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1plus1kiyoomi · 4 years ago

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Chapter 19: ILYSB

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You drive to the farm and see Kita’s truck already parked. Getting out of the car, you see Kita smile at you. Quickly, you run to him then give him a hug. The only light source you have is that one beanpole, the stars and the moon, but Kita is shining as always. “Alisa is going to kill me for meeting you here.”

“Atsumu warned me so many times not to see you, too,” Kita chuckles, embracing you tightly. “It felt so wrong not seeing you for a day.”

“Save that for later,” you warn him, putting a finger over his lips. Kita wants to tell you so many things but you’re right, he should save it for your wedding vows. “I know we’re already married but actually having the wedding feels like I’m getting married again.”

“I’ll marry you everyday if you want,” Kita tells you, planting a soft kiss on your forehead. “Can we practice our first dance? I’m nervous.”

You put your hands together and you lead the dance, guiding him all throughout. “It feels weird without the music,” you comment and Kita just hums.

“Mad cool in all my clothes, mad warm when you get close to me...” He starts so you stop dancing in surprise. He pulls your hand just like in the choreography you both have learned, and this time he’s the one who leads. You are too mesmerized by his voice that it’s all you can think about.

“Slow dance these summer nights. Our disco ball’s my kitchen light,” he continues to sing, and you just smile at him. Even his voice is perfect. What can he not do? You can’t believe that you are serenaded by the one and only Kita Shinsuke.

Seeing the smile on your face, Kita forgets the dance and cups your cheek, allowing your bodies to sway freely. “And you need to know, that nobody can take your place. And you need to know that I’m hella obsessed with your face... your face.” He kisses your nose so you giggle.

Kita places his forehead over yours, hands still on your cheeks, eyes closed with a contented smile on your lips. “Oh my heart hurts so good. I love you, babe, so bad, so bad.”

“I love you, too, so, so, so bad,” you reply, wrapping your arms around his waist. Kita’s eyelids flutter open and he stares you lovingly before pulling you in for a kiss.

“See you later, my bride.”

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Kita is finally wearing the 3-piece grey suit with the help of his groomsmen, aka the Inarizaki Volleyball Team. “I’m nervous,” he tells them with his usual face.

Kita has never felt nervous, but right now, he’s excitedly anxious for unknown reasons. You both love each other and he knows that nothing can go wrong at your wedding, because he made sure of that. He double checked everything even before today, so why is he nervous?

Aran groans, “at least show your nervousness! You still look like you don’t care!” Kita raises his trembling hands and his friends start laughing.

��Did you not practice enough?” Omimi asks.

“I have been practicing my vows since we got back together but I’m still nervous,” Kita admits and everyone else smiles because of his honesty.

Osamu, then, hands Kita a shot of alcohol, confusing the groom so much. “Take a shot for confidence.” Kita’s eyes waver in uncertainty, but takes the shot anyways. He won’t get drunk from one single shot, and he’s willing to do anything that will get rid of the new feeling he has never felt before.

“I think I’m nervous about the dance we’re going to do,” Kita explains.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m nervous, too,” Aran speaks, staring blankly at the wall. “Whose idea is the surprise dance anyways?”

“It’s Atsumu’s of course,” Suna answers, rolling his eyes.

“It’s all over Youtube! (Y/N) would be so happy if we do it!” Atsumu says with confidence. Kita suddenly lets out a loud shout, silencing the room.

“I’m not angry. I’m just letting out my anxiety,” Kita explains, and the team just sighs in relief.

They hear scratches from the suite’s door so Gin opens opens to see what it is. Rice walks in the room, carrying a paper bag in his mouth. He is wearing a dog suit that is similiar with Kita’s, causing the boys in the room to awe and coo at him.

“Hi, boy! What’s that?” Kita asks the small dog, taking the small paper bag from his mouth. Rice sits in front of him and wags his tail, waiting for Kita to open the box. “Oh, it’s a gift from your mom.”

“Is this how he usually talks with Rice?” Suna asks Osamu, completely new to the scenario in front of him. He has only imagined Kita baby talking with his pet in high school, and this is way better than his imagination allowed.

“Yes. He treats him like his child,” Osamu answers while they stare at the father-son (dog) duo.

Kita pets Rice’s head before opening the bag. He takes out the box that is in it and slowly opens it, painfully making everyone else in the room wait in anticipation. It’s a luxurious watch. He hates it when you give him expensive gifts, but today he’ll let it pass since it’s your wedding. He reads the message on card and snort unknowingly.

When im eighty, I'll look back on three big things in my life: getting married, having kids and the first time I laid eyes on you.

Kita takes a small gift bag from his bag and let’s Rice bite on the string as well. “Give this to your mom.” He orders Rice and the dog leaves the room to go back to yours.

At the bridal suite, only you and your Nekoma friends are in there. Alisa is doing your makeup while the boys are just chilling and talking at the couch. They’re giving unnecessary comments here and there about your wedding ceremony and reception. Like how you will trip while walking down the aisle, or how you will cry so hard during the wedding vow that you Kita won’t be able to understand. Your friends are crazy, but they’re the ones who stuck with you through thick and thin.

“Rice is back,” Lev mentions as he opens the door for the dog. Your pet sits next to your chair, looking up to you to present the gift in his mouth. You pat his head and take the bag from him. He then jumps on your lap to nap.

You open the bag excitedly and see a necklace designed like a leaf branch made of diamonds and white diamond. You stop yourself from crying, not wanting Alisa to start your makeup all over agin. You put it on and check yourself at the mirror. Then, you realize that there is also a small card that came along with the necklace.

You are my favorite plant. I will water you everyday with my love. I will make sure that you have enough sunlight through making you happy. I will take care of you until we’re old and withered.

Kuroo’s wife enters the suite, causing Kuroo to keep quiet. You eye your friend teasingingly so he rolls his eyes at you. His wife is your wedding planner and organization so she has come in the room to check up on you. She doesn’t even spare a glance at Kuroo.

“It’s time to put on your wedding dress,” she tells you as she carries out your dress from the wardrobe. It’s a simple dress, something you never thought you’d wear in your wedding.

Ever since you were little, your idea of your wedding was for it to be glamorous and extravagant since it’s the only kind of wedding you have been attending since you were little. You had always imagined wearing a big ball gown dress with all the Swarovski crystals in can hold. It is the opposite of your wedding that is about to take place.

You only have around 75 guests, consisting of your closest friends and family. The wedding will take place in a small garden so you can be surrounded with plants that Kita loves so much. Your dress? It’s a an a-line dress with a square neckline and low back. It’s made charmeuse fabric and that alone. No lace, no crystals, no anything. It’s a plain simple dress that you know Kita will love.

Everyone else would say that a woman’s wedding is her wedding day, but that’s not Kuroo’s wife, your wedding planner, told you. She said, and you will never forget.

“A wedding is not a woman’s or a man’s happiest day, it’s supposed to be a day where married couples look back on and then remember why they said, ‘I do.’ It’s a special day they share as a couple and not as individuals.”

So you throw all your imaginations and fantasies out of the window and thought of Kita, and him alone, while designing your dress. It’s both yours and Kita’s day. But you’re willing to take an extra mile to make him happy, to make him say, “I do” with all his heart.

You are in the bathroom suite with Kuroo’s wife since Alisa is too anxious to dress you up. The guys obviously can’t help you. You take your robe off and Kuroo’s wife helps you slip on to the dress, but she stops midway when she sees your slightly protruding stomach. She looks at you in shock and you just put a finger over your lips.

“It’s a surprise,” you tell her and she nods.

“Congratulations,” she says to you, and you grin widely.

Yes, you’re pregnant. After trying for a very long time, you’re finally carrying another Kita. In fact, you have been pregnant for two months but just found out a week ago. You wanted to tell Kita immediately but you thought that it’d be best to tell him during your wedding vow for that extra tear jerking scene.

Certainly, Kita will never forget your wedding day.

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“We come now to the words Shinsuke and (Y/N) want to hear the most today. Before you say your vows to one another, I want to hear you confirm that it is indeed your intention to be married today,” your officiant starts so you and Kita face each other.

“Kita Shinsuke, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to (L/N) (F/N) in marriage?”

“I do.”

“(L/N) (F/N), do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Kita Shinsuke in marriage?

“I do.”

“Shinsuke and (Y/N), having heard that it is your intention to be married to each other, I now ask you to declare your marriage vows.”

Kita takes your hand in his and looks you straight in your eyes and you can see all the emotions from his orbs that his face isn’t revealing. He looks so calm yet his eyes are screaming that he’s excited and nervous at the same time.

“I see these vows not as promises but as privileges. I get to make you smile, hear you laugh. I can take care of you and share my everything with you. I get to wake up next to you every morning and sleep next to you every night. I get to witness at your every milestone and the breakdowns before that. I won’t promise that I will cherish you or honor you, because even without those promises, I will do it. Because being married to you is not a responsibility or a task; it’s a gift, a present. You don’t know how lucky I am to be able to call you my wife,” Kita starts and the guests are already sobbing and crying.

Atsumu is leaning on his twin brother’s shoulder, while the other twin is patting his back. Aran is crying as well, his handkerchief already wet from too much tears. But you don’t hear anything or anything except for the man who’s standing in front of you right now.

Kita takes a deep breath in before he continues, “I love you with my whole heart with a passion that can't be expressed in words, only in soft kisses, tight hugs, late night trips, stolen glances, and years of being by your side. You always tell me that I’m the best man in existence, but believe me when I say this, I am a better man because of you.”

You’re already crying at this point, his word piercing right through your heart, but you don’t feel the pain. It’s a feeling of mixed happiness and contentment that Kita has been giving you since the day you met him. But now it’s your turn to say your vows so you have to stop yourself from crying.

“Shinsuke...” you start and then cry again. You hear your friends’ laughters and giggles, so you chuckle in embarrassment. Kita gives your hand a slight squeeze so you take a deep breath in before attempting to say your vows again.

“When I first saw you, I knew I had to have you. A lot of people said that we’re not going to work out or that you’ll never like me back, but here we are now,” you laugh cockily, causing the guests to laugh as well. “Before I say anything that will make you cry, I just want to clarify that when I said, ‘I do,’ I didn’t mean the dishes. I promise with all my heart that I will continue to make our friends jealous of our astonishing relationship.”

“We get it! We’ll be single forever!” Yaku shouts so it’s laughter once again.

Kita is smiling at you lovingly even if you’re joking during your wedding vows. You clear your throat before starting to speak again, “You have made me the happiest woman in the world today by agreeing to share your life with me. I promise to respect you and honor you. I pledge to be your honest, faithful, and loving wife for the rest of my days. Shinsuke, you are my every dream come true, and I can't wait for the reality we get to build together.”

You want to say it. You want to tell him that you’re pregnant. The words are already at the tip of your tongue but it doesn’t seem to want to slip out. The officiant starts to speak again but you don’t hear him. Your thoughts are clouded with regrets on why you didn’t tell your husband about your pregnancy.

“Your wedding ring are the outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible bond which already unites you two hearts in love,” the officiant says and Rice comes running to the two of you with the wedding rings placed in a small bag.

Rice is your best man. He’s been there since day 1 of your relationship and have been your mediator ever since. He’s a dog that represents your love and he deserves to have that special spot on your wedding day.

Kita slips in your wedding ring as he says, “I give you this ring. Wear it with love and joy. As this ring has no end, my love is also forever.”

You take his hand this time and repeat his words. “I give you this ring. Wear it with love and joy. As this ring has no end, my love is also forever.”

“It is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss,” the officiant declares so Kita takes your veil off to clearly reveal your face.

Your lips meet his. The kiss speaks a lot for the two of you since your lips are both sealed by each other’s. You can feel his promises from his lips and he can taste your sincerity from yours. It’s a kiss you’ll never forget.

The reception after the ceremony was a simple and short one yet also fun and memorable. The former Inarizaki Volleyball Team surprised you with a dance, a sexy one at that, and you blush just thinking about how hot your husband looked while dancing.

At the part where you had to throw the bouquet to the crowd, Kuroo’s wife caught it, so you and your friends were a laughing mess when that happened. Kuroo was so red even if he wasn’t the one who caught the bouquet.

It was perfect. Your wedding day was perfect. Everything went as planned except for your plan of telling him that you’re pregnant.

After the wedding reception, you head to your suite to finally rest and spend alone time with each other. Kita’s hands have never left your body ever since he got to hold it. His mouth would whisper sweet nothings in your ear. His eyes gazed at you every chance he got.

“I really love that dress on you,” Kita tells you as you are about to take off your wedding dress in front of the full body mirror in the room. He wraps his arms around you, his chin on your shoulder, his lips dangerously close to your neck.

“And I love that your hair is pushed back,” you reply, letting your hands fall on his forearms.

“Should I wear my hair like this everyday?” Kita asks and you shake your head immediately. “Why not?”

“I would die from too much handsomeness and hotness,” you answer without hesitance so he chuckles. “For real. You look amazing today. My heart may or may not have skipped a beat or two when you danced.”

“I could show you again,” he whispers into your ear seductively causing chills to run down your spine. “A special show only for you.”

“Baby,” you call him, changing the topic. He humms in response, his lips already attached to the skin of your exposed shoulder. “I have to tell you something important.”

“What is it?” He turns you around, then hugs you again. Tears start to roll down your cheeks so he gets worried. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Not all,” you tell him reassuringly but he doesn’t believe your words since you’re crying like a baby in front of him.

“Then why are you crying?” He wipes the tears on your cheeks with his thumb, worry visible in your eyes. It should be a happy day, why are you crying?

“I’m just glad that we finally had our married and that we will have an addition to our family,” you say subtly, hugging him tightly. Kita is frozen in his spot, did he understand your words right? Do you mean what he thinks you mean?

“What did you say?” He makes you repeat. You cup his cheeks and grin at him. You can see his tears at the brim of his eyes, and just one confirmation for you, the two of you will be crying in thankfulness and happiness the whole night.

“I’m pregnant.”

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chudleycanonficfest · 3 years ago

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the hippogriffs and the flobberworms

Day 23, Post #2 by @accio-broom

Title: the hippogriffs and the flobberworms Author/Artist: accio-broom Pairing: Arthur & Ron Weasley (platonic) Prompt: slice of life Rating: T Trigger Warning(s) (if any): Mentions of sex lives and STDs, very cringe-worthy.

Arthur whistles as he roams the ground floor of the Burrow, searching for his youngest son. Ron’s best friend Hermione is due to arrive any day, ready to spend the latter part of the summer holiday with the Weasleys, but there are some things Arthur needs to speak to Ronald about before Miss Granger joins them.

He’s probably left this conversation a little late—Ron turned fourteen a few months ago—but this is the first time the youngest has shown any interest in the opposite sex. With the rather exciting activities coming up for their fourth school year, including a ball, it’s only inevitable that different feelings will start to stir.

Chuckling, Arthur reminisces about the conversations with his other sons. Bill, always cool as a frost salamander, kept his focus on his old Dad without any outward discomfort, even though Arthur made a complete mess as he told Bill about the facts of life. All of Arthur’s words came out in a massive jumble—he couldn’t even use the correct terms for various body parts and used all the wrong euphemisms. Arthur had been trying so hard to be a cool dad that he got himself far too worked up to make any sense.

His second son, Charlie, was dismissive and didn’t seem interested in the mechanics of making love, which was disappointing given the amount of time Arthur had spent rehearsing, determined to get it right that time. Percy approached the conversation with logic and appropriate questions, discussing it as he would an important Ministry policy before thanking his dad then leaving the room without a backwards glance. In stark contrast, the twins cracked inappropriate jokes and turned the tables on Arthur, making him feel awkward as innuendo after innuendo spewed from their mouths.

Ron will be Arthur’s last chance to do “the talk”. Molly is responsible for dealing with Ginny, and they’ve probably already started. He doesn’t baulk at the female aspect of puberty, having lived with a woman for almost twenty-five years, he’s well versed in the potions and muggle contraptions they need to use, but he thought it only fair that Molly gets a go of this, too. It’s one of the essential parts of being a parent, after all.

Although Arthur is well-seasoned in explaining the facts of life without going overboard with the detail or using cringe-worthy phrases now (although the twins did teach him a few new idioms), he has decided to step away from the ‘cool’ dad persona and go full-on over the top this time.

He could make this easy for Ron, but why would Arthur want to spoil his own fun?

A flash of red hair leaving the broom shed catches his attention out of the kitchen window, and Arthur’s grin widens. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, but there is a light breeze, keeping the air fresh and cool. It’s the sort of day that would lead to him fishing in the lake at the bottom of the garden, but he has a task at hand that he needs to deal with first.

Maybe there’ll be time for him to get his rod out later.

Pouring two glasses of lemonade from the jug Molly has left on the side, Arthur uses a cooling charm on them then steps out from the backdoor and onto the patio.

“Ron,” he calls, smiling as his son turns his head around faster than a niffler chasing gold, looking like Arthur has caught Ron doing something that he shouldn’t. Probably skiving from the long list of chores Molly gave him this morning. “Come up and have a chat with your old Dad.”

Arthur eases himself into the bench under the wisteria with a groan. Although he isn’t all that old, having seven children and living through a war takes its toll on a guy’s body. Now, every joint clicks and complains every time he moves. Forget getting somewhere in a hurry; slow and steady is now the way to go.

Ron settles in the seat next to him.

“What’s up, Dad?” he asks, smiling at Arthur. He takes the offered drink, gulping almost half of it in one go before letting out a loud, satisfied sigh.

“Hermione is coming to stay with us before we go to the World Cup, I hear? But not Harry?”

Ears turning pink, Ron turns his head to look out at the garden. “Y-yeah. We’re going to collect Harry in a few days, remember?”

“Oh, yes. I’m very excited to be visiting the Muggles. Will they tell me about eckeltricity? Should I take my battery collection?”

Ron laughs. “I don’t think the Dursleys will be too impressed with batteries, Dad. They use them every day.”

“Shame.” Arthur sighs, then turns his eyes to gaze the same way as Ron’s. “So, Hermione is a girl.”

“Er, yes, I guess so.”

“A girl you’re attracted to?” Arthur glances at Ron, whose face has turned as white as a ghost.

Ron reacts with a knee-jerk response, but the look on his face indicates that he’s not telling the whole truth. “No!”

“Are you sure? You and her have gotten close lately. Mum and I like her.” Arthur waits a moment for Ron to take back his first response, then tuts when he stays quiet. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone you do like soon. Anyway, as you already know, she’ll be staying in Ginny’s room with your sister, and I’m sure you’re clear on the rules of the house. Your Mum does not want any sneaking around or late-night visits.”

Arthur doesn’t hold the same views as his wife. Sure, he doesn’t want the kids to be sleeping in each other’s beds, but he remembers the conversations he and his friends had during the early hours of the morning when he was their age. If the children wanted to get up to something, Arthur would rather it happen under their roof where they’re safe than have them take unnecessary risks. He and Molly were young once, too, although it feels like a lifetime ago now.

“I know, Dad.”

“Good. And so you know, if you ever find yourself feeling conflicted or wanting some advice on how to ask a lady out, you can always come to me. Because being a teenage lad is a very confusing time, and the magic will heighten this, as well as the fact that you live in proximity to some charming young women. You might not feel it right now, but you’re on the precipice of being a man. Your voice has started breaking. Sure, it’s a little later than the others, but I’m sure that’s nothing to worry about. Everyone develops at their own pace, after all. Pretty soon, you’ll have hairs sprouting all over the place, even in places you wouldn’t expect it. I can’t remember when all of this started happening for me, but it was around your age. And don’t get me started on the wet dreams…”

“Merlin,” Ron sighs, now squirming in his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible. When Arthur checks again, his youngest is looking into the depths of his glass as if considering whether he could drown himself in there.

“Sex is healthy, son, especially if it’s with someone that you admire and love, whether that be a girl or a boy, Your mum and I don’t mind as long as you’re happy. And if you find the right person, then it can be amazing.”

A low groan emits from Ron’s mouth as he pushes himself further down the bench, attempting to put some distance between him and Arthur.

“Please stop talking,” he pleads with bright red cheeks.

“Having a good sex life is nothing to be ashamed of, let me tell you. The seven of you weren’t delivered by the hippogriffs, after all. Not that we only have sex to procreate. Having you kids out of the house has done wonders for our love life.

“While we’re on the subject, if you can’t get a partner, then there’s nothing wrong with taking matters into your own hand. Masturbation is very beneficial, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s important to explore your own body and learn the kind of things you like so that you can recreate those moments with a partner. I can tell you some useful charms if you need them—ones for when you’re with someone, and others for when you’re alone. Of course, there are some spells that are vital for you to learn. Safety is sexy, and you don’t want any little accidents happening.”

Ron runs his hand over his face as if trying to erase his dismay. “Dad. Please stop. I know all of this already. Not that I wa-I mean, do that sort of stuff.”

He crosses his legs with a gulp, and Arthur feels a rush of joy. He’s succeeded in making his youngest son feel as awkward as possible. You have to take delight in the smallest of moments, especially the older you get.

“Who told you?”

“I have five brothers and live in a dorm with four other boys. Also, Flitwick taught us the contraceptive charm last year.” Ron is still focused on his glass, looking like he wants to be a million miles away.

“Oh, right. ”

An irrational surge of disappointment crashes over Arthur. He should have realised that kids are far more advanced and talk much more than they did in his day. He should have bit the bludger earlier and nabbed him last summer.

“Well,” Arthur continues anyway, determined to see this through, “contraceptive charms aren’t the only things you need to learn. You need to ensure you protect yourself from Sexually Transmitted Diseases, or STDs, as well. Some of these can make you a little itchy, but others can be dangerous. You should go and see Madam Pomfrey if you think you might have one. Of course, you could always get some muggle con-domes. Fantastic little invention they are. Rather than trying to remember a load of different spells while you’re in the heat of passion, you can whack on a rubber and get to it.”

He doesn’t allow Ron’s small squeak to put him off his speech, now he’s in full flow again. “Talking about getting to it. Consent is important. When you decide to take that step, or even before when you snog someone, you need to make sure they want to do it too. Every step of the way. If they say no, you stop right away, even if they said yes only a minute previously. You must understand that. Never force yourself on someone, especially if they are drunk or otherwise intoxicated. If they can’t say yes, it’s a no-go. Got it?”

“I-I d-do,” Ron stutters, his voice strained under the embarrassment of the situation. “C-Can I go now?”

“Yes, yes, of course. But don’t forget that I’m here if you need anything, son. Even if you think it might get you into trouble. And look after Hermione, even if your feelings for her are only platonic. I admire the way you, her and Harry have formed a little group. The three of you are good for each other.”

Arthur reclines on the bench and closes his eyes, letting out a sigh as the sun warms his face. There’s no point getting one’s wand in a knot over spilt potion. He still managed to get Ron squirming like a flobberworm, so it was mostly a successful mission.

The bench shifts as Ron rises to his feet. He finishes his drink with a gulp and sets the glass down on the floor before shuffling away.

“Dad?” a small voice asks.

When Arthur opens his eyes, he spots Ron towering over him. When did he get so lanky? Ron is going to be the tallest of the family, for sure. There’s a smile on his face, though he still can’t meet his Dad’s gaze.

“Yeah, Son?” Arthur asks, shielding his eyes from the sun.

“Thanks for trying.”

Ron shrugs, then wanders back down the garden, his gangly frame hunched over. Arthur marvels at Ron’s response. You think you fully understand your children, and then they do something that knocks you off your broom. But Ron is a decent lad, and Arthur knows he will go far, like the rest of them.

With a happy sigh, he leans back and closes his eyes again. He’s done an okay job at this parenting thing. As long as none of them gets arrested or tries to break into Gringotts, he can die a happy man.

#chudleycanonficfest2021 #HP fest #hp canon pairings #canon fest platonic #submission #arthur weasley #ron weasley

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dovenymph · 3 years ago

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a film by peter parker

authors note: this was inspired by another thinkerpete tweet that read "peter probably watches the bit from "a film by peter parker" where he's in the car with tony over and over when he misses him" and@peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology’s summer of love prompt list💛💛 also the video edit was made by me so please do not screen record/save and repost it even if you do credit me (also this is unedited so sorry for any typos, i’ll probably go through it sometime this week, i just wanted to post it first)

prompts used: 2. making the backyard/rooftop into a movie theater

my masterlist

warnings: mentions of tony’s death, other than that, nothing but fluff

word count: 3.9k

Peter hated the summer.

Peter hated not having anything to busy himself with; no homework, or academic decathlon, or seeing Ned everyday who could wrap him up in his graphic novel fan theories or the drama in his on and off relationship with Betty. It was petty drama and minor stimulation, but it was something to distract him momentarily. But now Ned was in Aruba with his parents for the entire month which meant Peter had to suffer through the scorching heat of Juy all by himself.

Peter knew he didn’t have to be alone each day, -Aunt May had spent many dinners trying to get him to join her at the movies or the mall, even offering to let him have free reign of the lego store (when he said no to that, she knew he was in worse shape than she thought)- he had a handful of trustworthy and dependable friends he could hang out with for the afternoon like MJ and Betty, or even Flash who had been uncharacteristically nice to Peter ever since he found out he was Spiderman; this having happened only a few weeks after Tony had died and Peter had let him in on his secret to console a sobbing Eugene who, honestly, seemed to be more broken up about the news than Peter was. But even with his expanding friend group, Peter had found the most his body could endure was the contents of his bedroom.

He tried to get back out there after Tony’s passing, he really did, but at the first Iron Man tribute he admired on patrol, his body completely shut down and he swung back home, tears dampening the material of the mask.

So a lonely summer was what Peter submitted himself too, and he’s come to terms with it. He’s rewatched his favorite old shows, started binging some new ones. He’s taken apart and put together his lego death star four times now, each time faster than the last. But he’s been particularly fond of staring out the window. His apartment complex was quite close to the building besides his and he could look down into the backyard everyone had to share. Peter’s building had one as well, but since he was pretty sure he was the only person under 35 who lived there, it went unused.

Next door, there was always a different activity occurring in order for the patrons to beat the heat, and Peter often thought about how easy it would be for him to just go downstairs and introduce himself, and ask to join. It’d really be as simple as that and he’d meet some new people, get a free lunch and a chance to swim in the plastic pool they set up; maybe they’d laugh at his jokes and clap when he did flips, but it was all just a maybe, just in his imagination because his brain never let him wander to far before squandering the idea of getting close to someone again, for if history has taught Peter anything, it's that anything he gets close to, is not meant to stay for long and will be soon snatched away from him in the cruelest of ways.

And this thought is what resigns him to slink back behind his window and pout the day away, as he was doing now, vision blurring as he stared at nothing.

“Hey!”

Peter jumped, his eyes focusing on the target of whoever pelted his window and they landed on your form, slumped against your open windowsill, chin resting on your hand as you gazed back at him.

“Can I help you?” Peter bit back after lifting his window half way, his tone unconsciously laced with annoyance. He really didn’t even notice it anymore since that’s how he’s been speaking to everyone in his life for months now, but when you flinched at his tone, guilt started to creep up his spine.

Before he could ever begin to stumble out an apology, you cut him off “Yeah, is there a reason you stare into my room everyday?”

Peter's face flushed red and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had spoken so bluntly towards him, and honestly, he liked it. He was getting tired of everyone walking on tiptoes around him, he just wanted things to go back to how they were, where he was just Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood student.

“Or could you at least give me some money for some curtains if you just can’t give up the beautiful view of a concrete wall?”

“S-sorry, I- I didn’t even know you were there.”

Lie.

Peter knew you were there, he always knew when you were there.

Peter Parker isn’t a stalker, though! Sure, he’s gone through some fucked up shit on Earth and in space, so yeah, he wouldn’t call himself the most …sane person he knows, but he really wasn’t a creep. With your buildings being so close and your rooms directly across from one anothers, he was bound to notice you at some point.

And at some point he did. It was the first day of summer and Midtown let out at 12 instead of 3 to mark the occasion, so Peter had been mulling about in his room for quite some time already, thinking about how he heard all his classmates amazing summer plans and how the farthest he was going to go was probably the Thai restaurant down the street, and even that was a maybe. Peter sulked in silence until a couple hours later he heard a door slam closed, thumps from things being tossed on the ground, and a loud groan as he peeked through his windowsill at you who was currently flopped on the bed, window wide open without a care, scrolling on your phone.

At first, he was taken aback by your beauty, a small, small feeling of intrigue spiked his system, but it flew under the radar due to the seemingly everlasting dread that’s been weighing down on Peter's shoulders for months. But he couldn’t look away. You’d been doing nothing but looking at tiktoks mindlessly, occasionally cracking a half smile if a video was particularly amusing, but you still remained cemented to your mattress with no plans on moving anytime soon.

This brought comfort to Peter as he fished his phone out from the bottom of his bag and pulled up Ned’s messages and started to look through the media he sent him, almost two months worth of funny memes and videos that he hadn’t been bothered to look at, and he sat there along with you, aimlessly letting the time pass by. He enjoyed it, knowing he wasn’t really alone in his lazy and distracting behaviors because the pretty neighbor girl was doing just the same.

Ever since then, he’s just been …aware… of your coming and goings. He figured you had a summer job as every other day you were gone for a few hours, a solid shift. But on the days you were home, you also spent it mainly up in your room, every now and then, playing music from your record player, and if he was really lucky, you’d, unknowingly, give him a private concert as you sung out whichever niall horan or ariana grande song struck your fancy that day. He grew quite fond of the music, having added some of the regulars to his own playlist. And he enjoyed knowing you were right there, and he was right here; each of you living your lives, as uneventful as they may be, but you were together in some sort of way.

He’d never spoken to you, the ability of being able to just push his window up and call out to you at any time was what he liked, and each day he thought he’d do it but chickened out, and now it seemed like he’d have to make introductions whether he was ready or not.

“Mmm, right, so you haven’t seen me change or anything like that?” You asked and the content of your question and the inquisitive tone brought a flush to his cheeks.

“N-no! Of course not! I-I’d never do that, why would I even want to look at you? I mean! I don’t think you’re ugly or anything I… I just…”

Peter’s ramblings were cut off with your laugh as it bounced off the summer air and into his room. You were fully leaning out your open window now, and Peter had found himself in the same position, as if he was drawn to you.

“I was only joking with ya, but it's still nice to have the confirmation. I’m Y/N, your neighbor! Obviously.” You trailed off at the end, knowing that information was unnecessary since the boy next door obviously already knew that.

He was like no boy you’d ever seen before, only read about in books. He had a sweet disposition and inviting brown eyes that matched his soft chestnut hair. But he was built like a man, a strong jaw and strong arms. You’d seen him leaving his building everyday on your way to school, and when he’d get dropped off in a big black SUV during the late hours of the night, but he walked in the opposite direction or darted inside so fast,you never really got a chance to take him in.

“…Peter?” His tentative tone snapped you out of your daze and you realized he was introducing himself.

“Sorry, Peter! I- I… got distracted… by your… death star!” You let out, eyes focusing on the black and grey figure resting on his bed.

Peter felt his cheeks heat up as he moved to push it to the ground.

“That’s pretty cool! I finished the star wars series last summer.”

Peter’s eyes snapped up to yours and the friendly smile you were giving him along with the genuine interest in your tone seemed to break something inside him, snapped the band of hesitation that wrapped around his heart. “You did? For the first time?”

“Yeah! I know I’m like super late, but there’s like nine movies!”

Your laughs melded into one as you leaned out your respective windows and began talking about your favorite movie series. Peter was aware that this was unnatural for him. He had been more open to this stranger in the past few minutes than he had to his own Aunt in months and the same guilt from earlier crept up on him. But Peter was having a good time talking to you and he felt his insides turn in excitement when he realized you really had no idea who he was. He had a clean slate with you and he could make any first impression he wanted, well he hoped your first impression of him wasn’t that he was a peeping pervert, but we move, as MJ would say.

You were about to start telling Peter about this new dystopian novel you began reading when you heard a woman call out to him.

“Oh, that’s my Aunt May. She must be home from work. I- I should go say hello.” He explained, a sad look crossing his face that you didn’t quite understand.

You felt your own sadness wash over you, though. You didn’t want to stop talking to Peter either. “Yeah, of course!”

“But we can talk tomorrow right?” Peter asked, his tone laced with uncertainty.

“Oh well, I work double tomorrow… so I probably won’t be home ‘til late.” You said and the way the brown haired boys face visibly fell felt like a punch in the gut and you were scrambling for a reason to make him smile.

“B-but hey! I also get paid tomorrow so if you want, you can come over on saturday and we can have a movie night and we can order a shit ton of take out?”

“Come over to your place?” Peter asked, and he felt himsef involuntarily tense at the idea of leaving his room for the first time in weeks. It was safe in his room. But the pleading look on your face and hopefulness in your tone encouraged him to take the chance.

“I’d love to y/n.” Peter said with a soft smile and you smiled back shyly at him before closing your window and making your way out your room, making sure you were safe in the hall, away from his prying eyes to do a little happy dance.

Peter was unable to wipe the grin off his face as he walked out his room to greet his Aunt.

She heard his feet padding down the hall as she was setting out dinner, “Sorry its not ready yet, Petey, today’s been crazy, but I’ll get started now.” She rushed. Recently, she’s been hoping food’s the key to lift her poor nephews spirits, so each night she’ll either order or make something more fattening, cheesy, and delicious than the last.

“It’s alright May,” Peter let out easily as he turned the counter and placed a kiss on her cheek, “why don’t you let me cook tonight?”

May’s jaw dropped and she blinked a couple times. She could barely get two words out of Peter recently, and they were always either a meak thank you for dinner or an it was good when she asked about his day. She felt her eyes tear up at the slight sliver of her old Petey back.

“O-oh, really, you wanna cook?”

Peter ducked his head down at the ingredients in front of him to avoid looking in her eyes, his heart dropping at the glossiness that overtook them. He truly hadn’t realized how closed off he’d been. “Well, how about we do it together?” He began and the face splitting grin that spread across May’s face was all he needed to know he was taking a step in the right direction.

“G-good idea, honey. Can’t have the house burn down, can we?”

“Hey!”

May laughed and kissed Peter’s head as they began winding through the kitchen, making casual conversation. It was just like the old days, May thought. Before the wave of devastation drowned Peter as he lost a father figure, once again.

“So what did you do today, P? Do you know when Ned get’s back? I’m sure you’re both excited to see each other.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I am. I don’t know when he get’s back actually, but that’s okay-“

“I know you like your peace and quiet, I really do, but I do think it’ll be good for you to get out of the apartment for a little bit, see if Michelle is available. Oh! Or maybe that Lisa, Liz! I liked Liz, see if she’s available-“

“May! Its okay. I don’t need to hang out with Liz Allen,” Peter grumbled, “I- I made a new friend actually.”

May looked over at Peter in confusion since he hadn’t gone out or had anyone over in weeks, that she could remember; and Peter took her silence as an opportunity to continue.

“The neighbor.”

“Mrs. Wozniak?”

“No! Y/n, she lives in the next building over. And my room is right across from hers. We’re gonna hang out on saturday.”

“Oh?” May raised her brows at her nephew and bit back a smile, much to Peter’s chagrin. “Is she pretty?”

“And that’s relevant why?”

“I don’t know!!” May drawled and Peter just rolled his eyes and kept chopping the vegetables in front of him, the blush adorning his cheeks refusing to go down as he thought yes, yes she is.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

You yanked the door open as soon as you heard Peter’s knocks against it. He jumped back a bit, his arm still partially raised from when he knocked and you silently berated yourself for being so eager, but the spreading smile across his face made you feel not so bad.

“Oh, sorry, I was just-“

“It’s alright.” Peter replied with a soft smile, and you let yourself trace the golden flecks in his eyes before he cleared his throat, once again, snapping you out of a daze. You seemed to be in a dreamy state around him alot.

“Can I come in? I brought my Star Wars DVD collection by the way, I know you’ve seen them, but this one has the director's cut which I thought totally changed the course of the first trilogy!” Peter explained, rocking on the balls of his feet in excitement.

You bit your lip at the sight, his cuteness was rubbing off on you. “Yeah, that sounds great, but actually we aren’t gonna be watching in here.” You said, grabbing the bag of Chinese food and snacks and stepping out.

Peter’s face sputtered as you both walked to the stairs. He’d spent all day building up his courage to just go six feet from his building, there was no way he’d be able to go around the city with you for the fear of seeing something that’ll remind him of the avengers or crime.

“Y’alright?” You asked, noticing Peter’s stony silence as you walked down the last flight and made your way to the back gate.

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I’m just nervous. I haven’t really hung out with anyone new in a while, well, with anyone at all really.”

You smiled in sympathy, “I get you, I haven’t either. All my friends are out of town, so I’ve mostly just hung out in my room, too.”

“But you already knew that, don’t ya stalker?”

Peter rolled his eyes and shoved your arm as you laughed, glad you got his nerves out of his system. You unlocked the gate and lef Peter to the back garden.

“Woah..” Peter let out. There was a large white sheet hung up between two trees, and a projector set up on the table behind where a blanket lay, covered in a mess of pillows. The setting sun lit up by strung lightbulbs.

“You like? I figured since we both seemed to be home bodies, we could have the fun of the movie theatre, but here!”

Peter felt his heart swell at your words. You’d only known him for two days, and you already treated him with so much consideration and kindness. “I- I love it, y/n. This is amazing.”

He saw how you tucked your cheek into your shoulder in bashfulness and felt his spirits raise even higher. You were adorable.

“I’m glad you like it. I hope the projector works though, it took me forever to translate the instructions.”

Peter walked over to it and gave it a once over. “It seems fine to me, but I can always look at it if you want.”

“Oh yeah? You good with tech?”

“Good enough to get by. I needed it a lot while working with Mr. Stark” Peter began, forgetting that he wasn’t talking to an old friend.

“You worked with Tony Stark?!?”

“Oh.. oh yeah, only for a little! I was an intern.” He said quietly, beating himself up for even bringing up the topic of Tony. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of a pretty girl.

“Wow, that must’ve been amazing. You, you must miss him a lot then, huh?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled lifelessly. “Yeah I do.”

“But no matter, we’re here to have a good time right?”

“Yeah, yeah we are!” You grasped his hand and gave him a sympathetic squeeze -neither of you blind to the sparks that shot from the place your hands met- and got settled on the blanket.

Two and a half moves later, the sun had set and the two of you were sitting in the darkness, the only light coming from the flickering of the projector as the abandoned movie played. You and Peter were sitting cross legged, facing each other as he told you another story about working with the Avengers.

“Yeah, it was so crazy!! We were in this airport and he went from being like two inches tall to two hundred feet, it blew my mind. But it was okay though, because I had this idea-“

“Wait, wait, wait. You were there? Why?” You asked, loving every adventure filled anecdote he told you, but it wasn’t all adding up. For just an intern, he seemed incredibly close to Mr. Stark himself, but then again, you’d only known him for less than a week and you also wanted to go everywhere with him.

Peter worried his lip, thinking about how he could worm his way out of this one. Why would a teenage intern be at the Avengers civil war? He figured he could lie, or even just run away and buy black out curtains. Maybe he could convince Aunt May to switch rooms with him even. But you’d already brought so much light to his life in multiple aspects, and he thought, just maybe, you’d be able to bring light to that aspect of his life too.

“You know what, lemme just show you! Wait here, I’ll be back!”

Peter ran back down, his Chewbacca flash drive in hand, adrenaline running through his veins. He plugged it into your laptop and dug up a folder he hadn’t touched in almost eight months.

“What’s this?” You asked as he sat back down next to you.

“You’ll see.” He said, eyes glued to the screen in front of him.

A Film by Peter Parker, read the title as a compilation of videos featuring Peter, Happy, Aunt May, the Avengers, and Tony projected before you both.

Peter heard you gasp as the camera flashed to the suit, and saw, from the corner of his eye, how your head snapped towards his as he backspringed across the battleground. The film continued and neither of you could tear your eyes from the screen. Peter felt his eyes well up with tears as a scene with him and Tony talking to the camera began and he thought that watching this was a bad idea and he was about to turn around and turn it off when he felt your fingers intertwine with his.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the warmth you brought him and he squeezed back, his brain nearly malfunctioning at the speed in which he tried to memorize the feel of your hand in his. But his senses were overloaded as he picked up on your accelerated heartbeat.

The two of you continued to watch the video, neither moving even when it autostarted from the beginning, and this time you laughed outwardly at the funny parts, and asked him questions about why Happy didn’t seem to like him.

“What did you do to him Peter?”

“Nothing I swear!”

“Likely story.”

And he felt the steel blanket of grief fall off his shoulders. The feeling of intrigue and excitement for going back to life was no longer a small trail buried deep within him, but now a firecracker that ignited his insides and aurated off of him. Things were going to be alright, he was going to make it out this summer with more than just the memories from his bedroom, and he’d make it through whatever else life would throw at him, as long as he had you by his side.

Because you didn’t make his heart beat faster out of fear, you made him feel flustered and full of affection.

And you didn’t hold him roughly, with the intent to harm him; you held him delicately, and he could only wait to be able to hold your heart the same way.

56 notes · View notes

kaitycole · 4 years ago

Text

you broke me first (part 2)

Summary: You and Oikawa dated all three years of high school, that is until he broke up with you out of nowhere. Then three years later, you open the door of Iwaizumi’s apartment to find Oikawa there.

Word Count: 2825

Rating: Angst. Pinning. Mentions of anxiety. Talks of a break-up

Pairing: OIkawa x Female Reader (past tense), Iwaizumi x Female Reader

A/N: Fingers crossed I’m capturing these guys right lol I think maybe it’ll have one more part, I'm not sure. Let me know your thoughts though!

Also, I’m thinking of having two different ending, let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in!

Song Choice: you broke me first by Tate McRae

Tag List: @yatoatyourservice

When Iwa finally gets back to his apartment, Oikawa is sprawled out on the floor on his phone. Shaking his head, he simply walks passed him, grabbing two beers from the fridge. He just knows he’s gonna need some.

“Oi. Here.”

Oikawa takes the beer, clinking it against Iwa’s before taking a sip. While the two of you were gone, Oikawa practically dissected all the posts on both your social media profiles. He came up empty, either you weren’t dating or weren’t making it public. It’s driving him crazy to not know, while he wasn’t expecting you to be here, he’d be lying if he said seeing you didn’t stir something up inside him. Didn’t make him rethink the last three years, comparing them to the three you spend together.

“How long as you in town?”

“A week.” He makes eye contact with Iwa, “But I’ll find somewhere else tomorrow.” Iwa shakes his head in protest, “Just stay in the spare room.” “Is Y/N okay with that?” Oikawa raises an eyebrow, trying to see how he react; but he’s stoic as usual.

He nods, “As long as you don’t act like shittykawa, I’m sure things will be fine.”

A few beers later and Iwa’s phone goes off, he excuses himself to take it. Oikawa leans back on the couch, trying to not think about you but failing.

------

It was just like every other day, an early chilly morning before school. You and Oikawa were sitting on a bench close to the school, he had just finished up a brief practice. He enjoyed this time with you, before the campus filled with tons of students especially his “fan club”.

“Oh, I brought you something!”

“Oh really? What is it, princess?” You pulled out a small bag and handed it to him: milk bread.

“Y/N, you’re the best. I love you.”

Your face turned bright pink.

“Oh, I…uhm…well, no, I love you.” He shrugs, “Wasn’t how I was planning on telling you.”

It made your heart skip, he had been planning on telling you that he loves you. And instead of some grand gesture or in some super overthought way, your dork of a boyfriend told you after getting milk break.

“You are such a dork.” You pulled him close and kissed him, “I love you too.”

There had been great days in Oikawa’s life; most of them included volleyball, but this day topped all of them. He draped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side and kissing the top of your head.

“Say it again?”

Your face turned even redder, it extended to the tops of your ears, “I love you, Toru.”

Oikawa could’ve died right there and he’d have been a happy man. You and volleyball are all he needed in life and luckily, he wouldn’t have to choose one over the other, right?

Two years and three months later, he had to choose one and it wasn’t you.

------

Iwa comes back into the living room, “That was Y/N. She’s back at her dorm.”

“When did she start calling you Hajime?” His voice is full of regret and Iwa instantly picks up on it; his heart sinking.

“I’m not really sure, sometime during our first year here I think.”

“You two are together, aren’t you?” Oikawa asks, not really wanting to hear the answer. His eyes are closed and he feels like he’s going to be sick.

“Yeah. We are.” Iwa rubs the back of his neck, he never intended to keep this from his best friend.

“How long?”

“Three months.” There were several days within those months that Iwa had dialed Oikawa’s number just to hang up or not bring it up. He wanted to tell him, there was nothing keeping him from it other than himself; there was just some mental block.

“Guess you picked up all the piece, eh?” Oikawa stands up, chugging the beer on the table before grabbing his bag. He tries to think of where he can go because he can’t stay here. He doesn’t want to hear about how Iwa was there to catch you when he had left.

“It wasn’t like that. We…she didn’t even talk to me that summer or the first few months of school.” Iwa hates thinking about how you were back then, remembering just how broken you were when Oikawa left.

“Then enlighten me.”

“You broke her, shattered her, destroyed her.” He runs his fingers through his hair, “You were it for her and when you just left she fell apart. I honestly thought she didn’t come to university until we had a class together the second part of our first year.”

When Oikawa first left, Iwa assumed you’d need a few days to adjust, but it was after a few weeks that he tried reaching out. You ignored him. He eventually swung by your job at a local convenient store, only to find out that you had quit. When he went to see you at home, your mom had been the one to tell him of the break-up and that you had gone to stay with your aunt in Tokyo for the summer.

Iwa sits down, elbows on his knees with his head in his hands. Oikawa drops his bag, he didn’t realize how hard the break-up had hit you. With him going abroad, he thought it’d be easier for you. Though it hadn’t been easier for him either.

“I felt horrible, she’d become my best friend through high school and there she was and I didn’t know the slightest thing about her anymore. So, I sat next to her, made study plans with her, invited her to meals; anything that I knew she’d agree to and not see as unnecessary like parties.” He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Iwa tells Oikawa about how you’d practically jump each time your phone went off, praying that it was Oikawa. How you flinched every time someone brought up volleyball or when people would eagerly ask you if you knew Oikawa when they learned where you went to high school. Or that you missed two days of classes when she learned he had injured his bad knee again and that it was almost a year later when you actually gave Iwa a sincere smile and laugh.

Iwa doesn’t look up Oikawa as he recounts the last few years; part of him want his best friend to feel guilty and miserable, but the other part of him feels guilty for wanting that. He recalls the time when you called him first to make plans that didn’t include the library, studying or a lecture.

He laughs, “You know she came in here about a year and a half ago now, randomly telling me she hated all my furniture and over the next four months, she had completely redecorated the apartment.” Oikawa smirks, that sounded just like you.

Oikawa continues listening to Iwa. Learning that it may have taken you a bit longer than expected, but you learned to be happy again. That a day came where you could hear his name again without cringing and how one random night you brought up a memory of the three of you out of the blue. Oikawa isn’t sure if the ache in his chest is still from hearing about how you were or from the proud smile Iwa sports talking about you.

He stands up, once again picking up his bag before nodding his head towards the hallway. “I’m beat.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Iwa stands up, motioning his friend towards the guest room.

In three separate beds lay three individuals, minds all filled with a mix of worries, regrets, and memories. In the room at the end of the hall is Iwa, trying to convince himself that laying in the middle of the bed will prevent him from missing you. It’s been months since he’s slept alone; even before an official relationship, you slept in his apartment. It started by innocently crashing on the couch after a long day to Iwa saying you could keep a few things in the spare room until the start of your third year of university, about six months ago, when you found yourself in Iwa’s bed, cuddled to his side.

It’s not until his head hits the pillow that he finally realizes why he couldn’t tell Oikawa about the two of you; he never wanted Oikawa to think he liked you during high school. He didn’t want his best friend to try to tear apart every memory, wondering if Iwa had ever tried to sabotage the two of you. He didn’t want him feeling that all his advice through your relationship was in hopes to break you two up. Because that wasn’t the case, although he couldn’t pin point when he had fallen for you, he knew without a doubt that he didn’t look or think about you in that way during your time with Oikawa. All Iwa wanted in the world was for you and Oikawa to be happy.

Just down the hall, Oikawa finds himself sitting on the edge of the bed thinking about what Iwa has just told him. He didn’t want to imagine you the broke mess he learned you had been, it’s what got him through the last three years. It was the immature reason why when he got on the plane, he didn’t glance back. He falls back on the bed, his face in his hands as he lets out a groan. This isn’t what he expected when he came to visit, he thought he and Iwa would hang out, talk about old times, and just have a good time; seeing his ex-girlfriend aka the only girl he’s ever loved was not part of his plans.

He doesn’t like that Iwa was the one who helped you get through the break-up. He doesn’t like that you were completely destroyed. He doesn’t like that three years ago he took the coward’s way out and broke up with you. Seeing you just brought up all the feelings he’d been burying for these last few years, reminding him of all the reasons why the two of you fit together so well and why he fell in love with you. And he definitely doesn’t like feeling like he’s too late because all he wants is to beg for you back. He groans again, wanting for just a moment that he could turn off his thoughts.

Across the city you’re in your college dorm room, laying on the uncomfortable twin mattress that creaks every time you roll over to adjust. Even when you move as slowly as possible, it squeaks and you feel awful for your roommate; even though she’s assured you that she can’t hear a thing. Tonight isn’t going how you originally planned, you woke up this morning thinking that you’d spend the night at Iwa’s, wake up early to him cooking breakfast and then rush to campus to work on your project. But with the slight turn of events, you probably won’t eat until lunch and be early to your group project.

There’s a pit in your stomach, thinking back to the moment you opened the door to see your ex-boyfriend standing there; looking way too good for someone that you wanted to hate. You smack your hands to your face letting out a low groan as your mind wanders. You have worked so hard to get over Oikawa; to be able to breathe and live again after he just left you. His sun-tanned skin, soft brown eyes, all have your stomach in knots and you don’t realize just how long you’ve been holding your breath until your phone vibrates.

Oikawa: You awake? (2:34 am)

Oikawa: It’s Oikawa Toru (2:34 am)

Oikawa: I’m so sorry if you’re sleeping (2:35 am)

Your stomach twists more, surely this was a coincidence and not the universe sending you a sign, right?

Y/N: Did you just send your ex a ‘you up’ text? (2:39 am)

Y/N: Classily Toru (2:39 am)

He sharply inhales, the use of his first name leaves him shocked. All night you had avoided his name altogether, going to the lengths of talking to the wooden table, but here you were using his first name. He has two favorite sounds: a volleyball smacking his hand and the way you say his name, especially his first name. You stare at the text, mentally kicking yourself for the slip up, but it felt comfortable.

Oikawa: I didn’t mean it like that (2:41 am)

Oikawa: Just wanted to talk (2:41 am)

Your hands shake as your thumbs hover over where the J and D are located. Could you? Could you just talk to Oikawa? Act as if he didn’t carelessly toss everything in the closest airport trashcan as he walked towards his gate three years ago? Could you talk to him like you did back when you first met and had become friends? Before you have time to type anything, it buzzes again in your hand and your chest constricts.

Oikawa: I know this is three years late (2:45 am)

Oikawa: And this won’t mean much at all (2:45 am)

Oikawa: Wait, I’m going to call. Hold on (2:46 am)

His hands start to sweat, feeling clammy as he tries to calm his nerves. You start to slightly panic before practically jumping out of bed and rushing into the bathroom. The light blinds you momentarily and the door clicks shut just as his name pops up on your screen, your phone buzzing repeatedly.

Taking one last breath you swipe the screen, putting your phone to your ear, “Hello?

He picks up on the shakiness of your voice, hoping his will sound more still, “Hey.”

Your stomach is all but completely knotted up as his voice fills your mind. It’s soft, like it usually was right before school in the early mornings or when he answered the phone right after he woke up. But you pick up on how it shakes just like yours, wondering what has him so nervous.

“Y/N, I am so sorry.”

“It’s…” he cuts you off.

“Wait, please let me get this all out.”

You nod, instantly realizing he can’t see you.

“An apology won’t ever be enough for what I did. What I put you through. But I am so sorry.”

Tears gently fall down your face, you wanted those words for years. Dreamed about hearing him call and apologize, saying that he made a mistake. Here you were, squatting on the floor in your dorm bathroom at nearly 3 am getting exactly what you wanted all those years ago, but is it what you need now?

“I know and I forgive Toru.” You feel winded, wondering if you really did forgive him. You know that you did, you had years ago because it was once you did that you started to feel better.

There’s a wide smile on his face, “Thank you, Y/N. Could we maybe get together? To just catch up, that is.”

“I have a project tomorrow, but I’m free Sunday.” You bite your lip nervously, but feel your stomach untwist only to fill with butterflies? Are you allowed to get butterflies with an ex? Maybe they were more like moths.

“Sunday. It’s a date then.” He catches his words just as they leave him, he leans against the wall feeling like an idiot. You were dating his best friend, he needed to word things more carefully, he didn’t want to come between you and Iwa.

“Yeah. A date.” You don’t think twice about the term, it was just an expression.

What you also didn’t think twice about is that the room Oikawa is in shares a wall with Iwa’s. The exact wall that Oikawa is leaning up against and the same Iwa who heard just enough of the conversation to feel heartbroken.

This was part of the reason when he tried telling you where Oikawa had been planning to stay, he didn’t correct your when you said girlfriend even though he knew that wasn’t correct. He was going to stay with his sister, but his nephew was sick and he didn’t want to risk it. The same way Iwa didn’t want to risk giving Oikawa an in with you. He trusts you, more than anything, but that doesn’t stop his insecurities from creeping in convincing him that he’s not worthy of anything; especially not someone like you.

When he asked you if you were still okay with dating him, it was more for him than you. He needed to know that he hadn’t been some last stitch way for you to hold onto Oikawa. That you had picked him for him, you had picked Iwaizumi Hajime and not Iwa-chan Oikawa’s best friend. And now at 3:10 am, those same insecurities wrap around him as he can’t help but wonder if your relationship is on stolen time.

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boxofbadaddiction · 4 years ago

Text

They'll Hold Him Down

Draco Malfoy

Redemption Arc

Random Idea/Imagine/IDK

Warnings: Mentions of Abuse.

Arthur and Molly Weasley were very perceptive people. Not a lot goes unnoticed by the pair - how can it when you're raising such children as Fred and George? So, unsurprisingly, it wouldn't take long for them to notice the subtle notes of mistreatment that Draco were being subjected to.

They know it's not their place to question the parenting tactics of other adults but there's a line which you don't cross when it comes to raising a child. The line between a firm guiding hand and abuse. One which they were sure had been crossed long ago by Lucius and Narsissa Malfoy.

There's little they can do to help in such a case, sadly. But not nothing.

It were something that the two Redhaired parents took as an all-hands-on-deck situation. Everyone were to help where they could; showing him the kindness he weren't receiving at home.

It starts off smally; passing comments and kind or thoughtful guestures from the family to Draco. Ones which are always met with digust and confusion by said boy. The Weasleys are "less than them" after all.

Arthur would speak to him in passing at work when Lucius had dragged his son along before he started school or on their Summer Holidays. Giving mere offhand reassurance, whispered to him when his Father wasn't near.

Draco never failed to hear the light-hearted comments. Words which unexpectedly weighed so heavily on such young shoulders. Statements as simple as "You're a good kid." and "You know what's right." would one day come to mean more to him than his young mind could fathom.

It were a kind of conditioning he never realised he were being subjected to. But not in a bad way, the Weasleys became that little voice in his head that reminded him of right and wrong. Like a conscience - one like which he'd never had growing up in the Malfoy house. He'd been taught to obey. Follow orders. Do as they do. Anything else was wrong and unacceptable. Worthy of dishonour. And honour was a very important trait in the noble and proud house of Malfoy.

Molly were adamant with her children about being kind to Draco no matter his actions. To never retaliate and show kindness when they can. Which of course is met with their own level of digust and confusion - and a little anger, but they listen. They always do. The note of desperation and seriousness in their parents voices is enough for them not to question the matter further - in front of their parents anyway, but many nights you could find the Weasley children along with Harry and Hermione huddled together wracking their brains for some explanation why they had to take the high road with someone as vile and cruel as Draco Malfoy.

In their curiosity to understand why it were so imperative they be kind to the greasy haired blonde boy, the Weasleys children began to take more notice of him. Watching him around school. Paying close attention to the things he says and the company he keeps. The relationships he holds and how he interacts with certain individuals. It didn't take long before everything clicked and they realised why this was needed of them.

They understood and so they never questioned it again.

Over time it becomes second nature to them. Every nasty comment rolls off their shoulders like it were never there in the first place.

Seeing as how his actions were having no effect causes Malfoy to reconsider some of his actions - why was he so determined to make them hurt? They'd never actually done anything to him. Not to mention, he hadn't failed to notice the way they'd begun to act so nicely towards him. Not out of their way nice but the little things slowly became evident over the years.

The trio would offer a hand when he were struggling in a class - though not always had it been accepted so warmly. Usually plenty curses and hateful words leaving his mouth; reacting the way he'd been taught to when someone stepped out of place.

The Twins had probably the largest effect on him. They'd shut people down for bullying/attacking him for being well... him with a simple yet menacing "lay off", daggers held in their words and behind their eyes. It were nearly...brotherly in a way which made Draco feel safe and protected even if only a little. A guesture he quietly appreciated - even if from a Weasley.

It weren't until those such instances he'd fully come to realise the level of power Weasleys actually held in this school. People respected them and listened when they spoke, aside from the obvious bigoted Slytherins such as He, Crabbe and Goyle who were subjected to their families views and brainwashing, and they'd managed it all without any anger, malice or unnecessary demonstrations of power. They were quietly powerful; kind, humble and warm - but not to be trifled with, and people knew that.

The effect they began to have on him caused a pain in his mind. Like an itch he couldn't scratch. Why were they looking out for him?

In reality it were more than that which had Draco so perplexed. They were changing him - a fact he refused to acknowledge or admit to of course.

He'd tried fighting the way his mind began to second guess his words and actions. To try and 'act like a Malfoy' but there were no denying how he became more accepting of them. But why? Why did he feel so...sympathetic? Or softened toward them? They. Were. Lesser.

Dirt.

Not worthy of pureblood.

Traitors.

Soon enough his own incessant bullying of their family and the hateful remarks to other students stopped. He never spoke ill of them anymore - not that he ever went out if his way to defend them or be kind in return but it were a quiet guesture which spoke unknown volumes.

Not only that but he'd become kinder to other students as well. Muggleborns in particular.

He no longer hung around prejudiced and toxic Slytherins like he always had, when he could help it - choosing rather to surround himself with positive and kind individuals of varying Houses and Bloodstatus.

He was truly growing. In so many ways he'd matured from that bratty rude child everyone despised so much.

He even seemed happier. More at ease within crowds of people. Okay with blending in and not making a spectacle of himself as a means to appear superior. He was content in just being rather than being seen. That alone seemed to take a load off his shoulders - no longer having to constantly peacock throughout any and all spaces. He could just relax and enjoy being young.

In his growth Draco had failed to notice how the Weasleys had noticed his new found hesitancy, how he would fall quiet as people dragged their name through mud rather than joking along with them, and the small acts of kindness he offered others. They saw him changing. It weren't a lot but it were something, at least, that made them feel, through all their suffering of obscenities and unnecessary abuse, that it'd been worth it. Even if only a little bit.

Draco'd be lying if he didn't say he'd toyed with the idea this were some prank or ruse to corrupt or embarrass him. To lull him into a false sense of security to gain information on his family to later use against them, a reason which subsequently kept him at a distance from the family. But Fred and George could never be that cruel, he knew that. And what was there to gain from such a long lasting game? And how could they ever have conned their parents into the charade? The simple answer; they couldn't. Because it were genuine. A genuine kindness that, not so deep down, he knew he were undeserving of.

Of course he never dared tell Lucius or Narsissa of the conflicting thoughts in his head; of the niceties he received as he secretly found comfort in their reassurances and would often hold onto them during especially dark days. Kept to himself initially as he hadn't found their behaviour particularly note worthy but now all out of fear of as to how his parents would react.

Not just what they may do or say to him, finding that he'd grown tolerant of the Weasleys but also what they may say or do to them.

Knowing Lucius he'd storm Arthur at work or the family at their home and give them a mouthful about 'knowing their place' and staying away from his son.

The last thing Draco wanted was them being assaulted by his father or worse and cause them to once again look at him with the contempt they once had. So in a complete uncharacteristically Draco way; His Father wouldn't be hearing about this.

Lucky for him Lucius remained oblivious to his new found silence and kind ways. The way his Son no longer laughed or sneered along side his father at the insults he'd bark about Bloodtraitor families and Muggles/Muggleborns.

Running into the Weasleys at the world cup he'd stood solemnly behind his father avoiding any eye contact.

When Umbridge rolled around, though he'd never admit to it, he had shielded them in ways. Saving them a fair share of punishment by pointing her wrath in an opposite direction. But why? He couldn't understand it.

Not until one fateful day the following year while Robe shopping when Narsissa and Draco bumped shoulders with Molly and Harry. Narsissa were relentless in her abuse towards Harry and the Weasleys mother. Draco remained silent. Avoiding their eye as he always had, though at one moment of accidental eye contact, Harry could have sworn he saw an apologetic smile shown on Dracos features. But he were looking away just as soon as it'd rose upon his face, like realisation had dawned, then appeared a terribly conflicted and almost painful expression to replace it.

As Narsissa made to leave Draco stepped slowly behind her with head bowed paying no mind to the pair as he made to exit the shop when he were suddenly halted by a hand bracing his arm; Molly. She stepped towards him slightly, whispering urgently "If you ever need saftey, talk to my children and come to us. we'll be there - we can help you."

His eyes met hers in shock, a little fear maybe, but there were no mistaking the confusion in his expression.

They were trying to help. Offer him protection. But how could they have known?

'This is wrong' he thought.

Draco pulled forcibly from her grip. A sharp glance thrown to Harry before storming from the shop.

Though he'd buried it the best he could there were no stopping Molly's words from ringing in his ears especially during what was to come; being branded with the Dark Mark and ordered to kill Dumbledore.

As time went by he couldnt help the guilt that weighed on his shoulders. He felt he had let them down. More than that really - he knew he had.

The World seemed to get darker. Colder. Smaller. Like it were closing him in until finally he broke.

He didn't know where else to turn so he went the only place he could think of - to Molly and Arthur Weasley.

He turned up on their doorstep late one night with tears in his eyes and panicked breath in his lungs.

It's Molly who answers the door, her and Arthur had been sitting at the dining room table as the kids were upstairs readying for bed. She didn't ask any questions, neither did Arthur, she simply wrapped him in a tight hug. Not the typical bone crushing Molly Weasley hug, there was a hesitancy behind it, but still tight enough to reassure him everything would be okay.

Draco froze at first unsure of how to respond before his arms wrapped tightly around the Woman who'd silently been looking out for him for all these years and finally let himself feel the hurt.

He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a Mother. The full weight of everything he had endured seemed to fall upon him as Mrs Weasley held him close to her.

She held him a little tighter while he cried - as if trying to squeeze the broken pieces of his soul back together, if even for a moment.

Draco loved his Mother, truly he did, but the embrace from Molly felt different. Warmer. More intimate than any moment had with Narsissa.

Yes, she loved her son dearly but Narsissa Malfoy were never an affectionate woman. Her proud and proper appearance which she worked so hard to maintain often cast a cold shadow - typical to that of a Malfoy, he hadn't realised just how much it had affected him until this moment.

When his breathing became a little less radical and the sobs started to quiet Arthur ushered the pair from the doorway.

Molly held a firm hand to his back as she directed him to the table and with a flick of her wand conjured the kettle to a boil.

He sat at the table drawing long slow breaths as they spoke and he explained why he arrived on their door unannounced at such a time.

The new voice in the house had carried upstairs luring the other occupants from their place.

Bill, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione now all stood off from the kitchen gawking at the scene in front of them. A Malfoy at the Burrow. And crying for that matter.

They couldn't help the daggers pointed from behind their eyes, after all; they may have been kind to him and understood why they needed to be, but even in his growth they still didn't trust him, and to say they cared for him would be a stretch seeing the level of abuse they were forced to endure with no retaliation or even an apology for that matter. Really all it were from the children was pitty and the ability to put up with him. In time, however, they would grow to trust him and consider him a friend.

Molly prepared a room where he then stayed the night and through till the next.

When Lucius found out where he was he'd appeared ropeable. There were nothing anyone could do to calm him as his wrath met a peak which could have rivalled that of the Dark Lord. Not only had Draco abandoned his family in the dead of the night but he'd run directly into the arms of those who he despised most ardently.

He stormed the Burrow that night, Narsissa and Bellatrix in tow.

The residents within the Burrow had just finished dinner and were casually chatting, engaging in light shared laughter - even Draco wore a smile, never knowing that a meal between family could be so pleasant. As the unmistakable crack of apparation sounded from outside, all heads shifted to gaze out the kitchen window wondering who it could be. They'd all assumed a member of the Order - how wrong they were.

Lucius strode confidently toward the house before stopping short. He stood tall and proud in the path, rage evident through his posture alone.

Narsissa were beside him, but still a step behind - she seemed more secure in her emotions, still proud but calmer; though surely meant in good standing it gave one the impression of a predator lulling its prey into a false sense of security before striking.

Bellatrix meanwhile stood on his otherside comically striding and prancing about as she pleased taking great joy in what were about to unfold.

Some at the table turned their attention worriedly to Draco who swallowed thickly at his Families sudden presence. Others stared fixedly at the blonde man within the garden amazed they'd ever show their face here.

Molly took a hand to Dracos arm reassuringly as Arthur stood from the table and walked from the door, Molly would soon follow.

Tentatively Arthur spoke the angered man's name who merely sneered and shouted for his son to come to him.

Lucius refused to step a foot across their threshold, not that Molly or Arthur or any member of the family ever would have let him had he tried.

Draco stood now with his back pressed against the farthest wall of the Burrows kitchen panicking, watching as Fred, George and Bill left to be with their parents. Draco knew he'd have to face him sooner or later, he'd just hoped, or rather prayed, it'd be later.

Harry and Ron were the next to join the scene unfolding in the front yard as Hermione sheilded Ginny in the kitchen.

When Draco finally and cautiously stepped out to face his Father everyone had their wands drawn in statement.

Molly and Arthur came to stand in front of him with their free hands splayed across infront of him; as if in a car seconds before it's crash and they were bracing for the impact.

Lucius threw demands at his son in the same threatening tone he'd learned long ago to obey.

"You don't have to do what he says he can't hurt you. You are not like him" Arthur says over his shoulder. Draco found himself involuntarily taking small steps back from his Father and towards the house. When Lucius drew his wand further the Weasleys; Bill, Fred, George, Harry and Ron stood defensively before him with their wands drawn high further shielding Draco from his view.

Dracos breath were rapid as he watched on, wand gripped in his hand but no real idea what he'd do were he to react. Who'd he fire against. His instincts were telling him one thing while his heart and mind screamed for another.

"He is my Son" Lucius growled.

"Who we've been trying to protecting from you." Snapped Fred "and that's not the way families are meant to be. They shouldn't need to be protected from." Followed George, pulling Dracos eyes to the pair, who straightened themselves to stand taller at the words, and along with them pulled his knowing of what were right.

Lucius continues to threaten the family, over the sound of Bellatrix's cackling laughter, until a voice carries over the scene. Narsissa speaking two simple words in a soft tone; "Draco. Come".

Everyone's attention is on the pair as they watch Draco take hesitant steps past the Weasleys, who gawk at him, his head is bowed ashamedly. But he stops short.

Casting his eyes up to unfortunately meet his Fathers, whose face holds a vastly different expression to his Mothers soft and confident one. One of poorly veiled anger and disgust. That one he knows all too well.

Draco swallows thickly head turning to gaze at the Redheaded family in his peripheral - a decision being made.

He straightens himself, uttering a single word; "Leave."

The man in front of him scoffs before warning him. He gives a final opportunity to change his mind but his loyalty doesn't falter.

What happens next is faster than lightning. Lucius flicks his wand to curse his Son but Dracos disarmed it before he can finish the action. Three jets of red light fly from behind the boy, two knock Lucius square in the chest as another finds Bellatrix: Fred, George and Harry had sent stunning spells at those whom were armed.

Lucius struggled to stand but managed with an effort from his wife, a final threatening glare and warning yelled to the boy; "You choose them. Then you will die like them as well - painful and bloody." he disowns his Son and then leaves in a swirl of black smoke with his wife, whose face shows nothing but shock and fallen tears, close behind.

Bellatrix remains for a moment glaring at the boy who is now surrounded by people staring just as menacingly back at her. She leaves by apparation.

After that night, everything had changed.

When the Battle finally came Dracos allegiance had been made clear.

There were only one side he'd cared about. One side he'd fought with. One family he fought for. And it were not the dishonourable and ashamed house of Malfoy.

-bonus-

On the night Lucius and the others arrived at the Burrow, Molly had been the first to approach Draco. He wasn't crying or angry but confused. Confused at the numbness that over took him. At the sense of relief that flooded his body as he watched his Father disappear into the night.

Molly had spoken assuredly to him that everything would be okay and that they would care for him.

Returning to the home the family retired to the lounge room, by the fire with mugs of tea or hot chocolate or glasses of their preferred beverage between their palms, it were relatively quiet amongst the group in the wake of all that had occurred. Until George spoke.

"So, Mum has officially adopted you." Various agreeable murmers and head nods filled the room, "guess that leaves only one thing left to do..." "what?" Draco asks confused and a little concernedly.

"Fix that mop of hair of yours" Fred piped. "I'll get the red hair dye." He calmly set his glass down standing from his place as Dracos eyes go wide and he frantically scanned the room.

"I'll hold him down!" Ginny, Ron and Harry jumped up at once.

It were all good fun until Molly put an end to it sending a rolled up newspaper round the room with a flick of her wand speaking "You'll. Do. No. Such. Thing!"

"Blimey Woman, relax. It was just a joke!" George defended. "Not really" Fred whispers to Draco throwing a wink his way as he polishes off the last of his Whiskey.

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy headcanon #harry potter #hp imagine #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy au

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kpop-fanatic-lover16 · 5 years ago

Text

White dress – Choi San

Pairing: ateez San x reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

Word count: 2k

A/n: the importance of this story includes three objectives: a wedding dress, a rusty truck and an old promise! Enjoy soft hours with San! Credit to: @sparkingstoryinspiration

Branches under your Converses crunched as you walked along the lost path in the open woods near an abandoned two-story house. It had been empty for nearly fifty years. The paint was chipping away and the wood was rotting in some places from the heavy snowy winters and wet summers. A small road used to run on the property to an old barn, but the trees had hidden it under decaying leaves and old dead branches. A cool breeze was filling the quiet woods during the fall season and the leaves on the trees were beautiful shades of red and orange.

"There you are," you whispered to yourself, coming upon an old rusted truck left behind from the previous owners. It had run out of gas, or so you'd been told, on its journey to the barn up ahead and had been left in its current position.

Making sure your sweater didn't catch on any sharp part of the car, you hoisted yourself up into the bed of the truck and clapped the dust off your hands. Leaves filled the trunk area and the smell of rain in the clouds filled your nose. Sure enough, grey clouds were rolling in from the South. They looked like they would reach the forest in a couple of hours. That was plenty of time.

For the next few minutes, you leaned up against the roof of the truck, looking off into the distance where the path continued to the barn. It wasn't too far up ahead which made you smile at the thought of being completely hidden on a property that had a story behind it. The breeze became a bit cooler as you waited. He was usually late so you didn't mind waiting on the truck where he always found you. Only a few minutes later did he show up.

What alerted you of his arrival was the snapping of the branches behind you. Sure enough, he was making his way toward the truck in the same direction you had come. He was wearing a navy blue sweater with his black skinny jeans and white vans. His hair was long just behind his ears and down his neck where it barely touched his shoulders. His bangs fell into his eyes and it seemed that he had curled them along with the rest of his hair. The small bit of silver-white in his bangs gave him a bit of color against the rest of the head of black hair. He climbed up into the back of the truck and approached you, a smile appearing on his lips. His dimples came to life and his smile showed the admiration he had for you.

"Hi," you greeted with butterflies swarming your stomach. Unconsciously, your hands sunk back under your sleeves and you twisted your hands nervously.

"Hi," he mumbled, still grinning. He closed the gap between the two of you and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. If it hadn't been for your hold on him, he would've pulled away sooner. Eventually, you pulled back with your stomach filled with butterflies once again.

"This feels like a dream," San whispered, his eyes still closed. When he opened them, he was staring into your soul with so much intent your knees felt weak.

"Why did you call me here?" you inquired, pulling him down to sit in the bed of the truck. He sat next to you and laced his hands with yours. He now seemed more serious with his moves and the way he held himself.

"Do you remember the promise I made to you the first time we found this rusty old truck?" San asked, looking at your joined hands before gaining the courage to look at you. The question was curious, but you remembered.

"Yes," you nodded, confused as to why he was thinking back so long ago. You had been fifteen at the time when the two of you had found the old house, truck, and barn. "That was a long time ago and we were young. Why have you been thinking about such an old promise?"

"What did I say to you?"

Now he wasn't looking at you. What was he up to? Slowly, you thought hard to remember what he had said back then.

A slow rumble of thunder moved through the dark clouds above as your fifteen-year-old self jumped over logs laying on the ground and trying to escape your new friend you made at school today. He had mentioned something about an abandoned property along the highway heading outside of town. When he challenged you to a race into the woods, you had accepted by taking off in a head start.

"Cheater!" he called from behind you as he started to gain speed.

"Slowpoke!" you called back behind your shoulder. A laugh escaped his mouth and he watched your hair fly behind your shoulders and your charm bracelet shine back at him. He didn't even notice the discovered treasure up ahead because he was too caught up with looking at you.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Look!" you cheered, completely immersed by the rusty old truck parked in the middle of the woods. It was so fascinating to you that your new friend was caught off guard at the change in personality. "It's an old rusty truck!"

"It must've been left here by the property owners," he said more to himself, walking around the vehicle to take it in more. His hand wrapped around the handle of the driver's side door where he pulled toward him and opened the door. It was dusty inside and the leather was ripped from animals. He hopped inside nonetheless and placed his hands on the steering wheel, getting a feel for what it would've been like to drive.

"Choi San," he thought to himself, "owner of an abandoned property."

"Do you think those boys meant what they said today at lunch?" San suddenly heard you ask. He turned to look at you standing on the other side of the open driver's side door. Now you were sad and down, unlike seconds before. "Will I become an old unmarried hag because no one will ever want me?"

"Of course not," San disagreed, leaning back into the seat and giving you his attention. "You're very pretty and I think most guys will want to marry you when you're older."

"But what happens if they don't?"

"Then I will," San promised, trying to not reveal that he had a small crush on you. He would marry you when you were older if you'd let him. "I promise."

Now you were gazing at San with the most serious stare you had ever given him. That promise had been to make you feel better. It wasn't supposed to have full meaning behind it. Choi San, at the age of fifteen, had been the town heartthrob and your best friend. Only two years ago did he admit that he had feelings for you. At first, you had thought you weren't worthy to be loved by the most handsome guy in town. But after time, he showed you that he loved you more than you thought and you allowed yourself to return the feelings.

"You said you would marry me."

"I know," San reasoned slowly, taking your cautious state completely serious, "I said it when I was fifteen. But Y/n, we're 21 and I'm ready to start my life. I want you to be with me the whole way."

"San–"

"Y/n, do you love me?" he asked, turning to face you, taking both of your hands in his and holding them tightly. Now you were stuttering at the sudden questions.

"Of course I love you," you answered without hesitation.

"Then listen to what I have to say, please," he begged, waiting patiently for you to give him the chance to speak. Finally, you sighed and nodded, squeezing his hands in yours. "I've been in love with you for years. I promised myself that I would marry you if no one else would. I don't want to marry you because no one else will, but so no one else can."

One of his hands let go of yours and reached into his right pocket. Then a small black velvet box was pulled out and he opened it up to reveal a three-set diamond ring on a silver band sparkling back at you. Happiness filled your chest, but tears filled your eyes. "Y/n, will you say yes to making me the happiest man in this rusty truck where I've confessed to you so many times?"

"Yes, I'll be yours," you nodded, catching the tears at your bottom lash line. His dimples reappeared and he felt completely overwhelmed with happiness. A tender kiss was planted on your lips in a small 'thank you' before the ring was placed on your right finger.

That was a few days ago. Now you were standing in a wedding dress that your mother had gifted you, under the roof of the old barn on the abandoned property during the middle of the afternoon. San let you pick the place you wanted to get married and wasn't surprised when you decided on the barn a little ways from the rusty truck. But you didn't want anyone else to know about the secret place, so you went to the courthouse the day San proposed and married there. The two of you decided to meet at the barn in wedding clothes to share your first dance and give each other your rings after you were married.

Because you didn't have the patience to buy a bouquet of pre-arranged flowers, you had grabbed wildflowers on the way to the barn. When you reached a resting point, you made the stems look neater by pulling off any unnecessary leaves. They ended up matching everything perfectly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, but you were so nervous about what San would think about your appearance and for the thousandth time, butterflies swarmed your stomach. How did you end up with the perfect husband?

"You look so beautiful," the voice you were waiting to hear broke the quiet air. You looked up from the flowers and there he was, your husband, the love of your life, and your favorite person. He was wearing a tuxedo and a white button-up shirt under his suit jacket. He approached you and took your free hand in his left, spinning you in a circle as his eyes took you in. "Absolutely, beautiful."

"Does it still feel like a dream?"

"Very much," San breathed, welcoming your embrace. His arms wrapped around your shoulders and he pressed a kiss to your head. From that position, San adjusted your arms and began to dance, swaying lightly.

San tried to tell himself it was a reality, but he had been dreaming of this moment for more than six years, and it still felt like he was laying in bed imagining how you would feel in his arms as he swayed you into a slow dance. You'd be in your gorgeous white dress and would wear the ring he had stowed away in his drawers for a year now. But he wasn't lying in bed, you were in his arms, wearing a gorgeous white dress, and the ring was on your finger for the rest of your life. San could only hold you tighter when it dawned on him that it was real.

"I have your ring," you piped up, pulling back and pausing long enough to take his ring off your charm bracelet. The clever thought made San smile in humor. The cool silver felt nice on his ring finger but most importantly, it felt right. San slide your wedding band over your engagement ring and kissed your knuckles.

"Thank you," San mumbled, feeling grateful that you had accepted him. Now it was your turn to place a chaste kiss to his lips and hold him against yourself. He melted into your lips and got lost in the way you felt. Everything about you was perfect for him and nothing could change that.

"No, thank you, San," you pulled back, playing with the hair at the bottom of his neck. His eyes were staring into your soul again, disrupting the butterflies. "For keeping an old promise."

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portvalehq · 3 years ago

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history is your lifeblood, and port vale is a cauldron of undiscovered secrets. the magic that has founded this town calls to your heart, and you wonder if you will ever find the truth to any of it. some nights, you sit by the waves and dive into old journals, pouring over legend and myth until it all becomes one within your mind. they say you are losing grip on reality; but you’ve never felt closer to it.

STEPHANIE ANAND ● SEAWEED ● THE HISTORIAN

age & birthdate: 31, born in 1990

birthplace: port vale

length of time in port vale: lifetime

occupation: full time librarian, co-owner at the mermaid inn & the starbeach cafe

faceclaim: summer bishil

HISTORY

Stephanie Anand was born and raised in Port Vale, which was a best case scenario for her - she felt like she’s grown up in a fairytale, magic-filled town all her childhood. She loved all kinds of fairytales and she loved her parents reading stories to her at night, but her favorite were the mermaids since she was very little. For a while she wanted to become a mermaid, but mostly she would have been happy to just meet one. Or two. Or a lot.

Her dream became reality when she was six. On a school trip to the beach she almost drowned and was saved by a mermaid. She didn’t get a good look at the creature, but she did see it, and that solidified her obsession with mermaids and made it impossible for her to lose what was mostly considered a childish belief in them. She became the mermaid girl, and while she was little, it was cute and people indulged her, found her adorable, the older she got, the more people just looked at her weird and thought she was an idiot for still believing in magical beings.

After she almost drowned, her parents got overly protective of her and the older she got, the more it annoyed her. And this protectiveness only grew after a tragedy struck the family, her aunt and uncle dying in a car accident. It struck the entire family, and Steph, barely being ten at the time, had a hard time dealing with what was happening and what loss and death really was, but she was trying to help her cousin as much as she could during that time, too.

Once she was done with high school, she remained in Port Vale for about two years. She called it a gap year, but instead of travelling and seeing the world, she tried to find mermaids and prove that they were real while occasionally taking a couple of shifts in the family Inn or the cafe to get herself some money. Eventually her parents gave her an ultimatum - either go to college and study, or get an actual job, she couldn’t remain in limbo anymore. She decided to go to college, majoring in history and minoring in marine biology. The two ingredients she needed to help her on her quest to prove that she was right.

She loved the freedom of college, finally not being under her parents’ watchful, protective eyes (though they tried their best to keep an eye on her even from the distance), and she loved studying, but part of her expected other parts of the world to have the same kind of history, the same kind of magic in them, and it was nothing like that. Nothing could compare to Port Vale, not to mention people looked at her even weirder when she talked about mermaids. At Port Vale people at least knew her and her obsession already, outside of the town they thought she was just batshit crazy. Eventually she ended up moving back, only learning when she was back in town that her father suffered a sudden heart attack and stroke that nobody told her about to make sure it didn’t derail her studies and she wouldn’t rush home and flunk out. It worked, but it also made Steph feel completely left out and unnecessary in the family.

PRESENT

After she moved back home, she found herself a book in the local library and she is currently also works there full time, but she helps out in the Inn and the Cafe and helps to take care of her father as well, when she is needed. She takes more responsibility in the Cafe, but really, she believes that Renzie has a good handle on both sides of the family business and she is perfectly happy not taking too much responsibility for herself, even though the parents want the two of them to deal with everything equally.

She has her own place, but she often crashes at the Mermaid Inn, sometimes because she does a late night shift, sometimes because her dad needed some help and sometimes because she just wants to annoy Renzie and she is too lazy to get back home. She often spends her free time either on the rooftop of the Inn where she can look out to the ocean, but she spends most of her time on the actual beach, looking out to the water, hoping after all these years she would spot another mermaid.

PERSONALITY

Steph has an open, inquisitive and curious nature. She is somebody who happily and excitedly goes on any kind of adventure, especially if it involves discovering the secrets of the town or Assyria. She is used to not being believed and being the crazy person of the town and while she can shrug that off most of the time, it is something that hurts her and she can get frustrated and snappy at people who keep repeatedly telling her that she is in the wrong. She can get obsessive, to say the least - most notably about mermaids, but she is like that about a lot of things in her life - books, art, any plan she has, even the few friends she does have.

CONNECTIONS

EMERALD: the first time anyone ever said the words i believe you, it was from her, and you nearly fall flat on your ass. since being quite small, you’ve known that the legends were true. you’d seen one, once, long ago - a true merperson, and from then on, you’ve just known. she likes listening, and her eyes contain an admirable and understanding you’ve waited your whole life to see.

CORAL: you hope they never leave port vale. to them, you don’t feel like the designated crazy local, but instead someone with an amazing mind; their words, not yours. sure, you’re pretty sure they think you’re wrong about mermaids, but it doesn’t matter. they listen and at least pretend to care, so you are becoming quite attached to them, despite knowing that port vale has a way of scaring off every new face to come by.

PORCELAIN: if you were to guess at who in port vale could be a creature from the sea; they would be your first pick. daunting and knowing, and always watching, you seem to make them nervous. it’s odd, really, the way they listen so intently and get a worried expression whenever they catch your eyes. however, nothing about him fits what you believe to be true about merfolk, so you can’t help but feel confused.

#closed #human #seaweed

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addisonacres · 5 years ago

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Insecure: A Starker Secret Santa Gift

For @starkerotic. Not sure where you are in the world but here it’s already the 24th. I hope you enjoy! @starkersecretsanta

Prompt: peter is going away for MIT. tony is... he wants peter to enjoy college life, but he and peter are still very new and, as much as his ego hates to acknowledge it, he's insecure; peter will be meeting more and more people and tony is happy for him to make friends, he is - but... harley keener becomes a regular mention in their nightly phone calls, and tony can't help but to worry. (no infidelity, just insecurities.)

Tony stood in the doorway to Peter’s small bedroom in Queens and watched as his young lover tried to cram another tin of the horrible dry cookies that May had made him into his suitcase. Peter wasn’t packing a lot of unnecessary items since MIT was only a couple of hours away after all, but even so, he’d taken a few things of comfort. May had baked for days, and Peter had watched on in dawning horror as she had packed up tin after tin of her goodies. As terrible a cook as May was, Tony had no doubts that Peter would eat every last cookie and brownie, simply because he missed his aunt. He wasn’t so sure about the hoodie of his that he spotted before the suitcase lid had been closed - he’d like to think that Peter would wear it at every opportunity, possibly not wash it for as long as he could to keep the faint scent of Tony’s cologne for as long as possible, but maybe Peter wouldn’t miss Tony as much as he would miss Peter.

It was odd to think that Tony was the more insecure one in this relationship but he was fairly certain that that was the way the cookie crumbled.

They’d not been together long, only the few months since Peter had graduated from high school. They’d had a glorious summer together and Peter had proved that he wasn’t as shy in the bedroom as he was in everyday life. Tony had had many fantasies about his protege, and most had revolved around taking Peter apart and piecing him back together again, using every trick that he knew to make Peter a squirming, mewling mess of post coital bliss, wowing his lover with his experience. To say that it hadn't quite gone down that way was an understatement. Peter was confident, determined, and almost cocky in the bedroom, making demands and expecting Tony to carry them out. Of course, it wasn’t a hardship for Tony, but it had had him on the backfoot the first time or two, and he’d even been a little shocked by Peter’s kinkiness. Both of them switched, neither preferring to only top or bottom and so they enjoyed taking it in turns, but when Peter had shot his load deep inside Tony only to drop down and then suck it out of him, Tony started to realise that perhaps he was in over his head. Peter might look like an angel, but in the bedroom he was definitely an incubus.

Peter was also insatiable, and Tony had been pushed to his limits. He wasn’t twenty anymore and he had difficulty getting it up more than once a day. He’d had to get creative to keep Peter satisfied, who if he got his way would ride Tony’s dick from sun up to sun down. Tony had absolutely no problem with sucking Peter to completion anytime his own cock didn't want to come to the party, but his knees were another matter entirely. After the first time or two, he began to subtly lead Peter to the couch, or to the bed, or (when pressed) at least to the very plush rug in the living room. Luckily, the few times that Tony simply didn't have the energy and just wanted to lay there with Peter in his arms and hold him, Peter hadn’t seemed to mind. He knew it was a blow to his ‘playboy’ persona but luckily they’d kept their relationship out of the public eye so at least the tabloids wouldn't have a field day if they found out that he couldn’t keep up with his young lover.

His young, insatiable, sex craved lover who would be heading off to a campus full of other young, insatiable, sex craved youths…

Tony tried really, really hard not to think along those lines but Peter had made it clear that he liked sex, he liked a lot of sex, and suddenly Tony wasn’t going to be around to give it to him. Their relationship was still new, so new in fact that they hadn't exactly had any talks about being exclusive or anything. To Tony it was a given - the days of his aversion to commitment were far behind him, but Peter had never really specified what they were to him. Yes, he’d had a crush on Tony for years, and he'd jumped at the chance to have more with him, but as Tony had come to discover, he really didn't know Peter as well as he thought he had. Peter hadn't been a blushing virgin when they’d gotten together, wasn’t naive and innocent. Given how confident he was in the bedroom, knowing exactly what he liked and not being shy about getting it, Tony really didn't want to think about how many people Peter had been with in the past to gain that experience. He didn't judge Peter for having numerous sexual partners (he’d be a hypocrite if he did after all) but he did worry that Peter viewed their relationship slightly differently to how Tony saw it. If he wasn't emotionally constipated, he’d talk to Peter before he left but it was too late for that now. The suitcase was zipped, Peter was looking around the room, scanning for anything he’d left behind, and there was a knock at the front door that indicated that Happy was ready to drive Peter over to campus.

“This is it then,” Tony said, somewhat redundantly.

Peter nodded and then crossed the room, hugging Tony close. “I miss you already,” he said, then tilted his head, demanding a kiss.

Tony brushed their lips together, feeling a little better about Peter’s declaration. “I’ll call every night,” he promised, “and visit as often as I can.”

Peter smiled but they both knew that the visits wouldn’t be as regular as they wished. Having Tony Stark turn up in the dorms would be a surefire way to expose their relationship to the world and Peter didn’t need to spend his first year at MIT fighting off the paparazzi. “I’ll visit too,” he promised and this was more realistic. Besides coming back to see May, Peter also had his Spider-Man responsibilities to uphold. They’d announced that Spidey was now an official Avenger and would be away on missions for them to explain away his absence from Queens, but Peter still wanted to patrol when he could.

“Peter, it’s time to go,” May called from the living room where she was chatting to Happy.

“I’m coming!” he called back, but then turned back to Tony and kissed him one last time. The kiss was deep and filthy, with a lot of tongue and teeth, and it left Tony panting for more. Peter grinned at him as they broke apart, his eyes darting down knowingly to the tent in Tony’s pants. “Just to remind you what you’ll be missing,” he said with a wink, and then turned, grabbed his suitcase and headed out of his bedroom.

Tony trailed behind slowly, watched as Peter said his goodbyes to May and offered a halfhearted wave as Peter and Happy left. By unspoken agreement, neither he nor May went down to the street to watch solemnly as the car drove off - they didn’t have much but they wanted to retain the small shred of dignity that remained.

Several minutes went by as they both just stared at the closed door, feeling empty and lost. Finally May turned to Tony and sad, “I need a drink. You want one?”

He glanced at the clock on the wall which hadn't even hit 10am as yet. Shrugging, he said, “Sure, it’s five o’clock somewhere,” and then they proceeded to drink two bottles of wine before lunch.

oOoOo

“Are you all settled in?” Tony asked, drinking in the sight of Peter’s face on the screen.

“Yeah, didn't take me long to unpack. I headed to the info fair they had and checked out some of the robotics groups but they’re leagues behind what I’ve been working on with you.” Peter pouted and Tony wished he could kiss it off his lips.

“Maybe you should join one anyway? You might teach them something.”

Peter shrugged. “I guess. I’m just wary of getting involved in anything that I can’t commit to if I’m spending every free weekend and holiday back in New York.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat at that, suddenly overwhelmed with happiness that Peter was looking forward to being home so much. He knew he was pathetic but since no one else had access to his inner thoughts, no one else had to know. “Your first lecture is tomorrow, yeah?” It was a moot question as Peter had had his schedule for two weeks now and Tony had memorised it.

“Yep, then a lab after that. I’m looking forward to it.” Behind Peter the door opened and Tony just caught sight of a tousled head of dirty blonde curls before Peter cut the video feed on their call. “Sorry,” he whispered, “my roommate is back.”

“That’s okay,” Tony assured him, wishing that they didn't have to hide but not ever wanting to put Peter in the spotlight before he was ready. “You get along okay?”

Peter made a small sound that was the vocal equivalent of a shrug. “I guess.Too soon to really tell.”

Knowing that it was hard to talk with someone in the room, Tony decided to wrap the call up. “Okay, baby, I’ll let you get back to it. Have fun tomorrow.”

“I will. Talk tomorrow?”

It warmed him that Peter seemed just as eager to keep in touch. “You bet. I’ve got a few meetings during the day but you can text whenever you want and I’ll phone you when I’m home.”

“Can’t wait. Bye then.”

He fought the urge to sign off with an I love you, knowing it was too soon, even if that’s how he felt. “Bye, Pete,” he said softly instead. The call disconnected and Tony felt bereft. He went into the bedroom, flopped onto the bed and pulled the pillow that still smelled like Peter close to his face, hugging it tightly.

It was a poor substitute but he eventually fell asleep with the pillow hugged to his chest.

oOoOo

Tony soon learned that the roommate was called Harley Keener. He was doing Mechanical Engineering and had one class that overlapped with Peter’s Chemical Engineering course. He was three months older than Peter, had a younger sister, and his dad had skipped out on the family, leaving his mom to raise them alone. During one phone call Tony had overheard Harley speak as he entered the room and he’d heard a southern twang, with Peter telling him later that he was from Tennessee.

At first Harley was only ever really mentioned when their calls were cut short by him returning early to the dorm. Tony had his schedule memorised like he did Peter’s and knew that Mondays from two till four and Thursdays from three thirty till five were the best times to catch Peter alone. They’d taken to having hurried phone sex on these days, propping their phones in front of them as they watched the other jerk off, the need to reach out and touch Peter through the screen almost overwhelming Tony.

The third weekend, Peter came home and between meals with May, patrolling the neighbourhood, and long, frantic sessions in the bedroom, Peter hardly mentioned his roommate. The next time he came back, two weeks later, he briefly mentioned that Harley had gotten a Lego Starship Enterprise and after a lengthy debate over which was better - Star Trek or Star Wars, he grudgingly allowed Peter to help him build it. Tony was happy that Peter had made a friend, since he’d been gutted when he’d watched as Ned and MJ had left for different universities across the country. As he knew intimately, phone calls and texts were a hollow way of staying in touch and he knew that Peter missed his friends. Tony got F.R.I.D.A.Y. to run a background check on the Keener kid and when it came back clear, Tony was able to relax a little and be happy that Peter had someone in his day to day life to talk to.

That happiness faded a little as time went on as Peter began to talk more and more about Harley and what they’d gotten up to. When three phone calls had gone by and all Peter had said was “Harley this” and “Harley that”, Tony began to get worried. It was clear that Peter had really connected with this kid, which was great on one hand, but on the other, it simply highlighted everything that Tony wasn’t.

Peter was young and enthusiastic and energetic, and Harley seemed to always be with him as they studied in the library, or checked out a frat party, or spent an hour at 3am in the middle of the week, hyped up on caffeine and energy drinks, seeing if it was possible to swing the swing in the playground around the frame 360 degrees.

Tony was old and sarcastic and could spend a whole week in his lab without coming up for air. Sure, he was Iron Man and he was fit for his age, but there was always going to be ‘for his age’ tacked onto descriptions like that. He still had all of his hair but it was definitely turning more silver now and he found that seeing anyone with a head full of sandy curls triggered a bout of anxiety that made him gasp for breath and have to sit down.

It was five months in that Tony began to have actual suspicions and not just insecure worries. By now, Peter had a routine. Every second weekend (the one that lined up with May’s weekend off work) he would come home, arriving in the evening on Friday and not heading back until late Sunday night. He, Tony, and May would have dinner on Friday night, then Peter would come back to the Tower with Tony and they would spend every minute together, meeting again with May for brunch on Sunday. It was even common to see Iron Man patrolling with Spider-Man, so intent was Tony on not missing out on spending any time with his lover. Peter never seemed to mind - in fact, the times that he and Tony swung/flew through the buildings of Queens always seemed to energise him and on more than one occasion he’d not even waited until they were home, just pushed Tony into some out of the way place on a rooftop or in a dark alley before dropping to his knees.

Tony cherished their weekends together and so it was like a slap in the face when he got a call on Friday afternoon from Peter, telling him that he wasn’t coming back this weekend.

“I’ve got a big project to work on for my Differential Equations course - we’ve had to partner up for it and it’s worth thirty percent of my grade so I don’t want to phone it in.”

Tony knew that that was the class that Peter shared with Harley and with a sinking feeling he asked, “So, who did you partner with?”

“Harley, of course,” Peter answered, his tone indicating that Tony was daft for even asking, like there was no possible alternative. “He’s heading off to visit his family next weekend so we need to get a start on it now.”

“Right, well, of course, your studies come first.”

“Thanks, Tony, I knew you’d understand. Enjoy your weekend.”

If it had just been that, then maybe Tony would have been able to brush it off. He’d not really expected Peter to come visit the following weekend since May had her shift at the hospital but he was guttered when he called Peter like usual on the Friday night to find that Peter wasn’t in his dorm - instead he was in some tiny town in bum-fuck nowhere Tennessee, visiting Harley’s family with his friend.

“I’m sure I mentioned I was heading down here this weekend,” Peter said when Tony asked why he was there. “Harley’s mom has been wanting to meet me for ages and the last time she came up to campus I was with you. They’re all so nice, they’ve made me feel very welcome.”

“Well, that’s good. I hope you have a nice time.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will.” Peter paused and listened to someone hollering in the background. Tony’s eye twitched as he recognised Harley’s voice. Peter’s voice became muffled as he covered his phone with his hand but Tony still heard him say, “No, it’s nothing important, I’m just finishing up, then I’ll be there.” Then he came back to Tony. “I have to go, dinner’s ready.”

They hadn't even been talking for two minutes, but apparently he was ‘nothing important’. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll speak to you tomorrow then.”

“About that, I think we’re going camping and reception here is a bit shitty so I don’t know if the call will come through. Try though, but if not, I’ll talk to you when I’m back at school.”

Tony did try to call the following day but didn't get through. He tried again on Sunday and it simply rang out. He began to come up with all sorts of theories as to what was keeping Peter so busy that he wasn’t answering. By Monday he knew that Peter would be back at MIT but by then he was too busy feeling sorry for himself and couldn't be bothered making the call. He holed up in his lab but couldn’t stop himself from checking the time every ten minutes. 2pm, their regular call time came and went, but Peter didn't call. It was rare that he called - it was generally Tony who called him to keep Peter’s phone bill down, but in the past if Tony had been ten minutes late to call because he was stuck in a meeting, Peter would ring.

Half past two came and went and soon so did 3pm. By now Tony had given up on Peter calling, and he hid his phone on the other side of the lab so he wouldn't give in and call Peter. He knew that he was being childish and stubborn but he needed proof that Peter still cared about him, that it wasn’t always Tony making the effort. He was first and foremost a scientist and theories required evidence to prove them. His main theory, that Harley had become something more to Peter, that he was sleeping with him, would be hard to prove without Peter admitting it, but Tony figured that it wouldn’t hurt to begin distancing himself before their relationship officially ended. He wasn’t one to fling accusations and have dramatic confrontations - those hurt too much - so he’d begin to withdraw, put some space between Peter and his shattering heart so when Peter finally broke up with him, he might not be entirely broken.

By the time the sun had gone down and Tony still hadn't heard from Peter, not even a text message, he hit the bar in the penthouse. F.R.I.D.A.Y confirmed that Peter was on campus, that he’d been spotted on several CCTV cameras heading to and from class which laid to rest the small possibility that he’d been injured somehow and was in hospital. His conscience was clear to get completely and utterly plastered and he drank most of a bottle of whiskey before he passed out on the sofa in the living room.

He was woken early the following morning by his phone beeping and he peeled open a crusted eyelid to peer at the screen. It was a text from Peter.

I fell asleep yesterday afternoon, sorry :( Talk tonight?

Tony wanted to ignore it, but his stubbornness was weakened in his hungover state and he replied back with a simple, Okay.

Classes didn't finish until late on Tuesdays so Tony waited until 6pm to phone Peter. He was breathless when he answered, but sounded enthusiastic enough. “Hey, Tony! Sorry, I had to speak to my lecturer after class and had to run to get back in time for your call.”

Tony didn’t point out that a cell phone could be answered anywhere or that Peter rarely got breathless from running, his Spider DNA leaving him in peak physical condition. He also tried hard not to listen for any noises in the background, unsure if he could handle the sounds of Harley in the room. “That’s okay. How was class?”

“Same old same old, really. There’s not much to tell you, except that I miss you.”

“Figured you’d be too busy to miss me,” Tony said, and couldn't quite keep the bitterness from his voice.

“Tony, of course I miss you,” Peter exclaimed. “I’m sorry we didn't get to talk over the weekend, but that’s just made me miss you even more.”

He sighed and tried to stop from making a complete fool of himself. “I miss you too, baby.”

“I can’t wait for this weekend when I get to see you. Got, I want you so bad.”

He was weak but couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

“You have no idea how much, Tony. I’m going to climb you like a tree the second I see you.”

He was reassured by this up until he phoned on Wednesday and a voice that he’d only ever heard in the background answered the phone. “Peter’s House of Pleasure, if it fits, he sits.”

Tony froze. “Excuse me?” he choked out when his voice finally worked again.

In the background, Tony heard Peter whining and there was the sound of a struggle. Harley laughed and asked, “So, who is this? Peter has you down as Iron Man so you’re obviously a fan of Tony Stark. Is this the Ned I’ve heard so much about?”

“Ned is listed in Peter’s phone as Chewie,” Tony almost snapped.

He distantly heard Peter say, “For fuck’s sake, Harls, give me my damn phone!”

“Nah, not yet, I wanna know who it is.”

“If you don’t give it back right this instant I’m changing you in my contacts from Kirk to John Archer.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Harley sounded shocked.

“Watch me,” Peter threatened.

“Eh, you gotta get your phone back first.” Harley teased, and Tony heard more struggling, and some giggles. “I gotta figure out why you’ve named this guy Iron Man, I’m on a mission.”

Tony had had enough. “Because I am Iron Man,” he snapped and then turned on the front facing camera. A moment later the camera on Peter’s phone flickered to life as well and Tony was assaulted with the view of Harley sprawled out on Peter’s bed, Peter’s arms wrapped around him as he tried to grapple the phone back from him. Harley’s mouth dropped open in shock as he saw Tony on the other side. “Holy fucking shit, you’re Tony Stark!”

Tony smirked at him cruelly, hoping to overwhelm the twerp with his fame. “The one and only. Now, if you would kindly give Peter back his phone, we were discussing our plans for the weekend.”

The phone was shoved back to Peter who pulled away from Harley and gazed at Tony through the screen, cheeks bright pink and hair tousled. “Hey, Tony, sorry ‘bout that.”

“You call him Tony?” Harley squawked in the background.

Peter’s eyes darkened. “Would you just fuck off, Harley and let me take this damn call?”

Behind Peter, Tony saw Harley stand and head for the door, waving over his shoulder. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Tony asked mildly, not wanting to give away how much it had hurt to see the two teens entangled on Peter’s bed, even if there was a remote possibility that it had just been innocent friendly wrestling.

Peter rolled his eyes. “He’ll just be shitty that he didn’t know that we knew each other. He likes to think that he knows everything about me but really, he hardly knows me at all.”

Carefully, Tony asked, “Do you want him to know you better?”

Now, Peter’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Tony shrugged, going for nonchalant but knowing he missed it by a mile, all of his insecurities showing on his face. “You two seem pretty close is all. You have a lot in common, and seem compatible, he’s your age after all…”

“I can’t believe...you actually...fuck, Tony…” Peter shook his head. “No, you know what? I refuse to have this conversation with you over the phone.” And he disconnected the call.

Tony spent a long time just staring at the blank screen, feeling sick to his stomach. This was it, he just knew it. The next time he saw Peter it would be so he could be told face to face that they were over. The best thing he had ever had in his life and it was slipping through his fingers. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or throw up so he settled instead for drinking heavily since that way he’d probably end up doing both.

He was on his third glass of scotch when he heard the familiar sound of repulsors and then a large clunk. Curious, he staggered to his feet and looked outside to the large landing pad and saw Rhodey crouched down in his landing pose. He straightened and then Tony saw Spider-Man clinging to his back. He’d climbed down by the time Tony made it to the door and he was in time to hear Peter say, “Thanks for the lift.”

“Anytime, kid,” Rhodey replied. “Talk some sense into him, yeah?”

Peter was looking directly at Tony when he responded. “I’ll try but I think he’s being stubborn.”

Rhodey snorted. “Yeah, he gets like that.” Then with a burst of his lower repulsors, he was taking off into the night, leaving the two of them alone.

“What are you doing here?” Tony blurted, unable to stand the assessing look that Peter was giving him.

Peter stared at him a little longer and then shook his head. “You are such a fucking idiot,” he said and then closed the distance between them and pulled Tony into an embrace.

“What does this mean?” Tony whispered when he finally forced himself to pull back so that he wouldn’t have time to get used to Peter’s warmth before he lost it entirely.

“It means,” Peter said slowly, “that for all your genius, you have no fucking clue.”

“Yeah, still not really making sense,” he admitted.

Peter sighed. “Let me spell it out for you then. I love you, Tony, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I am not sleeping with Harley, or anyone else for that matter. I want you and only you. Making sense now?”

“But, last weekend, and today, on the bed…”

“For the love of all that is holy,” Peter muttered, his words almost inaudible over the sound of the wind on the landing. “Look, let’s go inside so we can talk, okay? You probably need some water too, since you’ll have a horrible hangover in the morning if you don’t.”

“I was kind of drinking my sorrows away,” Tony admitted in a small voice as he followed Peter inside.

Heading straight for the bar to fill a glass with water from the pitcher there, Peter glared at him. “I would like to point out that these are imaginary sorrows.”

“It didn't feel like it to me.” Tony’s voice cracked a little bit and Peter’s expression softened.

“Here, drink this and then come sit down.”

Doing as he was told, Tony drained the glass and then joined Peter on the sofa.

“Tony, last weekend I went camping with Harley’s family. I spent most of the weekend giving his little sister piggyback rides through the woods and helping his mother cook. He’s my friend and I like spending time with him, but that’s all he is.”

“So you really don’t want him that way?”

“I’m not going to lie - I do find him attractive, but I find pretty much all of the Avengers hot as well but that doesn't mean I want to have sex with them. Harley knows that I’m seeing someone, but I haven’t told him who since we agreed to keep it quiet. I trust that he can keep a secret so if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll tell him that it’s you that I’m seeing. Hell, come up to campus and visit me and you can meet him! I’ll be happy for you to make a few possessive displays of affection if it’ll stop you worrying.”

Tony huffed out a laugh. “Does that include me pounding you into the mattress and then coming all over your ass as he walks in the door?”

Peter gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, that might be taking it a little too far.” His voice dropped lower and he leaned in to purr into Tony’s ear. “But there’s nothing to say that we can’t do that right now.” He nipped at Tony’s lobe. “Come on, Tony, want you so much, want you to mark me, claim me as yours. What do you say? You up for it?”

Tony wasn't one to turn down a challenge and it turned out that he was definitely up for it. Twice in fact.

#starkersecretsanta2019 #starker #peter parker #tony stark #insecurities #angst

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ft-stories-lgbt · 5 years ago

Note

Hi love! We need to start talking more, I miiiss you ;w;. Could I request some headcanons? [Headcanons] Team Natsu + Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter. - Thank you, you amazing person!

Hi love ! I'm sorry I took a little time to give you an answer, I've been busy and I wanted to do something really complete for this one, so I hope you'll like it! Like I mention it to you earlier, it's an OT4, and also an AU!

I don't deserve these compliments come on... 🙈

Spring : Lucy

"I grab your hand and then we run to the car

Singing in the street and playing air guitar

Stuck between my teeth just like a candy bar

And I wonder if it goes too far to say

I've never recognized a purer face

You stopped me in my tracks and put me right in my place

Used to think that loving meant a painful chase

But you're right here now and I think you'll stay"

Beautiful stranger- Halsey

• Spring is the season that Lucy loves the most, mostly because it means flowers are out again and that summer is almost here.

• But the main reason is, it was during spring that she met Erza, Natsu and Gray, and that she fell in love with them.

• She met Natsu first, they shared a class at university as she was in her last year of studies. She was new in town, just tranferred to the college, and Natsu was the first one to come and talk to her. He was all smile and loud voice and it didn't take long for her to catch feelings for him. They had great chemistry; always sitting next to each other, close and touchy. It was rare to see them apart on the campus. They were two months in this friendship when Natsu said he wanted her to meet his partners: Erza and Gray.

• She didn't know what to make of this very sentence at first, because despite Natsu being so open with her, he never let anything along the lines slip from his lips before; never mentioned anything. She thought maybe he chose the wrong terms instead of using "Friends".

• Natsu invited her to his place just after one of their late class, and she realised that after two months, this was the first time she was going to his house.

• She remembers being surprised to find out that when Natsu opened the door, two people were already in there; but what really stunned her was the way Natsu had a fond smile on his lips as he made his way toward them, landing a kiss on each cheek. She stayed by the door for a few seconds before they introduced themselves warmly, a gentle smile on their faces.

• Erza immediately made her comfortable. Lucy couldn't take her eyes off her, as she realised how beautiful the girl was. Her long red hair was shining with the artificial light and her face glowed with a certain happiness which Lucy always thought only Natsu was capable of.

• Gray was a real mystery for her at first though. While he smiled gently and talked to her very politely, Lucy didn't miss the way he had an eye on her during all evening, as if he was judging whether she was good enough to be around them, but around Natsu. He made sure to stay between Natsu and her during dinner, making himself like a barrier.

• During this evening she recalls seeing how gentle brush of hands was made among the three of them. Natsu often kept a hand on Gray’s over the table, or he didn't hesitate to fix a strand of hair behind Erza's ear. Gray even got rid of something in the corner of Natsu's mouth with his thumb and Erza laid a kiss on their temples each time she got a chance.

• Before she left that night, Gray softly grabbed her wrist to tell her "I like you, I hope I'll see you more often".

• She didn't really want to make assumptions about their relationship at first but after finding out the three of them were living together and shared a room and two other months of them being physical and surprised at seeing at least one of them making out with one of the other two, she concluded that they were together, and that when Natsu said "partners" he didn't mean it as friends.

• Since she had feelings for Natsu, she thought she would be jealous but it turns out she just felt happy for them and somehow she finds herself wishing for them to include her in their relation.

• Which they did, little by little. At first, Natsu invited her, alone, to go see a movie. They kept holding hands during the movie but she didn't allow herself to hope.

• Then Erza took her to a bakery where she spent an hour being spoon-fed by her, with various pieces of cake.

• And finally Gray told her to come over once, the two of them were alone and they enjoyed dinner. The apartment was arranged nicely, with candles and flowers everywhere.

• And they all did this a couple of dozens more time but it took until the following year for her to do something about it as she realised her feelings for Natsu were now expanded to Erza and Gray.

• They were on the couch, watching a movie. She was sitting next to Gray, who had an arm around her shoulders, while Erza slid her fingers between Gray's free hand. Natsu was lying on her other side, his head resting on her lap. She didn't really pay attention to the movie, her eyes only meeting the people around her and after what felt like hours she said, "I love you all, more than I love spring."

• For a few seconds, no one said anything back, but soon enough she could feel the way Gray tightened his grip around her shoulders while Erza and Natsu took each of her hands. "We love you too," they said back.

• After that night, she never left their side.

Summer : Natsu

"Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin'

And it sounds just like a song

I want more berries and that summer feelin'

It's so wonderful and warm"

Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles.

• For as long as Natsu can remember, Gray, Erza, and he always knew each other even if the other two were 2 years older than him. They grew up in the same street, houses only a few feet apart.

• There's not a day in his mind where Erza and Gray are not there. For him, it always felt like they were together all the time. He has always known them as if they are a part of him.

• It's only natural that he was the one to start all of this relationship thing.

• He never felt scared, since Gray and Erza were the only constants in his life. He had other friends of course, but he realised quickly that the thing they had between the three of them was something specific to only them.

• When Natsu first brought the subject up, he was 13 and Erza and Gray were 15. They were at the park, feeding the birds when Natsu said, "When we'll be older, I want to live with both of you. I love you." Natsu never used unnecessary words, always going straight to the point, so the other two knew he wasn't joking and knew about the meaning behind it as well. Gray only said, "I'll wait for it then."

• They shared their first kiss when Natsu was 16. It was during summer vacation, and Gray and Erza were preparing their stuff to leave for college. And while they knew that they could still see each other almost every day, Natsu felt like it was a big change for all of them since they will be busy with other things. He was sad about it and when he voiced it, Gray called him an idiot before giving him a kiss on his lips. He didn't even have the chance to fully comprehend the situation before Erza did the same.

• And from then, their relationship slowly started to shift into something more intimate.

• Gray and Erza began to live together first, and when Natsu finally finished high school, he officially joined them.

• In the beginning, it was a real mess. They may have spent their life together but they never really experienced the all "living together"; it took them nearly four months to finally have some understanding between them.

• A few years passed, and Natsu was in his last year at the university when he met Lucy. It felt surreal for him since he spent his life making his entire world around Gray and Erza, and when he started having feelings toward Lucy, he decided it was a good thing if he talked about it to the other two.

• Erza and Gray were wary at first, after all, they never talked about the possibility of one of them finding someone else, or wanting to add someone else.

• But once they met Lucy, it was like it was meant to be, and Natsu couldn't be happier about it.

• They spent long nights talking about the possibility of her joining them. And when a year later they found themselves being together, the four of them laying on the bed, Natsu couldn't be gladder that for once, he allowed himself to see more than the world that he created around Gray and Erza.

Autumn : Erza

"Cause you're safe like spring time

Short days, long nights, boy

Tell me all the ways to love you

Cause you taste like Lucky Strikes

You drag, I light, boy

Tell me all the ways to love you"

Lucky Strike - Troye Sivan

• It took Erza a long time to admit her own feelings toward the boys first. Mainly because her family never approved of her always being with them, even when they were young. Her parents were overprotective and very strict about their education since she was a girl. But Erza never quite fit in the picture.

• She can't remember how many time she went out through her window, running toward the park just to join Natsu and Gray. She always got into trouble after that but it was worth it in the end.

• When they finally got together, Erza decided to tell her parents about it. And as she expected the news didn't sit well with them.

• She was a few weeks into college when she told them. It ended up in a fight and she left the house in a hurry to end up in the park where she used to meet Gray and Natsu.

• She remembers laying in the ground, the brown leaves cracking under her weight. Autumn was there for almost two weeks then, and despite the situation, she found a little peace in the quiet environment. She doesn't know for how long she stayed there, but at some point, two figures were standing above her and a gentle voice rang in her ears:

"This season suits you dearly, darling. It does a good thing to the colour of your hair.” It was silly, but Natsu’s words managed to bring the smile back on her lips.

"How did you know I was here?" She only asked back.

"Well, you didn't answer your phone and we called at least ten times," Gray said gently. "So we decided to come and check here first. You always come here when something is wrong."

She said nothing more but soon enough there were two bodies laying on each of her sides.

• After this episode, Erza barely kept contact with her parents, but somehow it didn't really bother her. She always felt trapped with them, and she could now taste a little freedom with only her two boyfriends by her side. And the fact that their family were nice and supportive probably helped too.

• And until Lucy, she was perfectly fine with this small circle of people around her. She never imagined someone else being part of their relationship.

• But just like it felt normal for her to be with Natsu and Gray, it also felt natural for her that Lucy joined them and shared their love.

• Since the first time she met the blonde, Gray and Natsu never stop teasing her about how soft she is towards the girl. If she can be harsh towards the boys, with Lucy it's always different. She talks softly and gently to the girl, and she can barely say no to her.

• The boys used that particular bond between the two to get the things they want and knew that if they were the one asking, she would say no. Erza didn't take long to notice it but never said anything, finding amusing the way Lucy would come to her, cheeks flushed and a timid look on her face, to ask for something silly that the boys would have convinced her to do.

Winter: Gray

"Walk in your rainbow paradise

Strawberry lipstick state of mind

I get so lost inside your eyes

Would you believe it?"

Adore you - Harry Styles

• Gray never really was someone who liked to meet new people and make new friends, even when he was young. Therefore, it came as a surprise to his parents when he introduced them to Natsu and Erza in the park during winter. Gray's parents noticed quite early that the relationship between the three was special and something only meant for them. And they did nothing against it, too happy that their son finally let someone in.

• At some point, the Fullbuster's house was at least twice a week filled with two boys and a girl for dinner.

• And when they left to live together, they made a point to keep coming every Sunday for lunch.

• His parents were always a big support for the three of them, even when Natsu lost his parents at the end of his last year of high school. They managed to keep him with them for the last few weeks of the school year and until this day, Gray knows that Natsu is really thankful for them being part of his life.

• Much like the other two, Gray didn't really think of having someone else to love, even if his father liked to joke about them to find more people: "So we could play soccer in the backyard! Come on brat, you need to find at least 6 other people!"

• When Lucy joined the picture, his parents were thrilled and welcomed her as a part of their family easily.

• Gray remembers the first time she officially met them, a few months after they got together. It was snowing and they were at the door of Gray's parents when she stopped Erza from knocking on it.

"I don't think this is a good idea. They are going to hate me. They always knew the three of you together, and now here I am, breaking that perfect picture. This is a terrible idea. A really bad one. Worse than that one time when Natsu convinced us to go swimming naked in a nearly frozen lake. I don't..."

Gray didn't let her finish her monologue and only kissed her on her lips, while his hands cupped her cheeks gently. He didn't say anything when they parted away, their eyes only locked in one another. He was silently saying, "It's okay. There's no need for you to be afraid. You are a part of us too now."

And a Big Big Big thank you to my little fairy 🧚 @watcher-ofthe-sky for taking the time to beta this for me and also for giving me some advice ! You're a real sweetheart!

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batgirl-87 · 6 years ago

Text

Summary: Sixth Year begins and the events of last year’s End of the Year Ball still linger over Charlie and Keira. While the two try to navigate what this means exactly for their relationship, various obstacles thwart their efforts including rumours about Keira’s summer and the mysterious letters she receives, her consistently disappearing, withholding her whereabouts, and returning exhausted and bruised (does it have to do with R or something else?), and one intense night that may destroy Charlie and Keira’s relationship, friendship or otherwise, completely.

First Part of the Series: The gang reunites on the Hogwarts Express with Charlie struggling a bit with his new role as the now oldest Weasley (at least at Hogwarts) who has to wrangle his two younger Twin brothers on to the Hogwarts Express and be responsible for them the next two years – Bill had it so easy with him and Percy. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding his relationship with Keira following the End of the Year Ball last year and while their reunion doesn’t add much clarity, it ends up providing Charlie with a bit of hope. Also a surprising new fact about Barnaby is learned!

Word Count: <13k

Genre: Fluff (Charlie x MC), Humour

Warnings: Some Angst mentioning Bill graduating and going off to Egypt – WE MISS AND LOVE YOU WILLIAM! (Take a drink every time I mention Bill to try and numb the pain 😜)

Note: I’ll just apologize for the bad Quidditch metaphors now… I’m sorry. I should also apologize for the sappiness and clichés. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. I tried! But I failed… Guess who wrote more than intended?! (Classic me!) Reference to Under the Stars (primarily). I would describe my writing style as too many commas and too many adjectives/details... Sorry... Hi, I have a problem writing concisely...

I also want to apologize up here instead of an author’s note at the end if it’s not edited all that well - I really wanted to get this posted before I leave for a little birthday vacation this week.

I’ve done a lot of research and thinking about the Quidditch World Cup and how teams are made up, games are played, etc. and I may make a post about it some time but if anyone is interested or has any questions on my take on it feel free to ask =) I also believe Charlie has tons of fans that drool over him for his Quidditch skills that he is completely oblivious too.

I am in Chapter 17 or 18 of Year 5 I believe so I’m not sure if we’re actually going to face a dragon, and if Charlie gets to be there with us, so if that does happen than rephrase the line (you’ll know it when you see it) to him feeling the same way when he finally saw a dragon in person – up close and personal =p And I’ll try to remember to change it when/if that time comes.

I estimate the Hogwarts Express takes about eight hours to get to Hogwarts since it departs at 11am and seems to arrive in the early evening, about 7? I know in the game when eating with Andre he says he shops as Gladrags Wizardwear but I believe he would splurge and treat himself to something nice from Twilfitt and Tatting’s, probably something he could wear with pretty much anything or maybe some fancy dress robes for game days and special occasions =p

Arrival of Fred and George! Get excited people!

Preview: He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow. .…. His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

“Fred! George! Slow down!” A frazzled Molly Weasley chased after her two newest editions to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they raced through King’s Cross Station. Their agility to weave throughout the crowd without mowing anyone over with their luggage carts was a remarkable feat. Needless to say the Twins were very eager to board the train and begin their own Hogwarts adventures! While her husband watched after their two youngest children, Molly focused her energy on wrangling her two most mischievous ones. At least their high energy kept her busy from missing and worrying about her eldest now out on his own in Egypt pursuing a Curse-Breaking career.

Meanwhile, her second eldest was hell-bent on becoming a Dragonologist and working hands-on with those ferocious beasts! He was so determined, in fact, that he spent most of the summer seeking advice and help from his mum on improving his healing spells – apparently an essential skill when working with dragons according to the experts and not just their mothers. He even spent a lot of time reading up on healing potions but was waiting for school to start up again to work with his friend Penny Haywood who was apparently very skilled in potion making. But he did not remain held up in his room all summer studying – he wasn’t Percy! In true Charlie Weasley fashion, he also spent a lot of time outside during the summer as well, probably searching for new magical creatures to study and practice his caretaking on. And of course played some Quidditch with his siblings.

However, his dedicated focus on his future Dragonologist career also caused him to turn down the opportunity to play on England’s Quidditch team for the upcoming World Cup. It was an honor, and he greatly appreciated the offer, but as much as he loved Quidditch (and had quite the natural skill for it) his goal was always to work with dragons. And to achieve his goals he needed to receive an E or O in his Care of Magical Creatures class, and next year’s N.E.W.T.s, (which shouldn’t be too hard for him to do), while also proving to have high competency in healing magic, and in advance healing/antidote potion making – why he required Penny’s help. He needed to learn and perfect fireproofing spells, protection spells, and cloaking and tracking abilities.

He had done his research, a lot of research, over the years on what he needed to do to finally get to work with his beloved dragons and he couldn’t allow anything to distract him or take time away from his studies. If he didn’t do well in his classes or on his N.E.W.T.s and didn’t improve in the necessary areas to become a Dragonologist because he was too busy training and practicing for Quidditch he would never forgive himself. And probably always resent Quidditch which would be horrible because he loved it! He just loved dragons more.

Besides, he still planned on venturing out into the Forbidden Forest just in case he found his own dragon out there – old habits die hard and if he did find one and handle being in its presence wouldn’t that prove he was destined to be a Dragonologist? (and look good on the resume?) – and still planned on helping with Cursed-Vaults adventures, plus he had Prefect duties – his plate was already pretty full. Unfortunately, he couldn’t accept the offer to play for England – it would be just one too many things to take on for him. At least Forbidden Forest explorations and Cursed-Vaults adventures could help him in the areas he needed to become a Dragonologist. Unfortunately, Quidditch didn’t really help him on the skills he needed to achieve his dream career and therefore would be an unnecessary added responsibility and a distraction. It was a tough decision but he felt he made the right one. He would still play at Hogwarts for Gryffindor of course though!

Molly at least didn’t have to worry about Charlie possibly getting severely injured while playing Quidditch in a professional setting, especially for the World Cup which was a major event in the wizarding world and those players practically played until the death to win. It was a tough sport and playing in school was already bad enough. Her children playing in their backyard was even worse. Not that she wouldn’t be immensely proud of him if he chose to take their offer. But she was also immensely proud of him for making such a difficult and mature decision to turn the offer down to focus on his dreams. Honestly, she wished he could do both. But at least studying was much safer than playing Quidditch. Until he graduated and went to work with actual dragons…

Oh, what did she do to get such adventurous, reckless children? Didn’t they think about what their actions did to their poor mother?

Speaking of her second eldest, where was he? He should be helping her with his younger brothers just as she had Bill help with him and Percy. Although, Percy clearly was not as much trouble as the Twins.

Bill may have sent Charlie a letter before the start of the school year wishing him luck on looking after the Twins while also gloating how he graduated just in time. Looking after Charlie and Percy was a walk in the park compared to looking after Fred and George. Of course Charlie could always write to Bill whenever he needed. But Bill had to admit he was glad he didn’t have to watch over all four of them at school.

“Percy, help me with your brothers.” Molly nudged the least adventurous of her children whose nose was currently stuck in a book as they walked along the station towards their platform.

“Isn’t that Charlie’s responsibility?” The good thing about being a middle child and having older siblings was watching after the younger siblings automatically became their responsibility and he got left alone.

“And when we find him I’ll make sure he looks after all of you but until then I need your help,” Molly informed him, causing Percy to sigh a bit dramatically and close his book.

Charlie was already at Platform 9¾ scouring the crowd of returning and new Hogwarts students for one in particular. He had tried to get their earlier but getting the bustling Weasley house organized was a trying task and they always ended up being later than intended to anywhere they were heading. Fortunately, most were understanding. It was already getting close to 11, so the Twins also had a bit of a reason to rush if they wanted to make it to the correct platform in time.

“Charlie, there you are!” Charlie whirled around when he heard his mum calling to him. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

“Sorry, mum.” Charlie smiled apologetically as he walked back over to his family, Percy currently in the middle of giving the Twins a scolding lecture, one they were not really paying any attention to.

“I know you’re eager to return to school and get that help on your potions and learn all you need to so you can achieve your goals but try and have some fun to,” Molly reminded her son as she draped an arm around him as they walked back to the rest of their large family.

“I will, mum,” Charlie promised.

“And please look after your younger brothers. I know it’s impossible to ask you to keep Fred and George out of trouble completely but –“

“Don’t worry, mum, of course I’ll look after them. And try and keep them from getting caught,” Charlie added with a smirk, earning a couple more smirks from his twin brothers. Molly huffed and playfully hit Charlie’s arm but smiled at her boys. She did love her children so.

“I can’t believe we’re sending another two off to school,” Molly said as she stared wistfully at the Twins, some tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“Ugh, mum,” the Twins groaned in embarrassment, looking away from her intense gaze only because they were going to get emotional too!

“We’ll be empty nesters soon enough,” chimed in Arthur who placed a lovingly supportive arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Oh, don’t talk like that,” Molly scolded.

“Won’t know what to do with ourselves then,” Arthur continued.

As their parents lovingly bickered, Charlie and Percy took the opportunity to bestow their older brother knowledge on the Twins and what they could expect. Sure, they had heard about some of their adventures and experiences at school but the more boring, informational things, such as the rules or what to expect on their first day they tended to tune out when anyone mentioned it. They knew the Twins found it boring but begged them to listen.

Of course Percy may have also told the Twins not to cause too much trouble, especially for him as he worked towards becoming Prefect and Head Boy himself and if they got in the way of that he would never forgive them! Also, don’t embarrass him.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to ruin your chances at becoming Head Nerd,” Fred snarkily assured.

“And how could we possibly embarrass you more than you already do for yourself,” George asked as innocently as he could with a smirk.

Percy narrowed his eyes at the two of them briefly before waving at Charlie. “They’re your responsibility. Good luck.”

Charlie sighed and shook his head but did echo some of Percy’s sentiments. “He’s right though. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry. We plan on pacing ourselves,” Fred assured their older brother.

“Yeah, we have a whole school year! We’re not going to waste pulling all our best pranks at the beginning of the year and having nothing left for the rest of it,” George explained.

Charlie sighed but chuckled softly. “As long as you mean that. And do well not to get caught. I don’t want to have to punish my brothers all the time.”

“Get caught,” the Twins scoffed. They were not amateurs!

“You two plus Tonks and Tulip are going to be the death of me,” Charlie groaned.

The Weasley family said their goodbyes which were filled with promises to write home and a lot of hugs all around. Molly made sure to give each of her boys plenty of kisses to make sure they knew how much she loved them and would miss them, along with her stern warning of keeping out of trouble. Don’t make her send howlers every week! She’d lose her voice!

“Hey, Percy! Where are you going?” Charlie called after his brother as they boarded Hogwarts Express. Almost instantly onboard, Percy took off down the corridor through the throng of students, primarily First Years unaware of where to go since older classmen already had their usual compartments.

“I’m going to sit with my friends,” Percy shouted back over the crowd.

“You don’t have any friends,” the Twins shouted back in unison. Charlie sighed and shook his head before taking the lead as the new oldest Weasley at Hogwarts and following after Percy, maneuvering through the crowd of confused students. He knew as Prefect he should be helping them but he was busy helping some other First Years at the moment so technically he was doing his Prefect duty. Besides, the wrath of his mum was way scarier than the wrath of the Head Boy and Girl and other Prefects.

“Excuse me. Pardon us.” Charlie politely forced his way through the mass of students, new and old, before arriving at the compartment Percy disappeared into towards the front of the train. Of course Percy would sit as close as he could to the Prefect carriage without actually being in it.

“Why do we have to sit with Percy,” the Twins whined. Their complaint was echoed by Percy himself when Charlie opened his compartment’s door.

“Oh no, they’re not sitting with me!”

“They have to,” Charlie informed them all.

“But why-“

“Because I have to go up to the Prefect’s carriage,” Charlie continued.

“Why can’t we go sit with you up there,” the Twins asked with a smirk. Charlie was unable to hold back his own amused smirk at the thought of that happening.

“No way. If anyone gets to go up to the Prefect carriage without being a Prefect it’s me,” Percy announced, standing up for emphasis.

“Okay, settle down, none of you are going up there with me. Not that I don’t doubt you’ll all make Prefect if you want, but for right now, I’m going up there and you’re all staying here,” Charlie instructed. Which of course was met with more complaining.

Bill had it so lucky with him and he planned on letting Bill know that especially come Christmas.

“Percy,” Charlie started, turning his attention to his now second in command, whether either of them liked it or not. “I’m going to need your help with looking after Fred and George. Think of it as prep for becoming Prefect. And I’d owe you,” he added.

Percy thought it over a moment before sighing. “Fine. Although I still don’t understand why they have to sit with me.”

“Don’t you remember your First Year? You think you’re prepared but there’s a lot more people than you think and it’s overwhelming and you haven’t made any friends to sit with yet so you sat with me. And you sat with me in the Great Hall for meals and hung out in my room with me and my roommates –“

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Percy held up a hand to stop Charlie from going down this memory lane.

“They’ll make friends quickly, don’t worry,” Charlie assured Percy.

“Yeah, people love us,” the Twins decided to chime in with their charming grins.

“Just buy them some sweets when the trolley comes around, that’ll keep them occupied,” Charlie suggested to Percy.

“And get them all sugared up? I don’t want to deal with that,” Percy cried.

Charlie groaned again and made another mental note to write to Bill informing him of how wonderful and easy he was as a brother, caused Bill little to no problems, and how he would expect some great birthday and Christmas gifts to show his appreciation.

“It’s a long trip, they have to eat. And you can’t keep them locked up in here the whole time. Maybe they’ll make friends and then they’ll leave you alone,” Charlie reasoned. Percy thought that over a moment before nodding his head in agreement. If they met friends on the train and left to sit with them they would no longer be his problem!

“Just don’t be out in the corridor causing any problems when I’m on patrol,” Charlie suddenly instructed the Twins.

“If we see you in the corridor we’ll turn right back around,” the Twins promised.

“Alright guys, I really got to get going. I’ll come back and check on you when I can. Listen to Percy,” Charlie told them, making a point to tell the Twins to respect Percy’s authority. Doubt it would really matter but at least he tried.

Fred and George sighed but didn’t argue as they moved to go into Percy’s compartment. “Where are all your friends, Perc,” the Twins teased as the noted the empty compartment.

“They haven’t arrived yet and once they see you two here they’re going to find somewhere else to sit,” Percy irritably replied.

“Once they saw your rat they fled,” Fred joked.

“Hey! Ron likes my rat,” Percy argued.

“Ron likes anything soft and furry,” Fred retorted.

“Except for that teddy bear we turned into a spider that one time,” George reminded with a mischievous smirk.

Charlie turned to leave his bickering brothers and head to the Prefect carriage through the still crowded corridor of the train. “Excuse me,” he started as he attempted to push his way back into the traffic of students.

“Charlie! They’re being unreasonable!” Percy’s cry of outrage was followed by the giggling fit of the Twins. He knew putting the Twins with Percy alone in a small train compartment was a recipe for disaster but couldn’t they manage for a few minutes? “Wait until I tell mum you dropped the Twins off on me and ditched out on your older brother responsibilities!” It had literally been two seconds and Percy already had enough of babysitting Fred and George.

“Percy-“ Charlie started, unable to hide the annoyance and frustration in his voice as he spun back around to confront them. Unfortunately, this quick movement could not be done gracefully in a narrow corridor bustling with students trying to find a place to sit for the ride. He wasn’t sure if he tripped over someone’s bag or foot or what it was but whatever it was caused him to fall forward and knock into another student who was trying to sneak by.

Fortunately he was able to catch himself and them before they both hit the floor and risked being trampled on by other students. One hand flew out to slam against the wall of the train compartment holding his brothers to stop his fall and regain his balance, while his other arm instinctively wrapped around the smaller figure he almost knocked over to catch them, causing them both to fall against the wall on the compartment side of the train instead of the floor. Great, first day as the eldest Weasley at Hogwarts and he almost killed someone! Ugh, he missed Bill.

Charlie opened his mouth to apologize and check to ensure they were okay but his breath hitched in his throat when he heard them speak first.

“Well bonjour mon étoile! This is quite the reunion, eh?”

Charlie looked down at the person he currently had pinned against the wall and found himself suddenly drowning in stormy sea eyes once again. He quickly became hyper-aware of how close they were, their faces mere inches apart, his hips pressed against hers as he pinned her to the side of his brother’s occupied compartment, his arm securely snaked around her waist.

He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow.

Their eyes were locked much like they were now before Charlie leaned down to close the distance between them, moving instinctively. However, the fear suddenly struck that maybe she didn’t want this and maybe he was putting her in an awkward and uncomfortable situation, a situation that could ruin their close friendship. But when she leaned up and her lips met his all his fears and doubts melted away as a spark ignited within him.

His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

It was addicting.

Now he understood why so many couples were caught snogging all the time. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it throughout the summer, replayed that moment over and over again in his head as he remembered all those sensations. And he’d be lying if he said he had no desire to feel that way again when in actuality it was all he wanted. They had had so many “almost” moments and he was quickly growing tired and, frankly, frustrated by them; and now that they finally had their moment he greedily wanted more.

When they eventually parted, slowly, he rested his forehead against hers, their eyes remaining shut as they savored the moment. And he would have kissed her again, kissed her all night if he could have, but their pivotal moment was brought to an end as one of their friends found them to spend one last moment at the ball with Bill – the whole reason they even went to the ball that year – surely including pictures since Penny was around.

He was very reluctant to let her go, to no longer have her near him, leaving him feeling cold and incomplete. But when she reached down to grab his hand and led him back inside the Great Hall that spark she always ignited within him returned, spreading her signature tingling warming sensation through his body.

The rest of the evening and the next day at the End of the Year Feast were dedicated to Bill, and packing up to head back home, but primarily for Bill, filled with tearful goodbyes and bone crushing hugs – both mainly from Keira herself. They even had a goodbye dinner at the Burrow over the summer for Bill, which Keira would have attended but she spent most of this summer in Canada. Therefore, they never discussed the events of that night. They never determined where they went from there, what they were now. And maybe because of the fear and anxiety of the uncertainty of what either of their response would be – possible rejection after putting their feelings so boldly out there, an excuse of being swept up in the moment, fear of losing a close, dear friend – neither of them had brought up that night in the few letters they shared throughout the summer, a lot fewer than previous summers.

She was busy and far away and this wasn’t really something that should be discussed in letters anyway, right? This should be something to discuss in person. Which may be why he was so eager to get to the train station that morning, to finally see her again. He wasn’t sure why, but he just had this feeling that once they saw each other, in that moment everything would be made clear.

However, this was definitely not the reunion he had planned for.

Instead of sharing a knowing look where they both somehow understood each other’s unspoken thoughts and feelings and ending on the same page he had knocked into her, almost fell on top of her and squashed her, and now they found themselves in a compromising position in front of a large portion of students at Hogwarts, including new First Years and his brothers.

But none of that even registered to Charlie at the moment. All he could see was her. And all he could think about was how he was finally holding her close again in his arms, where she belonged. And how that electricity flowed through them when their hands touched, even just brushed up against each other, and how that initial spark lit a fire that burned hotter within them the closer they grew. Her warm, dark, alluring scent with her signature hint of ocean air enveloped him. It seemed every time he was around her he found himself drowning in her, completely entranced by her, but it was one of the best feelings he’s ever felt; it was exciting but calming, an adventure and home, dizzying yet grounding all at the same time. It was an overwhelming, intoxicating feeling he couldn’t get enough of. He imagined this would be how he would feel when he finally came face to face with a dragon, but never imagined a person would cause these feelings to stir within him. Suppose he had to admit he had become utterly enamored with her. He loved being completely immersed in her, yearned to be lost in her. Without even realizing it, he had begun leaning down towards her, longing to reclaim that captivating, pleasurably blissful feeling once again that only her enticing lips allowed.

“Bloody hell, Charlie, are you going to start snogging her right here in front of everyone?”

“The train hasn’t even left the station yet! Bet mum can still see you through the window.”

The teasing from the Twin’s caused Charlie to freeze, his nose brushing against hers, successfully halting his actions. Suddenly their surroundings crashed into him like a freight train. Students were still shuffling behind him trying to locate a place to sit for the ride, his brothers were right there staring at him from the doorway of their compartment and – Oh Merlin, what if his mum really could see them through the window of the train?! Part of him feared he would hear his mother storming aboard any moment now – ‘Charles Weasley! What are you doing to that poor girl?!’ She didn’t raise him to be like that!

“I expect this type of behavior from Bill, but not from you Charlie!”

“Never from you, Charlie!” The Twins continued to taunt their older brother.

Charlie pulled away as much as he could, which wasn’t much considering the hoard of bustling students behind him trying to frantically find a place to sit before the train took off to Hogwarts, stammering out an apology to the young woman he still had trapped.

Fortunately for him, she somehow always managed to diffuse the awkwardness of a situation like this for him. “It’s okay,” Keira assured with a small amused laugh. “I missed you too.” She patted his chest playfully a couple times before a mischievous smirk played on her lips. “Ooo, someone worked out over the summer.”

“What? No,” Charlie awkwardly replied with a sheepish chuckle, glancing away a moment as he felt the familiar feeling of heat rising to his face she always brought upon him.

“Clearly you spent a lot of time outside,” Keira observed. “I think your freckles have doubled – at least,” she teased.

“Yeah? Are you trying to tell me I look fit,” Charlie asked her with a charming smirk.

“You’re looking very fit,” Keira confirmed with a flirtatious smirk of her own, her infamous House of Black genes showing, causing Charlie’s brothers to groan.

“I think I preferred it better when they were about to snog,” George leaned over to whisper to Fred.

“This is only the beginning.” Percy muttered his warning to the Twins – he would know, he had already spent a couple school years around them making eyes at each other and all their flirting and blushing – it got annoying.

“She’s right, Charlie, you are looking very fit.” The group of primarily red heads turned to look at the girl who interrupted their private moment with her unsolicited, overtly flirtatious comment as she eyed Charlie like he was her favourite treat on the Honeyduke’s trolley. She appeared to be in Charlie and Keira’s Year and brought her own little posse of Charlie fangirls with her for an added bonus.

“Oh, thanks mate,” Charlie replied, ever the oblivious one to his throngs of adoring fans for his amazing Seeker skills, particularly towards the ones who practically threw themselves at him. Honestly, they could be laying on a bench in the Quidditch changing room in lingerie with candles lit and smooth jazz playing and he still wouldn’t get it.

“But if anyone here looks fit, it’s Ady,” Charlie said, taking a moment to admire the Slytherin fully in front of him. “You look great,” he gushed sincerely, causing a light blush to appear on her face.

“W-well I did play a lot of Quidditch this summer,” she stammered, suddenly nervous.

His adoring fan did not take too kindly to the attention being taken away from her and glared daggers at the Slytherin who received such high praise from him. “Did you play a lot of Quidditch this summer, Charlie,” she asked in an attempt to get the attention back on her.

“Uh, yeah, not as much as usual with Bill leaving,” Charlie awkwardly replied. He missed his older brother and best friend.

While one of his admirers continued to swoon over the Gryffindor Seeker, coming on a bit strong in Keira’s opinion… Keira managed to slither out from under Charlie and give the Twins a proper greeting, hugs and all. She couldn’t help but gush about how excited she was that they were all going to be going to Hogwarts together while also voicing her concern about dealing with them and Tulip and Tonks – the four of them and their pranks were going to end up being her downfall long before ‘R’ ever got to her.

Much like with Bill and Charlie, Keira bonded rather quickly with the Twins, and seemed to share a particular closeness with them. And as soon as the Twins caught on to Charlie’s little crush they definitely used that to taunt to him. Not like Charlie was really going to be jealous over his little brothers and worried the now eleven year olds were somehow going to “steal” Ady from him, something they liked to tease him about, but she did seem much more comfortable with physical affection with them – the hugs, sitting close together, sharing a blanket, arms around each other. And at first he thought it was because they were little kids, but he couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t like that with Ron or even Ginny much! Sure she’d give Ginny a hug and let her play with her hair if she wanted but it was nowhere near the same level of physical contact as with the Twins.

Any time she visited the Burrow or they somehow managed to run into each other while shopping in Diagon Alley, the Twins always gained her attention and did, much to their smugness, steal her away from Charlie to spend time with them. Which led to more taunting such as how she loved them more than him, how they were going to ask her to the ball and she’d of course say yes to one of them and reject Charlie. Ugh, little siblings…

Honestly, though, he was worried about the quick close relationship she had with his Twin brothers because the three of them and their mischievous nature concerned him and what trouble they were bound to get into. And like Keira, the thought of George and Fred with Tulip and Tonks was anxiety provoking. Oh what was going to happen to poor Ben… The Weasley’s were known for being a very close, tight-knit family. Charlie and Bill always visited each other’s room, Percy visited both his older brother’s rooms and now the Twins – who had to be sorted into the same House, right? – were going to barge into Charlie’s room. Or worse. Sneak in and leave traps everywhere. His poor roommate Ben…

“No way, you guys are totally Slytherin!” Charlie glanced over as he heard Keira inform his Twin brothers they belonged in her House instead of the family Gryffindor one. And actually, he wouldn’t mind it if they were in Slytherin. Give him a little bit of break to not worry about pranks set up around his room. Let them terrorize some other people for a change! “Whatever happens, you guys belong in Slytherin and nothing will convince me otherwise.” Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as her proclamation.

“Charlie? Did you hear what I said?” Charlie looked back over at his fellow Gryffindor as she sweetly – sickeningly sweet – called to regain his attention back on her.

“Uh, no, sorry,” he apologized politely.

“I asked if you would help me with my Charms homework some time.” She repeated her question as she reached up to place a flirtatious hand on his arm.

“Oh, well actually Ben is the one who’s really good at Charms. I’ll let him know you’re looking for some help,” Charlie told her, continuing to be blissfully unaware of her advances.

Keira had to admit those types of people who tended to throw themselves at him and shamelessly flirt with him did bother her a little bit, but since Charlie showed no interest in them whatsoever – that, and he appeared completely unaware he was even being chatted up – she wouldn’t say she was necessarily jealous. Maybe if Charlie showed interest in someone else, connected and grew closer to them, then she would be jealous. But this, while it annoyed her, didn’t make her jealous. That being said, if necessary, she would rip that girl’s arm off and beat her to a bloody pulp with it.

“Okay, that’s enough. Piss off!” The girl was suddenly shooed away from Charlie by his best, although never recruited, wingman.

“Hey! We were just talking!”

“Yeah, we heard you chatting him up, being all cheeky. We get it, you’re up for it, but he’s not – at least with you – so begone,” Andre demanded as he continued to usher the girl and her little friend group away. She called back to Charlie to come by so they could finish their talk but Andre was adamant that they keep moving and get out of there.

“Honestly, the nerve of some people,” Penny huffed as she folded her arms after assisting Andre with escorting Charlie’s small group of admirers away.

“She just wanted to talk about Quidditch and asked for help on her Charms homework,” Charlie said with an ignorant shrug.

“Sometimes you’re dafter than Barnaby,” Andre informed him. “She fancies you – they all do.”

“Who?”

“All those girls – your fans,” Penny chimed in.

“You guys think everyone fancies everyone,” Charlie said, waving off their supposed warnings.

“Shouldn’t you guys be in the Prefect Carriage,” Penny suddenly reminded them.

“Oh right! That’s where I was heading,” Keira said from her new position of leaning against the compartment’s doorway, an arm lazily draped across Fred’s shoulders. Charlie couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at his little brother’s smug look – it was the smugness that got him and he would wipe that smug little look right off his face! Everyone thought Bill was the one Charlie was supposedly jealous of with how close he was to Keira but turned out that maybe it was the Twins instead!

“Right, so we better get going then. The train’s about to take off any minute now,” Charlie said before turning his attention to his brothers. “Now what did we discuss?”

“Only cause mischief when you’re not on patrol.”

“Don’t listen to Percy, he has no authority whatsoever!”

Charlie sighed while Percy slammed his book down on his lap and glared at the Twins. That was not true! Keira however found this quite amusing. “Don’t cause any mischief while I’m on patrol either,” she requested to which the Twins happily obliged.

“I can’t believe you became a Prefect with all the trouble you get into,” George amazed.

“According to all the stories we heard from Bill and Charlie,” Fred added for a further explanation.

“I know. If I can become Prefect, anyone should be able to, right,” Keira joked.

“Tell me about it,” Percy muttered, earning himself a glare from the Slytherin Prefect.

“I don’t think becoming Prefect is in the cards for us.” The Twins had to agree on that. It was added responsibility and duty that would get in the way of their fun.

“You guys could if you wanted to be! How cool would it be if all of us became Prefects?” Charlie couldn’t hide his excitement over that thought.

“If we wanted to be-“

“But we don’t really.”

Charlie’s grin fell at the Twin’s admission. “Come on, Charlie.” The Gryffindor looked over as he felt a cool hand on his arm which began to lead him away from his brother’s compartment. Keira smiled up at him reassuringly before another realization dawned on her. “Oh!”

She quickly let go of the redhead and hurried over to Penny, throwing her arms around the Hufflepuff. She had almost forgotten to give her friends a proper greeting as well! Her and Andre shared a special handshake – no hugging since it would wrinkle his outfit, plus much like her, he wasn’t really one for physical affection, but she had clearly grown more comfortable with her friends over the years, opting to give them hugs at least. Charlie walked back over to partake in the friendlier greetings as well. There was brief chitchat over how everyone’s summer went – Good? Good! – and promises to talk more about what they did over the summer, and what they planned to do that year regarding the Cursed Vaults, before Charlie and Keira had to part ways and finally make it to the Prefect Carriage.

“You’re late.”

The warm greeting welcomed the pair of Prefects as soon as they opened the door to the Prefect carriage and stepped inside.

“Uh oh, are we grounded now,” Keira snarkily replied as she plopped down in an available seat, smirking playfully at the Head Girl who scolded them upon arrival.

“We were helping some First Years find a place to sit,” Charlie explained as he took a seat next to Keira. He conveniently left out the fact that those First Years were his brothers earning a small smirk from Keira as the Head Girl accepted his reason for being late.

Fortunately the debriefing in the Prefect Carriage and distribution of patrol schedules was brief and they were able to return to their regular compartments with their friends.

Keira plopped down on the seat across from Barnaby, who was getting a head start on his tutoring lessons with Rowan, resting her feet on the seat across from her between her fellow Slytherin and the wall of the compartment. “Hey roomie,” she greeted, causing the Slytherin boy to beam. Charlie closed the compartment door behind them and took a seat next to Keira.

Ah, that’s right, Charlie recalled hearing something about Barnaby moving in with Keira over the summer when they ran into each other in Diagon Alley for some back to school shopping. Well, he saw her, she didn’t see him because he made sure to hide and avoid her, somewhat awkwardly according to the Twins and Percy. He wasn’t sure why but seeing her put him into a bit of a panic. Well that wasn’t the complete truth, he did have a good idea why…

For one he had lost the snitch, sort to speak, let it slip right through his fingers and didn’t keep in better contact with her over the summer. Especially after spending the End of the Year Ball together…

And for another…

He had first spotted her hanging out around the entrance to Knocturn Alley with Barnaby, Jae, and Merula and Ismelda, of all people, who probably saw the others there and went to investigate what they were doing per their nosy selves. Charlie knew how his mum felt about that place and the people that hung out in the shady shopping area, banning all her children from even thinking about entering that place or anywhere like it, so he clearly did not want his mum catching Ady there! She was initially put off by the idea of her two eldest boys befriending a Slytherin, changing her mind once she actually got to know Ady better, but if his mum saw her in Knockturn Alley… he did not want to deal with that. So there was some awkward rushing of his mum past the Knockturn Alley entrance.

They didn’t seem to spend too much time there, however, and soon Charlie saw her walking around Diagon Alley with Barnaby and he, once again, awkwardly hid and avoided her, ducking into the nearest store as she approached and was warmly greeted by his mum and family. Unfortunately that store was Twilfitt and Tattings, a store that his family never entered since they could never afford the high end prices which therefore earned him a lot of confused and disdainful looks from the wealthy, primarily pureblood, shoppers…and Andre. Commence more ridicule.

“Charlie?!” The second eldest Weasley spun around from watching his family through the store window from behind a mannequin at the surprised call of his name to come face to face with his fellow Quidditch aficionado, Andre Egwu.

“Uh, y-yeah, h-hey, Andre. What’s up? How was your summer? Doing some back to school shopping?” His attempts to act cool and casual clearly failed since the Ravenclaw saw right through him. That and he was, again, in a store he never shopped at.

“…What are you doing in here,” Andre questioned suspiciously.

“Umm…. Shopping?”

“I’ve never seen you in here before. I’ve also never seen you wear anything from here before. Normally you’re in Bill’s hand-me-downs,” Andre observed.

“W-well, maybe I thought with Bill graduated and gone now working in Egypt I should get myself some nice, new clothes,” Charlie attempted to reason.

“Really? Is that so? Then why are you hiding behind a mannequin,” Andre questioned.

“I’m not hiding! I’m just looking at this piece of clothing,” Charlie defended, turning to admire the article of clothing on the mannequin before grimacing. Bloody hell….

“Those are women’s dress robes,” Andre pointed out. “Not that I’m one for gender stereotyping, of course, I think anyone should wear whatever they want. As long as it’s stylish and properly tailored, of course. But you’ve just never struck me as someone who would wear something like this… Not even something feminine but something so lavish. You and your family manage to pull off the casual, second-hand look.” It was a compliment, he swore!

“…Maybe I’m looking for something for my mum,” Charlie quickly thought, earning an unamused look from Andre.

“Really? We’re going to keep doing this?”

“Okay, okay,” Charlie sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m…hiding,” he awkwardly admitted.

“From what,” Andre asked quizzically.

“Not what, who,” Charlie answered before begrudgingly motioning out the shop window where Keira and Barnaby were talking to his family. Andre peered out the shop window before a devilish smirk spread across his face.

“Ohhhh…. I see. Why are you hiding from her? I thought you guys had a great time at the Ball last year,” Andre recalled, his smirk widening.

“I haven’t really talked to her much this summer,” Charlie admitted.

“What,” Andre cried out in surprise, earning the attention of most of the shoppers although he didn’t seem to notice or at least not to mind. “But… why?! I thought we were finally over all the oblivious feelings and then the awkward realization of feelings and embarrassing behavior around each other. You had your chance, you took it, I was so proud of you! And now –“

“I know! I know!” Now it was Charlie’s outburst that caused the shoppers in the store to once again look over at the two boys. “I blew it! I buggered everything up!”

Andre frowned as he watched his friend wallow in his despair. “Maybe not. Why don’t we go talk to her and –“ The mere mention of going out to talk to Keira instantly horrified the Gryffindor, his eyes widening, face paling, and adamantly shaking his head no. And they’re supposed to be the brave House… “Alright, how about I go out and talk to her. See if she’s upset with you ditching her after one night together. If she thinks you were just using her to get what you want and then once you got it you threw her away or you didn’t enjoy your time with her, think she’s a bad kisser –“ Charlie let out a groan of despair. This was not a good pep talk if it was supposed to be one! “I’ll go do damage control,” Andre rephrased before handing Charlie a robe he was looking at before heading out of the store and joining the group catching up in front of it.

Meanwhile, Charlie watched them nervously from behind the mannequin in the store. Ugh, what was he doing? What had become of him?! He was a Quidditch Seeker, a future Dragonologist, a big brother! He normally was braver than this and more calm and collected. Dragons didn’t scare him but this girl did? What was happening to him?!

He just couldn’t bare it if he hurt her and he was afraid he did. He didn’t mean to! And he wanted to fix it! He just wasn’t sure how to do that… This whole situation, having these types of feelings for someone, everything, was entirely uncharted territory he was trying to navigate with a map he couldn’t read. Normally he would turn to Bill for help but now he was embarking on the next chapter of his life in Egypt as a Curse-Breaker.

“So? What happened,” Charlie questioned eagerly but nervously once Andre returned into the store.

“I think you can rest easy, she doesn’t seem mad at you,” Andre informed him, causing the Seeker to visibly relax. “Actually she said she felt bad she didn’t keep in better touch, like it was her fault, so doesn’t sound like she’s blaming you. She asked about you, wondered where you were. Sounded like she missed you.”

Charlie took a moment to process what Andre told him before finally speaking. “She blames herself? Why? She shouldn’t do that! I didn’t write to her either –“

“Yeah but even if you did it sounds like she wouldn’t have gotten it for a while or have a lot of time to respond back. According to Barnaby she was away from home a lot this summer. Spent most of it across the pond in Canada,” Andre informed him.

“Oh… Guess Barnaby did a better job of keeping in touch than me,” Charlie chuckled.

“Well it was easier for him. They’re living together apparently.” Charlie immediately tensed back up at this new information that completely blindsided him.

“They’re living together?! What does that even mean?!”

Andre shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I was sent to go see if she was mad at you. Which I did. And since she’s not, you can go ask her about her living situation. Now give me this,” Andre said, taking the robe he was looking at before all this drama started from the Gryffindor, “You can’t pull this off.”

Charlie admitted, at first, the news of her and Barnaby living together came as quite the shock to him and he may have been a little… jealous… and confused and worried what that meant exactly… And he tried to listen to Andre, despite the Ravenclaw being only somewhat helpful, and prepared himself to step out of that store and rejoin his family and greet Ady and Barnaby but as he began to do so, the owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies stepped out of their store and attempted to get Ady’s attention who quickly grabbed Barnaby’s arm and said her goodbyes to the Weasley’s as she hastily took her leave before the owner of the Quidditch store caught up to her.

Charlie wasn’t really sure what that was all about but he was more focused on figuring out what was going on between her and Barnaby. He knew they had always been very close friends, and Charlie and Barnaby were good friends as well, sharing a common passion for Magical Creatures as well as in interest in Quidditch since Barnaby was Ady’s Beater partner on the Slytherin Quidditch team. He just wanted some clarity on the situation because the uncertainty was causing a lot of crazy thoughts to swarm through is head.

He had started a letter to Penny about twenty times, scribbling out each attempt and throwing away a lot of parchment that evening when he got back to the Burrow. Bill’s empty bed was now covered in crumbled up pieces of parchment from all of Charlie’s failed attempts at trying to figure out how to casually ask the Hufflepuff, who knew everything that was happening with everyone at Hogwarts even during the summer months, if she could shed some light on what was going on with Ady and Barnaby. But every time it was too awkward or obvious why he was asking and Penny, like Andre and Bill…and the rest of his siblings, loved teasing him about his secret feelings for Ady…which may not be so secret anymore…

Ultimately Charlie scrapped the whole thing and instead had the brilliant idea to ask Tonks instead. Tonks, who surprisingly discovered was related to Ady which only brought the two closer, who also did not care much, if at all, about who fancied who, or who was dating who, or who was caught snogging who unless it was a funny, embarrassing story. Tonks who also was his first, and still one of his closest, friends since he first starting attending Hogwarts (clearly not including Bill).

Tonks proved to be quite the reliable source, although Charlie had to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand a few times since Tonks could lose her train of thought and get distracted easily. According to her, Barnaby had spent most of the last summer and holidays with Ady at her place or at Hogwarts with her. This summer it seemed he officially moved in to one of the spare rooms in 12 Grimmauld Place (Keira taking over the old House of Black home was a sort of revolutionary act and having her friends visit during the summer and hang out there was surreal. Walburga was probably rolling over in her grave). It was pretty common knowledge, at least in their friendship group, that Barnaby did not have the best childhood with his father or being cared for by his grandmother. Apparently things with her continued to be bad, possibly growing worse, and none of their friends felt Barnaby should continue to live in such a negative, stressful, and toxic environment. And Ady was the one friend who finally took action.

First she opened up 12 Grimmauld Place to all her friends whenever they needed a place to go, to get away or just to hang out, and then she practically packed up Barnaby and his things herself and brought him over to live with her and her elusive guardian. Barnaby still visits his grandmother, checks on her to make sure she’s doing alright since she is getting older, and run some errands for her (apparently that’s what they were doing in Knocturn Alley that day and ran into Jae and the others) since Barnaby still cares for his grandmother and feels responsible for her and her well-being. However, he does seem to be doing better since no longer living there, like a weight has been lifted and he even seems well-rested.

Charlie appreciated Tonks sharing this information with him. Not only did it ease his anxiety but it just made him admire and fancy Ady even more than he already did. Plus she didn’t tease him about his crush on Ady like Penny would have. That Hufflepuff was part Slytherin, he swore!

“Oh thank Merlin,” Andre breathed a sigh of relief as he entered their compartment. “I hope it’s safe in here. Tulip and Tonks are getting an early start on their mischief making and rumour has it they have two little apprentices with them as well,” Andre informed them as he closed the door behind him and took a seat next to Rowan after she shifted over for him. Charlie tensed up at the mention of the two apprentices although he did his best not to show how anxious he actually was. But his worst fear was happening. And they hadn’t even made it to Hogwarts yet!

“Shouldn’t you two go and stop them as Prefects,” Rowan asked the two sitting across from her, giving them a pointed look from over the top of her glasses.

“It’s safer in here. I’m not going to get caught in a dung bomb explosion or worse,” Keira replied.

“And I deal with this kind of stuff every day when I’m home, can’t I have a little bit of a break,” Charlie pleaded.

“Besides, there are other Prefects who can handle it, ones who are on duty right now. We’re on break,” Keira added. Rowan sighed but dropped it, resuming reading her book.

“So, how was everyone’s summer,” Andre asked in an attempt to change the subject to a less anxiety provoking one. The small fraction of their group of friends began to share their summer holiday stories, the popular Hufflepuff even managing to join them from her busy task of greeting and catching up with essentially everyone on the train (she was the most popular person in Hogwarts for a reason), sometime during Rowan telling everyone about her time on her family’s tree farm.

When it was Charlie’s turn to talk about his summer he had to admit it was bittersweet with Bill leaving for Egypt. He didn’t mean to bring the train compartment down but he missed his brother and they all missed their surrogate older brother. Or crush in Rowan’s case. And as proud as his family obviously was for him becoming a Curse-Breaker and achieving his dream, of course they all missed him and worried about him, especially their mum. But he promised to write them often and so far had kept his promise, writing to them almost every day, mainly to assure their mum he was safe and eating and had clean clothes and he was okay. “You might get some letters from him too this year, who knows,” Charlie told them, trying to end on a positive note.

“What about you, Keira? How was your summer,” Penny asked, peering around the Gryffindor who sat between them.

“Fine,” Keira answered with a shrug. The rest of the compartment stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

“Just…fine? That’s it,” Penny asked with a frown.

Charlie didn’t want to pry or urge her to speak when, he assumed, bringing up the topic of Bill had upset her. She wasn’t one to normally show her emotions, at least not the negative ones, in front of others and only a select few had actually seen her stress, frustrated, and depressed, himself and Rowan being a part of the select few. Keira and Bill were close. Very close. Best friends. Partners. Family. And him graduating and leaving had to be just as hard on her as it was on him and the rest of the family, if not possibly harder. She had lost one brother and now it was sort of like she was losing another one. But he was sure Bill would write to her and keep in touch with her. Didn’t matter the distance between them, nothing would break their bond.

“You were gone a lot,” Barnaby finally spoke up when it was apparent Keira wasn’t going to say any more on the matter. “It was kind of lonely. Luckily Tonks and some of our other friends were around to hang out with,” he added with a grin, but it was obvious he missed her.

“Gone? Where did you go,” Penny asked curiously.

“Canada,” Keira answered. These one word answers were clearly starting to annoy the Hufflepuff as she narrowed her eyes at the Slytherin girl.

“And what were you doing in Canada,” Penny asked.

Keira shrugged as she stared out the window. “Stuff.” Charlie swore he saw her smirk briefly but she quickly hid it to continue messing with the Hufflepuff.

“Must have been really busy since I didn’t hear from you much over this summer,” Penny continued.

“Yeah, I was really busy,” Keira confirmed sincerely. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t write more often. To you and everyone. Plus travelling that much distance is exhausting,” she added.

Penny perked up once she got a genuine answer from the Slytherin that was also more than one word. “What was keeping you so busy? Something exciting?”

“More Curse-Breaking adventures,” Rowan asked, intrigued as well because she was also worried that she hadn’t heard much from her friend over the summer holiday but learning she was not the only one was a relief.

“Did you get a Thunderbird,” Barnaby asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.

“Was it a guy,” Andre asked with a smirk, causing Keira to look over at him curiously. Why would he assume that? His suggestion seemed to capture everyone’s attention in the compartment as they looked over at him in shock over that possibility, since it never crossed any of their minds, before looking back at the Slytherin being questioned curiously.

“A guy. Twenty guys. You don’t know my life,” Keira replied with her usual sass. And while everyone else chuckled Charlie was filled with dread - he may have just missed the snitch and lost.

“World Cup is happening next year,” Andre announced excitedly to change the subject once again. “Teams are already competing for a spot.”

“Did you get offered a position, Andre,” Penny asked curiously. He was working towards playing professionally after all.

“No, unfortunately but they only choose a few select Keepers so it’s more difficult to get offered a position as one compared to say all the Chasers,” Andre explained.

“Guess that makes sense. One Keeper to three Chasers,” Penny replied.

“Right, but since this is the World Cup and not any normal match, games in the tournament can last for days or weeks! So they want to have two to three Keepers and a few lines of Chaser and Beaters to switch out so players can get some rest,” Andre continued to try and explain. “So teams may have nine Chasers but only two or three Keepers, so the odds are slim. I’m not taking it personally. Or letting it discourage me from playing professionally,” he assured.

“That’s good to hear,” Penny replied with a grin before Andre turned his attention to the red head next to her.

“While I may not have gotten an offer, someone here did…”Charlie tensed up slightly as all eyes turned to him.

“You got offered to play,” Rowan asked excitedly.

“Uh… yeah… I was offered a position for England,” Charlie admitted awkwardly, clearly a bit embarrassed by all this attention. Also because he knew when he told them he turned it down they were all going to throw a fit.

“Congrats! I knew you would, mate,” Andre congratulated proudly. “I can’t wait to watch you play and beat all those other teams and win, and oh you think you have fans now, wait until they see you -“

“I’m…not going to play for England,” Charlie interrupted nervously. But he didn’t want Andre to get himself all worked up only to be let down by his decision.

“What? But you said you got an offer to –“

“I did. But… I turned it down,” Charlie admitted.

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!” Charlie winced and looked down as the entire compartment yelled at him followed by a lot of scolding and questioning. He was afraid Andre might hit him in an attempt to knock some sense into him!

“Are you insane!? It’s an opportunity of a lifetime!”

“Why wouldn’t you want to play in the biggest Quidditch tournament in the world?”

“What is wrong with you?!”

“What?! What do you mean you’re not playing for England?” Charlie glanced over at the Slytherin next to him whose question, although a cry of surprise and outrage, was not as rage filled as others (Andre) but instead filled with disappointment. The look on her face confirmed the tone in her voice and Charlie’s heart began to ache slightly.

Keira had sat up when Charlie made his announcement, her feet dropping to the floor from the seat across from her. She was definitely not expecting him to say that. And she couldn’t hide the shock and disappointment from her face as she stared at him awaiting an answer, an explanation for his poor life decision, in her opinion.

“Can we all stop yelling, please!” The compartment went silent and for a brief moment everyone’s attention turned from the red head to Barnaby. “I know you’re not fighting but I still don’t like all the yelling,” he explained. The compartment quietly apologized to the Slytherin boy before turning their attention back to the Gryffindor Seeker.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself,” Andre demanded, folding his arms over his chest as he watched Charlie fixedly.

“It was an honor being asked and I am very grateful for the opportunity, like I told them, but… after thinking a lot about it and how much time and energy it would be asking of me, and travel, and everything it meant… it’s accepting a huge commitment and that means it would take time away from school and studying and working towards becoming a Dragonologist. It’s my dream to work with dragons and I’m not going to let anything jeopardize that, even Quidditch. And if my grades slip or I’m unable to master necessary spells and skills I need to be able to work with dragons I’ll never forgive myself.” His passionate speech seemed to settle the questions everyone in the compartment had, even if they were still disappointed in his decision.

An awkward silence fell throughout the train compartment until Keira finally dared to break it. “I guess it’s for the best. I would hate to see the disappointed look on your face when Canada beats England and wins,” she told him with a small smirk.

Charlie blinked at her a couple times, not expecting some trash talking, before a small smile crept onto his face. She, and everyone else, may still be disappointed in his decision but at least they accepted it, or were at least trying to.

“You’re right, it is a big commitment and you have different goals for yourself and your future. It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make but I think it is the right one for you. Takes a lot of courage to be able to turn down an opportunity like that and maintain your focus on your aspirations that you know will make you happy overall instead of just for a moment,” Penny spoke up encouragingly.

“Thanks, Penny.” Charlie was really touched by the Hufflepuff’s words. He was very fortunate to have such understanding friends and it meant a lot to him that they thought so highly of him.

“Very focused on your career goals… Very ambitious… Very Slytherin of you,” Keira teased with a small smirk earning a small smirk and chuckle from the Gryffindor.

“Well, you know-“ Charlie started before being interrupted from the Ravenclaw across from him.

“Wait, hold on,” Andre said suddenly, holding up a hand as he took a moment to gather his thoughts. Charlie prepared for another tongue lashing but instead, to his surprise, Andre turned his attention to the Slytherin next to him. “You think Canada is going to beat England? And win?”

“Yeah, I do,” Keira replied confidently.

“Really? I’ll take that bet,” Andre replied just as cocky.

“Oh no, here they go,” Rowan sighed, shaking her head.

An evil, mischievous grin spread across the Slytherin’s face. “Are you sure? Without Charlie they don’t really have much of a chance to win, do they,” Keira pointed out with a smirk before looking at the Gryffindor Seeker. “So really I should thank you for turning down playing for England. Makes England far less of a threat.”

“Your maple drinking team is the nonthreatening one,” Andre barked suddenly.

“Alright you two, calm down.” Penny attempted to calm the two Quidditch obsessed friends down. This was not the first time they got into passionate arguments over Quidditch teams and players and it wouldn’t be the last. She had a feeling this was going to be a long year with the World Cup coming up.

“Hey! Maple is delicious,” Keira snapped back. Not exactly the point but still she felt she needed to defend it.

“It really is. She brought me back pure maple sugar candies – those things are amazing,” Barnaby informed the compartment blissfully.

“Did someone say maple sugar candy?” The compartment’s residents all turned to look at the new voice that graced them with their presence. Jae stood in the now open doorway of the compartment with a bag of what they all assumed was full of some of his merchandise slung over his shoulder.

“Hey Jae,” the group greeted prompting Jae to go into his sales pitch. The train ride to Hogwarts was a long one! They needed snacks, rarer ones they couldn’t get from the Honeyduke’s cart, and things to keep them busy! Plus now was the best time to get their hands on last minute school supplies, like auto-answer quills, before they arrived at Hogwarts. And since they were his friends he’d promise to give them a deal… He had a bag full of stuff for everyone! Like Santa except they had to pay him…

“We’re fine, Jae, thanks though,” Charlie answered. Every day that kid pitched him something, being roommates, so he had gotten used to turning him down without any feeling of guilt.

“Alright but if you do decide you want anything, you know where to find me. And speaking of maple sugar candy, I believe we have our own deal to make,” Jae told the Slytherin girl who sighed and stood up to grab her own bag from the overhead luggage compartment.

“Keira! Have you become one of Jae’s suppliers,” Penny asked, sounding rather shocked by this turn of events.

“He asks me to bring him some candies and snacks from Canada that he can’t get here to sell. It’s not a big deal,” Keira assured.

“Yeah, and it’s not like I’m taking advantage. We’re splitting the profits,” Jae assured Penny as Keira grabbed a package out of her bag and began to hand it over to him. “70-30.”

Keira paused at Jae’s distribution percentage and quickly pulled the package back to her before Jae could get his hands on it. “70-30? It’s supposed to be 50-50.”

“Did we decide on that though? I mean, I am the one doing all the work, making all the deals, doing the sales pitching, putting myself at risk by carrying the merchandise around so if I get caught that’s it,” Jae debated.

“And I’m the one who smuggled these in for you and without me you wouldn’t have any merchandise to sell,” Keira pointed out.

Jae frowned and considered her point. “Fair enough. 60-40.” Keira’s eyes narrowed at the shady dealing Gryffindor. But since she knew he did this to get money to send back to his mum she didn’t mind him getting the majority of the profits. Besides, she had enough money.

“Alright, deal,” Keira agreed before they shook hands and she handed over the package to him.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Jae said with a smirk before placing her package in his bag. “I’ll come back around later and see if you guys want anything.”

“You could also come back just to say hi and hang out with us because we’re friends,” Penny pointed out.

“I would, Penny, but I’m working,” Jae pointed out.

“You know, if you put in half as much effort into your school work as your do with this little business of yours you could be top of the Gryffindor students in your year,” Penny informed him.

Jae blinked at her a moment before bursting out into laughter. “Oh Penny, I had no idea how funny you were! Studying about plants and writing essays on Goblin Rebellions doesn’t help me, but perfecting my business skills and making money does.” And with that the shady dealing Gryffindor took his leave to get more sales, closing the door to the compartment behind him.

“There goes all the pure maple candy,” Barnaby sighed, looking down in disappointment. That was short lived, however, as suddenly a box of the candy he was just mourning plopped down in his lap. “Maple candy,” he exclaimed excitedly with a grin.

“I wouldn’t give him all of it,” Keira assured. “Have to save some for ourselves. For free,” she added. Keira began distributing some more candy and snacks she brought back with her from her visits to Canada around the compartment. “Oh, you know who may like some of these? Talbott.” Since, thanks to Penny, she learned he had a bit of a sweet tooth. “I’m going to go find him,” she announced, standing up. “Besides, I have to do my rounds soon anyway. Tonks and the rest of them better take a break from their mayhem.”

“I’ll go with you,” Penny said, standing up as well. “I want to go check on Beatrice.” Of course she did. She was going to be even more overprotective of her little sister after what happened last year and no one blamed her.

Barnaby stood up suddenly as well and wrapped Keira in a tight bear hug. “Thanks, Keira! You’re the best!”

The Slytherin girl blinked in surprise before laughing slightly and reaching up to pat Barnaby on the back a couple times. “Thanks, Barnabas. Any time.” After their hug, Barnaby took his seat and began devouring the maple candy while the two girls left the compartment.

As soon as the door to the compartment closed, Andre looked over at the Gryffindor with a devilish smirk.

“No –“ Charlie started.

“So….” Andre started innocently.

“Don’t –“ Charlie warned.

“You two-“

“I’m not talking about this right now with you,” Charlie informed him.

For a brief moment Charlie honestly thought Andre had dropped it but he just lulled him into a false sense of security. “So do you think she has a boyfriend back in Canada,” Andre asked suddenly. “Maybe it was just a summer fling,” he suggested as Charlie groaned and slumped over to thump his head against the wall of the train. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she actually dated or did anything with twenty guys,” Andre added, trying to make Charlie feeling better…or mess with him more, Charlie wasn’t sure, but it didn’t help him feel any better and instead let out another groan. “Could always ask her roommate,” Andre suggested with a smirk, glancing over at Barnaby who was preoccupied with stuffing his face full of candy.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Charlie attempted to say but Andre just spoke over him like he wasn’t even listening.

“Hey, Barnaby. Do you know what Keira was busy doing in Canada this summer,” Andre asked curiously.

“She went to see her family over there,” Barnaby replied after a moment. “And… I know there was something else… but I forgot.” The Slytherin paused a moment to think. “I think it’s supposed to be a secret. So guess it’s good that I forgot,” he laughed.

“That’s it? You can’t remember anything else,” Andre urged prompting Barnaby to think hard once again.

“Umm…. I think I remember her mentioning someone named Patrice?” Charlie and Andre shared a look at Barnaby’s possible recollection.

“Is that…a woman or a man,” Charlie eventually, carefully asked.

“It depends,” Rowan spoke up from behind her book, the boys forgetting she was even there for a moment since she was so quiet! “Typically in English it’s a feminine name but in French it’s a masculine name.”

“Well that doesn’t help much,” Andre sighed. Charlie still wasn’t sure if Andre was actually trying to help him or if he just liked messing with him. Probably both. But guess he should appreciate his friend taking an interest. Unfortunately, none of this made Charlie feel better or clear up anything for him.

After Keira returned to their compartment, with Tonks in tow – whether she came as a friend or as a prisoner from getting caught in her mischief making while Keira was on rounds was unknown – Charlie left to go on his rounds.

“Did you find Talbott and give him some candy,” Rowan asked curiously.

“I did. I think he was happy. I told him where we were sitting and he said he might come by,” Keira replied as she took her seat back across from Barnaby and next to the window.

The group of friends chatted idly, quietly read or watched the scenery go buy, and snacked on their various snacks. Charlie’s mum of course made her children plenty of delicious homemade snacks, as did Penny’s mum, and they were nice enough to share with their friends. Although Keira also joked she might go shake down Percy for more. At least Charlie thought she was kidding…

Rowan even attempted to hone her teaching skills by discussing what she was reading about and quizzing her friends but that did not last long since they decided they weren’t even at Hogwarts yet and they would have plenty of lectures and homework and studying this year so they wanted to continue to enjoy the last bit of their summer holiday; although of course Rowan thought this was fun! Penny came back for some time but left again to check on her sister once again, and once again no one was going to blame her for her overprotective nature. Honestly, the fact that she didn’t keep Beatrice chained to her was astounding. Jae also returned and attempted to sell them some of his merchandise once again but they all refused; however, they did manage to get him to stay and hang out for a while before he continued with his side hustle, taking Andre’s place as Andre went to visit with some other people for a moment.

It was hard having so many friends and such small compartments on the train and they did their best to squeeze in – it became like a revolving door of friends in an attempt to get to sit and hang out with each of them during the ride up to and from school. They basically needed their own train car at this point.

Eventually, the part of the eight hour train ride came where everyone began to get tired, or aka: nap time. Tonks leaned against the compartment wall, snoring slightly as she dozed. Jae pulled out a pillow from some unknown magical place to help him sleep, apparently needing that break from the hustle and finding the perfect place to do it with them, while Rowan fell asleep in her classic style with an open book across her lap and her glasses askew on her face. Keira meanwhile had fallen asleep with her arms folded and legs still propped up on the seat across from her next to Barnaby. At some point she slowly began to fall over and ended up using Charlie’s shoulder as a pillow – something that was becoming a bit of a habit – which he of course didn’t mind and instead gazed down fondly at her with a small smile from his newest book on dragons as she slept peacefully, reminding him of other times he had the privilege of watching her sleep over the last couple years.

“Hey, Barnaby,” Charlie called out softly to the only other person awake in the compartment, possibly due to all the sugar candy he ate earlier. Barnaby looked up from his own book on magical creatures where he was probably more admiring the pictures rather than reading it. “What does etrall mean? Keira said it earlier…”

Barnaby frowned quizzically as he repeated the word under his breath a few times. Was this some sort of trick question? “Oh! Do you mean étoile?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Charlie confirmed. “Couldn’t quite remember it. Do you know what it means?”

“Don’t worry, I have that problem all the time,” Barnaby assured when Charlie apologized for not remembering. “Étoile means star.”

“Star,” Charlie repeated before looking over as he heard voices coming from their compartment doorway.

“Looks like it’s full,” Penny observed. “I’ll go sit with Beatrice and come back later,” she assured with a smile as Andre continued to stare at Barnaby.

“You speak French?!” Barnaby smiled proudly up at the Ravenclaw who was astounded to learn this new bit of information. He shook his head as he slowly closed the door and went to go find somewhere else to sit for the time being and needing time to process that Barnaby, who he thought had a hard time with English, apparently spoke two languages! Maybe more! Barnaby continued to grin proudly as he resumed looking back at his book.

Charlie’s gaze once again turned to the sleeping Slytherin on his shoulder, his eyes softening as he admired her a moment. “Star,” he repeated again softly, the memories of asking her to the Ball last year during her Astrology class and dancing with her under the stars before they shared their first, and only, kiss playing in his head. Maybe he hadn’t lost after all. Maybe he still had a chance.

A/N: I know the song I’m referencing isn’t the best to use for a romantic relationship (since it’s about drug addiction) but it has some great lines I think that are perfect for them (it talks about a dragon okay?! =p) I’m going to continue using the lyrics throughout each part that I think correspond to the mood.

Again, apologize for the rough editing and that I have a problem being brief... Too many commas, too many adjectives/details... I’m sure there’s a support group out there somewhere =p

I decided to make a sort of series instead of just one about them admitting their feelings because I have a lot of ideas that happen this year. I also wanted to finish Year 5 fics before getting into Year 6 but this has been sitting around waiting to be posted and I love writing the sibling banter with the Twins so I’ve been excited to get this posted and this series started - so many ideas! But I will try to get the last Year 5 fic written and out soon too I just haven’t had any motivation to write it, all my inspiration has been taken up by Year 6! (I’ve also been looking into AO3 and Wattpad to post my fics on as well so if anyone has any experience with these platforms please let me know =) )

I hope you enjoyed, hope you laughed, and if you did please let me know which parts you enjoyed and laughed at the most! As always feel free to comment and/or reblog with your thoughts and comments and let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list (and I’m sorry if I forgot anyone, I have to find a better way to do this!)! And as always my Masterlist is linked in my bio =)

Thank you for reading! 😄 ❤️

Tag List: @sly-vixen-up2nogood @sungoddessra @cinnamoncam @bexeris @urban-eagle @thatbritishcanadiangirl @abravelittlefangirl @justducky0423 @tatlikar @otpshipper93

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mentalcurls · 6 years ago

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3.5 Ammucchiate

Here’s a masterpost of my thoughts on and reactions to 3.5 Ammucchiate, translated from this post, that I mostly compiled from my tweets from that day, because I had A LOT to say. They’re not properly in chronological order and I’ve added a couple of observations I made in hindsight at the end of the season.

While the girlsquad is singing “Bello e impossibile”, Emma sings along and she touches Marti’s shoulder to catch his attention and communicate to him something like “Hey, hear me out, I’m singing about you” but he’s impassive, then lowers the sunglasses to his eyes and doesn’t smile until his eyes are hidden by the lenses

“Bello e impossibile”, by the way, stops right when Emma says “Io adoro i gay”/”I love gay people”, so right at the beginning of Niccolò’s roast

So let’s talk about Niccolò roasting Emma: first thing he does is retract his arms from around Marti’s and Emma’s shoulders (breaking the united front of the three “disertori del terrazzo” he himself had established earlier), then he makes the most unimpressed face ever, then he quotes an extreme example that forces a polarization (“Tutti gli arabi sono terroristi”/”All Arabs are terrorists”; this is a bit of a fallacy, but it’s also a pretty smart move because it makes Emma sound homophobic by association and forces Marti to side with Nico in the event he needs to choose between the two of them), while he could have chosen as an example of generalising something like “All women are bad at driving”, which would have been closer to Emma’s personal experience, but also closer to a direct attack on her (therefore counterproductive if Martino had to pick sides)

Kudos to Niccolò for studying Greek and Latin rhetoric very well, and philosophy too, YAY FOR LICEO CLASSICO

Martino’s dumbstruck expression when he breaks away from kissing Emma, aka when he hears that Niccolò has gone to them and is talking to them. Marti, by the way, doesn’t smile at all during the rest of the conversation with Niccolò (whereas when he was alone with Emma he smiled most of the time, but with his eyes hidden by the sunglasses, which makes me think they were fake smiles)

(I do believe Marti’s positive reactions during the conversation about Apparat were genuine)

Niccolò Fares sitting on the couch between two people who were making out until a second before without an hint of shame, which means he not only positions himself near Marti and manages to put his arm around Martino’s shoulders, but he also physically separates his boy from his love rival Emma. An inspiration.

DID THEY REALLY HAVE TO USE ELIO of all possible names, in the year of CMBYN (I know the reference here is to Elio Germano, not Pearlman, but my brain only recognizes some types of references)

LATENT HOMOSEXUALITY did he really say that oh God help me

Can we talk about the way Niccolò says “homosexuality” in a normal way, the emphasizes “latent” stressing every syllable?

My heart hurts both because of Nico’s little speech about generalising and because of the way Marti and Emma just leave him alone on the couch

Niccolò looking at his hands, his smile disappearing and the corners of his mouth turning down

During Self Control, Martino doesn’t consider Covitti at all, she tries to get his attention dancing closer, putting her arms around his neck, turning his face to kiss him but 2 seconds later he breaks the kiss and even when she goes for his neck he completely ignores her (p.s.: and we know now that Marti actually likes “neck action” a lot so this is very significant)

This lasts until Niccolò starts watching him, of course, then Marti has to try and make him jealous(?)/show off(?)/follow some kind of weird mating ritual (?)

Martino doesn’t stop watching Niccolò even when he stops watching Marti

10 minutes standing ovation for Rocco Fasano’s eyes 🔥🔥🔥

So that was Martino in the Self Control scene, now let’s talk about Eva. Her expressions! At first she smiles, then she sees Marti with Emma and she stops smiling, she studies them, she notices Marti is distracted, then when they start making out she makes a face and turns away (p.s.: she’s definitely disappointed, because at this point the things she knows are 1) that Marti told her he likes her before the summer 2) he allegedly made her and Gio broke up because of that 3) he has gay porn on his phone 4) he hasn’t approached her and he turned her down just a couple of weeks before with an excuse, so up until now her working theory is that he’s gay, has a thing for Gio, lied to her cause he’s in the closet/in denial; except now? he’s kissing Emma? a girl? who’s not her? She feels confused and betrayed, a feeling that stays with her at least until 7.1 Era per lui)

Then there’s Federica, poor thing, heartbroken and for the completely wrong reason

Eva directing everybody to hide any and all evidence of the party is very me tbh

(except that if it was me and I sent one person out with the trash and he DOESN?T COME BACK AT ALL, I’d kill him? I mean, I appreciate the moment as a fan, but not as my group of friends’ designated problem-solver)

Martino and Emma freezing and not doing anything even after Eva yells “Regà che cazzo mi guardate, dai, dai!” and freaks out

Maddalena and Emma are shown while they do the same thing aka taking the red cloth off the lamps (and this details gives me feels that are entirely unreasonable given that I was about to link this detail to Schopenhauer’s Veil of Maya) (p.s.: I mean, there’s definitely a lot of symbolic meaning I couldn’t quite articulate at the time of the clip, because unveiling = revealing and this is the clip in which the boys reveal their mutual attraction beyond any doubt, plus it’s Emma and Maddi “eliminating” the red light which is so important for Marti and Nico’s relationship, it’s their thing for their most intimate moments)

“Elio” and “Colino” keep silent for 11 second after throwing the trash in the bins, 11 second of fidgeting, 11 second of I’m-looking-I’m-not-looking, 11 seconds of awkwardness, 11 secondi of disaster gay Marti not knowing whether to say something or not

BAM! Niccolò smiles, steals a joke from Emma and Martino starts smiling again for the first time since Nico arrived to the party, since he interrupted Emma to kiss her (and no glasses this time!)

COLINO

God, how sad is this pet name? The allergy pseudo-explanation is even worse, sorry Maddalena, you do you, but Colino is afwul

Martino: ”How long have you been together?” Niccolò: "Since we were 16, but we’ve known each other since middle school. To be honest, we’re more like siblings than anything else. We haven’t fucked in, like, two months.” Let’s analyze this answer: Niccolò gives the information Marti requested, adds a relevant qualifier, then an unnecessary qualifier and another even more unnecessary information (that’s unnecessary when compared with the literal content of the conversation, discounting the context, [which is Niccolò trying to justify his being with Maddalena while undressing Martino with his eyes at every chance to Marti himself])

Marti’s confusion when Nico says “But I can’t break up with her” breaks my hearts, just like the fact that despite everything he genuinely feels bad for Maddalena’s “hypertrichosis”

Seriously, what’s with Niccolò and feet? They’re part of the human body, let them live, or is always mentioning them with a negative connotation some kind of reverse psychology thing to tell the world you’ve got a fetish?

8:53 is the precise time at which Nico cracks and you can see just a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth AND MARTI SEES IT RIGHT AWAY I mean, with all the Nico-watching he does of course he’s carefully catalogued his every tiny change of expression and of course he can’t possibly not notice

So how much time will Martino lose trying to decide whether Niccolò was only joking about the hobbit feet thing, about the whole hypertrichosis thing or about the fact that he can’t break up with Maddalena, too?

That hint of hope and affection you can read in Nico’s eyes while he’s watching Marti right before he starts to move his pinky (thank you Rocco, ily)

My son Niccolò? who can’t stop smiling? when he’s alone with Marti? and who acts so brave??? going for his hand first????

Martino, you’re such a dumbass though, that’s a classic movie move and you look down like an idiot, look at the stars you can’t see instead, look at the street lamp!

Martino’s absolute lack of chill when he looks down towards their hands as sson as Nico touches him kind of makes me homicidal (because it breaks the convention a classic rom com scene), but it makes his answering, reciprocal move even more significant because it’s intentional (p.s.: over time, I actually got a different perspective on this? And I actually completely love it now, cause it makes sense for Marti, it makes sense for a teenager like him and it gives us a feel of disbelief over the whole situation he has to be feeling too cause that shit happens in movies alright, but not in RL, not to people like him, except it’s happening; on top of that, I love LudoBesse for breaking another stereotypical romantic trope and making our boys fucking FEARLESS - I mean, if something like that happened to me I’d be shitting myself and I would ignore it as hard as possible out of fear that if I pointed it out it would scare the other person away, but that’s me)

And then, a herd of mammoths DARES TO INTERRUPT MY CHILDREN you deserve the worst things, folks

Finally, I would just like to state for the record that I’m kind of disappointed Silvia’s 80s party only had 80s music, Eva and Silvia dressed up kind of eighties and a girl in a Madonna-ish outfit, stop

It’s a real shame, I have see no huge bows, no fluo tutus, no legwarmers, no oversized blazers with the big shoulders, no Memphis group style prints on sweatpants, no Puma-Fila-Kappa-Champions N O T H I N G WHERE’S FIORUCCI?

#skam italia #martino rametta #niccolò fares #emma covitti #maddalena (skam italia)#nicotino #skamit #eva brighi #silvia mirabella #federica cacciotti #skamit meta #a. writes #3.5 ammucchiate

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prophetandprincess · 6 years ago

Text

X X X X X X X

My life is a literal dumpster fire, but I didn’t forget about you guys

"Explain to me why you like living in New York again?" Jake asked as Alex made her way out of the subway station on her way to the Malone's home.

"Good morning to you as well," Alex laughed as she headed through the streets of Queens. "What exactly is making you question my life choices this time? Also, you live in Miami, you have no room to talk."

"Miami is drug dealers and gangs, not superheroes and aliens and shit, totally different," Jake huffed. "Apparently some animal or something ripped up this scientist's apartment. Luckily they were at the work or something or it would have seriously hurt or killed them. Then there is that Spider-dude or whatever crawling all over the city. None of that touches on the fact that you work for the fucking Hulk."

"Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning, Jake?" Alex couldn't help but laugh. This was a conversation that she had with every member of her family over every form of communication device. It just didn't bother her anymore.

"Lexie, I'm worried about you. More than usual. Promise me you won't take any unnecessary risks, okay? You know how much Mom and Dad worry," Jake said.

"Mom's last email made that very clear in how she completely ignored asking about anything going on with my internship or the city. I'll be careful." Alex knew that she was lying as she said the words.

While she hadn't given her answer to Professor Warren, she knew that she was going to say yes. That meant she would be willingly walking into somewhere with the word institute in the name and those places were rarely pleasant. She doubted that they just let the inhabitants of such a place just walk about, but it was an unnecessary risk. However, it was nothing that Jake needed to know about.

"Jake, I've got to let you go. I'm fulfilling an obligation to a very demanding eight year old this afternoon." Alex said as she turned onto the Malone's street, pushing hair out of her face when the wind kicked up. "Talk to you later?"

"You have my number. We also have to plan when I'm coming up to visit you," Jake said before they made their goodbyes and hung up.

Sandy was sitting on the front steps of her house kicking her shoes against the wooden step. Alex knew the Malone house better than the back of her hand, which floorboards creaked, and just where you had to hit the fridge so the ice came out of the door. The Malone residence felt like home, much like the farmhouse that Alex grew up in, though it was a good deal smaller and updated in the last decade.

"You're exactly seven minutes late," Sandy scolded when she saw Alex, turning her wrist so that Alex could see her Minnie Mouse watch.

"There were a lot of people on the subway this morning Your Highness, I do apologize." Alex tried not to smile at the eight year old girl scolding her for a few minutes of tardiness as she gave her a huge hug. Especially since this was the same child that attempted to convince Alex that going to bed an hour later really didn't matter because time wasn't real. "I see that you've gotten better at telling time."

"You know how she is when she puts her mind to something," Diana Malone appeared at the front door, slinging her purse onto her shoulder. "You're looking a bit thin, dear. Have you been eating? Sleeping?"

"I'm perfectly healthy," Alex fibbed as she mounted the stairs so that she could hug Mrs. Malone. "Heading to the restaurant?"

"Tom was keeping an eye on things this morning, giving me a morning to sleep and see you. However, his arm's broken, it's Saturday, we have a few new girls that are a little wobbly on the floor, I still have to do inventory to place the order on Monday and-"

"And a million other things that a responsible business owner needs to take care of to keep a restaurant running smoothly." Alex cut Mrs. Malone off before she could finish the list and send both of their anxieties through the roof. "I promise that I'll take good care of Sandy and have her back by dinner."

"I never worry about Sandy when she's with you." Mrs. Malone locked up the house and all three of them made their way onto the sidewalk. "Why don't you just drop her off at the restaurant when you're done and I'll feed you both? At least I'll know you'll get one good meal this week."

"You promised me ice cream, remember?" Sandy piped up, putting her small and slightly sticky hand into Alex's. She didn't really want to know what was on the little girl's hand.

"Of course I remember. I'm sure you're going to want popcorn, cotton candy, and any other junk food you happen to see." Alex playfully smacked the bill of Sandy's pink baseball hat before looking back up to Mrs. Malone. "We'll come by the restaurant when we're done."

"I can drive you guys to the zoo? It's no trouble." Mrs. Malone beeped her car open and tossed her purse inside.

"I want to take the subway," Sandy cut in before Alex could say anything.

"You're literally the only New Yorker I know who wants to take the subway," Alex laughed. "Well, the girl of the day has spoken, we're going to take the subway."

"You have my number if anything comes up." Mrs. Malone discreetly slipped a twenty dollar bill into Alex's hand before scooping her daughter up into a hug. Before Alex could give the money back, Mrs. Malone was in the car and driving away. Alex and Sandy waved goodbye before they headed to the nearest subway station. By the time that they exited at the Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Ninth street station, Sandy had explained every detail about her school and her friends. Every, single, detail.

A group of boys almost ran over Sandy on their way to Central Park Zoo and Alex had to physically move the little girl out of the way. It took all of Alex's self-control not to swear colorfully, or chase after them to teach them some manners. She wanted to set a good example for Sandy and didn't want to explain to Mrs. Malone how Alex had gotten into a fist fight outside the zoo. It really wouldn't have been a fair fight anyway.

Sandy, in true New York fashion, completely forgot about the incident the moment it was over. Instead, she focused on explaining about how she was now picked first at recess to play kickball. Soon, Alex's head was filled up with all the names of her fellow classmates that Sandy kept mentioning and she forgot the teenagers as well.

"Fancy meeting you here." Alex spun around at the male voice, pulling Sandy behind her in one fluid movement. Of everything she expected to see, coming almost nose to nose with a smiling Peter Parker was not on the list of possibilities. Well, almost nose to nose, Peter was a couple inches taller than she was.

"Parker," Alex said through gritted teeth. "That's a good way to get a knee to the groin or a taser to the chest. Are you stalking me?"

"Hey," Peter help up his hands to show that he meant no harm, looking serious. "I swear on whatever you want me to swear on that I was just walking in the park and saw you, scouts honor."

There was something about Peter that made it hard for Alex not to give him a small smile or take him as a serious threat. He was in a t-shirt from what she guessed was his high school, ripped jeans, and beat up converses. For a twenty something white male, he looked rather nonthreatening. Still, it was one thing for someone to approach her when she was alone, especially a college acquaintance, but she had Sandy with her. Appearances could be deceiving and she would rip Peter limb from limb with her bare hands if he so much looked at Sandy wrong. Also, she was pretty sure that there was a university policy that if her partner died during the semester, she got an A.

"Are you A.J's friend?" Sandy asked, peeking around Alex's leg, being uncharacteristically quiet up to this point. This was the girl who had asked James, a man who looked like he could snap someone's neck, if he was dating Alex and then got offended when he said no. To say Sandy was fearless and unable to keep her mouth shut were both gross understatements.

"I'm trying to be Alex's friend, but she had relegated me to the lab partner zone." Peter laugh as he squatted down so that they were on the same level and offered his hand. "Peter Parker, pleasure to meet you."

"Sandy Malone," the small voice was very serious as she took the hand and gave it a firm shake, "and I don't know what rele…relegating? I don't know what that word means."

"Relegate means that I have decided that we can only have a specific type of relationship," Alex attempted to explain in a way that Sandy would understand while glaring at Peter. "And girls don't like whiny boys, Parker."

"Are you saying you'd find me attractive if I didn't whine?" Peter smiled up at her, ignoring the glare, before turning his attention back to Sandy. "Are you enjoying being out in the park now that it's a bit cooler?"

"We're going to the zoo because Alex was gone all summer and didn't play with me," Sandy explained before she also looked up to Alex. "Can Peter come with us? It would be more fun because he can put me up on his shoulders to see the snow leopards and bears."

"I'm sure Parker has something better to do than cater to your every whim, your highness." Alex gave the little girl a playful push while giving Peter a 'don't you dare' look. "Honestly, the world doesn't revolve around you, Squirt. People have things to do."

"You know Sandy, I've been thinking recently that I wanted to see the snow leopards again. I haven't been to the zoo since I was about your age." Peter got to his feet and gave Alex a wide smile. "That is, if Alex doesn't mind me coming along."

"She doesn't mind," Sandy said before Alex could form a coherent statement that was PG rated. "Do you Alex?"

Alex looked from Sandy to Peter, both all brown eyes and bright smiles and thought a lot of unflattering thoughts about Peter Parker. There was something about Peter just showing up places that was bothering Alex, but she couldn't figure out if it was a very intense crush or something more dangerous. Still, Alex was only human and two pairs of puppy dog eyes were too much for her to deal with.

"Since Peter doesn't seem to have anything else to do, I can't stop him from coming to the zoo with us." Alex regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth, but there was no taking them back now.

"You have to buy your own ice cream though," Sandy stated before turning on her heels and starting toward the front gate. The little girl being more than a few steps away from Alex made her nervous, so she only spared Peter a glare before following after Sandy.

"For letting me join your group, I'll buy everyone ice cream." Peter slipped his hands into his pockets, winking at Alex before strolling along behind Sandy. There was an overwhelming urge to smack that smile off his face, but Alex restrained herself as she caught up with Sandy, taking her hand.

Sandy chattered away to Peter as they walked about everything she had already told Alex on the way to the zoo. Alex toyed with the idea of calling Sam to have him come meet her, but then she thought that might be overreacting just a bit. Peter wasn't giving off that bad of a vibe and Sam would tease her relentlessly about crashing what he would perceive as a date.

Alex perked up a bit when Sandy started asking Peter questions about himself. In the time it took them to buy their tickets, and it took quite a while since half of New York decided to go to the zoo as well, Alex learned a lot about Peter. He was an only child, raised by his aunt and uncle after his parents passed, until his uncle died trying to stop a robbery a couple years previously. Alex felt guilty that she never even thought to ask Peter about himself and that she had been so harsh on him. She just hadn't thought that anything so serious had happened when he had a happy go lucky attitude.

"Let's start at the far end of the zoo, the kiddy zoo, and then make our way back," Sandy screamed over the din of the crowd.

"So we go right past the ice cream vendor, I see what you're doing," Alex laughed as she took Sandy's hand so she stayed close. Hopefully, no one else had the same idea and the crowd would thin out a bit. Usually Alex thrived in large crowds, it's why she left her little Midwest town, but when she was with Sandy everything suddenly became a danger.

"Aren't you a little old for the kiddy zoo?" Peter walked on the other side of Sandy, almost as if he sensed Alex's anxiety. He didn't put a hand on Sandy or take her hand, but he walked just a little bit behind her so that no one harm could come from her on that side.

"You are never too old for cute animals, Peter," Sandy sniffed, obviously offended.

Alex couldn't help but smile. Sandy was only eight, but she was aware of who she was and what she liked. Not only that, she had no problem telling the rest of the world to go to hell if they stated that she shouldn't like it. If Sandy could carry that through the trails of being a teenager, she was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Hell, she was a force to be reckoned with now. Sandy's indignation also stopped her from noticing that they walked right past the obnoxiously long line for the ice cream vendor.

"Woah, woah, woah, I'm not saying that you're wrong." Peter held up his hands, palms face out. "I'm a huge fan of anything cute and cuddly. Baby ducks and cows, the best. I just know that a lot of people your age don't usually like to admit that they do because of their image. By all means, let's go pet some animals."

"Did you know Alex grew up on a farm? She owns horses and cows and sheep! She promised that when I am a bit older and she's done with college, she is going to take me to see them all. She's going to let me ride one of the horses, too!" Sandy was basically bouncing on her toes at the thought while they waited to cross 65th street.

"You're a country girl?" Peter raised an eyebrow at that, eyes going to Alex's earrings and tattoos. "Would not have guessed that."

"I'm full of surprises." Alex gave him a small smile before they crossed the street.

Peter gave her a crooked smile, but turned his attention back down to Sandy, who had started chattering away about how she used to go horseback riding. Peter seemed to enjoy himself as much as Sandy, walking through the children's zoo and reading the plaques. Alex found herself starting to relax a bit. Peter was weird, but he seemed to be pretty harmless.

In the main zoo was still crowded, but Peter had gotten Sandy up to the front of the glass to watch the penguins swim. There was one penguin that was moving pebbles from one mound to the other, which Sandy found extremely entertaining. Alex scanned the crowd out of habit when her eyes weren't on the purple t-shirt and brown ponytail sticking out of the baseball hat.

Suddenly, there was this pit of cold in her stomach and Alex's fingers started to rub her wrist. She gave Sandy one more look, seeing Peter next to her, and then turned to see if anyone was giving her this horrible feeling. For a moment she caught sight of a black haired male that seemed familiar, tickling the edge of her memory, but then it disappeared. None of the other patrons stood out to her. However, Alex wanted to anywhere else, but she didn't want to ruin Sandy's fun without good reason.

"Everything alright?" Alex jumped when Peter spoke softly in her ear. She spun around, seeing that he was standing right behind her, holding Sandy's hand.

"Yeah, yeah…I just…" Alex was sure that something was wrong, but she had no proof beside a horrible sense of danger in her stomach. Maybe her paranoia was just getting worse, which was super inconvenient when you lived somewhere as populous as New York City.

"You just?" Peter prompted, his eyes scanning the crowd along with Alex. He moved forward so that they were shoulder to shoulder, which made Alex feel a little better since she wasn't alone. It shocked her a bit, it had been a while since she had felt as if someone had her back instead of someone that she would need to protect.

"I just think that it's time to go get some ice cream." Alex gave Peter a smile.

The mention of ice cream got Sandy's attention and she was more than happy to leave the penguins in search of the nearest ice cream cart. The line wasn't much shorter, but Peter offered to wait in line while the girls sat down on a bench in the shade.

"So you and Peter are partners in college? What does that mean?" Sandy asked as they watched the people walking by them.

"In some of the science classes that you take in college, you have a lab that helps you understand what the teacher told you in class. It's like in Bill Nye the Science Guy where he teaches you how certain science things work, but we have to figure it out ourselves," Alex attempted to explain in a way that Sandy would understand and failing.

"Bill who?" Sandy asked, head tilted to the side. Alex clenched her chest and it was only slightly for dramatic effect. Honestly, she had never felt older. Is this what Steve felt like when someone didn't get one of his references? What the hell were they teaching in school that Sandy didn't know who Bill Nye was? Someone should get a strongly worded letter about this gap in education.

"We are going to watch videos of him on YouTube later, if it isn't on Netflix, but do you understand what I mean? That me and Peter work together to understand what we are learning during class by doing it ourselves," Alex explained.

"Yeah, that makes sense, like when Mrs. Farris made the volcano to show us chemical reactions." Sandy nodded, but there still seemed to be something that was bothering her. "Does that mean that James isn't your boyfriend anymore?"

Before Alex figured out how to answer that very complicated question, Sandy jumped up to grab her ice cream cone from Peter. He had been attempting to carry all three and one had been in danger of sliding off it's cone. Alex followed at a slower pace, mostly because she didn't want to continue that conversation, and let Sandy talk with Peter while they continued through the zoo.

"So," Sandy said from atop Peter's shoulders so she could watch the grizzly bears play in the water over the people pressed against the fence, "do you like Alex? Is that why you picked her as your partner and wanted to come to the zoo with us?"

Alex envisioned herself jumping into the bear pen, being mauled quickly sounded very appealing. However, she wouldn't want to the poor bear to be harmed because an eight year old asked if she was dating her lab partner. That was a bit dramatic. At least Peter was blushing a bit too, focusing on his shoelaces as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

"I mean, you aren't as good looking as James, who was her last boyfriend." Sandy continued, ignoring both Alex and Peter's discomfort. "But you're also very different. He was very quiet and you talk a lot. You're funnier too. James also didn't buy my ice cream, but he did get Alex breakfast that one time. James also had a really nice smile."

"James sounds dreamy," Peter said as he looked over at Alex with a crooked smile before he helped Sandy down off his shoulders. "From what you're telling me, I don't think I can complete with this James character. Honestly, I'm just trying to be Alex's friend. She's way out of my league."

Sandy nodded and then took Peter's hand and started to walk over to the snow leopards. Peter gave Alex a wink as he followed after Sandy. Alex decided to finish her ice cream before she stuck her foot in her mouth. While it was a little flattering that Sandy thought any man remotely close in age to Alex was interested in dating her, it did make things embarrassing. Especially since it was hard to get a read on if Peter was interested in her romantically, as a friend, or if he was a stalker.

"Out of your league?" Alex asked quietly while Sandy pressed against the glass to watch the large cat prowl around the enclosure.

"I was worried if I said anything else she would kick me in the shins. I didn't realize they made bodyguards so small," Peter laughed as they watched Sandy. "It also seemed the best answer to save both of us a good bit of embarrassment. I was being completely serious when I said the ex-boyfriend sounded dreamy, however."

"Is there a question there?" Alex really hoped there wasn't.

"I mean, he sounds practically perfect in every way. What happened? Was he married? Not that I'm judging you or anything, I'm just curious." Peter dropped his voice as if anyone at the zoo would care about her dating habits.

"You know what they said about curiosity and the cat, don't you?" Alex gave him a look, but then sighed and shook her head. "He wasn't married, but it was…complicated. He was older and it just ended up not working out. Also, I'll try not to be offended that you think I'd have an affair with a married man."

"I wasn't trying to offend you, it's just obvious that you're still into him and everything, so I was trying to think of why you wouldn't still be together." Peter and Alex moved with Sandy as she moved to the red panda exhibit. "It's just that people have a way of making things more complicated that they are. It might not be too late to talk things out with Mr. Dreamy."

"Are you my relationship counselor now?" Alex snapped before grabbing Sandy before she walked in front of a stroller. "Frankly, it's none of your business so drop it."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help here." Peter put his hands in his pockets as he turned his attention back to the red pandas. "As someone who royally screwed up the one good relationship he had, you shouldn't let something important slip away from you."

"Mom says that A.J. represses her emotions because she is scared of being vulnerable," Sandy piped in as she took Alex's hand. "Can I have cotton candy? You did promise cotton candy."

"From the mouth of babes," Peter muttered, but whistled innocently when Alex glared at him.

"I promised you ice cream, but I mentioned that I knew you were going to bother me for cotton candy because you have no shame. There is a difference." Alex smacked the bill of her baseball cap. "But I guess it's alright to rot your teeth out, they are still the baby ones after all. It will also keep you from any other opinions about my personal life."

"Wonderful parenting skills," Peter commented, giving Alex a thumbs up when she glared again. "I mean it on par with telling her to play in traffic, but you're getting there."

"Hey, I'm not her mother. I'm just supposed to make sure that she doesn't die and gets to bed on time when I watch her," Alex laughed as she let Sandy start to pull her in the direction of the cotton candy. "If that means that I have to hop her on sugar and carbs to keep her in almost one piece, so be it. I'm not above that."

"Good to know that you aren't scared to bend the rules when the occasion calls for it," Peter laughed. "You know, I always did peg you as a true neutral type of girl, but chaotic good might fit too."

"English, please, Parker. I understood every other word of that." Alex resisted the urge to rub her temples. Peter was jumping from topic to topic and most of them were ones that she had no desire to talk about. Sandy was not helping matters in the slightest. How did she get herself into this situation again?

"He's talking about Dungeons and Dragons, your characters have alignments, which lets people know about how they make decisions," Sandy explained with a weariness that startled a laugh out of both Peter and Alex. "Also, you're so wrong. She's chaotic neutral."

"I bow to your superior knowledge of Harper's personality, you have known her longer than I have." Peter literally bowed to the little girl. "How do you know about D&D?"

"My dad plays and he taught me all about it, he even is helping me make my own character, even though there is no one for me to play with." Sandy shrugged as she looked up at Peter. "I should have known you played. You look like you do."

"I'll try not to be offended. D&D is starting to become popular again," Peter laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as Alex spotted a stall that sold cotton candy.

"Well, maybe you should look less like a nerd," Sandy said simply.

Alex hid her huge smile behind her hand and a fake cough. From the mouth of babes indeed. However, while she loved Sandy to death, especially the lack of filter the young girl had, this was a teaching moment. As much as she joked with Peter, she did want Sandy to be a better person than Alex.

"Sandy," Alex knelt down, "what have I told you about commenting on people's appearance?"

"If they can't change that within five minutes, then I should keep it to myself," Sandy sighed as she took her baseball cap off and itched her scalp. "But if he took the glasses off, dressed in less layers, and clothes that actually fit him, he wouldn't look like such a geek. He can do that in five minutes."

"And with that, we're going to get you sugar to stop you from talking," Alex got up and grabbed a bag of pink and blue sugar fluff as well as a bottle of water. The price was obnoxious, but anything to get Sandy to stop speaking for just a couple minutes. Alex mixed some of the pink and blue together and handed the bag down to the eight year old as if she was offering tribute to a god.

"So…you ready for the quiz on Monday?" Peter asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I still need to study," Alex sighed, so thankful to move onto a topic that wasn't her relationship with a super soldier. "I'm worried I bombed the one that we took in lab."

"Well if you bombed it, we're both screwed 'cause I copied all your answers," Peter smiled as he plucked from pink cotton candy from the bag in Alex's hand. "So I hear that you work at Stark Industries."

"What about it?" Alex licked some cotton candy residue off her fingers, eyes narrowing. "And who told you that I was working at Stark Tower?"

"I mean, when someone still in undergraduate and working with Tony Stark and Dr. Banner, people start to talk around campus," Peter shrugged, nudging Sandy with his hand to get her out of the way of a large group of teenagers who were having too much fun to pay attention to where they were going. "Are you going to start coming to class in spandex and a mask that only covers your cheek bones?"

"Only in your dreams Parker," Alex took another bit of cotton candy.

Just when she was starting to get comfortable with having Peter around, he started giving off weird vibes again. Alex was pretty sure she hadn't told anyone other than Monica and her advisor to get the credits for working at Stark Industries about the position. Monica may talk a lot, but she was very good at keeping secrets, especially Alex's. So that begged the question, how did Peter know that Alex worked for Stark Industries?

"God, being at the Tower must be amazing," Peter continued with a bounce in his step. "I mean, all that cutting edge technology? I would kill just to have like fifteen minutes with the things he has in that lab. Hell, the computer programs along would probably blow my mind."

"Actually they make me want to tear my hair out, but to each their own, I guess." Alex muttered, wondering again about getting that background check on Peter. "I don't do much there, really. Clean Petri dishes and test tubes, fetch coffee, stuff like that, but I'm getting paid so I can't complain."

"You're telling me they're having the girl who co-authored a paper with the head of the microbiology department about the use of bacteria to fight cancer, fetch coffee? That's really a waste of your talents." Peter plucked some more cotton candy out of the bag as he gave Alex a look.

"What were you doing reading a paper about the use of bacteria to fight cancer?" Alex didn't want to sound so defensive, but she didn't remember really working on that paper. It sounded very interesting, she wondered what she did on it. It would probably a topic that would help her while working in the medical division of Stark Industries.

"I make it a point to know whether I'm going to have to do all the work in group projects," Peter laughed.

"Peter, look!" Sandy grabbed his hand and led him into the tropic zoo building.

Alex followed after them, still trying to figure if Peter was a love sick puppy or tipping over into the dangerous stalker territory. While she didn't have that icy cold feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had become accustomed to with people who set off her warning bells, there was something not right about that boy. That fact that she didn't know what was really starting to bother her.

Peter kept up a running dialogue with Sandy about facts that he knew about bats. Apparently, he was very interested in echo location, and was trying to explain it to Sandy in a way that she would understand. The eight-year-old was enthralled and Alex even learned a thing or two. "How did you learn so much about bats?" Alex asked when Sandy walked over to watch a demonstration about tropical snakes. While Alex was not scared of snakes, any girl that grew up in the creeks and fields of the Midwest couldn't start crying at the sight of a snake. That being said, she did not want to get up close and intimate with them if she could help it. That was doubly true for spiders, so Alex said near the edges of the group to keep an eye on Sandy and away from the creatures on display.

"I read a lot of Batman comics," Peter whispered with a shrug.

"You're joking," Alex turned to look at him. Comic books have never been Alex's thing, but she was pretty sure that Bruce Wayne didn't use echolocation as one of his skills. Even if he did, she doubted the comics would explain more than the episode of The Magic School Bus that Alex learned the basics from in elementary school. Then again, Playboy had good articles sometimes.

"Yeah, I am." Peter gave her a wink. "I was working on something at Oscorp for a while and it was about animal genetics. I got into looking into research for a bunch of animals, spiders, mostly, but also some bats and rats."

"You worked for Oscorp?" Alex looked at Peter, a bit surprised. He was a couple years younger than her at least, so how did he get a job at one of the top biomedical companies in the world so young? Maybe they had a high school internship program? He did say he was New York, born and raised.

"What? No, no, I umm…I knew someone who worked there," Peter's face fell and he kicked a pebble away from him.

Alex waited for Peter to ramble on about whoever he was referring to, telling her their entire life story in the most convoluted way possible, but he stayed quiet. When she looked over at him, his head was still down and there was this expression that made her heart sink. Whoever it was, they had been romantically involved and it hadn't ended well, it was written all over his face. It was the same expression she saw in the mirror sometimes when she wasn't careful and thought about James as she got ready for bed.

"Alex, I can put a boa constrictor around my neck!" Sandy screamed from the front of the group, bouncing on her toes. "Come and take a picture to take to send to my mom!"

So this was karma for Alex taking so much joy from Sandy calling Peter a nerd earlier. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself that it was going to be fine. In fact, it could be worse, Sandy could have wanted to hold a tarantula. While Alex had strong protective instincts, it would have been too much for her to watch a spider crawl all over Sandy. She would have to bow out of that and had Peter keep an eye on the situation.

"Come on, it will be fun," Peter gave Alex a nudge toward the front of the crowd. "Unless you're scared?"

Alex glared as they made their way through the mass of people who had been watching. While she would like to say she was mature and above petty taunts, it was almost as if he was Double Dog Daring her, and she'd now rather die than show any fear. Still, the snake was so heavy that the handler had to support the creature on one end and, after a look from Peter, Alex went and held the other end. Her smile was pretty strained as Peter took the pictures, and she let go of it as soon as humanly possible, but Sandy seemed taken with the large reptile.

"Do you think mom will let me get a pet snake?" Sandy asked as they used hand sanitizer on their way out of the tropical building.

"I'm going to go with no on that one, Squirt," Alex laughed as she slung her arm over the little girl's shoulders. Mrs. Malone was not a fan of animals in general, unless they were dead and being served in her restaurant. While she would pet a dog in passing, Mrs. Malone had no desire to own one. A snake was probably so out of the realm of possibility that you couldn't even see it in this galaxy.

"Besides, do you really want to be the one that had to feed it all those cute little mice for dinner? You said you liked cute things earlier." Peter added when Sandy didn't really seem to listen to Alex's gentle no.

Sandy wrinkled up her nose and gave a little head shake at the thought, which made Alex sigh in relief. Mrs. Malone would not take it well if Sandy came home demanding a snake after their trip today. The picture alone was going to set the restaurant owners maternal instincts into overdrive.

"What do you say kid? You ready to get out of here?" Alex asked, figuring that Mrs. Malone was probably going to want to see her child wasn't eaten by the large yellow snake. It was also already three in the afternoon. Where had the day gone?

"Yeah, my feet are starting to hurt and I'm hungry," Sandy admitted as she slipped her hand back into Alex's. "Peter, do you want to come and have dinner with us?"

"That's a tempting offer, but I'm going to have to take a rain check," Peter said before Alex could give him a 'don't you dare look'. "I live with my aunt and she cooks enough to feed an army, even though it's the two of us. If I don't want to be eating meatloaf for the rest of the week, I should probably head home. Thank you for letting me walk with you guys around the zoo."

"Thank you for picking me up so I could see the animals and buying me ice cream," Sandy said as she reached a hand out to Peter, very serious.

"It was my absolute pleasure. Maybe, if Alex let's us, we'll do it again sometime," Peter was just as serious as he took Sandy's hand and shook it. "It's not like she's going to be able to get away from me anyway."

"We'll see," Alex said before Sandy could beg her to make some sort of social commitment. While nothing had happened at the zoo, Alex still had a hard time believing that Peter just happened to be in the right place at the right time to invite himself along for today's activities. Much like when he just happened to be jogging at the same time she was, it just didn't feel completely right. There was something off about Peter.

"I'm telling you, my aunt is going to invite you over for dinner at some point this semester. She loves to see that I do, in fact, have friends." Peter said as he started walking backwards, hands in his pockets.

"A personable guy like you? It's hard to believe that you don't have loads of friends," Alex laughed as they started in the opposite direction toward the subway.

"Apparently, some people find me annoying," Peter gave her a wide smile. "Imagine that."

"You don't say?" Alex laughed and shook her head.

"See you Monday!" Peter called with a wave before disappearing into the faceless mass that is New York City. He was strange, and possibly stalking her out of some misplaced chivalry, but he was also entertaining. Kind of like a large puppy that wasn't quiet housebroken yet and still thought it was a lap dog.

"Alright, let's go and get you some grub." Alex gave Sandy a hip check, though it was more of a hip to shoulder nudge.

"Peter is strange," Sandy said as they headed down into the subway station. "But I like him."

"Yeah, yeah he is strange." Alex agreed, but she felt herself smiling a little. "But I kind of like him too. Just don't tell anyone, especially him, that I said that."

#Marvel #fanfic #My writing #A Spider Sat Down Beside Her #Update 8 #the amazing spider-man #peter parker

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