#no i’m not stressed at all why do you ask

[wendichester]

.ೃ࿔*:･ safety distance²,

summary. sammy's left for stanford and dean loves to play to overprotective older brother role

pairing. s1!stanford!dean winchester x reader genre. fluff ; college au

wordcount. 777

notes. was thinking of maybe doing a part 3? 👀

⋆.˚ ★— read part 1

The sun hangs low in the sky, warm and lazy, casting golden streaks over Stanford’s campus. The grass is cool beneath you, the scent of freshly cut blades lingering in the air. Your textbooks are open, notes sprawled across your lap, but you haven’t gotten through a single page in the last twenty minutes.

Because Dean Winchester is a menace.

He lounges beside you, one arm propped behind his head, the other tossing a small pebble up and down like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. His jacket is long discarded, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and he’s got that same damn smirk on his lips—the one that tells you he knows exactly how distracting he is.

"Are you always this disruptive?" you ask, glancing at him over the edge of your book.

Dean lifts a brow, looking far too pleased with himself. "Disruptive? Sweetheart, I’d say I’m enhancing your study session."

You let out a dramatic sigh, flicking a piece of grass at him. "Yeah, sure. ‘Cause relentless teasing and completely derailing my focus is so helpful."

He grins. "Exactly. Studying is bad for your health. Stress levels, blood pressure—y’know, all that science stuff."

You shake your head, biting back a smile. He’s ridiculous. Infuriating. And yet… the warmth in your chest is impossible to ignore.

And Dean—well, he tells himself he’s still here because of Sam. That’s the whole reason he came to Palo Alto in the first place, right? To keep an eye on his kid brother. Make sure nothing supernatural was creeping in on Sam’s new life.

But if that were really true, then why is he here? Sitting next to you, watching the way the wind catches your hair, throwing out lame excuses just to hear you laugh?

He refuses to answer that question.

Instead, he reaches over and plucks your pen from your fingers, twirling it effortlessly.

"You’re impossible," you mutter, reaching for it.

Dean grins and holds it just out of reach. "Nah. Just charming."

Before you can retaliate, your phone buzzes between you. You glance down, and Dean watches as your expression softens. His easy smirk falters slightly when he catches the name on the screen.

Sammy.

Shit.

You pick up without hesitation, tucking the phone between your ear and shoulder. "Hey, you."

Dean watches, heart hammering as if he’s the one caught sneaking around. Which, technically, he is—but not in the way Sam would ever guess.

"Hey," Sam’s voice crackles through the speaker. "Where are you? I was gonna grab coffee before heading back to the dorm—figured I’d see if you wanted to meet up."

Dean’s stomach drops.

Oh, hell no.

Your brows lift slightly as you glance at your pile of books. "Yeah, I’m still on campus, actually. By the—"

Dean doesn’t even think before he moves. One second, he’s stretched out next to you, and the next, he’s sitting up so fast he nearly trips over his own damn boots.

Your head snaps toward him at his sudden movement. "Uh—" Dean clears his throat, scrambling for an excuse. "Crap, I, uh—I just remembered I gotta… take care of something."

Your brows furrow. "Right now?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally slipped my mind." He’s already standing, grabbing his jacket like it’s a lifeline.

You blink, confused. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, it’s fine," he assures quickly, waving a hand. Too quickly. Too unnatural. "Just—important… business."

You squint at him. "Business?"

"Yup. Very important. Super top-secret. You know how it is." He throws in a crooked grin for good measure, but he can feel the sweat beading at the back of his neck.

Sam’s voice on the phone reminds you of his presence. "Who’s that?"

Dean freezes.

You glance at him, confused, before turning back to the call. "Oh, just—"

"Just a guy," Dean blurts before you can say his name.

Your eyes narrow. "What—"

"Okay, gotta go! Have fun with, uh, studying! Or Sam! Or whatever you end up doing!"

And with that, Dean bolts.

He doesn’t look back, doesn’t pause, just shoves his hands in his pockets and beelines it toward the parking lot like he’s got hellhounds on his heels.

By the time he reaches the Impala, heart still hammering from the ridiculous close call, he watches from a distance as you gather your books, phone still pressed to your ear, completely oblivious to his panic.

And then Sam appears, his familiar tall frame moving toward you with that easy, clueless smile.

Dean slumps against the hood of his car, exhaling hard.

Close. Too close.

He tells himself it won’t happen again. That this was just a one-time thing.

But deep down, he knows better.

ꔛ. navigation 𓂃˖ ࣪ all drabbles ; compatibility readings ; support my work .ᐟ

want be part of the taglist.ᐣ ⋆.˚ ★— @iloveeveryoneyoureamazing ⋆ @deans-daydream ⋆ @taurus0queenie33 ⋆ @ambiguous-avery ⋆ @krabog ⋆ @itsdearapril ⋆ @nymphet-quenn ⋆ @bluemerakis ⋆ @titsout4jackles ⋆ @lyarr24 ⋆ @hauntedrose555 ⋆ @chevroletdean ⋆ @dulcescorderitas ⋆ @blackmarketfruitrollups ⋆ @impala67rollingthroughtown ⋆ @rulesareshadesofgrey ⋆ @nervoussystems ⋆ @daryls-luvrr ⋆ @sunnyteume ⋆ @drakelover78 ⋆ @angelblqde ⋆ @mostlymarvelgirl ⋆ @whisperingdaze ⋆ @funkenniffler ⋆ @bossyblondie ⋆ @lieutenantchaos ⋆ @iluvnewtie ⋆ @dyhsversion ⋆ @lovewolfspirit ⋆ @kayleighwinchester ⋆ @s0urw00lf ⋆ @cursednevermore ⋆ @onelonelybitch ⋆ @americanvenom13 ⋆ @iluvdeanwinchester ⋆ @idk6505 ⋆ @devilslittlehelper ⋆ @cloverleaf20 ⋆ @giggles1026 ⋆ @idontwannabehere7 ⋆ @beakaleak32 ⋆ @ocelotlist51 ⋆ @lelapine ⋆ @pwin098 ⋆ @lacysretribution ⋆ @globetrotter28 ⋆ @i-love-gvf ⋆ @lemonswinchester ⋆ @4k1vrr ⋆ @bejeweledinterludes ( continues in the comments )

[nova2kss]

Plug!Connie x black!Reader

Plug Connie fic (sorta kinda) bc I love him sooo much

Not proof read

Enjoy cause im prob not gonna write again until may🙂‍↕️ ily guys

Constance fucking springer a dangerous man as some would say.

You being best friends and roommates with Sasha braus, made you a bit more acquainted with the man more than you’d like as you would say.

You never really tried to involve yourself into his lifestyle…well that was until finals week when you were terribly stressed

The only thing you needed from him was a few grams.

A few grams turned into a few packs, a few packs turned into a few smoke sessions, and a few smoke sessions turned into Connie beating your shit from the back.

“S-shit take it out papa, I’m s-sorryyy” 

“Mhm hmm I know”

The tinted windows on his all back red rimmed SRT was fogged with your hand prints all over them

You didn’t mean to put yourself in this predicament, you just wanted to show your man that you were a grown ass woman who could make her own decisions

Connie’s hands were deepening your arch in his back seat

“Keep that back arched or I won’t let up baby”

You gripped the hand door handle praying keeping that deep arch would give him some sympathy to give you at least a break

“Mhmm just like that mami, shit so good ima nut in you”

“Fuck paaa please I’m so s-sor AH”

You were interrupted with a sting on your ass combined with a sharp thrust.

“Fuck up, take that shit. This what you wanted right”

He was right, this was indeed what you wanted, you just weren’t expecting him to fuck you this hard.

As much as you complained you loved seeing this side of him, you loved when he put you in your place, and reminded you why you shouldn’t piss him off.

He slowed his thrust down ever so slightly watching the white ring drip around his shaft as you to connected.

“Look at you creaming on this dick baby”

The whimpers you let out in unison with the squelching around him; had him ready to give you all his cum.

As much as he was mad at you, he couldn’t hold back his moans in the slightest, your pussy had him rambling spewing out anything

“F-fuck I love you s’much baby” “you feel so good” “I’m gonna cum baby”

All of this while he fucked you so stupid you couldn’t even respond.

Your eyes were rolling in the back of your head when Connie snaked his hands into your hair pulling your head back onto his chest.

You couldn’t even speak and ask for a break the most you could do was reach your hand back and try and push him out of your guts

Connie looked down at your petty attempt to push him away

“Move your hand baby”

“Mhm mhm”

“Y/n move that shit”

“Mhm nooo, take sum outtt”

His thrust came to a halt

“Y/n if you don’t move yo hand ima kill yo shit”

Your hand was moved with quickness.

“Uhh Fuck pa I’m gonna cum”

“I know baby I feel you, I’m right there”

Your hips move with his chasing your nut, and Connie was doing every for you to catch it

His hand stayed tangled in your hair as he licked and moaned over your neck

He couldn’t hold his nut anymore, and neither could you

“Cum for me baby, I’m right thereee”

The waterfall rushed out wetting his fresh leather seats and his whole lower half

“M’cumming m’cumminggg”

His thrust stopped as he painted your insides with his warm seed

The only thing you seen was the whites of his eyes while he groaned into you, riding out your orgasms

You both moaned as he pulled out, watching his nut drip out of you

He laughed looking at the seats of his car

“We made a mess”

[maskedcrawford]

Not So Secret Relationship

G-Dragon x Reader

Summary: After paparazzi help out your relationship, you and GD choose to announce it yourselves in true G Dragon style.

Warnings: None really

A/N: Thank you anon for being so patient. I hope this is close to what you wanted <3

Requests are OPEN

It all started when you agreed to work with with G-Dragon for his new song and music video. The two of you had chemistry unlike any other, quickly becoming close friends, constantly being seen with each other or leaving one another’s home. It wasn’t long before Jiyong got the courage up to ask you out and you more than readily said yes.

This would lead to the frenzy of pictures and speculation, being form America meant that anytime he was there, the reporters and paparazzi were all over him and you’d be photographed together. Anytime you were in Korea, the same thing happened for you. You were both ecstatic to have thriving careers, but it made keeping your relationship a hard secret to keep. The only thing you could begin to bank on was that neither of you confirmed your relationship.

It's been months and the media continues to speculate about your relationship, much to some fans cheers and dismay. There was growing fanbase for your relationship and then there were fans who wouldn’t believe it. Truth be told it was nice to have something only the two of you could share. Something that, though they may try, the world couldn’t be 100% sure of.

But that all ends one night when you’re out on yet another date, speculation in the media turns to soft launch when a paparazzi gets a picture of Jiyong sweetly kissing your cheek at the end of your date. Not to mention, the pictures of both of you smiling, caressing each other’s hands and fingers being interlocked.

You can’t help but stare at your tv as the gossip show talks about the pictures and shows multiple of the two of you holding hands, pictures that look like you’re joking around, and even one of the two of you getting close at the beach. You sigh as you pick up the ringing phone on your table.

“Have you seen the show?” Jiyong’s voice is calm, not exactly what you expected.

“Yup,” you respond aggravated, “And it’s not just here, Korea’s media is picking up on it too,” you mention with a slight stress headache. You got a text from a mutual friend that morning that the K-media is buzzing once again about the two of you.

“Why don’t we just tell them, y/n?”

“I mean, are you sure you’re ready to give up the big secret?” you ask tentatively. It’s not that you didn’t want to tell anyone, it was that it was so nice keeping it private, or at least, unconfirmed.

“I mean, if I ever want to marry you it’s going to have to come out at some point. Why not now?” You blush at his comment and bite your lip as you smile at the thought of him in a suit.

“Ah, ok,” you sigh.

“But if we’re doing this,” he begins and you can hear in his voice the theatrics are about to be noted, “We’re doing it right. G-Dragon, style.” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“Nice confidence, G-Dragon,” you tease. You can hear his chuckle over the phone.

“I’m flying you out in a week, pack your stuff.”

“How the heck are we doing this?”

“I’ll tell you all that once you get here,” he hangs up the phone before you can protest.

-

You land in Korea that next week, curiosity peeking as you get into the car Jiyong has sent for you. You’re walking up to his apartment door, nervous about the plan and excited to see him.

He practically pulls you inside and you yelp, surprised by the sudden force.

“God I missed you,” he cups your face and leaves multiple little kisses all over it before his lips find yours for a slow, meaningful kiss. He makes a mental note that your lips taste like strawberries.

“I missed you too,” you say against his lips and after a moment he finally lets you go to breathe.

“I swear you’re my oxygen.” He says partly panting.

“Yeah, that’s why you’re panting,” you tease and he rolls his eyes.

“So, what’s this new plan of yours?” You sit on the couch as you watch him pace animatedly around in front of the tv.

“I’m performing at the MAMA awards this weekend, that’s where we’ll do it. You’ll come out with me, we’ll do our song and choreography and we’ll make it all official.” His smile is as wide as his face and you smile at the idea.

“Very G-Dragon of you,” you compliment jokingly and he rolls his eyes playfully with the smile stuck on his face.

“Thank you, jagi,” he takes a dramatic bow. The rest of the week is spent in intense preparation. Once the media caught wind that you were in Korea, the outlets once again were fueling fans theories that the two of you are together. Pictures of you two out to get frozen yogurt and walking to and from practices, as well as the two of you going back to his penthouse.

-

The day of the performance arrives and the place is buzzing. You go through the song and routine a few times, nailing it each time.

“This is going to be so good,” he smiles at you as you land in his arms for the final move. He pecks your lips and you smile, nerves taking over slightly as the time for the show gets closer.

-

Before you know it, the time comes and your both out on stage, singing and dancing with the crowd going wild. Each move is precise, exactly how you practiced it. By the end of the song, you’re in your final pose and both of you have your chests heaving.

He quirks a brow at you and you bite your bottom lip with a smile as you both lean in, sweaty lips connecting in front of the whole crowd. The arena goes into a frenzy, phone cameras are up, fans are freaking out and your heartrate is sky high. You pull back from one another, looking into each other’s eyes and you look at the crowd smiling with a little giggle. Jiyong’s forehead rests against the side of your head as he hugs you closer to him, the lights catching every single miniscule movement. You blow a kiss to the crowd and walk off hand in hand with your boyfriend.

-

The next morning your social media is blowing up from notifications. You giggle as you show Jiyong the edits and tons of gossip pages freaking out at the confirmed relationship of you two. Jiyong picks up his own phone and quickly uploads a pic to Instagram.

“Now I can post you whenever I want,” he says cockily as he kisses your cheek.

You roll over catching a glimpse in the mirror and decide that if he can do it, so can you.

Maybe confirming your relationship was the best idea.

If you enjoyed and would like to support me, buy me a coffee

Comment if you'd like to be tagged in future fics!

Tags:@loveesiren @topluvr @breakmeoff

Masterlist

[norrissm]

⌗ more than enough — ln4

lando x reader. est. relationship. fluff. a date night long overdue for the both of you. best part by daniel ceasar, HER ★ LIBRARY

it was a triple header for lando. the season was at its peak and mclaren was seeing phenomenal success with their driver lineup. lando was a contender for the championship and i couldn’t be prouder.

he had been busier than usual—race weekends, endless media duties, simulator sessions, and then, when he was finally back home, i was the one caught up in work. time kept slipping through my fingers, and before either of us knew it, weeks had passed without a proper date night.

so coming home one night, finding lando by the kitchen leaning against the counter, eyes darting up at the soft thud of the door— a teasing smirk painted his face. features noticeably relaxing. the stress which had been on his eyes, giving way to some semblance of peace.

“get ready f’me?” his voice reverberated in the room. been weeks since we’d looked at each other. weeks we’d gone without a proper conversation, weeks filled with nothing but muffled exchanges of appreciation in the quiet of sleep

“why?” i asked, narrowing my eyes albeit too happy to finally see him. i walked towards him. taking his arms in mine. “because,” he stepped closer, hands finding my waist, “i’m taking you out. dress up for me, yeah?”

my heart fluttered at the way he looked at me—soft, expectant like he’d missed me just as much as i’d missed him.

“you’re asking me out?”

“properly asking you out,” he corrected, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. “none of that last-minute takeaway on the couch stuff. a real date. now go, before i change my mind and decide i like the couch idea better.”

getting ready together held an intimate domesticity in your heart.

lando sat on the edge of the bed, watching me do your makeup, making little comments here and there. he’d planned out the evening for the both of us. drinks at my favourite local brewery, coming back home to make homemade pizzas. “heart-shaped pizzas,” i’d corrected him with a silly glint in my eyes. ending the night with some gelato and a walk by the neighbourhood.

“just like the times we first met,” he’d reminisced. the first few dates of lando and i were mostly these activities. lots of walking, lots of gelato and cooking together. “it’s domestic and intimate,” lando had justified.

“just get dressed, norris.” i chuckled.

he did, though he took his sweet time, waiting for me to zip up my dress before he stood behind me, fixing the clasp of my necklace with delicate fingers.

“you look beautiful,” he murmured against my shoulder.

“you clean up nice too,” i teased, smoothing down his collar.

and just like that, hand in hand, we finally got your long-overdue date night, full of laughter, stolen kisses, and the feeling of falling in love with him all over again.

and at this moment — under the bustling cacophony of monaco — this was more than enough. he was more than enough.

reblog and follow <3 all rights reserved ©️norrissm please do not copy, save, or translate my stories.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

down and out

Hello, all ^^ I don’t usually discuss my personal matters on here but this is one of those instances where irl bleeds into the blog.

To make a long story short, I had a health-related surgical procedure done. I will not be going into more detail, as I’d like to maintain my privacy. By the time this post goes live from my queue, I should already be out of the operating room. However, because of my admittedly poor constitution, I have no idea how the recovery will go or how my body will react to the anesthesia or post-op medication.

It is for this reason that I will unfortunately not be holding an April Fools’ Day blog event this year. It’s also why I didn’t do my usual anniversary writing prompts for 2025 (I was preoccupied psyching myself up for the operation).

I apologize in advance if I’m slow to reply to new asks or keeping up with Twst news in the weeks to come. I don’t want to push myself during the recovery process and potentially stress myself out even more 💦 If you see posts still going up, it’s queued content from weeks ago, NOT things I have recently written.

Thank you for understanding! ^^

[glamourscat]

Can you maybe do a Shidou x Single mom reader? Shidou moved into a new apartment building because he got kicked out of the last one for being too loud or something alike, and his nextdoor apartment neighbor is a young single mom he greets sometimes, and she ends up asking him to babysit her toddler once because no one was able to take care of it at the moment and she was late to work. In the end the kid is obsessed with him and doesn't want to leave at first, but reluctantly accepts once they promise him/her they can play again.

Idk if that's a weird request or anything, but i think it would be cute. The kid can be a girl or boy, whichever you choose.💐

WHATEVER THAT MEANS | SHIDOU RYUSEI X READER (TIME SKIP)

so, i slightly changed it around, bc i found it hard to write for a mother who left her kid w someone who she barely knew :'( i made them on friendly base, so not super close but friendly enough for the reader to trust shidou into taking care of her daughter. I hope you like the fic either way, and i'm sorry for the little adjustment!

Loud. Inadequate. Noisy. Just a few adjectives his old apartment complex neighbors would use to describe him. And it’s not like they were necessarily wrong… but can’t a guy have hobbies? What’s the big deal if he wants to shout off his balcony in the morning as stress relief? Or sunbathe naked? It’s his house, after all.

But apparently, they didn’t see it that way. And so, embarrassingly enough, he got evicted. Football season was about to come to an end, which meant more days spent indoors, especially with the scorching summer temperatures in Japan.

It’s been over seven months since he met you. And he still couldn’t quite figure you out.

The first time you two met, you threw a shoe at him. The second time, you apologized for the shoe but still got into a screaming match over who stole whose package. The third time, it was a rainy night. He was restless.TV, phone, laptop, nothing could quiet his head. His eyes drifted to the window, and before he knew it, he was grabbing his jacket and shoes, heading out for a walk.

He didn’t even realize how far he’d gone until he found himself near the striking lights of the town center. He was about to turn back when he saw you. Standing there, soaked through, outside some cheap ass restaurant. His first instinct was to tease you, but then he took in your face.

Sorrow. Embarrassment. Pain.

And he didn’t have it in him.

You turned to leave before he could even step closer.

“Wait, damn it—”

“Don’t.” Your voice was quiet but firm as he reached out, catching your wrist.

“I don’t—I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Shidou huffed, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over your shoulders.

“You’re drenched. C’mon. Let’s go back.” His voice was strangely calm. Just like that he led you home.

That night, seven months ago, he learned about you. Your life. That you, at 26, the same age as him, had a three-year-old daughter. That the father was more absent than his own had ever been.

He doesn’t know exactly when the shift happened. When throwing shoes turned into spending late nights at each other’s places, talking until 1 a.m. and laughing over things that didn’t even matter. Maybe it was the vulnerability of that very first night you two talked. Or maybe it was realizing that, despite everything, you two weren’t so different. He just… expressed things more loudly.

And maybe that’s why, on his day off, he’s here. Babysitting your kid. A round, giggling toddler sitting cross legged in his lap, applying makeup to his face with the concentration of a professional artist. She’s rambling, some absurd story about nursery school that he’s pretty sure she’s making up as she goes.

God, he has no idea what he’s doing.

There’s pink sparkling eyeshadow smudged across his eyelids, uneven swipes of glitter on his cheeks and something sticky in his hair that he’s choosing to ignore.

“You look like a princess,” she announces proudly, clapping her hands together.

Shidou snorts. “Yeah? A hot one?”

The toddler tilts her head, considering. “Mmm… a silly one.” She exclaims with her hands thrown in the air as to emphasise her claim. 

He grins, flashing his teeth. “Same thing, nugget.”

As you walk through the door your eyes fix on the scene. You don’t know where to either laugh or to be worried for Shidou’s safety. Surely that many hairpins in his hair cannot be good for blood circulation, right? 

His eyes meet yours as he flashes you a stupid grin of his. He doesn’t know how it happened, how he got here. But he knows it feels good. It feels good to be wanted. And your kid, for whatever reason, is obsessed with him.

Which is a problem, when you move closer to pick her up and she immediately buries her face into his shoulder, clinging and gripping him like he’s the last cookie in the cookie jar that someone is also trying to take. 

“Nooooo,” she yells dramatically. “I wanna stay with Ryusei!”

“Kid, I’m flattered,” he says, patting her back, “but your mom will kill me if you don't go take your bath.”

You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Sweetheart, you need to bathe. And eat dinner.”

“Ryusei can do it!”

Shidou chokes on a laugh and you shoot him a glare, but your daughter isn’t paying attention, she’s too busy gripping his shirt. Kicking her feet annoyed at the injustice of it all.

It reminds him a little of himself. That fierce, stubborn kind of love. The kind that grabs on tight and refuses to let go. She’s a kid, but he can feel that she’s smart enough to understand this feeling. So he tugs her away just enough to look her in the eye, his voice quieter now.

“Hey. What if I promise to come back?”

Her lip wobbles. “You swear?”

“Cross my heart.” He does the motion across his chest, then taps her nose. “I’ll come play again. You can even make me a clown next time.”

The toddler sniffs. “Princess clown.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever the boss wants.”

She hesitates, then, slowly and reluctantly, she lets you take her into your arms. But her eyes stay locked on him, watching as if she’s trying to make sure he doesn’t disappear the second she looks away.

Shidou leans back, resting his head against the couch. And, because he knows she’s waiting, he throws her a lazy salute.

“Later, nugget.”

She sniffles again. “Bye-bye, Ryusei.”

And just like that, she’s gone, carried off into the other room.

The apartment is quieter now, the warmth of her weight still lingering on his skin. He exhales, stretching his arms over his head and catches you watching him as you pop back in the living room. 

“You didn’t have to promise,” you say, voice softer than usual.

Shidou hums. “Nah. I wanted to.”

A moment of silence goes by. 

“You’re good with her.”

He smirks. “You sound surprised.”

You shake your head, but you’re smiling. “Just… didn’t expect it.”

Shidou shrugs, leaning his head back again. He doesn’t know how to explain it. Doesn’t know if he even needs to. It’s just that love, in all its forms, has never come easy to him. It’s always been messy. Complicated.

But this? This feels simple. So yeah. He’ll come back. He will still pretend to huff and think twice before accepting. He will still tease you restless as per usual. But he will let your daughter cover him in glitter and tell him ridiculous stories and call him silly names. Because it’s easy. Because it’s warm. Because it feels good to be like this. 

Whatever that means. 

© GLAMOURSCAT (all rights reserved. do not share, modify, translate and re-upload my work outside of tumblr)

[zolass]

Detectives Attraction Ch. 08 Top Male Reader x Male Yandere Harem

It took a while to finally continue writing as my mood literally hit the ground, with all the stress and drama so it took some time to write again and finish the chapter. It's also not long but yeah at least something.

cw: none 1.4k words

The wooden door was pushed open harshly, making it slam against the shelf right beside the entrance, and a man stepped into the dark decorated office space. “So now we’re allowing cops into our clubs? Letting them snoop around?” the man clenched his hands into fists in anger. “What about that pathetic excuse of a commissioner? What was his name– Hayes?” a bitter scoff left the brown haired man, as he let himself fall into the leather chair across the mahogany desk.

Across from the man sat a platinum blonde man– his shoulder length hair neatly styled, while his grey eyes stared at the papers spread across the desk, “We’ll see how far Ana will lead him and– where. It might benefit us, Rhys– so let’s simply wait and see,” the blonde’s voice was deep and smooth while his words were laced with a hint of amusement, instead of anger.

The other man was fuming in anger as he glared at the wall, while his hands were clenched into fists. “Why don’t you go over and share– a quick talk?” 

It wasn't even twenty four hours later as M/n stared at his phone screen with the messenger open. He didn't even have to ask her how she got his number– if Adrian could simply get his address, how hard would it be to get his number– possibly not that difficult. 

On the screen were the details for the meeting listed, first M/n simply thought about just not going– how desperate does he have to be to simply meet up with a criminal to get information? 

Yet as the time from the meet up edged closer, M/n couldn’t help but still be conflicted, was it really the best decision he could make? Well he’ll simply find out the hard way– if every lead he has was destroyed up until now? What else could he do until another case which might not even bring any new or old leads?

M/n simply had to see if this woman had anything useful for him.

The sun was already setting as the detective got into his car, started the engine and drove off towards the spot where he would meet the red haired woman. The window was down, letting the cool air blow into the car and through his hair while his e/c eyes were focused on the road.

M/N’s finger tapped the steering wheel in the rhythm of the music coming from the radio, while he jotted down in his mind all the possibilities on how this could turn out. Most of them were bad– as he couldn’t really see a possibility of not getting stabbed in the back, especially by a criminal, who seemed to know how she had to play her cards to land in her favor— and her favor only.

Trust is something that’s either strong or a mere fragile thing that’s only a one way street. And M/n was someone who hardly puts his trust on another person that easily, it was a harsh environment where you can’t put your trust on just anyone– might be a reason why the detective was rather working by himself than with someone else hanging by his side. 

So when he slowly hit the brakes and came to a stop in front of a simple apartment complex– he was surprised to say the least. M/n couldn’t lie and would've expected more of a cliche in the sense of a warehouse. 

When he stepped out of the car, the door to the apartment complex opened and out came not only the red haired woman but a blonde woman was close behind. “Knew you would show up,” the red head leaned against the frame of the door, while the blonde leaned lazily against her side, as if she wanted to melt into the other. M/n only shrugged as he slowly stepped closer, “Might as well risk it,” was the only verbal response he gave, as he stopped at the steps leading up towards the door. 

“I’m Ana, I forgot to mention that yesterday,” the woman noted, before she gestured with her hand towards the blonde, “My girlfriend, Fiona. She’ll be there too,” Ana informed M/n before the couple walked in– followed by the detective who had put some distance between them, while being close enough to keep them in his view. 

Reaching the second floor, M/n saw the couple stop in front of a door– while Ana simply unlocked the door and walked in, the blonde woman Fiona simply threw him an all-over glance before she rolled her eyes and  simply walked in behind her partner. The detective was the last one to enter– ignoring the nasty glare he got from the woman. He was already expecting with maybe a gun pointed in his face, but instead he was met with an open living space. 

The space was decorated in a mix of dark and light colors– like cream, beige and a darker gray. The typical he would say, but there were a lot of green and red decorations which added a pop of color. On a dark grey couch was Ana seated, while the blonde woman was sitting on her lap, not sparing another glance at the man while she seemed more interested in her nails. 

Ana simply gestured towards the plush armchair, in which M/n sat down while keeping his eyes and mind focused, “What do you have for me– which would make this meeting worth its while?” he simply asked, making the woman across from him raise her eyebrows in surprise, “Jumping straight to the point, interesting,” the red haired woman grinned, while a small scoff left the other female, which M/n simply ignored.

“Yes, so what do you have for me?” he leaned back in the armchair, “You’re looking for the ones that are responsible for your murder cases right?” a short nod from the detective, “Well I do have some informations that could be useful for you– but what’s there for me to gain?” Now it was time for Ana to lean back, her eyes focused on M/n while her hands were focused on Fiona. 

M/n couldn’t help but chuckle, “We both know all I can do is not going after anything that might have to do with you–” he let his pointer finger circled near his head, “After all you’re living in the undercity and yet you’re able to afford a rather nice interior and far more security than others in this part of Noxhaven. You have money and it didn’t just drop from the sky into your lap, you’re a criminal after all so you probably have your little ways of living comfortably,” M/n pointed out. 

Ana only shrugged, “Is that really everything? If so– I might keep that request open to anything I might need your help with in the future,” the red head mused, before she let out a sigh and then a smile formed on her lips, “Do we have a deal? You owe me a favor in the future– whenever I see fit, and I give you a little help which might give you a lead on your cases again.”

Yeah, he was indeed desperate to get information.

Sitting in his car, in front of a – new to him – building, M/n had to think if it really was such a good idea after all. A sign hung at the front ‘Fight Club’ were the bold letters making M/n only raise an eyebrow as he was told the fighting clubs for the undercity were in tight wraps – didn’t look like it. M/n stepped out of his car, his hand moved to his pocket that held his cigarettes, contemplating if he should have a small smoke break before stepping foot into the building.

But he decided against it, wandering through the doors into the rather silent warehouse. It was a large open space with a fighting ring in the middle, the stands were empty but the lights were on and shining brightly down onto the middle. E/c eyes took in the new environment, a slight unsettling feeling formed in his gut – he was definitely not alone. Which proved to be right, as a deep voice reverberated in the large open space, “Well, well, well– seems like one club wasn’t enough for you to snoop around, detective.” 

A man with short dark brown hair slowly stepped closer to the light, from the far left corner. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt that framed his muscular body, dark pants and shoes, while a silver necklace and earrings glinted in the low light, giving the clothes a small additional touch. When the man halted in front of the ring, all M/n could see was the smirk that slowly formed on the others lips.

“Looks like it's finally time to put an end to this.”

[couch-potato28]

Imagine being a Blue Lock manager! ⚽️

VERSION VII.

(a/n: apologies apologies for ghosting everyone, I’m back fr so please don’t hate, I love you and thxxx for reading it 🫶❤️)

Warning-none

wc: 1.2 k

ALSO: @ttheggrimrreaper 🔥

——————

FROM THE PROLOGUE:

“Congratulations L/N Y/N! Based on your results, you've earned your place in Blue Lock as the manager of player number…

…33, Otoya Eita.”

The screen displayed your newly assigned player along with some of his basic information, but the whispering of the girls behind you made it hard to concentrate.

“I think I’ve seen him somewhere before” one said, turning to the others as they seemed to agree with the girl, inspecting the boy with a dark streak in his hair. Is he famous? Before you could turn around to ask them, somewhere among the back, a loud voice cut through the crowd.

“THAT’S MY EX BOYFRIEND!” she shouted, recognizing her old lover.

“Wait, wha—“ you didn’t even have time to react, because of your friend who pushed you through the exit door, muttering “Hurry, everyone’s staring, and I think someone is about to be attacked” as she closed the door behind you, leaving you dumbfounded.

Imagine being a ninja’s descendant, Otoya Eita’s manager.

——————

Otoya Eita, who you got to know is a famous name among the participants in the facility, at least 10 of them apparently having been in a relationship with the boy, before he texted them a quick goodbye saying he had to leave for a soccer program. Not to mention, how the moment you stepped onto the field and said his name out loud, a shadow immediately popped up next to you, his white hair with a green streak in the middle, confirming the identity of who you were trying to find.

“Let me guess, you’re Otoya…?” you said, extending your hand while taking a step back—he was a little too close for your liking.

“Yup, pretty girl. And you are…?” he asked, not even sparing a second to take your hand, complimenting how soft it is.

“Y/N. L/N Y/N, your new manager. Pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

——————

•Otoya, who is not so discreet about the fact he finds you attractive, flirting being one of the first things he does at 8 in the morning. He’s handsome, but you immediately turn him down, ‘cause no way you’re losing your job over a scandal.

•The rejection is still sour in his mouth, but he actually stops since you made it crystal clear that you unfortunately don’t want to do anything with him. Professionalism is a must and you’ll make sure to teach him that as well.

•He’s super chill otherwise, but can’t stick to schedule to save his life, and you will probably need a leash, because he tends to randomly disappear for 5 minutes, or half an hour.

•Frequently mixes up his to-do tasks for the day, resulting in him texting you to ask for instructions last minute, yet you will never catch him panicking.

•Otoya during matches is effortlessly skilled, his movements fast like a shadow showcasing a relaxed play style. However during practices it’s inevitable not to listen to his whining.

•“Do I really need to do this?” “I’m already doing good, my favorite manager so why the stress?”

•Takes training half-heartedly, does the drills, and simply stops when he thinks he did enough. Oh wait, you compared him to Karasu? Suddenly he jumps back onto his feet, showing you why he’s the best player you could ever get.

•Otoya, who NEVER arrives to practice on time, making the whole team wait, only for him to slowly walk onto the field with a quick “sorry, sorry.” The reason? He was chatting with players at the other end of the building without noticing the time.

•His favorite hobby is teasing you, but if anyone even attempts to badmouth you, he turns into this personal bodyguard. Beware, because someone is going to get hurt on the field.

•“He tripped on his own, I don’t know what you mean Y/N-chan.”

•The cause of trouble, the reason for drama, and the biggest supporter of random fights in the facility. A deflated ball? Someone’s missing shorts? He’s behind all of them.

•You two are practically known for getting called into Anri’s office at least once a month and sometimes you even get to visit Ego-san too.

•Otoya, who pulls out his flirting techniques despite your rejection whenever he’s in trouble, hoping you forgive him—does not work and he has to endure a loooong scolding.

•Overall, Otoya is not that hard to handle, though some effort is needed. His laid-back personality is a great part of your job, and if you pick out his pickles during meal time there’s nothing to worry about.

——————

AFTER THE U20 MATCH…

•Otoya’s fanbase becomes 10x larger, going from local girls admiring his face to international fans sliding into his DMs, making edits of him, or just straight up asking him out on their social media accounts. And the worst of all?

•The moment he gets an official account, he responds to most of them making your head ache from the amount of calls and messages sent from the pr team, because what do you mean he almost leaked his own number—

•Looking at the positive (and less stressful) side, he’s quick to adapt to his new team, forming a close bond with Bachira. The two of them are like two peas in a pod and the amount of chaos you have to handle doubles.

•Tutoring Otoya is like babysitting. You have 2 minutes to convince him and make the Spanish language entertaining before he’s distracted with his pen’s spinning. Only option left is to watch films, cartoons and listen to music which works surprisingly effective.

•If you’re feeling sad or insecure as his manager, perhaps his fans have taken it too far, he will try his best to make you smile. Instead of words, his actions speak for themselves, when he sits down next to you, handing you a drink while he starts to talk about whatever comes to his mind.

•Perfect at distracting you from your thoughts and when he tells you about a badly went date making you chuckle, he feels like he has scored the final goal to the biggest match of his life.

•You two can bicker a lot, but when an actual argument happens (rare occurrence) he surprisingly apologizes first. Doesn’t like to hold a grudge against you, thinking he can’t make you leave him as well. As a peace treaty, he will also make you a personalized playlist.

•When you’re busy or stressed or both, he’ll leave a message or a funny scribble in your notebook that says something like,

Manager-chan, respectfully… go touch some grass. XO, ninja.

•To be honest, the only thing Otoya has ever been loyal to is soccer, but after months of working together he has grown quite fond of you, demanding a hug on a daily basis.

•DOES NOT tolerate other players hitting on you, but can’t say anything, because he literally did the same thing the first time you met. It’s not jealousy, he convinces himself after a particular player occupies your attention. It’s not jealousy…right?

[naughtyneganjdm]

Christmas in Jackson - Chapter 12

Summary: Joel spends Christmas with Y/N and his family where Y/N learns more about Joel's past.

Characters: Joel Miller, the reader (OC), Tommy, Maria, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61159651/chapters/164865715

Warnings: Swearing, Fluff, Sad Moments, etc.

Notes: I feel so ridiculous posting the end of this near April, but I think this story had like 3-4 chapters left. Thank you to anyone that still reads this and takes the time to interact with it. If you'd like to read previous chapters, check them out here.

“Honey, would you please put down the very expensive bottle of alcohol that Y/N brought for us before you end up dropping it,” Maria requested, calling out to Tommy from where she was working on one of the side dishes for their Christmas dinner. After their late night together, Joel and Y/N showed up to Maria and Tommy’s house around mid-afternoon. Since it was a holiday and they were up late together, they didn’t think it would be a big deal sleeping in. They just got cleaned up when they woke up and came over to Tommy and Maria’s home across the street. When they got there, they all started cooking together because that was a tradition Joel started with Tommy and Maria when he moved to Jackson. Even though Y/N felt close to Tommy and Maria, she still didn’t know them exceedingly well. Because of that, she ended up buying them the alcohol Tommy was eyeballing and a blanket for their baby when it was born. Tommy however was very focused on the bottle of alcohol while the other three worked on the meal together. “I feel like Joel could use your help with what he’s doing.”

“I’m sorry honey, I was just reading the label,” Tommy explained trying to excuse his actions. Setting the bottle back at the center of the kitchen table, Tommy cleared his throat and had a bit of color to his face. Rubbing his hands off on his pants, Tommy moved further into the kitchen and sighed loudly. He seemed lost because he didn’t know where he was needed. Stepping beside Joel, Tommy dramatically took a look at what he was doing. Looking to Y/N, he made sure to get her attention with a big smile. “You didn’t have to get us nothin’ like that Y/N. I woulda been just as happy with a pack of twelve.”

“Just say thank you and move on,” Joel snorted, his eyebrows bouncing up with his head bobbing about. Since he opened the gift, Tommy had been pretty locked in on it. “When it’s dinner time, you can crack it open and have some of it since that’s what we know you wanna do.”

“Thank you, again,” Tommy listened to Joel, gazing over his shoulder at Y/N who was helping Maria. With an amused smirk, she gave Tommy a nod. Truthfully? She was happy that he liked what she got them. Because there was that small chance that he could have been offended that it wasn’t something more personal. “So what did the two of you do yesterday for Christmas Eve?”

“Oh you know,” Joel shrugged his shoulders, reaching for one of the seasonings. After using a certain amount, Tommy reached for Joel’s wrist to suggest it was more than enough. Behind a wrinkle of his nose, Tommy shrugged his shoulders and let Joel continue with what he was doing.

“No, I don’t know. Which is why I asked,” Tommy stressed with a chuckle, joining Maria when he realized that Joel was already set with what he was doing.

“It was a very nice day,” Y/N spoke up from where she was standing, shrugging her shoulders. There was no reason they couldn’t tell Maria and Tommy what they did yesterday. “Joel took me to that hot springs in the middle of nowhere which was gorgeous. I’ve never been to something like it. We were alone, it was really romantic and sweet. Then we had some dinner. Afterwards we went to the ranch to go see Justified and Callus.”

“Wow,” Maria reacted, seemingly surprised that Joel would do that. Stealing quick glances between Joel and Y/N while Maria worked on mixing something made Y/N smile. “Taking you to meet the family? Now that’s special.”

“I think Callus fell in love with her,” Joel commented with a smirk, his right eyebrow arching in amusement. Y/N shook her head, but the way they both looked happy together was something Maria and Tommy easily picked up on. “The boys were fighting for her attention because they liked them scratches she was givin’ them.”

There was a long pause with Joel tipping his head from side to side, “I was thinkin’, I reckon we should get Y/N a horse like we did Ellie and Dina. I feel like she’d love to learn how to ride.”

“For the few days that she’s here?” Tommy snickered, turning to brace his back against the counter. Stretching out his hands, Tommy grasped firmly to the edge of the counter and smiled. “In order for her to have a horse, that means you would have to take care of it when she’s gone.”

“We can let her ride on Shimmer if she’d like,” Maria suggested, turning to give her attention to the boys while Y/N continued to work silently behind them. “Shimmer just kind of hops from person to person anyways. And she’s good with people.”

“Well, Shimmer is an option, but when Y/N moves in with me I think she’d prefer to have her own,” Joel swallowed down hard when both Tommy and Maria’s eyes grew wide with shock after he just blurt that out. What he was trying to do was tell them in a way where he was comfortable that Y/N had agreed to moving in with him. Setting down the spoon that she was using, Y/N offered a nervous smile when almost simultaneously Tommy and Maria looked back at her. “I asked Y/N to move in with me and she agreed.”

“You…you,” Tommy stammered through his words, clearing his throat when he realized his response to Joel’s confession probably came off rude. Trying to shake off the initial shock, Tommy shrugged his shoulders and immediately nodded. “I mean, yeah. If she moves here, I think we could find her a horse.”

“Wow,” Maria stepped forward to place her hand in over the side of Joel’s face getting him to smirk. The difference between Maria and Tommy’s reaction to the news was vastly different. It was clear that Maria was very supportive of his decision. “Good for you Joel.”

“Kinda fast, don’t you think?” Tommy blurt out what he was genuinely thinking, releasing a grunt when Maria smacked at the center of his chest with the back of her hand. Grumbling something under his breath, Tommy huffed and rubbed at the area she hit. “I just mean, it’s been a week. What is she going to do about her job in New York or her place?”

“I’ll have to figure it all out,” Y/N announced, finally breaking her silence. There was tension flooding into the kitchen between Joel and Tommy. Tommy’s comment no doubt made Joel uncomfortable. It was obvious just by the expression that flooded over Joel’s features. Moving around the counter, she stepped before Joel and held her hand out toward his. Sighing loudly, Joel accepted her hand and moved in beside her. “I’m not worried about it though.”

“So Jackson did rub off on you, huh?” Maria seemed genuinely happy for them, reaching her hand out to grab a firm hold of Y/N’s shoulder.

“Something like that,” Y/N whispered, gazing over at Joel who gave her a weak, but proud smile. “Moving here doesn’t mean I can’t get a vacation home there for when I want to visit. We really never talked much about that option. We only agreed to me moving here yesterday.”

“Wow,” Tommy seemed shocked, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. Taking a moment, Tommy headed for the fridge to grab himself a beer. Right when he was about to open it, Maria reached for it and snatched it from him. Placing it back, she gave Tommy a glare who dramatically shrugged his shoulders. Just by the expression over Tommy’s face, they all could tell that he wanted to say something. It looked like he was going to explode if he didn’t, but at the same time he was desperately trying to hold it in. Clearing his throat, Tommy forced himself to look away from all of them and toward the ground. “Joel, you wanna join me on the deck for a moment?”

“I’m not sure that’s a great idea. I reckon they need us to keep helpin’ them cook,” Joel explained pointing over toward the items that were on the counter and Maria waved her hand about. “I don’t want to leave you to finish everything.”

“Everything is pretty much done Joel, they just have to be cooked. The preparation was the hardest part and that’s all finished. The two of us can take care of everything else,” Maria assured Joel, opening the oven to place a few things in and then closed it up. There was a need for Tommy to talk to Joel and she knew that Tommy didn’t want to offend Y/N. Hell, he had already made an ass of himself, so Maria wanted to be sure to show her support for the two of them. Allowing Joel to go outside with Tommy made sure that it wouldn’t include Y/N and upset her. “We’re all set here.”

“Yes ma’am,” Joel sighed, realizing that he wasn’t going to get out of this talk that Tommy wanted to have with him. Realistically? Joel didn’t want to have this conversation because he could sense where it was going. And he wasn’t in the mood for it. Stepping forward toward Y/N, Joel wrapped his arm around her with his hand settling in over the small of her back. Leading her toward him, he gave her a weak smile and peppered faint kisses at her lips. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“I think I will be okay with Maria. She’ll take good care of me,” Y/N winked, brushing her fingers through Joel’s hair before he followed Tommy outside. Once they were long gone, Y/N turned on her heel and folded her arms out in front of her chest. Many thoughts were spiraling through her mind, but she felt uncomfortable at the idea of bringing them up. Then again, it was probably better just to ask instead of letting her negative assumptions linger. “I’m going to assume that Tommy doesn’t approve of this whole thing between Joel and me.”

“It’s not that,” Maria immediately shook her head, reaching for a hand towel to start wiping up some of the mess that was left from their preparing. “I think Tommy is actually very happy that Joel has someone in his life again. We were both worried about him.”

“Then what seems to be the problem?” Y/N was curious to know what was going on with Tommy since he appeared to be acting weird. Normally, she would keep her mouth shut in these situations, but Tommy had made everyone ill at ease with his actions.

“This just isn’t normal for Joel. I think Tommy is worried because…” Maria paused, swallowing down hard and shrugging her shoulders. Consideration was weighing heavy on Maria’s face with her thinking of what to tell Y/N. “Joel is just genuinely not like this. I think Tommy is worried that Joel is…”

“Having a midlife crisis?” Y/N blurt out getting Maria to involuntarily chuckle to herself. Covering her mouth with a smacking sound caused Y/N to smile showing that she wasn’t at all upset with Maria for laughing. “Don’t worry about it. Joel has been very open with me about this being rare for him.”

“And you are comfortable with that?” Maria confirmed with her, her eyebrow arching in curiosity. By her tone, Y/N knew that Maria was trying not to offend her.

“Well, Joel told me yesterday that he loved me,” she confessed to Maria getting used to the look of surprise from both Maria and Tommy’s faces today. It made her snicker, but she understood this wasn’t normal for them. “Joel and I have just really bonded. And the way we feel for one another is something I’ve never experienced.”

“Tommy would have shit himself hearing that,” Maria blurt out and maybe it was wrong, but Y/N laughed. “I’m not trying to be rude Y/N, but Joel was in a sixteen-year relationship where he never told the woman he was with that he loved her. In fact she ended up…” Maria paused, her face twisting when she realized that she was saying too much. “Let’s just say, I don’t think Joel has told anyone that he loved them other than his wife who abandoned him when he was younger.”

“I understand that and I think it seems like Joel went through a lot in his life,” Y/N noted, not exactly sure what everything was, but she could understand it just by the pain and suffering that Joel displayed to her. “But I accept Joel for who he is and I know how he makes me feel.”

“I don’t want to throw Joel under the bus,” Maria began, looking down almost in shame that she was starting a conversation this way, “but are you sure you are okay with that? Joel has…a dark past and he’s done things…”

“Maria,” Y/N paused her, holding her hand up and shaking her head. “I don’t want you to think I’m rude here, but we don’t talk about Joel’s past. I see Joel for the man that he is now and I love him. I think he’s perfect. Broken and all. Because, if you haven’t noticed I’m very broken too. For some reason? We heal each other by just being around one another. When I’m around him, I’m happy. There is this comfort that I’ve never felt other than when I’m with him. I don’t care what he’s done because I know who he is now.”

“That’s what any family member wants to hear when someone they care about falls in love with someone,” Maria replied, this time leaving Y/N amazed to hear that Maria was so positive about the whole thing. “And I think Tommy would be very happy to hear you say something like that. I just also think he’s worried about you. Because there are moments with Joel where life gets hard for him and Tommy doesn’t want you hurt. How fast things have happened just has made Tommy cautious. That’s all.”

“That makes sense. I recognize that Tommy is a good brother and a good man,” Y/N commented, clearing her throat when she thought about all the things she had dealt with Tommy over the last few days. Smirking, she forced herself to look down and bit down on her bottom lip. “Joel and Tommy have a very interesting relationship.”

“I am sorry for that,” Maria apologized, tipping her head from side to side. “Tommy did tell me some of the mistakes he has made and I can only imagine how uncomfortable that was for you.”

With a laugh, she knew that Maria was referring to Tommy walking in on them having sex and she didn’t think she should really respond much to that other than giving Maria a small nod. There was a long silence between them until Maria went to speak up again.

“I sincerely apologize for asking this, but…” Maria huffed out, almost annoyed with herself for considering this when she looked toward the door where the boys left earlier. “I have known Joel for a while now. And I can’t…it’s hard for me to picture that he’s a very giving lover considering how things are. But you seem very…attached? So am I to assume that I’m wrong?”

“Very,” Y/N was firm in her answer, responding quite quickly. Maria’s dark eyes grew wide, appearing to be impressed with how confident Y/N was in her answer. Shrugging, Y/N didn’t know if she would embarrass Joel by elaborating, but she didn’t really mind. “Joel is a very, very giving lover.”

“No kidding?” Maria made it clear that she previously assumed Joel would not be the best of partners when it came to sex. “Wow.”

“Tommy isn’t the same way? It’s not like a Miller boys thing where they both like going down on you and they both have large…” Y/N stopped herself, biting down on her bottom lip realizing how inappropriate it was for her to actually start to say that. A loud laugh fell from Maria’s lips and it had a warmth flooding into Y/N’s face. “I am so sorry.”

“No, you’re fine,” Maria dismissed Y/N’s worries, resting back into the corner of the kitchen. “You’re kind of like family now, so it really doesn’t bother me. I guess the Miller boys just have good genetics.”

“Oh?” Y/N understood what Maria was attempting to say and it made her chuckle under her breath. Even though they weren’t being very detailed, they both made it clear what they were saying to one another. “Then good for you honey. But? I promise you that’s not the only reason I want to be with Joel. The sex is nice, but I just really like being near him. I mean it when I tell you that I really do love him.”

“I don’t have to question it,” Maria lifted her hand to circle her own face before smiling. “I see it in the way that you look at him and the way you talk about him. The eyes are always the biggest giveaway. And I have no doubts that you love that man.”

----

“For fuck’s sake Joel, how good is that sex?” Tommy snorted, moving out onto the deck with Joel, gazing back over his shoulder to make sure they were alone when he reached for his back pocket to pull out his cigarettes. Joel’s eyebrows bounced up and he made an expression that showed he wasn’t enthused with the question. “You asked her to move in with you? It’s been a week. And for the first few days, you two hated each other.”

“You’re smoking again?” Joel grunted, heading over toward the corner of the deck to rest back against it. What Joel was doing was avoiding the subject all together. Joel didn’t think it was Tommy’s business. It was his own life after all and Tommy really didn’t have a say. Tommy placed a cigarette between his lips and swiftly lit it up before shrugging his shoulders. “And Maria is okay with that?”

“We haven’t really talked about it, but I’ve been…stressed?” Tommy grumbled, releasing a long exhale of smoke after he pulled the cigarette away from his lips. “Maria knows that when I get overwhelmed, sometimes I smoke.”

“And I’m overwhelming you?” Joel tipped his head to the side, not sure how to respond to that. Almost immediately, Tommy shook his head and scoffed. “Then what is making you smoke?”

“Life Joel. I’m gonna be a dad, Maria’s father is up my ass about being the best husband and father I can be. He’s inserting himself heavily into our lives now that he knows she is pregnant,” Tommy responded, waving his hand about in the air and pointing toward the house. Originally, they were going to wait until after Christmas to tell everyone, but since Joel found out first in a strange way they had told everyone about them being pregnant. Now Tommy regretted it. “I’m not gonna be smoking because you are having a relationship with someone. I love you big brother but come on.”

“Fair enough,” Joel was actually relieved to hear that because he didn’t want to be to blame for Tommy going back to one of his old vices. “Y’know, you’re a big boy. You can put your foot down with Maria’s father. This is your family Tommy, you can tell him that he doesn’t have a right putting his nose in your business.”

“I feel like that statement was kinda directed at me,” Tommy huffed, his dark eyes narrowing with the tiny smirk that pressed in over Joel’s features. “Y’know I like her Joel, I do. And I think you two are great together, but I do know you…”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Joel’s southern drawl grew deeper, his face scrunching up in frustration with Tommy’s comment about him.

“Don’t make me say it,” Tommy frowned, bringing the cigarette back up to his lips. Stressed, he took a long puff of it and knew that he didn’t want to elaborate to Joel what he meant. Instead of responding, Joel’s jaw flexed and he held his hand out asking for Tommy to continue. “You were in a relationship with Tess for sixteen years and you never once told her that you loved her. You never referred to her as anything other than mine and now you’re calling this woman your girlfriend?”

“Can we not bring Tess into this?” Joel begged, his arms folding in front of his chest in frustration. A warmth flooded into his face when he shook his head. “I know what I did and I know where I fucked up in that relationship.”

“And suddenly you’ve changed from being that person?” Tommy reached for further information, knowing that he was upsetting Joel, but it was something that had to be said. “You’re having Y/N move in with you? Do you really think that she’s gonna be okay with you not loving her? Or you being emotionally constipated?”

“About that,” Joel cleared his throat, reaching up to itch at the back of his neck since Tommy brought up something about his past that he felt guilty about. “I told her yesterday that I loved her and she told me that she loved me too. So I reckon you shouldn’t worry too much about this whole thing. I’m gonna treat her right. The way she deserves. I know where I went wrong with my life before and I don’t want it to be like that again.”

“Jesus, what have you done with my brother and who are you?” Tommy choked, getting some of the smoke caught in his lungs to the point he started coughing. By the time he finally stopped, he looked to Joel who didn’t seem entirely happy with his brother’s response. “Again, how good is that sex?”

“It’s not about the sex,” Joel defended himself. Taking a moment, he knew that he didn’t like talking about his personal life to that extent with his brother, but it didn’t hurt to brag a little. “Although, the sex is very, very good.”

“No fucking kidding,” Tommy scoffed, patting at the center of his chest to get himself to calm his body down. “How many times have the two of you had sex at this point? I’ve walked in on one of them. And I know that night at the inn, you two did it at least two times.”

With an arrogant smirk, Joel folded his arms in front of his chest and got comfortable before shrugging his shoulders, “Is that an I don’t know because you haven’t paid attention or is that an I don’t know because it’s been that many times?”

“Well,” Joel slurred, wondering what the right response here was. He could be honest and talk to Tommy about this, even though he hated talking about his private life with people. Or he could lie and avoid everything all together. Biting down on his bottom lip, his eyebrows bounced up and he smiled. “It’s been a lot. I really don’t know the number. One of the days, we spent all day in her room having sex. Many, many different ways.”

“Bragging, that’s also not like you,” Tommy reminded his brother, shaking his head and letting out an amused sound. What he was experiencing with Joel right now was so vastly different from what he was used to with his big brother. Joel was smiling and proud. Bragging about things he would have never talked about in the past. This woman definitely changed Joel. “So the doctor is very honest about her talents and she has you hooked.”

“Yes, she is talented, but that’s not why I’m hooked,” Joel restated, his dark eyes narrowing out at his brother with Tommy insisting that the reason he was hooked on Y/N was because of the sex. “The sex is nice, but I really love this girl. I’m telling you Tommy, I love her.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt that she is willing to give you extensively long blowjobs in the middle of our inn,” Tommy stammered provoking Joel to growl and look back toward the door again to make sure that the women wouldn’t hear them. “How do you have sex all day Joel? When was the last time you had sex before her? How are you even managing?”

“Your curiosity is frustrating,” Joel stressed, his face scrunching up with him inhaling loudly. “It’s not like we had one long sex session. We’d have moments, do things between them. We just really like one another. And like she said, she’s a doctor and she knows how the human body works. I’m sorry that your sex life doesn’t compare.”

“Oh, that was cold,” Tommy frowned, shaking his head at the comment. “I have no doubts that you really like one another. From what I’ve seen…”

“Again, that’s incredibly weird territory. I reckon you should probably erase those from your mind,” Joel interrupted Tommy, waving his hand from side to side since Tommy had involved himself in Joel’s intimate life several times. “The last thing I wanna picture is you and Maria going at it. Y’know?”

“I get that, but there is one thing I do wanna talk about with you. You’ve never once used protection with this girl, have you?” Tommy inquired noticing that Joel got offended that his brother went straight to that. Joel was focusing on love, Tommy was going back to sex. And speaking things about Joel’s sex life that shouldn’t have been being talked about in the first place. “I know she’s a doctor, Joel, but…”

“That whole minding your business thing Tommy…” Joel grumbled, throwing his hand up and circling Tommy in that moment while pointing out at him. “What we do when we have sex is none of your business. The only reason you know we don’t use protection is because you walked in on us having sex. Most normal people would have left and came back, but not you. No you stayed and found out the hard way.”

“I told you, I was afraid that if I made a sound leaving the two of you would lose a special moment,” Tommy defended himself causing Joel to roll his eyes and shake his head dramatically. “And I won’t lie, I got locked inside of my body. I was so mortified that I didn’t know what to do.”

“You should have left,” Joel reiterated how he felt about the situation remembering how embarrassed he was in that moment. “When it comes to the protection thing? The first time we slept together, it was emotional. It was passionate. It was a special moment. I didn’t have any condoms on me because I haven’t had sex in a very long time. She was on vacation and she didn’t have one neither. I didn’t expect that we would be sleeping together. But she said it was okay.”

Tommy seemed like he wanted to fight it further, but instead he bit his tongue, “Also, you know just as well as I do Tommy, it feels so much better without the condom. It’s more intimate. There is a connection…”

“I didn’t need to know all of that Joel. But…y’know people get pregnant when they don’t use protection. Just look at Maria,” Tommy reminded Joel hoping to spark something inside of his brother. Now he sounded like the annoying parent figure, but this was someone that Joel just met. No matter how in love they were. “From what it sounds like, you’ve been loading her up and stuffing her full of your swimmers.”

“Tommy!” Joel groaned out in a disgusted breath, looking toward the door to make sure that neither women were by it.

“Listen, I support this relationship. I do. But Joel, you’re old,” Tommy stressed, provoking Joel to release an offended sound. It was something he said the day before and Joel didn’t like it then either. A dark shade of red flooded into Joel’s face and Tommy knew he was stepping on thin ice with this discussion. “It doesn’t bother me, but I know there is an age gap between the two of you. That womb is still very fertile and it’s likely that she could get pregnant with how much the two of you are fucking. Birth control is strong, but…”

“That womb is still fertile?” Joel interrupted Tommy with a wrinkle of his nose, grunting out at the thought. “The shit that comes outta your mouth sometimes little brother surprises me. Yeah. I know I’m an old man which you like to remind me lately. And if she did end up pregnant, would that really be such a bad thing? What if we did have a baby? D’you think I wouldn’t be a good father? Because the first time…”

“Hey, hey…” Tommy could tell that Joel was getting worked up and he stepped forward to hold his hands up in the air to stop Joel from having that meltdown that he was headed for. “Joel, I know you would be a good father. Life has just been hard for you and I worry about you. Okay? I want you happy. I do and if you think you can handle being a father again, I would be very happy for you. I can see this girl is very special to you and I’m just…I’m not used to this from you. You will have to forgive me for worrying about this. I just am not used to it.”

“I’m not used to it either Tommy, but I know how she makes me feel,” Joel defended himself, his voice raspy since he was right on the verge of having an emotional moment. “She brings out the very best in me and I want to have a life with her. She makes me feel like a good man again. The way that she looks at me, the way that she touches me…she sees the best parts of me and she makes me believe I can be happy again. For the first time I want to be here Tommy. I look forward to waking up and that’s because of her.”

“Okay,” Tommy finished off his cigarette, putting it out and then moving in before Joel to reach out to place his hands in over Joel’s shoulders. “Then I will do whatever you need to be here for you to support you. I love you, you grumpy asshole.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Joel snickered, accepting the hug that Tommy was giving him. It lingered for a moment before Tommy stepped back and sighed loudly. “What?”

“Before you get frustrated tomorrow, I know that you’ve told Ellie about Y/N,” Tommy explained to Joel, looking down toward his feet. “Ellie called me. Told me that she was worried about you. I guess you texted her about Y/N and sent a photo. Said you were excited for Ellie to meet her. I just…I don’t want you to get irritated that both Ellie and I were nervous with how fast things were moving. So don’t get irritated with her if she doesn’t hook onto Y/N right away. We’re just used to the version of you that you’ve been.”

“Well thank you for warning me, but I think Ellie will see exactly why I love her when she meets her,” Joel suggested, nodding back toward the house when he thought about the woman that he had in his life for a short amount of time. “Other than Ellie? She’s the best thing that happened to me since my life fell apart. And I think when Ellie understands that, just like you, she’ll realize that she had nothing to worry about.”

----

“Here, I think I have a photo of the boys from when they were younger that you would like,” Maria insisted, leading Y/N into the living room by holding her hand. The two of them were just randomly talking about their lives, getting to know one another more until Maria mentioned having younger photos of Joel and Tommy together. Motioning Y/N to sit on the couch, Maria held her finger up and went over to search for a photo booklet that she had. Coming back to the couch, Maria sat down beside Y/N and started flipping through things. “Here you go.”

“That’s them?” Y/N couldn’t help but laugh seeing Tommy and Joel as children. It was a photo of two very young versions of them dressed in oversized boots and overalls. They were covered in dirt from head to toe and had no doubt just gone fishing. They were both holding up fish at each side of them. The one that Tommy was holding onto was almost bigger than him. “They are so cute.”

“You can look at this,” Maria offered, holding it out toward Y/N who uneasily accepted the photobook. Flipping through the pages, she could tell that this was a Miller photo booklet that no doubt came from when they were younger. The very first page had a photo of a young Joel holding a newborn Tommy. Each page showed them aging and it made her smile to see. Stopping on a photo, she saw a teenage version of Joel dressed up for what she assumed was prom. Instead of the ruggedly handsome man that she had grown accustomed to, Joel was clean shaven and very chiseled. There was a certain boyish charm to him that was so different than what he was like now. “He looks different, huh?”

“Still cute,” she stressed to Maria, gazing upon the woman that was standing next to Joel in the photo. Curiosity was getting the best of her in that moment. “Was this her? His wife?”

“It is,” Maria nodded slowly, watching closely as Y/N turned a few more pages. A moment later, Y/N paused, her body language changing completely. What she had turned to was a page where Joel was with his ex-wife and she was very pregnant. Joel looked happy, with his hand covering her swollen stomach. Swallowing down hard, Y/N felt her face grow hot. Clearing her throat, she didn’t know how to react when she saw a photo with Joel holding onto the baby with a young Tommy standing beside him. There was a glow to Joel holding the baby. Turning the page, she felt her chest aching seeing the photos of the little girl aging. It made her smile, but at the same time she knew where this was headed. And it hurt to think about. Yet it all made sense. After turning a few pages, she stopped on one of the polaroids. It was the little girl much older with her pressing a kiss over Joel’s cheek. The photo beside it they were both laughing with Joel covering the little girls eyes. Putting things together, Y/N closed up the booklet and looked to Maria with a saddened expression. “He didn’t tell you about Sarah, did he?”

Right now she was at a loss. How easily she put things together after seeing that booklet made her feel awful. She had promised Joel that he didn’t have to tell her anything that would hurt him, but somehow she still found out. This was none of her business, but suddenly she was very much aware of why Joel was so sad. Why he tried to hurt himself and felt like there was nothing to this world.

“Sarah was Joel’s daughter,” Maria started, her voice quiet and a sadness to her tone. Hearing the word ‘was’ only made it worse knowing that Sarah was being referred to in the past tense. “After they had Sarah, Joel’s ex-wife abandoned him and the baby. It left Joel to be a single father taking care of her all on his own. And…” there was a long pause with Maria realizing that Y/N was getting emotional at the thought of what she was learning about Joel. “There was a tragic accident and Sarah died. That’s why Joel wears that broken watch. It was the last thing she gave him before she died.”

Biting down on her bottom lip, Y/N tried to avoid the tears that wanted to fall hearing this about Joel. Clearing her throat, she lowered her head and reached up to wipe at her eyes that were burning. Everything Joel said to her, all of his feelings and the way he was reacting to things, it all made sense. A few of the pieces of Joel’s puzzle were laid out in front of her and she didn’t need the whole thing to understand why Joel was the way he was.

But hearing this? It felt wrong. This was something that Joel should have told her. She made a promise to him that she didn’t need to know who he was before. And if he didn’t want to tell her about this? She should have never had learned it in the first place.

“I appreciate you showing me this,” Y/N started, tapping her fingers against the top of the photo booklet. Shifting uneasily, she held the booklet out to Maria who seemed nervous after Y/N had reacted the way she did. “While I loved getting to see the photos of Tommy and Joel, Sarah is none of my business. Not yet. I promised Joel that he didn’t have to talk to me about the things that upset him. Joel’s past can remain a mystery for me until he is comfortable enough to tell me. And if he’s never comfortable enough? Well then I can accept that. I love Joel and I want him to trust me. So while I appreciate you opening up to me, I shouldn’t be hearing this. Not yet.”

“I understand,” Maria grasped tightly to the booklet, giving Y/N a nod. A sense of embarrassment flooded through her that she did spill as much as she had to Y/N. “I’m sorry to put you into that position.”

“You didn’t know,” Y/N hushed her, sliding forward to wrap her arm around Maria to give her a firm hug. “You are by far one of my favorite people I’ve met in a very long time. I hope you know that. So don’t think I’m upset with you or anything.”

“I feel the same way,” Maria returned the gesture hearing the sound of a timer going off in the kitchen. Pulling back, Maria nodded over toward the kitchen and sighed. “I guess I should go check to make sure we’re on the right track for dinner.”

“I’ll join you,” Y/N stood up watching Maria quickly return the photobook to where it was originally. Taking a moment to gather herself after Maria left the room, Y/N went to follow Maria only to stop when she saw that Joel was standing in the hallway. His back was pressed up against the wall. His head was lowered with him looking down at the floor. His breathing was loud enough for her to hear and it made her worry. Moving out toward him, she reached out to place her hand in over his shoulder. “Joel? Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” his dark eyes slowly lifted to meet her worried stare. Reaching out to her, Joel pulled her into his arms and wrapped her up tightly. Burying his nose against the side of her neck, he sighed loudly and appreciated the way she clung to him. Lifting his arm slightly, he got a look at the broken watch that was there. What Y/N didn’t know is that he walked in right as Maria started to talk about Sarah so he heard everything in terms of that discussion. And hearing what she said to Maria? It blew him away. And truthfully? It made him emotional, but he was doing everything he could to hide it. “I love you. So much.”

“And I love you,” she repeated, sliding her hand up to caress in over the side of his neck. There was something in Joel’s expression that made her frown. “You okay?”

“I’ll always be okay when I’m with you,” he assured her, lifting his hand to curl his fingers around her wrist loosely. Caressing at her pulse point, he leaned in to press a loving kiss against her lips. Tipping his head back, he could see that her eyes were damp. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah,” she dismissed his worries with his thumb sweeping in over her cheek. “I think something in the kitchen was just working on my allergies. I probably look a mess.”

“You’d never look a mess,” he whispered, leaning in to steal another kiss from her. That was her way of hiding what had just happened. She didn’t want to put him on the spot or make him feel sad about what she knew. The sound of someone clearing their throat was heard and Joel lifted his head to see Tommy staring out at them. “Yes Tommy?”

“I’m gonna turn on the news. They should have Santa on the gondola right about now at the park we went to,” Tommy alerted them getting a deep rumble of an amused sound to fall from Joel’s throat. Moving out of the hallway, Tommy turned on the television having the sound flooding out toward them. “You wanna see this?”

Hooking his fingers with hers, Joel led her into the living room to see that they were showing footage of Santa waving from the gondola while he was riding in it. A few of the town was being interviewed before footage of Santa and Mrs. Claus getting off the gondola was shown. They were surrounded by a crowd waving when Y/N stepped forward to look at the screen.

“That’s the woman from the night we first kissed,” she pointed excitedly at the television drawing Joel to step forward. Observing the image, he narrowed his eyes trying to get a look at the woman they had as Mrs. Claus. “She’s the woman that told us the holly was mistletoe. This woman right here is the reason the two of us kissed that first time.”

“Tommy, who is that?” Joel snickered, knowing that Tommy often knew everyone in town. Y/N wasn’t wrong, that was indeed the woman that had so blatantly told them that they were under mistletoe that night. “She’s right. That’s the woman that came out of our inn and told us that we needed to kiss or else we would have bad luck.”

“I’ve never seen that woman in my life, as far as I’m aware,” Tommy responded, joining them by staring out at the television trying to see if it would spark one of his memories. “Are you sure that was her? Because I’ve never seen that woman in our inn, ever.”

“No, that’s her,” Joel snickered having Maria join them after she heard their conversation from the kitchen. She joined in and got a look at the woman, shaking her head when she didn’t recognize her either. “None of us know her?”

“Maybe she was in the bar or restaurant,” Maria explained, shrugging her shoulders when they all looked to her. “She could have just taken a walk through the inn because wherever she was going was in that direction?”

“Does this mean I can tell everyone that my brother got hooked up with someone by Mrs. Claus?” Tommy joked having Joel push into his shoulder with a snort. “Oh come on! That’s a fun story. Your matchmaker was the woman that was hired to play Mrs. Claus this year in our town. You have to admit that’s a good story.”

“Well Mrs. Claus wasn’t very good at her job being Santa’s wife because she had no idea what mistletoe looked like,” Y/N piped in, loosely wrapping her arm around Joel’s abdomen to pull him in closer to her so she could cuddle in next to him. “Because she absolutely insisted that we had to kiss underneath it.”

“Or maybe she did know what it looked like and knew you two had no idea and wanted to make the two of you kiss,” Tommy countered, letting out a hearty laugh after Joel groaned out loud. “I’d say Mrs. Claus was her disguise and she was actually Cupid.”

“Well regardless, I’m very happy that woman convinced me to kiss this beautiful man,” Y/N hummed, tugging at Joel’s shirt to get him to lower down so she could pepper loving kisses over Joel’s lips who chuckled against them. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

“I would tell the two of you to get a room, but she already has one at the inn and I know that you two don’t always make it to the room,” Tommy grunted from behind them getting Joel to glance back at him with an annoyed expression. Throwing his hands up in the air, Tommy moved over to wrap his arm around Maria and shrugged. “I’m just sayin’ the truth big brother. Can’t fault me for that.”

----

“So do you want to run away now?” Joel questioned, dropping down on the couch beside Y/N once they finally made it back to his home after spending a very long day at Tommy and Maria’s. Thankfully, after the boys had gone outside to talk, everything seemed fine with Tommy. Instead of acting strange, they all had a very good time where they just enjoyed each other’s company.

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Joel pulled her in closer to him allowing her to rest her head against his shoulder. Getting to have her cuddle up to him like this felt nice. The way her hand pressed in over the center of his chest made him feel content, “I’m sure it’s been a long day for you.”

“The only place I want to run is to your arms,” she whispered, caressing her hand in over his chest and lifting her head up to stare out at him with a weak smile. Hearing that had his lips parting causing his breathing to grow louder. “Nothing is going to chase me away from you.”

“I’m glad I told you I loved you because I couldn’t imagine holding in an I love you right now,” he slurred, using his free hand to sweep his thumb in over her jawline. His touch was tender, his eyes full of affection for her. Closing her eyes, she leaned into his touch and enjoyed the way he seemed to be cherishing her in the moment. “You have no idea how much you impressed me today.”

“By how much food I ate?” she teased him, chuckling when he buried his nose in against the side of her face and his laughter followed. “Not what you meant?”

“Just how well you fit in. This whole thing feels like we’ve been together a very long time. Everything feels so…” he paused, thinking of the right word as she cuddled back into him again. “Natural?”

“I love you and I like your family Joel. It does come naturally,” she retorted, enjoying just being in his arms right now. Sliding her hand down in over his abdomen, she heard the loud exhale he released and it made her smile. “I think we’re stressing your brother out though.”

“I think he’s just stressed in general right now and we haven’t helped,” he countered, knowing that she didn’t hear the conversation he had with Tommy outside when they were alone. “I think Maria’s family and the baby just have him really tense. He works so hard to be the best version of himself, but it’s hard being under a microscope. Having people expect you to be a certain way.”

“He does it well,” she suggested, leaning back to stare out at Joel in a way that made him smile. Patting him on the chest, she stood up and motioned him to wait. “Before it gets too late, I have something for you.”

“You have something for me?” he repeated, his dark eyes getting bigger when she stood up from the couch. Moving over toward the Christmas tree, she reached around it for a bag she had hidden behind it. How she managed to do that without him noticing him surprised him. As she made it back to the couch, Joel sat up straighter with her sitting beside him again. “What is this?”

“Christmas gifts,” she explained, opening the bag slightly to show that there were wrapped presents inside of the bag. Digging inside, she pulled out the first item and held it out toward him. Surprised, he accepted the gift and let out an amused breath. “It’s what I did with my free time when we were separated.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” he pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing when he took another look at the bag that she had. “You didn’t have to get me anything, let alone multiple things.”

“Oh, don’t get worked up about that. Trust me, they aren’t the best presents in the world. I just thought you should get something because we did just start dating and it would be weird not to get you something,” she dismissed, throwing her hand about in the air. Snorting, Joel opened the first gift she handed him. Amusement flooded his veins when he set aside the wrapping paper to hold up the button-down plaid shirt. “It looks like something you would have in your closet. I just thought I would change up the colors a bit.”

“I like red,” he chuckled folding the shirt up and setting it aside when she held another item out for him. Sucking in a sharp breath of air, he accepted the gift and realized how strange this felt for him. Sure, Tommy and Maria exchanged gifts with him and he pampered Ellie for a while, but he wasn’t used to people going out of their way for him. Tossing the paper aside again, he noticed that it was another shirt when he started to unravel it. Holding the t-shirt up to his chest, he snorted when he got a look at the design and heard her laugh out loud. Over the front of it was a grumpy bear with an arrow pointing upwards along with the big words ‘I’m with Grumpy’ written out over it. “Oh, wow.”

“I think it suits you,” she teased him noticing the color that flooded into his face. A low rumble of a raspy laugh escaped his throat when Joel motioned her to wait. Undoing the buttons of the shirt he was already wearing, Joel tossed it over the back of the couch to hang it there and swiftly pulled the t-shirt down over his body. Once he got the material in place, he heard her clapping and her laugh was all he needed to know that he made a good decision. “It looks great on you. You have to admit. You and Grumpy Bear do have a lot in common.”

“Because we’re both so cute and cuddly?” he mused, his right eyebrow arching in amusement with her reaching out to playfully squeeze at his cheek. Laughing once more, he sighed when this time she handed him over a box. Even though these were what she considered small gifts, he could tell that she was proud of them. Once he got the wrapping paper off, it took him a minute to tear into the cardboard box. Once it was open, he pulled out the mug that was inside. Gazing upon it, he could hear her laughing when he read out the words on it. “I’m a ray of fucking sunshine.”

“I thought it fit you with your glowing personality and because you are such a fan of coffee,” she liked that her gifts were causing him to laugh because when she first met Joel, he wasn’t a man she ever pictured being able to laugh like this. With a nod of approval, Joel set the mug down on the coffee table beside where he placed the other shirt she had gotten for him. Grabbing another one had Joel’s head tipping to the side with his eyes narrowing. “What?”

“How many gifts did you get me?” he accepted the next one, surprised that she seemed to keep pulling them out. “I’m a simple man y’know? Just having you here with me is a gift in itself.”

“Smooth talker until the end,” she sighed loudly, appreciating the comment but knowing that she just wanted to do something nice for Joel. “I only have a few more. I promise. And these ones are little more serious.”

Working open the next present, he released a confused breath when he dug inside of the box to find a Christmas ornament. It was red in color that on one side said ‘our first Christmas’ along with the year. On the other side, it had two puzzle pieces put together with his name and hers that read ‘you are my missing piece’.

Smirking, his gaze lifted to hers. Behind her eyes he could see that she was incredibly proud of that gift. With a firm nod, he stood up from the couch and headed over to the bare Christmas tree. Placing the ornament on the tree, he looked over his shoulder at her and sighed, “Next Christmas we will have to find other ornaments to put on here so it isn’t the only one.”

Joel was already talking about next Christmas in terms of their relationship. That made her smile to hear. That meant he saw a future with them and it felt nice.

“I think we have time to do that,” she whispered, glad to see that Joel didn’t seem to completely hate the presents that she was giving him. Once he was done, he moved back to the couch beside her and she cleared her throat uneasily. “Now this is the last one and I…I really debated giving this to you because I don’t want to upset you.”

“Oh?” he muttered, accepting the final gift and he could tell how different this one was in comparison to the others. This one actually had her nervous. Every part of her seemed anxious and he wondered what could really have her that way. Unwrapping the paper, he realized that it was a nice black box that he was holding onto. Working it open, he felt his heart skip a beat when he got a look at what was inside.

“I completely understand if you don’t want to keep that,” she began, a lump growing in her throat with Joel reaching for what was inside the box. Pulling out the pocket watch that she got for him, she slid in closer to him while his thumb swept in over the design on the front. It was a very detailed design. It was a scene of horses pulling a carriage. It looked like something out of the old west. “This one really stood out to me, especially with all the paintings you have on your walls here and at the inn. I don’t expect you to give up the watch on your arm, which is why I got you the pocket watch. I thought it might be nice to have something you could carry with you when you actually need the time.”

“It’s perfect,” he muttered no doubt getting emotional after he caught the conversation that Maria had with Y/N about Sarah earlier. Nodding, he lowered his hand and looked to her with a heavy-lidded stare. Outstretching his free hand, he curled his fingers around the back of her neck to lead her to him. Pressing a lingering, passionate kiss over her lips, he only slightly pulled away to nuzzle his nose in against hers. Now he understood why she was nervous about this. She didn’t want to upset him since she knew what the watch meant to him. “I will start carrying it with me immediately.”

“You don’t have to, I’d completely understand if you didn’t…” she went to continue on, but he hushed her and shook his head slowly. At this point, he could feel that his eyes were damp, but he couldn’t help himself. The watch was a sensitive subject and she understood that. That’s why she went out of her way not to replace the watch, but to give him something he could carry along with that. “I’m sorry they aren’t better gifts. I didn’t have a lot of time.”

“I love them,” he assured her with a firm nod, giving her one final kiss before reaching for her hand. Hooking his fingers with hers, he pushed her gift into his pocket and led her to the stairs. Helping her up them, he heard her let out a confused breath when he headed for his work room. “What?”

“I thought we were headed to the bedroom,” she teased him, reaching out to playfully tickle at his sides. Arching forward and away from her, Joel’s laugh sent a warmth throughout her body. Shaking his head, he nodded toward his work room and stopped at the door. “What?”

“Close your eyes,” he requested with a hum, a half smirk tugging at his lips. Doing as he requested, her eyes fluttered to a slow close and he opened the door. Taking her by her hand, Joel led her into the room and directed her with his hands to slowly lower down into one of the seats. Waiting for confirmation that it was okay to open her eyes, she listened to the sounds of Joel moving around the room. “Keep them closed.”

“They are closed,” she insisted, biting down on her bottom lip. Curiosity flooded her body with what Joel was up to now. “You aren’t going to put on another cute pair of boxer briefs are you?”

“All of my boxer briefs are cute,” he snorted, his voice sounding closer to her. Gradually, the warmth of Joel’s body was before hers and she could sense him. “Alright, hold your hands out.”

Obeying, she did as he asked of her and felt something carefully being placed in her hands, “You can open them now.”

Unhurriedly, her eyes fluttered to an open and she felt a long exhale escaping her lips when she saw there was an acoustic guitar in her hands. Taking a quick look up at Joel, she could see that he was excited to give it to her and it made her smile. Gazing upon it, she saw that her initials were engraved into the body along with an owl engraved into the neck.

“Do you know why I picked an owl for you?” he kneeled down, his hands reaching out to caress in over her knees. Shaking her head, she continued to inspect the guitar and it took her breath away with how beautiful it was. “I was going back and forth between that and a butterfly, but ultimately? I picked the owl cus’ it symbolizes wisdom, intuition and knowledge. Owls have the ability to navigate through the darkness of ignorance and reach the light of understanding. I’d love to say I came up with that, but I read it. You see, for me, you see through the darkness of me and you found the light. So I thought it represented you perfectly. You’re smart and you have a deeper understanding of things in this world than most people do.”

“That’s beautiful Joel,” she assured him, a lump developing in her throat as she dragged her fingers across the neck of the guitar. “This is amazing. How did you do this? Where did you find the time to make this for me?”

“I’m magical,” he snorted, bobbing his head about offering her a cheesy smile that brought forth a warmth throughout her body. “I promised you that I would make you one and since it was Christmas time, I just figured I’d rush it. But I assure you, it’s a perfectly good one.”

“Can we play?” she wondered, lifting her head, eager to see if they could actually attempt to play it. With a nod, Joel groaned when he got up from the ground. Holding his finger up, he reached for a chair so that way he could sit before her. Motioning her to hold the guitar the correct way, Joel was helping to position her hands and she couldn’t help but smile as he went straight into teacher mode. “Do you think since it’s Christmas, maybe you would consider singing for me today?”

“Don’t push it,” Joel grumbled under his breath, his dark eyes lifting to hers with a smirk tugging at his handsome features. “I know you really wanna hear me sing, but it’s just not gonna happen. I can play the guitar for you if you would like.”

“That’d be nice,” she agreed to his offer realizing that no matter how many times she asked Joel to sing for her that he was likely never going to do it. But it didn’t hurt to try. Watching as Joel got up to grab one of his guitars, she released a long exhale. What was nice about this whole thing was how happy she actually was. She wasn’t used to this kind of feeling. By the time Joel got back to his seat, she must have been staring at him weird because he tipped his head to the side and offered a weak smile. “Sorry. I’m gawking. I just love you, so much.”

“That’s the kinda thing I like to hear,” he assured her leaning forward to meet her halfway to press a quick kiss over her lips. Pulling back, he genuinely looked happy too and that was a nice thing to see. “I love you too.”

----

Tags: @jdmorganz @carolineesnell @ayumi-wolf @dilfsandmartinis @christinamadsen

@brittmb115 @thegirlwiththemostcake3 @ashleyfilm

[youkeepmecloseby]

POLITE REMINDERS FOR SOC SATURDAYS!!

1) this is a privilege from Melody and she does not have to do it, she does it from the goodness of her heart

2) their business is their business as much as ours is ours. they don’t owe us anything and we are in no way entitled to ask about their personal lives

3) please don’t ask about relationships/ sexuality/ age/ where they live. they wouldn’t ask any of that about us so why should we

4) please stop with the adoption. some of the cast are very outwardly uncomfortable with it and honestly it’s weird and not funny as well as such an odd thing to say

5) PLEASE STOP DEMANDING TO SEE OTHERS!!

Melody has said so many times if people want to be on it they will come to her and she won’t force anyone to be on it. We have to remember that these people are preparing to do such a physically and emotionally demanding show and don’t always want a phone shoved in their faces where people are demanding things and being rude

6) don’t comment on peoples appearances. i hate to bring it up but last week there was one person who kept spamming and asking if Jason was balding?! and i’m pretty sure he saw it because of the amount of comments on it there were. First of all, that is so insanely rude to point that out and in no way funny and Secondly, why would he answer that anyway?

7) Please stop spamming. All the cast comment on how fast the chat goes and all i ever see is people asking them to say their names and not very nice comments. If you want to ask a question that’s okay but don’t put it every second. it fills the chat and i see how stressed it makes Melody when she can’t read anything

8) REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN!! Soc Saturdays started as a fun thing for Melody and us and now they seem to stress people out and are getting toxic.

Please remember to be kind and polite.

Again the don’t owe us anything so stop acting like you’re entitled to their life.

Today i am going to try watching with the chat off so if anyone sees anything they want me to highlight message me and i’ll say something. also if anyone wants me to add anything to this post feel free to ask.

AND AGAIN IN THE WORDS OF MELODY ROSE LETS ALL SAY “THANK YOU RESPECT!!”

[givetomurasomechapstick]

(LoV) Incorrect quotes

Just thought it be funny. (Also has baby/child reader)

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Toga: Hey Dabi, check out this funny .GIF I found! Dabi: It’s pronounced “jif”. Toga: Huh? Dabi: “Dot jif”, like the peanut butter. The creator said so. Toga: That’s dumb, it’s Graphics Interchange Format. Dabi: The P in .JPEG stands for “photographic”, but I bet you don’t say “J-pheg”. Toga: “P” on its own isn’t pronounced like “F”, that’s totally different! Dabi: It’s exactly the same. Toga: Name one word that starts with “G” pronounced like “J”. Dabi: Gentrification. Toga: Shoot, should have thought of that. I was just in San Francisco. Dabi: For your logic to be consistent, you’d have to say “skuh-bah” (scuba) or “lah-seer” (laser). Toga: Yeah? Well, you’d have to say “J-pej”! Toga: …Wait, “laser” is an acronym? Dabi: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Toga: Huh. Didn’t know that. Dabi: You’re still wrong, though. Toga: You just hate me because I’m right. Dabi: I just hate you in general. Toga: You mean in “geh-neral”? Dabi: Ugh, I’m “joing” to kill you!

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Tomura: Could you guys at least try to see this from my perspective? Dabi: *crouches down* Toga: *kneels down* (Y/N): *sits on the floor* Tomura: Tomura: I hate all of you.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Spinner: Problem, I can't tell if this food is over-sauced or undercooked. Dabi: Solution, just pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. There's at least a 50% chance that'll fix it, right? Tomura: Result? Food has somehow become unpleasantly soggy and unpleasantly crunchy at the exact same time. (Y/N): No better time than this to pull out my favorite word! Slunchy! Tomura: ...put it away.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Toga: How do you connect with a fictional character? Dabi: What? (Y/N): What? Tomura: *pulls up a 500 slide presentation* I'm glad you asked.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Spinner: You’re too later, Superdorks! You'll never stop me now! (Y/N): That’s where you’re wrong, evildoer! We WILL stop you, with the powers of: Toga: Friendship! Twice: Harmony! Tomura:Incredible violence. (Y/N): And love!

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Dabi:��Time for plan G. Tomura: Don’t you mean plan B? Dabi: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties. Toga: What about plan D? Dabi: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago. (Y/N): What about plan E? Dabi: I’m hoping not to use it. Compress dies in plan E. Compress: *OOC screeching*

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Dabi: Where's (Y/N), Spinner, Twice, and Toga? Tomura: They're playing hide and seek. Dabi: Where? Tomura: I don't think you get how this game works.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

(Y/N): You really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast? Spinner: Several traffic violations. Dabi: Three counts of resisting arrest. Tomura: Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks. Toga: Also, that’s not our van.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Compress: Why do you act like we’re three year olds? Spinner, exasperated: WHY?!? Spinner points at Magne: YOU TRIED TO HYJACK A VAN! Spinner points at (Y/N): YOU NEARLY JUMPED 20 FEET OFF A CARPARK! Spinner points at Twice: AND YOU ATE MULTIPLE DRIED LEAVES AND ROCKS OFF THE GROUND! Spinner: AND YOU ASK ME WHY????

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Twice: We have fun, don’t we, Shigaraki? Tomura: I have never been more stressed out in my entire life.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Toga: I feel like everyone on this island is suspicious, (Y/N). Except you! (Y/N): But Toga, I think you're suspicious! Toga: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

(Y/N): What’s it like being tall? (Y/N): Is it nice? (Y/N): Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards? Spinner: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb 4 chairs, 2 boxes, a small coffee table and 6 oddly placed stools to get what they want. Toga: It was one time!

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Spinner: Oh (Y/N), we have a visitor! (Y/N): Don't tell me it's Dabi. Spinner: It's Dabi.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Spinner: Good night. (Y/N): Sleep tight. Dabi: Don't let the bedbugs crawl up to your ear and whisper threatening things that make you question yourself. Tomura: Great, now (Y/N)'s crying.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Tomura: What's this? (Y/N), hugging Shigaraki: Affection! Tomura: Disgusting. Tomura: ...Do it again.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Kurogiri, filming: So, are you two friends? (Y/N): Yes. Tomura: No.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

Toga: You tricked me! Compress: I deceived you. ‘Trick’ makes it sound like we have a friendly relationship.

♪~°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°~♪

[mads-hemmo]

I just recently discovered this song London by badflower and I think it’d be SO good for a schlatt fanfic..🤭🤭

New York- Jschlatt

Masterlist

Link to song

Your job has been stressing you out. Even though you love your students, teaching is too stressful. You thought the breaks would be helpful, but everytime you come back to work it is too much.

“How was your day?” Your boyfriend, Jay asks over the FaceTime call. You met him when he lived in Austin, but now he is back in New York where he grew up. You have lived in Texas your entire life, so you don’t know much different.

You let out a sigh. “It was okay. Behaviors were not great. I had a student argue with me, one not following directions, and a few just did not understand the lesson no matter how many times I explained it,” you tell him. There were more things that happened, but they were all common things.

“I’m sorry, Toots. That sounds awful. I don’t know why you keep putting yourself through all this stress.”

“I have to. I need the money to live and I also can’t let my students down.”

“I’ve told you this before, but come move to New York. Quit your job and live with me. You won’t have to worry about anything,” he assures you. Of course it sounded like a great idea, but it was unrealistic.

“I would love to, but I can’t. I can’t just rely on your money. That would not be fair to you,” you tell him.

“It would be no issue. I would love to spoil you. If you are worried about not doing your keep, you can watch the cats, do some chores, and cook.”

“I don’t want to be a trad wife,” you laugh.

“Then I’ll do the chores. I can’t promise I’ll be the best cook, but I can learn,” he tells you. Your heart swells in your chest. You can’t believe how incredibly lucky you are to be with him. He just wants you to be happy no matter what he has to do.

“Okay. How about I finish out the school year then I’ll put in my resignation. We can work on moving this summer.”

“Really?” Schlatt asks with a big smile on his face.

“Yeah I think you’re right. I am only twenty-five, I need to live life the way I want to. I want to spend my life with my amazing boyfriend and not be stressed everyday.”

“Sounds like a plan, Angel. I’m holding you to it though. You better not back out on me.”

The rest of the call continues with making steps to follow through with the plan. The more you talk, the more excited you feel. You feel like things are finally starting to look up.

You check the time on your phone which shows it’s nearing eleven meaning it’s almost midnight in New York. “It’s getting late and I have work tomorrow. I will call you later! I love you so much,” you tell him.

“I love you too, darling. Get some sleep. Jambo and (REDACTED) said they love you too and are excited for you to come live with us.”

You smile at your phone as you end the call. You press it to your chest, feeling excited about the future.

A/N: this one was a quickie but it was such a cute idea! I agree that this song is perfect for Schlatt. Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think! Also please send in reqs so I can continue to write!

[toasttt11]

hat

October 10, 2010

Allison was sitting at the dinning room table next to Luke and they were drawing together for something Luke has in his class and Luke was trying to distract her.

Allison and Luke were picked up from school, preschool for Allison by Ellen and Jim picked up the other two for hockey.

Ellen took Allison and Luke to get their haircuts and Allison got bangs as Ellen chose but it wasn’t a good cut at all and they were extremely wonky.

Allison was extremely unhappy about them and has taken to grabbing Luke’s beanie and shoving it on her head.

Jack and Quinn dropped their bags by the door as their Mom walked over looking stressed.

“That bad?” Jim realized as Ellen leaned into his side.

“I looked away for a second at Luke’s and looked back the lady had just started chopping chunks.” Ellen was furious when she the hair cut, it wasn’t even something you could say it was just bad and an accident, it was absolutely horrible and a child could have cut bangs better.

“Covey’s haircut?” Quinn asked looking curious as he knew Allison was looking forward to her hair cut today.

Covey became her second nickname because of her middle name, Cove and Quinn had came up with it.

“The hairdresser did horrible.” Ellen told Quinn and Jack too. Ellen usually would be kinder but she truly has never seen someone cut bangs worse than what they did.

Jack looked curious as they all walked into the dinning room and he saw Allison blond hair stuffed in one of Luke’s beanies.

Quinn pressed a kiss on the top of Allison’s head making her grumble and he bit back a fond smile knowing she actually liked the affection as she leaned into his touch but always pretends she doesn’t.

Jack just stared at his sister making she look and hair look at him back, “What?” Four year Allison gave him some sass.

“Come one Coveyyy! I want to see your hair.” Jack said back tugging on her beanie.

Allison quickly shoved his hands away.

“I’m sure it’s not too bad.” Jack tried to say giving her an encouraging nod.

Allison slowly pulled off the beanie and Jack immediately winced, “Oh it is bad.”

Allison’s face dropped and her little chin wobbled. She quickly got up and rushed out of the room.

“Why would you say that.” Luke gave Jack an annoyed look rushing out of the room following Allison.

“I worded that wrong.” Jack grimaced knowing he just hurt his sister’s feelings.

“Yes you did.” Quinn gave him a glare, “You better fix it.” Quinn looked at Jack sternly.

Jack quickly nodded, he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings but sometimes he forgets she is still young and she is a bit sensitive even if she try’s to not act like she is.

He gave Allison a few minutes to calm down before he walked down the hallway and knock on the door that had a pink A on the door.

Luke opened the door glaring at Jack.

“Can i talk to Goose?” Jack softly asked Luke knowing Luke won’t let him just walk him.

Luke just huffed and turned his head to Allison not letting the door open more than a crack, He gave her a look and she softly nodded, “Fine but do not make it worse.” Luke glared at Jack being protective of his best friend.

Luke opened the door letting Jack walk in and after a nod from Allison he walked out of the room.

Allison was sitting on the floor of her bedroom fiddling with her goose looking at the floor as Jack slowly sat down next to her.

“I’m sorry Goose.” Jack sincerely apologized, she just shrugged.

“You were mean.” Allison mumbled out blinking back her tears, he really hurt her feelings.

“I know i was really mean.” Jack agreed sadly frowning.

“It was rude of me to say that. Your haircut isn’t perfect but you still look very pretty and you make the haircut look better than i could ever do.” Jack told her honestly.

She smiled a little bit at his words.

“What can i do to make up for it?” Jack looked hopeful to fix his mistake.

She looked and gave him a mischievous grin making him nervous for what she is gonna ask, “Mr. Goose needs a new hat.” She told him very seriously.

Jack closed his eyes knowing what she is asking, Allison has gotten made a lot of hats and little scarfs for her goose stuff animal most their mom and grandmother made and a few from Quinn.

“I can’t sew.” Jack grimaced having been taught and it was a disaster.

She just grinned mischievously already knowing that making him groan because that’s why she is asking him to do it.

“Ok i’ll make Mr. Goose a new hat.” Jack agreed because he messed up and wanted to fix it.

She beamed nodding happily.

“Hug?” Jack offered looking hopeful, She let out a long dramatic sigh but leaned over hugging him making him beam and hug her tightly back, he pressed a soft kiss to her head before she was pulling away.

Allison got up and grabbed her box of scrap fabrics and a little sewing kit she wasn’t allowed to use yet, she handed Jack the box before going to her door and calling out, “Moosey! Quinny!”

She sat back down next to Jack hugging her goose as Quinn and Luke walked in.

“Did he say sorry?” Luke immediately asked her as he sat down next to her.

Quinn smiled looking amused seeing Jack picking out fabric and he knew what Jack had to do.

“Yeah, he’s making Mr. Goose a new hat.” Allison told Luke with a grin. Luke immediately laughed and looked at Jack starting to thread the needle.

Quinn shook his head fondly and sat down in between Jack and Allison and helped Jack thread the medal and Jack slowly started to sew a little hat.

It took a while but eventually Jack made a little red hat and he handed it to her, a little wonky but it was still a hat.

“I love it.” Allison beamed and took off the little hat currently on her goose and put the red hat on, it wasn’t the best hat she has gotten but it was her favorite.

“Now how about a scarf?” Allison grinned making Luke and Quinn start laughing as Jack groaned.

[ffishstickks]

Just finished Lovers Trophy and it was absolutely incredible; such a pleasure- 👏👏

If you’re still answering questions about the game, then I have a few:

1. Is there a specific reason for vegan mc ending up in the pit, besides the diet clashing with his own maybe? (I’m mildly confused; if he could buy basically anything mc wanted, why not specific food they can eat?)

2. Would he ever get married if the relationship with mc lasted long enough? (How much danger of ending up in the pit or something is mc still in, if they were in a committed bond like marriage?)

3. I know he freaks out when people cry, but does he get over it afterwards if or when they stop, or do they wind up getting tossed away, cause he couldn’t deal with it in that moment?

Don’t feel any pressure to answer these; I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! ✨

1: My idea at the time was that MC was simply lying. Jak has been watching mc for a few weeks at the very least, and has gathered that MC isn't a vegan.

NOW- I realize this means I'm assuming a lot about the player. MC isn't a person, they're the player. The player can be vegan. I just didn't take that into account when making the game, because I thought the strong reaction to something so small would've been really funny on the surface. I didn't give MC the option to be a vegan considering they can confidently eat the chicken strips, or drink the terribly 100% not vegan energy drink, as well as even have a bowl of cereal. If MC was vegan, they could not technically advance in the game as it is now unless they gave up their diet.

Jak doesn't hate vegans, the idea was that if MC is going to just jump to the gun and lie out of fear of Jak, he wasn't going to entertain the thoughts of dealing with his version of "a liar."

Honestly I've just strayed away from any dietary mentions in my games after, because I don't want anyone to feel un-imersed. Like, how much added horror would it have been if MC was vegan and had been forced to give that up to appease that crazy bastard and not die? I took that fun opportunity away with the vegan pit meme.

2: If marriage is something MC wanted, and Jak had been with them for a while, I think marriage could be an option. It would be a hard persuasion though. I imagine Jak at least has some self restraint when it comes to heavily impacting financial ventures with his partner, mainly by influence from his sister June. While I could see Jak dumping thousands on making his partner happy, a legal document proving not only did Jak know this person but married them could be incredibly incriminating.

If he could marry someone with no legal bindings, he'd marry every single mc who stumbled into his hands 2 seconds after meeting them.

3: Depends on the amount of stress he's going through.

I like to imagine since he's always associated facial expressions with "deep emotions" in average people, when the player cries he views this as the worst possible outcome. It makes him incredibly reactive in the moment, and depending on how well he knows how to handle the situation, he could break. What I mean by break is, drop all of his fantasy facades and feel his real feelings about all of this. Disgust, Guilt, Fear, Embarassment... He sort of short-circuts and his reaction could be as simple as walking away, or if he's already all riled up, he could implode and figure mercy is the better option.

Honestly these were some of the most asked questions I've ever gotten, especially the vegan thing. Sorry for the lack of fun pictures, it'd be a lot of work to draw for this much information.

[sexisbetteronthemoon]

i’m not trying to pressure you at all i know how annoying it is when it feels like people are demanding things but i was so curious whether you’ve ever considered a sequel to change ringtone? A continue on or an explicit sequel i was just really curious!! i love that fic so much even if you had any like… dot points about that universe or what you were thinking writing it i’d love to know 😭 pls don’t take this as demanding anything from you!!!! sorry if it comes across as bothering 😭

thank you for question and for not being demanding. ❤️ 

ah, i'm really happy you liked the story so much, thank you!

i did think of making a continuation for Change Ringtone For Keith Kogane? but ultimately did not feel there was much left over to write that was pressing over the other fics i had waiting.

so if there's ever a continuation, it would have to be either when i'm explicitly in the mood for a continuation or when i'm done with everything else. that's not likely to happen however bc there's always new fics to write. so if i do ever do this it'll have to be bc i'm suddenly inspired.

i didn't really give any thought to a sequel. i imagine that the wedding would be ENORMOUS, but like not even on purpose. Lance's family is just extensive and everyone wants to see Lance FINALLY get married.

uh, some bullet points:

it would be in acapulco since all of Lance's family is there and Keith only has a few to invite.

rather than letting Lance and his family handle it all, Keith is extremely involved in the process.

he doesn't actually understand any of this or why the flowers need to be a certain kind or a certain color, or why the clothes need to be a certain color, and why that white is different from another white etc, but he's enthusiastic bc it's his wedding with Lance and Lance loves that he's so involved (even tho his involvement makes the process go much slower bc Lance has to explain why he wants a certain thing.)

Keith absorbs all of Lance's stress and is the one who freaks out when something goes wrong.

Keith is constantly being presented to new family members. he is doing his best to remember their names. his spanish is nearly nonexistent and everyone keeps talking at him in it. he tries very hard to understand what people are saying. bc of this, he starts picking it up and can understand a little by the time of the wedding.

Keith can't get a single moment alone with Lance even tho he's dying to consummate their relationship. people keep interrupting them and leading them away from each other or basically chaperoning them. 

plot twist: it's Lance who asked them to keep interrupting bc he wants their first time during their wedding night and he knows it will be hard for him to resist.

Keith has his mom come down so she can be involved. in a strange twist, she's just as bad at understanding wedding planning, but she's eager to help.

she brings Keith's baby pictures with her.  her and Lance's mom get along SPLENDIDLY.

luis takes Keith to a bar with the other men of the family. they drink keith under the table and all Keith can talk about is how much he loves Lance. he starts getting real worked up over not being near Lance and they all get the brilliant idea of Keith performing a serenata for Lance. cue Keith showing up with a hired band (literally just a mariachi group that was spending their time at the same bar after giving a show) roaring drunk, and singing in spanish (badly) as he reads off the lyrics on his phone.

the only song i can think of for this is "amarte a la antigua" by pedro fernández bc it would be SO FUNNY and Lance would unironically like that song.

Lance both loves it and is dying from secondhand embarrassment. he had one of his siblings record it to show Keith later when he's not dying from his hangover.

Lance eventually tells Keith he wants to wait for their wedding night to have sex and Keith agrees to it bc he loves Lance.

they don't make it. they fuck the night before and Lance is furious about the hickeys littering his neck.

Lance doesn't get pregnant that night, but he does get pregnant on their honeymoon.

it's twins.

and that's all i got for now. feel free to ask for clarification on anything!

[dear-ao3]

so. as you may know it’s christmas eve. as you probably don’t know i am eastern european. and probably the only real tradition anyone holds onto is christmas eve. normally my great aunt does all the food and very begrudgingly sometimes lets everyone help make like. one thing.

well.

this year. the year of our lord two thousand and twenty four. she decided she was done cooking and it was up to everyone else.

so i got a phone call from my mom a few weeks ago being like hey so. you’re making the cake. got it? good.

the cake in question is a walnut cake. i was entrusted with my great aunts recipe about seven years ago. i’ve made it twice. the first time i fucked up the frosting quantity. the second time i fucked up the eggs. both times were passable at best and notably! my great aunt did not taste either of them.

and i have to make this cake. on christmas eve. it is dessert. for everyone. my extended family will all be eating the cake. the walnut cake. on christmas eve. even my great aunt.

so yesterday, december 23 if you are counting, i went on the annual Last Minute Christmas Food Shopping Trip with my father, watched him climb into the case to get his half and half like he does every year, and stressed about my cake as i made sure i had all of the ingredients.

then. we went to my great aunts house. where i was met with Trial Number 1: The Cognac

this cake has cognac in the frosting. not a big deal really. except for the fact that my mom hates that there is cognac in the frosting. (my mom is hell bent on making christmas eve dinner vaguely healthier. no one else agrees.) and i was to be making the cake in my moms house.

also important to note: we (as in my parents) do not own cognac. mostly because none of us drink.

so my great aunt is like oh i have to give you the cognac. cause she knows. i am baking the cake. the walnut cake. (my dad told her. he is a traitor). and i say okay. sure. this won’t be a problem at all.

so she gives me. a shot of cognac. and when i say a shot. i mean an Entirely Full Shot Glass of Three Hundred Dollar Cognac. in a jar. for the cake. the walnut cake. that i have to make.

upon bringing the cognac home my mom says no we’re not putting that in. the cognac sits on the counter in its jar. no one touches it.

then i was met with Trial Number 2: The Frosting.

this recipe requires a pound of chopped walnuts. first. i couldn’t even find the walnuts. my sister and i searched high and low and in every cabinet we could find but no nuts. i called my mom. and said mom where are the walnuts? and she said. “they’re in the nut bag behind the basement door.”

oh of course. how could i have missed the nut bag? a holiday bag full of bags of nuts that was half hidden by wrapping paper and also behind a door?

in any case. could i have used a food processor? absolutely. did i? no. half because i forgot and half because i didn’t want to accidentally grind the walnuts into a paste. so i enlisted the help of my younger sister to chop the walnuts By Hand while i embarked on the real devil: the frosting.

which remember. is supposed to have cognac.

so i cream my butter. i add my sugar. i’m careful not to over sugar. i taste it a million times. i add my coffee and my vanilla extract (instead of cognac. which is still sitting on the counter) and it was all going so well until. the butter rebelled.

now remember. one time when i made this. seven years ago. i made too little frosting. so i made more this time. and i thought i had all my conversions right but evidently i did not because suddenly there was too much liquid in my frosting and it split.

the frosting for the walnut cake that everyone was going to eat. on christmas eve. the very next day.

i felt like a contestant on great british bake-off getting smited by the tent.

so i did the logical thing and shoved the whole mess into the fridge hoping that it would sort itself out overnight.

then it was time to face Trial Number Three: The Cake Itself.

as i have said this cake is a walnut cake. the christmas eve walnut cake that has been at christmas eve longer than i have been alive. and it requires no less than ten egg whites. which i whipped and i added to my walnuts and shoved the whole thing into the oven in my two baking dishes.

only to discover no less than 40 minutes later that the batter in the pans was Not Even (despite my best efforts). so i cooked one longer than the other and hoped that i hadn’t monumentally fucked up the walnut cake. like i had the frosting. which was in the fridge. and i was ignoring.

which leads to Trial Number Four: The Egg Yolk Cake

see i had ten egg yolks. i didn’t know what to do with them. my mom said flush them. my dad said make a custard. i proposed making egg nog. my mom said she didn’t want it in the house cause it was too fattening (a blatantly incorrect statement. please, if you are reading this, go drink a glass of eggnog. or some other fun festive drink. food is for the soul.) so i produced a recipe for an egg yolk pound cake. i made it. i still don’t know if it came out good cause i haven’t tasted it. i hope it did. but that was not the point. the point is the walnut cake. the christmas eve walnut cake.

and the following morning i was met with Trial Number Five: The Frosting Part 2

first i threw my failed frosting back in the mixer and it immediately secreted a brackish combination of vanilla extract and coffee so i did the only thing i could. facetimed my dad and said “father there are problems abound.” and he gave me the fatherly advice of “make it again.”

and so i did.

with more correct measurements. still scared it would split at any second.

though it didn’t.

and i didn’t add the cognac.

maybe no one will be able to tell???

my mom said that if anyone asks the first batch of frosting failed and i had to toss it. this is technically true.

but i had frosting. i had two uneven cakes. and it was time for Trial Number Six: Decorating

decorating cakes is easily in my top ten least favorite activities. decorating the christmas eve walnut cake is easily in my top three least favorite activities. because i am terrible at decorating cakes. and also because it has a filling.

the filling is jam. and i once again made the wrong choice because i put the jam on first before the frosting. which to be fair is what the directions say. but as everyone knows, the directions in recipes you get from your eastern european great aunt are not the real directions. so now i had to smear butter cream. on top of jam. for the filling of the walnut cake. for christmas eve. that we would be eating in a few hours.

and we didn’t have a cake plate. we had a large dish.

i had to use my fingers. i had to use three spatulas. i got jam everywhere. but i did it. and as soon as i set the top cake on top of the filling i realized my monumental mistake: i was supposed to trim down the cakes.

so now they were uneven. and lopsided. and there was nothing i, a mere mortal tasked with the impossible task of making christmas eve walnut cake, could do about it.

so i continued to spread my frosting. which i had enough of. and tried and failed to not get jam everywhere.

in the end it was almost presentable. not great. slightly lopsided. and definitely not as nice as any of my great aunts cakes.

which left me with Trial Number 7: Chilling It

our fridge was being taken up by other important christmas eve things (though not as important as my cake. the walnut cake) so i had to put it in the car. which was fine because there is snow on the ground.

i covered my cake. the walnut cake. in tin foil and hoped i wouldn’t accidentally squish it. and then i went outside. i tried to steal my moms shoes to walk outside. she was not impressed.

“you know, saph,” she said. “some of the time you’re pretty great. the other half of the time you’re really weird.”

i could not agree more.

i put my cake on the trunk. prayed to the cake gods and went inside.

on the one hand if the cake is good, i will be stuck making walnut cake for christmas eve for the rest of my life. on the other hand, if it sucks i will never have to make another one.

Trial Number Eight: The Tasting still waits.