#someone on YouTube said PJ was going through the Terrible Twos and I was like yes he really fucking is

[arwenkenobi48]

PJ jumping up and down screeching “I’m kiiiiinnnng!” is so fucking funny like my brother in Christ you are a literal toddler, stop throwing your toys out of the pram and go sit in the timeout corner

[dat-town]

rewrite the stars | so tender

It's raining heavily. A summer storm, unexpected and unstoppable, caught you by surprise the moment you stepped foot into the town. Wind tears into your already soaked hair since your umbrella has broken already and you didn't exactly prepare with anything to cover yourself.

You were supposed to go on a summer holiday after all, but just your luck, not only you missed your transfer bus, you got drenched while trying to look for any open places this late. Farther from the capital city, it seems like it's not so easy to stumble into 0-24h stores where you could get dry towels and maybe eat hot ramen for dinner. You really don't have huge expectations or anything but at this rate you might as well pass out in a bus stop waiting for the first bus in the morning to take you South or back to Seoul.

You sigh, bracing yourself as you drag your soaked suitcase behind yourself on the small hill. You tell yourself it's the last try and if you don't find anything, you are walking back to the bus terminal and pray they haven't closed yet. Or maybe give another try to the taxi service that promised to get you in thirty minutes and never did. Waiting might still be better so late than wandering around in an unfamiliar place with terrible GPS signals.

You take a left turn on the road, your sandals leaving a splashing sound behind with every step and for a moment you think you're hallucinating when you see the lights coming from a building with ‘noodle place’ written on its side. You hurry over, pressing down on the handle cautiously but your arrival is signalled with the melodic bell above your head and you see a guy from behind the counter snap his head towards you.

"Sorry, we're clo–" the boy, not older than a college student, gapes seeing your drenched state, his words freezing onto his tongue. You understand his startled reminder though and you're ready to just ask for an opportunity to refresh yourself in the toilet or wait out the rain but the boy is faster. "Oh my, come in. Are you okay?"

The guy, probably the cook based on his hands dirty with flour, seems genuinely concerned as he furrows his brows and purses his lips deep in thought as he looks over you, worried. He quickly washes his hands and walks up to you to encourage you to not stand outside in the rain.

"I'll get everything wet," you mumble, suddenly self-conscious under the sudden attention not wanting to drip water all over the place.

"Don't worry about that, it will dry up. Speaking of which, I will bring you a towel. You shouldn't catch a cold," he says and you're about to protest but he's already on his way, not even asking where you came from or what you are doing with a suitcase behind you at his threshold. You don't have the heart to say no. Not to mention, him reaching out and kindly helping you feels nice after such a horrible day you just had.

"Thank you," you mumble when the tall stranger puts down two clean towels onto the table in front of you. The lovely smile he flashes at you as a response makes you even more bashful. You pull one towel around your clothed frame and start to dry your hair with the other.

"Are you hungry?" the boy asks, bobbing his head towards the kitchen behind his back and you hold up your hands. You're already grateful that he lets you stay for a while.

"You don't have to cook for me. You said you were closed and I wouldn't want to inconvenience you," you object, not wanting to be a burden but the boy with his shy smile waves away your worries.

"I wouldn't have offered it if it was such a thing. I need someone to evaluate my kimchi soup anyway," he adds, pointing towards the bowl he has left on the counter earlier and you assume that's where the delicious smells are coming from. You would be a masochist if you said no to such an offer when you’re actually hungry.

"If you're sure, I would happily evaluate it," you nod in the end and you feel like you have made a good choice seeing the dimpled smile of the boy. While he busies himself with finishing the food, giving you time and space to dry yourself, you look around in the small but lovely restaurant. It looks like a traditional one with the noodles drying on racks on one side and old photos on the wall. You wonder what kind of employee he is if he stays so late because you deem him too young to own a place like this. But who knows, maybe he does.

By the time you fix your hair and change into dry clothes from your suitcase in the restroom of the restaurant, the boy has finished the soup and has already put it onto a table with side dishes. You thank him before taking a seat and starting on it, already loving its spicy smell. Just after the first bite, you know it’s amazing because of how strong the tastes hit and yet thanks to the noodles it’s just enough.

"Wow, it's really good! Did you make it by yourself?" you look up with wide eyes from the food after swallowing.

"Yepp, from scratch, even the noodles,” the restaurant employee smiles a shy but proud smile as he scratches the back of his head while standing behind the counter, tidying up.

"Wow. You should put it on the menu for sure," you nod at him enthusiastically before turning back to the soup, devouring it until the last drop and for the first time since you got on the bus in Seoul, you feel content in that moment as you lean back in your chair. While you eat, you exchange a few words about how you currently study in the capital city and was supposed to go on a vacation or that he used to work in Seoul at a restaurant called Mimiok.

"I'm Y/N, by the way," you tell him at one point and sitting in front of you by then, the boy’s smile is almost blinding in the late evening lighting.

"Glad to meet you, Y/N, I'm Dohyeok."

As you learn, the restaurant and the guesthouse behind it was used to be Dohyeok’s grandfather and he was the one who taught him how to cook as well. So when the boy learns that you have nowhere to go to stay the night, he offers you an empty room in the guesthouse. You must have saved an empire in your previous life for the heavens to send someone like him over to you after the saddening events of the day. 

"So this is it. Nothing much but you find a small bathroom there. Blankets are in the wardrobe and if you need anything else I'm on the first floor," Dohyeok leads you to the neat little room and at the thought of a restful night, you cannot help but blurt out:

"Thank you. You're like my guardian angel."

It comes out so naturally, so honest but the boy still looks away bashfully and you find it just as endearing as his dimples. You say goodnight with a smile and taking a deep breath, you decide this day wasn’t that bad after all.

After that, you fall asleep almost immediately and wake up to the bright sun rays lighting up the whole room. Opening the windows, you take a good look at the scenery in front of you: the sandy coastline, the sea stretching until the horizon, the small, colourful houses and you realize that it’s actually beautiful. In the dark and in the rain you couldn’t really tell but this small dot on the map that was supposed to be only a transfer point in your journey seems just as wonderful as your destination.

While you’re watching the seagulls fight, yearning for some morning caffeine, a soft knock on the door pulls you out of your thoughts and putting away your embarrassment, you open the wooden door in your PJs.

“Good morning,” Dohyeok flashes you a smile very much awake and in ready-to-go clothes. “If you’re not in a hurry, would you like to come to town with me?”

At first, his question takes you aback but not because it’s invasive or makes you uncomfortable but because of his consideration. You only briefly mentioned the day before that you didn’t have a chance to look around in the beach town because you were too busy finding your way. You wouldn’t have thought he remembered and actually cared.

“Yeah, sure! Give me a minute and I’ll get ready!” you promised, suddenly awakened and after the boy reassured you that he would wait, you closed the door to dress up.

You bike into the town, get breakfast at a waffle place (play a round of games to decide who pays) and you learn more about Dohyeok while he shows you around. You get to know that he has a Youtube channel and an agency even contacted him, that his heart has gotten broken not long ago and in exchange you tell him how this trip of yours is actually a way to find yourself after having gone through rough times. Maybe you needed those to grow as a person just as you needed to get caught in the rain to stumble over a sweet guy with the most endearing dimple smile you have ever seen. (You’d argue that he is even sweeter than the brownies he packs for your trip back to Seoul with the promise of visiting soon.)

Rewrite the stars masterlist

[silver-wields-a-pen]

Illthdar High: An au fan fiction

Saturday

Vyxen, in a fancy set of green dress robes, was spinning across the dance floor of the Yule Ball in the arms of Cedric Diggory. Then Khrome came up to play and Date pulled her up on to the stage to sing with him. Her brother Salem (who looked an awful lot like Neville Longbottom) looked on adoringly and when Cedric tried to pull her from Date, he decapitated him with his bass and proclaimed that all the Horcruxes had been destroyed. While everyone celebrated his demise, Vyxen found herself on the patio with Date, who was now shirtless. Just as he grabbed her arms to pull her in for a kiss, she looked down at his stomach. “Wait. Where is your bellybutton?!”

Vyxen’s light grey eyes fluttered open as she woke up in the pillow fort on Raemina’s bedroom floor. The sun drifting through the multicolored blankets that were tented above sent different patterns across her and her friends’ skin. As she shifted her position, she noticed that Nyima was already up and texting on her phone.

“How’s Jingyi doing?” asked Raemina with a sly grin as she stretched awake on Vyxen’s other side.

Startled, Nyima blushed furiously but couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “He’s good,” she answered. The two of them texted most of the night and, unable to sleep more than a few hours, Nyima sent him a message first thing when she got up.

“So cute!” Vyxen cooed and the three girls giggled, waking up slowly and happily. That was how they spent most of their morning. They ate a breakfast of waffles inside their fort and chatted about the dance and all the possible outcomes of their dates. In secret whispers and with blushing faces, they went through the various ‘end of the night’ scenarios that could happen. Would they get kissed? Would it go further than that? Were they ready? Who knew!? It was all terribly new and exciting for the three girls, none of which had ever had a real date before. They didn’t crawl out of their fort until mid afternoon when it was time to get ready for the dance. They stayed up late watching Youtube tutorials for hair and makeup and while it was certainly no professional job, they all looked pretty when they were through.

“How does this look?” Raemina asked, holding a small mirror in one hand and using the other to slide a pearl comb into her hair. She’d gone with a neat bun tonight and the comb perfectly matched the short, plaid dress she’d gotten earlier in the week. It wasn’t what you would normally think of for a homecoming dress, but it worked on her, and she loved the way it showed off her long legs.

“Gorgeous!” Nyima called from her seat while Vyxen ‘awwed’ her approval. Vyxen stood behind her, pulling half her fluffy, black hair up and pinning little flowers throughout to match the flowers on her pale yellow dress. It was a pretty dress, one that probably would have looked nicer without the addition of the thick grey cardigan over the top. 

“Can’t you go without the cardigan?” Vyxen pleaded.

“No,” Nyima said, stubbornly hugging the sweater closer to her body and balling the cuffs around her fingers to keep them warm.

“What if I let you borrow one of mine?” Raemina suggested as she walked over to the other two. “I have a blue one that would match those flowers perfectly.”

Nyima considered for a moment, scrunching her face up in thought, but when Rae brought over a three-quarters sleeved shrug, she flat-out refused. “Nope. I'm not going to freeze for fashion or nobody.” And Jingyi already admitted he thought she was beautiful, and she wore cardigans all the time, so it obviously didn't matter to him. She scrunched up her face happy she got to go out with a nice boy who accepted her as she was and had the cutest smile to boot.

“Fine,” Vyxen relented, tweaking her cheek and adding the last pin to Nyima’s hair. Her own hair was so short that there was nothing much she could do with it. Her dress was short and black, with lace details and an open top. Granted, the top didn’t look too open because of the lace but it was still the most skin she’d shown in her entire life. Typically, she would have gone for a soft pastel color, but she was looking to impress someone tonight. She hoped Date liked it.“This could be the best or worst night of our life,” Vyxen sighed, smoothing her hands over her dress to give them something to do, excited but also unable to stop thinking of everything that could go wrong.

“No negativity allowed!” Rae stopped that train of thought before it had a chance to leave the station. “Tonight is going to be amazing! We all have awesome dates and just look at how cute we are! We are so cute!” This was their first dance, their first real dates and their first late-night out of the house, she was not going to let them sabotage themselves with anxiety before the dance even started. “Come! Let’s take a picture,” she grabbed Vyxen and Nyima’s hands and pulled them both close to her side, holding up her purple cellphone to take a selfie of the three of them together. The first, she hoped, of many more pictures to come this evening. 

~*~*~

Since trying to wake Xyl was about as useful as waking the dead, once Salem woke up on his friend’s futon, he made his way into the kitchen. Of each of the band member’s houses, Xyl’s always had the best food. The Allaway household never had anything good because of Vyxen’s allergies, Rhovan’s mom didn't believe in junk food, and Date’s parents refused to eat ‘American food,’ whatever that meant. Xyl’s aunt worked a lot though, so the Kallders were always stocked with every sugary cereal and microwave dinner imaginable, and at least three of their weeknight meals were takeout. Salem excitedly made himself a breakfast of frozen blueberry waffles with extra syrup and Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the side. Just as he was about to sit down and eat, Imogen walked in. “You're up early,” he said, a little taken aback at seeing her so soon. 

“The sound of banging cabinets woke me up,” she said pointedly. Even though she was clearly cranky at his disrupting her sleep, he couldn't help but think of how cute she looked with her tangled hair and pjs. Catching him eyeing the logo of the old t-shirt she wore, Imogen folded her arms over her chest. 

“I thought vampires were supposed to be quiet,” Rhoe grumbled a minute later, emerging from her own room. It was eerie how alike the two girls looked when they were angry. 

“I need more practice,” Salem answered with a grin, not feeling all that bad for waking them up. The two weren’t remotely alike in day-to-day life but they were both awfully cute with their frizzy hair and pjs. You could see the resemblance between them, but he was sure they’d both stab him if he pointed that out.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a cute bunny or I’ll punch your teeth in,” Rhoe threatened, marching past him to get a bowl of cereal herself, making much more noise than he did because if they had to be up, Xyl did too. It was his fault that Salem was even here, after all.

With Rhoe’s back turned, Salem was free to continue looking over Imogen. It was unlikely that he’d ever get to see her like this again and so he needed to commit every detail to memory while he could. “You look cute,” he mouthed to her and carefully did not snicker when a blush stained her cheeks.

Rolling her eyes, Imogen grabbed a quick breakfast herself and headed back up to her room to take a shower and get dressed. Zercey would be here to pick her up soon and Scyanatha would have no mercy if they dared to show up late to the beauty appointment Seth booked them.

“She’s out of your league, glitter boy, you might as well stop ogling her.” Rhoe sat down and ate with Salem, half amused and half disgusted by how he’d been staring at her sister when he thought no one was looking. “Imo has a stick up her ass anyway. I don’t know what you or anyone else sees in her.”

Salem made an affirmative noise to show he was listening but didn’t say anything about it. He was too used to the triplets talking about each other to be annoyed by her comment, their attitudes towards one another made him feel much better about his relationship with his own siblings. “You think this whole thing is going to go according to plan?” He figured it was best to change the subject anyways, if Imogen thought he was talking bad about her with her sister then whatever little thing they had going on was sure to be over.

“It should, I’m the one that planned it.” Unless Imogen decided to actually look at the votes beforehand, no one would notice they’d been switched until it was too late. “Don’t worry your sparkly little head, it’ll be fine.”

They finished breakfast and Salem went to physically drag Xyl out of bed, but paused when he passed Imogen in the hallway. He grabbed her arm before she could hurry out and into the ugly red car that Zercey drove and placed a quick kiss to her lips before she could stop him. “Hey, I know you’ll be busy at the dance but if you get a moment, meet me in the back of school. Maybe around ten-thirty?” The dance would be winding down by then and most of her duties should be over.

“I’ll think about it,” Imogen snipped, already making plans to be there but not willing to let him know that. Unable to resist his stupidly cute face and the taste of cinnamon on his lips, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him into another kiss. It lingered on until Zercey started to blare her horn outside and Imogen sighed, giving Salem one last look before she was down the stairs and out the door.  

Not one for school spirit – or just excitement in general – Rhoe now found herself in a predicament: stay comfortably at home ignoring the rest of the world as was her usual preference, or join the student body as they dressed themselves up like prize-winning pigs so that she could watch the world’s worst couple have a public meltdown. She scowled. There was no way she could miss the train wreck that was going to unfold, especially since it was mostly thanks to her own evil genius and hard work. Decision made, she got up from her bed and walked towards her sister’s room to find something ‘appropriate’ to wear, treading on clothes that littered her floor every other step. Imogen might not be useful for much, but at least she was the same size and all of her clothes were clean. 

~*~*~

Across town, another set of girls were in a frenzy. “I knew we shouldn’t have waited so long to come shopping,” Anna bemoaned, already nervous about not being able to find anything she liked in the short window of time they had to shop.

“It’ll be ok,” Nina assured, her arm hooked through Laura’s as they made their way through the mall. Last night she and Richard had found Laura crying in a corner after the talent show. Scyanatha had apparently said something very mean about her brother and Laura was upset about it. “Friends shouldn’t be cruel to each other,” Nina had said after learning about the exchange. In an effort to make her feel better, she added, “A few friends and I are going shopping tomorrow to find dresses for the dance. I’d love if you joined us.” Seth had already bought Laura the dress Scy approved of, but after last night… it was time to start making her own choices. 

Laura’s tear-streaked face had cautiously broke into a smile. “That sounds nice.”

The dress shop was crowded but the group of four, Nina, Anna, Laura and Miu, managed to find and lock down an empty dressing room. It was decided that Miu would stay there to hold down the fort (and loudly tell off anyone who tried to use it) while the other three ran around in a tizzy to find outfits.

Anna was the first to find her homecoming dress, which was a pretty dark blue color with a sparkly bodice. “It’s perfect!” she shouted. “This is one of the few colors that doesn’t clash with my hair!” Her orange locks were a source of constant frustration. Excitedly, she dashed back to Miu and the dressing room. It looked beautiful against her lily white skin and the smile upon her face made it even more obvious that she’d found the right pick for her. She was so taken with it that she wore it out of the store, and hurried across the mall to find a set of shoes to match it while the others kept their search.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Miu yelled at another girl who tried to sneak into the dressing room that Anna vacated.

Nina and Laura looked around from the rack and giggled. 

Not even a full hour later, both Miu and Nina had also managed to find something to their liking. Miu decided to go with a dress that was as loud as her personality. It was so short it could almost be called a shirt and the color was a bright neon green, so much so that it probably glowed in the dark. The top was peppered with clear crystals to make the dress stand out even more and, like Anna, Miu decided to wear it out of the store, snickering at all the horrified looks she got in it.

Nina ended up settling on a short golden dress that was covered in glitter and had a ruffled peplum going right across the waist. It fit her like a glove, but was still modest enough to be proper for a young lady. She was sure Richard would like it and she picked up a gold tie so that they could match.

Laura looked high and low but she couldn’t find a dress that she liked. She rarely ever bought herself nice things but, just this once, she decided to splurge and head back to the fancy boutique she’d shopped at with Scy earlier in the week. The dress she’d wanted was still there and she fell even more in love with it once she had it on. “What do you think?” she asked when she had finally had mustered up enough courage to leave the dressing room and show the other three girls. She was nervous to see their reactions, especially because of how much she liked the silver dress. The top was little more than a crop-top, made up almost entirely of dazzling crystals, and the bottom was a simple and short grey tutu. 

A wide grin immediately split Nina’s face and Anna clasped her hands and squealed in delight. Miu, for once, was speechless. 

Laura felt a wave of relief wash over her. 

“Wait there!” Nina called suddenly, jumping up and rushing across the room. “Here,” she said triumphantly when she returned, handing over a sparkly pair of cat ears to the other blond to finish the look.

Laura had never felt more accepted than she did in that moment. She was never going back to Scyanatha and her friends. Never.

~*~*~

“Do you think you could clasp this for me?” Zercey asked Imogen, carefully pulling her brown hair to the side with one hand and using the other to hold the lace-front red dress to her chest so that nothing slipped out. 

“Sure,” she replied, having just stepped into her own dress. Her wine-colored frock was more modest than Zercey's, and the zip on the back made it low-maintenance, which she was grateful for.

Scyanatha was still in her pale pink silk robe, glancing at the other girls behind her through the vanity mirror. She had paused with her eyeshadow brush in midair at the sound of Zercey’s question and now went back to looking at herself. 

“Thanks,” Zercey said, finally letting go of the front and letting her long hair fall behind her once again. While Imogen joined Scy to do her own makeup, she turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror and pivoted so that she could view the cutout in the back over her shoulder. I look hot. She played with one of her curls appreciatively. Since her cheerleading schedule usually dictated Zercey’s hair, it was in a high pony more often than not. Naturally she was thrilled when Scyanatha had informed her and Imogen that Seth offered to pay for appointments at the beauty salon so that the three girls could get their hair and nails professionally done. Tonight, she braided the top half of her hair across the front like a headband of sorts and the rest hung gracefully, bouncing ever so slightly when she moved.

Imo, whose responsibilities would keep her busy for most of the night, struggled between finding something that would be both stylish yet practical. In the end, the hair stylist curled her auburn tresses into bouncy coils and then ‘pinned them into oblivion.’ “And you’re sure this will keep for the rest of the night?” she asked for at least the fifth time. 

The stylist gave her a strained smile, her patience clearly wearing thin at being questioned by the teenager. “Hun, even if you hung upside down for a full day, I promise nothing’s gonna come loose. It’ll take at least two washes before gravity wrecks this masterpiece.” 

The memory brought a smirk to Zercey’s face. She wondered if Imogen would get to test out the hairspray’s strength with her mystery hickey-giver tonight. Her gaze flicked over to her friend’s neck, which had by now cleared up, before wandering over to Scy, who was still busy with her meticulous makeup routine beside her. 

In a move that had surprised no one, Scyanatha went for the most extravagant style she could find. She twisted her hair every which way, ending in a fancy side-pony. Painstakingly placed little rhinestones dotted throughout her do to make it look as if her hair shimmered. The top was weaved into a circlet, the perfect resting place for the Homecoming Queen crown she knew she’d be wearing.

A buzzing and the sound of Ellie Goulding’s voice interrupted Zercey's thoughts. “Yeah?” She answered her phone.

“We’re here.” Lerki’s came voice from the speaker, sending shivers of anticipation down Zercey’s spine. She smiled and turned to inform Scyanatha, who was finally shimmying into the sparkly pink dress she had picked out days before. 

A moment later the doorbell rang and the girls heard the muffled sounds of the boyfriends being greeted by Scy’s parents in the foyer.

“Ok,” Scyanatha checked her appearance in her fancy full-length mirror one more time before turning to her friends, checking them both over as well to ensure they were up to her standards. “Seth got us a hummer limo so we can arrive in style. It’s a little high off the ground so just be aware of where you put your feet,” she warned before giving them both a serious look. “Do NOT fall out of that car in front of everyone, do you understand me?”

Zercey and Imogen assured her that they wouldn’t fall and then followed her out and down the sweeping staircase that served as the focal point of her parents mansion. Seth and Lerki were waiting for them at the bottom, both dressed in smart looking tuxedos and each holding a corsage and a bouquet of roses. Standing between them was another member of the football team, holding a corsage and a bouquet of his own.

“Scy!” Imogen hissed, knowing the third boy was there for her and already dreading the conversation that was going to happen between her and Salem later because of this. “I told you I didn’t want a date.”

“Too bad,” Scy hissed back. “You’d look stupid if we got out of the car with dates and you didn’t. He’s hot, you’re hot, it works. Don’t be a brat.”

They were at the end of the staircase before Imogen could say anything else, forcing her to silently seethe as her surprise date told her how sexy she looked while slipping an ugly carnation on her wrist.

“There’s my queen,” Seth descended on Scy as soon as she reached him, wasting no time in pulling her into a deep kiss. She looked as beautiful as he thought she would and he was glad now that he’d chosen to buy her a diamond, flower bracelet instead of a normal corsage. Something as common as a rose wouldn’t look right with the rest of her outfit.

Lerki opted to go the traditional route and slipped a corsage of red and white roses onto Zercey's slim wrist, pulling her hand up so he could kiss the back of it once it was on her. “You look beautiful,” he told her, pulling her close and remembering the way she’d teased him with this dress at the boutique. It was tempting thought to just skip the dance and go back to the beach they were on last night. He might have done just that if he didn’t already know that Scyanatha, and therefore Seth, would never allow it.

They posed for the obligatory photos in the front hall before the six of them crawled into limo to be on their way. They spent most of the ride in silence as the two couples opted to make-out instead of talk. The football player, Imogen couldn’t be bothered to remember his name, dropped not-so-subtle hints that he’d like to do the same but she’d resolutely ignored him. After a while he just sighed in irritation and pulled out his phone to text. From what Imogen caught of the conversation, it seemed be a very heated, very gross, conversation with another girl in their school. It would be a long, long night.

~*~*~

“Do you want a brownie?”

“What?” Vyxen turned around to see two girls she only knew by sight. 

The taller one, Avari, had red hair twisted into two buns at the top of her head. Her color-blocked white and pink strapless dress ended in a psychedelic floral skirt and a mass of vintage costume jewellery adorned either arm.

The other girl, Ghenha, was holding out what looked like a homemade brownie to Vyxen, Raemina, and Nyima. Her turquoise blue dress had cherry-blossom-looking flowers embroidered on top of it, the color of which seemed to match the redness around her caramel brown eyes.

“I have food allergies,” Vyxen said, not sure she heard the question correctly. Nyima’s eyes were wide beside her and Raemina frowned and shook her head. 

“Suit yourselves,” Ghenha replied happily, passing half to Avari. The two walked away giggling.

“Are they high?” Vyxen asked, watching the two girls giggle and frolic down the hallway.

“Most definitely,” Jingyi answered, knowing both of the girls in question and just how much they enjoyed their ‘special’ brownies. “It’s a good idea to decline any kind of food or drink they offer you,” he added before turning to Nyima. “You look really beautiful,” he told her and held out a pin-on corsage comprising a pale blue rose with shiny beads suspended around it on wires. “It reminded me of Shiva from your game.” Jingyi had forgotten to ask what color her dress was and so he’d just winged it. He regretted it now since the flower didn’t match her outfit at all and he was just about to offer to ride his bike clear across town to get her a different one when a soft smile appeared on her face.

“I love it,” Nyima said.

“You could put it on for her,” Raemina suggested and then watched as the shy couple blushed all the way down their necks and seemed to short circuit. The most obvious place to pin the flower would be close to Nyima’s chest but Jingyi was clearly having issues putting his hands anywhere near that area.

Vyxen ended up taking pity on them both and pinning the corsage onto Nyima herself.

That minute hiccup now over, the four of them made their way into the gymnasium that was serving as a dance hall for the evening. They decked the space out in jewel tones and fairy lights with dangerously lopsided foam trees placed sporadically along the walls, some of which had strange looking creatures and smiling cats painted on them.

“What was the theme supposed to be?” Nyima asked, eyeing the evil looking, three-eyed cat painted on the tree nearest to her.

“Originally it was supposed to be Faery Wonderland, but it looks like the dance committee got uninspired and gave up halfway through.” Raemina had expected little from them to begin with and wasn’t surprised. Hopefully, the school hired professionals to do prom or it would be a train wreck. “At least the lights are pretty.”

“I wish they hadn’t chosen the gym, it’s always so cold in here.” Nyima knew the room would heat up once everyone got here and danced, but it would never be as warm as she preferred.

“I know a way to keep you warm,” Jingyi was quick to suggest, offering his hand out for Nyima to take. The proposition might have sounded dirty coming from someone else, but Jingyi wasn’t the type to make innuendoes. He led the girls across the room and to a table situated right by an exit into a side hall and directly beneath the heater. A warm breeze blew from above that would likely become sweltering as the night went on. Nyima seemed happy with it though and Jingyi was happy that he made her happy.

It was cute and Raemina decided that it was worth sweating through her dress to see the two have a good time.

~*~*~

It wasn’t long before more and more students showed up. The DJ got his area sorted out and soon the gym was alive with music and dancing. Raemina was determined to have a good time and pulled Vyxen and Nyima out and onto the dance floor when a fun pop song played. “Just one dance, you guys promised!” Rae was quick to remind them when Vyxen and Nyima tried to deny her offer. Their fates sealed, they had no choice but to follow along, dragging Jingyi with them because if they had to suffer, so did he. It was painfully awkward at first, but eventually the girls loosened up and had fun. They formed a little dance circle that poor Jingyi had no choice but to be a part of. He shuffled as a dance, but he was happy to be included and so he didn’t complain. The girls didn’t dance much better, but they were having fun with it and that’s what counted.

One dance turned into two and somewhere near the end of the second song a wolf whistle sounded from behind them. At the exact same moment, a pair of arms grabbed Vyxen around the waist and pulled her close. “Got you,” Date whispered in her ear kissing her cheek before pulling back to look her over. “You look gorgeous, I love your dress.” He couldn’t help but smirk, he knew that the mini dress wasn’t her usual style and that she’d obviously done it to impress him. Mission accomplished, all that black lace looked good on her and would look even better if it ended up tossed into the backseat of his car later on.

“I wondered if we were going to see some of those bedroom dance moves.” Rhovan, the culprit behind the whistle, arrived with Date and wasted no time in taking a spot next to Raemina, He loved how short her dress was and recalled that the skirt she’d been wearing that day when they caught her dancing was around the same length. It was probably sleazy to hope that she’d get down and dirty so he’d be treated to another panty flash, but he was hoping for it anyway.

“Bedroom dance moves?” Jingyi asked before he could stop himself, picturing something that was much worse than what had actually occurred.

“These two walked in on us dancing at Vyxen’s house,” Raemina explained before his imagination ran too wild.

“Oh,” he said awkwardly. His eyes darted over to Nyima, but she was stubbornly staring a point on her shoes. 

Date looked as if he were about to say something else when a tan hand clapped one of his shoulders.

“There you two are! Xyl and I have been looking for you.” Salem wedged his way between his friend and his sister with a too-innocent smile on his face.

“Come dance with me?” Rhovan asked Raemina, eager to put some space between himself and the budding tension between Date and Salem. He took her hand when she agreed and lead her to another part of the dance floor, just barely remembering to call a goodbye to the others over his shoulder. He was better at making music than moving to it, but he could mimic the moves of those around him well enough, all that really mattered was that he got to be close to Rae. He gave her what he hoped was a dazzling grin and moved closer so that their bodies would be almost touching. “I like your dress, you look really beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you.” Raemina wasn’t much of a dancer either but she didn’t care, she was just here to have fun and it was nice being close to him. She had wondered what being near him would feel like for months and she was happy to say that she wasn’t disappointed. “You look nice too,” he was wearing a pair of black trousers and a grey button-up shirt. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it looked nice on him.

“Thanks,” he smiled down at her and pulled her in closer.

~*~*~

“Wow, Imo, this is what you call a ‘Faery Wonderland?’” Scyanatha sneered as the group of six walked into the made-over gym. As her eyes wandered over the decor, her nose scrunched more and more intensely. 

“I didn’t have a hand in any of this, actually,” Imogen replied, trying to control her temper. When he wasn’t texting vulgar messages to other women, the dumb jock she was forcibly paired with had spent the entire limo ride trying to get up her dress. She was fed up and just about done with the rest of the group around her for all the help they were. “The budget was laughable, and some bimbo freshman practically begged to be in charge of the decoration.”

“And you let her?” asked a surprised Zercey.

“Only on the condition she wouldn’t lay a finger on prom,” Imogen said triumphantly while also swatting away the hand from creeping down her shoulder. 

“V.A. don’t like to talk about himself, but…” he started. 

“I have to pee!” she shouted. Clearly not caring that his advances were unwanted, V.A moved closer and tried to grab Imogen’s waist, and she had to squirm away from his grip. “Zercey, come with me?” she begged her friend, and though Zercey wasn’t too happy to be leaving Lerki’s side so quickly, she nodded.

“All right.” Getting up on her tiptoes, she brought her lips so that they barely grazed her boyfriend’s ear. “Don’t do anything naughty while I’m away,” she whispered before playfully nibbling at his lobe.

“Whatever,” said Scyanatha as the other two girls quickly vacated the gym. She was bored of Imogen being a drag and complaining. Sure, V.A was an idiot, but he was hot and she should really just get over it. “Come on, babe, let’s show the peasants how a king and queen ought to behave.” 

Dutifully, Seth held out his arm so his girlfriend could lace hers through and hold onto his bicep. “Lerki, V.A, you comin?” The two other footballers, momentarily dateless, followed the couple around the ‘wonderland.’

In the bathroom, Imogen was venting to Zercey. “...And he constantly talks about himself in third person. I didn’t even know his name before tonight, but I’m pretty sure V.A is going to be burned into my memory for eternity.”

“There are plenty of things you could be doing besides talking,” Zercey said with a smirk. “Or do you save those for the neck-sucker?”

Flushing, Imogen responded, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I know, I know.” Zercey held up her hands in surrender. “So what’re you gonna do?”

“Avoid him, I guess? I’m sure I can find something. Can you just make something up for the others? I don’t think Scy’s going to care if I don’t see you all for the rest of the night anyway.”

Zercey agreed and headed back into the dance to join the boys and Scyanatha.

“Where’s Imogen?” Seth asked when only one of the girls returned from the bathroom.

“You know, homecoming dance stuff,” she lied, casually flicking her wrist to sell it further. “I swear, this school is filled with idiots. It’s amazing she’s put up with all of the things she has.” Deciding it was best to start steering the conversation away from Imogen she asked, “What have you all been up to?”

“Just rating the ensembles,” Scyanatha drawled, having only barely registered the Zercey's presence. She felt on top of the world tonight. Seth was by her side, they both looked hotter than ever, and in just a couple hours she’d be wearing a tiara and he a crown. There wasn’t much that could bring her down and she didn’t intend to let it anyway. This night was about her and her king. Scyanatha brought her fingers to Seth’s face and then slowly crawled them down his neck until she was playing with the collar of his shirt and the peek of skin underneath. “Want to dance?” she asked as she bat her eyelids at the tall, dark, and handsome boy.

Seth smiled and, taking the hand that she’d been using to tease him, kissed her fingertips. Staring into her eyes, he said, “I’d love to.” The two got up from the table without another word and left their friends, and all thoughts of other people, behind them. Once out on the dance floor, the couple held each other close, gyrating and grinding without ever taking their eyes off one another.

Unable to hold out any longer, at the end of the second song, Seth pulled Scy’s hair away from her neck, now starting to glisten with sweat, and pressed kisses to it. “You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen,” he said still keeping his lips close to her skin. 

She smiled. Putting a hand on either side of his face, she directed his mouth to hers and pulled him in for a kiss. She gently held onto his bottom lip for a second between her teeth before saying, “I love you, babe.” 

“I love you too,” he replied. With a mischievous grin he added, “I’ve got an idea,” and quickly led her out of the gym.

Scyanatha always looked beautiful, but tonight she was particularly radiant in her boyfriend’s eyes. Earlier that day he and the rest of the football team had won their sixth straight game and their victory had put him in a particularly good mood. After making a few stops in dark corners of the school so that they could exchange more hungry kisses, the couple finally made it back outside to the parking lot. 

“What’re we doing?” Scy asked, though she had a pretty good idea.

Seth responded by flashing another smile and then rapping on the window of the limo. The limousine driver, who had been sleeping in the front seat, jolted awake at the sound.

“Ready to go already?” he asked groggily, starting to fumble for the keys.

“No,” said Seth. “But we’d like to use your car.” 

~*~*~

“Aw, how pretty!” Nina chirped, walking in on the arm of Richard and being one of the few students who thought the gym looked nice. Anna, Miu, Laura were behind her, alongside a few other girls that Nina was friends with. Richard was the only boy with them and seemed to take it upon himself to be their escort, pulling out all of their seats at the table they chose and hurrying to get them each a glass of punch.

“He’s such a gentleman. I can’t wait till I find a guy like that.”

“You will.” Nina promised, proud of her boyfriend and hoping that the others might find their future one and only at the dance tonight. She knew a couple of Richard’s friends were interested and hopefully they’d gather their courage and make a move before the dance ended. Her hopes may very well become reality, she thought with a smile, when she noticed that when Richard came back, he was closely followed by the aforementioned boys. The three of them were working together to bring all the punch to the table and, with a little help from Richard, the two new additions were soon part of the group.

They had fun chatting before Miu loudly declared, “Time to dance!” She grabbed the nearest person's hand and dragged her right into the center of the dance floor to get moving. It wasn’t hard to get there, since the area was being cleared by Ghenha and Avari, both of whom were spinning around with their arms outstretched, either not noticing or not caring that they were accidentally smacking people as they twirled.

“I agree,” Richard gave a bow to Nina and offered his hand out to her. A pointed look towards his friends had them quickly following his lead and offering their own hands out to Anna and Laura respectively.

~*~*~

When Scy and Seth finally made their way back into the gym, their faces were flushed and their clothes askew. She made a quick adjustment to her skirt before leaning over to her boyfriend and recentering his tie. To most people, the limo driver’s requested ‘tip’ would have seemed like an obscene sum, but for the rich boy it was hardly a week’s allowance. And man was it worth it.

It seemed the couple had timed their rendezvous perfectly. More than half the students were on the dance floor, bouncing around and thoroughly enjoying themselves when the current song ended and another didn’t immediately start up. Mr. Culvers walked onto the makeshift stage that had been set up for the occasion, wearing a ridiculously bright red plaid suit and a shiny grey tie. “What an awesome dance!” The man started, as overly excitable as usual. Luckily for him, most of the students were in a good enough mood to clap and humor him instead of ignoring him as usual. The history teacher went into the typical spiel, thanking the dance committee for all of their hard work and the student council for organizing and promoting the dance. Mostly everyone tuned out until he got to the part that most of them were waiting for. “And now, to introduce the homecoming court,” Culvers’s voice boomed as he fished a piece of paper out of his dress jacket. “Ladies first,” he added, before reading down a list of four names. “Scyanatha Dubhgaelach, Nina Du Blanche, Yyvone Black and Temia White!” There was polite applause as each name was read and the girls made their way onto the stage, though Scyanatha obviously got the loudest cheers. They all knew their place and everyone knew that she was going to win.

Somewhere in the crowd, Salem and Rhoe locked eyes. This was either going to be perfect or horrible.

“Now for your nominees for king,” Culvers continued, “Seth Idle, Richard Graevale, Bjorn Bergan, and Linuad SoHangry.” Just like for the girls, applause followed each name as the guys took their places to the side of the girls, all except for one. “Linuad SoHangry?” Culvers called again and in the crowd, Xyl, Salem and Date lost it. The three of them were bent over, laughing so hard that they could barely breathe.

Rhovan was less amused. He cursed when the name was called and shot a death glare at Salem, who was the only member of the band who was within sight.

Raemina was amused, she rose a brow at the angry face he was pulling and tried not to laugh. She didn’t know exactly what Linuad SoHangry meant to him, but it was clearly a sore spot. “An alias of yours?” She dared to ask, watching Salem’s face turn red and wondering if he was going to laugh so hard that he’d end passing out.

“Something like that,” Rhovan admitted begrudgingly. “It’s a long story.”

“It seems that Linuad isn’t with us tonight,” the teacher went on and somewhere behind him, Rhovan heard Date snort.

Raemina looked up at Rhovan with a question still on her face. It’d be a lot easier to ignore if she didn’t also look ridiculously cute when she did it. 

Rhovan sighed. “Apparently I get mad easily when I’m hungry. One day, Xyl and Salem decided to name it and now I never stop hearing jokes about ‘Linuad’ escaping when I haven’t eaten in awhile.” She grinned while he talked, and by the time he was done explaining, he had a begrudging smile on as well. “I guess it’s kinda funny when you think about it.”

Back on stage, Mr. Culvers pressed on. “Don’t they look lovely?” He gestured to the assembly behind him before fishing out another piece of paper from his jacket. “Without further ado,” his loud voice rang out, “this year’s Homecoming King and Queen are,” he paused for dramatic effect, “Richard Graevale and Nina Du Blanche!”

~*~*~

Like most of the student body, Laura was stunned. 

For a moment after the King and Queen were announced nobody moved. But then whoops and whistles started from the back of the room and washed forward in a wave of euphoria. 

Nina jumped up and down with wild abandon, not caring that Scyanatha could probably see her reaction.

“YEAH!” Miu shouted next to her, punching the air.

“Richard Graevale and Nina Du Blanche,” Mr. Culvers repeated, clearly confused by the shocked faces of the contenders before him. Finally the couple moved toward the teacher, Richard first heading over to his girlfriend to offer up his arm so that they could approach together. 

Rhoe was casually leaning against the wall, watching the scene unfold from behind the refreshment table. 

“It looks like you made the right choice, Xyl,” she heard Cowan say to her brother as they watched the couple place the crown on each other’s heads. They wore matching grins on their faces and the gold in their outfits accented the headpieces wonderfully.

“Er, thanks,” Xyl said, pulling down the sleeve of his shirt. The poor kid had grown so fast in the last year that his only dressy outfit looked as if it had shrunk on his form, the cuffs of both the shirt and pants at least two inches higher than they should be. He might not have been so uncomfortable if his own friends hadn’t deserted him, but Rhovan and Date had left as soon as they spotted Raemina and Vyxen, and Salem had disappeared on him without a word. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re not a complete waste of space after all. Congratulations,” Rhoe added sardonically. Cowan gave her a look that told her she was being ‘mean’ again. “Fine,” she shot her friend a scowl before turning back to Xyl. “This still doesn’t mean that I like you—and I don’t know why anyone would want such a stupid title anyway—but I’m glad the people you chose aren’t total monsters.” She turned her back on them again, not wanting to give her brother any ideas about them being friends now.

The music changed, and a slow, smooth beat pumped through the speakers. “And now the King and Queen’s dance,” Mr. Culvers announced.

Rhoe observed the other students coupling up around the dance floor with Richard and Nina in the middle under a spotlight. Scyanatha’s face had turned such a fierce shade of red it was rivalling her hair as she stomped furiously out of the room, her boyfriend only steps behind her. Her own pale face lit up with unrestrained glee.

Cowan noticed the girl’s expression change immediately. “That can’t mean anything good,” he commented.

She turned to him, her face aglow in schadenfreude. “I can’t miss that,” she said, pointing to the unhappy couple over her shoulder. “Don’t wait for me! I’ll find my own way home,” she called excitedly, already stalking into the crowd to pursue her entertainment for the night.

Cowan shrugged, he was used to his friend’s flights of fancy. He caught Xyl looking at him out of the corner of his eye and barely suppressed his smirk. Rhoe would probably hound Scyanatha and Seth until they acted disgusting again, and then she’d likely go to the skatepark before holing herself up for the night in that cave she called a room. He couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to make a move on her brother. “Wanna get out of here?”

~*~*~

“Well, that won’t end well.” Zercey knew Scyanatha well enough to know that a blow-up was coming and she wanted no part of it. Looking around at the terrible decorations and nerdy couples taking over the dance floor, she quickly came to the conclusion that staying at the dance was not worth the self-important rant she’d have to deal with once Scy was done yelling about it to Seth.  She turned to Lerki, the look on his face telling her that he was thinking the same thing, it was time to go. “Should we ditch this place?”

“Absolutely.” Lerki liked Seth but he didn’t want to get in the middle of discord caused by who won a plastic crown at a half-rate high school dance. He took Zercey’s hand and the two of them exited without a backwards glance. “If I knew things were going to go south, I would have brought my own car.”

“It can’t be helped now, you want to call a cab?”

“Nah.” Lerki brought Zercey’s hand to his lips to kiss. “There’s no sense in calling it a night so soon, let’s head to a club.”

Downtown was a short walk away from the school and while they technically weren’t old enough to get into a club, it only took a few hundred dollar bills to make the bouncer let them in and then forget he saw them. Lerki wasn’t as rich as Seth, but he wasn’t poor and he was fairly used to throwing dollars around to get what he wanted. He hadn’t gotten a chance to dance with Zercey at the school and he didn’t get dressed up in this stuffy suit for nothing.

The suit became a lot less stuffy as he lost his tie and coat. The dance floor in the bar was a lot more active and exciting than the one at school. With no teachers to interfere with them, Lerki’s hands were free to wander wherever they liked.

So were Zercey’s. 

When they had started dancing they were in his hair, playing with the strands that grazed his neck. Then they had moved down to his collar, and then trailed the line of his buttons, her fingers grazing teasingly along his chest. They had ended at his waist and she pulled him by the belt loops to bring him closer. Finally they were untucking his shirt, lifting it just enough to get her own hands onto his moist skin. He was usually insanely hot, but she lost it when he started to sweat. There was something so satisfying and primal about seeing a guy perspiring. It was part of the reason she had only ever found jocks attractive. They always hungered for more; they knew the gratifying taste of salt. It was too loud to talk, so Zercey settled for giving Lerki a sultry look and tugging on his flesh to let him know he should follow her. His hand found hers and the two zigzagged through the crowded floor sticky from spilled drinks.  

The club’s bathroom was as gross as any bathroom could be. The walls, mirrors and sink were covered in graffiti and discolored stickers, the urinals had beer cans in them and all but one of the stalls was missing its door. Had the two of them been paying attention, they might have reconsidered staying there. A short cab ride to anywhere else would have been a better call, but they were not paying attention and they quickly claimed the stall with the door. It didn’t have a lock, but that was hardly important. Hands and lips were going everywhere, it was a crazy mess of thoughtless touch and stupid, hormonal need. Lerki’s hands followed the familiar path up Zercey’s thigh before he realized something and stopped.

“Are you not wearing anything under that?” He asked, unable to stop from snickering.

“I got sick of losing bras. Do you know how much those things cost?”

“What would have happened if you bent over at the dance?”

“Some underclassmen would have gotten the show of a lifetime,” Zercey responded with a wry grin, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and pulling him closer. “A show that you’re missing by asking stupid questions.”

“I adore you,” Lerki told her honestly.

“I know,” Zercey mumbled, fingers working to undo all of the buttons on his dress shirt.

~*~*~

Jingyi had been surprised that Seth and Scy didn’t win, but didn’t care enough to wonder about it. He was glad they lost, they were jerks, and he was going to celebrate their downfall by doing something he’d thought about doing for months. “Would you like to dance?” he asked Nyima as a slow song started to play. “Not in here though, he amended quickly when he saw her glance around nervously. Taking her hand, he walked them out of the gymnasium and into a dimly lit side hallway. Taking it one step further, he tried the door on one of the darkened classrooms and, finding it open, led Nyima inside. If they left the door open a crack, the music from the gym could still be heard and this way, there was no chance of them being seen or interrupted. Jingyi had never slow danced before, but Nyima didn’t seem to mind. Sheepishly, he brought hands to her waist and she put hers on his shoulders. Then slowly they rocked from side to side in time with the music, breaking eye contact every so often from sheer nervousness. The room was dark and smelled like dry erase markers, it was far from being a magical first dance for them, but it was only their own and Jingyi loved it. “I’m really glad you decided to come with me tonight,” his voice was little more than a whisper in the darkened room, as if speaking too loudly could break the spell.

“I’m glad you asked me,” Nyima’s voice was just as soft and her eyes were now locked with his, unable and unwilling to look away. Almost as one, their faces moved closer together until their lips touched in a soft and sweet kiss.

When they pulled apart Jingyi gave Nyima the dorkiest lopsided grin and she felt her face burn from the cuteness of it. It hadn’t been a long kiss but all that mattered was that she had just had her first kiss and it had been with Jingyi.

Feeling brave from her sudden realization, Nyima took a deep breath before saying, “So I’m staying at Raemina’s tonight, but I’ll be home early tomorrow—probably like twelve or so – and I was thinking—that is, if you want to, maybe you could come over and we could play Final Fantasy like we’d talked about?”

Jingyi had to blink a couple times before he understood what she’d proposed. The question had come out in one quick jumble with the words all sort of melting into each other. “Yeah!” His voice sounded entirely too excited even to his own ears. “I mean yeah, yes…that would be great,” he amended quickly.

Nyima laughed and soon he joined her, both of them giggle ridiculously in the dark until the sound of footsteps breezing by their classroom hide out forced them both to quiet down. “We should head back to the dance now,” Nyima suggested. “Raemina will be worried if she sees me missing.”

They shared another small peck and joined hands, hurrying across the hall and back into the gym. The sound of loud music and shouting as everyone screamed and jump up and down caused the two to pause. 

“What about a walk before we go back?” Jingyi suggested, not interested in trying to weave his way through the mosh pit that the gym had become.

“Let’s,” Nyima agreed, hooking her arm through his. The hallways of the school were empty mostly and the quiet was calming. If he was alone, Jingyi might have been a little freaked out, schools were kind of scary at night, but Nyima made him feel braver than usual. She talked as they walked, telling him everything he needed to know about the new Final Fantasy game and the several layers of lore that went into it. It all seemed a lot more complicated than his simple Mortal Kombat games, but she looked so excited about it that Jingyi couldn’t help feel excited too.

“And then they died! All four of them! I was wrecked initially, but there are some theories online that them dying isn’t the real ending and so I’m going to….” Her words cut off by a weird noise from around the corner and they stopped dead in their tracks. It sounded like heavy breathing, mingled with wet noises and Nyima didn’t know exactly what it was, but she knew that they shouldn’t investigate it. “Let’s go back,” she whispered, trying to remain as quiet as possible now that she knew they weren’t alone. Sadly, the quiet sound of her voice wasn’t soft enough to save her from being noticed.

“I think I heard someone,” a mystery voice sounded, followed by the sounds of quick movements and a zipper being pulled.

Nyima and Jingyi, now understanding the situation better, flushed right down to their toes. Panic took over the shy couple and they did what anyone with anxiety would do in their situation, they ran all the way back to the gym without looking back.

They weren’t fast enough to not be seen though. Cowan’s head craned from behind the corner that had hidden him and he saw their retreating forms just before they vanished around a corner at the opposite end of the hall.

“Who was it?” Xyl asked, hastily trying to smooth out his clothing and praying to whatever god was willing to listen that they weren’t seen and Rhoe would remain safely unaware of what they were doing.

“That Asian couple—you know, silent boy and anxious girl,” Cowan answered, retreating back into their hidey hole beside the water fountain. “I wouldn’t worry about it, neither of them talk normally and so they’re not gonna say anything about this. I don’t even think they saw us.”

~*~*~

Imogen was angry. Seth and Scyanatha should have won, she saw the votes when they first came in and those two had the most. Someone had tampered with it and considering that Rhoe was here, wearing a dress she didn’t ask to borrow, Imogen bet that she was responsible. She would never hear the end of this from Scy and on top of that, she couldn’t shake the creepy jock she’d been set up with to save her life. She’d had to jump through figurative hoops to get away from him and now she was creeping through the hallways like a crazy person and trying to make it outside and to Salem before V.A found her again. She almost succeeded, he was a few feet out the door and she could see the spot where she was supposed to meet Salem when a firm hand clasping around her wrist stopped her.

“Hey sexy, leaving so soon?” Imogen felt the hot, wet breath on her neck and couldn’t fight off the repulsed cringe that followed it. 

“Hey! Let go of me!” she yelled in surprise, squirming to the best of her ability as she tried to break free, but V.A held on tight. 

“Oh come on,” he said as he edged closer and forced her back towards the wall. “Don’t make a scene. I know I can show you a good time if you just let me.” 

“Seriously V.A, this isn’t funny. Let me go.”

“The lady said ‘no,’ creep,” came a forceful voice. Salem had just walked out of a side door to see Imogen scared and cornered, and a menacing figure huddled over her like a predator. He might spend more time putting on glitter than working out, but he knew what it meant to be a decent guy and this wasn’t it. “I think you should leave now.”

“Oh yeah? And who asked you? This isn’t any of your business,” V.A jeered, now turning his attention from Imogen to him.

Sensing she had a very narrow window with which to escape, Imogen put all of her force into her right leg and drove it directly up between V.A’s. 

“You fucking bitch!” he snarled, hands moving to protect his dangling parts from further harm. Salem wound back his arm and brought his fist to the side of V.A's face.

V.A’s head snapped to the side and his curses grew louder. It would have been cool to have a ‘movie moment’ where the bad guy ran away and the hero saved the day, but that was not what was going to happen here. Salem felt like his knuckles were broken from the impact of the hit and it took very real effort not to start cursing himself. He wasn’t a big guy and the sad reality was that he was never going to take on a football player and win. Not tonight, not ever.

The options he had in this situation were slim and became even slimmer when V.A straightened up, the shock of getting hit in the groin and then the face finally having passed, and growled at him. He was in a full Neanderthal rage and Salem realized that the only two things he could do in this situation were run back into the school or to run for his car in the parking lot.

The sound of the school door slamming open and the tall, imposing and angry figure of Ms. Queline stomping her way towards them made Salem’s decision for him. He grabbed Imogen’s hand and bolted for the parking lot.

“Wait. I can’t. Breathe,” Imogen panted a few minutes later, letting go of Salem to bring a hand to either knee and gasp for air. 

“Okay,” he agreed. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was struggling to catch his own breath and now had a stitch in his side to add on top of his stinging knuckles. “I think we lost him anyway. My car is just up there,” he pointed at the end of the row. “We can sit in there and make sure he’s gone.”

Once they were both safely inside, Salem peered over to the girl beside him. He wanted to help her, wanted to do something, but he didn’t know how or what. “Are you okay?” 

Imogen closed her eyes. Am I okay? No, of course she wasn't. She was shaken up by V.A’s actions and there was still adrenaline coursing through her veins that made her feel jumpy. The feeling of V.A’s skin on hers had made her panic and act purely out of survival instinct. But then Salem had been there. She returned his gaze and gave him a wan smile. “No, not yet. But I think I will be.” 

“I wish I had done more. Someone else could have given him the ass kicking he deserved. I'm sorry…”

She laughed without humor. “You’re sorry? You didn’t even have to help me! You shouldn’t be apologizing –” 

Salem cut her off. “Of course I did! Do you really think so little of yourself that you don’t think you’re worth helping?” She looked away, trying to blink back tears. “I’m sorry.” He started again, “That’s not what I meant, I…”

“No, it is what you meant.You’re right,” said Imogen quietly. “At any rate, thank you. I appreciate what you did for me.”

He sat back in his seat, at a loss for anything else to say. He almost made to reach out to her in comfort a couple of times but stopped and ended up bringing his hands under his legs to keep himself from touching her. That’s not what she needed after what just happened.

“Listen,” she said, breaking the silence, “I don’t really want to be alone right now. Do you think we could drive around for a little bit?”

Salem agreed, grateful that he finally had something to do. He pulled out of the parking lot and brought them around the town, trying to fill the silence by sharing anecdotes and facts about the places they were passing and was relieved when she let out a few small chuckles. Finally they pulled over at the lookout. Usually the spot was filled with couples in cars, but since almost everyone was still at the dance, tonight it was deserted. 

“The lookout?” Imogen queried. “Are you trying to say something?” Salem could tell by her tone of voice that she meant to ask it in a teasing way, but the tension she kept in her body gave away her discomfort. 

“No. I just really like the view. Have you ever taken the trail further down?” She shook her head. “Great!” He jumped out of the car and ran to open the passenger side door for her before leading her down a mostly-hidden footpath. 

“I didn’t even know this was here,” she said surprised.

“Not many people do. But it gets better, just wait.” Finally they came upon a ledge just big enough for two people to sit side-by-side. The town looked like a toy model from that height and they were far enough to not hear the noise that usually came with so many people and cars going about their lives. “I like to come up here to think sometimes,” Salem explained once they had sat down.

“It’s beautiful.” Imogen turned to Salem. “Thank you -- for sharing this and for everything else you’ve done for me. Just… thanks.” She picked up his hand, gently running her fingers along his scraped knuckles. “Does it hurt?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t see any point in lying.

She looked him full in the face then, her eyes sweeping over his brows, his kind grey eyes, his smooth sparkly skin, before finally coming to rest on his lips. He had surprised her over and over tonight, comforting her, just being there and keeping her company. “I like you,” she confessed. “I mean like like you.”

“I like like you too,” he replied and interlaced his fingers with hers. 

Imogen smiled. “Good,” she said. Gently, she brought her lips to his.

“We should go find them,” Raemina didn’t think it was a good idea for the two to be alone. She’d seen how Date looked at Vyxen and Vyxen’s blind adoration of him would get her in trouble.

By @guardians-of-las-vyxen & @yogiwithabook

[jestbee]

June 24: Ships that pass in the night (Chapter Four)

Title: Ships that pass in the night (Chapter Four) Tags: Alternate Timeline, AU, Slow burn, stranger to friends, friends to lovers Words: 2750 Summary: Dan and Phil are YouTubers. The catch? They’ve never met, and Phil doesn’t want them to.

Prompt: this was written on the same day as yesterday’s chapter. I’m in love with this fic and it seems you guys are too… thank you so much for all your kind comments, I really really really love reading them all. My friend is here this weekend so I’ll try and get tomorrow’s up but it might not be possible. I’ll tery for you guys though! FEDIJ Day: June 24 Previous Day | Masterlist of fics so far

[justwritingscibbles]

The Blue Sick Boy

An Ethan fiiiic!  Having a stomach bug is not fun. Sorry, little blue-berry, but you must suffer for our entertainment! Muwhaha!

Fic Request:  “Oooo can we get a story where Ethan gets a stomach bug and the reader and the rest of Teamiplier can help him feel better?” 

You were woken up around 2am to the sounds of someone sprinting to the bathroom and throwing up their stomach.  Blinking away the sleep, you rolled out of bed and made your way to the bathroom where Ethan was bent over the toilet seat.  “Hey, you ok?” You mumbled tiredly.  Ethan groaned, he sounded far from ok. “I think I ate something funny.”  You flicked on the light and crouched beside him, ignoring the heaving sounds and terrible smell coming from the toilet bowl.  You rubbed his back, moving his hair out of his face and feeling his forehead.  “You’re burning up, Ethan,” You said worriedly.  “I’m ok,” He groaned. His body arched as another wave of bile escaped his body. “Maybe not.” “Everything ok?” You heard a husky voice asked.  You turned to see Mark squinting at you through his drowsiness. Amy was beside him, wrapped in her pjs looking at Ethan worriedly.  “Is he sick?” Amy asked, moving to join you by Ethan.  “His forehead’s really warm,” You told them. Patting his back as he upchucked again. “I think he might have some sort of bug.”  “I’ll get a bucket to put by his bed,” Mark said, stumbling away from the bathroom.  “No, I’m ok.” Ethan said, waving away Amy’s hand. “I just need to get this food out of me and I’ll go back to bed.” He sniffled and turned to look at the two of you. He was pale and sweaty, exhaustion tugged at his eyes as he blinked at you.  “Sorry for waking all of you,” He mumbled and you grinned kindly at him.  “It’s alright,” You told him. “We all get sick.”  Tyler emerged at the door, a washcloth and a box of medicine in his hands.  “Mark said Ethan was sick,” He said. His hair in all directions. “I brought these for him.”  Amy smiled her thank and took them from Tyler. She dampened the cloth and wiped the sweat from Ethan’s forehead, holding the cool material against his head.  “Jeez, Ethan, you’re really burning up.” Amy commented.  You continued to rub his back as more stomach contents made it’s way into the bowl. 

Mark came back with a bucket and some towels, “Do you need help getting him to bed?  You shook your head, “It’ll be fine, I’ll sit here with him for a bit longer.”  “We’ll go clean up any messes in his room,” Tyler said and the boys disappeared.  “You guys don’t need to worry about me. Really.” Ethan coughed gently.  Amy scoffed gently, jokingly glaring at him. “What are we meant to do? Leave you with your head in a toilet?”  “I can sleep here,” Ethan grinned weakly. “The bathroom mat is soft.”  You chuckled, “You’re not sleeping in the bathroom.”  “But what if I throw up in my room?” He asked.  “That’s what the bucket is for, silly.” Amy told him. “And the towel so you don’t get any on your bed-sheets.”  Ethan moaned again, his eyes closing in pain. “This headache is killing me.”  “I’ll go get a glass of water,” You told them. You made your way to the kitchen, filling a cup of water and returning down the hallway to find Mark helping Ethan to his room.  Tyler was in front of them, holding the bucket in case of another nausea attack.  “Guys, really, you don’t need to do all this for me.” Ethan whined as Mark lowered him onto the mattress. Towels had covered one side of the bed where Ethan slept. And Tyler placed the bucket by his head and a box of tissues on his nightstand.  “Stop complaining and lie down,” Mark gently scolded.  Ethan collapsed against the pillows. His eyes instantly closing and sleep took him as soon as he was vertical.  “Someone should stay with him,” Tyler said. “I don’t want him to choke on his own vomit.”  “I’ll stay,” You volunteered. “I’m already awake. I’ll go get my phone and watch Youtube or something.”  Everyone nodded and returned to bed, leaving you to get your phone and headphones. You crawled onto the other side of Ethan’s bed and sat against the headboard.  Ten minutes into a video, you felt movement beside you, and you looked down at to see Ethan had turned towards you and was snuggling against your legs.  “I don’t feel good,” You heard him muttered with a groan.  “Lean the other way,” You told him. “There’s a bucket you can throw up in.”  He mumbled something but didn’t move. You returned to video and waited out the rest of the night. 

Up until morning, Ethan had thrown up twice while you were sitting beside him.  You had wiped his forehead with the damp cloth and made him drink a little water to keep him hydrated.  Tyler was up first, checking in on the two of you and asking if you needed anything.  Amy and Mark brought you breakfast. Amy coddled Ethan into eating a little bit of toast and some juice to get some sugar into him.  He threw that up minutes later.  Later in the day Kathryn arrived with medicine for him. He reluctantly swallowed the pills and tried eating a little more toast.  He slept most of the time, and you able to leave him for a little bit till he called out for someone.  You and Amy answered him, since Mark was recording, Kathryn was editing and Tyler had gone to the shops.  “Can you guys, make a little video for my channel, explaining I’m sick?” He asked. “Or maybe set it up somewhere so I can record?”  “You’re not leaving this bed,”  Amy said firmly. “We’ll tell everyone that you’re sick. Don’t worry, they’ll understand.”  “Thanks guys,” He mumbled, eyes fluttering close. “You’re the best.”  The video had been short and sweet. Amy allowed you to film the video, since you were more on Ethan’s channel than she was.  You explained that poor little Ethan was sick and he’ll be taking a few days off to recover.  “You guys really don’t want to see it,” You said with a disgusted face. “There’s alien juices and glowing saliva. His forehead is so hot there’s smoke coming out of his ears!” You chuckled to yourself. “But in all seriousness, we’re taking care of him, so send him lots of hugs and good messages! He’s feeling terrible about being sick and leaving you all out without content.” 

Two days after you released the video, Ethan was bouncing around the house, bursting with energy.  “I feel so alive!” He yelled as he ran around outside with Chica galloping behind him. “Oh sweet sunshine! Fresh air! Fuck you, illness! I kicked your ass!”  You laughed along with everyone else, finding his energy contagious.  Ethan recorded an apology video for his channel, explaining in detail what it was like to be sick.  “But everyone here was nice enough to play nurse,” He laughed. “I have (Y/N)  to thank, especially. Because they always made sure I was drinking water. They were shoving medicine down my throat and forcing nutrient into my stomach. So, thank you (Y/N) for that! I’ll be sure to return the favor when you’re sick.” And behold, you were sick four days later.

[philanddanxreader]

Fight Night

Hello, Love bugs!

Phil X Reader

Warnings- Swears, fighting, yelling, harsh shit.

So I actually got inspired to write this one from listening to hotline bling in the car by Drake. If you listen to just the lyrics it's actually a pretty sad-ish song. Any ways hope you enjoy!

Could you write a fic with Phil where him and the reader get into a really big fight including yelling, silent treatments, and door slammings and then fluffiness at the end? Your writing is amazing btw!

“I'm not going to have this conversation on the fucking phone Phil. I have another hour of work left and I'm not about to try and talk about our problems over the phone in the bathroom stall for the next hour. We can talk when I am done work. I will come over to your place but texting me about our fucking relationship problems and then calling me when I'm not responding while I'm at work isn't going to solve anything.” The line was dead silent from Phil. You honestly didn't have time for this because you had a meeting in the next ten minutes. “Are you now not going to say anything now that it's your fucking chance to say your piece?” You could hear Phil sigh on his end of the line but he didn't seem to want to say anything more.

“I will see you after you get off work.” Phil hung up the phone before you could say anything else. It was hand just ending a call with him like that. Nothing is worse than leaving a fight in the middle of it. You quickly put your phone in your pocket before thinking about the fact that you can't remember ever being on the phone with Phil and not ending it was an annoyingly cute amount of I love you’s. After making sure you didn't look like a lady who was just screaming into the phone in the bathroom you made your way back to your desk to grab the things you would need for the meeting.

The meeting went relatively well. It was just hard to focus on what was happening when your thoughts we're filled with the fact that after this you would have to make your way over to Phil's to fight this out even more. The fight is always the hard part. There were times that you wished you could just fast forward through the fight so you could get to the cuddles and sorries. Fights were rare between Phil and yourself but when they happened they were a few days fight. This one had been going on for three days.It all started when you had finally lost your temper. You had been planning to go back home to see your parents for the last two months. Phil was meant to come with you and he had even helped plan the week excursion with you. That was until he changed his mind and decided that he could no longer come with you. He said that he wanted to stay to be able to collab with someone at the youtube space.

“You have to be literally kidding me. Are you fucking kidding me?” Phil hadn't replied. You had been laying in bed with him when he dropped the bomb late at night. You had to sit up in bed because you honestly thought he was kidding.

“It's an opportunity that I can't miss. I have wanted to collab with them for a while and I think it would be good for the channel.” You had turned on the lamp to be able to look at him better.

“A good opportunity yes. The fucking timing couldn't be worse. You promised to come with me to be with my family. I haven't seen them in four months! You have only meet, my family, like four times since we started dating almost two years ago.” Phil sat up to look at you to see how mad you really were.

“It's not like I asked for this to happen. I would be the only one who wouldn't be doing this big collab and a one on one with them. If it was any other time you know I would love to be with you and your family. I never put my job before us but this time I am. You put your job before me all of the time.” You honestly couldn't believe what you were hearing. You jumped up from the bed to start looking for your clothes.

“I put my job before us? I never put my job before us! I took a fucking month off from work so you could go shoot videos in the USA. I almost lost my dream job so I could go support you. The only time I put work before us is when I am there from eight am until five pm. This is so fucking ridiculous.” Finding your clothes from the day you had started to get dressed. You didn't know what you were doing but you knew that you couldn't be in that room right then before you would say something you would regret. Being quick to boil was never a good thing in a fight.

“Where are you going?” You could hear the hurt in his voice and it cut you right where he knew it would.

“I never believe in walking away from a fight but I need a walk or just some fucking air away from this right now. I'm not about to say something regrettable.” Phil nodded as he sat and watched you finish dressing before leaving his room. He expected you to come back but you never did that evening. You went home because once you finally cleared your mind you couldn't get back from the tears. It was terrible to sleep in your bed without Phil. It almost never happens anymore so the bed felt like an empty reminder that you just had a fight and left it like a quitter.

The next day you avoided Phil all day. He would call and you would send it to voicemail. He texted or snapped and even DMed you on twitter just trying to get your attention. You weren't ready to

Talk. You spent the day away from the world. Work was like dodging bullets all day. Coworkers were trying to talk all day. Your usual friendly conversations were replaced with you spending the day at your desk hiding from the world. There wasn't enough makeup in the world to cover the dark circles from lack of sleep or even the redness from your tears couldn't be hidden with sunglasses or taken away from eye drops

After getting home you decided to instantly change into your pj’s and call your mother. You didn't want to give away that Phil and yourself were fighting but you needed to let her know not to plan to have him there. The entire time you were on the phone Phil was attempting to call you. He knew you we're off work and that you had no excuse not to answer. Your mother understood that Phil couldn't make it but she was sad that she wouldn't be seeing him this trip. Once finally ending the conversation you decided to look at the texts from Phil. You could tell he was hurting as bad as you were but it didn't matter. You couldn't see past your own pain to try and deal with anything. Dan had even texted asking if the two of you we're fine. Saying that Phil seemed off and that he knew the two of you had been arguing last night. You had replied to Dan saying that things weren't good. You had asked him how Phil was doing. He said that he had spent the day in his room and that the only time he saw him was when he went to the bathroom or to get a drink. It was selfish and wrong but you were slightly glad that he was feeling as miserable as you were.The silent treatment was childish but you could care less. You made it this far today you weren't about to give in. At least not that night.

The next morning you had texted Phil saying that after work you would be going to his place after work to finally talk it out. He had replied that he was happy that you were finally responding to him. You had told him that you had a big day at work and that there wasn't going to be any texts or calls to him until you saw him later that night. Everything was going to plan until an hour to the end of work when Phil was blowing up your phone with phone calls asking about a picture that was sent to him with you at a party from a month ago with a bunch of girls around you partying it up as you had a guy giving you a lap dance. It was from your birthday last month. You had told Phil that it was just a girls night at the bar just hanging. That was the truth until the girls drug your drunk ass to the strippers. You had said no but with all of the liquor in your system, your judgment was not as strong as usual. Both Phil and yourself never considered going to the strippers or porn as cheating. Not that Phil was one for going to see naked ladies spin on a pole. For some reason, however, this photo struck a chord deep inside of him. It was impossible to ignore the calls so you made your way to the bathroom to have that call with him. Throughout the day you were honestly excited to start the end of the fight with him. The calm talking and not yelling part.

Once back in front of the familiar door you paused taking a deep breath. You knew there would be yelling and tears and you just honestly didn't want to do it. You wanted things fixed but you didn't want to feel your voice give away the pain. You didn't want to feel the sting of tears in your eyes. You just wanted to be held like before. Unlocking the door you stepped inside to hear the deafening silence in the apartment. You made a mental note that Dan’s shoes were gone. Phil most definitely asked for Dan to make himself scarce. You were thankful that you wouldn't have to worry about being quiet or anything else. Once up the stairs, you make your way slowly to the lounge to find Phil on the couch sitting with his computer in his lap mindlessly scrolling through twitter. Setting down your bag you take a breath before closing your eyes to get prepared.

“Hey, bean.” Phil took a few seconds before looking at you in the doorway. Closing his laptop he let out a breath before patting the sofa beside him. You took the invitation as you sat beside him at an awkward distance. The question was who was going to break the silence and what were you going to talk about first. You didn't want to start because you didn't want to start in defensive mode. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Phil wanted to start the conversation probably for the same reason as you. So you decided to bite the bullet and start.

“So today was a fucking mess.” Phil nodded still not able to find his voice. “Where do you want to start? The photo? The first fight we had the other night? Or should we talk about the silent treatment that I gave you like a two-year-old.”

“Let's start about how I don't know who you are anymore. The y/n I know would never get drunk and go to the male strippers and get a lap dance. Then lie to me about it all. What happened to the girl who would call me every night when she was lonely. We don't really talk anymore I mean really talk. When was the last time we talk about our feelings and dreams and plans?” Phil wasn't wrong. There was a time when you would call him at any break just because you missed him. You were over the honeymoon stage but that didn't mean that you had to stop trying.

“I haven't changed. I still love you as much as I have since day one. In fact, i love you more. We just both stopped trying. You’re right. I lied about the party. I didn't want you to be worried about it. You always say that you’re this scrawny guy who went a long time without a partner. That isn't what I want in someone. You are my type. I guess I just worried that you would think that I was wishing I had something different when I’m not.” Phil paused for a long while.

“Get out of my head.” This made you smile a little. You hated that you were right and that the photo made his insecure. “ I just want you to be happy. I never want you to think you wished you had something different.”

“Never. Even when I were fighting I want nothing more in life than you.” Phil grabbed you by the waist pulling you closer to him. Thankfully this fight was not loud.

“Next I suppose. Your parents. Do you want to start or me?” You turned so you were sitting looking to Phil.

“Well, i'm fucking pissed. I never put work before you and you know that's the fucking truth.” Phil nodded as you continued. “You not coming fucking hurts. You know how hard it is for me to be away from my family while here. I miss them terribly and all I want to do is share you with them. Why the fuck are you taking a video over seeing my family. I respect your job and I understand how you want to have this video with this person but you have to understand how that hurts.” Phil grabbed your hand as the both of you took another big breath.

“I honestly think that my channel could do better with a video with them. It would boost my views and hopefully help gain a larger audience. My job is never a for sure thing. My job could be over tomorrow and I want to be able to provide for you so you want or need for nothing.” It was your turn to feel like an ass. Of course, he is worried about job stability. You know he feels a lot of pressure to stay relevant. You never even thought about his worrying that.

“It didn't even cross my mind that you were worried about your channel. It felt like you were ditching me for an opportunity that could come around again.”

“I never wanted to ditch your family. I made this decision with a heavy heart. I never wanted to hurt you like that. I am always thinking of us and you. I never want to put work before you but I decided that this was a necessary thing.”

“Why didn't you say that?” You felt the tears sting at the corners of your eyes.

“You gave the silent treatment. I was going to explain it to you after you let that night to cool down but you never came back.” Well, now you’re really an asshole.

“I'm sorry.” You couldn't get any other words out before the tears finally spilt over onto your cheeks. Phil grabbed you to rest your head on his chest letting you cry into his shirt as he rubbed your back.

“I know love. Please don't cry. Let's just put this on the back burner for a little and just cuddle. I fucking missed you.” snuggling closer to Phil you pulled your legs up on the couch to lean into him. The conversation wasn't going to be over but at least the fight was done.

[adorkablephil]

Fic: The Trouble with Labels

Summary: It's 2009, and AmazingPhil notices he's getting a lot of YouTube and Twitter comments from some obsessed kid calling himself "danisnotonfire." (A prequel to “Creeper” which is an independent one-shot that can be read with absolutely no knowledge of the rest of the series.) Word Count: 2,286 Rating: Teen Tags: Crushes, Fans, YouTube, Twitter, Dailybooth, Skype, Masturbation Author’s Note: I'm not being too careful about making the timeline completely accurate, but it should be close enough.

[Chronological list of all fic posts in the Creeper series]

The Trouble with Labels

If the username hadn’t been so simultaneously catchy and stupid, Phil wouldn’t even have noticed right away. But it was memorable enough for him to notice that the same person had started commenting on all of his videos, sometimes even commenting more than once on the same video. And they’d been going back and commenting on all his old ones, too. All of them.

He was no stranger to obsessive fans. Weird as it seemed to him, some people just apparently had nothing better to do with their lives than fixate on nerdy weirdos who put videos up on the internet. He knew it was just part of putting himself out in public like that, but he would never understand why some people got so obsessed with him, of all people! With someone like PJ, it made sense—half his subscribers probably watched his videos with the sound off, just to get to see someone so beautiful. But Phil wasn’t anything special, and he knew he was weird, but he was completely 100% comfortable with that about himself. It just surprised him that so many people apparently found it obsession-worthy.

So when this name “danisnotonfire” started popping up in all his comment notifications, he just shrugged to himself. It was actually pretty flattering when somebody went back to watch and comment on old videos when they first discovered his channel, so he didn’t mind that, but … leaving multiple comments on a single video was edging a bit into creeper territory.

And then the same username showed up on Twitter, commenting on his tweets. As in, all of his tweets. Every single one. And, again, sometimes more than one comment on a single tweet.

Definite creeper, he thought to himself. Probably one of those people who send me hair through the post.

But then some of the comments were actually kind of clever, kind of funny, and he found himself sort of watching for them. And when he actually responded to one of danisnotonfire’s responses to one of his tweets, it started a sort of conversation that he hadn’t intended, a conversation that extended across multiple tweets, and he started to actually kind of like this guy. Because it was apparently a guy, if the user icon was anything to go by. A fairly cute guy, actually. And Phil didn’t even try to lie to himself about the role that fact played in his increasing encouragement of their interaction.

The day he decided to actually look at danisnotonfire’s Twitter page, he was a bit horrified to discover that he’d apparently been lightly flirting, and if he was honest with himself becoming a bit infatuated, with a 17-year-old kid. Now he was the one who felt like a creeper, chatting up innocent children on the internet, taking advantage of a young person’s obsession with him to reel them into a closer relationship.

He resolved to cool off his interactions with Dan, because that was apparently the kid’s real name. But that lasted about a day. Then Dan tweeted something interesting, and Phil hadn’t stopped following him, so he saw it, and he wanted to comment. He held off for about an hour, then decided that there was nothing wrong with tweeting. He could be friendly with this Dan kid on Twitter and it didn’t have to be anything more sinister than that. He enjoyed being friends with him. Where was the harm?

Then Dan got a Dailybooth account and started posting photos.

Well, hell.

The kid was gorgeous. And now when Phil saw his tweets, he couldn’t help attaching an angelic face to the words he was reading. And though Phil had resolved to stop flirting, it was obvious that he had created a monster with his earlier encouragement, because Dan baited him constantly. And Phil couldn’t help taking the bait. So they flirted. A lot.

That wasn’t so bad, right? It was just Twitter. It didn’t mean anything. He wasn’t corrupting the innocent youth of England. He wasn’t that type of person.

But Dan was just so … interesting! And smart! And funny!

And those Dailybooth photos…

When he hit 100 followers on Dailybooth, Dan posted two photos of himself apparently naked, surrounded by several stuffed animals, some of which were strategically placed to preserve his modesty.

Phil looked at those photos a lot. And not just for the obvious reason. Sure, Dan was beautiful, and he was showing a lot of skin, and his facial expression said he was just begging to be ravished. But what really made Phil fall hopelessly in love with this adorable kid was the fact that he apparently owned that many stuffed animals.

Maybe that should have made him see Dan as more childish, but instead it made him feel like they had even more in common than he’d realized before, because the way Dan was using the stuffed animals showed a combination of innocence and cheeky sense of humor that Phil couldn’t help but love.

The day Dan sent him a DM asking if he wanted to Skype sometime, Phil hesitated. Was this edging into creeper territory? Skyping with a teenage kid? At least Dan had turned 18 by now, so it didn’t seem quite as bad, but Phil still wasn’t sure if he should be encouraging this relationship to become even more intimate.

Who was he kidding? He was lost.

The first time they Skyped to each other, Phil was struck by how mature Dan was for his age. He didn’t just talk about school and video games and his friends and his girlfriend. (Phil was shocked by that last one, but figured that it was even better evidence that this wasn’t creepy—Dan couldn’t be interested in Phil like that if he had a girlfriend, right? He told himself he wasn’t disappointed, but knew it was a total lie.) Dan also talked about creative ideas he’d been contemplating, and they were good ideas. Phil told him he should definitely pursue them. Dan wanted to make videos, but didn’t think he was talented enough; Phil told him his ideas were worth working on, and that he’d help if Dan had any questions.

And Dan talked about deeper issues, too … about questioning his place in the world and what he wanted for the future, not just for himself but for society. He talked about important issues, the kind of philosophical things Phil didn’t tend to think about much but which kept him listening raptly to every word that came out of Dan’s incredibly kissable mouth.

He did not think that. Dan’s mouth wasn’t kissable. Well, yes, of course it was kissable. He had a girlfriend, and she probably kissed it all the time. And why did that thought put a knot in his stomach?

Dan was flirty on Skype, too, and Phil let himself flirt back because it was obviously completely innocent if Dan had a girlfriend. They were just joking around. They weren’t doing anything wrong. Phil wasn’t doing anything wrong. Right?

They started Skyping frequently, and Phil looked forward to it more than he should. It seemed ironic now that he’d started out feeling like a creeper taking advantage of a young fan who had obsessively misplaced feelings for him, because now he was pretty sure he was the one with the unrequited feelings. Dan must flirt like this with everyone, right? It didn’t mean anything to him, not when he was already in a relationship. And was possibly straight, since his only real relationship had been with a girl.

Dan’s Dailybooth photos became increasingly provocative as he became more confident. He posed and preened and lowered his eyelids to half-mast, obviously relishing the enthusiastic response he got to these kinds of pics.

Surely Dan knew … everybody knew … Dailybooth wasn’t used purely for innocent purposes. Especially when Dan had posted some pictures of himself fully naked with only one particularly intriguing body part actually hidden.

So since Dan obviously knew that … there wasn’t anything wrong with what Phil did, right? He knew that he and Dan were just friends, that their flirting was completely innocent and all in jest. There wasn’t anything wrong with … well … masturbating … to pictures of your friend … right? If your friend happened to be phenomenally hot and had a girlfriend and you weren’t going to actually try to have sex with him or anything. Just … there’s nothing wrong with fantasies, right? And using publicly posted photos to aid in those fantasies?

Yeah, Phil couldn’t really convince himself, either.

And so he felt guilty every time he did it. He was definitely the creeper now, and it started to make him feel gross and perverted every time he talked with Dan. He’d look at that beautiful, innocent, smiling face, with those almond-shaped eyes and those adorable dimples and those soft lips, and he’d remember what he’d done and feel ashamed. But it never stopped him from doing it again. He couldn’t help it.

To be honest, he didn’t want to stop. It was too good.

He just hoped Dan never found out. Of course, there was no way he ever could find out. What Phil did in the privacy of his own bedroom in front of his own computer was no one else’s business. And no one else needed to know about it. Ever. But he harbored an intense, irrational fear that someday Dan would find out. And then their friendship, with all its joking flirtatious banter, would be over.

And then came the night Dan DM’d him with a desperate request to Skype. And the minute Phil saw his face on the screen he knew something terrible had happened, because he’d never seen Dan cry before, but he was seeing it now, and he wished he wasn’t. It broke his heart.

“Dan! What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, pressing a hand to his laptop screen as if he could somehow reach out to Dan physically despite the hundreds of miles between them.

Dan wiped at his eyes and tried to smile, but it looked sickly. “We broke up,” he said.

And that’s when Phil hit his all-time low as a person, that’s when he really showed his true colors, because he was happy. Dan was crying and heartbroken, and Phil was selfishly happy that his girlfriend had broken up with him. It was unimaginable how anyone could break up with Dan, but the unimaginable had apparently happened. It didn’t mean Dan would ever be interested in Phil, in anything more than their casually amusing online flirtation, but it still made Phil happy. And that made him disgusted with himself. The combination of emotions made him a little queasy.

“What happened?” he asked, trying to be a good friend, trying to hide his own roiling emotions and just be supportive when someone he cared about was suffering. Now was not the time to be thinking about himself.

Dan looked at him with those dark, limpid eyes, and said simply, “I couldn’t keep dating her when I’m more interested in someone else.”

Phil froze. What were they talking about here? He’d accepted a long time ago that Dan wasn’t honestly interested in him. Maybe Dan was talking about someone else? Someone IRL? Another girl?

Phil cleared his throat. Then he nervously adjusted his fringe. Then he asked, “Who are you interested in?”

Dan laughed through his tears. “Seriously?”

Phil nodded, shrugging awkwardly, but couldn’t make any more words come out of his mouth. He felt scared suddenly. This couldn’t be what it sounded like. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself and maybe destroy a friendship that had become pretty important to him.

Dan rubbed at his eyes, then stared hard at Phil from the computer screen. “You, Phil. I’m interested in you.” He looked away from the computer and said in a quiet voice, “I thought you were interested in me, too.” And now the boy on the screen looked small and hurt and lost, and Phil hated himself even more.

Phil just gaped for a moment, then caught sight of himself in the corner of the screen and realized he looked utterly ridiculous, like a gasping fish or something, and closed his mouth with a snap. “I … I thought you were just … joking,” he stammered.

Dan’s eyes filled with tears again. “So you aren’t actually interested in me that way?”

“No!” Phil exclaimed, and Dan obviously misunderstood, because he started nodding dejectedly. “I mean yes!” Phil shouted. His parents were going to complain about him making so much noise in the middle of the night, but he didn’t care right now. “Yes,” he said more quietly, but his voice was firm and he tried to keep it steady. “I am! Interested. In you. That way.”

“Really?” Dan asked, a tentative smile starting to curve his lips, very much at odds with his red and swollen eyes.

“Really,” Phil affirmed, and he could feel a smile starting to spread on his own face as well.

“Oh,” Dan said, and ducked his head shyly. It was the cutest thing Phil had ever seen.

“Yeah,” Phil said, trying to contain the shock and joy and confusion that were spreading through him like wildfire. Trying to sound like a sane person who was maybe on the verge of starting a new relationship with somebody he really really liked.

“What do we do now?” Dan asked, and he sounded vulnerable, and all Phil wanted to do was hold him and protect him and take care of him forever.

“Be happy?” Phil suggested, and it made them both laugh. But Phil thought it sounded like the best plan ever.

Continue on to “Creeper” (the next fic in this series)

Author’s Note: I’m going to make a post tonight that lists all the fic posts in this series in chronological order. In the meantime, Like, Reblog, or Comment if you liked it, because I’m a total slut for feedback!