#sorry i changed the nice cream truck i seriously did not remember there were actually like pictures Jon the truck

[cuppycat]

my colored doudles

[study-coffee-chicago]

Country College (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine; Part of AU-gust)

A/N: Thank you for reading! Remember to like/reblog and comment! I'm also donating all the proceeds that from my buy me a coffee account to Save The Children to help the children of Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee link here.

Also, here's the playlist of songs I listened to while writing this and some of these songs are actually mentioned in the imagine in case you guys wanted to listen while reading: Country College AU playlist.

I went on vacation and I swear, this entire imagine was based on stuff I did in Tennessee and country songs I listened to while there.

Anyway, enjoy!

"You got everything?" Jay asked you at six in the morning.

"For the last damn time, Jay, yes, I have everything," you answered as you jumped in the passenger seat of his truck and put your backpack at your feet and your tumbler of coffee in a cup holder.

"Jesus. I was just asking because I will not be turning this truck around," he said as he moved around the basket of snacks in the backseat so that the two of you could reach them easier. "Someone's cranky."

"Yes. When I finally got to sleep at 12:30 last night and had to wake up at 4:30, I'm gonna be cranky. Please tell me we're stopping for coffee."

"You already have coffee," Will said as he walked up to the truck. "Why do you need more?"

"Shut up. I know for a fact you drink way more coffee than I do, Mr. Med Student."

"Jesus, Jay. You sure you're gonna be able to put up with her for eight and a half hours?" Will asked.

"I dunno, man. Maybe I'll make her ride with you," he joked.

"Yeah, no way in hell that's happening," Will said.

"In all seriousness," Jay started, "stop for coffee in about an hour and a half?"

"Sounds good to me," you agreed.

"Same here. I only have to ditch you guys when we get like eight hours in," Will said.

"Gonna be weird not having you on the drive down, man," Jay mused.

"Yeah, but at least we can meet up at the rest stops and we'll  be in the same state."

"Are we gonna go?" you asked. "If you two were just gonna talk, I could've slept for an extra ten minutes."

"Holy shit," Jay muttered. He turned to Will. "Guess we should get going then."

"Yeah, see you in an hour and a half. Don't piss off the driver too much, Y/N."

You rolled your eyes. "Goodbye, Will."

Will got in his car and Jay got in the driver's side of his truck.

"Eight and a half hour drive plus traffic," Jay started as you both pulled out of the driveway, "so how do want to split it up?"

"I'm tired and I wanna sleep and I don't want to drive through Knoxville because I have no idea where to go," you answered as you pulled your headphones out of your backpack.

"Okay, Miss Sassy Pants. You can drive in the middle, through Kentucky. Might hit traffic, but we'll hit traffic in Tennessee, too, so we'll both have to drive through it. Just please, do not crash my truck."

"Relax. I know how to drive. Just make sure Will stays on your ass the entire time so we don't lose each other."

***

"And, we're officially in Kentucky!" Jay announced. "Time to change the music. At the next rest stop, we'll pull over and go to the bathroom and grab some lunch."

"Jay! You can't be on your phone while you're driving!" you yelled as he reached for his phone in the cup holder, which was also acting as the GPS...even though Jay claimed he could get there without it.

"Y/N, I'm fine. I've done this for three years now. I think I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so."

He turned on a song you didn't know.

"Got a truck, get it lifted," Jay started to sing.

"The hell is this?" you asked.

"Country music. Gets changed from pop to country the second we cross the border into Kentucky. Now, shh. This is a good song. You'll like it. It's upbeat."

Jay drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and sang quietly to Redneck Be Like by Thomas Rhett as he drove while you listened. He was right. It was a pretty good song.

"All day in the sun, always havin' fun, always gettin' stuck in that muddy river. Always got a buzz, always double cup..."

"You'll know the next one," Jay promised.

"And you know this how?" you asked.

"Because it's on Tiktok. When we get there, Adam and Hailey are gonna have to teach you some southern culture."

"So, I'm gonna need a definition of southern culture."

"You'll see when you get there. Now listen. I know you know this part."

Yeah we fancy like Applebee's...

Jay was right: you did know this song. It was Fancy Like by Walker Hayes.

"On a date night," you sang along. "Got that Bourbon street steak..." Jay joined in. "With the Oreo shake. Get some whipped cream on the top, too. Two straws, one check, girl I got you. Yeah we Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam..."

Five minutes later, you pulled off to a rest stop with a McDonald's nearby. Jay and Will filled up their vehicles while you ran inside to go to the bathroom. Once you were inside McDonald's and at a table eating, you asked Will if it was true that he and Jay always changed it to country music when they crossed the border into Kentucky. Will said yes, so you knew you were in for a long car ride. Then, you and Jay switched so that you were now the one driving and you were off again.

***

Hours later, Will took a different exit to get to Nashville and gave you and Jay a salute to tell you goodbye when he changed lanes and then took the exit.

"Not long now," Jay told you. "You excited?"

"Yeah, but a little nervous," you replied.

"Oh, don't be nervous. They're all really nice. And you've already met Hailey, so that helps."

"Yeah, she was nice. She had a cute little southern accent, too."

"One of the many reasons I fell in love with her in the first place."

Before Jay left for a weekend last summer to meet Hailey halfway and then stay in a hotel for a weekend to spend time with her, he finally told you the story of how he and Hailey met.

"Hey, we're goin' to the marketplace," Adam said on the first weekend of their junior year. "You and Will up for it?"

"Uh, Will's studying like normal. I'm up for it. Kim coming, too?" Jay asked.

"I promised her ice cream, so yeah, she's comin'. Baby, you ready?" he yelled down the hall.

"I'm coming, Adam!" Kim yelled back and then walked out of the bathroom.

"Let's go and make some bad decisions," Adam stated, causing Jay and Kim to laugh.

"We can't even buy alcohol yet, you dummy," Kim said.

"I may be a dummy, but you love me." Then, Adam gave Kim a kiss on the cheek.

"Please stop before I puke," Jay said and made a gagging face.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Let's get outta here."

***

Kim was laughing at a horrible joke Adam made while he had his arm slung around him. He had taken off his signature cowboy hat and had let Kim wear it because she forgot her sunglasses. Adam said he felt naked without it on.

They were walking towards Kilwin's when Jay spotted it: a homeless guy next to a blonde who couldn't be more than college age.

"Man, look," Jay pointed.

The three walked faster.

"No, this is for my friend back at the dorm," the girl explained.

"Lady, I'm hungry. Can I please just have your leftovers?" the guy asked.

"I'm sorry you're hungry, but this is for my friend."

The guy reached for the food.

"Hey, that girl sits behind me in my women and the law class," Kim stated.

Jay, Adam, and Kim took off on a run.

"Hey, baby," Jay said and slung an arm around the girl. He leaned in close to her. "Just go with it," he whispered in her ear. "You got Anna's food?"

"Yeah," the girl said hesitantly. But then, she realized that this guy was trying to help her out. And, he was pretty sure that the girl with him sat in front of her in her women and the law class. "Yeah, I've got her food."

Jay raised an eyebrow at the guy and then looked at Adam as if asking the man to try the two of them.

"Alright, well y'all have a good night now," he said and then turned around and walked away.

Once the man was a few shops down, Jay took his arm off of her. "Sorry about that. Just thought you might need some help," he said.

"Was greatly appreciated, thank you, uh..."

"Jay."

"Jay, well I'm Hailey. Nice to meet you."

He didn't miss her cute little southern accent and he loved it.

"You getting ice cream?" he asked.

"No, I uh was just textin' my roommate to tell her I'd be back soon."

"Well, I-- we'd feel much better if you came into Kilwin's with us. Just so that creeper doesn't come back."

Hailey smiled and agreed.

Kim and Hailey started talking about their class while Adam and Jay ordered their ice cream. Then Kim ordered.

"You want anything, Hailey?" Jay asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine, thank you, though."

Jay nodded, but then turned to the worker. "And can I also get a single scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone, please?"

"Sure thing." As she scooped it out, Hailey looked at Jay and he just shrugged.

When they got to the cashier, Hailey pulled out some money and tried to hand it to Jay.

"I've got it," he said.

"But--"

"Hailey, it's fine. I can pay for a little ice cream."

She loved the way her name rolled off his tongue.

"Okay." She took her ice cream cone.

"Hey, Hailey," Kim began when they walked out of Kilwin's. "Do you have friends you need to meet up with?"

"No, I was just gonna head back to my dorm," she replied.

"Oh, did you drive?"

"No, I walked. It's only like a twenty-minute walk from the sophomore dorms."

"Well, after all that, I'm pretty sure we'd all feel more comfortable if you rode home with us."

"I don't know..." Hailey trailed off.

"Those dorms are only like five minutes away from the house we stay at. And, it's on our way there anyway. Please, just come with us."

Hailey sighed. It would be a lot faster than walking. "Okay."

Then, they finished their walk to Adam's truck and the two girls got in the backseat and the two boys got in the front.

And that is how Jay Halstead met the sweet Georgia peach that is Hailey Anne Upton.

***

Jay, Adam, Will, Kim, and Hailey were all at a sports bar one Saturday night in October. It was loud, it was rowdy, everyone was going crazy over the football game on tv, and Hailey was totally over it. And Jay noticed.

"Hey," Jay whispered from his seat next to her. "You wanna get outta here?"

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "You'd wanna leave and not finish the game?"

In the past two months, Hailey had been spending a lot of time with Kim, and by default, she had been spending a lot of time with Adam, Jay, and Will. She will admit going over to their three-bedroom house they all rented together was a lot better than being stuck in her small dorm with her roommate. So, she went over there quite a bit to study with Kim. And, turns out she and Jay were both law studies majors, so they had a lot of the same classes, but they were in different sections, so they did a lot of studying together, too. And, she knew like most college boys, Jay loved his football. Not as much as Adam, but he watched it whenever one of his teams were playing. Which, was Chicago or Tennessee.

"Yeah," Jay started, "it's kinda loud in here anyway. And, it's just Tennessee playing. I'd be more likely to stay if the Bears were playing."

"Okay, let's get outta here. I know a great little diner we can go to for milkshakes. Pretty sure they're open until 11 and it's only 10, so we should be able to make it."

"Adam," Jay said over the game. Adam turned to face Jay. "Me and Hailey are gonna get out of here. I'll see you back at home."

"See you," Adam said and then turned back to his game.

"Guess we know where his loyalties lie," Hailey laughed.

The two of them stood up from their chairs at the table.

"You better get my friend home safe, Halstead!" Kim yelled.

"Yes ma'am," he said, borrowing a line from Adam. "You've got nothing to worry about."

Then, the two of them made their way out of the local sports bar and to Jay's truck.

***

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Hailey said as the two of them walked up to the diner. "They're closed. Closed at 10 and not at 11. I'm really sorry, Jay."

"That's okay. Got anywhere else you wanna go? Or I can just take you back to your dorm if you want?" Jay suggested.

She sighed. "Just take me back I guess."

The two of them walked back to Jay's truck and got in. Hailey gasped at the song that was on the radio.

"What?" Jay asked, quickly turning to look at Hailey.

"This is my favorite song!"

Lights go down, wheels go around. I'm taking you home. Hoping for a slow song to come on the radio now.

Slow Dance in a Parking Lot by Jordan Davis continued to play through the speakers of Jay's truck.

"What's it about?" Jay asked.

"Slow dancing in a parking lot."

Jay listened to a few more lines and then decided to turn up the radio and jump out of the car.

"Jay, what are you--"

But he was already at her side of the car and pulled her door open.

"Dance with me?" he asked, sticking his hand out for her to take.

"What?" she laughed as a huge smile grew on her face.

"You said the song's about slow dancing in a parking lot and we're in an empty parking lot, so, why not recreate the song?"

Hailey laughed once more and shook her head and then grabbed Jay's hand. He helped her out of his truck and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist and they swayed to the music.

"Slow dance with you. Spinning you round by the Walmart sign and moving our feet over the painted white lines. Getting close to you. Making the most of whatever we got, even if it's just slow dance in a parking lot," Hailey sang quietly.

"Spin," Jay said as he held his hand up.

"What?"

"Spinning you round just like the song says."

Hailey laughed and reached for his hand and did a spin.

"Beautiful," Jay complimented.

"Yeah, right. That's was probably the messiest spin known to man."

"Well, um, it was beautiful. You're beautiful, Hailey."

She was glad it was dark so that Jay couldn't see the heat that rose to her cheeks.

"You're somethin' else, but thank you." She rested her head on his chest as they swayed to the rhythm of the rest of the song.

The song ended and the broadcaster started talking.

"Can I kiss you?" Jay asked.

"What?" she pulled away from his chest.

"I asked if I could kiss you. Was that too much? You know what, just forget--"

"Yes, Jay, kiss me," Hailey smiled and then she and Jay both leaned in.

It was just a peck, but it was their first kiss and despite it being in a dark parking lot late at night, it was still magical.

"You know," Jay began once the quick kiss was over, "there's a Walmart across the street. What do you say we go grab pints of ice cream from there and then you can show me your favorite country songs?"

"I'd like that. Adam didn't show you enough?" she asked.

"I've only got like thirty I like. I need to expand my horizons."

"Okay, let's go."

They held hands in Walmart and then picked out their respective pints of ice cream. Then, they went back to the parking lot of the closed diner and Jay plugged in the aux, allowing Hailey to show him her favorite country songs while they ate their ice cream from the pint and even shared with each other.

Hailey knew nobody would have a first kiss story like that.

Then, at the beginning of the winter semester, Hailey's roommate decided not to live in the dorms anymore. Hailey couldn't afford to pay for a dorm all by herself, so Kim offered to let her stay with her, Jay, Adam, and Will. So, that's how she ended up living with her boyfriend and sharing a room with her best friend, Kim Burgess.

"We're here," Jay announced. "Well, actually, we're a few streets away, but that's one of the lecture halls on your right."

You looked out the window to see a big red and brown brick building with white pillars on the steps. There was also a white sign telling you what building this was.

"Wow," you said in awe. "It's like those old-fashioned colleges. I love it."

"Well, we'll give you a tour and help you find your classes sometime this weekend before classes start on Tuesday. That way, you aren't getting lost on the first day. But, we'll head to the house for now and get all unpacked."

"Sounds good to me."

Five minutes and a few back roads later, you pulled up to a simple two-story brick house.

"Alright, let's get our stuff out and get inside," Jay said.

You stepped out of the truck and started grabbing some stuff out of the back seat.

"I'll jump in the truck and hand you the suitcases. Think you can grab them when I hand them to you?"

You nodded.

"Halstead!" you heard someone shout and you and Jay both whipped your heads around to see Hailey and Adam walking out of the garage and toward the two of you. Adam, well who you assumed was Adam, was carrying two cowboy hats and he and Hailey each had one on themselves.

"Catch!" Adam said and threw one to Jay where he was standing in the box of the truck. Jay easily caught it and placed it on his head.

Adam walked over to you.  "And one for you, darlin'," he said as he placed the hat on your head.

"Thank you," you said. "But I thought Kim was darlin'," you said. It'd make sense because if this guy was in fact Adam, then he and Kim were dating.

"You didn't tell her?" Hailey asked Jay.

"Didn't think there'd be a need to." Jay shrugged.

"Tell me what?" you asked.

"Well, Adam calls every girl darlin'," Jay explained. "It's just normal for him. And, down here, you're gonna get a lot of huns, sweeties, and sweethearts. A lot of waiters and waitresses do that here."

"And what do they call you two?" you asked, motioning to Jay and Adam.

"Sir," they said in unison.

"Oh, and you'll occasionally get a ma'am," Hailey added. "But, that one's rare because we don't look old enough to be called ma'am."

"Okay. And, uh, not to be rude, but what's with the cowboy hats?" you asked.

"It's a tradition we just started last year," Adam explained. "We unpack, wear cowboy hats, and drink moonshine. Oh, I'm Adam by the way, darlin'."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Y/N."

Jay handed you a suitcase and you set it on the ground. Then, you did the same thing with two more suitcases.

You grabbed your backpack from the front seat, your duffle bag from the back, and your two suitcases.

"Here, I can take those two for you," Adam said.

"Oh, okay," you said and then allowed him to take the two suitcases from you. So this is what Jay meant by southern hospitality since Adam was from Tennessee and all.

"Jay, lemme take your suitcase," Hailey said.

"Baby, I've got it," Jay argued as he jumped out of the box of his truck and closed the tailgate.

"The hell you do," she argued. "I see all your other stuff in the backseat and that basket of snacks you gotta carry in, too. Just lemme take your one suitcase."

"Let 'er take the suitcase, Halstead. Best to listen to your lady," Adam said.

"I like Adam already," you laughed.

He let go of one of the suitcases and tipped his hat. "Thank you, darlin'."

This caused all four of you to laugh and then you all went inside carrying both yours and Jay's stuff in one trip between the four of you.

***

"Shine in the fridge?" Jay asked after you and he had brought all your stuff to your room.

"Shine, Jay? How southern do you get when you're here?" you asked.

"Oh, he gets pretty southern, hun," Hailey said.

"See?" Jay asked as he pointed to Hailey. "Told you you'd get called hun."

"So, Adam's thing is darlin' and Hailey's is hun?" Hailey nodded. "And it's because you're from Georgia and he's from Tennessee?"

"That's right, darlin'," Adam confirmed and then turned back to Jay. "Yeah, shine's in the fridge. And Kim just texted and said she's on the way back with pizza."

"You got apple pie flavored shine?" Jay asked.

"Hang on. I'm just gonna grab 'em."

The three of you sat down on the bar stools at the counter and waited for Adam to pull them out.

"Alright," Adam started after he put the bottles of moonshine with sip lids on the counter. "We have peach for Miss Georgia Peach." He passed the peach bottle of moonshine to Hailey. "We've got apple pie shine for me and Jay. We've got strawberries and creme for Kim because that's her favorite." He turned to you. "And for you, I got you blackberry because it's not that high of a proof, so it's not that strong." He slid the jar to you.

"Nuh uh," Jay said quickly and grabbed the bottle.

"What the hell, Jay? Give it back! Adam said it's for me, not you!" you argued.

"Last I checked, you're only eighteen."

"Last I checked, Dad's not here. And I know for a fact you drank before you were 21, so pass me the blackberry shine, please."

"I'll take the first sip and then you can have it." He made sure the straw part was open and then he took a sip. "Adam, that shit's like a chaser compared to the apple pie one."

"I know. That's why I got 'er that one," Adam said.

You heard a door shut.

"Pizza's here!" Kim announced.

She walked into the kitchen with three boxes of pizza.

"I got us three pies," she said as she set them down on the counter. "We got one pepperoni and green olive, one supreme, and one meat lovers." She turned to you. "And you must be Y/N. I'm Kim. I see Adam already got you started on that Tennessee moonshine."

"Nice to meet you," you said. "You're from New York, right?"

"Yup, not New York City, though. More upstate."

"Of course she's from New York, Y/N!" Jay exclaimed. "Who else would call pizza a pie except for a true New Yorker?"

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks, Jay."

Jay raised his bottle of apple pie moonshine in a fake cheers and then took a sip.

"Now that's the strong shit I need to start off this semester right," he announced and then set the bottle down.

"Oh, and if your brother didn't tell you yet, he turns into a borderline alcoholic when he's at school," Kim told you.

You laughed. "He didn't tell me that, no."

"Better than being a caffeine addict like Kim and Hailey here," Jay argued.

"Shut up," Hailey said. "You know you're a caffeine addict during finals week just the rest of us."

"I was a caffeine addict in high school, so we'll see what happens," you shrugged.

Kim grabbed a stack of paper plates and set them on one of the pizza boxes. "Dig in. Oh, Y/N, did Adam get you the blackberry flavored moonshine?"

"He did. Haven't tried it yet because Jay has yet to give it back to me."

Kim quickly reached down and grabbed the jar of moonshine.

"Hey, Kim! She's only 18!" Jay protested.

"So? I know you drank an insane amount during your freshman year. So shut it." Kim popped open the sipping lid. "Taste."

You took a sip. It did taste like blackberry, but it was also sort of strong, but it didn't burn your throat that bad like you had read in books that alcohol did.

"This is actually pretty good."

"I know, right? And, me and Hailey will let you try ours when we help you unpack," Kim said. "But, do not try the kind the boys have because it's nasty."

"Baby, I don't know what you have against apple pie moonshine, but it's good," Adam said and then took a sip of his moonshine. Kim rolled her eyes. Adam leaned across the counter. "The New York in her is coming out, darlin'."

"Oh, shut up," Kim said and reached over to steal Adam's cowboy hat off his head.

"Baby, now I feel naked without it," Adam argued and tried to reach for the hat.

"Sucks for you. Now eat your pizza before it gets cold."

***

"Morning," Jay said when you walked into the kitchen the next morning. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. it's nice not having to share a room with anyone like you and Adam, and then Hailey and Kim have to. It was fun having them help me unpack last night, though," you said.

Last night, Kim and Hailey had helped you unpack and when you mentioned that you didn't really know any country music, Hailey pulled up all of her favorite country songs to play for you. You especially liked Girl in a Country Song by Maddie and Tae. They showed you the music video for that song and it was about how, in most country music videos, girls had to dress up in little skimpy outfits and have the boys just stare at them all day. So, in their music video, they changed the roles, and the guys had to dress in skimpy clothing in the music video. It was pretty funny and the song was catchy.

"Let me guess," Jay began, "Hailey showed you some good country music?"

"Yup. The songs she showed me were pretty good, pretty upbeat. Didn't sound like a cat being put in a blender like old-fashioned country, so I guess that's good."

"What do you have against old-fashioned country, darlin'?" Adam asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I dunno." You shrugged. "Too slow for me and I just don't like the voices I guess."

"You know what we ought to do, Jay?" Adam asked and Jay raised his eyebrows, silently telling adam to continue. "We should show her all the songs that are mentioned in What's Your Country Song."

"Wait, wait. I think I know that one. I think Hailey played it for me last night. Is it the one that mentions Chatta- Chatta..."

"Chattahoochee?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, that funny word. What even is that anyway?"

"It's a river that runs through Georgia," Jay answered. "Pretty sure Hailey used to go tubing down it like we're gonna do today."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "We're going tubing? Like behind a boat?"

Adam laughed. "Christ, Jay! Do you tell her anything?"

"He doesn't," you answered. "So, explain, one of you."

"Alright, I'll do it," Jay said as he poured milk on top of a bowl of Raisin Bran. You looked at him intently. "What we do is, the first Saturday that we're all together before school starts, we go on tubes and float down the Tennessee River. We bring a cooler full of snacks, sandwiches, booze, and water, and a waterproof speaker and we just have a fun time. Oh, and this year, you're the DD."

"Me?" you asked as you pointed to yourself. Jay nodded. "But I don't know where to go! I haven't even been in Tennessee for a full 24 hours yet!"

"Kim's like the mom of the group," Adam supplied. "So she'll still be pretty lucid and could probably drive if she needs to. But, she'll at least be able to give you directions on how to get back here."

You sighed. "Good. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Where are the other two girls anyway?" Adam asked. "They're usually up a lot earlier than we are when we go on the river."

"I think they were a little buzzed last night," you said. "Might still be sleeping."

While you were unpacking, you took a few sips of your jar of blackberry moonshine, but not a lot. You'd never really drank before, much less drank moonshine and you didn't really feel like puking from being drunk or having a killer headache from a hangover...at least, that's what you thought happened from what you had read in books and seen in movies and tv shows. But, Kim and Hailey had each finished like a quarter of their jar, so they had been buzzed last night. They weren't drunk because they could still walk in a straight line and knew what they were talking about, but they did have little dopey smiles on their faces while they helped you unpack.

"She's right," Kim said as she and Hailey walked into the kitchen. Hailey's hair was wrapped in a towel, alerting you that she had just taken a shower. "Adam, can you grab me an Advil?" She took a seat on a stool and put her head in her hands. "My head is fucking killing me. I didn't even think I drank that much."

Adam laughed. "You do this every semester, baby. First shine of the year and you always drink a little too much." He handed her the pills and a cup of water and Kim quickly washed the pills down.

"I just need some coffee," Hailey announced.

"We know, you don't get hangover headaches," Kim groaned.

"Yeah, but I feel exhausted all day. Everyone goin' for coffee? I'll make a bigger pot if that's the case."

Everyone said yes and Hailey started on the coffee.

***

"Okay, we got the tubes, the speaker, swimsuits are on, we have the towels, cooler," Jay rattled off as the five of you sat in his truck. "Anyone double-check the cooler?"

"I did," Hailey said. "We got water, the same shine from last night, some white claws, the sandwiches me and Kim made for everyone, chips, and a few other snacks."

"And I threw in a little first aid kit with bandaids, alcohol swabs, Neosporin, and other stuff. And I've got the sunscreen, too," Kim said.

"See, what'd I tell you, darlin'?" Adam asked as he turned around from his spot in the passenger seat. "Kim's the mom of the group."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kim said. "It means I'm responsible and prepared."

"Those two would get so damn sunburned and dehydrated if it weren't for Kim," Hailey said as she pointed to Jay and Adam in the two front seats.

"Thanks, Hails," Jay replied sarcastically. "Real nice."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile.

You leaned your head against the window. You were supposed to get stuck in the middle, but seeing as you got car sick easily, Kim said she'd switch spots with you.

"You okay?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, just, Jay really needs to turn on the AC before I throw up from motion sickness and how damn hot it is in here."

"Least you got that cowboy hat to puke in if you need to," Jay laughed as he reached for the AC. "You better not puke in my tuck or you will be walking home."

Adam smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" Jay exclaimed and took one hand off the wheel and rubbed the back of his head. "The hell was that for?"

"Dude, be nice! Look at her!" Adam exclaimed.

Jay looked in the rearview mirror and saw you leaning your head against the window with your eyes closed and pinching your nose. You groaned.

"Here," Jay said and tossed you a blue bottle of Gatorade from his cup holder. "Drink this. Get you some hydration and electrolytes."

You took a few sips and then handed the bottle back to him. "Thanks."

"Mhm."

Kim moved the vents so that the AC was blowing on you more. "That help?"

"Little bit, thanks."

"Think you'll be good to go down the river?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, because then I won't be trapped in a hot box going sixty down the road!"

"She's right about that," Adam agreed. "You'll be lucky if you go five miles per hour, darlin'."

"Alright, so the motion sickness should stop. Thank God."

"Just rest your head against the window and listen to some country music," Jay said. "Speaking of that, who's controlling the music on the river?"

"I got it," Adam volunteered. "Everyone give me a song and I'll get the queue started."

***

You had been going down the river for about half an hour now and had finished a bottle of water and eaten a banana, too. You felt fine now. Adam was right, you were going slow enough that you didn't get sick, and you also weren't in the backseat of a truck.

"Hey, Kim," you started, "can you pass me my moonshine?"

"Mhm," she said. You guys had tied a cooler to a tube, which was then tied to Kim's tube. Because, the boys figured that between the five of you, she was the most responsible. They toyed with tying it to your tube because you probably wouldn't get shitfaced (like the boys most likely would) since you were underage, but you had never gone tubing down the Tennessee River before, so they decided on Kim. "Here, Hailey, hold my white claw."

She passed Hailey her drink and then maneuvered the cooler towards her, opened it, and handed you your moonshine.

"Thank you," you said and popped open the sip lid and took a sip. "Ahhh."

"Hey, drink it slow," Adam warned, turning towards you and practically yelling over the music. He and Jay were in front of the three of you girls so they could tell you if there were a ton of rocks coming or if it was super shallow coming up. "Heat makes getting drunk a lot easier because you keep drinking it because you're so thirsty."

"I don't think that's how it works, man, but whatever you say," Jay laughed.

Another song started.

"Hey!" you yelled. "I know this song!"

"Yeah, because it's old as hell," Jay laughed.

"Shut up! I like it!"

Baby you a song you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise. Down a back road, blowin' stop signs through the middle every little farm town with you.

"And this brand new Chevy with a lift kit, would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it. Baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise," the five of you sang Cruise by Florida Georgia Line while holding your drinks in pure happiness.

Because of this, you didn't notice Jay drifting off to the side toward the trees.

Jay let out a sinister laugh as he got closer. "C'mere, buddy, c'mere." The black snake stuck his tongue out and hissed. "Yeah, I know, you wanna scare Y/N, too." Jay held his hand out toward the snake. "I'm nice, I promise." The snake slithered and went up on Jay's hand and started up his arm. He turned once most of the snake was on him. He started using his other hand to paddle himself back toward the group. "Y/N!"

You turned and looked at him. You saw the snake on his arm and tears pricked your eyes. "No! No!" you shouted.

Snakes were your biggest fear and knowing that they were in the river that you were in right now was absolutely terrifying to you. And, with each paddle, Jay and the snake were coming closer and closer to you.

"Jay, please, please!"

Adam turned and looked at Jay and then back to you. "She scared of snakes?" You quickly nodded as tears ran down your face. "Jay! Stop! She's terrified!"

Jay laughed. "No!"

He was coming closer and closer to you.

Adam quickly paddled over to you and went in front of you. "I won't let it go near you, darlin', don't you worry."

"Uh huh," you said and grabbed onto Adam's arm in complete and utter terror.

Unknown to Jay, Hailey was making her way to him. But, she was behind him, so Jay couldn't see his girlfriend coming up behind him with her empty bottle of white claw raised high in the air.

He felt it before he heard her.

"Don't." Smack on the head with the empty can. "You." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "Do." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "That." Last smack on the head with the empty can.

"Ow!" Jay yelled. "Hails, stop!"

"Put the fuckin' snake back and stop scarin' the daylights outta your little sister or I will keep smackin' you, Jay!" Hailey told him.

"Fine, I'll put it back," he groaned.

"Hailey, keep that can raised above his head. If he tries to come back here, hit 'im again!" Adam yelled.

"You got it!" Hailey said. "Hear that baby? Your head is gonna come in contact with this 'ere empty white claw can again if you don't get a move on."

"I'm going, I'm going," Jay grumbled.

"Good, then you won't get smacked again."

"Just for all that," Adam started, "you wanna pick the next song, darlin'?"

"Can you play Better Dig Two by The Band Perry?" you asked. "That counts as country right?"

"Sure does, darlin'." He started messing with his phone. "Comin' right up."

"I told you on the day we wed, I was gonna love you 'til I's dead," you started to sing. "Made you wait 'til our weddin' night, that's the first and the last time I wear white."

"Snake's gone! Made sure he put it down and I even watched it slither away!" Hailey announced. "Put me in the ground, put me six foot down," Hailey joined in after she had finished yelling over part of the first verse.

"And, as for you, Jay," Adam started over the music and all of you singing. "You don't get to pick a song for the next hour."

"Son of a bitch," Jay muttered.

"Hey, you brought this one on yourself, buddy. So just sit back, relax, listen to our music choices, and enjoy your shine."

***

One week later

"And we're here!" Adam announced as the five of you pulled onto a long dirt driveway. "You ready to ride some horses, Y/N?"

"I dunno," you said. "I've never ridden a horse before."

"Oh, Adam'll make sure you're super safe," Kim reassured you.

"Okay, so whatever horse I ride won't buck me off?"

"Oh no," Adam said quickly, "we'll put Jay on Buck."

"Like hell you will!" Jay argued from the backseat.

Despite the studying the five of you had to do, you were at Adam's childhood home. Adam's parents had rented a cabin in North Carolina for the weekend since it was Labor Day weekend and needed someone to watch the five horses they owned.

His parents used to own a riding place with multiple horses, but since their kids got older, they stopped doing it because they were getting older and couldn't give the tours anymore. So, they sold most of their horses, left five so that their kids could ride them with their friends, but still kept the house and the land. Whenever Adam's parents went out of town, either he or his sister would come and stay over at their childhood home and take care of the horses. Seeing as his sister was married and just gave birth to a daughter, this left Adam. And, luckily for him, his parents were fine with some friends coming over to help Adam out.

"Relax, man," Adam began, "I'll ride Buck."

"Wait, is he called Buck because he bucks people off?" you asked.

"You would be completely right, darlin'. Which, would be the reason I'm riding him and neither of you four will be doing that."

Adam put the truck in park and you got out of the passenger seat. Yes, you had ridden in the front because Adam said you could because of your motion sickness. Jay wasn't too happy, but it was Adam's car, so therefore it was Adam's rules.

You got inside the house and it had two extra bedrooms, one of which was Adam's childhood room and had an extra twin bed in it for when his friends wanted to sleepover (Because, in Adam's words, it was only girls who shared beds at sleepovers and he said guys didn't do that, so that's why there was the extra bed). In his older sister's childhood room, there was a full-sized bed, so Hailey and Kim would share the bed and the boys said they'd move a couch into that same room for you to sleep on.

Adam opened the fridge once all of you had put your stuff in the rooms that would be yours for the weekend. "Ooooh, y'all, my mama left us some food!"

"Oh, he southern southern now," Kim laughed and walked over to the fridge. "What'd she make?"

"Let's see. We got fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, gravy, biscuits, grits, tater salad, peaches that she canned herself, and apple pie. She must really miss me if she cooked this much!" Adam laughed after he rattled off the food his mom made for all of you.

"Mama's cookin', paper plate, and tater tater salad," you said, quoting a song Jay had played on the way down here that you had taken a liking to and had added it to a playlist and been listening to it a lot the past week.

"Did you just..." Adam trailed off.

"She did!" Jay exclaimed.

"Is it that hard to believe that I know more than two country songs, y'all?" you asked.

All four of them gasped.

"She's southern! She's southern, y'all!" Hailey yelled.

"What?" you asked as you looked around at your brother, his girlfriend, and his two friends in confusion.

"That was yer first y'all, hun!" Hailey told you and pulled you into a hug. "Yer a regular southern belle now."

"Next thing you know, girl's gonna be fallin' for cowboys," Adam said.

"Aw, hell nah," Jay said. "Ain't no way she's datin' a cowboy. No way."

"Shit, Jay just went southern southern, too," Adam laughed.

"What can I say, when my girl goes hella Georgia, I go hella Tennessee," Jay said.

"That made zero sense, baby, but okay," Hailey said. She turned to Adam. "When we ridin'?"

"We can go right now if you want. Everyone good with that?"

You all nodded and then Adam told all of you to put on your cowboy hats.

***

"This 'ere's Maddy," Adam said before he helped you onto the horse. You put your feet in the stirrups. "They feel good? You can reach 'em well?" he asked.

"Yeah," you told him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, darlin'." He turned to Jay, Hailey, and Kim. "You three remember how to get on the horses since we rode so much last year?"

"We're good," Jay said.

"Hey, baby?" Hailey asked and turned to Jay. He turned to look at her. "You think you can help me on 'im? Pretty sure Diablo's gotten a lot bigger since I rode 'im last."

"Yeah, sweetheart, I got that."

"Did he just..." you trailed off and looked at Kim.

"He did," she confirmed. "She turns into sweetheart around this time every year. Jay gets really southern after only being here a week. Might also have something to do with Adam calling me sweetheart sometimes and he just picks up on it."

Jay helped Hailey onto the huge horse named Diablo and then got on his horse. You were riding Maddy, Adam was riding Buck, Jay was riding Sinbad, Hailey was riding Diablo, and Kim was riding Atta'Boy.

"All y'all need to watch me now," Adam announced from the front. All four of you gave Adam all your attention. "Well, mostly Y/N because she's never ridden before." He paused. "To make your horse stop, just give the reins a little tug. To turn, hold the reins on your right side, and pull towards your right hip, like this." He demonstrated and pulled the reins like he told you and Buck's head turned to the right. "And turn left, do the same thing on the left side. To make them go, just flick the reins a little bit, but they're pretty well-trained, so you shouldn't need to do that. But, if they still won't go, give 'em a little kick. I promise you won't hurt 'em. But, most of all, keep at least one hand on the reins at all times. Oh, and they will try to eat on the trails, but they ain't supposed to, so try and get them to stop by pulling up on the reins if you can.

"Any questions? Everyone sure their stirrups and saddles are good?" Adam finished.

Everyone answered with a chorus of "yeses" and then the five of you were off...that was until Maddy decided she was hungry about a quarter-mile (400 meters) in.

And, to make matters worse, you were in the mountains (because everyone is in the mountains here) and Maddy was bringing you closer and closer to a small ravine.

You did not want to have the experience of trying to control your horse and deciding whether or not to jump off or not and possibly being rushed to the hospital.

"Maddy!" you yelled and tugged up on the reins. Nothing. "Maddy!"

"Pull hard!" Jay yelled from behind you.

"I am pulling, Jay!" you yelled back. "Come on, Maddy!"

Shit, she was still moving towards the edge and trying to eat more.

"Pull to the left!" Jay yelled. You pulled. Nothing. "All the way around! To your left hip!"

You did so and she moved. Finally.

"Now straighten out the reins," Jay told you. You did. "And give her a kick to move."

You did and she continued walking...this time with a huge branch and leaves hanging out of her mouth because she had gotten herself a nice little snack.

"What's with all the yellin'?" Adam asked as he turned his head around and had Buck slow down a little bit. Then, he saw Maddy. "Maddy stop to eat? She acts likes she's starvin', but I promise you she's not."

You kept going and then you started going down a hill.

"Lean forward when going down a hill," Adam yelled back to all of you, "and lean back when going up a hill."

You started going down the hill and kept trying to maneuver yourself so you were in the middle of the saddle. You felt like you were leaning too much to the right, so you kept trying to fix it, but with Maddy still walking, it was kind of hard.

You clenched your stomach muscles to try and pull yourself back to center, but it wasn't working. You tried to push up with your left foot because you were leaning to the right, but that wouldn't work either.

"Just hold on tight, Y/N," Jay told you. "Adam!" Jay yelled as you kept leaning to the right and pulled the reins a little harder to make sure that Maddy would stop.

"What?" Adam yelled back.

"We need a little help back here!"

Adam turned Buck around and he got halfway to you and stopped next to Hailey and Diablo.

"She's fallin' off, you big dummy! You gotta go!" Adam yelled. He flicked his reins. "C'mon, go!"

It was like Buck knew what was going on because the minute he lifted his head up and saw you trying to stay in the saddle, he started coming towards you.

"Buck, stay," Adam said sternly and jumped off him. He walked to your right side. "Now, I'm gonna push your saddle to the left and I need you to lean the same way, okay?"

"Lean to the left?" you asked.

"Yup," he confirmed. "One...two...three."

He pushed up and you leaned to the left, which allowed the saddle and you to be re-centered.

"Can you reach the stirrups okay, darlin'?" he asked. "Or do you need 'em a bit higher?"

"I think I need them a bit higher," you answered. "I thought they were fine, but I guess not."

"That's okay. That's what I'm here for. Take your right foot out."

You did as he said and then he adjusted the stirrups and helped you get your foot back in. Then, he did the same for the left foot.

While Adam was adjusting your left stirrup, Maddy was curious about what was in his first aid bag that was attached to Buck's saddle.

"I ain't got no treats in there, you fatty." He put his hand on Maddy's head. "There's nothin' in there for you. Get out." She started chewing on a drawstring that was on the bag. "Okay, I guess you can chew on that."

"So, to get her to turn, do I just pull like this?" you asked and showed Adam.

"Yes, but put your hand further down the reins when you do that. Works better like that."

"Okay, thanks."

"And, if she keeps tryin' to eat, pull up hard--but not too hard and far that you make her walk backward--and if that doesn't work, give her a quick kick. I promise you won't hurt this little fatty right here."

"Okay, awesome."

"You good?"

"I'm good," you confirmed.

"Okay, so if you ever need to adjust yourself, just grab this 'ere saddle horn." He put his hand on the stub on the front of the saddle. "And put two hands on it...unlike me, and then just push down with your foot on which side you want the saddle to go. Pretty simple."

"Okay, got it," you said.

Then, Adam jumped back on Buck and you were off again.

***

You and Kim were sitting up on the bed in Adam's older sister's childhood room that you were staying in and watching a dumb comedy when Adam poked his head into the room.

"Both you up?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kim answered. "Why?"

"Well, I want to go to the rope swing, and Jay and Hailey both fell asleep spooning while watching some shitty movie in the living room, so do you two wanna go? I'm bringing alcohol."

"Adam, it's like 11 o'clock at night!" Kim laughed. "We won't even be able to see the water!"

"Honey," Adam laughed. "I'll leave the headlights of my truck on! I'm not that stupid to have us jump in blind!" He paused. "You two in?"

"Sure," Kim agreed and then turned to you. "Y/N?"

"Why the hell not? I'm in college, let's go!"

"Alright, I'll let you two get changed and I'll grab the towels and the booze," Adam said.

"Adam, if you're the one driving, you cannot drink a ton!" Kim told him.

"I know! I'll just take like two shots and use moonshine as a chaser."

"You got more moonshine?" you asked.

"Holy hell, Adam," Kim agreed.

"Where do you two think I was the past hour? I went into town and grabbed a few flavors. and, I got both your flavors, too. So, y'all can't yell at me. Now, get changed so we can go before Jay and Hailey wake up and decide they want in on this, too."

***

"You good to sit in the back, Miss Car Sick?" Adam asked you.

"Yeah, you said it's only like a five minute drive, so I'll be fine. Thanks for asking, though," you answered.

"No problem, darlin'."

Then, the three of you were off to this rope swing to jump into a river in the middle of the night.

Five minutes later, Adam threw his car in park and left the radio and headlights on. The three of you got out and Adam grabbed the booze and shot glasses and then you followed him around to the back of his truck. He handed the stuff off to you and Kim to hold while he flipped his tailgate down. Then, he used the flashlight app of his phone to see as he poured each of you a shot of gummy bear flavored vodka.

"Cheers to late night decisions and possibly bad decisions!" Adam toasted.

The three of you clinked your shot glasses together and then took the shots.

"Shit. That was strong," you coughed.

"Chaser, chaser," Adam said as he flipped open the sip cap on the blackberry moonshine.

He handed it to you and you took a few sips.

"Compared to that shot, this moonshine tastes like nothin'," you said.

"See? Told you it had a low proof!" Adam exclaimed. "Now, do you two want me to go first so I can show you how it's done?"

"That might be a good idea, yeah," Kim agreed. "You've only brought me here during the day and it's been over a year, so yeah, you go first, cowboy."

"Oh, that reminds me." He took his signature cowboy hat off. "Hold this for me, will you, sweetheart?" He held the hat out to Kim and she took it from him. "Thank you. Now, watch and learn, ladies, watch and learn."

Kim laughed. "Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say."

Adam walked up to the edge of the river and waded in the water to grab the rope. You and Kim stood on the edge of the river and watched as Adam dragged the rope with him as he stood on a rock, which was right below the tree that the rope was tied to. Then, he cinched the rope between his feet and jumped up and swung forward.

"Yeehaw!" Adam yelled.

Then, after a few seconds, he let go of the rope and fell into the river.

The rope dangled back and forth until Adam grabbed it and dragged it in with him.

"Who's next?" he asked as he held the rope out.

"You wanna go, Kim?" you asked.

"You sure you don't wanna go before me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go ahead," you said.

"You nervous, darlin'?" Adam asked you as he took his hat back from Kim and placed it on his head.

"A bit." You looked down at your feet. "Are there snakes in there?" you practically mumbled.

"Oh, darlin'," Adam said with a wave of his hand. "I can promise you that there's no snakes in there. You've never seen a snake in there have you, baby?" he asked Kim.

"Nope, no snakes. I promise. Now, I'll go, and then you gotta go because it's so much fun!"

Kim grabbed the rope and then made her way up onto the rock. She did the same thing that Adam did and soon it was your turn.

"I'm stealing your aux, babe," Kim said as she walked toward Adam's truck.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you can't just listen to the radio like we've been doing, but go ahead, baby."

Kim walked over to the truck and changed the input to aux and then quickly pulled up Spotify. From there, she pulled up the song Like A Lady by Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum. She turned the volume all the way up on her phone, plugged it into the aux, and hit play.

"Lady!" came out of the speakers as well as the opening chords.

You gasped as Kim came running back to you and Adam.

"How'd you know this one of my favorite songs?" you asked.

Ever since Hailey had played it for you on your first night in Tennessee when you were unpacking and sippin' on moonshine, you loved this song. It was all about feeling like a lady while wearing jeans and drinking and being comfortable with yourself and not needing a man.

"Y/N, I follow you on Spotify. I can see what you listen to. Now, go get to it, lady!" Kim cheered.

You smiled and turned around. You walked to the rock and climbed up on it just before the chorus. You grabbed onto the rope.

"'Cause I feel like a lady," you sang loudly to the music. "Sippin' on tequila with my Levis on."

You clamped your feet around the rope and jumped.

You felt weightless for just about one second and then you let go of the rope and fell into the water with a splash.

The water wasn't freezing, it was a little cold, but it was still decently comfortable. You started swimming back to the shore and grabbed the rope when it swung back toward you.

"Hell yeah!" Adam yelled as he ran up to you and took the rope so you could pull yourself up onto the river bank. "You did awesome! Did you like it?"

"I loved it! Let's do it again!" you yelled.

"See?" Kim said. "I told you that you'd love it!"

"I propose a celebratory shot for Y/N's first time jumping off the rope swing!" Adam said and the three of you headed back to his truck to have more booze.

And that is how you learned that you didn't get hangover headaches like Kim, but got hella tired the next day just like Hailey. But, a little hangover (despite not being old enough to legally drink) was all worth it because of how much fun you, Kim, and Adam had.

***

Months later

"Welcome to Chocolate Moose, everybody!" Adam announced and fumbled with the lockbox to get the key.

Since it was exam season, there was a tradition that started during the winter semester of their sophomore year that was where they'd all go up to a cabin (each cabin had a name and yours was Chocolate Moose) in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which was an hour away from school, to go study without the temptation of parties and the libraries that were packed as hell and barely had any seats open because everyone and their mama had decided to study there.

He unlocked the door and opened it.

You walked in and were in awe. When you walked in, you saw a small kitchen complete with a stove, oven, microwave, and pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, mugs, and silverware stored in cabinets and drawers. There was also a small pantry to your right the minute you walked inside.

Off of the small kitchen were the living room and the dining area. There was a circular wooden table with six chairs and there was a tv and a couch that folded out into a bed. Right next to that was a bedroom with a bathroom, which also had its own tv in it.

And, if you walked to the end of the living room, there was a door that led to the first-floor deck that overlooked the Smoky Mountains. On the deck was a wooden table that matched the wood of the deck and six stools, so it would be a nice place to study or eat breakfast or sip coffee in the morning.

The stairs to go to the second floor were above the table (so the table was tucked beneath the second set of stairs). When you got up there, there was a pool table, a bubble hockey table, another couch that folded out into a bed, and a coffee table in front of said couch.

To the right of the couch and coffee table was a California king-sized bed with a trunk in front of it which held the bedding for the pull-out couches. Then, there was a dresser with a mirror to the side of the bed and a closet. There was also a full bathroom with a washer and dryer and a dressing table (so tons of counter space and two mirrors) upstairs as well.

And, there was another deck on the second floor. This one didn't have a full-sized table, but it did have two chairs with a small table between, and a small couch complete with a bunch of throw pillows on one end of the deck. This deck too overlooked the beauty that was the Smoky Mountains.

"Who's that?" you asked fifteen minutes later after you had finished touring the cabin and figuring out sleeping arrangements.

It had been decided that Adam and Kim would take the first-floor bedroom and that you'd take the pull-out couch on their floor. Hailey and Jay would sleep upstairs and you wondered why you couldn't take the upstairs couch like you wanted to because Jay was quick to tell you no.

You knew they weren't gonna try to do the nasty up there since there was no door shutting the upstairs off from the downstairs, so you had no idea why he wouldn't let you sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs.

"Who's that?" you asked again while looking out the kitchen window.

Then, you saw a head of red hair in the driver's seat and rushed out the door to where the person parked their car.

"Will!" you shouted as he got out of the car. "I missed you!" You wrinkled your nose at what he was wearing: a pair of blue scrubs.

"I drove here right after I got off a twelve-hour ED rotation," Will told you. "Hence the scrubs."

"I would give you a hug, but who knows what kinda bodily fluids have been on those."

"Good choice. We'll postpone the hug until after I take a quick shower and change."

Adam, Kim, and Jay came outside and said their hellos to Will, and Jay took Will's backpack, making a joke saying that it felt like he stuffed a ton of rocks in there.

So, now you knew why you couldn't sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs: Will was sleeping there.

***

"Fuck!" you yelled as you felt a bee sting you on the upper part of your left inner thigh.

"What?" Adam asked.

You, Adam, and Kim were outside at the table on the first-floor deck studying while Will was upstairs studying and Jay and Hailey were studying one of their law studies classes at the kitchen table together.

"The fuckin' bee stung me!"

"Well, you were swattin' at him, darlin'," Adam said, which earned him a smack to the arm from Kim.

"Because he was between my legs!" you argued. "What was I supposed to do? Let him fly up my shorts and sting me there? Oh hell no!"

You got up and walked inside.

"Will!" you shouted the minute you closed the door to the deck.

"Y/N! Keep it down!" Jay scolded. "We're trying to study!"

You had made it up the first set of stairs and leaned over the railing. "Well, I just strung by fuckin' bee, so I think I can yell a bit, Jay! Will!"

"What?" he said and ripped out his headphones when you got all the way upstairs. "Med school's no joke, you know!"

"Well, what do I put on a bee sting?" you huffed.

Will sighed. "Hold on. They asked me to be the one who brought the first aid kit and I'm glad I did."

He got up and then came back with a bottle of lotion.

"Put this on it. Should cool down the stinging. Tell me if it gets worse or starts itching."

"Okay, thanks."

You put it on and hoped it would be better soon.

***

Okay, so this bee sting wasn't getting better. It was actually getting worse.

It had been itchy all day and you were currently shaving your legs in your shower. You felt the place where the bee had stung you and it was swollen as if someone had shoved a disk the size of an Oreo in your leg at the place the bee had stung you.

You got out of the shower, got changed, and walked out of the bathroom where country music was blasting and Jay and Adam were playing a friendly (okay, so maybe not so friendly) game of pool.

"Hailey, is my bee sting supposed to be super itchy?" you asked as you sat down on the couch next to her.

She and everyone else was drinking one of their two allotted white claws. Yes, during finals week you had all decided there needed to be a daily cut-off for alcohol so that you could all get your shit done. And, it helped keep everyone accountable since everyone in the cabin was only having two per day...and you weren't spending a ton of money this weekend on alcohol.

"Um, none of mine have ever been," she said. "Will!" He turned to look at her from where he was sitting and intently watching the pool game...mostly to make sure neither Adam nor Jay cheated. "Her bee sting supposed to itch?"

"Not unless she's allergic to bees...and she's not." He stood up. "Go lay on the bed and let me take a look."

"Oh, fuck no! I am not letting my brother look there!"

"Y/N, I'm a med student. I've seen a helluva lot more than a bee sting on your inner thigh. You can even go put on some short spandex if that would make you more comfortable."

You currently had on loose-fitting shorts that you knew would fall back to expose what underwear you were wearing if you let Will take a look. "Actually, I think I'll go do that," you said.

You quickly grabbed a pair of spandex from your suitcase and went back into the bathroom and changed into them.

"Y'all check for a stinger?" Adam asked.

Will must've filled him in when you were changing your shorts.

"Shit," Will cursed. "I knew there was something I forgot to do."

"What kinda fuckin' doctor are you if you forget to check something like that?" you asked Will rhetorically. "Hailey, I'm gonna need that empty white claw bottle to smack Will over the head with like you did to Jay on the river."

"Sorry, hun," Hailey apologized. "I ain't finished with this 'ere can yet."

"I'll hit him!" Jay yelled, putting down his pool stick and grabbing his empty can.

He hit Will on the arm with the empty white claw can as hard as he possibly could.

"The fuck?" Will yelled. "Why'd you do that?"

"I dunno." Jay turned to Adam. "Why were we hitting Will, again?"

"Holy shit," Adam muttered to himself. "Because he forgot to check Y/N's bee sting to see if the stinger was still there."

"Oh, okay. That was stupid, Will."

You laid on the bed and let Will look at the spot the bee stung you. Then, he put on a pair of gloves and pulled out a pair of tweezers.

"Hailey?" he called. She looked up expectantly. "Can you come over here and hold up a flashlight? I think I found the stinger."

Hailey got up and turned on the flashlight on her phone and crouched down next to Will.

"That good?" she asked as she finished positioning the phone so the phone's flashlight was pointing directly at your bee sting.

"Yup." He looked up at you. "Now, I'm gonna put one of my hands above the bee sting, that way you won't be able to see the tweezers go in. Sound good?"

"Mhm. At least this is better than when Jay tried to attack me with a snake!"

Will laughed. "I bet."

Five minutes later, the stinger was out and Will told you to put Neosporin and a bandaid over it just so you didn't keep itching it because he told you the itchiness wouldn't go away immediately.

"I need a drink," you said after you were all done.

Hailey handed you a raspberry white claw from the mini-fridge next to the couch and you popped it open.

"Thanks," you said.

"You're welcome."

"Everyone shut up!" Adam yelled. "This is Jay and Hailey's song...well, they didn't exactly meet at a bar and Hailey wasn't drinking a white claw, but it was a Saturday and those two did ditch us. So, dance you two!"

They tried to object, but Adam dragged Jay over to Hailey and Kim pushed Hailey up off the couch and towards Jay.

"Sittin' over there in the corner, baby, I saw pretty red lips workin' on a white claw," you all sang along to Single Saturday Night by Cole Swindell. And, you'd be lying if you said that this song didn't remind you of the story that Jay had told you about the first time he took Hailey out when she was bored one Saturday night in a sports bar. "Shakin' to a little Shook Me All Night Long. And I thought, man, what a beautiful sight."

You smiled. Four months ago, there'd be no way you'd know this song. But, thanks to your brother's friends and his girlfriend, you knew so many more country songs. But, most of all, if your first semester of freshman year was any indication, you were going to have the time of your life going to college here in Tennessee.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading! Again, please remember to like/reblog and comment because I love reading all your comments and seeing that you voted because that means you enjoyed reading the imagine! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you! Again, I am donating all my proceeds on buy me a coffee until the end of AU-gust to Save The Children to help the children in Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee here.

Taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl@dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

[lukin08]

Spring Blossoming

Here is my piece from the Kristanna Calendar Zine. Please go and check out everyone’s work if you have a chance.  It’s all great!

Modern AU

Rating: G

Words: 3154

He met her in the spring on a cold day no one would ever assume was actually spring if not for the date on the calendar.  He glanced up and cursed the grey ski as heavy flakes fell around him creating a muddy slush on the street.  Ignoring the dampness that was creeping into his work boots, Kristoff stomped into the hardware store for yet another emergency run for supplies.

Grumbling at the prices, Kristoff shoved the receipt in his jacket pocket and stepped back outside.  A run to the big box store would have saved him money, but it was all the way across town and traffic with all the snow it would have taken  the whole morning to get there and back.  The unexpected snow had changed all their work plans on the house, setting them back at least two days.  What was important now was making up for as much lost time with other work that wasn’t impacted by the weather.  

There were times he hated how much the weather dictated his life.  Especially since he and Sven had broken off on their own.  Building custom homes had a rhythm to them… when you broke ground, when you moved inside; it all had to be timed out just right.  Summer he was in his element, hoisting joists into place, building frameworks, up on roofs.  Summer kept him busy.  Fall was invigorating; the rush to finish last minute outdoor projects as the cool air hit his lungs was enough to keep him going through the long weeks.  Winter was his solitude, with more solo projects with a move to the indoors once the roofing and siding had been completed.  He liked winter and what he was able to accomplish.  But spring… spring was unpredictable.  It delayed his plans and caused constant upheaval and adjusting which all led to costing him unnecessary money.  The whole season could disappear as far as he was concerned.  

Kristoff caught the laughter a split second before the ice cold sting hit the left side of his head.  Broken chunks of slushy snow slid down his face, under his collar, causing him to shiver as it trickled down his shoulder.  To his right two boys scurried away from him as fast as they could.  He pinched his brow and closed his eyes a moment before looking in the direction from where the snowball came.

She was standing there with an embarrassed smile, lifting her hand and offering a small wave.  “Sorry,” she said meekly.  “I was having a snowball fight with the boys and I guess we got a little carried away.”  She shrugged and smiled again.

“You think?”

He barely had time to set the scowl on his face before she was over to him, apologizing again.  She was a mess of red hair, topped off with the fluffiest hat Kristoff had ever seen, using her scarf to wipe away the remaining snow while she rambled on about how her aim was usually right on, but she hadn’t seen him.  

“There,” she said, brushing a flake off from the front of his jacket then stepping back.  “As good as new.”

She looked up at him with a bright smile and he found himself returning it with his own grin and not remembering what he possibly could have been so annoyed about.

Sven was waiting for him as soon as Kristoff pulled on to the site asking what took him so long.  They made quick work of unloading the supplies and sorting them out.

Sven held out his hand to Kristoff. “Let me have the receipt and I’ll put it in the folder with the rest of them for the week.”

Kristoff reached into his pocket and pulled it out along with a small cube.  

“What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Sven shrugged and turned away.  Kristoff held up the small rectangle wrapped in wax paper.  “Its national caramel day,” Anna said to him with another grin before they parted.   Anna, she had told him her name before exchanging numbers with him.  Kristoff removed the paper around caramel, thinking for a brief second how it was odd there was a caramel day and someone would actually know about it.  He popped the sweet in his mouth, knowing he wouldn’t be waiting very long to contact her.

-----

He learned to see the world differently that spring.  Anna altered his perception of it quickly.  He wouldn’t admit anything changed; only that it was nice to have her positive outlook around.  When he caught himself whistling or taking a little longer than necessary to smile and say thank you, he explained it away that it was simply because he was in a good mood

The truth was Kristoff was happier than he could remember being in a long time.  He liked how Anna challenged and kept him on his toes.  He was even starting to grow accustomed to her quirks and eccentricities.

“So,” Kristoff started one early morning.  They were sitting on the tailgate of his truck, Anna swinging her legs freely off the end.  “You got up early to come all the way over to the jobsite to bring me donuts?”

“Yes, its donut day,” Anna said completely serious.  “These are for you and the crew.”

“There are a lot of chocolate ones in here.”

“Okay, they’re for me too.  You know chocolate is my favorite.”

“I think anyone who knows you longer than five minutes is aware of that.  Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Anna responded half distracted as she searched over the selection of donuts for the perfect one.

“Why all the days?”

“You didn’t enjoy them?”

“I didn’t say that.  Picnic day was nice and I didn’t even know there was a mini golf day…or a donut day.  I guess I’m just curious why you like them so much.”

“Oh….”  Anna put her donut down and wrung her hands in her lap.  “It’s silly really, I know.  I should stop with them.”

“Hey.”  Kristoff took Anna’s hand in his.  “It’s not silly.  Tell me.  I want to know.”

Anna took a deep breath.  “When I was growing up there were so many days where it was just…nothing.  They blended together and it could be so lonely sometimes.  But most of these days are fun and yes, sometimes a little silly.  I like that it’s a way I can make someone smile…a way to turn an ordinary Friday…”

“Into donut day?”

“Exactly.  Can I show you something?”

Kristoff nodded and watched as Anna pulled out a leather bound date book from her purse.

“I don’t look up the days all the time, but when I do and find something I like, I try to do it and then I write down the memory in here on the date.  See?”  She flipped through the pages where there were notes from earlier in the year.  “Now I get to add what I did today with you.”

“Wait, wait a second.  Go back to the other page.  What does it say about mini golf day?”

Anna flipped the page back and pointed.  “That I won.”

“More like cheated.”

“Do you see what’s written under it?  ‘Kristoff has not accepted his defeat’ It’s still true today.”

Kristoff chuckled then pulled Anna closer to him, hugging her around the waist.  “I guess we’ll agree to disagree on that one.  Thank you for sharing that with me.  I, umm…” He cleared his throat.  “Would be up to doing any of the days you wanted to do with me.  Within reason,” he added quickly.

Anna’s face lit up.  “You would?”

“Yeah.  Sounds like fun.  Does there happen to be any beer days?”

She leaned closer to Kristoff.  “Several.  But you know what days are better?”

“What?”

“Kissing day.”

“Intriguing.”

“Both National and International.  There’s one coming up soon.”

“Then we should practice.  Don’t want to mess that one up.”  

“No we don’t.”

He dipped his head down to meet her lips for the sweetest kiss with her.

He vowed that day to find as many ways as he could to help fill up Anna’s book.  His next opportunity came two days later when it just so happened to be chocolate ice cream day.  Anna was giddy holding her cone as he told her.  He decided then that he’d try to surprise her with days he could find that were chocolate related.  His first opportunity came when he made her homemade cookies for chocolate chip day.  By the time he sent her chocolates to her work for chocolate day, he had become an expert at finding ways to make her smile and fill up her date book.

-----

He told her he loved her the next spring.

For a long time, he didn’t have the words to put to the swirl of emotions running though him.  It was overwhelming.  He felt like he couldn’t breathe sometimes when he was around her.  By the end of the year he pinpointed those feelings.  By spring he was wracking his brain trying to figure out the perfect way to tell her.  He was in love with her.  He had no doubt.   But the timing and the right setting always seemed to elude him.

Then one day Anna pulled onto his job site unannounced in the early afternoon and declared it was time for him to leave.  She waited impatiently while he came down from the roof, tapping her toe on the gravel until he finally made it over to her.

“You’re a little over dressed for a work site.”

Anna ignored him and reached for his hand.  “It’s leave the office early day, so let’s go.”

“What?”  Kristoff didn’t budge.  He was used to this by now, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her.  He folded his arms at her to feign seriousness.  “But I don’t have an office,” Kristoff answered in a teasing tone.

“What do you call this?” Anna threw her arms out and twisted around, nearly tripping as she moved.  “This is where you work. It’s your office!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Then your truck is.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Ok fine.  But I have an office and I left early and now I need you to come with me.”

“Babe, I don’t…” Kristoff turned back to the house.  “I don’t know if I can go.  What’s the rush anyway?”

“What is the point of leaving the office early if you don’t do something with the time?”

“Ok, but maybe if you told me about this earlier.”

“That defeats the whole concept!  Now let’s go before we waste any more time.”

“Yeah, but we have the whole crew here and…”

Sven, walked out to them, already hearing the conversation.  “Go.  I have it handled.  We don’t need you.  In fact you’ve been useless to us since lunch.  Anna, thank you for taking him off my hands.”

Anna let out a triumphant whoop then grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of her car before he could give any objection.

“We’ll take my car and swing back and get your truck later.”

“So, what do you have planned?  Because I know you’re up to something.”

“Well, yesterday was go barefoot day, so I’m thinking picnic over at the park.  We may be a day late, but it still counts.”

“Let me guess.  You have everything in the car already.”

“Of course.  It’s so nice out.  How could we not go?” Anna patted his chest.  She took a step away, but slipped on the gravel.

Kristoff caught her and pulled her back to a standing position.  “Anna, I love you, but you know you have to be careful out here.  You’re going to give me a heart attack one day.”

He moved towards the car, but her hand caught his.  Kristoff stopped, looking down at their hands and then up to her face.  Her head was tilted; eyes narrow like she was trying to make sense of something.

“What did you say?”

“To be careful.”

“Before that.”

His heart started beating out of his chest when it dawned on him what he blurted out.  “That…I love you?”

“Do you mean that?”

It was the last place he ever thought he’d tell her, but it was out there now.  No going back.  “Yes, I love you.”

Anna jumped into his arms before he knew what happened.  She answered him back with a kiss full of passion he had never known before her.

-----

He followed her in the spring.  The first time she showed it to him was in March.  Anna gave him directions until they finally turned into a wooded lane that winded up to a clearing full of daffodils in their early spring glory.

“So this is it?” Kristoff asked, putting the truck in park.

“This is it.”

He could tell Anna was nervous.  She chewed at her bottom lip anytime there was silence while he drove.

“Hey.”  Anna turned and looked at him.  “Check under the seat.”

She gave him an inquisitive look, then reached below her and pulled out a package.

“Happy Oreo day.”  

Kristoff couldn’t stop from cracking a smile when Anna started laughing.  He had gotten her again.  She opened the package, took a couple cookies for herself and handed several to Kristoff.  “For the walk,” she said.

Anna guided Kristoff up the small hill, telling him all about the property until they reached the top.

“So what do you think?”  

Kristoff scanned the land.  “I-“

“It’s okay if you don’t like it,” Anna said nervously.  “I know you and Sven said I could help scout for property.  Please be honest with me if it doesn’t work or if there are problems I should have been aware of.  I thought the price was reasonable and the area is flat to build on.  But tell me, if that view isn’t to die for.”

“Would you buy it?”

Kristoff’s question took Anna by surprise.  “I…what?”

“If it was a property for a house for you, would you buy it?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“I need to talk to Sven, but I don’t think he’s going to have any objections.  The view alone would sell the property before anyone walked inside the house.”

“So, you like it?”

“I love it.”

Sven was an easy sell on the property and within the month, they broke ground on their latest build.  Kristoff asked Anna what she thought of the design of the house when the first layouts came in.  She gave him her ideas and he found himself making changes based on a lot of her suggestions.  It became a routine for them, Kristoff asking Anna for her opinions on materials for the exterior and then inside as they moved to the interior work.

It was late one night when Kristoff and Sven were discussing tile for the kitchen floor.  Kristoff’s first instinct was to call Anna and ask for her opinion.  It hit him at the countless times he had made these decisions on his own, yet he felt compelled to ask Anna what she wanted.  Everywhere he looked had her influence.  There wasn’t a major decision he had made without consulting her.

That’s when it dawned on him.  Perhaps he had been building this home for Anna all along.

-----

He asked her to marry him in the spring.  After almost three years together, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he wanted to.  Kristoff had made his decision that night in the house and talked to Sven about the possibility of him purchasing it.  Sven had no issues.  He only requested Kristoff make up his mind before April, when the house would hit the market.

It took longer than Kristoff expected to come up with a plan.  He wanted it to be perfect for her, to be something unique to them.  Then he remembered it by chance.  He saw it last year when he was scrolling through national days in March to find something for Anna.  A quick check on his phone confirmed the date.

They walked hand in hand on the first day of spring, up the driveway instead of a hill this time, Anna pointing out all the changes outside since she had been to the house last.  The warmth of the afternoon sun hit his face; so opposite from the day they met.  

Anna gasped when they got in front of the house.  “Kris, are these original from the property?  They are gorgeous!”

Kristoff nodded.  He had some of the daffodils dug up and replanted before they broke ground.  “I thought you’d like them.”

They went into the house.  Anna marveled at everything, going through the rooms, talking a mile a minute about what she would do with each area of the house.

“I saved the best for last,” Kristoff told her as he opened up the back door to a deck that overlooked the view they both gazed at almost a year before.

Anna took Kristoff’s hand.  “Imagine someone will get this view every day.”

“You know, it could be us if that’s what you want.”

“Don’t joke about that.  This is everything I ever wanted.  I’m going to be sad to see it go…” Anna stopped abruptly, lost in thought for a minute before looking up at Kristoff.  “Wait.  Why did you say that?”

“Do me a favor and check your phone and tell me what National Day it is.”

“Kris, I…”

“Humor me.”

Anna took out her phone and scrolled to the date.  She stepped towards the railing as she looked through it.  “It’s ravioli day.  Ha-ha.  Oh, wait.  There’s more if I scroll down let me-“

He knew she had seen it when her hand flew to her mouth.  “Its National Proposal Day,” she said barely above a whisper.  Anna turned around agonizing slow, not daring to look over at Kristoff until she was facing him.  He was waiting for her on one knee, ring held out to her.  Then he took a deep breath, and gave her all the love he knew how to when he asked her to marry him.

They stayed out there for a long time embraced and holding onto the moment as long as possible.  Anna held out her hand again, admiring the ring.  

“You really got me this time.  How did I not know it was proposal day?”

“I was kind of banking on you not knowing.”

“Well, it worked.   And the house?  It’s really ours?”

“If you want it to be.”

Anna leaned forward, placed her chin on Kristoff’s chest and grinned.  “I do.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Their lips met again, holding each other tight knowing whatever lay ahead, they would face head on together.

Kristoff never liked spring.  Then he met Anna on a snowy day in April and his life and view of the season changed forever.

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

The Nual’ Family Onion

Title: The Nual’ Family Onion

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Destiel 

Rating: Lemon

Warnings: minor character death

Summary:

     Dean had lived in Lawrence, Kansas his entire life. Born and raised. In his twenty-six years in the beautiful city, he lived a wonderful life surrounded by the amazing people who lived there, many of them becoming family over the years. After high school, he started working for his uncle Bobby at his mechanics shop and fell into a comfortable routine. He still lived at home with his parents, John and Mary Winchester, and for the foreseeable future, Dean had no intentions of changing that. Until he saw him.    

AO3

Masterlist

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

Chapter 1                 

    Dean had lived in Lawrence, Kansas his entire life. Born and raised. In his twenty-six years in the beautiful city, he lived a wonderful life surrounded by the amazing people who lived there, many of them becoming family over the years. After high school, he started working for his uncle Bobby at his mechanics shop and fell into a comfortable routine. He still lived at home with his parents, John and Mary Winchester, and for the foreseeable future, Dean had no intentions of changing that. Until he saw him.

    A slight change in Dean’s daily routine of get up, go to work, lunch at the food truck down the road, and go home, had him coming face to face with someone he had never seen around town before. When lunch time came around noon for Dean, his day was suddenly sent flying off the hinges when the regular food truck that usually parked itself down the street from his uncle’s shop, wasn’t there. Which meant that he had to get in his car and actually drive into town for something to eat.

    After looking around and driving past several drive-thru restaurants, he decided to pull into the local park. He remembered as a kid his mom would take him to this park everyday after school for ice cream, and on weekends she would treat him to his favourite, a pulled pork poutine and cherry pie on the side. He hadn't had food from here in years and thought today would be a good day to revisit that incredible poutine. And it turned out to be a better day then he had ever anticipated.

    Dean got out of his car and walked over to the small building in the centre of the park and got in line. He only waited for a few minutes before it was his turn to order and he was called up to the counter. “Hi, can I have a large pulled pork poutine, cherry pie on the side, and a bottle of coke to go, please.”

    “Sure thing, honey.” Dean smiled at her as he handed her a twenty and told her to keep the change, and he was sure that she was the same lady who had worked the counter even when he was young.

    Once he was settled, he stepped off to the side to wait for his food and pulled out his phone. A few people after him had ordered, but there was a certain voice that pulled him out of his thoughts, a gravelly, deep voice he had never heard before that sent a shiver through his whole body.

    “Hi, can I get a bacon cheeseburger with fries, and a large black coffee.”

    At the sound of the strangers voice, Dean looked up and was met with a handsome man. Dark ruffled hair, sharp features, blue eyes. And before Dean could even so much as stop himself, his mouth spoke before his brain could interject.

    “If you like burgers, you should try the Roadhouse.”

    “I’m sorry?” The man turned to face Dean, and his eyes seemed even bluer at this angle.

    Dean stepped closer to the man, his brain still not able to catch up and stop him, “The Roadhouse. It's an old bar that’s owned and run by a family friend of mine, and the owner makes the best damn burgers I've ever had. Don't get me wrong, food here’s good, but Ellen takes the cake for sure.”

    “Oh,” the man nodded, “perhaps I shall have to try it someday.”

    The man nodded once more in thanks, then turned away from Dean to face the counter again.

    “My names, Dean,” he stepped forwards again to stand beside the man this time, “Dean Winchester.”

    The man eyed him for a moment before taking Dean’s outstretched hand, “Castiel Novak.”

    “If you want, I could take you to the Roadhouse sometime.”

    The man’s eyes, and Dean’s for that matter, both went wide at his words as the man stuttered, “Did… did you just ask me out?”

    “I…” Dean shifted his eyes around nervously, did he really just go for it, just like that?! “I think I did, yes.”

    “Well, thank-you but no.”

    Dean was taken aback by the sudden and outright rejection. He knew he couldn't really expect much especially since he seemed, at the moment, to be having some sort of outer body experience and suddenly had no control over his words, and he literally just met the guy, but it did still sting a little.

    “Castiel! Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a large coffee!”

    Castiel stepped away from dean and took his bag and coffee from the counter, then turned back towards the door. Dean stepped in front of him, intent on demanding a reason for the harsh let down, but was only able to get out a measly, “why… why…”

    Castiel fixed him with a stare that had Dean suddenly frozen in place, “I do not have time to date right now and I have a lot of responsibilities that require all of my attention. So, thank-you, but no thank-you. Have a nice day, Dean.” And with that Castiel moved past Dean and left the building.

    He stared after him for a moment, a voice behind him shouting, “Dean, your orders ready,” only vaguely in the back of his mind. Before the voice was shouting even louder, pulling him from his trance, “Dean, sweetie, your orders ready!”

    Now finally seeming to have his brain and body on the same page again, he grabbed the bag of food and quickly ran out the door after Castiel. And with a quick look around the park and parking lot, realized he was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    Castiel arrived home later that afternoon. Work was as boring as it always was, being the accountant for his father's construction business was not always the excitement he had hoped for in a job, but it was a good job nonetheless. And working for family had its perks.

    “Cassie, is that you?” a voice called from within the house as he placed his coat in the closet and shucked his shoes.

    “Yes.”

    “We’re in the kitchen, come join us,” a slightly accented voice called this time, “Gabriel is making tarts!”

    He shuffled his way down the hall and found two of his brothers in the kitchen, one making tarts and the other sitting at the counter eating them equally as fast. He took a seat at the barstool and grabbed one for himself.

    “These are delicious, Gabriel.”

    “Why, thank-you, baby brother,” he beamed as he started rolling the dough for more tarts, “though I wish someone would think of the others that live in this house and stop eating them all before anyone else has a chance.”

    Castiel looked to Balthazar who was shoving yet another tart in his face as he mumbled around a mouthful, “I can't help it, they are so good!”

    Gabriel just shook his head, knowing there was no arguing or stopping him, then turned his attention back to Castiel, “So, how was your day, little brother?”

    “It was a normal day,” he shrugged around a bite of his second tart, “but I did get asked out today at the park while I was getting lunch.”

    “What?!” Gabriel's eyes were so wide they looked like they might explode, and Balthazar actually choked on his tart. “Cassie, that’s great! Did you say yes?! Tell me you said yes!”

    “First things first,” Balthazar placed a hand on Castiel’s knee once he finally stopped coughing and seriously asked, “was he handsome?”

    “Yes.”

    “So, you said yes then, right?” Gabriel leaned over the counter expectantly.

    “I said no.”

    “Why?!” both brothers asked in unison.

    Castiel looked at them and sighed, “I have far too much responsibility right now to even think about the possibility of dating someone.”

    Balthazar sighed beside him, “Castiel, you can't keep using this as an excuse to avoid having a life. It's been three years now, you are entitled to go out and have fun, you don’t have to push yourself aside.”

    “And were here too, Cassie,” Gabriel motioned between himself and Balthazar, “and Dad, and Gadreel. You know we are always willing to help so that you can date someone, you deserve it.”

    Castiel shook his head, “No. I cannot ask you to take on the responsibility that I agreed to, just so I can go on a date.”

    “But what if it's not just one date?” Balthazar shook the knee where his hand still remained, “What if this guy ends up being the man you fall in love with, your happily ever after, your knight in shining armour who will ride you off into the sunset on his noble steed?”

    “That, I definitely do not have time for.” Both brothers looked as though they were about to protest the idea again when Castiel grabbed another tart and stood from his chair, “I appreciate your concern for my dating life, but I am perfectly fine with the way my life is right now.”

    And with that he left the two brothers to exchange frustrated looks.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    It had been a few nights since Dean had met Castiel in the shop at the park, and despite the fact that the food truck had returned to its original spot, Dean continued to go out of his way to get his lunch at the park. He had not seen Castiel since.

    He had planned on trying again, or at least getting a better answer out of Castiel as to why he had turned him down, but it had so far been a disappointing week. So, his friend had decided that he needed a good old night of drinking, pool, and poker to get his mind off of the handsome man in the trench coat.

    It was a good idea, and one that usually worked when Dean was feeling a little down or deflated, but it wasnt so much working tonight. He had played a few games of pool with some buddies from his uncle’s shop, and took the pot for the first round of poker. But had since then decided to bow out and was now sitting on the couch alone, staring aimlessly into his beer bottle.

    A body then sat beside him, arm wrapped around his shoulder bringing his attention back to the present, “You okay there, buddy?”

    “Im fine, Ash,” he lied, though he already knew ash could see right through it, “I just don't know why he rejected me so fast.”

    “Dean, you asked the guy on a date after he only knew you for a matter of two minutes,” Dean nodded, “maybe if he knew you it would have been a different outcome.”

    “Probably,” he agreed, “but I can't even find him to put the offer out there. It doesn't even have to be a date, but the chance to at least get to know each other, I just want him to talk to me. But since the other day hes promptly vanished from the face of the earth.”

    “I’m sure you’ll bump into each other again, buddy, just give it time.”

    “I hope so,” he said as he swirled the last remains of his beer then decided to place it on the table, “but I should go.”

    Ash watched as he stood and made his way for the door, confused, “It's only eight.”

    “Yeah,” he nodded, “but let’s be honest, I’m just bringing the mood down and I don't wanna ruin your night. You guys have fun and thanks for the beer.”

    “I wish you’d stay,” Dean just gave him a look that asked him not to argue, and Ash put his hands up in defeat, “but if you’re sure, then I’ll walk you out, good buddy.”

    After saying a quick good night to the rest of the guys, Dean grabbed his shoes and headed out the door with ash at his side. They stood beside the impala for a moment, chatting about the new food items Ash’s mom was planning on adding to the menu at the Roadhouse, when a noise to Dean’s left had him turning his head.

    A figure in the dark was walking slowly down the driveway, pulling the garbage bin behind them, and when the figure walked out into the light of the street lamp Dean nearly had a heart attack.

    “No way.”

    “What?” Ash asked, trying to see exactly what dean was looking at, but seeing nothing exciting.

    “That’s him, that’s Castiel.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Monday, Castiel always hated monday. It was the worst day of the week. He usually worked from home and took the weekends off, but his dad’s construction company definitely did not have weekends off, in fact they did most of their work on the weekends. Which meant come monday, Castiel had a pile of work orders and other paperwork littering his desk and so monday’s were the only day he actually went into the office if he could help it. The only upside about having extra work during the day was that it always made his monday’s go by exceptionally fast, and before he knew it he was heading home.

    When he walked in the door, his brothers were in the same place they always were, with Gabriel baking some kind of sweet thing in the kitchen, while Balthazar hovered and ate them as fast as he could make them. Their other brother, Gadreel, who worked on their father’s construction crew, always got home later in the day and so Gabriel would have to hide a separate container for him, or else Balthazar would leave none for anyone else.

    And as he usually would around this time on a monday, Castiel placed himself at the counter with his brothers, beside Balthazar and across from the still baking Gabriel, and indulged himself in today’s treat. Sugar cookies.

    He grabbed one with the most icing he could find, and shoved nearly the entire thing in his mouth and asked between bites, “Was everything alright here today?”

    “It always is, Cassie, you honestly worry too much.”

    “Balthazar is right,” Gabriel added as he rolled more dough, covered in flour from head to toe, “everything is always fine, every monday. And you know, you could probably go back to working at the office full time if you wanted to. I’m here all day, my bake shop doesn't need me most days, and Balthazar doesn't open his club until midnight. So between the two of us-”

    “Gabriel,” Castiel raised a hand to stop him, “I appreciate that but I won't put that on you and Balthazar.”

    “You’re not putting anything on us, Cassie,” Balthazar reasoned, “we are offering to help because we are family, it's what we do.”

    “And I know that dad always loves having you in the office to help out, and working from home for all but one day of the week isn’t good for you. You need to start getting out and actually having a life. You’re not the only one in the world in your current position and I-”

    Before Gabriel could finish the doorbell rang, all three boys snapping theirs heads in the direction of the door, and with a sigh Balthazar stood from his seat.

    “I’ll get it,” he said, then tossed over his shoulder, “and don't you dare think this conversation is over, Cassie.”

    By the time Balthazar had reached the door, the person on the other side had already rang the bell a second time, and before he answered the door he muttered to himself, “Someone’s impatient,” and when he opened it he was met with… flowers?

    “Um… can I help you?” he asked, unsure of exactly who he was talking to behind the bouquet of lilies.

    “Yes, sorry,” the man behind them chuckled nervously as he lowered them, “I’m looking for Castiel, is he home?”

    Balthazar took in the handsome man before him, looking him once over, before a cheshire grin covered his face and he turned to yell back into the house, “Cassie! There’s a gorgeous man here to see you!”

    Castiel got up from his seat, brows furrowed, with Gabriel tight on his heels. When he opened the door wider and walked past Balthazar he stopped so fast at the sight he nearly fell over.

    “Hiya, Cas!”

    “You…” Castiel didn't even know what to say.

    “Look, I just wanted to talk to you, I-”

    “How did you find my house?”

    Dean smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck, “I… I know this might seem a bit creepy, but my friend Ash lives across the street from you. I was there the other night with some friends from work and I saw you taking out the garbage when I was leaving.”

    “This,” Castiel began and shook his head slightly, “this is very odd, Dean.”

    “This is Dean?!” Both Gabriel and Balthazar tried to burst past him to get a better look at dean, but Cas held them back as he stared dean down.

    “I just wanted to talk to you,” Dean pleaded, “I saw you at the park when we ordered food and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since. And I know I may have jumped the gun by asking you on a date, but I just want to get to know you. So what do you say?”

    “No,” and before he could say anything more he closed the door.

    Both Balthazar and Gabriel stood there, jaws on the ground as Castiel just calmly walked back to his seat at the counter and took another cookie. When they were able to gather themselves, they rushed into the kitchen and instantly bombarded Cas.

    “Why did you turn that gorgeous hunk of a man down?!”

    “And he seemed so sweet,” Gabriel pulled the tray of cookies away as Cas went for another, trying to ignore them, “he doesn't even want to go on a date, he just wants you to talk to him.”

    Cas gave them a steely glare, “I already told you, I don't have time to date or get to know someone.”

    “Cassie,” Gabriel sighed, pinching his nose, “this is what we were talking about. You need to have a life, you need to go out and meet people, go on dates, even just make friends!”

    Cas reached over and grabbed another cookie while Gabriel wasn’t looking and stood from his seat, “I have too much responsibility right now, and besides, once Dean found out the truth he wouldn’t want to date me anyways.”

    And with that he left Gabriel and Balthazar to stand frustrated in the kitchen once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    For the next week Dean showed up at Castiel’s house everyday like clockwork. Same time, four pm, with a fresh bouquet of flowers and the same proposition of getting to know one another. And everyday dean got the same answer, a firm no with the door shut in his face. Yet, he returned everyday without fail, until finally Cas decided that perhaps it was time to let the truth come out and maybe that would stop Dean from his persistent acts of desperation.

    Four came around all too quickly for Castiel and at the sound of the doorbell ringing right on time, he got up with an exasperated sigh and slowly walked towards the door. Both of his brothers were there today, lined up and waiting for him.

    “Can I help you two?” he asked as he passed them to get to the door.

    “Gabe and I want you to give Dean a shot.”

    Cas merely rolled his eyes.

    “Hear us out, Cassie, before you shoot us down. Just go on one date with him, and if you really don't like him then fine, at least you tried, but you need to get out there.”

    “I really don't, and now I am going to put an end to this once and for all.” The two boys looked to him with worry and confusion as he opened the door and was once again met with Dean and a fresh bouquet of flowers, today it was daisies. Dean opened his mouth to ask the same question he had been asking all week, but Cas raised a hand and stopped him before he could, “Before you say anything or try to futilely ask me on a date again, there is something I want you to know.”

    “Whatever it is, I don't care,” he stepped towards Castiel with a new found glimmer of hope in his eyes, “I will take you as you are, no matter what, and I-”

    “I have a son, Dean.” Dean stopped cold and just stared at Cas, “I am a father.”

    Dean didn't say anything, just tilted his head, and with a final nod Cas closed the door. He then turned a knowing look on his brothers beside him and said, “And that is why I won’t give him or anyone else a chance. As soon as they find out you have a child, everything changes. If someone doesn't have time for my son, then I don't have time for them either.”

    He walked away and left them standing speechless in the hallway again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    The next day Cas waited with baited breath as four pm came and went. Obviously he was right about Dean and that would be the end of the flowers and propositions. After a hard days work in his office, he made his way out to the kitchen to see what kind of treat Gabriel had made today and stopped when he saw his brothers leaning up against the wall by the front door.

    “What are you two doing?”

    “Waiting for Dean,” Balthazar said, matter of fact.

    “He is not going to show up,” he said crossing his arms, “once they find out you have the responsibility of a child, all interest disappears. And besides, he has been here everyday at four, it is now almost four-thirty and he is not here-”

    Just then the doorbell rang and all three held their breaths before Cas huffed out, “It's not Dean, more than likely someone trying to sell something.”

    “Why don't you open the door and find out, baby brother,” Gabriel waved a flourished hand at the door and Cas walked over and opened it. It was the least he could say to say that he was shocked to see that it was in fact Dean standing at the door, again with a fresh bouquet of flowers in his hand. Today’s choice, roses.

    “Dean, I…”

    “Sorry I’m late, but I spent almost twenty minutes standing in the toy store trying to decide what a little boy would like to play with, and I settled on this,” he lifted his other hand and held out a blue gift bag and Cas found himself reaching out to take it, and Dean beamed when he did rather than rejecting it, “I wasn’t sure what he liked, or even what his age was, and since we are around the same age I guessed maybe five, no more than seven?”

    “three, he’s… he’s three. I…” Cas found he was only able to stutter broken sentences at the moment, “You got him a gift?”

    “Of course,” Dean nodded with a smile, “I couldn't leave him out!”

    “Why?”

    “Cas, I want you to like me, to give me the chance to show you that I am a good man, and that includes your son. He has to like me too in order for this all to work out.” Cas just stared at him, mouth gaped. “I told you I would take you as you are, that also means your son, and I love kids so it's all the better!”

    A short moment of silence passed between them when Gabe’s voice was heard from somewhere behind him shouting, “Marry him!” and Cas laughed, snapping out of his daze.

    “So what do you say, Cas? Will you give me the chance to show you that we belong together? Will you go out with me?”

    “I… I thought after yesterday that you would stop doing this when you found out that I had a son, but you have pleasantly surprised me, Dean.” Dean smiled, and even blushed a little. “And I want to say yes but I have no one to look after my son. It's too late to call a sitter and my family all work and have lives of their own-”

    “No! No we don't!”

    The door suddenly opened further and both Gabriel and Balthazar came bursting out, and Gabriel placed a hand on Castiel’s shoulder, “We don't have any plans, we will watch the little guy and you two can go out!”

    “I can’t always ask you to give up your time to watch my son.”

    “Cassie, we are family, he’s our nephew, of course you can. And we would absolutely love to watch him,” Balthazar then turned to Dean with a smile and said, “come back in an hour and he’ll be ready.”

    “Sounds great!” Dean was all but beaming rays of sunshine as he held the flowers out to Cas and he took them with a face red enough to match the roses. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

    And Cas and the boys watched him leave the house, practically skipping down the driveway and to his car.

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

                                                        NEXT

A/N: SOOOOOOO... I am in love with this fic and this idea, let me know what you guys think of it XD And thanks for reading! <3

[connorssock]

Hungry Eyes

@anuninterestingperson I was your pinch-hitter for the @dbhevents Secret Santa! I’ll also pop this on AO3 when I get a moment, but for now, I hope you enjoy it!

Hungry Eyes

Running a burger shack was fun. It wasn’t in the slightest what Connor had planned to do with his life. He’d had aspirations for Michelin stars and being a culinary sensation. Everything he’d done growing up was work towards the grand plan of opening his own restaurant with Nines as his maître d’. Of course, like all best laid plans, it went out the window as soon as he was in culinary school.

There was no joy in serving small portions for extortionate prices.  Catering to the whims of the obscenely rich who could only complain when the tartare of their hand dived scallops was the wrong shade. It drained him, made him wish for simpler times when the most he had to worry about was getting orders out quickly and efficiently. Connor took pride in his food and knew that what he made tasted good. Even if the colour wasn’t exactly the same as the one shown on the menu. In his opinion there was no difference between a buttermilk cream and sand dollar cream but his head chef begged to differ.

What Connor did find pleasure in was watching people take the first bite of something they really craved. The closed eyed bliss that came with the explosion of flavour followed by satisfied munching. Simply the knowledge that the people who ate his food left full and happy, that’s all Connor wanted.

It wasn’t a conversation that was easy to broach, Nines had been steadily working his way up from a simple waiter in a café to something a bit more refined. In his spare time he was learning French, Spanish, German and Chinese to try and be able to keep up with the highflyers of the world. Connor’s heart broke at the idea of making all his hard work go to waste simply because he couldn’t hack the life of a chef in a distinguished restaurant.

“Thank fuck for that,” Nines had sighed when Connor finally confided in him with teary eyes.

Rather than get angry, Nines pulled out his phone and opened up a few tabs. They were all for food trucks, how to get a licence for them and where the best local places were to sell them. Connor looked over them with wide eyes as he took it all in. How Nines knew this was coming was beyond him but he was infinitely grateful.

After his final year in culinary school, Connor graduated with a wide smile. He was picked up from the ceremony by Nines in their new truck which garnered a lot on sneering looks. Connor regally waved from the open window in the back of the truck until they were all out of sight.

They made their truck work. Nines served customers while Connor was flipping burgers behind him. Their regular plot ended up being near the airport and Nines’ language skills came in more handy than either of them had ever really imagined. It wasn’t uncommon to hear him laughing with a German family before seamlessly switching to Japanese for a businessman. Which is why Connor turned around in surprise when he heard him rather coldly say: “we don’t serve your kind here.”

“Oh come on man, I just want a burger to tide me over.”

The man standing by their truck had silver hair, was a little portly and Connor couldn’t help the little gasp when he recognised who it was.

“You’re Hank Anderson.”

“Guilty,” came the reply. “Now are you going to take my money in exchange for a lousy burger or not?”

Pride flared up in Connor’s chest and his nose scrunched. Back when he’d been in the full fever of having a restaurant, he’d dreamed of having Hank Anderson come to critique his food and getting a coveted four and a half star review. Nobody ever got five stars and Connor wasn’t so deluded to think he could buck the trend, but he aimed for four and a half. Now though, he looked at the man, took in his tired eyes with dark bags under them, hair a little greasy and unkempt. It was a world away from the photos in magazine and the one attached to his regular column.

“I can deal with him,” he stepped away from the grill and took Nines’ spot with a small smile. “What would you like, Mr. Anderson?”

“Cut the crap. Just give me the greasiest, cheesiest burger with extra bacon that you can muster up.”

“It doesn’t actually cure hangovers but I’ll get right to it,” Connor nodded.

He heard Nines scoff off to the side but paid him little attention as he got out a burger patty, some bacon and a mushroom for good measure.

A couple of minutes later, he was passing over a burger heaving with filling, grease making the paper transparent.

“Would you like anything else, Mr-”

“Hank. No Mr. anything please. And a chocolate shake would be amazing with this.”

Connor turned to Nines with a pleading look which got an eye roll in return but at least Nines turned to the machine and began to violently throw the ingredients in.

“Bad day?” Hank asked.

“I could ask you the same,” Connor smiled at him.

Food and drink handed over in exchange for money, Connor watched the man walk a little further away to one of the standing tables.

“If he dares slander us in any review…”Nines growled behind him.

His eyes were narrowed in hostility at Hank and Connor swatted his arm.

“Play nice and he might even come back.”

“I really really hope not,” Nines rolled his eyes but immediately plastered on a smile when he saw someone approaching their van.

                 A few weeks went by and Hank was all but forgotten in the rush of work. Tired travellers clutched their orders while those excited to be on their way happily chattered while they waited. Connor was in the middle of flipping a burger when he heard Nines’ voice.

“You again?” It came out as a low hiss and Connor turned.

He could help the smile that tugged at his lips when he saw Hank leaning against the van. At least he looked much better, there were still dark circles under his eyes but his hair was cleaner, held in a small ponytail while his clothes were a little less rumpled.

“Hello again, Hank,” Connor couldn’t help but wave a little, forgetting his spatula was still in his hand. “Same as last time?”

“Please,” Hank nodded. “They’re flying me down to Texas today, I figured anything would be better than food on the plane.”

“I’m glad our livelihoods rank so highly in your revered opinion,” Nines spat and Connor shook his head.

“Look, kid,” Hank sighed, “if you’ve got a problem with me then have the guts to say it. But I highly doubt I’m the one in the way of your deluded daydreams of doing something better than working in some grubby burger van.”

Connor put his spatula to the side and shouldered past Nines to lean over the counter.

“Mr. Anderson,” his voice was cool and measured, “this may come as a shock to you but we’re happy with our van, it is what we wanted to do. I studied at the Institute of Culinary Education for three years. If I wanted to, I could be slaving away, making tiny portions of food for equally tiny minded people in an upmarket restaurant with my brother as my maître d’. But we chose this, it makes us happy. So if you wish to continue your patronage, I would strongly suggest you keep your unsavoury opinions to yourself. Now, would you like mushroom in your burger again?”

Connor smiled so sweetly as he straightened up that Hank could only gape. Under his beard, an embarrassed flush crept up his cheeks and he nodded as words eluded him.

“Wonderful,” Connor trilled and twirled away to resume with preparing the order.

Nines took up his spot by the counter with a decidedly unfriendly smirk and began tapping away on the till.

“Was there anything else you wished to insult? Sorry, I mean order.”

“A large soda as well please,” Hank at least had enough grace to look bashful though his eyes kept flickering back to Connor.

Once again, it was Connor who handed over the food and the drink and he kept an easy smile that Hank was hard pressed not to return. He took his order away rather than camp up by one of the tables though, as Connor watched him go.

“Seriously?” Nines’ disbelieving question drew his attention. “He’s the menace of the food world, insulted us and our choices and yet you make heart eyes at him?”

“He can still be hot,” Connor shrugged. “It’s like window shopping. Admire the goods but never actually buy them.”

Nines rolled his eyes and turned away. Sometimes he just didn’t understand Connor and that probably was for the best.

                 “Connor, you’re up,” Nines yelled three days later over the sizzling of food on the grill.

Confused, Connor turned to look and grinned when he saw Hank approach the van.

“Couldn’t keep away?”

“I didn’t trust the airport’s sandwich selection. Please could I have the usual but with extra mustard this time?”

Connor turned to make it but twisted so he could still chat over his shoulder.

“How was Texas?”

A look of pleasant surprise flitted over Hank’s face and he breathed a soft “You remembered?”

Something cracked near Nines and the other two turned to watch him twist the broken lid of a fresh bottle of mustard back on.

“And you remembered too,” Hank added dryly.

“Just ignore Nines, he’s only grumpy because I bet him you like mustard and now he owes me a new t-shirt.”

The look Nines threw Connor could have made a dandelion wither but his brother just laughed.

“Go take a walk Nines, it’s quiet, I can handle things.”

“And leave you alone with him?” Nines jabbed a thumb in Hank’s direction. “Fat chance.”

This time, when Hank was given his food, he left his change in the tip jar and took a table closer to the van.

Connor fixed Nines with a stare and it evolved into a hushed argument while they cast Hank quick glances to make sure he wasn’t watching. From Nines’ perspective, Hank was not worthy of Connor’s attention and he hated the way the man looked at Connor. There was no denying that they got off on the wrong foot and Nines hated that if they’d followed their path into having their own restaurant, it was without a doubt Hank and others like him that would have tried to destroy Connor’s happiness with nit-picking reviews. So he bore a grudge against Hank from a life they never led but he could all too easily imagine.

“Well, I like him, okay?” Connor spat. “And it’s fine, you’ll get your way because he sure as heck has better things to do than date someone like me.”

The duality of telling Connor off for putting himself down like that paired with the need to tell him Hank would probably happily bend him over the nearest surface made Nines’ eye twitch. In the end he said nothing and stormed out of the van on the walk Connor had suggested earlier.

He didn’t anticipate bumping into Hank as he made his way back towards the taxi rank.

“Nines, right?” Hank asked.

“What’s it to you?”

In an attempt to placate him, Hank held his hands up, palms facing Nines.

“Just trying to be friendly.”

“That crap might work on Connor but I don’t buy it for one second. Now I don’t control him, but you need to know that if you so much as breath wrong around him, I will not hesitate to throw a breadknife at your head.”

Hank had the audacity to laugh at that.

“I would be worried if you didn’t. But kid, you have nothing to fear. Someone like Connor wouldn’t be interested in someone like me. I’m fully aware that the media portrays a very different image to who I actually am. All Connor would be with me is disappointed.”

Nines couldn’t believe his ears. He thought Connor was bad enough, mooning over Hank. But to have Hank self-depreciatingly wave off even the idea of Connor being into him was too much. Perhaps they really were a match made in heaven.

“You’ll need a better excuse to keep coming to see him. Our burgers are good, but not that good,” he said and turned away from Hank, ready to return to work.

                 Over the course of the next few months, Hank became a regular. He flew all over the country to review restaurants but he remained loyal to Connor and Nines’ burger van. It became a habit that as soon as Nines saw him approach, he’d let Connor take over the front end while he busied himself with cleaning. There was a fine line between cute and infuriating that the two danced, neither quite daring to make the first move but pushing in the hopes that the other might be braver. Some days Nines was entertained by it but others, he really wanted to knock their heads together and announce “now kiss” as obnoxiously as he could.

“I’ve been thinking about doing a burger van review of the local area,” Hank said between bites as he leaned on the lip of the counter.

Opposite him, Connor was propped up with an elbow on the counter as he smiled serenely.

“That would be quite interesting. Though I there’s less of a structure to them than a restaurant. How would you rate them?”

“Well, quality of service, quality of food, speed of food delivery. The usual stuff really. Maybe even something about the surroundings, whether there’s a place to sit down to eat or if you have to stand on a street corner and juggle your food and drink,” Hank took another large bite and hummed in delight. “You really got the mustard to ketchup ratio right in this one.”

“It’s the dash of horseradish that brings all the flavours together,” Connor nodded.

“Horseradish? In a burger? That’s a little wild.”

Connor’s head dipped as he hid his blush and a hand covered his smile. It made Nines just about ready to scrunch up the newspaper he was reading when an article caught his eyes. An interview with Hank, most of it was boring routine things but the last question asked him about his favourite place to eat.

“It’s actually a burger van. I’m not going to tell you where exactly because I want to keep them to myself. But it’s run by a pair of brothers who never cease to make me smile. One’s terrifying and the other is adorable. Their burgers are the best I’ve had because they’re so obviously made with love. It shines through, how much they enjoy the job they’ve chosen and no Michelin Star can beat that.”

Nines pushed away from the over he’d been leaning against and rudely shoved the interview under Connor’s nose, a finger tapping against the last answer. A single glance at the paper and Hank was blushing furiously and he nervously tucked his hair behind his ear.

“About that,” he tried but Connor cut him off with a small smile.

“That is the sweetest thing anybody could have ever said, thank you.”

He tore the interview out from the newspaper and tacked it to the inside of the service window where nobody but he and Nines could see.

“Were you really planning on doing a burger van tour?”

Hank shuffled his feet as he hummed and hawed. Words and sentences trickled away into nothing as he glanced up at Connor with embarrassment.

“I did mention the idea to my editor?” he finally offered.

He didn’t expect Connor to let out a small laugh and lean fully over the counter.

“Stop me if I’ve misread the situation,” he grinned and tugged Hank in for a kiss.

“Connor!” Nines yelled. “Go outside for that! Think of our hygiene rating!”

With a chuckle, Connor broke away and undid his apron, which he passed to Nines on his way out.

“As it’s a lull in business, I’m taking my lunch break early.”

Nines watched as Hank offered an arm to Connor gallantly and they both burst out giggling, meandering off to one of the benches a little further down the road where they could continue to make out like teenagers.

[marvel-medigeek-fics]

Candid

This is my entry/fic/thing/whatever for @ruckystarnes’ summer of AUs challenge! I hope you enjoy and remember to check out some of the other submissions! 

Summary: Two rival studios. Two impossibly competitive photographers. Two days of a candid war. A high possibility of a candid romance. *wink wink*

Warnings: none! (except some puns)  

Pairing: T’Challa & Reader 

Word Count: 1963 

——

Friday. 8:07. Shutterfly Photography.

It was bound to be a slow day. Fridays are the slowest days, even without the lazy busy summer feel of the weekend of the 4th of July. You had a gig lined up for the Citywide Block Party that weekend, a celebration you looked forward to every year. Especially the food from the ice cream shop and the barbeque place downtown. Mmmmm.

The door opened just then, interrupting your salivating about the food. You recognized the person occupying your doorway. T’Challa from King’s Photos.

“Howdy,” he said, tipping his imaginary hat. 

“What are you doing here, T’Challa?” you replied skipping the formalities for your rival. 

“Such hostility!” he said in mock outrage, “I was checking to see how we were going to do the block party.” 

“There’s no we in this,”

“Check your email,” he replied simply. You looked for a glimpse of snark, but all you got was a shrug. So you sighed and checked your email. 

Once you had skimmed it, you looked up and narrowed your eyes at your rival. He narrowed his back. 

“So…we’re doing this together,” you said finally. 

“I’m afraid so. We all know what happens when we’re together.” He was no doubt referring to the fact that the last time you two had done anything together, you’d seriously bruised each other. With baseballs. On accident. 

“Let’s just wing it.” You knew this phrase would irk T’Challa, which is why you said it, hoping to annoy him enough to make him quit the gig. But you also knew it was futile because T’Challa is not a quitter. 

“Yes, let’s. Just wing it.” He replied, fighting to keep the scowl off of his face. 

“Just messing with you, how about we just make our way around the park, photographing as we walk?”

“Much better than winging it. Adding to that, why don’t we try and take candid photos. The 4th of July is a pretty casual holiday.”

“Surprisingly, I really like that idea.” 

—-

Friday. 13:38. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

Armed with your trusty Nikon and it’s case filled with extra batteries, you made your way to the far end of the park. It was a perfect summer day, breezy and just barely hot enough to melt your popsicle. You snapped a few pictures of the people milling around and a few more of the band that was set up to play in about 20 minutes. 

After walking around yourself for those 20 minutes, buying an ICEE from the stand, capturing the worker serving a little girl her ICEE, you finally found T’Challa. 

“What is that?” he pointed at the cup in your hand. 

“A strawberry ICEE.” you replied, taking a sip of the slushy drink. 

He still looked confused, so you elaborated, “It’s a slushie. Come on, you should get one.” 

You dragged him to the stand, stopping every few feet to snap another candid photo of people doing people things. A couple kissing at the end of a country song. A little boy presenting his mom with a fistful of dandelions. A braid train of three girls and a very talented boy. You were so busy with admiring the little moments you had captured that you didn’t notice T’Challa come up behind you, ICEE in hand. 

“What flavor did you get?” you said, trying to distract him from looking at your photos. 

“Orange,” he said, smugly looking over your shoulder. But you looked smugger. 

In one fell swoop, you turned around, smeared the uncovered ICEE into his face and snapped a picture. But T’Challa was nothing if not graceful, and he simply wiped off the orange mess off of his face. And onto your bare arm. 

He grinned, aiming his viewfinder and you and snapping, capturing your look of indignation and your hands blocking the camera in reflex. 

“Payback,” he said grinning. 

“Haha. This is a war now, Udaku.” 

“Game on, Y/L/N.” 

—-

Friday. 17:06. Jackson Event Center Parks Grandstand. 

You had taken a lot of pictures over the course of the day, most of them not simple candids, but of the actual band you’d been hired to photograph. The band was the Decade Hoppers, a new band that you’d never heard of before. They were really getting into their music, so they were prime real estate for unposed, casual pictures. Their music was pretty good and without realizing, you’d begun bopping and grooving to the beat. T’Challa took advantage of the loss of stiff uptightness and snapped a bunch of pictures of your moves. 

“Nice moves, Y/N,” He said, coming up to you, snapping a few pictures of his own of the band. 

“Not my best moves, I’m a better slow dancer,” you replied. 

“Oh, I bet, just like the slow dance in 8th grade where you smashed my toes so bad I couldn’t walk for two months.” 

“I’ve gotten better,” you sniped back. 

“Oh, I bet, so you’ll only break two of my toes this time?”

“Only one, if you buy me a milkshake first.” 

“How about zero if I buy you dinner?” 

“It’s a deal, T’Challa. There’s a dance tomorrow under the stars and the fireworks.” 

“Sounds sparkly.”

“You love glitter.” 

“Yeah, I’ll even wear a glitter tuxedo,” he said, walking toward another angle of the stage. 

“You’d better!” you called after him, shaking your head at how quickly that had gone from insulting to taking you out to dinner.

—

Saturday. 9:43. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

The second day of the 4th of July Block Party was always really slow in the morning, most people sleeping in or lazily eating pancakes from the cafes and coffee shops in town. You got a coffee from one of the food trucks serving breakfast. Very appreciated for everyone working at the celebration. 

The coffee was warm, the air was still and there were no sounds except for the occasional banter of the food truck workers and the gleeful screams of the neighborhood kids. It was perfect and with the mere thought of that dance tonight with T’Challa, your heart was making little kicks of joy. 

After finishing your coffee, you snapped a few pictures of the food truck workers sneaking kisses, a few of a volleyball game going on across the street and another few of the sun shining over the buildings. T’Challa appeared after you had snapped a terrible picture of the styrofoam coffee cup sitting empty on the table. 

“Having fun?” he asked, trying to hold back his laughter. 

“I am, actually,” you replied. 

“Want to go have more fun and go to Grace’s?” he replied, subtly begging you to go with him to a place he hated to go in alone. Especially because his ex ran the front counter. He was justifiably scared of her. 

“I would be happy to,” you said, standing up and taking his outstretched hand. In a second he would snap a picture. 

“Still a war going on, you know,” he smirked. 

“Oh, I know.” 

—

Saturday. 10:25. Grace’s Coffee. 

The bell rang as you came into the tiny coffee shop. You had vaguely registered T’Challa taking more candid pictures on the 10-minute walk over her, but you didn’t say anything. It was kind of cute. 

You walked up to the counter, confidently and casually holding T’Challa’s hand just to tick Grace off. “Your usual?” you asked him, knowing full well you had no idea what that was. 

“No, I’ll have french toast and a venti coffee,” he replied, a sudden boost of confidence coming over him as he relayed his order to Grace. “And she’ll have hashbrowns with another venti coffee.” 

“$10.94, sir, it’ll be right out,” Grace said, looking like someone gave her buttermilk in her cereal. 

When you had safely gotten out of Grace’s earshot and were sitting at one of those old fashioned diner tables, you whispered, “How did you know my order?” 

He shrugged, “Lucky guess?” 

You narrowed your eyes but seized the chance to take a picture of his sheepish grin and shrug. And then swiftly took another as the plates of your food slid into their places. 

“Really getting out there in the cultures this week, T’Challa. Yesterday ICEEs, today french toast, what’ll it be tomorrow?” you remarked, trying to get a rise out of him. 

“I’m more traveled than the president, woman, watch your mouth!” he said, waving a fork around your face. 

—

Saturday. 20:13. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

The night was beginning to wind down for the kids, but for the adults, it was just getting started. The snow cone stand was replaced with an alcohol truck and the music was relaxing back into sounds of the 70s, a stark change from the rapid pulse of the 90s. 

The sun wasn’t even close to going down, but the dance floor was getting fired up. T’Challa had come up behind you and whisked you off to one of the still left food trucks. Barbeque. 

“MMmmmmmm.” your mouth watered at the smell. 

“Ready for my part of the deal?” T’Challa quipped. 

“I’ll try not to stomp on your toes on the dance floor. I make no promises for getting barbeque, though,” you replied.

You ordered your usual, short ribs with extra sauce, very salty fries and an extra helping of mac and cheese. When you got back to the table T’Challa had told you to meet him at, he was waiting with an Oreo milkshake. “I thought dinner was the only part of your deal?” you questioned, digging into your food. 

“This is part of dinner.”

“Then I promise to not step on your toes for the entire night.”

“That’ll be a hard one for you, Y/N, but good luck,” 

—

Saturday. 22:19. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

“I’ll take my dance now, Y/N,” T’Challa said, just as the very beginnings of the firework show had erupted across the sky. 

You set your camera down next to his and made your way over to him. The sky was dark, but the fireworks gave off the perfect amount of light. Your hands fit perfectly together and from T’Challa’s smile, you could tell this was a positive revelation. 

The song changed from The Cupid Shuffle to a slow song with very soulful guitar chords and you made your way across the dance floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t wear my glitter tux,” he said, swaying along to the music. 

“You look great in what you’re wearing. I’m not even mad about the lack of glitter tux,” you replied, swaying back, making a conscious effort not to step on his toes. 

The fireworks kept going off in the background, but all you could hear was his breathing, calm, poised and peaceful. And your brain telling you to kiss your rival. You wouldn’t, no matter how cute he was and how sweet he had been today. 

“You look great too, Y/N,” he replied, his voice sending your brain back into kiss him, kiss him, kiss him rapid fire. “Happy 4th of July,” 

 And then he kissed you. Oh, holy macaroni. It felt so nice, you almost gave him a kiss back as soon as he pulled away. “Been waiting for this since the last time we danced and you broke my toes.”

“There’ll be none of that tonight. Just dancing in jeans and kissing under the fireworks,” you replied, smiling contentedly. 

—

 In the background of your first kiss together, the fireworks were still going off and the night was still young. Neither of you noticed the crowd behind you, cheering to the end of the fireworks. You both stood there, looking peaceful, beautiful and best of all, happy. 

It looked perfect, from the memories and from the photos someone took on your Nikons, still sitting side by side.

[cecilspeaks]

Episode 104 - The Hierarchy of Angels

I know you are, but what am I? What am I? What am I?

What. Am. I?

Welcome to Night Vale.

I should start today with something happy. In his speech yesterday honoring the life of Old Woman Josie, Larry Leroy out on the edge of town, and Josie’s closest neighbor, told a story about his pickup breaking down a few years ago. Josie had stopped on the roadside to help him push the old Chevy the mile or so to his house. In the last few hundred feet, the truck picked up momentum on the sloped road, and it rolled out of their control into a large cactus. They heard a surprised yelp, and saw Telly the Barber wide-eyed and sweating, holding a pair of shears. Josie and Larry laughed and laughed. Even the surprised Telly laughed. Larry then asked Telly why he was cutting that cactus’ hair. Telly gulped and ran away, still laughing and sweating profusely.

Larry told the gathered mourners that he didn’t have many friends in town, but Old Woman Josie was always kind to him. Always a smile, always happy to help. Always good for a giggle when she caught Telly giving cacti haircuts.

 The services were beautiful, you know that. You were all there. We were all there. I know I said gathered mourners but in a way, we were gathered celebrants, extolling the great life of a great woman, now gone. Today is the scattering of her ashes and the city is working to fulfil Josie’s wishes. They are joined in this endeavour by several beings claiming to be angels. The city is trying to ignore the angels’ request to help because it is illegal to acknowledge the existence of angels, so… we’ll see how this goes.

The dozens of five-headed dragons, who came to our world after the botched, yet partially successful execution of fellow dragon Hiram McDaniels, are still in town. Hiram’s sister, Hadassah, had promised vengeance for the wrongful murder of Hiram’s violet head. But after several weeks of setting fire to local businesses, and devouring a few of the more muscular human citizens, the dragons have gone mostly silent. Their aggression’s now limited to some blatant jaywalking and loitering. There has been one report of an unidentified five-headed dragon hurling a crumpled Fresca can basketball-style at a trash bin, missing the trash bin wildly, and then picking the soda can up and gently tossing it into the bin, only to have it clumsily fall out and back onto the ground. Onlookers were shocked to see that the dragon did not even attempt a third put-back, and the can is still lying on the ground this very moment. The can is still. On the ground. Mayor Cardinal has called on the Sheriff for stricter enforcement of minor offenses, so they do not escalate into more sinister crimes. Plus, she added, if we do not clean litter from our curbs, the street cleaners might show up, and we simply cannot afford the loss of innocent lives that would cause. More on this as it develops.

Josie’s daughter Alondra Ortiz, who came to town last year to be with her ailing mother until Josie passed away, is now sorting through Josie’s estate and documents. Alondra said she found no will in Josie’s files, only a piece of paper that said: “It all belongs to the angels.” But Alondra noted the handwriting was written shakily in thick Magic Marker, and every word but “it” and “the” was misspelled. She believes the beings who claim to be angels wrote this, not her mother. The angels responded, “nuh-uh”, and then nervously wiped their brows with clearly ink-stained hands. Alondra hired in an estate lawyer to help sort out liquidation of her mother’s assets. Alondra said she just wants to be done with all this and go back home. When asked where home was, Alondra responded, “I don’t remember. Why can’t I remember? That’s not important, I mean it’s super-important but not to this discussion. Oh god, what is wrong with me, with this town?” A single-engine plane then flew across the horizon behind her, trailing a banner that read, “Ooooh! I found some teeth!”

Listeners, some of you have asked about our intern, Kareem. He’s been at the station for so long, about 16 months, much longer than any other intern in recent memory. Well, I’m sorry to report he’s no longer with us. He was a good intern and he will be missed. Kareem changed majors from communications to Earth sciences and no longer needs this radio internship. He is taking classes with Professor Simone Rigideau at Night Vale Community College. Simone is not actually employed by NVCC, and in one of Kareem’s last journalistic endeavours here at the station, he even found a copy of her death certificate, dated 1983, although she does not show any signs of being a ghost. But apparently her knowledge of Earth sciences intrigued Kareem enough that he wanted to change career trajectories. Kareem told me on his last day, which was today, like five minutes before I started my broadcast is when I find out about this. He told me Simone knows what happened to Night Vale, why Kareem’s family doesn’t know him anymore, and why he can’t find Mitchigan, or whatever is home state is, on a map. I’m just happy Kareem is pursuing his dreams, even if he’s gonna lose alll those journalism credits! And today’s filing will have to be done by an overworked radio host before he gets to go home to his husband. Gonna be a looong path to that degree, Kareem! I’m sure you’ll do great. 

Listeners, I’d like to caution you away from driving near downtown. Road crews have shut down all streets in all directions, as a construction team is building a series of elaborate rollercoasters and amusement park rides, many of which do dives and loops around, under, and through the surrounding buildings and even roads. It’s complete gridlock all over downtown, with cars unable to drive into or out of the jam. On the plus side, there’s a pretty cool looking Aquaman ride that does a double-twisting loop through a large pool of water that is elevated more than 50 feet off the ground. Mayor Cardinal is on the scene arguing with the construction team about their lack of development permits. The construction crew, who are all tall glowing beings with wings, showed the Mayor a piece of paper that said, “This is all totally fine, Josie said we can build this, OK? Signed, City”, written in a Magic Marker and nearly every word misspelled.

Allondra Ortiz’ lawyer, Emilio Tavarez, filed an injunction to halt the work, saying that the funds used toward the construction of these rollercoasters were part of Josie’s estate, and were being misappropriated by the so-called angels. There is no documentation showing Josie wished her money to be spent this way, Tavarez explained. The construction team then mumbled, “A dummy says what?” And Tavarez said, “What?” and they all laughed, including the Mayor who then added, “Yeah but yeah seriously, you need building permits, even if you are fulfilling the elaborate wishes of the deceased.” We’ll have more on this soon, but first, a quick break.

Hi, this is Cecil. Leave a message! 

Steve Carlsberg: Hello, Cecil? It’s Steve. OK, I’m not sure if you’re there or not. Last few times I called, you said to leave a message at the tone, and then halfway into my message you interrupted me and said, [Cecil impersonation] “Ha ha, Steve. You fell for it again.” So I’m just making sure you’re actually there this time. I have something I wanted to tell you so you could report it on your show. Are you there, Cecil? I don’t wanna fall for your trick again.

OK. Well. I was getting some coffee over at the Spiky Hammer, and I held the door for this woman I didn’t recognize. She just stared at me, didn’t say thank you or anything. I mean, I don’t hold doors for approval, it’s just a nice thing to do, but she efforted to not thank me, you know? And then when I stood in line, she stood right next to me, her face just inches from mine, staring at me. I tried not to look, it’s not nice to stare. She didn’t say anything for the longest time, but right as I placed my order, a large crab legs macchiato with (quad shot) and whipped cream, she started whispering loudly in my ear! I couldn’t understand what she was saying, and it made it difficult to talk to the barista. And then, when I turned to ask her politely if she wanted me to get her something, she was gone. Oh I wish I could remember what the woman said. Oh gosh. It was something like, hmmmmmmmmmm..

[voice distorts] The Woman from Italy has come back to town. Nothing can stop her from tearing it down! She lives for your screams, makes meals of your tears. She revels in chaos and deals in your fears. 

We all huddle and hide from the pain yet to come, huddled hidden with loved ones, perhaps she’ll spare some.

She brings the torture, the trouble, the stress, so can you order for her a double espresso?

[normal voice] Well I don’t remember what she said. If I think of it, I’ll call you back. Anyway, sorry I missed you Cecil!

 Cecil: I’m here, Steve! You totally fell for it.

 Steve: Oh, oh! Oh-ho-ho-ho, you got me!

 Cecil: Basic stuff, Steve.

Steve: Sure is! Wow, you got me good! [chuckles]

Cecil: I tease you because I love you, Steve.

Steve: Aww, Cecil. I love you too, big brother!

Cecil: Just kidding, I’m not here! Please leave your message after the tone. [beep]

Steve: Hello? Cecil, I’m not sure what just happened. I guess I’ll try again later.

--

Sorry of the interruption. Oh, looks like I got a voicemail. Oh, it’s from Steve Carlsberg. Well, never mind, there’s breaking news right now.

Stay far away from downtown, listeners. The traffic jam caused by the halted construction project is in great danger. The cars are honking noisily, people are abandoning their vehicles, but the Sheriff is asking everyone to seek immediate shelter. Several dragons are converging on the scene. The dragons have everyone in the congested area completely surrounded. They are walking – no, stomping toward the helpless citizens trapped in traffic. Night Vale, do not go out on the roads. The dragons have us exactly where they want us. What a disastrous trap! Be safe.

And as I try to find out more on what’s happening in downtown, please hear this important weather report. 

[“Qualified” by Sammus feat. Open Mike Eagle, sammusmusic.bandcamp.com]

Here is the secret hierarchy of angels.

Deceased humans can become angels, but few humans do. Angels are immortal beings, but not all of them are former human souls. Some are animals, some plants. Some outdated electronics.

They are all named Erika with a K. All angels are equal to all other angels. They share all memories and all physical sensations. They experience everything simultaneously. Their minds are overwhelmed with enlightenment and pain.

They have no centralized leadership, but they do have committees, lots of committees. These committees do not have titles nor objectives. The committees simply emerge as needed. 

Angels are wealthy, but do not understand currency. They will often ask to borrow 10 bucks.

Angels have no bodies, only visual projections of winged, barely humanoid forms. These forms are dreamed up by those who see and acknowledge them, and may vary based on the viewer.

The secret hierarchy of angels is an ethereal mass of feelings and thoughts made manifest by necessity. They’re only individual beings because we imagine them so, but they are collectively beings.

It is illegal to speak of or acknowledge in any way the secret hierarchy of angels. But. I. will. Acknowledge it. here, on the radio. I’m an objective journalist, which does not mean I have no morals or opinions, just that I can be self-aware of my biases and emotions, yet still report a story transparently to you. You may not agree with my point of view, but I will do. My. Best. To give you the information you need to decide that on your own.

In the case of the angels, I acknowledge them. I see them! And because Josie always said such, I too believe that they are real beings, and are entitled to Josie’s estate. So does five-headed dragon Miriam Adelman. She’s a lawyer, and the angels hired her to represent their case for management of Josie’s will.

Oh, the dragons did not do any harm to those in traffic today. They were simply the legal team coming to help facilitate Josie’s final wish, which was to build a Night Vale sculpture garden, complete with the usual rollercoasters and tilt-a-whirls, and an enormous ferris wheel. 

Josie wanted to have her ashes scattered underneath (Jacobo Manzu’s) [0:22:17] famous sculpture, “Top Thrill Dragster”, which is a 400-foot drop and reaches over 120 miles per hour. Adelman and her legal team managed to push through the sculpture garden construction, which is now complete, and Josie’s ashes have finally been honored in the way she wanted. Alondra ceded this ground because she understood how important this town was to Josie. But she added, “My mother’s home, her belongings, her money, her legacy – these are all I have of my family. I have no siblings, no cousins, and no parents. I am the only Ortiz left. I do not know or understand Night Vale,” Alondra said. “I do not believe in angels, nor dragons for that matter, I just want what is left of my mother’s memory, and then I want to go home, wherever that is.” The city has declined to hear further arguments about estate ownership from Adelman or her angel clients, as the dragons are not licensed to practice law anywhere on this Earth, and their clients, the angels, don’t legally exist.

The secret hierarchy of angels is a cloud of knowledge, formed from the collected experiences of the deceased. Josie might be among them now, or she might know. All I know is that Josie loved Night Vale and we loved her.

I am going to go to the sculpture garden today to pay my respects. Carlos and I will hold hands and lay flowers at the ash-strewn base of (Manzu’s) towering masterpiece of contemporary sculpture. And then, we will purchase a souvenir photo of ourselves screaming in joy and sorrow, while engaged in a 120-mile per hour freefall, demonstrating our fervent arts adovacy, exactly as Josie would have wanted.

I hope all of you will join me in honoring not only the life of Josefina Ortiz, but the lives of the angels who loved her too.

Stay tuned next for hosts Josh and Chuck and their wildly popular show, “Stuff You Shouldn’t Know”, which as usual will be an unbroken reduction beep for 30 straight minutes. No one has ever heard Josh or Chuck speak.

And as always, good night, Night Vale.

Josie was beautiful and angels are real!

Good night.

[kissmeunderthestarlight]

Sunshine(B-Joo- TOPP DOGG)

Requested by: kookiewarrior

Yay!! Byungjoo!! [Add: Also someone please tell/comfort me that Ten is going to be in the next NCT comeback D'x and Hansol! And all the others they have locked away! And they need to let Mark take a break!]

~Uh it's been a long time. Can't take my eyes off you. Topp Dogg (I want you, want you, want you) When I space out all night cause I'm thinking of you. When I say you're pretty without even realizing. I felt it, I changed, something feels weird. I think I'm lovesick with you. When you slightly smile at me you're so dazzling, you shine down on me (You make me hot) I can't escape from you~

"Yah! Sanggyun! Get back here! Now!" You screamed while chasing after the boy who stole your phone. "I'm going to kill you! Come here!"

"Ahh! Hyung, hyung! Help!"

Sehyuk looked at the younger boy and shook his head, "You shouldn't have stole her phone."

Sanggyun was left staring after Sehyuk with his mouth open from surprise, leaving you the chance to run over and snatch your phone back and then punch his arm. "Oww! What the hell noona!"

"Hey, you're the one who stole my phone."

You walked back over to the couch and sat down, snuggling up to your boyfriend who had watched the whole thing with a smile on his face. He shrugged at the younger boy who was now looking at you with shock and then to his hyung with hurt.

"Hyung! Your girlfriend is mean!"

"No she's not, you took the phone you've gotta pay the consequences."

"Hyung!" Sanggyun shook his head and walked away muttering under his breath all the way into his room.

You felt a light kiss being placed on your head and looked up at Byungjoo who was smiling down at you. "Happy now?"

"Yeah," you smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "Now, can we go somewhere?"

He let out a laugh and tightened his arm around your shoulder, "Where did you want to go?"

"Hmmmm, the park?"

"Alright, come on." He said as he stood up and held out a hand to you.

"Really?!"

"Mhm."

"Yay!" You grabbed his hand and dashed to the front door, pulling him along behind you.

~Let’s be together today, have fun. You make me elegant, Audrey Hepburn. I’m different from all those guys who just hit on you. You can treat me like a baby but we’re gonna move at a fast pace (so shine) How can you shine so much? You’re my perfect delight. My breath stops, beauty itself is you, sunshine. You’re my sunshine. You’re so dazzling, my sunshine. You’re the one, my Messiah~

You and Byungjoo were walking on the park trail hand in hand and just enjoying the nice breeze and beautiful scenery. You enjoyed being able to do little things like this with him since he was so busy you guys were usually never able to hang out, so whenever you got a chance to do something with him you always took it.

"I'm enjoying this," he said softly before turning and looking at you. "Being able to come out with you and just do something small like this."

You chuckled and squeezed his hand lightly, "Me too."

He stretched his arms above his head and then laid one gently one your shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For being so busy all the time. I know it's not easy on you, it's definitely not easy for me."

"Don't worry about it," you told him as you pulled him closer, "I know you love what you do and for me that's the most important part. Besides it's not like I don't have a job myself."

"Ugh, that's right. It's not just my fault."

"Yah!" 

He laughed and dodged your hit before he started running towards the swings. You laughed and started to chase after him, still surprised yet unbelievably happy that your relationship could be like this.

~All of you is sunshine. Shine into my racing heart, come in, I wanna fill myself up with you. I want you more than yesterday. Sunshine sunshine like you like that. Like you like, like that (I want you, want you, want you) Like you like, like you like that, Like that (sunshine) Like you like, like that (I want you, want you, want you) Like you like, Like you like that (sunshine)~

You sat on the swing as Byungjoo stood behind you, lightly pushing you and then catching you and trying to kiss your cheek. You'd laugh and then push him away so you could swing forward again then repeat the process all over again. Overall you were having fun and to you that's all that mattered.

"Oppa! Oppa! Look!"

Byungjoo looked over in the direction you were pointing and you saw a smile grow on his face when he saw it as well. "Ice cream!"

He took off running, leaving you behind to jump from the swing and start racing after him. Sometimes you couldn't believe how child-like the both of you were but you also knew that neither of you would change a thing. Byungjoo had beat you to the ice cream truck but had patiently waited for you to catch up to him before grabbing your hand and ordering what you both wanted, then paying he handed you your ice cream and you both headed to a bench that sat facing a little pond.

"Remember not to eat your ice cream too fast or you'll get a-"

"Brainfreeze!" Byungjoo cried out as he held onto his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

You laughed at him then leaned over and rubbed his temple with one hand, instructing him to do the same, then letting go and finishing your ice cream. "I don't get how you still do that every time you get ice cream," you teased him as you laughed.

"I forget, it's too yummy to remember. I want to just finish it as soon as I taste it." He whined as he pouted and turned towards you.

"Awe, my poor Byungjoo-ah~"

You pat his cheek, smiling fondly, and waited until he finished his ice cream before standing and throwing the trash away. "Where do you want to go now? Back to the house?"

He shook his head fervently, "Nope I have somewhere to show you. Come on."

He took your hand and pulled you behind him as you stumbled to keep your feet underneath you. "Oppa? Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

~No matter how much I look at you, I don’t get sick of it. It’s so amazing, even your blank face looks so cute, I wanna see it again. I wanna poke your red cheeks, I wanna take a bite out of you, do you taste sweet? My heart flutters, my temperature is rising, rising. This weather goes well with you, babe nice weather. Your spectrum is broad, you look pretty with any style. Wait I wanna make a photograph for you, you’re hot. Sunshine let me take you to the restaurant (so shine)~

You looked at the building in front of you with a raised eyebrow and turned to Byungjoo, confused. "What are we doing here?"

"You said you wanted to see the new dance we're working on right?"

You gasped and grabbed ahold of his sleeve, "Really?! You're gonna show me?"

"Mhm, come on."

You cheered and quickly followed him into the studio, doing a little happy dance in your head and smiled happily when you stopped in front of the door to the practice room. Byungjoo smiled fondly at you and let out an amused laugh when you practically ran into the room.

"Come on! Hurry, I wanna see!"

"Why are you so excited?"

"Because besides you guys', I'll be the first person to see your performance. I've already listened to the song, which is amazing, and now I get to see the performance to go with it!"

He laughed and shook his head before heading over to the player[what the heck is it called?!] and told you to press play after he chose the song. He headed to the middle of the floor and after some stretching he nodded to you and you pressed play, watching as he got into position and started dancing. You always enjoyed watching him dance simply because he always made it look like it just flowed together. His dance skills just seemed to amaze you no matter how many times you watched him on the floor, and it never failed to make you proud that he was yours.

"How was that?" Byungjoo asked as he plopped down onto the floor beside you, laying back and turning his head to look at you.

"That was really good!" 

"You always say that jagi~" He said as he pouted and nudged your leg.

"Well, I always mean it. I always love watching you dance oppa, you're so good!"

~You spill out light, my perfect delight. My breath stops, you’re so dazzling, sunshine. You’re my sunshine. You’re so dazzling, my sunshine. You’re the one, my Messiah. All of you is sunshine. Shine into my racing heart, come in, I wanna fill myself up with you. I want you more than yesterday. Sunshine sunshine like you like that~

"You mean it?"

"Of course I do," you said as you poked his cheek. "Stop doubting yourself, you've always been so talented. I'm proud of you."

He smiled and sat up, leaning over and laying his hand on your cheek he kissed you. "Thank you, jagi. That means a lot to me."

You laid your forehead against his own and smiled in bliss, "I'm glad that you're in my life Byungjoo-ah."

"Me too, remind me to thank Jiho for introducing you to me."

You laughed and nodded along with him, "Yeah hard to believe that we're together because of him. Remember how we didn't even like each other when we first met?"

"Haha yeah, now I can't stop myself from loving you." You stopped and stared at him with a raised eyebrow, making him laugh. "What?"

"Too cheesy."

"What?! I didn't think that was cheesy?"

"Seriously?" You cleared your throat and put a dramatic look on your face as you imitated him. "Now I can't stop myself from loving you."

He laughed and pushed you over, "Yah don't be mean."

"Mian Mian."

He shook his head and stood up, holding his hand out for you to take. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's head back to the house."

"Yeah, I'm sure the others miss me."

"Probably, that's actually probably true. They always miss you more than they miss me. I don't get it," he said as he threw his arm over your shoulder and you guys walked away from the studio.

"If it's any consolation I always miss you when you're gone."

"Ha, thanks. I always miss you too," he told you softly before leaning over and kissing your cheek. "We got cheesy again didn't we?"

You laughed and bumped your hip into his. "Yeah, but it's okay."

~Your sunshine fills my clear heart. When I color myself with you my world is done, yeah. I don’t want nobody. If it’s you, I won’t get sick of saying these things. Even though there’s a lot of pretty girls I can’t take my eyes off of you. When I said hi to you, I’ll be honest. Can I come inside? You’re my sunshine. You’re so dazzling, my sunshine. You’re the one my Messiah. All of you is sunshine. Shine into my racing heart so I won’t get lost on my way to you. Tomorrow, I’ll want you more than today. Sunshine like you like that Like you like, like that (I want you, want you, want you) Like you like, like you like that, Like that (sunshine) Like you like, like that (I want you, want you, want you) Like you like, Like you like that (sunshine)~

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KILL 

ME 

NOW

I am SO sorry that this was so bad D'x Honestly i cannot call myself a good author from writing this imagine. This just sucks! D'x I'm so sorry! 

Have a good day/night though you guys! I love you! D;x ♥♥

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Also, Yang Yoseob is stealing my heart! ♥♥♥ Like just look at this adorable handsome little fluff

Yoseob

he's so cute

    puppy with a puppy

hearteu

amazing selfies...

yet he does something like this....

He's soooo cute D'x aiya I can't help it D'x omo~~~ Someone halp me! He's stealing ma heart!! D'x