#nick bluetooth

[kydv404]

wow, this new CMF series looks neat!

obligatory April Fools themed post

[legomocfodder]

Who remembers Galidor?

It was a weird Lego line and TV show from 2002 and I just got the urge this week to make a few minifigs of the characters. So here's Allegra Zane, Nick Bluetooth, and Gorm

NSFW blogs do not reblog!

[psybrepunk]

My husband and I started a new anime called I'm Quitting Heroing and he points to the screen while a character is reacting to the hero speaking and says verbatim "I feel like this is you anytime I hear Nick talk on your screen":

He's RIGHT but that's not the point

[flowersforbucky]

sweetener

bucky barnes x reader

summary: when the vacation that you've been planning for months gets canceled due to a last minute mission, you can't help but feel bummed - the bright side is that you're being sent on a mission with bucky.

word count: 5.3k - my masterlist

warnings/tags: canon level violence, descriptions of injuries, mention of blood, almost drowning, hospital setting, bad guys getting killed (not descriptive), non-sexual nudity, hurt/comfort trope, avenger!reader, friends to lovers, fluff, language, reader pov, no use of y/n, fem reader, bucky being super soft, not explicit but mdni please

when life deals us cards

make everything taste like it is salt

then you come through like the sweetener you are

to bring the bitter taste to a halt

Hand warmers. Flashlight and extra batteries. Can opener. Matches. First aid kit –

You glance down the handwritten list for the dozenth time that morning, checking and rechecking that you aren't forgetting anything obvious.

Your eyes flicker between the ridiculous amount of supplies scattered across your bed and the three large duffle bags on your floor that you're determined to pack it all into. You know that you are most likely being excessive, but you'd much rather be too thorough than not thorough enough when you're about to be miles deep in the Appalachian wilderness.

Sure, you'd be staying at a relatively civilized campground with restrooms and showers, but this is the first time that you've been camping in years, and your first time ever going camping alone.

A two day road trip there, then six days in the Great Smoky Mountains, and then another two day road trip back to upstate New York.

A much needed ten days of time spent by yourself, seeing as how you haven't gone on anything resembling a vacation in over two years. The last couple years have been nonstop work with very little time for relaxation.

To say that you're excited would be an understatement. Although you find immense fulfillment in the work that you do with the Avengers and can't see yourself doing anything else, you're ready to sit by a warm fire and sleep under the stars without a care in the world.

Just as you've finished packing the second bag and are about to begin on the third, the Bluetooth speaker that your cell phone is paired to begins blasting your ringtone, cutting off the music that you'd been listening to while you pack.

When you grab the phone off of your nightstand and see the name Nick Fury displayed across the screen, a ball of unease immediately forms in the pit of your stomach.

Nick Fury isn't the type to call and chit chat about how your day is going or what shows you've been binge watching. He's the type to call when he wants something done, and wants it done now.

“Hey, Fury,” you greet in a neutral tone as you perch on the edge of your bed. With the phone still connected to your speaker, you place it back down on the nightstand so that you are free to wring your hands together.

“Agent,” Fury's voice booms throughout your room. “I hope I've caught you before you've left the state of New York.”

Godfuckingdammit.

“Uh - yep. I'm still here. Packing up for my trip right now,” you answer, trying your hardest to conceal the irritation in your voice. There's a small voice in the back of your head telling you that you should just lie and say you are already on the road, but you're not stupid enough to lie to Nick Fury.

There's a second, louder voice in the back of your mind screaming at you that you shouldn’t have even answered the phone.

“You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm going to suggest you pack a tactical suit and weapon of choice instead of hiking boots and a sleeping bag. We just got word that a vibranium weapons dealer we've been tracking will be receiving a large shipment at a port in Destin tomorrow night. Need you and Barnes on a flight to Florida this afternoon.”

“Florida?” you repeat, unable to hide the shock and disappointment in your tone. “I can't go to Florida right now. I've been planning this trip for months. I put in the notice for my leave–”

“I realize that this is unfortunate timing but I'm afraid that this is non-negotiable, Agent,” he interrupts you in a tone of finality. “If we don't intercept this shipment then these weapons fall into very dangerous hands. With Romanoff and Rogers still in San Antonio until next week, I have no choice but to ask you and Barnes to handle it.”

You exhale an audible, frustrated breath and massage the heels of your palms into your eye sockets. You don't know why you're surprised. It's not like illegal arms dealers take your vacation time into consideration when they plot their dealings.

“Is that understood, Agent?” he asks when you don't respond.

“Yes,” you say as you dig your nails into the flesh of your palm to hold back any further argument. “Yes, I understand.”

“Great. The jet leaves in three hours.”

The line cuts off before you can get another word out.

You groan out loud. Three hours. That doesn't even leave you enough time to feel sorry for yourself.

You look around at the chaotic state of your room before your gaze lands on the already packed duffle bags filled with camping supplies.

You're too annoyed and short on time to care right now, so you empty the contents of both bags back onto your bed and tell yourself that you'll deal with the mess when you get back home. For now, you need to focus on packing the appropriate items for taking down a vibranium arms dealer in hotass Florida.

Beneath all of the disappointment and frustration, there's a glimmer of relief that at the very least it's Bucky who you're being sent on this unexpected mission with. You may not be fond of hot weather, but you are quite fond of him.

••••••

Just as Fury said, the jet departs from the compound at exactly three o'clock. You sit in the aircraft's cabin, reading through a thick file containing all of the information that SHIELD has compiled on Dmitri Petrov's crime empire, ranging from drug smuggling to illegal arms deals.

You are only a few pages into the report and it's abundantly clear why this mission was non-negotiable. Petrov has been getting away unscatched for years - tomorrow night will be the first clear opportunity for a take down since getting on SHIELD's radar.

“Coffee?” A voice snaps you back to reality, making you realize that you're reading the same sentence for the dozenth time. “Three creams, two sugars.”

You look up to find a vibranium hand holding out a disposable cup to you. If the fact that he's committed the way you take your coffee to memory isn't enough to increase your heart rate, his smirk and the crinkles around his blue eyes do the trick.

“Thank you,” you tell him, snapping the folder shut on the table in front of you. “My eyes are on the verge of bleeding.” You take a sip of the coffee - indeed, three creams and two sugars.

He takes the seat directly across from you, spinning the folder around for him to flip through himself.

“We land in less than half an hour and you've been reading this the entire flight,” he says teasingly as he thumbs through the pages. “I think it's safe to say you're prepared.”

He places the file back down, returning his attention to you.

“Just trying to get myself in the right headspace. I didn't know anything about this operation until a few hours ago, you know.”

Not one to complain, you had yet to bring up the fact that your trip had been postponed in order for you to be here. You had talked about the trip on several occasions with Bucky, but you didn't expect him to remember the exact dates that you were supposed to be gone.

Sure - if he was going to be away for over a week, you'd be hyper aware of it until he returned - but you weren't naive enough to think that he would know the exact dates of your comings and goings.

“I know,” he sighs, a sympathetic look on his face. “I was on my way to tell you to have a good trip and to be safe when I got the call from Fury this morning.”

Oh. Your cheeks heat at the casual admission from him.

“I'm sorry about your trip. I know you were really looking forward to it,” he adds sincerely. “I'm going to find extra enjoyment in putting Dmitri Petrov behind bars for causing it to get canceled.”

“You and me both,” you chuckle. “Really though, it's okay. I was bummed, but it's not the end of the world. It can easily be rescheduled once this guy is locked up and we're back home.”

You don't add the fact that you find yourself caring less and less about the canceled trip the longer that you sit here with him.

“There is at least one silver lining to this, you know,” he chimes, leaning forward with his elbows on the table between you. You instinctively lean in closer too, causing the side of your leg to brush against his beneath the table. You wait to see if he'll pull away, and when he doesn't, you leave the side of your thigh resting against his.

“Oh, yeah? And what's that?”

“Petrov’s shipment isn't set to arrive until tomorrow night, and they've sent us down here the day prior. It's not like we have to stay holed up in our hotel room for the next twenty-four hours, right?”

••••••

Bucky's right - there's no sense in locking yourselves inside the hotel room until the time of the weapons deal tomorrow evening, but when you see the hotel room that you'll be spending the next couple nights in, you think you would also be okay with staying inside if you had to.

It's not a five star resort by any means, but in comparison to the dingy roadside motels that you're normally stuck in for missions? This place might as well be a Four Seasons.

It's relatively small, but there's more than enough space for the two of you. There's one full size bed, plus a couch that converts to a futon mattress - the latter of which Bucky insists on taking, giving you the bed. The bathroom is nearly as big as the main room, with a jacuzzi tub that's bigger than three standard bathtubs put together.

And the best part of it? When you open the curtains to the sliding glass door on the backside of the room, there's a clear view of turquoise water and white sand.

“I guess Fury felt a little bad about springing this on me at the last minute, after all,” you sigh as you pull the door open, letting the light breeze pull the smell of saltwater into the room. “Can't say that I’ve been given a beachfront room for a mission before.”

Bucky walks up to stand beside you, leaning against the doorframe and staring out to the ocean.

“It's definitely a step up from the rat and roach infested Motel 6 that Sam and I had to spend three nights in when we were sent to Atlanta for recon last month.”

You shake your head, both cringing and laughing at the memory of him ranting about the motel room as soon as he saw you after returning home.

“It was the size of a fucking capybara. Why are you laughing? I opened the bathroom door and it charged at me–”

A sudden deep rumbling noise snaps you out of the memory and you glance down at your stomach in surprise. You suppose it makes sense that your body is screaming at you to eat - you had such little time to pack for Destin before your flight left that you hadn't even bothered with lunch today.

“How does pizza sound?” Bucky asks with a knowing smirk. “I saw a pizza place just down the street on the way here.”

“Anything sounds good right now,” you sigh, both starving and exhausted from your day of packing, unpacking, re-packing and traveling.

“I'll go grab one for us,” he tells you, pulling the keys to the rental car out of his pocket. “Just stay here and get settled in.”

You don't object, itching to change into comfier, more weather appropriate clothes. When you left the state of New York just a few hours ago, it was chilly outside. Now that you are in eighty plus degree Destin, the sweater and boots that you're wearing have got to go.

You unpack your bag, thankful that you had brought a pair of casual drawstring shorts. You throw them on, along with a tank top. You decide to go ahead and convert the futon from a sofa into a bed, and then search through the hotel room's small linen closet for a set of sheets and a quilt. If Bucky insists on you taking the comfier sleeping option and going to get food for the two of you, you figure the least you can do is make his bed for him.

When he returns, he not only has a large cardboard box containing the pizza, but a plastic bag hanging from his vibranium arm as well.

“Grab a towel and follow me,” he tells you before he's even closed the door behind him.

“Follow you?” You laugh, taken aback by the instructions. “Where are we going?”

You hop up from where you'd been mindlessly scrolling on your phone on the bed, doing as he asked and grabbing one of the complementary beach towels from the bathroom closet.

“Not staying holed up in our hotel room. Remember?”

And with that he pulls the sliding glass door open with his empty hand and exits the room, heading towards the beach that sits directly in the backyard. You don't even take the time to throw on a pair of tennis shoes before practically running after him through the sand.

He comes to a stop when he's a few yards away from where the waves wash up against shore and turns back to look at you. You take it as your cue to spread the towel across the sand at your feet.

He sits down and you follow, the cardboard box nestled between you. He opens it, revealing a pizza that is split down the middle - half your favorite, half his favorite.

“I know it's not a campfire in the Great Smoky Mountains,” he smirks. He digs into the plastic bag and pulls out a drink for each of you, along with some napkins. “But it's the best I could do in our current situation.”

The sentiment leaves you momentarily speechless. You know it isn't a grand declaration of love, and it might not mean as much to some people as it does to you - but you can't remember the last time someone went out of their way just to improve your day in such a simple yet thoughtful way.

Between the pizza, the vibrant pink and purple sky as the sun sinks beyond the ocean's horizon, the sound of the waves and him beside you, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.

“No,” you murmur. “It's not. But it's perfect.”

••••••

The next day, you manage to forget that you're actually on a super important mission taking down a dangerous illegal arms dealer.

The first half of the day feels like an actual vacation - the closest thing you've had to a vacation in a long time, anyway. You sleep in until nearly ten o'clock in the morning - which may not be considered sleeping in for some people, but in this line of work, you've overslept if you're still in bed at eight am.

After waking up thoroughly rested and refreshed, the two of you get brunch and then spend the early hours of the afternoon leisurely strolling at the boardwalk just a short drive from your hotel.

You and Bucky are sitting on a bench eating ice cream when you check your phone for the first time in hours and realize how quickly the day has gone. It's already four o'clock - you're due to be on lookout at the pier where Petrov's exchange will occur soon.

“What's wrong?” Bucky asks when you huff under your breath as you stick your phone back into your pocket. “Nervous about tonight?”

You're not nervous, truthfully. You're fully confident that you and Bucky will be able to handle the job. You've been on countless missions less straight forward than this before, and so has he.

“No,” you shake your head as you take another bite of your ice cream cone. “It's… silly,” you say, waving your hand in dismissal.

“I'm sure it's not silly,” he assures you gently.

You pause, staring at a couple holding hands in the distance as you contemplate your words.

Bucky seems to follow your gaze.

“Today has just been really nice,” you shrug with a small smile. “I almost don't want to go back home.”

From your peripheral vision, you see his face shift to look at you. You continue to eat your ice cream, pretending that his stare doesn't warm you more than the Florida sun.

“We're on the same page then, doll.”

••••••

A few hours later, a feeder ship pulls up to the pier just after dusk.

“We've got eyes on three men,” you say lowly into your communication device. “They're guarding the pier. No sign of Petrov yet.”

“He'll show,” Fury's voice echoes in your ear. “Keep watch until then. Backup is on standby to take him in.” The comm clicks off before you can respond.

“I know there's a lot riding on this going smoothly,” you grumble as you bring your binoculars back up to your eyes. “But sometimes I think he just really needs to get laid.”

You and Bucky are across the road from the pier, concealed by large shrubs and the darkness of the night sky. You've been sitting here as still and silently as possible for well over an hour, before Petrov's men had even arrived to stand guard at the dock.

You really fucking have to pee.

Headlights begin to approach from down the street, and as the vehicle gets closer you're able to see that it's a large, black van.

Totally not suspicious at all.

It comes to a stop close to the boat dock, and a second later Petrov hops out of the driver's seat. You recognize him right away by his shrimpy build and receding hairline.

“I should just take them all out from here and be done with this,” Bucky grumbles from beside you.

“I agree,” you sigh. “But Fury's adamant that Petrov be brought in alive if possible. He’s got an empire behind him that we need to find out as much as possible about. His men, however..” you trail off.

Bucky looks through the scope of his gun, zeroing in on one of the guards.

“Blow a tire on the van first,” you murmur. “So Petrov can't flee.”

“I'll take out these three guards, and then I'll get Petrov and call for back-up. You worry about getting to that ship and taking out anyone inside. Sound like a plan?”

“Easy peasy,” you agree.

Less than thirty seconds later, all three guards have dropped dead and Petrov is frantically running to his van, unaware that Bucky had shot the back tire after killing his guards. You and Bucky emerge from the shrubs, sprinting across the road. He dashes towards Petrov, who freezes and begins shouting curses in Russian when he sees what is running towards him.

Bucky lands a punch to Petrov's jaw as you're running past them, only slowing down enough to not trip over the guard’s dead bodies that are littered across the dock.

You're only a few yards away from the ship when you hear Bucky screech your name. You immediately come to a halt, turning back to see why he could be calling for you.

You see a tall, burly man - someone that you and Bucky hadn't noticed before - sprinting down the dock after you. He raises his arm above his head, his hand holding a rocklike object that he sends barreling in your direction.

It's the last thing you see before everything fades to black.

••••••

The shrill, repetitive beeping of a monitor pulls you out of limbo and back to earth.

You're met with painfully bright, fluorescent lighting that has you squinting your eyes shut before you can make sense of your surroundings.

“Bucky,” you attempt to call out but it sounds like the croak of a lifelong smoker. Your eyes begin to adjust to the harsh lighting, allowing you to see that you're alone in a hospital room. You raise your fingertips to where it feels as if your brain is pulsing through your skull. There's a thick, defined knot on the top of your head that's sensitive to the touch.

Panic starts to take over you. Bits and pieces of the mission start to flash through your mind. Bucky shooting the guards, you running towards the feeder ship when you heard Bucky yell your name and then turning to see –

“Bucky!” You call out louder, your voice still hoarse. You sit up, not hesitating to carelessly yank an IV out of your arm. You're vaguely aware of the fact that you're in only a hospital gown and that blood is now trickling down your left arm, but you don't care.

You throw your legs over the side of the bed, standing up far too quickly. Your vision fades to a fuzzy gray and you're overcome with an intense wave of vertigo as the room spins around you. You grab onto the metal side railing of the hospital bed to keep yourself upright, desperately trying to focus your eyes enough to find the nurse's call button.

“Hi! I'll be to your room in just a moment–” An overly cheerful, feminine voice pours from the speaker a moment after pressing the button.

“What happened? How long have I been here? Where is my–”

The door to your room opens, and you immediately breathe an audible sigh of relief as your last question is answered. He looks as though he could use a good night's sleep, but he is okay.

“What the fuck happened?” Bucky exclaims as he rushes over to where you're still clutching the hospital bed railing for support. You follow his gaze to your arm, seeing that there's now blood all over your gown as well as the white floor around your feet.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you mumble, embarrassed by your current state. He guides you back to the edge of the mattress before walking away to get a towel from the bathroom. “I was worried something happened to you,” you add weakly.

He wipes the blood trail on your skin before using the hand towel to apply pressure to the puncture in the bend of your arm.

“I'm okay,” he assures you delicately. “I had just gone to get some coffee.” He glances at the styrofoam to-go cup that you hadn't even noticed him place on the bedside table when he entered the room.

“How long was I asleep?” You ask, noticing that it's still pitch dark outside. You also notice that he's no longer in the clothes that he wore on the mission - now wearing a pair of loose fitting black sweatpants and a matching hoodie. “What happened?”

“There was another guy in the back of Petrov’s van,” Bucky tenses, still holding the towel to your arm for you. “We were both distracted and he snuck up on you. He hit you over the head with a piece of vibranium and threw you into the water.” His jaw clenches as he recounts what happened, meeting your gaze with a pained look.

“But you saved me,” you finish for him.

“Yes,” he gulps. “I did. But I was almost too late. By the time I knocked out Petrov and killed the man who hit you.. it felt like it took forever to find you in the water. You almost drown–”

He cuts himself off, unable to force the last word out. A nurse enters the room as you open your mouth to offer him reassurance. Bucky holds your gaze for a split-second longer before reluctantly dropping his hold on your arm and turning to take a seat in the room's singular guest chair.

The nurse informs you that they did a CT scan while you were unconscious, and that while you don't have any swelling or bleeding on your brain from the blow, the doctor believes you to have a concussion and tells you that she will need to do an exam now that you are awake before they feel comfortable discharging you.

Judging by the high-pitched ringing that you've heard in your ears since you woke up and the way that you feel dizzy when you even think about trying to stand up, you don't doubt that you're concussed.

An hour later, you've been thoroughly examined and it is confirmed that yes - you are indeed concussed. The doctor discharges you under the condition that you don't drive and that someone keeps a close eye on you for the next twenty-four hours.

“Don't worry,” you hear Bucky tell her when you step into the bathroom to throw on a pair of dry sweatpants, a t-shirt, and cheap shower slides that the hospital had given you to wear back to the hotel, seeing as how your tactical suit and boots are still sopping wet with ocean water. “I'm not letting her out of my sight.”

The nurse who helps you dress gives you a small smirk at his words.

“You're a lucky woman,” she tells you quietly. “He was worried sick until you woke up.”

You avoid her gaze, your cheeks heating. You busy yourself by tightening the drawstrings to the gray sweatpants.

“I am lucky,” you agree. “He's a great partner.”

She raises an eyebrow at the word partner, but doesn't make any further comment.

By the time that you and Bucky make it back to your hotel room, the sun has started to rise.

Bucky all but carries you inside, only letting go of you when you're perched on the edge of the mattress. Your head is still throbbing despite the extra strength ibuprofen that you'd taken before leaving the hospital, and you still can't walk without stumbling from dizziness, but at least the intense ringing in your ears has begun to subside.

You feel tired down to your very bones, but you have no doubt that Bucky is even more exhausted. You'd been unconscious for nearly eight hours during the night, whereas he had been awake the entire time sitting by your bedside.

“You get some rest,” you tell him. You brace your hands against the mattress, preparing to attempt to stand back up. “I smell like a mixture of sweat and fish from being in the ocean, so I'm going to shower off.”

You push yourself off of the bed, and as quickly as you stand, you're sitting back down. The room immediately begins spinning in circles around you, sending a wave of nausea through the pit of your stomach.

“Yeah, not likely,” Bucky huffs lightly. “You can't stand up, and the shower doesn't have a seat. How about we compromise on a bath?”

You give a weak nod, too tired to protest. A warm bath sounds incredible right now.

Bucky retreats to the bathroom, where he turns on the water to fill the tub before returning to help you get up from the bed without toppling over. He secures his flesh arm around your waist and guides you to the closed toilet, where you carefully sit down.

“Do you.. need help undressing? Or..?” He asks hesitantly.

“No,” you breathe with an awkward laugh. “I think I've got it.”

He gives you a quick nod, looking away to give you the privacy to shed your clothes. You carefully tug the oversized t-shirt the hospital had given you over your head, wincing when it brushes against the swollen knot on the side of your scalp. You rise off the lid of the toilet just enough to push your sweatpants down to your ankles.

“Okay,” you murmur, letting him know that you're ready to step into the tub.

He grabs one of your hands in his, and places his metal hand on the small of your back as you step over the side of the large jacuzzi tub and into the water.

Not that you don't trust your other teammates. But with Bucky, it doesn't feel vulnerable.

You're aware of the intimacy of the scenario, but you can't find it in yourself to feel insecure or embarrassed right now - you're sure that's largely due to the concussion, but you think it's also simply because of who you're with.

If it were Sam, or Steve, or anyone else, you know you'd be mortified to be utterly exposed as they help you take a bath. If it were anyone else you wouldn't be taking a bath right now - you would have just gone to sleep and waited until you could fully do it yourself instead of putting yourself in such a vulnerable position.

He lowers you into the water, your entire body instantly relaxing at the warmth. You glance to his face, noticing a faint purple bruise along his cheekbone.

“I'm going to leave the door cracked. I'll be right outside if you need anything. Just let me know when you're ready to get out, okay?”

You don't respond, instead reaching up to his face, where you run your finger along the outline of the bruise. He freezes beneath your touch, his eyes meeting yours.

“Don't worry,” he assures you softly. “It was a lot worse when it first happened. It's already almost gone.”

“I'm sorry,” you whisper. “It happened because of me. I wasn't paying attention as well as I should have been. Should have heard that guy coming.”

“Don't say that.” He places his flesh hand on top of where yours still rests against his cheek and then brings it in front of his lips, his eyes never leaving yours. “You're okay, and that's the only thing that matters now.”

“Mmm,” you hum, staring at his lips that are no more than an inch away from your hand.

“What are you thinking?” he asks, his voice patient and curious.

You hesitate for a brief moment before leaning forward and pressing your lips to the bruise in a featherlight kiss. You pull back, once more resting your back against the tub and giving him a small shrug.

“Just thinking that I wanted to do that. Have for a while.”

He grins, a faint blush taking over the apples of his cheeks.

“Yeah, I'd say you're definitely concussed.”

He then presses his lips to the side of your hand, causing goosebumps to form across your skin despite the warm water that you sit in.

You chuckle, your smile matching his. “I am,” you agree. “But the concussion will go away soon, and I'll still want to kiss you then, too.”

“I hope that you will do just that.”

••••••

One month later

You wake up to the smell of campfire smoke that creeps through the crack in the partially zipped tent.

Despite a thick sleeping bag, multiple blankets, and the plush sweater that you wear, you can't help but shiver.

Something is missing.

You look around the tent, your eyes adjusting to the early morning daylight that filters into the tent.

Someone is missing.

You reluctantly exit your cozy sleeping bag, shoving your wool sock covered feet into your boots and crawling out of the tent.

Bucky is facing away from you, cracking an egg into a pan that is positioned over the fire.

“Good morning,” you murmur as you creep up behind him, wrapping an arm around his midsection. He wraps his own arm around your shoulders, pulling you flush against him and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“Morning, sleepy head,” he teases softly. “What's on the agenda today?”

“Maybe some hiking, maybe some biking,” you shrug into him. “Maybe a little bit of you keeping me warm in that tent.”

He laughs, more carefree than you've ever seen him before.

“See? It's a good thing that your trip got postponed. What if I wasn't here to keep you warm?”

You raise up to capture his lips in yours, the taste of fresh brewed French press coffee on his breath.

“Remind me to thank Fury for that when we get back.”

thank you so much for reading 💕🫶🏻 comments and reblogs are infinitely appreciated!!

[ashleysturn]

red light pt. 1 - chris sturniolo

(pt. 2)

overview: you’ve been hanging out at the triplets house a lot recently. lately you’ve been having some feelings for chris. you’re hanging out alone with him when he offers to take you for a drive.

nsfw

<———————————————💋———————————————>

“y/n wanna go for a drive or something?” chris breaks the silence

“i’m so scared for the world now that you got your license chris” i nervously laugh and shake my head

“it’ll be fine, cmon” chris laughs. he stands up and grabs the keys to his new car

i sigh and follow after him. i get in the passenger seat and buckle up.

i text nick before me and chris leave, just in case he wakes up and wonders where we are

1:03am- me n chris are going for a drive

1:04am- oh good fucking luck lmao

1:05am- sorry did i wake u up lol

1:06am- no ur good, but tighten ur seatbelt loll

“anywhere specific you wanna go?” chris asks

i shake my head. “no not really”

chris starts the engine of the car and buckles up. he connects his phone to the bluetooth and puts on some music that we both like.

i dance in my seat and sing to the music along with chris. occasionally he looks over at me to exchange a smile.

<———————————————💋———————————————>

“CHRIS SLOW DOWN!” i reach over to his hands on the wheel

he just laughs “its fine y/n nobody drives on this road”

“you’re not just going to run straight though a red light!”

“i’m serious it’s fine” chris has such a nonchalant tone to his voice

“not funny. i’m serious slow down!” i pull on his arm to get his full attention

he rolls his eyes but taps on the breaks to slow down the car. “you’re no fun”

the car slows to a stop at the red light.

“why are there lights on this road there’s no traffic.” chris says while turning up the music

i just shrug my shoulders. i look over at him. the red light shining on his face makes him look so attractive for some reason. i keep my eyes on his profile

chris looks over to me and smiles with his pretty teeth. i smile back.

he then looks up at the red light, back at me, then checks his side mirrors. suddenly the car is driving through the red light.

“chris!” i shout out

“it’s fine there’s no one on this road.” he laughs and rolls down my window

the adrenaline coursing though my body makes me giggle.

why am i actually enjoying this

i unbuckle my seatbelt and stick my arms and head out the window. my skirt lifts up a bit from the wind, revealing my upper thighs. i can feel chris’s eyes burning on me.

“hey careful” he laughs. he reaches over and places his hand on my thigh, the sudden contact sending electricity throughout my body

i bite my bottom lip and sit back down on the seat

“oh now looks who’s being no fun” i tease

“oh yeah? no fun?” chris smiles mischievously

as he speeds the car back up he trails his hand further up my thigh, reaching almost up to the elastic of my panties. i instinctively part my legs a bit, and i see chris smirk out of my peripheral

“chris” i say barely above a whisper

“hm?” he glances over at me

“nothing.” i look down at his hand and bite my lip. chris’s eyes follow mine

<———————————————💋———————————————>

the car slows to a stop, chris is pulling the car over.

“everything okay?” i ask

“mhm” he nods

“why are you pulling over?”

chris doesn’t answer. he puts the car in park and turns up the music

he reaches over and gently holds my face with his big hands. without a second thought i lean over the center console and kiss him.

“woah” i accidentally say out loud after pulling away. chris laughs

“woah” he mocks

“shut up” i push him playfully

he tucks my hair behind my ear and leans back in to place his lips back onto mine. i wrap my arms around him

chris leans over past me and fidgets around under the seat

“what’re you doing chris?”

suddenly my seat crashes back “shit!” i laugh

“who says i’m no fun?” he teases, now hovering above me

i look up at him and tug at his shirt

“woah” he mocks me again before pulling off his shirt and throwing it into the back seat.

no fucking way this is happening

“this okay?” he trails his hand down to pull at the waistband of my skirt. i nod my head. chris pulls down my skirt and panties and discards them in the back seat with his shirt.

he runs his hand through my folds before placing the tips of his fingers on my clit

“fuck-“ i throw my head back in pleasure

“mm so pretty” chris whispers into my ear before placing wet kisses down my neck.

<———————————————💋———————————————>

suddenly i awake to chris rubbing my arm comfortingly.

“hey you good?”

my mind goes blank that was just a dream?! i shake my head.

“oh uh yeah. where are we?” i look out the window of the car

“just going for a drive, you must’ve drifted off to sleep” he pauses “i thought you were having a nightmare you were getting all squirmy” he laughs

my face goes red “uh yeah i was.” i force a laugh.

the car slows to a stop at a red light. “wanna just head back to my place?” chris suggests.

<———————————————💋———————————————>

hehe hope y’all like this. already working on part 2🙂‍↕️

an: not fully proofread bc i’m lazy

[almondamaretto]

sunday

matt sturniolo x reader

summary: a rainy sunday afternoon is perfect for two things: getting high, and making out with hot people.

warnings: weed, kissing

a/n: i lowk hate this but idc!

not proof read.

✄┈┈┈┈

she stirred as the familiar vibration of a phone call interrupted her deep slumber, slinging her arm around in search of the agitating device. without lifting her head, her fingertips fell upon the cool, glossy screen of her phone. 

she opened her eyes just to squint them closed at the bright phone screen, the caller id reading off "matty b." 

pressing the bright green button, she pulled the phone up to her ear and slung her arm over her eyes, blocking any light from seeping in. 

"hey matt." she answered in a groggy voice that nearly resembled that of a whine. he always loved the way she sounded in the morning. or all the time really. 

she could hear the distant sounds of wheels driving on wet pavement and cars passing. that along with the poor bluetooth connection through is car told her he was driving. 

"hey doll, i'm on my way to your house right now, that ok? nick and chris are being annoying." 

slightly more awake now, she could hear the sleepiness in his voice, as if he too had just woken up. she pulled the phone from her ear to check the time. 12:32pm 

"say, it’s a bit early for you, isn't it?" she asked in a teasing manner, suppressing a yawn. she could now hear the faint sound of rain against her window. 

matt snorted in amusement, "yeah, the two idiots woke me up screaming at each other." 

"that's alright, I'll go unlock my door. see ya soon?" 

"i'm 5 minutes away." 

"be safe, bye matt." 

"bye, doll." 

doll. 

matt had used the nickname throughout their entire relationship. 

still, it never failed to bring heat to her face, her neck--all over. 

she remained in bed for a few moments, letting herself fully wake up before tossing her heavy comforter off. 

she shivered at the chilly air suddenly caressing her exposed skin, standing up and stretching her arms high into the air, inhaling deeply. 

she slipped a pair of socks on as a barrier between her feet and the cold floor, slipping out of her cozy room into the main section of her apartment. 

the cool, metallic texture of her lock was a stark contrast to her warm hands as she turned it, peeking out from behind her curtain to see what was happening outside. 

she waltzed over to her turntable, flicking it on and letting the record already on the platter play.  

as she walked over to her kitchen, the familiar crackling sounded throughout the apartment, followed by the reggae notes of bob marley's "three little birds." 

the sound of lucky charms cereal clinking against a ceramic bowl masked the noise of her door opening and shutting. so, when a slightly damp matt saw her swaying slightly to the music, he couldn't help himself. 

he snuck up behind her, wrapped his hands around her front, just under her loose baby tee, and lifted her up. "boo!" 

she yelled out in fear, until she recognized the voice of the man he startled her. "matthew!" she scolded in an angry tone. 

matt sat her back down gently, and dropped his head in fake guilt, failing to mask his sly smirk. "sorry, i couldn't pass up an opportunity like that." 

"first of all, fuck you. second of all, 'boo' is crazy." she responded through her laugh and turned to finish her much-needed bowl of sugary cereal. 

matt reached up beside her for a bowl--one from a different set--as a way to ask her for cereal. she filled both up with cereal and milk without a word. 

"i'm too cold for this shit." she mumbled under her breath and padded back into her welcoming bedroom. 

the sky outside was dark, so she turned on her array of string lights and lit a cinnamon scented candle, joining matt who had already climbed into her warm, plush bed. 

"i fucking love this bed." matt groaned out int pleasure, sprawling his limbs out as much as he could without risking spilling milk. 

she took a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and grabbed her tv remote, powering it on. "what do you wanna watch?" 

"gravity falls." he spoke from behind a mouth full of food. 

then, the two just sat in comfortable silence. bob marley playing lowly in the background, the television turned up just loud enough to hear it, wrapped in the comfort of her sheets. 

cereal bowls placed on her nightstand with care, the two cuddled into each other, legs tangled as she hugged his torso, head laying on his chest. 

they both recognized the palpable tension that followed them everywhere. they both knew there was something there. something unspoken. 

but that it what it remained--unspoken. neither took any action, too afraid of the outcome. 

matt glanced down at her, watching her eyelashes bat as she blinked, focused intently on the screen. however, as if she could tell, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. 

panicking, he looked back at the tv screen, urging himself to breathe normally. 

she stood up, a faint smirk painted on her beautiful face. "i have a great idea!" she said proudly, spinning to unlock one of her many windows to open it slightly. 

matt watched her intently as she bent over to look in the drawers of her nightstand, pulling out the essentials for a joint. "there's a reason we get along so well." he responded happily. 

she took mock offense. "what, its not my winning personality?"

"i guess that too."

"i'm gonna go flip the record, will you please roll it?" she asked with big pleading eyes, grinning widely when he nodded his head. 

upon her return, she saw him focused intently on creating the perfectly rolled joint. chewing on her lower lip, she watched as he rolled it tightly between his fingers, stinging his tongue out of his mouth to seal it shut. 

once finished, he held up the small object with a proud smile on his face. she giddily climbed back into the bed, placing the filter end between her lips, and lighting the end. 

she inhaled deeply, ignoring the burning in her throat, and passed it over to matt. 

exhaling, she once again snuggled into his side, craving his warmth. 

they passed the drug back and forth, enjoying the intoxicating feeling swarming their brains. her eyes had dropped down and turned red, and her need to be close to matt grew even stronger. 

at this point she had tuned gravity falls out, instead taking interest in the way the smoke lifted and swirled throughout her room, taking on the color of the few and far between sun rays that filtered through the rainclouds.

the sound of the rain falling against her balcony outside was comforting, nearly as much as matt pressed up against her, his heart beating steadily against her head.

passing it back once more to matt, she looked deeply into his eyes, refusing to look away, other than a quick few glances at his pink lips. she took her own in between her teeth. 

matt took a large hit, thankful for the drug's confidence boost, and brought his free hand up to her face. 

warily, he inched closer to her, pulling her closer with his hand. 

their lips were inches apart when he used his thumb to part them gently, tilting his head and blowing the vapor into her willing lungs. 

her hand snaked up to the back of his neck where she gripped the short hairs, and she exhaled the smoke. 

they paused for a moment, and in a quick decision she grabbed the thoroughly smoked roach, turned to snuff it out in her bedside ash tray, and turned back around to smash her lips against matt's. 

she was filled with the warmth she so desperately craved and needed. she straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, shuttering as he traced up and down her sides and back with his. 

the music playing from the other room was forgotten about along with the cartoon show on the tv. all of their thoughts were consumed by each other. 

slipping his tongue into her mouth, he tilted his head and brought a slender hand up to push her even closer to him, if it was possible. 

they fought over dominance of the kiss, exploring each other's mouths with need, short, breathless whines falling from their throats. 

without hesitation, matt flipped them over completely, so he was laying his weight on top of her.  

Small hands caressed his face and gently tugged on his hair, wet noises making both faces heat up in embarrassment. 

finally, they pulled away to catch their breath, chests heaving and pressing against one another with each intake of breath. both were left speechless, gazing into each other's eyes with starstruck looks of awe and affection. 

it wasn't long before matt leaned back in, this time acting with double the desire, twice the passion as before. 

they made out for what seemed like hours--it probably was--rolling around in her warm bed, impossibly tangling themselves in her cream-colored bedsheets. 

the only breaks they took were to breathe and for short, affectionate conversations which always led back to them shoving their tongues down each other's throats. 

they pulled apart again, still breathing heavily. 

"matt, y'know... i've-i've never liked someone the way i like you.” 

he smiled against her lips, placing a few more longing kisses on them. 

tucking hair behind her ear and holding both sides of her face, he stared intensely into her eyes. 

“i am in love with you, doll.” he confessed truthfully. 

she beamed with joy, her sheepish reaction telling him she felt exactly the same way. 

“even when you have really messy hair and a little bit of dribble on your chin.” he teased and wiped her pointy chin with his slender thumb.

she rolled her droopy eyes and shook her head, her giddy smile never leaving her red, swollen lips “just shut up and kiss me, idiot.” 

[inkskinned]

your phone is still saved in my car's bluetooth memory and my phone still has nick's speakers system saved and every time i switch my pillowcases i do it the way regina taught dominic who taught me how to do it too.

i still flinch because of how [ ] hurt me yeah but a few weeks ago alex and i sat on their floor and talked about how i am able to touch the people i love now, when four years ago i couldn't stand any human contact at all, horrified by the way it made my skin crawl

i didn't remember about the trip we took once up into the rivers and mountains, how you'd been there too, wading deep in the water, how i gave you a rock after. i was scrolling in my instagram history trying to find something else completely and then all the sun of the day came back, how you and me and crisco and maddie all howled songs in the car the whole ride home, my foot to the floorboards, absolutely speeding. i take a lot of pictures because my brain barely holds my own name (it's like the scene in spongebob all the time up there, i tell ziara, because i talk on the phone now, a lot, the way you taught me to enjoy) and the pictures are really good because they're filled with my friends and my activities and the light in my life and the pictures are also really bad because sometimes i am reminded that i used to be horribly in love with you, the kind of love that blots out the sun and moon, no matter how many times other people said she's not good for you

so i go through my memories carefully like stepping through a blackberry bush because i don't know if im embarrassed or hurt but it doesn't feel good and my spotify still has the playlist saved from your birthday party like four years ago and google maps still remembers alison's old address on melrose street even though she moved like forever ago and in my notes app i have like 106 non sequiturs i can no longer parse but they must have been important enough to write down so i don't delete them just-in-case their meanings reveal themselves like fog parting over the bluegreen hills

the birds are singing and i know how to identify a robin because of edie and i know how to make a souffle set properly because molly showed me, her hair untangling from her high bun, gentle and pretty; and i know how to bake because my mama taught me and i had forgotten i wrote you a love poem but then onedrive says today in your memories

[sturnsmadl]

Bsf!Nick headcannons

Bsf!Nick who loves going shopping with u

Bsf!Nick who always talks about boys with u

Bsf!Nick who always tries to get u to admit u like one of his brothers.

“you like matt!”

“no! nick! i don’t!”

Bsf!Nick who always picks your outfits for dates.

Bsf!Nick who always has something to tell u.

“finally u picked up. guess what i just found out!”

Bsf!Nick who is always at ur house.

“ur new skincare is amazing.”

Bsf!Nick who always wants to go get dinner every night.

Bsf!Nick who thinks ur taste is questionable.

“ew..what the fuck is that..”

“nick! he’s nice.”

“he looks like he negotiated his way onto earth..”

Bsf!Nick who holds ur hair back when u are sick.

Bsf!Nick who says u ‘bluetooth’ him ur cold.

Bsf!Nick who doesn’t let anyone disrespect u.

“u not gonna say sorry for bumping into her?”

“nick just leave it it’s fine.”

if u would like to be on my taglist click here!

@bellaonthelow @muchloveforhacker @moonk1ss3d @sturnclouds @christophersgf @ellizzyy

[cottoncandyswisherz]

the sidequest

nick x male!reader (obviously)

warnings: nothing

-

it was graduation night. THANK GOD. nick was in the backyard of someone he did not know with his friends, taking in the feeling of finally being free from the chains of high school when he felt a tap on his shoulder. immediately frightened, he let out a shriek and turned around swiftly.

"holy shit! why are you screaming?!" you asked, having been shocked by him yourself.

"why the fuck would you creep up behind me like a fucking psychopath?!" nick asked his own question in his defense.

"i don't know but why are we yelling?"

this made nick come to his senses and he began taking you in bit by bit, examining every feature he had access to.

tall. black hair. brown eyes. pretty teeth. slight stubble.

he was snapped out of his thoughts by his friends laughing and telling him they'd find him later.

no crushes on the most obvious straight guy, nick. NONE!

you decided to go back to your original approach, trying to be suave and cool. "look, im sorry for scaring you." you flashed a smile and stuck your hand out as an olive branch. "i'm y/n."

nick hid his attraction to your smile by looking at you quizzically and accepting your handshake. "nick."

"i know who you are." you laughed. "you were in my english class first semester."

nick arched an eyebrow and "so why are you just now speaking to me?"

"because when alahna was telling you about how cameron brinks ghosted her, you said, and i quote "i'd never talk to the bums at this school." so i figured, since i don't go to this school anymore, i can get to know you." you flashed yet another smile.

"so.... youre.... a homosexual?" nick was in shock. this couldn't be happening. this HAD to be satire.

"i believe they call it 'gay' these days." you laughed at his wording. "but if that how you wanna put it, then yes, nick. im a homosexual."

fuck. the way you said his fucking name....

nick was ripped out of his thoughts.

"so... would you wanna make a side quest with me? i gotta go to 7/11 for cups because i'm the only sober one and the dummies wanna play beer pong."

"uh..." nick turned to look at his brothers and friends who were all in their own conversation without him. fuck it we ball. "sure but you hav to drive because i don't have a license."

"youre 18 with no license?"

nick rolled his eyes. "don't piss me off, you were doing great."

"oh i was?" you smirked and lifted an eyebrow, stepping closer to him.

nick felt an assault on his senses and he inhaled in shock at your close proximity. but he only made matters worse when he smelled your cologne.

subtle. woodsy.

he had to get the fuck away from you.

"okay just let me go tell them i'm leaving for a second." he said quickly, then walked away promptly.

he walked up to his group, who were laughing about something that was probably so idiotic. when he approached them, they immediately stopped what they were doing and waited for nick to go on a tangent about the attractive guy he was just getting friendly with.

but he didn't. he simply said, "we're going to 7/11. what do you want?" and of course he was met with an array of requests that he couldn't keep up with so he groaned and said "just text the groupchat."

five minutes later and nicks in the passenger seat of a vehicle with someone he'd just met, and he couldn't even bring himself to care.

y/n connected the bluetooth and hit shuffle on his playlist but turned the volume to barely audible.

so he wants to talk....

"so rate your personal 'just graduated high school' experience."

"definately a 10/10. me and my brothers have a youtube channel so now that we're done with school we can fully focus on that."

"yeah, i heard about that. you guys are pretty big right?"

"i mean we have a plaque so..."

y/n laughed at the confirmation.

they rode in blissful ignorance of the rest of the world. talking about everything and nothing at all at the same time.

"no, planet her is superior to scarlet in everyway" y/n argued.

"you have to be joking. scarlet was her comeback. it was proof that she still has it and doesnt give a fuck about the haters who claim to be supporters."

"true. i guess it all depends on how you view music." y/n spoke. "when i'm listening to music i'm looking for relatability. i think i just relate to planet her more right now because it has everything, turn up music, sad music, and that's where i'm at right now... all over the place."

"you can fucking say that again." nick agreed. "i have no idea what the fuck is going on most of the time."

time went on and it seemed like 7/11 was a forgotten dream between the two.

"i'm a d1 ranch hater..." nick admitted after they'd stopped for nuggets and y/n asked for ranch as his dipping sauce.

"fucking psycho"

and that was the end of that debate.

"where do you think you'll be in 10 years?" y/n asked.

"um.. hopefully alive, yknow? that would be ideal."

"right."

"i hope i'm more independent. i wanna have more personal experiences that don't have anything to do with matt or chris." y/n just nodded because his sister was four years younger than him so he couldn't relate, but he wanted nick to know that he understood. "and i pray i'll have gotten my license. um.... i want a house, just by myself. i want to just have my own space. maybe a dog... i don't really know."

"what kind of dog?"

"something small. i have one now, his names trevor."

"i have a pit. her names roxie and she's the laziest creature known to man."

nick laughed at that. "no trevor's lazy too. but he's older now so i guess he's earned the lazy bum title."

"true that."

finally they reached 7/11.

it wasn't that cold outside because it was the end of may but it was a bit windy, which nick vocalized, resulting in y/n taking off his hoodie and handing it to him.

i know you think this was a cute gesture but you're wrong. it was a sexy gesture.

when y/n raised his arms, his shirt rode up a bit, so nick could see the bottom of his stomach and the small tuft of hair leading to the waistband of his sweats damn near had nick foaming at the mouth.

"here." y/n handed nick the hoodie, snapping him out of his vulgar thoughts.

entering the store nick and y/n went their separate ways, y/n getting the cups and nick getting the snacks for his friends. when they got to counter nick waited for y/n to pay for the cups only to be told, "put your stuff on the counter."

and that was that.

back in the car, they didn't really talk. just listened to music and sat in a comfortable silence. 

when nick and y/n got back to the party, nicks group was curious to know what the fuck went on in the hour they were gone and y/ns friends wanted to know why he took an hour to get solo cups. so they went their separate ways and continued having fun with their friends. 

but the rest of the night, nick couldn't forget the fact that y/n never asked for his number or anything so how the fuck were they ever gonna talk again. 

and they had to talk again.

but y/n never came up to him. never even looked in his direction.

and my the time nick sent the "my crew let's go!" text to the groupchat, he'd convinced himself that this awesome guy he'd just went on an adventure with was a one time experience. 

until... 

niyah speaks sum slight finally did my taglist guys yaya

taglist: @mattslolita @muwapsturniolo @jnkvivi @sturnsslut @zniyadgaf @koilaniazul @thisisntmattsturniolo @nyktoxs-lover @l0akkzz

[e-dubbc11]

this is for the sleepover summer song:

idk if the song fits but this does remind me of summer 🥺

Hello my sweet friend! Thank you for this ask. This song is SO fun! Oh, I didn’t know who you had in mind for this but I went with Tattoo Artist and Dad! Billy. I hope you like it and thank you again for participating in my summer sleepover♥️

Happy

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Tattoo Artist Billy Russo x F! Reader & Family

Warnings: None. Pure fluff

Word Count: 1.3K-ish

Summary: Little Raven and Dylan love to have dance parties every day after coming home from daycare.

A/N: Part of The Sweetest Pain Series. I’ll link the rest of the series HERE

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

Working a full time job and trying to take care of two kids was exhausting even though you had plenty of help. It was a little easier when Anna was in school all day so you only had to pay for Dylan to go to daycare but now that she was out of school for the summer months, they were both going and it was just go, go, go from the time you got up until you went to bed.

They didn’t go every day though; Maria watched them one day a week and your mother also took them one day a week. The relationship between the two of you became a little better after you had kids. It still wasn’t the best but it was a start and both Anna and Dylan loved their grammy.

It was a little bit of a further commute to work every day but you and Billy finally bought a house not too long after Dylan was born.

Maria had mentioned there was one for sale a couple of streets over when you went into labor on Halloween with Dylan so she was thrilled when your offer was accepted and you all were now living close by.

Anna Raven, now 6 years old, was growing her own little personality. You could hold conversations with her and she had plenty of opinions of her own.

Baby boy Dylan was two years old, constantly following his big sister around, and just a very happy child; both of your children were. Their smiles matched their father’s but their laugh was all yours.

After your work day was over, you would pick both kids up from wherever they were for the day and head for home. They both loved music, loved to dance, and sing along so Little Raven had gotten into the habit of having, what she called, ��dance parties.”

It was just something fun for the three of you to do for a little while before you started to cook dinner. Billy usually missed them because he was working but Anna would always fill him in on what songs you danced to that day.

It was such a beautiful and warm day that you suggested to Anna and Dylan that you have your dance party outside today. Your perfect little backyard was somewhat hidden from the neighbors with a high fence and flowering shrubs.

Holding your phone and Bluetooth speaker, you looked at the kids and asked them, “What do you guys wanna listen to today?”

Their cheeks were still flushed from running around at daycare all day long but also very excited to be home. They looked forward to their dance parties every day.

In her polka dot dress, Anna clapped her hands together and replied, “Happeeeeeee!!! I wanna listen to Happy, Mommy!”

You turned to Dylan.

“What about you, baby boy? What do you wanna listen to? You wanna listen to Happy too?” You asked.

“Happy, Mommy!” Replied Dylan.

And a dance party wouldn’t be complete without props, so you brought out the toy guitars, tambourines, hats, and sunglasses.

Dylan’s guitar was almost as big as he was while you preferred the tambourine so you could do your best Stevie Nicks impersonation. And Little Raven loved wearing sunglasses and big hats while singing into your hairbrush.

“Happy it is then! Ok, you guys ready?” You asked them, excitedly.

Dylan gave you the thumbs up which was his new way of saying “yes,” and Anna said, “Hit it, Mommy!”

No record deal, no dream fulfilled,

No three minute video

No catchy jingle,

No big hit single playing on the radio

Watching your children dance and sing in the backyard made your heart soar. They loved it and you did too. You only wished Billy were here to see it.

Can make me happy

Can make me feel the way you do

You make me happy

I wanna make You happy too

You make me happy

You make me happy

What you didn’t know is Billy had come home from the studio earlier than he usually did and the music was so loud, none of you heard him call out to you. He walked through the house calling out for anyone that would answer and that’s when he heard the music coming from the backyard.

You were having such a good time, that you didn’t notice Billy was watching from the back door. A wide smile played across his lips while his family put on an outdoor concert.

No flashy cars, no movie stars,

No man, woman, boy or girl

No fancy things, no diamond rings,

Nothing in the whole wide world

“Sing, Mommy!” Little Raven exclaimed.

Can make me happy

Can make me feel the way You do

You make me happy

I want to make You happy too

You make me happy

You make me feel the way I do

You make me happy

I wish the whole world knew You too

The late afternoon sun warmed the high points of your face as you took Anna’s hand to spin her in a circle. Dylan clumsily strummed the strings on his toy guitar and danced as you continued to sing to both of them while Billy chuckled from the doorway.

Little Raven was the first to notice her dad.

“Hi Daddy!!! Sing to Daddy, Mommy!” She said.

“Oh Daddy doesn’t wanna here me sing, baby girl.” You said.

Billy flashed his million-dollar smile at you.

“Sure I do, sweet girl.” He said with a wink, walking out into the backyard.

No I cannot count the ways

You have made my life so blessed

All I know is that You came

And made beauty of my mess

Said I cannot count the ways

You have made my life so blessed

All I know is that You came

And made beauty of my mess

Those words to the song were a perfect description of how you felt about Billy and your children. It is fitting that the kids picked that song on the day that their father came home early and watched their backyard dance party.

You make me happy

I want to make You happy too

You make me happy

You make me feel the way I do

You make me happy

I wish the whole world knew You too

He pulled you in close to him while the kids danced around you with his arms wrapped tightly around your waist, he asked, “I make you happy, baby?”

Raking your nails against his scalp, you bit back a smile and wrinkled your nose. “You make me very happy, my love. Plus, look at how happy you made these guys by coming home early. Now you can participate in the dance party too!” You said and gently pressed your lips to his.

“Oh no…you know I don’t dance, sweet girl.” Said Billy, shaking his head.

Looking down at Anna Raven, you pointed and said, “Look at that face, tell me you’re NOT gonna dance with your little miss?”

Anna then climbed on top of Billy’s feet and grabbed his hands. She looked up him with her big dark chocolate colored eyes, pouted a little and begged, “Pleeeeeeease, Daddy.”

Billy shook his head, pointed his finger at her and said, “You learned that look from your mother.”

He started moving his feet so it looked like Little Raven was dancing as you picked up Dylan, held him against your chest and started dancing with him.

“I’m dancing with Daddy, Mommy!” Exclaimed Anna.

When Billy saw how happy it made Little Raven to be able to dance with her dad, all of the embarrassment went away and he was all smiles.

“I’ll try and make it home in time for more of these, baby.” Said Billy.

With Anna on top of his feet, he moved closer to you, and met your gaze with his own. Billy paused to smile at you again before he kissed you. Being this close to him, you could smell the green soap on his clothes and taste the peppermint gum on his lips.

You loved him so much.

Looking down at Anna and then over at Dylan, you smiled and replied, “We’d love that.”

Tag List: @wheresthesunshinesblog @idaoftheburningmind @rafaelakelley @snowkestrel @fakehappy27 @music-indie-tv @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @fictional-hooman @gijos @celestialend @nutmeg17 @k-marzolf @vaguekayla @rosaleenablack @qu1etwolf @danzer8705 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @mysteriouslydeafeningwerewolf @aoi-targaryen @rachlovesactors

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If you’d like to be added (or removed from) my tag list(s) for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕 If I tagged you but you didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

A Sweet Mishap- Chapter 16

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader 

A/N: I just want to start by thanking everyone for all the love on this story so far. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list. This chapter is a little heavier (as is the story going forward, but I'll include potential triggers for each chapter as relevant), so please read the TW below and only read on if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, this chapter's a little longer since I likely won't be able to upload this Friday due to work commitments.

Potential Trigger Warnings: none

A Sweet Mishap Masterlist | Main Masterlist

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Stella’s house is a bustle of energy by 10am. The hair stylist and make up artist are setting up while the photographer is milling around getting photos of the dress and accessories as they get laid out. Me, Stella and the bridesmaids are all sipping fresh coffees as we try to wake up. The excitement is definitely in the air, but so is the tiredness from the early wake up call. I lay out some freshly baked breakfast snacks, kindly donated by Stewie for the big day; while he declined to do the cake weeks ago, once he got back in the kitchen he promised to provide some light snacks for the morning. We are all thankful for his contribution, as none of us feel like cooking. 

Felicity and Gabriella are the first in the chairs; while they of course want to spend the most time on the bride, it’s also important that she’s the freshest. I enjoy sitting back, relaxing and snacking while I wait for my turn. While I wait, I scroll through my photos for the hair and makeup inspiration pics I took offline and then connect up to Stella’s bluetooth speaker and put on some music to boost the mood. The stylists start some small talk about the bride and groom, how they met, the bachelorette party, the plans for tonight, anything they can think of to build the excitement. We all join in, sharing happy and funny stories. 

After a while, Stella and I are finally sitting side-by-side as the stylist brushes and curls her hair and the beautician applies foundation to my face. It’s everything I could have dreamed it would be, and I can’t help but hope that one day the roles are reversed and she’s by my side while they’re styling my hair for my wedding. I push the thought away before I can imagine any other parts of that fictional day, like who the groom could be. Instead, I root myself in the present, wanting to enjoy this day for what it is: one of the best days of my best friend’s life and so by default, mine.

A few hours later, me and the bridesmaids are helping eachother into our dresses carefully, trying our best not to disturb our hair and makeup. The stylists are still standing around on standby to complete any final touchups, but we all know there isn’t time for a redo if we mess anything up too much. Once we’re all dressed, we finally help Stella into her snow-white ballgown-style wedding dress. I help straighten out the off-shoulder straps over her biceps, ensuring the sequins don’t scratch her, while Felicity carefully kneels down to fluff out the skirt. I then pull her hair out from where it caught in the back of her dress and smooth it out along her back, careful not to catch or pull on her perfectly styled curls and bun. 

When I come back around in front of her I take both of her hands in mine. “So beautiful, Nick isn’t gonna know what hit him.” The bridesmaids agree with me, gushing over the fully-dressed bride. We all put on the final touches like our shoes and jewellery while the stylists check and touch up our hair and makeup as necessary, just before we’re interrupted by a car horn outside. I look over at Stella with a big smile, “Time to go marry yourself a husband!”

Stella squeals with excitement. We collect our bouquets and purses and head outside. There are two classic cars in the driveway all decorated up; one for me and Stella and one for the other two bridesmaids. I help Stella in, being sure not to crumple her dress or veil or get it caught in the door when I shut it behind her, I then round the car and get in the other side. The bridesmaid’s car pulls out first and then ours follows a close distance behind. Stella’s knee bounces all the way to the chapel. I let her squeeze my hand as she tries to steady her nervous excitement. 

When the cars pull up out the back, the carpark is already full and her parents are waiting by the door. I get out and then help Stella out before straightening out her dress and making sure she looks perfect. I then hand her over to her parents. They pull her in for a big hug as I step to the side with Felicity and Gabriella. The three of us walk inside and stand just behind the doors in a line as one of the organisers explains the process to us, despite having gone through a full rehearsal last night. I smile back at Stella, standing between her parents as I hear the bridal march begin to play through the chapel. As the organisers push open the large wooden doors everyone stands and turns around. Felicity and Gabriella start to walk down the aisle first, followed by me and then finally Stella and her parents. As I look up at Nick I can see the tears in his eyes as he focuses on his beautiful bride. I smile brighter. Once I reach the front I step to the side and face the crowd as I watch Stella step up to her husband-to-be. He kisses her cheek and takes her hands as her parents pass her to him. I step forward to take her bouquet before standing back to the side. She gives me a grateful smile before focusing fully on her groom and I just know that everyone else has fallen away in their minds and it’s just the two of them there together.

The ceremony is beautiful, it goes perfectly according to plan, just as everything in their life does. The celebrant welcomes everyone and starts the ceremony before prompting them to share their personalised vows. They both share their promises and words of love through teary eyes before exchanging their rings. Then, after sharing a passionate kiss, they run hand-in-hand back down the aisle, out the wooden doors and into a waiting car. Everyone follows behind to see them off. We wave excitedly as they zoom off for a private photoshoot before the reception. As everyone mills around outside and chats, I try to emerse myself in idle conversation to pass time. The doors to the restaurant won’t open for a little while so we need to pass time. Eventually, once the sun is beginning to set everyone starts to file into their cars and make their way over to the venue; I want to be in there and set up before the bride and groom make their big entrance. Gabriella, Felicity and I catch a ride with Travis in the hire car they came in, Travis rode with the groom so is happy to drive the rental with us. 

The restaurant is beautifully decorated, just as we left it. With party favours on each table and stunning centrepieces, made up of flower arrangements. Each seat is labelled to match the seating plan that I’d painstakingly helped Stella and Nick create to ensure the smoothest night possible. Most people get along, but every family has those few people that are best kept apart for whatever reason. Everything is exactly as I remember except a small stage set up in the corner with a sound system and instruments. Despite no one being near them, quiet music is playing behind the chatter of everyone’s conversations about how great the service was and how beautiful everything is and just catching up in general. It’s amazing how weddings can bring everyone together, I see people you haven’t spoken to in years. Of course, I don’t no many people there, but that’s okay, today’s not about me. I’m just thrilled for Stella. 

I visit the bar and order a wine to get my night started before I move around the room doing my best to mingle and chat with her family and a few of our shared friends from college that I haven’t spoken to in a while. Most of them have partners accompanying them, but a few are single. After a while, everyone finally takes their allocated seats. A few gasps and whispered chatter ring out around the room seconds before live music starts to play from behind me. Just as I’m about to turn around everyone starts to cheer as the bride and groom make their big entrance. I join them clapping and cheering as yI give them the biggest smile as they make their way – the long way around – to their seats in the middle of the bridal table. It’s only when I turn to look over at Stella and Nick that I catch the band in my peripheral vision and my jaw drops. 

I force myself to keep my focus on the lovely new couple and not make eye contact with the man expertly strumming his guitar from the small stage. The raging ball of guilt in my stomach does a sommersault and I feel sick but push it back down. Thankfully, Travis takes the attention of the room by standing up to toast the newly weds and give a short speech. I keep my eyes firmly on him as he speaks. Once he finishes he nods over to me as he introduces me for the maid-of-honor speech. It takes me a moment to acknowledge him. But once I get ahold of myself, I stand up and focus on my notes as I attempt to deliver the speech smoothly. I push everything else out of my mind for those painfully slow few minutes as I focus on the bride and groom and tell stories about mine and Stella’s friendship and how happy I am that she found Nick and how happy I hope and know they’ll be together as they move into this next stage in their life. I finally raise my glass and everyone cheers. I wink at Stella as I sit down.

Before the meals are set to come out, Stella informs me that she needs to use the bathroom. I follow her in and help her lift up the massive skirt and keep it from getting dirty while she uses the toilet.

“Was that your doing?” I ask as she pees.

“I told you, I got an offer that I couldn’t refuse. Plus, Dean Winchester was my crush first. How could I turn that down. I don’t know what happened or didn’t between the two of you, but he was very persuasive.”

“How? I didn’t…”

“I don’t know how he figured it out but maybe three days ago the venue called me and said someone had offered to play for the wedding, they gave him my number. And as I said, he was very persuasive.” I help Stella fix her dress while she washes her hands. “It’s my wedding, I got a band that I happen to love. If that also results in my best friend getting her plus one and a dance then that’s just a bonus. I hope you know that I expect a full, detailed explanation of everything that has already gone down and everything that goes down while I’m on my honeymoon, once I get back.”

“We’ll see. For now, tonight’s about you! So let’s get you back out there to your husband!” Ilead her back to the table just in time for the alternative drop meals to be delivered. After dinner, each of their parents and a few other guests give speeches before handing back over to the bride and groom to give their speeches to each other. I engross yourself in the speeches to keep my eyes from wandering to the back of the room. Although amongst all the kind words and talk of eternal love I notice that the background music isn’t being played by a live guitar anymore but instead is a quiet pre-recorded romance track. With that revelation, I let my eyes wander and I notice the stage is free of people. Knowing he’s no longer so close behind me, at least for a few minutes I relax slightly. 

By the time all the speeches are over, the band’s back in place playing quietly as Stella and Nick stand in the centre of the room to cut their cake. As the knife scrapes the plate, they kiss and everyone cheers. The staff then come in to take the cake to the kitchen to slice it up and prepare the desserts. My attention is instantly drawn to the band when I hear Jensen’s deep voice sing the first notes to the song Stella picked for their first dance. I’mamazed that he either already knew it or learned it in just a few days. Stella and Nick take eachother’s hands and move slowly in time with the music. I watch as they gracefully move across the floor. Her head rests on his shoulder as he leads. 

As the song ends and the next one starts Felicity and Gabby nudge me and I quickly stand up and take hands with Travis as he leads me to the floor, followed by the two bridesmaids and groomsmen. I do my best to throw myself into the dance and focus on Travis as he leads me, dancing surprising well for what I know of him. Once the song ends I try to pull back but he holds me close. “I know the kind of man you know me to be, but I promised I wouldn’t let you dance alone or sit out tonight.”

“You didn’t have to do that…I’m okay.”

“I did…Stella’s surprisingly scary.” 

I smile and nod, prepared to let him lead me into the next song. But as the next song starts I notice the voice filling the room is different. Someone comes up behind us and places a hand on my shoulder. “Mind if I have this dance?”

I flick my head around to look at the owner of the deep, Texan drawl. 

Travis looks at me to check and I nod. “Alright,” he says as he steps back, “She’s all yours.”

I smile at Travis as he walks off to find someone else to dance with before spinning around and taking Jensen’s hands and letting him sway me with the slow beat. In a hushed voice I say, “I can’t believe you’re here…”

“You stopped answering my messages or calls…What choice did I have?”

“To forget me…Move on?”

He shakes his head. “I know this isn’t the time or place to have the conversation we need to have, so will you meet me tomorrow?” I meet his eyes briefly and nod. “Good, then let’s just enjoy this dance.” I rest my head on his shoulder for the remainder of the song. Just before the song ends he spins me out and back into his chest. “I promised the bride a dance, so I should go. But thank you. I plan to steal another from you later.”

“Yeah, she’s a pretty big Dean fan…She couldn’t believe I didn’t know you.” 

He lets out a little chuckle, “Yeah, you’re rare and special. Save another dance for me later?” I nod and he pulls away and crosses the floor to where Stella and Nick are playfully dancing to the now upper-tempo song. When Jensen cuts into their dance Nick comes over to me. We both stand off to the side, leaning against the bridal table. 

“Hey, so, uh…I owe you an apology,” he says, breaking the awkward silence.

“Nah, it’s alright. You were just looking out for your bride, as you should. I’d be more mad if you didn’t.”

“Maybe, but I did go overboard. I just get protective when it comes to her…But I should’ve known pushing you away would make her mad too. I’m just glad she didn’t call today off.”

“Nah, she wouldn’t, she loves you. And she knows you were acting from a place of love when you did it. So do I. Plus…you weren’t all wrong, but this isn’t the time or place. We should get back out there before your bride physically drags us out there herself.”

“Yeah…thanks for helping make all this happen by the way. I don’t think I ever told you, but you’ve been a massive help. That’s another reason I’ve felt so bad for what I said, despite what I said you kept turning up and helping with everything. You already know she appreciates it, but I do too.”

I look around the room. “I’m just glad it all worked out. You guys deserve a fantastic night.” Not sure what else to say, I take his hand and lead him out onto the dancefloor.

Jensen moves back and forth between the stage and the dancefloor, doing his job performing but also giving the people what they want and dancing with any girl who recognises him. The night’s almost wrapping up by the time he gets back to me. I’m leaning against the wall finishing a glass of wine when he come up to me.

“So, I was just informed the next song’s the last…care to join me?” He holds his hand out to me expectantly. 

I finish the last mouthful of wine, put the empty glass on the nearest table and take his hand. After everything I’ve said and done and after he pushed so hard to be here, I feel you owe it to him, but also I really want to be in his arms again. He leads me into the middle of the room as his bandmate starts to play and sing a slower love song. He pulls me close, his hands resting on the middle of my back, not letting them fall too low. Mine rest around his neck as we sway in time with the music. As the song goes on, he starts to sing along quietly, just loud enough for me to hear. 

“I've been waitin' for so long

For somethin' to arrive

For love to come along

Now our dreams are comin' true

Through the good times and the bad

Yeah, I'll be standin' there by you

Baby you're all that I want

When you're lyin' here in my arms

I'm findin' it hard to believe

We're in heaven

And love is all that I need

And I found it there in your heart

It isn't too hard to see

We're in heaven”

Once the song ends he pulls back, but only far enough that he can make eye contact with me. “Give me a chance…let me come over, or come to my hotel, or meet me somewhere neutral, location doesn’t matter, just please…for whatever reason I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Jens…”

“I’m just asking to talk.”

I nod. “Alright, but somewhere private. We don’t need a repeat of last time, tonight’s gonna be bad enough.”

He nods. “Yeah.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” I hear Stella say from behind us. I pull away from Jensen to face her.

“Congratulatious on the big night. I hope you had a great time,” he says to Stella.

“Thank you. And thank you for coming and playing for us tonight, it was much better than a jukebox. Plus, you made a lot of people’s nights,” she looks at me with a smirk, “Most of all my amazing maid-of-honor here, and believe me, she totally deserved a great night after all the hard work she’s put into making it happen.”

He looks at me and smiles, “Yeah. Well anyway, I better help Steve pack up the gear.”

Once Jensen’s out of ear-shot, Stella says, “I’m so sorry for interrupting, that seemed important, but Nick and I are gonna head out, but I couldn’t disappear on my honeymoon without saying goodbye to you first, and thanking you for everything.”

“I’m just glad you had a great night,” I pull her in for a hug.

When she pulls away she reaches over for her bouquet on the bridal table. “Amid everything I forgot to do the toss, but…” She hands it to me. “Give him a chance. Give yourself a chance.”

“Stel…” I shake my head while smiling at her, “Just go and enjoy your honeymoon. We’ll talk when you get back.”

As Nick approaches, she quickly says, “I’m definitely gonna do that! Thank you, I love you and I’ll talk to you in 10 days!”

He wraps his arms around her waist as he comes up behind her. “You two have fun!”

The remaining guests wave the happy couple out as they run out hand-in-hand. Everyone else filters out pretty quickly after that but I hang around to gather some of the decorations and items that I know Stella will want to keep, such as photos, the wishing well, and the guestbook. Just as I finish getting everything important into a couple of boxes, Jensen comes back up beside me. “Need a hand?”

“I can manage, you should go.”

Felicity call out from the doorway, “Hey Y/N, need a ride? My Uber’s here!”

I look over at her and then back at Jensen apologetically. “Sorry, I should go.”

“Uh, yeah…” he nods, and I pick up one of the boxes but he puts his hand on it to stop me as I turn around. “ Unless, you wanna stay back for a night cap, I can call you a ride after. It doesn’t have to be with me, I can get you your own.”

I hesitate and Felicity calls out again, “Y/N! He’s getting impatient. We gotta go!”

I look between her and Jensen again and then sigh before waving at her and calling out. “You go. I gotta finish up here.”

She rolls her eyes at my hesitation before disappearing outside.

Obviously feeling guilty for putting me in a difficult position, Jensen takes his hand off the box in my hands and apologises.

“It’s fine. I would’ve had to do a few trips and they wouldn’t have liked that either. But I can get my own ride, it’s fine. And, uh, I think they’re gonna kick us out, so the night cap’s probably gonna be out too, sorry.” I look around and notice it’s just the two of us left inside. I put the box back on the table to rest my arms for a moment.

“Alright. How much are you against getting a ride together at least? I don’t wanna overstep or anything. I just want more time,” He gestures at the boxes, “Plus, I could give you a hand with all this.”

I bite my lip as I consider his offer. “Listen, I’m too tired and too tipsy and this is gonna come out all wrong, but I just need you to know that just because you came all this way doesn’t mean I’m going to have sex with you.”

He opens and closes his mouth a few times as he tries to come up with a response. “No, I…I don’t expect you to…That’s not…I wasn’t insinuating.”

I nod. “Alright good. A ride and the boxes. That’s it then. I just need your arms.” I pick up a box and then realise what I said. “That’s not…I just mean…”

“I get it. It’s fine. Let me just call my driver and then I’ll give you a hand with those.” He pulls out his phone.

“Your…driver?” I shake my head. “It must be nice…”

“It’s not what you think. He’s a good friend.” Jensen shakes his head as he holds his phone up to his ear. “Hey Clif…Yeah, I’m ready if you just wanna pull up round back…Yeah…” he glances back over at me with a smile. “We need to make a stop on the way though…Yep, I’ll cover it…See you soon.” He hangs up and leans against the table looking at me before he grabbing the other box and walking out to the parking lot with me. 

While we wait for his friend to bring the car around, he says, “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve been too forward or given the wrong signals. I don’t mean to. I didn’t come all this way to attempt to win you over for sex…I just wanted to give you a reason to talk to me. As I said, I can’t stop thinking about you, and I couldn’t leave things the way we did.”

A large black car pulls up in front of us and a tall, muscular man gets out of the driver’s seat and opens the trunk. Jensen puts his box in and I follow suit. Jensen then opens the back door for me to climb in. I slide over to the far side and he climbs in beside me. Once the driver takes his seat again he turns around, “Where to boss?”

“You can drop the act Clif, she knows you’re a friend.”

“Alright, Boss. Where to?”

Jensen rolls his eyes and then looks over at me. I tell them my address and Clif keys it into the GPS. Despite wanting to use the time to respond to Jensen’s confession outside the restaurant, I feel awkward with his friend in the front seat. Between the nervous energy and the adrenalin in my system, my leg starts to bounce. Jensen notices and after hesitating a few times, finally places his hand on my knee; he doesn’t slide it any higher, just sits it comfortingly on the top of my knee. We endure the rest of the ride in silence until Clif finally finds a park on the street in front of my apartment building.

“Am I waiting?” Clif asks.

Jensen looks at me, smiles and then nods. “I’m just gonna help her with those boxes, I’ll be right back.” I open my door and Jensen follows suit. He opens the trunk and we each take a box and then I lead him inside to the lift.

As I press the button, I look up at him. “You can just leave it, I can manage from here.”

“You don’t want me to see your place?”

“Honestly? Not really…But also, you’ve done more than enough.”

The lift dings as the doors open. He steps inside first, leaving me no choice but to follow. I put the box on the floor so I can press the button for my floor. Once the doors shut he says, “So, am I crazy? Am I chasing something that you’re never gonna be ready for?”

“No. I just have things I need to work through. Trust issues, personal issues, financial issues…Look I’m too tired for this conversation tonight. I know you came all this way, but…”

“Yeah, I came all this way and put you on the spot, which is exactly what I promised I wouldn’t do. I’m sorry.” The doors open and I lead him down to my apartment but stop in front of the door. I pull my keys out of my purse but don’t move to unlock the door. Sensing my uncertainty he places the box on the floor by my feet. “Take the night. I don’t want to push you. Just text me in the morning and let me know what you decide. I will step back completely if that’s what you want or need. But if you want to give us a chance, text me somewhere to meet and we can talk. Okay?”

I nod as I fiddle with the keys. He nods and turns and walks back down the hall to the elevator. I look down at the boxes and notice Stella’s bouquet sticking out the top; her words ring through my head. I look back over at Jensen just as the doors open. I call out, “Meet me at the cafe, 6pm!”

He smiles, nods and then steps inside. Once the doors close I let myself into my apartment, cart in the boxes and dump them in the corner. Not having the energy – physical or mental – to wash off my makeup, undo my hair or shower, I collapse on the couch.

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@winchesterwild78, @kr804573, @chriszgirl92, @smoothdogsgirl

[gard3nias]

14| From five to ten

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wc: 11.44k

date: 21/09/2024

mdi // masterlist // playlist

—Now playing: Nobody by Jeon Soyeon, Winter, Liz (IVE) ✫

The air was fresh and the environment peaceful. The gym doors were slammed closed as they went to the gates that soon opened when the bell rang and pierced through the silence.

Since the weather was gradually getting chillier, hoodies became thicker. Daphne was wearing an oversized pebble-coloured one, dropping almost to mid-thigh and covering most of her hands. Her legs were clad in the jean material of her pants which got wider as they inched closer to her ankles. Her feet, in a pair of old sneakers and her hair, loosely flowing with the wind. She had something slightly more colourful underneath the hoodie but it was too fresh outside and, with it on, her outfit matched her mood so well.

The classes were officially over for the day and students were soon flocking around town going home or hanging out. Daphne and her friends didn’t stop at the terminal to wait for the bus nor was any of their parents there to pick them up. Their first stop was the nearby mall.

The day was very bright thanks to the reflection of the sun's rays through the white clouds. The five friends fully occupied the sidewalk as they approached their destination. Daphne and Cleo were walking right behind Asher with their arms linked and tailing them were Nick and James. Asher was leading the way. Cleo, Nick and James were playing around as usual, trying to include Daphne but she was rather silent, occasionally smiling very lightly. They noticed that but what could they really do?

Soon they were turning on their right to a wide opening where escalators were placed one next to the other. Some went upstairs, others went downstairs. Following Asher’s lead, they went downstairs to the supermarket. To follow through with the boy’s plan, they had to get themselves everything needed for a picnic for which he quickly created a list as they made their way there.

Unlike two months ago, when the sliding doors of the mall opened, the air inside wasn’t noticeably colder but rather the same. Ceiling lights reflected on the tiles and music played through speakers. The mall wasn’t too crowded so the teenagers soon moved to walking on the same line. James, next to Asher and Nick, next to Cleo. Daphne was in the middle subtly feeling out of place.

“Hey, do you think I’m missing anything?” Asher was speaking directly to James, placing his phone in his view. The first word on the list was ‘picnic blanket’. Then came all the ingredients needed to make sandwiches which Asher explained were better because they couldn’t buy hot food like pizza. The list went on with other things and James ended up not adding anything so Asher moved the question to the others.

“We’re going for a picnic?” Daphne’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. This wasn’t the hang-out she was convinced to have agreed to. She was expecting something more… lowkey.

“Do y’all want anything else?” Asher ignored her question and insisted. Cleo simply stated they’d eventually remember everything as they shopped.

As they did so, Daphne tried to wrap her head around how easily her friends were adjusting to Asher’s hang-out idea not knowing it was all a plan. Maybe she was just an overthinker but never in her life would she be able to organize a picnic for five in such a short time.

Her friends were going up and down the store with the little trolley picking food and other necessities, all unfazed so she decided to loosen up and go with the flow. The test didn’t go well for any of them so she couldn’t go on acting like she was the only one hurt—she could do that at home. Now, as they stated, the picnic is supposed to take her mind off it.

“I’m taking this Bluetooth speaker because, without it, it’d seem we’re at a funeral. Music is important, guys,” To Daphne’s surprise—mainly because she wasn’t focused for most of the time—her friends all had a trolley each that they were filling up so her head quickly spun around, hoping she’d just find an empty one abandoned in a corner.

“Y’all? What type of board games should I take?” James called, poking his head into the aisle his friends were in. “Impress me—”

“No, don’t. Just get some cards,” Asher immediately objected to Nick’s words and both the boys chuckled before moving on. Daphne obviously failed at finding an empty trolley so she had to share with Cleo who wasn’t bothered but rather excited. “I have this crazy idea. What if we bought the ingredients for sandwiches and then each of us prepared a customised one dedicated to the other? Creative, ain’t it?”

“Customised?” Cleo nodded, eyes glittering. Daphne just shrugged her shoulders, agreeing with her because she never would’ve come up with it anyway. And, why not?

“Okay then. You get the ingredients and I get the napkins and stuff.”

By the time they were done and at the cashier, the hour hand was minutes away from pointing at three. Knowing that Asher would be the one paying, they didn’t go overboard and all kept a tight budget in mind hence the refusal to buy extra bags for them to carry their goods. As the cashier handed the products out, they replaced them in the trolley and once done paying, they moved aside to place them in their school bags. Cleo ended up putting her things in Daphne’s backpack so hers could contain what they bought and the boys had to squeeze in a few in theirs.

Eventually, Cleo had to give her bag to the guys despite how confident she was about being able to carry it. The walk to the train station wasn’t too long, as calculated by Asher, and it did well for Daphne. Ever since she moved here, she’d never heard of a train station, let alone of going to it.

Minutes in, they were already walking out of the noisy town centre along a peaceful wide road. It wasn’t too busy allowing their eardrums to relax and vibrate less. The road seemed to trail in between the hills. Greenland was everywhere around them but there were just fields. Barely any trees in view.

A few more minutes passed before a familiar sound caught Daphne’s attention. Her friends were too distracted chit-chatting and even if they weren’t, it wouldn’t have bothered them as much since it’s not their first time. Daphne has already travelled by train a few times. Was very familiar with subways but she believed she wouldn’t see a train again unless she went to the city.

A train had just left from its platform heading to its next stop. The sound rumbled through the air, fading the farther it went. The station didn’t look new or as modern as some in the city nor was it not taken care of. It was cute, she thought. As cute and cosy as a countryside train station could be. It didn’t have steam trains obviously—too old—but it also didn’t have bullet-like trains that move at high speeds. Also, it wasn’t too busy, almost silent. Seemed like there was never a moment in the day when it couldn’t be.

“How many stops exactly?” Cleo’s question called for Daphne’s attention, pausing her little sightseeing moment. The station barely had any shelter in the form of a room. Had many glass doors and windows. One of the many forms of shelters was the one above their heads as they went up to a machine and bought their tickets.

Platform number two. Since they couldn’t do much to have her talk and put an end to the nerve-wracking silent show she’s been putting up, her friends proceeded, leading the way as they had their little conversation. Daphne didn’t mind at all because it allowed her to resume her previous activity. There were a few people at other platforms waiting for their train. Some were sitting, others were standing. She checked and, for the time being, there was no incoming train. Quickly, she focused on what was ahead of her so she wouldn’t roll down the stairs, pushing her friends to the same fate. The path leading to their platform crossed the railing from under the ground so they were soon climbing up another set of stairs.

The floor followed a brick pattern and was decorated with various drawings in different colours—the classic warning yellow line, for example. The majority of the platform was sheltered, with pillars shattered here and there along with a few street lamps.

They didn’t notice but the noise running across the station at the moment was from them. Only outsiders could. Exactly, when their train arrived, they boarded and left, the environment fell back into its normal state of silence.

They succeeded and made it to a seat before the train started moving. Three of them sat together in a set of four seats, face-to-face. Daphne sat next to the window. Asher on her right. She didn’t want to be mean but she was happy that he was the one sitting next to her because she knew that her silence would’ve killed Cleo who would’ve done anything to get her to speak or just react. With Asher sitting next to her, having a completely different personality from her curly-headed friend, she could proceed and observe her surroundings without feeling obliged to engage in any conversation for the sake of making someone feel good.

Indeed though, the view outside was very pretty. Stunning for someone like Daphne. While Cleo could only see the good in people, Daphne could see the good in nature. Appreciates every little thing it had—except insects. From this part of town, the sky seemed to have taken a different shape. The clouds were more scattered and seemed to have a firmer structure, crunchy. Right underneath them were chains of mountains in the distance crowned at the bottom by rows of trees, starting by being dense only to thin out and barely be present in the wide field through which the train drove. The railing next to their train was empty as no other one was passing by yet.

They weren’t running at full speed and the noise coming from the vehicle wasn’t bothering Daphne. It was rather calming, the type she’d gladly read to or even sleep to if she was on a long journey. She wasn’t though. According to Asher, they had to ride three stops to their destination but it wasn’t just that. They had to trek up to the hill where the exact spot was.

The seats in front of them welcomed two giggling friends, Cleo and Nick who were trying to hold back from laughing loudly like trumpets. Facing them was James and the seat next to him was occupied by all their bags. Daphne didn’t know how long it would take them to reach the first stop nor did she think about it too much when she dozed off to sleep, head slumping onto her friend’s shoulder. He didn’t mind, earphones plugged in to live an experience similar to the peacefulness of sleep—but also to not hear his noisy friends in the front.

—Now playing: Acquamarina by Ana Mena, Guè ✫

The day was sending messages. Signs here and there. Daphne didn’t know how far away she was from home. It was just far. The sky was different. The clouds weren’t compact but rather thick and dispersed around. The sky was a blend of cerulean and sapphire. The mountains were accordingly arranged: brown or green peaks in the forefront and white peaks in the back. At their feet were green valleys embellished by trees. Leaves moved and danced to the rhythm of the breeze along with the teenagers' hair and clothes.

The train had left, presenting to them a beautiful valley of green life behind it. The students didn’t pay it much mind, at least not as much as Daphne. Asher was on his phone again since he was the leader in the journey. James and Nick ran up to him and soon Cleo joined. Daphne was still in a corner, printing the image before her eyes in her memory, too lazy to take her phone out at the moment.

Once Asher had understood the map, he gestured for them to follow him and they did. Heavy bags on their backs and excitement in their guts. It seemed like they had travelled to a neighbouring town. The train station was even emptier than the one they came from. There was no one but them. Silence was the only welcoming element. They didn’t go down or up any staircase since the exit was on the same floor.

Once out, they were walking along an empty and wide tarmac road that slid through grassland. As they progressed further, the silence started wavering. They were approaching farms. The green field on their right was momentarily interrupted by a long fence while their eardrums vibrated to the bell ringing on a sheep’s neck. Another long fence before they found wide farmland occupied by a handful of horses munching at the grass. Daphne’s eyes sparkled when she recognized a foal amongst them. This time, her laziness didn’t get in her way as she reached for her phone and started taking pics. No one bothered or was bothered by her since she was the last in line. On her left was a two-story rural home. Right next to it, a little workshop and a little tractor.

After taking the pictures, she ran to catch up with her friends and they went on for another few minutes before they had to turn left onto a little path running through the grass. According to Asher’s guidelines, their destination was on a hill so it didn’t surprise her when they changed direction. In fact, she was happy because she saw a few pretty flowers on her way and encapsulated them in a picture with her phone.

For the time being, that disgusting red number in the top corner of her test wasn’t in her mind but happily replaced by a very pretty Daphne Odora peeking from someone’s compound.

The path wasn’t anything official, just a place where people walk on a regular basis. On their right was a wood fence, colour washed out from the atmospheric agents, running through a short bush of overgrown grass farmers couldn’t trim out with tractors. On their left were other green bushes causing them to be extra careful of where they placed their feet. Thankfully, it’s been quite long since it last rained and, since the path wasn’t of stone or muddy, it wasn’t dangerous.

They weren’t talking as much. Still made jokes but weren’t as loud, the calm environment wearing off on them. Daphne was still the last in the line, one hand on the shoulder strap of her bag and the other holding her phone, ready to take pictures. The more they went up, the more it got windy. Her curtain bangs were soon flying out of her face exposing her forehead further.

“We’re almost there,” Asher notified his friends, encouraging them not to give up. Behind the wood fence on their right was a flock of sheep. The animals were scattered around the wide field at their disposal. Some were munching at the grass, others were walking around and only a few noticed their presence, heads turning.

Peeking out a little, Daphne watched ahead of herself and checked how far they still had to go. She happily found out that the top of the hill was closer and, therefore, they were minutes, if not seconds, away from their destination.

“It’s right here!” Asher was gesturing in front of himself with a hand securing the strap of his backpack. Nick and James leaned further to look at where their friend was pointing. Cleo soon did the same, turning around to see what Daphne was up to. “Nice, ain’t it?” she asked her friend. Her friends’s eager nods were more than enough to answer her question. She stopped in her tracks, waiting for Daphne to walk up to her and, once she linked arms with her, they proceeded together.

“Like… where are we exactly?” Daphne immediately verbalised her curiosity. Her head spun around, eyes moving in all directions trying to catch every little detail in her surroundings. Cleo casually explained that they were in a little neighbouring village composed mainly of farms, as they could see. It was the right place to find some peace and calm. As she answered, she noticed her friend’s face morph into a little smile with almost sparkling eyes.

“You like it?” she asked. In the meantime, they had made it to the top of the hill.

“Yeah.” Daphne’s voice was soft and gentle, almost as much as the feeling seething into her bones as the breeze blew through her hair and the leaves whistled to the wind.

The chosen spot was marvellous, she thought to herself. It gave them a very great view of the little village. They could see the flock of sheep they passed by minutes earlier, how the path they’d just walked on harmoniously swirled through the green land up to the road from where they entered, where the sky ended and the mountains began and how valleys decorated the neighbouring hills.

“This place is really nice. How did you discover it?” Her backpack was sitting on the grass, easing her shoulders of its weight. She wasn’t sitting yet because Nick and James were still spreading the picnic blanket. Her question was addressed to Asher who was busy rummaging through his bag. “I come here sometimes with my family. Yeah… it’s really nice.” He was glad that she appreciated it. Glad that her face showed a different emotion. Glad that she didn’t have a rainy cloud above her head anymore pouring down on her hair, soaking her hair, her clothes and her shoes making everything feel as soggy as her mood used to be.

Daphne was still nodding her head in agreement as she stretched her body to ease her muscles of the uncomfortable contracted feeling. The weather wasn’t as chilly here so when the zip of her hoodie slipped down on its own, she didn’t feel the need to pull it up enjoying the soft and almost inexistent feeling of the breeze hitting her skin.

James and Nick were soon done placing the little blanket properly, securing the corners with their bags. Once instructed to take their shoes off before going on the cloth, they finally settled down. Groans and sighs of exhaustion glided along with the breeze.

“Wow!” Cleo was laying flat on the blanket, head on James’s lap and feet squeezed under Daphne’s thigh. “Asher, how long have you been coming here?” she questioned. The respondent calmly explained that it was a spot he’d just recently discovered with his family but it was still enough for his friends to accuse him of gatekeeping beautiful things from them. He rolled his eyes. They laughed, Daphne included. “How many more things do you know you ain’t telling us?” Nick began, “No, I’m just asking ‘cause maybe the next thing we know is that you have a secret garden of sweets or a chocolate fountain in the backyard, I don’t know.” The teenagers laughed while Asher jokingly promised to tell them whenever that would happen.

—Now playing: Glue Song by Beabadoobee ✫

James’s rumbling stomach brought him back to reality as he called for them to bring out the food. “I’m famished, not gonna lie.” Cleo immediately sat up and she quickly proceeded to express the idea she’d shared with Daphne at the mall. In the meantime, the friend made herself comfortable, bringing her legs up against her chest, arms secured around them and her chin resting on her knees.

“Cool!” James applauded the idea. Nick was silent and focused on understanding. Asher already did and soon complied. “But hey! Before y’all do anything, better wash your dirty and filthy hands!” Cleo’s warning was clear but not the way of going about it.

“Ooh, yeah. You’re so right and correct,” Asher’s tone was sarcastic. Cleo knew this but she didn’t know why he was sarcastic to begin with. “What?” her question was answered with the same question. Asher was confused as to why she didn’t understand what he was referring to.

“What ‘what’?” she insisted, brows almost meeting in the centre of her glabella. He rolled his eyes and proceeded to explain: “You said ‘dirty’ and ‘filthy’ which mean the same thing as if you were saying ‘dirty and dirty hands’. You know what I mean—”

“No, Asher. What the fuck?” James and Daphne were laughing at Cleo’s expression of bewilderment because she obviously didn’t think anyone would’ve ever pointed out something like that. “Since you said that, I tried to make you understand your little mistake—”

“Asher!” Her friends were wholeheartedly laughing, finding them both hilarious. The guy for pointing out such a meaningless mistake—if one could even call it a mistake at all—and the girl for having such an iconic reaction—she looked like a mother in distress after a long day taking care of her naughty toddlers. “I’m too mentally exhausted for this shit, Asher.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just wanted to let you know—”

“I don’t care! Let me speak however I want. I could even speak gibberish for all I care. It’s called freewill Mr Know-It-All,” Asher couldn’t take his friend seriously since it wasn’t the first time he was teasing her like that by pointing out insignificant mistakes like this. All of them just like seeing her reactions.

“And anyways… One is just an exaggeration of the other,” she proudly returned to the topic, thinking of her statement as a great way to shut her friend up. “Still doesn’t make sense because it’d mean someone could say ‘bad‘ and ‘worst’ in the same sentence just because the latter is an exaggeration—”

“Okay, okay. Shut up. I get it. All I wanted to say was for y’all to wash your hands. Sorry if the message came across wrongly.” The words came out through gritted teeth to a giggling Asher. Daphne had just recently joined this preexistent group of friends and every living moment she spent with it brought her to discover new things about each of the components and she loved it. Loved how they made her catch up on all those years spent without a friend before Margot. All those years spent without a real friend. Within a month, she felt like she’d lived multiple lives, not just days. Not just simple and friendly hangouts but lifelong experiences and golden memories to secure in a box with a padlock and a key.

“How the fuck would we wash our hands?” James’s question came once he realized there was no fountain around them to supply them with natural water.

“I don’t know. We could use some out of the ones we bought.” Cleo’s suggestion made Nick’s eyes bulge out as he firmly stated he was so against the use of drinkable water in such way. Cleo just rolled her eyes, claiming it not to be a big deal—especially after her little teasing with Asher. Nick insisted they didn’t but Cleo didn’t want to eat with filthy hands so their banter went on till Daphne stepped in and suggested they wash their hands with the water in her personal bottle. The two friends quieted down thinking about the proposal. Nick wanted to object again because it was still drinkable water but once Daphne explained it was a bit old and she hadn’t drank even a drop of it that day, they both complied and they washed hands with the water.

“You see? I won,” Cleo boasted as she washed her hands. Asher held the bottle for her, chuckling. Could she ever lose? Nick squinted his eyes, annoyed. He had already washed his hands and while he was looking for a way to dry them off, a thought crossed his mind. He immediately acted to it and sprinkled water on Cleo’s proud face. She squealed, cussed him out and called him a sore loser while he just ran off, laughing.

They gave each other some time and started preparing the custom-made sandwiches as Cleo had proposed. They didn’t have a huge bank of ingredients to choose from but just a range going from cheese to ham. They bought two types of cheese: Alpine-style, the classic yellow cheese from ‘Tom and Jerry’, and creamy cheese. The ham, or better, the meat, was of various types—the only field where they went in large: baked and raw ham, sausage, salami and mortadella. The last range of ingredients was the veggies where one could find cucumbers, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and onions. The ingredients were few so they didn’t have enough time to give each ingredient a hidden meaning behind it but it didn’t bother them, especially someone like Cleo who started shaping some in certain ways, almost to impersonate the person the sandwich is dedicated to.

Nick and James were the first to finish and soon Asher joined them. Daphne and Cleo, especially the latter, were getting creative with it. The first one was thinking about the hidden meanings while the second was manipulating the sandwiches. In the meantime, the three boys spent agonizing minutes looking at the preparation of their lunch but the more time passed, the more it seemed the sandwiches would never get in between their teeth.

Before any of them could complain, Daphne was done with her sandwiches and joined the train of people waiting for their lunch. Cleo looked up for a split second and chuckled seeing all of them look at her like she was withholding their freedom.

“Like… when do you intend to finish?” The first question was laid out by James. Asher joined right after promising she could get all creative at his place since they could recreate it with cookies. She agreed and wanted to get into details about what they could do if they actually baked cookies but her friends immediately interrupted her so she could quickly finish the sandwiches. Don’t play with hungry people, they say.

After more agonizing minutes of James and Nick praying for Cleo to wrap it up, Asher sighing in one corner and Daphne laughing in the other, Cleo was finally done, excited to explain the meanings to them.

“Oh, shit. You’ve got! To be kidding me! We also have to explain the meaning?” Nick was on the brink of tears. “Yeah. Why do you think they’re custom-made?” James was baffled, Daphne was laughing and Asher seemed out of it. Nick was still on the brink of tears.

“I’ll start!” Asher raised his hand and brought his creations forward, four distinct sandwiches. “Make it quick.”

“This one is for Daphne. Tomatoes, Alpine-style cheese, lettuce, mortadella and cucumbers. Nothing too extra or complicated because I think you’re a simple person with simple needs. I don’t mean it in any bad way. I just think you’re simple with a lot to offer just like the taste of this awesome sandwich.” He explained, smiling and winking. Daphne mirrored his expression, accepting the sandwich in her hands and thanking him.

“This one is for Mr Bigback. The ingredients are self-explanatory.” The sandwich he handed to Nick was on the brink of collapsing as it was stuffed with every single ingredient they’d bought. Nick didn’t complain but rather joyfully welcomed the food in his hands, pupils expanding and stomach rumbling in preparation. “One bite from this and I’ll see heaven. When can we start eating—”

“When we all have our food. Don’t you know the etiquette?”

“Cleo, I’m so sorry. I must have missed where it said that one has to make customised sandwiches for her friends and watch them die of hunger!” Cleo laughed and playfully hit his shoulder but he didn’t budge neither did his eyes from the sandwich.

“This one is for James. A regular fat sandwich with fewer ingredients than Nick’s but the spreadable cheese is important because while you seem like a normal extroverted kid, there’s a little shiness to you that one can’t notice unless they look a bit more carefully just like the barely noticeable cheese on the bread.” James was confused. Was smiling still but was confused nonetheless. Even in ten years to come, sick or with Alzhemeir, he would never define himself as shy even in the slightest. He didn’t question it though, assuming it was just Asher being Asher. Daphne, on the other end, understood where the reasoning came from.

“And, purposely kept for last…”

“Oh, fuck you—”

“Cuss me out and you ain’t eating.” He warned, Cleo’s eyes rolling to the sky as a response. “I put only warm-coloured ingredients because it’s the tone of colours that suit you, look and personality-wise.” Cleo smiled, cheeks swelling as she took the sandwich and placed it on her plate.

The next person up, voluntarily offering himself since his friends were feeling shy and ignorant that his stomach was brewing gastric juices waiting to consume his food but was now consuming his insides, was Nick. His explanations were quick: he dedicated to Daphne a sandwich made with avocado, lettuce, Alpine-style cheese and baked ham believing that, judging by the cover, avocado and lettuce aren’t a great choice and so was Daphne's apparent boring lifestyle but, just like the avocado enriches one’s body, so does Daphne’s love for reading and studying enrich her and the people around her. Cleo’s sandwich was similar to Asher’s but he made a happy face with the cheese, the tomatoes and the lettuce inspired by the friend’s constant smile. His sandwich for Asher was filled with onions and avocado and very little meat mirroring how annoying Asher could get sometimes. It dragged a laugh out of everyone. James’s sandwich was filled with meat and very little spreadable cheese which didn’t hold the same meaning Asher had conveyed into it with his but still spiked James’s curiosity.

Cleo’s customised sandwiches were self-explanatory since she didn’t opt for hidden meanings behind the ingredients but let her creativity run free as she forged a little thing with the food. In fact, she made a little daisy with lettuce and the alpine-style cheese.

James’s sandwiches were the laziest-looking ones. He barely put any thought behind them because he was starving and wanted to get it over it. He filled up Nick’s sandwich because he had to. It’s Nick’s. Cleo’s sandwich was his favourite sandwich recipe: tomatoes, spreadable cheese, baked ham and lettuce. He believed those ingredients together merged and created a very delicious taste he equated to Cleo’s lovely and bubbly personality. They didn’t know but Asher and Daphne shared a few glances recalling the conversation they had at Cleo’s place. He too gave great importance to onions when making Asher’s sandwich: almost as if he wanted to get back at it for something, he filled the sandwich with onions and cucumbers and just a thin slice of Alpine-style cheese to show his love for his friend. Asher simply shrugged, claiming he was just eating healthy.

Lastly, came Daphne. “This one is for Cleo. I put lots of tomatoes because they’re fruits which grow during summer—”

“Tomatoes are fruits?” James’s whisper interrupted her and she rolled her eyes when Asher smacked his friend to shut up. “They grow during summer and I think you shine as bright as the sun in that season but, other than that, I think tomatoes have a sweet undertone that we don’t necessarily notice unless we’re specifically eating small tomatoes and that goes to symbolise how you notice the good where common people can’t. It’s a peculiarity that makes you stand out. That’s what I believe.” As her sentence inched closer to its end so did the volume of her voice because she grew shy at the utter silence surrounding her. They were all looking at her, listening to every word slipping out of her mouth. She could feel her cheeks gaining a temperature of their own, higher than her body’s but she couldn’t see if they were also getting redder. She hoped they didn’t and pushed through.

Her voice was still tender and low when she began describing the next sandwich. “The next sandwich is Asher’s. I know. At first, it looks plain and it’s not a way to get back at you for the one you made for me. I’m not even offended in the slightest nor was it even made to make me feel like that. I just think that you're strict and follow the rules, word for word so this sandwich is what came to my mind: lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and baked ham. A traditional sandwich recipe, a classic. Almost a rule everyone follows. The first sandwich that pops in your head, y’know.” Silence was still sitting there with them. Maybe leaning its head on Nick’s or James’s shoulder. They didn’t know. They couldn’t see it, just hear it.

“This one is for Nick. I think you have a very common personality and I’m trying to shame you because of that. I believe, though, that there’s a little twist to you for which the onions stand in contrast to the classic ingredients of a sandwich. You’re very outgoing and extroverted and that is what makes you ‘common’ but, just like in Cleo’s case, one thing does make you stand out, a little light that doesn’t shine too bright so it’s hard to notice it. It’s there, just a little hidden.” Daphne was looking at the sandwich before her as she described it so she couldn’t see how shy Nick got to her words. She couldn’t see that he’d just proven her words right. She, as well, was too shy but that everybody could see.

“I didn’t leave you for last for any evil reason. I ain’t like Asher,” she joked to ease the mood and have them make even the littlest noise so she wouldn’t start burning up wholly in timidity. “James, this one is yours. I think you’re the craziest out of us all hence the choice of ingredients. Onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce,” she checked the sandwich as she listed the ingredients, “Avocado, cheese and salami sound crazy at first, especially considered as a whole and that is where your craziness lies. But, despite all that, once you’re done exploring and coming out of your comfort zone, you still seek a form of familiarity, something that will allow you to step back into yourself, not fully but rather as a new version of yourself and that is why I added the salami. Can never go wrong with that, can you?” she softly chuckled at the rhetorical question unaware that James had mentally answered her question, agreeing.

“And that’s all.” She concluded and finally mustered up enough courage to look at her friends. Awkwardly laughing, she brought them out of their apparent trance and thanks to James’s cries for food, they gave in and ate.

—Now playing: Void by The Neighbourhood ✫

They didn’t check the time either when they arrived or when they started eating. The day had slowly changed and resembled a summer afternoon. Temperatures surprisingly went up allowing them to take off a few layers and stay in their short-sleeved shirts.

Her pebble-coloured hoodie was set aside on the blanket while Daphne lied down on it, writing in her journal. Not being a big fan of high-waisted pants, she was wearing a pair of mid-rise jeans and a moss baby tee with pine-coloured sleeves. Her movement was limited because Cleo rested her head on the back of her thigh, peacefully relaxing and feeling her lungs with the fresh and natural air of the environment. Her sweater sat next to Daphne’s and only a brown tank top and a pair of high-waisted black jeans dressed her. Toes clad in the soft cloth of her socks. Right beside them was Asher’s sleeping figure. It wasn’t a deep sleep, just a quick power nap. Away from them, with a hand in their pockets, were Nick and James having their break in a different: while Cleo filled her lungs with good air, they were polluting theirs with cigarettes. All this happened to the soft rhythm of a song playing from their Bluetooth speaker.

“So far so good, huh?” James spoke softly before drawing toxic air from the cigarette. At first, Nick was confused but he soon got the cue and agreed, nodding his head. Their position was strategic in order for the breeze to not blow the smell of cigarettes upon their resting friends a few feet away.

“I feel like she’s good. She’s journaling. The sandwich idea of Cleo went well. Yeah… I believe she’s feeling better.” They remained in silence for a bit, eyes unconsciously closing to the comfortable feeling the environment placed into them.

“Man, I felt so bad when she took that paper. If I remember clearly, I think she literally paled up a bit—”

“Yeah and when she asked to go to the bathroom, her voice sounded almost robotic. Only God knows what happened in the bathroom. I hope she just cried and didn’t have… like… I don’t know… a panic attack or maybe threw up.” James was being sincere with his words. He, just like the rest of them, saw how dedicated Daphne was to her studies. It literally explained why Cleo kept telling them she was very smart when she newly came. He admired her and her discipline, wishing to be similar even just a bit. He’s self-diagnosed himself with ADHD because of his lack of focus but it was a wrong diagnosis because he wasn’t fidgety or restless. He just looked having fun and had a very low attention span. But he also diagnosed Daphne with slight OCD when it came to school. Yeah, his type of fun was observing people whenever he wasn’t busy playing or going crazy and connecting their main personality features to a psychological diagnosis.

He strongly believed that with a determination like Daphne’s one could never fail. He didn’t perform well academically. Scratch that! He sucked at school and he was fully aware. The fault was fully on him and his lack of self-discipline and concentration but he couldn’t help it. He’d be lying if he said Daphne wasn’t washing off on him bit by bit just as Asher had claimed before.

He’d seen it happen to Cleo, the person around her the most. Having Daphne being so studious and always busy educating herself made the friend want to do the same. At first, he believed it was something entirely depending on Cleo and her need to always have something in common with her friends but when it started happening to him, especially after the school project they worked on together, he realised it was all Daphne.

So when he saw her face that morning as she collected that cursed piece of paper from Mr Keeley, his guts dropped to his feet too. Firstly, if the best person in class fails the test, a lacklustre student like him is doomed. Secondly, because of all the effort he saw Daphne put into her studies in order to achieve a good mark, such a result cleared everyone off their feet. He’d heard how well she was repeating the topic to Asher and he was a hundred per cent convinced she would’ve aced the test. He literally was waiting for the entrance of someone who’d clear Asher off his self-made throne but that didn’t happen and he wanted to know why. More specifically, he wanted to know how come. What happened?

For those questions to have their corresponding answers, he’d have to speak with Daphne but he’d rather see her happy and peaceful right now than dead-looking like in the morning.

“I don’t think so. At least, that’s what I believe but let’s just forget about it right now.” Nick was calm. Had finished smoking his cigarette—James, right after—and felt in need to drink some water. As they approached the blanket, the music got louder. Daphne was still journaling, Cleo lying with her eyes closed and Asher was asleep.

“Y’all finally done?” Cleo spoke without opening her eyes. Nick answered with a rhetorical question once he was done drinking and purposely sprinkled water on her face when she cussed him out for his sarcasm.

“Guys, come on,” Daphne whined, checking if water drops had stained her journal. On the other side, James was explaining that the sole culprit was Nick so there was no need for plurals.

“Cleo, let’s get revenge.” Asher was still lying on the blanket but his sleep was disturbed because of Nick’s unfunny prank. Without needing to be told twice, Cleo got up and started wearing her shoes. “Guys! I said that the sole fucking culprit is dickhead-Nick—”

“Hey, who the fuck are you calling a dickhead—”

“Shut the fuck up. Cleo’s crazy and even crazier when there’s Asher. Hey, brother,” he referred to Asher, “I love you.”

“Oh, my God. Are you coming out to us, James? That’s so lovely—”

“Daph shut the fuck up!” the girl was laughing at her friend’s frustration, finding it hilarious how scared he seemed. The relationship between her friends exceeded a normal friendship. They behaved like siblings. “Asher, we’ve been friends for…” he tried recalling the years and failed, “...ages. You know I would never do shit like this—”

“Oh, my God. It’s just water—”

“Daphne!” he screamed before continuing. Daphne laughed even harder. “I. Would. Never! I know what you like and don’t like—” Daphne couldn’t keep her laughing at bay and wondered how Asher really was when he wanted to ‘get revenge’ on her stubborn and naughty friends. Out of all of them, he was the most composed, almost had a fatherly figure in the group so seeing him behaving out of character was one hell of a show.

“But you would make me a sandwich with just onions and stink up my mouth.” He had made up his mind: his revenge would surely fall on James. “Bro, first, you had the choice to eat it or not—”

“The fuck are you saying? You’re not saving yourself that way.” Asher’s feet were secured in his shoes while Cleo was already running after Nick to whom James desperately pointed showing how the real culprit was already paying for their sins. “Asher! Come on, man.”

Daphne was laughing hard now, face into her journal and body softly shaking. She’d occasionally stop to look up and listen to their confrontation until Asher had had enough and started pursuing James who was ready and booked it.

Without noticing, they were soon playing hide and seek, giving Daphne more happy memories to encapsulate in letters in her journal. She sat up, crossed her legs and pinned a few of her strands to the back in order to write more comfortably. From time to time, a scream or a running figure past her would rip her attention off the journal.

She quickly tapped on the screen of her phone and checked the time seeing that the sun was already heading to set, painting the sky with warm colours like it was a painting from the Romantic Age, specifically William Turner’s ‘Sunset’. While in the painting, heaven and Earth seemed to merge into one continuous and colourful surface, the sky in front of her was the only uniform and colourful surface before the chain of mountains. The sun seemed to have lost every shape and melted into a simple soft scarlet stain. Those which were once its outlines had faded into lighter colours going from vermilion to coral to orange. Ultimately, the cold colours of the sky melted with the peach colours of the incoming sunset.

This view was so spectacular that Daphne regretted not having any coloured pencil with her to give life to the drawing sitting in the centre of her page. After trying to perfect her drawing skills, but lacking in the field, she finally closed the journal and set it aside. Her friends were still running around and the Bluetooth speaker was still playing music so she crawled to Nick’s phone which was connected to the device and screamed for him to tell her the pin so she could change the music.

Unfortunately, the answer she sought didn’t come so she had to simply skip songs till she found one she liked: ‘Void’ by The Neighbourhood. Eyes closed, arms resting along her sides, she swayed her head to the beat revelling in the fulfilling part of the song, the chorus.

A scream startled her and her eyes opened to look for the source. Before her, the tables had turned and who was once the seeker was now the fugitive: Nick had caught up to Cleo and he had her in a back hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning around causing the girl to scream louder and plead for him to drop her or, at least, stop spinning. Daphne smiled, deciding not to look into it too much despite finding it very cute.

“Daphne!” Someone yelled her name from beside her but before she could turn and see who it was, James threw himself on her like a child running away from an imaginary monster at night which, in his case, was Asher who was laughing very hard. The last time she saw him like that was at Cleo’s place after Nick’s extraordinary burp. So she decided to play the part.

“Oh, no. What happened?” she spoke with the tone of a loving mother. James insistedly pointed at Asher like a kid, whining and accusing him of attempted murder by tickling. Daphne tried to hold her laugh and proceeded: “Oh, no. That’s so bad. You’re ticklish?” she asked. James, still lying against her and caged in her arms, nodded as in answer, “Where?” and he pointed at his side and his tummy without knowing that she wasn’t so different from who he was running away from.

“Daphne!” he screamed, trying to run away from her grasp but Asher caught him before he could succeed and his friends started bombarding him with tickles. At some point, he was confident he’d die but they stopped before anything as dramatic could happen. James slumped his body on Daphne's thighs like that of a fallen soldier and tried to catch his breath. Asher was doing the same beside him. “Never thought you’d betray me,” he huffed, addressing Daphne. She laughed again, leaning backwards on her hands.

“Shut up. Don’t try to accuse her but be thankful she was the same person who advised me to stop else I would’ve gone on till you shit your fucking pants.” James swiftly smacked Asher and he struck him back. Daphne, in between trying to break the fight between the two toddlers.

—Now playing: White Mustang by Lana Del Rey ✫

“Hey! Nobody is allowed to blow nasty raspberries in my presence!” she warned her childish friends. “Let’s change the music.” James got serious and grabbed Nick’s phone. Since he already knew the passcode, he opened it and looked for his desired song. “Put this one.” Daphne hurriedly pressed on the song against James’s wish and snatched the phone before he could change it. Her friend was confused because he barely had the time to register everything, especially when Daphne ran off making his head slump onto the blanket.

“Oh, come on. What’s this slow song?” he asked. Daphne gasped, feeling offended at his remark. “Hey! Have some respect! I love this song so fucking much.” Nick’s phone, tightly clutched in her hands.

“Yeah but I can’t dance to this,” he replied in an almost whiny voice. “Huh, you dance?” she laughed almost mockingly and he now was the one to gasp, “Hey, you have some respect! I got a few nice moves here,” and he got up and started break-dancing to the song, making Daphne and Asher burst in a fit of laughter. “Oh, my God. He’s not seriously break-dancing to Lana Del Rey, is he?” Asher laughed while Daphne was already recording the whole thing with Nick’s phone. Only later would James regret not stopping her when Nick would upload the video on his stories.

Nick and Cleo came out of their little world and soon the boy hopped in, promising he could dance worse. Exactly, he started dancing salsa… to Lana Del Rey. Asher soon joined them, giving in to the little competitivity within him and hit the DJ Khaled meme dance… to Lana Del Rey! Cleo walked up to Daphne and watched as she recorded everything, both laughing like it was peak comedy.

Soon having enough of recording, Daphne turned the phone off and dragged Cleo in so they could dance as well. So now, dancing upon the hill, was a group of five friends: one was break-dancing like a novice, the other was messily dancing to salsa, the other impersonated DJ Khaled and the girls were jumping up and down as though they were in a club and techno music was playing. As they hopped around, they couldn’t help but laugh at how comical everything was.

They were all laughing. Until they weren’t.

—Now playing: Always Forever by Cults ✫

Daphne had accidentally pushed Cleo too hard and sent her rolling down the hill. Initially, Cleo screamed in terror but, by the time she started laughing, she was too far away for her friends to hear her. They were just frozen, looking at her in fright and worry.

“Oh, my God. What did you do—” Nick broke the silence.

“I didn’t mean to. It was accidental—”

“You sure she’s okay—”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? She’s still rolling—” Daphne’s frustration grew stronger.

“Guys, shut up,” Asher called for their attention. Cleo had stopped rolling around, reaching the bottom of the hill, but, instead of immediately getting up, she decided to pull a little prank on her friends and lie there for a little bit more—mostly because she felt comfortable. They started freaking out.

“Oh, my fucking God—”

“Daph?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose—” she was on the edge of sobbing.

“She’s fucking hurt! What the fuck?!”

“I’m sorry!” Cleo could hear her friends in distress. Could hear Nick and Daphne's screams. If she was looking in their direction, she would’ve seen James holding his hands upon his head and Asher looking at her attentively.

“Let’s fucking go check on her. Bruh, what the fuck—”

“Guys!” They all froze, heads snapping in the direction of the voice. “I’m fine. Calm your tits, jeez,” Cleo laughed, sitting up and adjusting her hair but her friends were still silent, blinking to know if they were hallucinating or not. “Yoo-hoo?” she called them. “Earth to fucking lovely shitfaces?” still utter silence and just four teenagers staring at her.

She couldn’t hear James when he whispered: “She’s— She’s alive—”

“Of fucking course she is—” Asher whispered back

“Oh, my God, I was so scared—” Daphne’s voice wavered as she sighed in relief.

“Not as much as I was—” Nick yelled.

“Nick, this ain’t a fucking competition—”

“Shut up! You should join her and go check on her. You’re the one who pushed her—”

“It was never my intention— James!” before Daphne could finish speaking, James lifted her off the ground and walked closer to the end of the hill. All the while, smiling brightly but Daphne didn’t know this. She was shitting her pants—figuratively.

“Ain’t we friends?” she asked, genuinely scared. “I really didn’t mean to.” Her friends noticed the change in her voice and James dropped her.

“Hey, we’re just playing around, Daphn. It’s nothing serious”

“You okay? We’re just joking.” Her friends tried comforting her and she didn’t know if to continue sulking around because of the shock or to think about how easily they went back to joking after believing a friend of theirs was hurt. “How can y’all be joking right now?” she questioned, eyebrows almost meeting each other.

“Exactly!” Asher shared the same idea. “We don’t like feeling sad for too long, y’know—”

“Be fucking for real—”

“Okay, you’re talking too much.” She couldn’t even reply to him before he pushed her rolling down. Her screams, a source of entertainment to her friends. At the bottom of the hill, a smiling Cleo was patiently waiting for company unaware of the little dispute they just had. “Fuck you!” she managed to scream as she rolled down and the boys laughed wholeheartedly.

“Okay. Who’s next?” James questioned while Cleo welcomed Daphne. “What the fuck do you mean by ‘next’?” Asher backed up, slightly annoyed at them. “Who’s next?” repeating himself and moving closer to his retreating friends.

“Don’t make another move. Y’all can’t be all happy and jolly after something like this.”

“I suspected already that it was a prank—”

“And that’s sick Nick. And let’s not talk about how you were the loudest so that’s bullshit—”

“Yeah, Nick. It makes no sense. You wanted to combust Daphne with your eyes back there!” At the bottom of the hill was Cleo helping Daphne get rid of any grass in her hair.

“Okay, I got a little scared—” James immediately grabbed Nick, ready to lift him even in bridal style just to get him rolling down the hill.

“Yo! Yo! James, ain’t we like brothers? Why are you betraying me like this? James!” Nick plead. “Asher! Hey, wait, wait!” The girls were laughing looking up and watching their friends struggle. Indeed, they could move from very serious to completely childish in a split second. “Means trauma wouldn’t way on them, right?” Daphne thought to herself.

Nick was in James’s arms and Asher was helping to push them both down the hill but Nick understood and ratted him out to James who didn’t have enough time to react before he was pushed off with his friend still in his arms. Asher was convinced to have won but Nick grabbed onto his T-shirt and dragged him with them so now the three boys were rolling down the hill, screaming, yelping and cussing everything out.

“Oh, my God. They’re so stupid.” Daphne calmly spoke sitting next to an agreeing Cleo as they both observed their friends roll down the hill like bags of potatoes. “Indeed, stupid.”

Once the boys reached the bottom, they immediately sprung up adjusting their hair, clothes and composure to come off as unbothered. Exactly, they did all that hurriedly and simultaneously posed when done causing the girls to laugh like two gossipers.

“Okay, okay. Enough. We look ridiculous. No need to laugh.” Asher was the first to give up while his friends side-eyed him for ruining the play. Tired, Asher slumped down next to Cleo and flicked her head for pulling such an ugly prank on them earlier which reminded everyone of it: James and Nick almost jumped on her with tickles. Asher and Daphne joined in right after.

Most likely, Cleo had to plead with all living beings, including Greek, Christian, Hinduist and Buddhist gods before they let her go and allowed her to catch her breath.

“Yeah but jokes apart, that prank was nasty. Nick was already hating me—”

“That’s not true—”

“Fuck yeah it is—”

“Guys, you all collectively panicked and didn’t think of rushing down to check on me—”

“I told Daphne she was the one who’d have to do that—”

“I’m sorry. I was scared I’d see something too traumatic—”

“Okay. Silence… and let’s go back up.” James was the one to interrupt the banter as he got up. Slowly, all of them followed meekly and started climbing up the hill, hands on their thighs and backs bent to help against the slope. Nick noticed it’d take too much time like that and they all looked like old goats so he decided to spice it up because it’s the only way he functions. “Who gets to the top last is gay!”

“What the fuck?—”

“No worries. I’ve already come out before confessing eternal love for Asher so you all can go on. I’ll take the fall for y’all.” James dramatically explained, making all of them laugh.

By the time they were at the top, there was a different song playing, one Cleo started singing to. Daphne and everyone gradually joined in.

“You and me, always forever! We could stay alone together! You and me always forever! Say you’ll stay never be separate!”

The sky now was very similar to Turner’s ‘Sunset’. The sun was lower, gradually going into hiding behind the mountain leaving traces of warm-coloured rays behind. The breeze had faded away at the moment and the air was mildly warm for it to be October but with the sun exiting the stage, the environment wasn’t as warm as before and a few of them decided it was right for them to grab their hoodies before joining the group and sitting down on the grass to look at the sunset, singing to the song.

“You know you got me in your pocket! You don’t just have to wait around! You know I keep you in my pocket! Just come here and we can settle down!”

—Now playing: Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex ✫

While the sky before the five rolling friends faded from blue to orange, forming an almost invisible line of dull green where the colours met, outside Taehyung’s window, it simply went from a darker to a lighter tone of blue. He didn’t feel as hungry that evening so his leftovers from lunch were more than enough. His homework was done and perfectly placed into his backpack. His body felt fresh after having a quick but nice and warm shower. The house was mildly silent: his mom and grandmother had finished eating. He didn’t know what they were up to but he suspected they’d retired to their bedrooms. Silently lying on his rug was his little dog lounging in a sea of tiredness, waiting for sleep to take its body to the abyss.

Taehyung was drained as well but, while Christians would read the bible or pray before going to sleep, he had to stalk his crush’s Instagram profile—no creepy intentions behind it obviously. The hour hand was midway into the last quarter of the clock. Lauri had updated both her stories and her feed: a new post and lots of stories. He clicked on the five-picture slideshow.

The first picture displayed a picnic blanket lying on a green field and decorated with plates of food and beverages. In the background, he could see someone’s legs, a pair of shows laid aside, school bags and, at the bottom corner, were the legs of who he believed to be Daphne. The second picture was a selfie. Again, something he has noticed, she rarely shows her full face online and, in this case, only her cheek was in view. It was slightly swollen meaning she was smiling as she held a plate of four sandwiches next to her face.

The third slide captured a picture of a flower he couldn’t recognise but still found beautiful—especially because she surely found it pretty enough to take a picture and post it which means she likes it… which implies he loves it.

The following slide was another selfie and this time, she was lying on her stomach. Against her leg was Cleo and, right beside them both, a boy. The same familiar guy whose name he couldn’t remember. Looking at the picture, one could tell they were resting. Again, of Daphne, he could see only the outline of her head and her hair.

The last picture of the post was another selfie. This time around, Daphne’s face was fully visible. She was standing in a train station. The sky was dark and behind her, in a line, were her friends: Cleo, James, Nick and the familiar nameless guy. They were all smiling and funnily posing. It looked exactly like the last picture one takes before their journey comes to an end.

The post had a peaceful vibe and matched her feed. Taehyung fought against the need to like the post and proceeded to her stories.

The first story was a picture taken on the train, a motion-blurred picture. The following story was a repost from Cleo’s story who recorded her friends as they walked along an empty road. Daphne was in the background taking pics. Next up was a repost from James’s, a short video capturing him and his friends—James was standing and his friends were preparing the picnic blanket.

As Taehyung proceeded, on his screen appeared a selfie reposted from Cleo’s. She was posing with Daphne as they bit on their sandwich—he just didn’t know that Daphne was biting on the sandwich Cleo prepared for her and the other way around.

Taehyung forgot to adjust the volume of his phone so he got startled when he moved on to watching the next story because, unlike the previous videos, this one was loud, a repost from Nick’s: Daphne was the one recording and the focus was on her guy friends funnily dancing to a slow song he recognised was from Lana Del Rey. Hilarious. In contrast to the music were Cleo and Daphne’s laughs.

Tapping on the screen, he moved on to the next story, another video. This time around, there was barely any loud sound just the focus starting from a journal, a sunset drawing to be exact, and ending up on the view before the cameraman. Daphne decided to make a little video comparing her drawing with the source of inspiration and it was enough for Taehyung to place his attention on it more than he did with anything else. “She’s also talented,” he thought to himself, admiring her drawing and developing a greater interest in her. “She’s also talented.”

Daphne would disagree, especially when the field in question is drawing. She’s pretty good at writing but she still wouldn’t fully claim to be ‘talented’. The only thing she could full-heartedly state of herself was that she was weak. Took her nothing to give in to anxiety during the test and took her nothing for all the picnic’s happiness to leave as soon as her mother asked her about her day when she got home. She burst into tears as soon as she went down her memory lane. She explained to her mother that all her efforts were in vain so that is what the woman believes. She was unaware that the main reasons behind those tears were guilt and regret. All connected to Anxiety.

Unlike herself, her mother worked magic with her words when it came down to comforting a person so in a split second, she was already blowing out her nose, clearing her tears away and getting into the shower for a warm bones-and-muscle relaxation.

Just like that day, after the library with her friends, she stared into her reflection to look for any traces of her mental breakdown, wondering what she looked like throughout the day. After slipping into her PJs and checking her homework, she dropped onto her bed, the softener scent filling her lungs.

Loki and Luke were sleepy and both lying on the rug, next to her bed. Behind the curtains and outside her window, the sky was darker in one corner and lighter in the other as the moon shone brightly through. The windows were closed, so was her bedroom door. The only light in her room came from the lamp on her nightstand so the environment was warmly dim.

Yes, it is unhealthy and yes, she had it in her hands right at that moment. Before going to sleep, she turned her phone on as she got under the covers. She had uploaded everything from today while on the train but still felt unfulfilled because she still hadn’t had the chance to stalk her crush’s Instagram. Yeah. Obviously. It became part of her night routine. You know how they say… New home, new life. Didn’t it go like that?

If, by chance, her mother’s comforting didn’t work and rewatching her Instagram updates about the picnic wasn’t enough, surely checking on her crush would’ve helped her—only if he actually posted something. She had to postpone her plans when she noticed a new account started following her. The name ended with the initials of her school’s name meaning it had something to do with it. The profile followed a green theme and belonged to one of the teams running in the campaign—didn’t take her long to realise.

What surprised her was finding familiar faces in the posts. First, it was Jungkook. Then came Jimin, Taehyung, the blonde friend and the pretty brunette. They were running in the campaign. A little smirk changed her facial expression when she thought about how they had secured a vote from her because of Taehyung. The blondie’s name was Adrielle—pretty name she thought. The next post presented Taehyung and his role in the group—if Adrielle was the president, he was the vice. Then came Jimin, an assistant of both, Avyanna, in charge of the upcoming cheerleader team and last, but not least, was Jungkook, in charge of ‘the fun’, as stated in the post. Along with their roles, in the centre of the picture was the tag to their profile.

‘Temptation’. The desire to do something, especially something wrong and unwise. The word comes from the Latin word ‘temptare’ which means ‘handle’, ‘try’, ‘test’. According to the Bible, it has three sources: the world, the flesh and the devil. Surely, she had nothing to do with the devil at that moment. What she was pursuing was her love interest, the pretty boy to whom the profile displayed on her screen belonged. Never felt so tempted. Never felt it so strong but before giving in—since Temptation wasn’t being as strong as Anxiety—she thought about all the possible consequences.

What would happen if she started following him from her main? Would it come off weird? No, because he’s not aware of her interest and she thinks is weird just because she likes him. Would he follow back? Holy shit, if he actually did, she’d go bananas. It wouldn’t be seen as stalking, right? No, why? Why would it? Oh, God. She’s going crazy. If she started following him right now, it would make sense because his team started following her first which would mean she’d have to follow everyone in the team. Yeah, yeah! She could totally do that.

And that’s what she did. She pressed on the blue follow button and now the stalking wouldn’t objectively look creepy. It just moved on to a different level. Now, she was indirectly closer to him which makes no sense because the other day, she was sitting a seat away from him in the bus and didn’t have the balls to even look in his direction. Better than nothing, though since it’s been long since she’d last seen him on the bus in the morning.

With that done, she turned the phone off and retired to sleep. Taehyung, on the other hand, was just about to go to bed. Had just eased himself in the bathroom and gave his notifications one last check before going under the covers but he stopped in his tracks. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he saw a very familiar account start following him. He swallowed hard and unlocked the device.

Yes, she indeed started following him and he had to fight various boxing matches against his will not to follow back immediately. Temptation.

He really wanted to but he felt like it would be weird. The main reason behind her follow was his team’s Instagram profile. He was sure because right below the notification of her follow was the one from his team’s account. It would’ve been crazy if she actually started following him out of the blue. He would’ve jumped out and on his bed, rolled on the floor, happily laughed and sang, waking up his dog, his family and probably the neighbours in the process.

A win is a win though. He still felt excited because he knew it wouldn’t stop there. He’d go crazy if he didn’t at least try. The only time it would be over is if she told him she wasn’t interested point blank. He hoped that would never happen.

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[klipkillakai]

‎♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧

⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅𐙚⋆⑅˚₊౨ৎ⋆ ˚｡⑅˚₊ྀ ྀྀི⊹₊

𓍯 his pretty girl 𓍯

warning! 18+ only! mdi pls <3

“y/n! get up!”

“i softly groan and roll over on my bed, the warmth enticing me to stay, i snuggle under the covers again trying to catch the last bits of my very very good dream of a man i know like the back of my hand yet i haven’t seen a day in my life,”

“feeling the covers being tugged off me i snap up and look at my roommate with a pout”

“you’an have to do allat”

‘i say with a slight attitude as i get up and slip my slippers on while scratching my bonnet’

“yo ass don’t like to get up”

‘my best friend since day one says as she’s looks in my mirror checking her ass and twerking a lil’

‘and girl you know we supposed to get up early, we start our first day of classes today nd i’m not trynna be late fr, you know i’m trynna be valedictorian”

‘she says with an unserious eyeroll”

“i look back at her from my bathroom mirror and we both burst out laughing”

‘girl bye, lemme get ready real quick’

“she laughs and shakes her head before walking out my room”

‘i grab my phone and turn on my playlist, humming to the quiet and calm melodies of lana del rey’s voice, i stand in the mirror as i take off my bonnet off and take the wig band off, signing with relief and smiling at the melt “i ate that” i say to myself and i brush out the wig a bit and checking to see if my flat iron heated up yet, i start to straighten it as i slightly dance to “FTCU by Nicki Minaj”

“high heels on my tippies..dolce and gabbana that’s on my tittes”

“i hum the rest slightly flinching when i nick my ear with the iron and scrunching up my face, i finish my hair and head to my vanity to do a quick lil makeup look knowing imma be a little late because of it.. as i’m applying my blush i get a notif from insta from my bestie—

“hurry yo ass up” i read and i laugh and finish up before hopping up and putting on a cute pink matching set, and low ugg’s with a bow on them and a cute heart necklace and bracelet to match, and spraying my treasured strawberry perfume”

“i take a quick pic and post it on my story before grabbing my bag and my keys my my pink sanrio water bottle i found in the kids section of target and i run out the door seeing my bestie in her car on the phone”

‘girl we boutta be latee’ “she says as she pulls out the lot and slightly speeds towards the school, i connect my phone to the bluetooth and i play my music while my acrylics clack against ten screen as i texts some of my friends back and tapping through stories”

“we finally get outside and we both hurry out, blowing kisses to each other as we go in different directions, her being a business major and i being a computer science major”

“i pull on my headphones and i stuff my hands in my white puffer as i walk across campus to the computer hall, not trynna socialize because i’m still tired from earlier— i get to class and i look through the door and i groan when i see the class full of boys and not one girl in sight, i gather my bearings and i open the door quietly, with the professors back turned towards the board and my head down and i walk up the aisle of the seats, feeling eyes all on me as i make my way towards the back and sheepishly sitting in between two boys, immediately feeling shy and embarrassed i open my macbook, littered with pink bows and glittery stickers and i wait for class to start—

“the professor turns around and when i see him my stomach flutters and i try to hide a smile forming on my face by softly raising my hand to my lips and looking down as i text my friend”

-megieee🪽

girl!!

-what?

my professor is fine asf omg 😭

-fr??

-lemme see 🤭

girl imma try, but i literally had to fight back the smile, he’s so tall and 😩! .

and i didn’t even notice him at first because i’m in a class with nothing but boys nd i was mad scared 😭

-i would die omg 😭

“i read the text and i’m about to respond but i suddenly hear my name being called and i look up”

‘y/n?’

“oh! that’s me, sorry i was distracted”

‘i make a show of sliding off my headphones and making eye contact’

‘he stares at me for a second and his eyes slightly lowers before nodding’

“don’t let it happen again” ‘he says in a raspy soft voice and i feel that flutter in my belly again, especially when it’s pared with his tired dead eyes and large frame’—

‘i simply nod and he stays on me for a sec before turning away to the next person on his list, the class goes on and at the end he gives us his number and email to join a whatsapp group just in case we have problems with any of our code at home—

i pack up my computer at the end of class as all the other guys file out the room, smiling at simon quickly as he leaves because he helped me out with one of the bugs i had in my code, i slip my headphone on and i walk down the steps to the exit and i peep my professor texting on his phone with a slight smile and i can’t help but wonder who’s making him smile like that, i quickly go in my camera roll and look for the room number of my next class and i softly frown when i realize i don’t know where that it, i look up at prof and i softly pad to him and i don’t say anything and just wait for him to notice i’m there—

i watch him seemingly sense my presence and look up slowly, i slightly squirm cs i feel as if he’s touching me and i feel my face heat up even tho it doesn’t show..

“u-um i was wondering if you knew when E3345 is?”

‘i step forward a bit and show him my phone, and i get hint of his sent, slightly musky and woody and i bite my lip”

‘he licks his lips slightly and he nods and replies with a soft raspy voice”

‘yea, mr scott.. great teacher, he’s in the building behind us on the second floor.. nd go around the trees yea? wouldn’t want you getting lost’

“he says that with the slightest smirk and the most intense stare i’ve ever seen, his dead eyes having an aura of mischief behind them, his stature radiating intimidation and masculinity and it weighs down on me in the best way possible, it makes my belly flutter and my head spin—

‘i won’t get lost, i’m a big girl’ “and i flash a sweet smile”

‘i bet you are’ “he whispers and i notice his eyes softly lower to my lips before snapping back up to my eyes”

‘t-thank you’

‘anytime’

“i turn around and head towards the door walking out of it, and feeling his eyes follow me along the way”

‘könig thinks to himself “what a pretty girl”

|a/n|

ahh guys this is my first fic and it features my man könig.. this was inspired by a few pics of a man i saw that i think looks like what könig would look like and some fanart i posted previously!! i hope you enjoyed and this is only part 1!! so let me know if you enjoyed and i will soon make a second part! i think this will be very fun! also let me know how to add 2nd part links too this fic so it’ll be easier.. anyways love ya 🪽🩷

[thinking1bee]

You Haven't Failed Part 7

Requested by Anonymous

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Tags: Spidey!Reader, Venom!Reader, So Much Angst, Fluff, Established Relationship, Graphic Depictions of Injuries, Blood, Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Smut

Everything Taglist: @sammy90682 @nobody13 @owloftheshadows @captain-josslett @camslightstories @worldovart @finleyfray @acertainredhead @sammm9068 @reginassecretlover @ara-a-bird

Additional Notes: The Venom suit in this fic is heavily inspired from the Spiderman 2 game for the ps5. I loved how the suit functioned and wanted to add that to the story

“These HYDRA agents are like goddamn cockroaches,” you mumbled into your comm.

After a few days of R&R, Nick had to send you, Wanda, Bucky, and Natasha on an emergency mission. He didn’t even take the time to brief you on what the mission was. He handed you all folders and told you to get on the carrier jet ASAP. You flipped through the folder when everyone was airborne and groaned after reading the contents. Somehow, another HYDRA base had sprung up despite HYDRA, as a group, being on the brink of eradication. Nick got word from S.H.I.E.L.D. that the base went live a few months ago and they were back to experimenting on people. He knew that both Wanda and Bucky would have a personal interest in the matter, and you saw just how right he was when Wanda’s face hardened into stone. She shared a look with Bucky, a look of solidarity and understanding, before she remained silent for the duration of the flight. You knew Wanda’s past with HYDRA and respected her need to focus. You gave her a single kiss on the forehead, one that earned you a soft and weak smile, before you turned your attention back to calibrating your suit.

Before leaving for your mission, Tony ran initial diagnostics and tests. He activated the suit and told you to be still while FRIDAY gathered the data needed to ensure the suit was calibrated to your homeostasis. From inside the helmet, you watched as FRIDAY measured your blood pressure, your BPM, oxygen saturation, neural interface, and several other things you didn’t recognize.

“What is all of this for?” you asked him as you watched screens and panels flash in your helmet.

“FRIDAY is measuring and recording all of this data because of a fail safe I installed in my servers. Any time you’re in life threatening danger, FRIDAY will try to keep you alive until you receive the care that you need. Additionally, if you’re in danger, there’s a tracker in the suit. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. I’ll find you and so will Wanda.”

“Wanda?”

Tony nodded as he typed into his computer. “Considering how much she cares about you, I’m sure she’ll want to be the first to know if something happens.”

You watched as he finished typing, and then he faced you. He gave you your phone back.

“What did you do to it?” you asked suspiciously.

“Use it to watch Pornhub.”

You stared at him through the eyes of your mask, and he waved a hand.

“I installed a copy of Stark servers onto your phone and Wanda’s. This is just in case something happens to me. You’ll still have access to your suit and FRIDAY.”

“You installed literal gigabytes of information on a cellular device?”

He scrunched his face and shrugged. “Yes and no. What you have access to is on a cloud. The cloud is connected to your phone, and the suit can connect to your phone via Bluetooth if need be.”

“Okay, for the 64 million dollar question. What do I look like?”

Tony smiled proudly, and you watched him grab a large mirror before he positioned it in front of you. With Peter’s original suit, the primary color was blue, the secondary color was red, and the spider emblazoned on his chest was blue and outlined in gold. There were also gold highlights sprinkled throughout the suit. With your suit, the primary color was a shiny metallic black. Your legs and a part of your arms were that color. The secondary color was blue, which adorned the majority of your torso, and the spider emblem on your chest was a solid silver. You loved it but you couldn’t help the chuckle that left you.

“What happened to not making it ostentatious, Tony?”

“I can’t not be flashy, kid. I toned it down. At least give me that.”

You laughed as you looked at your hands. You turned them under the light and watched as the fluorescence made the metal shimmer.

“How do I take it off?”

“All you have to do is think about it. FRIDAY will do the rest.”

You did so and watched as the suit began to ripple, the nanotech appearing to liquify before the suit began to retract from your body. You watched as it turned into a thin bracelet on your wrist.

“Cool,” you commented as you eyed the black band.

That happened several hours ago. Now, you were crawling through the freezing vents of the HYDRA base. You were in the middle of nowhere, ass deep in the frozen tundra of Antarctica. It was cold as hell, but luckily, the base was better insulated from the elements considering that it was underground. Your mission details were clear. End the experimentation and free the hostages that were being experimented on. Not much was known about the base, so everyone had to explore while remaining unseen. The divide and conquer method was the faster approach, and you were slowly making your way down through the vents. You tried to eavesdrop on the ongoing conversations, but most of the scientists and guards were either German or Russian. You wished that Wanda or Nat was with you. They would have been able to listen in.  

“I can’t understand a damn thing,” you whispered quietly.

The moment you said it, FRIDAY flashed to life in your helmet. You watched as the AI began to record the conversations, and as they talked, you were provided with subtitles.

“This is so fucking cool!”

You listened for only a second, but you heard them talk about more HYDRA bases popping up all over the world, and how it was easier to recruit more scientists and soldiers now that S.H.I.E.L.D. thought that they had the upper hand. FRIDAY continued to record, but you kept moving. Eventually, you came across a vent, and when you looked through it, you saw what was happening inside. You watched with a mixture of disgust, anger, and sympathy as people were injected with various substances. Screams of pain filled the air. Your jaw clenched as you spoke into your comm.

“Guys, I found it. It’s on floor 7A-3.”

“Understood,” came Natasha’s voice. “We’ll be there in 10.”

The plan was to wait until everyone got there, and then, everyone would come together to plan an attack. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. The room suddenly went dark before an alarm was activated. Flashes of red light filled the room before a voice spoke over an intercom.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”

You knew for a fact that you hadn’t given away your position.

“Uh, guys?” you asked nervously.

“Fuck! Fuck!” came Bucky’s voice. You could hear gunfire over the comm. “Shit! They spotted me!”

“Bucky, where are you?” Wanda demanded.

“Floor 6.”

That was only one floor above you.

“I’m on my way, Bucky.”

You went to start crawling when agony exploded in your head. A loud, harsh, dissonant alarm blared through the intercom, and every time it went off, the cycle of high-pitched screeches repeating over again, you felt your mind split in two. You cried out, your hands grabbing your head. It was like someone was slamming a sledgehammer onto your skull, the pain tearing through your body.

“Y/n??”

You barely heard who called your name. You flipped onto your back, your body writhing and your back arching as screams tore through you. FRIDAY flashed a warning screen through your helmet, and if you could have seen past the tears that blurred your vision, you would have seen your entire body highlighted in red on the screen. Immediately, that same warning message was sent to Wanda and Tony.

“Y/n? Y/n?? детка?!”

You couldn’t respond to her. Your body smashed into the sides of the vent as screams of pain tore from your chest. The vent wasn’t able to support your thrashing, and before you knew it, the metal groaned and buckled. You crashed into the ground, your body thrown from the safety of the metal column as more tears cascaded down your face.

“Make it stop!” you wailed.

You couldn’t see it, but black tendrils, like the ones you saw in your stomach all those days ago, unfurled from your body again. They started at your chest and spread out to cover your limbs in thick, slimy, flesh. These were girthy, and with every stabbing blare from the alarm, the tentacles writhed hectically.

“Stop!” you cried out again.

The tentacles kept moving. They covered every inch of you until you were cocooned in a black mass of tissue.

“Stop it!”

The tentacles flattened and melded together. Like a second skin, it covered you thickly, the unknown mass imbuing you with a strength you’ve never felt before. You felt that second layer harden into something flexible, and then, you felt fury explode inside of you.

“I said STOP IT!!”

Those words had come from your mouth. You screamed them, but that wasn’t your voice. It’d been too deep, too inhuman to be you. Your eyes snapped open, and you no longer saw the flashing screens in your helmet. You realized rather quickly that you weren’t in your suit. You were in something different, something new. Your gaze now pulsed when the alarm rang, the room spinning around you, but you felt a mental clarity that you never had before. Your furious gaze turned to the source of your pain, and you extended your arm, your intention to web the speaker and rip it off the wall. However, instead of webs, was a massive ball of tentacles. They exploded from your arm and crashed into the wall. The cement cratered under your strength, dust and fragments of the destroyed speaker raining onto the floor before the tentacles retracted and folded back into the black suit you were now wearing. You took a deep breath, the haze of pain clearing from your head as you stood to your feet.

You were covered in nothing but black, the spider emblem on your chest now a stark white instead of silver. You felt great. Powerful. Unstoppable. God-like. Every breath you breathed went straight to your cells and you reveled in the way you felt so refreshed. You heard a small pop before something ricocheted off you, and you looked up to see that one of the agents had just tried to shoot you. The bullet that deflected from your body embedded itself into the nearby wall. You clenched your hands into fists, your neck and shoulders rolling as you felt the tension bleed away from you. There was no one here besides you and your targets, and this time, no one was going to stop you from wreaking hell in this room.

Part 8

[the-guilty-writer]

Pancake Bar War

Request from anon: hotch x daughter reader where they are having a fun day at home and its just a lot of fluff and stuff. i feel like you have been writting a lot of dark stuff lately so maybe this could cheer you up!🤍🤍

Aaron Hotchner x daughter!reader

Summary: Breakfast time in the Hotchner household turns into a delicious disaster.

A/N: This was so refreshing to write! Sorry it’s short! Thanks for looking out for my mental health Anon. It’s truly appreciated ❤️ 

CW: Fluff, food fight

---

There’s always a bit of amnesia that comes with waking up in the morning- whether that be the inability to remember what you dreamt of last night, or the split second where you forget what day it is. Most people have both.

You flopped over and looked at your clock. 8:38 AM, Friday. The morning amnesia broke and a smile broke out on your face. You slipped your bare feet into socks and walked down the hall to the kitchen where your dad was already busy making pancakes.

“Morning dad!” You greeted him.

“Goodmorning, sweetheart,” he replied. It was always a joy to wake up to the sight of his own home and members of his own family rather than alone in a hotel room somewhere.

Of course, Hotch had been up for a few hours now- even though working at the BAU made keeping a healthy circadian rhythm nearly impossible, having two kids and a demanding job made it so he always woke up at 6 AM sharp. On a regular day, he would have had to get ready for work and help get you and Jack ready for school, but you had the day off that day.

It was a fantastic excuse to give the rest of the team a well-deserved long weekend. Aaron had some meetings in the afternoon that he couldn’t reschedule, but he was happy to at least have the morning with you. Normally it would have been you and Jack, but your brother and Henry had insisted on a sleepover. Even though Hotch had been reluctant to give up the extra time with his son, it was a chance for him to spend some one-on-one time with you; a rare commodity that he was happy to have.

Between helping Jack with soccer and him still being at the age where Aaron knew how to help him with homework, it was easy to find quality time with his son. He tried his best to spend an equal amount of time with you, but your high school classes sometimes had you buried in double the work he had and your extracurriculars were far beyond his expertise. Sometimes quality time with his only daughter could only come in the form of working and studying in the same room, so he was thrilled that the morning could be dedicated to some much needed time with just the two of you.

“You think Jack will be mad that we did a pancake bar without him?” you asked.

He chuckled. “Jack is probably eating super hero themed waffles right now. I think he’ll be okay.”

Grinning, you pulled the whipped cream and chocolate syrup from the fridge before moving to get the chocolate chips and sprinkles from the pantry. You cut up some fruit and added it to the line up, turning part of the kitchen counter into a toppings buffet for the large stack of pancakes that your dad was beginning to finish up. Leaning against the counter, you took the liberty of connecting your phone to the bluetooth speaker, quietly putting The Beatles White Album on shuffle. You couldn’t help but notice your dad's smile.

“Alright,” he said, putting down a plate stacked with golden-brown pancakes on the counter. “Breakfast is served.”

You grabbed a few pancakes and began to pile on the toppings to your liking, quietly humming along to Blackbird as it echoed in the background. When you were finished, you sat down at the table.

“So,” he began. “What are you planning to do today?”

“They’re running the local market down at the park,” you said. It was something you loved to do when you could- walk around and look at every strange handmade soap, craft, painting, or nick nack that local vendors had to offer. There was always a fun surprise somewhere, and over the years you’d gotten great at finding the market’s hidden treasures.

“I didn’t know they still had that,” your dad said.

“They don’t run it as much as they used to,” you replied. “But since we have the day off school, all the vendors are students. One of my friends asked me to get breakfast with her before she has to set up, but I told her I already had plans with my dad that couldn’t be canceled.”

Your dad chuckled. “Thanks.” He knew the comment was entirely sarcastic in nature, but he couldn’t help but want a little payback. You both finished your breakfast and began the process of cleaning up the kitchen. You were nearly finished cleaning off the counter of toppings when your dad stopped you.

“Wait, sweetheart,” he said. You turned to him. “You have a little something, right… there!”

You hadn’t even noticed that the whipped cream was gone, hidden away in your dads hand so he could leave a dot of it on your nose. Your mouth dropped open in surprise, and then widened into a smile. “Oh you are ON!”

With the bottle of chocolate syrup in one hand, you pointed it towards him, getting a glob of the sticky substance on his shirt before he sprayed more whipped cream at you, causing you to shriek and giggle while the content of the can was emptied in your hair. With all his sugary ammo gone, it gave you the opportunity to move in- squeezing the bottle to attack him with a projectile fountain of chocolate.

But Hotch was nothing if not brave in the line of fire (especially when that fire was a delicious condiment). He playfully grabbed you and threw you over his shoulder, both of you laughing as you faked to struggle away from him. The bottle slipped from your hands and landed on the floor with a thunk. 

“I surrender!” you giggled as your dad spun around, making you just dizzy enough that it reminded you of how you used to make him spin you around and around when you were a little girl. “I surrender!”

Your dad chuckled and put you down. Both of your pajamas were stained with chocolate. The sticky feeling of whipped cream coated one cheek and you could feel that it was in your hair. From the look of your dad’s shirt, he would have been the prime suspect in a serial murder case against chocolate bunnies and the syrup was smeared against his face. But his smile was the brightest you had seen it in years.

“Go get ready,” he said, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I’ll clean up.”

You went back to your room and began running the shower, knowing it would take a few cycles of shampoo to get the food fight evidence out of your hair. Hotch looked around at the kitchen, sighing but still smiling as he grabbed the cleaning supplies.

You would be late to the market and he would be late to his meeting, but it was worth it.

[almondamaretto]

crossfaded

matt sturniolo x reader

summary: pure brain rot of admiring and longing for matt… basically mindless self indulgence

warnings: weed, stoner!triplets, suggestive at the end

my first work !!

✄┈┈┈┈

“Yo, want some?” You’re pulled from your thoughts by Chris mumbling quietly and nudging your shoulder, a tightly rolled joint sitting loosely between his fingers. A trail of smoke from the end of the joint swirls throughout the dimly lighted room, painting the air with hazy coils.

You shake your head with a kind smile, “m’not in the mood, thank you, though” you say sweetly. He furrows his brows and purses his lips, confusion contorting his features, before shrugging his shoulders and passing it off to Nick who was sat to his right. 

Music played lowly from your phone, burning up from both the bluetooth speaker and charger it was connected to, both of which Chris opposed your possession of. Your oversized shirt slightly slips off your left shoulder as you stare down at your phone sitting atop your lap, legs crossed tightly underneath you, knees protesting in dull aches.

Various friends talk in scattered conversations, 6 people sitting in a poorly configured circle, a space left open for Matt who had just left to retrieve the food delivery.

Half a minute felt like an eternity that he was gone, ease filling your body as you watch him emerge from the staircase, a large bag of Wing Stop in his hands.

It’s crazy how much you miss him when he isn’t with you. How much you crave him when he is gone. He wasn’t even yours, so why did it feel like he was?

The joint is passed to him almost immediately as he sat down, brown paper bag placed in the center of everyone, greedy hands reaching in to take the flavor-coated wings. Your hands stay situated to yourself, eyes drifting over to Matt, head tilted up as he pulled smoke into his lungs, glancing over at you before exhaling.

He smirks and holds the drug out to you. “Nah bro she’s not-” Chris starts, but cuts himself off as you take the rolled paper from Matt’s grasp, fingers grazing over his as you do so.

Nick and Chris alike stared in skeptical confusion as you mirror Matt’s previous actions, his gaze never leaving you and his smile never leaving his face.

Your eyes close as you let the psychoactive drug take action, enjoying the dizzying feeling in your head. Opening your eyes, you’re met with Matt’s intense gaze, lips darting out over his still-smiling lips. Seconds pass.

“Don’t babysit” Chris whines and nudges you again. He gratefully takes the joint from your fingers, taking his much desired hit and blowing smoke into your face as he spoke; “what happened to ‘not in the mood’?” he grins, recalling your almost apparent feelings for his brother.

You furrow your brows and wave your hand in front of your face, sleeves doing circles around your wrist, brackets clinking against each other. “I’m in the mood now” you shrug you shoulders, quickly glancing over to Matt whose eyes are still fixated on you, cheeks heating up under his stare.

“Yeah, right.”

Four more circles are completed, the last one ending with you inhaling the last of the joint into your lungs, searching for some place to put it out. As you exhale, Matt holds his hand out offering to take it from you. Latching onto the base, he takes a hold of it, licking his thumb and pointer finger, pinching the end to snuff it out. He winced as he did so, tossing it in the now empty Wing Stop bag.

In your peripheral you can see Chris already lighting another preroll, the flick of an almost dead lighter that was most definitely yours catching your attention.

However, you could hardly keep your eyes off the man sat to your left, so close yet so far.

Lounging back comfortably on the plush off-white couch, arms crossed over his chest, his legs were spread out perfectly—just the right amount of room to fit someone of your size.

Practically shaking your head to rid yourself of your thoughts, you try to tune into the conversation being had right now.

“This is literally just a plain wing, like they didn’t put shit on here” Nick voices, but his voice was so distant, you were already back to ogling Matt. His tongue pushing into his cheek while he smiles and nods, hair tossed messily.

His chest lifts up and down slowly as he breathes in and out his tattooed arm flexing and relaxing as he moves his hand underneath his shirt, running his painted nails over the area just under his sweatpants band.

You catch sight of the top of his boxers as he pulls his hand away, shirt getting caught on his index finger’s ring, leaving a sliver of skin exposed to the hazy air.

His earrings perfectly reflect the lamp a few feet away, sending flashes of light into your vision. You blink slowly, eyes refocusing each time you expose them to the sultry lighting of the living room. Montell Fish hums lowly through the speaker making the one-sided moment all the more intimate.

Matt felt your eyes on him, trailing up and down his figure, staring at him with open endearment. Turning his head to you, he puts all his focus onto you—that’s what you were craving, wasn’t it?

He stares into your droopy eyes, watching as you notice his gaze on you. You perk up slightly, face flushing as you slowly flutter your eyes at him “do I have something on my face?” He jokes out, wetting his lips once more.

You pull your lips in between your teeth and shake your head sheepishly, sinking more into the couch and looking away from him. “Well don’t look away now, wanna see your pretty face” he drew out, voice low and hoarse pulling the hem of your sock with his index, letting it snap back into place. Your head snaps back over to him, the high making your head spin.

You focus again on him, noticing how his eyes were just as droopy as yours. He grabs onto the second joint of the night and takes a quick hit, staring at you as he lifts his fingers up to your face, placing the filter in between your lips.

Sucking the smoke into your mouth, you fold under his gaze. The way he looks at you was more intoxicating than the strongest drug, giving you a high you by simply being present. You grab the joint, letting his hand drop and quickly handing it to Chris, refusing to break eye contact.

Matt’s hand snakes around your back, pulling you into him and watching as you nuzzle into him. His scent invades your senses, sending waves over your already sensitive nerves. His left hand falls onto your thigh that was sprawled out over his lap, you glance up at him.

He watched your lashes flick up and down as you slowly trailed your eyes between his eyes and lips, crossfaded off of him and the contents of the joint still being passed around. His head dips, nose brushing against your cheek eliciting goosebumps to slowly crawl up your limbs and neck. He presses a chaste kiss to the area just under your ear, smiling as you grip his shirt.

Your hand gently rakes through his hair, nails lightly scratching his scalp, pulling a sigh from him—you barely even notice the action, however it seems to have a strong effect on him. He grips your hands and pulls both you and himself up abruptly.

He watched you as you nearly topple over onto the coffee table, hands stabilizing you by your hips.

The rest of the group is quickly pulled from their conversation, looking at you in confusion.

“Congrats, chris, you can play music now.” Was all he said before tugging on your hand, placing his hand on your lower back and directing you to his room.

He just barely closes the door before he pulls you into him, hands gripping roughly onto your hips as you collide into him, lips hovering over each other. You were both breathing heavily as you continued to stare into each other’s eyes

“Need you so bad” he mumbles out, holding himself back from making any further advances without some type of conformation from you; “y’look so pretty right now.”

“m’all yours, Matt”