homecoming?

Summary - Y/N brings her first boyfriend home and has to face the terrifying wrath of her older brothers and single father.

Pairings - Dean Winchester x Sister!Reader , Sam Winchester x Sister!Reader , John Winchester x Daughter!Reader

Word Count - 2,891 words

It was her very first homecoming. When she was a freshman, she didn't get to go. For one thing, she and Sam were set on research for Dean and their father. For another, nobody asked her to go because she was the weird new girl that had a throwing knife in her book bag after that nasty cheerleader Henrietta Marycomb thumbed through it in the girls' locker room after gym. Y/N easily took care of that situation, however, when she took one of the spiders near her motel room and slyly slipped it onto her lunch tray the next day.

But everything was going to be different for her sophomore year. It was a new school, so she wasn't known as the scary new kid with knives and spiders. She actually had a handful of friends, and she knew they would stay there until Christmas since her father had a lead that would keep him busy for a good few months. She also finally had someone ask her. James Cleese was her friend from Geometry. He was a junior, only one year older than her, and he was probably the cutest boy she'd ever met. He was tall and lean, his legs muscled from being on the varsity soccer team. He had messy brown hair that fell over his forehead, constantly tempting Y/N at running her fingers through it. He had the biggest brown eyes she had ever seen, which he often used on her at lunch when he wanted her milk carton. He constantly talked about soccer games and Harry Potter. Overall, he was a great guy, and he had asked her in the sweetest yet corniest way possible.

Their friend group consisted of four people, including himself and Y/N. The other two were Jane Collins and Elyse Porter. He had convinced them to wear custom t-shirts that had the question stitched on the front and answer choices on the back. After handing her a check mark with a slip of tape across the top, she had put it on the shirt that read yes before squealing in delight as he pulled her into his arms and spun her around. It was what almost every high school kid wanted from a date. It was sickeningly romantic, and Y/N couldn't wait to go with him. 

Unfortunately, the step after accepting his invitation was notifying her brothers and father, which she forgot to do until the day James was supposed to retrieve her. Sam and Dean had to have known homecoming was coming up. At least Sam should have known since Dean had graduated that year prior, but he was always excited for the big dances and football games, even if they rarely got to attend due to their shabby attendance record. 

As for Sam, he was keen on spending his senior year with his nose behind a book; Y/N was sure he wasn't even aware that it was October. Either way, neither her brothers nor her busy father knew that she'd be attending the Homecoming dance with a boy they'd never met. And she truly intended to tell them, but every time she tried they were either busy with a case her father was stuck on or arguing about some stupid football team. Besides, Y/N had no idea how they would react. 

Dean and Sam were always relatively protective over their baby sister, but that was with hunts and monsters. The thought of boys(or girls) never really crossed their mind because they figured Y/N was never interested in dating. It never bothered to occur to them that, perhaps, Y/N would be open to seeing other people that weren't her brothers teasing her or her father playfully ruffling her hair as he wandered to the fridge to get another drink. This would be a rather dramatic wake up call. No warning. No foreshadowing. Just a boy appearing at their door in a cheap outfit with a flower in his tightly clutched hand. 

James didn't question the fact Y/N lived in a motel. He didn't really care where she lived, and for that she was grateful. Most people would make fun of her, and they have. 

Anyway, the night approached for the dance. Y/N had managed to use up all her allowance for a cheap purple gown that fell down to her knees. A pair of nice sandals would suffice for her shoes for the night. She wouldn't be caught dead in heels. She'd fall right on her face, she was sure. She had spent over two hours in the bathroom getting ready, putting on little make up to make her eyes pop along with a little lip gloss that Jane let her borrow. Her father was asleep on the arm chair, so he didn't notice. Dean was watching television and Sam was content on one of the beds with a book pulled open on his lap. They didn't bother to check in on their sister, figuring she was just taking a shower. But Dean really had to use the restroom, so now he was pounding annoyingly on the thin wood. 

"Y/N! C'mon! I ain't goin' outside!" he called for the fifth time, not taking no for an answer again. Y/N was attempting to curl her hair, but the cheap iron didn't want to work with her. Eventually she just decided to pin it back, smoothing out any bumps and checking her face for any blemishes or stray marks from the mascara she had used. She looked very pretty. Swelling with confidence, she unlocked the bathroom door and opened it wide, scowling up at her brother. 

"You're so whiny," she insulted, stepping around him toward her duffel bag that contained the small purse she wanted to take to the dance. 

"Woah, woah, woah," Dean said, forgetting all about his need for the bathroom. "Why are you so dolled up?"

From the bed, Sam looked up. He eyed his sister in surprise. She normally wore flannel and skinny jeans; basically anything that had her ready to fight was her sense of style. He rarely saw her in anything remotely feminine. His eyebrows creased, closing the book and inching his way out of bed as though he was going to inspect Y/N closer. 

"Is that make-up?" he asked.

"Yes," Y/N said hesitantly. This was going to come out sooner or later. "I'm going to the homecoming dance tonight."

"You've practically got nothing on. The hell do you think you're doing wearing something so short?" Dean snorted. "Wait a minute, since when were dances your thing?"

"Since I was asked?" Y/N replied sarcastically. "And you can't even see my thighs. I'm not exactly dressed like a flapper." 

"Wait, you were asked to the dance?" Sam asked, looking thoroughly surprised. How could he not know about this? They attended the same school! Granted, she stuck with the sophomores and juniors while he was perfectly fine by himself in the library, but that kind of news normally spread like wildfire, especially in a small town school like theirs. "By who?"

"James Cleese. You don't know him. He's a friend from my math class," Y/N shrugged it off, hoping if she played it off as though it weren't a big deal, they'd do the same. Clearly she didn't know her brothers as well as she thought because now they were rounding on her like two mother hens. Sam was fussing over the amount of mascara she was wearing and Dean was adamant that she not go out at all unless she had something to cover her shoulders with. Their father snoozed on, completely unaware of what was happening with his three children. They were only interrupted by a knock at the door. Their father stirred, opening his eyes groggily and looking over the top of his chair. 

"Who's there?" he grunted, suddenly alert. "Who the hell knows we're here?"

"Daddy, it's my friend," Y/N supplied with ease, sending him a calm smile. That didn't work since he was now a third witness to her appearance. He shot out of his chair, suddenly clutching his right hip where his trusty gun sat. "Dad, no! It's just James. He's here to pick me up. He's a really nice boy, you'd like him! You'd all like him! Let me just get the do-"

Her father didn't listen, instead marching right over to the door and unlocking it aggressively and yanking it open. James stood there awkwardly, for once not wearing his cheesy grin he used on Y/N constantly. He had on a nice button up with a navy blue tie neatly laid over his chest. He held onto a lily in his right hand, his left held up as though he were going to knock again. 

"Uh, hi," he greeted. "You must be Y/N's father. I'm James, sir. James Cleese." He thrust out a hand for John to shake, but he just stared down at it before slamming the door in his face. 

"Dad!" Y/N hissed, pushing past her brothers and getting to the door, quickly pulling it back open. "James, you just wait here!"

"O-Okay. Is everything alr-" She slammed the door back in his face and whipped around to face the three men, all of which had completely forgotten what they were previously doing, instead shocked over what Y/N was now putting them through. She wasn't supposed to be interested in boys yet. That was supposed to be a foreign concept to her. She still needed to think they had cooties, but here she was dressed really nice with her hair pinned back and make-up really bringing out the beautiful details in her now hostile face as she looked at them. 

"Alright, so I didn't say anything. But it's because I knew this was exactly what was going to happen!" she snarled, pointing an accusing finger in their direction.

"I'm sorry, can someone clue me in on what the hell is going on? Why are you dressed like that? Why the hell is there a boy with a flower on my doorstep?" John demanded. 

"Y/N got asked to the homecoming, Dad," Sam explained hastily. 

"And she's not going," Dean added.

"Excuse me?" Y/N scoffed, completely offended. 

"We don't even know this kid. For all we know, he could be some dick wanting to lose his V-card to the nice girl that blew into town unexpectedly." Dean scoffed, crossing his arms. 

"Right, because he really seemed like the type! Dean, he's my friend. I know him. Really, I do. I know it's hard to believe I have a life outside of the three of you, but I do!" Y/N said. "Daddy, I promise you. He is so nice. He likes me. He really does. He plays soccer, he's okay at math, and he's really funny! He likes all those stupid old sitcoms that you like!"

John shook his head. "I dunno. This is the first I'm even hearing of this. Why the hell would you wait for the day of?"

"Like I said, I knew you guys would react like this."

"What, like reasonable family? Look, I know you're living in that little fantasy in your head. You want to believe this guy is good through and through, but let me give you a tour behind the curtain. All men are assholes. All of us." Sam looked slightly offended at that, but he didn't say anything. But that seemed to be the last straw for their sister.

Y/N grit her teeth, fighting off the urge to kick off her sandals and beat the living hell out of her elder brother. "Actually, he's a nice boy that's my friend that wanted to go to the dance with me, alright? You know, that's so unfair! None of us bat an eye when you go home with a girl or when Sammy talks to a girl when he's not nose-banging whatever law book he's managed to find! And I'm not even being inappropriate; it's a school dance that's supervised by staff members! Jane and Elyse are tagging along! He's not gonna pull me down in the middle of the dance floor and hoist up my dress!"

They grimaced, feeling even angrier at just the thought of a boy violating Y/N, but they couldn't find much of an argument. She just wanted to go out and have fun. Who were they to stop that from happening? It was selfish. And...maybe she had grown up from that little girl that didn't give boys a second glance. Plus, she was also a Winchester. She was perfectly capable of defending herself against anyone that put their hands on her, including a stupid boy from class that wanted to take her out for the night. 

Sam was the first to speak. "She's right. It's just a dance, Dean. C'mon. She never really asks to go anywhere." 

Dean didn't answer right away. He stared at Y/N, his arms still crossed stubbornly. She was giving him her best puppy dog eyes, clutching her hands to her chest as she looked him in the eyes. He hated when she did that. That was the face she often pulled on dad when Dean and her were arguing so he'd take Y/N's side. Dean could understand finally why it always worked. It was very difficult to say no to that face. He finally looked up to his Dad, who also had his arms crossed. The two of them would be the hardest to crack, and they didn't seem to want to make a move until the other did. 

"Okay, he's still waiting outside, and I don't think he'll be there much longer. Someone say something," Y/N said, throwing her hands out in exasperation.

"Fine," John said at last, lifting a hand to rub at his temples. Dean looked up at him in surprise. Y/N elicited an excited squeal, throwing her arms around her father in a tight hug. He gingerly patted her head, not used to the physical affection. He loved his daughter to the moon  and back, but they weren't necessarily a family that constantly hugged and exclaimed 'I love yous'. Dean still looked hesitant, but he couldn't stop her now that their father gave her the green light. 

While she went to hug Sammy, John opened the door back up to James, who was standing there bouncing on the tips of his toes. He froze once he saw him again, his eyes flying toward the gun that was very obvious in the streetlights. He gave him a nervous smile, holding the lily a little tighter in his fist. 

"James...I'm John Winchester, Y/N's father," John said, as though he hadn't previously slammed the door in his face. This time he held a hand out for James to shake, to which he did so eagerly. Although John seemed to be holding his hand a little too tight, making James wince. When the handshake finished, he let James step in and see Y/N separate from her hug with Sam. His mouth slightly dropped and his eyes brightened considerably. 

"Wow...you look amazing," he complimented. "I only saw a glimpse of you earlier before you..."

"Yeah, let's not talk about it," Y/N smiled, walking over to him and taking the lily and pinning it into her hair. "You look really nice, too. A little sad you didn't go commando like I wanted." Dean physically growled. "I'm kidding, Dean! Let me just get my purse, James, and we can go." She pecked his cheek and, once more, went to dig through her duffel bag. This left James with her two big brothers. Some would say they're an even bigger threat compared to John. 

"Hey, James, I'm Sam," Sam introduced himself, also thrusting out a hand for him to shake. James obliged, wishing he chose a different hand since it was still slightly sore from John's handshake. "Not to be that guy...but we do expect her home at ten. And if there's any sign that anything happened...we're proud gun owners."

"Okay," James squeaked. Dean came up behind Sam, not holding a hand out. 

"We mean it. Even if it's just a hair out of place or the tiniest hint at a hickey...I will personally find you myself." 

"Nothing will happen, I promise," James declared shakily, grateful when Y/N returned to his side with her purse slung over her shoulder. 

"They're just joking with you, don't take them so seriously. Dean can't even aim at the toilet," Y/N smirked, ignoring her brother's disgusted pleas for her to shut up. "You ready to go? Jane and Elyse are probably wondering where we are."

"Yes, yes I am," James eagerly nodded his head. "It was nice to meet all of you. I promise to have Y/N back at ten safe and sound."

"That'll give us enough time in the back of your truck," Y/N smirked, slamming the door shut behind them. 

"Y/N!" Dean shouted as a warning.

Both brothers watched through the only window their motel room offered as James' truck pulled out of the parking lot and down the road. 

"Don't you worry, boys. Nothin's gonna happen to your sister," John assured, going through the fridge and grabbing a beer. 

"How are you so sure?" Dean asked. 

"Because I slipped a knife into her purse before she left," John answered coolly, popping open the can and slipping back into the armchair.