#sorry carly but he cleared you......

[rachel-bloom]

I swore I never let you string me along again.

[tuesdayiminlove]

happy disaster

rockstar!eddie x fem!waitress!reader (imperfect for you universe)

summary: how you two meet

author's note: an ask about how they met came earlier today and i couldn't help myself lol. not proofread sorry! also this could be read as a standalone! but u can read the og part here! hope u guys enjoy lmk what yall think xoxo

word count: 3.1k

You’ve had your fair share of jobs throughout the last few years, trying to make ends meet while also being a consumer of the various cute things you see when you’re at the mall with your friends. One time (and this may have been one of the more miserable experiences), you worked as a receptionist for an auto shop (get it now?)).

Needless to say, you were at the bottom of the hierarchy at that whole joint. When you weren’t answering calls and taking hyperspecific notes to not confuse the actual mechanics, you were practically shunned from the moment you stepped up from your seat and onto the street to eat your lunch at the bench outside. And whenever your lips did part to make even the simplest of comments, the men either laughed at you or made you feel stupid (“You guys hired me! Clearly I’m not a fucking idiot!” you dreamt of saying, but you were just never one for the dramatics and confrontation of it all).

And, the worst part, on days you couldn’t go into work, none of the other receptionists would switch with you.

(“Sorry, babe, I just can’t,” you remember Joey Warner staying after taking a drag of his cig, coughing mere seconds later from not exhaling immediately. You wanted to take the cigarette between your fingers, toss it down, and squish it with your shoes. You really needed to pick up your brother from school, and no one at the shop is ever up Joey’s ass since he’s a guy.

“Oh. It’s alright.” You curse yourself and your lack of ever wanting conflict, because you’re more than positive that this boy deserves a beating for not taking the reins for an hour just so that your poor baby brother won’t have to wait on the cold sidewalk for your mom, who is forty minutes late.

You walk back into the shop without another word.)

So. yeah, call this mechanic memory useless, but now it's clear that your jobs have been absolute dog shit in the past.

But being a waitress at Carly’s Diner, in comparison, takes the cake in the coworker camaraderie contest.

Like, now, you’re enjoying your break with Carrie, splitting half a cupcake that Jim managed to slip into your guys’ hands when he was pulling the fresh desserts from the oven. You two have turns at it, taking nimble bites from the vanilla confection and wiping rainbow sprinkles off your uniform in the process. Your nose blends in the smell of the cupcake and Carrie’s sweet perfume, leaving a little bubble where you can hardly tell what the boys in the kitchen are whipping up right now.

Judy passes through the doors in a haste, heaving before setting her eyes on you two. The notepad in her hands is crumpled up and her hair looks all over the place, eyes bewildered as she stalks towards you and Carrie, a complan ready to spill from her red lips. 

“This fucking couple on table three is driving me nuts! Nuts!” She slumps her back against the wall and swipes a piece of frosting off the cupcake before sticking it in her mouth, sighing in relief.

“Hey,” Carrie swats Judy’s hand, “watch the cupcake!” She places it behind her back possessively.

Carrie is nearly six months pregnant and craving every sweet treat Jim has to offer in between tables and shifts. It’s a miracle that she let you split the dessert with her just now, “And table three, you said?”

Judy ignores her earlier words and nods. “I swear to God, I don’t understand your goddamn generation and why you heaps are so fucking rude. I can't do this.”

“Don’t group us with those weirdos,” says Carrie. “And I’d like to see them be rude to a pregnant woman. Protect this,” she hands you the cupcake carefully, looking at you in the eyes with intent, “and I mean it.”

Her voice is so determined, you decide that you don’t want your fair share of bites anymore. You nod dutifully.

“I got this, Jude.” She swipes the notepad from the older woman’s hands.

And with that, Carrie is kicking herself off the wall and out of the kitchen, into the main part of the diner. You silently pray for the couple that now has to deal with a moody and pregnant Carrie. 

See? Now, this is what you mean! No mechanic or receptionist at Billy’s Auto Parts will ever be willing to face an alleged-annoying couple for their coworker. Sometimes, waitressing can take the light and happiness out of you once you’re clocked out, but at least you’re surrounded by the half-decent people in your town.

“You’re a lifesaver!” Judy calls out with a wicked laugh. “Gotta love that girl… hey can I have a bite?”

You frown, knowing you’re already unable to say no when Judy is stressed and you know for sure that the confection in your hand is enough to sweeten even the most stressed—Jim just has that magic to him. “Yeah, but don’t make the dent obvious.”

You think you’re gonna spend the rest of your break with Judy, hiding in between the two walls in the corner of the kitchen until Carrie comes back. You lick a small sprinkle off the cupcake, ready to ask the woman if her daughter won the spelling bee that she’s been freaking out over all week, when the office door swings open and Lenny’s head peeks out, eyes going to the first two waitresses that he can spot.

“Hey!” he shouts yours and Judy’s last names to steal the attention. “Can one of you guys go out and get Evan? Her daughter’s principal is on the phone.” He wipes his sweat-stained brow and doesn’t wait for a response. “Thanks,”

You and Judy look back at each other. And immediately you know that you’re not going to make Judy be the one.

“I got it,” you say with a soft smile. “... You’re gonna eat the rest of this are you?”

She laughs and swipes the cupcake. “For you, my love, I wouldn’t dream of it. Thank you.”

You blow her a kiss, already making your way to the double doors of the kitchen, straightening out your ponytail and getting your waitressing voice ready (patient and respectful, garnering the best tips you can try to get). Your eyes give one swipe across the diner, catching Carrie’s eye as she talks to the couple sitting down beneath her, holding her precious bump to make a show of it. She gives you a sly wink and you bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing.

Afternoon rush makes it hard to spot Evan at first. His smaller stature makes it even harder to spot him in the crowd, but your eyes eventually zone in on him smiling at customer that is blocked by a family getting up to leave. You smile upon finding him and make your way to the table.

As you get closer, you finally notice who Evan is speaking two, and your brows pinch quizzically. The man is hunched, looking over the menu with sunglasses adorning his face despite his table not even facing the sun. His jet black curls curve around the lines of his face, making his features harder to notice. It almost reminds you of the movies you watch late at night when you’re munching on diner leftovers on your couch, the runaway criminal stopping for a bite to eat while trying to flee the state. 

“Evan,” you say softly, not wanting to draw attention to yourself but you know it's already bound to happen since you’re switching places with him. “Lenny’s got your daughter’s school on the phone. They’re asking for you.”

The man’s eyes widen. “Great,” he mutters, “What do you think it is this time?” “I hope she said ‘fuck you’ to that little pipsqueak again,” you joke, seeing the anxiety in Evan’s eyes at not knowing why he’s receiving a call during work. You remember the first time he got called to his daughter’s school from work due to her cursing out an older boy: the entire kitchen was laughing—Evan included—as they all wished him good luck with that meeting. “Can’t be worse than that.”

He sighed, turning back to the customer, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I’m going to hand you off to her for a bit.” He says your name to further introduce you two. "Thank you for your patience.”

And for the first time up close, you look at the sunglassed man and smile. Perfect teeth flash at you, mildly astonishing you at how cute he looked when he did so. It’s not abnormal for you to find a customer attractive (it’s human, we’re human), but you don’t think a smile has ever made you secretly stop you from breathing for a second. 

Flustered, you’re clumsy as you and Evan switch spots. He pats your shoulder one last time, muttering a thank you as he rushes to the back. You follow his movements and frown for a split second and forget your task at hand. You hope his daughter is okay. You hope the kitchen will be laughing in t-minus three minutes over the fact that little baby-Evan gained a new curse word under her belt.

“Sorry,” you say, looking back at the man. You find him looking directly at you, knowing only because of how his head is positioned. His sunglasses are too tinted to even see a little beneath. “Can I start you off with anything to drink?”

“Oh—uh, yeah,” he stammers, before clearing his throat and offering a crooked smile. “Coffee, please. Milk and two sugars.”

Your handwriting matches the pace as he speaks. You hold a smile on your face to keep up pleasantries. “And have you decided what you would like to eat?”

“Not yet,” he admits, his fingers fidgeting with the edge of the menu. “Kind of hard to focus.” There’s a pause before he adds, a little quieter, “The menu’s got a lot of… options.”

You raise an eyebrow, tucking your notepad in the small pocket of your apron. You turn your head to see if anyone else is making coffee right now. You see Carrie there, and silently celebrate when she’s already staring at you. “All good. I’ll get your coffee ready and be right back–”

“—Wait.”

Your brows pinch, confused. “Yes?” His hand rubs the back of his neck, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face. “I was just, um… wondering if you had a favorite on the menu? Like… if there’s something you always recommend. Or—” He hesitates again, “Or like your favorite?”

You don’t know why he's so flustered. You don’t know why it makes you flustered. For a beat, you just look at him. Is he… trying to flirt with me? The thought isn’t unwelcome, but you certainly weren’t expecting it, or really believing it just yet. You tilt your head, trying your best to keep your expression neutral.

“Well,” you say eventually, “We have an all day breakfast, and that’s my favorite part of the menu, and I get it a lot. It’s on the next page.”

You wait for him to turn the menu, but he continues to stare back up at you, mouth agape.

“... Is that something you’re interested in?” you ask, breaking the silence.

“Yes,” he replies immediately. And then, more composed, “Yeah, I can be in the mood for breakfast.” He finally flips the page, and his head tilts up to yours fleetingly.

“Great! Our cook, Jim, makes the best strawberry and white chocolate pancakes, so that’s what I would recommend from the breakfast menu.”

His lips tug into a small, bashful smile. “Sounds perfect. I’ll take that.”

“Perfect!” you grin, scribbling his order onto your notepad. “I’ll take this to the kitchen, and have your coffee ready soon!” You flash him one more look before retreating back towards the kitchen. You finally get to look back at Carrie, who is still looking at you, this time arms crossed.

“How was the couple?” you ask when you’re about to pass her.

“Annoyed them enough to leave.” She grabs your wrist, and you just dodge the yelp that wants to escape your lips. “Do you know who you were just talking to?”

You freeze. Her grip is firm, her expression serious enough to make you hesitate. Your gaze darts briefly toward the dining area, but you stop yourself from looking back at him. The last thing you want to do is risk being caught gawking.

“I... no?” you whisper, unsure of how to answer. But even as you say it, you feel a subtle heat creeping up your neck. The weight of eyes on your back makes your skin prickle, as if the mystery man somehow knows he’s the topic of conversation.

“Why don’t you go check the newspaper in the locker room and get back to me, yeah?” she finally lets her grip go, smirking like she knows something you don’t.

Carrie's words linger repeatedly in your brain as you hesitantly allow yourself to drop off the man’s order, and then to go see whether or not you’re serving a serial killer. 

You slip the stripped paper from your notepad to Colin’s hands. “Table thirteen,” you say in passing as you make the rest of the way to the locker room, not even Judy’s cheerful wave as she smiles with a cupcake still in her hand can stop you from the mission you have decided to go on.

Upon entering the locker room, you gaze zeroes in newspaper lying flat on the bench, its closed pages teasing you with potential revelations about your current customer. You hesitantly flip it over as you come face-to-face with the front headline 

HIT AND DIP: ROCKSTAR EDDIE MUNSON LEAVES IN HASTE AFTER CHICAGO SHOW 

Your eyes widen as they lock onto the grainy photo accompanying the article. There’s no mistaking it. The guy at table thirteen. Eddie Munson. Rockstar. Your customer. 

For the first time, you finally see his eyes. But instead of him taking his sunglasses off to reveal his brown hues, you see them straight on in the form of a camera flashing and printing onto the paper right in front of you. He looks borderline pissed as he’s gripping his guitar and shooing the paparazzi in the background away, the picture managing to catch the split-second that his eyes meet with the camera.

“He’s hot.”

You jump, clutching the newspaper to your chest as you turn to meet eyes with Judy casually leaning over your shoulder with a grin.

“Judy!” you hiss, sighing in relief. 

“What?” she says plainly, “He is.”

“He is also currently Evan’s customer on table thirteen that I now have to serve.”

Judy’s pupil’s dilate. “Oh shit.”

You want to make a joking comment, calling Judy a cougar, but you’re interrupted by Carrie peeking her head in through the door. She looks down at the newspaper in your hands, and then back to your eyes. “Told you,” she says, her smirk from earlier still on her face.

Before you can respond annoyingly, Jim’s voice blares through the back. “Order up!” he shouts. “Waffles for thirteen!”

Your eyes nearly bulge out of its sockets.

“Jesus, do you ever slow down?” Carrie yells out the door.

They hear Jim’s “No!” and fan out back into the kitchen.

“Good luck, my love,” sings Judy.

“Can you ask for an autograph?” asks Carrie. She motions to her belly and gives it a soft pat. “She’ll think I’m real cool!” 

“Ha, ha,” you roll your eyes, already holding the order as you kick the double doors open, passing back into the diner. You try your best to calm your heart as you pour coffee into the kettle, taking sugar from the side of the counter and putting two teaspoons into the mug. You feel eyes on you the entire time, and you don’t need to look up to know whose covered eyes they belong to. 

It’s not every day that you get to serve a goddamn celebrity, so she thinks that everyone should give her a break (she’s specifically talking to her heart—it needs to stop beating so rapidly, making her brain think something is wrong).

You take a deep breath, steadying yourself as you hold the plate on one hand, and the mug on the other. “Just a customer,” you whisper under your breath, beginning to walk. “Just a ridiculously famous, incredibly good-looking customer who better leave a stunning tip.”

As you approach table thirteen, you notice that Eddie shifts slightly in his seat. One of his legs bounces under the table, and he drums his fingers lightly against the edge of the booth.

You \ set the plate and coffee down in front of him, you catch the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Waffles and coffee,” you announce, sliding the plate and mug onto the table with practiced ease. You’re proud that your voice doesn’t shake—too much, anyway.

Eddie leans back, grinning up at you. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

Your heart stops. You couldn’t help but think his eyes hold a knowing look, like he knew exactly what went down and now knows that you know exactly who he is.

“Enjoy,” you grin back. 

Behind you, you hear him mutter something under his breath, followed by a quiet groan, and you can’t help but feel a small flutter in your chest that he enjoyed what you recommended to him. 

The rest of the rockstar’s stay goes smoothly. You don’t intend on saying anything to give away what you know, despite it probably already being known, and you're grateful by this normalcy. You refill his coffee, make light conversation (the weather is particularly sunny and pretty today, shining through the windows and letting pretty glow spread through the diner), and take his plate when he’s wiped it clean.

You don’t even think much of his stay, mind already going back to it being a regular customer that deserves no more or less attention than anyone else is supposed to.

(Sure, his smile lingers in your mind a little longer than you’d like to admit—so what if his smile is better than any that you’ve seen, anyway?)

It isn’t until Eddie’s up and left and you trail back to the table to wipe it off, a damp rag in hand, do you notice the wad of cash left in his wake that is definitely worth more than his bill.

Your jaw drops down, staring at it and contemplating what to do with that much of an amount of money in front of you.

Next to it, a folded napkin sits.

Your mind immediately goes to an autograph; that he’s one of those celebrities, and he just couldn’t resist leaving a little something to prove of his appearance.

You’re taken back when you unfold it to see his number scribbled messily onto the fabric. Your fingers shake as you move your thumb to fully read the note that he added at the bottom,

Call me. Please. :)

[imtryingbuck]

Divorce Came With A Price

~ gif not mine credit goes to owner ~

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Summary: it’s been 6 months since he last saw you.

Word count: 1295

Warnings: Angst, I’m sorry. Death, cancer, suicide – please don’t read if the warnings upset you.

A/N: my mum cried when she read this.

Masterlist

Part 1

It’s been 6 months since Bucky last saw you, he’s hated it. He misses you. He misses your beautiful face, the way your smile makes his heart tingle. Misses the way your eyes shines brightly when you’re talking about your hobbies and interests. Misses the feel of your soft skin under his calloused hands. He just misses the love of his life, his other half - his sweet perfect wife. 

He remembers how your smile dropped as he tells you he wanted a divorce. Remembers the heartbreakingly look in your eyes as he told he’d been having an affair. That one look has haunted his dreams, his every waking moment. He can still feel the acid in his throat as he wills himself to nod as you ask that one question. Nothing more nothing less. You just wanted that one question to be answered and he couldn’t even look at you let alone answer verbally. He didn’t even know you left the house until the divorce hearing; he watched you walk away with Matt and Foggy wishing he could say something but nothing comes out. He watched as your feet falter when you see Carly. He knows exactly what you’re thinking.

But It’s over now.

It’s over now and he can get you back.

It’s over now and he’s hoping and praying that you’ll understand and forgive him.

It’s over now and he’s going to move heaven and earth to have his love back in his arms.

He finds out you’ve been staying with Matt since he broke both of your hearts. How does he do this? How does he knock on the door hoping that neither one of you punches him in the face (not that he doesn’t deserve it) he just hopes you’ll listen to him.

Bucky walks into the florist to get the biggest bouquet of your favourite flowers he can get. 

The skies start to turn dark even with the sun shining brightly, if he didn’t know any better he’d think it was forewarning for what’s to come.

Knocking on the wooden door it’s Matt that greats him. “What? What are you doing here” if Bucky wasn’t a super soldier he’d be scared with the tone in Matts voice.

“I-um I need to see Y-Y/N. Please”

“She’s not here. She’s not here anymore” Bucky can’t understand why Matt sounds broken.

“Well um where does she live now?” He’s trying not to stumble off his words.

“No James you don’t understand” Matt looks up towards the ceiling then continues but doesn’t get the chance.

“What do you mean I don’t understand? Matt look I know you hate me for what I did to Y/N but I had a reason, I just need to see her to explain it to her. Please Matt just tell me where she lives”. He begging and pleading and it’s clear as day in the way his voice wavers.

Matt speaks in a fast manner “Get inside before Ms Jenson comes out and complains” 

The apartments a mess, there’s takeaway boxes laying around, the sinks full of pots and there’s trash overflowing in the bin. The apartment looks nothing like it did 8 months prior when Y/N and himself went round for a double date with Matt and some woman he can’t remember the name of. Matt sits down and lazily waves his arm round for Bucky to sit to.

“Matt wher-“ he doesn’t get to finish his sentence.

“James she’s gone, she’s dead.” The air is cut off. The room is spinning. His world has ended. He doesn’t know what to do or say so he stares blankly at Matt waiting for the punchline of a joke that isn’t even remotely funny. Matt understands he needs to say more so he does. “That day you told her you wanted a divorce to be with your side piece she’d been at the hospital for her results. It was cancer. Terminal. She’d been told she had about 6 months to a year left. Her insurance didn’t cover her medical expenses so she stopped treatment, I told her I would pay but you know what she’s like-was like. 3 weeks ago she made me go out on a date with Karen she said she’d be fine and made me promise I’d have a good time. I got home around 11 and went to bed. The next morning, I couldn’t hear her walking around, so I went into her room, she um she’d taken pills, enough to end her life. It was too late to do anything, they said she’d been gone for 18 hours. Id only been gone for an hour” tears stream down both of the men’s faces. Matt struggles to continues “she begged me not to say anything to you, she didn’t want to get in the way of your relationship. She thought if you knew you’d change your mind and not divorce her just because she was dying. Y/N begged me James so I couldn’t I couldn’t do that to her-“ Bucky cuts him off. 

“I didn’t have an affair. I swear. Hydra was after me again and I had to divorce Y/N so she wouldn’t get hurt. I told her I had an affair so she would divorce me, I knew cheating was a deal breaker so I lied. I fucking lied and she’s dead. I lied and she’s not even going to know the truth.” He tries so hard to continue but can’t his airway is closing up. He passes out.

10 years have been and gone, the pain of losing the only person he has ever loved didn’t stop not that he wants it to. Bucky wants to remember the pain. 

In the 10 years that have passed he’s visits your grave every Friday, wedding anniversary, the date you two got together, the date he proposed, your birthday and on Christmas. After the fifth year Steve told him he needed to move on, and well long story short they had a fight and Bucky cried saying he couldn’t move on. In the end everyone around him understood that he would never move on from the love of his life. He sits there no matter the weather and talks to you for hours. He told you Matt and Karen were having a baby girl, then told you they named her after you. Told you all about his cat Alpine. After every visit without fail or another thought he tells you he loves you and can’t wait to see you again.

It’s been 10 years 5 months 12 days since you passed away and Bucky’s on his way to see you.

He’s on a mission that’s gone horribly wrong he’s been shot too many times. He’s so tired and Steve’s trying to get him to stay awake but it’s no use.

“Stevie p-please stop. I w-wan-t to be w-ith my Y-Y/N I need to be with h-er” Even though Bucky gasps for breaths his voice is strong enough to let Steve and the team know that this is what he wants. Steve gives him a slow nod with tears sliding down his cheeks, he clasps hands with his best friend and keeps locked tight long after Bucky takes his last breath.

He leaves the world with a smile on his face.

You stand there waiting for him and as soon as you lock eyes with him you’re running. Jumping into his arms and before he can say anything you kiss him. Hard. After you separate you tell him you know the truth. You heard him every time he would visit your grave. You tell each other how much you love one another. You take his hand and lead him into your new life.

Tags: @learisa @bruher @pattiemac1 @kentokaze @almosttoopizza @yvessaintmuerte

~ banners credit goes to @sweetpeapod ~

[f1nalboys]

hi! may i request headcannons of enemies to lovers with bo sinclair? 💖

LOVEDDDD writing this!!!! i missed writing for bo :(((( (me when al i do is write for this guy) anyways i hope you enjoy and thank you for the request!!!!

Bo Sinclair x GN!Reader

WORD COUNT: 869

WARNINGS: brief mention of stockholm syndrome, brief mentions throughout about bo being an evil evil guy, mentions of the basement/chair/being duct taped to said chair, canon typical stuff. me pushing my bo praising agenda.... also not proofread sorry guys

so this is absolutely how any relationship with bo starts 

youre a victim babe CONGRATULATIONS <3333

so in my own personal (and correct opinion) bo likes someone with some fight in them

i mean, we saw how excited he was when he had to chase after carly

and ive read the script and bo is extra into carly in that script 

anyways, he loves having to Work to break you in

and trust and believe, he will break you in

you would come into town with a group and bo would be drawn to you immediately

not in a love at first sight kinda way (or at least, not like how it is typically LMFAO) but in a ‘interesting…’ way, you know?

anyways, he’d prefer you coming with a group because hes gonna seriously enjoying killing them all off and showing you that youre alone

youre getting strapped to that chair too

(again, congratulations <333)

he will take his time

bo doesnt have the best patience until it comes to you

your fighting or begging would get old but he cant kill you

he doesnt know WHY he cant, but he just cant

which pisses him off to no end.

youd stay in the basment for minimum a month, longer if you hold out that long

now, your time there is not fun by any means, but i dont think it would be the worst

because once Bo decides that for some reason youre different than the others he brought down here, and that he wants to keep you, hes going to break you down by being sweet

it would fuck you up, 100%

one day he’s carving into you and making you wish you were dead and the next hes carefully feeding you some (burnt) breakfast food and cooing at you

he’s also complimenting you whenever you listen to him, firing off those dopamine receptors in the only way he knows how

you dont scream when he walks down into the basement? he’s patting your cheek with that big toothy grin of his telling you how sweet you are.

you dont fight him when he wraps the duct tape around your wrists and ankles? he’s telling you how well youre doing, how hes gonna try and be gentle with you, shushing you gently when you wince, maybe even hinting that if you keep being good for him that he might stop duct taping you to the chair…

he fucks with your head

and he KNOWS hes fucking with your head

he can see the way you stop yourself from smiling when hes kind to you, how you get a flash of confusion or even anger when you and he are getting along

it gets him off fear to say

anyways, im saying all this to say a true enemies to lovers with bo is stockholm syndrome but he makes it sexy so…

you know youre pretty much in the clear when he takes you up to the house

first few times is only to feed you and then back to the garage you go

its just to get a feel for how youre feeling towards bo

ANY whiff of you trying to run or trick him and youre dead

sorry to say

but if you are a little scared and just want to stay on his good side, youre totally good AND hes gonna be soooo proud of you

sorry im feeling faint thinking about bo praising me….. ok sorry back to what i was saying

the first night you stay in the house with him hes on high alert

he might pretend to sleep in the bed, but hes not

hes holding his breath and waiting for you to try and kill him in his sleep 

once youre at the point where youre living in the house with him and hes giving you some responsibilities, you have that man hook line and sinker

he is obsessed with you, had been from the start, but he is showing it way more now

and hes CLINGYYYYYY ugh im giggling

hes standing in the doorway watching you do the dishes he got dirty and hes like ok….im heading to the garage…………if you finish you can join me………or you can finish the dishes later….maybe……whatever i dont care…

like ok liar ill come watch you be a slut bent over a car

he doesnt ever really ask you to be his partner but its kind of obvious with how he acts? like idk how to describe it, he just treats you like hed treat a partner without asking you

because lets be fr what would you do? say no?

anyways once youre his partner he has eyes for no one else

hes not gonna stop the killing or the nefarious shit he gets up to in the garage with victims, but like… he doesn't like them the way he loves you <33 

yeah maybe its me being insane but i dont think bo would be the worst slasher to date

weird circumstances get you to that point but once youre past that then youre kinda set

hes whipped like idk what to tell you and you cant prove me wrong

[infiniteimaginings]

Can you write for Freddie, Icarly, with a jealous reader over Carly please? Also, I loveeeee love your writing!!

Are you...Jealous? (Freddie Benson x GN!Reader)

Summary: You were aware of how Freddie used to feel about Carly, you had witnessed it firsthand. Regardless of his feelings he fell for you, and the two of you got together. You can't stop the ache when you see them together though, you can't stop the nagging thoughts in your mind. What will Freddie do when he notices you acting strangely? Pronouns: You/Yours They/Them Warnings: None Word Count: 3.0k A/N: I'm so embarrassed for taking so long to do this, it's been a week since you sent this. Thank you so much, you're so sweet. Also, thank you for being so patient with me!

It was the end of the school day and you were at your locker, gathering your folders for whatever schoolwork you had to get done for the weekend. You didn’t notice a certain brunette boy walking up to you and leaning on the lockers. You continued moving items around, trying not to let anything fall when the boy cleared his throat causing you to jump slightly at the sound. You turned, a hand on your chest to ease your breathing when you saw who it was. Freddie Benson, your friend of three years and boyfriend of four months. A relaxed smile made its way to your face and you gently rolled your eyes at him, “Hi Freddie.” You greeted, turning back to your locker, grabbing your remaining items and closing the metal locker.

Freddie grinned at you, gripping his backpack strap, “Hey!” He greeted back, looking at you with gentle adoring eyes. He cleared his throat once more, “Do you want to help with a segment today?” He asked, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. You held a gentle smile but your brows gently furrowed together, “For…iCarly?” You asked, knowing about the webshow, but you only ever watched it. You had gone into the studio before, but you never actually helped with any of the ideas they had. Freddie nodded, confirming your question, kicking himself off the locker. “Yeah!” He answered, pulling out his phone and showing the text sent in the iCarly group chat that consisted of him, Carly, and Sam. You looked down to the phone as he scrolled a bit and got to a message of an idea he presented days ago that the two girls had agreed to. “We’re doing a segment where we have someone pick from ingredients that the audience sends in.” He explained, stepping back a bit to make eye contact with you, “Then Sam and Caly have to try to make something good out of it.” He finished, a big smile on his face, hoping you would say yes.

You nodded your head, the idea sounded extremely fun, but you were still wondering why he chose you. “Are you sure you want me to do it?” You asked, a breathy laugh leaving your lips. Freddie had no doubt and that showed in his expression, “Well, they suggested Spencer but you know how he is with his art pieces.” Freddie spoke, you nodding along with a small ‘Yeah’ as a response, your hand adjusting the strap of your backpack. “Then they suggested me, and I was thinking about you.” He spoke simply, shrugging a bit. Silence stretched between the two of you,students passing by you, the sounds of their feet filling your ears. Freddie soon realized what he said and flushed, looking down and chuckling slightly, “That slipped out, sorry.” He spoke gently, looking up at you with an apologetic gaze but you shook your head. “It was sweet,” You told him, scrunching your nose and smiling at him. “I’ll do it, since you asked so nicely.” Your response made him light up, he put an arm around your waist as the two of you walked out of the school, on your way to the apartments.

Once the two of you reached the apartments, you guys were seen by Lewbert, the doorman. Freddie was dragging you to the stairs to hopefully avoid a conversation but you just couldn’t keep your eyes off the huge and hairy wart on the side of his face. Your jaw dropped slightly, and Freddie thankfully pulled you away before he could say anything or you could say anything. Once you guys reached the floor where Carly and Freddie stayed you looked at your boyfriend with a face of disgust. You had never seen Lewbert before, you were one of the lucky ones, so your reaction was honestly valid to Freddie. “That was…” You tried to speak, but you couldn’t find the words. Freddie squeezed your hand gently with a nod and sighed, “I know, disgusting, horrifying.” He spoke for you, listing off words he thought you were feeling. You nodded at the words but also shook your head, “Uncomfortable.” You finally said and he nodded in agreement, knocking on the front door of Carly's apartment. “I felt like it was…watching me.” You said, scratching your head, Freddie shivering at your description.

The door swung open and you were met with a man with shaggy brown hair looking down to the two of you, that was Carly's older brother Spencer. “Hey you guys!” He greeted, leaving the doorway to let you guys just walk in. “They’re upstairs in the studio.” He said, pointing upstairs as he picked up a bucket of bottle caps and tabs, leading them to the kitchen area. Freddie paid no mind and held your hand tighter, dragging you up the stairs, “Thanks Spencer!” He said, you doing the same. “Thanks Spencer, good luck with your sculpture!” You told him before disappearing up the stairs with Freddie. Spencer held up a thumbs up before going back to the bottle caps and observing his project.

You guys walked through the door to the hallway that was across from the studio door where you could hear Sam and Carly talking. You guys walked through the red door and Freddie dropped your hand for the first time since school ended, “And we are here!” He greeted, hands presenting you as if you were some sort of celebrity. You giggled a bit, smiling gently as you waved to the girls, “Hey!” You greeted the girls walking up to you guys, their own sodas in their hands.

Carly mixed her brown hair over her shoulder, “Hey!” She greeted back, “Are you watching us film today?” She asked you, tilting her head, lips in a sweet smile. Freddie poked his head into her view a bit, “They’re actually going to be picking the audience's chosen ingredients for you guys.” He explained, clasping his hands before going to his camera to set things up. Carly nodded in understanding, having no problem with it.

The blonde, curly headed girl next to her looked like she didn’t care who would be doing it. “Cool.” Sam, the curly headed blonde, spoke, taking another swig of her drink. Carly playfully bumped Sam's shoulder and looked back at you, “Don't pick anything too gross.” She whispered to you, knowing they would all probably end up trying it at the end. You hissed through your teeth playfully, “I can’t promise anything.” You teased to which she laughed and shook her head, putting her soda down. Sam followed, cracking her knuckles, “I’m gonna make Freddie eat it at the end anyways.” She spoke, the boy in question yelling out a ‘Hey!’ when he grabbed the mics for the girls to put on themselves. He grabbed an extra one for you since you were going to be speaking and instead of letting you put it on yourself he gently clipped it to the top of your pants so it wouldn’t fall off. He looked up at you with soft eyes when he finished. When he picked up his head the two of you were so close, noses almost touching, you felt you could hear his heartbeat. He grinned at you, “Good luck.” He whispered before walking backwards to grab the camera.

Carly instructed you to stand at the side so they could introduce you and you did just that. Freddie pulled the camera up and started his countdown, “In 5, 4, 3, 2..." He spoke, pointing to Sam and Carly when they went live. 

The two immediately got close to the camera, “Hey hey hey!” Carly spoke,shaking her head, moving so Sam could do the same. “Are you guys ready for another…” Sam began, Carly pressing her face to hers. “Weird and Wacky challenge!” They announced, Sam sounding applause and laughter from her remote. They backed up so the majority of their bodies could be shown, Freddie backing up as well, continuing to steady the camera. Sam explained the concept of the challenge and then said, “You guys are going to send in the weirdest ingredients you can think of and we’re going to pick a big group of those ingredients to use today.” Carly nodding along, her hands moving to your direction, “And we have our good friend here today to help!” She introduced you, Freddie turned the camera to himself, “The love of my life.” He spoke with a dopey smile before turning it to your blushing figure. You waved, “Hi!” You spoke quietly, the other three smiling at you. Sam sighed, “I would say he paid them but he didn’t have money for lunch.” She spoke, nodding her head, pushing the laughter button on her remote. Freddie looked at her blankly behind the camera, “Because you took it.” He reminded her and she nodded quickly with a toothy smile, hand gesturing to him in a ‘duh’ motion. “What I said still stands.” She said, rolling her eyes, Freddies eye twitched slightly but he shook his head to ignore it.

Carly and Sam turned the attention to the tv where the feed of ingredient suggestions would pop up where you would decide. They stepped back, you stepping forward to look at it, thinking slightly. You hummed slightly, pointing at the words as you said them slightly, Sam and Carly keeping track of them. “Pineapple…” You spoke first, pointing to it, Carly nodding, thinking she could make something nice out of that. “Pickles, and Marshmallows!” Any hope the two had of having anything good diminished the moment you said that. “Gummy bears.” You continued on, “Popcorn, chocolate syrup!” You pointed them out, the group thinking you were genuinely making a dessert. You thought a bit as the list went on, “Peanut butter.” You called out, they added it to the list. Soon enough a mischievous smirk fell on your face, Sam smiled with you a bit but Carly stood awkwardly, unsure of what you were about to say. You scrunched your nose as you spoke “Jalapenos,” You started, not giving anyone time to speak as you listed the next one, “Canned tuna.” The words make Freddie want to gag since Sam was going to make him eat it whether he wanted to or not. “And…hot sauce!” You finally spoke, turning to them, hands behind your back with an innocent smile. 

Carly grimaced but giggled a bit, “Thank you!” She spoke, Sam and her hands gesturing to you as you bowed and stood next to Freddie. Sam clasped her hands together, “Let's get started!” She spoke excitedly as she pointed to the camera, Carly doing the same.

The two set up everything, two separate tables with all the ingredients. Carly tried to meticulously place everything together into something that looked edible whilst Sam put it all in a bowl and mixed it together, the concoction looked like vomit. Freddie turned the camera to himself once more, “Carly is doing amazing, per usual.” He commented, turning the camera back to the girls. The statement didn’t mean much, but Freddie continued making those comments within the entire video. He said how great she was doing, how Sam's shirt was covered in her mixture and Carly was still clean and pretty.

You understood they were friends, you understood that this is how they were in every video, you understood that before you there was Carly. You had watched Freddie profess his love to Carly, the flowers he had brought, how long his crush had gone on, how he looked at Carly. He rambled to you about the girl, how adoring he was about her. When he asked you on a date you genuinely were confused. The first words that left your mouth were, “that’s funny” because you didn’t realize he was serious. He had been so kind to you, so loving, like he worshiped every step you took. He treats you so well, and you always feel terrible when the thoughts of how he felt about Carly return to you. How could someone who was so deeply in love with another, move on, on a random Wednesday? It pricks at the back of your mind like someone continuously pins the thought to you so you never forget it.

When he looked over at you, you shook the thoughts off and gave him a smile, he returned before turning back to focus the camera.

When the two girls finished, Freddie carefully passed the camera to you so he could unfortunately try to eat it. He walked up to their plates, already knowing neither of them tasted good, his deep frown and contorted face of disgust showed that. He tried Carlys first, putting his hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t spit it out. He chewed it, some of the juice of the pineapple escaping and somehow he swallowed it. After he did he was gasping for breath, holding his chest as if it were burning his heart. He then turned to Sams which was just, a soup. He took a spoonful and tried his best to swallow it until Sam decided to speak out, “I added the sweat from my uncle's socks for flavor.” She said nonchalantly. The comment caused Fredie to immediately spit it out and rush to the bathroom to most likely go puke. 

The two girls in front of the camera you held paid no attention, this being an expected reaction, Carly put her hands on her hips, “I thought your uncle was in jail?” She wondered aloud, Sam shaking her head as she sat in one of the bean bag chairs, “No, my uncles are on parole, my cousin is in jail.” She specified, hands over her stomach in a relaxed position. Carly let out a small ‘Ah’ in understanding. You turned off the camera when you were told to, placing it on the tech rack as the two girls went to the living room of Carly's home. “You can come down when you want!” Carly told you as the girls went to the elevator and you nodded with a smile, telling her you’ll be there soon enough.

After the show you stepped outside the studio door and sat on the floor, sighing to yourself and hitting your head to get the thoughts out. “She is pretty.” You mumbled to yourself, crossing her arms over your knees when you pulled them closer to your chest. “Who ya talking about?” A familiar voice spoke from next to you, you looked over and saw Freddie walking out the room. He sat next to you, curling his legs up into the same position, looking at you. You shook your head, “No one, just thinking.” You said to him, hoping that would be enough for him to drop it. It wasn’t. He laughed gently, “What’s wrong? You seem a little upset.” He spoke gently, bumping his shoulder with yours to try to cheer you up. You inhaled sharply, “Nothing, Carlys downstairs, you can tell her about how good her mixture was.” You spoke, your words coming out harsher than you meant them to.

Freddies brows furrowed as he relaxed a bit, “What?” He asked, but you didn’t respond. He thought about your comment for a bit with a confused expression but soon it relaxed and he chuckled a bit. “Wait..” He spoke, licking his lips, using his hand to balance as he faced you. “Are you…jealous?” He asked you, tilting his head. You looked away and he gently used his hands to bring your face to turn to him, your eyes still didn’t meet his. “You were in love with her,” You spoke quietly, swallowing hard, your fingers tapping your knees, “are you sure you aren’t still in love with her?” You asked him, tears threatening to fill your eyes but you quickly stopped it by wiping your eyes a bit, though your nose warmed at the feeling of you crying. Freddie looked at you with apologetic eyes, he never even thought about how you could feel when he still hangs out with Carly and how he acted about her before. He sighed, trying to think of what to say, his silence only upsetting you more. “I really like you…” He spoke gently, taking one of your hands in his, “No, that’s not right.” He said, shaking his head, face warming when your eyes met him in confusion. He took a deep breath, scooting closer to you so there would be no space between your shoulders. “I love you,” His words made you shudder, “and that isn’t going to change.” He told you, the words causing your eyes to widen. “I had a crush on Carly, yeah…but that ended when I noticed how your eyes light up when you get excited about something.” He told you, the eye contact was getting a bit overwhelming. “It ended when you grabbed my hand to drag me somewhere you invited me to.” He continued on playing with her fingers, your knees touching. “It ended when you said yes to go on that date with me.” He finished, light sparkling in his eyes when he spoke to you.

You searched his eyes for a moment, to see if there was any spec of a lie, but you couldn’t find any. Your eyes flickered from his to his lips, back to his eyes. You bit your lip slightly before sighing out a laugh, “I love you too Freddie.” You said gently, smiling at him, feeling much better. Freddie noticed the glances you gave him and his face flushed before he leaned in slowly, giving you plenty of time to pull away. You didn’t. His lips made contact with yours and pulled away just as quickly as they connected, “I love you, please never forget that.” He told you quietly, looking at your glistening eyes, before leaning to kiss you once more, your hands placing themselves on his shoulders.

[absolutewhore101]

Should've Said No - Chapter 4

A/N: sorry this one is so late! last week got busy very quickly, and i just didn't have the time to sit down and write this. i hadn't originally planned on writing this chapter, but the idea hit me in the car while i was driving earlier, so here we are. (hint at next chapter at the very end!)

Pairing: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Listen to 'Should've Said No' by Taylor Swift

Warnings: swearing, assholery

Word Count: 733 words

Chapter 3 / Chapter 5

MINORS DNI

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Joel’s head slowly turned back to face you, a fire in his eyes you’d never seen directed at you.

Before he could open his mouth, you started talking again. 

“Can you believe Joel? Everything we used to have - the songs, the smiles, the flowers - it’s all gone! All because you couldn’t keep it in your pants!”

“Is that all?”

“God, ugh! I just… I can’t even look at you.”

“Look, I’d take it back if I could. It was a moment of weakness and we both know that. Hell, what was I supposed to do?!”

“You should’ve said no! You should’ve thought twice, maybe with more than just your dick! I should’ve been there, right in the back of your mind, and I shouldn’t be standing here asking myself why the fuck you’d do this!”

Joel took a step forward, but Tommy stepped in the middle of you two.

“I wouldn’t get much closer to her.” He said, voice low. 

“Oh for the love of god, Tommy. You knew, too! Don’t stand here and try to play hero when you knew damn well what was going on.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Tommy said, turning to face you, “but it wasn’t my place to say anything. That was between you and Joel, not me. I’m sorry.”

“No. No you don’t get to be sorry. Joel might’ve done this to me, but you didn’t even try to help. You could’ve tried talking to him, you could’ve stopped him, you could’ve just told me! But instead you let this go on, knowing how much it would hurt me.”

Tommy’s eyes landed on the ground in front of your feet, his hands on his hips.

When he looked up again, tears were streaming down your cheeks. 

“Baby, c’mon…” Joel trailed off. 

You shook your head, taking a step back from the two of them. 

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that we could ever be the same? After everything you put me through?” 

Joel shook his head. “We don’t gotta be the same, we just gotta work through this and come out better on the other side. We can do that, can’t we?”

“No. You should’ve known that I would’ve found out eventually. I’m not stupid, y’know. Even if you hadn’t been so obvious about it, someone would’ve told me eventually.” 

“Was she worth it?” Tommy said, breaking the tense silence that had settled between the three of you.

“Excuse me?” Joel answered. 

“Tommy.” You said sternly. “This isn’t your place, you’ve made that pretty clear.”

“Might not be my place, but that doesn't mean I can’t ask him what the hell he was thinking.” Tommy turned around to face Joel, stepping into his space. 

Joel held his eye, bringing his arms up to cross his arms over his chest. 

“You wanna do this right now? Right in front of her?” 

“I don’t think I’m the one who deserves an apology.”

Joel’s jaw clenched, slowly nodding his head. 

“I don’t think she wants to hear my apology. Do you?”

You thought about it. An apology wouldn’t undo what he did, but wouldn’t it give you some kind of closure? Or was your closure the end of your relationship?

You shrugged your shoulders. “Well, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”

You gave him a smug smirk, watching him shake his head. 

“I’m sorry.” He said. “I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway. Happy?”

“No. But as long as you don’t step foot in my house again I will be.”

Tommy nodded his head. 

“You can move into a new house tomorrow. Why don’t you stay with Carly tonight? I’m sure she’d love it.” Tommy gave him a smirk, watching Joel’s hands clenched into fists by his side.

Joel stalked off without another word, heading for the house just a few down from your own. 

“Motherfucker.” You muttered, and Tommy chuckled. 

Tommy looked over his shoulder at you, something akin to sympathy in his eyes. 

“Can I walk you home?”

“Absolutely not. You’re not off the hook just because you made a stand against Joel. It’s gonna take a lot more than that if you ever want to be friends again.” You told him, pushing past him and walking towards your house. 

As you closed your front door behind you, you couldn’t help but ask yourself - why couldn’t he just be a better man?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[trentwinficcs]

Blind Date

Mikey X Reader

The idea was originally Chris and Carly’s, both of them saying something about him needing to get out and talk with someone. Carly had a friend, and with a little talking and persuasion he found himself sitting in a restaurant at a 2 person table waiting anxiously for this person to show up.

The lunch date was supposed to take place at 1pm, a bit later to avoid any lunch rush the little restaurant might have and give them time to sit and speak properly. He had shown up at 12:40, and it was now 12:50 with most of the restaurant being empty aside from a few people here and there throughout the tables. He glances down at his phone for a second, his foot bouncing at a steady pace as he tries to calm his nerves.

He glances up as he hears the bell to the front door ring and there he sees them walking in, in a causal outfit with their hair done nicely and a soft smile on their face. They pause for a moment to speak with the hostess before they’re brought over to the table he’s seated at.

“Hey, you must be Mike right?,” They ask with a warm smile as they offer up a hand for a quick handshake. His eyes flicker down for a moment before his own hand meets theirs in a firm but polite shake.

“Yeah, (Y/n) right?,” He ask and they nod, “Yeah, it’s nice to finally meet you.” They say before taking a seat across from him. “Sorry for showing up a bit late, I was having some trouble finding the place. Hopefully you didn’t wait too long,” He shakes his head, “No you’re all right, I wasn’t waiting that long. Have you been here before?,” He ask.

They give a small shake of the head, “No, have you?,” He nods his head, “Oh, well do you have any recommendations on what to get?” They ask offer up a small smile in return. “The Avocado burger is pretty good,” He voices his opinion and they nod, “Then I’ll give that a try,” They retort with a smile, not even bothering to open the menu as the waiter appears to take their order.

Once everything is ordered and they finally left alone again (Y/n) speaks up, “So, what’d Carly say to you in order to get you here?,” They ask with a chuckle, and he feels the tension in his shoulders subsided a little, “She talked with you too?” He ask and they nod, “She’s been hassling me about it for a week now,” They say and he gives a smile in return, “Good to know I’m not the only that was practically forced into doing this,” He says with a chuckle and they nod giving a small chuckle with him.

The air felt lighter after that, like his nerves had been stripped the minute he knew he wasn’t the only one that had been practically coerced into doing this. Taking a moment he looks over their face, slowly taking in their appearance and finding himself pausing on their eyes. They were such a rich (e/c), and in the lighting of the restaurant they seemed to sparkle a little.

A small warmth settles into his stomach at the realization of it, before they speak up, “We don’t have to stay long if you don’t want to be here. I understand how annoying it can be meeting up with someone you don’t really know.” They say with a sincere tone and smile. He softly shakes his head, “No, No, that’s okay, you seem like a cool person so I don’t mind having lunch with you.” He says, and that warmth grows as (Y/n) smiles grows at his words and they give a small nod.

1pm turns to 2pm, 2pm turns to 3pm, before 3pm turns to 4pm. The 2 of them quickly seeming to find similar interest in a variety of things and hobbies. It felt like talking with a close friend only a few minutes into the meeting, and Mikey was kicking himself a little when their waiter approached and asked the 2 of them to clear the table for another set of people. The date was over at this point, much to his distaste, but he offered up his arm and lead them from the restaurant outside to their car.

“I had a really nice time, thank you.” They say as the 2 of them stop in front of (Y/n)’s vehicle. He gives a small nod in return, “Yeah, don’t mention it…I enjoyed myself as well.” He admits with a soft smile. Both of them pause for a moment, silence finally filling the air before (Y/n) speaks up, “So… do you want my number?” They ask as their face turns a soft shade of red with the question.

He could feel the heat creeping up his neck and onto his face as he nods before holding out his phone for them to take. “Give me a call sometime, I’d really like to do this again,” They say before they lean forward and quickly place a kiss on his cheek.

Before he can really react fully they quickly unlock their door and get into their car, “Uh, yeah, yeah, I’ll give you a call.” He says as he gives a small wave as they pull out of their parking spot, and soon pull out onto the street.

He glances down at his phone for a moment looking over the number and their name now saved into his contacts. A smile spreading across his lips as he locks his phone and heads towards his car. This had gone a lot better than he originally thought, maybe Chris and Carly were right, maybe this kind of change would be good for him.

𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚𐮙𐮚

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞...𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲.

[gumnut-logic]

He was there.

Always there.

There had never been a time he didn’t expect it, yet he had never taken it for granted. His brother was just there. Usually somewhere in the background.

Quietly watching.

Thinking.

He didn’t have to say anything. Scott could tell by the cant of an eyebrow, the settling of a hip or the shift of his shoulders. It was subtle, but Virgil broadcast his thoughts on a frequency Scott was tuned to and indicated his opinion.

Scott valued that. Ever so much. He lauded his brother’s capability and trusted him more than he did himself.

So, when Virgil stiffened at the sight of the man who walked into the office, Scott definitely took notice.

Virgil wasn’t even meant to be there. He had simply accompanied Scott into the office in London as a prelude to the main reason why they were in town. Gordon had already gone ahead to Penelope’s along with Alan and Grandma. John was due down in the afternoon. Virgil had come with Scott to the office just to keep him company.

And now he was wired tighter than one of his piano strings.

Scott eyed him a moment before standing up and walking around the desk. He held out his hand in greeting. “Mr Yost, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Scott Tracy, well I never. May I call you Scott? Call me Hows. It is great to finally meet you.”

Scott’s hand was gripped with both of the other man’s and far too tight.

Exuberance abounded.

Virgil stood up slowly and buttoned the jacket of his charcoal grey suit.

There was nothing aggressive about the movement, but it set alarm bells ringing in Scott’s head. He straightened and gestured in Virgil’s direction. “This is my brother, Virgil.”

Virgil had been sitting beside the desk, thumbing through his phone a moment ago, waiting for Scott to finish signing the pile of papers his secretary had dumped on him when he walked through the door. So there was no obstruction to walk around to meet the out thrust hand of their guest.

But Virgil didn’t move and ignored the offered hand. He only dipped his head. “Mr Yost.”

“Er, uh, yes, nice to meet you.” The man fumbled and wiped his hand against the white of his suit pants.

Scott blinked and wracked his brain for a reason why Virgil was so hostile. What had he missed?

Yost frowned up at him.

Scott cleared his throat. “Well, Mr Y…Hows. What can we do for you?”

“Oh! Yes, I heard you were in town and rushed over immediately. I would have sent my proposal electronically, but since you were here, I just knew you would want to see me in person.” The man was positively babbling.

Scott was seriously reconsidering his decision to let the man in.

Yost must have picked up on Scott’s thoughts because his expression changed to one more of panic. “Right, yes, my proposal. How would you like to be the owner of the tallest building in the world?”

Something made Scott look at Virgil at that very moment. The sudden fire in his brother’s eyes was startling.

Apparently, they didn’t want to be owners of the tallest building in the world.

Back to their guest… “Uh, no, I don’t think we are interested, Mr Yost.”

The man frowned. “But you haven’t seen my proposal yet. It’s called Tracy Tower, after your father and shaped perfectly like a rocket.”

Virgil took a step forward and Scott stepped between the two men. “No, I’m sorry, Mr Yost. Thank you for thinking of us, but we are not interested in building anything right now.” He began to shoo the man out.

“But, but, but, you were calling for proposals!”

“Sorry, my mistake.” He held open the door and gestured to his assistant. “Carly, could you please show Mr Yost out. Thank you.” Scott smiled politely to the flabbergasted man as his EA ushered him out.

Scott shut the door quietly behind him.

Virgil grunted and sat back down. “Thank you.”

“Speak to me, Virg.”

“Two words. ‘Crystal Spire’.”

Scott blinked. “You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m not.” Virg was fiddling with his phone again.

“I thought that guy had his…everything revoked.”

“So did I.” Virgil put his phone to his ear. “Penny? Yes, we will be there shortly. I have a quick one for you.” A pause. “Yost just tried to sell Scott a development proposal.” There was a sharp sound from the phone. “Uh huh. Thank you, Penny.” Virgil smiled. “Tell Gordon he can wait. We will be there shortly.” A grin. “See you soon.” And he hung up. Virgil looked up at his brother. “Whatever he has, he will no longer have within the hour.”

“You really don’t like this guy, do you?”

“He burnt my ‘bird while Alan was in it.”

Cold washed over Scott. “That one.”

“Yes, that one.” Virgil grumbled and went back to playing with his phone, conversation obviously ended.

Scott walked back behind the desk and took his own seat, determined to plough through the last of the reports he had to sign. It wouldn’t hurt to get over to Penny’s asap.

To check on his littlest brother for no reason whatsoever.

Virgil was a quiet presence beside him. It felt right.

Because he was always there.

Where Scott needed him to be.

-o-o-o-

[sparklypinkflightsuit]

Drugs, Thugs and Pilot Kelson Hugs: Part 4

Pairing: Pilot Kelson x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Drugs, Alcohol, Smut, Illusions of Cheating.

Summary: A misunderstanding is cleared up, feelings are confessed.

- Part 3 Here -

——————————

“Pilot?“ you cried, your hand flying up to your mouth to muffle your inadvertent whimper.

Pilot was pinned up against the outer wall, Lucy had her lips locked to his, both of her hands on either sides of his face.

Pilot pushed Lucy off of him, his panicked eyes darting to you.

“(Y/N), it’s not what it looks like. I-“ he pleaded, trying to get passed Lucy, who was hanging onto him desperately.

“No!” You shouted, backing away. “You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to make me lower my guard and then do this! How dare you?” You cried, glaring at him.

“I promise this isn’t what it looks like! We were just talking and then she-“ he started but you held a hand up to stop him, not interested in what he had to say.

“Stop, just… stop. I can’t believe I thought you were ready for this, I am so stupid!” Tears slipped from your eyes as you looked at him one last time before turning around and leaving. Carly, having seen your body language through the glass door, came outside to make sure everything was ok.

Pilot tried to chase after you but Carly held up a hand and glared at him, “No, just leave her alone for a moment, I’ll go.” She said, and went after you.

Pilots shoulders slumped, this was all just a big misunderstanding. He glared at Lucy as he ripped his arm out of her grasp and stalked off back into the bar.

——————————————

“(Y/N)! Stop, just wait for me okay? God, girl, I can’t run in heels!” Carly called after you. You huffed and stopped, arms crossed and angry tears streaming down your face.

“Hey… what happened?” She asked, finally catching up to you.

“Pilot… he… him and Lucy!” Was all you could say before you burst into tears again.

Carly’s face softened as she pulled you into a hug, “Oh I am so going to kill him!” She huffed over your shoulder.

“I’m going home, Carly.” You said, giving her a squeeze before turning to leave. You walked home alone, Carly had left her things at the bar with Porter so had to go back, but you welcomed the alone time to think.

You felt betrayed and hurt, you had trusted Pilot and that’s why you didn’t have an issue leaving him and Lucy to talk alone, but now you felt stupid.

That night you struggled to sleep. You tossed and turned, and had nightmares about the spiky haired boy and the redhead girl.

————————————

Carly returned to the bar, and Pilot ran up to her.

“Where is she?” He asked, noticing Carly hadn’t brought you back with her, panic setting in.

“She went home Pilot. You really fucked up.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, grabbing her purse and telling Porter she was leaving too, no longer in the mood to enjoy herself.

Pilot sat down with his head in his hands, he knew he’d fucked up, but it really wasn’t what it looked like.

Pilot had gone outside with Lucy under the ruse of talking things out somewhere quieter. Things had been awkward after the breakup, Lucy not having taken it well, and he felt like he owed her an explanation and apology.

She said she was struggling to hear him over the music and asked if they could go outside. Pilot looked around for you to let you know, but you were still in the bathroom with the girls. He thought he could make it quick, and followed Lucy outside.

The cool air filled his lungs and they moved off to the side of the building, out of the way of patrons walking in and out through the glass doors. Pilot leaned up against the brick wall.

“Listen Lucy, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how I left things. I know I didn’t give you any reason when I ended things, so I’m sorry. I have no bad feelings towards you, I was just young and stupid and wanted something else from life.” He admitted, his hands behind him, cushioning his back against the wall.

Lucy looked at Pilot with lustful eyes, “Thanks, that means a lot. I’ve done a lot of… growing, since we broke up. I’ve changed a lot.” She said, her skimpy dress having ridden up as she jutted out a long leg.

“Uh, yeah? You look good.” He smiled politely, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the way she was looking at him. “Look I don’t wanna give off the wrong idea, I’m in a really happy relationship. It was good to see you again but-“ Lucy cut him off with a finger to his lips, she shushed him and Pilot stood against the wall, shocked and confused.

“I know, I know. I’m not saying you should leave her or anything but I think we owe it to ourselves to see if there’s any…. tension left between us. You know?” She purred, closing the distance between them.

“No?” Pilot mumbled against her finger, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. “Lucy I don’t think-“

Lucy, clearly either under the wrong impression or simply too stubborn to care, removed her finger and smashed her lips into Pilots, pressing her body firmly into his, pinning his hands against the wall behind him. Her hands holding his head in place.

It was at that exact moment you walked outside, not realising what had just happened and that Pilot was trying to free his hands to push Lucy away. It looked so much worse than it was and Pilot needed to explain this to you.

He tried calling you as he practically ran to your apartment, you didn’t answer.

He knocked on your door, for what felt like hours. You still didn’t answer.

He texted you over and over, but you had turned your phone off.

He groaned with frustration as he eventually gave up and walked home. He would give you space and hoped you’d come to him for an explanation, but days passed and there was no sign of you.

Pilot decided to show up at your work, but your colleagues refused to let him in no matter how much he pleaded. He could see you through the glass windows, and you locked eyes with him, but with a frown you turned around and continued with your work.

Pilot grew miserable, holding up in his apartment, getting high every day. He kept trying to call you, but you never answered.

You went on with your life, trying to push his big blue eyes out of your mind. It was a lot harder than you ever imagined, your thoughts were plagued by him 24/7. He invaded your dreams, where you were happy with him again, like things were before that night, only waking up to remember that had all been snatched away. He clouded your judgement at work, to the point where your boss asked you to take a week or two off. You’d kindly accepted, deciding to visit family in California.

The two weeks you’d spent in California were refreshing. You’d managed to take your mind off of the situation, realising the crisp sea air did wonders. It was a good distraction, although it didn’t completely remove Pilot from your mind, it helped to quiet the constant buzzing.

You decided during those two weeks that maybe it was time for a change.

————————————

Pilot lay slumped on his couch watching mindless tv, a joint in his hand, eyes bright red from the weed and from crying. He had given up on trying to contact you, having exhausted all options for the last month.

He was lost in thought, thinking about holding you and touching you and just loving you the way he did, when his phone rang.

Carly’s name flashed on his screen, and it took him a couple moments to answer.

“Hello?” He mumbled.

“Pilot… I think you’re a dick, but I also think you deserve at least one chance to explain yourself to (Y/N), even if just for closure. She’s moving to California, literally helping her box up her stuff now. If you still care about her, get your ass over here now.” She whispered, the echo indicating she was in your bathroom. Carly hung up, and Pilot sat staring at the phone in his hands, trying to process what she had just said.

————————————

You and Carly packed and taped up boxes moving from room to room. You had already managed to do most of the house when Carly excused herself to use the bathroom. She had been quiet all day, which you chalked up to her being sad you were leaving.

You appreciated Carly and all of her help, she always did what was best for you, even if she didn’t like it.

Carly came out of the bathroom and an hour later you’d both finished taping up the final boxes and loading them on the truck. The apartment now clean and empty, you sighed, realising there was nothing else to do.

It was getting dark outside and you had a long drive ahead of you. “I guess I’d better get going.” You said sadly. Carly’s eyes glistened as she pulled you into a tight hug.

“Don’t go.” She whispered.

You just sighed, she knew you had to if you were going to ever get over Pilot. There were too many reminders of him here.

The bar where you had your first dance. The apartment where you had your first kiss, and made love for the first time, and many more times after that.

The strip where he took you for a date night and where you’d had so much fun your cheeks hurt the next day.

The chapel you passed where Pilot ‘joked’ he would marry you one day.

You had to get out of the city of memories, and the beach was just the place.

You squeezed Carly and gave her the apartment keys, which she had agreed to give to your landlord the next morning.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” You said tearfully, backing out of the apartment door.

She nodded, and you left before you both had the chance to start crying.

You quickly walked down the back flight of stairs towards the truck which had been pulled round the back of the building so to not block the front entrance.

Carly stood in your apartment, walking around slowly to make sure you hadn’t forgotten anything.

“(Y/N)?!” She heard someone call at the front door a few minutes later.

Pilot ran in, his eyes frantically searching the empty apartment.

Carly walked out of the bedroom, “Pilot, she’s gone. You just missed her.” She said to him sadly.

Panic took over his face, “How long?” He asked.

“Probably 2 or 3 minutes ago. Down the back stairwell. She’s probably gone.” She said, sad for him, crossing her arms.

Pilot cursed himself, he had taken too long to leave his apartment, planning what he would say, even stopping to buy flowers but changing his mind.

He turned on his heels and bolted towards the back stairwell, flying down with such speed he thought he may fall. He burst out the back door to an empty street. Your truck was gone.

He cursed, his hands running through his hair in frustration.

“Fuck!” He yelled loudly, pacing in circles, unable to believe he’d let you slip away. He wanted to cry, to scream. How could he have let this happen?

He closed his eyes to stop the sting of tears from taking over, and ran his hands over his face.

“Pilot?” A soft voice brought him out of the pit he found himself in. He removed his hands from his face and turned around.

“(Y/N)?” He breathed, relief washing over his entire body, his bottom lip quivered.

You stood in front of him on the dark, empty street. You had forgotten to give Carly your letterbox keys, and had parked the truck on the corner of the street, making your way back.

“What are you doing here?” You asked softly, not expecting to see him distraught, outside your building.

“I thought you were gone. I have never felt so scared in my life.” He whispered, his shoulders slumping.

You shuffled uncomfortably on your feet. You wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but you were still hurt and mad at him.

“I needed to explain what happened that night. Even if it doesn’t change anything, I just need you to know.”

You nodded, prompting him to continue.

He explained what happened that night, and you felt sad. You realised the misunderstanding but it was too late. You had never felt pain like you had when you thought Pilot had betrayed you, and you were too scared to go through that again. That was the problem when you cared about someone the way you did about Pilot. The stronger the feelings, the stronger the pain when it all went wrong.

“That doesn’t change things.” You said softly, “That doesn’t change the fact that… it broke me. I don’t want to go through that again. If that means I never find someone who I feel this way about again, then that’s how it will have to be. I can’t risk that pain again.”

Pilot stepped closer to you slowly, his eyebrows pinched together sadly.

You shook your head, taking a step back as your eyes shone, threatening to spill over.

“Baby…” he cooed, still walking closer to you, his hand held out as if approaching a frightened animal. “That day that I told you how I felt, I left out one thing.” He admitted.

You stood still, hearing him out.

“I told you that you made me feel electric, you made burn, you made me drunk. That was all true, every last word.” His eyes burned into yours. “But I didn’t tell you that the moment I saw you, the moment our eyes locked that first night in the bar… I realised that I knew you already.” He said, finally reaching you. His hand cupping your cheek as your tears spilt over.

“I know we’d never met before then, but our souls, baby, our souls… I don’t know how to describe it but we must have been together in past lives or something, we must be reliving our love story over and over and over, because I know you on a deeper level. Before you I felt lost, now I just can’t imagine a world without you in it.” He breathed, his forehead resting on yours. You giggled through your tears.

“You believe in reincarnation?” You joked.

Pilot chuckled, “That’s the one part you focused on, huh?”

Your light mood quickly disappeared as you pulled back to look into his eyes.

“How do I know this isn’t just some shlep you pull on every girl?” You asked sadly.

Pilot looked at you, his eyes sad and shook his head.

“I can only try and prove to you every day from here on out that you are the only one I will ever want.” He stroked your hair, tucking a strand behind your ear.

“It’s too late, Pilot.” You cried. Your bungalow in California was already signed in for a 12 month lease and the truck was packed. You had already quit your job.

“No it’s not, (Y/N), I love you. I LOVE you. I will do what it takes to make this work. You make me crazy, like nothing else ever has, and I can’t lose this.” He begged.

“I love you too.” You sobbed, you’re heart breaking, “but I’ve gotta go.” You pulled out of his grasp and handed him the letterbox key, turning around and walking away.

Pilots heart shattered, he couldn’t lose you again.

“Wait!” He called. You stopped in your tracks, your back still facing him.

“Let me come with you.” He asked, “Without you there’s nothing left for me here. I want to come with you. We can start a new life, just you and I.”

You turned around slowly, shocked that he would even consider leaving Vegas and his best friend Jack.

“Would you be happy there?” You asked.

“I will be happy anywhere as long as I’m with you. Plus, who can resist the beach?” He smiled genuinely.

You laughed, a huge smile taking over your face.

“Okay.” You said, shaking your head incredulously as you couldn’t believe it as the word left your mouth. This was probably too fast, but you couldn’t deny how he made you feel. You were madly and undeniably in love with the man who stood in front of you.

You closed the distance between the two of you and jumped into Pilots arms. He kissed you deeply, having so desperately missed you.

“I will never stop proving how much I love you.” He whispered against your lips.

——————————————

- Final Chapter Here -

[loverdollll]

could we move it to the bedroom? | jacob elordi x austin butler

wc: 1.2k

warnings: 18+ mdni, making out....that's it, probably.

a/n: this is for U @starboybutler 🙏🏼 a match made in heaven. title from anxious by carly rae jepsen (their song btw.)

austin really messed up agreeing to go to this stupid dinner party. but it was good to mingle with other actors and directors, his agent said. he loved kate, but he needed to say no more often. he didn't mind meeting new people, especially if it brought him new opportunities for his career, but he also sometimes didn't feel like talking to people. 

he wanted to be at home, curled up on the couch with his dog, well…his girlfriend too, of course. technically, it was her dog, but he loved that dog too. 

but no, he was stuck at someone’s house, listening to people name drop and talk about work. he was starting to drown it out after his third glass of wine.

he hadn't really gotten a good look of all who was there, his eyes gazing around the table, looking at a few familiar faces. a couple costars, a few directors he was a fan of….he really only agreed thinking ryan gosling would be here, but he got sick. just his luck. he shifted his head forward a bit to look farther down the table, and that's when he saw him. his girlfriend’s ex, his so-called competition for playing the same man he did. 

he didn't watch priscilla. he had no reason to or no real interest in watching it. there had to be a rule against watching things with your partner's ex in it anyway, right? but austin was a nice guy, he gave everyone a chance and the benefit of the doubt. but he thought him as elvis presley was a bit…comical, really. 

his girlfriend didn't speak much of him, but it was clear she had a type. 

but..he couldn't stop himself from staring. he was so mesmerized by him….he had the most perfect bone structure he had ever seen on anyone in his life. christ, he was australian too, wasn't he? he dressed well, almost like austin, except he probably put a bit more effort into his outfit than he did. then he smiled at whoever he was chatting with, austin's heart did a weird thing. he felt weird, why was he feeling weird?

austin quickly excused himself and headed to the bathroom, shutting the tour and passing a bit of cold water on his face. he blamed it on the wine. he pulled his phone out, seeing a text from his girlfriend and giving himself a mental reminder to reply to her in just a minute. he googled jacob, of course. 

he somehow found himself scrolling through jacob’s instagram and god, he fully understood why everyone liked this man. his feed was full of art, film, photography….he couldn't believe he found himself infatuated with this man. 

a knock at the bathroom door broke him out of his trance, “sorry, mate. you about done?” 

you're kidding. austin gritted his teeth, silently cursing at himself and shoving his phone in his pocket. he was almost afraid to open the door and meet jacob face to face. 

he slowly opened the door, having to actually look up slightly at jacob. “sorry.” austin said with a gentle smile. “had to make a phone call.” 

“no worries.” jacob smiled back. “austin, right?” 

“yeah.” he nodded, holding his hand out. 

jacob shook his hand with a nod, “no hard feelings, yeah?” 

austin was confused, furrowing his brows as he tried to make sense of his words. he hoped this wasn't about his girlfriend…she was the last person he wanted to think about right now—

“i think we can agree you played the better elvis.” he added, laughing softly. 

oh, thank god. austin laughed back, “right, right. thank you, man. i appreciate it.” 

an awkward silence stood between the two, just politely nodding back and forth for a few moments. austin cleared her throat, “well, it was nice meeting you.” he said awkwardly, nodding his head once more and turning to head back downstairs. 

“you do that a lot, don’t you?.” jacob hummed. “the staring, y’do that a lot.” 

austin froze in place, his cheeks pink. he was busted, getting a weird feeling in his stomach. he turned around and looked back at jacob. “oh.” he was definitely busted. “sorry.” he didn’t understand why the man in front of him was making him feel..so much smaller. 

“you aren’t.” he let out a hearty chuckle, “but ‘ssokay. you’ve got nice eyes.”

“thank you.” he replied quickly, too quick, probably.

jacob slowly shuffled closer to austin, taking his chin in his hand and tilting his head up slightly with a soft hum. “pretty lil’ thing, aren’t you?”

what?

he was so close to giving in…..he just wasn't sure how far this would go. he didn't put much of a label on his sexuality, he found men attractive at times. truth be told, he probably got a little too comfortable with callum, but it never went too far. however, part of him was willing to take a chance with jacob. “s-sorry?”

jacob laughed quietly, “did i read this wrong?” he asked, “don’t tell me ‘m makin’ a fool of myself.”

“i…” austin swallowed at nothing, feeling his body tempature begin to rise. he was getting warm, too warm. he so badly wanted more, he just didn’t know what he wanted. “no…” he breathed out, “i’ve just…never really—”

“‘s alright.” he smiled, “don’t have to do anything if you don’t wanna.” his hand drifted down to austin’s, giving it a slight squeeze. “c’mere.” he took austin’s hand and looked around the hallway before wandering into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. 

austin couldn’t belive he was doing this. he was doing this and he was almost excited about it. too excited. when jacob gestured for him to sit on the counter, he did so with no hesitation. 

“god, you’re pretty.” jacob whispered, tilting his chin up again. “can i kiss you?”

he felt like he was in heaven the moment his lips were on his. jacob's hand cupped his jaw, their lips meeting for the first time. he let the kiss linger for a few seconds, giving austin a chance to pull away if he was uncomfortable, but no, he wasn't. he wanted more. it was a sweet, gentle kiss—the taste of the wine austin had on his lips. 

heat was beginning to grow between the two and austin was finding himself hard embarrassingly fast. jacob deepened the kiss, his hands on his face as his tongue flicked against austin’s lips. he explored the blonde’s mouth, his hands moving lower. one hand rested on austin’s side, the other still on his jaw. his lips moved to austin's jawline, peppering along the sharp figure with kisses, his stubble tickling against his lips. 

“jacob—” austin breathed out, his hands moving to his shoulders. 

he didn’t stop, his lips moving to attack his neck, pushing his hips against austin's. the whine escaping from the blonde’s lips made jacob shiver, clearly being affected just like he was. “fuck.” he mumbled against his neck. 

austin finally pulled away, his cheeks and ears bright red as he panted softly, shaking his head. “i can't.” he breathed out. 

jacob hummed, his hand rubbing against austin’s hip. “but you want to.” 

he looked up at the taller man, biting his lip. he was aching in his dress pants, assuming jacob was to. god, he wanted more. so much more. he hopped off from the counter, nodding. “next time.” he whispered, “i promise.”

[the1975attheirverybest]

The Greatest British Bake-off

A/N: Prompter day 12

Prompt: autumn treats.

Warnings: none

----

"are you...serious?" she rolled her eyes jokingly. "The theme was 'autumn, boys. You've all got brownie m=ingredients."

"Matty picked the challenge." George tattled.

Adam mumbled something about having warned them about this.

Matty cleared his throat as a pre-announcement before speaking authoritatively, "Brownies can be autumnal."

Ross whispered into Matty's ear, "I think you have a special kind of brownies in mind," and they both giggled.

"Baby, this is brownie mix. with this level of laziness, I don't think we can call this a bake-off." she eyed the ingredients he'd laid out on the counter with snobby judgement.

"I've got a few surprises up my sleeve. Just...just time us, okay? lets settle this once and for all."

the title of "Best Band Baker" was at stake. Matty's competitive side has always been both attractive and entertaining, so she'd invited Charli and Carly to collectively enjoy this madness.

"alright boys. find your stations and I'll get a timer going...."

Charli took that as her cue to pour the wine.

"Okay, everyone settled? ready...set...AND GO!" She grinned at the sound of butter packets opening, whisks circling, and Matty struggling to open his Brownie mix and crack and egg.

"You should all give up now." George stated, dipping a finger in to taste-test his concoction, "my brownies will destroy yours without a doubt."

"Less trash talking more baking, George." Matty mumbled, his brows furrowed, his tongue sticking out. "christ! I think I cut myself."

Charli chuckled reminding everyone that, as a general rule, blood in the batter disqualifies you unconditionally.

"Me, me, me! I go first! I've finished first!" Ross announced, ecstatic.

"alright, we've only got one oven, so we'll have to put all of your...uhm...masterpieces in together. it'll be a game of Tetris so let me do it."

"well, let the record show, I was the first to finish. That goes towards my final score, yes?"

She looked at her co-judges, nodding when Charli and Carly both confirmed. "Yes, Ross. It does."

---

"I think we should grade them in the order that they were finished." Charli suggested. "Which means...Ross MacDonald. You're going first."

Ross smiled luminously, cutting up three pieces for each of the ladies to try.

They watched the boys serious and apprehensive faces and decided to milk it, taking their time, whispering their comments to each other and pretending to look serious in contemplation.

"alright, so we all agree?"

"mhm...."

"well, Ross." She took a deep breath. "Upon first glance it might seem like a perfectly respectable Brownie....but, my friend, the edges are a bit too dry and crispy. You'd have to cut off a significant portion of this thing to enjoy a brownie-textured bite. so...7/10."

"George Daniel, you're next, bro."

"George....oh man. you see how it's still runny in the middle? it MIGHT have turned into a brownie at some point, if it ever finished baking. sorry, babe. 5/10."

In the background, Ross and George bickered over who would have the worst luck.

"Adam gets extra points for the presentation. Tell us, are those actual chocolate shavings on top? wow, alright...we might have a winner here. 8.5/10."

"last but not least, Matthew...." She squinted her eyes, looking up at her boyfriend. "I...this color isn't a good sign, babe."

Matty rolled his eyes, "would you just- fuckin try it?"

"you sneaky little...." Carly giggled. "he's added pumpkin to it!"

"AND cinnamon."

Matty beamed "Can't have pumpkin without cinnamon. Obviously."

"hmmm....that's smart. and on theme." Charli mused.

"But Adam's presentation is infinitely more appealing...."

"Right, cuz with the pumpkin added, the color of Matty's brownies...well, it's not the most appetizing."

"He does get points for creativity though."

The three ladies nodded amongst themselves.

"do we have a tie on our hands?"

Matty, watching their debate, began to get visibly worked up. "No! That's not fair! ties are not an option! Here, listen..." He drove the knife through the still steaming dessert, "take another bite! really think about it. let it melt, luxuriously in your mouth. Smell it! It's autumn in your kitchen!"

She smiled, teasingly, at the love of her life. "wow, you really don't like losing do you?"

"Please! we should bring someone else in! Polly will break the tie. Or...yo, Ross. Call John!"

"Hmmmm" Charli winked at them to go along. "Nah, I think if we're being fair, it's a tie."

Matty, finally unable to remain still, walked out from behind the kitchen counter. "The fuck is that fair? fuck no! I demand a re-match! Only ONE band member can be the winner. this is ridiculous! Adam and I can go again! I've gotta run to the shops, though, we'll start again when I get back...."

[justanamesstuff]

I want to be with you everywhere - Matty Healy x f!reader

A/N: I'm not sure if I'm happy with this...let me know what you think!! <3 (takes place before part 1 and 2)

Warnings: fluff, the three words, car sex, hard language, 18+ MINORS DNI!!!!!!

Word count: 3.2 k

Blog Masterlist

Supermarket 

“Matty?” Y/n startled him out of his daydreaming. “My eyes are up here…” she teased him, smiling when his eyes opened a millimetre more due to embarrassment. 

They were trying to empty the shopping trolley with all the food and drinks they brought minutes ago for the barbecue Adam and Carly were going to host in their house. Y/n tried not to think about it because her anxiety would rise to a level she might not be able to keep under control. She already meet Matty’s friends, family, and a lot of people involved in his life during the past few months, even though Y/n still couldn’t get used to be around his friends. She was very aware of how much their opinions weighted on Matty. 

Y/n shook her head, returning to the present moment. Matty was holding a piece of cheese and his mouth was hanging open a bit. His lips and mouth calling for her. He always looked handsome, although that day he was breathtaking. 

“I-” he tried speaking, but his voice got stucked on his throat. “I’m sorry, I just-” the singer left the item inside the booth, rubbing his hands nervously. 

“Matty, it’s alright. I was messing with you.”

“No, I know. I- I wasn't ogling you like a moron, okay?” he tried to justify himself.

Y/n rounded the cart between their bodies, “Baby, I wouldn’t mind if you looked at my cleavage.” she brushed the curls falling on his pretty face, staring at his eyes with care.

“I was looking at your…your body.” he cleared his throat, making her chuckled. She hadn't seen him this nervous in all the months they have dated. Worried popped into her mind. 

“What’s wrong, Matty?” Y/n frowned a little, Matty hated it. 

“I’m trying to say something, but I don’t want to scare you…” Matty let his hands rest on her hips, looking down at his hands create circles on the fabric of Y/n’s dress. 

Y/n kept her silence, waiting for him to be able to express his thoughts. She touched his features, trying to transmit him some calmness. The only thing it would scare her would be him breaking up with her. Her heart skipped a bit thinking about that possibility.

“I was looking, admiring you…maybe a bit like a twat, but I didn’t have my head in the gutter. Well, not fully.” Matty laughed apprehensive. He took a big breath, trying to gather his thoughts. “Y/n…” Matty said. “I can’t believe I’m such a lucky bastard, you…you being this incredible person, so smart, so caring, so damn beautiful.” he shook her body slightly. “You being incredible and wanting to date me…me?” Matty touched his chest with his point finger. 

“I do…so much.” she interrupted his monologue.

“Can’t believe I’m going to say this in the middle of a supermarket car park…” Matty closed his eyes for a second, talking more to himself. “I love you, Y/n. So, so much…everything about you.” Matty spoke, staring into her soul.

Y/n felt a tingling sensation travel all around her body. “You do?” she asked, low.

Matty nodded. “Yes.” he replied. “You don’t have to say it back! I felt the need to say it, because I can’t hi-” 

The frontman couldn’t finish his sentence because Y/n let her lips fell on his. They paused for a little, just taking in the points of contact between their bodies. Matty grew anxious quickly, so he let his hands travel to her back, rubbing his hands up and down. Y/n’s reaction was to smile, which broke the kiss a little.

“I love you so much, Matthew.”

“Why ‘Matthew’?” he complained. “Sounds like I’m in trouble…” he pouted, not letting her go far from him.

Y/n lift her hands to rest around his shoulders. “You’re in serious trouble, mister. I’m not letting you go so…”

“Won’t complain, really.” 

“I love you, Matty.” the words tasting different when she direct them to the man in front of her, the man of her dreams. 

“Agh, I’ll never get used to this…ever.” Matty let his head hid on the crock of her neck, mumbling incoherences. His stubble and breath tickling her, adding to her giddiness after all the confessions.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Hann and Carly’s house

“Matty!” George screamed in his right ear.

He detached his sight from Y/n profile, who was deep into conversation with Polly about hair products –saying words Matty never heard of. Matty let his eyes fell on his best mate’s smugly face. 

“What?” he spat, bringing his left hand to rest on Y/n’s thigh. 

“Was talking to you.” G crossed his arms on his chest. Matty rolled his eyes at him. “She won’t disappear if you stop looking at her. Y’know that, right?”

“Fuck off.”

“What are you two bickering about now?” Y/n let her hand rest on top of Matty’s. 

“‘bout this one smitten with you.” G said before taking a sip of his drink. “Simp.” he mumbled.

Matty returned to look at Y/n, “Ignore him.” 

“Why? I like what he was saying…” she smiled at him, pushing her body closer to Matty’s.

The frontman let his left arm round her, bringing his girlfriend even closer than before. He left a chaste kiss on her lips, trying not to indulge too much making the rest uncomfortable although at the same time being incapable of not touching and kissing his girl.

Y/n pushed her chest on his, trapping her hands between their bodies. She was wishing to bring him back to her flat or hear his offer to go to his, even though that would be rude. 

The singer backed a little, “We’re leaving.”

“What? Why?” she searched inside his eyes.

“Y/n.” he warned her.

“Baby, we can’t leave.” Y/n whispered.

“Oh, yes, we can.”

“Matty.”

“Please, Y/n. I need you.” his hand creeped to touch her knee, pleading her. 

“Hey! You two!” Ross broke the tension growing between them. “Find a room.” he joked around, letting Matty use it for his own advantage. 

“Actually, we’re leaving.” he stood up from his chair.

Matty took Y/n’s hands, pushing her slightly to copy his own actions. 

The boys whistled and Charli screamed, “Yes, girl!” 

Matty didn’t stop to say goodbye to the people around the table, he couldn’t care less. The singer was sure they wouldn’t mind and even found it funny. He would put up with the jokes later. 

Y/n let him lead her towards the car, feeling deeply embarrassed by his actions and a bit turned on. 

She turned to her right side, staring at him, “You’re insane, y’know that? I’ve bearly know them…what would they-”

Matty quickly interrupted her rambling, “They’re happy for me…for you. That’s all, baby.” Y/n seated back, trying to calm herself. “C’mon, my love.” The sweet name warmed her inside, but she tried to ignore the feeling. Matty let his hand touch the hem of her dress, then his feathery touch trailed towards the inside of her tight thighs. “I love you.” Matty approached his lips to press kisses on her neck. He disarmed her and Y/n couldn’t help to open her legs wider. “Say it.” 

“What?” she stared back into his brown eyes, full of lust.

“Y/n.” he wasn’t having it.  “Say it.”

The singer didn’t wait for her reply, to move his hand closer to her core. She was hyperaware of his hands touching her skin.

“I love…” Y/n stopped talking when his fingers pushed the fabric on her clit without moving far. The pressure turning her into putty.  

Matty backed his fingers centimetres away,  “You love who?”

“Matty!” she protested, sensing the lack of his digits and her clit pulse. 

“Who, Y/n?”

“I love you. Please, don’t stop.”

“Good girl.” 

Even though he didn’t continue. Matty backed all the way, going to turn the car on, and started driving away from his bandmate’s house. 

Y/n stared at him without believing his actions. One minute he was all over her, and the second later appeared composed like nothing happened. Y/n whined loud. 

“What?” she protested.

“What?” Matty mimicked her voice, staring at the road. 

“I hate you.”

“You don’t.” Matty gripped the steering wheel with both of him hands. 

“Drive me home.” she tried to command, knowing deeply inside he wouldn’t let her go that easily. 

She wasn’t wrong. 

“Baby.”

Y/n bit her lower lip, trying to stay in silence.

“Okay, we’re going to your house then.” Maty sentenced, implying he was part of the plan.

“No, I am going…alone.”

“Absolutely no.” he shook his head, still not looking at her. “Don’t a brat. You just need to wait a few more minutes, and you’ll have everything you want, my love.” Matty said in a rather softly tone. 

“I want you.” she whined, touching the middle of his leg.  

Matty's side glanced at her. “Do as I tell you.” the singer took her hand, lifting it up until it was secured on her own lap.

Y/n pretend to obey the order. For a few minutes, the song blasting on the radio occupied the silence between them. Matty relaxed while driving, oblivious to his girlfriend’s thoughts.

Without hesitation, she felt brave enough to shuffle in her seat, taking her underwear down her legs and finally off. The sudden movement, beside him, made Matty looked between the road and her. 

“What are you doin’?” he asked, feeling a rush of heat taking over his neck and cheeks. 

Y/n ignored him, leaving the piece of cloth between them around the gear lever. She didn’t spare him a glance, driving Matty insane. 

She lifted her dress until it rested on her stomach, showing all of her lower half in all its glory. Y/n touched her chest slightly, teasing herself a little. The expectation growing meanwhile, her hands roamed lower. Matty saw her touched the lower part of her stomach and her body shake due to the cool air hitting her perfectly.  

His girlfriend moaned, throwing her head back, looking for support that finally the seat gave her. Y/n ignored her dripping core, choosing to touch her knees, widening the space between them.

“Y/n..” Matty tried to stop her, but his tone wasn’t exactly harsh or believable. 

“Mhm?” she asked, her eyelids heavy.

She chuckled when he didn’t answer, stopping the car under the traffic light, waiting for the greenlight. Y/n traced the interior of her legs, feeling she was more than ready to welcome him. Her digits found the knob of nerves, circling slowly even when her fingers were eager to go faster. The sensations taking over her, controlling her hips. Y/n griped the side of the car sit with her free hand, helping with the friction. 

Matty pressed the gas pedal when he could. Since her flat wasn’t really far from Hann’s house, they reached their destination rapidly. Matty stopped the car in a dark part of her block. Turning to look at Y/n, who wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. All of her attention were in the knot on her stomach.

“Matty” she moaned, asking for him to touch her. 

“Oh, no…you get yourself into this. Now you’re going to finish it.” Matty palmed himself through his trousers, staring at the sweet scene in front of his eyes.

“Please.”

Even though Matty couldn’t help to direct her from afar, “Stop teasing yourself.” he command. “Test if you’re ready for one finger, baby.” His left hand coming to rest on top of her seat car. 

“I’m so wet, baby.” Matty groaned when the information reached his ears, his eyes travelling down to the part of her body dripping on his car seat. He didn’t care if she ruined it. 

He nodded, unbuttoning his trousers, making a lot of noise with his belt, “You look so good like this, my love.” Matty encourage her. Y/n opened her eyes, looking at him push his trousers down, but keep his boxers. 

“Matty-”

“Keep going.” he said. “Ready for another?” Matty let his hand touch hers, taking her finger out of her pussy and bringing it to his mouth. He moaned around her fingers. Y/n didn’t dare to look at other part than his face, in a deep trance with his beauty and him hollowing his cheeks while tasting her.

“Yes, yes.”

Matty selected her middle and ring finger, pushing the others down, and without breaking eye contact he brought them closer to her core. Her sight tried to follow their intertwined hands, but her boyfriend wasn’t happy,  “Look at me, Y/n.” he ordered and she obeyed. His eyes tingled, knowing how receptive she was, how she let him have all the power over her. Y/n trusted him, Matty’s dominant side loved that.

Matty and Y/n stared at each others, while she felt the pressure of her fingers on her entrance. She gasped when he impulsed her fingers to get inside slowly. Y/n closed her eyes a bit because everything was getting too much, too intense. “Look at me, I said.” his other hand travel to the back of her head, holding her nape. “That’s it, baby girl.” Matty tilted his chin up, proud of himself.

Y/n’s boyfriend knew her body like the back of his hand. Matty made her fingers brushed the rough patch, making her lips lift, and an explosive sensation crawled from her small back all the way down to explode all around her. Matty kept guiding her hand, helping Y/n ride her high until she collapsed on her seat once more. 

“Open.” the frontman presented her own hand in front of her mouth. The skin of her fingers wrinkled by all the wetness created a rare sensation against her tongue. Y/n licked his fingers, although she pushed her hand out of her hand, gasping for some air. “Are you okay?” he checked, afraid it could be too much for her. Matty stroked her hair, soothing Y/n.

“More than that.” she gifted him a drunken smile. 

“Okay, let’s go upstairs.” Matty went to push his trousers back up, even though she stopped him.

Y/n quickly launched herself closer, placing her hand on top of his. “No.”

“No?” he crooked his eyebrow.

“I can’t wait any more.”

Before Matty could even ask about it, Y/n moved to straddle him. 

“Y/n, someone might see.” Matty looked around the empty street, knowing probably most of the neighbours were sleeping or out at the same time, he feared for their privacy. 

“I know.”

Matty laughed, “Naughty girl.” his hands squeezing her hips. 

Y/n’s boyfriend admired how she opened her dress, showing she wasn’t wearing a bra, hence why Matty could scan her naked body fully in front of his eyes. He was a lucky bastard indeed.

“Fuck.”

They didn’t wait a single more second, Matty pushed her still wet core to connect with his under the thin material of his boxers. Y/n was still dripping and staining his boxers, making Matty moaned with the sensation. So close and so far.

Her hips started moving back and forward rhythmically, trying to find the perfect one for both of them. Matty didn’t move his hands, slightly guiding his girlfriend.

His mouth swiftly found the expanse of her breast, biting on the under side of her left one. Y/n replied, whining uncontrollably, moving faster and throwing her head back. Once more, she was getting closer and closer to the edge, although this time she wanted him buried inside her. 

“Matty.” 

He spoke back, with his eyes admiring her nipples move and his hands holding her tits together, “Yes, baby?”

“I need you, now.”

Matty smirked, changing the direction of his eyes. Without adding more words, he detached his hands from her body, leaning to reach the car glove box behind Y/n. He groped a hand inside, searching for a condom. 

Y/n took advantage of his distraction, pushing his boxers under his balls. His cock was dripping with pre-cum and her mouth craved to taste him. She swiped it with her finger, gathering enough to taste it. Matty shook his head, while ripping the plastic. 

“Be glad we’re not inside because I’d be punishing you for that.” he said, pushing the rubber down his shaft. 

“I hope you do.” Y/n knew she was playing with fire.

“Y/n.” her name on his lips was the perfect anthem for her ears. “Ready?” he brought her body closer again, stopping when she was just above his tip.

“So ready.” she moaned out. 

Matty brushed the tip of his cock, teasing between her entrance and clit. Y/n let him without protesting, knowing she was close to get what she wanted for so long. Finally, he trusted inside her, looking directly into her eyes. Y/n allowed her body to fell forward, their foreheads connecting, meanwhile her hands took his neck between her hands.

“How come you’re always so tight, baby?” Matty’s voice came strangled, putting all his force to not come just yet. “Can I move?”

“Yes, move- please, move.” 

Matty nodded silently, grabbing her hips, pushing Y/n’s body up and continuity down. His mouth travelled from her lips, after leaving a sweet kiss, towards her beck and collarbones. He licked and bite every part of her skin, wanting to mark her as his. Although the best for him was meeting her nipples again. Nothing compared to her beautiful tits jumping by trusts. Nothing compared to Y/n’s beautiful soul and body. 

“Matty-”

“‘doing so well, baby.” he praised her. “Always so good for me.”

“Faster, please.”

“Already coming, baby?” he leaned backwards, replacing his mouth with his palms.

“Mhm.”

Y/n pulsed around him, so his voice sounded low and raspy,“Who makes you come this fast?” the question going directly to her centre. 

“You, Matty…is always you.”

Matty noticed she was indeed very close to her release. He brought his right thumb to circle on top of her clit, while his hands clenched to her hips like if his life depended on it. Y/n let herself go, making her movements quicker than before, pushing Matty to the edge. 

The singer pushed his pelvis up to meet her warmth, meanwhile Y/n’s body arching in pleasure offered him his tits again. Matty didn’t wait a second. He reached his peak bruising the soft skin of her chest. Y/n collapsed on top of Matty, feeling how his arms held her.

Accelerated breaths filled the void inside the car.

“Are you okay?” Matty brushed her back, sneaking his hands under the fabric of her dress, which shielded them from the outside world. He didn’t want to pull out just yet.

“Yes.”

“Can you walk?” he inquired. 

Y/n giggled on his neck, filling his stomach with something closer to complete happiness. “Don’t be so full of yourself, Healy.” 

He joined her, laughing of his own question. Matty left a few kisses on the side of her head.

“Let’s go…I’m not done with you.” 

Y/n pushed her body back, feeling ready to continue the night with him inside her bed. 

[winniefrezcomics]

I have one question about mama cosma no drawing needed c:

In the show its clear that Mama cosma favorite is Cosmo so I was wondering how she reacted when Cosmo came out to her

And how close was he to her before coming out?

(I type all that and then realized cosmo is carl in ur AU sorry lol)

Alsooooo have a good day and don't forget to drink some water! 💚💚💚😊

Why thank u! Oh shit I actually do need to go drin-

(I’ll give some more info on Carlos upbringing in the post abt why he had a fairy godparent assigned to him, but I’d be happy to keep the mama cosma stuff as separate as possible lmaoooo)

Mama cosma/ transphobia ment under cut ☠️ less get into it ig

I think Carlo (formerly Carly, but I’ll be referring to him as the proper name/pronouns for my own comfort 🫶) was fairly close to his mother as a child, but the older he got, he couldn’t help but notice just how AGAINST the idea of Carlo going out with friends his mother constantly was, or even MAKING freinds, for that matter.

See, I think Mama Cosmic was a VERY possessive parent, brought on by her husbands sudden, mysterious disappearance (which she interprets as him walking out of on her and thier two children, despite him very much NOT deciding to disappear) aaaaand the fact that Shnozmo (a nickname Carlo had for his brother Shawn) pretty much hit the road and emancipated himself the second he turned 18 to escape his mothers BS.

This of course leaves Carlo at her mercy, and once Shawn is gone she barley lets Carlo leave the house, hence him being assigned a godparent, to fill the hole his dad and older brother left! (Tho Fairy Timmy is a MUCH cooler older brother to him sobs)

All this to say, I don’t interpret Carlo/Cosmo as her FAVORITE per se, so much as I interpret him as “the only thing she has left and won’t let out of her sight for fear he will leave her too” 😬

ANYWAY to answer your actual question- mama cosmic was upset ENOUGH by Carlo coming out as a lesbian, but after meeting Wendy, Carlo attempts to come out to his mother as a man MULTIPLE times, and every time she just straight up shut him down like “no you’re not.” 🙃

And so, as abusive parents often do, Mama Cosmic’s refusal to accept her son and his girlfriend created a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Carlo did exactly what his older brother did- leave as soon as he turned eighteen.

Tho to Carlo’s credit he DID reach out to his mother again once he had transitioned (which she fumbled, of course), sent her a celebratory postcard when they adopted Timmy (which she never responded to), and then reached out AGAIN when he got pregnant, but THAT time mama cosmic was actually willing to help, because there was a grandchild involved 😷

On that note, I don’t think Timmy’s relationship with his Grandma has EVER been good, bc I feel like she would often slip up and call Perry her “real” grandchild, or something equally insensitive- and never really bothered fostering a good relationship with Timmy, because she didn’t really consider him “hers” (despite the fact that Carlo and Wendy treat him EXACTLY the same as their bio son >:T )

And you KNOW teenage Timmy read her the mf RIOT ACT when mama cosmic’s mask finally slipped, and she said some fucked up shit to Timmy’s ENTIRE MOTHER right in front of him before Carlo intervened, telling his wife to take the boys to the car while he has a talk with his mother. (This event occurred after Perry attempted to tell his grandma that he was actually a little boy, but she shut him down in a similar manner to Carlo and things escalated quickly- the last memory current Perry has of his grandma is locking eyes with her as the family car drove away, and seeing the hateful scowl on her face before she closed the curtains in a huff ☠️🙃)

I DO think she and Carlo eventually reconcile, but, maybe more importantly, she and PERRY eventually make up as well, with her apologizing to an adult Perry for missing so much of his childhood, and Perry forgives her!

….Then Timmy Excitedly introduces His estranged grandma to Perry’s wife with a full beard and horrifying vampire grin (Iris) just to see the look of shock and confusion on her face lmaoooo get dunked on 😂☠️

Perry wants to be mad at them but can’t because it was so funny dnndendndjdjdj might have to doodle that eventually but for now that about all I have to say about ol’ MC-

Ty for the question! Abusive parents suck- to the bwender w ye 😂

[chil-aglia]

𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 |ROTTMNT| (Leo X Male OC)

The picture above is so shit y’all. Sorry about that. If anyone wants to recreate the scene, please feel free to do so and send it to me

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The turtles were inside the lair doing their own thing, Leo skateboarding, Raph eating some pizza that was left out, Mikey on his phone and Donnie was inside his room doing who knows what. Adriaen was standing beside the skateboarding track, leaning against it with arms crossed as he watches Leo perform tricks. 

Leo had begged him to come and watch him, keeping scores of the “amazing” tricks he does, when in reality he just wanted to show off to Adriaen. “I call this one…the Flying Leo!” Leo grins as he stood on the edge of the skateboarding ramp with one hand before flipping and rolling down.

”Your going to—“

Adriaen warned by was too late as Leo grunted when he steered off course and crashed into a pile of pizza boxes. “Crash.” Adriaen finished his sentence, walking over and holding a hand out for Leo, who blushed in brief embarrassment but smiled awkwardly and took his hand, which Adriaen pulled him up.

”I’ll get it next time.”

”Please don’t.”

Mikey suddenly perked up, waving to everyone who was around to come over when a news story appeared on his phone. “Hey, come check this out guys.” He announces, and almost immediately everyone, excluding Donnie, gathered around and watched the video.

"I am Carly Balmaceda filling in for the completely forgotten Warren Stone. The search for missing hypnotist, Mezmer-Ron, and his hippopotamus, Doug, continues. In unrelated news, a monster hippo in a magician’s tuxedo is terrorizing local magicians and stealing their trick animals. And with no animals, there’s no magic."

“Unrelated news? Yeah right.” Adriaen scoffs, it was so clear that this monster hippo was a mutated version of the missing magician and the hippo Doug. 

“Should we go after the mutant?” Mikey tilts his head in question, Raph nodding his head and turning towards the team, “Of course! But we’ll need a well thought out plan.” He responds as they all hum in agreement, before thinking.

”Plan…uh I got nothing.” Leo pouted, but was interrupted when Donnie’s laughter was heard, making everyone look his way as he had a confident grin on his face. “No need to worry gentlemen. I know just the thing.” He assures, before showing off a bottle of liquid in a perfume bottle.

”Ta-da!”

”Wow! What is it?” Mikey beams in curiosity, “This little brother is female hippo scent. We can so easily attract this mutant hippo to us!” He exclaims eagerly, “So who wants to try it?” He asks, where Raph immediately raised his hand out, Donnie spraying the scent on him.

”All right guys. Let’s go out in a few minutes and catch this guy.” Raph smirks but was cut off by Adriaen who stared blankly at him. “Okay, but let’s say this mutant hippo does come. Wouldn’t it be more effective if you wore a disguise to catch it off guard?” He suggests, and upon hearing this, Leo beams.

”Oh I know just the thing. Wait here!”

He dashed off to his room, having the others wait for his return which didn’t take long as Leo came running back and presented a hippo body suit.

”It’s…beautiful.” Raph awed at the sight before quickly snatching it and stuffing himself inside. “All right boys. It’s go time.” He announces, running off. 

Yeah this isn’t going to end well.

Soon they were all outside jumping across rooftops, Raph being extra clumsy in the suit. They patrolled for about an hour or so now, with no sign of a mutant hippo anywhere. Raph struggles to remove the head gear, but he eventually got it as he pants lightly from feeling worn out. “You sure that evil mutant hippo is around here? It’s a million degrees in this thing." He complains, the others jumping over and landing beside him.

Mikey jumps up to stick his head into the hippo head that was currently off Raph, “Um, I’d be happy to wear it, if you need a break." He suggested, this had been going on for a while during their little outing tonight.

It was clear that Raph and Mikey were for some odd reason, really liked the hippo suit and both wanted to wear it.

“No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m the leader.”

He snatched the head back from Mikey, holding it protectively, “The leader wears the suit." He huffs, causing Adriaen to roll his eyes at the two brothers. Leo sensing the slight tension, decided to humour everyone.

“Well, I mean, he’s got a point. Raph is the most hippo-like."

They all chuckle at his little joke, while Adriaen gave a tiny smirk in amusement. "I need a little more of that female hippo scent." Raph informed, turning to Donnie who nods and gets the perfume out, spraying some onto Raph who sighed dreamily.

“Jazzy fresh."

“Help!" A sudden voice cries out in the distance, Adriaen perking up and looking around in alert, “Guys, that must be him." Raph noted, as the group quickly following after the voice.

“A hippo magician is trying to saw my magic worm in half."

Magic worm?

The turtles leap from the rooftop and into park playground, quickly hiding from atop a playhouse to see two lighted arrows directed at a magician’s saw box. Inside was a worm head with blonde hair sticking out of one end. One of the spotlights snaps on and focuses on the box as the arrows fall over.

“Yeah, not suspicious at all.” Adriaen muttered in sarcasm, Leo nodding in agreement as he and Adriaen turn to the others, “Does anyone else find this whole thing a little—“ Leo quizzed but was cut off by Donnie who didn’t seem all that impressed.

“Odd? Just—“

“Magic worm?"

"Totally legit!” 

Raph quickly interjected with his brothers and Adriaen before he jumps off the playhouse. “Don’t worry, Raph’ll save you!” The large red masked turtle in the hippo suit yells in assurance, landing on what appeared to be sticky paper.

"Uh…hey, hey. Raph stuck.”

Leo sighs, face panting and shaking his head at his older brother, “Not again.” He groans lightly as he Donnie and Adriaen jump down to help him out. Well Donnie and Leo were helping him out whereas Adriaen was on the look out in case they got ambushed by another mutant or whatever.

All completely ignoring the “magic worm” that was set up in the middle of the playground. But to everyone’s utter shock, the worm suddenly laughs.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha! Stepped right into my goop trap."

Leo, Raph, Donnie and Adriaen stared in silent bewilderment at what they just witnessed. None expecting the worm to actually talk.

“Your what now?" Raph spoke, lifting the hippo mask off his face, “Goop trap." The work repeated looking a bit annoyed as Mikey was quick to comment, sliding down a slide.

“Talking magic worm?"

Adriaen continued to stare with surprise, “You know I get that New York has its weirdness to it, but this…this is just too much.” Adriaen noted, Leo nodding along in agreement as he went over to get a better look.

"That was all a ruse. For I am Warren Stone, your greatest foe, and—"

“I’m sorry, Warren who?"

Leo interrupted, poking the worm known as Warren who growled and slapped Leo’s finger off him. “Stop it! Stone. I’m your greatest fo—“He began again but Leo chuckles and interrupted him once more.

“Ah, don’t tell me. What are you? Uh, Worm-Man?"

“No, no, no, I’m Warr—"

“Can someone help me get unstuck?" Raph calls out, continuing to struggle in the sticky trap, Leo sighs and walks back to his brother, “Fine.” He groans boredly, Adriaen looks away once more, mostly for his own sanity at this point. Mikey was playing on the playground rocking horse equipment, and Donnie was helping Raph to get unstuck as well.

"Um, greatest nemesis, here. Stop!"

Warren shouts and leaps at them, hating to be ignored but unfortunately, he ended up landing with a plop on Leo’s head.

“Ah, get it off of me! It’s gross!"

"Classic mistake. I may be small, but I’m also very—ah!"

Leo managed to smack him off his face, causing the mutant worm to go flying in the air.

“Huh?"

Spinning, Leo swings his sword and slices Warren in two out of instinct and panic, with the worm now split into pieces it looked as though Leo literally killed him, which had the others stare at the scene in shock

"Oh, what did you do?"

“He was on my head! I panicked!"

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Is he gonna be okay?! He’s in two pieces."

Adriaen blinked and grabbed a stick, stretching it out towards the sliced worm as he poked the top half, only to be greeted with Warren glaring at them.

“You fools!"

They all jump and scream, crowding behind Raph since he was the largest of the group. Leo was also hiding behind Adriaen, gripping said mutant turtles' arm who didn’t seem to mind.

"You’ve unleashed my ultimate power. Now I can—"

“You can clone yourself?"

"No, I regenerate. It’s an amazing power, but it’s incredibly painful."

Warren corrected Mikey as he groans and winced in pain, Adriaen calming down as he eyed the scene before him. “I’ve finally seen everything.” He mumbled sarcastically, watching as Donnie went over to observe.

“Fascinating. How long does the regeneration process take?"

“Several days."

"And you grow back with double the strength."

“No..."

Raph grins and quipped in his own suggestion of what may happen to Warren once fully restored to his body. "But four times the size." He muses but Warren rolls his eyes and glared in utter confusion.

“If I don’t grow back twice as strong, why would I grow back four times as big? Ow!"

"I don’t understand you." Leo groans out in puzzlement, still hiding behind Adriaen who placed his free hand on his hip comfortably and sighed. “Let’s just get out of here guys.” He slightly ordered, which didn’t cause any of them to argue as Raph licks his lips.

“Can we go get some pizza? I’m hungry."

He says as the turtles all walk off, leaving behind Warren. Leo had finally let go of Adriaen but only because he noticed the said mutant side eyeing him in confusion.

“Are you sure he’s gonna be okay, guys?"

“I’m fine, you swamp-stinking, county-fair-prize losers!”

Adriaen huffs upon hearing the anger from Warren as he pats Mikey’s shoulder in assurance, “I think he’ll be just fine.” He states, as Raph grumbled after realising something.

“Ugh, I had my fists set on bustin’ up a magic hippo. What a waste."

After they had left, the team continued on with their search of the mutant hippo but nothing was going according to plan.

They even crashed someone’s 95th birthday party and let’s just say…it didn’t go well. They even all agreed, excluding Raph, to hand the hippo suit to Mikey to wear.

After their whole chaotic ordeal, they stopped by a pizza parlour for some food since Raph was complaining. They were eating on the rooftop, each minding their own business or chatting away with the others. Adriaen was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, pizza slice in hand as he observed New York City’s night life.

He had to admit that New York did look rather beautiful during the night with all the buildings lights on. It was like looking into a sea of stars. Leo sat down beside him, chuckling as he gently nudged Adriaen on the arm. “Penny for your thoughts?” He hums in curiosity as Adriaen shrugs his shoulders.

”Not really thinking about much. Just watching is all.”

”Watching? For what exactly?”

Adriaen hums and leaned back slightly, using his hands to keep himself upright. “The lights of the city.” He noted, Leo didn’t seem to understand but he wasn’t going to question it either.

It was a comfortable silence between the two, Leo had glanced down and noticed how close his and Adriaen’s hands were, he panicked on the inside, sweating and blushing as he inched his fingers closer and closer to perhaps even get a chance to hold Adriaen’s hand.

But was startled after Donnie announced to the others about how his scanner picked up on a police radio call about the mutant hippo they were after.

”Guys! The hippo mutant was spotted at the Burgundy Center.” 

“Let’s go!”

Adriaen was quick to stand up and walk past Leo who watched with a pout and scoffs under his breath, grumbling to himself and following the others to their new destination.

Upon arriving they landed on the rooftop of the building, looking down through a hole in the window that Adriaen cut out earlier with his Kama’s.

"Now, you’re sure the hippo is in there?"

“Uh, yes, I picked it up on my scanner. A Current Occupant called it in."

“Now, explain it to me again, why can’t I wear the suit?" Raph huffed, crossing his arms together. Upon hearing the question they all grown and Leo face palmed lightly.

“Oh, we’ve been over this."

“You ruined that woman’s ninety-fifth birthday."

"She’s fine."

Adriaen deadpans at Raph’s stubbornness, “The ambulance had to be called.” He pointed out, which only causes Raph to further pout. “I’ll do you and the suit proud." Mikey assured, throwing him a thumbs up. "Treat her with respect. And be careful." Raph replied before he suddenly kicked Mikey down through the hole in the glass that they’ve cut.

He yells and hits the ground, the others jump down onto rafters above him. Leo having quick thinking, aims a light box at Mikey, who starts dancing, making Adriaen tilt his head at the dance.

"Uh, what is he doing?"

“Some mating dance he saw on Nature Planet."

“Hippo, I’m right here." Mikey tainted out loud, as he reveals along the inside of the building, his brothers and Adriaen following after him, Leo picked up a microphone in the meantime.

"Hippo man! Your biggest fan is here. She loves magician’s animals. Bunnies, doves, tigers and was hoping you brought some."

“I hope he likes me."

“He will. Of course he’ll like you. You’re adorable."

Mikey dances over to where he’s in front of the Channel 5 news set, but nothing so far had happened. It was starting to really have Adriaen suspicious of all this.

"Breaking news."

Ah there it is.

He leaps from hiding with the others to join Mikey, the lights shift to focus on the news desk atop the podium.

"You may have beaten me before, but I’m a little tougher this time. You see, I’ve enhanced myself. I’ve really grown into my role as your greatest nemesis. I’m really pumped for our little tête-à-tête."

The chair turns slowly as it reveals a heavily muscled Warren. It was definitely a sight to see as the turtles briefly moved back in shock.

"Jumpin’ Jack Flash!"

“That is just wrong to look at…” Adriaen uttered with slight disgust at the sight, Raph hums and tilted his head in thought. "You’re not a hippo, are you?" He questions, automatically making Warren gobsmacked.

“No, I’m not a hippo. Do I look like a hippo to—"

“Maybe a baby hippo?"

“I am not a hippo, and please stop interrupting me. I called in the hippo sighting."

With a gasp, Mikey points over at Warren. "Guys! He’s Current Occupant." He stated the rather obvious, “Yes, he gets it. I am Current Occupant." Warren smirks in pride but his proudness was short lived.

“And we’re here to save you from the hippo magician. Where is he?"

“No, you green idiot. It was a ruse. There is no hippo. I’m Warren Stone, your greatest nemesis. Prepare to meet your—"

There is a sudden explosion behind him, once again Warren is once more cut in two which had everyone shout at the sight.

The smoke clears to reveal the mutant hippo they were after who was grinning.

"Ta-da! Hypno-Potamus has arrived."

Warren’s front half plops down in front of the turtles and Raph shoves him aside, grinning back at the mutant hippo. “Finally. It’s the thing we actually care about. You’re up, Mikey." He informed before pushing Mikey who was wearing the hippo costume closer to the mutant hippo.

The scent of the perfume that Donnie created wafts off Mikey, reaching the mutant hippos nose. He softly sniffs, and then rushes up to Mikey.

“Hello, future Mrs. Hypno-Potamus."

“You tease. Oh, my."

Raph is teary eyed as though he was watching a soap opera, Leo leans against Adriaen’s shoulder, making a disgust face at his brother. 

"Ugh. Even I flirt better than that.”

”What?” Adriaen blinks at Leo who briefly panicked and smiled awkwardly. Mikey suddenly backs into the others, his hippo head missing.

“See, my hippo is more hippo-ey."

The mutant hippo whose name was Hypno, was seen kissing the costume head of the hippo Mikey had on, but when he opened his eyes, he was absolutely stunned to discover it’s just a head. He yells and starts searching for the rest of the hippo. The turtles start laughing, excluding Adriaen who shakes his head, Mikey had one job, but I guess plans can’t always go right.

"Pulled the ol’ false-Jenny on me. Ugh. I gotta say, this has been the worst mating season.”

He manipulates his magic metal rings, “Ah, feel the power." He comments with a confident expression, Leo whistling in impressiveness.

“That is one well-dressed evil mutant hippo."

“Fellas, let’s smash this guy."

"No, smash this guy. This one right here. Me." Warren tried to gain their attention as the turtles jump over him to make their way to Hypno.

"Oh, come on."

The turtles attack Hypno, who was quick to attack and deflect their movements. “Sleight of hand." He muses, dodging and jumping back after he counters their attacks. They all leap at him at once, deciding to all just go for it but they didn’t realise that this mutant hippo had a trick up his sleeve.

“Mezmer-roo!"

A hypnotizing vibration echoes from Hypno’s throat, hitting the turtles in mid-air as their eyes change to swirling hypnotized lines. They remain floating in the air while holding their weapons but neither of them could move. Let alone think.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Now, which one should I take care of first, hmm? Big Red? Baby Blue? No. I think I’ll start with you, you lovely trickster."

He menacingly glared towards the hypnotised Mikey, whereas on the sidelines, Warren scoffed.

“Some nemesis. He doesn’t even know their names. Uh? Huh? Uh..."

Warren discovers the bust of his pre-mutated self, groaning angrily and turns back to see Hypno holding Mikey in his clutches before he slams Mikey to the floor.

“This could get messy. Like me gumboots in a downy drencher."

He throws a metal ring at Mikey unaware that Warren slides in front of the orange masked turtle and catches the ring with his hair.

"Breaking news. If anyone’s gonna end these guys, it’s going to be me."

“Sorry, who—who—who are you?"

Hypno pauses his attacks, leaning down to Warren with raised brows as he swings around his metal ring over his finger.

“I’m Warren...oh. I’m Warren “Bad Boy” Stone. I hate these turtle punks more than anyone, that’s why I have to stop you."

“Ah, ha, ha, ha! I’m laughing. Prepare to be Mezme-roo..."

He aims the hypnotizing vibration at Warren who briefly panicked before he glanced down at the blue stone had on his chest that he got from the Yokai shop earlier to enhance his body.

“This is really gonna hurt."

He groans and rips the blue stone off of his chest, before he holds it out towards Hypno and the hypnotizing vibrating hits the stone, which absorbs it. Warren then pushes the stone outwards, flinging the vibrations back at Hypno.

"Hmm?"

Hypno was suddenly hypnotized by his own magic, eyes swirling and the blue stone hits the floor, shattering. 

Because of the shatter and ripping it off him, he returned to his normal size.

"Hmm, turtles. Finally, we can start—"

Adriaen lands on him, completely not seeing the work mutant, he groans and rubs his head from feeling a headache, he looked up and saw the others fall from the air.

"What just happened?"

Raph places a foot on the unconscious Hypno and strikes a pose, "I think we won." He declares, Adriaen didn’t seem to think that was the case as he literally couldn’t remember anything.

“My plan must have worked."

“And it was my plan to use your plan. You’re welcome, everybody."

Mikey sighs, feeling bad for Hypno. "I think by rejecting him I broke his heart. Ooh, sheesh. This suit has too much power." He stated, quickly taking the suit off and trying to hand it back to Raph.

“No!"

“Huh?"

Adriaen slightly paled as the sudden voice came from behind him…or even on him. He spins around to find Warren stuck to his rear end.

”What the?!”

“I saved you loser turtles by hypnotizing that beast and saving your lives."

Leo slightly narrowed his eyes as he reaches out and snatched Warren away from Adriaen. He felt a little protective of some kind upon seeing this worm being stuck on Adriaen, especially on his rear.

"And you are?"

Warren groans in frustration, but before he could even say anything, sirens of the police were heard and Leo was quick to toss Warren to the side as he and the others manoeuvre their way out the building, heading towards home in the sewers.

Leo runs along the side of Adriaen, “You okay?” He asked, hinting to when he saw Warren stuck to him. “Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks Leo.” He replied, smiling lightly as he gently nudged the blue masked turtle on his arm before jumping off the rooftops and uncovering the manhole, the others following after him as they all head down to the sewers.

Leo being the last to arrive, he was just smiling at the little nudge from Adriaen a few seconds ago.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I APOLOGISE FOR ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE, I TYPE REALLY FAST AND OFTEN DON'T SEE THEM UNTIL I ACTUALLY PUBLISH THE CHAPTER.  

Leo already being a protective BF for Adriaen. And vice versa-

First Chapter here

Next Chapter here

[bfiaflbox]

This is how it starts - Chapter 3

Pairing: Matty x Original Female Character Warnings: swearing

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

The next day I have a client who's not very talkative so I have time to weigh my options during work. I could text Matty and just tell him the date is off. Or I could go on the date and feel weird the whole time. Or I could just ignore it? Or I could fake my death and leave the country and tell Carly to give him my best and to enjoy life with his girlfriend. Great, I love overthinking. After a few hours of trying to figure out where and how I got the wrong Idea about Matty and about the flirting and about the date that's definitely a date because he called it that multiple times, I decide to text Matty.

Me: Hey Matty, I had a lovely time getting to know you but I don‘t think it‘s a good idea to go forward with this date on Friday. I wish you all the best.

There. That's good. Simple, unmistakably clear. I feel sad though. I liked Matty. He was refreshingly not boring and great to hang out with and nice to look at.

I go to the chat with Carly

Me: Did you know he had a girlfriend?

Carly: who? Matty? He‘s single as far as I know.

Me: No, apparently he isn't.

Carly: That‘s weird. Adam didn’t say anything. How did you find out?

Me: He was at my place and she called him, he ended the call telling her he loved her and then quickly left. Almost like he had a bad conscience.

Carly: That‘s weird.

I put my phone in my pocket and clean up the shop. I check the appointments for the next day, see that I still have to finish the drawing for my client tomorrow and get out my iPad to see the state of the rough sketch I made when they first made the appointment. I draw for a few hours, totally focussed on the task at hand. It's already dark outside when I'm happy with the design.

I get out my phone to check the time and see that Matty texted back.

Matty: honestly, that bums me out. What happened to change your mind?

Is he playing dumb? But fine, if he wants me to spell it out to him...

Me: I don’t want to be the girl you cheat on your girlfriend with.

He answers in a matter of seconds.

Matty: What girlfriend? Matty: Did you read something in the tabloids? It‘s all made up, you know?

Me: No?! I mean the girl that called you the other night? Danielle? Denise? Whatever! You told her you loved her??

Matty: Hannah

Matty: Darling

Fuck him, calling me darling right now!

Matty: That was literally my mother.

Oh. Oh.

Well now I'm completely mortified. The idea of faking my death and leaving the country seems more and more appealing.

Matty: But just to be completely clear I don't have a girlfriend. The last one broke up with me a few months ago, thanks for the reminder.

Me: Sorry to hear that.

Matty: No you're not :D

Me: The date on Friday is still off though, the floor just opened and will swallow me now. byeeeeee

Matty: I'll be at your place at seven

///

Friday rolls around and I'm nervous. I'm always nervous before a date because the whole spiel of do they like me and do I like them and are they a serial killer or a trustworthy person is terrifying and nerve wracking. But the Idea of a date with Matty is taking nerve wracking to a whole new level, especially after what went down the other day. I'm obsessing over my outfit and if it was the right choice and am just considering if I have time to change again when my doorbell rings. Ok, no 5th outfit change then. I grab my coat, check for my keys and leave my apartment. Matty is waiting in front of my building, big smile on his face.

"Hi! You look lovely" he greets me. "And other generic things to say when picking up your date" I jokingly snark and raise an eyebrow. Fucking hell where did that come from, he was just being nice! "Will you take the fucking compliment? Jesus" he laughs. "Fine, yeah, sorry, that was harsh. Thanks. You look lovely as well!" "I know" he retorts. "Talk about being able to take a compliment" I snort. "By the way, where are we going?" "Well I thought... ok tell me if you think this is lame but there's this small museum that shows an exhibition on 80s industrial punk zines and also some graphic design and photos from that era and I thought it'd be cool but like I said if you think this is lame we can totally do something else but I kinda wanna se it, I'm really interested in that kind of shit but haven't had the time to go there, no hard feelings if you don't wanna see it, I was just..." "Matty!" I interrupt his ramblings. He looks at me with raised eyebrows, I continue "that sounds quite very interesting, let's go there".

After about 15 minutes of walking we enter the courtyard of what looks like a former industrial building. We cross the courtyard to the entrance of the small museum. The exhibition is really just one room. The walls are filled with black and white photographs, pages from said zines and posters advertising gigs from 35 years ago of bands called Einstürzende Neubauten, Killing Joke and Skinny Puppy. Except for the former, none of the bands ring a bell but to be fair, 80s industrial rock isn't what I hear when I want to sing in the shower. I enjoy the aesthetic of it all, though. I also enjoy watching Matty who looks like a child seeing a Christmas tree for the first time. "Wow, you see, this is totally interesting, the scene back then was so DIY, really down to earth. They literally created all that stuff themselves." he muses. "There’s not many generative alternative scenes left, nowadays." He goes on to talk about bands like Slowdive and what he calls garage pop stuff. I just observe him. I'm not gonna lie, I haven't heard many of the bands he's mentioning but he's in his element and I love how passionate he is. After a while he looks at me and kind of stops himself. "Sorry, I... I'm really enjoying this, I'm probably rambling, it's just all so cool!" but it's so endearing. He's not afraid to like things. Unironically. "We should get going though, I reserved a table for us".

///

Half an hour later we sit down in a rather fancy looking restaurant and a waiter hands us a menu. "So...", Matty starts "how many kids do you want to have?" "Oh sod off, you!", we both laugh. "Haha, sorry, couldn't help it." I look around and start to feel kind of out of place. The people here are posh, there's no other word for it. I can't help but notice that I stick out like a sore thump with the tattoos all over my body and the kind of minimalist casual attire I had chosen for tonight. It's not a good feeling. I try to distract myself with the menu but metaphorically gulp when I see the prices, way out of my league. I get nervous, look over to Matty who's looking relaxed as ever. Right, right, I almost forgot he's a rockstar. Also out of my league. I refuse to let the uneasy feeling that's starting take over. Be who you are, face it head on, talk about it. I put the menu down and fold my fingers over it.

"Ok, I'm just gonna say it like it is: All I can afford here is a glass of water and a side salat without going hungry for the rest of the month. Yep, that's embarrassing but it is what it is, I'm a barely not-starving artist, not a rockstar, I already got my sister in law that awfully fancy pan and there's still the cozzie livs. Soooo, we might have to stop by a chip shop later. Or, I don't know, you have to pay" I say the last part before thinking better of it. Great. Talk about money, that's always such a good topic, not at all laced with all kinds of prejudice and negativity.

"Hm. That's a bummer, I thought you were paying", Matty hasn't even looked up from the menu.

I look at him with a raised eyebrow. He puts the menus down and places one hand over mine. "Darling, this is a date date, you're not paying for shit. Relax, it's ok. I'm not one of the guys who thinks a woman owes them sex when they pay for dinner. Also, I think, Carly would slap me if she found out I made you pay"

I laugh at that and relax a little. "I don't even know what half the words on here mean" I admit in a sort of whiny tone. "Is it rude if I google? Like, what's vadouvan spice? or Acquerello risotto?" at that, Matty just laughs. "I've got no fucking clue, to be honest. Ok I'll order us something and the next time we go to a restaurant that's less..." he waves around "...this?" "The next time, huh? Someone's feeling confident" "Yeah, I have to downplay how embarrassed I am about the fact that my choice of restaurant makes you uncomfortable by appearing overly confident, don't mind me." "God, you're such a self-aware millennial" We both laugh before I continue "Speaking of embarrassed: who the fuck has their mother saved under her first name?" "It's her name, what else would you like me to call her?" he sounds mockingly defensive. "I don't know? Mum lesser three?" "Lesser three?" "Yeah the little..." I wave my fingers, trying to convey the < 3 symbols "...heart thingy" "That's so gay" he laughs.

The waiter comes back and we order some fancy sounding dishes. "So, Matty, I have a question" "Ask away" "Would you rather kill a chicken with your bare hands or live with the chicken for a year" "Does the chicken have to come on tour with me?" "It sure does" "Yeah, then I'm gonna kill the chicken, I'm not dealing with a chicken on a tourbus" he laughs. "Ok fair, I don't blame you" He suddenly stills and his face sours, his gaze is fixed on a point behind me. I study his expression for a second and try to figure it out but come up with nothing. I want to see what seems to have turned his mood but as soon as I try to turn my head, Matty grabs my hand and clears his throat and wants to focus my attention back on him.

„What is it?“

„Nothing“

„You’re a shit liar“ I laugh.

„I don’t lie“ he says seriously.

„Like… ever?“

„Yeah. Ever since I got clean I try to not lie. Lying was the worst part about being an addict“

„Ok, wait, we just brushed three subjects in five seconds, I‘m getting whiplash.“ how did this conversation take this turn all of a sudden?

„Sorry, I‘m a lot“ he sounds sad now.

„No, Matty. It‘s fine“, I try to lighten the mood with my tone. „just… what’s going on?“

„Wait here, ok?“ he gets up and vanishes in the direction of the bar.

Well that leaves me baffled. I’m not annoyed or sad, just surprised. I play the conversation back in my head and try to figure out what nerve I hit that made his mood change that abruptly. I start to feel small and weird. Like I definitely don't belong here.

A few minutes later, Matty comes back, stops at the table and just says "Let's leave, please?"

I look at him and see that his expression conveys a sense of urgency. I get up, grab my coat and let him guide me out of the place. On my way out I meet the eyes of a giggling woman who looks at me knowingly. I frown at her and try to make sense of it all.

Once we're out on the street, Matty starts walking without saying a word. I follow him, although I don't really know why. The vibe is off, to say the very least. We round a corner and I really don't feel comfortable anymore. I stop.

"Matty, what's going on?"

He turns around to face me, clears his throat and sighs. "There was a woman at the restaurant that took photos of us." I suspect it's the one that looked at me like she just hit a jackpot when we left. "She's probably gonna sell it to the tabloids and you're gonna be on the news tomorrow. At least it's going to be all over the internet."

I stay silent because I really don't know what to say now. Is this what it's like for him when he goes out in public?

"I'm sorry, Hannah, I can't do this to you"

"You're not doing anything"

"I am though. Like, when you're around me you're gonna end up in the crossfire of hateful comments because, you see, I'm a really bad person according to the internet. I fucked up, said the wrong thing, laughed at the wrong time and they hold everything against me, call me a Nazi or worse things. And everybody who's around me is guilty by association. I don't care anymore but I can't do this to you." he looks sad, almost like he's close to tears. I don't know what to say that might make things better. He must feel lonely. I want to tell him that I don't care, that I like him for who he is and that I will deal with it if that's what it takes but before I can open my mouth to say anything he just says "I'm sorry", turns around and walks away.

I just stand there and try to process what just happened. It doesn't take long for me to get angry at Matty. Fuck him for leaving me here, standing in the street like an idiot. He didn't even give me a chance to process this. What does he mean it's going to be all over the internet? A feeling of helplessness creeps up at me. I hate feeling this way. My heart hurts and I start feeling very sad. I can't process all of this right now and decide to just turn around and head home.

[uzumaki-rebellion]

"Sinner & Saint" : Creed III Chapter 10

Need to catch up? Masterlist HERE.

"You are my light in the dark

Show me the way with your heart

I know I'm not used to this feeling

But it's clear even when

I'm a thousand miles away

I'm so taken by ya, can't stop thinking bout ya

I am in love and from where I stand,

I am your man, I am...all, all…"

Terrell Grice feat George Lovett & Saeed— "All"

Donnie blinked at all the photographer lights flashing white and yellow blasts at him. Bianca and Amara sat to his right and Athena and Tony sat to his left with his new business partner Herb Raffe and the always ubiquitous Buddy Marcelle. Behind them on a giant ESPN banner his likeness held the coveted heavy weight belt and his upper body glistened and popped with muscles. Donnie knew this day would come, and the emotions roiled deep inside his chest.

Seated near the phalanx of news media and photographers were a few selected fighters on his roster, including Dame. The usual rush of questions came at him and he answered with the sophistication that all of his media training provided. Donnie needed to appear adroit and confident as a new brand manager and businessman. The transition from boxer to brains behind a multi-million dollar operation had to go off without a hitch.

"Why now, Adonis? Pundits say you have a good two-to-three years left in you."

The female reporter asking the question stood up holding a small notepad. She was a familiar face in the boxing scene, Carly Deloach, the daughter of a media magnate. Carly tossed back blond highlighted hair and gave him a warm flirty smile coaxing him to give her juicy details.

"It's time. I've reached the pinnacle and done everything I can to show the world that the Creed legacy is something to admire and be proud of. There's nothing left for me to do but usher in a new generation of talented boxers and pass on the wealth of knowledge I've gained from my training with Rocky Balboa, Tony "Little Duke" Evers, and the matriarch of the Creed family, Mary Anne Creed…hey Ma, love ya!"

Donnie winked and blew a kiss toward a camera that he knew transmitted his message to his mother at home. Another reporter jumped in, a cocky Sports Illustrated veteran who had doubts about Donnie from the very beginning until he finally won the belt. Patrick MacLaughlin was an asshole, but a fair one when he looked at the stats on all boxers. Patrick's stomach lopped over his belt, and his thinning hair stayed slicked down.

"Adonis, you toss around legacy a lot, and as the talented son of a beloved icon who has brought back a coveted world champion title to the family name—"

"I have to cut in, sorry Adonis…" Buddy said.

Buddy Marcelle gave a smirk that Donnie couldn't tell if it was meant to be rude or just hustling for air time. The man glanced at Athena who looked beautiful as always, dressed in a tight pumpkin top, and dark flared designer slacks. Buddy cleared his throat and continued.

"The Creed legacy can't be spoken about without mentioning the fact that Athena Creed brought back the first championship title to the family. I know this press conference is about Adonis, but Apollo Creed has two world champion fighters up here on this panel. Put some respect on your big sister's name, Adonis."

The crowd chuckled and a few of the women representing the media clapped and called out Athena's name.

"You right, you right," Donnie quickly blurted. He threw his arm around Athena. "My big sis is the first of Apollo's children to bring home a title. You people out there in the MMA arena are lucky she's a sports manager now instead of whooping ass!"

Athena laughed it off.

"Athena! Athena! Could you beat Adonis in a one on one?" Another reporter shouted.

Donnie pushed his table mic closer to her.

"Tell 'em," Donnie said.

Poised and polished, Athena leaned in.

"I had to always keep Adonis in check. The only thing he has on me is height and muscle weight," Athena joked.

Buddy horned in again.

"I think we need to see a big ticket event with these two, Creed versus Creed."

Athena waved a dismissive hand to Buddy and she patted Donnie's arm to get him back on track.

"Athena… what does this moment mean for you watching your brother retire?" Carly asked.

Something sad flashed across Athena's face and she composed herself. Reaching out to hold Donnie's hand she squeezed it and took a deep inhale.

"Our father would be very proud that both of his athletic children have found their niche to excel beyond fighting. Adonis will bring in a lot of new talent so that other boxing legends can come forth down the line…Donnie?"

Athena pushed the mic back toward him and sat back in her seat.

A new volley of questions hit him and Tony up fast and he allowed the last few questions to go to Bianca and Amara, who signed her delight at having her father home more since he didn't have to train and travel so far away as much. Bianca translated for the media and everyone clapped when Amara said that she planned on being a boxer like her Auntie Athena and her daddy.

Once the retirement portion was handled, Donnie spent the rest of the press time answering questions centered on his new venture. He revealed his partnership with Buddy Marcelle in promoting the new company. Everyone in the audience saw dollar signs and a revitalized boxing scene. Afterward, Donnie posed with his family for pictures. He also posed with a few of his boxers. Dame was pulled into the mix and Athena made sure he stood next to Donnie's future cash cow, Felix Chavez. There was still bad blood between Dame and Sleepy from their sparring dust up. But Felix soaked in the media exposure knowing he was the guy to watch. Two other strong contenders for heavyweight champ status enjoyed the limelight too.

A buzz entered the room the moment Dame's name rang bells, and during the retirement mixer Donnie set up for the ESPN coverage, Athena fielded questions with Dame. Felix felt a way about Dame shifting attention his way, but that was all due to Athena. The press loved getting soundbites from her and she was an expert at snagging spotlights for clients. She damn near twisted his arm to get Dame a seven figure signing bonus. She haggled for more through Dame's lawyer when they went over the contract, but Donnie didn't want to get his partners riled up over an untested client. He sweetened the deal by offering to put Dame in their ads over the next six months to bolster his visibility. She agreed to that…barely.

Athena was a pitbull, and she worked the room forcing him to do the same for Felix and the other boxers. They were both hustlers and no matter what she did to get Dame more exposure, it only helped Creed Enterprises.

"Hope I didn't step on your toes during the press chat," Buddy said, easing next to Donnie.

"Nah man, you were right to bring it up. Athena was the first, and she was way better than me when I started."

"I think people in this business tend to overlook her fighting talent. Just so you know, I want her to work for me one day."

"I doubt if she would, but you can certainly try," Donnie quipped.

"How come she's not a part of Creed Enterprises?"

"She wants to do her own thing."

"So no hard feelings if I poach her from her current gig?"

"Like I said, good luck with that."

"Her managing Dame isn't a problem for you?"

"Dame needs special handling. My sister likes a challenge and she is making a lot of good moves for him."

Buddy kept hawk-like eyes on his sister. Bianca and Amara joined them and they worked the room celebrating his new life. Patrick from Sports Illustrated approached him. Donnie pumped his hand up and down with enthusiasm.

"When can Felix sit down with you for that cover story?" Donnie asked.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about an in-depth interview with Damian Anderson. Athena pitched me a whopper of a comeback tale and I want to jump on it before Rolling Stone does."

"Pat, we talked about getting Felix on there before his next fight. He is the next big thing—"

"Yeah I know, but Damian is a more compelling story right now. When can we get together and talk shop about him?"

Donnie checked for his sister striding across the room holding a plate of food with Dame stuck to her side.

"Call Maxine to set up a date on my calendar, Pat"

"Great. You've got a helluva roster Adonis, and if the buzz on this Damian pans out, you and your boxers could dominate for years. Congrats on the retirement, too."

Pat shuffled off to speak with other reporters and Donnie stared at Felix who chatted with his mother/manager by the bar. He now had to come up with an excuse as to why he wouldn't have the next cover story. Fuck. Perhaps he could work in a one-on-one interview with Stephen A on SportsCenter for immediate coverage to get Felix out there first.

Athena handed Dame a shot of top shelf tequila and they both gulped back the liquid, letting it warm a trail down their throats.

"Doing okay?" she teased, watching Dame's lips pucker up from the intense taste.

"I don't need no more of that today," he joked.

"Look alive," Athena said.

Buddy Marcelle looped around a group of former boxers hooting it up and slapping backs at battles long past won.

"Today went well," Buddy said.

"Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the shout out."

"I only spoke straight facts. You my dear are the crown jewel on Apollo Creed's crown. Folks need to remember an accurate legacy history. By the way, you look lovely today. That color brings out your skin tone."

"I can leave if you just wanna flirt," Dame said.

He had a smile on his face, but his tone said different. Buddy patted Dame's shoulder to defuse the heat in the boxer's eyes.

"Beauty and brains need to be acknowledged kind sir. I'm about to head out, I have an interview with Molly over on First Take tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

Buddy noticed the arch in her eyebrow and chuckled.

"You smell blood in the water and want to jump in, huh?"

"Hell yeah. I set up a cover story for Dame with Pat over on Sports Illustrated. I'm taking Eden from Rolling Stone to dinner tomorrow, trying to pitch my client."

Buddy eyed Dame with a sly quirk of his lips.

"Maybe let this man win some bouts before lining up too many interviews."

"I'm aiming for exclusives down the road for that."

"Okay…get his name out there. I see you. Can we meet up with some of my people to talk future promotions? Your brother's roster is full and he has to strike with his first string."

"He promised to give Dame as much attention too as part of our contract deal."

"Athena, you know how the game is. Chavez, Alvarez, and Jackson have Adonis booked and busy. Take advantage of some promotions in Dame's favor. My connections run deep big sister. Dame, I hope you do some serious winning these next six months before Adonis loses interest."

"He won't," Athena insisted.

"All I'm asking for is a sit down with you and Dame on my turf. Check out the lay of land and get in where you fit in." Buddy glanced at his rolex. "Call me when you're ready. We can make it dinner at 71 Above. Javier has a new menu I think you'd both like."

"I'll let you know."

Buddy meandered toward the exit leaving Athena with thoughts about Donnie cooling on her client. She snatched up another shot of tequila from the bar.

"He's right. You've got to win big to stay on Donnie's radar."

Dame put a hand around her waist and pulled her in close. His touch ignited arousal in her and she wanted so desperately to kiss his lips. They hadn't had any private time since they returned from Vegas. She needed him…needed the intimacy that shut out the world.

"Careful," she said stepping back from his solid wall of warmth.

Dame grinned and removed his hand before anyone clocked their true relationship.

"Invite Marcelle to my first fight. He'll have no doubts about me," Dame said.

"Don't worry, he'll be there on his own. That man doesn't miss anything that can make him richer. I think you should mingle with the other boxers now. I'm done beating the bushes for game."

Dame touched his index and middle finger to his forehead and saluted her before walking over to Donnie and the other fighters. She grabbed a glass of white wine and bee-lined over to Bianca and Amara. Her niece hugged her waist and Athena ruffled the spiral curls on top of her head.

"Excited?" Athena asked Bianca.

"Relieved. I couldn't wait for this day. Ma is ecstatic because he will finally use that business degree from college."

Amara took off skipping over to her father. Bianaca studied Athena's face.

"Does it bother you when people forget that you're a champion too?"

"That was so long ago—"

"Not really. You seemed happy that Buddy brought it up. I could tell."

"I appreciated him saying it."

"Will you come by our place for dinner tonight?"

"I thought there was going to be a big dinner celebration with Ma at the mansion."

"I wanted to do something at our house to give her a little break."

"A break from what?"

Bianca pulled her to the side.

"Have you noticed Ma slowing down or forgetting things a lot lately?" Bianca asked.

"Slowing down, yes… but that's her getting older and not doing the stretching and strength training I've tried to help her with. Maybe her hip is acting up. I mean, it's been a year since her replacement surgery, but…"

Bianca's expression hinted at something more serious. Her voice went even lower in volume.

"I think you and I should go with her to get checked out. The other day she was driving me to lunch and I noticed some eye-hand coordination things that have me concerned."

"You think it's something serious?"

"If I broach the subject she'll dismiss it, but if you come with me and talk to her about it, maybe she'll listen. I'm with her all the time and a different voice may convince her to make an appointment. Donnie had a lot going on and I didn't want to worry him about it. I was thinking we could talk to her after dinner. If it's at my house, she can't make an excuse to be busy hosting everything. It'll be out of her element."

"What time?"

"Seven. It'll be a catered BBQ around the pool, casual dress. Donnie wanted a lowkey family-oriented party. No celebs or anything like that. Just our people."

"Okay, I'll come to the house and do some girl time. Who else is coming from the gym?"

"Tony, Stich, Smoky... Padman and Amir. You can bring Dame if you want."

"Why would I bring my client?"

"Girl, be serious."

Bianca snickered and Athena rolled her eyes.

"That man has heart eyes for you and can't let you out of his sight without his neck swiveling."

Bianca moved in closer, and her eyes darted about before she spoke.

"I know what happened with him and Donnie."

"How do you feel about it?"

Bianca glanced over at Donnie and Dame speaking with the other boxers.

"It was a shitty situation and they were kids back then. Dame sounds like he wants to make the most of the opportunity to box again and Donnie will help him."

"It's the least he can do, right?"

Donnie walked over swinging Amara's hand.

"Ready to dip?" Donnie asked.

He kissed Bianca's cheek. Bianca spoke and signed at the same time.

"Yeah. I need to get the house ready for our guests tonight and check in with the caterers."

"Coming by right?" Donnie asked Athena.

"I have to check in with a few other clients downtown and I'll be over around seven-thirty depending on traffic."

"Cool. Hey, you were great up there. I'm glad you agreed to sit at the table with me. I wish Ma was here though."

"She hates media stuff and I'm sure she wanted the focus to be about you. I'll catch everyone tonight. Bye Ladybug."

Athena signed away for Amara, and her niece hugged her tight then clutched both of her parents' hands. A surge of people bid farewell to Donnie. Athena made her quiet escape from the crowd and sought out Damian.

"I'm going to pick you up at seven tonight," she said.

"For what?"

Dame followed her steps out of the ESPN building and waited with her for their valet parking.

"You were invited to attend Donnie's private family retirement party at his house by Bianca."

"Not Donnie?"

"Not sure, but Bianca is on to us. I think that's why she extended the invitation. Do you want to go? Sorry for assuming you would just go with me."

His lion-like eyes brought butterflies again. Dame had a way of looking at her that made Athena feel safe and protected.

"I want to go…with you. I like that you assume that about me. It's true."

"Okay, great. It's a date. We'll have to carry on like client-manager for appearances, but it'll be more relaxed. My mother will be there…if you change your mind, I won't be offended."

"Nah, its fine. It's time that your mother met me away from all the limelight. Maybe she'll finally see the real me."

"Trust me. She won't.

"Well then, that's on her. Not me."

The valet brought her car around and they both climbed in for the drive to Venice Beach.

"Want to come inside for a minute?" Dame offered once they reached his place.

He stood outside of the passenger side, leaning in through the window. Temptation reared up, but job responsibilities took precedence for Athena.

"I can't. I have some work to do."

"How about I meet you at your place and save you the drive out here? I'll leave my car in your parking garage."

"That'll work."

"Later," he said.

He tapped his fist on the door and strolled to the house he rented a room from. Despite having a million dollars in his bank account, Dame chose to stay in his Venice rental until he won his first post-prison fight. That would be in one week, and she had a lot of things to do to drum up more pub. The buzz about him in the ESPN mixer could only last so long before the sports media moved on to the next interest story.

Her day continued until she clocked out from her office. She swept into her condo showered, and changed into a comfortable pair of olive green cargo pants and a knotted, off-the-shoulder knit top in a loud tangerine color. Slipping into heels, she checked her landline for messages and ignored the ones from her ex who flew back into town from Toronto. Nolan was a long-distance fling that became a bit more the previous year, but Athena caught wind of some red flags, one of which was a whole ass wife and child with another baby on the way. Before the discovery of his indiscretion with her, Athena's gut warned her pre-relationship not to entertain a man below her pay grade with a Drake-like personality of feigned kindness and "you-go-girl" performative musings in her ear, but she was in a dick drought and a hook up every now and then from a Canuck worked around her schedule at the time.

Nolan started acting weird too, sending her flowers and gifts out of the blue, even after she clearly defined the boundaries of their relationship after she broke it off. Now he was back to leaving messages swearing he divorced his wife and was ready to make a true commitment. What a fucking loser. He had deluded himself into thinking they were serious instead of just a poor match. She blocked his number, erased the other unimportant messages and waltzed out of the premises to meet Dame at her garage entrance.

He arrived on time and she showed him where to park his car and ordered a ride from her reliable car service. They were picked up promptly and she held Dame's hand in the backseat, snuggling against his shoulder like they were headed to prom together.

"You look nice," she said, sniffing the cologne on his neck.

She noticed a new platinum and diamond chain around his neck.

"Finally splurged," he said as she fingered the necklace.

"Good for you. Listen, since this shindig is at Bianca's, my mother may be a little more extra because she can't lord over anyone in the family mansion. If she becomes too much or gives you a hard time, let me know and we can bounce quick."

"I'm not worried. Relax. This night is about Adonis—"

"Tuh…trust me, everything will revolve around her. Me and Donnie know how to stay outta her way when she gets nitpicky."

"She gets along with Bianca?"

"Yeah, they're pretty tight. Bianca lost her parents young and most of her family is back in Philly. She's a great buffer for me because she doesn't have a mother-figure in her life, so she takes up a lot of mother-daughter duties that would be hell for me if I had to do it all the time. Don't misconstrue anything though. I love my mother and we have our own good times, but sometimes she gets a little classist and obsessive about things and I can't take it…so Bianca does. It smoothes Ma out and brings balance to the force when we don't butt heads."

"I hear ya young Jedi," Dame teased.

By seven-forty five they reached the private entrance of Donnie and Bianca's place. Athena hopped out of their ride to punch in the gate security code. A yellow cab pulled up to the driveway behind their hired driver. An older man with a black hat climbed out from the back of the cab and looked around the neighborhood. Athena recognized the pale leathery skin and puffy nose. She sprinted down to the street.

"Ohmigod, Rocky!" she shrieked.

Rocky Balboa stood humbly dressed in an old black bomber jacket and a clean white shirt. His wrangler jeans were faded and comfortable-looking. He held out his arms for Athena, accepting the big kiss on his cheek from her.

"Yeah, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I'd check up on some retired boxer whose s'posed to be living here. Am I at the right spot?" Rocky joked in his heavy Philly accent.

His jovial eyes stared at her.

"Athena, my god girl, look how beautiful you are. It's been years sweetheart," Rocky said.

Athena wiped her eyes from errant tears.

"Whaddya crying for? It's just me, Uncle Rocky. Is the BBQ here yet? I'm starvin'."

"I guess we'll go see," she said.

"Me being here is supposed to be a surprise. Bianca said to give the gate intercom a code word to hide me from Donnie, but my old brain is gettin' foggy with time, so…hell if I know what the magic word is to get inside."

"No worries, you can come in with me and…Dame…come over and meet the only Italian in our family."

Dame walked over with a grin on his face. He held out his hand for Rocky to shake.

"An honor to meet you Mr. Balboa, sir."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Dame. This is a nice-looking young man Athena. Mary Anne must be excited to see you settling down like your brothers."

"Um, actually Rocky, I manage Dame. He's a part of Donnie's new venture."

"A boxer. What division? I don't keep up on the ins and outs as much. I spend more time with my grandkids up north," Rocky said.

"Heavyweight," Dame said.

"You're going to know more about him in the weeks to come. Let's get you inside before Bianca sends out the calvary," Athena said.

She punched in the gate code and Dame gave up his seat in the back of the car to Rocky. He climbed into the front next to the driver and Athena linked her arm around Rocky's.

"I can't believe you're here. You look good Unc. Being up north looks great on you."

"Thank you. Health is holding up. Knees are a little rusty sometimes but I'm still here."

"Drop us off right by the statue, please," Athena told the driver.

They all left the car and Rocky continued looking around.

"Nice…lotta space," Rocky said.

Athena texted Bianca and three minutes later she bounced out from the house trying to contain the squeals at seeing Rocky.

"Bianca…"

Rocky hugged her and Bianca squeezed his shoulders.

"So happy you're here. The caterers finished setting up out by the pool. Everyone is here mingling, so Athena, I'll go back in with Dame first to throw off Donnie, then you can bring Rocky in through the house."

"Sure thing," Athena said.

Music started playing and echoed in the front of the property. Bianca led Dame around the side toward the back and Athena guided Rocky inside the front door. Amara met them while coming down the stairs and the little girl's hands flew around signing her happiness at seeing the Italian Stallion, her godfather. Rocky hugged her and used sign language to warn her about the surprise. His thick fingers moved slower and he checked with Athena to make sure he did alright. Amara understood everything, complimenting him on his ability to sign so well and clasped his hand to follow Athena through the living room and long gameroom that led to the back patio door facing the pool area.

The music, a jazz fusion, buffeted the laughter and loud talking. Athena could smell the delicious aroma of ribs and her stomach growled in anticipation. She stepped outside first and took in the celebratory scene. At least forty people chatted and drank expensive liquor. Donnie was in the middle of introducing Dame to Padman and right away she observed her mother's lips growing tight as she stood with her companion, Archie. Athena ignored the cool facial expression of her mother and caught Bianca's eye. Bianca gave her a nod, and she cleared her throat.

"Hey, Donnie, there's a man over here looking for you. I don't know if he's supposed to be here," Athena said.

The tone of her voice over the music brought everyone's attention in her direction. Donnie rushed over and Rocky appeared next to her with Amara grinning by his side.

"Unc!" Donnie yelled.

Everyone reacted with a burst of praise shouting, rushing over to Rocky. Bianca clasped her hands together, pleased that her surprise brought on the intended reception. Dame hung back near the food set up, right across from Mary Anne and Archie.

The glee of having Rocky there showered the air with rousing sounds of joy all around, but Mary Anne's eyes cut over toward Dame, and he gave Athena the biggest smile of support. She could face anything with that smile in her corner.

Athena took a deep breath and strolled toward her mother.

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