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sometimesbeforeitgetsbetter · 3 years

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On An Evening In Roma | Stiles Stilinski

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x reader

Summary: Stiles and y/n promised each other they'd have adventures together while in Rome for their post-graduation trip, but what happens when a cute Italian boy enters the picture?

Word count: 4,174

A/N: I wasn't planning on writing another fic, but I rewatched the Lizzie McGuire movie a couple weeks ago and was absolutely inspired to write. It's an AU where there's no supernatural stuff lol. Just imagining Stiles and y/n as Gordo and Lizzie is *chef's kiss*. I also think it's really funny to imagine Coach as Miss Ungermeyer...they're so different yet so similar in a bunch of ways. Some of the dialogue is also from the movie! Sorry if some of the Italian is wrong...I just used Google translate lol. I mostly listened to the movie soundtrack while writing it, so I recommend listening to it while reading as well! Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think about it!! :)

“Alright delinquents, check your bags so we can be on our way to the land of pizza and pasta.”

“I can’t even begin to express how incredibly reductive that is of Italian culture,” I said as I laughed lightly and watched the chaos unfolding at the airport. “How did we get stuck with Coach taking us on our post-graduation trip to Rome?” Next to me, one of my best friends Scott shrugged. “Beats me. I was hoping for someone chill, like Mr. Yukimura or something.”

As we stood watching our crazy chaperone bustling about, a brown-haired boy ran through the airport doors up to us, lugging a massive suitcase and duffel bag with his pillow tucked under his arm.

“Woah, Stilinski. You know we’re only going for two weeks, right?” I asked my other best friend, Stiles.

Out of breath, he laughed humorlessly. “Haha, very funny. Sue me for wanting to be prepared for all possible circumstances.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s Rome, not the middle of nowhere. I’m sure you can find anything you need there if you forget something.”

It was Stiles’ turn to roll his eyes. “Well, y/n–”

“Can we just check in?” Scott asked, tired of our meaningless bickering already. “I wouldn’t put it past Coach to leave people behind.”

Stiles and I nodded before following our friend to the check-in kiosks.

Luckily, Coach did not leave us behind. In fact, his bickering with Greenberg gave everyone plenty of time to check in, go through security, and board the plane. I found myself sitting next to Stiles after Scott begged him to switch assigned seats so that he could sit next to his crush, Allison.

At the start of the flight, Stiles and I chatted and hung out like we normally did. But a few hours (and Star Wars movies) into the nearly 13.5 hour flight, I started to doze off.

I don’t know how it happened, but when I woke up a few hours later, my head was on Stiles’ shoulder, and his head was resting against the top of mine. My movement must have woken him up, so he lifted his head too.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as we smiled sheepishly at each other.

“It’s fine,” he said, scratching the back of his head slightly with his hand. “Actually, your head was a really nice pillow.”

“Didn’t you bring your own pillow?” I asked, eyeing the pillow in his lap.

“Well, yeah, but your hair is soft,” he admitted. “And it smells good.”

I chuckled, ignoring the weird feeling in my chest at his statement. “Ok, creep.” My eyes drifted over to the seats in the row ahead of us and across the aisle. Scott and Allison were sleeping in the same position that Stiles and I had just been in. I nudged Stiles with my elbow, pointing at the two.

“I bet they get together by the end of the trip.”

I shook my head slightly. “I bet they get together by the end of the first week.”

He looked over at me and stuck his hand out. “Oh, you’re on.” We shook on it, and then he let out a big yawn. “Now, I could use some more sleep. Can I have my pillow back?”

I rolled my eyes, but placed my head back on Stiles’ shoulder. I could feel him sigh as he placed his head on top of mine once more, and within moments we were both asleep again.

A few more hours later, we were sitting on a bus, driving through Rome at night. The ancient streets were lit up, and I caught glimpses of the historical monuments we were planning to see in the next couple weeks.

The bright lights were welcoming, as if the city were saying, Ciao, y/n. Benvenuto a Roma.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, Coach assembled us in the lobby to assign our rooms.

“Stilinski, you’re with Lahey,” Coach said, throwing the key at the brown-haired boy.

Stiles’ eyes, which had been roaming the room, snapped to look at Coach as he fumbled for the key. “W-what? Coach, can’t I just room with Scott or something?” I could hear the desperation in his voice, and it made me smirk.

“Stilinski, this isn’t a democracy. You’re rooming with Lahey, so deal. With. It.”

Without another word, Stiles nodded slowly, beginning to fiddle with the keys in his hands.

“Now, where was I? Hm...y/l/n, you’re with Martin.”

My jaw dropped. Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. “But Coach–”

“Didn’t you hear anything I just told Stilinski?” He said with an exasperated tone, bordering on angry.

Walking up to take the key from him, I nodded slowly just like Stiles had done. “Sorry.”

As soon as we got into the room, I could tell that rooming with Lydia Martin would be a nightmare.

“I’m taking the bed by the window. You don’t mind, do you?” She asked as she placed her bags on top of the bed.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I shrugged. “No, go ahead.”

As I was contemplating my sheer bad luck by being placed with the school’s resident mean girl, a knock on our door brought me out of my thoughts. “Hey, y/n? Can I show you something?” Seeing that Stiles had poked his head into our room, a grin spread across my face.

I took his outstretched hand and he quickly pulled me out of the room, leading me up a hidden staircase. When he opened the door at the top of the stairs, I was blown away by the beautiful landscape we could see from the roof.

“Woah...Stiles, how did you find this?”

I could see the mischievous glint in his eyes when he looked at me. “I’ll never reveal my secrets.”

We smiled at one another before turning to look out at the view. The glittering lights were sprawled out ahead of us, showing the endless possibilities awaiting us in the Eternal City.

“You know what, Stiles? I’m not going to let Lydia Martin get to me. Promise me something.” “Anything,” he said, turning to face me.

“Promise me that when we’re here, we’ll find adventures. Alright? This is our chance to start over – I mean, do anything that we want to do.”

A soft smile formed on his face. “Yeah, you’re right. You and me – adventures. Deal.”

The first thing on our itinerary was to visit the Trevi Fountain. As we stood admiring the architectural wonder, Coach stood behind us trying to read us information from a guidebook.

“Is this even English?”

“No, Coach. Some of the words are probably in Italian. Because, you know, we’re in Italy,” Stiles sarcastically responded, making me clap my hand to my mouth to stop the laughter from interrupting Coach’s attempt at pronouncing Italian names.

“Oh, right,” Coach said as he closed the book quickly. “Well, what I do know is that people come here to make wishes. I say that those people are suckers. But whatever, just throw your damn coins in and we can go and get gelato.”

I turned to look at my best friend. “Forget what he says. Make a wish!” I tried to hand Stiles a coin, but he pushed it back to me. “I’m in Rome with my best friend. I’m good. You make one.”

Smiling softly at the boy in front of me, I closed my eyes briefly to think about my wish. What did I really want? I want to find love. I took a deep breath and tossed the coin into the fountain.

When I opened my eyes, they briefly connected with the pair of whiskey brown ones of Stiles. There was something in them that I couldn’t really decipher, but before I could question it, he spoke up for me.

“So, should we catch up to Coach so we can get some of that gelato he’s been going on about?”

I nodded, and we slowly made our way to the nearest gelato shop, catching up with Scott and the rest of the group.

As I was about to enter the shop, I bumped into something hard and stumbled.

“Scusi,” I heard as I looked up and made eye contact with the most gorgeous Italian boy I’d ever seen. He was tall and fit, silky light brown curls sitting on top of his head. His blue eyes sparkled with interest. “Stai bene?”

I breathed out a quiet laugh. “Um, yeah, I’m okay.”

“Oh, you’re American?” I nodded. “What’s your name?”

“y/n.”

“y/n...bellissima. I’m Lorenzo.” He stuck his hand out to shake, and I gingerly took it.

“Nice to meet you.” I felt a slight nudge at my outstretched elbow, and I looked over to see Stiles gesturing me into the gelato shop. “Oh, sorry. I have to go,” I pulled my hand away and turned to follow Stiles, but Lorenzo stopped me once again.

“Wait! Can I see you again?” I was baffled. What were the odds that after making a wish that I would find someone who was interested in me?

“Oh, I’m on a school trip. I really don’t think I can–”

“Stilinski! y/l/n! Get inside. I’m doing a headcount. 16, 17,” Coach’s eyes found Lorenzo, and he narrowed them slightly. “And put your money in your front pockets,” he said before heading back inside.

I shrugged at Lorenzo in apology, but he just smiled. “Well, if you change your mind, meet me at the Trevi Fountain tomorrow at 9 am. I hope to see you there.”

The day went by in a blur of monuments and artifacts. That night, I was in Stiles’ room talking about the day’s events.

“So, are you going to see him tomorrow? Lorenzo?” Stiles asked, a slight edge in his voice.

I groaned and flopped back onto his bed. “I don’t know. I mean, I want to, but how would I even pull it off? Plus, we’re supposed to be going on adventures together!”

“There’s still time for us to have adventures. I want you to do what will make you happy.”

I looked over at him and smiled. “You know you’re the best, right?”

“Oh, I know,” he smirked as he leaned back on his elbows. “And you’re lucky that I come up with the best plans.”

“It’s definitely a fever,” the doctor leaning over me in bed said. “38.9 degrees.”

“38?” Coach asked. “That’s not possible.”

“It’s in Celsius, Coach,” I told him weakly.

He nodded slowly. “So, what does that mean for y/l/n?”

The doctor slowly began to pack up his bag. “Lots of rest. I would advise against sightseeing until the fever goes down.” He turned to me as he finished packing. “I’m sorry, signorina y/l/n.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” Coach added. “It looks like you’re staying here today. Call the front desk if you need anything, okay?”

I coughed as I nodded. “Thanks, Coach.”

With an apologetic smile, he left my room to hop on the bus and head with the group to the next location on the itinerary.

I waited 20 minutes just to be safe before slipping out of my room and sneaking past the front desk to start my risky expedition.

The Trevi Fountain was crowded as it normally was. I weaved through the sea of people, searching for a familiar face.

“y/n!” I heard from somewhere to my right. I turned, meeting the piercing eyes of the Italian boy I was here for. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”

“I just had to figure out how to sneak out, but my friend Stiles helped me come up with a plan,” I told him. “Speaking of plans, what’s the plan for today?”

He smiled. “I thought you’d never ask. Follow me.” I took his hand when he offered it to me, and he brought me to a side street where a baby blue Vespa was parked. “I thought I’d show you the city the way that we Italians travel.”

I couldn’t help but think of how the Vespa looked like the color of Stiles’ beloved Jeep. I had to shake my head slightly to clear my thoughts of Roscoe and my best friend.

“Sounds great!” I replied as Lorenzo handed me a helmet.

When we both had our helmets on and were perched on the Vespa, we were zipping through the streets of Rome.

I was holding on tight to him, and he’d point out cool spots and hidden gems around the city as we passed them. It was more than sightseeing – it was getting a local perspective on the ancient city.

Soon, we found ourselves walking through a farmers’ market and sitting down at a nearby café.

We learned more about each other over espresso. The conversation flowed naturally, and I loved getting to know him. I was in the middle of telling the story of when I met Stiles and Scott in the sandbox when we were four when a weird expression settled on Lorenzo’s face.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he assured me. “But that friend of yours, Stiles...is there something going on between the two of you?”

I was caught off guard by his question. “W-what? No, what makes you think that?”

He shrugged. “The way you talk about him...it’s clear that you love him.”

“Of course I love him. We’ve known each other our whole lives, and he’s my best friend. But I love him as a friend, and nothing more.”

Lorenzo nodded, turning my words over in his mind. “I see we’re both done with our espressos. Shall we?”

I spent the next day with Lorenzo too, faking sick once again to get past Coach. We took his Vespa, visiting the Spanish Steps–where we were almost caught because I forgot that it was on that day’s itinerary–, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum.

It was on the third day that Lydia knew something was up.

“I know you’re faking,” she said as she got ready in the morning. My jaw dropped at how casually she said it while applying a fresh coat of gloss to her lips.

“What? No, I’m not–”

“Oh, save it. You seem perfectly fine and only act sick when Coach comes to check on you. Plus, I heard Scott and Stiles talking about you yesterday.”

“Idiots,” I mumbled to myself. “Please don’t tell Coach.”

“Honey, why would I do that? I would never want to get in the way of you and this hot Italian boy Stiles mentioned.”

“Stiles mentioned him?”

She nodded. “He didn’t seem too happy though, and I think Scott was giving him advice about something but I couldn’t really tell what it was.”

Odd. Lydia glanced at her phone. “You should heat your head up soon. Coach should be coming in to check on you any minute now.”

“Thanks,” I said, still baffled by the fact that Lydia was helping me.

She gave me a quick wink as she opened the door to head down to the lobby. “Have fun today!”

Like clockwork, Lorenzo was waiting for me as soon as my school group left on the bus.

“Where are we going today?” I asked Lorenzo as I hopped on his Vespa the fourth day of my trip.

“The Tivoli Gardens,” he responded as we sped away from my hotel.

I was blown away by the beauty of the gardens. The lush greenery was accompanied by fancy water fountains, making me feel like I had been transported to another world.

On the surface, the day seemed perfect. But I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing – a spark, some banter, or maybe the presence of a certain brown-haired boy.

I tried to shake the thoughts from my head and focused all my energy on enjoying the fireworks that Lorenzo had brought me to see.

I should be experiencing this with Stiles.

“I had such an incredible day, Lydia,” I told the strawberry blonde as soon as I opened the door to our shared room, but when I looked at her, she had a nervous look on her face. “Wait, what’s wrong?”

“Something happened today.”

I took a seat on my bed, facing her. “Okay? What happened?” “Before we left, Coach was going to come back up to give you something but Stiles must have known that you’d already left. He covered for you, but...Coach is sending him home for breaking the rules.”

“What?” I jumped up from my seat. “This is a big mistake. Stiles can’t go home. I have to–” I ran out of the room, quickly making my way to Coach’s room even though I could hear Lydia calling for me.

A surprised-looking Coach opened the door after I pounded on it. “y/l/n! You’re up! Are you feeling better?”

“Please don’t send Stiles home. It’s my fault – he was covering for me,” I pleaded.

“Covering for you?”

I nodded. “I haven’t been sick. I’ve been faking it. I should be the one going home, not him.”

For once, Coach was speechless. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Do you realize what you’re admitting to, y/n?”

I nodded again. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

Coach was quiet again, obviously thinking about my punishment. I looked down at my feet as I waited for his judgement.

“You’re lucky I like you, y/n.”

My head snapped up to look at him. “What?”

“You’re also lucky that I’m not being paid enough to deal with this, and that you kids already graduated.”

“So…”

He sighed. “I’m not sending you or Stilinski home.”

Before I could stop myself, I rushed forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Coach!”

“But, when we get back to Beacon Hills, you’re going to have to help with summer lacrosse practice as punishment.”

I nodded furiously. “Absolutely. I’ll do anything.”

Coach patted my shoulder. “Good deal. Now go tell Stilinski to stop packing,” he said, waving me off.

“I will. Thanks again, Coach.”

Sighing in relief, I made my way over to Stiles’ room. I knocked rapidly, eager to tell Stiles the good news.

The door opened, and I found myself face-to-face with Isaac Lahey.

“Oh, hey, Isaac. Is Stiles here? Can I talk to him?”

He looked over his shoulder into the part of the room the door was blocking before turning back to me. “No, sorry.”

I narrowed my eyes. “No, he’s not here or no, I can’t talk to him?”

Isaac looked over his shoulder again. “I think it’s no, you can’t talk to him. He’s not too happy with you at the moment.”

“That’s totally understandable,” I nodded slowly. “Can you just tell him that he can stop packing? I told Coach the truth, so he’s not sending Stiles home.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell him,” Isaac said.

“Oh, and tell him I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get him in trouble.”

“Sure thing, y/n,” he said before closing the door, leaving me standing in the hall with a heavy heart.

The next day was absolute hell. I’d accepted that Stiles was mad at me, but I wasn’t prepared for the silent treatment from him.

We were visiting the Vatican, but all I could watch was the way Stiles admired the art and architecture. His eyes lit up when he viewed the ancient art, and he hung onto every word our tour guide said with interest.

Is this what I missed by spending all my time with Lorenzo?

“He’ll come around, you know,” Scott said as he walked next to me in the Sistine Chapel. “He just needs some time and space.”

“I just feel so bad, Scott. Why would he take the fall for me?”

Scott laughed. “He’d do anything for you, even if it’s at the cost of his own happiness.”

I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

A small smile was on his face. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.” Without another word, he spotted Allison and left to catch up with her.

When we got back to the hotel after the long day of sightseeing, I was surprised to see Lorenzo leaning against his Vespa in front of the hotel. Stiles passed him before I did, but he just ignored him and made no indication that he’d seen him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I approached him. From over his shoulder I saw Lydia shoot me a wink and thumbs up, but I simply rolled my eyes.

“I was worried when you didn’t show up this morning. I thought we had plans to see the Piazza Navona?”

I groaned. “I’m sorry. I forgot to cancel. I got in trouble with my chaperone, so I had to stay with the group.”

“I understand,” he said, taking my hands in his. “What about tomorrow? I’d love to–”

Before he could finish his sentence, I cut him off. “Lorenzo, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’ve really enjoyed our time together, but…”

He was quiet for a moment, but then he sighed. “I’m not the one for you, am I?”

I considered his words for a minute. “No, you’re not. I’m sorry.”

Lorenzo nodded slowly before letting go of my hands. “Stiles is a very lucky man.”

I couldn’t even argue with him because in that moment, I knew he was right – Stiles was who I wanted to be with. “He’s not even talking to me right now.”

“He will,” he assured me. “He’d be crazy not to. And I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

My heart warmed at his statement. “Thank you, Lorenzo. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “È la vita. Ciao, y/n.”

“Bye, Lorenzo,” I said as he sped away on his Vespa.

I gave Stiles some time to cool off, but after a few days of radio silence, I was determined to talk to him.

“Isaac, do you know where Stiles is?” I asked when he opened the door, revealing a Stiles-less room.

He shrugged. “He left like half an hour ago and hasn’t been back since.”

I thanked him, but stood in the hallway alone for a bit trying to figure out where he could be. There was only one place that I thought he would be in this hotel if not in his room. I climbed the stairs to the roof and was relieved to find a familiar head of brown hair looking out at the Roman skyline.

“You won the bet,” he said without turning to look at me.

“What bet?” I asked as I gently approached the space next to him.

“Scott and Allison. He told me they kissed today.”

I nodded slowly. “Oh, good for them.”

“Yeah, good for them.” I could hear the bitterness in his voice.

“Stiles, I don’t care about the stupid bet. I care about you. About us. I’m sorry you took the fall for me, but please talk to me. Let me make it up to you.”

After a moment of silence, he asked, “How?”

“What?”

“How would you make it up to me?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “By spending the rest of this trip with you. By going on adventures with you.”

He shook his head slightly. “What would Lorenzo think about that?”

“It doesn’t matter. I ended it with him. We’re done.”

Stiles hadn’t looked at me the whole time we’d been talking, but it was at this statement that he finally looked at me with his warm brown eyes. “What? Why? Did he do something because I swear to God if he hurt you–”

I laughed at his overprotectiveness. “No, Stiles. God no, he didn’t hurt me. I just realized that he wasn’t the one for me. I couldn’t enjoy my time with him without thinking about how much I’d rather be with you.”

He let out a breath of relief, but I could hear it get caught in his throat. “Me? Why me?”

I sighed. No going back now. “Because I love you, dumbass.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped. He didn’t say anything for a minute, and in the silence, I started to regret my decision to tell him about my feelings. Did I misread his feelings for me? Maybe he just sees me as a friend–

I was jerked out of my thoughts by Stiles smashing his lips onto mine in a passionate kiss.

My head was cradled in his hands, and soon my hands found his body, pulling him closer to me. The moment our lips touched, it felt right. I knew I had found the love that I asked the fountain for–I just didn’t realize that it was right in front of me all along.

When my lungs started burning from a lack of oxygen, I felt Stiles pull away slightly, disconnecting our lips. His hands still held my face. “I love you too, y/n. Always have, always will.”

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earlgreydream · 3 years

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the garden.

| 1940s!bucky barnes x reader | fluff | mild angst |

You walked home from work, seeing your new neighbor, Bucky Barnes, leaning against the wall of his house. His arrogant smirk appeared as you walked up the path to your door, scrunching your nose at the sight of him.

James Buchanan Barnes was irritating. The first day he’d moved in, he and his friends were loud until the early hours of the morning, drunkenly shouting along with his record player. Then, his drunk friends had walked through your garden, trampling half of your flowers and some vegetables. And he was always outside with his stupid smirk, thinking his pretty face was enough to win you over.

Bucky was also gorgeous, and the worst part was, he knew it. You’d seen him in town flirting with girls in the market, and everywhere he went. Even your friends all fought for his attention. When they’d come over, you’d sit outside on your porch and they would all wave to him and giggle. He greeted them, chattering with the blushing and giggling girls who fell at his feet. You always rolled your eyes and ignored him, unamused.

Bucky was fascinated by you, the only girl to never fall for his charm. He was charismatic and had every girl at his fingertips that he had ever wanted. He knew that the two of you had gotten off on the wrong foot, and you despised his smoking habit. However, he had made it his goal to win you back over, but you had proven to be stubborn. You were a challenge, and Bucky was determined.

“Hey doll.” He greeted you as you stepped up onto your porch.

“It’s Y/N.” You scowled at him, and he said your name, winking at you.

He checked you out, admiring you in your high waisted pants and button down. You shook your head at him, going inside your house, closing the door. You put your grocery bag down and started to make dinner, when you saw Bucky on your porch. You groaned and opened your window, looking at him.

“What are you doing here?” You asked.

“My stove is out of gas. Could you put me up for dinner?” He gave you a boyish grin, rocking on his heels.

“Why would I do that?”

“To be neighborly,” he suggested.

“C’mon. Because I’ll buy you dinner tomorrow?” Bucky tried again.

“You’re so full of shit.”

“Y/N, the stores are closed, it’s late.”

“Fine. Get in here.” You gave in, shaking your head and shutting the window. He waltzed through the front door, looking too pleased with himself.

“Plus, I brought a gift!” He held up a bottle of rosé.

“So you can get drunk and ruin my flowers again?”

“I apologized for that. Please forgive me.”

“You’re forgiven.” You said, not convincing him or yourself.

“Where’re your glasses?” He asked, and you pulled a cabinet open, stirring your pot of pasta. He pulled down two glasses and filled them.

“Maybe I don’t drink.”

“You do, this is your favorite wine. I’ve seen you drinking it on the porch swing at least twice.” Bucky called you out.

“Oh, so you stalk me?” You accused.

“No, you just sit outside all the time.”

He lifted the glass to his lips, smiling behind the rim. You drank from your own, needing it in order to deal with him. You noticed his dog tags, resting against his skin with the top few buttons of his shirt undone. He caught you staring, but he held eye contact, wanting to make you blush.

“You fight in the war?” You asked, and he shook his head.

“I will. I haven’t been deployed yet. Me and my friend Steve recruit here, but we’ll go with the next team.”

“Where will you go?”

“Germany, maybe. Or Poland.”

You hummed, thinking that Bucky didn’t seem like the military type. You supposed it was his duty though, and he didn’t want to be labeled as a draft dodger. You strained the noodles and mixed them with the sauce, serving him a plate. Bucky thanked you, taking a seat at your tablecloth.

“Hey, get down, Pepper.” You scolded your cat that jumped onto his lap. You apologized and he smiled, petting her head.

“She has no manners. Push her off,”

“She’s fine. I don’t mind.” He smiled, and your cat jumped onto the floor, prowling for dropped food. You ate quietly, ignoring his silver gaze.

“How long have you lived here?” He made conversation.

“Since I left my parents’ house when I was sixteen,”

“That’s awful young. Why?”

You didn’t answer, pouring yourself another glass of wine, and he tilted his glass for more. You emptied the rest of the bottle into his glass, earning a thank-you.

“You don’t have to buy me dinner.”

“I’m absolutely buying you dinner. We’ll go out, to Brooklyn.” He grinned, and you rolled your eyes.

“Is there any way to get out of it?” You asked.

“I’m afraid not.”

“You’re an amazing cook.” Bucky complimented, standing and taking your empty plates before you could.

“Thanks. I got that-”

“No, you cooked. I’ll do the dishes.” He turned on your sink and began to wash everything, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. You watched him, biting back a small smile.

“I’ll just be getting out of your hair. Have a goodnight, doll.”

You rolled your eyes, closing the door after him. You picked up your cat and held her, watching him walk across the lawn. He waved at you when he saw you watching through the window, and you shut the curtains.

You came home the next day, tired and annoyed from work. You were in a bad mood, and you just wanted to relax.

“James?” You stopped when you saw him kneeling in your yard.

“Y/N, you’re home.”

“Why the hell are you in my yard?!” You demanded, opening the gate.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve asked. I was replanting your flowers.” He said, kneeling in your garden.

Your eyebrows shot up as you saw the rows of freshly planted daffodils, and you walked over to him slowly.

“Thank you.” You were impressed, and he leaned back on his heels.

“I’m... I can’t take you out like this. Let me change, then we can go for our dinner?” He smiled down at himself, dirt and grass staining his pants.

You nodded, hiding your smile behind your hand, feeling butterflies in your stomach. You shook your head, watching him go toward his house. You went inside and quickly changed your own clothes, into wide white pants and a yellow button down. You fixed your makeup, and went to meet him on the porch. You bit your lip, smiling as you opened the door to find him standing with a bouquet of daisies.

“Bucky...” You couldn’t keep the grin off your face.

“I thought you’d like them. I’m trying to be a gentleman.”

“It’s working.” You whispered before putting the flowers in a vase. You walked to his car with him, and he opened the door for you, being so charming.

Bucky lived to see your smile. When he finally earned it with the flowers, warmth erupted in his chest and spread through him. He had truly felt bad about your garden and spent the whole afternoon replanting it for you. He drove you into the city, music playing softly on the radio.

“Where are we going?”

“New York pizza, Y/N,” Bucky looked proud of himself.

“That sounds amazing.” You confessed, your stomach growling. You’d missed lunch at work, and you were starving.

“Pizza is my favorite.”

“Mine too!” Bucky announced, and you giggled at that. He turned and smiled at you, his gaze lingering a little longer than it usually did.

You arrived at the pizza place, following Bucky inside. He put his hand on your lower back, and you felt the butterflies again.

“What would you like?”

“Margherita pizza. I’m a classic girl.”

“Perfect.” He ordered for the two of you, leaning against the bartop while you waited.

“We’ll take it to go.”

“We’re not eating here?” You asked, confused, and he shook his head.

“Got a better idea.” Bucky winked at you, taking the pizza box once it was done.

“Can you take this for a second, doll?” He asked, handing it to you as we stood outside. You took it from him, and he leaned into his car, pulling out a blanket before taking the pizza. He nodded for you to follow, and you walked a few blocks down to a park, where he spread the blanket. You were beaming as you sat down beside him, the glow of the street lights and the stars making him look impossibly more attractive.

“You’ve outdone yourself.” You smiled, biting into a slice of pizza. He looked pleased, and the two of you found yourselves talking until the streets were silent. You were sitting in front of him, when he leaned forward, kissing you. You kissed him back, threading your fingers into his dark hair, letting him move you onto his lap. His tongue pushed past your lips, your mouths moving in sync.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Bucky asked, surprising you. You were blushing furiously, and you almost said no, but the feeling his words gave you, made your heart race.

“Yes, James.” You pecked his lips and he grinned into the kiss.

That was how you and Bucky ended up spending most of your time together. He helped you tend to your garden, and you taught him about the plants. You were a botanist with a green thumb, and he was in awe of your tender care of your plants. Every night in the following weeks was spent with the two of you gently rocking on your porch swing, drinking coffee, listening to records, or making out. Either that, or you were listening to him read on the couch or in your bed.

You and Bucky had been together for almost two months, when he came home late from work one evening when it was nearing October. You were waiting on the porch, wrapped in a blanket, watching for his car to roll in.

“James!” You called, and he walked up to you.

“Hey, doll.” He leaned down and kissed you sweetly. You looked up at him, and your gaze meeting with sad eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Worry filled you, and he sat down next to you.

“I’m getting deployed. We leave in two weeks.” He breathed, and your heart fell into pieces.

“I’ll wait for you.” You said finally.

“Y/N, you could be waiting for years, or I may not make it back.”

“Don’t say that!” You cried.

“It’s the truth--”

Tears started rolling down your cheeks, and you shook your head. You climbed onto his lap and clung to him, gripping his shirt and crying into his shoulder. He rubbed your back and held you on the porch.

“I want to get married, before you go.” You said, and he turned your face to look at him.

“Doll, you can’t mean that.”

“No, I do. Marry me. Marry me and promise you’ll come back for me.” You touched his face, and he brushed tears from your cheeks.

“I will marry you, and I will fight every single day to come home to you. I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you.”

For months, you and your cat waited on your porch, the cool metal dog tags resting against your sternum. A box of his letters sat on your bedside table, telling you how much he missed you, and loved you, and he wanted to come home to his beautiful wife. All of your friends thought you were mad for marrying a man you’d only dated a few months, the week before he went off to war. A star hung in your window, and every day was spent waiting. Your garden flourished, pumpkins growing as autumn approached. The nights you spent outside began to grow colder, and you waited.

When you saw him, it was like fireworks exploded inside of you. He was tired, he looked wartorn, and he was definitely more muscular. You screamed, tossing your blanket off of you, and running. You jumped over the fence, making him laugh. You threw your arms around him, and he caught you as you jumped into his arms. He held you tightly and spun you around, planting a deep kiss to your lips.

“I love you.”

You were crying as Bucky held you, overwhelmed with joy to see him. You didn’t sleep that night, or the next few.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky fluff #the falcon and the winter soldier #falcon and the winter soldier #james buchanan barnes #bucky fanfic #1940s!bucky #40s!bucky #earl grey bucky

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thebrightsessions · 4 years

Photo

Entertainment Spotlight: Ian McQuown

Ian is an LA based actor and producer known for the YouTube comedy group, Extremely Decent, as well as a voice actor in the popular audio dramas: The Bright Sessions, The AM Archives, StarTripper!! & Deck The Halls! His credits inclue American Housewife, Trial & Error, Better Things, and For All Mankind. Ian took the time to answer some questions for us. Check it out:

You’ve worked on multiple podcasts -- what drew you to the medium?

Well, to be honest, Lauren drew me to it because TBS was my first narrative podcast. We met at a Rocky Horror Picture Show show. Anna Lore is our mutual friend and I think Anna is just talented as all get out, so anything she’s involved I want to be in. And, I don’t know, it was just one of those lucky breaks you get where a door opens and takes you to all these cool places you never anticipated.

On podcasting though, I really appreciate how much more possible it is to tell engaging stories without the boundaries of having to afford a set and a camera and insurance and etc etc etc. Like, I grew up with Star Wars, The Matrix, Cowboy Bebop— so when I imagine the stories I like, I’m usually picturing other worlds, space ships, people with super powers and those types of stories used to have a lot higher barrier to entry to make than they do now, which is just awesome.

If you could give a character from The Bright Sessions a spinoff series, who would you choose and what would the series be called?

I mean, no surprises here, but I’d love to see Damien’s early years. And I’d be super clever and call it something like... Damien: The Early Years. I'm dying for that content a little bit actually: Damien, before he became such a bad guy. Maybe a love story that doesn’t work out and leaves him really scarred? Villains so bad they created a villain instead of a victim— that moment where we see the two roads Damien has to choose between and it totally shreds us when he makes the choice we all know he’s going to make, I mean, come ON you can see that, right? It’d be like the Star Wars prequels but without all the youngling killing and “NOOOOOOOO”’s and I want it.

Can you share a fun story or anecdote from the making of The Bright Sessions?

Haha, ok well it’s not really anything of note BUT: I remember Lauren had this area rug in her room, which as you probably know is where we would record, and it was this really nice, I think, red sort of floral rug that took up pretty much all the floor space because it was covering up the older apartment rug-floor underneath it. And it was, as I said, really cool, except it wasn’t a rug on a wood floor, right? It was a rug on a rug so it was a bit taller than the people who designed the room had planned for— the result of which was that you’d walk in and the room had this really awesome little vibe with this cute rug, and it was all very cozy, unless you looked directly behind you at the corner where the door had just spent ages scraping the surface of it, catching the corner, tearing little pieces out. And I may be getting apocryphal at this point, but I feel like by the time I had started coming around Lauren had straight up duct taped it to the floor, which really didn’t help the problem. And, I don’t know—again it’s not really anything momentous—but I just remember giving Lauren a particular amount of shit about it one day and us all having a really good laugh. And I really love that— there are jobs where you show up, keep your head down, do your work and leave, but then there are jobs like The Bright Sessions where you all get to become friends, and even if you don’t see each other for a while you sort of just get to pick up where you left off. And then those jobs turn into other jobs and you get to keep hanging out with your friends and peers and just making stuff you like— I’m a big fan of that.

If your life was a choose your own adventure, what decisions would viewers have to make on an average day?

OKAY, you wake up...

Water your garden before it gets to be 110 today, you cannot skip this step. You may however:

A) Stay out in the garden for longer if you get inspired and check if the tomatoes and peppers are ripe for picking.

Great! Now let’s make breakfast:

A) Make eggs, toast, fried tomatoes, and hash browns?

B) Make (A) But also with Bacon?

C) Make a smoothie?

D) There’s no time today, run to Whole Foods and get their incredibly priced $6 Egg, Bacon Cheese Breakfast burrito.

Awesome! You’ve eaten and now you can think. What work do you have to do?

A) Prep your audition, dummy! It’s due this afternoon, go fix your hair.

B) You have a zoom meeting with actor friends at 11 to play around with some new material, put on a hat.

C) There is nothing you have to work on so stare at your computer and wonder if there’s new project you could be working on. Try to find that project, leave your hair as it.

Wow! You really had a great (insert previous choice here), let’s get you a coffee and take a TV break. What should we watch?!

A) That new show you haven’t seen yet because you need to watch everything so you know how to work on it should you get an audition for it.

B) Harley Quinn (your favorite new cartoon).

C) Teenage Bounty Hunters.

D) Farscape.

E) Nope, you just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it (Level Complete).

Lunch Time!!!

A) Turkey sandwich with pickles from the garden?

B) Trader Joe’s Margherita Pizza with basil and peppers from the garden?

C) Are we going to start another loaf of sourdough you basic mf?

D) Yes we probably are, but also (A) and (B).

Cool! I’ve eaten lunch. Now what?

A) You haven’t finished that work from this morning. Riiiight.

B)…More Harley Quinn…?

C) Let’s make pasta from scratch!

D) Let’s make ribs! From…ribs!

F) You just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it. (Level Complete).

Bangarang! You probably chose to start cooking dinner immediately after eating lunch. You ate it (and it rocked), what now?

A) You just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it. (Level Complete)

B) DnD with squad.

C) Go on a run, dude— you’re getting a Jaba chin….

D) Bring on the chin! Let’s watch TV until 2am! Here are your options:

A) Harley Quinn (your new favorite cartoon)

B) Teenage Bounty Hunters

C) Farscape

D) Put The Office on in the background and clean your house.

Level Complete.

As you can see I’m a very food-focused person. Also, I’m going to be real, that is truly what most of my days look like and I’m low-key a little mortified that ’taking a shower’ wasn’t a game option...

Can you share your favorite piece of Bright Sessions / AM Archives fan art?

I love all the fan art that people make for my characters but this one from Franartz has always been really special to me. It’s so GQ, I just love it — and some of my favorite early AG moments are with Damien, who looks a little like he stepped out of a Gorrilaz album here— big fan. I’m a little obsessed with fan art actually, I save everything I come across— there’s a freckled red-headed series of Owen by TheFigureInTheCorner that makes me really happy. Seeing that my work has inspired someone else to make something of their own is really what’s up, you know? It makes me think about all the art and entertainment that has touched me over the years and I get a lot of joy from being a part of that cycle.

Thanks for taking the time, Ian! Give I Can Die When I'm Done a relisten right here.

#entertainment spotlight #the bright sessions #the am archives #Ian mcquown

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no-need-to-demonstrate · 3 years

Note

Headcanon request: Sides in a shopping mall?

Ok!

The Sides in a Shopping Mall

Logan

Hauling Virgil away from the Hot Topic

Prefers not to go. Amazon is so much cheaper.

Sits in Barnes and Noble

Might go get a pretzel

"Meet me in Barnes and Noble by the nonfiction novel section at 5pm or you are not getting a ride home."

Tries to set up a buddy system amongst the sides

No one wants to be Logan's buddy

Gets enthralled by all the books

SO MANY BOOKS AND SO LITTLE TIME TO READ THEM ALL

Oh no I bought too many books

Doesn't want to go anywhere else in the mall

Okay fine, he likes the nerdy stores where they have Star Wars and Star Trek.

Roman

Literally has to go to every single store in the mall

Wants to buy so many things

Has so many ideas for all those things

From Thomas' perspective, Roman in the mall is like a creative extravaganza at 2 in the morning

Massage chairs

Would max out his credit card if entrusted with one (pls don't max out a credit card in real life)

The Disney store is his favorite, but he also likes, including but absolutely not limited to, JC Penny, Macy's, and H&M, to name.. All of the stores in the flipping mall

Medieval style store? Yes sir

Is a kiosk magnet. Pull him away, hurry before he pays for a $20 phone case that doesn't even work D:

Wants to try virtual reality

Wants to do the karaoke machine

Wants to do EVERYTHING

They can't find Roman at the end, so he ends up missing his ride home

Looks at cooking tools

Patton

Would get lost in the mall. Multiple times.

Loooves the food court, especially pizza, pasta, and Cinnabon.

Wants to try all the little food kiosks

Likes to look at unique collectors items from around the world, like in Stuff From Afar. He and Janus buddy up to look in there.

Drags Logan to look at baby Yoda in the Disney Store because STAR WARS AND HE'S SO CUTE

Usually sticks to Roman like glue. They run around all over the place while Virge tags along

He pretty much goes with the flow, where everyone else goes.

Wants to find a present for everyone

Virgil

HotTopicHotTopicHotTopicHotTopicHotTopic

Hot Topic discounts? Sales? Anything?

Is always on the hunt for a darker eyeshadow

He and Remus look at eyeshadow together

Really likes video game stores and VR

Also massage chairs

Likes looking at the mall fountain

He and Roman could do virtual reality for hours, but Patton's really bad at it

The see-through elevator gives him the heebie jeebies

Is anti-kiosks. Avoid the kiosk people at all costs.

Doesn't Vans have skateboards?

Anyway, he likes the stores with a hipster vibe

Secretly wants a stuffed animal from the claw machine.

Goes to Build-a-Bear with Patton "begrudgingly and so he doesn't get lost again"

Also likes Cinnabon

If he goes to Barnes and Noble, it's mostly for the coffee lol

Remus

Would try to go up the down escalator

…there's people on the escalator

Roman and Remus both make Shakira tik toks on the escalator

Puts on a white morphsuit, acts like a mannequin, and scares people. Specifically at Hot Topic

ESCALATOR

He and Roman would race to see who can get to the top faster

Just imagine him and Roman running in circles on the escalator for a good 20 minutes

Swims in the mall fountain to collect all the coins (whoulda guessed?)

Jump scares mall shoppers to assert dominance

Causes mall chaos until he's grounded by Patton to sit by Logan

While he's grounded in Barnes and Noble, he puts 50 Shades of Gray in the children's section

Janus

Makes a master plan to take over the mall

"I have 2 hours to make an empire!"

Step one: scare people, disguised as mannequins, to assert dominance

Really likes unique collector's items and books

Is the Lord of the kiosks

Makes a profit off the kiosks (Janus really said STONKS)

Step two: look like a rich, fancy person buying things at JC Penney

Also spends a lot of time in Barnes and Noble

Traded or handed-down items. I'm thinking vintage radio-esque stuff that he can resell.

Gambling machines and wineries

He likes that one place where there's lots of bread and you can taste all the fancy oil

Also massage chairs

Wants a discount

Bargain with the kiosk people who?

Leaves with, like, $5 profit

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #thomas sanders sides #logan sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders headcanon #patton sanders headcanon #roman sanders headcanon #deceit sanders headcanon #remus sanders headcanon #thomas sanders headcanon #sanders sides headcanons

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random-fandom1 · 3 years

Text

Pepper thought it was good idea to go away for a few days. A few days away to herself, she deserved it right? Not much could go wrong, could it?

Well, let's just say you can't underestimate the avengers...

- ⴵ -

Day 1 of Peppers absence

Most of the over 30 year olds (minus Clint and Scott) were doing their own thing. Tony and Bruce were inside their labs doing their thing, Natasha, Steve, Sam and Bucky were sparring in the training rooms, and the rest of them were doing their own adulty things. They were sticking to their own routines, because why would they have to change them? Its not like Peppers absence was to make them less 'mature'

That left a majority the under 30s (with the addition of Clint and Scott and minus Bucky, Loki and Valkyrie) to run wild. The loss of the mature adults meant they could go free. Peter, Yelena, Shuri and Wanda had a spa day. They all took turns painting eachothers nails, doing the others hair and just full out pampering eachother. Scott, Clint, Pietro and Carol looked on in disgust because that's so girly, right? Well that's what they thought until they were dragged into the action as well. Scott and Pietro were enjoying themselves as well after 20 minutes but Clint and Carol despised it. For this reason, they came out looking like Barbie dolls. All pink makeup, bows, frills. Blackmail pictures were taken.

They all got together at 5, Bucky and Loki cooked dinner for them all (The famous Gigi Hadid vodka Pasta) and they all watched Star Wars before going to bed.

- ⍟ -

Day 2 of Peppers absence

Peace didn't stay for long. It lasted a day.

It all started at 6am the next morning when Peter and Bucky were awoken from their sleep, entangled in one another, soaken wet. Clint quickly retreated back into his vent, not fast enough for the two enhanced not to spot him. That was how the prank war began.

Next Vision gave Wanda one of her favourite flowers, which then proceeded to spray her in the face

Shuri and Val replaced Steve's shampoo with lime green hair dye (Tony said he was his big leprechaun)

Yelena turned the water to freezing cold when Natasha was having a shower

Teams were made by 10am. It was almost the same divide as yesterday. Peter, Bucky, Shuri, Val, Carole, Scott, Yelena, Wanda, Loki, Pietro and Sam made one team. They called themselves the Young Avengers. The other team consisted of Steve, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Vision, a reluctant Bruce, Thor, Dr Strange and Nebula.

To say it was a mess was an understatement. By the end of the day the training centres were covered in water from a water balloon fight that went on around 12, Stonys bedroom had been filled with balloons, Yelena had managed to vandalise Clints secret tunnels, Natasha had in turn played an audio recording of Yelena having a pretend interview with herself in the shower around the compound. Bucky, Sam and Peter had covered Thor in honey and then put feathers on him. Loki then enchanted him to run round like a chicken for 2 hours. Tony had locked Pietro in heavy shoes, stopping him from running away and dyed his hair neon pink. Peter had posted embarrassing videos of the other team That wasn't even half of what happened.

They called a truce around 11pm, not before Nebula had managed to fill Scott's room with Baskin Robins uniforms

- ᗢ -

Day 3 of Peppers absence

Day 3 was just, surprisingly, wholesome. Everyone was recovering from last days war and decided to just order a shit ton of food and relax. Tony didn't even go to the lab! They all cuddled up on the couch and watched movies all day.

Tony and Steve were on one couch, Bruce and Thor were on another, and Wanda and Vision were on another showing little PDA. But on the other side of the room, Peter and Bucky as well as MJ and Shuri were sprawled across two differnet couches, showing off quite alot of PDA. Close to an unbearable amount of it. Peter was sat on Buckys lap, mouthing at his neck like a baby and Bucky was running his hands all over his body in a slow, gentle manner. It wasnt a sexual thing (Peter would be mortified to do that with his parents and family sitting right there), ot was more of a cmofort thing. MJ and Shuri had no shame. None. They were full on making out. It made nearly everyone around them uncomfortable.

Nether the less, the day was spent eating junk food, having a Harry Potter marathon (Peter tried to suggest Star Wars but was quickly shut down by nearly everyone else). Of course by the end of the day, the place was a tip. Pizza boxes scattered around the room, popcorn all over the couches from Sam and Buckys popcorn fight, pillows turned upside down and a huge pillow fort made by Yelena, Shuri and Peter around the middle of Goblet of Fire. Missing the only mature mature adults, they left it as it was and retired atthe end of DHPt2.

- ⎈ -

Day 4 of Peppers absence

The day before Pepper was to return was havoc.

To start it off, they had no food. None. Pepper normally ordered all the food on the large whiteboard in the kitchen every 2 weeks, and now with her gone, no one actually placed it. Steve and Natasha had to run to the grocery store in the morning, leaving hungry hero's with high metabolisms to get cranky. They ended up getting only 2 boxes of cereal and a loaf of bread. For 20+ people. For a whole day.

Second of all, no one actually stuck to their bed time for the past few nights. It started off with Shuri snapping at Peter, Peter snapping at Bucky, Bucky snapping at both Sam and Steve, so on and so fourth. Eventually everyone ended up as cranky as the last person. Silence surrounded the compound as everyone migrated to their own spot to calm down. It was so quite that you could hear Clints terrified screams from the kitchen as he tried to disturb a sleeping Peter, who was in his own made cobweb in the corner.

Third, when a majority of people calmed down, the power went out. Not even the back up worked. Turns out no one checked the battery so it blew. Tony and Bruce were there for 3 hours trying to fix it while the rest of the avengers played board games in the main room.

Things were falling apart

- ⎊ -

Day 5 of Peppers absence

Today's the day Peppers meant to be coming back, but her flight got delayed due to weather and she wouldn't be back until late that night. This left another day for the avengers to slowly lose their minds.

It started off like Day 1, until it hit 12pm. Thats when Natasha called them all to living room and demanded a games night. A party nighy where they all get drunk and party like teenagers

It started off with never have i ever, and oh did some things come out, especially about the baby spider of the group. When Tony asked if anyone had ever done the dirty in front of their family/friends, a very embarrassed Peter and a wolfishly grinning Bucky took a shot

Next day played truth or dare. This led to a hot makeout session between Scott and Sam, a half naked Steve and a head standing Vision.

Then it just went downhill at around 6pm. A drunken group of earth's mightiest hero's was just getting started, and by 9pm, they were fucking hammered.

That's how Pepper found them.

Vision was still spinning on his head to the beat of the music in the corner; Loki, Natasha, Tony and Clint were taken shots at the bar; Yelena and Peter were twerking on the coffee table with Bucky, Sam and Shuri cheering from under them, Bucky laying the occasionally slap to Peters arse; Bruce was writing furiously in a notebook; Steve was having a heart to heart with Wanda, both of them crying about how much they lived their families; Thor was of course munching on his emergency poptarts as they still hadn't gotten their food delivery; Pietro was running around Valkyrie so fast that it hurt to look at; and Dr Strange and Nebula were no where to be found

Pepper just slowly backed out of the room, wondering if the plane had gone back to the airport yet

#peter parker #winterspider #bucky barnes #tony stark #superfamily #avengers #steve rogers #marvel #cute #bucky x peter #shuri #mj #scott lang #clint barton #thor #pepper potts #pepper goes away for a few days #everything goes to shit

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janicho88 · 4 years

Text

Come Back Part 3

Paring- Dean x Reader

Word Count-3810

Summary- After everything you and Dean have been through to get together you deserve some happiness right?

Warnings-Smidge of angst, fluff, some language, maybe just a couple words. Implied smut

A/N As of right now this is the final part. There is a chance someday there will be a fourth. There are a few more pictures in this one, I like to visualize things, was trying to help you see what I was. Pictures found on google.

Part 1 Part 2

Three months later

Chaos, mayhem and craziness, that was what surrounded you. Currently you were hiding in your old room in the bunker trying to get away. Unfortunately the knock at the door told you that they found you again. Charlie, Donna, and Jody, all of whom you had renamed in your head, hurried in. They were trying to help get everything ready for the wedding in a few days. They all had an opinion on how it should be, the problem was, their opinion didn’t match yours.

Chaos, I mean Charlie thought you should do a Star Wars theme. They women could all dress like Princess Leia and the guys Jedi, with the robes and hoods. You think you just about had her talked out of it. You had told her if that was what she wanted to wear, go right ahead, but she would be the only one.

Mayhem, oh miss Donna wanted you to learn square dancing. She was also hoping for big dresses with these crazy bows, and so so many ruffles. You told her she was more than welcome to have one herself. At this rate it was going to be more like a costume party than a wedding. You mentioned to Donna you didn’t think Dean was going to learn square dancing this week for the wedding, but if she wanted to show people that night it was fine.

Craziness, bless her heart. Jody’s ideas were probably the closest to what you were thinking. After you lost your parents you spent most of your time at Bobby’s before going off hunting with Dean. You saw Jody as a mom figure, and she knew the inner girl you kept hidden. You just didn’t want to make things as grand as she did. You appreciated everyone’s help, they were just a bit overwhelming when you had them all at once.

You weren’t expecting too many attendees. Besides the three ladies, Alex and Claire would of course be joining. Garth and his family would be here, a few other hunters the guys kept in constant contact with also coming. You expected, but weren’t completely sure Crowely and Rowena would also make an appearance. Rowena liked you, and the two of you had become friends over the years, even if Dean wasn’t thrilled about it. Sam was Dean’s best man, Donna your maid of honor. Since Dean was legally dead, and also wanted for numerous federal crimes a marriage license was out of the question. Cas was officiating, both you and Dean figured married by an angel would make it legal and binding for the two of you.

Turning your attention back to the three ladies in front of you, you figured it would be wise to see what questions they had this time.

“What are you doing for decorations?”

“Where is the caterer going?”

“Where is your dress”

Jody’s question was the easiest so you started there. “My dress still needs to be picked up, they finished the last alteration yesterday.” While hunters don’t often get normal things, one thing you always dreamed about watching chick flicks was a beautiful wedding dress. When you told Dean you were just going to get a simple dress or wear one you had, he encouraged you to go after your dream one. He joked about wanting to see you in a big fancy dress in your real wedding pictures, not just your fake ones Sam had made.

As for the decorations, “Dean and I talked, we will move the tables aside in the library and rearrange the chairs for people to sit. I don’t have any decorations.”

“What nothing? No fancy lights or even flowers?” Charlie wanted to know.

“No, we figured simpler was easier.” Charlie just rolled her eyes.

“There aren’t that many of us, we didn’t exactly get a caterer. There is a restaurant in town we’ve gone to a few times that does party size orders. We ordered a few dishes to serve 30 that should give us plenty. Sam or Dean are picking them up the day before the wedding, we just need to reheat it the next day. Dean joked that we can order pizza later if people are hungry. Honestly, I don’t care much about any of those things, well other than the dress, but it still isn’t as important as Dean. End of the day what matters most is actually being together with Dean. I want to be able to truthfully say he’s my husband.”

They all chuckled at that. You still had to humor them with a few more answers before they left you alone. You had about two minutes to yourself when there was a knock on the door. Turning your head toward the door you saw Dean walking in.

“How’s it going with your wedding army?”

“Not funny, they are driving me nuts. I know I said I didn’t want to go to Vegas before, but is that completely off the table now?”

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to face the wrath of those 3 if they found out we eloped now, but if you really want to Baby is gassed and ready to go.”

“UGGHH, you’re right, we would never hear the end of it now.”

“I’ll talk to them, see if I can get them to calm down.”

“Thank you, Honey, you're the best.”

After giving you a kiss your fiance left to try and wrangle in your help. Fiance, what a crazy year you two have had. It started with the fight that had you leaving the bunker and Dean. Followed by the amnesia and being Dean’s fake wife. They two of you had been together since the memories returned, you had officially moved into his room. He didn’t say anything else about a wedding after the comment about getting real pictures so you didn’t push. A month after all of Dean’s memories of you came back he took you out to dinner then a walk by a nearby lake. It was by the lake he dropped down on one knee and asked you to be his wife. With tears in your eyes you had said yes. Dean didn't want to ever lose you again, hunter’s don’t always have the longest lives so he wasn’t going to waste any more time making you his actual wife.

The next month and half had kept you all pretty busy with hunts, you had not had much time to do anything for the wedding. One of the few things you two finished was picking out your rings while gone on a case.

Your lack of completed tasks is why the girls are here now trying to help you. You appreciated the help because honestly the last couple of weeks you hadn’t had a lot of extra energy. You were thankful Dean hadn’t noticed that yet though.

Dean talked to your three friends and got them to tone everything down a bit. It made the next few days so much easier for you. The night before your wedding they took you out for your bachelorette party. You mentioned to them you didn’t want a hangover the next day so you wanted to avoid the alcohol. They took you out for dinner, and still ended up with a trip to the bar after. Things went pretty well though, and it was a fun night with the girls. You weren’t sure what the guys were doing for Dean, but you knew they were hanging around the bunker. When you made your way from the garage to your old room, you could still hear them in the library.

You know those days where everything that can go wrong will? That was your wedding day. It was now 11:30 and the wedding was supposed to be starting at 1, if it ever did. You could not believe the morning you had had. Dean and Sam had picked up the food yesterday from the reception. Everything was sealed and labeled just how you had ordered it. The guys brought it home and put it in the fridge. This morning when you, Jody and Donna were in the kitchen talking about when to reheat everything and what goes where you took it all out of the fridge, good thing. What was supposed to be an alfredo pasta was, well you weren’t really sure. It was something slimy. In the container labeled chicken breasts, raw vegetables, at least those were edible. They would work too since Sam forgot to grab anything to make a salad. Instead of mashed potatoes you got yams. The cornbread Dean wanted, just cream corn.

Jody called the restaurant to see if they could fix it and get you the right things. They were extremely sorry, but could not fix it right now. Apparently your food got mixed up with another catering they had today for a bigger group. They were working on fixing that one right now, and it would take a few hours to start on yours. They told Jody they would be giving you a refund though. Looks like you’ll be ordering pizza after all.

Leaving the kitchen after that mess you headed up to the library. The site that met you had you closing your eyes hoping it was all a nightmare. The guys little bachelor party the night before looks like it got out of hand. For some reason there were books everywhere, the tables and chairs all over and as soon as your shoe hit the library floor it stuck to it. They apparently spilled a bit of alcohol, you could smell it now. That had you running for the bathroom. You carefully made your way back to the library, Sam looking around the corner when he heard your approach.

“Hey we were going to come clean this up before you woke up. Guess we overslept. Don’t worry about this. It will straighten up in no time.”

“What about the smell Sam?”

“We’ll find something.”

“What happened in here anyways?”

“Cas might have had a bit too much to drink and he was trying to show off some of his powers. Didn’t go well as you can tell. Used too much energy and passed out before we could get him to fix it.”

As you were talking you didn’t notice Charlie and Donna coming behind you. They were going to finish the cake table and chose to bring the cake out now. Charlie hit the sticky floor and stumbled. She held her balance until she hit an out of place chair and the cake went flying. Now you had another mess and no cake. At least you had bought Dean a pie, which Donna was carrying. Never mind it met the same fate as the cake. What else could go wrong?

You should not have asked. After trying to help clean up some of the mess, Jody sent you to shower. She was going to start your hair after. You two had practiced your updo a few times and she knew exactly how you wanted it. Problem was today your hair didn’t realize it was supposed to cooperate. The half up half down with curls you wanted was mostly down, and extremely limp. Oh well, it was just hair you told yourself. While looking in the mirror at the flop on your head someone knocked on the door. It was Sam.

“What’s up Sam”

“Is anyone here any good with alterations?”

“What kind, to what and why?” You asked with your eyes narrowing in the mirror.

“Slight problem with the tuxes. Um how do you feel about purple?”

‘What’s wrong with the tuxes? What’s purple that I need to feel something about? Again why?”

“Cas’ tux apparently came in purple. Now is the first time he’s opened it. He must have hit the wrong box. The alterations are for Dean and I. My tux is a bit too big, and his is too small. He can’t even get the coat on.”

“Didn’t you get measured for your tuxes? Why didn’t you try them on before?”

“We sent in our measurements and they sent us things to try on and we told them what fit. Things have been hectic. We all thought they would be fine.”

You didn’t say anything just stared straight ahead for a minute. “I guess your Fed suits will have to work.”

You were hoping to do a few pictures outside before people came, that way you weren’t holding up the reception after. You had figured if everyone here was ready by 11:30 it gave you time for pictures and to get back to your room before anyone else arrived.

Shortly after 11 Donna and Charlie were helping you into your dress while Jody looked for your shoes.

“I can’t find them anywhere Y/N do you know what they were in?”

They were in a white box. They were on the counter, I grabbed the dress and Charlie grabbed my shoes.”

“I didn’t carry anything out of the shop.” The redhead behind you spoke up.

“Did anyone carry the white box out?”

Silence great, you left without your shoes. You had white flip flops guess that will have to do. Donna started to zip the back of your dress with Charlie helping when you heard a ripping noise.

“What is that?”

“OH NO! Y/N, I am so sorry!” Charlie exclaimed. Apparently she had ended up standing on the dress while they were pulling the zipper and it was enough to tear the fabric in the back. They unzipped it, while Jody left to see if there was any thread in the bunker to try and sew it up. Charlie kept apologizing, but you told her accidents happen, and ushered them both out for a few minutes of quiet for yourself.

There was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Babe it’s me. Jody told me about all the problems, are you okay? Can I come in”

“NO! If the only thing that goes right today is the tradition of not seeing the bride then so be it. You can open the door a smidge, but don’t peak in.”

“Okay, okay. How are you holding up.”

“I’m beginning to think someone cursed us today. Who did we piss off now?”

“Just a rough morning, we aren’t cursed this time. I’m sorry about the mess we made in the library. We got the spills cleaned up.”

“Does it still smell like beer?”

“Eh, maybe some.”

“Okay. Thank you for getting the rest ready.”

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry this isn’t the day of your dreams.”

“It’s okay, I’ll survive. At the end of the day the most important thing is I have you by my side.”

“Always, Sweetheart. We’re in this together.”

As you and Dean were talking you heard the clank of heels coming down the hall. “Is that Jody coming back?”

“No, it’s Rowena. Hello Rowena, can I help you?”

“Hello Dean. No, you cannot, I just fancied a word with the bride to be.”

“Dean, be nice.” You whispered out to him

“Fine, I’ll see you out there Sweetheart everything will be fine.”

As Dean walked away you opened the door and let Rowena in.

“I heard from Samual, it’s been a bit of a rough morning for you? That library smells like a brewery.”

“That’s one way to put it. Not much is going right, the food is wrong, the cake hit the floor, along with Dean’s pie. The library was a mess this morning. They cleaned it, but like you said it still smells. The guy's tuxes don’t fit, Cas’ is the wrong color, I forgot my shoes and my dress ripped. My hair has decided this will be the day it does it’s own thing. This isn’t exactly how I thought this day would go. I guess I should just be happy we haven’t been called for a hunt yet.”

“Sit here and let Rowena see what she can do Lass.”

You had been sitting in your room for about five minutes when Jody and Donna came back. They took your wedding dress and an old pair of shoes and left again. They must have found some thread, not sure what they are doing with the shoes though. Five minutes later they returned again, much too quickly to have actually sewn the dress.

“Okay, let’s get you dressed,” Jody said.

“Wait, what about the dress? Did you fix it already?”

“We did not. Your witchy godmother did. She fixed your dress, shoes, the tuxes, cleaned up the library a bit.”

“Oh my.” You were speechless.

As they were finishing closing your dress there was another knock at the door. Rowena entered a moment later.

“You look just about perfect deary. One more little thing.”

Rowena spoke a few words and you could suddenly feel your hair moving around. She was fixing that too.

“Rowena, I’m going to cry thank you so much!”

“No tears today, it’s a happy day. Even if you are marrying that Winchester.”

“Thank you so much.” You gave her a hug and she went back out to the library.

You had just enough time to get a few pictures finished before you needed to come back inside. While Dean was outside getting his pictures with the guys, and ladies, you went to the library. You could not believe your eyes, Rowena had worked her magic in here also. It was no longer the library you knew, but a ballroom. Gone were the bookcases, tables and chairs. White Chairs were set up for the guests and a beautiful wedding arch where you would say your vows.

“This is amazing Rowena, I can’t believe you did all this thank you!”

“You are more than welcome. Alas I can’t take all the credit in here, your fiance made the arch as a surprise for you.”

You couldn’t believe Dean had done that. It was perfect. The door opened and Jody came in to see where you were, so Dean wouldn’t see you when he came in. She ushered him to the hall, then helped you up the stairs. When your pictures were done, she went inside and looked for Dean, to keep him out of the way. Sam came over to talk to you.

“You look stunning, my brother is one lucky guy. I’m glad you both came to senses. I’m glad you decided to come back here.”

“I am too. Mostly I’m thankful we got our Dean back.” Sam gave you a hug as you both headed back inside.

Soon it was time for the ceremony to start. You had asked Jody to walk you down the aisle, being the closest thing you had to a parent. Dean actually had a tear in his eye when you reached him, and he told you how beautiful you looked. You told him how dashing he was. The ceremony went much quicker than you imagined. Both you and Dean reciting traditional vows. When Cas pronounced you husband and wife Dean grabbed you to him in a longer kiss than you thought he would. After you walked back down the aisle and people were getting up from their seats, Rowena changed the room to a different setting again.

The white chairs were now around tables, a buffet line was set up that smelled delicious. In the corner a beautiful wedding cake, with smaller circles surrounding it on the table. Upon closer inspection they were mini pies. You were going to need to hide some of those from Dean so he didn’t get sick. This was incredible and more than you could imagine, you were going to owe her big for this.

You and Dean spent the afternoon and even talking with guests, dancing and enjoying the wonderful food Rowena provided. When it came time to cut the cake, you told Dean if he made a mess it would be a long time before you made him another pie. He took that warning to heart and did his best not to smear it on your face. You doing the same with the piece of pie you cut him. Dean picked your first dance song, Aerosmith’s "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." He said he wasn’t missing anymore of your life together. Most of your guests were crashing at the bunker tonight so it was one long party. At one point you caught up to Sam.

“Think Rowena could have helped us with Dean a few months ago?”

“Probably, wish we had thought to ask her back then.” You nodded your agreement before going to find your new husband.

You and Dean finally decided to call it a night and head back to your shared room for a little alone time. There was something you wanted to share with Dean tonight. Opening the door and turning back to pick you up Dean carried you in and placed you on the bed. You were staying in the bunker tonight before heading off to your honeymoon. Dean had actually rented a house on the beach, but far enough away from others you would have some privacy.

“I missed you in my arms last night wife”

“I missed being held close to you, husband. I like being able to honestly call you that now.”

“I love hearing it. I like the idea of filling those frames with pictures I actually remember.”

“Dean I have something for you.”

“Yeah, is it under your dress”

“Not in the way you're thinking.”

Getting off the bed you went to your dresser and pulled out a gift wrapped box. As you handed it to him, he told you he didn’t get you anything. You told him he already did, and just open the box. He tore the paper off and when his eyes shot up to you when he removed the lid. He looked at you and then back to what you had made for him in the box.

“Really… are you?.. Am I?” With tears in his eyes he could finish his sentences.

“Yes, we are going to have a baby, you're going to be daddy.” He grabbed you and pulled you in for a tight hug before he thought better of it and loosened his grip. Leaning down his lips met yours in a slow sweet kiss.

“How far along are you?”

“Just about 6 weeks I found out this past week. Cas told me and I swore him to secrecy.”

“You know this means no more hunting for you right?”

“Yes, I kind of figured that.”

Dean leaned down to kiss you again. It didn’t take long till you were working the buttons on his shirt and he was trying to figure out your dress. You had to break apart to deal with clothes before coming back together and finishing your wedding night wrapped up in one another.

Tags @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @katehuntington @winchest09 @emoryhemsworth @waywardbeanie @malfoysqueen14 @talesmaniac89 @whatareyousearchingfordean @superfanficnatural

@fantasydevil2002 @vicmc624 @lilballofemotions @sandlee44 @multi-fan-lover

#Dean x reader #Supernatural #Dean Winchester

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jensonsbuttons · 4 years

Text

hello hello!!! I was tagged by some wonderful people: @lewixco @torygeorge @shoeydaniel @pierreswrists @seriously-sebvettel

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs (warning i will not be doing 20 but hey ya know)

1. Name/nickname: Katie!!!

2. Gender: female

3. Star sign: cancer sun and moon!!!

4. Height: 5′8″ but someone once measured 5′9″ and i’ve never let it go so...yeah. one of those.

5. Time: 12:32pm

6. Birthday: july 14 :D

7. Favorite bands/groups: imagine dragons, ABBA, Bad Suns, Hippo Campus, Fleetwood Mac, etc.

8. Favorite solo artists: Maggie Rogers, lorde, etc. (idk honestly??? but those two lovely ladies show up quite often in my ‘on repeat’)

9. Song stuck in your head: This Was a Home Once by Bad Suns

10. Last movie: The Social Network (2010) Dir. David Fincher (i mean....if you know me, who is really shocked?)

11. Last tv show: Fell asleep to new girl last night if that counts?

12. When did I create this blog: approx. july 2020 maybe??? can’t remember but it was sometime not too long after the season started.

13. What do I post: all f1 on here so you all are stuck with my dumb thoughts on the fast cars :)))

14. Last thing I googled: f1 schedule cause i tried to figure out when i made my blog lol

15. Other blogs: my main!! @pauldeyoung its basically just....everything else non f1? so shit posts, some baseball when it gets back, some hockey, some pedro pascal, just.....everything

16. Do I get asks: uhhh no lol not a lot unless i post one of those ask games.

17. Why I chose this url: jeepers for cancer king daniel ricciardo. latifi for cancer king nicholas latifi :D

18. Following: not a lot?? maybe 100 and tbh that keeps my dash pretty busy with some good content!

19. Followers: around 270 for this blog i believe

20. Average hours of sleep: don’t even go there. don’t know anymore.

21. Lucky number: not necessarily lucky but numbers i use for sports or often if people ask me to pick a number: 5, 6, 26, 27

22. Instrument: to play? guitar. to listen to? piano.

23. What am I wearing: some black leggings, a t shirt and a hoodie over it cause hoodie season :D

24. Dream job: would like to be a coach somewhere!!! or just involved in sports in some higher up fashion, pro or not. (so like management levels not ticket sales. not that i would mind. just isn’t me) i like a sporty atmosphere! its always appealed to me.

25. Dream trip: dunk me in the mediterranean and leave me there on a boat for a while. i’ll be good.

26. Favorite food: pizza? pasta? chicken? don’t know. i like lots of food but those foods i eat a lot.

27. Nationality: american :(((

28. Favorite song: *shakes magic 8 ball* ask again later. changes day to day but right now lets go with either bambi or buttercup by hippo campus.

29. Last book I read: How to Be An F1 Driver by Jenson Button. You heard that right. I read a book for the moron. Me!! someone who usually doesn’t read.

30. Top three fictional worlds: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh percy jackson, star wars and idk???????? the fictional world where 2020 was better and we all travelled and were happy

i will go ahead and tag: @eight-hearts @pierrelli @neonastronaut @4xmulti21champion @russellscuffle @danielthicciardo @nowherebound @ricciardos (if you’ve been tagged in this or don’t wanna do it, do not worry!!!!!)

#i'm so SORRY i just....didn't do this #but i did it its done happy monday everyone #tag game

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winterromanov · 5 years

Note

Maybe a college Bucky one where he’s being playing games out of town, and trying to study for exams and he’s just so tired but trying to keep going and reader makes him nap and relax and it’s just very Soft ☺️

pairing: bucky x reader (set in the same universe as this fic)

Trying to play football and also be a competent college student is an Incredibly Difficult Feat. You know this, because watching Bucky vault himself from away games to home games to mid terms to finals is about the most exhausting thing you’ve ever seen. If he’s not studying he’s at practice, and if he’s not playing he’s in an exam. It’s like watching a manic, sleep-deprived whirlwind, living almost entirely off coffee and takeout noodles.

He’s not taking care of himself. He’s pushing and pushing and pushing, trying not to let anybody down--as if he could ever do that.

“You don’t have anything to prove,” you say, as he crashes face-down on the bed in your dorm, the night before he leaves to play a game at Harvard and minutes after his Cold War history deadline. You’ve not seen him eat anything the last twenty-four hours. “Look--you won the last game. Steve said you could sit this one out.”

A vague mumbling comes from your bed. His face is smothered by the pillow and he’s too exhausted to even turn over, so you poke his ass with your foot. His hand reaches out, reflexes still ridiculously quick, pulling you onto the bed with him.

“Sorry, love,” you smirk, curling as close to him as your tiny mattress will allow. His arm pulls you close to his waist, palm splayed across your back. His heartbeat is unrelenting beneath his shirt, thudding between you. “Didn’t quite hear that one.”

His head shifts so you’re basically nose-to-nose, his grin sleepy and delirious. He’s gonna pass out any second. You’ve seen it many, many times before in the last hectic few weeks--you’re probably gonna see it a few more. “I’ll be fine after nap. Promise.”

“Don’t you dare fall asleep before I can force a pizza down you,” you warn, and he laughs, deliberately snuggling into the pillow and letting his eyes flicker closed. You can’t resist--running your hand through his hair, along his face. Kiss his forehead. “Goddamn it, Buck. You’re making it very difficult for me to look after you.”

“You being here is enough,” he says softly and before you have chance to reply he’s gone, lost in some dream. You slowly creep out of his embrace, making the pizza for him anyway. By the time you wake up the next day his body is a phantom shape in your bed but the pizza is gone--he’s left you a bright pink post-it note on the plate. Scribbled in his usual scrawl are the words thank you always favourite girl.

we won!!! harvard ain’t better than us at FOOTBALL

wish u could have been there

renaissance lit is being a bitch :(( well done you STAR. miss you more every moment so get back quick

should i hijack the bus and speed down the freeway

if you must

consider it done

love you

love you more than anything

The next game is thankfully a home one against Yale so you can at least keep an eye on him--you’re just protective, that’s all, not wanting him to burn out in front of you. There’s a lot of gym sessions and library cramming and a grand total of one dinner date at his apartment, where you made a pasta dish with as many vegetables as you could think of in as possible (his mom had sent you a message afterwards with immense gratitude because her son needed his greens, damn it). The following evening you’d wrapped yourself in one of his jerseys and sat in the bleachers alongside an injured Sam--injured and bitter about it--and waited in the lights and the noise for the game to begin.

“Bucky tells me you’re worried about him,” Sam interjects rather suddenly and when you blink back, he shrugs his non-injured shoulder nonchalantly. “Not that I blame you. That dude just doesn’t let up, does he?”

“You could say that,” you reply, shivering a little. The November air is cold, even wearing Bucky’s sweater. “He keeps telling me the season will be over before long, but I...I don’t want that to be a couple of weeks too much for him, you know?”

Sam hums thoughtfully. Around you, the crowd practically fizzes with excitement, covered with facepaint and aggressively chanting team songs at the opposing side. You’d never been to a college football game before you started dating one of the team’s star players, but you have to admit, the atmosphere is kinda addictive. Watching Bucky play is kinda addictive.

“If I know Bucky, and boy do I know him,” Sam eventually replies, squeezing up closer to you as more people gather into your stand. A girl is openly staring at you both--it doesn’t happen that often, but more so at games. People know Bucky, and Sam, so people know you. “He’ll get through this all okay. He always does, (Y/N). I’d been pretty damn surprised if he doesn’t make captain next year.”

You stare at the bright, clean grass of the field, and think of a boy so fucking exhausted from trying to balance his life that he can barely function half the time. Bucky would be an awesome captain. You just don’t want him to become a dead firework because of it.

The game ends up being pretty close but Yale just snatch the victory. It doesn’t mean that they can’t win the season, but. Bucky makes his way over to your stand at the end of the game like he always does, taking off his helmet and mouthguard. He also looks extremely deflated, like he always does when they lose.

“It’s okay,” you say, taking his face in your hands. He looks angry at himself. And you know what he’s thinking. I should have pushed harder. “Shit happens. You were still amazing.”

He kisses you over the barrier in a display of affection you were once too shy to give away in public, but you need him as much as he needs you. When you break apart you plant a chaste, gentle peck on his jawline, running your thumb over the shadow.

“You two make me sick,” Sam interrupts the moment, arms folded. Bucky flips him off while smiling sweetly and you can’t help but laugh. “Honestly. Didn’t ask to be violated, but here we are.”

“Payback for every single time I’ve walked in on you doing unspeakable things with the girl from the top floor on our kitchen counter.” Bucky snaps back teasingly. You like watching the banter unfold between the two of them. You’d be worried if Bucky and Sam weren’t taking the piss at every given opportunity.

Sam gestures pointedly at his injured right shoulder. “I cannot believe you’d treat a fallen comrade like that. I’m disgusted.”

“And so was I when I saw the state of the kitchen counter.” Bucky gives you one last kiss, clutching your hand. “See you after I hit the showers, yeah?”

“I’ll be waiting.” Your promise him, and his eyes glow just a little brighter.

When Bucky facetimes you from Brown the very next week, he looks like he hasn’t slept for at least three days. His Ancient Chinese history exam is literally a day after he arrives back from the trip and he’s frantically cramming in his hotel room in Rhode Island, while also trying not to fuck up the team’s chances of winning the season.

“Just one more game after this,” his grainy voice says on the other end of the video feed, head lolling against the headboard of his Holiday Inn bed. You wish he was in your bed. God, you wish he was in your bed. “And the season is over and I don’t have to be away from you ever again.”

“I don’t think your mom would like it if I stole you away for Thanksgiving.” You joke, tongue poking between your teeth. His lips curve, half a laugh escaping from his chest.

“That’s why she personally invited you to stay with us for the holidays. She’s worried you might sneak in there first and drag me to Virginia. She already knows I’d go wherever you go.”

Your smile is kinda wistful. “Except when you go to Rhode Island.”

“Except when I go to Rhode Island.” He repeats, sighing dramatically. He rubs one of his tired eyes. “Ugh. Who thought coinciding pre-Thanksgiving exams and football season was a good idea, huh?”

“I have no idea, but I’m prepared to have words with them.” You tilt your head. “Don’t work too hard, yeah? It’s one exam. It’ll all be okay in the end.”

“I know, I know.”

You want to keep talking, on and on until the early hours like you do sometimes, because time is apparently not real when you and Bucky are on the phone together. But he needs sleep, and you need sleep, and occasionally you’ll do things for the greater good. “Good luck for tomorrow. Brown won’t know what’s hit ‘em.”

“They better not,” he jokes, “Will you be live-streaming the game?”

As if you wouldn’t. You can’t pretend that you always know what’s going on or any of the rules, but you always try to watch him if you can. He’d do the same for you, over and over and over. “Already got the tab open on my laptop and everything.”

Bucky’s grin is near effervescent, even through your patchy wifi connection. “I love you more than anything, you know that?”

“I may have had an inkling.”

hello y/n

HELLLOOOOO

u know brown are the best losers because they lose and give you TEQUILA

omg are you drunk

never been DRUNK IN MY LIFE!!!! but im at this cool party and stEv e has found a girl and i miss u

i miss u so much . and like i just do generally

whenever ur not ar oUnd

oh sweet boy. you are very drunk.

im serious though

sometimes i think about how much i love you and it scares me

because then i th ink what it would be like if you wreent there

and that makes me so fucking sad i cant breathe

y/n

y/n ???????????????

hellooo

have u gone to bed

no, just messaging steve to make sure he gets you back safe. im not going anywhere. just please please look after yourself. love you always

“I’m sorry about those messages I sent you last night.”

You grab him in the tightest hug possible, his hold all still hanging off his arm, rain spattering down from dark clouds outside his apartment block. You hold him for at least ten years, you reckon, because the thought of him being so fucking sad he can’t breathe makes you so fucking sad you can’t breathe.

“You’re a terrible drunk who says things that make me emotional.” You laugh tearfully into his sweater and he grips you even harder, if possible. The shards of glass jabbed between your ribs start to dissolve as you inhale every single part of him.

“I know, sweetheart,” he murmurs, “I know.”

His last game is the day of your renaissance literature exam and for once you’ve been the one not eating and relying on caffeine, anxiety lingering round your jittery bones like an irritating ghost. Your interactions with Bucky are a battle between you wishing him aggressive luck for what could be the winning game while he equally aggressively says your exam will go fine, they always go fine, it’s an easy A for sure.

Your exam isn’t until the afternoon so you spend the morning pacing about your bedroom looking at a sporadic mess of post-it notes on your wall declaring quotes and context that you hope will just stick in your brain. When Lizzie from down the hall says there’s a package for you you don’t actually think much of it, too busy to deal with something you’ve probably forgotten you ordered from Amazon--but she makes some comment about how fancy it is, wrapped up in striped paper.

Your name is in print across the front so it doesn’t leave a clue on the sender, but as soon as you rip into it and find a bundle of things nestled between tissue paper, you know instantly. It’s kind of embarrassing you didn’t click sooner.

Dear Y/N - you’ll ace it, favourite gal.

You try not to break down in sleep-deprived and emotional tears as you pull out a brand new sweater in your favourite shade of burgundy, a vintage copy of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, three different kind of Hershey’s bars and a dumb little teddy bear wearing your college jersey. He’s sent you a fucking care package. He’s away at Princeton, and he’s sent you a care package, because exams drive you crazy and he’s just... Well, he’s Bucky.

i got your present

have i ever mentioned that i love you

i may have had an inkling

He doesn’t really leave you a choice, does he? Besides, the game is only at Princeton, and if you catch the train the moment you escape the uneasy warmth of a crowded exam hall you should be able to get there in time.

You’ve never been to Princeton stadium before, but you grab one of the last tickets available and rush onto their crowded bleachers just before the game is about to begin. The lights are heady, the atmosphere is electric, and you’re about to watch the man you lovingly, completely, unrelentingly call your own play the game he loves almost as much as you at a stadium forty miles from home.

hey steve, you text his closest friend, hoping he’ll see it, get buck to look at the front of the stairs near block d when you come out

y/n if this is what i think it means he’s going to lose his goddamn mind

When the team runs out you notice the number five on his jersey straight away, a constant fleeting image in your head from the countless games you’ve seen him play. Even from a distance, Steve’s eyes catch your own and his arm starts gesturing violently in your direction, Bucky taking a couple of moments to catch on.

It’s a good job the game isn’t due to start for a few more minutes, because absolutely nothing can stop him from automatically sprinting to your side of the field and kissing you senseless, cameras and crowds be damned.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he says on a dizzy outtake of breath.

“Couldn’t miss the last game of the season, could I?” You gently push his chest, urging him to go back to his team. “And neither can you. Go back to them. I’ll be waiting.”

He steals your lips for one more second, giddy and pumped full of adrenaline. “I really lucked out the day I met you, didn’t I?”

His mouth is hot. Hot. Unmistakable. Real. Always, always real. “Not as lucky as me.”

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#big oof #ridiculously fluffy #soft bucky #college!bucky #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x reader #bucky x you #marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe

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is0gild · 4 years

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 20

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 10,096

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

Turns out once you've smooched a guy on the nose, things like holding his hand and other such minor displays of affection no longer seem so daunting.

Sure, even as I reached for his hand now, some small amount of mental self-cheerleading was still required in order to work myself up to it. And okay, the tiny flutter in my chest when my fingers brushed against his almost had me pulling back faster than you could say 'emotion-phobia.' But I didn't. And hey, this was way more than I could have brought myself to do even just a few short days ago. This was kind of huge for me, so I think I'd earned the right to take a little pride in my headway so far. Who knew, I just might pull off my half of this whole pretend dating deal yet.

Lea glanced down at my touch. Then he grinned, pulling my hand up to press a soft kiss to the back of it before setting it back down on the dinner table, his thumb trailing light circles along my knuckles. Picking right back up where he'd left off in the conversation, he said, "Oh yeah, GUMMI ships got all sorts of badass tech going on now, the likes of which would put both Star Trek and Star Wars to shame. Super, ultra, mega-laser cannons, impenetrable force fields, swarms of nanobots that can repair any and all damage just like that," he snapped his fingers. Lea then planted an elbow on the table and leaned forward to add in a conspiratorial whisper, "They even have defense systems in the form of giant, exploding space duckies."

Saïx gave him a flat look from where he sat on the other side of the table from us. "Not true."

"Sure it is!" Lea chirped, straightening back up in his chair. "I mean, how else are they gonna fight all those aliens out there?"

Propping my cheek in my free palm, I cocked an eyebrow at him as I felt an upward tug at one corner of my lips. "Aliens? As in little green men?"

"No, no, that'd just be silly," he waved off with a scoff. "As in lil shadow men. Creepy bastards with big, yellow eyes and twitchy antennae." Still holding my hand, he brought both of his own up to either side of his head, miming said antennae with his index fingers.

Closing his eyes, Saïx gave a low sigh into his wine glass. "Also not true."

Lea shrugged, "Oh sure, they're not all like that. There was that blue one they found over in Hawaii, what was its code name again… Experiment 626? Yeah, the government got that one covered up real fast. And don't even get me started on the total dreadnought that is Schwarzgeist lurking out there somewhere in the night sky that absolutely obliterated the USS Endymion."

"The sheer amount of not true you are spouting off right now is positively staggering," Saïx deadpanned, eyelids drooping as he dabbed his napkin to his mouth. "You really need to stop staying up late every night reading all those conspiracy theories out there on the internet."

Lips curling into an evil smirk, Lea said, "But how else am I gonna royally piss you off so much?"

That earned him a small scowl from his brother.

This was basically it. The whole evening in a nutshell from the moment I'd stepped foot into Lea's apartment. Like me, it seemed that Saïx was not much of a talker, at least not amongst strangers. Unlike me however, it appeared to have less to do with social anxiety and more like he just plain wasn't a fan of the whole talking thing and so only did it when he deemed it absolutely necessary. Which I could totally respect. It was just that between the two of us, it had a tendency to leave a bit of a void in the conversation every now and then. Luckily, it was void that Lea was only too happy to fill.

Saïx had been the one to cook dinner. It seemed that that was part of the breakdown of chores in their living arrangement: he usually handled supper while breakfast was Lea's job. Saïx and I had already emptied our plates by now while Lea was still working on his, seeing as how he was otherwise preoccupied with talking a mile a minute. The meal had been a very nice chicken bruschetta pasta paired with a red wine from a fancy looking bottle. The latter I'd thought to be a bit of an odd choice, as I didn't picture Lea being much of a wine drinker. But there he was, sipping away at it, pinkie raised as he did so for an added bit of flair. I guess he just wasn't picky and would drink whatever was put in front of him. I, on the other hand, had decided not to partake. Would rather keep a clear head during this bit of subterfuge we were playing out in front of Saïx.

The point was, there was wine. And wine equaled a wine tipsy Lea. And a wine tipsy Lea, as I was discovering, equaled a chatty Lea. The boy was already chatty to begin with, but this was an all new level. This was chatty on steroids. Needless to say, he was having no trouble whatsoever keeping the conversation rolling.

"Why are we even discussing the GUMMI space program again?" Saïx asked in his bored monotone.

Lea drove his fork down into his pasta, twirling it around. "You know you're always a total slut for outer space, man. The moon and constellations and all that crap is your jam."

"Yes, but our guest," he gestured towards me, "might not find the topic nearly so interesting."

Trailing a finger along the rim of my still full wine glass, I said, "Actually, I've been fascinated by the research their lead mechanical scientist Cid Highwind has been doing in the field of warping technology. With his help, it might not be long before our ships can travel to other solar systems."

Both men just blinked silently at me for a moment.

What? So I liked to keep up on current events by reading a news article every now and again online. It really was not a big deal.

Saïx was the one to speak up first. "Yes. It's said Highwind is hoping to have a working prototype in less than five years."

Do my eyes deceive me? Was that the hint of a smile ghosting over Saïx's mouth?

Oh wow, I think I'd managed to score some points.

...not that it mattered, of course. Since this was only a fake relationship, after all, so getting in the brother's good graces didn't really mean all that much to me. Not one bit. Nope.

Nuzzling his nose to my ear, Lea beamed, "Hell yeah! My baby knows shit!"

"More than you do at least," Saïx sniffed blandly.

Expression relaxing into a sly grin now, he shot back, "I know enough to know about an astral sea monster whose sheer mass is gargantuan enough to blot out the very sun, the terror of the cosmos, eater of spacecrafts and destroyer of worlds, the dreaded galactic space whale," he paused for dramatic effect before splaying a hand out before him as he intoned in hushed reverence, "...Monstro."

Saïx grumbled under his breath and facepalmed.

"By my count, that's the eighth time he's done that tonight," Lea stage whispered to me. "Just five more and I'll have beat my all-time record."

I gave a low hum of amusement. "I suppose it's important to have goals in life."

He snorted, returning his attention to his food as he scooped a forkful into his mouth. I noticed that he'd incidentally stained one side of his lips in the process and I had a brief flashback to a familiar scene of Sora and Kairi. Of the pair of them sitting in the food court and Kairi kissing away a similarly located blotch on her boyfriend. Now that right there had been a seriously advanced dating technique and one I was in no way ready to try out myself. You kidding me? I was still very much a beginner here and the very idea of trying to pull off such a maneuver already had my ears turning pink. That said, a newbie like me still had some options, especially with my newfound ability to make the first move and actually touch my (fake) boyfriend without completely spazzing out.

I tucked in my lower lip, hesitating briefly as my pulse thudded a little more loudly against my eardrums. But then I slowly lifted my hand.

Lea visibly stiffened as he felt my thumb brush at the corner of his mouth, wiping the smudge away. As I began to retract my arm however, he dropped his fork to snatch my wrist and stop me. I arched an eyebrow at him. He smiled back with hooded eyes. Then he gently tugged my thumb up to his lips and licked the sauce off it.

Breath hitching, I yanked my hand free of his grasp. His smile just turned smug as he winked at me.

Apparently, Wine Tipsy Lea had even less boundaries than usual.

As I wiped my thumb with a napkin and ducked my head to hide my boiling cheeks, I heard Saïx mutter, "One has to wonder what a woman of your obvious intelligence and sophistication even sees in an asinine clown such as my brother."

"Well let me think about it," Lea's eyes danced as he folded his hands together, steepling his index fingers so the joined tips touched his mouth. "Perhaps it's my devilish charm and debonair good looks?"

"Oh come now," he said cooly with another sip of his wine, "if you're going to be making things up, you should attempt to make them at least halfway credible."

"He makes me laugh," I suddenly heard myself saying. As both pairs of eyes turned towards me, I immediately felt self-conscious. I mean seriously, what a stupid, cliché thing to say. But that didn't make it any less true, any less… meaningful. I wasn't someone who laughed a lot. In fact, before I'd run out on my wedding, I could probably count the number of times I'd laughed in the last year on one hand.

Fidgeting with my fingers, I pushed forward, "He's sweet… and thoughtful. And genuine. He's not afraid to be himself. And because of that, I find it easier to be… myself... around him." Another thing that did not come easy to me.

As Lea slipped an arm around my shoulders so he could pull me closer and plant a swift peck to my temple, Saïx gave a soft harrumph, "Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste."

"Psst, Saïx," Lea lowered his voice, bending forward over the table and cupping a hand to his mouth. "The moon landing was faked."

With a heavy sigh through his nose, he merely rose from his chair and started gathering the plates and silverware together. As he reached for mine, I protested, "No, that's okay, I can take care of it."

"You're the guest," he said simply as he swiped it up in one smooth motion.

"Best not argue, otherwise he might unleash his berserker wrath on you," Lea sniggered to me. However, when Saïx next took his plate away (still with food on it), he snapped, "Hey! I wasn't done with that!"

"Then you should have eaten faster," he responded dryly.

He stuck his tongue out at him. "Oh yeah? Well the earth is flat." As Saïx turned towards the kitchen, the plates stacked in his hand "accidentally" smacked into Lea's forehead, forcing a small grunt out of him.

I hid a grin behind my hand as Lea pressed his fingertips to the fresh sore spot with a soft tch. Then he downed the rest of his wine as he stood up himself, gathering the other glasses between his fingers on one hand while balling up napkins together in the other. He looked at me, face brightening, "Why don'tcha go on and take a seat in the living room. I'll join ya after I finish helping Saïx clean up."

"Alright," I nodded. He used a hand (the one stuffed full of napkins) to pull my seat out as I stood and gave him a tiny smile before moving past him. Reaching the blue sofa, I moved some of its mismatched pillows to clear a space and took a seat on the far end, tugging the hem of my dress down to cover my knees as I listened to the sound of running water and clinking dishware coming from the kitchen.

I didn't have to wait long before the boys were rejoining me. Lea came bounding over first, plopping himself unceremoniously down onto the couch with me.

Leaving one whole cushion space between us.

I furrowed my brow over at him. However, I did not have to wonder for long at his unexpected seating choice.

For next thing I knew, he'd flopped over onto his side and was using my lap as a makeshift pillow.

My eyes widened and I jolted, one hand going to my chest. His cheek nestled against my leg as one hand went to my knee, his thumb tracing lightly along its top curve over the fabric. "Mmm… you're comfy!" he sighed contentedly.

It was official. Wine Tipsy Lea had absolutely zero boundaries.

Halfway into taking a seat into a maroon armchair to our right, Saïx stopped. Then he straightened back up to his full height with a tired, drawn-out huff. "Perhaps some coffee would be in order."

I gradually relaxed, my eyes crinkling as I glanced down at Lea with a resigned smile. He was like a kitten cuddling into my lap. A really big kitten. I half expected him to start purring. "Perhaps that might be for the best," I murmured in agreement.

My eyes lifted long enough to follow Saïx as he made his way back over towards their kitchen, long blue hair swaying behind him as he went. When I looked back down, I realized with a tiny start that one of my hands had taken it upon itself to start lightly stroking Lea's hair.

Huh. How did that cheeky little devil get there?

I should stop.

But it was just so very... soft. Softer than I remembered. So soft that it felt like I was doing something wrong, something… forbidden by daring to touch it.

...okay, I really, really needed to stop.

...ten seconds. Just ten more measly, innocent seconds, then I'd stop.

There was a low, pleased hum in Lea's throat as my fingers continued to slowly run through his fiery locks. Then he rolled over onto his back, capturing my hand with his to press a gentle kiss into my palm. It tickled and my heart stuttered as I felt a familiar heat creeping up my neck. He... did know Saïx was no longer nearby to witness this little production he was putting on... right? Then again, maybe Lea was too far gone by now to realize his brother had left the room and so was still on boyfriend autopilot. Cradling my hand to his chest just over his heart, his other came up to start fiddling with the end of my braid from where it hung forward over my shoulder as he grinned up at me. "Wanna know?"

My head tipped to one side, "...know what?"

"You said what you see in me, so now it's my turn. Wanna know what I see in you?"

I blinked at him. Then my eyes briefly flicked over to Saïx just beyond the island counter where he was filling a coffee maker with water. Could he hear us all the way over there? Hopefully… this might be good for show. With a low snort, I planted my elbow on the armrest next to me, propping my cheek against my knuckles as I dropped my gaze back to Lea. "Sure, why not? Go for it."

This should be good.

His grin twitched wider. "You're kooky."

...well I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Though that wasn't quite the word I would have expected out of him. In fact, not the word I would have ever expected out of anyone when used to describe me.

One of my eyebrows quirked. "I'm… kooky?"

He nodded, "Mm-hm! Most people don't know it, but it's there. Way, way deep down in here," he tapped a finger to a spot just below my collarbone before going back to toying with my braid. "Ya try to keep it hidden. Don't like people seeing that side of you for some reason. But I've caught glimpses of it. I like it. Makes me feel like I'm in on a secret no one else is. And you're fun. Hella smart, too. And so goddamn pretty."

"That so?" I muttered, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

Wine Tipsy Lea was laying it on a bit thick.

Still… I was smiling despite myself.

"And that. Right there," he tapped a finger to my lips. "Your smile is gorgeous. Was the first thing about you that had me head over heels. I love being the one to put it there. Love being the one that can make you laugh."

Did I say a bit thick? Try instead a lot thick. Too thick. Like two metric tons too thick. Jeez, perhaps I'd be better off hoping Saïx couldn't actually hear all this. Even he might think it a bit too much to be believable.

Lea's eyes softened as he continued to stare up at me, his hand shifting over from my mouth to lightly graze his curled fingers against my cheek, leaving tiny tingles in their wake. "...I wish we were real."

Insert record screech.

E-E-Excuse me?!

My heart stopped. Like legit full on stopped. There were at least three full seconds there where if a medical examiner had checked my pulse, they would have probably declared me dead.

Lea froze, his whole body locking up. His eyes grew round and his face blanched, his expression now a perfect mirror of what I imagined my own must have looked like in that exact moment as he seemingly and immediately realized his mistake.

Now I definitely hoped Saïx couldn't overhear us! There seemed to be no reaction from over in the kitchen beyond the sound of water beginning to boil. Which was good. Maybe our cover wasn't blown and-

...and so not the point right now! The point was… was…

Ex-friggin'-scuse me?!

Wish we were real? What did that even mean? Real what? Did he mean that he wanted… that he wished he and I… that we were a… an actual, honest to god coupl-

No! No, I must have misheard. Yeah, that had to be it! He hadn't said… er… what I thought he'd said. No, what he'd probably actually said was, uh… was he wished we were… seals. Yeah, that's probably what it was! Seals were neat! And… and cute! I wouldn't blame him for wanting to be one, especially in his less than totally sober state! Or… or… he could have said that he… he fished… for Neil. Who was Neil, one might wonder? Got me! But you know what? Good for Lea, helping his ol' pal Neil out with fishing like that. Nice guy, that Lea. Such a giver, such a-

"TORS!" Lea suddenly shouted, practically making me jump out of my skin as he shot up off my lap and scooted all the way over to sit at the opposite end of the couch. He had a hand clasped over his nose and mouth, doing a poor job of hiding his reddened (wine flushed?) face. "Realtors! I wish we were realtors, is what I was trying to say!" he hastily clarified, shooting a weak chuckle my way.

I stared at him blankly.

Wha…? Realtors…?

Apparently, he wasn't done. "Yeah! You know, one of those power couples you hear about all the time! Partners in everything, from romance to real estate! That's some real lovey-dovey crap right there, don'tcha think? The epitome of passion! The sappiest dream to ever sap! The-"

"What inanity are you babbling on about now?" Saïx returned, causing me for the second time in as many minutes to nearly die of cardiac arrest. He was carrying two steaming mugs, one in each hand.

"Nothing! Not a damn thing! Nope! Total nonsense!" Lea said quickly, snatching up one of the cups and rapidly blowing on the coffee a couple times before knocking back the whole thing in one go. He pulled the cup away from his lips with a wince, probably suffering from a tongue that was now at least mildly burnt. Then he plastered on a grin, "You know how I get when I'm lost in the sauce, man. I start rambling off total bullshit that I don't even mean. Never. Mm-mm, nope, not one bit! Every word of it? Total garbage. Yup! Heh…"

I flinched back from the second warm mug that was suddenly being offered me. I'd barely had a chance to hold up my hand and shake my head before Lea was grabbing that one too, handling this one with smaller, more cautious sips.

...realtors.

Huh.

Okay, sure, why not?

Not like it was any crazier than any of the other explanations I'd come up with myself. Especially when you considered Lea was more than a little buzzed. People said nonsensical things all the time while under the influence. I'd know, I'd seen Anna in a state of three sheets to the wind on more than one occasion. You should have heard half the things she'd blathered on about at the time… adventures through magical winter wonderlands, talking snowmen, singing rock people, whole castles made of-

Shoot, Saïx was talking to me. Or rather, had been talking to me for a while and now seemed to be expecting some sort of reply. Still a little rattled, I scrounged together a flimsy but polite smile, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

One thin eyebrow arched ever so slightly at me as he cradled a fuming mug between his hands. Apparently he'd gone back at some point to get one for himself as well. "...I heard you were present during one of my sleepwalking episodes a couple weeks back. I hope I didn't give you too much of a fright."

"Oh! No! No, it's-" I got distracted as I felt Lea gingerly inching back over to sit beside me. Probably trying to salvage some semblance of the relationship pretense. However, his affections had become somewhat subdued, restricted now to only resting an arm along the sofa cushions behind my head and his knee brushing against mine as he continued to nurse the coffee. Regathering my train of thought, I tried again, "It's, uh… it's alright. Not your fault. Nor was I bothered by it at all. Just had to stay out of your way, is all."

"Still I-"

"Ya know what?" Lea suddenly piped up, plonking the now empty mug down onto the coffee table right next to the first one. "Sorry guys, but I think we gotta call it an early night! I'm beat! And I mean woof! Dog-tired!"

My eyebrows knit together as I glanced over at him. "...but you just chugged two full cups of coffee."

...what are you doing, you fool, shut up! He was probably trying to rescue us by putting a merciful end to what, as of the last five minutes, had officially become one royal disaster of an evening!

He bat a hand through the air, "That? Please, that was just to help sober my drunk ass up! Trust me, caffeine doesn't do jackshit to me when it comes to staying awake."

Saïx's mouth had settled into a flat line as his green gaze shifted back and forth between Lea and me. "Very well," he said finally, closing his eyes as he raised his cup to his lips, "I presume my noise canceling headphones will be a necessity while I work tonight."

I frowned. "Noise canceling…?"

Lea cleared his throat and gave a sheepish chuckle while scratching a spot behind his ear. "He, uh… thinks you're spending the night."

"Oh…" I said slowly before his words had a chance to fully sink in. Then they did. "Oh!" I repeated more loudly, eyes widening as I rocketed up to my feet, "You mean sex!"

...what the actual frick, mouth?!

"Which is a thing!" Apparently, I was only getting started. Panic mode was in full effect now. "A thing d-dating couples do! Which… which we are! Dating, that is. And a couple! Can't, uh… can't forget that part." Dear lord, where's a gag when you need one? "Which, I don't know w-why you would. Because clearly we're a couple. Yup! That's us!" Yeesh, at least when Lea had been yammering off nonsense, he'd had wine coursing through his veins. What was my excuse? "A couple! A couple who, ah…" Oh no. "...who have, er…" Don't you say it. Don't you dare say it. "...who have sex!"

I winced.

Just shoot me. Shoot me now.

"Oh yeah, lots and lots of it!" Oh great. There was more. "All the time! In all s-sorts of, um… places. My room. His room. Oh look," I pointed both my hands towards Lea's door, "there's his room now!" Make an excuse to leave. Any excuse. " I think we'll go in there now and make with all the sex!" Not that excuse! Pause, followed by tiny, nervous laughter from me. "Yup."

Then before I knew it, I'd bolted into said room, door crashing shut behind me. I pressed my back to it, clutching both hands to my mouth as I hyperventilated and trembled, eyes huge and unblinking as I stared off into space, registering absolutely zilch of what was in front of me now.

What.

Did.

Just.

Do?!

You know what, cheeks? I won't even try and stop you this time. You go right on ahead and blush your nonexistent little hearts out. Fry my face to a friggin' crisp, for all I care. I won't judge. You have every right after… that. Whatever the heck that even was just now!

Oh gosh, had I really just gone on and on about, hrm… intimate relations? In front of Lea's brother? That... had to be... the most spectacular case of anxiety-induced word vomit to date from me yet! What was wrong with me? Who does that? No, seriously, I demand answers this instant, what in the everliving-

A soft knock at the door made me yelp and jump away, whipping around to face it, heart trying to jackhammer its way out of my chest. I was greeted by my own frazzled reflection staring back at me from the full-length mirror hanging there. My face could have been mistaken for a ripe, oversized tomato.

"...El?" Lea's muffled voice came through from the other side. "You might've, uh… kinda forgot something."

A crease formed between my eyebrows. Forgot something? No, I don't think so. I glanced down at myself, hands patting over my dress. Phone in pocket? Check. Shoes on feet? Check. No purse, I hadn't used one tonight. No coat, I'd thought it too warm out for it. My gaze settled on the door once more, eyes scrunching. "What did I forget?"

"...me?"

Oh.

Fudge.

After that, ah… stirring speech I'd just given out there a moment ago, it would certainly help drive the point home if I had him in here with me, wouldn't it?

After all, it took two to, ahem... tango.

As I reached a hand towards the doorknob, I realized I hadn't even locked it. Lea must have only been knocking to be considerate. A consideration I greatly appreciated, especially when you take into account that this was in fact his room that I'd taken sanctuary in. Taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly in one last ditch effort to calm my nerves, my still shaking fingers closed around the knob and twisted.

I cracked the door ajar about an inch, just barely enough for me to peek one eye through. Arms crossed and one shoulder propped against the doorframe, Lea tilted his head with a tiny smile, "Hey."

My gaze fell to my feet for a moment before flicking back up to meet his. "...hi."

"Can I come in?"

I hesitated for another heartbeat then nodded, pulling the door open further and taking a couple steps back. He turned his head to one side, calling out a quick, "Night, man!" to Saïx before walking in and closing the door.

Ah, awkward silence. Ye hath returned. Never could stay away from me for long, could you?

"So…" I hugged myself and decided to get into a staring contest with the floor. "...think he likes me?"

Lea snerked, folding one arm behind his back, hand hooking his opposite elbow as he leaned back against the mirror hanging from his door. "You kidding? He adores you. Practically ready to call ya sister-in-law."

I attempted a smile. It came across as more of a grimace. "Even after I was… all…"

"...smooth and cool as a cucumber?" he supplied, his voice chipper. "Absolutely! And you said you couldn't lie," he teased. "You handled that one like a total pro!"

...oh. Wow, he was right. Not about the "pro" part, obviously, but that I had lied. For the first time since this whole charade started, I'd told a straight out, bald-faced lie. It had been a monumental failure, to be sure, but hey… we all had to start somewhere. Guess I had to take my silver linings wherever I could.

"Gah, I should have just made up some sort of… of excuse or something." I started pacing slowly, eyes still downcast as I brought one hand up to chew on my thumbnail. "Said I couldn't stay because I had an opening shift tomorrow."

He shook his head, "Saïx knows you work at the mall with me, so he also knows I woulda happily driven ya over from here, even at the crack of dawn."

Frowning, I tried again, "Well then, I could have said that… ah! That you had an early test tomorrow so I shouldn't be keeping you up late!"

"Nah, he knows me too well," he smirked, waggling his eyebrows. "Knows I'd never let a lil thing like that stop me."

I blinked. Then I buried my face in my hands with a groan. "Oh god, I can never face him again. Not after that." Dragging my palms down to peek out between my fingers, I grumbled, "I'm guessing it's safe to assume he's retracted his 'woman of obvious intelligence and sophistication' comment." Ha. Showed what Saïx knew.

Shrugging one shoulder, he laughed, "I wouldn't worry 'bout it too much. Just another side of your kookiness that I mentioned earlier. 'Sides, he knows what a nervous, jumpy creature you are."

Up quirked one eyebrow. "...he does?"

"Well, he does now."

...fair point.

One that did not make me feel better.

"And look at the bright side," Lea continued. "It's good this happened here rather than in front of your folks! Now you'll be better prepared to handle it the next time it comes up."

My lips twisted sourly, "I guess so." As bad as this already was, it would have spelled utter disaster if that little freakout had occurred during the upcoming weekend with my parents. We're talking one epic catastrophe here, like meteor-taking-out-the-dinosaurs kind of catastrophe. Then again, I didn't particularly see this exact set of circumstances arising while I was around my family. Still… best to be on the safe side. I wrinkled my brow, "Better prepared… how?"

"Ah, well…" he pursed his lips to one side, tapping a finger against his other arm. "For starters… and I'm just spitballing here, but next time you could maybe just, ya know… not say the word sex repeatedly? If at all? I'm thinking this is 'less is more' kinda situation."

"...good call."

"Heh," he paused, rubbing his shoulder. "So... looks like we're bunkmates."

I lowered my gaze once more and brought my curled fingers up to my mouth, covering my deepening frown. "Yeah… looks like…"

I wish we were real.

Gah, why was I still even thinking about that?! Lea had already explained it, hadn't he? Realtors. The word he had actually said, had been in the middle of saying, was realtors. It was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just the ramblings of a guy who'd had a little too much to drink. Why was I still stuck on this?

My face must have been an open book. "Listen, I… meant what I said earlier," he spoke abruptly and my eyes darted up to lock on his. He averted his gaze and scratched his cheek, "You can't take anything I say too seriously when I've been drinking. Often my brain is just stringing random words together and spitting out the first arbitrary bullshit it can come up with. Like a toddler that's just learned to talk, regurgitating words it doesn't even understand just cuz it heard it from someone else at some point. Half the time, the things I say when I'm liquored up don't even make any sense." His eyes settled on me once more, this time accompanied by a weak smile. "So just don't be too… concerned about any gibberish that came blurting outta my stupid drunk mouth, 'kay? And you won't hear another peep of it tonight. Those two coffees are kicking in fast, so I'm much more clear headed now."

I tugged at my braid before folding my arms tightly together once more. "...okay."

And now onward to Act 1, Scene 2 of the award-winning and critically acclaimed musical: Awkward Silence.

"I have a lizard!"

My head rocked back at Lea's sudden declaration out of nowhere, both eyebrows shooting up my forehead. "...a lizard?"

He nodded eagerly, grinning big now. "Yeah! Wanna see? Come take a look!" He moved off to his left towards one corner of the room and for the first time I realized that there was a large glass terrarium situated on a long, low table in that spot. Lea squatted down next to it, waving me over to join him. I obliged and when I got close enough, he took hold of my hand and tugged me down into a crouch beside him. He squinted into the enclosure for a second, scanning all the rocks and plants inside before, "Ah-ha!" He pointed, tapping his finger against the glass, "There he is!"

And indeed, there he was, curled up inside a small, hollowed out log and blinking back at us. He was a tiny thing, all big eyes and blue skin except for the purple markings running down his back. "Oh wow," I slowly smiled, "you really do have a lizard. Why didn't you say anything last time I was here?"

"Cuz 'come into my bedroom so I can introduce you to my lizard' sounds a lil sketch, don'tcha think?" he chuckled, waggling his pointer finger up and down at his pet in greeting.

A soft snort. "Yeah, that might have earned you a dubious look." The critter crawled out into the open now, giving us a curious look. "Can I hold him?"

Lea flashed some dimple, "Course!" Straightening up, he moved the terrarium's lamps to one side before sliding out the lid and reaching inside, mumbling, "C'mere, Bruni." Picking the reptile up, he then offered him to me, "Now, the lil guy's usually shy at first but warms up quick and can be a bit of a flirt."

I stood as well, holding one hand out. Bruni cautiously put one stubby-toed foot on my fingers, eyeing me warily before fully walking the rest of the way into my palm. He was small enough to fit perfectly in it. Then he cocked his head up at me. I cocked mine back then hummed a low laugh, stroking a finger along the top of his head. That seemed to be all it took to win him over, for he then bellyflopped into a cuddle against my palm before rolling over onto his back.

"Bit of a flirt indeed," I murmured, rubbing his tummy with my fingertip. "What kind is he?"

"Salamander. Which, I know, technically not a lizard. But feels simpler most of the time just telling people that's what he is." He fell silent for a second, eyes crinkling as he watched us. Then he walked past me, saying, "Hey, welcome to my room by the way!"

I turned to face him and for the first time got a real good look at the place. If I had to pick one word to describe it, that word would be pandemonium.

Clothes were strewn about everywhere, covering floor and furniture alike - pretty much anywhere conceivable besides actually inside a dresser. Bookshelves stacked high with no rhyme or reason, textbooks next to movie DVDs (from action thriller to cornball classics) next to game CD cases next to vinyl records. Walls and ceiling plastered with posters, mostly of classic rock bands, but there was the occasional renegade: one here in which a dangerous looking man posed with an Assassin's Creed logo across the bottom, another one there depicting a grim reaper character dual-wielding sickles that looked to be from another video game of some sort. A queen-sized bed with black and red sheets buried beneath a mess of paper and more textbooks, along with a closed laptop and his shoulder bag tossed carelessly on top of it all.

And that was just barely scratching the chaotic surface. Needless to say, it was a lot to take in.

"Pardon the mess," he gave a rueful chuckle, scrambling to snatch clothes up off the carpet here and there to chuck into the laundry basket residing in his open closet, just under a black, full-length coat hanging from the rung in there. "Wasn't expecting any overnight visitors."

"It's, uh…" So many adjectives, so little time. As I searched for a word, I felt Bruni crawling up my sleeve. I kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't slip, but otherwise let him do his own thing. At last, I settled on, "...big."

"Yup! I got the masters! Comes complete with its own bathroom and everything," he jerked a thumb towards a second closed door on the other side of the room. By now, Bruni had found his way onto my shoulder and was snuggling into the crook of my neck. My fingers came up to pet along his spine. Narrowing his eyes on the salamander, Lea went on, "Surprisingly, Saïx prefers the smaller, cozier room. He's a minimalist, so not like he needs all that much space anyhow. Which works out for me, especially since I used to, er… heh, shall we say, host more sleepovers?"

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth, but whatever I'd been about to say was forever lost.

For that's when Bruni did it.

He took the plunge.

Straight down into the neckline of my dress.

I yelped, arms crossing over my bosom. Lea's eyes widened, "Motherfu-" He lunged forward, hands outstretched before him like he had every intention of going down in there after Bruni. Then Lea froze, seemed to think better of it and instead folded his arms together, shoving his hands into his armpits as he looked away. "You, uh…" he cleared his throat, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, "...you okay?"

"Yeah. Just tickles a bit," I wrinkled my nose, trying not to squirm as I felt the little guy climbing around against my chest. Thankfully, it wasn't long before he moved over to start making his way down my sleeve. I gave my arm a gentle shake to help speed his progress along and eventually he came tumbling out into my palm.

"Sorry 'bout that," Lea scooped him back out of my hand into his, using the other to ruffle his hair with a tiny, bashful smile. "I know I said he was a flirt, but he's never been this brazenly forward before."

Shaking my head with a snerk, I said, "It's fine, really. Don't worry about it."

Walking back over to the terrarium, he turned a scowl onto the salamander. "And what do you have to say for yourself, young man?" Bruni just answered with a lizard grin, flicking his tongue out to lick his own eyeball. "Smug lil shit," Lea grumbled, setting him back down inside his home.

One corner of my lips twitching up, I turned to take another look around his room. Despite Lea's hasty tidying up, his carpet was still a disaster zone of shirts and other garments. As I began to carefully navigate it, I asked, "So how are we doing this?"

"Doing…?" I could hear the frown in his voice.

I looked back at him. "Sleeping arrangements?"

"Oh! That's easy!" Having now set the lid and lamps back into their rightful places, Lea walked towards me with his grin resurfacing. "You get the bed, I'll take the floor."

My eyelids drooped. "You can't sleep on the floor, that's ridiculous. It's your room."

"Exactly!" he started clearing the papers up off his comforter, gathering them all together and tucking them away inside one of the textbooks. "It's my room, so I'll sleep wherever I want in it! And tonight, the floor's looking pretty damn good!"

I huffed. "Enough with the chivalry already. I'll sleep on the floor."

He picked up his laptop and made his way over to a large mound of clothes. Oh wait. There was a desk hiding under there, or so I realized as soon as he started shoving all the shirts and whatnot aside. Placing the laptop down on top of it, he then shrugged back at me, "Hey, if that'll make ya happy, more power to ya. Doesn't change the fact that I will not be taking my siesta in that bed tonight."

A low harrumph in my throat. "Fine."

"Fine," he agreed, now opposite the bed from me as he hung his bag from a wall hook there. Then he squinted one eye at me, "So it's settled then. We're both sleeping on the floor. Like the couple of rational, mature, grown-ass adults that we are. While the perfectly good bed goes to waste. Cuz that makes total sense."

I shot him a deadpan look. "Alright, fine then. Bruni gets the bed."

He slapped his forehead, dragging his hand down his face with an exasperated laugh. "C'mon, El, will you just take the bed please? I won't be able to fall asleep if I know you're just curled up on the floor."

"Sounds like not my problem," I crossed my arms with a smirk. Oh-ho, that's right. I could be stubborn when I wanted to be.

"Woman! Just take the freaking bed before I throw you in the damn thing!" both his hands gestured in mild annoyance at said bed.

Scoffing, I turned my head to one side. "Please, it's the twenty-first century, your neanderthal tactics won't work on me."

Green eyes flashing, he said in a low, even voice, "They will if I make good on 'em."

My gaze narrowed on him now. "You wouldn't dare."

He bent forward, fists planted on the mattress as he gave me a tiny glare across it. "Wanna bet?"

My legs turned traitor and defected, sitting me down on the bed so quick, you would have missed the motion if you'd blinked.

"There now," his face immediately lit up like the first rays of sunlight at dawn. "Was that so hard?"

I made a little hmph in my throat, tucking my legs beside me as I smoothed my dress over my knees with as much dignity as I could muster. "I'll have you know that I chose of my own free will to take the bed tonight and it had nothing to do with any thinly veiled threats that may or may not have been made on your part." I unzipped my ankle boots, letting them fall to the carpet below with a couple of heavy thuds. "I mean, I am the guest after all, it's only proper etiquette that I sleep in the bed. I'm just making sure you're adequately performing your role as the host."

A soft snerk came from his nose as he kicked off his own shoes and spread his arms wide to give me a mock bow, "Well, thank you, Miss Manners, I dunno what I'd ever do without you."

"You're welcome," I sniffed lightly. It was nice of him to let me have this. I then felt the bed quake beneath me as Lea flopped down beside me, stretching out comfortably and cushioning his head with his arms. I blinked down at him. "...I'm sorry, did that conversation just end differently than I thought it did?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Hm?"

"Thought you were taking the floor."

"I am, but that's not until lights out. Right now, we're just chilling!" he beamed. But then his expression relaxed and he propped himself up slightly on his elbows, cocking his head at me. "This is okay, right?"

"Er…" I glanced away, gnawing on my bottom lip.

Yeesh, I seriously needed to grow up. This wasn't a big deal. Like, at all. So what if we were sitting in the same bed? Nothing to freak out about. I mean, sure, I'd never shared a bed with a guy before, not even my ex. Come to think of it, I'd never even been in a boy's bedroom before. But hey, there was a first time for everything. This would be fine. I would be fine.

"...yeah, it's okay," I finally responded. He frowned, not looking convinced. I put on my best brave smile and managed a tiny laugh, "Really, it's fine." Or at least it would be once we stopped talking about it. Wanting to move the conversation along to something else, I searched my brain for a new topic. "So… you and Saïx…" I drew my knees up, hugging them to my chest, "...do you always mess with each other like that?"

"Oh yeah, all the time," he chuckled, settling back down into his pillow and folding one arm back behind his head. "Nothing says you care like making the other person's life a constant living hell!"

Settling my chin down onto my knees, I snorted. "Remind me never to let you care about me."

"Too late!" he chirped. My eyeroll belied the tiny cartwheel my stomach was doing. "'Sides, all siblings are like that. I'm sure you and Anna have terrorized the crap outta each other more times than you can even count."

"Well yeah," I turned my head to look over at him, resting my ear to my legs instead, "but that was way back when we were children. We grew out of it a long time ago."

Lea grinned cheekily, "Oh really? I seem to recall a certain someone chasing her sister 'round the living room trying to straight up murder her dead not hardly more than a week ago."

Wow, had that really only been just last week? It felt like eons ago by this point. A soft noise of contempt huffed out through my nose, "Don't exaggerate. I didn't try to murder her."

"How did it go again? ...ah, I believe your exact words to her were, and I quote, 'dip you in liquid nitrogen, snap every frozen limb off your body one by one, and then I'll kill you.' That about sum it up?"

I pursed my lips to the right, "...there were extenuating circumstances."

"Heh," he stared up at the ceiling, "if ya say so."

I lifted my head back up, my arms loosening somewhat around my legs as I considered my next words carefully. "About Saïx… can I ask what happened?" Lea glanced back at me quizzically and I clarified, "I mean with…" I tapped a finger to the bridge of my nose.

"Oh, his scar?" he rolled over onto his side towards me, bracing his head in one hand. "Old battle wound from our time in the foster system. Same shithead who let us two numbskull brats play with a chainsaw. Negligent and abusive. Real winning combo there, huh?"

"You mean a foster parent did that to him? On purpose? That's terrible," I breathed, looking horrified.

"S'okay," he gave a one-shouldered shrug, then smirked wickedly. "I retaliated by burning his house down."

My eyes widened, "Did you really?"

Lea sighed, "Unfortunately, no, but not for lack of trying. Only managed to set a bed ablaze and blacken a few curtains before the fire department showed up."

I stared at him blankly. "I am just... simply amazed that you survived long enough to make it to adulthood. Either of you."

He blew out an amused pft through his teeth. "Yeah, Saïx and I were definitely prime candidates for the Darwin Awards growing up. Told ya, we were lil hellions forged straight from the fiery pits of El Diablo. Hey, speaking of Ol' Bullseye over there..." he trailed off as he suddenly sat himself up.

"Bullseye?" I asked, arching an eyebrow his way while watching him fold his legs beneath himself so he could stand on his knees atop the mattress.

"Ya know. Mr. X-Marks-The-Spot," he tacked on by way of explanation, abruptly shoulder-slamming into the wall behind us just above his pillows and making me jolt.

...the heck?

"...you mean Saïx?" I furrowed my brow, wincing as he followed it up by crashing his elbow against the wall next. "Aren't those nicknames a bit… mean?" My question was punctuated with another loud thump.

Seriously, what on earth…?.

"Nah, he likes it." Whack! "Knows they're terms of endearment." Bang! "Only from me though. Anyone else ever even so much as thought about calling him anything like that, I'd make sure next time they turned up would be in a bodybag." Whump! "'Sides, you should hear half the shit he calls me, especially when he's royally ticked." Thwack! "This one time, he-"

"Wait. Hold it. Stop," I held up my hands, eyes flicking back and forth between him and the wall. "...what exactly is it that you are doing?"

"Huh?" he stilled, blinking at me a couple times. "Oh this?" his shoulder rammed into the surface once more. "This is the wall I share with Saïx's room."

...well okay then, sure, that totally and one hundred percent cleared up my utter confusion and lack of comprehension.

Not.

"Alright," I said, stretching the word out. "And so…?"

"So he's come to expect a certain level of enthusiasm on my part whenever I'm entertaining a lady friend," Lea winked and clicked his tongue before once again striking the wall.

"Oh?" I frowned down at my hands. Then it clicked with another louder, "Oh!" Followed by a slower, more quiet, "Oh…" Cheeks warming now, I looked back over at him, "You mean you… that is, against the wall, you've… oh." A pause while my eyes shifted about in my awkwardness. "But wouldn't the headboard get in the-" I stopped, glancing back over my shoulder and answering my own question. "Oh… oh, I see. No headboard. Got it. How very, er..." I cleared my throat and ducked my head to my knees, muffling into them, "...very practical."

I heard him snerk as the beating the wall was taking continued. "You're funny when you're flustered, ya know that?"

My face cranked up the heat dial even further and I scowled.

If you listened closely, the signs of a very steady, very distinct rhythm to the pounding could be heard beginning to take shape.

...I needed to stop listening so closely.

My eyebrows knit together as I then remembered something. "Wait… didn't Saïx say something about noise canceling headphones?"

"Well yeah, so he's not hearing any of this, but he can still see whenever any of the crap on his shelves or any framed pictures or anything else that might be up against his side o' the wall shakes from the impact," he shrugged, halting to puff out a noisy breath and wipe his forehead with the back of his hand. Apparently, he was working up a sweat. Then he grinned brightly, "This is actually kinda fun! Wanna have a go at it?"

I shot him a flat look. "...I think I'm good, thanks."

"You sure?" Another slam. "It's actually pretty satisfying. One might even say cathartic. Got any pent-up aggression you gotta work out?" And another, this one taking the form of a punch. He immediately regretted that one, eliciting a pained hiss as he shook out his now reddening fingers.

"Yeah, no," I rapidly shook my head, "no pent-up aggression here. Fresh out." Insert weak chuckle at my lame joke that was neither funny nor an actual joke.

"Suit yourself," he laughed, smacking the wall hard with an open palm this time. Then his back snapped straight and his face lit up, "Oh yeah! Before I forget…" he pivoted to his left, reaching into his messenger bag he'd hung up earlier and rooting around in it.

I snorted, "Done already?"

"Just giving that wall a breather," he said, not looking up from his searching. "We've found some other surface to bear the brunt of all our lovemaking for now, but we'll probably be back to this one later."

Oh gosh. Way to go, mouth, you just had to ask, didn't you? Just when my cheeks had begun settling down too.

"Ah! Found it!" he triumphantly pulled something out of the bag. Flopping back down to once more lay flat on the bed beside me, he held it out towards me, "Pour vous, ma petite amie jolie."

I squinted at the booklet in his hand. Or more precisely, a catalog. "Twilight University?" I read the bold lettering as I reached out to take it, staring at the image on the cover of a handful of young adults gathered around in a small circle of desks and looking photogenically excited about education.

"Yup! It's the course listings for next semester at my college. Lookie here," he opened the booklet up, leaving it propped in my hands as he started thumbing through it quickly. "Ah, there!" he stopped on a page, resting his head on my shoulder as he pointed to one of several listings that had been circled here. "They offer a few different introductory drama classes ya might be interested in."

I blinked down at the catalog as vague memories of a conversation I'd had with Lea last time I was here to help him study started coming back to me. "...you remembered?" I asked quietly.

"'Course!" I could feel his cheek pull into a smile against my shoulder. "It seemed important to you, so how could I forget?"

Honestly? I myself had forgotten. But to be fair, I had had a lot on my mind the past couple weeks, what with suddenly having a boyfriend now (pretend or otherwise), trying to figure out how to make a proper show of being a girlfriend, and stressing out over the all too soon to come visit with my parents. Frankly, my life had been turned upside down as of late and had become the very definition of insanity. There had just quite simply been no time to think about childhood fantasies of singing and performing in musicals.

But I guess… right here, right now in Lea's room, I had a bit of a reprieve. I mean, it's not like there was anything exactly pressing at this very moment, nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow at least. I suppose I had a few seconds I could spare to entertain the thought. It couldn't hurt anything…

"...so where is Twilight University exactly?" I stretched my legs out to lay flat on the mattress, crossing my ankles and resting the open booklet down in my lap. "Is it close to my apartment?"

He hummed low in thought. "Probably a bit too far if you're on foot. But maybe we could carpool there. And hey," he lifted his head to glance over at me, "I still got a free elective course or two that I need to take. I could enroll in the class with ya!"

I felt a grin tugging at one corner of my lips as I looked back down at the catalog, absently trailing my fingers down one of the circled paragraphs. "I think I'd like that…"

"Yeah?" he asked softly and for a second I thought I might have sensed him leaning in a little closer. But it must have just been in my head, for now he was pulling away to flop over onto his back on his side of the bed once again, making a small cough into his fist. "I, uh… talked to my friends too. The ones who run the local community theater. You're in luck! They're between shows at the moment and are actually gonna be holding auditions soon for their next one. Sometime this week, I think. It's a musical too!"

"Really?" I returned my gaze to him, closing the booklet but using a finger to hold the page. A sigh then escaped me as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth, "I don't know… I doubt I'm ready for anything like that."

Lea shook his head with a chuckle, "Ready for what? Just to talk to 'em? It's not like you actually hafta audition or anything. Nah, you can just head down, meet them, get some deets… maybe find out the where and the when so you can go and just watch other people tryout, ya know? Just get a feel for it, if you want."

He made a good point. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I could go and just ask some questions, that's all. Surely, there would be no harm in that. "Maybe…"

"Well if you do decide you wanna drop in for a lil chat with them, their day job is over at Halloween Town in the mall. They should both be on the clock there around noon tomorrow. Ask for Jack or Sally and just tell 'em I sent ya," he jabbed a thumb into his chest with a big grin, "got it memorized?"

"Jack or Sally… okay," I nodded, responding with a small smile of my own. "I might do that. Thanks, Lea."

"Always happy to be of service! Now," he hopped up off the bed and made his way over to one of his shelves that was pure anarchy incarnate, "whaddya think? You up for a movie?"

The corners of my eyes crinkled and I set the catalog aside on the nightstand. "I could be. What are the options?"

He rubbed his chin, scrutinizing the mess crammed into the rack before pulling out a couple DVD cases, one from the top shelf and the other from somewhere in the middle. He held them up in either hand for me, "I'm thinking either Sixteen Candles or The Labyrinth. Thoughts?"

I looked between the two choices. Then my eyes scanned about the room and I frowned. "I'm thinking it's going to be hard to watch either of them without a TV."

"Without a-?" he blinked a couple times, looking over to his right. Then he sighed, "Hang on a sec," as he tossed the movies down onto the foot of the bed and made his way over to another towering pile of clothes against the wall directly across the room from his bed. "Watch and be amazed as I make a flat screen appear outta thin air in three… two…" he whipped the garments aside with a flourish, revealing the television beneath, "Ta-da!"

"Ah," I gave a polite clap and settled more comfortably down into his pillows, "I stand corrected. Though who needs movies when we have your amazing wizardry to keep us entertained?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Heh, it'd be a short magic show. 'Fraid I just got the one trick up my sleeve."

"Too bad." I paused, eyeing the DVD cases. "Make it a double feature?"

He snapped his fingers and snatched them both back up.

"Girl after my own heart. Pure genius."

Author's Note: Ah, yet another classic cliché for the books: our couple encounters one room, one bed for the night xD Also, fun fact: I started out this chapter stumped for what they should be talking about over dinner. Then I asked my bestie, who simply said: "gummi ships." And I just laughed it off at first, all "naw, that wouldn't make sense for this AU." But then it churned in my mind for a few minutes and I was like "wait… no… I think I can make this work…" And thus the Global Union for Multigalactic Mobility Investigation aka GUMMI Space Program aka NASA rip-off was born xD And further thus, Lea being an alien conspiracy-nut JUST for the sake of pissing of his space-loving half-bro was born xP Anyhoo! For those of you who haven't seen Frozen 2 yet (for shame, it's SO good, I demand you go out and watch it THIS INSTANT), Bruni the salamander is from that! He's a fire spirit in the movie with legit fire powers, so I got excited to give the fire boi a fire lizard for a pet! Also, maybe you can start to see the inklings of actual plot starting to sneak back into this story xD Slowly, we'll get back on course, but not before at least one more hijinks-y misadventure takes place… hehehe…

What does the next chapter hold in store for out couple? What new challenges could their budding fake relationship face? Is Elsa really going to pursue any sort of acting class or community theater? Will Lea ever follow his realtor aspirations he seemed so passionate about? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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smolfangirl · 6 years

Text

Say my name and everything just stops

A sound so sweet, of you and me - 11 - First name

Oookay, here we are. It’s been such a stressful day (don’t start world wars, people!) and as a result, I can’t focus on anything so I can’t promise this chapter will be as closely proofread as the others... anyways, this contains guarenteed more fluff than this week’s episodes ^^

Story: In a world where you only know who your soulmate is by calling them their first name, Matteo soon finds that the smallest words can be the hardest to say.

Word count: 3.3k

Ever since his couch had found it’s place in Matteo’s room, he loved it. But he never loved it quite as much as now, with Luna laying on top of him like a big kitten – a kitten that smiled into his chest and curled up closer instead of purring.

“You know, you make a really good pillow”, she mumbled as he gently let his hand wander over her back. “Maybe I should take you home.”

He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Maybe I’d let you.”

Luna tilted her head, her eyes finding his, full of happiness and joy and maybe, just maybe, she’d start purring for real any second.

Leaning forward, he stole a kiss from her nose.

She flinched. As he moved, her hands suddenly laid on his stomach, supporting her and by the look on her face, his abs didn’t go unnoticed. (The extra exercises definitely paid off.)

“If I took you home, you’d have to meet my parents. For real.”

Matteo’s hand kept wandering over her skin. She was already so close – he was literally covered by her – yet he wanted, needed, to feel more. Like a junkie always searching for a bigger hit.

“I know”, he replied.

“You seemed pretty nervous about it the other day”, she teased. “And my parents are actually nice, they won’t eat you or something. The only Italian they eat is pizza. Sometimes pasta, but not on weekends.”

Matteo hummed in agreement, a joke on his lips but then she shifted, her hips jolting against his and all his thoughts fell silent while his stomach lit up in flames.

Luna smiled at him. Her hand stroke his abs, moving along to the sides and it left trails of fire behind. He loved everything about this. Her smile. Them being wrapped up in each other, how she had to stretch to kiss him. How she made him happy, happy, happy.

“You realize that I’m falling in love with you, my little moon, right?”

Maybe it was selfish of him.

Luna deserved her name to be said, she deserved it coming out of his mouth. She deserved everything he could give her and so much more than that.

Yet, it never came across his lips.

Sometimes he imagined saying it. When they skated, and he felt like floating in the air. When she snuggled him, her curls tickling the skin on his arms and the touch of her body warming the coldest bits of his soul. The word would form in his throat every time, only to get exchanged for a nickname in the end.

Again, and again, and again.

Sometimes he caught her wrinkling her forehead now. Other times she only smiled like no cloud ever appeared on her very own, very blue sky. It bugged him, the feeling he disappointed her, but at the same time he just didn’t want this irrevocable proof, this shattered dream and the hauling demons lingering in the broken pieces of it.

So, he never said it.

It must have been selfish for sure. Luna gave and gave, she was like his personal Santa Clause all year long, and slowly he reached a point where he unpacked her gifts with the itching sensation that he got much more than he earned, deserved.

But she did it with a smile – he loved that smile, so much – so he spilled out how happy he felt around her and how he admired her until she replied by smiling even brighter.

In these moments, Luna’s aura burned the slightest shade of darkness in the world, burned the shadows until he only saw light.

In these moments, he slowly realized it would be okay.

He’d taken her out for ice creams. Just like that, for no other reason than to surprise her. Or that’s what he told her.

She loved those casual dates. Whether in school or at the rink, their friends lurked by closely, always in plain sight or hearing distance. So, getting Matteo all for herself was something special, like a weekend trip, and Luna enjoyed it just as much.

“Does it really bother you?”, he inquired in the middle of her second strawberry scoop.

A tiny pink dot landed on his cheek as she spoon-fed him, and when she laughed, he frowned.

Luna held in. “What does?”

“That I haven’t said your name yet.”

Her spoon clinked against the cup, with the ice cream falling right back into it. She had expected him to avoid this topic the same way he tip-toed around Gastón’s (inevitable) puns. Even now, with his question hanging in the air, she expected him to look away or fidget with the menu or stare on the menu – any sign of impatient anxiety, really.

She was wrong.

Instead of avoiding any eye contact, his eyes took her in, scanned her, studied her detail by detail. No anxiety, no fear, at least not for her to see.

“Look”, she rested her hand on top of his. “I don’t understand it. But it’s okay, it’s your decision and I will accept whatever you want to do. I’ll be fine either way.”

(Maybe she was wrong about something else too. Maybe he cared more about soulmates than she believed.)

“Sure?”

“Sure.”

Finally, Matteo smiled too. His gaze wandered to their hands while he played with her fingers. “Oh, just one more thing”, Luna added after she finished her ice cream.

“What?”

“Can I have one more scoop? Please? Just one!”

Matteo shook his head only to break out in laughter. “You’re insatiable.”

“Matteo, can I borrow your notes from physics class?”

“Why? You sat right next to me”, Matteo answered while he waited for Gastón to finally change from his PE clothes into his school uniform.

“I wasn’t paying much attention, besides that woman writes too fast to keep track. And you were writing the entire time, I thought I could just ask you.”

How incredibly unfortunate. “I wasn’t taking notes.”

Gastón completely did not approve of this. Matteo knew that before his best friend paused mid-changing his shirt to send him a distasteful click of his tongue.

“You can’t judge me, you said yourself you weren’t listening”, Matteo defended himself. “And hurry up, I don’t want to be late for lunch again only because of your slow ass.”

“Nina likes my slow ass.”

He rolled his eyes. One more minute and he’d take care of Gastón’s stupid tie himself. This laid-back fumbling made him nervous. “Yeah, because she’s your soulmate.”

“You’re my soulmate too.”

“Touché. Still, hurry up.”

Finally, Gastón grabbed his bag and walked towards the door. “I’m going to ask Ramiro for his notes. Dude copies faster than a printer. But what were you writing?”

They stepped outside into the air that felt even warmer compared to the air condition in the locker rooms. A few students relaxed on the grass, the younger ones chased each other around. Above them all, right in the middle of the sky, Matteo found the moon, lost in between the bright blue of the day. He smiled.

“I started writing a new song.”

“Uh, what’s it called? Ode to the moon? Moonstruck?”

“I can’t tell you often enough, you aren’t even half as funny as you think you are.”

Gastón crossed his arms in front of his chest, huffing, “Duh, I’m punny.”

“Not even that.”

It took Luna a good moment to pin-point the difference in Matteo’s room.

“You changed the sheets.” Dark blue and cotton replaced the satin. Very soft cotton, she found out when she let her hand wander over the fabric.

“Well, drunk you didn’t like them, so yes, I changed them.”

Drunk you. To her own surprise, she remembered that evening pretty well, though cuddling him turned out to be the most vivid memory. (It had felt as if he put a flame in her chest, but that flame was also what made her feel more alive than skating or singing or anything else she’d ever done.)

“I’d rather we not speak of drunk me again.”

Matteo let himself fall on the couch and pouted at her but waved her over at the same time. “I liked drunk you. Sober you doesn’t compliment me half as much.”

Luna climbed on his lap. “Sober me has to protect the world from your ego, that’s why.”

In the end, she had to kiss his pout away. Not that she minded.

Luna sat on his lap. His shirt had magically found its way on the ground and her hand cradled his hair. At first, her other hand gently rested on his cheek, but soon she caused goosebumps all over his skin. Featherlight kisses on his jawline, on his mouth, on his neck deleted any coherent thoughts, and he tried to get a hold of whatever was closest to his own mouth. Her nose brushed against his jawline before she went for this little spot behind his ears that just felt so good.

Matteo almost giggled when her knees pressed into his sides at her attempt to get closer but there were her lips on his and he could only pull her in.

“I really like that you have the whole house to yourself”, she whispered in between slow kisses.

He slightly nodded as to not disturb her in her mission to kiss as many spots of his face as possible. “I really like that your parents let you stay over.”

As she left more pecks on his cheek, he felt her grin. Her fingers painted the lines of his body in glorious colors, like an artist created a masterpiece, leaving behind a trail of her love wherever she touched him.

“The only reason they let me is because you finally had dinner with us and convinced them you don’t just want to seduce me.”

Matteo chuckled. Even in case he planned to seduce her – one look from her and he’d do anything she wanted.

“I even had to have this embarrassing ‘We hope you are staying safe’ talk”, she went on. A blush slipped on her face.

By the stars, he’d take in the sight of her for the rest of time without getting tired.

“And?”, he asked, pretending they hadn’t had this conversation yet. “Are you? Staying safe?” His hands ran along her spine. She arched into him, resting her head on his shoulder. At the sensation of his lips on her hair, she sighed.

“Let’s see – I’m alone with my boyfriend in a huge house. His shirt is off and we’re making out on his couch…”

“So?”

Luna grinned into his shoulder. “I think I’m good.”

He began to draw circles on her back, sometimes sneaking down to the hem of her top. “They’re probably happy to hear that.” Luna wrapped her arms around his neck. “And your parents?”

A huff escaped before he got the chance to hold it in. “They’re not too invested in my life and this time, I’m actually glad about it.”

Within a moment, she sat up enough to meet his eyes. She opened her mouth, perhaps to say she felt sorry for him – either way, he didn’t let her and kissed her instead.

More kisses. Calm and steady, like rain drops against his window on a summer night. His legs eventually lost all feeling, which didn’t matter. Luna made him feel so many things, so many more things than he’d ever imagined, that numb legs wouldn’t stop him from tasting her lips.

Luna simply was intoxicating.

And tired. She broke away to yawn loudly, then rubbed her eyes.

“I think we should go to bed”, Matteo said, caressing her cheek. A smile, sluggish yet warm. “Only if you keep your shirt off.”

Darkness. His blanket. And Luna in his arms, peacefully breathing into his chest.

Matteo knew he should feel happy.

He did. Mostly. Because this one thought, this one crippling fear of his, grew louder and stronger the more time he spent with Luna.

First, it only hovered in the back of his mind, kept in check by all the light she radiated. The darkness now lured it out of that corner, until he felt like he’d explode if he didn’t ask her.

“Are you awake?” he whispered into the silence.

Luna shifted, a soft groan on her lips. “Hm? You okay?” Her voice reminded him of her drunk version. Perhaps – hopefully – she’d be just as honest.

“Would you leave me? If you find your soulmate?”

“What?”

Surprise, even shock filled her tone. “No! I’d never leave you.” As if to prove it, she wrapped her arm around him and robbed closer.

His doubt remained, and he hated himself for it. “What if… what if you only think that now?”

She caught his lips, but he was certain he left a bitter taste, and she pulled away soon. “Listen”, her finger poked his chest, tapping it with each word she spoke. “I’m not waiting to meet someone who might not even exist for all I know.”

Matteo breathed in deeply. The nausea slowly faded from his stomach pit, the oxygen flew into his lungs more easily.

“I don’t even know if that person is real or if I have seen them before or even know them already, and I don’t care”, Luna continued. “I don’t care, because I don’t want someone else and you are not a puffer until I meet my soulmate. You’re not second best. This is my choice, and I choose you. Got it?”

In loss for words, he hugged her. (If you could hug a person you laid in bed with and they already were in your arms.) “I choose you too. Thank you.”

This time, when they kissed, she didn’t pull away. He did, but only to worship the soft skin of her neck.

“What are you doing?”, Luna asked, her voice hoarse now, an indistinct moan hidden in it.

“Nothing. But you might wanna use your scarf tomorrow.”

“Matteo!”

Of course, meeting Gastón by the rink the next day ended up in an awkward situation. For Luna, anyway. Her idiot boyfriend grinned so hard his mouth almost formed a circle.

“I see you’re wearing my scarf.” A satisfied smirk and wiggling eyebrows, always the wiggling eyebrows. “Nice.”

His closet was gigantic. Literally, and ridiculously gigantic, both Luna and all her clothes would fit into this monstrosity ten times. She never even imagined the possibility of someone owning a closet like that, except for Ámbar, of course.

How was she supposed to find a blanket in here?

“It’s somewhere in the lower drawers”, Matteo told her while he put his shirt back on.

When she opened the first drawer, she found no blanket.

She found something much better.

“I can’t believe you own hoodies”, she gasped, her mouth even formed this little ‘o’ but then, she snickered, “Or wear them.”

He muttered something that she failed to understand. Maybe some Italian curses? At least he showed no intention of stopping her, so she dug further. Between two dark blue hoodies, one piece of cotton looked weirdly familiar.

“Hey, I think I know this one! You wore it before, no?”

No answer.

Her brain sorted through her memory, in eager search for the right moment. It must’ve been months ago… Only after a few seconds passed did she remember. “Oh, I know, when you were skating with Gastón in the park and I ended up watching you!”

Matteo groaned. Although the first three buttons of his shirt weren’t closed yet, he shot forward to get the hoodie away from her.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so”, Luna laughed, the hoodie tightly pressed to her chest. “You can have it back when you answer me one question.”

“What question?” “You were so cranky that day, and I always wondered what was wrong.”

A pout unfolded on his face. “It’s embarrassing.”

When she simply waved the hoodie in front of him, he sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be there, and I hadn’t put any effort whatsoever into how I looked.”

For a second, she believed he was joking. Matteo always cared about how he looked, regardless of where or who he was with. Always. That was just a part of him, end of it.

But a soft – the softest pink – spread over his cheeks, and it blew away her doubt. She stood on her toes to press a kiss on his blush. “Aww, that’s really adorable.”

“Can I get my hoodie back now? And can you get this blanket, so we can go and pretend this never happened? Please?”

“No.” With a grin, Luna pulled the hoodie over her head. The cotton felt soft on her skin – whoever took care of the laundry surely used fabric softener – and when she buried her nose in it, it still gave off the scent of his perfume. (Or deo, Luna wasn’t sure.)

“I don’t need a blanket, I’ll just wear this.” It fit her like a blanket anyway. “Oh, and don’t forget these open buttons”, she added, chuckling. “No one wants to see you half-naked.”

Finally, this sparked a smirk on Matteo’s lips. “Didn’t seem like that earlier.”

Every word failed to grasp the color of the sunset in front of him. Not really pink, not really orange, only these vibrant last rays of the sun against the baby blue sky leaking through the clouds.

A beautiful sight, truly, still his gaze ended up stuck on Luna.

“Sure you don’t want a blanket?” he snickered as yet another shiver ran over her spine.

“I can use you as one”, she replied, robbing closer until her head rested on his chest and her hands sneaked between their bodies. He felt the coldness coming from her skin through his clothes. When he slightly shook his head at her, she only snuggled closer.

“But now you can’t see the stars.”

“I can look at you instead”, she whispered, “You are so beautiful.”

“Not as much as you are.”

In her eyes, he found a reflection of himself. The fondness in them rendered him speechless, it warmed his bones better than any tea or blanket ever could and it was all he could focus on in this moment.

A part of him continued to struggle, struggled to believe he deserved so much happiness. That he got to lay here, with her in his arms, and that things were perfectly fine, that they fit like a puzzle he’d been trying to solve his whole life. Luna’s words rang in his ears, resonating in his heart as well – I choose you.

They weren’t soulmates, but for the first time, the thought didn’t bother him. It didn’t awake any fears or doubts, it was nothing but a thought. And, compared to all the other beautiful ones she evoked, it crumbled into a minor, unimportant one.

“Don’t fall asleep, you hear me?” He let his hand run over her arm, carefully so he wouldn’t disturb her in case she already drifted away behind her closing eyes.

“Mh-hm”, she mumbled. Eventually, the movement of his chest bothered her enough to lift her head. “What?”

Another smile on his lips. She looked so adorable, and his heart calmly beat in his ribcage and he felt at home, like he belonged right here, like every other place he’d ever seen only existed to lead him to this moment, to her.

“Nothing. I’ve just been thinking.”

“You can do that?” She laughed and flipped his nose. He snorted, glad she couldn’t see the grin his mouth formed. “And what were you thinking?”, she wanted to know but before she gave him the chance to reply, she kissed him. Her hand cupped his cheek and when she pulled away, her eyes outshone the brightest of stars sparkling above their heads.

He knew with every fiber of his being that this was the perfect moment. The one golden opportunity.

“I’m in love with you, Luna.”

#soy luna #lutteo #my sl fanfiction #a sound so sweet of you and me #I love the chapter title bc it's the most accurate one ever #anyway I hope you enjoyed it :D

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