#she listened to frank sinatra ONCE and went “he’s talking about me”

[mainenorth]

sometimes i forget Megatron doesn’t canonically use she/her and I have to think for half a second on why not

[sealz888]

I saw your fallout headcanon post! So i gotta know ur thoughts on Dean Domino! (<- loves that bastard too much)

Thank you for the asks @porcelain-animatronic and anon! Apologises this took really long. I have two other asks (involving Hancock and Ahzrukahl) which'll hopefully be out soon. I've had a lot going on lately, so I appreciate your patience! A heads-up, I haven't personally played Dead Money, so I hope you can forgive me if it's canon conflicting. My dumbass wrote Christina, instead of Christine.

Dean Domino

I really like the head canon that Dean has beef with pre-war singers, I feel like he’s got major beef with Frank Sinatra.

He was a childhood prodigy. His talent was discovered at a young age by his mother, who made him sign up to a childhood talent TV show. He won and only skyrocketed from there, hence his ego.

At some point when he turned 14, he lost his fame and became, for lack of a better term, “washed out” and he fell into the background. His mother wasn’t too happy about this, so he ran away to Vegas, and he’d get by busking and later performing at mid-end clubs. 

That was until he got into hot water at 17 after he was caught with chems. This actually skyrocketed him to fame again. Everyone was booking him in.

A playboy for sure, he flirted with anyone to get his way. Especially when he met Vera Keys again to lure her into joining his heist. However, he actually didn’t sleep around unless he was in a relationship with them. His spark and skill in flirting died down, but he's trying to get it back.

Really pissed off about his hair loss, but is glad about how he kept his moustache. Once he got out of the Sierra Madre, he left and immediately went to find a wig. 

After which, he immediately went to the Tops to find a job. It was hard at first to get on the strip considering ghouls aren’t allowed in without humans, but assuming Mr House is still alive and recognises him or the NCR allows ghouls onto the strip, he eventually manages. Convincing people he is Dean Domino was the harder part. Tommy eventually relented and let him perform. Now exclusively performs there.

Christine Royce

Perfect childhood friends with Veronica. They’re friends to lovers. Romanced her by bringing her all sorts of junk she could disassemble and reassemble. 

Got along with Elijah, but Christine parents thought that they were just “”really, *really* close gal-pals.” Eventually they couldn’t deny it that their daughter was a lesbian was sort of came to terms of it. 

They did push the two to at least surrogate, at least were the most polite about it.

Christine would watch and listen to Veronica talk and talk about historical texts and engineering for hours and hours on end, falling in love with her more. 

She was always slightly suspicious of Elijah, despite Elijah’s politeness, he was always trying to drive the two apart once everything came out. 

When she was first assigned to track him down, she’d write letters to Veronica, but she never got them, unfortunately. Upon encountering the courier, the courier put two and two together and told her about Veronica. 

Veronica, upon hearing about Christine broke down into tears on the strip, a few steps away into the Lucky 38. Veronica was hysterical and getting comforted by Arcade and Lily. They had a chat that lasted for hours explaining everything. She found about Elijah (I hc to personally have him trapped in the vault.)

Unsure of what to do, Veronica wanted to track her down and get her to become a member of the Followers. At some point, Veronica figured out to radio communicate with her. While Christina had to use Morse code to communicate, she was over the moon. Eventually, with the help of Raul over the radio, she managed to get the Autodoc to her reconstruct her vocal cords. However, she is absolutely terrified of Autodocs still and claustrophobic.

A year later, they decided to get married over the radio, and it was a big event, being broadcasted in a few places in Freeside and throughout the Sierra Madre, even Dean Domino and Dog/God dropped by to send her a message congratulating them. As the courier knew the King, he performed “love me tender” at their wedding and Lily, along with help from Cass and other followers, made them wedding garments. I can see Veronica in a pretty dress while Christina is in a suit, however, she could also wear a dress too.

Veronica also informed the BOS of what happened to Elijah and Christina. Christina's parents were overjoyed that she was alive, but still sent their reluctant congratulations to the newly-weds. Some of their old comrades also sent them well wishes.

Dog/God

I don't have a whole lot, but they're one of my favourite mutants.

Dog often mistakes the courier as the Master due to the look in their eyes, their tone of voice is similar to the master too.

Dog/God managed to become one personality again thanks to the couriers help. While the group leaves, they discuss names, but doesn’t like any of those. The courier encourages the newly reborn mutant to think for himself and choose his own name.

He tries to settle down at various settlements, Novac, Freeside, Westside eventually hearing about Utobitha. After arriving, Neil, recognised him by the scar on his chest and confused that the two personalities became one. After a long convo and explanation, Neil recognised the courier and redirected him to Jacobstown. 

While at Jacobstown, many supermutants and nightkin remembered him, but he did not remember himself. It was a *long* week explaining what happened.  With the help of others, he names himself Alexander. 

Alexander, decided to help Jacobstown by supporting his fellow Nightkin and became a wandering trade. He reached out to other settlements and offered to exchange goods and open up trades

He never really saw or heard from the courier again after stopping by to wish Veronica and Christine well wishes.

[hollowfyshunsuikubo]

Personal Bleach HCs

AN: Bleach is my comfort anime and I WILL die ok this hill. Also, no beta we die like Chojiro if there's spelling mistakes do NOT come after me

Featuring: As many as I can fit.

Contains: NSFW, Crack, fluff, a lil angst

MINORS DNI I WILL CONTACT YOUR PARENTS.

So, we all know that Kenpachi and Chojiro have cannonically bathed together. I honestly think that they tried to date at some point. It didn't go well, as Chojiro is very refined (and a little old) and Kenpachi is neither of those things. Kenny darling was very into rough sex and battles while Chojiro was,,,,, decidedly not into either of those things. They parted on good terms and still bath together and share self-care tips. Until Chojiro got his ass wiped by the Quincies.

Asane walked in on Soi Fon cuddling with a doll of Yoruichi once, when she was in the Squad Four healing stations. Mysteriously, when Soi Fon woke up, it was clean. Asane denies all accusations.

Kenpachi has and will continue to ignore whenever Yumichika is getting his ass pluughed. He doesn't care. He has shit to do and everyone else is sleeping or eating.

Yamamoto listens to records. Sometimes, he'll secretly send put Shinigami to the mortal realm to get him some. He likes Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Queen, Elton John, and Paul McCarneys solo albums the most. He pays said Shinigami extra.

Komamura made his gigai look as much like his human form as possible. Some nights he'll sit and stare at it, wishing he could just look like that all the time. That is, until his Leiutenant comes in and starts yammering away about whatever er boring thing he's done that day. Then he gently puts it away to listen. His Squad doesn't judge him, and that's enough.

Byakuya once challenged Kira to a fight over who has the best hair. Shuhei has to physical restrain Kira and haul his ass to Unohana personally when Senbonzakura was released. Yamamoto is still pissed about it.

On that note, far too many Shinigami have called Shuhei "Dad" or some variation thereof for it to be a coincidence.

No matter how hard he tries not to, Urahara will cry himself to sleep. He misses the Soul Society more often than not. He makes sure to not make a noise.

Yoruichi lies awake, hoping Soi Fon is okay.

Shinji only pierced his tongue on a dare. He has his nipples done too and has little swords in them. He thinks he looks cool but Hiyori called him a whore when she found out.

Rose once hit his head so hard he only spoke in Spanish. But the only Spanish he knows is from whatever songs he listens to. Just imagine your friend desperately quoting 'Despacito' to you while in tears. Essentially, that's was Rose's life for a week and a half.

Chad has never once masturbated nor will he. He's beginning to think he's asexual. Oh, and far too many girls have confessed to him. He gets embarrassed every time and ends up rejecting them. He likes his girls with bite but he only seems to get the good girls. He's never once thought about Tatsuki that way though. He though she was a cross-dresser for months.

Orihime punched someone in the face once, and only once. They called Chad a homo and she said immediately after she'd do it again if they were ever homophobic near her.

Ichigo doesn't know what the fuck Rainbow Mafia means and thinks it's and actual mafia.

Uryu has seen porn and he threw up right after. Ryuken thought he had the flu.

Hiyori tried going to school once in the mortal realm. It took her all of three hours to put eight people in hospital, create three news rules and then get expelled. No she will not talk about it.

Tatsuki had a breakdown when she saw a fluffy cat once. It was so chonky and had a squished in face. She cried for three hours and blamed it on dust. Orihime just went with it.

Grimmjow, for me personally, is a virgin. He doesn't even know what sex is. He's not a sex God he's a little shit with sharp teeth.

On the flip side, Ulquiorria once had sex with Tôsen. Did not go well.

Tôsen was the one who suggested they bring in Orihime. He liked how she is an LGBTQ+ ally. As a gay man he appreciated her violence towards homophobic assholes.

Gin doesn't know people can be gay. He thinks it's a myth. He missed every single time when Shuhei tried to chat him up.

Aizen eats mints more than he drinks water. He likes the spicy ones. They make him feel powerful. He also eats lemons like apples. Szayelaporro is terrified of this.

Isshin Kurosaki was PEAK chaotic Bisexual for his future wife and Urahara at the same time. He still has no idea that Urahara would 110% hit that DILF ass.

[danses-with-dogmeat]

I'm feeling a little melancholy at the moment, how would Hancock comfort/cheer up a lady sole survivor who is feeling down in the dumps? This can be a headcanon or a drabble, whichever your muse wishes to write and it's a romantic Hancock who's pining for the sole. Both have low self-esteem and sole is shy. Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much for the ask, anon! I love this prompt, and I think I’m going to do headcannons for all the companions based on it at some point, but for now, here is a drabble! Hopefully this is the kinda thing you were looking for, I think I might’ve gotten a little carried away, but I hope you enjoy!

Hancock surveyed his bar, looking over the patrons, and back up to Magnolia as she began her rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” and the ghoul's smokey gaze once again fell to the seat in the corner of the Third Rail. 

She was there, nursing an iced beverage in her hand; the amber liquid appearing to be whiskey.

"Tell me Fahrenheit, do people drink whiskey when they're happy?" He turned to the redhead lounging on the couch beside him.

"Depends how much." She stared ahead, absentmindedly swirling the gin and tonic in her hand.

"Three or four glasses in the last hour." He said. She followed his gaze to where it rested, rolling her eyes at him.

"You've been staring at her for the past hour? Tell me, why haven’t you gone over there yet? I know you enjoy a healthy dose of masochism every once in a while, but the self-induced suffering seems pretty constant whenever she’s involved.” Fahrenheit gestured with her glass towards the corner by the bar, where Sole was seated, already close to being finished with her beverage.

“Always so quick to judge. Sole’s a popular gal, I thought she might be waiting for someone. If that was the case, then who am I to-”

“Ugh, if you don’t get your ass over there and talk to her, I’m locking you out of the State House.” Hancock’s hat tipped forward as his gaze migrated to the floor of the bar.

Fahrenheit shifted to sit up from her lounging position. “Alright, what the hell is it with this chick? It’s like she turns you into that kid on the radio. All scared and awkward.”

“I know. Listen, I don’t know what it is either. She’s just… different. I actually give a shit about what she thinks of me, you know? And I don’t wanna lose her as a friend because I was coming onto her too strong.”

“I think you’re just being a pussy about having real feelings for someone.”

“Shit, red, that’s cold. Even for you.” At that, Hancock pushed his hat back to its correct position on his head and stood, rolling his shoulders as he prepared to face the person he had “real” feelings for.

“Fine,” he turned to glance back at Fahrenheit one more time, “You win. But if this goes south, I’m holding you responsible.” He turned and started towards the bar.

“And what it if it goes north?” Fahrenheit called after him, uttering a soft chuckle as he walked away. 

Hancock noticed Sole’s eyes fall on him as he approached the bar and tried not to be too obvious as he ordered another whiskey on ice for her, and one for himself. He was still coming off a mentats high, but he needed something to take the edge off. Grabbing the drinks, he turned deliberately to her.

“How you holdin’ up, sister? You looked a little low there.” He gestured at her now empty glass, reaching out to hand her the new drink.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” She said, smiling weakly at him as she took it.

“That seat taken?”

She looked to her left and shook her head.

“All yours, if you want.”

“Course I do, who wouldn’t wanna sit next to a lovely little thing like you?” She let out a feeble chuckle at his words, and the ridge above his eyes knitted together as he noticed the lack of light behind her eyes as she stared down at the floor.

He took a swig of his whiskey, draining half of his glass in one gulp. Sole looked over and drew her own glass to her lips, grimacing slightly at the bite of the whiskey. The two sat in silence for a bit, listening as Magnolia’s song came to an end and the conversations around the bar grew to a dull roar. 

“Sorry I’m not better company, Hancock.” She uttered quietly. 

“Nonsense. I could sit silently beside you all night, and you’d still be better company than half the commonwealth. But hey, if you wanna talk about it, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I got two good ears over here.” She laughed a little more genuinely at that, and Hancock felt a little flutter in his chest.

“Thanks, but really it’s- Okay, it’s just… nothing.”

“Hmm. Yeah, seems like it. Real convincing there, sister.” She finally looked up to meet his gaze. “C’mon, Sole,” he whispered softly, “it’s okay, you can tell me. After all I done, you think I’m in any position to judge you?” Sole looked away and downed her drink, before placing her fifth empty glass on the table beside the others. He drained the remainder of his own beverage in response, hoping the gesture might help settle her nerves a bit.

Sole took a deep, shaky breath. 

“It’s not… something.” She stopped, looking at him with desperation behind her eyes, willing him to understand without her having to say it. Hancock was many, many things, and he would become almost anything if it meant pleasing Sole, but he wasn’t a mind reader. Instead, he smiled at her and nodded for her to continue.

“It’s… God, it’s just everything. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I used to feel like I had made it so far. When I saw the world after leaving that vault, I just, I don’t know, I just adapted. I moved on and I survived. Even when I learned that 200 years had passed, and I realized that everyone I ever knew was dead, I persisted. I pushed through. I was sad, of course, but at least I could function. Then, when I found out about Shaun and the Institute, when I saw him and... and he was older than me, when I found out how he felt about me, the way he saw me as nothing more than an experiment, I just…” Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, punctuating the end of her sentence. No words were needed now, he understood. He wanted to reach out to her, to pull her into his arms and hold her tight, to let her know she wasn’t alone, that he was here for her, and would be as long as he was living. Instead, he reached a scarred hand towards her own that rested on the arm of her chair. She shuddered slightly as his fingers made contact with the back of her hand, and he was afraid she would pull away. But she just dropped her gaze to watch as he settled his hand atop hers, his thumb gently stroking over her knuckles.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re goin’ through, Sole.” He said, his dark eyes meeting hers, “But no matter what, I’m here for you. Anything you need, it’s yours, you hear?” She sniffled slightly, and Hancock thought he heard a soft “thanks,” but he couldn’t be sure.

“You remember the day we met?” He said, his thumb still brushing softly over her hand.

“How could I forget? You killed a guy.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I sure did, heh.”

“What was his name again?” She asked him, a little bit of life returning to her strained voice.

“Finn.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now.”

“Yeah, real jackass, he was.” Sole grinned at that, and Hancock's eyes lit up, reveling in the fact that his words managed to bring a smile to her face, meager as it may be, it beat tears any day.

“You remember why I killed him?” He asked her.

“Cuz he was a jackass?” The ghoul chuckled at that, his hand squeezing hers ever so slightly.

“Close, but that’s not all of it. He was a jackass to you, sweetheart. And that didn’t sit right with me, even then.” Her eyes met his as she began to understand where he was going with this.

“But lemme tell you something, how I cared then? Shit’s nothing compared to how I care now.” He whispered the last sentence, leaning in closer to her. Hancock willed himself to say more, to tell her how much he cared for her, tell her everything he would do for her, he wanted to make a move to hold her hand tighter, or to lean into her even further, to eliminate the gap between them altogether, but he was paralyzed by her unbroken gaze.

“You mean it?” She whispered so softly, he almost didn’t hear it over the buzz of the bar.

“You kiddin’? Every damn word. And just for the record, there’s nothing wrong with the way you’re feeling right now, Sole. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met, and if anybody else went through the shit that you have, they wouldn’t have made it through day one. But you? You haven’t just survived out here, you’ve made a difference. You didn’t have to, background like yours, you coulda become a fuckin raider or crime boss or some shit and I wouldn’t have blamed you, but no. Here you go, one-upping everyone else who thought they had a tragic backstory and becoming the best damn person in the Commonwealth. Really ruins it for the rest of us rabble, you know.” Sole’s eyebrows creased together and her eyes began to glisten again as tears threatened to spill over. Shit. What did I say? Hancock’s heart pounded in his chest as he tried desperately to think of a way to undo whatever he just did. That feeling soon vanished as Sole fell forward, arms draping around Hancock’s shoulders, as she buried her head into the crook of his neck. He released the breath he had been holding and brought his own arms around to envelop her, squeezing tightly as warmth spread through the expanse of his chest.

“Thank you.” She whispered softly. And Hancock was sure he’d heard it this time.

[infinitegalahad]

CARRIE!!!!! HELLO MY FRIEND 💜💜💜 hope you're having a lovely day (or night) haha. Can I get "dance with me?" and "i think i might love you" with Eugene Roe of course 🥺🥺🥺

MOONLIGHT SERENADE

Prompts: "dance with me? & "i think i might love you"

Summary: You and Eugene are madly in love with each other but there’s one problem; the two of you don’t even realize it. Babe and Renee step in. 

Word-Count: 2.2k

Notes: KRYSTA!! I’m so sorry this is late ❣️ life has been crazy. I just got out of school and I’m bored as hell, so I’m doing some requests. I recommend listening to “Moonlight Serenade” By Frank Sinatra while reading. Hope you enjoy! 

Taglist: @tvserie-s-world @easy-company-tradition @liebgotttme @50svibes @ricksmorty @cvrrahees-deactivated20210330 @pennyllanne @capsparkyspeirs @snafus-peckuh @contrabandhothead

Masterlist | Taglist | Send A Prompt! 

The pretty things in life never fitted into your schedule. Growing up, you were a tomboy by heart. Your appearance and boys never phased you a bit. The older you got, the less you cared. You wore pants, were “unattractive” to most men, but it didn’t matter to you. Love was simply not for you. After all, no man would want you, and you accepted that fact, closing your heart off.

Enlisting in the war as a Radioman, there was no time for being pretty. Showers were non-existent and you would go days with blood stains on your clothes and grim under your nails. Still, you were just fine with that.

But your best (and only female) friend Renee was simply not okay with that, especially when it came hours before the military ball in Austria. The sun was setting when the two of you sat in your conjoined room. Both of you were dressed in nothing but your underwear as Renee attempted to comb through your messed hair. She was determined to make sure you were a whole new person within the next few hours.

“Ow-your pulling so hard!” You complained as Renee tightly rolled your bangs onto your forehead, securing the hair with bobby pins.

Renee patted your shoulder, “Shush, you are just fine. Look at you!” She forced you to look at the mirror with your face patted with eyeshadow and mascara and your hair in a half up half down. “You look magnifique, ma chérie!”

You cringed at the shit. Despite smelling nice, it was an alien feeling for you to feel pretty.”Yeah, I just don’t feel so magnifique let’s just say..”

Looking down at your hands, you can see the once bloodied and chipped nails now equally filed, coated with a bright red to match your lipstick and dress. Renee placed her manicured hands on your bare shoulders and gave them a tight squeeze,

“Get rid of that nonsense. You’re going to be la belle du bal!” She encouraged me, which earned a smile. Giving a freidney peck on your check, she leads you to the closest, “We haven’t even got to the best parts!”

“Parts. Two things? Renee, this is worrisome.”

Opening the closest, she revealed a beautiful ball gown. It was a bright shade of red that reached to the ground. It had short sleeves and a low breast line. Next to the dress was a small box. You didn’t even have time to question it as Renee grabbed the dress and put you in it. Eugene was right; that woman had magical hands. After putting the dress on, you tried to go to the mirror, but she stopped you.

“Renee!” You begged, “I think you’ve done enough for me.”

She laughed, “Hold on! Being around men has changed you. Let me add the finishing touches.” Grabbing you back, she clipped a necklace and earrings onto you, before letting you stand in front of the mirror. You didn’t even recognize the person in front of it. The makeup, the dress that displayed your curves, the beautiful golden earrings and necklace. The necklace had to have been the most stunning piece. It was a pearl choker with a golden pendant of Saint Maria Goretti.

“Wow…I…” You were at a total loss for words. For the first time in a year, you actually looked like a girl-or should you say a woman with your golden jewelry and red satin dress. “Renee, thank you. I…did you get these all for me?”

Renee waved her hands, moving her fingers back and forth, “See, magic hands! No, I did not. Your secret admirer did.”

You quirked an eyebrow. Who could that be. You saw the devious smirk on the Belgian nurse’s face, so you decided to interrogate her, “Who? Come on. Tell me!”

“A secret is a secret, ma chérie!” Renee nudged your shoulder. As you were about to question her more, a sudden knock at the door caused you too to spin over. The sounds of a thick Cajun and Philly accent could be heard for a mile away. You could recognize those from anywhere.

You knew Renee’s little plan. Your hearts ripped as your cheeks turned to the color of your dress, “Renee!” You gave her a slap, “You did not.”

“I did!” A spin of blue could be seen as Renee walked towards the door, forcefully dragging you so, “It’s about time for you two to make a move. Everybody has been talking about it.”

“Rumors are rumors. We both know Eugene well. He would never-”

Stepping on your foot, Renee opened the door with a wild smile and loudly. “Eugene! Babe! You’re just on time!”

Once you saw Eugene and made eye contact, you wanted to die. Not in a bad way, but with his dress blues on and sharp jaw, it would be the death of you. Eugene normally was one for not making eye contact, since he saw it was unformatting. But when he laid eyes upon, he could not look away as his pink skin grew redder by the second.

“You two look incredible! Holy moley!” Babe happily exclaimed, “We’re gonna be the luckiest guys in the whole wide world.”

Babe and Renee started up a whole conversation. Awkwardly standing there, you fidgeted with the necklace that had been given to you. It looked expensive, and it made your heart flutter. What man would give such a nice gift to you? As you thought of a list in your head, you felt a small tap on your shoulder. Looking up, it was Eugene. You flashed a smile and titled your head, “Doc. Pleasure to see you.”

Eugene observed you and nodded his head with his hands behind his back, “You as well, miss y/n.” He leaned in close to your ear, enough for you to inhale his smokey cologne, “You look absolutely stunnin’ tonight.”

“Thank you. You boys cleaned up well tonight,” You responded back as you felt your arms go numb. His cajun voice was so husky and as a whisper-good lord. “I’m gonna suppose Renee asked you to come.”

Eugene turned to see Babe and Renee smiling and laughing before turning back to see. His eyes made eye contact with the choker before he met with your eyes. “She did. I’m not complain’. I like you being’ my company.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Babe called out. Renee looked back and gave you a quick wink as he held Babe’s arm. Eugene gave Babe a glare as he goofily smiled back, “Cmon-there servin’ beer. It’s a perk of civilization.”

“Last time you drank, it didn’t end well for you Babe. Guarno wants me to look out for you. Just to make sure you don’t end up with alcohol poisoning again,” You fired back with a little sass. Renee let out a laugh as Babe went red. Him and Renee walked forward, arm in arm. Babe looked flustered as he tried to defend himself to Renee, who simply was in a fit of giggles.

Eugene extended his arm out, nudging his head. “Shall we, miss y/n?”

You flashed a smile, melting your arm into his. One of your arms curved into his as your other rested in the center of his elbow, your fingernails gently tapping against me.

“Lead the way, Mister Roe.”

-----------

Placing the two drinks down, Babe let out a long sigh. Renee, with her chin resting in her palm, looked just as hopeless as Babe did.

“Nothing! Nada! Zilch.” Babe cried, running a hand over his forehead, “Did you tell y/n ‘bout the necklace?”

Renee slapped his shoulder, “I said a secret admirer. I mean, I thought she would know but...both of them are so stupid with love.”

Babe looked over at y/n and Roe. The two of you sat at the same table, awkwardly conversing with each other. The both of you were too shy to advance for something. Renee and Babe we're praying to their lucky stars for a miracle to happen.

“I mean-you see the way Gene looks at her. His eyes go all soft and he gets all smiley and shit. When we were in Paris, he just went on and on about her. After every beer, it was like...word vomit. Love vomit.”

Renee rolled her eyes, “Anything but that.”

“Hey! Let me tell my story. So, I gave him some advice. He saw that necklace and the pair of earrings, and told me that it would go well with Y/n’s skin. Told him to buy it. The poor man had nothing, but he’s willing to do anything for her. He’s just scared she’s too good for him.”

“That’s exactly what she thinks.” Renee saw y/n and Eugene smile at each other. Eugene stood up and gently brushed her shoulder and whispered in your ear. As he walked again, y/n turned over to look at him with awe in her eyes. It was obvious that y/n and Eugene were in love with each other, more than anything in the world. But even they, lovesick puppies, didn’t see their affection for each other.

As Eugene returned with his drinks, the lights in the room began to dim. Paratroopers and girls with pretty dresses began to pass him, hand in hand, into the middle of the ballroom floor. You looked up and saw them move. You looked down at your lap, unconfident. All these girls had a better chance then you with their natural femininity. You just never felt like a woman ever, and no matter what you did, you never were one. A true one, atleast.

Eugene saw your sadness and knew how to fix it. He tenderly tilted your chin up, moving a stray piece of hair behind your ear. You grew soft, your attention focused on him.

“Dance with me?” He quietly asked, holding out his calloused hands.

You took his hand with your manicured one as he closed your hand, tightly squeezing it.

“I’d loved too,” You replied kindly. Eugene nodded his head and led you to the dance floor. The familiar faces of men in the company struck you, with pretty girls in their arms. Stopping in the middle with the dimmed lights, Eugene snaked a hand onto the small of your back as you wrapped your arm around him, conjoining your free hands.

I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight. I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night. The roses are sighing a moonlight serenade.

The first minute of the dance was quiet, but tranquil. You felt calmed by Roe’s mere presence. He was naturally such a kind person, and every time you saw him, your heart would grow a million sizes. He held you with such care and treated you like you were a sweet creature. You moved closer, leaning into his chest, feeling comfortable with the energy.

“Your nails-” Eugene blurted. You looked over and saw your hands. They were smaller than his, with smooth (y/s/c) skin and long red nails, “They look nice. Your hands are pretty.”

“Thank you, Eugene. You’ve been so nice to me all night. I’m sorry...I just haven’t even been with someone who’s so kind to me.” You explained, “Now tell me, are you the so-called secret admirer that Renee was talking about?”

The stars are aglow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming. My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming? I bring you and sing you a moonlight serenade.

Roe looked away for a second, like he was caught in the act, Biting his lip with rosy cheeks, he slowly nodded, “I do, ma’am.”

“Now, are you the southern gentleman who gifted me this fine necklace?”

Roe smiled and nodded, “Yes ma’am,” His hand moved lower on your body, playing with the fabric on the dress, “And the dress. I saw it and I didn’t care ‘about anything-I just’ thought you’d look prettier in it, ‘cause you already very pretty miss”

You froze and brought a hand to Eugene's face. You had a feeling in your gut it was him, but hearing his kind words made you melt. “Oh Gene, you’re too kind. Thank you for making me feel so pretty.”

“Of course, ma’am. I wanna see you happy and pretty.” Eugene bowed his head, “Can I also tell you somethin else?”

“Go on,” You advanced your head into his chest.

Let us stray till break of day In love's valley of dreams. Just you and I, a summer sky, A heavenly breeze kissing the trees

Pulling you close, he moved towards your cheek and once again whispered into your ear, “I think i might love you". He planted a trail of kisses from your ear to your cheek to your chin. Once he finished, you pulled away, holding his face in your hands.

“I think I love you,” You confessed as he leaned in your hold, which made you smile, “I wanna be with you for the rest of my days.”

“I do too, miss. Come home with me.” Eugene held your hands, with a begging look on your face, like a lovesick puppy.

Unable to say no, your lips curved into a faint smile.

“Of course, Eugene. Our home.”

So don't let me wait, come to me tenderly in the June night. I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight, A love song, my darling, a moonlight serenade.

[the8gates]

Naruto Characters and What Music I Think They Would Listen To Pt.1

Naruto

-You know those popular boys from school? The emoji tracksuit kids that like dunked on you when you walked through a door?

-Those vibes

-He listens to almost exclusively mainstream rap. It has to be 🔥🔥🔥 ya know? 

-Always talking about the new Drake album or the new Kanye album. LOVES Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino i just see it in his eyes. 

Sasuke

-This fuckin guy

-See, my knee jerk reaction is like your emo classics. Pierce the Veil, MCR, Linkin Park. Screamo. Metal. 

-But no. We have similar temperaments and I think that kind of music would actually irritate him. 

-I think he’s emo but more mainstream soundcloud rapper emo. Lil Peep, $UICIDEBOY$, Lil Uzi Vert. LOVES XXXTentacion.

-Post screenshots of what he’s listening to on his snapchat story and you just know the boy is going THROUGH it.

Sakura

-OKAY so HERE is your rock and roll/metal baddie!!!

-hear me out. when she’s young its all pop. like y2k pop with R&B leanings. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, etc. you get the idea

-but after training under Tsundae she picks up rock. starts with some classic rock at first, then slowly progresses. 

-this girl loves Metallica and Black Sabbath. she just loves rock. Zeppelin, AC/DC, Five Finger Death Punch. All of it. I will not be taking any criticism. 

-windows down in the car, headbanging always. 

Kakashi

-this one is a little difficult to nail down

-a part of me just wants to throw him in the pool of doesn't really care and will listen to anything

-i think he’s got a different playlist for every mood

-R&B sexy playlist with the Weeknd and some Justin Timberlake (yes he thinks that's sexy), soft sad boy hours playlist with Post Malone and Russ, a party mix with some your standard frat boy bops.

-overall, he listens to a lot of popular music

Yamato/Tenzou

-another tough one to nail down!!!

-i truly think Yamato is a man of all tastes as well

-however.... i get country music vibes???

-not like new, pop, country. but the classics. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton.

-he also likes jazz! and big band/swing. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin. What i would refer to as whiskey drinkin music. kinda classy and fun

Sai

-girl

-i truly do not know

-the man is an enigma

-i think once he joins team 7 and kinda strays away from the foundation he’s gonna be all about trying new stuff

-so one day he’s listening to Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande. Radio pop, entry level shit

-and the next time you see him its songs he heard on tiktok exclusively

-eventually he’s down a rabbit hole, consuming music in mass quantities and he’s into Crystal Castles and Grimes. Then next week its Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. Then it’s Judas Priest and Guns N Rose. 

-everyone just gives up trying to keep track

Shikamaru

-oh its male manipulator music ALLLL DAY

-tame impala, mac demarco, the front bottoms, arctic monkeys, modern baseball, the smiths

-you get the idea

-dont necessarily think he's the ‘male manipulator’ type but he’s def the edgy smoking cigs and listening for the lyrics type

-i don't have to go into detail here you know I'm right

Ino 

-see, her and Sakura go down similar paths

-she started off with the y2k bubblegum pop phase but her progression is a little more understandable

-shes your typical indie (except they aren't really indie) pop darling. Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Marina and Diamonds, Melanie Martinez, the 1975.

-what I'm saying is she was definitely on tumblr in 2014 and just never moved past that phase (did any of us tbh)

-as time goes on though she starts to branch out a lil. loves the mainstream women of rap! Cardi B, Megan thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat. constantly bopping

Choji

-i couldn't find any gifs of this cutie smiling and that's a crime i want addressed RIGHT NOW

-but music wise?? i mean he’s a sweetheart right?? genuinely likes pop music! Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Katy Perry. HUGE Bruno Mars fan surprisingly 

-i can see him just bopping his head along to the radio, just vibing and not being picky. loves a good ballad. Sam Smith, John Legend.

-hes just having a good time 

Hinata

-queen of yearning and pining

-girl in red, mitski, HOZIER

-i feel like her playlist just looks like someone let a closeted queer girl put it together

-ABBA, St. Vincent, Florence + the Machine

-also just soft pop vibes. she’s defo posting sunset videos with the Lumineer’s playing in the background. HEAVY cottage core inspo

Shino

-here is your true emo king

-the trinity of course. P!ATD, MCR, Fallout Boy

-then Twenty One Pilots, Paramore, GORRILAZ

-he gives me also like art kid vibes as he gets older? Weezer, Wallows, Cage the Elephant. you know the type

Kiba

-kinda smilar to Naruto tbh

-but it HAS to be FIRE. no sad music! bass turned up and LOUD always

-i feel like he even went through a dubstep phase. 

-hes the guy in the mcdonalds drive thru ‘you know what I'm here for’ *blasts Sicko Mode* 

-some stand out faves are Travis Scott, Tyler, the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, Freddie Dredd

-he’s actually pretty cool tbh

Rock Lee

-yall ever been to a football game and they play the same hype songs over and over? ever seen a workout montage in an 80s movie?

-thats this boy. he’s just constantly listening to workout playlists. Eye of the Tiger, Livin’ on a Prayer, Welcome to the Jungle

-outside of that, i would think some of his favorite artists would be things Gai would listen to. Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, the BEASTIE BOYS, Foreigner, Aerosmith

-what I'm trying to say is he listens to the same music ur dad listens to

Neji

-fucking music SNOB

-’you've probably never heard of them’ headass

-and then its like the strokes or vampire weekend or some shit jfc

-male manipulator music part two but 100% fits the stereotype. hes gonna leave you on read and then cry to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

-some standout favorites are the Pixies, Neutral Milk Hotel, alt-J.

-likes some other stuff too. The White Stripes, The Black Keys, some Beck.

-decent taste if he wasn't such an a-hole about it!

Tenten

-ya know what

-hyper pop. 100 gecs, Charli XCX, CMten, SOPHIE, Slayyyter, A.G. Cook. 

-i would say she started off kinda like Ino, the 2014 tumblr pop stuff

-then that just got to be too boring. so now she's riding the wave of the super new age stuff. 

-neji fucking HATES it and grumbles all the time about ‘its just noise, how can you stand that’ and it only makes her like it more. 

[stitch1830]

Joy keeps yelling at me to update this story, so here I am. Updating.

Here is the original plus add ons, and Here is where you can read it on ao3 (eventually, still uploading chapters lmao). This is a long chapter, my apologies.

......

First Date

“All right, ready to go?”

Toph muttered and grumbled obscenities under her breath in the passenger seat, and Aang just chuckled as he started the car up and drove off to their first date destination.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Toph finally spoke. “Where are we going?”

“A special breakfast awaits us.”

“You sure you’re not just gonna kidnap and kill me, Twinkles?”

“I mean, let’s see where the day takes us, don’t you think?”

Despite her sleep-deprived state, Toph couldn’t help but laugh. Aang seemed to have that effect on her.

When they arrived at their destination, Aang quickly hopped out of the car to meet Toph outside her door because he was giddy with excitement. Toph raised an eyebrow at her potential kidnapper. “You’re awfully excited for some breakfast food.”

“What, are you telling me that you’re not a fan of,” he paused for dramatic effect, “breakfast food??”

“I am, but unless I’ve stayed up all night, I’d rather not get up at seven to eat,” she groaned.

“Not to worry, date buddy,” Aang began as he wrapped an arm around Toph’s shoulder. “This food will not only wake up your taste buds, but it will fill you with all the love and happiness you’ll need to continue on with the day!”

Toph sighed, “You really are a morning person, aren’t ya.”

“Oh, yeah. If that wasn’t clear earlier, I am most definitely a morning person.”

“Charming.”

Aang continued to grin like a 3rd grade schoolboy and led Toph inside the establishment.

When they settled in their seats, Toph leaned across the table and asked, “Alright Twinkletoes, how are their eggs and bacon here?”

Aang hummed, “Eggs are good, can’t say I know what the bacon is like. I’m a vegetarian.”

Toph’s mouth was agape. “What?”

The man chuckled. “Is that a problem?”

“I mean I’m on a date with a fuckin’ plant eater!” She practically yelled at him, but her tone was facetious and the smile that played across her lips told Aang that she only pretended to care.

“Don’t worry about food though, Toph. I’ve got it all planned out.”

And he did. At the crack of dawn, Aang called the restaurant owner to relay his brilliant breakfast sampler idea.

He also made a few other calls, but those date activities were for later.

An amused but skeptical look graced Toph’s face, and it didn’t leave until the food was presented in front of them.

“Okay,” Aang began to explain. “We’ve got lots of options to sample in front of us, all meat free sad to say for you, but all food items are absolutely delicious and have the owner’s honor on them.”

Toph laughed. “What does that even mean, Twinkletoes?”

“Uh, just that he vouches for the food!”

She let out a sigh. “All right. What should I try first?”

And so they sampled everything on the table, smelling and tasting every item with precision and order. Aang somehow planned out every bite to be better than the last, culminating to the pièce de résistance: Belgian waffles.

Now, that wasn’t to say that the other food was subpar. Far from it. But as far as Toph was concerned, the owner of the establishment knew his way around Belgian waffles and it was the absolute best breakfast food she ever had.

As Toph leaned back in her chair, stuffed, she wondered what else could be on the ‘date list,’ considering they just spent almost 2 hours over indulging themselves with breakfast food. Not to mention the pair had spent the entire day yesterday talking to one another. There wasn’t much else to talk about, and Toph was worried they might lose their momentum for the remainder of the date.

She was wrong.

Their second stop on the date was a music museum. One that carried a collection of songs and instruments from around the world.

“Okay, date spot number two, let’s go!”

“And what’s the plan here?”

“We are gonna be traveling all over the world, Toph!” he exclaimed. “And we’re gonna do it in style.”

All of a sudden, a popular trumpet melody and lick blared around the entire museum (empty museum. Apparently it was closed to all except Toph and Aang).

Because of the oh so mushy and romantic gesture, Toph had to scoff at the song selection. “'Come Fly With Me' by Frank Sinatra?” she teased. “What are you, 80, Twinkletoes?”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that this is a classic and it was my foster father’s favorite song!” he defended. “And, it is the perfect song for this, because we are going to fly.”

“What??”

“Well, not really, but use your imagination will, you?”

So she did.

They walked around the museum, listening to different types of music around the world. Aang made her pay special attention to the different rhythms of the world, and they went back and forth listening attentively for special sounds in the songs. The museum curator, Chong, apparently gave Aang a list of facts and interesting tidbits about the music as well. It certainly added to the experience, even if Aang was just reading what was on the cards. And while they ‘travelled’ to different parts of the building, Aang put on his cheesy Sinatra song and even skipped around the museum to the beat of it.

It was absolutely ridiculous hearing him dance around the museum, but also absolutely endearing.

When they completed their trip around the world, Toph and Aang drove twenty minutes off campus to a small vineyard. Toph raised a skeptical eyebrow toward her date, then asked, “What’s all this about, Twinkletoes?”

She could practically feel his grin from where she stood. “We’ll find out soon! Come on, I think you’ll really like this one.”

“Well if we’re at a vineyard, you’re damn right I’m gonna like it.”

Aang clicked his tongue at her. “Not like that, Toph. Just wait.” He grabbed her hand and led her into the building. Aang led her through the building and suddenly stopped the two of them. His hand squeezed hers, motioning her to reach out in front of her. What Toph found was something that felt like a large, metal tub. She wrinkled her eyebrows and turned the corners of her lips down. “What is this?”

“It’s a tub filled with grapes. We’re gonna crush them.”

“Crush them?” she questioned. “Like, with a grape stomper—”

“—With our feet!”

The woman maintained her skeptical look. “Don’t they have machines for this?”

“Yes, but stomping grapes with your feet gives the winery more control on the seed separating process. They can control the amount of tannins—”

“—Okay too many fancy words, Twinkles.” Toph playfully put a hand up to stop his ramblings and smiled at him. “What are we waiting for? Let’s stomp some grapes!”

So they did.

They stomped, smashed, and crushed grapes with their bare feet as Toph and Aang held onto each other for support. The grapes poked and tickled at their feet, but it was such a fun experience. Toph even challenged Aang to goof around and jump in the vat of grapes to crush them. A silly dare that ended in near failure (Aang almost landed in the crushed grapes and juice on his ass), but all was well and no clothes were stained during the dare. Toph even promised she wouldn’t hold it over his head… Well, not for long at least.

Once they finished their stomping session, they cleaned off their feet and ventured into the restaurant part of the winery for dinner. This time, Aang promised Toph that she could choose her own meal, and she was adamant on getting a plate that served some sort of meat.

“You deprived me of meat all day, Twinkletoes,” she began. “If this was an all-you-can-eat buffet, my plate would be stacked this high with meat.” Her hand went above her head for her meat tower reference, and Aang laughed at the visual aid.

“Hey, you have to admit, those waffles were good though!”

Toph smiled genuinely. “They were.”

They spent the next five minutes going over the menu and choosing their respective meals and drinks.

“Hey, do we get to taste the grapes we just stomped?” she teased. “Hmm,” Aang jokingly pondered. “Maybe in a couple years, but we can buy a bottle right now to remember the experience,” he offered.

“Make it two.”

Dinner was a delight, and so was the company. It seemed that conversation topics were in abundance for the couple, and the only time they were silent was when they ate their meals (which were delicious). Then, it was time to go home.

As they were driving back to Toph’s apartment, Toph’s mind simply wandered back to all the activities and things they accomplished in the last few hours. It was a sensory overload kind of date. Every activity focused on a different sense, and Toph loved every second of it. So much thought and care went into this day, and she only gave the man 6 hours at most to prepare it all. Needless to say, Toph was impressed with Aang.

When the night came to a close and they were preparing to say their goodbyes at Toph’s door, it was only fitting a bit of banter was thrown around.

“Thanks for not kidnapping me.” She grinned.

“I was close near the middle when we went to Peru, but by the time we were in Acapulco Bay, I decided against it.”

“Hey, at least I didn’t nearly stain my entire outfit by taking a swim in freshly squeezed grapes!”

“I take no blame for that you egged me on! And I didn’t fall in, so it’s not as funny.”

“Still, the thought is funny enough.”

Aang chuckled and smiled at Toph. “I suppose.”

A comfortable silence fell between them, and now was the time for sincerity. For the first time in a long time, Toph didn’t want the day to end. She didn’t want the date to end. Toph broke the silence and began by saying, “Aang.”

Aang looked at her. Even though she only made up a nickname for him yesterday, it was weird for her to use his actual name. He stopped talking and looked at her. “This was…” Toph paused to form the right words, and a great big smile grew across her face. “This was the most amazing day ever. Thank you.”

“I’m so glad you liked it, Toph. It was the best day ever for me, too,” he grinned.

“How did you even reserve some of these activities? I mean, the stomping grape shit? C’mon.”

Aang shrugged. “I’ve volunteered at a lot of places around campus. I guess you can say I’ve got the connections.”

“Wow, who would’ve thought being a good samaritan would pay off?”

“Pretty sure Jesus did, Toph,” he teased.

And for that, he received a good punch to the arm.

“Whatever, Twinkles,” she jabbed. “But if that was the first date, can’t imagine what the second date will be like. High expectations, my fancy dancer.”

“Oh, so there will be a second date?”

It was Toph’s turn to shrug. “Well, you said there was more to me, and there seems to be more to you that I would like to find out.”

Aang couldn’t help but smile at Toph. Goodness, she was something else.

“Date number two can be arranged,” he began. “Although it sounds like maybe this is your date to manage.”

“Absolutely not, I already challenged you to outdo yourself,” she smirked.

Aang playfully groaned. “Fine! But… There is one last thing we have to do before date night is considered over.”

Toph raised a skeptical eyebrow at her date. “What else could you possibly have planned for—”

Her sentence was interrupted by his lips. It was just a light peck on her lips, and when he pulled away, Toph immediately dragged him back to her to kiss him. This time, it was longer and harder, and she pulled him just a little too hard, because they stumbled into the apartment door. But they didn’t break apart for a second. The most exhilarating first date culminated into the best first—er—makeout session?

Their little stumble into the door must’ve been interpreted as a knock, though, because suddenly Katara opened the door and the couple nearly fell into her arms.

“What the fuck?! You guys!” Katara exclaimed. She was rather surprised by the scene in front of her, but not completely taken aback. She playfully chastised her friend and yelled, “Quit defiling my roommate, Aang!”

Aang turned beet red, but Toph just cackled at the inconvenience. She straightened herself and called back to Aang as Katara pulled her into their place. “Night night, Twinkles! Bring your A game next week, will ya?”

The door was shut in his face before he could reply.

But Aang was pretty sure he floated back to his car. He was on cloud nine after that kiss, after the most perfect day.

[kyber-crystal]

An Accidental Confession

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~3.1k

Summary: In which you decided to a record a message explaining your feelings for Steve in case you didn't make it out of your mission alive. You don’t have any intention of it actually being heard by him, but you have no other choice to face your fear when it’s accidentally broadcasted across the entire compound.

Warnings: none, this is pure fluff haha with hints of a cocky steve hehe.

A/N: Some dialogue credits go to Descendants of the Sun! (yes, this is a oneshot of a scene from it, bc I love that drama with my whole heart) 

Tags: Dedicating this to @sylvie-writes​ because she’s an absolute SWEETHEART. I LOVE YOU BB. go follow her!

"Hey, Y/N, check this out!"

You glanced up from where you were furiously typing away at the computer to see Peter with a wide grin on his face. "Hm?"

"Look what I found! Mr. Stark's old speaker set!" The teenager went around to behind the table and rolled out the speaker in front of you. "It was a bit souped up, but all it really needed was some TLC and here it is, good as new!"

"Found this old thing while he was cleaning up," Tony explained, "you wanna hook your phone up and give it a go?"

"Uh...sure, why not," you shrugged, standing up and pushing your seat in, making your way over to the two of them. You took your phone out of your pocket and plugged it in.

"Check, one, two," Peter spoke into the small microphone. "Check one, two, three. Hey! It's working!"

You couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm. "How old is this thing, anyway?"

"Older than me, that's for sure. Now play something!"

"Alright, alright. Let's see..." you scrolled through your playlists until you found the one you wanted, pressing 'play' and putting it on shuffle. "There."

"Fly Me To The Moon! May played it for me all the time when I was little," Peter exclaimed. "She always insisted I educate myself on older music. Now I'm glad she did."

Bucky and Sam stopped screaming at each other as they battled it out in Mario Kart, quieting down and humming to the beat as they held their controllers tightly. Wanda smiled to herself as she stirred the pot of soup on the stove, Bruce on the verge of falling asleep as he sipped his coffee at the kitchen island and read a news article on his phone. The energy within the compound seemed to lighten significantly as Frank Sinatra's soothing voice echoed off the walls.

You went out to the patio to relax, crossing your arms and closing your eyes as the sounds of chirping crickets and music mixed together in one soothing melody, the moonlight reflecting over the water. For a brief moment in time, you were at peace - and you relished in the temporary feeling of serenity. The 'city that never slept' was sleepy, for once. It wasn't all that late, but you were already beginning to succumb to fatigue's temptations.

But then, the song came to an end and switched off to something else.

"Hey, Steve. I hope this message never finds you because if it does...it means I'm most likely dead-" your all-too familiar voice came over the phone, thick with tears as you struggled to contain your sobs. "God, what am I even doing here? I have a gunshot wound that most likely pierced a vital organ so I'm just gonna bleed out here alone- why am I even doing this? I don't even know how much longer it'll be before you arrive with the evac team...so I just want to apologize in advance for not coming back to you like I promised. If I'd known I'd die in a foreign country, I would've lived a more carefree life instead of constantly worrying, like you always told me to just relax sometimes, I'm so, so sorry-"

Your eyes widened in realization and you rushed across the facility as fast as you could possibly go to the labs.

"Leaving words like this before dying is so uncultured- please, Steve...are you on your way? Please tell me you're on your way. If I'm really dying here I don't wanna die alone. Please hurry...I don't think I can last until you get here. Even so, you'll be the first to find me if I die, that is, if my corpse isn't dragged away or some shit like that - God, this hurts- I almost forgot how much it hurt to get shot...damn...I really underestimated the power of a bullet, huh?

Steve's bandaged fists fell to his sides, the punching bag swinging back and forth so wildly that it would've knocked him over if it weren't for his muscular figure. His brow furrowed in concern and he felt a small ache his chest upon hearing your voice crack - you never cried, and even if you did, which was extremely rare, you were good at hiding it from others.

But then a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips - you did ramble sometimes, and he found it rather adorable. It was, in fact, one of the main reasons why he admired you so much.

"FRIDAY? Where's the source of this audio?"

"It's playing from Mr. Stark's speaker in the lab, Captain," the AI responded.

"Thank you."

He unwrapped the tape from around his hands and exited the training facility, going into a light jog as he headed up to the lounge.

"If I knew that I'd die like this, then I would've told you my true feelings. That I'm in love with you and I really wished you'd kissed me when we were watching that movie together- it was Die Hard, wasn't it? I really wished you'd done something. We were sitting so close, and...I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was tempted to just run my hands through your hair and kiss you. And I almost did. I'm so in love with you, hopelessly in love with you...and if there's anything that scares me more than dying alone, it's probably thinking of a way to tell you, and the fear of being rejected by my best friend, my partner in crime-"

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. You were in love with him? He felt his heartbeat pick up speed at the thought. He always held that small bit of hope in his heart that you'd feel the same way.

Just as Steve arrived at the labs, you came bursting through the doors with a look of sheer panic in your eyes, your face drained of all color. You quickly unplugged your phone from the speaker as he watched on in amusement.

"Want some, Mr. Stark?" Peter offered through a mouthful of popcorn, holding the bag out to his mentor. "Seems like we're in for a treat here."

"Where'd you get these, kid?" Tony questioned as he reached over and popped several kernels into his mouth. "Mm. Caramel, a classic."

"I always keep some with me. Never know when drama will break out."

Steve laughed and shook his head as you quickly turned around on your heel and sprinted out of the room. It was so unlike you to act like this - normally you were rather guarded and stoic. To see you as anything but was not only amusing, but adorable in his eyes - it was one of the many things he loved about you, in fact.

"Music...really changes a lot of things," Peter cleared his throat awkwardly.

The super-soldier cracked a smile. "I seem to be in the center of that change."

He said a few quick goodbyes went to find you, as Peter and Tony continued enjoying their popcorn together.

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid, oh my god, why did I even record that damn message," you muttered, finding yourself going back outside again. You needed to clear your head and get away from Steve. The secondhand embarrassment you just knew was waiting for you was almost too much to even think about - what would he think of you now? What would everyone else think of you?

Steve had beaten you to it and was already out there, leaning against the glass railing  with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing an amused expression on his face.

"Oh my god! You scared me!" your voice heightened to a shriek. "What the hell, Rogers? How are you here? Why are you here?"

"I know you like the back of my hand, sweetheart," he chuckled lightly. "You always come out here whenever you're restless or stressed out. Figured you'd try to flee as soon as you heard," he gestured back inside, "all that."

"That was none of your business!" you squeaked. "It was a private message, not meant for you to actually hear! It wasn't for you!"

"Well, you did announce it, publicly," he defended himself, pushing himself away from the railing and raising his hands in surrender. "And it sounded like it was for me. You said my name."

"It wasn't for you!"

"Then why'd you say Steve?"

"It's a different Steve?"

"A different Steve with a stealth suit, Quinjet, and evac team?"

"Y-yeah! B-but it's really funny. Why are you listening to other people's recordings?'

"Like I said, doll," your face flushed at the nickname, "it was broadcasted publicly. I didn't listen, I heard."

"Because you heard it, you carelessly hear it all the way through?"

He smirked. "You know, you're really cute when you're upset." He smirked, taking several steps towards you. You instinctively stepped back. "But why are you running away? When you were about to die you wanted to confess." With each step he took, you took another backwards. "But since you lived, you changed your mind?"

"Confess? That wasn't a confession. That wasn't me."

"This cell phone is yours," he held up your hand that tightly gripped your phone.

"This isn't a phone- Y/N, what the hell are you saying? Stop talking," you cursed yourself under your breath.

"It's an honor knowing I'm in your will," he said kindly.

"If you know then that's enough," you exhaled, stepping around him to leave. Steve stopped you by placing a hand out in front, before moving it to grip your wrist. You felt your skin heat up rapidly under his touch.

You gasped. "Look! Thor set the toaster on fire!"

"I'm not fooled, sweetheart."

You moved to try and leave again, but he only tightened his grip. "Whether or not it was a confession, I'm going to listen to it, so let's not run away, shall we?"

You were silent for several moments before responding, swallowing hard. "Okay. I got it. I'll answer you so let go of me and let's talk. Really."

"Really, right?"

He obeyed, releasing his hand from your wrist. You quickly moved around him and ran back inside. Steve just laughed to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"She finally did it," Sam nodded in approval as he and Bucky finished their Rainbow Road deathmatch. "Good game, man."

"Yeah, good game," they shook hands, "but if I'm being honest...I didn't expect things to go down like that. If anything, Steve seems like he'd be the first to confess. The way they're dancing around each other like oblivious monkeys...damn."

"Couldn't have described it better."

...

You flopped onto your bed, panting heavily as you stared up at the ceiling. Your heart was beating so fast that you felt like passing out. Maybe I'll just die like this and I won't ever have to confess for real, you thought. That sounds much better than death by blood loss from a gunshot wound.

"Hey, darling."

You sat up and let out a short scream as you saw Steve leaning against your doorframe, that damn smirk still on his face. "What the hell? You can't just ambush me like that! How long have you been standing there for?"

"Long enough," he chuckled, sliding his hands in his pockets and stepping inside. This time, you were too lazy to push him away, and just allowed him to sit down next to you at the edge of your bed. Steve propped his hand on his chin as he gazed at you, smiling.

You sighed and let your head fall into your hands. "This is all your fault."

"My fault?" Steve tilted his head in confusion. "How is this my fault?"

"Becau- never mind. I'm busy. I gotta go check up on the new lab I'm working on with Bruce."

You stood up abruptly, but he reached out and grabbed your wrist again. "I'm going to go to the labs, too. He asked me to help with a few things. I think you just found yourself an escort."

"I can go by myself, Rogers. I'm an adult," you gave him a pointed look.

"Ouch. That stung," he pretended to look hurt. "Last name calling? I thought we agreed on sappy pet names. And besides, you know what happened last time you went somewhere alone. You got shot."

"Whatever."

"Hold on," he tugged you back so that you had to sit down again. "Why do you keep running away from me? You confess your feelings in your will and then you run."

"It wasn't my will."

"You said you were scared to die alone."

"It wasn't me. Where is your bout of confidence even coming from?"

"I'm not asking how you feel about me at the moment. Don't feel bad that I found out how you feel about me. Because I'm in love with you too, and nothing can change the fact that I like you even more now."

You swallowed hard.

He smiled again. "And you look beautiful today, doll."

"Stop with the pet names," you mumbled. You couldn't stop the tremor in your tone as you spoke

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Steve brought a hand up to your face, lightly skimming the tip of his thumb across your cheekbone to wipe away the tears that had fallen. "Hey. Tell me what's wrong, darling."

As soon as that last word left his lips, you lost it. A broken sob escaped from your mouth before you broke down, and he felt guilt settle in the pit of his stomach. Sure, he was lightly teasing you - but he didn't intend for his jabs to hurt you in any way. That was the last thing he wanted to do - to see you cry. He hated seeing you cry.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," he whispered, carefully wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to him, rubbing circles onto your back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the teasing so far. I'm so sorry, Y/N-"

It took nearly twenty minutes for your sniffles to die down and another ten for your crying to stop completely, but he patiently held you until you did. And when it finally stopped, it still took you several moments before you could bring yourself to meet his eyes.

"I look like a mess," you muttered, quickly ducking your head down to wipe at your nose. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this-"

"You look lovely, regardless," Steve murmured, kissing your forehead. "You'll always look beautiful in my eyes."

"You're such a sap," you mumbled, closing your eyes. "I hate you."

"You know you love me, Y/N."

"No I don't."

"That message told me otherwise. You sounded like you were pretty in love, judging by the desperate tone in your voice-"

"Shut up!"

"Make me," he challenged, a smirk appearing on his face.

You huffed and stood up, crossing your arms. "You're a pain in the ass, you know that, Rogers?"

"Watch your language-"

"Make me."

"Using my own words against me, are you?" Steve raised a brow as he stood up as well, walking towards you. You kept walking backwards until you felt your back hit the wall and internally panicked when you realized there was nowhere else to go.

"Shit," you whispered. "I'm not escaping this one, am I?"

"Not a chance," he chuckled wistfully. You felt your heart do somersaults and your stomach twist itself into knots as he met your eyes, a softened look to them that you'd never seen before - what was it? Just a few minutes earlier you'd find yourself squirming beneath his intense gaze but for some reason, you stayed put.

When his lips pressed against yours, you felt a crackle of electricity across your skin and the world fell away. It seemed as if time stopped and held its breath as it watched the two of you, his arm curving around your waist as his free hand rested at the back of your neck, pulling you flush against him. Though you were taken aback by the sudden gesture and terrified you wasted no time in reacting, sinking deeper into the kiss. You could feel him smile against your lips and fireworks exploded inside your chest - if there was a way to describe pure magic, this would definitely be it. And he felt it too - and he swore to himself that he'd never felt a bigger rush of adrenaline before until now.

You looked absolutely stunning to him in that moment as you pulled apart - with your half-closed eyes, reddened cheeks, and swollen lips - his doing, no doubt. Your gaze slipped down to his equally swollen lips and you felt your face flush at the sight. Steve was quick to catch what you were doing and pulled you back in for more.

This time, it wasn't as innocent and quick. It was more needy, passionate - months, no, years of pent-up frustration he didn't even know he had seeping into it. Years of not being able to tell you finally being poured out into one grand gesture - years of finally getting closure because he now knew the girl he'd loved for as long as he could remember felt the same way.

"Oh my fucking shit."

The two of you were practically gasping for air as you broke apart a second time to see a smug-looking Sam.

"You just- I didn't interrupted something between y'all, did I?" Sam cocked a brow. "Looked like you were this close to-"

"No," you exhaled, "we weren't."

"I'm a GENIUS for fixing that speaker! If I hadn't done so you guys never would've gotten together!" Peter squealed as he appeared by the Falcon's side. "I believe a thank you is in order!"

"I hope my timing isn't bad, but I have to ask," Steve cleared his throat and looked you straight in the eye. "that was a confession, right? And you didn't do it just because you felt compelled to. Be honest with me."

You let out a sigh of defeat. "Yeah...it was."

He broke into a gorgeous, million-dollar grin that made you weak at the knees. He leaned down, lips ghosting over yours as if he was going to kiss you again - but pulled back, much to your disappointment.

"I guess I'm the victor of this battle, huh," he whispered before releasing his hold on you and walking out, leaving you to stand there utterly shell-shocked and speechless as Peter and Sam began teasing you.

[angelic-jeonghan1004]

I think it's perfect || Hongseok

First one of my soulmate aus! I will be making this a bit festive since December is coming and when I post this it will be December and even if I'm not christian or that much for Christmas I love the music made for the holidays they give a warm and welcoming feeling.

Synopsis: Where you can hear when your soulmate is singing and vise versa

Pairing: Hongseok x reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none! Slight bickering though

Gif credits to owner~

It started when you where 8 that you started hearing your soulmate sing, for all people it was different ages where it started but for you it was 8 when you heard him sing. Working on a school project you got shocked when you heard a boys voice start singing a happy birthday to what you where assuming was one of his friends, asking your parents if that was normal they laughed and nodded their heads yes remembering when they'd go to birthday parties and hear the other one singing for a friend.

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

As you two started growing in your teenage years the boy had a beautiful voice which left you self conscious so the only time you'd be singing is when you'd do it mindlessly. Unknown to you your soulmate was confused on why you didn't sing as much but he had no way to poke at it to find out, he enjoyed your singing voice and liked hearing it even if it stopped him from sleeping sometimes from your late night studying with playlists in the background.

One of your most embarrassing yet meaningful moments with your soulmate was when you where really scared on how your grades would be in your project you worked hard on that was supposed to be a group project yet you ended up being the only one to work on it leaving it sloppy in parts. Grading came back getting a D you where distraught since it was an assignment that meant a lot for your grade and you feared your parents reaction. Not being able to stop the tears running through your face you tried to listen to music that would comfort you deciding to humm the lyrics quietly. Your soulmate took quick action being able to hear the sobs in your humming he worried for you, you where his soulmate after all.

"It's okay~ you'll be okay~" he sang, he wanted to comfort you but didn't know what to do since he can only communicate through singing. You smiled taking note at how your soulmate is sweet for trying to help, not sure if he was singing a song but you realized from your humming he probably heard your muffled sobs through the song.

"I'll be okay~" you sang shaky while laughing. He couldn't help but feel warm hearing your laugh effect the 'okay.' Through this interaction he wondered what other things he could talk to you about through singing for how much the laws of singing soulmates would allow.

It's a warm moment you hold with you, it also started the asking questions in a sing song voice or communicating through the songs you're listening to with that.

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

Even though you weren't the most confident in your voice you really wanted to communicate with him. Thinking on different ways to start conversation through a song or a sing song voice you'd seem to back out easily. You've also spent times thinking about how you'll meet him, will you be able to tell it's him just from his voice? What will happen if you hear him sing in front of you? Many questions you don't have the answer too but nonetheless you see still are eager to meet him, sleeping on those questions you waited till morning to brainstorm a bit. Waking up you brushed your teeth and got ready for the day but since it was a weekend you didn't have much to do so you searched up songs on youtube to play. You where struggling to pick a song but decided with L.O.V.E by Frank Sinatra to listen to as you cleaned your room up mindlessly you started to sing along to the song swaying your body as you folded clothing.

"L is for the way you look at me~ O is for the only one I see~" you sang letting yourself let go for a moment to just enjoy the warm feeling that was being created.

"V is very very extraordinary~" Your soulmate sang along morning voice active in how he sang obviously sleepy, you found it cute that he knew the song and sang along; it wasn't uncommon for him to jump into the songs you where listened too but you where always pleasantly surprised from him knowing the song. You also couldn't help to admit how dreamy his voice is, he definitely was gifted in vocals and that you where sure of.

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

Sleepovers with your best friend where always pleasant, she gave the most welcoming space to you whenever you came over. Baking cookies she got reminded of a certain someone and went quick to tell you about him.

"Soooo y/n there's this guy that I think you'd hit it off with amazingly. He's from the cooking workshop I have been going to this week and I became his friend early on and I think you two would make a great pair, can you please please please let me play match maker just one time?" She said to you looking at you with plead in her eyes, chuckling at her please you decided to hear more into her reasoning before accepting the offer of match making.

"Okay okay tell me more about him,, I'm a little unsure since what if he's not my soulmate?" You said.

"But !! To counteract what if he IS your soulmate?? And he's tall, muscular, very sweet, charming, smart and a really good cook and you're love for food and his match well" She said laughing, it doesn't seem like a bad idea to give it a shot she genuinely seems to like him as a match for you out the different times she's tried to play match maker this one seems different.

"Okay fine but if the date goes wrong you owe me okay?" Nudging her shoulder

"Deal." Your friend said nudging you right back

"Wait what's his name?"

"Hongseok" your friend said with a wink causing you to to your eyes. You soon began to smell a little bit of burning quickly making in the question.

"how long have the cookies been in there?"

"Oh fu-"

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

You friend doing her magic in getting the okay to give you his phone number for a date you couldn't help but get a little nervous, what if things are awkward? What if he's not like how she says he is and he's only like that with her since he's trying to impress her? Millions of questions pop up until she texts you.

The best girl: his number is ×××-×××-×××× thank me later😘

The roll on your eyes could not be stronger but you typed his number in your phone and went to text him

Y/n: hey is this Hongseok?

Hongseok?: Yes it is 😊 I'm guessing your y/n?

Y/n: so do you want to grab coffee Saturday? We could get to know each other?

Hongseok: sounds like a plan☺️

☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ♡ ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ♡

All the days leading to Saturday many thoughts where taken and texts where sent back and forth so you weren't complete strangers and he was genuinely really sweet and you did have a lot in common, you hadn't checked up on your soulmate through sing quizzing in a while so you where nervous in some senses since what if this is your soulmate? Or what if he's not? So many questions but you'd rather let them stay blank for now instead of stressing further.

Walking down the sidewalk you started humming a holiday tune wether it be Michael Buble or Frank Sinatra you where having a euphoric moment in the giddy feeling over going on a date with the snow falling down your excitement was prominent. The sweet feeling had a curl to it when your soulmate started humming to, what if you're meeting him? But what if you're not and he's so cutely humming with you? Not wanting to have this moment you stopped humming and quickly started moving towards the end of the block where the cafe was at.

Once reaching it you went inside standing near the entrance so he'd see you when walking in, going to text him on your phone saying you where here was quickly stopped once you got a tap on your shoulder.

"Excuse me are you y/n?" Turning around seeing a tall unbelievably handsome boy say to you, standing their taking in his features you noted his cute brown hair and big lips, he looked like a cute tall ducky in which you smiled at him before getting too lost in thought.

"Yes that's me" You said smiling brighter with a light chuckle causing him to flash a smile right back.

"Would you like to order with me?" He said taking his hand out for you to hold, taking his hand in yours nodding; your heart stumbled at how nice it felt to be on a date and how cute he was.

Once ordering drinks and getting to your table you began to start talking together.

"So what did you do before getting here?"

"Well I got ready made sure to look nice, then went on my walk to hear humming a few tunes not the most interesting things" saying with nervous laughter, you saw his eyes shoot up.

"What where you humming?" He said quickly.

"Oh just your usual holiday season music like 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas' simple songs like that." You said starting to think about your soulmate and see if this could be the make or break if this was your soulmate.

"This may sound crazy but you might be my soulmate." He said ears red.

"Did you hum along the tune with me?" Saying barely above whisper. He quickly nodded at you looking down at your hands that where still connected giving it a tight squeeze.

"To attest can you sing for me? I know my soulmates voice like no other at this point." You said smiling causing him to go beat red, you both knew you where most definitely right but not too bad to be careful.

"L is for the way you look at me" Once he sang you knew it was him, the smile beaming on your face your heart couldn't help but melt at the simple reference for song choice.

"I can attest it's you, you're voice is gorgeous Hongseok. I wish mine was as good as yours" You said with a blush growing on your face.

"No matter how you feel about your voice I think it's perfect."

[nanagoswife]

For You? Always.

Chapter Fifteen

Summary: Some good news and soft moments...

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: There will be another chapter of this posted today. I've been excited to get to the next chapter and I'm not patient enough to do it tomorrow so, look out for that. Enjoy 😄

This time, Ben was still asleep when you opened your eyes. His normally fixed hair was once again in a mess, the only thing that looked chaotic. The rest of him was in complete comfort as he was sunken into the pillows. Everything about the sight of him was one of peace. Your love for him rose the longer you stared at him.

Brushing some of his hair to the side, a smile spread onto his face. Ben met you with his gaze, his blue eyes sparkling from the morning light even through the squint as he adjusted to the brightness. Even his strawberry blonde hair seemed to glow brighter. It was a sight that you adored and wished to see many more times.

Uncovering his arm from the warmth of the blanket, he placed his hand on your cheek, stroking his thumb over your cheekbone. The gentleness of it soothed you enough for you to close your eyes and lean into the touch.

Opening your eyes again, his eyes were wider and his smile was brighter. “Good morning, my darling,” he said, slightly raspy. It didn’t phase you though as you were used to his morning voice at this point. He propped himself up on his elbow to get a better view. His movement caused the blanket to slide down more, exposing his chest. This only added to the scene.

Grazing his cheek with your hand, you moved your hand to splay your fingers through his hair. With a quick smile, you pulled him off of his balanced elbow, causing him to fall onto you, and pressed your lips to his. To lift his weight, he once again propped himself up, this time on his forearms. But, you wrapped your arms around his back and pulled him back down.

Lips still connected, he laughed and mumbled, “I see you’ve picked up a new confidence.”

“Only because you make me more confident,” you replied after separating your lips, but keeping your foreheads pressed together. His eyes brightened with the smile that spread across his face. Then you added, “And I trust you.” Then, you kissed the beauty mark on the right side of his face, something you’ve wanted to do for a while but held back in shyness.

Before anything else, a knock sounded at the door. You were about to get up to answer it, but Ben told you not to, and got up, first grabbing a shirt that he left hanging open.

Opening the door, Derek was standing there, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but Claire wants to talk about business now. This visit has just been cut short.” Ben looked back to you. You were already up and nodded to Derek. He proceeded to walk away to leave the two of you alone to get ready.

When you had gone downstairs, Claire had told you and Derek that she was going to publish with you. Derek and you had been ecstatic. All of you celebrated after a small conversation of certain business details were discussed.

The next day, you were beside Ben on the plane home. Even when he dozed off, he held your hand.

Now, a few weeks had passed since that week and a bit. Ben moved in with you a week ago, the process being quick as he only really had his clothes, desk, and work things to bring in. He donated everything else to a shelter and gave any extra to the nearby thrift shop. There were a few mugs he had kept that you knew were his favourites, but that was it.

Since he had seemed to almost always be at your house, it seemed as if nothing changed. Except, now, you don’t have to ask him to stay or convince him to stay the night. This is where he will always be other than late night work sessions with Siara at her and Brian's. Plus, it helped him get closer to Brian. They seemed to talk about anything and everything according to Siara. Well, when he didn't have to work, anyways.

At the moment, well the whole day, you didn’t have any work that needed to be done. You spent the day emailing different people just to confirm events, meetings and just for the sake of talking to them. All was mellow before hearing a knock against your office door frame.

Turning your attention from your computer to the visitor, your eyes meet the gentle blue of Ben’s. You smiled a welcome as he stepped in and closed the door.

“How are you doing, darling?” he started off. There was something that flashed across his eyes but disappeared before you could identify what it was.

Standing up, slightly confused by the closed door, you walked around your desk, “I’m doing well. I can tell there’s something wrong. Is everything okay?”

Ben nodded his head before taking your hands and placing a kiss on your forehead.

“Yes everything is okay. I’m a bit stressed so I wanted to come see you to help ease my mind a little” This earned a smile from you as you rested your head on his chest. Wrapping his arms around you, he put his head on top of yours and occasionally pressed kisses into your hair.

The two of you stood together for a few moments before an idea popped into your head, “How about we have a quiet night. I have some vinyls that we could quietly play through a home cooked meal and the rest of the night. It would help you to relax.” Looking up to his eyes, he met yours with a loving smile.

“Of course. I know that I’ll have a night off from anything extra as well.”

For a few more sweet moments you dug your head back into his chest.

"As much as I'd like to stay here with you," he started when you slightly pulled back, "I still have some work to do. I'll meet you back here when I'm done?"

Reluctantly, you nodded and separated yourself from his embrace. Giving you a quick kiss, he left.

All you wanted was to go straight to the end of the day. Thankfully, it was only a few more hours until that happened.

Like he said, Ben met you at your office when the day was finally over. He offered you his arm for the walk home where a calm evening was awaiting. And it was just that.

From the moment you had both walked through the door everything seemed to lighten. You quickly made your way to your office, where your record player and vinyls had been kept, to bring it to the main area of the house.

Putting the needle down on the first record, Ben was watching while your fluid movements moved through the room.

When you moved to the kitchen, he met you there to help.

"No. You go and sit down," you told him sternly.

"Come on. Can I not help with something?" His voice was almost pleading but he smiled.

Playfully, you pushed him away by his chest, "No, you cannot. It's your turn to be taken care of." You tried to keep your face serious, but you failed when you looked in his eyes.

Finally. he sighed and sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. Even though you would prefer he got more comfortable on the couch, you knew that this was the best it was going to get.

You knew, as he was a cook, it was hard for him to remove himself from doing this task. Yet, he had already made dinner for you plenty of times. Now it was time to do the same for him.

Ben, though, did like watching your process and bit his tongue whenever he thought of anything as a suggestion. He knew that this was your time to treat him.

Once the food was ready, you set the table and added a few candles to add to the slowly dropping sunlight. After placing the meals onto plates, you both took your places at the table.

Ben looked up at you after admiring his plate, “Oh, how I love you. This looks amazing.” A small blush creeped up to your cheeks. He took your hand in his and kissed your knuckles.

“And I love you,” you said while bringing your free hand up to graze the side of his face. A smile spread across his face as he leaned into your touch before turning his attention to the plate of food in front of him.

When you finished eating, you quickly dealt with the dishes and met Ben in the living room beside the record player. He was flipping through the box of records with a look of admiration when he passed by the Frank Sinatra albums. Finding the one he was hoping for, he slid it on the record player, letting ‘Fly me to the Moon’ fill the room.

Holding out his hand, you took it as he stepped forward and brought you to his chest. Slowly, he started swaying while holding you closely. His charming smile beamed as he looked down at you and placed a kiss on your lips.

The song continued as you rested your head against his chest, listening to his soft humming along to the tune.

This was how the majority of the evening went. The only time you left each other’s arms was to change the record. Each one was carefully picked by Ben to keep the mood, not disturbing the tender moments of the night.

There, in the warmth of his arms, you felt at home. It felt as if this was where you were always supposed to be. Where you should’ve been since you met him all those years ago in high school.

Time alluded you through the night, to the point that hours had gone by. Still, in Ben’s arms, he kissed the top of your head after you slightly shifted your head.

“Shall we head to bed, darling?” he asked in an almost whisper with his lips still placed against your hair. So as to not disturb the moment, you hummed in agreeance rather than nodding.

Feeling Ben smile, he slowly moved towards the record player to lift the needle and stop the turntable. Then, keeping you in his arms, the two of you slowly made your way to the room. When you had to break away from his warmth, you almost whined from the loss of contact.

Noticing this, Ben quietly chuckled as he started to change, you following suit. The quicker you were, the quicker the warmth of his arms will be back, this time to lull you to sleep.

Getting into bed, that's just what happened. Under the warm covers and the gentle hold of Ben all accompanied by his continuation of soft humming, you fell asleep. Ben had waited to see your breathing steady from sleep before letting his own mind rest while he listened to your soft breathing beside him.

@stardancerluv @jaydenwoo @madmax2003 @where-fantasy-meets-reality @wintersoldiersthings @hopeladybug

[xncasi]

EDIT: jdkdjfkdkd I DIDNT WRITE A TITLE & also cuz someone requested i will deliver: a pt 2 will follow!

just a short snippet of writing i felt like doing, based off the song “Butterfly’s Repose” by Zabawa :) i edited as i went along so it might be a bit messy, i’m sorry >>>

Dr. Spencer Reid x shy!reader

length: 11.2K

warnings: a LOTTA angst, small fluff, emotional abuse, death

—————————————————

Dr. Reid is one of many things, as y/n has noticed, but she’d never say that he was overtly emotional. From the time that she started working for the BAU until now, which has been about five years, she’s come to know this enigmatic man. 

Not only has she gotten to know him though, but she’s begun to care about him. Sure, she cares deeply about the well-being of the team; which of its members wouldn’t? But this strong surge of emotions came early on and have since remained. 

She can vividly recall the first case she’d worked on with her new coworkers, back when she was fresh to the BAU. The unsub’s signature had been riddles that apparently would reveal the location or subject of his next attacks. They’d spent night after night poring over those puzzles, and she can practically taste the bitter, old coffee that the station had offered them. But more fondly she can recall Dr. Reid’s furrowed brows, the way he’d sat for hours in front of papers, trying to write down new ideas that came to mind. Y/n can remember the way his eyes lit up when he finally pieced it all together, the quickness of his words and the way she struggled to understand. 

Morgan had tried to jokingly explain Dr. Reid’s genius prior to her first case, but it wasn’t until she saw it in action that she truly understood. And, to be honest, she was intimidated.

Sure, she’d done well in her classes throughout her school career, but she’d fought so hard to reach her dream job. The endless late nights of studying and bitter tasting coffee had pushed her through all the required class credits she’d needed; y/n had never stopped working, never wanting to possibly even entertain the idea that she couldn’t make it. And to finally be able to say she’d succeeded, and then to walk through the doors of the FBI and BAU after a few years of working in the field; it was a dream come true!

And yet...she couldn’t ever quite understand how the genius was just so smart without even seeming to try. He could read full books in ten minutes, recite statistics he’d only read about once, and was able to piece together puzzles that saved countless lives. She wasn’t jealous, per-say, but she yearned to know how he did it and who he was. 

And so, the quiet and reserved y/f/n watched. She wasn’t a woman of many words, and yet she’d still been able to contribute to a variety of cases. Hotch knew that despite her lack of words she was still a valuable asset, and that’s really all that mattered to her. 

But that’s besides the point. 

Around the year mark of her joining the BAU, something happened. Dr. Reid and her had been assigned by Hotch to interview the supposed unsub’s father one last time; they’d arrived thinking it’d be another simple interview, but the father ended up pulling a gun on them both and managed to shoot him in the leg. Something about “protecting his son” she believes, but one way or another it didn’t matter. 

Dr. Reid had been bleeding so heavily that y/n had thought his femoral artery had been pierced. She’d shot down the father and then fallen beside her partner, doing her best to apply pressure to the oozing wound. Those few minutes they spent together had been filled with talking, something which she hadn’t been very good at. Who is she kidding, she STILL isn’t good at it!

But anyways, getting back to the point--

To keep Dr. Reid alert, y/n had made small conversation with him. She’d asked about his favorite books, and then his favorite lines from those books. She questioned his music taste and took mental notes on all of it. So was it a surprise to him when he’d woken up to her asleep next to his hospital bed, one of his favorite books laying haphazardly in her lap?

She isn’t sure. 

After that, their friendship blossomed. Dr. Reid would talk about his favorite books, music, or movies and y/n would listen. They’d often meet up for coffee and walk to work together, and they often were paired up during cases because of their efficiency together. Y/n favored the quieter, library-like settings of a cafe and Dr. Reid would follow suit; bars were never exactly his thing anyways. They shared coffee and tea recommendations, they’d converse about classical literature, and sometimes he would accidentally spoil books for her because of how fast he read. 

(She’d never forgive him for spoiling the ending of “A Farewell to Arms.”)

The friendship between the two of them was strong, and it grew to a point where y/n might’ve even considered him to be her best friend. 

In her third year at the BAU, though, y/n had started dating a guy outside of work. At first it started okay; they’d go on romantic dates to fancy Italian restaurants, the ones where Frank Sinatra played in the background of a dimly lit, large room. He’d brought her her favorite flowers, and he even tried to drink the tea she liked. And Dr. Reid had put up with it all, only crossly wondering to himself WHY he felt so agitated whenever y/n would bring her new beau to their bar nights. Why wouldn’t he be happy for her? Y/n was his best friend after all, and she deserved to have a man who loved her. 

Around the third month of their relationship though, he began to notice how much more exhausted y/n had become. She often was late or didn’t show up to get coffee with him in the mornings, and she was unusually silent towards everyone when working cases. Whenever she had to take phone calls she’d step outside, and Dr. Reid had to simply pretend like he didn’t see her strained expressions when she entered the room again. This continued on for a good two months before he finally stepped up and asked y/n what was going on. 

It was their first fight.

He’d simply asked if she’d been doing okay, and y/n snapped. The dark bags under her eyes and the frazzled appearance she had screamed that no, contrary to whatever she was saying she wasn’t alright. There wasn’t anything he could do though, not when she raised her voice at him for asking about her well-being. So he dropped it.

He hadn’t expected her to reach back out so soon again though, especially not the exact same night of their squabble. Dr. Reid had been flipping through the pages of an old book he was rereading when his phone began to ring. Surprised at the thought that anyone would want to talk to him at this hour, he’d picked up his phone only to hear her sniffling on the line. She’d quietly apologized many times over, but no matter what he said he couldn’t get her to tell him why she’d called. It wasn’t until he heard a familiar voice yelling in the background and a yelp of fear that he understood. 

Promising to be over soon, Dr. Reid threw his heavy jacket over his shoulders and headed out into the cold and rainy night. The whole way there he’d been touching his phone, wondering if he should’ve call again. What if something happened while he was making his way there? Should he have called the police before leaving? At least he would’ve known then that she would’ve been okay. As he pulled up to the front of y/n’s apartment complex, he spots y/n shivering miserably on the front steps.

It’s less than twenty minutes before she’s back in his warm apartment, in a dry, borrowed pair of pajama pants and one of his old t-shirts. He hadn’t asked her specifically what had happened, not wanting to dredge up any of their earlier fight, but she’d still managed to find herself talking. Dr. Reid had only just given y/n a steaming cup of tea when she’d broken down, salty tears running down her red cheeks and staining the borrowed shirt. He’d settled beside her on his couch, highly aware of the warmth emanating from her body and the way her tearful gaze avoided his. With some gentle coaxing he managed to get an explanation out of y/n. 

Her boyfriend had been cheating for upwards of two months, but she hadn’t been able to leave because of his threats. They’d always changed from one night to the next, but most of them held the same message: if you leave me, I’ll kill myself or hurt you. 

Now Dr. Reid had never considered himself to be an angry person; competition was something he avoided for the most part, and he was incredibly slow to anger. This, though, this made his blood boil. 

And so the young man had gathered y/n in his arms, comforting his best friend as he remained fully aware of how close they physically were. He told himself that this is what friends did, and her? Well, she was too far gone in her own mind to possibly even consider what could’ve been passing between them. 

Now, though, she’s fully aware of how close he is to her. Much like on that night, when Dr. Reid, no -- Spencer -- held her, she’d felt safe. Wrapped in the doctor’s arms she’d known nothing could’ve reached her, not if he didn’t want it to. 

Pressed up against his chest, y/n can feel the past two years of uncertain flirting and the dancing around each other dissipate. The months of awkward glances and longing stares has finally reached a head, finally manifested into real touches and love-filled gazes. 

She only wished it had happened sooner. 

She wished it had happened long before this case, long before they’d flown out here to take on the serial shooter that’d been terrorizing this city. Because now, with her blood pouring out of her chest and abdomen, she knows she has no time left. There’s no more time for first kisses or late night talks, no more shared coffee breaks or reading to each other while curled up together under a blanket. 

Spencer, her best friend who’d she’d loved for so long, has no time either. 

He’s holding onto his best friend’s body, pressing her to his chest with tears welling in his eyes. Sirens sound in the distance, possibly growing closer, but they’re too muted for him to be able to tell. He’d heard the shots and had come running, but it’d been too late. Y/n had been shot four times, three times in the chest and once in the abdomen. She’d toppled over, shock written all over her face as her gun had clattered to the ground beside her.

And now, she can barely remember any of it. She can still feel the ringing in her ears, but now she’s beginning to realize how hard it is to breath. She can taste the metallic tang of blood, and as she coughs and splutters she can feel it running over her lips. It’s warm, too warm. 

Fear begins to overpower her, and she finds herself uncontrollably shaking. “S-Spencer, I d-don’t wanna die,” she rasps, her y/e/c, tear-filled eyes turning to look up into his chocolate brown ones. 

He has to swallow back his own tears, fighting to hold on as he looks down at the person he’s cared about for so long. Stroking her cheek with his thumb, he shakes his head. “Honey, hold on for me, okay?” he asks gently, his voice cracking. 

“I promise I won’t leave you,” he murmurs, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. Y/n whimpers as she begins to feel a tingling numbness move up her legs. “Spencer, I-I...I love y-you,” she whispers, her hand shakily reaching up for his face.

 Leaning down into the body in his lap, Spencer Reid presses his forehead against his best friend’s. 

Softly pressing his chapped lips to her bloodstained ones, he gently pulls away and rasps, “I know.” 

As y/n’s eyes begin to flutter closed, she grasps onto her best friend’s hand for dear life and lets out one last, heart-wrenching sob. 

[fairyoftbz]

[17:39]

🎄Day 19 of the Christmas project🎄

a/n: brief mention of alcohol (nothing too serious)

__

“Let it snow, let it snow,” you sang along with Frank Sinatra playing on your phone, groaning when a YouTube ad interrupted your playlist as you placed the Christmas-tree lights on your tree. Swaying your hips to the beat of the song once it came back, you bent down to grab the light garland you had in a box, whistling along with the jazzy melody as you tried to untangle the threads. Shaking and waving the strings in your hold, it only tangled them more.

"I really have to pack better for next year, I'm wasting so much time!" You spoke out loud, starting to get frustrated. You concentrated on your task, your hands going all over the place, thinking you were going faster. Once you were free from this hell, you walked up to the tree and whistled to the next song, arranging the lights as you wanted. Taking a step back, you admired your work and smiled, plugging the plug into the socket before turning to the Christmas tree to admire the result.

Nothing at all.

"What is happening?" You thought as you walked back to the plug, pushing it all the way; it didn't move. You tried another take, a little further, nothing changed. The Christmas tree was still extinct. You shook your head, taking the thread of your hands, pushing in the little lights one by one, until you yelped in surprise when one turned on and flickered.

"Oh no, it's not possible, there is a faulty contact," you whined in pain and let go of the garland, which positioned itself incorrectly on the rest of the tree. You sighed before heading over to the box to pick up another garland, and you ran into the same problem. Gritting your teeth, you went to turn off the music, the happy music suddenly getting on your nerves. Sitting on the sofa, not even bothering to put the rest of the decoration back in the boxes, you were angry at yourself when it didn't occur to you to check if everything was in order before decorating.

Unluckily, the stores are closed because it's Sunday and, so close to New Year's Eve, all the Christmas decorations were probably out of stock in every store in your neighbourhood.  Frustrated, you picked up your phone and browsed through your contacts before clicking on a name. The phone rang, and your leg started to bounce, sighing as you waited for the caller to answer.

"Hello?" A low, breathless voice echoed through the phone, just the sound of his voice calming you. "Hi, Younghoon! Am I bothering you?" The shortness of breath in her voice was unusual, especially on a Sunday. “No, not at all, Y/N, I was working out. Sorry, my music was too loud to hear the ringtone," you shook your head but spoke again when you remembered he couldn't see you. "Don't worry, I get it," your voice trailed off as you nibbled with the skin around your finger, trying to find a way to nicely start your conversation with your friend. "Can I help you maybe?" He asked. Younghoon knew you by heart, he sensed when you needed him to ask him something.

"Yes! Well, I don't know. I was decorating my Christmas tree, I had fairy lights to make it look pretty, you know." "Yes," Younghoon nodded, hearing a smile in his voice, still loving the way you got something off your chest. You always had a way of expressing himself that made him laugh, and he was content to have you in his group of friends. For that, but also for many other things. "And so, I was going to wrap the garland around the branches, plug in the plug, and then. Nothing. I tried another price because I thought it was broken, but it's the same! In fact, I have a wrong touch in all my garlands, and I don't know how to do it. Because you understand, it's not very pretty a tree without fairy lights,” you argued and smiled when you heard your friend laugh. “Yes, I understand what you mean. He is a little naked without light,” Younghoon saw the situation very funny, continuing to do sit-ups while you explained your misfortunes to him. "Exactly! So I was wondering, don't you have some extra fairy lights by any chance?" You asked and heard him sit up, let out a thoughtful sigh.

"I decorated the Christmas tree yesterday, and I don't think I have them in duplicate, otherwise I would have remembered it," you nodded slowly before sighing, your friend feeling bad for you. "Did you go look in stores?" "No, but I think at that time there is no more stock. Besides, I'm already quite short on the budget, I can't afford to buy more if I want to have more money to pay for food for New Year's Eve." "Indeed, it's pretty thin on the ground , at this time..." his voice trailed off and sighed, feeling helpless in the face of your situation.

"Listen Y/N, I don't know how I can help you," he added, and you stopped him. "No, no, that's okay, don't worry! In fact, to be honest, I was calling you because I needed to vent," your cheeks warmed gently as you heard your friend's amused laughter on the other end of the phone. "Okay. Do you feel better now?" "Yes, thank you," you answered shyly, and he approved your words. "Well, if you don't want anything more from me, is it still good for us to come and eat the Yule log at your place on the 24th?" "Yes! Now that I've ordered a special for the 15 of us, I hope you will come. I will never be able to finish it on my own!" you exclaimed with a smile. "Don't worry, we'll be there. Until then, be safe, okay?" "You too! See you on Thursday!" You hung up after you said goodbye, not feeling further ahead than before the phone call, but at least you felt relieved that you got to talk to someone.

You stayed on the couch, browsing online stores for fairy lights, and you were right. Every single store was out of stock of all Christmas decorations. Turning to the Christmas tree, you observed it, trying to convince yourself that it was pretty, even with no light enhancing its green colour.

The doorbell rings in the hall of your apartment, almost causing you to have a heart attack. You walked towards the entrance, only to find Younghoon's face in the camera's field of view. Pressing the button to unlock the main door for him, you opened your front door, waiting for him. You heard him greet one of your neighbours before running up the stairs two at a time, a plastic bag in hand. But what was he doing in your apartment complex?

"Hi?" You questioningly said, a smile forming on your face as he stepped in front of you. He smelled like the shower product, a few strands of damp hair poking out from his black cap. "I have a surprise, can I come in?" A surprised look crept over your face, but you moved to the side, letting it enter your place. He sighed at the heat, removing his beanie and jacket. "Don't you want to make a detour to the bathroom?" You offered, pulling yourself up on your tiptoes to touch his damp hair, noticing a shiver in his neck as your hand contacted his head. "Don't worry, it can wait," you frowned, worried he would catch a cold and he sighed with a smirk, handing you the plastic bag. "I better see your honest reaction when my hair is dry," he pointed his finger at you as he walked over to the bathroom, having come to your house enough times to know where she was. You shook your head and opened the package, hearing the hairdryer turn on.

"No, he didn't!" You exclaimed as you rushed over to the coffee table, sitting cross-legged on the floor as you pulled three packs of string lights out of the bag, "but where did he find them?" you looked like a child unwrapping their Christmas presents, opening the lid and unwrapping the decorations.

When Younghoon reappeared in the living room, hair now dry, you had arranged the three sets in the tree, so happy to see your tree finalised that you were taking pictures from all angles.

"Thank you very much," you hugged him, and he smiled, shaking his head slightly. "It's okay, I couldn’t let my best friend sad because of some fairy lights," he replied, and you lifted your head to look at him. "How did you find them?" The question made your friend smile, who tightened his grip for a quick second before replying. "I have my sources," he simply said, looking at you with a smirk, knowing full well that when he looked at you that way, you knew you couldn't get him to spit it out the truth. "That's why my hair was wet when I arrived, I didn't want to come to your place sweaty, and the store where I found them was about to close, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to make you smile,” his words hit you right in the heart, a warmth dawning on your face.

You let go of his arms, walking from the kitchen after offering him a glass of wine as a thank you. He then agreed that he walked over to the sound system on a chest of drawers, plugging in his cell phone, Christmas music blasting from the system seconds later.

His unexpected visit brought you nothing but happiness, loving the company of your friend. After a few glasses of wine and some terrible jokes exchanged, Younghoon stood up, blinking several times before turning to you. You had almost brought down a bottle of wine, so it was only fitting that you behave that way. Slightly tipsy, the man in front of you held out his hand to get you to stand up, which you did, almost stepping on his feet. With one hand resting on your hip and the other linked with his, he slowed you down to the beat of the music coming out of your phone. You didn't say anything, but you were suddenly hot, unable to figure out if it was the proximity to Younghoon or the alcohol, even maybe both. Wanting to hide the red on your cheeks, you rested your head against the chest of your friend, who made you move from right to left to the rhythm of the music.

This shared moment between the two of you felt forbidden, but neither of you wanted to let go of the other or turn around. You were comfortable against him, and he liked knowing you were safe with him. Younghoon couldn't become friends again after your dance, and he knew that something could happen between the two of you, just a matter of instinct. You were happy, and you were laughing in unison when a commercial spoiled this beautiful moment, forcing you to listen and go through it. Even with the bored, monotonous voice in the background, you lost yourself in his eyes, and, as the Christmas music started again, Younghoon brought his face closer, and you did the same, your lips touching in an admittedly clumsy kiss, but still filled with love. His hand left your hip to come into your hair, leaving a warm imprint on the fabric of your sweater, even feeling it on your skin.

[kimbrrleee]

It’s been six years since September when she left us, but I missing my Grammy a little bit more than usual tonight. Seeing the ornament she made me for my first Christmas always makes it more real. I’m going to share a little bit about her tonight, I hope you don’t mind. This is what it wrote in my journal the day after she passed and what I read at her memorial service. (sorry about the formatting, I don’t understand tumblr’s spacing)

My beautiful Grammy lost her battle with cancer yesterday.

I am still trying to process all of this. This really the best way I can do it right now. Its not going to be terribly coherent or organized but I am just going to let you all in on some of my  memories with her. Putting them down is hopefully going to help fill the void I have in my heart right now so I hope you enjoy it...

 In preparation for writing this, I lit a candle and put on Frank Sinatra radio on iTunes radio.

I didnt even get halfway through the first song before I realized I was not ready for that yet.

My Grammy loved Sinatra.

In fact, it was something the two of us bonded over. I remember sitting in the living room of my parents house with my phone and a dock playing a mix of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett.. etc.

We would just sit there and sing. No need for words. Every so often I would look over at her and I could tell that she was someplace other than chandler. See, my Grammy had the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and had trouble remembering quite a bit. However when I turned on that music you could see the warmth in her eyes and the little smile that crept across her face. She would sing harmony for a little bit and then lament about how her singing voice wasn't as good as it once was. (It always sounded beautiful to me. I would give anything to hear it again.) Then after a few more songs would go by she would say how happy she was that I loved this music as much as she did. "Most of the youngins these days... they dont listen to the old people music." She would tell me I had an old soul, and I would tell her she had a big hand in it. Every so often I would drag out my ukulele and play "Cant Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley. Even though I had played it for her so many times, she would always react like it was the first. She would start crying and telling me how beautiful it was and how much she adored Elvis. Elvis was Grammy's big crush. Even the mention of his name would send her into a tizzy. I remember a time I was at the dollar store and I picked up an Elvis magnet for her. She started crying a bit and kept repeating how much she wished he was still alive. It was the cutest thing ever. My Grammy was everything you would expect a Grandma to be. Sweet, hilarious, wise and a little ornery. One of my earliest memories of my Grammy was when I was (i think) 4 or 5 years old and we were visiting her in Florida. She wanted me to eat peas, and I didnt. So I took the peas, put them in my spoon, and flung them across the kitchen. She never let me forget that. She was a firm believer in horoscopes and would read the paper every morning just so she could tell me what my day would be like. She would tell me that when there was a full moon I should run outside and pray to it because it would give me money. She would scold me whenever I even though about wasting food. Followed promptly by a long dissertation about how she grew up in the Great Depression and were not afforded the opportunity to waste anything. She would feed the dogs scraps from the table even if she knew my mom would be upset. Nothing ever went to waste. She would always try to get me to dress up like a lady. She was disapproving of my tattered, dirty jeans and got so excited on the rare occasion I would wear a dress. Grammy was a straight shooter. Always said what was on her mind whether we wanted to hear it or not. I distinctly remember telling me "Kimmy, before you were born I had wished you were a boy. But I guess since you love football, beer, whiskey and bluejeans its gonna be the closest ill get." (I totally took it as a compliment) She was the most gracious person on this planet. When I would swing by and pick her up food on the way home she would always say "Thank you for thinking of me" about 8 or 9 times. She was always surprised but always so grateful when we would spend time with her. When she was diagnosed with lung cancer about a month ago, my world stopped. I never had to associate the words family and cancer. I had been lucky enough to not have encountered death in my immediate or extended family. I didnt know how to function... and I still dont. She was admitted to the hospital and I left right after work to go visit with her. She turned on "Catfish" and I tried to explain to her the main objective of the show. She was almost as amused as she was confused. I was still hopeful at the time because she hadn't been officially diagnosed. I was talking to her about how she's gotta stay there for a bit because we want her to get better and come home. Well she did come home, just not the way we had hoped.

She was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and the decision was made to not seek treatment. Hospice was set up and my parents dogs did not leave her side for the following weeks. I would make it a point to get there as much as possible. I would listen to music with her like we always did but this time she wasnt singing. As much as it broke my heart, I could still see the twinkle in her eye and I knew she was singing on the inside. When things were getting bad, we had almost all of the family over to be with her. She kept saying how happy she was and how "everything is going the way I want it to". That was all I needed to hear to find closure. The very last memory I had with her was last week: I gently kissed her swollen hand and whispered "I love you" I dont know when I will be able to listen to the likes of Sinatra and Elvis again... I can still hear her silly little chuckle in the back of my head. I can hear her saying "God I wish I had your energy" when I would dance stupidly across the living room or "looking good girl!" every other time I would pass by her. I still can't believe she's gone. It tears me up inside. But I take solace in knowing she went peacefully knowing that she has so many people who love her. I can just imagine her being united with the love of her life, my Grandpa Ed, after being separated for 60 years. And I can guarantee she is asking Elvis and Sinatra for an autograph.

[ewgoals]

Phoenix (1)

Chapter one- 1985

1985 

Word count- 7,621 

Trigger warnings- Drug Use, Cursing, Racist slurs,smoking,underage drinking,fighting, underage sex mentioned, cult themes.

A/N: This is Chapter one of Phoenix, please let me know how you are feelings about this. I am very excited for this, also did you catch the reference or am I too old haha. This isn’t how Harry lost his virginity it’s how the person this book is based off did.

Tatianna Deluca was born on September 24th,1968; She was the fifth child born to Agina and Benito Deluca. Agina and Benito were both immigrants coming to America when they met. Agina Chernyshevsky was born on January 15th, 1942; in Moscow, Russia, she was the only girl born into three boys. Agina’s parents sent her and her brothers to America in 1958, wanting to make sure their children had the best life they could, Agina lived with an aunt for a little while until she met Benito Deluca. Benito Deluca was born on July 18th, 1940, in Venice, Italy. 

Benito was the youngest boy of six boys; the family left Italy when Benito was 16. Benito worked various jobs through New York until he finally settled on a restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. Agina and Benito met in 1958 when Agina went into the restaurant wanting to try a New York pizza for the first time, Benito loved the thick Russian accent that the short young woman had plus Agina had a beauty like no other with her bright blonde and stunning green eyes and olive skin. Benito was hooked; what he didn’t know was that Agina had pretty similar feelings towards the man as well. Agina could feel herself falling in love with his bright blue eyes and dark hair; he kind of reminded her of old blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Benito finally got the courage to get to ask Agina onto a date after she came into the restaurant for the sixth time that week, Agina agreed with no looking back. Benito and Agina were married on July 15th,1959. 

Agina and Benito went on to have their first child a few months later, on May 6th, 1960. Agina and Benito both weren’t very fluid with English, so they often talked to their children in either Russian or Italian, depending on which parent they were speaking with, often relying on American music and American Television to teach their children English. All of the children quickly picked up the third language and found almost comfort in music, which led the oldest five to take up an instrument. 

Tatianna growing up was a devout catholic just like her family, they would wake up at 6 am just to make it to mass at 7 am. Tatianna would often spend her time in church making fun of her brother’s in the tuxes they would wear, but they would often make fun of the dress their sister would be forced to wear. The kid’s parents would often slap them behind the head to make them stop talking. As Tatianna became more involved in church life, the woman began singing for the choir. She would often be given the parts, where she was hitting high notes and long notes. The young girl was 15 when a record executive saw her singing in the choir and asked her parents if she could join the small girl group he wanted to create, the parents knew that their daughter wanted to be a singer, so they quickly agreed. 

May, 1985

Tatianna was moved to Los Angeles, California. When she was 17 after her parents gave her older brother Illya temporary custody of the young woman, Tatianna wasn’t really into the music, the girl group which now went by the name “through thick and thin”  she hated it. They were a typical pop group whose songs were written by other people and had no real heart behind them. Tatianna would often tell her brother about it, but she didn’t want to bother him too much, so she would often keep it inside her. 

Tatianna was sitting in the studio as the girls were recording their new album. She was getting sick of listening to this girl Ashley sing the same line repeatedly because she was often flat with her delivery of the line. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back in like an hour,” the producer just nodded as the woman grabbed a pack of cigarettes and left. She was walking around sunset blvd; she was like a kid in a candy store. The woman loved all of the stories coming out of this strip, and the bands that played here we what she wanted to be, Tatianna shook her head as she lit another cigarette standing across the street from the famous Troubadour. 

Tatianna remembered reading a magazine a few years back where the Rolling Stones called in one of the world’s best rock clubs; she was taken out of her thoughts by something hitting her. The woman gasped as she felt the front of her being covered in liquid “what the fuck” the woman’s thick New York accent mixed heavily with a Russian one, especially when she was angry. “I’m so sorry,” an English accent spoke before Tatianna sighed a little as she helped the young boy up “it’s fine, I guess I was to blame too. I wasn’t paying attention” the boy nodded as he said “where are you from because that doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard” the woman just smiled as she spoke, “I’m from Brooklyn, but my mother is from Russia, so it comes out more when I am yelling I am Tatianna by the way.” 

The boy nodded as she finished, “Oh, sorry. I’m Harry” The woman just smiled a little curly-haired boy in front of her as she laughed a little “well, Harry, I wish I could say it was nice to meet you. Still, you kinda ruined my shirt” Harry laughed a little as he looked down at the woman’s outfit, she was wearing a pair of high waisted leather pants that she paired with a crop top of the musician Elton John before Harry quickly dug into his pockets and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. He handed it to the woman. “Here that should replace it,” the woman shook her hand as she pushed his hand backNo,o. you are a baby, keep your money. I’ll just make my brother give me his” Harry raised an eyebrow as he quickly came back with, “I’m not a baby. I am fifteen.” 

Tatianna laughed as she smiled “you are a baby. I have a little brother just your age.” the man shook his head as he said, “I’m not arguing this. You are wrong” Harry said stubbornly before Tatianna just laughed “here how about this I have to go back to the studio to record some stupid ass songs that I can’t stand why don’t you pay me back by keeping me company because my brother even bailed on me today.” 

Harry smiled as he nodded ‘Just let me call my mom and tell her” as soon as the word’s left his mouth, Tatianna laughed “see a baby” Harry looked down as he shouted “okay you win that” Tatianna laughed as she lit another cigarette and motioned with her head “come on little boy” Harry just laughed as the walked back to the studio, Harry asked about Tatianna’s large family and Tatianna asked about Harry’s career.

When they finally arrived at the studio, they walked into a shit show to say the less, Ashley was screaming in the face of the other bandmate Aquanette, better known as Aqua to everyone she cared for. Tatianna was about to leave when she heard Ashley say “I am the only talent in the band, I am stuck with Jungle bunny and a Nazi oh wait I’m sorry she’s also a Guido” The thick southern accent of the woman finished as Tatianna finally pushed Ashley back out of Aqua’s face “you better back the fuck up before you end up on the floor” Ashley quickly got into Tatianna’s face “Suka, luchshe vernis', prezhde chem ya pozvonyu dyade.” 

(Bitch better back up before I call my uncle.)

The woman spoke between her teeth as Ashley said, “Hitler needs to calm down” Tatianna rolled her eyes as she said, “I’m Russian, you dumb cunt. I helped stop Hitler, you dumbass hick” Tatianna stayed in the face of the woman as she felt a familiar hand grab her elbow as Harry almost looked scared “Why don’t we leave.” the thick English accent spoke as Tatianna nodded before she left the woman quickly punched the other woman in the face as she grabbed her purse and her leather jacket. Harry smiled sweetly at the woman as they left the building Tatianna grabbed another cigarette lighting it and taking a deep drag as she closed her eyes “That was pretty cool, I wasn’t expecting that left hook” the woman laughed shaking her head “I have four older brothers I need a good left hook to survive” Harry laughed as looked over at her just smiling as he did so. 

Tatianna was about to make a joke before she heard her brother Ilya deep voice yell, “what the fuck. I left you alone for a day, and you hit one of them” Tatianna’s New York accent came out as she said, “Fuck You! That racist ass bitch got what was coming. She called me a nazi, but that’s not why I punched her. She called Aqua a jungle bunny” Ilya just shook his head. “Uncle John would be proud” Tianna shook her head before pointing at Harry “this is my friend. He spilled coffee on my shirt, but he’s still my friend,” she joked. The curly-haired boy next to her laughed a little and stuck out his hand “Harry Styles it’s nice to meet you” the man said, Ilya stuck out his hand and shook the other man’s hand “so where to next?” 

Tatianna smiled as she said, “let’s get curly over here a fake ID, and let’s go see this new band Guns n roses” Harry smiled before saying, “you can do that?” Tatianna nodded as she smiled “Oh, you poor sheltered boy. Yes, we can do that” Harry nodded as he smiled “yeah let’s do that” Ilya smiled as he said “let’s go find a payphone and get you an ID” The three made their way to the apartment that the studio pays for after getting the face of ID for Harry. They wait a few hours before leaving for the Troubadour. 

Once they arrived, Tatianna felt an arm wrap around her waist before she had time to react. “I knew you would come,” Tatianna squealed as she turned around and hugged the man tightly. “Axl!” the older man laughed as he hugged her back, rubbing her back. “Oh let me see what you are wearing” the man joked as he pulled away as the woman did a little turn, he looked her up and down seeing that she changed into a high waisted black skirt, that she pulled up too much to make it into a mini skirt. She paired it a white crop top with the logo from the band Guns n roses “I know my boobs aren’t that impressive, but hey once I get the money they will be done” Axl laughed as he smiled “you look gorgeous” the man hugged her again and kissed her cheek as he squeezed her ass which made her gasp as she laughed. 

Harry saw the situation and couldn’t help but get a little jealous of the situation; the man didn’t want to admit it because he barely knew the girl, but he couldn’t help himself. The young boy walked away from the two very familiar friends and went over to the bar and handed the bartender his fake ID and ordered a random drink; the man was on his second drink before Tatianna saw him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder’s “Hey there you are baby. I thought a lost you” Harry smiled as he looked down, “yeah, I felt awkward.” 

Tatianna smiled as she ordered herself a drink before she said, “Oh, honey. That’s a good friend of mine. I met him while I was trying to sneak into a concert. If I’m honest, he took my virginity but don’t tell my mom” Harry looked over at the woman as he nodded “My mom made a tent in the back yard and gave me condoms” he joked looking at her as Tatianna smiled before pouting “You aren’t a virgin? Damn, I wanted to take it” the woman joked as she winked at the man finishing her drink before she ordered another one “I haven’t been a virgin since I was four” Tatianna looked at him confused “what?” 

Harry looked down as he said, “my first sexual experience was when he was aged four. Living in Venezuela with his peripatetic family – who were subscribed to the Children of God kids were coerced into performing sexual acts with parents and other children. But I’ve blocked it out. I was completely celibate from ten to 14. I haven’t really had sex with many people. So, I decided to lose my ‘second virginity,’ you know, because he lost my first when I was four. So, I decided to drop it to this older girl I knew, and strangely enough, I asked my parents for permission. Instead of just saying yes, my parents put a tent in the backyard for me to get it on in, and they ‘decorated it to enhance the mood.” Tatianna just looked at him, shocked. 

Tatianna went to speak, but Ilya said, “Hey, take this. I’m going to this girl’s place. Tell Axl to take you home after” Tatianna took the vile from the man and nodded as she turned back to Harry. “Listen, that’s fucked up. I thought the catholic religion was bad, but wow. I’m sorry that happened” Harry shook his head, “what’s in the vile?” Tatianna shook her head “nothing you need to get your hands on, let’s enjoy the show” Tatianna ordered a couple more drinks as she smiled “come on” the woman pulled him into the crowd as she got closer to the stage, she felt Harry be pressed up against her. The woman smiled as she reached behind and pulled him closer, keeping his arm wrapped around her waist as they looked up at stage “see, I can protect you.” 

Harry smiled at his hand around the woman’s waist before looking up as he smiled gently, the woman finished into her drink as she placed it on the floor and leaned down putting the vile her brother gave her into her nose and took a deep breath in snorting a small amount of the powder into her nose. She threw her head back before running her finger over her teeth. “Fuck” Harry was confused, but he didn’t question it too much, they enjoyed themselves during the concert quickly leaving afterward. Harry was drunk, but Tatianna was utterly shit faced, she was high as well as drunk. 

When the two teenagers arrived back at her apartment, Tatianna grabbed Harry’s shirt, “Nope. You are staying with me. I’m not letting mommy yell at me because her baby is drunk” Harry laughed as he followed her up to the apartment, as soon as she was in her own house she quickly pulled off her shirt “Thank god” she said as Harry smiled at the woman “I’ll sleep on the couch, get some rest” Tatianna shook her head “you’ve been dancing with me all night and feeling up on me too. You can sleep with me” Harry nodded as he followed her into the bedroom. “If you are more comfortable,” Tatianna admitted as Harry smiled “No. I’m excellent.” 

The duo fell asleep shortly after; they were cuddled up when they woke up the next morning Tatianna just smiled at Harry cuddled up to her as she slowly sat up and stretched her back out. The woman looked down and took a deep breath as she saw herself in her PJs, “thank god,” she whispered as Harry spoke, “don’t seem so disappointed” Tatianna laughed as she said, “Maybe when you are older Harry.” 

The two friends remained close ever since then, they would always hang out, and when they couldn’t, they would call the other on the home phone in their house. Tatianna just looked at Harry as a friend, but it was evident that Harry felt different, the man would always find a reason to compliment Tatianna or tell her that she was the most talented girl in the world. Tatianna would always tell him that he was good for her ego, but she never really let him take it farther than that. 

June 1985

Tatianna was shocked when Harry invited her to the set of Stand By me; she was also completely taken back when she saw her curly-haired boy with a clean-shaven head, it took the woman a few minutes to even recognize the boy she cared about so much. The woman couldn’t believe that he cut his hair, she already missed the curls of the man, she just shook her head at the shock “Hey beautiful boy” was all she said as he hugged her “Hey Titi” the woman smiled at the nickname her family gave her “come on show me around please.” the man nodded as he took her hand and led her into the closed set. 

Tatianna gripped Harry’s hand as she felt eyes staring at her, the woman tried to calm herself down by telling herself that they were just trying to figure out who the woman. Tatianna kept telling herself until she heard a female voice said, “That’s the girl who attacked her bandmate” Tatianna just looked down, trying not to cry as she gripped Harry’s hand tighter “Harry, I should go” was all she whispered. Still, he turned back “Hey, you just got here” Tatianna just shook her head as whispered “Harry, these people hate me because of what happened with Ashley” Harry just hugged the woman tightly as he ran his hand down her back “come on, let’s go to my trailer” the woman wiped her eyes as Harry led her back to his trailer. 

As soon as the door closed in the trailer, the woman broke down. Tatianna felt like she couldn’t stop the tears as she tried to catch her breath, she wasn’t one to cry about some words that were said about her but more than anything the situation frustrated her which caused the tears to fall. Harry was quick to be by her side as she put her face in his lap, he rubbed her back and ran his fingers through her dark locks as he whispered “You did the right thing with Ashley” The woman shook her head as she sat up “clearly I didn’t I’m being called unprofessional and reckless. She called Aqua, a jungle monkey. I mean, yes, it could’ve been worst, but it’s still racist as fuck” Harry nodded as the woman spoke through her tears.

“I know that beautiful girl; you did what any good human would’ve done” Tatianna looked up at the man, as he wiped her tears away “I will protect you from them, please stay” Tatianna nodded as Harry placed his hand on her cheek, she relaxed into his palm as she closed her eyes “Thank you sweet boy” Harry smiled as he leaned forward and kissed the woman’s forehead. Tatianna stood up, and Harry wasn’t far behind her as she grabbed his hand “Ashley is a stupid whore” Harry shook his head as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll always have my girl’s back,” Tatianna laughed as she wrapped her arm around his waist “I’ll be your girl when you can grow a beard” “shit” The duo laughed. 

Tatianna was sitting in Harry’s chair as they went through the scene they were filming, Tatianna closed her eyes as she listened to the various lines that Harry was speaking. Harry’s English accent was completely gone and replaced with an American one; this caused Tatianna to open her eyes and watch the man in front of the camera. He grabbed her attention; he almost demanded her attention much different from his shy self that Tatianna loved so much. When the director called cut, the woman shook her head as he smiled at her boy, walking towards her. 

“What did you think?” Tatianna couldn’t help but smile as she spoke, “You were beyond amazing already. I can’t wait to see it completely.” the woman went to talk as she heard someone fake cough as they said “Whore” Tatianna to roll her eyes as she turned around looking at the woman who just fake coughed, Tatianna just smirked as she fake coughed as well “Cunt” the woman cleared her throat as she spoke “Sorry I had something in my throat before I called you a cunt” Harry tried not to laugh as she took her hand walking away from the pathetic woman. 

Harry and Tatianna finally finished at the studio that day, as they were leaving Tatianna made sure to flip the woman off once more as she wrapped her arm tightly around Harry’s waist. When the inseparable duo finally made their way outside, the woman let go of Harry’s waist as she ran her hand over his short hair “please tell me it’s a joke” Harry laughed as he shook his head “Sorry beautiful, it’s all real, but my hair grows back super quick, so I’m not worried.” Tatianna, as she smiled, “well, if anyone can pull it off, it’s you.” Harry smiled as he said, “and you said that I’m good for your ego” Harry laughed as Tatianna smiled as she looked over at him and smiled, “what to go out again?” Harry smiled as he looked down at his wallet to make sure he had this fake ID “Sure. if they will still take this” 

Tatianna couldn't help but smile “okay, I’ll meet you at the whiskey in like two hours” Harry nodded as he kissed her cheek as Tatianna just smiled as he walked back into the movie studio, Harry couldn’t wait until he was done he missed hanging out with Tatianna due to both of them having such a busy schedule. Harry was finally back on the set, looking around for his co-star, finally settling on Corey Feldman. “Hey man,” the quirky kid just smiled as Harry put his hand on his shoulder. “Did you see her?” Corey laughed as he smiled at the other boy. “Yes, Harry, we all saw the brunette with blue eyes and legs that go on, and the ass that won’t quit” Harry lightly slapped the boy’s head “Shut up. I’m going to convince her to be mine today.” 

Corey laughed as he shook his head “No you aren’t she is a rock girl, she wants the sex, drugs and rock n roll. You will never be that guy. She looks at you like a little brother. If you keep on this trail, you will just make yourself sad. Why don’t you ask that one girl who keeps calling you?” Harry looked a little disappointed that Corey was more than likely right about his situation with Tatianna, but Harry nodded, “Yeah, Martha is a nice girl. I guess I should just ask her out already” Corey nodded as he placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder “Maybe one day you’ll get your rockstar girl but no way in hell you’ll be able to get her with your baby face” Harry rolled his eyes as he pushed the other boy’s hand away “Yeah Yeah Yeah I know. She’s too pretty for me.” 

Corey shook his head as he said, “quite the opposite you are both beautiful people, she is just in a different mindset. You are looking forever, which is rare in a fifteen-year-old, and she’s looking for right now and how much fun she can have.” Harry nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Corey “I don’t know why that helped me a lot, but you did.” Corey smiled as he pointed at his head “I’m pretty smart, but I act like I’m stupid, so people don’t expect my smartness” Harry smiled sweetly at the other kid “You are beyond smart. You should show it more often.” 

Harry went over to The Whiskey A GO GO as he planned with Tatianna a few hours earlier, the man looked around trying to find his friend. When he finally saw his friend she was on the dance floor with a guy dancing behind her, the woman was wearing a pink bra that made her boobs look amazing. She paired it with a black fishnet crop top, the woman’s slim stomach was out, she had a white pair of shorts and a black pair of boots. He could see her long socks, poking out the boots. Harry couldn’t take his eyes away from the way the woman swung her hips as she moved them against the man’s groin, Harry saw the man’s arms wrap around Tatianna’s stomach and the other around her neck pushing her closer to him. 

Harry looked at the two on the dance floor recognizing the tattoo on the man’s arm; Harry knew it was Axl Rose. The young man just sighed as he went to leave; he couldn’t deal with it. He knew that he just had what people would call a schoolboy crush on Tatianna, but he felt like it was more than that, it had only been two months, but he knew that he wanted her. He wanted all of her. He wanted the woman who stood up when others were scared too; he wanted the woman who demanded anyone’s attention and often would never let another person interrupt her. Harry finally walked out of the bar with tears in his eyes, maybe Corey was right. Perhaps he should call Martha. 

July 1985

When July came around, Tatianna noticed that Harry wasn’t talking to her as much, she would often avoid her calls, and when she would show up to his house, he would make an excuse for why he was busy. Tatianna was beginning to have her feelings hurt. Still, she really couldn’t let it affect her, seeing as she was leaving for a tour. The woman would begin a year-long tour around America, and it would start in Alabama of all places or as Tatianna’s brother so nicely put it, cousin fucker state. Tatianna was leaving the next day making sure she said goodbye to Axl and the few friends she made from knowing Axl, the woman was going to force Harry to at least spend an hour with her if anything just to say goodbye. 

Ilya told her this plan was stupid, but she did it anyway; Tatianna decided that she was going to get all dressed up, and maybe that would convince Harry well at least his teenage boy hormones to want to hang out with her. Tatianna found a tight pair of white jeans that hugged her body in every perfect way it could; she went with a long cut tank top that she stuffed into the pants. Tatianna did her makeup just like she did the night. Harry told her that she had the most beautiful eyes making sure to make them pop more. Once she finished with her hair, she left for Harry’s house he shared with his family. Tatianna knocked as Harry opened the door the younger man looked almost nervous. 

Tatianna raised an eyebrow as she said, “Hey, love, I’m leaving tomorrow. I was kinda hoping we could hang out?” Harry looked back behind the half-opened door. “Umm. Tatianna now is not a good time” the woman tried to cover the hurt in her eyes as much as she could when she heard Harry say her full name “Oh, um sorry. I guess I’ll see you next year,” the woman said, smiling as best as she could. When she went  to walk away, she heard a very unfamiliar female voice said “Harry, where did I leave my shirt” this caused the woman to turn around as a young blonde walked out of Harry’s house and said, “Okay, I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

 The young girl who looked to be just about Harry’s age walked back Tatianna not giving her a second glance, the older of the three people just laughed “that’s why you have been busy?” the New York accent running through Harry’s ears as he tried to cover his embarrassment “My goodness! I thought you hated me! You never came to the whiskey that night, so I thought people convinced you that they were right about me. Harry, you can tell me you have a girlfriend.” Harry smiled as Tatianna found the perfect excuse for him without having to admit his feelings. 

Tatianna smiled as she reached out, “can you please come to hang out with me?” Harry took the woman’s hand as he closed the door behind him, the woman smiled wide “Okay, I’ll hang out with you.” the man joked as Tatianna intertwined their fingers “come on I found this cute little restaurant” Harry raised an eyebrow “I’m Vegan Titi” the woman smiled at her nickname as she said. “I know that Harry, I made sure that you can eat” the man shook his head “No, I’m taking you somewhere to make up for me getting all weird” The woman silently agreed as they began walking in the opposite direction. 

Tatianna was honestly going to give up on this whole thing until Harry brought her to a private beach. It honestly looked like nobody was ever here. Harry broke the silence as he said, “I found this the night I stood you up at the whiskey” Tatianna shook her head “It’s all good. You stood me up, but I don’t mind. I mean, it hurt my feelings, but you were with a girl it’s fine” the young boy shook his head “No I wasn’t. I saw you dancing with Axl, and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I left” Tatianna looked at Harry, confused as she said “Yeah we were dancing? Why didn’t you come to say Hi? Axl loves you. He says you are a little brother he’s always wanted.” 

Harry rolled his eyes as he spoke, “because he was all over you, you said you lost your virginity to him so I assumed you were going to leave together why get in the way?” Tatianna did her best to find the perfect words as she said “Harry, I think Axl is a great man. He’s talented and smart but he’s not the guy I would sleep with more than once well I guess twice. He’s my best friend and we were dancing like that because these guys kept groping me” Harry looked down at the floor as she kept speaking “I was excited to spend some time with you but instead you came to a beach alone” Harry nodded as he said “I had to think about some stuff. About our friendship” 

Tatianna looked visibly hurt as she just laughed “great they got to you too” the woman said turning around shaking her head “you are big boy walk home by yourself” Harry quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, they were face to face “let me go, Harry. I want to go home” the man shook his head “No, listen to me nobody got to me I was thinking about our friendship because it’s so much more to me Titi” Tatianna was confused until Harry leaned and kissed her softly, the woman didn’t react at first before she kissed him back. The woman felt his arms wrap around her waist, Tatianna placed her hand on his arm as she pulled away resting her forehead against Harry’s as she whispered “Harry” The boy shook his head as he whispered back “No, I don’t want to hear you are like a brother to me or that I’m too young.” 

Tatianna smiled sweetly as the boy in front of her as she whispered “How about while I’m gone you think about your feelings and when you turn 18 if they are the same we can talk about it” The boy shook his head as he said “I will always feel this way for you so what’s the point in waiting” the woman cupped his cheek as she spoke softly “so that you are completely sure and so that you don’t break that little blondes heart” Harry sighed softly as he pulled her close hugging her tightly putting his face in her neck almost inhaling her scent once more, Tatianna hugged him back tightly rubbing his back “I’m looking for forever and you are looking for fun” the woman chuckled a little as she rubbed his back once more “kinda my precious boy.” 

The woman pulled away as she said “I’ll write to you every day I’m on tour. I’m begging you please think with your heart and not your head and find what’s in there please” the girl said kissing the side of his head as she pulled away slowly and made him look at her “I love you Harry and I don’t want to lose you because my heart doesn’t feel this way for you right now” the boy nodded as she kissed his forehead “come on let me walk you home.” 

December 1985 

Tatianna wrote a letter to Harry every night just like she said she would, the women would try their hardest to avoid telling him about the various horrible things that Ashley would say about Aqua or herself. Tatianna didn’t really care about what Ashley said about her if she’s honest, she just cared that Ashley was able to say horrible and negative things about Aqua and her race because of the fact that this so-called manager agreed with Ashley’s racist ass. Tatianna made sure to always sign her letters with the quote “lots of love and always thinking of you” Harry kept every letter in a small box, they made him feel special, it made him feel even more special when he ran into Axl one night on sunset and the older man asked Harry if he had heard from Tatianna. 

It was clear that she was really only writing the letters to him, this sent his heart on fire. He knew that he didn’t need a few more years to think about whether or not Tatianna was the one for him. He knew that she was the one he was meant to be, now he just needed to convince the woman of this as well. He understood why she didn’t want to get with Harry, he was only fifteen what does he know about love but all the boy talked about Tatianna. She was all that was on his mind, she consumed most of his thoughts. She was an addiction and Harry had no plans on kickin it. 

Harry decided that he was going to tell her all of his feelings about her when she came back to Los Angeles for her next concert. He felt it was the perfect option, if she said no then he could have six months to get over the heartbreak before he would see her again. Harry made sure to get himself all dressed up for her concert, he was wearing a pair of khaki skinny jeans that he put a black shirt on but quickly covered it up with an orange sweater. Harry felt it was perfect, nothing too fancy but also something casual so she didn’t get any ideas in case he changed his mind. 

Tatianna was sitting in her dressing room, which she happily shared with Aqua. The woman was finishing her makeup as Aqua spoke “Did you hear that Ashley is trying to go solo?” Tatianna laughed as she began putting away her makeup “I would like to see that. Please don’t get my hopes up”  the other woman laughed as she looked at Tatianna “girl you need to get out of this band. You are way too talented to be here” Tatianna shook her head “No, I’m not leaving you so unless you agree I’m staying right here with you” Aqua just shook her head “when you leave I will too. I’ll work in your parent’s restaurant” 

Tatianna laughed as she lit her cigarette and took a drag before saying “I’ll hold you to that. I’ve decided if she says anything tonight she’s getting knocked out on stage” Aqua laughed as she shook her head “Please. I’m begging you to just do it at the end of the set” Tatianna smiled as the devil herself walked into the room “Michael Jackson is in the crowd tonight, you two better not try to show me up” The southern accent rang through the room “Shut up. If you speak to me again you will get fucking hit” Tatianna said standing up “Okay little boy, talk to me when you grow some boobs” Aqua quickly grabbed Tatianna as Ashley turned around and slammed the door. 

Tatianna rolled her eyes as she went to her bag and grabbed her outfit for the night, Tatianna put on a pair of high waist black spandex shorts that showed her ass perfectly. The woman put on a red button-up shirt, she tied up to show off her torso “I’m going to kill her tonight” Aqua changed into her stage outfit as Tatianna looked over at her and smiled softly “promise to leave with me” Aqua smiled as she nodded “Yes, You and me” the girl winked. Tatianna walked out of the dressing room and saw Ashley having Harry almost pinned against the wall as she was leaning into Harry. 

Tatianna quickly walked over and pulled the woman away from Harry, the woman put Harry behind her as she said “Ashley, go-to side stage now” Ashley just rolled her eyes as she looked at Harry who looked very nervous “call me” Ashley winked as Tatianna turned around looking at Harry “Are you okay?” the man nodded “Yeah, I was trying to give you these flowers and she kinda attacked me” Tatianna looked down completely heartbroken that she put him in this situation, the woman quickly hugged Harry as he hugged her back he buried his face in her neck again for the first time in a month. Tatianna pulled away as Harry handed her a bouquet of blue tulips as she smiled softly “Oh my goodness thank you.” 

Tatianna took a deep breath of flowers as she kissed Harry’s head-hugging him tightly afterward, the woman closed her eyes for a moment as she took the man’s hand leading him and Aqua towards the side stage. Tatianna pulled Harry close almost making him wrap his arm around her waist “you smell good” Tatianna smiled a little as she heard Harry’s voice next to her ear “well thank you, sweet boy.'' The woman said as she placed her hand on his arm that was wrapped around her torso, the woman handed him her flowers “Stay here and be safe” she said kissing his cheek. 

Tatianna took a breath trying to control her emotions, the woman walked on the dark stage standing where she was supposed to as she took the microphone. Tatianna closed her eyes hearing the first note of the song, the woman hated dancing but she was taught the dance moves so she did them. When Ashley finished her small number, Tatianna finally sang the words “We keep behind closed doors Every time I see you, I die a little more Stolen moments that we steal as the curtain falls It'll never be enough It's obvious you're meant for me Every piece of you, it just fits perfectly Every second, every thought, I'm in so deep But I'll never show it on my face But we know this, we got a love that is homeless” Aqua and Tatianna  took over the next lines singing with perfectness. “Why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dance floor? I wish that it could be like that. Why can't we be like that? 'Cause I'm yours” 

Ashley looked angry as Aqua and Tatianna’s voice blended perfectly together, Tatianna wasn’t really paying attention to Ashley she was more forced on the boy on the side stage. Tatianna didn’t want to admit that the boy with a little crush on her was causing her a lot of feelings, she knew that she couldn’t be with not until he was older. When he knew that she was what he wanted, she couldn’t be the reason he didn’t find true love. 

Tatianna was taken out of her thoughts by Aqua singing her part “When you're with him, do you call his name Like you do when you're with me, does it feel the same? Would you leave if I was ready to settle down? Or would you play it safe and stay? Girl you know this, we got a love that is hopeless” 

Tatianna went to start singing as she walked to the other side of the stage, where she was tripped by Ashley. The dark haired fell and hit her face on the stage which caused her to bust open her lip, Ashley gasped trying to play the good guy. Tatianna couldn’t take it anymore; she managed to spit some of her own blood out of her mouth and quickly tackled Ashley onto the floor of the stage. Tatianna had the racist ass bitch pinned down as she threw shot after shot. The women didn’t realize what was happening until she felt familiar hands wrap around her waist and pull her off quickly, Harry lightly shoved Tatianna towards the side stage as medics rushed out to help Ashley. 

Aqua and Harry managed to get Tatianna back into her dressing room, once she was there she began to clean up her own lip “I’m fucking done! I’m going back to New York! I’m going to work in my parents restaurant for the rest of my life and if I see that bitch in New York i’m calling my uncle and I’m going to have him get that bitch” Harry looked a little confused seeing as he’s never heard the woman speak like that and he’s never heard of his restaurant. Tatianna was taken out of her screaming as her older brother walked in “Ты тупая сука. Как мы будем теперь есть?” (You stupid bitch. How are we going to eat now?) 

Tatianna looked down as she closed her eyes trying to avoid them filling with tears, the woman didn’t really even think about her brother in this situation. She was more worried about the fact this woman have the guts to trip her and bust her lip on stage, the woman looked up at her brother with tears in her eyes as she spoke back “Мы можем просто пойти домой, пожалуйста” (Can we please just go home)  

Illya went to argue but sighed softly “Yeah, give me a few minutes.” Aqua followed her brother out of the room, which left Harry and Tatianna “so you are really going back to New York” Tatianna sighed as he spoke before nodding “don’t really have a choice. I don’t have that much money, I’ll go home to my parents and forget this music dream” Harry shook his head “You can’t do that, you are beyond talented. Your voice makes me believe in angels” Tatianna shook her head as she smiled “Thank you but I can’t do this anymore, I need a break from all of this” Harry nodded as he looked down sadly. 

“I’m in love with you” was all the english accent said as Tatianna sighed softly looking down at her vanity desk “Harry, you are fifteen. You don’t know what being in love is” Harry shook his head “yes I do. I know that you are all I think about and when I see you I get this overwhelming feeling in my chest. I know that you feel something too or you would’ve told me to drop it and not wait until i’m eighteen or write only me letters” Tatianna looked up at him as she stood up and walked over to him as she took his hands “Harry, I’m your first real crush. That’s what it is. The girl you lost second virginity too was a girl that you could have sex with.” 

Tatianna kissed his hands before she said “Harry, you are the most amazing kid. Maybe later down the line it will be good for us, right now I don’t even know what is going to happen with my career or my life and how can I get into a relationship with someone who needs to learn more about himself as well as what love is? I need to focus on me. I need to fix myself. I can’t help you find you as well” The woman said as she finally met Harry’s eyes that were filled with tears. Tatianna felt like an asshole but she knew that she was right but he was also right. She did feel something but not enough to ruin what was going on for him. The older woman wrapped her arms tightly around Harry, he did what he always did when they hugged, burying his face in her neck. The two stayed for what felt like hours, in some sick way they both knew this was goodbye. 

Tatianna and her brother Illya packed up the apartment they shared, and took a bus back to New York. California was always going to be in Tatianna’s heart, it was the place she found the purest man and almost gave her heart to him. 

[prolestariwrites]

The Wish [3]

Fandom: Devil May Cry Characters: Dante, Vergil, Nero, V, Lady, Eva, Sparda, OC Rating: General Tags: Family, Humor, Fluff, Angst, Typical demon hunting violence

Summary: A demon gives Dante the chance to have his greatest desires made real. When he finds himself in a seemingly idyllic life, all seems well until it starts to unravel. Will he sacrifice himself to save the family he lost, or will he choose to give them up for the truth?

Now posted: Chapter 3, in which Dante comes face to face with his past, and a weirder version of his present, over some chicken parmesan. 

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Chapter 3: Family Dinner

The entire ride to the restaurant, Dante spends his time half-listening to Lir talk about her day and half looking at everything. They are in Red Grave City, but it’s different: cleaner somehow, less polluted, less scummy. They pass a few familiar landmarks on their way through downtown from where their house is in the more residential part of the city, and at one point go by a turnoff that will take them to the shop. Dante perks up a bit but she makes a left instead of a right, and he presses his lips together, wondering if he should ask her to turn around. But he decides against it in the end; the city looks strange enough as it is, and if they roll up to the Devil May Cry and it’s a hair salon or something he just might lose it.

Dante is nervous as hell when Lir pulls their car into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant. She breathes a sigh of relief as she turns off the engine and unbuckles her seat belt. “Five twenty-five,” she says with a grin. “Now we don’t have to listen to Vergil complain about us being late.”

He only nods as they climb out of the car, and he quickly scoots around so he can shut her door for her. Lir gives him a thanks before taking his hand, heat crawling up his neck as they head into the restaurant.

“Sparda family,” she tells the hostess as Dante looks around. It’s a smaller kind of place but lots of atmosphere, the lighting a bit low and Frank Sinatra playing quietly on the speakers. Dante stares at the huge fish tank next to the entrance as the hostess makes a note in the guest book. “You have a table in the back. This way,” she says.

Lir’s hand is steady on his as they follow to the back of the restaurant. But it’s enough to make him go numb when sure enough, Vergil is sitting at the table, talking to Lady. Lir calls a greeting and he stands up to give her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Dante. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks, looking him up and down.

Dante realizes he probably is gaping, so to cover his shock he shakes his head. Vergil snorts and moves to sit back down, but Dante reaches out and grabs his arm. He pulls his brother into a hug, squeezing him hard, and after a moment he can practically feel the stares from everyone else around him.

Easing back, he smiles sheepishly at the very confused-looking Vergil. “Good to see you, Verge,” Dante grins, clapping him on the arm.

“Okay…”

“Lady! Looking good!”

The others look at him funny, and Lady folds her arms. “Why are you calling me that?”

Dante scratches his chin. “Ain’t that your name? Lady?”

“That’s not some lady, that’s my wife,” Vergil scoffs. He turns to Lir and asks, “Did he suffer some kind of brain damage?”

“No, he’s just joking. Badly.” Lir tugs on his sleeve and says, “Come sit. Do you want to sit next to Mary or to Vergil?”

“Mary. Right.” Dante clears his throat as she steers him to a seat, taking the one between him and Lady. Or Mary. Whoever she is.

The two women start chatting and Dante stares at Lady, noting how different she looks without the blunt haircut and the scar on her nose. She still has the heterochromia, but her dark hair is down to her shoulders, and Dante notes that she’s actually wearing normal pants and a blouse and not some too-small schoolgirl uniform or looking like a step above a stripper.

Lady shoots him a look with a wry smile. “Why are you staring? Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” Dante answers quickly. “Sorry. Guess I haven’t uh… seen you in a while?”

“Yeah, things have been busy.” She picks up a glass of red wine and takes a sip. “How is business going?”

Dante wonders himself, but replies, “Good. Going good.”

“Good to hear.” She turns and calls to the other end of the table, “Boys? Did you say hello to your uncle?”

He glances down, his eyes going wide. How did he not notice the two sitting at the other end? Vergil is talking to one, a boy of about ten or eleven with longish silver hair, just like he and Vergil have. It’s the spitting image of Nero, and Dante figures he has one mystery solved at least.

Another boy sits next to him, dark hair hanging in his eyes which are glued to a cell phone. Vergil says something to him and the boy looks up and makes a face. He too looks exactly like Vergil, except for the dark features, and Dante frowns. “Are those…?”

“Yeah, Nero and Vitale are getting big, hm?” Lady smiles rather affectionately down at them. “They hit eleven last month and bam, both shot up about three inches. I can barely keep them in clothes.”

“Nero,” Dante sighs with a grin. The kid turns from talking to Vergil to offer him a wave, and the other glances upwards again. “And… Vitale?”

“I go by V now,” he answers curtly before rolling his eyes and looking down at the screen.

“Don’t be rude,” Lady scolds.

Lir laughs. “Teenagers, what can you do? I can’t believe how big the twins have gotten. They are young men now.”

Dante sits back in his chair, tuning out the rest of the conversation as he stares at the two boys. So Nero is only eleven, not nineteen, and Dante makes a quick calculation. Vergil could have still met Lady—Mary—at the Temen-ni-gru, but he definitely wouldn’t have gone to Fortuna first. Does that mean he wouldn’t have had Yamato? Without the sword he had no hope of opening the portal, and Dante frowns in thought. Most likely Vergil never went to hell, which sort of makes sense if they hadn’t been orphaned. So does that mean nothing else happened either? Did the Order still exist? Did it worship his old man? Is Mallet Island still there? If Dante never had a reason to go there, does that mean Mundus is still out there somewhere?

His questions are interrupted by Lir’s hand on his arm. “You okay?” she asks.

He looks up to see the three adults staring at him. “Yeah. I was uh… trying to remember something.” Dante leans forward and nods to Vergil and Lady. “Remind me, how did you two meet?”

Lady blushes a bit but Vergil clears his throat. “I worked for Mary’s father when I was in college, before he died. Don’t you remember?”

“No,” Dante chuckles. “Not one bit.”

“Typical,” Vergil mutters, but before he can protest his parents arrive.

Just like when he looked at the photographs in their house, Eva and Sparda seem like something out of a dream. Dante stays seated as he watches the family give hugs in turn, his heart beating ridiculously fast in his chest.

Sparda has longish hair pulled back into a ponytail, and coupled with the tan linen pants and a button-down shirt with a bold flower pattern, he looks like a retiree on vacation in the Bahamas. Dante grins to himself, trying to remember if his father always had that sense of fashion, especially contrasted to his mother. Eva looks graceful and elegant, the handful of fine lines and silver streaks in her hair giving her the appearance of a matriarch. But she is unmistakable, especially since he’s been looking at her picture on his desk for two decades. When her eyes turn to him, he feels frozen by how alive she is until she reaches out a hand. “Dante, are you okay?” Eva laughs.

The laugh he recognizes instantly from deep within his memory. He’s on his feet in a moment, wrapping her into a tight hug. Her perfume is even familiar, and Dante takes a deep breath as he tries to memorize everything for when he wakes up. It’s been a really long time since he’s had a dream about her, and usually she has a sad smile, fear in her eyes, as she tells him to hide in the closet.

Eva places a kiss on his cheek that makes his eyes a bit misty. Then Sparda pats him on the arm, and unwilling to let Eva go just yet, Dante wraps it around his father in a group hug. He knows he must look ridiculous, but this is too much to take in at once, and he doesn’t let go until he is sure he can breathe.

Lir pats his thigh when he sits back down. She gives him a smile that he can’t quite interpret as the waitress arrives to take their drink orders.

The dinner is fun, more fun than Dante could remember having in a while. And that’s saying something since he and Nero went camping a few weekends ago, and the Love Planet had gotten a karaoke machine. Even the twins perk up when their grandparents arrive, especially when Sparda pulls out a wad of twenty-dollar bills. “Don’t spoil them,” Vergil groans.

“Nonsense,” Sparda says, pulling out several for each boy. “No such thing as spoiling your grandsons.”

Dante frowns as the others laugh. He doesn’t remember Sparda being like… well, this. Warm, sure, but this generous? He didn’t exactly dote on him and Vergil, leaving a lot of the child-rearing to Eva. A few memories surface, mostly listening to Sparda telling stories that were as exciting as they were scary and sneaking into his study to look at his weapons. Maybe being a grandparent is different than a parent? Or maybe Sparda is as different in this dream as everyone and everything else is.

“You’re usually much more talkative, Dante,” Eva comments.

He clears his throat but Lir leans over him a bit and says, “He wasn’t feeling well this morning. Forgot all about what day it was.”

“Are you coming down with something?” asks Eva, her face drawn in concern.

“Nah, nothing like that,” Dante answers. “I think I was having a weird dream.”

“What was it about?” Vergil asks.

Dante takes a sip of water to cover his discomfort with the question. “Everyone was dead, basically,” he says bluntly.

“Dante!” Lir exclaims as the others laugh.

“What?” he chuckles. “He asked.”

“What did we die of?” Sparda asks.

“Uh…” Dante rubs the back of his neck. “There was an attack. But not everyone was dead. La—uh, Mary, was alive. And Nero.” He turns to Lir. “You didn’t even exist.”

Lir laughs. “No wonder you were so out of it.”

The conversation turns to weird dreams people have had in the past, but Dante notices that his father gives him a strange look. Dante’s brows lift a bit in question, but Sparda doesn’t say anything, leaving him to wonder.

The food is the best he’s had in ages, and Dante eats until he is ready to burst. Vergil pokes fun at him which he gives right back, enjoying the scowl on his brother’s face when he tells a slightly raunchy joke and makes Nero laugh. Sparda laughs too, and Dante ignores Lady’s scolding, used to tuning her out. But when Lir rubs his thigh, it draws his attention, and Dante realizes at some point he had slung his arm around her. “Behave yourself,” she whispers with a smile.

There is something in her gaze that is almost like a promise, a shared connection he doesn’t quite understand. It’s enough to make his neck heat, and he shifts in his seat as he mumbles an apology. “Don’t go repeating that, Nero,” he says.

“Can me and V come hang out at the shop next week?” Nero asks.

Both boys look at him expectantly, and he shrugs as his eyes glance towards Vergil. “As long as your old man says it’s okay,” he replies.

“It’s fine,” Lady says. “Just don’t let them touch the equipment.”

Dante pictures Agni and Rudra hanging on the wall, Cerberus above the door, Beowulf in the closet. “Yeah, okay,” he nods. “I’ll put the guns away too.”

Lir snorts but Vergil narrows his eyes. “It’s not a joke, Dante. I don’t want them touching anything that can get their hand blown off.”

“Well, Nevan is the only thing that can really blow off a hand, but I got a case for her,” he replies.

Vergil waves him off and the conversation resumes, and again Dante notices his father staring at him. Sparda looks shocked, like he’s seen a ghost, and when Dante raises his brows in question his father only shakes his head and quickly goes back to his chocolate cake.

At the end of the meal, Dante doesn’t want to leave, but the others start saying their goodbyes. He hugs his mother tightly and kisses her cheek, earning himself one of her laughs. “Always so sweet,” she murmurs.

His father shakes his hand, but wears a frown. Sparda pulls him in a bit close and murmurs so only Dante can hear, “What you said earlier? You were joking, right?”

“Huh?”

Sparda clears his throat and scratches his nose, glancing around like a conspirator. “You said you had Nevan in a case. Did you read that somewhere?”

“What are you talking about?” Dante laughs.

“Oh! Right, right, nevermind. I must have thought you meant something else.” Dante wrinkles his brow in confusion, but then realizes his father probably doesn’t know Nevan was turned into a guitar. He starts to explain but Sparda cuts him off. “Can we meet for lunch next week?”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Dante says excitedly.

“Good.” Sparda pats his arm, giving him another strange look before moving away.

Lady promises to text him and they leave Vergil to grumble over the bill and head to the car. Lir offers to drive again, which he takes gratefully. They are back on the road a minute later, and Dante leans the seat back with a deep sigh. “That was so good,” he says with a smile.

“Yeah, it was fun.” His eyes are drooping so he misses Lir’s sideways glance when she asks, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“Do you really keep a gun in the shop?”

Dante sits up and frowns at her, and Lir quickly goes on, “I understand why you would, really I do. I was just surprised. I thought it was a joke, but it didn’t sound like one.” He shakes his head, thoroughly confused, and Lir asks, “Well? Did you buy a gun?”

He clears his throat and adjusts his seatbelt. “I have a few, yeah?”

“A few.” Lir considers this for a moment before sighing. “I can’t say that I’m comfortable with it, but again, I can see why. You are safe with them? They are locked up and everything?”

Dante thinks about Ebony and Ivory in the drawer of his desk. “Sure,” he says.  

Claudius is there to greet them when they get home, and Dante watches with some amusement as Lir scoops him up and coos at him sweetly as she carries him to the kitchen. Suddenly tired, he heads upstairs to change out of his clothes, deciding to stay in the boxer briefs for bed. She’s seen him already like that anyway, right?

Lir joins him a few minutes later, when Dante is already settled in bed and flicking through the television stations. He tries not to look as she changes into a short nightgown, sitting up on the pillows when she slides into bed.

“You wanna watch something?” he asks, but Lir takes the remote control and turns the television off. She straddles his lap and drapes her arms over his shoulders, and Dante gulps as he looks up at her smile.

“It was such a nice night. You were so sweet with your parents,” she sighs. She leans in and kisses his cheek, making Dante jump. “And no arguing either. I’m very proud of you.”

“So you uh… you’re not mad about the guns?” he asks.

Lir shakes her head. “No. In fact…” Her voice trails off as she drags her palms down his chest, making his breath catch. “I think it’s kind of hot.”

“Really?” he asks, brows shooting up in surprise. She nods, and then rocks her hips, and Dante bites back a groan. Even through the fabric of his shorts he can feel how hot she is, and he has a very firm suspicion that if he lifted her gown, he’d find she was wearing nothing underneath.

Lir continues grinding against him, tilting close enough to brush her lips on his. Dante sucks in a breath as his body sparks to life instantly, grabbing her hips to slow her for a moment before he gets completely hard and can’t think.

But her fingers teasing his hair and her lips dancing along his jaw makes it hard enough already. “Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I just…”

He doesn’t know how to continue, but just then Lir pulls her nightgown off over her head and tosses it away. Dante’s eyes bulge when he sees he was right about nothing underneath, and his eyes dart downwards as she slides one hand down his stomach, a mischievous grin on her face. She tugs at the waistband of his shorts and he gives a huff. This is his dream, right? So he shouldn’t feel guilty. Not at all. Especially when she reaches inside and licks her lips, the guilt melting away as he sinks against the mattress with a groan.

[luluwquidprocrow]

what are you doing the rest of your life?

originally posted: july 16th, 2017

word count: 2,863 words

rated: gen

beatrice/bertrand/lemony

music, domestic fluff, established relationship, three people in love being outrageously precious, very little angst and no one dies!!!!, a lot of references to cake and ice cream

summary: Bertrand tries to find the song of the summer; Beatrice finds out she doesn’t have any ice cream; Lemony finds out they’d all be pretty lost without each other.

It was summer, which meant Beatrice had the windows in her apartment open wide and bought fresh fruit every single morning, so the whole place smelled like strawberries. It also meant that Bertrand was once again on his one-man quest to find the quintessential Frank Sinatra song that defined this particular summer. Beatrice, however, kept insisting that another artist was a better fit, which is why the moment Bertrand sat down with the records, she’d picked up one of the Tito Puente ones and put it on.

“You’re a cruel, cruel woman,” Bertrand had said, “insulting my music tastes.”

Beatrice had just winked at him and sashayed off into the kitchen.

I sat at Beatrice’s desk and watched Bertrand. I meant to start opening the mail, but watching Bertrand sit on the floor in the soft afternoon sunlight and pour over his and Beatrice’s records was a good deal more entertaining. I was reasonably sure he had a method he was using to sort them, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. “What was it last summer?” I asked.

“You remember perfectly well what it was last summer,” Bertrand said, grinning as he put the records into piles. “You picked it, after all.”

It was true. I did remember perfectly well. Last summer had been particularly lovely and particularly stressful. Summer Wind was a good fit for most of it.

“I still say it should’ve been Wave,” Bertrand said. “It’s much more optimistic.”

I hummed Wave while I started on the mail, so that the grin stayed on Bertrand’s face. There was a letter from the Duchess of Winnipeg, bemoaning the fact that her latest assignment was very boring without us, and that she was looking forward to when she came back to the city. There was a single photograph of a building from my brother, and I recognized it as the library. Tomorrow’s date was scrawled across the back. It was short notice, but I’d probably be able to meet him there. I wondered what he’d say, if it was a personal call or something for the organization. I certainly wasn’t ready for the latter. The more time passed, the less ready I felt for a number of things.

“You’re doing it again,” Bertrand said. He wasn’t even looking at me, instead studying the latest record he’d picked up.

“No I’m not,” I said quickly.

“You are. We said we weren’t going to talk about work today,” Bertrand said, his voice gentle, “so don’t think about work, Lemony.”

We had said something like that, but it had been very early in the morning and the three of us had been in bed, so I hadn’t been paying much attention when Beatrice mumbled it into her pillow. But she was right, and Bertrand was right, and I was probably alright.

“We’ll go with you, anyway,” Bertrand said, and then he looked at me with a great fondness in his expression that I was close to convincing myself that I deserved.

I slid the mail into the desk drawer.

Bertrand cast a quick glance in the direction of the kitchen, where Beatrice had been for the past hour, decorating a cake with the precision only she could manage, and then stood up and placed a hand on the record player.

I raised an eyebrow. “She may just kill you, Bertrand,” I said.

“I will take that chance,” Bertrand said. He lifted the needle, removed the record, and slid it back into its case. “Remember me fondly,” he continued, pressing a quick kiss to the top of my head.

A year had gone by and I still wasn’t used to how free Bertrand was with his affection. My mouth did something that seasoned experts would call a bashful smile. “I’ll do my best.”

“Bertrand,” Beatrice immediately called from the kitchen, because she had a sixth sense for when someone touched her record player, and the sudden silence was a dead giveaway, “you’d better have a damn good reason for turning off the love of my life.”

“You have a third love of your life?” I asked.

“Please,” Beatrice said, striding into the living room and carrying the cake, her purple sundress swishing at her ankles. “We’re all aware that Tito Puente is my one and only. You two are just poor substitutes.”

I grinned, because after all this time I knew when she was kidding. Beatrice’s razor-sharp wit, and the touches of playfulness behind it, was one of my favorite things about her. “Do poor substitutes get cake?”

“I want ice cream with mine,” Bertrand said absently, fitting another record into the player.

Beatrice paused as she set the cake down on the coffee table. “Do we have any ice cream?” she asked to the opening notes of Come Fly With Me.

“Is there a reason we wouldn’t have any ice cream?” I asked.

“Is there a reason?” Bertrand said, frowning down at the record player, his hand on his chin as he tried to listen to us and the song at the same time. “You know, I don’t think we should pick this one until we’re married. It’s sort of a victory song, isn’t it? And it clearly mentions honeymoons—”

Beatrice and I blinked and looked each other, both of us a very spectacular shade of red. She raised her eyebrows as if to ask me if he was being serious or just facetious, even though Bertrand had never been known to be facetious. I shrugged, not quite sure what to tell her, because I was only marginally sure that he was being serious myself.

“What I mean,” Beatrice said, smiling at me the kind of smile that doesn’t go away once you’ve started, “is that I think we might have eaten it all.”

Bertrand gasped. “I am deeply disappointed,” he said, not looking disappointed at all, or showing any recognition of what had just happened, “and to show my disappointment, I’ll have to leave and have my own musical love affair.”

“Well,” I said, “if we had heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla extract, salt, sugar, and if we were willing to wait, we could make it ourselves.”

“I am willing to wait for the promise of ice cream made by Lemony Snicket,” Bertrand said. “It’s the only thing keeping me in this apartment, beyond the fact that Frank Sinatra is dead and it would be a very boring relationship.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Lemony, let’s leave Bertrand to the memory of his other man,” she said, and she linked her arm with mine and pulled me towards the kitchen.

“Look, they didn’t call him ol’ blue eyes for nothing!” Bertrand called after us, carefully removing the record.

I stood beside Beatrice in the kitchen and pulled down what she couldn’t reach, because otherwise she would insist that climbing on top of countertops was reasonable even though it had already resulted in four injuries on two separate occasions. “Would you do it?” I asked, setting the sugar on the counter.

“Do what?”

I swallowed. “Marry us.”

Beatrice turned slowly. She looked at me, something very soft in her eyes, a sort of disbelieving hope. She looked like that a lot lately, especially when we were all together and she thought I wasn’t looking at her, and I didn’t know whether or not I liked it. I tried to reassure her.

“That is,” I went on, “I think there would be a reasonable amount of logistics we’d need to work out, but Bertrand and I have been thinking about it and we figured it shouldn’t be all that difficult, although there is a certain amount of difficulty presented in all things, but I feel as if trying to sort through them would be fairly advantageous and worthwhile this time, and—”

But she took my hand and kissed me sweetly. She tasted like the strawberries I knew she’d been eating instead of putting them all on the cake, and I closed my eyes and held her close. When Beatrice pulled back, she rested her forehead against mine. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I would.”

“That,” I said quietly, “is very nice to know. Especially because we were considering a fairly lavish proposal.”

The corner of her mouth curled up. “How many musical numbers?”

“Oh, at least three,” I said. Which wasn’t entirely true, because Bertrand and I had only planned two, but I considered our abilities to put together another one and decided it was probably feasible.

We mixed the ice cream and placed it in the freezer. While we waited for it to freeze, Beatrice put the cake back in the fridge and I took the two of them out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, where we sat at a small table outside by the river, where the warm breeze ruffled Bertrand’s hair to the extent that I gave him my hat to wear.

“A noble sacrifice,” Bertrand said, putting it on his head. “They’ll write ballads about you, Lemony Snicket.”

“Sonnets,” I said. “Beatrice will write sonnets.”

“Don’t bother me,” Beatrice said, and she dug around in her purse for a pen with one hand and straightened out a napkin with the other. “I’m already composing in my head.”

Bertrand frowned, and then pulled a pen out of the ribbon of my hat and handed it to her.

“What teamwork,” Beatrice said, and she kissed both of us on the cheek.

The meal was excellent. It involved a great deal of pasta and laughter, which was one of my favorite sort of meals, especially with the way the two of them laughed, Beatrice throwing her head back as she laughed and Bertrand’s amused chuckles.

The three of us walked along the river afterwards, and I let Bertrand keep my hat, even though I was truly reluctant to go without wearing it for too long. But it was a slow afternoon in the city that was turning into a quiet evening, and there were barely any other people out and about. The chances of running into someone we didn’t want to run into were probably slimmer than I thought.

I fell into step beside Bertrand. He laced his fingers with mine and we watched Beatrice race ahead of us like she usually did whenever she was outside, the wind pulling at her hair.

“She said she’d say yes,” I told him. “If we asked.”

Bertrand cleared his throat. “If we asked what?” he said, but I knew he was very clearly stalling for time.

“If,” I said, “we asked her to stand beside us in a formal setting in very fancy clothes and say a series of words that most people understand to be a vow of commitment and affection while surrounded by a good number of associates and hopefully none of our enemies—”

“Alright, alright,” Bertrand said, laughing a little. He smiled down at the sidewalk. “I’m glad.”

We were quiet for a while. Beatrice was still ahead of us, this time trying to tempt nearby pigeons closer to her, and only marginally succeeding.

“Would you?” Bertrand asked.

I swallowed. I wasn’t going to try to get out of it, because I had walked right into this one. “I—yes. Wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would,” Bertrand said, as if it was that easy. “I have no reservations about you two. But I know how you are, Lemony.” He smiled a little, that sad, worried smile that made me sad and worried in return. “I know you’ll run if we don’t hold on to you.”

“I wouldn’t run,” I said. “And I will thank you not to point out my previous track record of doing just that, because they were all for relatively legitimate reasons.” I liked to think that I wouldn’t do it again, if the sort of situation arose where it was something I had to consider. I liked to think that marriage wasn’t one of those things, because it was something I genuinely wanted. But the uncertainties of the world sometimes made even that lovely thing seem so far out of my grasp that, if I was honest with myself, I had considered slipping away into the night so that I wouldn’t ruin anything else. It was an upsetting thing to think, but I had thought of it as much as I had thought about those musical numbers.

Bertrand looked out over the water. “Do you think I’m not scared too, Lemony? About the things we do, the positions we put ourselves in, whether this assignment or the next one will be the one that takes one of you away from us?”

“No,” I said. “I’m not that much of a fool to think that my fears aren’t universal.”

“Sometimes you act like you do,” Bertrand said quietly. “And I am under no delusion that our feelings for each other will fix any or all of our problems. But they can be a little easier to deal with that way, when you know you aren’t alone. You know that, don’t you?”

I wanted very much to believe that, but every time Beatrice or Bertrand said it, it never seemed to sink in the way it should. It is one thing to love someone, or multiple someones, to love them so much you often can’t think of anything else, but another thing to trust them and the things they say and yourself, especially when you live the kind of lives that we lived. Perhaps I did forget about it sometimes, the terrible recklessness with which Beatrice occasionally acted, how Bertrand tended to be much too quiet at times, the things all of us did when we forgot we weren’t alone. The three of us were not perfect people, not by any means, but three imperfect people doing what they can for each other in a turbulent world is sometimes better than three perfect people going through life without a care about anything else.

I squeezed Bertrand’s hand and didn’t say anything more.

By the time we returned to Beatrice’s apartment, the ice cream had solidified into something manageable, and the three of us sat down on the couch with the cake, which Beatrice had still covered with a good deal of strawberries, and our homemade ice cream, which Bertrand ate first.

“Was it worth it, Bertrand?” Beatrice asked.

“Very worth it,” Bertrand grinned. “Entirely worth it.”

If I had to pick one thing about Bertrand that I liked the most—and it would be difficult, considering there were a great number of things I liked about him—I would still probably settle on how, even though he could jest just as good as Beatrice, there was a great sincerity in almost everything he said. It was easy to want to believe him. It was easy to believe him.

“To have two people such as yourselves to face the oncoming adversity of the world with is a great relief that I don’t think I have ever fully appreciated until this moment,” I said. “And if I could spend the rest of my life with anyone, I would sincerely want it to be the two of you.”

They didn’t look surprised, and they didn’t say anything. Sometimes you get to a point with other people where you don’t have to say anything more, where everything else is just immediately and silently understood, and all the rest doesn’t matter. Beatrice took one of my hands, and Bertrand took the other, and we sat there with the fading sunset on our shoulders, and then went back to eating our cake with a little bit of difficulty given that we were reluctant to let go of each other.

Suddenly, Bertrand’s eyes went wide. “That’s it!” he exclaimed, and he scrambled to his feet, almost dropping his plate in the process.

“Hey, hey!” Beatrice said, snatching the plate from him. “Don’t be like that with the good plates.”

Bertrand rushed over to the record player. He pulled out one of the records from the piles still on the floor and put it in the player, then carefully placed the needle over it. He sat back down beside us, looking pleased with himself as the song started.

I want to see your face in every kind of light, in fields of dawn and forests of the night, and when you stand before the candles on a cake, oh, let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make— what are you doing the rest of your life?

I liked it a great deal more than Summer Wind or Wave. Even Beatrice seemed to enjoy the song, her head on my shoulder. Bertrand looked happier than anyone had any right to be, and I didn’t say anything about it, because that was how I felt, too.

“What are we doing the rest of our lives, boys?” Beatrice asked, her voice just above a whisper when the song ended.

“Staying right here,” I said into her hair.

“On this couch,” Bertrand added.

“Hm,” Beatrice said, frowning a little as she looked around the apartment. “But, you know, it might be a little too small when we have children.”

ending notes:

how many homemade ice cream recipes did I look up while trying to write this???? too many. and how many did I try???? zero, dammit.

also – summer wind, wave, come fly with me, and what are you doing the rest of your life

anyway! I have been trying to write a pretty long and very complicated fanfic with these three for the past month, but plot shenanigans have made it very difficult along with my real inability to write straight-up romance. writing is hard, cats. so I was like, ‘screw that!’ and decided I would write a non-angsty smaller fanfic to try and figure out how people even write romance. and honestly i’m still not sure.