#she’s his buddy and is there for moral support

[peapodbond]

that was us part eight

aka fuck it friday

tagged by @leashybebes

skipping ahead a few parts because i can and i want to. aka 7x05 as seen through the lens of the former fiancee/current besties abbysaltommy text thread

abby texting, tommy texting, sal texting

so, how was the first date?

turns out evan is not out to anyone.

it was his first 'date with a dude', but he's an ally.

sounds like a train wreck. (sorry, abby)

that part was oddly okay? it was adorable.

his best friend showed up at the same restaurant on a date with his girlfriend. evan said that we were 'going to pick up hot chicks later'.

i ducked out of going to the movie and just went straight home after dinner.

sal, cue us up a grindr best of lineup.

wait, i want to know what tommy said about the hot chicks.

not proud of it but i made a closet joke. the friend's girlfriend is moving in so it wasn't out of nowhere. i don't think any of them caught it, actually. but it made me feel a little better.

that's my boy!

you're a menace, sal. at least it was on the first date, tommy? it could have been worse.

mm. this feels like a sign that i should take a break from dating.

as opposed to the absolute bevy of dates you've been on recently?

sal, don't be mean. when was the last time you went on a date?

all right you two, no infighting. as fun as it is to watch you argue, i'm here for some moral support.

we can do that. hey, at least you can use the helicopter rescue to land dudes.

helicopter rescue? what helicopter rescue?

it's not a big deal.

tommy flew into a fucking hurricane and found a capsized cruise ship.

oh my god. days like this i miss la. nothing like this ever happens in phoenix.

i'm lucky i didn't get fired, okay? and we are not doing a grindr lineup. one bad date is not going to get me back on the apps.

you get one week to mope and then we're going for drinks and you're flirting with someone at the bar.

that's not a bad plan, sal. i approve.

at what point do i get a say in this?

you don't.

you don't.

their text thread sits quiet for a few days and abby debates asking tommy for more details. between jordan and marcus he hasn't had much to smile about, and even though he'd only met evan two weeks ago, the way that he'd talked about him… she'd really thought that tommy's luck was about to turn around.

they're driving tess to tucson for a college tour when she finally has enough time to text tommy separately.

it was one bad date abby, i'm fine.

yeah, but you liked him. like, really liked him.

i've really liked a few guys. and i've survived. we didn't even know each other for a full month. he'll just be a great kiss and a fun evening and that's the end of it.

a great kiss, huh?

i already told you that.

let's talk once we're back from the college tour? it's been a while.

sure, but you're signing up for a party viewing of love, actually.

double feature with die hard?

…evan just texted me.

what did he say?

do you want me to go fight him.

he wants to meet for coffee.

you should do it!

hm. at least you get a free cup of coffee. he is buying, right?

sal. yes, he's buying. i really liked him, you know? up until the hot chicks it was the best date i'd been on in… a while.

definitely go, tommy. you haven't said you had the best anything in a long time. abby thinks the last time she heard tommy say something was the best he'd ever had it was when she still lived in la (but after they broke up). if it's not great, it's just coffee. it's only going to be an hour or so.

i feel like someone should play devil's advocate but abby's got a point.

sal, how about i text you if i need you to fake an emergency and leave?

no, don't approach this like it's going to go badly!

works for me. i've always got you on speed dial, buddy.

you can hide any pitchforks the two of you might have found.

so it went well?

the question is how well it went.

sal.

sal.

what? just because he's not out doesn't mean they couldn't have some fun.

he actually did come out? to his best friend and his sister. we're going to try again and go on another date.

where's he taking you?

better be somewhere fancy.

i am not telling either one of you where it is. one of the delucas would try and pop up to spy on us.

i'm in pheonix, you can tell me separately.

it would be gina. definitely. she's small and sneaky.

they're not even denying it. you can find out where we're going after he's actually out to everyone.

sal, don't ruin this for us.

what? i'm being supportive.

so where's the date?

i'm not telling you.

why not?

because you'll tell gina and gina will tell sal and someone's going to pop up like a demented jack in the box.

i resent that implication.

because it's true?

see if i watch another romcom with you, tommy kinard.

that's a dirty lie, abby clark. listen, if we survive the second date then maybe i'll tell you two snoops more about him.

i'll let gina know ;)

i always regret introducing you two.

me and gina or me and sal?

all three of you.

here's hoping date number two is better than date one.

your lips, god's ears, etc etc.

[anstarwar]

Saw this amazing photo set by @ofburntorangesuns and simply had to dooble it

[frogaroundandfindout]

I used to give the 'lazarus pit madness' trope for jason so much shit unless it was a REALLY good fic that did something interesting with the idea. But the more I read of pre52 red hood the more I'm just like "yeah no I have absolutely no idea how I'd reconcile all this heinous shit he's done without finding a way to make it not his fault actually"

I hate the 'jason was always a monster and bruce couldn't save him' nonsense so much, he was literally just a homeless little boy. MY BUDDY LITERALLY WILLINGLY WENT BACK TO BEING HOMELESS BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO HURT PEOPLE FOR MA GUNN EVEN THOUGH IT MEANT GIVING UP FOOD AND SHELTER AND DECENT TREATMENT

jason sweetheart I'm so sorry dc butchered you like this my god

When the characterization is so inconsistent the fandom has to resort to literal magic to explain it.

But seriously, I haven’t read a whole lot of Jason as Robin but from what I did read he was so tiny and just wanted to do good. It’s a disservice to every character involved for Bruce to adopt him because he thought he’d be a criminal otherwise. It implies Bruce thinks of every kid living in poverty as a shoe in for crime and not as some of the most vulnerable individuals in low SE areas. Which is just…so bad considering he’s 1) a rich white man stereotyping a large group of people and 2) someone that fights crime because of an act of violence commited in front of him as a little boy. A Batman that doesn’t believe in the goodness of a child (especially one like Jason who, like you said, gave up basic necessities for the sake of his morals) and protecting it in a way he wasn’t protected is a very very weird Batman to me. So it turns Bruce into a white knight and redhood into confirmation of Bruce’s stereotyping and paranoia.

If it was just Jason thinking that’s why Bruce took him in it would be a completely different animal. I might have even enjoyed reading about how Jason rationalized their changed relationship after he came back swinging (literally) and thinking that it’s some innate characteristic about him that drove the wedge between him and Bruce before he even realized it was there. But it’s very much not just Jason. EVERYONE. FUCKING. SAYS. IT. And tbh that kinda ruins everyone just a bit in my eyes. If not agreement and support for Bruce’s bs, they’re at least silently complicit in perpetuating it.

But beyond that, it also makes me think of Devin Grayson’s run where she kept talking about how dick was “meant for crime” or would have obviously been a criminal if it wasn’t for Bruce. This was built on frankly awful stereotypes regarding Romani people. I bring this one up because the combination of the two does not make Bruce look as good as the writers seemed to think.

But if we ignore the bs involved and take the reason for Jason’s adoption at face value, I think it offers an interesting comparison between him and Damian. Jason is presented a child destined for a life of crime who eventually became one of The Villains despite Batman’s efforts. Damian was an heir destined for crime who eventually became one of The Heroes because of Batman’s efforts. Idk it’s just interesting to me.

[miz-chase]

Remember how Temperance “monogamy is stupid” “marriage treats women as property” “heteronormativity is a harmful social construct” “it takes a village” Brennan got a house in the suburbs, had 1.5 kids, got married in a catholic ceremony, and generally got absorbed by Standard Tv Mom-Wife?

Good news, the writers of Bones have reached out and need us to write how this would have actually played out in queer non-standard ways. What actually happened?

My suggestions:

They don’t get married because their love is more than a state-recognized business partnership OR it is actually Brennan’s idea very early on, she makes a courthouse date last minute so they can get tax benefits. She does not wear a white dress, thank you very much.

Brennan keeps her apartment. She needs her alone time sometimes, and it’s hard for Booth to not take that personally. He’s the type to insist they sleep in the same bed even if he can’t sleep because she snores too much. It takes time to feel secure enough and recognize she’s not rejecting him when she needs to be alone. It makes times when they’re together that much more special.

Jared, Padme, Rus, Amy and the girls are way more present. It’s less a focus on the B&B household and more on the supportive network of everyone taking care of each other and each others kids. Same goes for Ange, Hodgins, and Michael-Vincent, who are always trading off whose house they’re staying at.

They take in foster kids, which is more important to both of them than needing to have a genetic connection. They both know what it’s like to need some love after being abandoned by their families. Maybe they even take in Jared’s kid, if things with him go south.

Parker’s gay. He comes out to Brennan first because he’s scared his dad is going to freak out, what with the whole Catholic thing. Brennan, who has no filter even on her good days, is confused and immediately outs Booth as being bisexual. Happy family ending where everyone gets a kinder sort of masculinity than the show allows.

When Brennan needs a break, or has moral scruples with how her own evidence is manipulated to incarcerate innocent people, she takes on projects that better suit her moral priorities. She joins efforts working on the American and Canadian boarding schools, the Magdalene Laundries and other similar mass burial sites. Booth is initially uncomfortable but then becomes emphatically supportive. The Church he believes in should never have done these things, so it’s his moral duty as a good Catholic to seek justice for those that the church wronged.

Similarly, Booth and some old buddies start asking some questions, poking and prodding the right people with the right kind of concerns. They end up putting together an effort to investigate American and ally war crimes in Afghanistan. Brennan is the perfect person to lead the research effort, and it’s excellent work for her students. Similar to the Church, I think Booth’s pride in the military can go hand-in-hand with trying to right it’s wrongs and hold it to a higher standard.

As far as the monogamy thing goes, I think it would be complicated to get there, but not impossible. It would take a long time for Booth to feel secure enough in their relationship to even consider it. I think it’s relatively easy for him to accept that Brennan and Angela have A Thing. I think, with some tweaks, there’s a future where, when Hannah comes through town, they all have fun together.

What else?? Please share your thoughts!!

[rzyraffek]

Slashers with y/n that just gets along with everything

Like slasher could litteraly kill somone near y/n and she would be like alr alr whats really important is that you are happy🤠😎. Im sorry that first 2character had super long headcanons while last ones have way less :( I had no ideas Request open!

Billy Lenz

He always expects some sort of negative response when he calls people and when he heard new voice on the Phone he got even more exited cuz new person new reaction! He totally didnt expect her to just go "yeah yeah sure buddy, anyways... how is your day man? Cuz im so so tired...*starts normal converstation*

He probably tries to stay in character but he is so caught of Guard he doesnt know how to react really (hehe the table has turn)

Now he kinda hopes that she will pick up cuz shes very intresting😈 billy likey

"Ew its this creep again! He is asking for you y/n? Of please dont tell me you befriended him??" "So what? He said hes favourite fruit is strawberry he cant be that bad!" *billy saying slurs on the phone*

You need to constantly tell him that, no Billy no harrasing women isnt sexy, you arent quirky, you are mentally ill

"Y/n i killed that bitch that was gossiping about you 🧍 " "👍good for you billy im glad you found healthy way to cope with that negative emotion😇" "on god"

His whole moral compass is created around the simple question 'does it hurt y/n?' .1:no it doesnt so feel free to do it .2 do not do it, she will ban Billy from sweets (bad ending)

The man from hush

This guy. This dude. This Little gremlin. He is upset that he gets no reaction! Like please oh please act all angy when he 'acidently' shot tire in her car! But oh no ofc no, she had to be like "oh its okay honey i have backup in garage🥰" hes like HHUH SINCE WHEN WE HAVE GARAGE

Like tbh thats how i imagine how they met: he saw her, he wanted to hunt her, she was so chill that she didnt even leave her household while the power was off and he went inside and just saw her having lil nap on couch. 🧍🤨erm exuse me gurl im trying to roleplay epic hunter here tf

He probably kidnaped her cuz she was too weird to just kill her but he didnt want to risk her calling police. He probably tied her up and yeeted her on backseats. And then she begun judging music on the radio"yo big guy can i get some good music taste?" "What? Whats wrong with Taylor Swift?"

He will overshare everything to kinda check where is her limit if it comes to being chill "yeah so i killed this old lady.." "im sure you had good reason🥰" "🤨... anyways... yeah so i was drinking some redbull when some guy said i look ugly so i shoot his head off and-" "HEY HEY hold up geez you CANT drink Energy drinks?? Bestie you know it is unhealthy?? Also you like hunt for sport it will ruin your condition!? How you gonna shoot people with shakey hands?? You crazy or something?" "Damn😔"

Micheal myers

I tried to put him here but i realised he will be as chill as her.

Like he can give her gifts covered in blood and she' just going to clean it and wear it like nothing happened or completley ignore it

He cares about this stuff as much as y/n so like not at all. I mean tbh theres is a bit of difrence: shes at least positive about it! Like "yeah micheal go for it, love🥰😇 i know its hard to cope with trauma take it all out alr?" Shes trying to be a good supporting gf not her fault she never had serial killer bf!

Brahms Heelshire

He lives for attention! What do you mean the war crime he commited this lunch break is okay!?!? Baby pleasee

But this negativity disapears the moment he realised he can get a lot of positive attention when he will do some nice stuff! "Oh honey I didnt kill any rats today" "oh that's amazing brahms I'm sure you and the rats inside walls will get along well soon🥰" (rats in walls bully brahms)

Please complement him or he will get a tantrum and destroy something

Brahms and rats have very hard past i might do seperate hc about that

Ghostface

"Look babe! My newest victim *shows photo*" "ugh baby...😰 you NEED to buy new camera or watch some youtube tutorials about how to take good photos" "aw man whats wrong with my pictures 😔"

Otherwise y/n supports his hobbies! People need to grow😇 (and he needs to grow up)

If theres 2ghostfaces(like in most movies) they will bet money on how long you gonna keep this 'do whatever as long as youre happy' act. Well they didnt know that this wasnt an act but her personality

Also they will probably try to use this chillnes aginst her like "oooh y/n something terrible happened! I crushed my car oh what will i do!" "Alr bestie i will drive you over there😇" "😈omg you are so nice i totally didnt expect that(heheh i dont need to pay for gas today (hes very evil))

[alisaint]

guys, i have good news for once. i've found proof of intelligent life out here in these wastelands:

my favorite excerpts:

Will, Jonathan, and Joyce Formed a Special Trio

If Eleven is the main character in Stranger Things, the Byers family is the conduit through which she flickers. Will’s disappearance in the first season spurred the Hawkins community to rush to his aid. The tight-knit camaraderie between Will, Jonathan, and Joyce juxtaposes the stereotypical family composed of kids and teenagers. Parents and children are supposed to fight and bicker in television and other media, often to build the main conflict of the story, but the Byers family already underwent that trauma offscreen.  Lonnie Byers (Ross Partridge) makes a brief cameo in the first season, flexing his standoffish demeanor and abusive nature. It’s clear that the Byers patriarch doesn’t possess much empathy for his ex-wife or his sons. Jonathan valiantly steps into the father, husband, and big brother role, amalgamating into a combination of responsibilities that no other character on the show could dream of emulating. 

Jonathan Binds the Byers Family Together

Jonathan’s multifaceted arc in the first two seasons made him one of the series’ most easily dissectable characters. Stranger Things often differentiates itself from other shows by keeping the antagonists separate from the main characters. There are no Walter White or Tony Soprano-style antiheroes in which fans must compromise one part of their moral compass to appreciate the character. One might think this makes the series boring, but it’s the opposite. Jonathan was proof that a nearly perfect brother and son can still be fascinating to watch. After Will was found in season 1’s climax, he was taken over by the Mind Flayer in season 2. Jonathan again stood by Will’s side as his little brother felt outcasted by friends and society at large. Schnapp and Heaton’s chemistry often leads to tender, humorous exchanges like this one in which the boys remind the audience that being weird can be a human superpower in its own right.  These moments became few and far between in seasons 3 and 4. Will and Jonathan were relegated to minor supporting characters as the aforementioned new additions took center stage. Will at least gets to tag along with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and the other younger friends. Jonathan often only appears in a few small scenes with his girlfriend Nancy (Natalia Dyer), and the writers even flirted with pushing Nancy back into Steve’s arms in the most recent season. Jonathan spent the majority of season 4 high on marijuana and frolicking around in a faux buddy-comedy routine with the one-off character Argyle (Eduardo Franco).  The decision to waste Heaton’s work from the first two seasons with a 180-degree personality change made no sense. Jonathan suddenly seemed careless, distant, and uninspired, but not in a dense way that could be unlocked by further character development. Little-to-no time was spent on him. While some fans might concur it is a necessary evil to take screen time away from older characters when expanding the world of Hawkins, it certainly transforms Stranger Things from a show about family into a show just about monsters and romances. 

Jonathan’s Enhanced Role in Season 5?

Many theories point to Will being one of the critical pieces to defeating Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) in the fifth and final season. His connection to the Upside Down and the evils underneath the surface should open up opportunities for Jonathan to lend his ears and counseling once again. Jonathan grows on an individual level when he aids others. When locked out of his family’s life, it stunts his ability to shine as a listener and an empathizer.  Jonathan’s best scene from season 4 again features a tear-jerking moment with Will. On the cusp of coming out of the closet, Will needs Jonathan more than ever before, and his brother responds supremely to the task at hand. The poignant conversation validates that the Duffers haven’t completely forgotten how to flesh out the Byers family. When the world gets too enormous for the characters and the audience, Jonathan serves as a connector to the most human elements of the series’ thematic thesis. He may not be as funny as Steve or as neurotic as Robin, but Jonathan symbolizes the good in all of us. In a show shrouded in darkness, Jonathan’s presence will be instrumental to forming a satisfying, optimistic conclusion in Hawkins, Indiana.

[estrellami-1]

If I Should Stay

Part 1 | . . . | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Steve slides down the wall as soon as he’s in the bathroom, hands going to his hair, gripping hard as he tries to remember how to breathe.

“Steve?” Robin says. “The door’s locked, it’s just us. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Robs, I look at her and all I see is bullshit, and I know she’s got questions, and fuck, she probably thinks I’m cheating on her, which I’d never do, but she- and Jonathan-”

“Whoa,” Robin says, grabbing his hands. “Deep breaths, Steve-o, we’re gonna make it through this. I will absolutely flirt with Nancy if it helps on the accusation front. I told Eddie the kids like D&D, so hopefully…” she trails off, listening, and they both smirk when they hear Eddie, already in character. “That didn’t take long.”

“He’s a good guy,” Steve says. “And they’re good kids. Mostly.”

Robin snorts. “Mostly,” she agrees. “Listen, why don’t you break up with Nancy? Nothing else happens between the two of you, right? So we tell everyone what’s going on, you pull Nancy aside—I’ll come for moral support if you want—and explain what happens and tell her you can’t see her anymore.”

“You don’t think it’ll mess with the whole timeline thing?”

“Steve. Buddy. We’re telling a group of twelve-year-olds about something that happens four years in the future. The timeline’s well and truly fucked. You weren’t happy with her, not after Barb, right? Because the stories you told me painted you as being miserable.”

Steve sighs. Reclaims one of his hands to run it through his hair. “Yeah.”

“Okay then. And hey,” she says, moving to sit next to him. “Maybe if you break up with her now, you can do something about your crush on a certain someone.”

“Robs, c’mon,” he complains. “Even if I did, what happens after? When we go back to ‘87? Are there three years of memories I don’t have? Do we break up before you and I go back, and pick it up again four years later? And what if we fail and he dies anyways? What then, Robin?”

She leans her head on his shoulder with a sigh. “I dunno, Dingus. But hey, I’m here.”

He offers her a half-smile before laying his head on hers. “Yeah. You are.”

A knock on the door startles them. “Uh, Steve?” It’s Nancy. She sounds oddly apprehensive. “Eddie’s doing a great job at keeping the kids occupied, but we’d all like to know what’s going on.”

Steve sighs and pushes his face into Robin’s hair for a second before turning back to the door to answer. “Yeah. We’ll be right there.”

Nancy doesn’t answer. The first time around, it was something Steve had found endearing. She didn’t have time to waste on meaningless words. Now, it irks him a little bit.

“C’mon,” Robin says gently. “You can fall apart again after, but there’s no use catastrophizing over something that hasn’t happened yet.”

He quirks his mouth up at her. “Right, ‘cause you’ve never been dramatic a day in your life.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m a band kid, Steven, of course I’m dramatic.” She begins to smirk. “Besides, not like you mind when it’s-”

“Okay,” he says, but they’re both smiling as he unlocks the door.

They go downstairs and he smiles at the sight of everyone on the couch, enraptured, as Eddie’s crouched on the coffee table, eyes wide, monologuing. Steve casts his eyes around, taking everyone in, and starts to frown. “Where’s El?”

Nancy’s the first to break out of the reverie. She looks around, brows furrowed, then slaps at Mike’s arm until he slaps back. “What?”

“Where’s El?”

“She’s right- oh.” Saucer-wide eyes turn to Nancy. “I don’t know.”

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[child-of-helios]

hello. I've a rather stupid question. I've only read the books once, as a kid, and I don't understand why people hate calpyso x leo. whys it so bad? why does everyone seems to hate it on here?

xxx,

eurydice

First of all, this is my first ever ask, I've made it mother :D Secondly, I'd gladly explain! Though please note that it really has been a good while since I've read the books too, so my memory is kinda foggy :] Warnings for: Slight mentions (but not too much) of rape, pedophilia and mental illness (oh boy this is a tough one)

So, I have made a post abt this before, but it was written in a fit of rage so not my proudest moment (but my most popular post, oops). Anyways, I feel that the hate towards Calypso x Leo is because of a few reasons. 1. It simply didn't get enough development to feel worth it imo. Similar to Jason x Piper, I felt like there wasn't enough there to warrant a canon ship. There is also the fact that personally, I thought that their dynamic was more of a familial or that of siblings, which made me uncomfortable. I would've much rather have them be friends. 2. The uncomfortable age gap. It feels very weird because while yes, Calypso was depicted as a teenager, she is thousands upon thousands of years old. The fact that she fell in love with a literal child is incredibly weird. It was weird enough with Percy, but at least they didn't end up dating. With Leo though, she did end up dating him and the age gap feels very odd. Its even weirder knowing she had a relationship with Odysseus, who by that point was a pretty old dude so she was probably very mature and an adult (though she doesn't act like it). 3. Calypso is kinda a rapist. In the Odyssey myth, she forces Odysseus (a married man) to sleep with her. I'm sorry, but I can't support any relationship involving a rapist unless its rapist x prison cell. It makes me uncomfortable because she could very well take advantage of Leo, a mentally ill teenager with self-esteem issues. 4. Her toxic treatment of Leo. Calypso was very pissed when Leo arrived on her island, rightfully so after what she had gone through, but even then her treatment of his was outright cruel, especially compared to that of Percy and Odysseus. She made him sleep outside, exposing him to the elements after he got flung through the air and ended up on her island, which must've caused some damage. Then after they started dating, I still felt uncomfortable reading about the two, because their dynamic just didn't work, and I don't recall her apologizing to him for her treatment of him. 5. Leo's arc was thrown away. I think the worst of all, is how this impacted Leo's character. He should've had an arc where he learnt to love himself, but because of Calypso he didn't. I think the moral was supposed to be: 'even if you're mentally ill or have problems, you still deserve love!' but it came over more as: 'ignore your issues and get all your love from someone else.' Isn't it more important for kids to learn about self-love? And as an extra: what could've been. I think that Leo shouldn't have gone back for Calypso, that that ship shouldn't have happened. I prefer him going back to Echo and them learning about self-love together as buddies (and maybe evolving into more than that). Echo was stuck in an abusive relationship with the Narcissist, so I think it would a good arc for them both. I also think that if you really wanted a romance, Jason x Leo would've been much better. We know that Rick can write good gay romances, we know that Piper turns out to be a lesbian, so why not make Jason and Leo gay? I think it would add much more to the tragedy of Jason's death, but that's for another post (and this one is getting too long already oops). In conclusion, I think Caleo is bad for many reasons, but especially because it didn't have enough time to develop and the dynamic was simply too creepy for me to get invested in. Sorry for the super long post- Have a lovely day :D

[littlemessyjessi]

"Babydolls and Bucky Bears": A Holiday MCU Imagine: Bucky Barnes

. 

A MCU Holiday Imagine: Bucky Barnes 

Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Reader, PS Reader, Reader 

Warnings: Bucky’s past? Reader has a minor injury.  I mean, this is just referenced and nothing serious.   

Use of Y/N because we all know that if I do a full backstory and name this character right now that none of us will ever see the end of this.  At least not in this calendar year.  But ya’ll know me and ya’ll should know that this has been added to the list of things to turn into stories with characters because I get attached to my writing.  Moving on. 

Fem Identifying reader because I love me some womenses.  I just like writing about a woman especially if I’m already having a love interest with a man.  Because bi panic and I’m selfish.  I want both and the joy of me writing it means I can do that and give myself that little gift. 

If you don’t vibe with that, that’s cool.  Have a lovely day and see ya round.  No worries here.

If you’re under 18, get out.  Love you but get out.   Tis not the place for you.  Be kind to yourselves, drink water and have a great day.  Love you, but leave. 

……

Bucky narrowed his eyes at the black dog that greeted him calmly when he opened the door. 

Not calmly in the way that Dumbledore calmly asked Harry if he’d put his name in the Goblet of Fire movie. 

But calmly as in the way it happened in the book. 

Because all that dog did was sit there, wag his tail and give him a doggy smile. 

Bucky rolled his eyes but the corner of his mouth tugged up a bit. 

He knew his girlfriend, Y/N, was the cause of this. 

“Babe?” he called out. 

“In here!” came her voice from the living room.  

Odd that she didn’t absolutely maul him the moment he walked through the door like she usually did…. but he let it go. 

Perhaps, she was prolonging the lecture that they both knew was coming. 

She could run but she couldn’t hide.  

“Babe, come on, we talked about the dog thing…” Bucky started as he began to pull off his coat and toe off his boots. 

“He’s just visiting for a week, Buck.  Bruno belongs to Anton.” she called back.  

“Aside from the fact that you sang to me over and over and over again that we don’t talk about Bruno… who’s Anton?” he said. 

“He’s in my book club.  He and his wife, Delilah, are going out of town this week to visit the in-laws. Something about they have to go this time because her brother is bringing his new boyfriend and she’s gotta be there for moral support. Anyway,  said in-laws are allergic to dogs.   They offered for me to just stay there and house sit with Bruno but I know you and I know you’d come to collect me before the first night.”  she said, ending with a knowing giggle. 

 “Uh, yeah.  How am I supposed to sleep without my cuddle buddy?” he said, smiling as more of those giggles floated through the air like music to his ears. “Do you want some hot chocolate, doll?” 

“Ooooh, yes please!” she all but squealed. 

Bucky couldn’t help but smile as he turned towards her little hot cocoa cart. 

She’d thrown an unholy fit when she discovered them on Pinterest. 

Pinterest was Bucky’s greatest foe for it was Pinterest that inspired that woman to DIY and when her ADHD kicked in somehow he always came home to an explosion of glitter. 

However, he would admit that the little bar cart turned hot cocoa cart was actually very useful. 

He’d have been just as happy with a Swiss Miss cocoa packet but she got a thrill out of stocking it with all kinds of treats to make the most epic mug of chocolate to have ever existed….. and she did come up with some pretty good combinations. 

“Marshmallows?” he called out. 

She gasped and recognized that tone. 

She was offended. 

“Sorry.” he laughed. “My mistake.” 

“The audacity.” he heard her mumble. 

It was only a few moments more and Bucky had loaded up a tray with their cocoas along with the christmas tree cakes and gingerbread cookies that he knew she’d whine about if he brought it to her without it.  

She’d get up and get it herself… but she’d definitely pout. 

As cute as he thought she was when she was pouting… he wanted to streamline this whole process and get right to the cuddling. 

It had been a day. 

He just wanted to hold her for a while and watch whatever oversaturated Christmas movie she chose for the night. 

Probably the Grinch…. for the millionth time. 

He didn’t mind it though. 

She always cried when the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes  and he thought it was the cutest thing in the whole world. 

However, the second he rounded the corner into the living room… he just stood completely frozen. 

There, in their home was an enormous tree… made from metal. 

Boxes of ornaments were on the floor and sat on the couch, in a nest of blankets, was the love of his life. 

“Buck?” 

He blinked, “Um?” 

The sound of her taking in a huge breath should have prepared him for the onslaught of anxiety ridden explanations but he was honestly just paralyzed with shock at this massive silver tree.  

“Ok, so I know we said we would just do a fake tree because the real one would leak sap everywhere but then I got stuck on TikTok seeing terrifying, horrible stories where those things caught on fire because the wiring is terrible and I didn’t want us to burn alive so for the past month I’ve been making this and scouring all the thrift stores in the tristate area for vintage tree ornaments and I know it’s not traditional but-” she all but exploded, speaking at rate which one could only describe as that of Gilmore Girl proportions.   

“Sweetheart.”

“And I know I sprung the dog situation on you but I really didn’t know until a few hours ago but I didn’t have time to call you because I had to pick up the jukebox this morning.  It’s cute, Buck.  The tabletop ones from an old diner and it’s loaded with Christmas songs!”

“Babe.” 

“And then I had a record on hold from a vintage shop and then the lights for the fireplace came in.  The safe ones! Not the ones that will burn us alive in our sleep!” 

“Doll.” 

“So I had to run out and get the lights and then go get Bruno and get back home and get it all decorated for you because I wanted you to come home to a magically decorated home for the holidays but then I slipped and slid half way down the street in the ice and… here I am.” she said. 

Bucky set the tray down on the table before kneeling in front of her. 

“Ok, so first, take a breath. I don’t think you’ve breathed once since you started.” he teased, happy to have gotten a smile out of her. “Come on.  Big breath and let it out.” 

“Hey, those are my tricks.” 

“Dollface, I don’t think you can claim breathing as one of your tricks.  You might have to take that up with God.” 

“You right. Sorry, Jesus.”

Bucky shook his head, “And I’m not mad.   I don’t mind the dog thing anyway.  I just worry about us having time to take care of one but if you want to hear the truth- since you started working from home more… Which thank you for that by the way.  I know you can handle yourself but knowing you’re here sometimes takes the edge off a little.” 

Her hand found the side of his face, thumb swiping across his cheek, “I know, Buck.  I don’t mind it at all actually.” 

They shared a smile, “I don’t hate the idea of you having a dog here with you either.  I mean, I’d like to be included in the decision and I would really, really prefer it if they had some additional training.   I’ve thought about adopting a retired police dog.  I actually know of a few that need good homes.” 

“James Buchanan Barnes, I love that idea and I love you for thinking of it.  You might get lucky tonight if we can figure out a way to do this without me having to move my foot too much.” she said. 

Bucky smirked but wasted no time in digging around in her blanket nest to find the wounded limb, “Well, I know of several positions that involve your legs over my shoulders so I think we can figure that part out, baby. But let me see.  Did you hurt it badly?” 

“Not too bad. I just sprained it, I think.   And then of course it was icy and I slid.   Oh, we have a trash can lid to return by the way.” she said and at Bucky’s arched brow, she pulled it from where it was leaning against the side table looking very much like Cap’s shield. 

He sighed, “Do I wanna know?” 

“Well, I couldn’t get up because of my ankle and because the ice was slippery too.  Bruno is actually one smart puppy because he brought me that lid, nudged me on and then he literally pulled me home.  Anton and Delilah put his harness on for him before we left so I just held the leash and he pulled me home.  I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.  Oh, I want to make brownies for Miss Helen’s grandsons across the street.  They’re the ones that helped me inside and brought all the stuff up.   When I fell, I dropped everything, which included my phone.  Couldn’t have even called you.  Bruno was a very good boy.” she said, aiming a fond smile at the black lab sitting in the doorway. 

Bucky patted the floor next to him and held out his hand to the dog who all but ran to slide his head underneath it for pets. 

“Thanks, Bruno.” Bucky said, scratching behind the dog’s ears.  “I will cook you a steak for this tonight.” 

“Well deserved!” Y/N cheered and Bruno happily wagged hs tail. 

“Are you sure you’re ok?” he asked. 

She sighed but nodded, “Yeah, I just hate that the house is a mess.  I might need to house sit for Anton and Delilah anyway though.” 

At his furrowed brows she explained, “They fancy over there, babe.   Bruno’s doggy door literally has a remote.  As does his feed and water bowls.   He’s upscale, Buck.  I can do all that from their couch with the remotes.” 

He nodded before giving her a small smile, “Or I could be completely out of action for the next two weeks and live out this little holiday fantasy of yours.” 

“I would personally love nothing more than to have a very cute man servant for the next two weeks.” she said with an impish little smile, “However, Sam might need you.” 

“Sam is gonna be fine.” Bucky laughed. “It would be a blessing to him for me to be out of what little hair he has.” 

“Bucky, that’s not true.” she laughed. 

“He’s training like three newbies.” Bucky said. 

“Oh.” Y/N said and then gave a nod, “Yeah, probably for the best.  Ya’ll would kill each other.” 

“Exactly.” he said. “I’ll let him know later that he can finally have some peace of mind training them the way he’d like to and I will spend the next two weeks doing whatever Hallmark Holiday Bucket List that I know you have hidden away somewhere.” 

“Well, ice skating is definitely crossed off that list.” she said. 

“Baby, seems to me that you’ve already done your ice skating this year.” he said, gesturing to her swollen ankle.  “If sledding with snow dogs was on there, mark that as completed as well.” 

“Will do.” she giggled. 

“So there is a list!” 

“Of course there’s a list, James! How the heck do you expect me to get anything done without a list?” 

The two of them fell into laughter. 

Bucky ordered in, Door Dashing enough food to feed an army. 

He claimed it was because fast food would make her foot feel better.  

In reality, his babygirl was hurt and honestly he just wanted to give her all her favorites. 

He also ordered a steak for Bruno, the best boy, and decided to text that friend of his. 

A dog definitely seemed like a good idea now. 

The dog might not be ready to go by Christmas… but he could definitely make her holiday by taking her to see them. 

‘Hey, it’s Bucky.  You know how we talked about the dogs the other day? I’m on board and I got time to come by over the next couple of weeks.  Lemme know a good time.’ he texted only to receive a reply almost instantly.

‘Great timing.  Come by anytime and we’ll go from there.’ 

Bucky looked over the scene in his home

An explosion of holiday cheer and right in the middle of it was his sweet girl sipping her hot cocoa watching Disney Channel holiday episodes and scratching the dog’s head. 

This was about as close to heaven as he had gotten in a long time. 

He looked up to the ceiling for a second before giving a little nod and he said a prayer to God or the Universe or however the creator wanted to be addressed these days, “Thank you. This is better than I ever thought I get and far more than I ever thought I deserved.  Thank you.” 

“Hey, Buck, come watch! Raven just had a vision that she’s  getting a necklace for Christmas!” 

He smiled and settled into the couch beside her, pressing a kiss to her temple. 

“You ok, babe?” she asked. 

“I’m great, babe. This is nice.” he said. 

“I’m sorry about the mess. I’ll get it cleaned up when I can stand.” She apologized. 

“You’re not standing for several days and you can take that any way you want.” he said with a smirk before adding seriously, “And I’ll get all this cleaned up and take care of the dog.” 

“But-” 

“No.” he said. “I don’t usually get to be involved in the decorating process anyway.  I’m gone more than I’d like  and don’t get me wrong- I love coming home to it, baby.  It’s so nice to come home and see all the time and effort you put into our home.  But it’ll be nice to be a part of it.  Take this opportunity to boss me around, babe.  It doesn’t happen often.” 

“Oh, I can think of plenty of times I boss you, James.” she said, keeping her gaze on the television. 

She always looked so sweet but Bucky knew the feisty little firecracker that resided behind all that holiday cheer. 

He chose to save his response for later… when Bruno was in his bed and they were in theirs. 

“But I’ll take care of Bruno.” she continued. “I agreed.  Not you.  It’s my responsibility.” 

“We’ll call it even for him rescuing the love of my life.” Bucky said. “Besides, consider it a trial run on the dog idea.” 

“Yeah, but.” 

“Baby, I’m not taking no for an answer here.” he said before furrowing his brows. “Despite how creepy that just sounded.   Does anyone listen when they say things like that?  That sounded very-” 

“Assaulty? Stalkery?” she supplied. 

“Yeah.” he said. “Babe, that’s not how-” 

“Oh, can it, Barnes.” she laughed. “I know you would never.  You’ve literally changed my shirt for me when I was too drunk to function and puked on myself. Yet, you kept your eyes closed and still asked for consent over and over.  Despite the fact that you have seen me naked plenty of times before.”  

“Well, babe, I just-” 

“I know and I love you for it.” 

“You shouldn’t love me for basic human kindness.” 

“I don’t.” she said. “I love you because you acknowledge that basic human kindness is something that is sometimes very lacking in the world.   I know that you understand that better than most on levels that most couldn’t even come close to in their deepest, darkest nightmares.  I love YOU, Bucky.  And I know that who you are is so true because despite all of the horrible things that have happened in your life… that little light?  That little light still shines and that’s you.  That’s my Bucky Bear.” 

“I love you, Babydoll.  Merry Christmas.” 

“I love you, Bucky Bear. Merry Christmas.” 

And the house was warm and full of contentment with the lovers cuddled close, ornaments twinkling in the firelight and a hound peacefully laying at their feet. 

A Merry Christmas it was. 

…….  

Hello, loves!  I hope you enjoy this holiday content! 

Hope ya’ll are having a great day! 

Love you. 

— 

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K, Love you, Bye!

[jerzwriter]

Thank you to @snoopdogcone for this ask. For @choicesprompts Flufftober event: Drunken confessions. This is a follow-up (of sorts) to Edenbrook Mysteries: The Secret Admirer

Book: Open Heart (Post Series) Characters: Tobias Carrick & Ethan Ramsey Rating: Teen Words: 751 Summary: Tobias & Ethan remain behind at the bar after a retirement party ends, and Tobias has some news to share.

A/N: Participating in @choicesmonthlychallenge Laughter & warm hugs.

My Masterlist | OH Masterlist

The crowd at the dimly lit bar had thinned out, and the raucous laughter that had filled the air just hours before had been replaced with the soothing sounds of a jazz trio and ambient chatter. But as Ethan and Tobias were about to make clear, the reasons to celebrate this evening were far from over. With car service lined up, they ordered another round despite their dubious state.

“I still can’t believe Dr. Santos is... retiring,” Ethan slurred, raising his glass to his colleague. “The man’s in his prime!”

"In his prime?" Tobias chuckled, though nothing funny had been said. “The man’s old as dirt.”

“He’s seventy-three!” Ethan replied, looking offended.

“Right,” Tobias smirked, sipping his whisky. “Practically a schoolboy.”

“Speaking of schoolboys,” Ethan nudged. “I heard you have some competition! Has Connor stopped laying it on thick with Casey?”

Tobias snorted. “Oh, yeah! My 10-year-old romantic rival? I’m taking that kid down, don’t you worry.”

“Do you expect me to be impressed?” Ethan teased. “You can one-up a fourth-grader. What are you going to do? Distract him with Fortnite?”

Tobias shook his head, giggling in a way that only occurred when he had a few too many. “Nope,” he said, leaning into Ethan. “I’m doing something BIGGER. WAY bigger. And I need you to do it.”  

Ethan quirked an eyebrow. “Are you propositioning me, Carrick?”

Tobias laughed so hard he almost spilled his drink. “You fucking wish! No! I’m not propositioning you, Ethan. But... there is a question involved.”

“Well, in advance, you’re not my type,” Ethan deadpanned.

“Well, I will be on Saturday,” Tobias brimmed with excitement. “Because I need your help. I’m going ring shopping... for Casey, and I want you to come along with me.”

Ethan’s eyes went wide, and it felt like he sobered right up. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” Tobias said, his voice more level. “I’m proposing to Casey, and you’re the first to know.”

Ethan broke into a smile. “You haven’t even told your mother? She’ll kill me if she finds out I knew before her!”

“Don’t worry,” Tobias chuckled with a pat on his friend’s back. “I’ll protect you... I need a best man, after all.”

Ethan turned toward Tobias, his face softened. “Your best man? Me?”

“Yeah,” Tobias grinned. “You were like a brother to me for a long time... and I think we’ve gotten back to that... in large part because of Casey, it only seems right.”

“I... I don’t know what to say,” Ethan muttered.

“Say yes! Just like I hope Casey will,” Tobias laughed.

“Of course, yes!” Ethan grinned, reaching out to shake Tobias’s hand.

“None of that handshake crap,” Tobias scoffed, pulling him into a hug. “This is bro-hug territory, buddy.”

“God, you’re insufferable,” Ethan muttered, but it didn't stop him from hugging.

“Goddamn! Tobias Carrick proposing, and hell hasn’t even frozen over!”

“Yeah, well, that’s probably due to global warming,” Tobias grinned. “But you’ve got to admit, I’ve changed.”

“Because Casey’s a miracle worker, in and out of the hospital,” Ethan smiled. “She made an honest man out of you, after all!”

“She’s the best,” Tobias said softly, his smile tender. “I love her, Ethan. More than I thought possible.”

A slow grin spread over Ethan’s face. “So, Saturday. What do you need me for? Moral support? Picking out engagement rings isn’t something I have a lot of experience with.”

“And I do,” Tobias laughed. “If I’m going to be a bumbling idiot, I want you to be by my side... being a bigger bumbling idiot.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Anytime,” Tobias grinned. “Regardless, it’s going to be a great day!”

“It will be. Hey, Bartender!” Ethan called out with a wicked grin. “Another round! My friend’s getting married!”

Tobias laughed, waving him off. “You know what? Maybe we’re done with that part of the night. Besides, she has to say yes first.”

“Do you think there’s any doubt of that?” Ethan asked.

Tobias shrugged, flashing a grin. “Nah. I mean... look at this. How could she resist?”

“Aaand, there’s the Carrick we all know,” Ethan teased.

When they stumbled out of the bar, it felt like they were back in med school. Their laughter barrelled down Boston’s dark streets as if the years of troubles between them had all but washed away. Having Casey in his life was the best thing that ever happened to Tobias; he’d never deny that. But Ethan being his best friend again? It was a pretty darn close second.

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[featherwurm]

Tav, Dem (@joasakura), and Karlach are all meathead buddies at the gym in the Modern AU - Tav and Dem have known each other long enough that gently harassing each other is the norm. Just another day at the gym for these three, followed up with hamburgers and milkshakes at the diner for lunch.

Dem can lift a lot more than Tav, so Karlach is spotting. Tav is providing "Moral Support" (other things she calls him while helping include; Golden Boy, Cotton Candy, 10c Carnival Ride, Sparkles, and Dem-naught.) This isn't her usual approach at work but sometimes you just gotta rib your friends.

Tav is also never EVER going to let him live down fucking multiple politicians in the past, but it's mocking done with friendly concern and pure personal vitriol; "A dozen used car dealerships across the lower city and you have to fuck a politician? Come Onnnnn. Go on a test drive and fuck a guy in an ugly tie in the back of a camero with a bad alternator like the gods intended - what is it just too low stakes schmoozing?"

(His shirt says "Bear Toy" like Boy Toy but his boyfriend is Halsin, you see.)

[donationwayne]

here's my confession (I'm kind of hooked on you)

Pairing: Buddie || 6.5k/109k || Chapter 1/19 ||

Hello, I participated in @118bigbang !! This is the first chapter (I'll be dropping the rest through the month). I'm so excited to finally be sharing this fic with everyone, I've worked so hard!!! Lots of moral support from my friends in the Buddie Enablers Anonymous discord <3

This is also lovingly entitled: DILF EDDIE

Summary:

Buck is forced to go on a temporary medical leave after getting crushed by a flight of stairs. In the meantime, he works at dispatch while he recovers. One evening after work, Buck hooks up with a mysterious, hot, family oriented DILF. The following morning he’s mortified and a little love sick after discovering said hook-up aka Eddie Diaz is the newest (temporary) firefighter liaison--poached from a house in El Paso, Texas. Buck navigates becoming best friends and eventually work partners with his ex-hookup. In the meantime, he desperately tries not to fall in love. He fails.

Cue: An adorable five year old, prank wars, gay offs, break room gossip, a fake dating plot, firefighting shenanigans, a packed summer of PTA responsibilities, karaoke, and copious amounts of cupcakes and thai food

OR

tldr: the hot dilf from the bar is my new work partner ______

SNIP:

“Bobby invited us for lunch. Athena’s getting me out of the apartment and making me walk around like a dog who needs to get its energy out.” Buck explains earning a huff of amusement from Athena. Hen smacks him lightly for his mock petulant tone.

Without being asked, Hen loops her arm around his waist and helps him tackle the stairs. Buck lets out a slow breath, seeing firsthand that absolutely nothing has changed during his month and a half away from the team soothes him. Bobby is in the kitchen with Chimney who is pestering him incessantly. The sight makes his chest ache because he never wants to lose these people. They felt more like family than his own ever had growing up. In such a short amount of time they’d come to know each other so deeply, they've already been through so much—especially after Chimney had his incident with the wreck and the rebar. He was barely back from his own medical leave before Buck had his own incident.

Although Bobby nagged him for weeks, Buck opted for a tiny graduation celebration. At the time, he hadn’t known how to explain to Bobby that there was no one outside of his tiny circle of friends to invite. Now Athena knows though, and he needs to make a mental note to ask if she could keep their conversation between the two of them. He doesn’t want to change the way his friends see him, and he doesn't want pity. He’s worried this new information might be a little too on the nose.

“What’s new with you, Buckley?” Chimney calls across the room, smiling and waving. “How you healing up?” Buck slides into a seat at the dining table, and Bobby, Chim, and Hen turn their full attention onto him.

“I’m healing alright. They’ve still got me on track for a return after six months. I’ll be able to walk without the crutch before too long, my ribs should be healed in a couple of weeks. Then I’ll just have PT to contend with, because of the leg strain and the fracture, my trainer says it might be tenuous, so I have that to look forward to at least.”

“It’ll be here in no time,” Chimney promised. “You just need to get a hobby. You’re lacking in those. Maybe I could make you a list of movies, you’re tragically behind on pop culture.”

“Actually, I've accepted a temporary position at dispatch,” Buck admits. Bobby beams, and Buck barely restrains a groan.

“Yes, I finally caved.” Buck tells him, although he didn’t ask. “Athena took me to visit today.”

___ Reblogs to boost appreciated :)

[ahamkara-apologist]

you're so right fr. there are so many incredibly written female characters in d2 but there's a mere insignificant pittance of fanworks around them. as a day 1 failsafe lover it drives me nuts how little people seem to care about her. like. maybe bungie was right the fanbase doesn't even see her. and Ada? Ana bray? Elsie? even Eris or ikora? they may as well not exist for how the fandom treats them. but crow is a twink (twunk?) so yknow

A Failsafe stan omg...I'm so sorry my liege you're in the fucking trenches and have my deepest sympathy. I remember when Echoes came out people were like 'eugh Failsafe's humour didn't age well' and I was like...buddy. Failsafe is fucking hilarious. The fact that people were complaining about her humour as if Cayde wasn't the personification of annoying 2014 funnyman is fucking insane to me. I'm convinced that the only reason why Cayde's humour isn't cringe to them while Failsafe and Nimbus's jokes are is bc Cayde is perceived as a cis straight man to the gamerbros (even if there's not a snowflake's chance in hell he is, and robots are inherently trans) while they aren't. And the other girls? Whatever. Practically don't exist as far as fandom is concerned. Again, the fact that Revenant has Eramis as one of the main players in the plot- a nuanced, morally grey old grouch- and yet there is almost NO fan content on her ain't just because Bungie's quality has been piledrived into the ground. It's because she's a woman and a lesbian and thus everything that SHE does is awful and annoying and irrational and hypocritical, when you KNOW that if she were a man, nobody would give a fuck. It would all be 'oooh babygirl I love his dramatic ass' and shit with people crying over how tragic 'he' is and whatnot. But bc Eramis isn't some conventionally attractive twink, it's just radio silence out here. Meanwhile Crow is just a member of the supporting cast, and yet almost all the fanart and fanworks seem to feature him. It's a goddamn travesty, and I'm saying that as someone who likes Crow!

You're wrong on one account tho, and it's that Eris DOES exist to the fandom- but only if it's in ship content with Drifter. Nothing else. Though half the time she's not even acting like Eris bc a lot of shippers seem to think that they're 'fixing' each other instead of bonding over ways to do batshit insane bs in their free time. All her other significant relationships? Out the window. Gotta pare them down to an enemies to lovers trope where slurs are seen as cute. Which is insane to me bc like...the thing that makes Drifter and her relationship great is the fact that they're both freaks, and yet many people seem to want them to fit the parameters of a normal relationship. Like my sister in the light those are two new guys at this point

[total-drama-brainrot]

When my cat is misbehaving, I threaten to give her hugs and kisses, until she runs and hides, so... TD Noah AU, where the ONLY thing that can truly scare Noah is getting hugged, kissed and shown affection in public... When Noah tries to skip the dodgeball challenge, Owen (his best friend) playfully threatens to cuddle Noah on the sidelines, unless Noah helps the team... Noah quickly agrees to help with a grumpy blush on his face... Alejandro thinks that this fact is hilarious! 😸

I can see this. Noah's got a reputation to uphold, after all. A reputation of being an insufferable know-it-all asshole, sure, but it's a reputation none the less. Letting people know that he likes being hugged? Mortifying. His worst fear- it goes against His Brand™.

Him being afraid of PDA, platonic romantic or otherwise, is a pretty funny idea when you consider the fact that his best friend Owen is more-or-less infamous for dragging people into his arms at the drop of a dime. He lives under the constant threat of an Owen-brand hug attack, anywhere, anytime, and that fact terrifies him.

Actually, in this scenario, I think Owen would be a little more conservative with his clinginess concerning Noah - he's not that inconsiderate, and he'd know that Noah's not a fan of public affection (but secretly just as much of a hugger as he is). Not that he's be any less tactile, he'd just be quicker to apologise for unthinkingly showing his best buddy his affections.

To bring it back to the Dodgebrawl episode:

By this point in the series, Noah and Owen have shared a cabin for (assumedly) six nights and had around a week to build their friendship. They're not as close as they are in World Tour, but that's more than enough time for Noah to know about Owen's cuddliness and, in turn, for Owen to know about Noah's physical evasiveness.

But, at this point I think Owen would be under the impression that Noah's entirely touch averse as opposed to just PDA averse. It's during this challenge that his initial assumption starts to shift towards the truth.

Owen notices that Noah's refusal to participate is getting him some negative attention from the rest of the team, and in a moment of quick thinking volunteers himself as the next person to sit out before Noah can make his "keeners" comment. Noah's a little ticked off by this, and tries to argue that Owen would be a more useful team member then him, but Owen comments something about Noah needing to get some team spirit via "motivational hugs" (or something along those lines) and suddenly Noah is very much okay with not going anywhere near Owen or the benches.

Curiously, Owen notices, Noah hesitates at his offer for a hug. For a moment he looked almost considerate, before his face flushes with embarrassment (which he staunchly denies afterwards, since Noah's adamant that he doesn't get embarrassed) and he vehemently denies needing one, quickly resigning himself to actually helping the team instead. It's just enough to get the cogs turning in Owen's mind; apparently, hugs work as negative reinforcement for Noah.

Owen's more than happy to abuse this fact to prompt Noah into actually trying during challenges. Talent show? Owen subtly threatens to hug Noah unless he, at the very least, tries to showcase a talent. Phobia Factor? Owen offers moral support via affection to motivate Noah into facing his phobia (whatever it may be) and the threat of being publicly coddled is enough to have Noah disregard his fear entirely and complete the challenge. Ect ect.

Owen has his suspicions, but things aren't cleared up for him until after Island is over and done with. Wherein Owen confronts Noah about the quirk he's pick up on, and Noah- now reassured that his every action isn't being recorded and potentially broadcast for the world to see- admits that he actually kind of likes being hugged, but doesn't like public displays of affection. It's a secret he'd only share with his best friend. So Owen promises to keep quiet about it (which as we all know isn't something Owen's very good at, but he tries his best) and resolves to save the majority of his tactile-ness for when they're in private.

Leading to World Tour, where Owen utilises this same trick he used in Island to have Noah pull his weight on the team. Like he's a border collie wrangling the world's grumpiest sheep.

Alejandro's quick to pick up on this repeated exchange, and quicker to connect the dots. Somehow, the threat of affection seems to motivate their laziest team mate into picking up his slack; of course he too takes advantage of this fact.

Noah, understandably, is pretty pissed off that two of his team members are now using his completely rational aversion towards PDA against him, and eventually snaps.

If it's Owen who tests his last line of patience, Noah would be a little more considerate in his confrontation. He'd ask why Owen's so intent on trying to smother him to death with hugs (especially when he knows that Noah doesn't like the public aspect of it), to which Owen would sheepishly answer that, whilst he's always been a pretty physically affectionate guy, he's also been using the threat of cuddles to motivate Noah into trying his best. Noah would be torn between being genuinely impressed by Owen's cunning and absolutely mortified that he's been playing into his best friend's scheme for so long. And Owen would reassure him that there's nothing for him to be embarrassed about and that he knows that Noah's "afraid of PDA" and Noah would outright deny that accusation because he's not afraid of PDA, that's absurd, he's just reasonably against it.

To which Owen would challenge him into proving he's not afraid, because he's a little shit who's intentionally tricking his best friend into giving him a goddamn hug. Which works, of course, since Noah's pretty prideful and wouldn't take an attack against his ego sitting down (which is something we see in his boy kissing denials in Haute Camp-ture), so Noah ends up being the one to initiate a hug with his chubby buddy. And Owen takes the opportunity to literally smother him in affection, and Noah quickly forgets his hesitance in his enjoyment of Owen-brand cuddles, at least until someone else walks in on the display and comments on the novelty of Noah actually letting someone else touch him.

The scene can play out however you want from there.

If it's Alejandro who breaks Noah's last straw the confrontation would be a little less cordial , Since Noah and Owen already have an understanding between them, whilst Alejandro just sort of jumped on the band wagon as he saw fit. Noah wouldn't appreciate the sudden change in behaviour and he's sharp enough to know exactly what Alejandro's playing at too- that is, using Noah's obvious aversion to PDA against him. It's a coin toss as to whether Noah figures out that both Owen and Alejandro are playing him, or if he just thinks that Alejandro is being a dick for the sake of, well, being a dick.

In this scenario, I imagine Noah either recoiling away from Alejandro trying to do something that just pushes the boundary between casual and overly friendly, like a one-armed hug or trying to hold his hand, and/or outright punching him away. Because he's not about that energy, and Alejandro's been testing both his boundaries and his patience for far too long.

So Noah would put his foot down, demanding to know why Alejandro keeps being so tactile with him. And Alejandro would in turn explain that he's just a touchy person, since he's shown a tendency for such in his many flirting attempts, and Noah would immediately call his bullshit because he knows that Alejandro only ever gets up close and personal with other people when he's trying to seduce them and- wait.

Is Alejandro trying to seduce him?

To which Alejandro immediately denies, because that really wasn't his intention at all, he was just utilizing Noah's avoidance towards physical touch to motivate him into being a better teammate- and he's just admitted his (and Owen's) whole scheme to the guy himself. As a result Noah is even more upset; not only is Alejandro making him uncomfortable, but he's knowingly doing so. As a strategy for the competition they're in.

Again, a small part of him is astounded by the play, but for the most part Noah's just incredibly pissed off. Alejandro tries to mitigate the situation by turning the absurdity on it back at Noah; why is he so against something as negligible as human contact? His prickliness is a detriment to himself and their team, Alejandro's simply doing him a favour by getting him accustomed to others' proximity. Is Noah really that scared of a hug?

And again, it plays out like the Owen situation where Noah denies being scared at all, because he's far too prideful for his own good, and Alejandro challenges him into letting himself be held and not punching him again because Alejandro is also too prideful for his own good and sees Noah's constant rejection of him as a direct insult to his charm.

Cue a scene where Noah irately subjects himself to actually hugging Alejandro as petulantly as possible, only for his secret love of physical affection to get the better of him.

Alejandro is surprised, to say the least, when the stiff and uncooperative form of Noah seems to melt in his arms after a few moments of their spite-fuelled hug. Thus Alejandro becomes the next victim of the Noahla Bear- a creature hellbent on trapping others in his vice-like embrace.

(And as a treat, maybe add in some touch-starved Alejandro here? Who's torn between the internal battle of "I should be doing something productive with this free time, not letting the resident twink cuddle me to death" and "yeah, but have you considered the fact that you've never felt this safe and secure in someone else's arms since you weren't held as a child?")

[generalllimaginesss]

I would like to apologize for the amount of time this took to write lmao. I couldn’t find a good stopping point and got overwhelmed with how I would finish this part, but at least there will be a part 4 in the foreseeable future. I’m working on some headcannons for Hattie so we can get to know her a bit more!

Thanks for reading!!

1

2

No Expectations

“Jack, I need your moral support. Please come here now,” Hatton’s hands threatened to begin sweating with the amount of anxiety that was coursing through her body. She had her MacBook out, the cursor hovering above the attachment that Trevor had sent her. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, but she knew that Jack would bring her back to earth.

“Sure, Hattie. Let me drop everything I’m doing and come at your beckon call. There’s literally nothing more in the entire world that I would want to do right now,” Sarcasm laced Jack’s words.

“Attitude Mister. Check it now,” Hatton quickly brought it to his attention.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to make sure I have everything packed to go back to Jersey. Luke is coming over tonight and I want to check his stuff and make sure he’s ready to go. When do I need to come over?” Jack was rustling through some papers as he held his phone to his ear with his shoulder.

“Now?” Hatton put her innocent voice on, knowing Jack could never say no to her.

“Hattie, you better be glad that you’re my best friend in the world,” Jack sighed as he laid the papers down.

“Thank you, Jacky boy,” Hatton smiled.

About 20 minutes passed when she heard the front door open and close, followed by footsteps that skipped up the stairs. Jack pushed open Hatton’s door and plopped down beside her on the bed.

“What’s up,” he asked, pulling out his phone to keep him occupied.

“Trevor sent me a PowerPoint on why he would be a good boyfriend. I don’t know why I’m nervous, but I am and I need your company here,” Hatton explained as she fiddled with the rings on her hand.

“You couldn’t just FaceTime me with this?” Jack groaned. This whole ordeal gave Jack flashbacks of their middle school days of romance.

“Jack, this is my future we’re talking about. What if he’s the one? What if I say yes to be his girlfriend? What if we get married and have kids and finally get a happily ever after?” Hatton was serious, but Jack was trying not to laugh.

“You realize, like, 2 months ago you didn’t like him…” Jack smirked, but was met with an unamused look from Hatton.

“3, 2, 1,” Hatton took a deep breath and clicked the attachment. She clicked the ‘present’ button and began to read the slides.

“Ok, I actually want to see these,” Jack admitted as he scooted closer to Hatton and read the slides.

“I will buy you flowers when you least expect it,” Hatton laughed, “Because that’s boyfriend material.”

“I have a dog?” Hatton was getting upset. She wanted him to take this seriously, but he’s giving her these lame reasons? Actually, the dog isn’t lame, but basing an entire relationship on one is.

“Uh oh, here’s the mushy ones,” Jack announced as he clicked to the next slide.

Hatton’s eyes scanned the slide.

“Every time I look at you it gets harder to breathe. You’re quite literally breathtaking and I’ll remind you that every single day,” Hatton could feel the heat in her cheeks rise.

“That’s gross,” Jack fake gagged, but stopped when Hatton gave him a look.

“Every time your name pops up on my phone (which isn’t much, but still…) my heart races a little,” Hatton began sporting a smile.

“I know that Jack Hughes will always be by your side (hi buddy) and that would be the closest I could get to be his brother. I’ve already asked Quinn to marry me and he told me to fuck off,” The slide caused a rupture of laughter that filled the entire room.

“He’s got a point,” Jack chuckled.

“Every time I picture my future, at least for the last 3 years until now, I always picture you in it. I’d like you to be more than a friend, and I’d love for you to give me a chance to prove that I can love you the way you deserve,” Hatton couldn’t shake the smile off of her face even if she wanted to.

“I would’ve bullied him in high school for this,” Jack shook his head and leaned back into the pillows, pulling his phone out to go through his Snapchat.

A link on the last slide caught Hatton’s attention, but she managed to read the text that sat above it.

“Here’s a plane ticket. If I convinced you to allow me to be your boyfriend, I’d love to see you and keep explaining how I can be your boyfriend while being thousands of miles away,” Jack squealed as he watched Hatton open the link to the plane tickets.

Sure enough, there was a ticket for first class from Detroit to Anaheim that was a week away.

Jack kept glancing between the ticket and Hatton while she just sat there staring at the computer screen.

“It’s not going to disappear if you look away you know,” Jack poked her in her side, resulting in an elbow to his stomach.

“I don’t know what to do. I mean, I guess I could skip school for the week. I could do my assignments online,” Hatton wasn’t talking to Jack in particular, but more so thinking out loud. Jack didn’t seem to pick up on that memo though.

“I’m no genius by any means, but it sounds like you do know what to do,” Jack raised his eyebrows at the girl sitting beside him. She couldn’t be annoyed with Jack because he was right. She wanted to jump on that flight. Hell, she’d probably jump on a flight sooner if possible, but she didn’t want to begin this relationship with being so spontaneous.

“When do you leave for Jersey?” Hatton turned to face Jack, quickly changing the subject, but eager to know the answer.

“Um, 6 in the morning,” He scratched the back of his neck, preparing for a lecture of why he should’ve told her he was leaving sooner.

“Jack Hughes, what the hell?!” She pushed at him, hoping to push him off the bed, but he barely budged.

“I probably would’ve told you sooner….actually I shouldn’t lie I probably wouldn’t have. In my defense, I did tell you I was busy before I got here,” he pointed out, but it didn’t fix Hatton’s frustration.

“Yeah, but you failed to mention that you’ll be leaving in less than 24 hours, dumbass,” she thumped him on his ears, eliciting a wince from him.

“I was going to come over tonight to tell you bye,” he grumbled, but Hatton just rolled her eyes.

“I’m FaceTiming you when I get there,” Hatton announced.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he patted her leg as he began to stand up.

“Wanna come help me finish packing?” He knew she wouldn’t say no to his request.

“I guess I could,” Hatton played as if it was even a thought that she wouldn’t.

Because he was leaving in the morning, they took separate vehicles back to his house, so Hatton just planned on spending the night, wanting to spend as much time with her best friend as possible before hockey stole him back.

….

The next week passed painfully slow as Hatton had said goodbye to all of her boys. She had friends that were girls, but none that she trusted as much as Jack, Turcs, Cole, or Quinn. Maybe Trevor, too.

The boys just made life interesting. They weren’t full of drama, and everyday was some sort of adventure. She missed them a lot when they were gone, so to think that she would get to see Trevor, and possibly Alex, gave her something to look forward to.

She appreciated the gesture of the plane ticket from Trevor, but what the hell was he thinking with a 7:00 am flight? There was an hour drive from her to the airport, and she had to be there at least 2 hours prior so that she wouldn’t be an anxious mess. And that leads her to now, lugging her bag from her room to her car and making the drive to Detroit.

The drive wasn’t terrible, but Hatton had to stop for coffee so that she wouldn’t fall asleep behind the wheel. The traffic was steadily getting worse as she made her way to the airport parking, though. She went through TSA and checked her bag groggily, the sleep not too distant from the night before.

Once Hatton was awake enough to be aware of her surroundings, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, even if the flight was four and a half hours. A shaken espresso from Starbucks would do the trick to give her enough energy to get through the travel day without catching an attitude with somebody.

After grabbing her coffee and finding a corner to read one of her books, the intercom finally came on, announcing that her flight was boarding first class. She grabbed her backpack and book and made her way to her seat next to the window.

The book she was reading seemed to speed up the flight, the one and only time she glanced at her watch and there was only an hour left until they landed. She spent the last hour watching outside of the window, taking a few pictures, and just thinking about what this next week could lead to.

That was great, until she thought about the fact that she hadn’t even talked to Trevor to let him know she was coming. She couldn’t text him, so she just had to wait until the plane landed, mentally kicking herself for forgetting such a major detail for the day.

The plane landed and everybody deboarded. Hatton quickly grabbed her suitcase from the baggage claim and tried to find a place outside to make a quick call to Trevor.

As she pressed his number to call him, she heard a phone ringing behind her. Confusion swept over her as she turned around to see the tan skinned, wind-swept hair that Trevor wore so well. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile when he smirked at her.

“Let me guess…Jack?” She knew that Jack couldn’t keep his fat mouth shut even if he wanted to, but for once it turned out in her favor.

“Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me that you were coming? Which brings me to my next question, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He grabbed the suitcase from her and walked her to where his car was parked, all the while taking in how she could possibly be as beautiful as she was right now after traveling all day.

“I’ll be honest, I completely forgot to. I don’t really have a good excuse,” She admitted. She placed her backpack into his backseat, but Trevor wouldn’t let her grab the door to get into the front because he had to.

“Thank you,” Hatton smiled up at him and waited for him to get in so they could drive away.

The drive wasn’t long, mostly filled with a few road rage moments for Trevor along with small talk to fill the silence. They pulled up to the house that Trevor called home. He wished that Hatton had come a year ago, that way she could’ve experienced life with him and Jamie, but he was sure his friend would make an appearance at some point while Hatton was here.

“Wow, you’re house is really pretty,” Hatton commented while unbuckling and grabbing her backpack from the backseat. Trevor grabbed her suitcase and they made their way inside.

Trevor smiled, a blush rising onto his cheeks, as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I have a couple of extra rooms that you can choose from. You could always just room with me, though,” he smirked and threw her a wink.

“And there’s the Trevor I know,” Hatton chuckled as Trevor began to show her around the house. A part of her wanted to just stay in the same room as Trevor, but she’d be here for a week, so they would have plenty of time to make rooming changes if need be.

Trevor let Hatton unpack by herself, giving her some time to decompress on her own from traveling all day. He had planned for the first day to be less action packed so that the two would be rested for his game day tomorrow.

“Okay, I think I’m unpacked,” Hatton breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on his couch, momentarily closing her eyes as she was realizing that it would just be him and her sleeping here for the entire week. It was never just the two of them, there was always somebody else with them, even if it was just Jack.

“So, I have some pretty cool things planned for the week, but I figured we take it easy today…that ok?” Trevor plopped down in a recliner beside the couch.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Hatton kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet beneath her, making herself more comfortable.

“Um, I know this conversation is just going to be awkward no matter when we have it, but seeing as you’re hear you saw my reasons why I think we could work out,” Trevor watched as Hatton nodded her head, urging him to continue with the conversation.

“Yeah, speaking of, where’s your dog?”

“He’s getting a bath. We can go pick him up in a little while. Back to what I was saying....I just feel like I need to say some things in person so we can just completely clear the air about how we feel about each other,” Trevor was just going to rip the bandaid off and get everything out of his system. He's had ample time to think about what to say to Hatton, but none of it sounded good enough now that she was sitting so close to him, just the two of them. He let his heart go on autopilot, deciding that may be the best way to go about this.

“You obviously know I like you. Like a lot. But, um," Trevor stuttered as he rubbed his arm, subconciously trying to ease the anxiety that seemed to peak when he tried to take about his feelings. That was something about Trevor that only a select few knew; Trevor loved attention, but he avoided showing his true feelings at all costs. He would rather just make everybody around him smile or laugh than let them in on how he feels.

"Hattie, you mean the world to me. You meant the world to me when I knew you couldn't stand me, and you mean the world to me now that you've traveled this far and you're sitting right here," The words were flowing from his mouth, reaching Hatton and wrapping around her heart like a ribbon on a gift.

Hatton could feel her cheeks go rosy, not caring if Trevor noticed or not. She listened to each word that left his lips as if they were a raft that could save her from drowning from confusion. Because that's what Hatton felt most of the time: confused. Why did he feel like this towards her? Could she really let herself be in a relationship with him? Let him see the most vulnerable parts of her that very few were lucky enough to know about?

"You told me I needed to figure out how to make a long distance relationship work, so that's what I've been doing. I've talked to some buddies that have been in a long distance relationship and they gave me some words of advice. Long distance can't, and won't, work if we both don't work on it. I can tell you when I'm free from practice and games so that we could FaceTime or text or something. I'm willing to pay for your travel when you come here, and I swear I will make time each month to come see you as well. Even if it's for short periods of time. I really want this with you. More than anything, more than the fucking Stanley Cup, Hatton," Trevor chuckled, but he was completely serious. If hockey didn't pay his bills, then he'd drop everything to be with her.

"You must want me lot," Hatton grinned, teasing him.

"You have no idea," Trevor sighed, returning her grin.

"Ok. You have to ask me to be your girlfriend, though," Hatton's upside down smile was plastered on her face as she watched Zegras process what she just said.

"Wha- so that's a yes?" He could hardly form words because of the excitement that was running rampant in his head. His heart was working overtime.

"Did you ask me?" Hatton raised her eyebrows inquisitively, waiting for him to ask her the question that would start their future.

"Hatton Carlisle, would you do the absolute honor of being my beautiful, loving, caring girlfriend," Trevor was being a bit dramatic, but he didn't care because it made Hatton giggle.

"I would love to, Trevor Zegras," Hatton smiled.

Trevor got up from the recliner he was in and walked the two steps it took to get to Hatton. He cupped her face in his hands, taking a few seconds to take in her features, and placed a passionate kiss on her lips. The kiss saying everything that Trevor might have left out when previously discussing his feelings for Hattie. Hatton's fingers immediately grasped for his hair, slightly pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Trevor took this as an opportunity to place himself between her legs, supporting his weight by placing one hand on the arm of the couch while the other was still cupping her cheek, his thumb caressing her smooth, rosy pink cheek.

Before things went too far, Trevor broke the kiss.

"We've got all week to show each other how much we like each other. We've got about 30 minutes to go pick up Louis," He chuckled, tucking a piece of Hatton's hair behind her ear.

The two loaded up into Trevor's car to go pick up Louis.

All that Hatton could think about was that Trevor wasn't just the annoying third wheel of her's and Jack's friendship anymore. He wasn't the one that pushed her buttons constantly, or made her question her sanity. He was her boyfriend.

Her phone ringing interrupted the comfortable silence in the car. Of course it was Jack.

"Bitch, did you not tell me you would call me when you got to Anaheim? I can't exactly help you when your literally on the other side of the country from me," Jack was yelling from somewhere off screen, but there was no way Trevor and Hatton couldn't hear him. His voice echoed all throughout his apartment.

"Sorry, bud. We've got some exciting news though," Hatton smiled.

As soon as she said that, Jack's face popped up on the phone, "Is my boyfriend there?"

"You mean my boyfriend?" Hatton smiled, knowing that Jack would have something to say about her statement.

"No fucking way..." Jack wore a grin as big as the sky, giving the Cheshire Cat a run for his money, "Let me see our boyfriend!"

"Jacky! My man, what's going on?" Trevor glanced at the phone before returning his attention on the road.

"It's about time. I'm telling Cole and Alex," And with that he hung up.

The two laughed, Trevor interlocking their hands. He couldn't believe that she actually agreed to be his girlfriend. It felt surreal, 3 years of pining after her and it all paid off.

"I'm glad you're here, Hatton," Trevor smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here too, Z," She gave his hand a squeeze. This week just might be one of the best weeks of their lives so far.

----

That night Hatton decided to sleep in a bed by herself, not quite comfortable with being completely vulnerable with Trevor quite yet. She tossed and turned all night long, replaying the day in her head over and over again. The sudden feelings she had developed for Trevor scared her, quite honestly. If she was capable of falling that hard that quickly, how much more control over her could Trevor have?

Before she knew it, the sun was peeking through a tiny sliver of the blackout curtains in her room. Like usual, there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep now. Her natural timer prohibited it. It made her feel a little better though when she heard a door open and the pitter patter of paws, followed along with what had to be Trevor's footsteps. She could hear him disarm the alarm system and open the back door.

Hatton decided that it would probably be rude of her to stay in bed all morning, so she stretched, tossing the covers off of her in the process. She put on a bra and brushed her teeth, but didn't bother doing anything else this early in the morning. If Trevor, for some odd reason, expected her to look like a model, he could suck it.

She put on a pair of slippers and made her way to the living room, quickly spotting Trevor sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs that circled a fire pit on the back porch, playing on his phone as Louis inspected the perimeter of the yard.

Before Hatton could even open the door, Louis somehow spotted her and began barking. Trevor quickly apologized as he picked him up and opened the back door for her.

"He's not aggressive, but he'll let me know when someone's here," Trevor chuckled as he scratched the dog behind the ears.

"No worries! When you're as cute as him you can get away with anything," Hatton gave the dog a pat on the head as she made herself comfortable on the couch that sat across from the chair that Trevor had previously been sitting in.

"Do you happen to have a coffee maker?" Hatton desperately needed caffeine. Now that she thought about it, she might have a caffeine addiction.

"I do not, actually. Jamie took it in the divorce," Trevor managed to say with a straight face, but furrowed eyebrows from Hatton gave away her confusion.

"Divorce?"

"Yeah, he moved out and had the balls to move down the street. He can be a bitch, but he's no threat to you," Trevor said so nonchalantly that Hatton couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.

"That's nice to know..." Hatton trailed off. The two sat enjoying the peace that the early morning exuded, watching Louis be Louis and occasionally mentioning something insignificant. A chill washed over Hatton, goosebumps quickly rising.

"So, I have a preseason game tonight, as you probably know. The game isn't until 5, but I do have a practice this morning if you want to tag along...," Trevor explained, hoping Hatton would want to come to the stadium.

"And what's in it for me?" Hatton was obviously going to support Trevor, but was it really Hatton if she didn't make him work for it?

"Well, that depends on what you're thinking of...if you want to go out to eat, there's plenty of places that will be open after the game. If you want to do something, Disney is literally like 5 minutes away and I have an off day tomorrow. If you're thinking a little alone time..." Trevor wiggled his eyebrows, but he was completely joking, unless Hatton wasn't. In that case he would definitely keep the offer on the table.

"Z, what if I actually said yes to the last option. What would you do?" Hatton chuckled as she spoke.

"Probably think somebody kidnapped the real Hattie and replaced her with whatever is sitting right here," Trevor rubbed the bottom of his chin, pretending to think about what he was saying.

"Disney tomorrow would be amazing," Hatton didn't even have to think about it. She adored Disney, the smell, the rides, it was one of her favorite things. She couldn't wait.

The two made their way inside to get dressed for the day, but not before a knock at Trevor's front door elicited a howl from Louis.

"I got it," Trevor announced, leaving Hatton alone in the kitchen while she poured a bowl of Lucky Charms.

She could hear somebody come through the front door, heading to the kitchen. Hattie could tell that Trevor was quietly chewing out whoever it was that he let in, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying exactly.

"Trevor shut the fuck up. You never used this damn Keurig, anyway," A dark-haired, fair-skinned guy sat a black Keurig down on the counter adjacent to Hatton, not noticing there was a girl right next to him.

"Why do you even need-" As soon as the guy turned and caught a glimpse of Hatton, he knew exactly why Trevor blew his phone up asking about the stupid coffee maker.

"I think I might know who you are," Jamie sent an innocent smirk to the girl across from him.

"I think I might know who you are as well," Hatton giggled, connecting the dots as to the whole "divorce" thing that Trevor had mentioned.

"You must be the infamous Hattie. Trevor hasn't shut up about you for as long as I've known him," Jamie winked, chuckling when he saw Trevor giving him a death glare.

"You must be Trevor's ex in...some capacity. You didn't have to bring the coffee maker back. I could've run through Starbucks or Dunkin," Hatton rolled her eyes as she made eye contact with Trevor. He, in turn, shrugged his shoulders.

"It's no problem, I'll just make my morning coffee here and then we can carpool," Jamie popped in a coffee pod and started it for you.

"So how did Trevor mange to get you here? I thought you didn't like him..." Jamie waited patiently as the coffee poured into the mug he had placed underneath.

"She's my girlfriend now," Trevor interjected, immediately sending Hattie the biggest grin he could manage. He would never get tired of telling people that. He had worked hard to earn that title.

"Willingly? I don't normally judge people, but I'm judging a little bit," Jamie widened his eyes jokingly, causing Hatton to chuckle. He passed her the cup of coffee and began to make his.

"You know, I kinda feel the same way. He's a weirdo, but he's very convincing," Hatton could feel Trevor staring at her, but she just watched Jamie as he smiled.

"Yeah…you know I'm right here?" Trevor spoke up.

"Yeah, we know," Jamie nonchalantly said as he sipped his coffee.

Trevor rolled his eyes as he walked away towards his room to change into his outfit for the day, Hatton filing to her room shortly after to do the same.

As she ruffled through the articles of clothing that hung in the closet, she smiled. She was going into this week with an open mind and heart. No expectations, just experiences.

She was eager to see it all unfold.

[trulybetty]

october | 02 x apple scent

pairing: frankie x reader word count: 1,001 warnings: apples, meet-cutes, benny miller & as always unbeta'd summary: you and Frankie meet for the first time. ao3: linked

{ x. series masterlist }

author note: prompts are not in chronological order, the story is told throughout the life span of the relationship. once all are posted, I'll post a list of the prompts in chronological order.

02 x Apple Scent.

The smell of sticky toffee blended seamlessly with the scent of freshly picked apples, not too out of place given that it was an apple festival you’d been dragged to by Jess after work after being given little to no choice in the decision.

“You’ve got to try the apple pie! It’s to die for!” she’d exclaimed dragging you along the cobbled street. Lanterns hung overhead, casting a warm glow that matched the colours of the falling leaves. You tucked your hands deeper into your coat pockets, the crisp autumn air nipped at your cheeks. 

“Remind me again why I’m here?” you asked, sidestepping a couple trying to share a caramel apple.

She shot you a sly grin, “Because you love me and want to offer moral support.”

“Translation: you need a wing woman in case things go south.”

“Details, details,” she laughed nudging you playfully with her elbow, “Besides, Benny’s bringing a friend. Maybe he’s cute!” she exclaimed, the excitement on her face as the realization of the possible meet-cute this could be evident all on her face.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress a small smile as she practically bounced beside you now, “You owe me!”

As you approached the source of the baked apple scent that had lulled you through the crowds. The pie stand, its booth in the shape of a glossy red apple, and its sweet aroma now only intensified its efforts in making your mouth water. Jess purchased two slices, handing one to you, “See? Worth it already,” she said taking a bite.

You took a tentative taste, letting out a groan as the warm apple filling melted on your tongue, “Okay, I’ll admit it, this is amazing.”

“With that kind of endorsement, I might have to try a slice for myself,” came a voice from behind Jess. You looked up from your paper plate to see Jess enveloped in a hug by a tall, blonde man with a charming grin, “I’m Benny,” he said settling Jess back on her feet, his blue eyes twinkling as he reached out his hand to you. 

You shook his hand, amused by his enthusiasm as you told him your name, “Nice to finally meet you.”

“This here,” he said, gesturing to the man stepping up beside him, “is my buddy, Frankie. Frankie say hi!” 

Frankie offered a small smile, his dark eyes warm beneath the worn baseball cap he wore. “Hey.”

“Hi,” you replied, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious and not entirely sure why.

Jess and Benny quickly fell into animated conversation, leaving you and Frankie following behind.

“So, enjoying the festival?” you asked in an attempt to break the silence.

“Not too bad for a festival themed solely on apples,” he laughed softly, the sound causing a flutter in your chest. “It’s my first time here.”

“Same,” you admitted, “Jess insisted that I had to experience it.”

He gave you a smile, “Benny can be persuasive too.”

An awkward pause settled between you.

“So,” you cleared your throat, “what do you do?” you ventured, sure Jess had mentioned something about Benny's work but struggling to remember exactly what it was.

He hesitated. “Military.”

“Really? What branch?”

“Army,” he said simply.

You nodded, “What do you do in the Army?” you asked, trying to prolong the conversation in the hope of staving off further awkwardness of the situation you both found yourselves in. 

“Nothing too exciting,” he shrugged. “Just logistics.”

Before you could ask more, Benny turned around having overheard your conversation. “Don't let him fool you! There's not a plane or automobile this man here cannot operate.”

Frankie shot him a look. “Benny…”

“What? It's true!” Benny grinned mischievously.

You raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “So you're a pilot?”

Frankie rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. “I fly sometimes.”

“He's being modest,” Benny continued. “Best pilot in the unit. Saved our asses more times than I can count.”

Frankie sighed but couldn't hide a small smile. “Benny likes to exaggerate too.”

“Well, I think it’s pretty impressive regardless,” you said genuinely.

“Thanks,” he replied, meeting your gaze briefly before looking away.

The rest of the evening passed in easy conversation between the four of you, and soon enough, you found yourself mentally thanking Jess for this unexpected outing. Benny’s laugh was infectious and had a knack for leading the conversation. Most of which concerned outings involving Frankie and the rest of their unit. Despite some of Frankie’s attempts to downplay his part in some of these antics you could tell he enjoyed it—or was at least tolerating it with good humour.

The evening ended with Benny insisting on walking both of you back to your car having picked up Jess on your way out from work. Once you reached your car parked under one of the scattered blossoms lining the street, it was time for goodbyes. Benny enveloped Jess in a warm hug first, whispering something that made her giggle into his ear. 

The drive home was filled with Jess’ excitement about Benny and the date the two of them had already planned. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she turned in her seat to look at you, “You two looked so cute together!” she gushed, “Did you give Frankie your number?”

You opened your mouth to respond then realised as you turned onto Jess’ street that you hadn’t. Neither had Frankie given you his. Disappointment awash Jess was sympathetic but optimistic as she spoke to you through the passenger window after you’d dropped her off, “Who knows, it’s obvious you two hit it off.”

You were in the office two days later, your eyes glossed over from dry corporate documents needing your stamp of approval when your phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. Curiosity piqued, and thankful for the distraction, you unlocked your phone to read:

‘Hope this is okay, but I asked Benny to get me your number.’

Followed by a second message soon after.

‘It’s Frankie by the way.’