#so he was just 'skyes friend' to her mom

[goldiipond]

many lines in tpn dub are delivered in such a way that they are able to take permanent residence in my brain and routinely beat the shit out of me. this is how you know if an anime dub is good

[kiri-thighs]

Express | J.Fisher

FEM! READER

summary: you and jeremiah are best friends and you two get into a terrible argument on the beach after showing mixed signals of each other's company. you express your feelings for him at the end of it and he realizes with you two obviously ignoring each other that he has those same feelings for you.

warnings: angst, mentions of underage drinking, cursing + TAKES PLACE IN AMAZON PRIME VIDEO SERIES SEASON 2. If you don't want minor spoilers please don't read OR you can watch season 2 first!! this one shot does not completely go with the plot of the show!

thank you and enjoy lovely readers 🤍

"I can't fucking believe you, Y/N." Jeremiah said, half intoxicated due to them leaving a party at Susannah's house. Susannah was gone and all of you had decided to throw a party.

Rewinding to at least an hour before he had said those words to you, what led up to this moment was surprising. As you and Jeremiah were partying, about to kiss a fight broke out between Milo and Steven.

Another event happened where Skye ended up sharing the news about their mom, Julia making a deal with the kids that lived, well used to live at the Cousins beach house.

You and the others were allowed one week each summer, since the family that Julia had sold it to wasn't going to use it too much. Jeremiah, you and Belly hearing the news, all three of you were happy.

Though there was one person that couldn't accept the deal and that was when Jeremiah and Conrad ended up fighting. You were in the middle of it.

"Jere don't say that-" You said, holding his arm as Jeremiah pushed you away, which caused you to be taken aback. As Belly was leaving, Skye went after her. You stayed as you watched Jeremiah throw hurtful words towards Conrad.

"Jere stop-" You said but Jeremiah looked at you, after everything that he said to Conrad.

"So what you're defending him now too?" Jeremiah asked as you looked at Conrad, before looking down and shaking your head.

"I'm, I'm not sure." You whispered.

"Yeah. There it is again. The I'm not sure from Y/N. One happy thing, such a small thing that everyone could be happy about and you go and ruin it Conrad." Jeremiah said as he walked away.

As everyone seemed to go their separate ways, you stayed in front of Conrad as you felt your chest was hurting.

Conrad was silent, his eyes teary due to the words that Jeremiah said towards him. Conrad looked up as you were lost in thought, your mind vacant before you hear Conrad calling out your name. You looked up at him when he asked, "You okay?" his voice was shaky, hoarse and like it was caught in his throat.

"Yeah...yeah it's just," You started before sighing. "Last summer was messy." You stood there as your voice was shaky too, wondering why in this moment you felt like breaking down.

There was one specific person that you loved so much. That person was Jeremiah Fisher. Yet with how things were going last summer due to the whole love triangle, Susannah and other messy stuff, it was like that again.

You were caught in the middle of it and it was not until this summer that your feelings for Jeremiah were growing uncontrollably larger.

"As soon as school got out, hearing about the house being sold I've been trying hard too. To get the house back. To talk some sense into your dad. To talk to your aunt and I never once told anyone how much things have effected me." You said as your eyes teared up remembering the way Jeremiah and Conrad looked at each other with so much remorse.

"I love Jere. So much, Conrad" You whispered. "Last summer I realized I liked Jeremiah even if he's been my best friend my entire life. Seeing Jere and Bells kiss with Steven, I couldn't take that happiness away." You smiled as you wiped your tears, you weren't a drinker so these were your raw emotions, not intensified too much because there was no alcohol intake.

Conrad seemed to go more silent hearing that Jeremiah and Belly kissed, as if not knowing that already. It was a reminder that Belly couldn't choose. You looked at him as if apologizing for bringing it up.

"Conrad," You called out, "I wanna keep fighting for this house but I don't know how much more all of us can take if it's causing this much damage," You said truthfully as your tears were falling harder. Conrad was crying as well, his head held low before pulling you into a hug.

You two were somewhat the same. Bottling things up, though Conrad got the bigger blow. You hugged Conrad tightly as you sniffled, continuing what you were saying.

"I just had to be there for you both," You mumbled. "You are here," Conrad mumbled. "You are, you really are." Conrad said in a shaky tone, not knowing how else to comfort you. Not knowing if what he was doing for you was helping you feel better.

You didn't want Belly to be alone but the one person that needed someone, knowing that Conrad would go after Belly, you knew no one would be there for Jeremiah.

Conrad pulled away as you wiped your tears. Conrad wiped his away as he patted your head. "Go after Belly," You told Conrad. You pointed to his chest.

"I already know you will." You smiled at him as Conrad nodded. Everyone rarely saw you cry. You knew that you had just let it all go to Conrad, but knew that he had something to take care.

Conrad nodded as he slowly walked away from you, leaving you there to wipe your tears away in hopes that they would be gone. You took a deep breath before walking back into the beach house, the strobing lights still seen through the house's windows since the curtains seemed to not be covering any part of the windows.

You looked through the crowd, trying to find Jeremiah amongst the people dancing and drinking. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes always made you cringe, you and Cam always got along pretty well when it came to parties because you two didn't drink.

You didn't drink specifically because your mom died due to a drunk driver. You didn't want to be that way, and there would come a time when you would finally drink.

You saw spray painting on the wall, people breaking windows and tables as you shook your head, moving past people who were shoving you left and right.

Finally though you found Jeremiah standing against a wall with a red cup already in his hands. You were in front of him as he looked down at you with the same angry expression he showed Conrad.

He was ready to leave, pulling his weight off of the wall as he turned away from you. You grabbed his wrist quickly, making him accidentally drop the red cup in his hand, spilling the drink on the ground.

Jeremiah tried his hardest to hold back his anger, you being his best friend he couldn't be mad. Not at you completely. You looked up at him as he turned around, his eyes still averted away from yours.

"Can we talk?" You asked him, loud enough to go past the loud music that was playing.

"I don't see a reason," Jeremiah said as you bit the inside of your lip and held his wrist harder.

"Then you don't need a reason but I have one." You said as Jeremiah finally looking at you. The reason he didn't want to look at you was because he saw you crying on Conrad.

He knew the reason why you were crying and it was because of him. He knew that too well that he was the one that made you cry, yet he couldn't comfort you and say that it was okay.

Jeremiah pulled his wrist away from your strong grip before walking outside with you, to the beach, a different part of it since Belly and Conrad were talking as well.

You followed after him, as you stared at the back of his head before he finally stopped when you both reached your favorite log on the beach. He turned around as he stared at you with a look of anger still.

"If this is about what I said to Conrad, I'm not taking it back." Jeremiah said.

"Jere you didn't have to say all of that-" "He asked for my blessing, Y/N" Jeremiah started getting riled up, already feeling that anger was bottled up inside of him.

"Yes he did, but he needed someone, he needed his brother and this summer you guys have been butting heads indirectly but things were getting better," You said as had your hands out, you trying not to get teary eyed. Yes you were defending Conrad because he was in the right, but you wanted Jeremiah to know that too.

"Since when were we getting better?" Jeremiah asked as he scoffed, laughing a bit because it was unbelievable to him. "He took Belly away from me. I had to watch him and Belly together. I thought of all people you would know how lonely I was because I was there for my mom when no one wasn't." Jeremiah said, his voice partially raising.

You felt your heart ache as your tears were starting to become visible but you wiped your face while Jeremiah was looking away. You didn't know. How else to tell him. How else could you possibly comfort him?

"Jere," You called out, "I'm here," Was all that could slip out.

"Where were you then? When were you here?" Jeremiah asked as his eyes were tearing up, his eyes seeming to get rid of the anger slowly but it was evidently still there.

"You always comforted everyone else before you came and checked up on me. You ran after Belly when her and Conrad fought at my mom's funeral. MY MOM'S funeral. You told me that you would always be there for me first, you liar." Jeremiah pointed to his chest, as he was hitting his chest with his fingers as he was saying that.

You hated it. Seeing him in so much pain but you were in pain as well. "Jere, I tried to take care of everyone and I'm sorry. I swear I came to check up on you first you're twisting the story," You said, trying to stay calm, while Jeremiah was raising his voice at you.

"You know what, whose side are you on?" Jeremiah asked as he put his hands on his hips, turning his body as he was now rejecting looking at you.

"I saw Conrad hugging you," "Jere are you seriously doing this right now-" "Doing what? Watching you be comforted because you're what the girl version of me and Conrad combined? Bottling shit up and then acting like it's okay? Yet you don't even go and run after me?"

"You aren't making any sense Jere why are you blaming me for that thing specifically?" You asked as you put your hand on Jeremiah's but he pushed you away once again, like he did back there during his argument with Conrad.

"Don't fucking touch me." Jeremiah said with a rough voice. "Whose side are you on." Jeremiah asked as you bit your lip.

You clenched your fists, "What do you even mean Jere?!" You finally yelled which took him aback. You looked away as your chest was heaving.

"When was I here? I've been here the entire time! Being in the middle of you and Conrad. The middle of you and Belly. The middle of you three!" You yelled as you stepped towards him, you pointing your finger on his chest as you were pushing him with it.

"I was there even if I was in pain too. With my mother's death at the beginning of last summer, then Susannah was next. You don't see it do you?" You asked as your tears were falling uncontrollably.

"You needed someone and when you say no one was there for you I watched you miserably. I watched you and felt invisible. You focused on Belly so much when you guys had a thing and I had to act like I was okay with that." You laughed but it mixed with crying too.

"I tried so hard to continuously fix things. Every time Belly had a conflict with Conrad or you I would be there for her. Every time you felt so alone I was there. I was there for each and every one of you and yet you're asking me where I was?!" You yelled.

"Y/N-" Jeremiah said as he took your finger off of his chest and held your hand but you pulled your hand off of him. "I get how much Belly effected you. How much you love her," You said as you knew the next words that you were about to say were fucked up. You knew that you shouldn't put yourself before others.

"I love you Jere," You said, in hopes that he would return the feelings. Yet you knew. You knew that you two made a promise to one another that you would never fall for each other.

There was complete silence, the silence killing you but Jeremiah was taking time to process. The processing ended up stopping, but the next words that Jeremiah said towards you were words that you wished he would never say to you, but he did.

"I can't fucking believe you, Y/N" Jeremiah said as he had a face of disgust. An expression he never had towards you but to others. You saw the way he looked at you, the way that you wished he hadn't.

"So that's it," You said as your breath hitched before your next words came. "You and I were about to kiss, obviously getting even closer during this whole week and you say that to me," You said as Jeremiah looked away.

"That was a mistake," Jeremiah said as your lips quivered, tears falling harder. "I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to kiss someone." Jeremiah lied, but you didn't know that. Jeremiah knew that he didn't want to hurt you if he was still in love with Belly.

"You wanted to kiss someone?" You asked as Jeremiah nodded. "I love Belly." Jeremiah said straightforwardly. "We promised each other that we wouldn't."

"Fuck- promises are meant to be broken!" You yelled. "Can't you make an exception just this once? That you can love me somehow? The way I love you?" You asked, begging for Jeremiah to somehow look at you the way he always has.

The one time that you finally break, after being so worn out with being the therapy friend, the friend that everyone could depend on but at your lowest moments you could only depend on Susannah and Laurel.

Susannah was gone and that impacted you too but you knew that if you compared it to the pain that Jeremiah and Conrad felt, it would be selfish. That the mother figure that replaced your mom when she passed, was now gone and the last mother figure you had was Laurel.

"I can't fucking look at you." Jeremiah said, his breath shaky. "I can't believe you." Jeremiah said as he started walking past you. You didn't watch him leave, as you stood there, still in front of your favorite log that you two would always have heartfelt conversations on.

Before he could walk away completely, you turned to him. "You can't just leave it at that!" You yelled before Jeremiah stopped. You sobbed as you begged for him one more time, wanting his answer to change.

"Yes I can." Jeremiah said as he turned around, his eyebrows knitted. "I can say that I can't." Jeremiah said, his voice shaky because he was afraid. Afraid that he was losing you now too and it was because of the words that were coming out of his mouth.

You walked up to him and tried your hardest but still he pushed you off of him. He would never treat a girl like this, ever. Yet it seemed like you were a different case. He wanted to get away from you.

"Just- Just get away from me alright?!" Jeremiah yelled which made you stop. You froze and as you did, Jeremiah ran his fingers through his hair before his tears fell as his breath was hitching too.

You watched as he sobbed, his emotions seeming to stir in the pot but with each new ingredient in there, it was the wrong ones every time. You reached out to Jeremiah, but your efforts were short as he finally decided to leave.

This time you didn't go after him. As much as you tried to comfort him, he still walked away without turning back even if your cries were heard. You had tried to hug him, knowing that was always the solution but this time, that solution was last place.

You fell to your knees as you sobbed out, wishing that the conversation ended on a high note but it didn't. Your heart ached before you felt everything suddenly get blurry and shaky. Due to the many emotions you were feeling everything had gone black.

NEXT MORNING

The sun was shining over Cousins beach. The next morning came and everyone at the party was gone. The guests were gone at least except the mess that was left behind.

You felt your breath catch in your lungs before waking up when you felt the glare of the sun hitting your body. You woke up, getting up from the sand on the beach.

"Did I really sleep here?" You asked before your eyes softened realizing no one noticed you were gone. You were hoping Jeremiah would at least bring you inside or be concerned for you seeing that you didn't come inside later that night.

You had your hands on the sand before standing up, your legs feeling numb because of the emotions that were still hitting you right as you wake up.

You walked off of the beach and into the beach house, seeing that the door was wide open, before realizing Laurel's car was there in the driveway.

You blinked before you realized. You ran inside but was met with Belly walking out of the house. Belly was holding her cheek. "Bells?" You called out as held her arm, trying to stop her. She hugged you tightly, her tears falling onto your shoulder.

You were shocked seeing the amount of tears coming out of Belly's eyes. You held the back of her head as you hugged her tightly before she pulled away and walked out to the beach.

You watched as she left, your breathing on double time before walking inside knowing that she needed space. You saw Laurel there, with Steven, Conrad and Jeremiah.

Steven told Laurel that Belly and the rest of the kids were at least here for Susannah's boys while Laurel was absent. After hearing Laurel already knew about the house being up for sale. Everyone walked away from Laurel and apparently you now. Jeremiah didn't bat an eye at you, covered in sand.

Laurel looked over to you before you looked away. "I'll start cleaning up," You whispered. "Belly needs her mom right now." You whispered before grabbing a trash bag, feeling somewhat small as you started to clean the place.

It was an hour or two later that Laurel announced that she would fight for the house and talk to Julia about it. Everyone was thankful for Laurel, glad that Belly reached out to her mom.

You kept your distance from everyone as you felt invisible and sad again. You looked at Jeremiah a few times but he never looked at you. He really did mean that he wouldn't look at you at all.

Julia finally arrived and as the kids were cleaning up, Laurel pulled Julia aside talking at Susannah and her's favorite spot.

You continued to clean up as Belly came over to you with Taylor. "You okay?" Belly asked, her hand on your back. You didn't know that Jeremiah and the others were also listening in as well.

"Yeah, just a little tired." You told Belly. "Jere and I had a big argument last night." You smiled sadly. As Belly pulled you aside along with Taylor and Skye who seemed to tag along, Steven looked over at Jeremiah.

"What happened?" Steven asked Jeremiah who was scrubbing the wall, trying to get the spray paint off of it. Jeremiah shook his head. He knew if he thought about it then he would've said the wrong things somehow.

"Nothing," "Well it doesn't seem like nothing Jere. Taylor and I watched the whole thing. I wanted to punch you so badly seeing the way you made her cry." Steven said as Conrad awkwardly listened, still on the silent treatment with Jeremiah.

Steven put down his trash bag as he made Jeremiah stop too. "I get it. We've all been through a lot of shit man but I know damn well that you love Y/N. More than Belly." Steven said as Jeremiah looked away.

"I don't." "You really are an airhead like they all say." Steven chuckled before making Jeremiah face him.

"You may think that taking the easier option is better but the better option will always be there for you and if I'm going to be honest it's Y/N. You said it so yourself. Belly will always have something for Conrad. There's someone though waiting for you." Steven said since Conrad left the room. Jeremiah looked up at Steven as Steven was awkwardly smiling.

"I.." Jeremiah said before his shoulders fell, "I fucked up so badly," Jeremiah said as Steven agreed.

"Well yeah. Can't say that I don't agree with you cause I do." Steven laughed as Jeremiah nodded.

"I..I don't know. I just don't know." "Well you gotta know somehow. All the things you said weren't her true intentions and even you know that when you start to regret what you said. She's always been there for you. Through everything. Of course she would love you dude. It isn't hard to love someone like you. Especially her. She always finds a reason." Steven reassured as Jeremiah's eyes teared up.

"Do you think she'd forgive me? For the things I said? I've never in my life spoke to her like that. I've never said such harsh things to her and yet in that moment it felt that that was the only thing that I could do." Jeremiah explained, his obvious regret showing.

"Give it a day or two. You'll probably realize it more." Steven patted Jeremiah's shoulder. "What you said was fucked. Even I would be hurt if someone said that to me." Steven said, not trying to blame Jeremiah but he knew that the two would push through.

Jeremiah paused for a bit before nodding. He knew that he had to do something somehow. He knew if he wasn't there for you the way you were there for him, then no one would be. Hearing that you slept on the beach, eavesdropping and everything no one came to come get you.

Jeremiah knew that as a best friend he should've been there for you. To carry you inside despite being so mad at you. He knew that he put his emotions first. Who knows what could've happened. He wasn't there for you the way you were there for him.

Those thoughts of what he said to you last night started to course through his mind. He winced at the thought of everything as Steven went to go clean more.

He would give it a day or two, in hopes that he would realize it all.

That he needed you, and loved you the way you did.

Taylor was currently giving you a hug as you tried your best not to cry. You stayed so strong up until now but again, you were a carbon copy of Conrad and Jeremiah combined. Belly and Skye were rubbing your back as you cried.

You hated the words that Jeremiah said towards you. Taylor had heard it all with Steven and explained everything to Belly and Skye for you so that you didn't have to.

You closed your eyes, hoping that all of this was a bad dream. Hoping that what Jeremiah said wasn't meant. Your chest kept on going up and down quickly. You were hiccuping as your walls crashed down.

You hoped that the house would be in the possession of the boys. You knew though that you didn't want to be a part of it anymore. You told yourself as you were being comforted, that this would be your last summer at the Cousin's house.

THE NEXT DAY

As you all were wrapping things up, Conrad and Jeremiah had a heartfelt conversations the night before. It seemed that everything was able to be fixed yesterday except things with you and Jeremiah.

You of course included yourself in helping Conrad study for his test in Brown to get into Stanford. Everyone was all for it, especially Belly. Yesterday evening was the last time you saw Julia and Skye for now.

After being able to convince Jeremiah and Conrad's dad about selling the house they had in Boston, things started to get good from there.

The morning came around and things needed to finish up. With the house not being on the market, everyone needed to go home and would be able to come back whenever they'd like and whenever everyone had free time.

You smiled as you were saying goodbye to Laurel. While the others were saying goodbye to one another, you wanted to talk to Laurel first.

"Thank you so much Laurel for everything that you've done up to this point." You said as you were holding her hands. Laurel smiled as she looked at you. You looked back at her, and the obvious eye bags were under your eyes.

"I heard what happened between you and Jeremiah," Laurel said as she gave you a hug. "Thank you so much for being here for everyone. We'd love to see you here again next summer or this summer if anything." You softened up in Laurel's hold before holding onto her and smiling.

"I'll think about it," You said as Laurel nodded. Laurel slowly pulled away as everyone started getting into their cars. You ended up actually driving here, so you didn't have a problem taking your time getting home. You took a good look at the Cousins house.

You weren't ready to leave yet, as everyone was talking about when they would next be all together. Everyone was saying the fourth. You looked at everyone in the group before smiling and humming.

"Yeah, I'll be available whenever." You chuckled as you started waving goodbye to everyone. "I'm gonna stay here for a bit longer. Conrad tell me how the test goes. Tell us everything," You smiled as Conrad nodded, with a content smile.

"See you whenever, Y/N" You nodded as everyone seemed to be driving out of the driveway. You didn't notice that Jeremiah actually stayed behind, instead of driving off in his brother's car. Conrad ended up leaving without Jeremiah.

You had your back turned, oblivious to Jeremiah staying behind as you walked into the Cousin's house, going to the pool as you dipped your feet in the cold water.

You heard the door open and looked back seeing Jeremiah was there, his hands in his pockets as he looked over at you, sitting on the ledge of the swimming pool.

You slowly looked away, still kicking your feet gently. Jeremiah slowly sat next to you, dipping his feet in the water with yours. It was silent for a good minute as the awkward silence was sitting there with you two as well.

Jeremiah was the first to break the silence, as he looked at you slowly, seeing that you were watching your feet kick in the water that you were now used to since they have been in there for at least a minute.

"Let's talk?" He asked as you tensed up a little before shaking your head. "I don't see a reason to." You snapped back, repeating his words from last night. To your surprise though, Jeremiah said the exact same thing that you had said to him too. You both switched placed though.

"Then you don't need a reason but I have one." Jeremiah whispered which made you stop kicking your feet. You slowly looked over at Jeremiah, your eyes already teary eyed. Jeremiah stared at your hurt filled eyes as he winced seeing how drained you looked.

Jeremiah reached up as he cupped your cheek gently, but you pulled away a bit. Jeremiah still tried though, holding both of your cheeks as he took a good look at you.

"No," Jeremiah whispered. "Don't pull away," You shook your head more as you held onto Jeremiah's wrists, wanting to shove his hands off of you but you knew that if you didn't want to do that truly.

"But you did," You told Jeremiah as you continued to look at his ocean eyes. "You pushed me away," Jeremiah nodded.

"I know I did, and I'm sorry Y/N." Jeremiah said as he wiped away the tears that were streaming down your cheeks as they were coming down.

"You didn't eat today or yesterday. You haven't slept either. I saw you were still awake even when everyone else was sleeping." Jeremiah said as he put his thumb gently under one of your eyes, seeing the obvious eye bags that already grew.

"It's hard to when you're mad at me." You admitted. "I didn't think you would have noticed me at all since you said that you couldn't look at me," You looked away as Jeremiah's eyes softened.

"Everything with Conrad, I resolved all of it. We told each other that we would talk things out as they come and not let them linger." Jeremiah admitted towards you.

"Things with Belly..I already knew that I don't love her that way. That there will always be a better option for me and..Y/N that's you." Jeremiah said, trying to convince you that the words he said to you a night ago was wrong.

You continued to look away as Jeremiah was the one speaking this time. "I do love you too. In the way that a best friend does but the way that a lover does too." Jeremiah said as he slowly let go of your cheeks, grabbing hold of your hands that he noticed were shaking, seeing your body tremble as well.

He could still see the silent cries you were giving and he knew that instead of being jealous of others that he'd rather be there for you than watch you crying in someone else's arms.

You stayed silent as you listened to Jeremiah, still trying to register everything. "I know..it's hard to forget what I said. But I'd rather say this and take back all of the words." Jeremiah held your hands still, trying to stop them from shaking as he kissed your hands gently.

He closed his eyes, "I'm so sorry for the way I talked to you. I'm sorry for making you cry. I'm sorry for blaming you and lying to you that it was a mistake." You started to sob but Jeremiah didn't stop.

"I'm sorry for pushing you away and thinking you're invisible..you aren't. I needed someone and Belly couldn't be there for me because she was always with Conrad the most. I'm sorry for forgetting about you." Jeremiah's voice started to become shaky, starting to get emotional as he continued.

"I'm sorry for never realizing how much I loved you, Y/N." Jeremiah stopped when you took your hands off of Jeremiah's hands. With this, Jeremiah thought that you were going to get up and leave but you had your hands on his chest, pushing him gently.

Jeremiah looked up at you as you looked at him, hiccuping as your voice finally came out. "Stop," You whispered as you punched him gently, "Just kiss me already," You begged as Jeremiah's eyes widened.

Jeremiah put his forehead on yours as he watched you start to calm down, feeling how close he was to you. Jeremiah gently, hesitantly grabbed your cheek.

"I want to kiss you, I really do." Jeremiah said as your noses touched, booping one another's. "Out of all the people, it was always you." Jeremiah said before his lips hit yours.

Your body stopped trembling, as you melted into the kiss that Jeremiah had given you. Your first kiss was with your best friend. This was Jeremiah's millionth kiss probably but to you, this was the kiss you wanted it to be with.

You kissed Jeremiah, wrapping your arms around Jeremiah's neck as you pulled him closer.

He pulled you closer by the waist as he held you tightly, not wanting to let you go. You pulled away for a second before reconnecting your lips together with his.

Jeremiah tucked some strands of your hair behind your ear, feeling his chest was about to explode because of how much his heart was beating double time.

No one else could make both of you feel this way, both of you knew that for sure as you felt sparks. As Jeremiah slowly pulled away, Jeremiah stared into your eyes as he smiled softly, seeing how out of breath you were.

"The tears are gone." Jeremiah pointed out as he hugged you tightly, burying his face in your neck. You pressed your lips against his curly hair, closing your eyes slowly.

Jeremiah looked up at you again, pulling away a bit from the hug. He connected his lips with yours again, kissing you was so easy to him it seemed.

You kissed him back instantly, smiling in the kiss because you felt better. You felt that things really were going to be okay with Jeremiah. Jeremiah pulled away this time, staring at your lips before pecking it gently with a smile.

Jeremiah rubbed your back gently before getting up and helping you up as well. Jeremiah held your hands before sitting down on one of the beach chairs with you. He put you on his lap gently, having you face him.

You had your hands on his shoulders, having some support as you stared into his eyes.

As you two were silently looking at one another, the silence was broken when both of you said at the same time,

"I love you," You and him stared at each other before laughing softly together.

"Let's stay here for a bit, then I'll come over and sleep over." Jeremiah said as you nodded.

"I'd love that, a lot." You said as you pushed all of your weight on Jeremiah's as he laid on the beach chair with you on top of him.

Jeremiah kissed your forehead gently, having his arms up as a arm pillow.

Jeremiah closed his eyes as he smiled softly. "Me too,"

[kamaluhkhan]

all the love we had and lost

pairing: conrad fisher x fem!reader

summary: you come back to cousins beach after a few years away. conrad is not particularly happy that you're back - and you aren't particularly thrilled, either. too bad there's a history (chemistry?) neither of you can deny.

warnings: lots of plot + flashbacks. angst with fluff in betweem. slightly suggestive dialogue/situations but nothing more than the actual show, a guy being pushy about hooking up with reader but nothing happens, mention of injuries and blood throughout, hints of alcoholism, brief mention of dieting (reader is competitive swimmer and deals with certain pressures from that), reader gets her period, takes on too much responsibility and argues with her mother (aka eldest daughter syndrome)

tags: @stargirlsirius-recs, @ifilwtmfc, @qwertyb2577, @allnrsnz, @baconeggndcheez, @peanutbelley, @imogen-skye, @geekinthefuschiahair, @tvije,

a/n: thank you thank you thank you for so much love on my first conrad fic!! i'm so excited to share the rest of the series, so stay tuned :))

read part one here

the best friends of our childhoods are the loves of our lives, and they break our hearts in the worse ways. (fredrik backman)

now — summer, age 18

you throw in some extra sprinkles, along with a few more tablespoons of sugar. belly has a huge sweet tooth. it's the night before her birthday, and you're in the kitchen at the fisher's house baking her coconut confetti cupcakes. 

born on june 21st — the summer solstice — belly conklin is the definition of a summer child. she's summer, personified: sunshine, sweet tea, sand, and smiles. having missed so many birthday celebrations, you’re determined to make this year special.

you go to the fridge to grab some eggs, and when you close the door, you're startled by the person standing behind it.

"what are you doing here?" you ask, holding a hand to your chest and setting the carton of eggs on the counter. the joy you felt making birthday cupcakes for belly fades away, replaced with a tingling in your chest. you and conrad hadn’t spoken more than three sentences to each other, or even been in the same room alone, since that morning on the beach. as the distance between the two of you grew, so did your frustration at him. 

conrad raises his eyebrow at you. he reaches around you into the fridge and pulls out a beer. 

"i should be asking you that." 

"the oven at my house is broken and your mom said i could come over."

“i’ve heard that one before,” he mumbles as he leaves the kitchen. you almost can’t believe he brought it up, even if just in a passing, somewhat snarky remark. conrad probably thought you didn’t hear.

these past few weeks, conrad hasn't just been cold towards you — which was a relief as much as it was heart wrenching. he seems more closed off in general, more inclined to spend time with others who hadn't seen him grow up. in fact, you imagine he’s on his way to see nicole now. maybe with her, he can pretend everything is fine. but not with the people in this house, who knew him inside and out.

you would never admit it — if conrad wants to ignore you, you could ignore him just fine — but it was eating you up inside, and it took everything in you not to confront him, to comfort him about whatever he was going through. you’d have arguments when you were kids, but it was nothing a ring pop or tub of cherry jello couldn’t solve. this time is different; the wound is deeper, harder to heal.

you wanted the old conrad back: the sweet boy who cared for you and let you care for him in return. 

then — summer, age 14

belly was turning 12, and you wanted to surprise her with homemade cupcakes for breakfast. only, the oven at your house was broken, which meant your intention of baking her birthday treats would have fallen through, if not for susannah’s ever-present generosity. 

everyone else was out of the house — you even asked laurel and susannah to take belly shopping to not ruin the surprise. you were decorating the cupcakes when conrad walked in from the deck. his wet hair stuck to his forehead and he was wearing a rash guard, so he probably got back from surfing. he looked paler than usual, even after being in the sun for hours, but you didn’t think much of it at first.

“hey,” he greeted, sounding slightly out of breath. “what are you doing here?” 

“the oven at my house is broken, so your mom said i can come over to bake these for belly’s birthday tomorrow.” you gestured at the clumsily decorated treats. the cupcakes had bright pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles. you weren’t a professional by any means, but knew that belly would love them.

“but i’m sure she wouldn’t miss one or two, if you wanna try one,” you offered, smiling at conrad.

he smiled back, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “yeah. yeah, let’s do that. i’m just gonna get changed first.”

conrad walked past you, and that’s when you noticed him limping — along with a bloody gash just below his left knee.

you instantly dropped the spatula back into the half-empty frosting bowl.

“connie, what the hell happened?”

“i’m fine,” he answered. “i wiped out, got cut by the fin of my board.” conrad must have noticed your eyes widened with worry because he grabbed your wrist gently, thumb rubbing soothingly on your pulse point. he was bleeding out on the kitchen floor, and there he was, trying to make sure you were okay. 

“i’m fine,” he reassured. 

the blood dripping down his leg suggested otherwise. years ago conrad would faint at the sight of blood, and though he’d mostly outgrown that, you knew it still made him queasy. you imagined the pain definitely wasn’t making it easier. without another word, you pulled him into the bathroom and made him sit on the edge of the bathtub. you washed your hands then sat cross-legged in front of him.

“you here to fix me up, sweetheart?” he smirked as he watched you gather supplies from the cabinet underneath the sink, your brows furrowed in concentration.

“what?” you paused, almost laughing. until you saw his wound again, and you got back to work.

“it’s from the hunger games,” he explained. “when katniss finds peeta in the arena? and he’s all, like, injured.”

“well, he was definitely in worse shape than you,” you assured. “your cut’s not that deep, it just looks bad.”

“it doesn’t feel great, either.”

conrad exhaled sharply when you started applying pressure to his leg with a damp washcloth. you placed your other hand on his right knee.

“it’ll be fine, connie. i’ve got you. keep your eyes on me, okay?”

he looked down at you, wet hair framing his face as he offered a short nod. 

you gestured at him to take over, and your fingers brushed together when he grabbed the washcloth, but he never looked down. his eyes still followed you as you searched the bathroom for something to cover his wound.

a comfortable silence followed. the two of you used to spend hours talking, sure, but what you loved about spending time with conrad is that silence didn't bother him. you could each be in your own worlds while in the comfort of each other's company, and that was enough.

once the wound was cleaned and the bleeding slowed down, you placed a gauze pad over his cut before wrapping a cloth bandage around it.

“i’m pretty sure it’s ‘you here to finish me off, sweetheart?’,” you remembered.

conrad shook his head. “i’m pretty sure it’s not. i’ve read the book like, three times.”

you move to sit next to him on the edge of the tub.

“how sure are you, connie? because i’m pretty damn sure.”

conrad shrugged. “i’m pretty damn sure, too.” 

you rolled your eyes, but with a smile. “okay, fine. we’ll check. but, when you see how wrong you are, you have to come with me to see jaws 2.” it was playing at the local movie theatre during their weekly throwback thursday — you and belly had seen it advertised on your way home from getting ice cream. you had wanted to ask conrad, but couldn’t find the right time.

because you hadn’t meant it to be a date, but you also hadn’t not meant it to be. something changed about how you felt towards conrad that summer; or, maybe, you just figured out what was different about the love you felt towards him compared to everyone else. 

(yes, love. again, something you would never admit.)

you thought maybe — maybe he felt it too. there was something different in the way he teased you, laughed with you, looked at you when he thought you couldn’t notice.

you did notice. it happened so much that eventually you decided that either it was all in your head and he didn’t love you that way, or he was also scared of what would happen if he did. which, to be fair, was the position you were in. you were very scared of what would happen if you crossed that line.

“i’ll agree to that,” conrad said. “if you agree to having a picnic with me on the beach. if i have to face my fear of sharks, then you have to face your fear of angry seagulls stealing your food.”

a picnic on the beach. you wondered if this was conrad’s way of subtly asking you on a date. did he also want to cross that line, become something other than friends? he looked at you so eagerly, you hoped he did.

“fine.” you held out your hand. “but you have to protect me from angry seagulls.”

conrad smiled at you brightly as he grasped your hand. 

“always.” 

in the end, conrad lost the bet. the screening of jaws 2 was cancelled, so you rented it from the video store instead. you got his favourite movie snacks, and some of yours as well, and made sure the couch had the comfiest pillows and the warmest blanket. you felt butterflies just thinking about the two of you watching together, cuddling on the couch. 

when the time came though, your plans fell through. the playdates your siblings had lined up both cancelled. your mother had plans to meet a friend at the bar, and claimed she couldn't reschedule. by then your parents were divorced and your father was elsewhere with his new girlfriend, so it fell to you to babysit your siblings.

conrad came over anyway: he helped you make rice and lentils for dinner, convinced your brother to eat his vegetables, and let your sister paint his nails. the four of you watched night at the museum and ate all the junk food you had gotten, with you and conrad sitting on opposite ends of the couch, but stealing glances and shy smiles at each other. when your mother came home, a bit after midnight and a little tipsy, she got angry that you’d kept the twins up so late and cheated on the diet she had so carefully planned for you — to keep you in shape for swimming, she claimed. you rolled your eyes, and that made her angrier. without you saying anything, conrad took the twins upstairs to get ready for bed as you and your mother argued. by the time conrad walked back downstairs, your mother had gone into the living room for another drink and you were in tears. he asked if you were okay, and you told him to go home.

you never talked about that night again, and everything went back to the way it was: with neither of you crossing that line.

now

the only reason you let belly drag you to nicole’s party is because it’s her birthday. 

as soon as you enter the house, nicole and the other debutantes whisk belly away to a table filled with elaborate cakes. you can’t help but feel slightly embarrassed by how elegant they look in comparison to the cupcakes you made her. 

"come on," taylor groans. "let's get a drink."

taylor grabs two beers and hands one to you. you gratefully accept. the two of you catch up for a bit, when suddenly jeremiah starts serenading belly in an outrageously funny musical number. you laugh along with them, until you catch a glimpse of conrad with nicole on the couch at the other end of the room. nicole is sitting in conrad's lap, and she leans over to whisper something in his ear before kissing his cheek. your entire body heats up.

conrad was right before: you were jealous. as frustrated as you were with him, you were even angrier at yourself for feeling that way. 

"i’m gonna go find the bathroom!” taylor says, practically shouting over the music. 

"okay!” you yell back. “i’m gonna go get another drink." 

you know all too well that it isn’t a good habit to get into, but you need something stronger if you’re going to survive this party. you examine the drink table, finally picking out some mediocre tequila. you take a shot, then another.

“tequila. my kind of girl.” someone declares, creeping up behind you. 

it’s a terrible pick up line, and you already have a feeling that the guy trying to flirt with you is some rich entitled asshole. 

but, the guy — liam — can hold a decent conversation, and he’s cute enough.

he’s no conrad, though. you take another shot when that thought crosses your mind, and force yourself to flirt with leo. liam. right, liam.

liam leans in close, pretends to listen to you, lets his gaze linger on the deep v-neck of your shirt. you’re so close, you can smell the alcohol on his breath. 

“five minutes,” you boast after he asks how long you can hold your breath underwater. somehow, the conversation veered towards your time as a competitive swimmer. you’re just the right amount of tipsy that your inhibitions start fading away.

“wow,” liam says. “i have to say, i’m glad you didn’t have that training camp this summer.”

you bat your eyelashes at him. “oh? why is that?” you lean closer, trailing a finger down his chest.

“because then i wouldn’t be able to do this.” 

liam kisses you then, and you kiss back. he slides his tongue in your mouth, runs his hands over your body. you feel nothing. it’s fine.

“let's go upstairs.”

liam’s grabbing your wrist before you have a chance to answer. as he tries to tug you up the stairs, your eyes meet conrad’s from across the room.

suddenly, you feel nauseous. you rip away from liam’s grip and place a hand on the wall next to you to steady yourself.

liam turns around sharply. “what is it?”

“i changed my mind, actually. let’s just hang out downstairs.”

liam grabs your wrist again, his grip tighter than before. “don’t be a tease.” 

this time, your voice comes out louder. “i just changed my mind. that doesn’t make me a tease.”

“don’t be a bitch, then,” he scoffs, and you’re this close to breaking this guy’s nose. “do you wanna fuck, or not?”

“i don’t,” you answer instantly, struggling to break free from his grip. 

“okay, whatever. we don’t have to go all the way, but we can still go upstairs, and have a good time.”

he manages to drag you up two steps as you strain against his iron grip, now almost cutting off your circulation. your heartbeat quickens and you feel dizzy. finally, you grab onto the railing for leverage, forcing liam to stop in his tracks.

“what is it now?” he groans.

“just stop, liam.”

“listen,” he starts, speaking to you almost mockingly, like you’re a naive little girl. “i know what girls want, so you don’t have to be shy. we’re going upstairs right now and —”

“liam, is it?” the rest of the party is in full motion, but here’s belly, giving liam one of the most intense death stares you’ve ever seen. belly, who if you cut open, would bleed sugar. “i’m gonna have to ask you to let go of my friend.”

“whatever,” liam answers, rolling his eyes. “if you don’t mind, we’re kinda in the middle of something.” he tries to move you forward, but you stand your ground.

jeremiah is also glaring at liam from the bottom of the stairs, his golden retriever personality long gone. “back off, man,” he warns.

“just mind your own business,” liam snaps.

“they said leave her alone,” steven asserts, walking over once he sees what’s happening. “and you don’t wanna mess with us, trust me.” he clenches his hand into a fist as if proving a point.

in other situations, you and belly have definitely teased steven for his tendency to act all tough, but right now, you couldn’t be more grateful.

“who the fuck are you? her bodyguards?” 

“just let her go,” belly orders. 

“i think she can speak for herself. she wants this, but if you’re jealous, you can join, too.” 

your stomach churns. liam leans in close to whisper in your ear. “maybe we’ll see if those 5 minutes come in handy when you’re sucking my —”

as soon as liam lets go of your wrist, his hand trailing downward, you shove him away and punch him in the nose before he can finish his sentence. you deliver a final blow to liam’s ego as he’s doubled over:

“what i want is for you to leave us the fuck alone. there are other people in this house who i’d rather hook up with. people who aren’t complete assholes with fancy cars to compensate for their tiny dick.”

the flirtatious smile falls from liam’s face, replaced with the kind of anger only rich entitled assholes have when they don’t get what they want — figures that he only gets the hint when it literally hits him right in the nose. he’s angry enough to deliver a punch right back to your face. 

you hear a crack upon impact, and pain radiates from your nose. you fall down the stairs, but belly manages to catch you before you hit the ground. she holds you as jeremiah and steven step in front. you hear them shouting at liam over the music, but their exact words don’t register.

you lick your lips, tasting blood. your ears are ringing, and the room is suddenly all fuzzy.

“i’ve got her.” conrad’s calm and measured voice cuts through the chaos. you feel a strong, familiar arm wrap around your waist. “go find cam — the rest of us have been drinking, but he can drive her home.”

somehow, you find yourself in a bathroom, sitting on the counter as conrad stands between your legs. he carefully examines your injury, but you notice how he avoids making eye contact. 

you feel your head spinning all over again. maybe it’s the alcohol, or the adrenaline, or the fact that the two of you haven’t been this close in a while — probably a dangerous mix of all three. 

“you here to fix me up, sweetheart?” the question slips past your lips before you could stop it.

conrad looks slightly amused, and he finally meets your gaze. “that’s not the line,” he deadpans. you know (from trying not to but ultimately not being able to pull your attention away from him all night) that he’s had a few drinks as well; it seems like the two of you ignore each other best when you’re sober.

but, still, he remembers. his comment earlier and his smile right now is all the confirmation you need: somewhere in the back of his mind, he replays memories of you. no matter how cold he acts towards you, he still cares.

he continues wiping the blood off your face. “how’s your hand?” he asks.

you flex your fingers, inspect your hand. “it’s been better,” you answer, though your knuckles are slightly aching. “worth it.”

“i guess all those years away made you a badass.”

all those years away. the reminder feels like a stab to the heart, but you wouldn’t let it burst the comfortable bubble you and conrad had somehow stumbled into. 

instead, you offer him a lopsided smile.

“oh, connie,” the nickname rolling off your tongue with ease. “i was always a badass.”

“yeah, yeah. but it’s different now. you’re different.” he pauses. you’re worried he’s going to say something else. 

but he doesn’t. instead, he asks, jokingly: “did you join a fight club or something?” 

you take that as a good sign: like you, he’s trying to preserve the playfulness between you before everything else seeps in and ruins it, before you’re brought back to the present, where you’re both heartbroken and not talking to each other. 

“you know the first rule of fight club —”

“don’t talk about fight club,” you finish together. 

conrad laughs, even though it’s not that funny. you laugh, too. 

a silence falls over you, one that’s not unfamiliar, but not entirely comfortable either. conrad holds the cloth against your nose to make sure the bleeding stopped. 

it seemed to be a strange pattern between you two — being there for each other when you bleed.

then — summer, age 12

it was the end of july when you got your first period. 

you had made lunch for your siblings and walked them to their day camp, when you suddenly felt an ache in your abdomen. that ache turned into a sharp pain by the time you got home, and you ran to the bathroom to confirm what you’d suspected. 

that afternoon, mr. conklin was taking all the kids to mini golf, but you weren’t feeling up for it. you texted belly about what happened and spent the rest of the day curled up in bed.

you didn’t hear him knock over the sound of the movie you were watching, but suddenly you saw conrad standing by your door, holding a bag from the candy shop. 

“jesus, connie, you scared me!” you exclaimed, pausing the movie. 

he smiled sheepishly and flopped down on the bed next to you. “belly told me you weren’t feeling well. here.” he handed you the bag. 

you opened the bag, grateful that conrad picked out your favourite treats. you take one and bite into it. your stomach growled — you hadn’t eaten earlier because you felt nauseous, but now you could eat that entire bag in one go.

“how was mini golf?” you asked, popping another treat into your mouth.

“it was awesome! i finally managed to get past that giant hippo and get a hole-in-one. i got the highest score.”

you frown, wishing you had been there. if anything, to beat conrad’s score. 

“don’t worry, we’ll go back another time,” conrad added. “you can beat me then.” sometimes, you swore conrad could read your mind. he then asked if you were feeling better.

“no. i got my period,” you huffed. “it sucks.”

“oh.” conrad adjusted his glasses, a sign that he felt awkward. “i’ve heard about those. they sound pretty brutal.”

“health class?”

“no. my mom, actually.”

health class wasn’t much help for you either, and neither was your mother. you were lucky enough to have susannah and laurel, who had explained everything to you and belly. 

“anyway, what are you watching?”

“the hunger games,” you answer. “i just finished the book.”

“cool.” 

conrad didn’t move — he actually leaned back against the pillows even more — so you figured he wanted to stay. you moved the laptop so it sat between the two of you and started playing the movie again.

“you know, it doesn’t seem fair that you miss out on having fun just because of your period,” conrad said as katniss finds peeta injured in the arena.

you frown, about to point out that he has no idea how painful cramps can be.

he lifted his hand up to stop you. “not that i can judge what you’re going through. i’m just saying when it’s this bad, instead of being alone, just text me, and i’ll be there.”

when the time came, he watched movies with you in bed. he brought you junk food and pain killers. he even biked to the store when you’d run out of pads.

he was there for you, just like he promised.

now

those moments from past summers now feel warm and sickly sweet, like popsicles melting in the sun — then again, that might just be the remnants of tequila flowing through your veins. you think about what happened earlier, how belly, jeremiah, and steven stepped in to protect you. how conrad is here with you now, taking care of you so tenderly even after you’ve ignored each for so long. it’s like nothing changed. but once you leave this bathroom and the alcohol leaves your system, it wouldn’t be the same. you feared you'd never get that magic back, and that weighed on your chest so much, you felt like you couldn’t breathe.

“why’d you go for liam, anyway?” conrad asks, breaking you away from your thoughts. he removes the cloth from your nose so you can answer, and the bleeding seems to have finally stopped.

“you really wanna know?”

“yeah. liam’s an asshole. and you’re…” conrad places his hands on either side of your thighs, leaning close. “you.”

“i went for liam because….well, honestly, i didn’t care who it was, as long as they made me forget you,” you admit, because what did you have to lose. you probably have a broken nose, you definitely have blood on your shirt, and your time with conrad is running out. 

conrad’s eyes darken. his fingers start to play with the hem of your shorts. 

“did it work?” his voice is a whisper, but he’s so close that it’s crystal clear.

“no.”

it’s hard to determine who leans in first, but soon enough your lips are on conrad’s. it's not the most elegant kiss — it's messy, urgent, with your noses bumping together, and teeth clacking against each other. he cradles your face in his hands, and you wrap your legs around his waist to bring him closer. you taste beer on his tongue, and maybe a hint of lime, but it’s overwhelmed by the salty, metallic taste of blood stained on your lips. you tangle your hands into his hair, and you swallow his moan as you gently tug. it’s clearer now: you’re not dizzy from the alcohol or adrenaline, but dizzy from him.

when you run out of air, feeling like your lungs could burst, you pull away. conrad’s gaze is heavy on yours as he traces your top lip with his thumb.

“connie,” you whimper, itching to kiss him again. 

“you’re still bleeding.”

conrad wipes away your blood with the cuff of his flannel. before either of you can do or say anything more, there’s a knock on the door. jeremiah, letting you know that it’s time to go. 

and, just like that, the moment is gone. 

a few days later, belly invites you over for a girl’s night. you paint each other’s nails, eat sour candy, and watch rom coms, just like you used to. she updates you on debutante season, the argument she had with taylor, and her blossoming feelings for jeremiah. you let it slip that you and conrad kissed at nicole’s party, though you admit you aren’t sure what it means — as if you hadn’t spent hours and hours thinking about the kiss, about him. belly gives you a knowing smile, but you change the subject before she can comment any further.

you’re halfway through 10 things i hate about you when belly falls asleep. you grab your phone, deciding to finally reach out to conrad, when you get a text from him.

he’s already on the dock when you arrive, looking out onto the water. 

“hey,” you greet as you stand next to him. “i was actually about to text you —”

“did you tell belly that we kissed?” he interrupts. you can’t quite read his expression as he waits for you to answer.

“no, i didn’t,” you lie. “but…would it matter if i did?”

“well, i mean, belly’s close to nicole and i don’t want her finding out," conrad explains. his words are deliberate, and you suspect he'd spent some time perfecting what to say to you. so far, you didn't like where this was going. conrad delivers another blow:

"it’s not like it meant anything.”

you feel like you could shatter into a million pieces right then and there.

“it didn’t?” you hate how fragile your voice sounds, compared to conrad’s stoic demeanor.

conrad shrugs. “i mean, we were both drunk and the thing with liam happened, so we just got caught up in the heat of the moment.” 

“you’re saying there’s nothing between us, then? nothing other than friendship?”

he turned away before he answered. “no. nothing.”

“then what about last summer?” you demand. you force yourself to keep it together, your tone firmer than before. “i guess that didn’t mean anything, either.”

“y/n…” he pauses, and you know you caught him off guard. “i don’t know what you want me to say. we’re barely even friends anymore. you come back here, after all this time, after so much shit has happened, and expect us all to drop everything to fit you back into our lives. but, you don't. we moved on. i moved on, and i can’t deal with you —" 

“got it,” you snap, already turning to walk away. “loud and fucking clear, conrad.” 

it’s not like it meant anything. we’re barely even friends anymore.

you replay conrad’s words as you crawl into bed next to belly, holding back tears as to not disturb her sleep.

you decide then that you didn’t love conrad anymore. you couldn’t because it would eat you up inside. 

then again, it doesn't seem like hating him would be any easier.

[freak-accident419]

playing cards

Derek Danforth x GN!Reader

(gif by @joshfutturman) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | More parts coming soon

Summary: When his mother hosts a party and expects him to bring a proper date, Derek is obligated to comply. Not wanting to disappoint her any further (mainly driven by the rumor of her cutting him off), Derek recruits his best friend to pose as his fake partner. However, the two have to keep up this lie when a series of constant, luxurious events are held, causing several shenanigans to ensue.

Word Count: 3.7k

Content: gender-neutral reader, swearing, reader is his best friend, Derek’s mommy issues, fake dating

Ao3 Link

(A/n: this is my first miniseries!! I will also be posting this on Ao3, so please show your support there as well. Thank you to everybody who showed me love and support. Special thanks to Skye especially :) enjoy!!)

-

“Uh, yeah, I’ll have a flat white with oat milk. You know, the usual.”

For the most part, Derek would go about his usual schedule, which deprived of responsibility and stress. In fact, his recent routine invariably consisted of privileged luxuries, little to no work tasks, and drunken parties every night.

Phone in hand, Derek skated through the office on his skateboard as he waited for the drink that he ordered at the coffee bar. He checked for any texts until he swiped out of the Messages app to surf through his social media. And as he tapped through his friends’ stories on Instagram, video footage that caused Derek to reminisce the events of last night’s party took over his screen.

It was a typical night out for him, actually. He would invite his group of friends to clubs or venues and indulge in the colorful strobe lights, bass-boosted music, and alcoholic drinks. You had always tagged along with him, as you were his best friend, getting drunk and partying together. Every night, he would get abysmally wasted and driven home by his employees. Ultimately, “reckless” was nearly an understatement to describe Derek Danforth—alongside irresponsible and hedonistic.

He smirked at the Instagram stories that his friends had posted of him taking a body shot off of a skimpy stripper. Ultimately, you took the best video of the scene because unlike the other posted videos, the camera was much clearer and barely shaking. Chuckling to himself as he hears your voice chanting for him in the video, he tucked his phone back in his pocket and skated back to the counter to retrieve his coffee.

“Flat white with oa—”

“Beautiful, thank you,” he replies dismissively, grabbing the cup that the worker handed him and continued to skate along the hallway, past several other employees.

Expecting the next hour to be full of pampering and Tibetan singing bowls, a stern, yet familiarly lavish voice suddenly stops him in his tracks.

“Derek.” The young billionaire stiffens at the sound of his name being called. “May I have a word?”

An irritated sigh left Derek’s lips as he stood still on his skateboard, neglecting to turn his head around to face the older man. He then rolls his eyes and finally got off of his skateboard, kicking it up in his hand.

***

“You have to clean up your act, young man,” Westwyld states as Derek slouches pettishly in his chair.

Great. It was just another one of his needless lectures again. Why did he even bother? From the moment Derek walked into Westwyld’s dreadful office, he already sensed that he would be given another ‘serious talk’ from the man who tries to act like his father after having a romantic past with his mom.

In response to his useless demand, Derek scoffs with a smug curl on his lips, taking a short drag from his vape pen. It was almost amusing to him that Wallace believed his lectures would give him the slightest motivation to “do better.”

“Isn’t your job covering up my ‘fuckups’? Keeping me out of the tabloids and the headlines, keeping my reputation clean?” He sneered, impatient with the predictable redundancy that Westwyld brought onto him. “Isn’t that all you’re good for?”

Westwyld sighs, not very keen on having to explain himself for the thousandth time. “Derek, my job is to keep Danforth Enterprises safe, to keep your mother safe. Her reputation, her name. For thirty-five years, I worked as the director of the world’s intelligence agency, but I chose this job as a favor to your mother.”

Derek rolled his eyes carelessly. It was the same, bothersome routine when Wallace would scold him and then run his mouth about how he could have had any other job, but chose security for Danforth Enterprises for the sake of President Jessica Danforth.

“Yeah, I’ve heard you tell me this for, like, a billion fucking times,” Derek retorts with a harsh scoff, “You know what, I don’t have the fucking time for this.”

He stood up instantly, storming off until Wallace’s next words made him freeze, bringing a chill up his spine.

“Your mother’s thinking of cutting you off, you know that?”

Derek processed Westwyld’s words for a second, sensing the threat behind it. His own mother wouldn’t do that to him. She completely adores him. Right? It was just another empty threat—everything had always worked out for Derek in the long run. So he kept his cool as always, scoffing in disbelief with a breathy chuckle. “Um, no. No, she’s not. She wouldn’t.” He turned around to face Wallace, walking back up to him.

“Everybody’s talking about it, Derek. A rumor, you would call it, but she spoke to her advisers. Money may play a big role in the grand scheme of things, but public image as well. I cannot keep covering for you, Derek. The endless social media posts of your immature, juvenile actions, the soirées, the strippers, it’s getting out of control,” Wallace spat sourly, evidently sick of Derek’s shenanigans and recklessness. “Even the tiniest information can spill, and your reputation will grow rotten. And your reputation is your mother’s. I won’t let you take this risk, Derek, you need to clean up your act now.”

***

Derek left Westwyld’s office slightly pissed, sipping his coffee as he rode through the hallway once again in his skateboard. Suddenly he felt his phone buzzing, so he grabbed it out of his pocket to look who was calling him.

Well, shit. Speak of the fucking devil.

It was his mother.

Taking a deep breath, Derek stared at the contact name and gulped nervously before finally clicking ‘accept’.

“Hi, Mom… What’s, um… What’s up?”

For the first time ever in Derek’s life, one of Westwyld’s lectures actually intimidated him.

Jessica Danforth was an incredibly busy woman. Hell, she was the President of the United States for fuck’s sake, there was no way she would call up her son for something casual. It had to be for something urgent, which inevitably provoked fear in him—all he could think about was getting disinherited. “Hi, Derek,” she says into the phone, sort of in a disappointed sigh. “I was just checking in, making sure you are able to attend the party on Saturday evening. You are able to come, yes?”

Derek let out a soft, gratified breath, relieved that his mother wasn’t calling him to discuss his reputation and financial situation. But either way, it seemed that he was still in deep shit; Derek forgot all about that party.

His mother spoke about it several times in the past, inviting him almost an entire month ago. She made it very clear about how important it was to her, but Derek was completey oblivious to it. It was either some kind of gala or charity event, but he’d been too baked recently to even remember.

“O-oh, um, party, right, that party…” he replies dubiously, the information barely coming back to his mind. “Yeah, um, yeah, of course.” He blinks for a moment, trying to remember the information about the party. Right. It was some kind of charity auction. Raising money for a good cause. Extremely tasteful and elegant, the kind of boring parties that Derek was never a fan of.

“Alright. Good,” she says briefly. Jessica bit her bottom lip hesitantly. “Derek, there’s something I also need to mention.”

Oh shit, here it is. The slight panic returned to him once again. He wasn’t sure how he was going to take it.

“Oh, and, um, what’s—what’s that, Mom?” He asks, raising an eyebrow and trying to sound calm.

“Your… your public image has been in a very rough state lately, especially with all of the partying posts that your friends shared online. The hard drinking and the strippers, Derek, it’s just… It’s affecting how your investors and all these businessmen perceive you. They won’t take you seriously with all of your recklessness. Just… Settle down or something. Find a really nice girl, or boy, or whoever, and take them out to dinner,” she urges. “I want you to stop partying and… hooking up with strangers so much. Please be presentable at the party, Derek. I’d—I’d even be pleased if you were able to bring a date.”

Derek didn’t process the words the moment they left his mouth abruptly, blurting out a blatant lie. “Actually, that’s what I was going to bring up. I actually have a date to the party.” Shit. No. No, you don’t, you fucking idiot.

“What?” She asks curiously, completely taken aback. “Are you serious, Derek?”

“Yeah! And, um, we’ve been serious for a long time, but uh… yeah, they are helping me become a better, uh, man, and I will no longer be reckless. My reputation will be restored, so no drastic measures have to be done,” he says, digging himself in a deeper hole as he tries to indirectly convince his mother that she shouldn’t cut him off. If those rumors were to be true, at least.

“Well… Derek, if you’ve been seeing them for a long time already, then what was that scandalous video clip of you and that… that stripper, posted everywhere online?” She questions, thinking to herself about the logistics of Derek’s situation.

“Oh yeah, that was—see, that was an old video. People have just been reposting it recently, you know the algorithm. I—Actually, I, uh, I met my partner on the day after that video was taken, and they, uh, yeah, they convinced me to be a better man, donate to charity, all that… philanthropy shit—uh, stuff.” Derek had attempted to simultaneously make his mother believe he had a respectable date to the party, as well as being a much better person than he was before.

“Which was when?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Uh, like.. gotta be a few months ago, give or take,” he answers briefly.

“Alright, and who is this date of yours?” She finally asks.

“Oh, right, that would, um, that would be my partner,” he answers in a mumble, nodding to himself with clarity.

“Derek,” she sighs exasperatedly.

“Oh. Their name? Their name, you mean? Their name is, uhh, umm… Actually, I would love to surprise you, Mom!” He answers immediately.

“Seriously?” She scoffs with a disappointed sigh. Jessica knew her son like the back of her hand. Hell, she birthed the kid, having to push out his dumb, big head out of her snatch. The point was, she could always sense when he was lying, or at least when there was something fishy. Sadly, she frequently expected very less of him, unbeknownst to Derek.

“Yeah, Mom! Trust me, they’re really kind and they’re a good person, and I am—I am just thrilled to introduce the two of you,” he exaggerates pridefully, hoping to eventually sell it.

“I worry about you, Derek,” she sighs softly. “Fine… Fine, whatever, Derek, I’ll see them at the party. Please promise me that. Just… Just be good, okay?”

Derek smiled to himself. “I will. And I promise. I won’t disappoint you. I love you, Ma.”

“I love you too.”

***

“I am so royally fucked,” Derek states bluntly.

Later on in the evening, Derek was hanging out with you as always, at the club you two would habitually meet up at. You were his best friend for many years already and earned the position of being his right-hand man ever since you first met in college.

“Why? What did you do this time?” You reply lazily, sipping your drink. You always expected bullshit from Derek. He always got himself into trouble that he would make other people fix. It wasn’t very bothersome to you, personally. You enjoyed hanging out with him and his privilege was just a big bonus.

“Well… So, I was speaking with Wallace—”

“Ew—”

“Yeah, I know,” he scoffs. “As I was saying… The guy pulled me into his office and, get this? There’s a whole fuckin’ rumor that my mom is going to cut me off.”

“What?” You perked up, sitting up from your previous slouching position and looked at Derek seriously. “No way. That—No, that’s not true. You’re—You’re a full-time Mama’s Boy, the fucking suck-up of the century, there’s no way she would do that to you!”

Derek shrugged as he sipped his bourbon, the blue lights in the bar beginning to give him a headache. “Yeah, well… Remember that… that super dope video of me drinking a shot from that one stripper’s belly button? What was her name?”

You bit the inside of your cheek in deep thought. “Vixen?”

“No, she was last week’s. Was it Trixie?”

“No, that was way back during the New Year’s Eve party,” you recalled.

“Candy? No…”

Enthusiastically, you slapped the wooden surface of the counter with your palm. “Tiffany!”

“Yes, fuck, it was Tiffany!” Derek exclaimed. “Okay, well, you recall all those videos of her and me posted everywhere, right?”

“Hell, yeah! I had the best fucking recording, man,” you chuckle softly, thinking about the wild night before.

“Yeah, you did,” he slightly smiled, “but, uh… It’s getting viral and well… I don’t fuckin’ know why Wallace can’t do more cover-up shit for me, but because I’m ‘ruining my reputation’ with this, it’s gonna give my mom a bad reputation too? So, like… Wallace said there was talk about her… cutting me off the inheritance or whatever.”

“Shit…” you blew a low whistle, raising an eyebrow. “That’s… That’s really tough, man. Look, I’m sure that there’s a reason why it was solely a rumor and she’s not actually thinking of that. She loves you, you’re the last physical form of proof of your dad, and ultimately, you’re a manipulative suck-up. You’re not getting cut off anytime soon, dude.”

Derek scoffs, pinching his eyebrows together. “Well, its too late because I sorta fucked up a bit more.”

You raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Really? How?”

“My mom was so insistent about me getting a date to the party this weekend and I think she believes that me being in an exclusive, healthy relationship or whatever would improve my reputation,” he explains, humming a small mutter of gratitude as a bartender walked over to refill his drink. “So… I lied and told her that I had a date already. And that I’ve been dating them for a few months already and they’re helping me improve so that she would have no reason to cut me off.”

“But like… the video of you and Tiff—”

“I know the video of me and Tiff!” He exclaims in frustration. “I told her that video was filmed a long time ago and people are just reposting it, or something.”

“Okay, right,” you nod, trying to get a sense of his train of lies. “So, what, did she believe you?”

“I don’t… I don’t fuckin’ know,” he mumbles, “I can’t tell. But I told her I would bring them to the party as a surprise and I couldn’t even come up with a name or anything.”

You groan, putting your head in your hands before taking another sip of your alcohol. “Derek, you are a total idiot. What are… So—so, who are you gonna pull up to the party with? A fuckin’ cardboard cutout of fuckin’… Margot Robbie and call it a night?”

“No, I’m not a dumbass, Y/n. I’ll just tell her that they couldn’t make it because they were sick or something. Better yet—they were doing some kind of modeling job in Europe,” he replies, wanting to give the impression that if he would have a romantic partner, they would be incredibly successful and beautiful. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

“That’s rich,” you scoff, wiping an eye with your finger. You were absolutely done with him. “You really think she’s going to believe that? Seriously? She’s your mom, Derek, I’m sure she can tell when you’re lying. And—and at one point, she’s going to ask for proof of photos and to actually meet them in person, and I’m sure that when she gets the news that you lied to her, she’d want to cut you off even more! Derek, you’re just digging yourself in an even deeper hole than before. You’re practically digging your own grave,” you argue.

“Fine, fine, then if she asks again, I’ll just say that they broke up with me,” he shrugged dismissively, leaning back and drinking from his glass.

“I thought the whole point was to improve your reputation, make you seem like a goddamn saint?” You retort, wiping your hand over your face in exhaustion.

He frowns. “Okay, you do have a point. Fuck. Then what do you suggest I do?”

“Why’re you asking me?” You whine with a frown.

“Because you keep correcting me on shit, clearly you must have better ideas than me,” he shrugs, looking at you expectantly.

“Well, I don’t. If I were you, I’d just cut your losses and accept that your fucking consequences have actions!” You reason fairly. “Might as well just get kicked out to the streets, having to con people for their money—oh wait, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing for the past few years! That’s all you do, man, I’m sorry, I can’t back you up! All you do is trick and deceive with all your lies, using people as pawns, it’s ridiculous!”

And after all that calling out, there was only one thing that the arrogant bastard got out from your outburst. His eyes lit up and you could tell that he had another stupid idea.

“Wait, Y/n, that’s it!” He exclaims brightly. “Using people!”

“Dude, I really fucking can’t with you—”

“I can get someone to pose as my fake partner for the night!” He grins.

“Yeah, I am really not liking the sound of this—”

“And get this,” he began eagerly. “You can do it.”

You feel your eyes widen as you hear Derek’s proposal. “Oh, no. No. Hell no. No, no, no, not in a million fucking years.”

“Y/n, come on,” he whines childishly. “It’ll only be for a day. You can pose as my partner at the party, impress my mom, deceive the press for a bit, and boom, I won’t even be considered getting cut off.”

You let out a prolonged groan, rolling your eyes and gulped much more of your drink than a regular sip. “Derek, she knows me. She knows I’m your best friend, she’s met me, there is no way—”

“That’s the point! I can pull some strings and shit, saying that we were friends until we, like, fell for each other or some other cheesy fuckass story. And if we want this entire charade to end after the party, a few days later I could just say that we broke up because we were more compatible as friends! No bitterness so that neither of us seem like the bad guy in the breakup. It’s the perfect fucking plan,” he explains, somehow more intricately than you would expect from him.

You pause, pondering deeply about his plan.

“Hell no.” You finally say, drinking more of your beer.

“Aw—come on, Y/n. Please. It’s only for a day. Look, my life is at fucking stake! I could lose all my fucking money, and—look—you won’t get to take advantage of my rich, privileged ass anymore. No more luxuries, no more rich parties. Come on, Y/n. Please.” His voice was pleading and you could tell he was heavily desperate. He wasn’t wrong. If the rumors were true and his mother was going to cut him off due to his recklessness and immaturity, he would lose so much money that you can’t leech off on. And of course you cared about him more than the money, he’s been your friend for years. But this whole thing seemed so complicated.

However, you were his right-hand man. His best friend since college. He relied on you. But hell, if you had to humiliate yourself for one night as Derek’s romantic partner, you should at least get something out of it.

“I wanna get paid,” you blurted.

He looked at you with an almost offended expression. “What?”

“Look, if I have to spend a night at a boring ass party, shaking the wrinkly, sweaty hands of old, ancient fucks, and having to pretend I’m your partner, I expect to be paid,” you reason, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re fuckin’ kidding,” he scoffs distastefully, rolling his eyes. God, you wanted to stab a fork in them.

“No! This whole plan is so complicated and I hate you for involving me in it!” You growl, pointing at him accusingly. “What am I getting out of this? Nothing! So you might as well just pay me to do this stupid acting job.”

“You’re—You’re not serious—” he glances at your obstinate expression. “You’re fucking serious. Well, okay! Fuck, fine. How much are we talking?”

“How long is the event?” You ask, grabbing your glass up to your lips to indulge in another sip.

“Probably a few hours, I don’t know, it’s a whole fancy live charity auction event,” he shrugs carelessly, grabbing his vape from his pocket and taking a quick drag.

“Okay, then. I won’t burden you too much. Two hundred dollars,” you answer confidently.

“That’s it? Oka—”

“However,” you began with a small smirk. “If we have to be all couple-y and gross and romantic with each other, I may consider raising the price. Like, if we have to hold hands or I have to look into your eyes for more than five seconds.”

“Fine, that seems fair,” he sighs softly. “Do we have a deal?” Derek, like he always would when he’d negotiate, took out his hand in front of you.

You grimaced at it. “I really don’t wanna shake to that,” you whine, groaning to yourself. “Just one night, right?”

“One night,” he confirms.

“Staging a break up right after?”

“Yup.”

“Little to no PDA?”

“Hopefully.”

“And you’re gonna pay me five hundred bucks?”

“Yes. Wait, wh—”

Before he could protest, you shook his hand immediately, completely sealing the deal.

Having to pretend to be Derek Danforth’s romantic partner for a whole night?

Yeah, there was no way in hell that this was going to end well.

[the-froschamethyst4]

Shows Up

𖤐Pairing: Step dad! Gaz x Wife! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: fluff, language, mostly Kyle, a bit emotional, married couple, children, kissing, short one today

𖤐Summary: Kyle shows up to his step daughters talent show

————

————

"Kyle, we need to get ready to leave," Y/n says, coming out of the bathroom and putting her earrings in.

"I know, I know," Kyle says, putting some shoes on.

"Mama, have you seen my pants?"

"Kai, I laid them out for you."

"Well, I can't find them," Kai says, Y/n heads out of the bedroom and Kai behind her going to his bedroom.

Tonight, Y/n's daughter Skye was doing her schools talent show, she stayed after school to be able to rehearse for what she will be doing, Y/n didn't know what Skye was doing along with Kyle, but Kai knew and kept it a secret for so long.

They needed to get there asap, so they don't miss Skye's part of the show. For a while Y/n was so busy that she could barely show up to support her children, but after meeting Kyle and he helps out a lot, she puts everything on hold for her children.

"Come on, we need to go, now!" Y/n says as they all rushed to the car.

--------

Skye was back stage looking at people coming in a finding their seats, she wanted to see her mom and Kyle and know everything was going to be okay, she wanted to see them.

"Oops, Skye, what are you doing?" Her teacher came around seeing her peak her head from the curtain.

"I wanted to see my mama and my step-dad," she says.

"I promise they will be here," Skye goes to the wings of the stage now. Skye was never afraid to talk in front of people, which is a good trait she didn't pick up from her mother unlike Kai, he's terrified of the thought of getting up on stage in front of hundreds of people.

Y/n, Kyle and Kai had found their seats, Y/n sits between Kyle and Kai. She crosses her legs and Kyle placed his hand on her thigh to let her know everything was going to be okay. Kai plays on Y/n's phone because he was board and Y/n didn't want him on the iPad.

The lights dimmed and the show was starting, the teacher that was hosting the talent show came out and thanked the parents, friends and family for coming and showing up.

Y/n's legs bounces nervous for what her daughter might be doing, Kyle started to play with his fingers nervous as well. Kai gave Y/n her phone back and watched the performances of the kids.

----------

"Okay, thank you Matthew for show us that you can...burp your ABC's," the teacher rubs her temple and let's out a huff. "Up next we have Skye L/n, she wanted to do something special for her step-dad Kyle Garrick."

Kyle looks at Y/n was shock the same with Y/n, they then looked down at Kai, since he knew. He just shakes his head as if he's still not gonna say what it is.

Skye comes on stage, the teacher fixing the microphone to be down at Skye's level. She clears her throat.

"To Kyle Garrick my step dad, so kind, you're in my heart and on my mind. You help me learn and play each day, in your hugs I find my way. You teach me things I didn't know, like how to tie my shoes, you cheer me on with every try, with you I feel like I can fly. You read me stories, you tuck me in, you make me smile with your big grin. I'm so glad you're part of my family, you make my mama smile and laugh everyday, step-dad Kyle, I love you," she finishes, everyone clapped for the 1st grader.

Kyle and Y/n both stood up for her, she looks around for them and could see them right under the darkness even though the light was in her eyes. She waves at them both.

"Wow, that was amazing, Skye, that was such a lovely poem for Kyle and I hope he enjoyed it as well," Skye walks off the stage, going to the wing.

Y/n turns to her husband seeing his eyes were red, his fingers rubbed his eyes, and he was sniffling.

"Aww~ Kyle," Y/n holds his head close to her chest and kissed his temple.

Kyle for the longest time had thought Y/n's kids hated him, Kai took around a month to get use to Kyle and Skye took longer to get use to him, and he couldn't tell when Skye liked him or not, but he guesses she did like him.

----------

After the show Skye held a rose that her teacher gave her, she walks to the rows of seats trying to find where her mom, step-dad and brother were.

"SKYE!" She hears Kai's voice. She smiles and runs up to Kai, he picks her up and quickly drops her back on the ground, she sees Y/n running to her, Y/n picks her daughter up and she looks at Kyle.

"Kyle," she opens her arms and Kyle takes her from Y/n's arms, hugging her tightly.

"I loved the poem, baby," he says, rubbing her back.

"Good, I worked hard on it."

"I know, you did," Kyle kissed Skye's forehead.

---------

At home, Skye and Kai were getting ready for bed, Kyle picked up Skye and took her to her bedroom. He lays her down.

"So, what do you want to read?" Kyle asked.

"Princess and the Pea."

"Okay."

Y/n came into the room after putting Kai down. She leans against the doorframe and looks at Skye cuddled up to Kyle's side as he was reading the book to her.

"The End," Kyle says, looking over to his right seeing Skye was asleep. "Good night, kiddo," he kissed the top of her head and made sure she was comfortable.

"Come on, Kyle," she says, opening her arms and Kyle picks her up taking her to their shared bed.

[whatdoeseverybodywant]

All I Want Is You- Part 2

Jey Uso x Ex-Girlfriend Reader

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS

Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated ❤ 

Janelle is played by Justine Skye

Taglist: @christinabae @southerngirl41 @reci24 @jeyusos-girl @jeyusosgirl @melaninsugababy @baconeggndcheez @bemybabiibish @jstarr86 @nbanenefrmdao @purplehairgawdess

Part 1

Saturday August 5th

“Trin it was awful, he basically compared me to Xavi’s mom” Janelle sighed. As she flopped back onto the bed. She had called Trinity as soon as she woke up to tell her what happened last night.  

“Can you blame him?” When Janelle didn’t say anything Trinity continued. “I mean you left just like she  did. And You didn’t see the fallout of you leaving. I’ve never seen X so sad before. I’m not saying this to make you feel bad neither Nelle but, for a year straight you were his maternal figure. All he knew was you and Josh aka mom and dad.” 

Janelle sighed,  she knew she hurt Xavier and Josh by walking out on them but it was for the best. 

“Trin, I wasn’t ready for all of that.” She wished she could've stayed on Raw and none of yesterday would’ve happened. Trinity scoffed over the phone. 

“Janelle, you fell into the role so easily though. I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything..” Trinity said she knew Janelle was lying about not being ready. When Janelle just repeated that she wasn’t ready Trinity scoffed again. “Bullshit. Tell me what was going on.” 

“Fine! I felt suffocated, felt like I couldn’t breathe. We fell into a routine of taking care of Xavi and I got scared.” 

“Scared of what?” Trinity said softly. “Janelle what’s going on?”  Trinity listened as her friend cried on the phone. “I wish I was there with you Nelly. Please don’t cry.”  Janelle went to get some tissue to wipe her nose. 

“I wish you were here too Trinny. This honestly sucks.” They talked some more before Janelle made up an excuse to get off the phone.

Backstage of Summerslam was buzzing, there were people everywhere. Both rosters, some people from NXT and a whole bunch of legends were in the building but when she heard Xavier call her name, all the other noise stopped and she focused her attention on him. 

 “Nelly! You like my face paint?!” Janelle smiled and walked closer to him. She was expecting to see him with Josh but he wasn’t, he was with Josh’s cousin. They greeted each other with friendly smiles. Janelle had met her a couple of times, when she and Josh were dating. 

“I love it.” Janelle said. Josh’s cousin had a smile on her face, watching the two of them interact. She was very confused when Josh told her that he and Janelle had broken up. She honestly thought that they would be engaged by now. She knew about the ring that he had bought a couple of weeks before Janelle left him. 

“I’m going to watch my daddy fights  uncle Jo-Jo and I’m going to be in the fronts row,” Janelle gasped. 

“Really? Wow, you're so lucky.” She said.

“Can you come watch daddy with us?” Janelle shook her head. 

“ I can’t bud. I have to work.” She said, Xavier pouted at her and muttered ‘okay.’ 

“Come on Xavi, we gotta go or we’re gonna miss your dads entrance.”  Xavier nodded and waved bye to Janelle as they walked away. 

“Wait!.” He yelled out rushing back over to Janelle. “You didn’t give me good luck kisses.” She tilted her head and looked at him.  “You give my daddy good luck kisses, but he not here. So I'll take them.” He said, smiling at her. He was a smooth talker just like his dad. 

Janelle chuckled. “Ok fine.”  She kissed both his cheeks, mindful of the facepaint then placed a kiss on his forehead. Josh’s cousin let out an ‘aww’ it was obvious that Janelle had love for Xavier.

Janelle placed one more kiss on Xavier’s forehead, letting him place one on her’s before letting him run back over to Lena. 

“Love you Nelly!” He yelled out behind him. 

“Love you too Xavier!”  She smiled as she watched him walk away. She felt like such a jackass for leaving him, but it was better this way. 

Janelle arrived at the hotel after SummerSlam later than she would’ve liked. She had spent 2 more extra hours at the arena filming and editing content. She stopped walking when she heard somebody call her name. 

“Ms Porter?” She turned to look at the worker behind the desk. 

“Yes?” She asked slightly confused, 

“Someone left these here for you.” The employee said, handing Janelle a big bouquet of roses and two envelopes. 

“Oh wow.” Janelle said in awe. “They’re beautiful.” 

The employee smiled at her. “Yes they are ma’am. Whoever got you these is in love with you” There were only a handful of people that knew she was staying at this hotel and none of them she was involved with romantically. Her heart started to pound in her chest when Josh flashed through her mind. She shook her head causing the employee to look at her weirdly before walking away to help another guest. 

Janelle took the flowers and went over to the elevator. Once she got in her room she set the flowers down on the table and sat down on the bed to read the cards. Opening one of the envelopes, she let out a gasp when she pulled out a picture of her and Xavier. Josh had taken it. She knew it was one of the ones he kept in his wallet because of all the bends in it. 

In the other envelope was a folded piece of paper. Opening it, she felt her eyes start to water as she read it. 

For 24 hours all i've been thinking about is you. Even during my match with Joe. Pathetic right? I can’t get you out of my head J. I keep looking at this picture of you and Xavi and i’m still so fucking confused, why did you leave? We were happy. I was happy. Xavier was happy and if you weren’t happy why didn’t you say anything. I’m sorry if I was pressuring you into starting a family. I just love you Janelle. I wanted ,   want  to spend the rest of my life with you. Tell me what I can do to fix this so you can come home. - Joshua 

 Janelle was full on crying now. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy with Josh and Xavier, she was very happy being there with them and that was the whole point.

Josh sighed as he sat on the couch, finally able to put and overly excited Xavier to sleep. He looked over at his brother when he sat down next to him. 

“You alright Uce?”  Josh just shrugged. He honestly didn’t know how to feel right now. He wanted to be with Janelle. He wanted a family with Janelle. But even from their talk yesterday, it was obvious that wasn’t what she wanted. He didn’t know why he sent the note and the picture to Janelle. The flowers were from Xavier, but Josh saw an opportunity to get what he wanted to say off his chest.  

“I’m stuck, man.” He finally said. “It’s so fuckin’ obvious that she doesn’t want to be with me. But I can’t move on. Man seeing her yesterday just brought back all them feelings that I had locked away.” 

Jon felt bad for his twin. Honestly their whole family felt bad for him, everyone thought that Janelle was the one for Josh. 

“Man, listen Uce. You gotta think about that little boy in there. He’s involved in this just as much as you and Janelle.” Josh nodded his head. 

“I know. I keep thinking about our conversation yesterday and It doesn’t make any sense. She kept saying that she wasn’t ready. But she would get up when X had nightmares, she would be the one to read him bedtime stories. She would be the one to do bathtime. So what the fuck. I never asked her to do any of that. She did that shit on her own.” He said, slightly raising his voice towards the end. 

“Well, she called Trin earlier. “ Jon sighed. “She told Trin that she was starting to feel suffocated, and that she was scared..”  

Josh looked over at his brother. “Scared of what?” Jon just shrugged. 

“She didn’t say.” 

August 8th

Janelle let out a shaky breath as she pulled up in front of her old house. She spent 2 days re-reading his letter to her. She needed him to understand why she left. Wiping her palms on her pants she exited her car and walked up the steps to the front door. 

Josh’s face was full of shock when he opened the door. She gave him a small smile and cleared her throat. 

“Can I come in?”  She asked, walking in when he moved to the side. She stood in the foyer awkwardly. She looked around noticing that he never removed the picture of him, her and Xavier from the end table. She followed him to the living room. Sitting in one of the chairs across from the couch he was sitting on. 

He still didn’t say anything. He was just watching her as she looked around, seeing what he changed since she moved out. 

“You want something to drink?” He asked, she shook her head no. “Okay, so whatchu’; doin here?” She wiped her hand on her pants again, clearing her throat. 

“I wanted to talk to you. I got your note and flowers. Thank you.” He just shrugged. 

“The flowers were from Xavier. He saw them and said we had to get them for you.” She smiled at that. Speaking of Xavier, it was too quiet.

“Where is he?” She asked. 

“Pops is in town, took him out for a bit.”  She nodded.  “What do you wanna talk about?” He asked, sitting back on the couch. 

“Trinity told me that she told Jon who told you what I said to her on the phone. When I said I felt like I was being suffocated. It had nothing to do with you or Xavier. It was everything to do with me and my own selfish reasons.”  

“What reasons? Help me understand Janelle”  She groaned and closed her eyes. 

“Josh, I wanted to go out and have fun too. I missed out on so much because I was here with you guys. 

“I never asked you to miss out on stuff.” He said cutting her off. “If you wanted to go out you should’ve just went out! Nobody was stopping you” She was pissing him off and not making any sense. 

“That's the point Josh!” She said yelling and standing up from the chair. “Nobody was stopping me. I have free range to do what the hell I wanted to. But I wanted to be here with Xavier. I wanted to give him baths. I wanted to read him bedtime stories. I wanted to do all of that.”  She yelled, wiping her tears. “I had to leave Josh. When I came to the realization that I loved Xavier like he was my own and that I wouldn't mind having kids with you I had to leave!” She was pacing back and forth now. 

He was more confused now than he ever was. 

“Why did you have to leave?”  When she didn’t respond he jumped up off the couch and stood in front of her, stopping her pacing. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Fucking talk to me Janelle. What do you mean you had to leave.” 

“I didn’t want to be like my mom!” She finally shouted. “I didn’t want to wake up one morning hating you, or Xavier or any of our children, if we had any. I figured it’ll be better for me to just leave” Josh cupped her face and wiped away her tears. 

Everything sort of made sense to Josh now. She had confided in him about everything her mom had put her through when she was younger. All the mental abuse Janelle had to go through until she graduated high school and went off to college. 

“Janelle, you’re nothing like your mom. Nelle the love that you show for Xavier is crazy. You remember that time you almost beat that kid mom's ass because her son was picking on Xavier?” She laughed and nodded. “That right there should show you that you are better than your mom.” 

“But-” He cut her off. 

“But nothing. You are better than your mom. Way better. Whatever thoughts you had we could’ve talked them out instead of you leaving.” 

“I honestly thought I wasn’t ready for that. But seeing him again the other day made me realise how fuckin stupid I was being. I’m sorry” 

He nodded. “I know you are. But it’s ain't me you gotta apologize to, it's Xavi. He cried for days when you left.” Janelle felt her bottom lip start to quiver. She felt so bad for leaving Xavier the way she did.  “Why couldn’t you just talk to me?” 

“I don’t know Josh. I was scared you wouldn’t understand where I was coming from.” She cupped his cheeks and brought his head down so that his forehead was resting on hers. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry too. About comparing you to his mom. You nothing like her Janelle.” 

“It's okay, I know you were mad, heat of the moment type shit.”  He leaned his head back so he could look her in the eyes. 

“It’s not okay, I’m surprised you didn’t slap the shit outta me.” She laughed and placed her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his middle. They stood there embracing each other.  “I don’t know about you.” He said after a minute. “But I was in a grueling ass match the other day and my body hurts.”  She picked her head up and arched her eyebrow. 

“Whatchu tryna say?” 

He smirked at her.  “We can go upstairs, you can give me one of those full body massages I've been missing.” 

She laughed, throwing her head back. “You mean the massages that always lead to something more.” 

“Shiit, I mean..” He trailed off. Laughing when she hit him in the chest. “Alright, you staying for dinner?” 

She nodded and followed him into the kitchen. “Yeah I’ll stay.” 

One more chapter. ❤️ Thank you for all the comments likes and reblogs on part 1 hopefully this part is just as good.

[storiesforallfandoms]

the parent trap ~ travis barker

word count: 2979

request?: yes!

“Travis barker x female reader, the reader has a teenage daughter around Travis barker daughter age and the daughter is friends with Alabama and the daughter tells the reader how much her and Alabama have in common. So one day the reader and Travis meet and the daughter and Alabama notice that Travis and the reader like each other so they plan to get there parents together and then the reader and Travis get together, please and thank you”

description: when their teenage daughters notice chemistry between their parents, they decide to take matters into their own hands

pairing: travis barker x female!reader

warnings: swearing, rpf, two uses of y/n

masterlist (one, two, three)

“Mom, can I go over to Alabama’s after school?”

You looked at your daughter, Skye, as you passed her a plate of breakfast. “You’ve been talking about Alabama a lot lately, but you haven’t introduced me to her yet.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “Because you’d totally embarrass me, mom.”

You put a hand over your heart in mock offence. “You wound me, dear daughter.”

She didn’t fight the smile that pulled at her lips. You placed a plate in your spot at the table and sat across form her. “You just seem to be good friends with this Alabama girl, and I’d like to meet her eventually because of that. And her parents, for that matter.”

Skye let out a groan, but she conceded, “Fine. You can pick me up at her place and meet her and her dad. Happy?”

“Oh, I am elated,” you said, sarcastically.

~~~~~~

The next evening, you parked outside the address Skye had given you. She had agreed to let you come to the door to meet Alabama and her dad, but then you were to leave right away. Less likely to “embarrass” her that way (her words).

You walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. You heard footsteps approaching the door, and assumed it was Skye and Alabama as you had texted Skye to let her know you were on the way. Imagine your surprise when a man answered the door instead; a very handsome man, at that.

“Hello?” he said, seeming confused by your presence.

“Uh, hi!” you said, trying to remember where you even were. “I’m here to pick up Skye?”

You were worried for a second that you had the wrong address, but then he smiled and said, “Oh yeah! I’m Alabama’s dad, Travis. Skye mentioned you were stopping by. Come in!”

That wasn’t what was agreed on with Skye, but you weren’t about to argue. After all, that agreement was made before you knew that Alabama had a very handsome dad.

You followed Travis into the kitchen. The house was massive. You were wondering what he did for a living, until you noticed a music plaque on one of his walls. You came to realize he was in a band - Blink-182 to be exact. You knew they were a popular band, but they weren’t one that you listened to enough to have recognized him.

“Skye and Bam are out back in the pool,” Travis explained. “Do you want a drink or anything?”

“I’m good, thanks,” you said. “That explains why Skye didn’t meet me at the door. I’m (Y/N), by the way.”

He reached to shake your hand. You tried not to react to the spark you felt when your hands touched. It felt like such a juvenile way to think, but you genuinely did feel a spark. Maybe you were just trying to manifest something because he was so attractive.

“Skye was going to meet you at the door?” Travis asked, raising an amused eyebrow at you.

“Yeah. She wanted my meeting of you and Alabama to be very short and sweet, so she was supposed to meet me at the door and usher me out immediately after I met you both. Apparently I’m embarrassing or something.”

Travis chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds familiar.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “You? The rockstar? Embarrassing?”

He laughed. “Fame does not make someone less embarrassing. I still poke fun at Bam to embarrass her. It’s a dad requirement. Like calling her Bam. She hates it, or so she says.”

You both sat at the kitchen table. Despite declining his offer for a drink, Travis had still poured up a glass of water for you and put it in front of you. You got to talking while waiting for the girls to come inside. Travis asked you about yourself mainly, and only answered in short responses before turning the conversation back to you. You figured he got tired of talking about himself as a celebrity, and you really didn’t mind telling him about yourself. Most of the dates you had been on barely asked you the bare minimum about yourself.

Not that this was a date. Not at all. You were just meeting the dad of your daughter’s best friend.

At least, that’s what you kept telling yourself, until Travis asked, “So...is Skye’s dad still around?”

You were shocked by the question first, but managed to say, “No. Well, I mean, he’s alive. But we’re divorced. We split up when Skye was little, but we’re still on good terms for her sake.”

“Me too. Divorced, I mean. Bam and Landon’s mom and I had a very...intense relationship that we eventually realized was not a good one. We co-parent, and we try to be civil for the kids.”

Silence fell over the two of you. You weren’t sure what was happening, or how to react. He was looking at you, though, and you were starting to feel flushed under his gaze.

You were broken apart by someone clearing their throat. You both looked up to see Skye and Alabama, wrapped in towels but still dripping on the kitchen floor. They were both giving you a look that you couldn’t quite decipher.

“Bam, dry off more before you come in,” Travis said. His daughter scowled but didn’t argue over the nickname.

“Skye, are you ready to go home?” you asked. “Wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome and embarrass you.”

She rolled her eyes “Yeah, let me go change.”

She ran in through the kitchen, Alabama following behind her, water trailing behind them as they went. “Skye, dry off before you come in!”

“It’s too late,” Travis said. “Her and Alabama were already in.”

“I can dry that for you.”

He waved away your offer. “Don’t worry. It’s just water. Alabama is always trekking water through the house too. Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?”

Of course you did. You never wanted to leave. You wanted to spend as much time with Travis as you possibly could. But you knew that wasn’t possible, because you were just here to pick up Skye, and he was just Skye’s best friend’s dad. He was being nice, and that’s it.

So, instead of saying what you really wanted to say, you just politely smiled and shook your head. “We have to get home. I have dinner taken out to make, and I wouldn’t want the food to spoil and go to waste.”

That was a lie. You were planning to stop and get fast food for dinner.

Skye came back into the room, now dressed in the clothes she had been wearing when she went to school, and her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail. “I’m ready.”

You stood from your seat and approached her. “Nice to meet you, Travis. Tell Alabama it was nice to meet her, too.”

“You didn’t even meet her,” Skye pointed out. You grabbed her and steered her out of the house.

The car ride was quiet, weirdly enough. You expected Skye to be upset that you had been there for so long without her knowing, even though you had showed up at the agreed time and even texted her to tell her you were on your way. Besides telling you what she wanted for dinner, though, she didn’t say much the whole ride. What you didn’t notice was that she kept glancing at you, the wheels in her mind turning as she grabbed her phone and texted Alabama.

~~~~~~

A few days later, you were pulling up to Travis’ again. Skye had come over to hang out with Alabama, but she had told you she wanted to spend the entire Saturday there. So you were confused when you got a text from her in the early afternoon asking you to come get her. You were worried something had happened between the two girls.

You knocked at the door and Travis answered. He smiled at the sight of you. “Hey, good to see you again.”

You fought back the swelling in your heart at seeing him. “Hey, is Skye ready to go?”

He gave you a confused look. “Skye and Bam just left. They said they were walking to the mall.”

Now it was your turn to be confused. “I got a text from her not even 20 minutes ago asking me to come pick her up. I thought her and Alabama might’ve gotten in a fight.”

Travis shook his head. “They were just fine when they left, which was literally moments ago. I’m surprised you didn’t see them walking.”

You looked at your phone again just to be sure you had read the message right. There it was, asking you to come pick her up right away. Well, you were more than confused.

“Maybe she forgot to tell you her and Alabama left,” Travis offered. “Come in, we’ll wait for them and figure this out.”

You didn’t have to be told twice.

Travis brought you into his living room this time. As you sat, you decided to call Skye to see what was going on. The line rang a few times before you were sent to her voicemail. You tried again, only to get the same result.

You sighed and gave up. “She’s sending me to voicemail.”

“She might not hear the phone ringing. We may as well just wait for them to come back.”

You both fell into an awkward silence. What were you supposed to say? It’s not like you two had spoken since the last time you were there, and that last time ended just as awkwardly as this moment felt. If anything, whatever you could’ve asked him or used to spark up a conversation had already been said the last time you were over. Now you were stuck here in this terrible awkward limbo, as if you were two high school kids on a first date.

Weird how I’ve felt like a high schooler again after meeting Travis.

“I’m sure the girls are fine,” Travis said, finally breaking the silence. You looked over at him, a blank look on your face. “I’m assuming that’s why you’re being quiet, I mean.”

“Oh!” You chuckled. “No. I mean, yes I’m a little concerned and confused, but that’s not why I’m being quiet. I just...I’m a little awkward right now. I’m not too sure what to say if I’m being honest.”

Travis laughed. “I’m not that intimidating, am I?”

“No! God, no. The opposite of intimidating. You’ve been very inviting since the first time we met. I just...I don’t know. I don’t really know how to...talk to you.”

Now he was the one looking at you with an unreadable face. You groaned and buried your face in your hands. Leave it up to you to find a way to completely mess things up. Seriously, you had no idea how you had ever gotten married and had a kid when you had always been the epitome awkward. You thought you had left that part of you behind when you graduated and had met your ex, but now it was rearing its ugly head all over again.

“I am so sorry,” you said. “I am terrible at...everything, it would seem. Maybe I should try and call Skye again, or wait in the car for her - ”

“Wait,” Travis said, reaching out to stop you before you could stand. When his hand touched your arm, you started. Not that he had startled you, but you were so sure you had felt that spark again. A simple touch on your arm alone had sent a tingling sensation from your arm to your shoulder, then across your chest and to the rest of your body. Taking your jump as something bad, Travis quickly pulled away. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” you said. “Really, I’m sorry. I can see why Skye was worried I’d embarrass her now.”

“I don’t find you embarrassing.”

You gave him a wry smile. “Thanks.”

There was only one way out of this situation. Granted, it was likely to put you in an even more awkward situation, but at least once it was out you could finally excuse yourself to go to your car. You were tempted to drive all the way home and make Skye walk back for the trouble she had put you through, but your motherly instincts definitely were not going to let you do that.

“The thing is,” you started, “you are attractive. And you must know that. And I don’t mean that just as, you know, because you’re famous. Hand to God, I didn’t know you were when we first met. I don’t listen to Blink-182, or any of that type of music. And...well, I haven’t done a lot of talking to attractive guys since my divorce. I’ve gone on a few blind dates, but they usually end there and I never hear from the guy again. So, I’m struggling a little bit with knowing how to speak to you, or how to act around you. It’s like I’m a teenager with a crush on a cute boy all over again, despite being a full grown adult with a kid.”

He was looking at you with an unreadable expression again. You sighed to yourself, taking this to mean you had really put your foot in it now. You hoped Skye didn’t get too mad at you when she realized you had made things between you and Alabama’s dad incredibly awkward. Maybe you could convince your ex to come get her from Travis’, and you’d pick her up from Alabama’s mom’s place when Alabama was with her.

You had to look away. The embarrassment was eating away at you, and you couldn’t handle it. It’s not like you had never dealt with rejection before. At least half of those blind dates you had mentioned ended with your date saying they didn’t want to go on another date with you. But this one hurt a little extra, and you wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

You started to stand again, but Travis moved to stop you again. “Wait! I promise this isn’t me trying to say I don’t feel the same way or anything. It’s just taking me a moment to process what you said.”

“You don’t have to say anything back if you don’t feel comfortable with it. Trust me, I get it if you don’t feel the same. I’m not going to make you feel bad or anything.”

“No, no. It’s not that at all. I...I do feel the same. I just thought it was silly because...well, like you said, we’re grown adults with teenagers. You would think we wouldn’t feel like teenagers ourselves anymore, but I guess those feelings never go away.”

He took your hands in his, both of you now turned on the couch to fully face one another.

“Listen, we’ve already gotten to know one another, we’ll still be seeing a lot of each other because our daughters are best friends,” he said. “Why don’t we give this a shot? Go on one date and see how it feels. If we decide that maybe it’s not going to work, we stay friends and we don’t let it get in the way of our daughters’ friendship.”

You were grinning from ear to ear, excitement starting to bubble up inside of you. You managed to keep your words calm and even as you said, “Yeah, I’d love that.”

It wasn’t more than a few seconds later that you heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the living room. Travis dropped your hands and you both moved away from one another, trying to pretend like nothing happened, as Skye and Alabama came around the corner. They both had sly grins on their faces, but Skye tried to act surprised upon seeing you. “Oh, mom. What are you doing here?”

You raised an eyebrow at her. “You texted me. You said you needed me to come get you right away.”

“Oh. Did I? That, uh...must’ve been a misclick or something.”

You and Travis shared a look.

“How was the mall, girls?” he asked.

“Good!” Alabama responded. “So good. You know, it was the mall.”

“Didn’t buy anything?” Travis asked, eying their hands which here conveniently empty from any shopping bags.

“Nothing caught our eye,” Alabama said with a shrug.

Travis hummed. He turned to you to say, “I didn’t hear the front door open, did you, (Y/N)?”

“Not at all,” you said. “How weird, huh?”

“So weird,” Skye said.

“Mega weird,” Alabama agreed.

They were up to something, and you had a feeling you knew what it was. You’d be talking to Skye about this more later, and you were sure Travis would be talking to Alabama, too. But for now, all four of you decided to drop the subject.

“Well, since you’re here now,” Travis said. “How about Skye and her mother join us for dinner? Would you guys be okay with that?”

“Yes!” Skye and Alabama burst at the same time.

You chuckled. “I guess I’m out numbered here.”

“Not like you were going to say no,” Travis teased.

You shrugged. “I guess not. But now we’ll never know.”

He smiled and stood from the couch to go find something to make for the four of you. You and the girls got up to follow, offering to help with the cooking. You didn’t want to get too far ahead of yourself, but as you watched Travis preparing the meal, and the girls sitting by pretending like they were helping, you couldn’t help but picture how this would be like if you were all a little family.

Maybe some light daydreaming isn’t so bad, you thought to yourself, as Travis smiled at you over his shoulder.

[ladybugsimblr]

simshaderoom #SSRBreakups #DeangeloBolton has filed for divorce from #LunaVillareal, his wife of just over a year. Infidelity is listed as the reason for the split, but no word on who was doing the cheating. D-Lo wants full custody of their two children together and we are told a prenup was signed. Single D-Lo was a menace in these sim streetz 😏. Do you think he is a changed sim? Will Mizuki get her man back? We miss both of them. Please come back to simshaderoom.

dizzydes Wow. Another marriage over because these wives don't want to be faithful anymore. See what you started Queen... Y'all can keep knocking on my door though. I'm happily single and have enough love to share. Good for you with that prenup bro!

skyeisthelimit Bye ashy!

rubberbandshan Ooop! Skye! Is that for dumbass Dizzy or your step mom?

skyeisthelimit EX step never my mom 😉

kingb Dizziot. Sirrr. It’s giving BK is paying you dust and you're sick over it. Saying anything at this point. Just admit you fucked up including the Queen in your stay relevant by any means necessary actions. And then please keep her name out your mouth.

anon Not to be messy but who do you think D-Lo cheated with? You think him and his “business partner” were making beautiful music in the studio?? 👀😏😅

b&qforever Absolutely not Anon. Ain’t no BK cheating or divorce happening. Ever. And I think Luna cheated. How you get them is how you lose them…

wildbutterfly I don’t care who’s cheating. Someone tell me when they’re casting for D-Lo’s bachelor challenge. I would cut a bish to find out how does it feel.

soheaux Ha! The way I too would be a heaux on national tv for my man D-Lo…. Sign me up.

kingb I’m here for this reality show. For the Love of D-Lo! I need BK to be the host. You think he would accept a male contestant? Asking for a friend…

c.spiracy Hmm. I would like to see this. If I could reveal my identity, I might even apply. Unfortunately we all know D-Lo’s one true love is Bailey Kay. He’ll never be happy with anyone else. Maybe he'll settle for a clone version so Lo and B can finally live their happy ever after.

rubberbandshan I caaaan’t with y’all or this idea. Ok I’m lying. I might could tune in if this became real. I like a little mess from time to time. d-lo i know you’re off simshaderoom shenanigans right now but would you be down????

d-lo 👀

[daisy-skye-johnson-quake]

This is Daisy or Skye or Johnson or Quake, God I have a lot of names.

I can fight, I can sing, I can dance but most Importantly i have a really good stance. Sorry I'm bad at rhyming, forget I said that.

I have quake-ing powers which means I can create vibrations or just impacts that are strong enough to push people down. I can also absorb energy which unfortunately makes my nose bleed, learnt that the hard way. I can fly but like not really high, actually it's more of a jump, I can jump really high.

I have had enough bad hair-dos to finally let my natural hair breath.

I have a half-sister Kora, she has light powers and can create or absorb them. I also have a boyfriend, who just doesn't want to propose to me for some reason. He's Agent Daniel Sousa but don't tell anyone cuz he's not supposed to be in this timeline. I- well we as in S.H.I.E.L.D, Stole him from another timeline. But that's a story for later.

I am fully straight and in a relationship. One of these days I'm gonna get him to make an account and come here.

Boyfriend: Agent Daniel Sousa, stolen from the past, cuz I fell in love with him. @i-am-not-that-old (accomplishment)

My Family: (not biological) Jemma Simmons and her husband Leopold Fitz, their daughter Alya, she's around 12-14 I'm guessing. I can never get that kids age right. Their family blog @fitzsimmons-blog

Alphonso (Mack) Mckenzie, he's practically my brother at this point. I like to tease him and call him Alphie (he hates it, but i love it) @the-shotgun-axe-man

Philip J. Coulson, kinda my dad also my friend don't really know. His blog @trading-cards-owner

Melinda Xiaolin May, she is kinda strict so I don't tell her she's like my mom. But I definitely think of her as one. @melinda-qiaolian-may-the-cavalry

This is who to imagine

[moldybonessmell]

Valorant agents age headcanons

There is the list of my headcanons for valo agents' age

Disclaimer: Realistically even 18 yo go to army but in my mind 18 yo are actual babies so in this tier the youngest are 21 yo

21-25

Gekko as the main gen z falls into the youngest tier, followed by Neon and Jett, the choice is pretty obvious ig

This might be controversial but Iso gives just as much of gen z energy as Gekko, the only difference is him adopting Stiles Stilinsky's personality growing up, this is how we end up with the sarcastic deadpan delivery guy (yes this one is relatable to the op aka me)

Deadlock in the group might be controversial but I think it's funny af if the serious suspitious woman ends up dragged into the least serious friend group in existence (I bet she would make friends with Iso lol)

26-30

Everyone thinks Sova is a serious adult-ass man and gets surprised when they realise he's gen z, he just has a scary accent and doesn't smile and people think he's older than he is (the russian unapprouchable and quiet nature doesn't help this either)

Sage struggles from the same desease called looking serious and being a mom friend but she's actually on the younger side of agents

You might argue Phoenix is younger, but he's the texbook example of the 26 yo dude who one day woke up and decided to be a DJ /affectionate No way the dude collecting shoes would have money for all that in his early 20s (even tho it's debatable)

Yoru might be older, but for a dude who spends his free time by fighting gangs he must be under 30. I know difficult personality doesn't necessarily mean he's young but it would make sense

Raze is fun and energetic but more on the party-person side than anything-for-a-trouble side so she's in this tier. She just gives off the energy of someone who was working in customer service for years and finally quit but still has her violent urges /joking

KJ gives off younger energy, but as someone known for her incredible tech abilities and robots she must be closer to 30. You can't tell me this woman didn't work in IT with tech-bros for several years just to realise she wants to kill people /joking unless

31-35

I kinda doubted myself on making Chamber 31 (as he's a famous weapon-maker but let's pretend he got successful pretty early) but he just gives off the energy of the guy who just entered his 30s but acts the same as when he was 20 (immaturity-vise)

Breach kinda falls into same category but for a completely different reason of being in prison (probably for a long time and probably for something he did in his early 20s) so he kinda stopped maturing after this

I can kinda imagine Harbour to experience similar stuff, knowing he used to make money by stealing and selling relics and there's no way he never got caught, right? Harbour and Breach could make good friends me thinks

Skye gives off energy of a woman who was working her entire youth non-stop and them turned her gaze back and she's already in her 30s and realised she doesn't know anything either about herself or what she even wants in life. I imagine this is why she's so concerned for environment. She started to get really into being eco-friendly after going through existential crisis and realising our planet is dying (I can also imagine her using re-usable stuff, wearing tote-bags and making effort to recycle as much as she can).

Astra just gives off energy of this one cool rich aunt who has no children and always brings presents to her nephews when visiting (and to be this aunt you usually need to be 30+ even tho it's optional ahaha)

No one knows Fade's real age and people kinda assume she's younger bc of her style, but she's at the age when she doesn't care what people would think and wears whatever she wants (tho she should take care of herself better, drinking this much coffee can only go without concequences when you're 20, girlie please get proper sleep)

36-40

People like to imagine Reyna as a young woman but in my mind she's on the older side. She just gives off the energy of someone going through hell and back in her life (I know she has a younger sister but siblings can in fact have big age differences) I also may or may not like older women but this one is between me and my ao3 history

Cypher is around 40 I think, simply because he used to have wife and a child and I imagine it's been some time since they passed. Tho probably no more than 10 years, as he still thinks about reviving them (the voiceline about him asking Sage if she can revive anybody), but not to the point of actually following through, as if he mostly healed, but not moved on completely

41-46

Is for Viper and Brim because they are way too tired of others' shit to be younger

If talking seriously, there's no way Brim is not pushing 50s as a literal commander, even tho his problems with electronics might be questionable even for this age group, but I don't see him being older

As for Viper, she as well as Reyna just gives off energy of someone who has seen some shit, also her being a scientist I can imagine it takes many many years to have such recearch it also may be or may not be same situation as with Reyna but this is not a crime

kinda immortal

Tier explains itself, these are agents whose age doesn't affect their mental state/maturity like Kayo and Omen

Even tho Omen used to be one of the agents and is probably in the same age group as them, if I had to guess he might be somewhere in 36-40 tier

Also Kayo is probably not even manufactured yet in this timeline, but I can't make "-25" tier ya know

This is it, thank you for reading, let me now if you have any thoughts about it!

[ten-chocolate-sundaes]

Can I ask if you have any headcanons for the Maitlands? If so i'd love to hear them!!

ohhhhhh yes :)

so sorry for the info dump

they both went to college, but neither of them use their degrees. adam majored in engineering and babs majored in art history.

i like to think they own the hardware store in every universe (hence why I don’t think they use their degrees). it was adam’s father’s store, and adam decided to take over when he realized they liked actually building stuff more than engineering.

they met through a habitat for humanity program in high school and became quick friends after that. they didn’t start dating until late in college, though.

barbara is obsessed with making lego flowers and likes to decorate beej’s room with them because she knows they’ll never water real ones.

babs lost her mom when she was a teenager, just like lydia, and they often trade stories about their mothers. lydia loves hearing about the kind of person her “grandma” was.

adam is terrible about picking out lumber without knots, so babs always has to accompany them when buying materials for a new project.

the deetzes restore maitland hardware and build a raised pathway from the house to the store so adam and barbara can go there and have it still be “part of the house.” they do the behind the scenes while charles hires people to be workers, and a cleaned-up bj is the face of the company.

they’re both biromantic asexual because I said so.

lydia gets them a black cat as a pet (it can see them for some netherworldly reason, according to beej) and they absolutely spoil her. I’m talking babs bakes her little kitty treats from scratch and adam refuses to leave the room without her in tow. they build the most epic cat tree of all time.

adam secretly likes weezer. lydia uses this as blackmail against them.

adam’s middle name is david and barbara’s is anne.

shortly post-musical, adam finds out there are more than two genders when beej casually drops that he’s genderfluid and takes the maitlands to pride. gender crisis ensues, and adam figures out they’re transfem and starts using they/he. barbara desperately tries to help him through the process since she had all her gender problems figured out twenty years ago (she’s trans. to me.)

babs loves 70s fashion. she starts wearing bell bottoms and overdone blue cateye eyeshadow after she dies because she finally feels comfortable enough to express herself.

barbara sings to her plants.

adam owns every martha stewart book. barbara never really understood the appeal, but she’ll help them do one of the projects whenever inspiration strikes.

adam has spina bifida and has to take breaks from working often because of leg weakness,

barbara makes the world’s greatest strawberry rhubarb pie. she makes it every year for adam’s birthday.

babs secretly collects gemstones, although she’d never tell delia. her favorite is the amethyst.

both of them develop an odd trait post-death: their clothes change color like beej’s hair to match their moods.

they’re both tall (like 6 feet)

adam is a mariokart champion. lydia and bj constantly try to beat them. they fail.

skye’s troop told her to go sell to the maitland’s house since they’d always buy way too many cookies because they didn’t want the girls to have a bad sale day.

I have more but this list is getting long so <3

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (9/18/2024) Episode: Back to Reality

Noemi and Luigi popped home just long enough to drop off their Batuu souvenirs and bags , then headed right back out to pick up Skye and Blossom.

“It was great to have some time just for us” Noemi said as they climbed the steps to Isra and Rhy’s place “but I’m ready to see my baby!” Luigi just smiled and nodded. He didn’t feel nearly as ready to dive back into “that parenthood life”, but he wasn’t about to disappoint her by saying so.

They waved at Isra and the kids through the door, but as soon as little Skye spotted his mom he took off like a tiny parent-seeking rocket.

Isra wasn’t able to catch him in time and the toddler smacked face first into the nearly invisible glass. Fortunately, maternal comfort was close at hand. “Shhh, you’re OK, mommy and daddy are here now, we missed you so much.” Noemi whispered as she wrapped him in a hug.

“momma back now” Skye echoed, his tears subsiding quickly under her loving ministrations as his little friend played happily beside him, quite used to his drama by now. Luigi was hanging back to let Noemi handle it when Isra stepped up next to him to have a quiet private word.

“Luigi” she began “I have to tell you; Skye was a little… aggressive while he was here. He was fine with the older kids, but we had some issues with the infants. First, he bit Orson when he tried to take a toy Skye was playing with. Then yesterday, during a playdate with Beau and Breanne on the beach, he hit Betty after she accidently messed up his sandcastle. We convinced Beau not to bother you, but he’s pretty mad. You should talk to him.”

Luigi didn’t know what to say, finally landing on “I’m sorry about that. I know Skye likes things just so and he’s not used to sharing.”

Gesturing towards the back patio where Noemi had settled with the tiny terror in question for a game of peek-a-boo he continued “He was obviously missing us too. I’m sure now that we’re back, he’ll calm down. Also, thanks for the heads up about Beau, I’ll call him soon.”

Isra followed Luigi outside to join the others. Wanting to make sure she knew he was taking the information she’d provided seriously Luigi wasted no time filling Noemi in: “Honey, Isra was telling me that Skye here wasn’t very nice to the little ones while we were gone.”

Noemi was appalled when she heard what had happened, immediately telling Skye: “We don’t treat other sims that way! We have to be nice to our friends or they won’t want to play with us. Now you say sorry to Ms. Isra, and then we’re going to go find Orson and say sorry to him too.”

“Sorry” Skye parroted, looking vaguely in Isra’s direction “Thank you” she replied “Everybody makes mistakes. I’m sure Orson will forgive you too.”

As Noemi led Skye inside to the nursery, where Isra indicated the twins had just woken up from a nap, Rhys appeared. “Welcome back man!” he greeted Luigi “Can you believe the hype around the video you posted of your wedding dance!?”

“What hype?” Luigi said, all ears. “Part of the Batuu experience is avoiding interaction with the outside world as much as possible.”

Rhys shook his head in disbelief “Oh wow, they really keep you isolated at that theme park. Well, come on upstairs – you’ve got to see this.”

Luigi could hardly believe the millions of views listed under his SimTube video. “People are talking about it, and you, everywhere” Rhys told him “I know the PR department at work is going to want to capitalize on this while it’s still viral. I’d say you’re a proper celebrity now – congratulations!”

Thanking Rhys for the good news Luigi hurried downstairs to find Blossom and leave. He was eager get home and take a serious look at his SimTube analytics dashboard. His older videos were sure to be seeing an uptick in viewership thanks to this, and he was dying to review everything.

Noemi wasn’t thrilled to be the other half of the dance video that was apparently sweeping the nation, but she tried her best to take it in stride. She knew Luigi loved the fans and the fame, and she loved him. It was why she’d agreed to let him film them after all.

Collecting Blossom from under their friend’s couch, they agreed to catch up again soon before heading down the beach towards home.

In game I actually moved Skye into Isra’s household to live “that NPC life” for a couple days while I took his parents on their honeymoon, and this is what I came back to 🤪🤭!

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[writersblockworks]

Shit I did/said as a kid/teen as the Valorant agents (I’ve never had a concussion or broken bones)

Hey guys its close to finals week when im writing this i have no idea when ill post it, but enjoy!!

Brimstone: Took charge of a group project but ended up doing the whole thing myself. (15)

Viper: Willingly grabbed a wild snake to show my mom when I was 3, but cried when they wanted me to hold a tarantula (3 then 6)

Omen: For some reason me and my friends use to play that we lost our memory, we really just used it as an excuse to be mean. (I was 9)

Cypher: Spent hours on an app that let me see city cameras in china or something (9 maybe? I'm not sure)

Sova: The first time i went fishing with my grandfather (RIP grandpa) I was so proud, then i dropped it on the ground and it flopped into the water. (i was 5)

Sage: My friends and i would hop the fence at our elementry school to go pick wildflowers, we had to stop because we got ticks (9 or 10)

Pheonix: My best friend at the time asked me what I would do if my future boyfriend gives me a knuckle sandwaich and I replied that I would eat it. I still would (my now boyfriend would never raise a hand against me) (i was 5)

Jett: A boy was showing off how fast he could run, so i tripped him (i was 8)

Raze: I spraypainted the sidewalk beside my house because i wanted to make art (I wanted to use the spray cans) then i got scolded. (I was 7)

Breech: I am autistic and someone said oh she cant shes autistic, so I bit them i dont know how old i was nor do i remember what they said.

Reyna: I would play the wack a mole game at the arcade so I could use the hammer to hit my best friend, she did the same to me (8?)

KillJoy: When i played Valorant for the first time my online friend made me play KJ because i was german (17)

Skye: While i was going my usual tree climbing, i saw a spider. I decided to fall to the ground, I got up just fine, then climbed a diffrent tree where i found a bee hive. (idk 11? maybe) Yoru: When I fIrst got glasses and I could actually see, I looked at my nana and asked her what happened to her face, then I threw up (I was 4)

Astra: I love the stars so much, I used to think we all became stars when we died because the movie princess and the frog, and I cried when the cathloic church said we didnt (I was 6)

KAY/O: In MMA class we had to do an excersize where the others would have to stop us from making it to the other side. Most of the kids dog piled on me, a 150 pound boy got on my back, yet I still made it across the room (idk I was 11 and weak, but for a treat after, I was strong) Chamber: My friend taught us pole dancing at recess and for some reason the teachers never stopped us. (we were in 5th grade about 10?)

Neon: I watched my younger brother slide into the Oven door. My parents for some reason put it in the living room. I tried to help him by saying it was the dog. However Our dog was living with my grandparents. (7?)

Fade: Spent a whole hour meowning at a random cat in France (I was 12, and where were my parents?) Harbor: I am a huge history nerd, I did three book reports on the titanic, Then when we had to be characters for a fake museum where we would have to preform for epople I decided to be the drunk man that survived (I was 10, why didnt a teacher tell me no?)

Gekko: I had one of the electronic Furbies, i still have that yellow shit. Me and my brother were playing with him and he turned evil and we got so scared. For a month we made our mom put him under a flowerpot with 2 bibles on top of it. (I actually dont know how old I was)

Deadlock: My grandma gave me a sewing kit for one of my birthdays so I just threw it at people (6)

Iso: Collected little rocks at recess then put them in the shoes of kids I didnt like (6)

Clove: Jumped off the top of the playground because I wanted to impress my crush, then I hit my head on the slide pole. Surprisingly I ended up being just fine.

Vyse: ummm I had a Wiggle (if anyone remembers those) and I would constantly bully it. I actualy dont know how old I was but I was a kid

Honorable mention: I farted in church when i was 4 and blamed it on Jesus and apparently you’re not supposed to do that. Also this is a rough memory and stir from the top of my head, I have childhood trauma

Anyways i finally got therapy. Byeeee working on a request rn

[pyropsychiccollector]

Ace Attorney: IF (... Part 13)

With much of the Dark Age of the Law expelled, Gant passes the torch of Chief of Police to Gumshoe after Tyrell dismissed the offer. Gumshoe is still a jovial guy, but he's a better detective and officer because of Tyrell watching over him all this time… Not to mention being partnered with Franziska reining in his goofy slipups.

Similarly, Byrne passes on the title of Chief Prosecutor to Lana Skye; though he doesn't intend to resign as a prosecutor yet, he does like the idea of a fresh slate for prosecutors if the police are getting an overhaul. Phoenix, Neil, Franziska, and Simon are all capable in their own right, it's just Lana seemed to have the best temperament for the role of Chief. Plus, Phoenix and Franziska often got called on for cases from interpol, they weren't always around anymore. They have a fresh recruit in Robin Newman, but she's a rookie at 19.

Hugh O'Connor went on to join Edgeworth Law Offices, and Junie is learning the ropes as a new judge (Judge Courtney is her mentor). As the youngest member of Troupe Gramarye, Trucy is gaining enough popularity that she's getting her own stage assistants to help her with grander tricks and shows; the ones that work directly with her are Bonny and Betty de Famme. Furthermore, though it's a tentative thing, Zak has agreed to reopen talks with Mister Reus to do shows with him; Zak, Valant, and Thalassa know better than to outright trust him after Magnifi ousted him from the group years ago, but they do want to mend burned bridges if they can. They're not the same as they were under Magnifi, they're more on the up and up. Treat their friends and coworkers with dignity and respect, no blackmail or coercing one another, no sabotage. Obviously Mister Reus still holds a grudge against the Gramarye's, but he's not going to be obvious about it - he bides his time to take his revenge.

Bearing all of this in mind, it seems like everyone is doing rather well. (人◕ω◕) Athena's entering her second year as a lawyer, and she's getting along better with her mom and Aura Blackquill now that she can handle being around others with her sensitive ears. Apollo's entering his third year as a lawyer, and considering all that he's gained with his Gramarye family and all his new friends, he talks with Mia at last about where he grew up. Because he's tired of being doomer about his foster dad never returning for him, and wants to finally do something about Khura'in's situation. He knows that nation is governed by spirit channeling, and while Mia isn't a medium herself she still hails from a village of them. Mia vaguely knows about that history, how her village's founder hails from that nation, but it's never been significant enough for her until now. She agrees to go scope it out with Diego, let Apollo and Athena watch over the office for a few weeks.

Yet upon arriving in Khura'in, Mia winds up taking the case of Ahlbi Ur'gaid, who lacks an attorney because of the state of the country. She manages to defend him against Gaspen Payne, and encounters Rayfa, who's so reminiscent of Maya… Rayfa isn't sure why, but she can't seem to stay mad at Mia, even when the older woman makes a "mockery" of her insights. Mia isn't in her face, and it vexes her to meet an outsider who's so respectful yet believes in a defendant's innocence… Even when Mia's life was on the line. The judge is similarly at a loss because of how composed Mia is and how she reminds him of court procedures outside of the insights. But everyone figures this will be a one-time miracle because Ahlbi really was innocent. Diego wasn't too thrilled with the stakes of the Defense Culpability Act, but he did trust Mia, and he believes in Ahlbi's innocence too. They get the warning from Inga to keep a low profile or else, but Mia doesn't intend to bend over when the country's such a mess judicially.

Apollo's amazed Mia won a trial in Khura'in, but he knows this will only be the beginning. It's gonna be tough to overcome the Ga'ran regime. Nevertheless, Apollo focuses on the present - Trucy's getting ready for her first "major" solo performance (without the other Troupe members), it'll be televized and everything. He wants to support and cheer his sister on… But he winds up defending her in court when she's framed for murder during her show. It's a similar to what happens in canon, but the agency isn't at stake, nor is Troupe Gramarye as Zak dismissed Trucy having to sign anything herself; they were wise to Mister Reus trying to pull anything underhanded… But they never expected Trucy's trick to be sabotaged after so many precautions were taken… It really feels like Trucy accidentally killed a member of the audience, even after reviewing the filmed event…

But Ema is the detective in charge, and Franziska insists on handling the case - see how Mia Fey's proteges hold up under pressure. Cases involving magicians are a headache… But Franziska has some experience navigating them. To her, as annoying as Bonny and Betty's "teleportation" trick was to unravel, they weren't nearly as obnoxious as Lotta Hart. The tougher witness to squeeze the truth out of was Mister Reus, who did wind up being the culprit… But overall, Apollo and Athena were coming along nicely as lawyers. Even with Reus threatening to sue Mia and Co. Law Offices, do everything to deter them from the truth, they held steadfast despite a couple small bumps in their logic along the way. Bonny and Betty stay on as Trucy's assistants, though they'll have to come up with some new tricks… Mister Reus's hatred of the Gramarye's stings, but they know it's not completely unreasonable. They just have to keep striving to be better…

A couple of weeks after that trial, Mia and Diego have won several cases in Khura'in, both together and separately. It's a risk each time, but they've demonstrated not all defendants are guilty. This not only attracts the attention of the Ga'ran regime, but the Defiant Dragons as well. Fed up with the "mockery" of the courts, Nahyuta decides he'll face Mia Fey and be the one to crush Apollo's mentor… But he winds up prosecuting Abbot Inmee's wife when she's framed for murder, and he fails to secure his victory. This earns him a punishment from the Queen, and he's left with an even more burning grudge against Mia… Though he can't deny Abbot Inmee and his wife exposed as members of the revolution shakes up society quite a bit - the disdain towards the Defiant Dragons takes a nosedive.

Through that case, Mia meets Datz and Dhurke, the leaders of the resistance. Since she knows this was the man who raised Apollo, she's not as intimidated by him as society is. Rather, she's disappointed in him for shooing Apollo away and not staying with him when the boy needed a family. Granted, she knows it's important to give the people here in Khura'in some hope, but this seems like a battle to tactically retreat from with the royal family so oppressive. Not much progress has been made in over a decade, and only lately has she and Diego been tearing up the courtroom. It's not too late to make amends; Dhurke needs to set his priorities straight while he still can. Though Mia's shameless confrontation does rankle a bit, he can't deny the weight her words carry - she lost her sister, and his ambitions could easily lead to an early grave and put Apollo and Nahyuta through the same heartache. It's difficult to step away when the Defiant Dragons are doing better than ever, but it's easier to sneak out of the country and check on Apollo than it is to approach Nahyuta at this time.

I'll skim past the final case details because honestly? Canon did well enough establishing the approximate "how" this is all pulled off. However, I will dive into the resolution and all the epilogue bits. (人◕ω◕)

To put simply, Mia bringing Dhurke back to him is way more than Apollo could have hoped for. Yes, the reunion wasn't so warm and fuzzy. Not only did Apollo snub him when talking about retrieving the Founder's Orb from Kurain Village, but Thalassa's reunion with him was bittersweet… And meeting Zak was…well… (人◕ω◕) Zak is hard-nosed about the whole affair because Apollo is Thalassa's child, and Dhurke just… abandoned him. Dhurke knows he screwed up, but he's torn because everything was for the sake of saving Khura'in. Even now he can't give up the good fight…

Ultimately, though, Apollo and everyone helps Daddy Dhurke recover the Founder's Orb, and Apollo agrees to go back to Khura'in to save Nahyuta. It's not easy overcoming Inga and Ga'ran, but they reunite Dhurke with his wife, Nahyuta, and Rayfa. It's quite an awkward family reunion, especially since the Gramarye's tagged along with the lawyers, Ema, and Chief Prosecutor Lana. They wanted closure for Jove, Apollos father. (人◕ω◕) But Amara is reinstated as Queen, and Dhurke reopens his law firm and begs Apollo to stay and help him. The country's in a delicate state of flux with Ga'ran deposed and Inga imprisoned… And Dhurke really needs the help of lawyers. He can't ask Mia and Diego to stay, they've done more than enough. But Apollo? Dhurke wants to completely make amends, even if his birth family is also there for him. Apollo still has a soft spot for Dhurke and Nahyuta, and agrees to stay for a few years. He won't abandon either of his families if he can help it, and he doesn't want to quit on Mia either. … He also might have some sweethearts to return to, but more on that later. (人◕ω◕)

Even with Apollo remaining in Khura'in for a bit, they've still got lawyers back home to fill the void. And Athena doesn't plan to stop growing either~

[arcane-ish]

Very quick thoughts on Arcane 2x01 - 2x03

Some highly shallow, quick reaction thoughts. I kind of don't like the bits where they experimented with the normal style. Whether it was the black and white in the opening with Caitlyn, the hextech or the blood magic. It just looked kind of cheap and corner-cutting even though I could totally picture Fortiche wanting to experiment with their own style.

The directing in the battle scenes also felt different to me.

In my memory it took me a while to go completely gaga over the show back in season 1. My verdict for season 2 is that I see some structural weaknesses, but I still like these characters and wanna see where it goes.

Anyway, on to the episodes.

So happy that Mel is alive. Throughout the episodes I kept thinking that Mel is our heroic little princess traipsing around and being moral. I was highly amused that Jayce and Mel deal with Jayce having fridged Viktor in Jayce's lab.

It made me irrationally happy that Ekko comes so early in the opening credits.

I feel like structurally there are two things that make it weaker than season 2.

I miss the old structure with the childhood flashbacks. Season 1 made great use of this to give us depth or new perspectives on characters and that allowed them to really hook you with those twists. I'm not that sad that they abandoned the "there's always a twist" approach, I feel like that might have been hard to keep up and shows that force themselves to constantly do twists feel like they suffer for it. (the only twist was Ambessa at the end of ep 3, but I felt that was fairly predictable) I also feel like there are a lot fewer horror vibes (which is something that s1 played with to get their twists off)

I think season 1 really benefitted that we saw a lot more of the characters being normal and then slowly doom approaches. That allowed us to see a casual side to many characters and I think the relationships really benefitted from, that we got to see characters just being friends or just being siblings or just being bosses and then have it ripped away. Season 1 already established most of these places and characters and they are not all in drama, one darn thing happening after another mode.

Moments that didn't really land for me

I feel like I don't get why concretely Vi is so upset over Jinx. Like I feel like I have a really good handle on why Ekko was angry at Jinx. Jinx killed one of his firelights and he is really upset that she's working with Silco who's selling Shimmer. And Vi has a lot of reasons to be upset and okay with Jinx getting killed, but I feel like her being haunted by a flashback really would have helped. Is this going back to "she's working with the guy who killed Vander and I thought he was manipulating her but now I believe she wasn't so I hold it against her", is it that Jinx abducted Caitlyn, is it the death of Caitlyn's mom, is it just that Jinx has a body count? Maybe it will be handed in the next act.

Viktor instantly becoming Hextech Jesus after he wakes up just felt rushed. Again greatly would have benefitted from some more flashbacks because him just seeing Skye doesn't really explain. Again I get the basic motivation of him disapproving of Hextech being used and going home, but it still felt off.

Moments I liked a lot

Heimer being funny during the heist

Vi getting drunk and commenting on Cait's sense of humor

Jinx and Sevika's convo in Silco's office

Mel being sneaky talking to the lady with the big ears.

Moments that worked really well

Jayce and Viktor's convo. I'm a card carrying "It's absolutely lowest on my shipping totem pole", but I thought they carried the emotion off well (admittedly that might have been my "I wonder if Silco and Vander ever argued like that"), though Jayce seemed to be suspiciously fast back on to worrying about other things (and I don't really buy that he's that fasts at smithing, btw)

Ambessa's seduction by fascism of Cait at the ending of Act 3 (I kept wondering if Cait is Ambessa's type as per Ambessa's voice lines in the game).

The CaitVi breakup. Though mostly how rough it was. Like during it I was like instantly thinking I should check the internet to see if CaitVI fans are okay, sheesh that was tough.

[vvingcolleen]

A rant about the blatant transphobia/non-binary phobia going on in the "The Summer I turned Pretty" Fandom right now.

FOR GOD'S SAKE. I AM DONE DONE with this fandom hating on Elsie. The things people say online are legit hate speech or bordering on hate speech. There is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between simply disliking a character for their characterization and what the fandom does online ((1) targetting the characters apperance, (2) referring to Skye as "it"?!??!?!, and they refer to Elsie the same way too especially in press junket vids).

Firstly, I hate all the comments that are like "Did you see Chris' face, he probably hates them." Or like "The cast probably has a gc without them." Like I could be petty and be like "Well ELSIE PROBS HAS A GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES GC WITHOUT ANY OF THEM IN IT" but also its pathetic to assume things about people you dont personally know. And if you really wanna based things through a screen then as we can see on social media they hangout and get along with Elsie JUST FINE OKAY.

Also, Minnie and Elsie are friends, so trying to constantly default to "I just hate that they replaced Shayla" and trying to seem like hating Elsie is some form of justice isnt the white knight-ing they think it is (also the two characters arent even equivalent to each other so its a nullified argument).

Thirdly, I feel like the hate is too far (people try to justify it bc they dislike Skye as a character but all the tiktoks I see are about their appearance, which I feel is so unecessary). Considering that the character is a socially, anxious teenager, who seemingly has no friends but their mom then YEAH plot wise of course they're only going to know their mom's side first and defend their only trusted person in life first. When the Fisher bros do legit anything, everyone is proud of their "character growth" but the same people won't even give Skye a chance to maybe undergo the same growth.

Also IDK in my opinion its easier to morally defend this socially anxious teenage defending her closest friend/mom with a snarky comment rather than a girl who DATES BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS. So, lets maybe not be to harsh on them.

All I'm saying is PLEASE lets be kinder. It legit costs nothing to be a little nicer or at least restrain what you say about people online.