#started with city when he was 9 got his call up to the senior side at 17

[tartt9]

jamie @ man united, 4 feb 2023

[toxooz]

Hi, me again (senior in college)! Thank you for answering my previous ask! If it's alright to ask, could you please tell us more about Vinny and his momma (background, first squad interactions, etc)? I'm not sure if you already made a post about it or not. Thanks again <3!

- A.M.

OH BOI WOULD I ok so Vinny n his momma (Mrs.Clawford):

and her husband were a well adjusted family where Vin's dad worked at a chemical plant(made the majority of their income) and his mom works at a daycare. Vinny and his dad were super close and he would take Vinny fishing along with other activities when he could, he was a strong source of support and Vinny aspired to be like him when he grew up. When Vin was about 9 years old his dad was involved in a fatal explosion in the chemical plant and his mom had to break the news to him after getting the call. They both took it extremely hard and his mom, now having to work overtime and find an additional job to support them, could rarely ever be there for Vin. Vinny secluded himself and would often stay in his room all day playing games and would often times scrounge around the house for meals if his mom didn't have time to make something before she would leave for work. He became bitter and sulky most of the time and wouldn't say much to anybody, and while his mom did try to connect with him, in reality she was simply too tired from all the work so she could never quite be there for him emotionally for she was also dealing with the grief herself as well. When Vinny was 10, his mom put her paw down and bought him a scooter so that he would at least be outside while she was away, and she looked for a nearby park to take him to before work which ofc Ollie's skatepark was the only one in the city. Vinny hated this idea immensely and it was incredibly uncomfortable for him for he did not cope well with the sudden change of activity and being out all alone on a scooter he didn't even want, so he was NOT happy. His dad being gone and him having little closure over it meant that his pillar of support had vanished, so he was left vulnerable, anxious and alone at a huge skatepark with loud skateboards and even louder Big monsters

the first few days he was chased into a corner of the fence where he would stay bc it was too much to scoot around in fear that he may get knocked over or bullied ect. and he would hiss and swipe out of fear at people if they skated too close. A few skaters brought it up to Ollie that 'there's a lil dude who is totally Not having a good time over there' so Ollie checked it out and caught sight of the mini trembling furball in the corner evil eying everyone. He had to mosey his way over to him indirectly to not scare him more. He crumbled up his massive body to get as low and nonthreatening as possible and inched his way along the fence until he was at an interactive range with Vinny. Vinny noticed him a little too late, his fur stood up even more as he refused to look directly at Ollie while giving out a small low growl, but Ollie simply took out a candy bar, broke off a piece and ate it, then broke off another piece and calmly handed it to Vin.

Vinny reflexively looked over and hesitated a loong time before taking the piece and waited til Ollie ate another piece before he ate his. As they silently finished the candy bar, Vinny's fur had gone down and his ears came back up which was Ollie's que to ask him his name ect. and by that time Vinny was pretty receptive to it. Ollie asked him if he wanted to skate with him and while Vinny was hesitant he accepted. They eased their way through the skatepark as Ollie kept a slow pace to allow Vin to keep up and Vinny was g l u e d to the side of Ollies leg while everyone else at the park kept their distance to give them space. They did this for the rest of the day which Really got Vinny out of his shell and even made Vinny kind of excited to come back tomorrow. They pushed around for a few days as Vins personality started shining through and eventually Ollie let him try out his skateboard which Vinny was super excited about. Even though Ollies big ass board was like a surfboard to Vinny he still wanted a skateboard nonetheless so Ollie agreed to make him his own skateboard. Ponti didn't care for Vinny in the slightest and would call him 'that damn scooter kid' (he got scratched by Vin once on the tail and had a grudge against him since lmfao) so Ollie would have to defend Vin from Ponti sometimes for he would deliberately skate threateningly close to Vinny and hit him with his tail( Ponti was hostile as hell since he was still kinda new and him and Ollie still had a little beef at this time) which probably started some fights between Ollie and Ponti tbh BUT eventually Ponti warmed up to Vin as he had his own redemption arc and is now the mean older brother to him but will beat anyone to a pulp who messes with Vin. Remy didn't care for him either but was pretty passive and Abio and Oscar helped with the warm welcome. Vinny used the skateboard for a while and Ollie would take it back with him when the day was over but eventually his mom found out and she confronted Ollie n the squad about it mad as hell talkin abt how dangerous it was and how Vinny was going to break something or get in with the wrong crowd ect. so Ollie had to calm her down and apologized. Vinny was tore up abt the whole thing but when his mom saw how much fun he was having and how he had opened up she reluctantly agreed to let him skateboard sO dear god there's his origin 😭

THAT WAS LONG AS HELL MY BAD and kind of spoilery but its fine lmfao THNX 4 THE ASK!!

[pretty-boys-book-club]

Mind Over Matter (Chapter 5) | Bylines to my heart

Summary: You are a young journalist navigating the turbulent job of reporting for a local newspaper in D.C. What happens when you constantly bump into a cute boy genius? Can FBI agents befriend journalists? Can they fall in love with one?

Word Count:

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

“Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you'd been before the fall." ― Jodi Picoult

Over the course of the next few days, Spencer finds himself all over the country. One week he's in Georgia, then there's a case in New Mexico, only for them to be called to consult over a case in Michigan the very next moment. When he first started at the FBI, he used to hear multiple people mention the dangers of travel burnout. As someone who had barely left the West Coast, that idea seemed ridiculous to him. Working remotely from different stations, visiting several cities in one week, and staring longingly out an airplane window seemed like a glamorous lifestyle. If burnout was the price to pay, he could deal with it.

But now?

After a decade in the BAU, he completely understand why all senior agents complain about their job not being a 9-to-5. He's constantly rushing, because the team is always inevitably called to consult in a case at the very last notice, so he never ends up unpacking, never turns off his brain, never rests, never stops. And when he's off work, it’s hard not to bring his work home with him. He doesn't really feel like he even has a personal life anymore. He's missed so many birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

Keep reading or read it on AO3

Truth be told, Spencer simply doesn't know how to relate with most people. It's not that he dislikes them, but more so they are just too different from him. They don't have the same morals as he does, nor do they understand the way he thinks. On top of that, it's not like he had that many opportunities to learn how to navigate relationships growing up. His mother's illness made him pretty much a recluse, and only when he got older did he realize that a lot of people thought he was odd.

Being a child prodigy meant that, during all of his childhood, he was pushed beyond his limits time and time again, challenged to an unhealthy level of learning that forced him to give up the typical things people do during childhood and their teenage years. Even now, with all the knowledge he possesses, he still lacks the ability to navigate social cues.

He is aware of that, of course, but his awareness does not make things any easier. In his haphazard pursuit for his career, he has always pulled away before getting too close to anyone.

Then, he met Maeve and he felt understood for the first time. He felt seen. And, to be honest, he enjoyed the attention. But she died in his arms before he could even get to know her deeply. And when she passed away, Spencer lost the very little trust he had in relationships.

When your heart has been through so much loss it doesn’t just go back to loving. It goes into a very different place. It goes to fear, anxiety and trauma. The first moment he feels a small glimmer of love, he immediately feels so much fear that it's almost like a panic attack.

He knows he will never fully recover from Maeve's death, but he wants to move on. The problem is that he's terrified of being hurt. After everything he has witnessed over the years—the pain of others, the damage they can cause, the horror that comes out of them— he knows that there’s a certain level of risk involved in loving someone else.

He knows he will never fully recover from Maeve's death, but he wants to move on. The problem is that he's terrified of being hurt. After everything he has witnessed over the years—the pain of others, the damage they can cause, the horror that comes out of them— he knows that there’s a certain level of risk involved in loving someone else.

And yet, Spencer needs someone by his side. Someone who understands him and won't leave him. Someone he can lean on. He knows it'll take time, patience and understanding. But he wants to try that with you.

His biggest challenge right now is that he fears the worst and hopes for the best. So far, he hasn't had the best luck with romantic relationships, but maybe, this time, luck will be on his side.

He just has to find the courage to send you a text. His fingers tremble as he looks up your phone number. He can feel his palms sweating, so he takes a deep breath, then another, trying to calm his racing thoughts and pounding heart. He types out the message, pressing send before he can overthink it.

The second he does, fear and relief wash over him. He realizes that he has been holding his breath while typing the words. Even though he's terrified, he smiles and lets himself breathe.

06:37 PM Spencer 📚☕️: Hi. I was just thinking about your offer for a second date, but I'm a bit swamped at work at the moment. How are you? Miss me?

It takes Spencer several seconds to realize what he's done.

This was supposed to be a joke. A sarcastic, lighthearted line that would hopefully put both of you at ease. Instead, it sounds as if he's clingy and desperate. He stares at the screen, wondering how many times he can hit delete before it stops working.

But somehow, he doesn't want to erase it. He wants to see your reply. He doesn't know why, but he really does.

—

You're almost asleep when your phone lights up with a notification. You look at the number and see that it's from a couple of emails waiting for you from your boss and a text from Spencer. You've been so buried in work lately that you're even struggling to stay awake, you don't have the right mind space to reply at the moment. You make a mental note to answer him later when you're less stressed out before finally giving up and getting some sleep.

Once again, you wake up to an alarm going off. You turn to your side and turn it off, deciding that a few more minutes of sleep can't hurt. You get back under the covers and close your eyes again. It's only moments later that you realize you're gonna be late if you wait any longer. You roll over and grab your phone to check the time, seeing that you've got another email from your boss. You groan at the thought of going into work today.

"You'll do fine," you mutter as you get out of bed. You quickly get dressed and try to calculate how much it'll take you to get to work on time. Finally, you decide that you'll just have to cut out some corners this morning. You head to the metro station before you even get a chance to eat something. Once you get there, the wagon is so full that you end up standing all the way down to your stop. By the time you get outside of the station, you're already running behind schedule.

Finally, you get to your desk just in time to see an email come through from your boss. "Just a reminder: we need the next review done by noon," he says. You sigh. You've been so buried in work, which you probably should've been doing anyway considering how much of it you suddenly have. Seems like everyone in the newsroom has started to get stressed about imminent deadlines.

You've been struggling with writing a review about the Midsummer Night's Dream production at the National Theater. You had such a good time with Spencer. It was an interesting experience to see Shakespeare performed live, especially because the stagecraft was great. But, of course, it's something that has been performed a million times before. So it's hard to write about what you've experienced without trying to sound like a complete douche.

It's not that you think it's bad or anything. It's just that there are lots of people who've seen this play a thousand times. The job writing reviews is a bit more tedious than you expected. You have to go over the details of plays, movies or books you've seen and read over and over again. Sometimes, you wonder why they hire someone to do these sorts of things.

The rest of the day goes by slowly until lunch break comes around. You're nowhere near finished with the review. It's the second time this week you've let a deadline pass by unnoticed. John calls you into his office. You're getting used to dealing with him. At first, you thought he was too harsh with your articles, but his constant scolding actually motivates you to be better at what you do.

"I know I haven't exactly been easy on you," he starts. "But there's a reason why I'm doing it." He pauses for a moment as if thinking about what to say next. "You remind me a lot of my younger self. You should keep that in mind. I did some stupid stuff when I was your age and ended up ruining my career because of it. Don't let that happen to you."

You're a little surprised by that, but you also feel kind of touched by it. Maybe you aren't so bad after all. The silence stretches for a minute or so. You sit down in front of his desk and take a deep breath before asking: "But...?"

He leans back in his chair and folds his hands in front of him. "Your articles have been very good," he begins. "But I want them to be even better. And I'm not saying that to stroke your ego. You've missed two deadlines. That's twice now. If you can't meet those deadlines, then I can't afford to keep you anymore."

"I'm sorry," you apologize. "I really am. I didn't think I'd miss the deadlines."

"No one does. It's just something you have to learn to deal with," he says. "Now, I'm not telling you this to scare you. I'm telling you this because I care about you. I don't want to see you fail, okay?"

"Thank you, sir."

He smiles. "From now on, I want you to double check every single detail. No more missed deadlines. And, just in case, I'm assigning one of the editors to work closely with you. His name is Thomas and he's going to help you with everything from now on." He calls for Thomas to come into the room.

He looks a bit older than you. You're guessing he's in his early thirties, maybe a little older. Your boss, John, continues. "Thomas is one of our best. You two are going to go through each of your drafts until you get the hangs of it. Do you think you can handle that?"

You nod. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Don't take this the wrong way. You're young, you're bound to make mistakes sometimes, but try harder from now on, okay?" John stands up, walks around the desk and puts his hand on your shoulder. "You're a good reporter, kiddo. I really liked your coverage of the Tenleytown case."

You smile. "Thanks, sir."

"Don't thank me yet. We'll see how you do tomorrow. Now, if you two don't mind, I have a phone call I need to attend to. Don't fuck up, okay?"

And with that, he goes back to the desk and signals for you two to leave his office. Thomas accompanies you outside. He's carrying a stack of files.

"So, I take it you're new to the Capital." He mentions, hoping to start a conversation.

"Yes, I used to live in New York before. Moved there during college. After that, I got a job there and decided to stay. You know how it goes."

"Sounds fancy. NYU?"

"No, Columbia."

"Oh, well. I went to..."

You interrupt him. "Let me guess...Princeton?"

"What gave it away?"

"The fact that you didn't answer my question."

"Touché." He laughs. "Still, I can't believe you came all the way here just to join the WTOP team. Have you seen the traffic?" You two keep talking until you reach your desk. He tells you he holds a Masters in English, something that makes you think he’d get along well with Spencer if they were to meet. You also learn that he likes to go out drinking on the weekends, but only if he can find a nice place that doesn't have too many hipsters.

There's a bizarre magic to finding the right editor who understands the stories you're passionate about, deals with all the internal newsroom drama necessary to get your story what it needs, and makes your work better. He is responsible for checking facts, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. He’s the one that ensures that all your articles correspond with in-house style guides and feel polished and refined when done.

—

Your work day stretches until late once again. You're tired and worn out after having stayed late at work the last few days, but you have a deadline to meet and you know it's better to finishing things off before you have a chance to relax. Thomas approaches you with a cup of coffee in hand.

"How're you doing?" He asks.

"Busy as usual." You sip on your coffee.

"Don't tell me about it. No one tells you about the long hours we put in here. I mean, I knew there was a lot of work involved, but I hadn't realized just how much."

You nod in agreement, your computer shows it's almost 9 PM. "Shit, are you by any chance going home?"

"Sure," Thomas says. "I don't need to get back until the morning anyway. Where do you live?"

"A couple of blocks from Woodley Park. I guess it's technically Adams Morgan but everyone calls it 'the other' one."

"Oh, I live close to Kalorama Park. That's where I'm headed now. Think we could catch the train together?"

"That would be great." You smile. You soon find out Thomas loves to talk. He's a guy who knows his way around town, so you're always learning new things about DC while he tells you about the places you haven't yet seen. As you two walk to your apartment, which is the same general direction as Thomas', he's telling you about some article he was reading on the Atlantic and you tune out for a while.

"Earth to Y/N!" He says.

"Sorry," you mumble, looking at him with a guilty expression.

"I saw you staring off into space just now. I was just asking you what you're doing this weekend. You know, since we're not going to work."

"I don't have plans."

"Well, why don't you come to my house? Kyle would love to have someone over. He makes the best lasagna ever, plus I'd love to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen. We'll make some cocktails and watch some TV." He offers.

You suddenly remember Spencer's text. "Shit."

Thomas looks confused at your reaction. "What's wrong?"

"There's this guy I'm seeing...I mean, I think I am. We went to the theater a couple days ago, I just remembered I haven't answered his texts. I really should call him."

"Whoa, slow down. Slow down, Y/N. Tell me everything."

You tell him about your date with Spencer, including how you felt afterwards. "Wow." He seems in shock. "He's really an agent? Not just some big city police officer?"

"Yes, he's a special agent. Works for the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

His eyes widen slightly. Then he gives you this warm smile. "Wow, that really is something else. Must be some sort of genius."

"Yeah, he is."

"Out of curiosity, can I see what he sent you?"

"Sure." You pull up the message. "This is it."

"It sounds like he meant every word." You look up at Thomas. His eyes are filled with warmth and affection. "He sounds sweet. So... Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Miss him."

"Um..." You hesitate. "We've only been on one date. Maybe he doesn't want anything serious right now.”

"You're not answering my question", he teases.

You feel your face flush red. You bite your lip as you try to figure out how to answer. "I... I actually do." You admit. "I miss him."

"So I take it you'll go out with him again? To get a good idea of whether or not he wants more than just a casual relationship?"

"I hope so."

"Then, please, let him know. Make sure he knows you're interested." Thomas nods. You debate whether you should follow his advice and text Spencer. Or maybe you shouldn't even bother trying at all. He's probably busy.

—

Spencer spends his whole day wondering when you'll reply. He begins to lose hope. He's usually really good at avoiding looking at his phone during work, but he lacks the willpower to do so, for the first time in a long while. He's been more withdrawn than usual. He falls asleep in the jet questioning why he's so anxious about your reply, his mind going down a dark and twisting path, one he’s not so sure if he’ll find a way out.

When the team arrives at Quantico, Spencer is the last one to board off the plane. He takes a deep breath as he takes the elevator and checks his phone. When he looks down at the his phone, he realizes you've sent him a message:

08:42 PM Y/N: Hey Spence! Sorry I haven't reached out yet. I've been so busy with work lately. Funny thing you've asked, I do miss you. I'd love to see you soon. Let me know if you're free tonight. Hope all is well with you. XX

His heart leaps into his throat. Spencer smiles from ear to ear. His eyes keep darting back to your words on the screen. He feels his heart racing as he reads them over again and again. He rests his body against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. He's so distracted by his own thoughts he doesn't even realize Derek has made an appearance behind him until Derek speaks. "What are you doing?"

Derek asks, sounding curious rather than annoyed or worried. Spencer shakes his head slightly, trying to clear it. The words just won't come. "When you’re gonna tell me about whatever it is that you’re hiding?”

Spencer snaps out of his daze, pressing his lips into a tight line as he says, "I'm not hiding anything.” It’s a fib, but one Spencer utters almost without thinking, adopting a nonchalance he’s perfected over years of lying to his coworkers about his whereabouts, his weekend plans, and most importantly, his love life.

"That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard," Derek replies, shaking his head. "You've been checking your phone at least every fifteen minutes for the whole day and that's coming from the guy who is a self-proclaimed technophobe. Come on, that might work with Garcia or JJ, but you know I'm pretty perceptive. Tell me what's going on inside that big brain of yours.”

Spencer sighs heavily, "You don't understand."

"No, I guess I don't," Derek says, placing his hands on his hips. "If you're not hiding something then why are you acting like a nervous little puppy?"

"I'm just thinking about a text I got. That's all."

"Is it from a special friend by any chance? Is that why you're acting so weird?"

Spencer feels his cheeks flush. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts. "It's from a friend of mine."

"Okay, so why can't you tell me who she is?"

“I just like my privacy, okay? Can’t a guy have that?”

“Of course you are allowed to keep things to yourself, but you're the worst at keeping secrets. Besides, a little bird told me you went on a date with… What’s her name again?”

“Y/N is her name, we…" Spencer can't control the smile that takes over his face. When he realizes this, he quickly pulls himself together, feigning an expression of surprise, his voice getting higher: "Wait, what? Who told you that?”

Spencer knows all his colleagues make their own assumptions at his reluctance to share about his (very nonexistent) romantic life. He also knows that they speculate about his well-being after what happened to Maeve. Still, can’t he have something for himself, once in his life? Something that he doesn’t have to share with anyone.

“I ain’t no snitch, Reid. But I’m happy for you, my man. You deserve some happiness after all you've been through. So how about you be a good boy and tell me everything about her, huh?”

“We've been on just one date. And it wasn't even an official one.”

"And do you plan on asking her out for another one? You know, officially?"

"I don't know. We haven’t talked about that yet."

“So what are you waiting for, pretty boy? Ask her out already!"

"It's not that simple. She's super busy and I need to figure out how to make time for us. I'd love to take her out to dinner again, but—"

“Oh, please! Sounds like an excuse. I know it's hard but don't overthink it. Just ask her out. That's all you have to do, the worst she can say is no."

"What if she says yes?"

"Then it'll be perfect."

Spencer shakes his head, unable to believe that Derek would be so naïve about these things. It's not that easy to just ask someone out. "I don't want history to repeat itself, that's all." Spencer admits. "After Maeve, I'm terrified of being hurt again. I'm afraid of getting involved with someone. I'm afraid they'll be hurt again."

"I know it's hard, but you're not the same anymore. Don't let that fear stop you from living your life, Reid. Life is short. Hell, it's shorter than we think."

"Thanks, Derek. I needed to hear that today."

"Anytime. Now, do you mind using that big brain of yours to fill out some paperwork? We have a lot of folders to get through."

Spencer nods. “Sure.”

—

It takes him around an hour to finish things up and get home. He takes a quick shower before climbing into bed. He starts to work on a reply to your text as soon as his head hits the pillow.

10:49 PM  Spencer 📚☕️: Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you! I just couldn't seem to find the right words. I hope you don't hate me for that. If you want, we could have dinner this Thursday?

Spencer sends the message. He looks at his phone and waits for a reply. Minutes pass, he checks the screen to see if you've sent anything else. Nothing. Spencer sighs in disappointment and sets the phone aside. He closes his eyes, trying to fall asleep. But sleep doesn't come easily to him. He feels defeated. Maybe you were never really interested. Or maybe you found someone new? He's so confused.

He rolls onto his side, his head resting on the pillow. He tries to sleep. His mind wanders to the day he met you. How crazy to think it was pure coincidence. He's reliving all your conversations in his head when his phone lights up. It's a text from you.

10:52 PM  Y/N: That sounds good. I'll see you then :) Let me know the time and place.

Spencer opens his eyes as he reads the last part of your text. 'See you then.' He finds himself smiling as he falls asleep.

[sam-loftgren]

name: sam loftgren age: 28 birthday: november 4th, 1994   neighborhood: fishtown  occupation: dispensary associate at beyond/hello

tw: death (incl. parental death), car accident

QUICK STATS

zodiac: scorpio ☉ | scorpio ☽ | sagittarius ➶   mbti: isfp enneagram: 9 alignment: neutral good element: water

BIO  tw: death (incl. parental death), car accident

Sam was born to teen parents in Paudcah, KY. A high school couple who were ill prepared for him. He doesn’t remember much about his father, just the few pictures his mom hadn’t gotten rid of, or the sense memory of cigarettes and car exhaust.

When it came to his childhood, Sam didn’t feel a loss. He was happy with it just being him and his mom, and the nights he was watched by his grandparents while she had to work her second job.

The two packed up and moved when Sam was 11, moving to St. Louis, MO for a job his mom had gotten, one that had meant they were comfortable, that she wouldn’t have to work a second job, that, in her words, they could “be a proper family”.

The dream of peace was short-lived, his mother lost her job two years later, and they moved back to Paducah to live with his grandparents until his mom was back on her feet again.

His mom got a job in Lansing, MI when Sam was 15, and the two once again packed up their car and moved with a promise that this was the last stop.

But, this time, the next move came faster than any before. Sam came home and found his mom already packing, the word of Philadelphia and a promise that the transfer was permanent, that this time they would really be settled.

Philadelphia, however disappointed at the news of the move that Sam was, was a place he took to quickly, and deeply. An immediate connection to the city that he’d not really felt anywhere else.

When his mom died, a nearly 18 year old Sam didn’t know how to process. His grandparents came down to stay with him and help him pack up the house. Despite his best effort to argue to stay in Philadelphia to finish out his senior year, he found himself back in Paducah for the last semester and a half.

Graduation was a hurdle he stumbled to get over. His grades had taken a hit, and he’d turned inward, hardly speaking to anyone outside of texts with his friends back in Philadelphia

But, as soon as he’d gotten his diploma he packed his things, and moved back to Philadelphia, taking the first job he found, and a roommate on CraigsList.

Sam and a friend were in a car wreck the following summer. Another car hit the driver’s side. Sam woke up in the hospital, a few broken bones, and a concussion but nothing much more serious. However, his friend, who had been driving, did not survive.

Sam sought some hand in the grief, feeling disconnected from even his other closest friends at the time, and found an online support group. A simple forum that gave him an outlet, a connection to others who were in his same boat.

It felt silly at first, little check-ins from everyone in the forum filled with mutual grief and the responding scripted votes of support. And no one that he truly felt a connection with past the mutual hollow repetitions of “you’re doing your best!” “one day at a time”.

A couple of months passed before Lena had joined the group. The first time that Sam had really felt a connection to anyone in the group. Someone who seemed to have a real understanding of where he was, and who he understood on a level that made the forum finally click

What started as just responses to each other and brief messages turned to IMs, eventually to texts, and eventually, calls.

The friendship had been a turning point, the thing that got Sam out of the isolation. A dependent friendship of sad souls who helped drag each other out of the mud, that turned into something a little lighter and real friendship the longer they kept it up.

Eight years of friendship over phone calls and continued texts had touched on visits, finally actually meeting and just getting some final piece of a puzzle of assurance, though, neither seemed to stick their guns on it, Sam never really getting the time off or enough money outside of working

CONNECTION IDEAS

friends (literally any and all kinds: best friends, high school friends, drinking buddies, smoking buddies, etc etc)

roommate(s) 

coworkers (or former coworkers, sam’s floated around jobs a bunch)

literally anything else, bbys

[sebsgirl71479]

Wrong Side of The Tracks

Jock!BuckyXFem!Reader   Jock!SteveXFem!Reader(platonic) Sweet!WandaXFem!reader (besties)

Warnings: Nothing much really, just a lot of fluff, little bit of language. Protective Bucky is a warning.

A/N: Hey everyone this has been 2 months in the making and I figured what better time to finish it than for Sebastian’s 40th Birthday. This is a HIGH SCHOOL AU. Both a song and movie inspired me to write this but with a bit of a twist to the original. I also want to thank a few people who inspired me to finish this. @buckyalpine​ @altagraye​ @jtargaryen18​ @imaginedreamwrite​ @endless-summer-soldier​ @christycurlswrites​ I’m sorry if I missed anyone. I hope you enjoy and as always likes and reblogs are always appreciated.

A/N 2: Apparently tumblr deleted my story so I’m re-posting this again.  dividers by @silkholland​  Moodboard Aesthetic by me and Canva 

Living in the town you’re in had been some what of a rollercoaster. Some good and some really bad. You moved here when you were 9 years old after your parents divorced. When you first arrived you felt really out of place for the first few weeks. Then one day you asked your mom if you could hang out in front of the towns city hall where other kids in the town hung out, maybe you could find some friends. She agreed and let you walk there. When you got there, there were a few kids around your age some a bit older. After hanging around the benches for a little while a boy your age came up with a few of his other buddies and started picking on you because you were new in town and they knew which part you lived in. Not the best part of town but you could tell they were from the better side of town. After trying to get them to leave you alone to no avail, a brunette and blonde boy came up behind them.

��Hey why don’t you leave her alone Brock before I punch you in the face.” The brunette yelled at him.

“Why is she your little girlfriend Barnes?” Brock teased him.

“Come on man she just moved here, lets not let her think everyone here dislikes her.” The small blonde came to your defense this time. With a small bashful smile, you looked up at the boys defending you and felt safe with them around.

“Whatever Rodgers, she’s not even worth it anymore.” And with that the bullies left to do their own thing. When they left that’d when the two boys who defended you looked at you asked of you were ok.

“Hi there, my name is James but you can call me Bucky and this is Steve are you ok?” 

“Yeah I’m fine, thank you for doing that. I’m just trying to fit in and I think that just set me back.” Looking down at your lap fidgeting with your hands. Bucky looks at you with those big bright blue eyes and immediately you feel that warmth of being safe again.

“That didn’t set you back, your our new friend. What’s your name?”

“My name is y/n.”

From then on you Steve and Bucky where thick as thieves. In a town of less than 20,000 people everyone pretty much knew everyone. That meant that every kid in school knew you as the new kid from the other side of the tracks. You tired not to let that discourage you especially when you had Bucky and Steve at your side. Even though they both lived in the nicer part of town they never made you feel less than.

Fast forward to your senior year of high school. Things were better now, you had great grades and were thinking of what colleges you wanted to go. Bucky and Steve were doing the same thing plus you 3 were going to apply to schools you all could go to together. Your little crush on Bucky never left you but you never said anything because who would date someone from the wrong side of town? So because of that you watched him date a few girls but non really stuck. Not for a lack of trying on his part but he could never get you off his mind. You were the one he wanted, always watching you while you were in classes together even came to your choir concerts front and center with roses in his lap waiting for you. You thought it was always sweet of him and Steve to come to your performances. You knew it was only because they were your best friends, not knowing the underlying reason was that Bucky liked you.                                     

It was just before Thanksgiving break, and you three were discussing the colleges you were applying to and when you and your mom would be going to Bucky’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Ever since you were 10, Steve and Bucky’s families always invited you and your mom to Thanksgiving dinner. Sarah always made the best pies and Winnie was a master of cooking turkey.

The boys got up to grab some sodas from the vending machine, when non other than Brock came and sat next to you.

“Hey y/n, now that your watch dogs are gone I wanted to see of you wanted to go on a date?”

Well this was a major turn of events.

“Now why would I want to do that? Last thing I remember is you bullying me when I first got here.” Was this actually happening right now?

“Come on I was just a dumb kid then. I now see what a beautiful girl you’ve turn into, and want to take you out.”

You were starting to feel a but uncomfortable and confused at the same time. Just as you were about to give him another retort, Bucky and Steve had come back to the table with rage in their eyes. Since growing up Steve and Bucky became very tall and muscular guys, so they intimidated everyone. But not brock, he always seemed to have something to prove.

“Brock why don’t you leave y/n alone, she clearly is not interested.” Steve spoke up first, Bucky was just there giving Brock daggers.

“Oh great, y/n's guard dogs are here. Look I was seeing if she wanted to have a little fun this weekend.”

“Yeah well she’s clearly not into you so why don’t you go to your side of the cafeteria, and leave her alone?” Bucky had told brock with venom behind his words. This shocked you a little bit, you’ve never seen Bucky so upset. It kind of made your crush on him become deeper.

“Whatever guys, look y/n when you’re ready to come to your senses you know where to find me.” Steve had to hold Bucky back so he didn’t just sucker punch him in the face. Once brock finally left you could let out the breath you were holding from all the tension around you.

“Man I hate that guy, he just thinks everyone has to bow to him.” You were the first one to speak up, Bucky was still watching Brock leave with such intensity, the only thing you could do to calm him was to hold his face in your hands and get him to look at you.

“Bucky, hey handsome you still there? He’s gone ok, he won’t come back.” That snapped him out of his trance and he finally looked at you. You rubbed his cheeks with your thumbs trying to calm his emotions. He looked at you with such adoration you both started getting lost in each others eyes. After a few minutes of staring at each other, Steve was able to get you two to separate after he waved his hands in front of both of you.

“Hey guys snap out of it, you ok??” You both stepped back a bit, feeling the heat creep up to your ears and letting go of Bucky’s face. “Yeah I’m ok, Bucky are you better now?”

“Yeah yeah sure um, I’m just gonna head to restroom real quick. Hey punk want to come with?”

“Uh yeah sure buck.”

Once they were in the restroom, Steve turned to Bucky.

“Dude what was that?”

“Steve man there is something I need to tell you. I really like y/n, like a lot.” Steve stood there looking at Bucky like he had two heads.

“Come on man say something, I’m freaking out here.”

“How long have you liked her? I mean this is new to me, you tell me everything jerk why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know I just thought they would go away but they are still there. I’ve liked her since middle school. I really want to ask her out, I want to hold her man, I want to kiss her so bad.”

“Bucky you have to tell her if your this deep about her. You can’t keep these feelings about her bottled up.” “How do I do this? I’ve never had a problem asking a girl out but this is y/n, I’m a mess when I talk to her. You know how she has always felt like she doesn’t belong here because of where she lives and I don’t want her feel like this is joke. Now with Brock trying to ask her out I don’t want to her to think she’s some charity case or something.”

“I don’t think she would ever think that. Did you see the way she was looking at you just before? I think she has the same feelings for you as well.”

Bucky had some thinking to do before he could get the guts to ask her out. While Bucky and Steve were in the restroom you sat at the table in a daze. A minute later another friend of yours cam over to talk to you. Wanda was sweet girl you met in middle school when she moved here from Europe with her twin brother Pietro.

“Hey y/n what was all that about?”

“I have no clue, I’m just as shocked as you.” You say with a little sly smile. Wanda noticed this and just blurted out.

“Oh my god you like Bucky, I can see it in your eyes.”

You shh her to get her to lower her voice. “Yes I like Bucky, but you can’t say anything to anyone not even your brother. I know you have that twin telepathy thing.”

“Ok I promise I won’t tell anyone. When did you start liking him? “Since I moved here, him and Steve saved me from Brock bullying me and I looked into those damn eyes and I was hooked.” You say with the biggest smile on your face at the memory.

“Are you ever going to tell him about this? I mean you’ve like the guy for a long time.”

“Wanda I can never tell him, look at him and where he lives. I’m from the other side of the tracks and he lives on the nicer side of town in a big house with rich parents. I mean don’t get me wrong, their families have never made me feel bad about where I live but I don’t know. I just feel like I’m not good enough for him.”

Wanda looked at her with a sad smile and a hug. She knew deep down that Bucky wouldn’t want to date her. She can’t compete with the other girls in the school who come from better families. She’s never really been ashamed of where comes from but she knows being with Bucky is an unatonable dream.

As her and Wanda pulled from their hug, Bucky and Steve were walking back into the cafeteria. “Hey I’ll talk to you later ok? We can hang out and make cookies at my place.”

“I’d really like that Wanda, thank you.”

As she got up to go sit with her brother she greets the boys.

“Hey guys how’s it going?” They both tell her they are good, and she says her goodbyes. The boys sit back down on both sides of you, and they look a little better now.

“So, about Thanksgiving? Should me and my mom bring anything this year?”

Everyone laughs a bit and go back to like nothing happened. As the week goes on, Brock is still relentless in his pursuit of asking you out and you keep telling him no. Man he can be annoying. He waits for you by your car, which isn’t much but it your baby. When you see him leaning on your car you prepare yourself for another five minutes of him begging you to go out with him. What is it with him lately?

“Y/N, what do I have to do to get a date with you? Come on we would make a great couple.”

“Brock when are you going to get it through your head that I’m not interested? Right now I’m really just trying through this year and find a good college. I don’t have time for your relentless begging. Besides you’re really not my type.”

“What do you mean I’m not your type?” Oh that really got him. “I’m good looking, I’m co-captain of the football team and I’m rich.”

“No brock, your parents are rich. And I don’t care if your on the football team. I want someone who isn’t as shallow as you are.”

Ok that really pissed him off, but you were on a roll and wanted him to really get the hint to back off. “Shallow, shallow? Listen here y/n, I’m doing you a favor by asking you out.”

“A favor? Since when is acting like a douch and bullying me when I first got here a favor to me?”

He was seeing red now, and you were about to be on the receiving end of a major Brock blowout. Before things could escalate further you saw over his shoulder, Bucky booking it towards you. You didn’t give Brock any inclination that he was coming behind him. When he finally got behind Brock he tapped him in the shoulder crossing his arms showing his bulging biceps. Well hello to Bucky’s muscles. No stop that, we are trying to piss off brock. When he turned around he gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes.

“What is it now Barnes?”

Bucky just stood there staring at him, like he could blow his head up with his eyes. After a few more beats, brock had had enough.

“You know what, I don’t have time to deal with this. Y/N I talk to you later.”

“Don’t count on it Brock, the answer will always be the same.” You yelled back at him, Rolling your eyes.

“We’ll see.” With a roll of your eyes, you turn your attention to Bucky. Gosh he was so gorgeous when he wanted to intimate someone. It really turned you on to the point you wanted to say screw it and just kiss those beautiful pink lips he has. “Hey I was thinking, would it be okay if we went to your house to finish up that report on WWII? My house is crazy with my mom preparing for the holiday and I think we need some peace and quiet for this.” Bucky had asked. “Sure of course we can. My mom is at work until 7pm so it will just be us.”

You and Bucky got into your car. It wasn’t much but its been your dream car since you were little. A 1985 Buick grand national, Bucky and Steve helped you refurbish the engine it was your baby. On the way to your house you and Bucky sing every 80’s song that comes on the radio. That was one great thing about your friendship with Bucky, you both liked pretty much the same stuff. You get to your house and unlock the door. You and Bucky put your backpacks in your room then head to the kitchen to grab some drinks and a small snack to do your work with. Both of you sit on your bed and get to work.

Every so often you look at Bucky in your peripheral vision as he studies his book. Furrowing his brow in concentration looking so adorable. What you don’t see is he is doing the same thing when your not looking as well. He loves studying with you, especially when you guys are alone with no one to bother you. After about 2 hours of writing and bouncing ideas off each other, you both take a mental break from studying to have a snack and talk.

You both lay down side by side, eating and feeding popcorn to each other and laughing when you each miss the others mouth. Bucky turns to his side to watch you laughing. He has never seen you look so beautiful, hair out of your ponytail fanning across the bed head back in full on laughter. When you calm down you look over at him watching you. That’s when you see it, the gleam in his eyes like you’re the only person in the world. You look back him the same way and then it clicks for both of you. You’re mere inches form each other, and you both are moving towards each other like there is an invisible string pulling you. With your noses about to touch Bucky looks down at your lips then to your eyes as if\ asking permission.

He places a hand on your cheek and you lean into his touch. “Can I kiss you?” he askes. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that.” Then Bucky closes the gap and the kiss starts of sweet and innocent, like he might break you. Soon his hand moves to your hip and gently squeezes. You hand finds the back of his head and you start stroking his hair. He moaned into your mouth and that’s when it starts to get heated. Bucky then moves to lay above you and then slips his tongue into your mouth and your grant him entrance. Finally after your lungs start to burn needing air you both pull away, leaning on each others forehead. You're both panting looking at one another in the eye, smiling like idiots.

“How long have you wanted to do that Bucky?”

“Since middle school, but I didn’t truly come to terms with it till about a week ago. What about you?”

Giggling, you leaned up and kissed his nose. “Probably since freshman year.” Bucky leans back in a kisses you again. A few more minutes of kissing and Bucky rolls off you to have you cuddle him. You both look into each others eyes not wanting this moment to end. “Hey as soon as Thanksgiving is done can I take you out on a date?” “I would really like that Bucky, but what’s gonna happen when we get back to school? I don’t come from the same upbringing as you or Steve, what if people think I don’t belong with you and they tease me? What if the other girls who I know who have been interested in you think I’m not good enough to..” Bucky then kisses you passionately to shut you up. 

“Y/N, I don’t care what everyone will think. You are the most beautiful, smart, funny, and down to earth girl I have ever met. No one else compares to you. Who cares what others think I love you!”

You stare at Bucky wide eyed at his confession, he looks back with so much adoration and no hesitation. You bring your hand up to his face and and look deep into his eyes. “I love you too Bucky.” After a few more minutes of hugging and cuddling you both get back to finishing your history work. Around 6:30 you both head back to the kitchen and decide to make dinner for the both of you and your mom when she gets home. When your mom gets home she’s pleasantly surprised that you and Bucky made dinner for her. After some light conversation about School and your moms work, she cleans up since you made dinner on her insistence. Bucky goes to your room to pack his stuff up so you can drive him home. You grab your keys and coat and say by to your mom, Bucky runs over and gives your mom a hug goodbye. You didn’t tell your mom what had happened between you and Bucky, wanting to keep it to yourselves until you had your first date. Besides the next day was Thanksgiving and all 3 families would be together and didn’t want the whole group to know just yet.

As you drive to Bucky’s side of town it hits you again. Just how different you both are, looking at all the big houses and nicely trimmed yards. Bucky can sense your Inner turmoil. “Hey, no non of that.” “I’m sorry, I forgot how good you are at reading me.” You get to Bucky’s house and park in the driveway. The two of you sit in your car for a few minutes and just stare at each other smiling. Bucky reaches over and cradles your cheek and leans in a kisses you goodbye. Oh you could kiss him for the rest of your life. When you kiss, the world does not exist its only the two of you. You both pull away and smile.

“I better get inside before my ma wonders where I’ve been.” 

“Just tell her your bad influence bestie kept you out running a muck.” You tell him laughing. “Hey you can’t say that anymore, your my girl now.”  

“Oh I’m your girl now? We haven’t had our first official date yet.”

“Y/N, you have always been my girl” He goes in for one more last kiss and exits the car. He leaves you there in a daze, realizing you really have been his girl. He turns around to wave you bye while you back out of the driveway and he enters his house and then you drive off to your side of town.

Bucky enters his house with a shit eating grin on his face. He hears his mom and dad in the kitchen going over the final plans for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, so he schools his face as he gets to the kitchen. 

“Hi ma ,Hi dad.” He gives his mom a kiss on the cheek and pats his dad on the back. “You seem to be in a good mood, where have you been?” As Bucky goes to the fridge to grab a bottle of water his mom starts with the questions. “I went to Y/N house after school to finish this report we have in world history and then we made dinner for her mom and ate.” There is a mischievous grin on his moms face like she knows something, but he doesn’t read into it. “Plus I’m always in a good mood when I hang out with y/n.” He tries hiding that smile again. “Well I’m gonna head upstairs and take a shower and get ready for bed. Goodnight mom night dad.”

As he heads to his room his parents watch him suspiciously. “Honey, what’s going on in that head of yours?” George asked Winnie. “Oh nothing, I have a feeling our son will be telling us some good news soon.” George eyes his wife trying to figure out going on. He shakes his head ,he can never understand what his wife thinks and probably never will.

The next morning, you wake up to your mom shaking you awake telling you she made a special breakfast. “What makes this breakfast so special mom?” As you stretch and yawn. “Well honey, you and Bucky made me dinner last night so I thought I would repay how wonderful you are for doing that for me.” Y/N sat up and hugged her mom. “It was no problem mom, you’ve done so much for me, it won’t even compare to me just making you a simple dinner.” After getting up and brushing your hair and teeth, you head to the kitchen where your mom waits with the most amazing breakfast. French toast, sausage, eggs and fake mimosas, (orange juice and sprite) A little treat that your mom started when you were younger to make you seem like you were a grown up drinking from a champagne flute. As you both pile your plates with food and grab your mimosas, you both sit down at the table and clink your glasses together and laugh at how silly you two are.

Your mom watches you eat and starts thinking that soon it will only be her in your home with you soon going off to college. So she savers this moment while she can. After breakfast you head to your room and grab your phone to see a text from Bucky. 

“Good morning beautiful, can’t wait to see you later.” You smile at his text. “Good morning yourself handsome.” You put your phone down and get ready to pick out an outfit for dinner at his parents house. You hear another ping and check your phone. “I love you.” You text back. “I love you too.” You fall to your bed laughing and smiling. You still couldn’t believe this was happening, you were Bucky’s girl.

As it gets close to leaving for the Barnes home your mom starts telling you to hurry or you’ll be late. After looking at yourself in the mirror for the fifteenth time, you finally come out and meet your mom at the front door. You both grab your coats and says she will drive to the Barnes house. Your mom notices you are extra jittery for some reason. “Honey, is everything ok? You seem nervous.” You look over to your mom and give her a small smile and tell her your good. She tried not to pry so she continued to drive. You pull up to the house and your mom sets it in park. You both head up to the door and ring the door bell. You smooth out the imaginary wrinkles on your dress while you wait. The door opens and you see Bucky in front of you and you both have matching smiles. “Hi.” He breaths out. “Hi Bucky.” 

Your mom taps you on the shoulder to bring you out of your daze and steps forward to give Bucky a hug and enters the house. You finally move your feet and he brings you in with a big hug. “I missed you.” “Bucky I just saw you last night.” While you two are still hugging at the door, Winnie and your mom are watching you. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Winnie asks your mom. “I had an inkling but I think this has confirmed it.” They stand there smiling watching their children embrace like it’s the last time you will see each other. After finally releasing yourselves you close the door and further enter the house. You see Winnie and give her a big hug, next you see Mr Barnes and give him and equally big hug. The Barnes family see you and your mom as an extension of their own, as well as the Rogers family. Five minutes later Steve and his mom Sarah arrive with her famous pies. Mr Barnes announces that dinner will begin soon and you all start gathering in the dinning room and find your seats. 

Winnie made place cards this year and sat you between Bucky and Steve. Before you start, Sarah rogers begins the Thanksgiving prayer. Everyone holds hands around the table but only you and Bucky interlace your hands and hold tight looking at each other. Afterwards you are all asked what you’re all thankful for. What everyone didn’t know was earlier you, Steve and Bucky texted each other saying all three of you got your letters from NYU but didn’t open them. When it got to Bucky he started. 

“Well everyone we wanted to do this while we were all together but today all three of us got our letters from NYU and we wanted to open them in front of our family.” All the parents had shocked looks on their faces. Your mom already had tears in her eyes and all 3 moms were holding hands. George Barnes went a head and told Bucky for you guys to open them now. You all start to open your letters. 

Steve got in on a full ride football scholarship, Bucky got in on a baseball scholarship. That lead to you, your face was in so much shock you had to be shaken by Bucky. “Y/N what is it, is it bad news?” You look at Bucky with tears in your eyes.

“I got in.... full academic scholarship! You don’t have to worry about paying for my college mom!”

Bucky practically tackles you in your chair and without thinking kisses the life out of you. Everyone in the room is looking with wide eyes and open jaws. After a few more kisses you both pull away and finally realize its really quite and see what you both just did. You look around and see everyone’s faces. “Oh crap.” You say as Bucky released you. “You guys are probably wondering what that was about?” Bucky breaks the silence. “We are dating and in love. Even though we haven’t been on an official date yet” He tells the parents. “Finally!” all the moms and Steve say in unison. “We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a bit but I guess this is us saying it now.” You finally speak up. After the initial shock all parents get up and hug all three of you and congratulate you on getting into NYU. 

Sarah, Winnie and your mom take you aside and tell you how they knew you both had it bad for one another but waited for you two to finally see it. Steve and George talk to Bucky and tell him its about time he maned up and admitted his feeling to you.

After all the congratulations are finished dinner gets started. Everyone laughs and is just enjoying each others company. You, Bucky and Steve talk about where you will live when you get to college and that’s when Mr. Barnes speaks up. “Kids I just want to say even though you all have full rides I’m not having you guys stay in a dorm. I’ll be paying for the three of you to live in apartment near campus.” The look on your faces is could rival a cartoon. “But, no hanky panky you two.” He points to you and Bucky. You both blush and look down at your laps. Everyone laughs and the mood had finally lightened.

Soon enough dinner is finished and you are sitting in the

living room having dessert and coffee. After a while Steve, Bucky and yourself go up stairs to Bucky’s room and discuss more about NYU. Then Steve brings up the one person you don't want to think about. “So, what do you think Brock will have to say when we go back on Monday?” before you can say anything Bucky speaks up.

“I don't give a flying fuck what he has to say!” You smack him on the shoulder and tell him to watch his language. You all laugh and fall all over each other. You really don’t care what Brock has to say either but you love it when Bucky acts possessive over you. “I really can’t wait to see his face though.” You tell them. An hour later its time to say goodbye. You hug Steve and Mrs. Rogers goodbye and they leave. Then its you and your mom, you and Bucky stand outside just holding each other saying I love you and how much you will miss the other.

You finally pull away and give one more kiss for the evening. Its not long because you can tell your parents are watching. “Text me when you get home safe okay?”

“I will Bucky, besides my mom wants to go shopping tomorrow for Christmas.” “Okay, hey how about after you finish shopping we meet for lunch?” “Will this be our date?” you laugh. “That will be a pre-date. Later that day will be our first official date.” 

“Really, and where will you be taking me?” 

“That is a surprise my angel face.” He then kisses you on the nose and walks you to the car. All your mom can do is smile while she drives back home. The rest of the weekend is a blur, after your date with Bucky friday night you were practically inseparable not that you already weren’t this was different. And soon enough Monday is upon you and its back to school. You decide to pick up Bucky and Steve for school that day. As soon as you get to the school and put it in park, Bucky is running to the drivers side and opening your door and give you his hand to hold. He kisses the back of your hand and you walk into the school. As you enter Bucky puts his arm over your shoulder showing everyone you’re his girl. As you head to your first class brock is waiting for you and the look on his face is priceless.

Before you get to the door Bucky turns you to face him and gives you a short kiss on the lips and tells you he loves you against your lips and hugs you goodbye. As he passes Brock with a look of utter shock he turns to him 

“Hey Rumlow, how was your holiday break?” But he doesn’t wait for a response, and just walks to his class with a huge smile on his face. When you get to class and pass up Brock. “Brock what’s wrong? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost or something, you felling ok?” You also enter class with a smile knowing you have just brought his ego down several notches because he was unable to land a date with you. Brock finally snaps out of it and admits defeat and heads in after you.

When its lunch time it all seems like the usual lunch with one exception. You sit on Bucky’s lap the entire lunch hour and you can’t keep your hands off each other. Wanda runs up to you both and stands you up and gives you a big hug and tells you how happy she is for you. You look back at Bucky who is looking at you as well and tell her, “Happy isn’t even the word to describe how I fell at this moment.” She squeals and hops up and down and gives you one more hug before she sits across from both of you. Everyone at lunch is giving you shocked looks especially the snotty rich girls. But you pay them no mind because you have the most wonderful, caring and definitely the sexiest boyfriend anyone will ever have.

After graduation the three of you head to NYU and the apartment Mr. Barnes rented for you guys and it was the best years of your lives. Yes there were some ups and downs but what relationship doesn’t. When college graduation rolled around and you all were about to throw your caps in the air, Bucky tapped you on the shoulder. You turn around and he is down on one knee proposing with his mothers engagement ring. A simple but beautiful ring. 

“Y/N, we have known each other since we were little kids and best friends ever since. Senior year I finally pulled my head out of my ass and confessed my love for you. Almost 5 years later we are ready to take on this world and why not do it together for the rest of our lives? Will you Marry me and officially become a Barnes?” 

“YES! I will marry you!” 

Everyone is watching and Steve is even recording it on his cell phone. After kissing you breathless, he slips the ring on your finger and rush to tell your parents.

You both may have grown up on different parts of town, but that never stopped you from becoming best friends then boyfriend and girlfriend, and now future husband and wife. Never be ashamed of where you come from, even if you come from the wrong side of the tracks.

[twinklelilstarkey]

can i please request “kissing your lover when they ask you why you've been avoiding them, not realizing it's because you're jealous that they've been hanging out with [a potential love interest” with sunburnt Rafe?💛

Happy blurb thursday, y'all! *this takes place before the story* - Totally read the prompt wrong and only noticed it a day after. I don't know why I read it in the way that I did, I am a total dumbass. Hope you still like this I guess.

The way I understood it was: "Kissing your lover due to being jealous because they've been hanging out with [a potential love interest]"

DO NOT REPOST, REWRITE OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORK!

If anyone has ever started senior year, they surely reacted in a certain way when they got there. Maybe by sighing in relief due to almost getting out of the shithole they call a home/state/city, others by doing a shrug and moving on with their day, not even being close to phased with it, and then there's you.

Well, you, and all the other kids that are celebrating the same or other milestones. OBX likes to make everything a little extra, so, every time people are either almost getting out of the island (aka finishing high school), and being a year of doing so, the bonfire party is re-done and everyone goes there to celebrate.

Is it a little too much for just another year of school or moving on to college? Sure, but try and say that to people who just got told about the free drinks.

And who are you to say no to a party? Sarah's going, your other friends are going. Yeah, some people you have quite a distaste for are also going to be there, but, so what? It's not like you're going to constantly run into them.

So, your night began around 9. You got ready for the party at your friend's since Sarah was just getting back from shopping with Rose and Wheezie, and she was the one to drive you and your friend over to the place - after, of course, begging for the keys of the car to her stepmother. And everything was pretty chill.

For the first 2 hours.

You noticed while downing drinks that there was some bickering here and there between Pogues and Kooks, but you didn't pay enough attention to notice who it was. And, quite honestly, you never cared for those arguments and fights, they're petty anyways.

The world has become a little blurry, now, and everything seems a little too much fun, which can only mean that you had enough to drink.

Yet that doesn't exactly mean that it's time to go home. Oh, hell no. You're staying to enjoy this unnatural happiness until its last moment.

You've danced, you've sung, you've even played tik tak toe with a random girl in the sand by the stairs of the bonfire. You're having the best time of your life.

And now, you're taking a moment to breathe and calm down by sitting up top of the bonfire, right by the wall. And that's when you see in the corner of your eye that someone has just sat beside you.

"Oh, hi." You say out loud to the boy, a little caught off guard.

"Hey, I'm JJ."

"Y/N."

He seems nice, in your drunken mind at least.

You two shared a few words, and a few giggles (from your part), while looking down at the fire.

And someone, which you haven't noticed, has been looking at you for the past few minutes.

That person is none other than Rafe Cameron, who is also celebrating something tonight - unlike the pogue sitting beside you.

You're celebrating getting to senior year and Rafe's celebrating the end of it.

He's standing by a tree on the other side of the bonfire's wall, watching you from afar as Topper keeps on telling him about... What was it again? Something to do with Sarah.

He's not listening to a word.

Wait, shouldn't you be with Sarah?

Rafe stares, and stares. He honestly doesn't know how long he did that for, but no one seemed to notice, so, he didn't even get to snap out of it.

You surely didn't notice a thing too, and JJ... Well, he hasn't stopped looking at you.

Rafe clenches his jaw as well as the beer on his hand, all while you keep on laughing at whatever the blondie is saying. JJ has a smile on his face, yet he isn't laughing with you. You're drunker than him, for sure.

And that's exactly when Rafe sees him lift his hand up and lay it on your thigh. You're wearing a simple pair of shorts with one of Sarah's oversized shirts, the usual bonfire outfit, yet the fact that JJ is touching your leg is sending all the blood to Rafe's intoxicated head.

Without even saying a thing to his best friend, Rafe puts down his beer, steps away from Topper mid-conversation, and walks up to the two of you.

JJ is the first one to notice, but he doesn’t even move.

As Rafe stands behind you, he hits the side of your leg with his shoe to get your attention and tilted his head to the side as if to tell you to go with him somewhere else.

"What is it?" You ask, still with a drunken smile on your face.

"Need to talk to you."

"Cameron, dude, leave the gir-"

Rafe sends JJ a glare as he starts to say that, and that seems to make him stop. You look between them and shake your head a bit as if to rearrange your thoughts.

"Why?" You ask Rafe, "Why do I need to go?"

Didn't really take much convincing for Rafe to be able to make you stand up (carefully, because he doesn't want you to fall on the fire not too far down) and he even gives you his hand to help you stand.

You take it, without thinking too much of it, and give JJ a little wave before leaving with the older, and taller, boy.

Rafe pulled you deep into the trees behind the crowd and you let go of his hand as soon as you snap out of the moment. He looks annoyed, to say the least, and with just his glare alone, you know he's annoyed with you.

"What did I do?"

He stops walking and looks down at you.

"A pogue? Out of everyone, a pogue?"

You had to laugh with that one.

"I don't care about that thing about Kooks-" You hiccup, "And Pogues, Rafe."

"Well, you fucking should. And Maybank? Don't you know how his fam-"

"He's nice!" You scream, drunkenly trying to be louder than him.

"I don't give a fuck that he's nice, you can't hang out with him."

"Why not?!" That seems to annoy you further.

"Because I don't want you to, Y/N!" He screams back, "I'm trying to look out for you here! Can you listen to me for once in your life?"

You shake your head at him in annoyance.

"I don't want you to look out for me, Rafe. I'm almost 18! I'm more than capable of looking after myself."

Right as you said that, you take a step back and trip over a stick, falling right on your ass. Yeah, alcohol really isn't your best friend in moments like these. And neither is timing.

Rafe, already annoyed, looks down at you and you let out a giggle of embarrassment and he extends his hand again.

You take it and this time, as he pulls you up, you're chest to chest, glued to one another.

"You're not going to hang out with him, you hear me?" He mumbles.

"Or what?" You whisper with a bright smile, "What are you going to do to me, Cameron?"

He clenches his jaw again as you hold your chin high, proudly.

"If you're jealous, just say that." You keep on teasing. "No need to be ashamed."

Rafe looks down at you, a serious expression on his face, contrasting with your wide smile as you look up at his eyes.

He admires your face as your drunken gaze setting over him, and as his, also, drunken yet angry gaze sets on you.

Before you can even tease Rafe further, he leans down and lays his lips over yours. Due to the alcohol, you don't even get to react with any sort of shock. Your hands fly up to his shoulders to pull him closer and you deepen the kiss with absolutely no shame.

Rafe's hands grip onto your waist and he pulls you closer to him so that your hips are absolutely glued.

Your hands move up to his neck and your fingers cling onto his hair, pulling on it until Rafe groans against your lips. You smile into the kiss and reconnect your lips once more.

Bad thing you both didn't remember any of this on the next day.

Hope you liked this, peeps.

If you'd like to request anything, do it before the day is over!! ❤️❤️

[fizzyxcustard]

Covert Eyes (10)

Prologue| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

Fandom: Spooks

Pairings: Lucas North x OC (Amy Holland)

Warnings: Stalking behaviour, anxiety, language, sexual references.

Summary: Lucas takes notice of a young woman, Amy, but his obsession and want to get to know her begin to spiral out of control. Their relationship is back on track; with them living a ‘normal’ life. But how long will their domestic bliss last? Amy now has another pair of eyes watching her, and Lucas has submitted a security vetting application to complete all necessary background checks on his new girlfriend

Comments/Notes: If you wish to be tagged in any of my tag lists for fics or characters, please let me know, and stipulate what you want to be tagged in. The above image was located on Pinterest, with no link back to the original source. 

I also wanted to stipulate, and I don’t mean to be rude, but if you ask to be on my tag list and never interact (even if just a ‘like’ on the chapters I post) then I will remove you after a few weeks. Please try and show some kind of engagement, or ask to be taken off my list if you’re no longer interested.

Reluctantly, Amy requested for a meeting with her manager to discuss the incident with Jonathan. At ten sharp, on the Tuesday following Jonathan’s buzz at Amy’s block, Amy sat opposite her manager. The two of them had a cup of tea next to them. Thankfully her manager was a kind hearted woman, a lot like Debbie, only less outspoken. Avril was of a very slight build and would always listen to concerns, unlike a lot of the other managers in the building. Most of them were disconnected from their staff and only listened to the senior management who held the whips and forced everyone into submission with threats of disciplinaries and performance reviews. 

“I’ve had someone following me,” Amy said with a sigh. “I’ve called the police and been given a reference number and a file has been opened, but they’re pretty loathed to do anything yet because he’s not actively come after me with a weapon or intent to harm.”

Avril rolled her dark eyes and took a mouthful of her hot tea. “That’s what they always say,” she replied, her voice thick with a Cornish accent. “I’ll have a word with the security guys and make them aware of what’s going on. Is there anyone who lives close to you who you can walk home with?” 

“My boyfriend has been coming to meet me, but I can’t always rely on him as he’s got work as well. He walks in with me as well. It’s not fair on him.” 

“I get that. He’s not always going to be there, but I’m sure he tries his best.”

“Somehow this man has found out the building I live in, so he’s been following me. I met up with him after matching on Tinder and agreeing to go out. He wasn’t very gentlemanly, let’s put it that way. So I walked out on him while he was getting another drink. And it’s only been in the last couple of weeks, just after I started seeing my now boyfriend that he’s started following me. I was at my local café and the manager had to escort me back because he was watching me. Then a couple of days ago, he tried to buzz into my building.” 

Avril sighed. “What an arsehole. I’ll definitely go and have a word with security now to make sure they keep an eye open for anyone waiting outside. Do you know if he’s a claimant?” 

“As far as I know, he’s not, no. I’ve never seen him in here.” 

“Leave this with me, Amy, and I’ll tell security. Do you have a description of him?” 

On the other side of the city, Lucas was sat at his desk, lost in his thoughts of Amy. She had bewitched him, making him feel as if he were swimming in a dream. It was a dream of love, peace and joy. There were no questions of motives, worry of who she really was. Today would be the day when he would give over her details for vetting. True, he had already looked up her details on most of the systems he had access to, finding only the ‘normal’ traces through her national insurance number, driving licence and passport. Executive Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, civil servant. Youngest daughter of three. Two previous addresses. No trace on any warning indexes or security databases. No police record. Such a good girl, Lucas thought. It raised a smile. He’d never fallen in love with a good girl before. It had always been the women with secrets. 

Just before lunch and Lucas took Harry, the senior intelligence officer of the team, to one side in an empty office. He held up a case file. Amy Holland was marked on the front. “For vetting,” Lucas said simply. “My application is inside.” 

“Anything of note before we proceed?” Harry asked. “Anything I need to know?”

“I’ve told her what I do for my job,” Lucas replied, taking a deep breath. “But nothing specific.” 

Harry blinked and straightened his back and shoulders. “Do you think that was a wise move?” 

“I trust her.” 

“How long have you known her?” Harry asked. 

“We’ve been seeing each other now for almost a month, but known each other for approximately three months.” 

“How can you be sure you trust her?” Harry countered. “It’s easy to fall into the trap of trust with people who are detached from our work.” 

“I know her, Harry,” Lucas insisted. “Please, just do the vetting. Then I can at least feel more normal when I’m with her. It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to share your time with someone who isn’t fishing for intel. She just wants to be close to me.” 

“Fine,” Harry said. “I’ll submit it this afternoon. But, Lucas? Just be careful. Our hearts aren’t always the best gauge for seeking out good company.” 

Lucas said no more and disappeared out of the office swiftly, the door slamming behind him. Harry merely sighed and took a quick look through the file, stopping on a photograph, and stared into the large eyes of a young woman whom he hoped for Lucas’ sake was everything she appeared to be. In all his years working on the team, Harry Pearce had seen many people ‘outed’ by romantic partners, even if only in an innocent way, such as simple conversation with a family member. Normally it didn’t end well. 

“How did it go?” Jo asked as Lucas sat back down. 

“Fine. Harry has her application now. I can’t see any reason that she won’t pass the vetting.” 

Lucas slipped out of work early and took the tube to Amy’s work place, and waited. His blue gaze flitted back and forth, looking for any sign of Jonathan. Nothing. This guy was going to be slippery; Lucas could feel it. A scorned potential lover, left behind on a date with no word. Of course he’d be pissed off, as most people would. But all of those ‘most people’ would also carry on with their lives and not bear a grudge. 

As they always did, Amy and Lucas greeted each other with a kiss and then walked back to her flat. Amy spoke about her day, filling him in about the meeting with Avril. Then she continued on about a budding romance between two of her colleagues who worked together on the second floor. “They were pulled out of one of the meeting rooms after going in there for a quick snog,” Amy giggled. “The best thing is the fact they’re both in relationships. One is married and one is engaged.” 

“Sounds more like a hook-up bar, your work,” Lucas chuckled. 

“That is true. We did find another couple last year having it away on the photocopier,” Amy laughed. “Another married couple, and not to each other.” 

“Have I got to worry about all of this?” 

“Dear God, no,” Amy laughed. “Never. I struck gold with you, love. I’m still wondering why you even look at me the way you do.” 

Lucas tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her in closer to him. He whispered to her ear. “I have to go back into work, but I once I get back later, I’ll look at you all night if you let me.” 

Amy giggled like a little girl. “Depends on the angle.” 

“Any angle with you is perfect.” 

At Amy’s flat, she let both of them in. “Do you want to stay for a quick cuppa before you go back to work?” 

“Just a quick one,” Lucas replied, unable to deny her proposal. Every moment with her was to be treasured. “I should be home by nine though. Only got another application to write up which shouldn’t take too long. I put your vetting application in today.”  

Amy let her gaze sink to the floor. How could he be so serious about her that he would do this? Was this his way of showing her that he really was serious about their relationship? Or was it just a protocol that everyone followed when sleeping with someone? How many other people had been vetted for Lucas? 

He watched her for a few seconds as her gaze remained locked on the floor. He shifted closer to her and curled his arms around her waist, pulling her in against him. Her small hands reached out and pressed against his chest. Then she finally looked up at him. But only for a few seconds, not seeming to be able to hold his gaze for too long. 

“What’s wrong?” Lucas whispered. “Something is bothering you.” 

“I just can’t fathom it.” 

“What?”

“You. You see me. And you actually like what you see. There seems something wrong with that. No one has ever made me feel like I’m in any way attractive or what men want. But you somehow like me. It feels like a bad joke.”

“I think it’s a bit more than just liking you, Aim. I love you.” 

“All those mornings in the café, and you could have easily just watched me walk in and out, like everyone else does. I’m only noticed when it matters or it’s something advantageous to someone else. No one actually notices me for who I am and then wants to keep me around.” 

“And do you know why? Because you’ve kept the company of arseholes.” 

Amy laughed. “And what if you’re secretly an arsehole?” 

“I was hoping you’d try and find out for yourself.” 

Lucas raised his eyebrow and smirked. 

Much to Ros’ annoyance, Lucas scooted back into the office half hour later than he had originally stipulated. 

“Domestic emergency?” Ros hissed, crossing her arms. 

“Sorry,” Lucas replied, swiftly edging around her to sit down. “Not exactly an emergency,” he continued to himself in a whisper. 

Jo looked up at him and then smiled to herself. “I hear you put in your vetting application this morning for your lady friend. Did the emergency involve her?” 

“If we’re referring to this as an ‘emergency’, then absolutely.” 

Ros came striding over to Lucas’ desk. “Can I have a word, please?” 

She took Lucas into an office which was empty, and sat him down opposite her. “Harry told me that you’ve put in a vetting application for Amy, Lucas. And you’ve also told her about your job. You’re being reckless.” Her eyes were dark with frustration. 

Lucas crossed his arms in defence. “Ros, I haven’t broken any rules by telling her. And I’ve submitted vetting, in line with protocol.” 

“And being late? That’s unlike you. I don’t even understand in the first place why you had to leave, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt. If she’s going to cause you to act like this, then I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.” 

“Oh, come on. Enough of the parent child talk.” 

Ros leaned forward across the table. “I’m doing it because you’re acting like a child, and we don’t have any place for that here. You should know that. You’re one of our best operatives; damn well act like it.” She said no more on the matter and left the room. 

Lucas sat with his arms resting on the table and took a deep sigh. Amy made him feel the most alive that he had been in years. Maybe she did bring out that child-like side in Lucas, the one who hoped and dreamed. It was the part of him that could watch Disney films while eating chocolate and not give a damn what anyone thought. He could laugh with Amy while in bed, tickling her under the sheets and then chase her into the bathroom while she screeched with laughter. 

Work had to remain a priority, but not the priority. 

Amy was watching reaction videos on YouTube when Lucas hit the buzzer. As usual, she allowed him in. It was only quarter past nine when he came into her flat, looking deflated. She could see in his face and posture that something was bothering him. Lucas always had an ability to look intense, no matter his emotion, but whenever something serious was on his mind, she couldn’t quite place the emotions. 

“You okay? Work alright?” she asked. 

“Yeah, just had a bit of a run in with one of my managers as I was late going back,” Lucas replied, peeling his jacket from his shoulders. “She decided to give me the parent child lecture.” 

“That was my fault as well, Lucas,” Amy said, flicking the kettle back on for another hot drink. “We shouldn’t have decided to have sex on the table again. It doesn’t really bode well when you’ve come out of work only to bring me home, not satisfy me sexually as well.” 

Lucas swept over to Amy and curled his arm around her waist. “I satisfied you, you say? That’s one good thing to come out of this afternoon.” He grinned, feeling a sense of pride swell in his chest. 

Amy giggled. “So your main mission in life is to know that you easily get a girl off?” 

“If that girl is you, then yes.” 

***

Follow Forever tag list: @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @middleearthpixie @linasofia @xxbyimm @knitastically @meganlpie @guardianofrivendell @msjava1972 @sketch-and-write-lover @lilacpulse @asgardianhobbit98 @rachel1959 @spidergirla5

Richard Armitage tag list: @eunoiaastralwings @cryptichobbit

[blouisparadise]

Today’s rec list consists of bottom Louis fics that take place in the country, the Midwest, or any rural area. We hope you enjoy. If you do, please be sure to like and reblog this post to help spread the word. Happy reading!

1) Save A Horse | Explicit | 2400 words

Louis goes to a rodeo with Liam, and gets a lot more than he bargained for. Featuring bull rider Harry, obnoxious t-shirts, and one hell of a night.

“Come on Jackson ain’t you been practicin? It ain’t fun for me if I always beat you,” the boy drawls out, voice slow and thick like molasses. “You comin out tonight?” he asks, nudging him with his elbow.

“Not tonight H, me and Liam are going to grab something to eat,” Jackson replies, the blush returning to Liam’s cheeks.

“What about you, what’re your plans for the night darlin’?” Harry asks, crooking an eyebrow in Louis’s direction.

Louis, who is the epitome of outgoing and confident, is at a total loss for words. He starts to say something but freezes, Harry now raising his other eyebrow and smirking, awaiting Louis’s response. “I uh- I’ll probably just go home,” Louis manages to stammer out, and what the fuck? Who is this man and how has he turned Louis into an introvert in a matter of seconds?

2) Gunsmoke | Explicit | 6527 words

Harry 'Gunsmoke' Styles and his boys Liam, Zayn, and Niall are all traveling cowboys who come across a small town on their journey to nowhere. They hang out at a tavern where Harry meets Louis, a cute and fiery bartender, and they may or may not fall in love.

3) Hey I Heard You Were A Wild One (If I Took You Home It'd Be A Homerun) | Explicit | 12106 words

Harry came to the bar to forget. Louis gives him a night to remember.

4) This Land Is More Than Dreams | Explicit | 12878 words

Louis is a student taking a gap year, travelling through the States. His plans change when he meets a cute cowboy-wannabe in one of the towns.

5) Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy | Mature | 13356 words

Harry owns a farm and Louis rides horses (and pretty boys sometimes) for a living. Harry hurts himself by being clumsy before he gets to ride a horse with Louis.

6) Manifest Destiny | Explicit | 15210 words

Louis is a Pony Express rider and Harry runs a station along the trail.

7) Baby Blue | Explicit | 39439 words

Harry Styles takes his time coming out to greet them. Louis only knows what he’s seen on file and what he’s heard them talking about, but he fully lives up to the image he had inside of his head.

He saunters down the front steps of the farmhouse in his Levi’s, brown snakeskin boots curving out from underneath the denim Louis’ sure he had specially made. He’s got on a plaid button-down tucked into the jeans because of course he does, curls spilling out from either side of his cowboy hat around his sunglasses and country-tan skin.

“Harry Styles,” he drawls, extending a hand to Louis’ manager, “Pleased to meet ya’ll.”

8) I Ain’t Gonna Fence You In | Mature | 40645 words

Louis Tomlinson is a 18 year old city boy who is forced to spend his summer before his senior year at his aunts farm. There, he meets Harry, a 19 year old country boy his aunt hired to help around the farm.

Maybe the farm isn't the worst place to fall in love?

9) Boiling Blood Will Circulate | Explicit | 42420 words

The wait isn’t long before something starts rustling in the bushes. Harry takes aim, squeezes the trigger, body moving unconsciously. They’re motions he’s done a thousand times before, and his body knows how to do it without the input of his brain now. It’s what makes him such a good shot.

He misses. The shot misses.

Something howls in the woods, a pretty clear indication that Harry hit it, but there’s no telltale sounds of a big body dropping, no animal charging out at him to take him out before he can finish the job.

Something does turn and run, though. “Fuck,” Harry spits out, scrambling to his feet and slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, giving chase. He’s not going to lose this hunt.

The trail of blood goes on longer than Harry thought it would. He doesn’t know how long he runs for, but his muscles are burning, chest heaving with exertion, until the trail just - goes dead. No more blood, just like that.

“Fuck,” Harry says.

10) Your Touch Shouldn't Make Me Feel Like This | Explicit | 48883 words

Uni AU in which Alpha Harry has been in love with his omega friend for the longest time and one motorbike trip to the countryside with Louis made him realize that he could no longer hold back his feelings.

11) For the Sake of Propriety | Mature | 52360 words

Louis Tomlinson is the caretaker of an estate that is not truly his, and when his Uncle calls upon him to take it back, Louis knows he will soon be out on the streets with four overly zealous sisters to care for.  His only solution: wed the eldest two off and pray for the best.  When an even better solution unexpectedly presents itself in the form of the charming Mr. Styles, Louis is faced with a difficult choice.  But as with all things in the regency era, reputation very well may threaten to outweigh the fleeting matters of his heart.

12) Through The Wheatfields And The Coastlines | Explicit | 52855 words

“You’re not from around here, are ya?” Hot Cowboy asks, tracking his little lamb with his eyes. Louis frowns slightly, having thought he was doing pretty well at not sticking out like a sore thumb. It’s not like he’s not from around here — it’s not his first summer he’s spent at his grandparents'. But he supposes that the Manhattan city lifestyle that he’s used to is always going to shine through.

“I’m visiting family for the summer,” Louis explains, cheeks a little pink. “Trying to get some work done without distractions.”

13) The Bachelor | Explicit | 53953 words

The one where Harry dates six other guys and still falls in love with Louis Tomlinson.

14) Apples Always Fall (As I Do For You) | Mature | 54609 words | Sequel

Louis is staying at his Aunt's farm in a small town in Minnesota for four months. To deal with the boredom that sets in a week into his stay, he starts working at the local apple orchard, owned by twenty six year old Harry Styles.

Louis quickly finds himself falling in love with the orchard, and he finds a family in Harry's friends Niall, Liam, and Zayn.

He also starts to fall in love with Harry.

Falling in love with him turns out to be the easy part.

15) Such Good Luck | Explicit | 66025 words

An Edwardian AU where Harry is a young aristocratic lord and Louis is a working class dairy farmer. Secrets are a necessary part of their relationship, but Louis has one that could topple their whole world.

16) Given a Chance | Explicit | 173511 words

Five years after One Direction took their last tour, the last thing Louis Tomlinson ever expected to happen while on a tea run at the local Piggly Wiggly was to run into his ex-boyfriend and ex-bandmate Harry Styles.

The odds of them ever running into each other again had to be super slim, right?

Wrong.

What happens when you mix ex-boyfriends with a large serving of Small Town America? Will Louis and Harry be able to set aside their differences, or will Louis be able to stay breezy as fuck in the wake of Harry’s arrival?

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[shelby-love]

HANK VOIGHT

Dating the Big Boss.

Requested: yes

Prompts: none

Warning(s): mentions of r*pe and p*dophilia (it's a tough case)

Author's note: I had a lot of fun writing this one. Especially since everyone is a lot older so I could play with maturity a little. Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the long wait! I'm just starting to get back to writing.

~

"What's up with him?" Erin whispered when she saw Voight barge into the unit's personal quarters. Hank didn't look at any of them as he strode into his office with a frown on his face.

He was angry, that's for sure.

Still hot on his tail, your senior detective self arrived right on que with him. Every pair of eyes was on you, knowing that you were the only one who had magic to calm him. You waved your hands, dismissing their burning questions all at once. You just crossed your fingers for them all to see and walked into your lover's office without knocking.

"Hank let's talk about this," You approached him carefully.

"There's nothing to talk about here Y/N."

"Yes, there is." You sat at the edge of his desk casually, although your heart was still racing upon hearing the news delivered to you this morning. "We have a serial rapist and pedophile out there. It's okay to be affected by it honey."

"Well I don't have any leads on this case," He told you strictly, although the anxiety was visible on his shoulders. He had his back turned to you and face focused on the city in front of him. The wheels turning and working in his brain were practically visible for the whole world to see.

"Then maybe we should look into our contacts and see who can help us," You proposed quietly. "This is far from over Hank. We can still turn this around."

You could see him nod, which instantly calmed you down. "Come here."

He, as surprising as it may sound, listened to your words, and walked over to your arms.

He placed his rough hands on your thighs while you ran your hands over his arms soothingly. Eventually your cold hands grasped his face as you gave him a soft look, "Do you want me to brief the team?"

"Thank you," You giggled, still not used to those words leaving his mouth.

The two of you shared a kiss before you left him alone with his thoughts to brief the team. Upon joining them you felt tension rise again, it made you remember what you were meant to do at that moment. "Is he alright?" Erin asked you quietly. You only managed to nod your head before ushering her to her seat.

Then you took a stand in front of them, a file filled with gore pictures secure in your hand. "A few days ago we found a female that was beaten, raped and murdered just outside the Riverwalk area. She was found in a dumpster just outside the Belle Hotel. Roughly 9 years old and unfortunately not the only case."

You spoke with authority that matched Voight's to a certain level. As a senior to all of them it was your job to deliver the details loud and clear. "There have been a few more cases similar to this one. Brody Thompson declared as missing just over a week ago was found two days ago in an area like this one. His left pinky was cut of just like the first victim's..." You placed a picture of a little boy on the board.

"Same MO?" Erin asked, scribbling things vigorously into her notepad. You nodded sadly.

"Are all of the victims children?" Burgess asked from the other side of the room. When you bobbed your head to her in confirmation you could practically see the heartbreak that struck her.

"We believe that we're dealing with a serial rapist and pedophile." You sighed.

"The MO is unique, and it doesn't look like he's been very careful with where he dumps the bodies," Jay notes. "It should be easy to find him since he's bound to make a mistake."

"That's where it gets tricky," You tell him, appreciating his quickness in noticing the details. "These are only cases reported in Chicago within the last few weeks. If we expand the search, which we did, there are dozens of other reported cases all around Ohio, Virginia, Rhode Island and lastly… New York."

A cool cloak of silence fell over the room once you've finished marking the spots. "Some date back to 10 years so we're looking for someone in his early to mid-forties. Maybe even older. Virginia State Police was only able to give us cases within the last 5 years, and we've hit four matches so far."

"Why are they handing the case to us? NYPD should be able to handle this." It was Alvin who had asked that question to which you opened your mouth to answer immediately.

But Hank, your boyfriend and partner, was quicker.

"Because we're the most qualified to do it," He explained, voice booming across the room. He joined your side and placed his hand on your hip; it was that after all, only the members of this very unit knew about you two. "Now, I've pulled out some old contacts from New York. They should be arriving here on the first jet they get their hands on. Until then I want you guys everywhere."

When his gaze slid to yours a twinkle of determination shone within his irises, "Let's get this son of a bitch."

***

"Sargent Benson," you greet the woman that just descended the stairs of the jet. The only people on the tarmac are the two of you and the officers you brought here. "Thank you for coming on a such short notice."

"Voight sounded stressed when he called. Is he alright?" She asked you quietly, matching your footing and walking toward the black SUV next to you.

You shook your head, "This case has been really hard on us is all. It's not every day we have cases like this one."

"Well, our job isn't pretty." She agreed. "Rape cases are already hard on their own."

"But when it's kids…"

"Do you have kids, detective?"

"None that are my own."

"Then I guess you're lucky."

"I suppose so."

***

The drive back to the district wasn't all that comfortable. Benson carried an air of importance around her that would get some rookies sweating with nerves.

Decades in this line of work showed just how good of a match you were for her.

"Hey Trudy," You greeted your friend in passing. Benson was hot on your heels as you lead her upstairs.

Upon reaching your destination you felt her walk straight pass you into Hank's arms. She brushed her hand against the lapels of his jackets when she asked him how he was doing. You felt your chest rise with jealousy but that diminished quickly when you saw him lead her to his office.

"You're not seeing that?"

"Seeing what Jay?"

The younger man narrowed his eyes at you, "She's obviously into him."

You sent him a glare. "We're not kids Jay, we're adults that lived long enough to see what's worthy being petty about and what's not."

"If you say so."

You rolled your eyes, but still went to retrieve your man, nevertheless.

***

You knocked twice before Voight let you in. "Sorry detective, this is a private conversation."

It was Benson who had told you this. You fought an eyebrow that wanted to rise.

"Y/N runs this unit as much as I do," Your boyfriend interfered. "She can stay."

You smiled, that not being able to suppress. "What do you have?"

"A possible location," She told you, still eerie about you being there.

You perked your eyes at that, taking your usual seat in Voight's office. Hank came to stand behind your chair, hands on the back of it. Olivia eyed you quietly and came to retrieve some papers. With her back turned to you both you turned your head, eyes travelling to Voight. Silently, you asked about what was going on. He only shook his head and pressed his hand against your shoulder, rubbing it in comfort.

Olivia saw the interaction and raised her brow.

***

You held your M16 in your hands securely. Officers were bustling all around you, greeting you in passing. The house in front of you looked like a fortress having god knows what protecting it. "We don't go in by force. There are still kids inside."

While the members of your unit nodded in agreement, a few voiced their distaste.

"We go in now. Cut off his ability to retaliate."

"I understand Olivia, but-"

"Sergeant."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm your sergeant. Let's keep it that way."

You gritted your teeth, seemingly offended by the fact that she had used the chain of command to put you in your place.

"My sergeant is Voight. I answer only to him," You corrected her. "I just want those kids to come out of there alive, and that's not going to be possible if we barge in. He'll panic. Kill them instantly."

"Why don't you go in then?" She proposed. "Scope and give us inside information so we can work our way around it. You find the kids and let us do the rest."

You thought about it. "I need –"

"Nothing." Your sergeant appeared by your side, eyes hard and body as still as a rock. Unlike Benson, you could see his anger. You almost reached out to calm him. "You're not doing it."

"This could be our shot." You told him.

He only shook his head, "Trust me it's not. A word, sergeant?"

She nodded and followed him.

You watched as the distance became bigger.

Jay and Adam came to stand next to you, Adam at your right side and Jay at your left.

"Holy hell." Adam muttered.

"She almost got you killed." Jay commented after him.

"Holy hell indeed guys."

***

"Hank I'm trying to do right by these kids!"

"The hell you are," Hank outright yelled at her. As the only person at the scene that had guts to stand up to her, he took the chance to put her in her place. "The way I see it you want Y/N in direct danger with no back up."

She stayed silent.

"You don't get to boss around my unit. Especially not my most trusted detective."

"Oh, come on Hank." She sighed, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"You're here to assist. The case is still mine so don't get ahead of yourself."

And with that, he left her to be.

"We're waiting for him. SWAT is on standby."

You smiled gratefully at him before mouthing a thank you.

***

"You did great today," You complimented him, smiling from ear to ear. All the children that went missing within the last few weeks have been found alive. Wounded yes, but alive. And the man was, much to your satisfaction, shot dead when he tried to run. By none other than yourself. Being able to put down a monster like him brought you satisfaction.

It brought Hank pride too.

He pulled you in by the hip and rested your back against the wall. Chicago was lightly lit up outside, bringing peaceful atmosphere to the district. Your fingers brushed against his rigid jawline; eyes locked with his.

Kisses between you two were shared ever so often at work. While you would both usually leave to the privacy of your home, today was a day you both needed reassurances immediately.

Your lips were pressed together and moving in a way possible for only people with experience.

When someone opened the door without knocking, you pushed him away in fright. Hank didn't even stumble as he narrowed his eyes at the person who had intruded.

"Sergeant Benson?!" You shrieked, cheeks flushing a bright red.

"It all makes sense now." She mused.

MASTERLIST

[masonsutd]

A history of Ben Chilwell at Leicester City Football Club

Benjamin James Chilwell

Born 21st December 1996, Milton Keynes.

It is unknown as to which football club Ben followed when he was growing up as he hasn’t spoken about it however, he has said that Ashley Cole was his hero when he was growing up.

Youth Career

Ben started playing football aged 6 for a team called Woburn Lions which is local to where he grew up. He scored 5 goals in his first game even though he had never played football before or even had a kick about with friends. Ben before this preferred rugby as his dad is from New Zealand who had moved over to England shortly before Ben’s birth. He quickly moved to the Bletchley Youth Football Academy to try and help him gain exposure from bigger football clubs, months later he trialled for AFC Rushden and Diamond’s centre for excellence which he was successful in.

2005 – 2009

Ben Chilwell was with Rushden and Diamond’s centre for excellence from the age of 9 until he was 12 years old.  The club started having problems towards then end of Ben’s time with them and so he went back to playing with Bletchley Youth again which he was happy about because his friends were still there.

Football or Cricket

Leicester City Football club wanted to sign Ben to their youth academy after a 6-week trial however Rushden were trying to get a lot of money for him which he has said delayed the process of going to Leicester. The two clubs eventually settled on a fee and in 2009 aged 12 Ben Chilwell signed for Leicester City Youth Academy, however as this was happening Ben speaks about the fact he had to choose between football and cricket. Ben had traveled to Loughborough for three days for an England Under 15’s trial for cricket and he had been signed to Northants Academy. Ben states that even though he was better at cricket the atmosphere was better in football and he had friends, so he chose football.

Leicester City Youth Academy

2009 – 2015

Not much is known about Ben’s time in the academy other than what he shared in an interview with The Players Tribune. He states that whilst playing for the under 16’s in 2012 the players in his age group had all had a growth spurt and they had all developed their game over the summer period and he felt he went from being one of the best to one of the worst in the group. He stated that before this he rarely worked on his game but suddenly, he needed to because every Thursday he would have to tell his dad that he didn’t make the team. He said during this period he hated Thursday’s.

Pushing himself

He states his dad started making him go to the park for exactly two hours just kicking the ball against the wall to work on his passing, his dad made him go running to work on his fitness. Even though his dad didn’t understand football with his passion being rugby, he did understand sport and he wanted Ben to push himself to succeed. Suddenly Ben went from just getting through his youth career based on talent alone to having to work for it, he believes that it was the fact his parents never stopped believing in him that forced him to do better, he would take comments like “wasted talent” and say to himself “just watch me”. The year after Ben became captain of the under 16’s and for the next two years he was loving his time in the Academy.

International

Ben had appeared for England for the Under 18’s, he then went onto the Under 19’s and played couple games for the Under 20’s. he played in France shortly before the Paris terrorist attack in November 2015. They flew back from there and the coach Keith Downing informed Ben that he would be meeting up with the Under 21’s for the game against Switzerland in Brighton. This would be the first time that Ben would play under Gareth Southgate.

2015/16 season

Huddersfield Loan

Ben was with England Under 21’s when he got a call from his agent. His agent stated that Huddersfield wanted to sign him on loan. They were a Championship side with a proper manager (remember Ben hadn’t played under the manager of Leicester City senior squad at this point) and they wanted to give him actual game time that wasn’t in the academy. Ben felt he was so close to breaking into Leicester’s senior squad but then he thought about what his dad would say had he given up that opportunity. So off Ben went to Huddersfield. Ben played just 8 matches for Huddersfield before he was recalled but he states that David Wagner the manager helped Ben believe in himself. He told Ben that he could be one of the great left backs if he kept working at it.

Leicester City recall and title

Ben was recalled to Leicester on 3rd January 2016. Leicester were 2nd in the league having played 22 matches they had won 12 drew 8 and lost just 2. Arsenal were ahead of them solely on goal difference.

Ben didn’t make an appearance for the senior team in the premier league however he did make 2 appearances in the FA Cup and an appearance in the EFL cup. Ben would appear on the bench for Leicester City senior squad in the premier league 9 times, including the day that they were crowned Barclays Premier League Champions with 2 games to spare. Because Ben was named as a part of the squad during this season, he is accredited with wining the Premier League.

International

Ben was still with the under 21’s and got his first taste of success having won the Toulon Tournament just before Leicester won the League. He played only 2 of the matches and was on the bench for the other 3 including the final. 

First season full season with the senior squad – 2016/17

Premier League

Before making his premier league debut on the 26th of December 2016 Ben was on the bench for 6 matches and missed 6 through an ankle injury. I cannot find information about him playing for the reserves around the time of injury so it can only be assumed that he did it during training. Ben made his first appearance for Leicester City in a home match vs Everton, Leicester lost 2-0 but Ben played the full 90 minutes. Ben then played 90 minutes 6 more times; he was substituted 5 times however 3 of these appearances were for less than 5 minutes. Ben scored his first goal for Leicester in the penultimate league match vs Tottenham Hotspurs which happened to be Leicester only goal in the 6-1 defeat.

Cup appearances

Ben made one appearance in the EFL Cup which was before his injury, and he got the full 90 minutes. Ben played all matches in the FA Cup which saw Leicester being defeated by Millwall in the 5th round. Ben made his first appearance in the Champions league on the 7th of December 2016 against Porto which saw Leicester be defeated 5:0, he had been named in the squad for the first match of the campaign but didn’t make an appearance, he then is benched for both last 16 legs and the first quarterfinals leg. He then played 45 minutes of the quarterfinals second leg which saw him get an assist. Unfortunately, Leicester had already been defeated 1:0 in the first leg and Atletico scored another in the second leg meaning Leicester were kicked out of the competition.

International

Ben played all matched for the Under 21’s in the 2017 Under 21’s Euro’s which saw them being defeated by Germany on Penalties in the semi-finals. 

Second Season – 2017/18

Premier League

Ben started his season with being benched 4 times in a row, he then played 2 matches, benched for one, played a quarter of one, benched for another played almost all of the next then not even in the squad for the next then benched for the next. So out of 1,080 minutes available in the first 12 matches of the league Ben only played 279. Ben then played the next 8 matches most of them being the full 90 minutes. He then wasn’t in the squad for match week 21 and 22 with no reason being given. Ben’s first match back he was show 2 yellow which resulted in him being sent off in the 68th minute. However, I suspect that this was appealed as Ben played the next match. Ben was benched for one more match of the season. Ben’s season was ended early after he got an ankle injury meaning he missed the final three matches.

Cup Appearances

He played 4 out of the 5 FA Cup matches only missing the third-round replay. Ben played all of the EFL Cup matches however he came off in the 72nd minute in the quarterfinals which saw Leicester lose 4-5 on penalties.

International

Ben played 3 out of the 10 matches for the Under 21’s European championship qualifiers. He was on the bench for one of the matches but wasn’t named in the squad for 6 of them.

Third Season - 2018/19

International

Ben was called up to the England senior squad in September 2018 making his first appearance against Switzerland on the 11th of September 2018. He came on in the 79th minute. The then played 58 minutes against the USA in November. Ben played 3 out of 4 of England’s Nations League matches he even got an assist in the final match. He then played in the semi-final of the Nations League which saw England be beaten 3:1 in extra time. Ben was on the bench for the 3rd round playoffs. Ben then played in 5 out of the 8 European qualifiers being benched for the other 3. He managed to get 3 assists in the 7:0 win over Montenegro.

Premier League

Ben missed 2 out of all 38 matches due to knocks. He played the full 90 minutes in all 36 matches he played, he got 5 assists and 4 yellow cards.

Cup Appearances

Ben didn’t appear in the squad for the EFL Trophy or the EFL Cup, he wasn’t in the squad for the FA Cup defeat to Newport County.

Final Season – 2019/20

Premier League

Out of the 38 matches that Leicester played Ben missed 9 through injury including the final 5 matches due to a foot injury. Ben would have likely missed a lot more matches as he was injured when the Premier League was stopped due to the coronavirus. Out of project restart which was the final 9 matches of the season Ben played 4 scoring Leicester’s only goal on the return match. Ben scored two other times during the season, once during the 9:0 win against Southampton and his other goal was against Chelsea.

Cup Appearances

Ben would play 3 out of the 4 FA Cup matches including the lose to Chelsea in the quarterfinal. Ben would play half of the matches in the EFL Cup. 

Leaving Leicester

On the 26th of August 2020 Ben would announce that he had now signed for Chelsea Football Club, he calls it a dream come true. In his goodbye to Leicester, he thanks everyone at the club for helping him grown not just as a player but also a person. He states he wouldn’t be where he is without the guidance and support of everyone at the club. It was announced that Chelsea had paid Leicester City £45 million pound for Ben.

[tartt9]

for a large majority of jamie's life, his managers fell under two categories: bad and pep.

in this blog's canon, he got his call up to city's senior side under pelligrini, who i'll be the first to admit i don't know a TON about personally, but he's a manager who moves clubs every 2-3 years so that tells me enough about his coaching style to say that jamie never felt secure or comfortable under him especially coming in as a junior. jamie as a rookie was bullied by the older men in the club for his talent according to phil so i'm running with that and saying that that was all happening under pelligrini (or whatever lassoverse person was at city before pep, there's no mention of city before pep so i'm assuming it adheres to real life staff).

then pep comes in and switches up the wholeeee atmosphere at the club. he's not a manager who would allow bullying of any sort in his dressing room, which is part of the reason that im convinced jamie got his senior call up before pep came. anyways pep is known for being this very affectionate, very loving, very emotional coach - he's everything james denigrated in a man and everything jamie was taught he wasn't allowed to be, but here's a shining example of the fact that he can be emotional and affectionate and still be successful in football so he started to really grow into the premier league under pep's management!

pep constantly rotates his starting xi, he cares deeply for his young players and wants to make sure they shine, will constantly lather praise upon them when he's asked, will wrap his players in hugs after matches. pep has no room for an ego in his dressing room and he will sit players who think they're better than the environment he creates. having pep to support him while he's coming up and growing into these massive, premier league sized boots is something so important for who jamie is as a player and a man.

not to mention he's also a tactical genius and has now won the treble twice (the only manager to ever do that in european football). plus. this is him as a player (that has nothing to do with jamie's experience with him but i think jamie learned a lot from him both about football and as a player, plus as a man. i think a lot of his personality comes from pep). and when jamie was sent on loan it was with a promise from pep that if jamie could develop a little bit more he'd earn his spot in the XI more frequently, he could start for city instead of just being a second teamer. so he goes. (i also think pep knew about jamie's whole thing about roy but that's not the point rn)

pep does not like george cartrick. sending jamie on loan to richmond was probably something he didn't exactly want to do but he knew it was best for jamie as a player. the handshake between cartrick and pep after richmond lost to city 9-0 at the etihad while jamie sat in the vip section bc he couldn't play against his parent club was probably SOOOO passive aggressive. like. this level of passive aggression

and cartrick's a shit manager who cares more about slinging slurs and proving his own masculinity than about managing a successful team, richmond's canonically mediocre pre-s1 and i think that has to do with cartrick not caring if not using the James Tartt Method of "you're failing so you're xyz a little bitch zyx". so from jamie to go from pep to that was probably just. awful for his mental health. he was being driven to the point of insanity due to incompetent coaching, and not to mention he had mannion whispering into his ear about the fact that he could become a star at richmond akin to messi and ronaldo and all those people

and then ted comes and jamie's under his fourth manager in five years and he now knows it's a coin toss but he starts off skeptical bc he's an american. we see jamie lifting weights pre-press conference but as soon as ted starts talking and it cuts back to the gym jamie's actually listening to ted and giving him a chance. but ted keeps proving his own incompetence as a manager and jamie trusts him less and less as he comes up with these mediocre plays and doesn't seem to care when they lose and they fall more and more towards the bottom of the table and jamie knows relegation is a real fear and he wants to do everything in his power to keep richmond from that not just to impress his dad but to impress pep so he keeps fighting and we find out that he's scored 11 goals during his loan (which is in the top 20 of most goals scored all SEASON in 2019-20, not even counting the goals jamie may have scored upon his return to city) so like. obviously jamie cares about richmond, he cares about the club, he wants to see them succeed. and ted's just fucking them all up. that drives jamie more and more towards a full fledged breakdown because no matter how hard he tries he's not the manager, he's not a captain, he feels like he's the only one actually trying for the sake of this team bc at that point roy definitely isn't (even if jamie's being a prick about it the whole time)

and jamie doesn't like ted when he first shows up, but he STILL goes to the sacrifice show and tell, he still TRIES (like sure it's with a nudge from keeley but he still could've just... not gone) and he gets sent back to city anyway. and that starts to solidify ted with the cartrick class of managers he's had. and then ted sees james literally abusing him, jamie looks to him with a look in his eyes that's like. please help me. and ted walks away. and that's that. jamie's firmly of the belief that he's had pep, and then he's had shit managers.

and he wants to thrive at city because pep is a Good Manager and a Good Man. but. james gets to him too much and he has to leave the one Man In A Position Of Authority he's ever trusted just to keep himself safe from a full fledged breakdown bc of his dad (even if going on lust was his full fledged breakdown, his cry for help that no one seemed to hear)

so he goes back to ted bc ted's the only manager who'd agree to have him after lust, and he tries so hard, but it's pretty obvious that beard/nate/roy are the reasons the club's even running a little bit successfully, and it takes jamie (with peace and love) to elevate the club back to the prem

he likes ted as a man, but he's not entirely sure he's a good manager, even after s3. ted's obviously good with the players, with the environment he brings to the club, but he barely knows the offside rule in the finale which.... with peace and love.... it is not that hard to learn

we don't canonically know what roy's like as a manager, but seeing him interact with isaac, seeing him coach... i'd like to think he falls more under the 'pep' category than the 'bad' category but... we don't know ! we don't know <3

[everlarkficexchange]

Captain Strong VS The Mockingjay

Written by: @nightlock-1989

Prompt 170: Superhero/Catburglar AU: The jewel-thief Mockingjay has evaded The Capitol’s superhero, Captain Strong, for long enough, and the Merchants of the city have started putting pressure on the hero to bring the thief in for justice. The only problem? The Captain is the alter-ego of teenager Peeta Mellark, and his elusive nemesis is his high school crush, Katniss Everdeen. [submitted by @thelettersfromnoone]

@thelettersfromnoone I loved your prompt and I hope you enjoy what I did with it. This will have multiple parts. I’m not sure how many but we have to find out what happens next!

Rated T for language

Captain Strong VS. The Mockingjay

“PEETA, WAKE UP!” a shrill voice shouts from the other side of my bedroom door. Ugh, the opposite of what I wanted to wake up to.

“I’m up,” I holler. The pounding finally stops.

I roll out of bed and head to the bathroom I share with my brother Rye. He’s styling his hair and his eyes widen at the sight of me.

“You look like shit, Peet,” he says.

“Gee, thanks,” I mutter dripped with sarcasm while I reach for my toothbrush and toothpaste.

“Who did you sneak out to see last night?”

“I didn’t sneak out.”

“Yes, you did. You need to learn to be quieter.”

I lean my hip against the counter and point out, “Does it matter? Dad sleeps like the dead and mom takes enough sleeping pills that I’m surprised she isn’t dead. How she’s even awake right now amazes me.” I press my hand into the marble and hear a crack. Crap.

“What was that?” he asks.

I gently use my other hand to crack my knuckle.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “So which girl was it?”

“What girl?”

“The one you have been sneaking out to see?”

“I told you there’s nobody.” That’s a lie, there is. It’s the reason for all my sleepless nights.

“Fine, but one day I am going to wheedle it out of you,” he says with a gentle slap to my cheek.

“Driving yourself?”

“Yeah,” I say.

“Good, because now that I’m a senior, I can be having a junior cramping my style.”

“You don’t have any style.”

Rye brushes past me and I lift my hand from the counter noticing the crack. Great… I’ll find something acrylic to break and blame it on that or something. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror before jumping in the shower. I do look exhausted. The bags under my eyes are making me look older than my sixteen-year self.

I decide I have enough time for a quick shower. The warm water is running against my back. I let the thoughts of last night roll.

In the last year, I have successfully defeated 9 supervillains. Not too bad considering I’m only 16 and have only possessed my powers for about as long. How a swarm of tracker-jacker stings caused me to develop super-strength and a host of other small powers I’ll never know.

The last 6 months, the Merchant sector of Panem has been hit with a host of robberies by a cat burglar called The Mockingjay. My mentor Haymitch says that from what he understands, she doesn’t possess any actual powers.

She’s been stealing things. I don’t condone it or anything but there are more severe problems that need to be dealt with than a bauble of Venia Stone’s. Since I’ve taken out The Crane, I find myself on a bit of a break which is why I’m sitting here, in Venia’s apartment, waiting for The Mockingjay. We have The Cornucopia Diamond in plain sight. I think it’s stupid, there’s no way she would be dumb enough to go for this. The most expensive item she has stolen has been valued at $150,000 and that was for a diamond and jewel encrusted white rose brooch from Mayor Snow’s penthouse.

This diamond is valued at $3.2 million. I sigh, sick of sitting in my corner blending in. I’m thinking about the first day of school I will be having tomorrow. I wonder if I’ll have any classes with—wait a minute, something is off. One of my other powers was slight intuition or something along those lines. I call it my mutt sense, pretty much since that time I realized I was being stalked by these weird hybrid mutts The Gamemaker sicked on me.

I slowly stand up. I may be good at blending in but I still stomp like an elephant. I slowly begin moving towards the other room when I spot her. I activate my forcefield. This is it; I’ve got her. I continue creeping towards her as she puts a ring in the pouch on her hip. She has on a dark gray, almost black skin-tight suit that fits her like a glove. It’s long-sleeved and has cloth draped from the arms that gives the appearance of wings. Her ass looks fantastic.

“Anyone ever tell you that you have a loud gait?” the voice says smoothly.

Shit…. She continues perusing the small jewelry box, pulling out a diamond tennis bracelet.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re not as stealthy as you think?”

“Never,” she says still rifling through the box.

“You’ve been caught, you can stop you know.”

“And miss out on a chance of battling Captain Strong? Absolutely not.”

Her hair is in a braided bun, black mask of feathers covering her eyes.

“Let’s just make this easier on ourselves.”

She turns to look at me and I get that feeling of intuition again. There’s something familiar about her eyes, even if I can’t get a good look at them.

“Now why would I do that?”

I approach her but she dodges out of my way. Damn, she’s quick. I stalk towards her and we dance around each other.

We somehow make our way onto the balcony, it’s fine though the forcefield is around the perimeter of the building. If she jumps, she’ll just bounce right back. Suddenly, she opens her mouth and the voice of an angel comes ripping out.

No superpowers, Haymitch? I beg to differ because that powerful singing voice of hers could bust through even my strongest forcefield. Oh, shit it actually has. The damn mockingjays are carrying her off the 22nd story penthouse before I know what’s happening. The fucking birds have actually stopped to listen to her.

“Let’s do this again sometime, Captain Strong,” she teases.

I’m in the science hallway heading to my first class of my junior year. Chemistry. The bell already rung about sixty seconds ago so I hustle. As I enter the classroom, Mr. Latier says, “Mr. Mellark, how wonderful of you to join us.”

“Sorry, Mr. Latier.”

“Take the empty seat,” he instructs pointing to the middle of the classroom.

I glance towards the table and freeze with terror. Me…. Peeta Mellark…. Captain Strong…. a Victor of Panem…. is about to face his biggest fear…. being close in proximity to his lifelong crush Katniss Everdeen.

[peppusae]

[kth] lavender honey ch. 9

note: this fanfic has multiple chapters, so please look forward to more!

lavender honey: kim taehyung x reader

genre: crack, fluff, college au, smut

word count: 2.4k words

>

lavender honey

ch 9: in which namjoon's bomb reaches all the way from gwangju to busan

“Noonim. I like you so, so much.”

You knew.

You knew all too well, and you had so many answers thought up in your head when you daydreamed about this moment for months.

And yet, right now, as you watch Jungkook look at you with expectant eyes, you feel tongue-tied for the very first time in… ever.

“I don’t mind not getting a reply, because I know you like me too, Noonim.” He replies, when there’s no reply from your side. His ears have gone so red that even when Jungkook gets up from on top of you and walks towards the computer chair he still has a hand covering the bottom half of his face in embarrassment.

You feel like you snap out of your daze when you sit up, wondering just how far things would have gone between you and Jungkook if he didn’t get up himself and you had let him go on with whatever it was in his head that was now making the male flush red, not daring to even look back to meet eyes with you.

You wouldn’t have stopped him since you’re such a horny b-

Minji really needs to shut up.

“Noonim, you’ll be going to Busan too on your library trip tomorrow, right?” Jungkook asks, out of the blue.

“We’re going to a lot of places. The seniors have requested a lot of paperbacks we don’t have, so we need to collect them from the other branches.” You say, standing up when you see Jungkook doing the same and making his way out of the room. You wonder if Jungkook is upset about earlier, but he has a smile on his face as he heads out to where his bike is parked outside the building.

“You’ll need to get enough sleep if you have to wake up early to head out, [Name]-noonim!” Jungkook has to say, patting on the back seat of his bike. “I’ll take you home!”

The home date that Jungkook has been gushing over so much feels like it got cut off so abruptly, and you feel so guilty thinking it is your fault, while you hold on to him as you cycle back home without much to say.

You still make sure to give Jungkook a kiss on his cheek, his face flushing red when you lean back and give him a wave.

“Let’s go to the beach when you come back, Noonim! Also, if you get the time, you should drop by my Dad’s restaurant for a meal!”

You give him a thumbs up, letting him know that you definitely will, and watch as he gets on his bike and cycles off.

Why does it feel like something between us got cut off just now? Jungkook was smiling, but he has never been the one to end the date, it’s always been me…

So, what gives?

---

“Kim [Name]. Do you have a moment to spare?” Namjoon asks the next day, standing by the doorway of your room.

“Come on in, Joonie. What’s up?” You ask while you fold up some clothes to take for your weekend trip… Even though calling it a trip doesn’t feel right since it’s something you and Taehyung are doing for extra-credit, not for fun.

Maybe if this trip was with Jungkook, it would be a fun trip-

You shake your head to take away Minji’s - your subconscious self’s- mind away from the gutter for one god-forsaken minute.

“I have to catch a bus in a few minutes, so I don’t have a lot of time to wait to chat… I should have talked about this earlier but..”

You look up from your duffel bag, suddenly getting a little worried why Namjoon sounded so serious out of nowhere.

“Joonie, you sound a bit scary right now. What’s going on?” You ask, furrowing your eyebrows.

Namjoon laughs, closing the door behind him and taking a seat on your bed. “It’s not something like that, don’t worry. I just wanted to talk to you before you left on a trip with Taehyungie.” He explains. You nod, motioning for him to go on.

“I know you’ve started something with Kookie and everything, but… And it’s not that I’m against it, since you’re an adult and everything.. But it’s just that sometimes, I think you and Taehyung have this bond that just crosses over to a line a little more than just friends.”

Your lips part open at his sudden words, and Namjoon looks like he does not plan to stop talking any time soon.

“It may be just me - but I highly doubt this. You two have this bond that makes me feel like you’re soulmates, and I don’t know but… I think you’re very very cautious in front of Jungkook which I never see you behave like in front of Taehyung. You two have this behavior of taking care of each other, and I sometimes notice it in the way you two look at each other… It’s like the way Jungkook looks at you, but the way you look at him isn’t the same.”

“Joon-”

“And I don’t know if it’s just things I’ve picked up or am looking into too much because I’m taking my philosophy and psychology lessons way too seriously, but as someone who has seen you from the day you were born up until now… That’s how I feel.”

You take a deep sigh as you process his words, picking up a sweater and stuffing it into the bag.

“I’m not telling you to act on it, I’m only saying that it’s something that crossed my mind and I wondered if you were able to notice it or you just stayed and smiled your way through and let things flow the way it just goes on without taking a proper decision on your part.”

“Joonie, you’ve made my trip with Taehyung turn so weird.” You say. You don’t think you can admit it to Namjoon, that it wasn’t just him, that you always felt an odd feeling when it was around Taehyung. You had, though, never considered that those feeling and him staying in your head about every little thing could be because you had actual feelings for Taehyung… It sounds almost impossible in your head, if anything.

And you had a boyfriend, an adorable one, at that!

“I’m sorry. But I just wanted to say something so you can be cautious… And not hurt Taehyung’s feelings if something ever happened.” Namjoon stands up, kissing your forehead and patting your hair a little before he gives you a wave.

“Wait, what do you mean-”

“Oh, by the way, Taehyung’s already downstairs waiting for you, so hurry up, okay? Have a good trip, [Name]-ah!” He says quickly before he makes his exit right away.

Ugh… Now you knew you would think about Namjoon’s words the entire trip. Great.

---

“So, will today be a random mix on Spotify kind of day, or may I give you the honor of listening to my amateur instrumentals playlist?” Taehyung greets, as soon as you two climb onto Namjoon’s car to set out for the library expedition.

You’ve packed some kimbap rolls and juice to have on the way to Busan which will be your first stop, and the bags of clothes you two have packed and stuffed at the back of the car for a simple two-day trip is no joke. But then again, getting to travel to multiple cities during college days in difficult after all, and you were determined to take pictures and pretend you’d gone on multiple trips and not just one, thanks to this opportunity.

Maybe that would help take away your mind from all the stuff Namjoon said earlier.

Dammit, Kim Namjoon.

“Show me what you’ve got.” You say, and watch while Taehyung flashes a beautiful smile at you and connects his phone to the speaker system of the car.

“These ones have some mad-crazy piano work, I learned some thanks to Yoongi-hyung.” He starts, the first few chords of the instrumental making you look up at Taehyung in awe.

The music is so mellow and soft that you can’t help but ask him a question that always comes to your head whenever you hear what he works on.

“Taehyung-ah… Have you ever had your heart broken?”

The sudden question makes him look away from the road and at you, blinking a couple times before he lowers the volume of the music.

“Why… Why do you ask?”

“Your music always has some kind of nostalgic, melancholic essence to it.” You reply, watching the way his eyes go back to the road. “It’s like you’ve gone through some form of grief or heartbreak, always.”

“I’ll be kind enough to open a literary discussion with you today, [Name]-ah.” Taehyung says. “When do you think is the best time for someone to be heart-broken, if they had to?”

“That’s an odd question. I don’t think there’s any time someone would want to be heart-broken.” You respond, realizing Taehyung has smartly decided to change the focus of the topic from himself. Perhaps he didn’t want to answer your question for some reason and you could understand him, to some extent.

“I think it’s so much better to have your heart broken when you’re younger, instead of having it broken at an older age, you know?”

You take a moment to ponder about his statement, then nod.

“I mean… Think about it. I’d rather have met someone horrible when I’m fifteen, instead of having the same thing happen when I’m like, twenty-five.” Taehyung goes on.

“Because when I’m fifteen, there’s so much more of my life ahead of me. I’d meet more people. I’d learn to be cautious about the people around me. I’d know how to mold myself to be a better person. That won’t happen if I don’t get my heartbroken before twenty-five when all my values are built up. It would be a shock to me, and that would simply make me lose all faith in humanity.”

The respect you have for Taehyung grows a little, his voice also causing your heart to ache a little. It’s something new you feel, and Namjoon’s words float around in your mind a little, making you look away from Taehyung and out from the window.

“Because the more time flows… The deeper it gets.” You mumble.

“Exactly.”

---

The book collection goes well, the first stop being Gwangju. You two had to hurry, though, and were barely able to reach Daegu before night fell.

Taehyung had explained that, since the libraries would be closed by now, it would be best to head there first thing next morning and to go over to his house and get some sleep.

Taehyung’s parents are home, and his mother is a spitting image of Taehyung himself, bright and sunny and welcoming you and making sure you ate a lot and had everything you needed as she lead you to one of Taehyung’s sibling’s rooms.

“My sister is at college,” he explains, watching you put your duffel bag down on the floor and giving him a nod. “We-”

Taehyung gets interrupted by your phone ringing, and you see that it is Jungkook calling.

“Hello?”

“Noonim, hi! What will you be at tomorrow evening?” Jungkook wants to know.

“I’ll be at Busan, Jungkookie. What’s wrong?”

“Great! Can you spare me around 2 hours near sunset? There’s this beach I really want to take you to, at Busan, I used to go there all the time when I was little!”

The excitement in Jungkook’s voice is contagious. You glance at Taehyung who  had walked over to look at one of the posters on the wall.

“Taehyung-ah. Jungkook wants me to spare 2 hours tomorrow in the evening. We’ll be done at Busan by then, right?”

Taehyung raises an eyebrow, taking a moment before he slowly nods and then turns back to face the poster.

“We could do that, yeah.”

“Great! See you then, Noonim!”

After you hang up the phone, Taehyung puts his hands in his jeans pockets, heading towards the door.

“The switch to the heater can be a little confusing but the button is at the back and you have to manually set it, but I think you can get the hang of it,” He says, “If you need anything, give me a call. Make sure you lock the door before you sleep.”

Before you can wish him a good night, Taehyung closes the door of the room, making you sigh.

You could almost hear Namjoon trying to come up with a new theory, and to be honest, you can’t even blame him because, as you lay on the bed and tried to go to sleep, your mind would not let you forget about Taehyung for a single second.

Damn it again, Kim Namjoon.

---

Taehyung is noticeably quieter than he was the previous day, only speaking when it was time to decide what to eat, and asking you to help him with organizing the books. The hours till evening time passed by slowly because of this, so you’re actually glad when Jungkook texts you an address.

Taehyung drives you to the beach, letting you know he’ll be around and will come back in exactly two hours to pick you up to drive back to Seoul.

Jungkook is dressed in a white t-shirt and blue skinny jeans - boldly remaining you of you two’s very first date dressed exactly alike.

“Kookie, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I told my mom you were coming here for a trip and stuff and she asked me to come for the weekend too!” He says cheerfully, taking your hand and helping you walk through the rough rocky trail leading down to the sandy beach.

Despite your mind screaming out a loud ‘Holy SHIT Jungkook talks to his mom about meeeeeeee!’, the water is so, so blue and the clouds are splattered in multiple hues of reds and oranges. The entire scene is so beautiful and peaceful that you can only stare in awe, taking your shoes off and grabbing them by hand while you walk closer towards the ocean.

“Let’s sit here.” Jungkook suggests a spot, and the two of you sit down, watching waves crashing and producing such beautiful sounds.

“This is healing for my soul.”

“Right?”

“Did you ask me to come over here for a reason, Jungoo?” You ask, glancing at Jungkook who has his shoes placed right beside yours. He has a little smile on his face while he nods, not looking at you and instead making little circles with his fingers.

“Jungkook?”

“[Name]-noona.” He says softly, finally looking up into your eyes.

“Noonim. Please let me break up with you, here.”

[skinsharpenedteeth]

Coming Up Easy - First Sightings

I am *SO* sorry this is so hella late this week. It's been... a fucking week. CW: One mention of a homophobic slur.

You can also read this on AO3!

CUE - First Sightings

Unpacking boxes was not one of Alex’s favorite activities. He hadn’t had many when he’d moved because he hadn’t wanted to rent a truck or deal with shipping things, so the twelve boxes he’d been able to load into the late nineties Ford Explorer encompassed all his worldly possessions. He’d finally gotten a chance to start unpacking the miscellaneous boxes after a trip to Ikea for bookshelves, a bed, and a couch. Furthermore, he’d promised himself he’d explore his new city more and find second-hand shops for other household furniture and accessories, but the bookshelves would be enough to finally clear away the last of his unpacked boxes.

Alex opened the last box and looked inside. His heart softened a little as he saw the small shoebox of photographs he kept. Promising himself he’d look through it later, he unpacked the few other knick-knacks out of the box and took them to the bookshelves to start placing them. The box didn’t reenter his mind until after dinner when he found himself lounging across his new sofa with a cold beer in his hand. The box stared at him from the floor where he’d left it. Setting down his beer on the floor, he quickly got up and grabbed the box, and brought it back over to the couch. He flipped open the top and gingerly picked up the pile closest to him.

Michael and him in the desert with guitars. Liz, Max, Michael, and him at a church car wash. Michael, Kyle, and him all leaning against a bathroom wall in various stages of being phenomenally sick from drinking too much. Him and Michael hanging out at the UFO Emporium. Him and Michael eating pizza and playing video games at Max and Isobel’s. Him and Michael in college at a frat party. Him and Michael. Him and Michael. Him and Michael…

It hit Alex quite suddenly that basically since he and Michael had become friends they’d been fairly inseparable. They’d dated other people and had friends that the other didn’t like, but as a rule, it was always the two of them against the world and it had been since they were fifteen. He picked up his phone and snapped a photo of the photograph he held in his hand where they were sixteen, pimply, awkward, and bent over laughing outside the high school band room.

Me 8:46 p.m.>> Who the fuck are these dorks? <<Picture sent at 8:46 p.m.>> <<Michael 8:50 p.m.>> Holy shit, look at those nerds!! <<Michael 8:51 p.m.>> Though I gotta say, the emo one is pretty hot. If I were sixteen, I’d definitely have a crush on him. Me 8:52 p.m.>> You did not have a crush on me at 16! I was so tragic! <<Michael 8:53 p.m.>> You were not. You were fucking feral. You took exactly zero percent shit from anyone. It was hot as fuck. Me 8:55 p.m.>> You are definitely misremembering the amount of bullshit I put up with. <<Michael 9:00 p.m.>> Do you know what you were doing the first time I saw you?

Alex cast back in his memory. He remembered the first time he was aware of Michael, but not necessarily the first time Michael was aware of him. He always assumed it was at the same time.

Me 9:02 p.m.>> Uh? Scribbling emo song lyrics on my bio lab notebook? <<Michael 9:03 p.m.>> Nope. <<Michael 9:03 p.m.>> You were having a fight with Kyle during gym because he tagged your gym shirt with the word “faggot” in pink sharpie.

“Mr. Manes, you cannot wear shirts with inappropriate text on them. This is the gym. White shirts only,” Coach Heim called at Alex as soon as he walked out of the locker room and started towards where the rest of the class was lounging in the middle of the basketball court. Alex could see Kyle elbowing his football buddies and smirking, barely containing their laughter. Alex felt his face grow hot with embarrassment and fury. He kept walking towards the group.

“MR. MANES! GO CHANGE YOUR SHIRT!” the coach yelled, putting more authority into his deep baritone. He was a fit, balding adult who generally was an alright guy, but Alex was swelling with indignation. He stopped a few feet away from the group so he didn’t have to yell to be heard.

“I don’t have another shirt, sir. This is my gym shirt,” Alex explained through clenched teeth. As the rest of the class got a good look at the words emblazoned across his chest and stomach, he heard them begin to snicker and giggle quietly.

“Well, you can’t wear that one. You’re smarter than this, Alex, why would you wear this out of the locker room?” the coach asked, not sounding unkind. He shot the gathered students a dirty look and they quieted their laughter.

“Because it’s all I had to wear and it’s not my fault it was defaced. Some pink-fingered fucking COWARD of a football player must’ve thought it’d be REAL FUNNY to break into my locker and--” Alex started, voice growing louder as he let the heat behind his cheeks infuse his voice.

“I did no such thing!” Kyle yelled, cutting in on Alex. Coach Heim looked over at him, eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe to tell Kyle to sit down, but as soon as Kyle stepped forward away from his buddies, Alex pounced. He landed the first hit on Kyle’s cheek, the meaty smack of their skin satisfying to him. Kyle shook it off and came at him. Before he knew it, they were rolling on the ground hitting each other as hard as they could in anyplace visible. The pain was nothing new for Alex and he kept his head clear as he tried to aim for spots that would hurt long after he was pulled off.

Too soon, arms were wrapped around his chest and a much bigger body than his was pulling him back and off of where he’d pinned Valenti to the ground. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, his ears still ringing with rage, but he could see the thin trickle of blood from Kyle’s split lip and he felt himself smile at the shock on everyone else’s face as they watched him get dragged back. He would not take Kyle’s shit this year. He would not take anyone’s shit.

Alex rubbed his fingers across his eyebrows and sighed deeply. He had been so ready to cause someone else pain by then. His dad had only gotten worse towards him when Kyle started to pull away because it meant that his “unnaturalness” was evident to everyone. His fight then and the fights in the following year always had more to do with his dad than with him being ashamed of being gay. He put the photos down in the box and went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. His phone chimed as he unscrewed the top and after a deep drink, he checked the message.

<<Michael 9:13 p.m.>> Uh oh, you’ve left me on read. You okay? Me 9:14 p.m.>> I’m fine. Sorry. Just got wrapped up in my head for a minute. Me 9:15 p.m.>> How did you see that? You weren’t in my gym class? <<Michael 9:16 p.m.>> I was hiding under the bleachers skipping english. Me 9:17 p.m.>> THAT WAS THE FIRST DAY! <<Michael 9:17 p.m.>> Right? Nothing to do anyway. It was fine. It’s in the past. I graduated high school, didn’t I? No harm, no foul.

Alex laughed quietly to himself, staring at the message screen. He went back to the couch and flopped back down across the cushions with a sigh.

Me 9:20 p.m.>> You did. Even graduated college. I guess you’re right. <<Michael 9:21 p.m.>> When do you remember seeing me for the first time? Me 9: 23 p.m.>> I feel like it was biology when we were lab partners. I was supposed to be with Max, remember? <<Michael 9:24 p.m.>> Yeah, I was with Liz. Max had no chill back then. How the fuck did it take Liz until senior year to notice that he liked her? Me 9:35 p.m.>> Had no chill? *Has* no chill.

“Michael! MI-CHAEL!” Max hissed loudly from his seat next to Alex two rows behind where Liz was sitting. The class period was just getting started and everyone was still milling around trying to find their assigned seats. Michael looked over his shoulder at Max who was looking desperately at him. Michael mouthed ‘what?!’ and gave Max an irritated glare.

“Switch with me!” Max whisper screamed. Alex was smirking into his notebook as he watched the exchange through the side of his eye. He hadn’t really noticed the curly-haired boy before, but the eye roll he gave Max was epic. He started to turn back to the front when Max whispered again. “I’ll pay you!”

Michael turned back around abruptly and narrowed his eyes.

“How much?” Michael asked, not whispering but keeping his voice low enough not to carry to the teacher who was about to start taking roll. Max looked desperately towards the front of the class at Liz’s back where she was ignoring what was happening beside her in favor of actually paying attention. She was about the only one.

“Fifty,” Max called out.

“Seventy-five and you buy my lunch for a week,” Michael countered. Alex was highly amused. Max darted his eyes over to Liz’s back again and nodded. Michael grabbed his stuff and moved quickly towards the back of the classroom while Max grabbed his stuff to go forward.

“Sorry!” Max called out to Alex softly before he left. Alex watched him slide into the seat next to Liz smoothly and take out his notebook. She looked over and smiled at him in confusion, turning to look back at where Michael was now taking his seat next to Alex. Alex looked over at him and was struck full in the face with his mischievous grin.

“That sucker, I would’ve done it for twenty-five,” Michael shared with Alex conspiratorially, leaning closer to him while he spoke so his voice wouldn’t reach Max’s ears. Alex felt himself blushing a little at the somewhat flirtatious smirk Michael was giving him. He’d been aware of Michael, but hadn’t really ever paid him any mind. Now he was near him, he could see the interesting light brown of his eyes somewhere between gold and green. He also smelled a little like lake water and the woodsy, spicy deodorant Alex had smelled on Mr. Valenti. It was weirdly comforting.

“So he has a thing for Liz or is he that afraid of failing bio that badly? I’m not stupid,” Alex asked, clearing his throat and trying not to seem offended by Max’s desperation to switch partners.

“Oh, he has a major thing for Liz. It’s gross. Like, she’s pretty, don’t get me wrong. But he’s been writing Mr. and Mrs. Ortecho-Evans in his notebook since third grade or some shit like that,” Michael revealed, taking out his own bio notebook from his bag and setting in on the lab table in front of him. Alex took in what he was saying and nodded.

“So it’s not cause everyone says I’m gay?” Alex asked, voice low and a little nervous to see Michael’s reaction. Michael looked over at him, eyebrows drawn together and something like sympathy passing over his expression before he responded.

“No, man. Max doesn’t give a shit about that and neither do I. You weren’t planning on trying to date him, were you?” Michael asked, shooting him a grin. Alex grinned back, relieved to hear that someone in the school who was so upstanding and obviously straight like Max wasn’t a complete jerk. Michael didn’t seem too bad either.

“Nah. He’s not my type. I like musicians,” Alex joked, shooting Michael a side-grin.

“You don’t say? Do you play?” Michael asked, eyes forward now in a semblance of paying attention to the teacher. Alex glanced up towards the board, but continued slouching over his lyrics notebook.

“Guitar,” he replied shortly as the teacher started explaining their first lab assignment.

“Cool. Me too,” Michael said. Alex could see him studying him out of the corner of his eye. “We should jam sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

And they did jam together eventually. A week later they’d gotten together and Alex had learned that Michael did not know one end of a guitar from the other. He’d let Michael borrow his brother Greg’s guitar and then taught him everything he knew over the course of the next three months.

Me 9:40 p.m.>> Man. Who knew we’d still be friends this long after. <<Michael 9:45 p.m.>> I did. Once you taught me to play guitar, you were stuck with me for life. There’s an unbreakable bond built when one dude teaches another dude how to finger... Me 9:46 p.m.>> Jesus Christ. That was terrible. <<Michael 9:47 p.m.>> Bet you’re laughing though. Me 9:48 p.m.>> I plead the fifth. Also, I gotta get to bed. Early day tomorrow. <<Michael 9:50 p.m.>> That’s some responsible adult behavior right there. Gross. Me 9:51 p.m.>> You’re gross. <<Michael 9:52 p.m.>> I am gross. I’m going to take a shower and change that, however. When will you be young and fun again? Me 9:53 p.m. >> Shut up. Go take your shower. <<Michael 9:53 p.m.>> Fine. Go to bed. Think about me in bed. Me 9:54 p.m.>> *You* think about me in bed. <<Michael 9:55 p.m.>> Always do. Night Me 9:56 p.m.>> Night.

Alex heaved himself off the couch and went to his room. The apartment always seemed so dark and lonely when he finished talking with Michael. He needed to work on making friends. That would help him not miss him so much.

[feelthe-feel]

The Girl Who Found Herself

*Scene at her office*

*A girl with a fragile body, pale lips and thin fingers is working, completing a file which seems as if it is the last one because no other file can be seen on her desk. Suddenly, there is a sound *Dham* and she looks up. She saw her senior standing on the other side of her desk resting his hands on the latest heap of files that he seemingly he had brought for her. She looked at the pile and then she looked at the clock which was showing 4:45 p.m. She turned back to her senior to say that it was already too late and that the office time was about to get over but he had already left. She could only hear his commanding voice as he walked out of the office, "Boss wants these at his table first thing tomorrow morning!" She sighs and starts working again.*

*Time Skip*

She looks up and it's already 9:00 p.m. 🕘 she packs up everything and leaves.

*Cut *

She guided herself to her house. After climbing the stairs to the second floor really carefully she opens the door to her house. The lift was as always out of service when she needed it the most.

*At her house*

With a loud *bang* the door closed. There was a loud *thud* and there was a girl sitting on the floor looking at how everything was scattered. Papers were all over the floor. She looked as if she would break down any moment. Frustrated, she sat and started picking up the papers lazily. After she was done, she was still sitting there but it seemed that this made no difference. But, it just worsened the condition, as in front of her there was a smiling photo of her. Smiling as if it was her, who owned the world. The girl in the picture looked really happy, really healthy and her skin was glowing so much that one would be needing sunglasses to look at her. The girl in the photo was just her younger self. But the girl who was now looking at the photo was completely different. She reached out for the frame and threw it away.

The glass shattered into pieces but the girl's smile in the photo did not fade. She came back to her senses; she picked up the pile of papers and placed them on the desk. "Really? They call this little work!? I am not able to do the work on time! My files are incomplete! Don't they see the number of papers in each file!? I skip my meals, my house is a total mess and neither I am able to find time for myself. I just sit there trying to complete everything, and as much as I can! Still they are not happy! What should I even do? What do I do!?" She was thinking while cleaning up her room. Tears started to roll down from her angelic looking eyes and she said out loud in a shaky voice, "Even tears are allowed to escape but I am not even allowed to walk away from all of this even for just a second." Then she saw something which made happy as well as sad. There were a lot of paintings kept carelessly but it was not the paintings that caught her attention, the thing she noticed was a painting of a night sky, a beautiful painting but it was left incomplete. She saw brushes of all kinds lying there, stiff because the paint hasn't been washed off. She picked up the brushes and saw her colour palette still full of dried colours. She was now not paying attention towards anything else. She looked out of the window and to her utter amazement the night sky outside was exactly the same as the painting on her canvas. A wave of excitement rushed through her. She started painting and completed it within an hour. She completed her dream which was incomplete and in fact she completed the missing part of herself too. Now her path was clear. The next day she resigned and got herself a spot in the city’s best Art Gallery. She now did what she loved and followed her way to the destiny which she wanted to reach since she was a mere child. She now was a professional artist. So at last, that girl finally found herself in a way she would have never imagined.

-Vaishnavi Singh.

[crystalstar8]

Knights of the Night (ch 15)

Chapter 15

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10, ch 11, ch 12, ch 13, ch 14, ch 15

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,459

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j  @daechwitad-2​ @zobadak​ @fallenstar-7​​​

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

              Catalina was nervous. She had changed her outfit almost ten times and was already pulling a sweater out of her closet for an eleventh. She eyed her suitcase in the corner of her room. No, don’t open it, you’ll have to repack, she told herself. Her phone buzzed from her bed. It was a text from Jungkook.

JK: I’m on my way

              “Shit,” Catalina mumbled. She looked between the sweater in her hand and the one laying on the floor. The one in her hand was a bit nicer so she pulled that one on. She tucked it into her skirt, then slipped into her ankle boot heels. As she was checking her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror for the last time, she heard her front door open. Rounding the corner, she saw Jungkook standing in the hallway, tapping the snow off his boots on the rug. Catalina grabbed her coat.

              “You look so cute!” he said as she came over for a hug.

              “I always look cute, what are you talking about?” she said. He grinned, his nose scrunching up and his eyes turning to crescents. He looked good too, in a turtleneck under his peacoat. It was amusing to her, knowing that he still had a few lingering marks on his neck. They had both dealt with enough teasing from their friends over the past few days, they definitely didn’t need Jungkook’s family on that train as well.

              “Ready to go?” he asked. Catalina nodded and followed him out the door, locking up behind her.

              The car ride was short, only a minute or two since they lived a block away from each other. There were two other cars in the driveway, which Jungkook parked behind. As they got out of the car, Jungkook said, “So, my brother is kind of annoying. Just warning you. He’s in law school and he’s a bit of an asshole about it.”

              “Be an asshole about your film major right back to him,” said Catalina, making him laugh.

              “Easy,” he said. “I’ll just start talking about my favorite directors and artsy films.”

              His house was warm and inviting, as it always was, but today, it was cleaner than Catalina’s seen it in a long time. Maybe ever. A small Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with mismatched bulbs and ornaments.

              Jungkook’s mom came out of the kitchen, pulling oven mitts off her hands. She saw Catalina and her eyes lit up.

              “Catalina! It’s so good to see you!” she said, pulling her into a hug. “I’m glad you could make it.”

              “Yeah, me too!” Catalina said. “I never get to see you guys, so I’m glad to be able to spend some time with you all.”

              “Of course, you’re always welcome,” she said. “My husband and I are always so busy with work, I feel bad. Anyway, come into the kitchen. The food’s almost ready. Jungkook, go help set the table.”

               Dinner was beautiful, and Catalina had fun listening to Jungkook’s family try to embarrass him by sharing childhood stories. He wasn’t embarrassed though, always laughing with the table and sharing his own details about the experiences. It sounded like the family hiked and camped a lot while the boys were growing up, so there were plenty of adventure stories to go along with that. Catalina asked about his parent’s jobs and they told her about what they do at the hospital during their overnight shifts. They were both nurses, but they also did volunteer work every chance they got. Jungkook’s brother was indeed a bit of an asshole about being a law student, but Jungkook cracked everyone up by talking about his favorite film, “Persepolis”, pronouncing it “Pear-say-po-li”.

               Catalina had a great time, but she didn’t stay too late since her and Jungkook had a flight to catch in the morning. Jungkook dropped her off at home that night, kissing her softly in the car before she got out.

               “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

               “I can’t wait,” she said, pecking his lips once more before getting out of the car. “I love you.”

               “I love you too,” he said.

               It feels so good to say that, Catalina thought as she took the stairs to her apartment.

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

               The airport was crowded with people rushing to travel for the holidays. Catalina was thrumming with excitement. She hadn’t seen her mom since before her first semester. She had never lived away from her home before, never away from her mom for so long. She couldn’t wait to see her, and to introduce Jungkook to her. They found their flight easily enough in the giant building, and soon enough, they were in the air, en route to Detroit.

               Catalina’s mom was waiting for them at the airport when they landed. As soon as Catalina exited the gates, she ran, giving her mom a long hug.

               “Oooh, dios mio, how I’ve missed you!” her mom said, holding her tight.

               “I missed you too, mom,” said Catalina. She pulled away and looked over at Jungkook. “Mom, this is my boyfriend, Jungkook.”

               “What a cutie you are!” her mother said as she gave Jungkook a hug as well. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

               “It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Diaz,” said Jungkook.

               “Ms. Diaz. Or you can just call me Lucía. Come, lets go home,” she said. “This place is too crowded.”

               Catalina sat in the passenger seat of her mom’s car on the way home. It wasn’t a long drive, their house was just outside of the city. During the drive, she wondered if she should reach out to her old friends. They had never once texted or checked up on her while she was away, so maybe it was best to leave them behind.

               The house looked exactly the same as when she last saw it and it gave her a sense of comfort to come back to the familiarity. After Catalina and Jungkook got settled into her old room, her mom called them downstairs to help bake cookies. While baking, Catalina and Jungkook told her all about their classes and professors. After the cookies came out, they had fun decorating them in weird and interesting ways. Jungkook decorated a gingerbread man with red eyes and fangs, which Catalina took a picture of to send to their friends.

               Later in the evening,  Lucía took them all out to dinner at a nice place in downtown Detroit. The restaurant was beautiful; bistro lights dripped from the ceiling, branching out from the twisting paper tree in the center of the dining room. Over dinner, Catalina told her mother about her friends in California, and about their trip to the lodge. Her and Jungkook left out the parts about their friends being vampires.

               “I want to know how the two of you got together,” said Lucía. “She didn’t date much in high school, so this is so exciting to me.”

               “I had a girlfriend in my senior year,” Catalina mumbled. Lucia waved a hand.

               “That doesn’t count,” she said. Catalina glanced at Jungkook, who was frowning after hearing this exchange. Catalina put a hand on his knee under the table and decided not to argue.

               “Well, we met in our French class,” Catalina started. “We became friends and we hung out a lot for the first few months of the semester. I mean, I never really knew I had a crush on him at first, I knew he was attractive, but I only saw him as a friend. Then one day, he kissed me, and we’ve been an item ever since.”

                Lucía had a hand over her heart as she listened.

               “That’s so sweet,” she said. “You two are a beautiful couple and I can see you’re so happy with each other. I’m just…so relieved that you found a nice boy and-“

               “Mom,” Catalina interrupted.

               “I just didn’t want you to fall back into those high school phases you were in,” she said. “I was so worried I would lose you to the wrong kind of people. There’s so many influences online these days and I just wanted you to be successful in life. That kind of lifestyle comes with drugs and-“

               “I’m gonna go to the restroom,” Jungkook said, standing up and giving her shoulder a squeeze.

               “Mom, stop it,” Catalina said. As soon as Jungkook was out of sight, she said, “My boyfriend is bisexual too. And so are some of my other friends at school. They’re all amazing people and I would do anything for them. I don’t like when you say things like this.”

               “Catalina, you know I love you no matter what,” her mother said. “I just want the best for you.”

               “It’s not something anyone can control,” Catalina said. “Whether I fall in love with a man or a woman, I’ve always hoped you could be happy for me no matter what.”

               “I am happy for you,”  Lucía said, reaching over to take Catalina’s hand. “You’re following your dream and you seem so happy with your life right now. I think I need to get used to the idea of my daughter being bisexual, there’s just so many bad connotations that come with that community. At least from when I was growing up.”

               “Things are different now,” Catalina said.

               “I know, I know,”  Lucía said. “I think I just need to get used to this. At the end of the day, I just want you to be safe and happy. I think a man would be able to provide for you better later in life.”

               “You of all people should know that’s not true,” Catalina said. “You raised me alone, and we were always pretty well off.”

                Lucía raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “You got me there.”

               Catalina giggled and squeezed her mom’s hand.

               “I love you, cariña,”  Lucía said. “Just remember that.”

               “I love you too, mom,” said Catalina.

               Jungkook came back and Catalina took his hand as soon as he sat down.

               “I’m sorry if what I said earlier was offensive,”  Lucía said to him.

               “It’s okay,” Jungkook said, flashing a smile.

               “I’m trying, it was just so different when I was young,” she said.

               “It’s really okay,” Jungkook said with a chuckle. “This sounds exactly like the conversation I had with my own mom when I was sixteen.”

                Lucía laughed and the conversation turned to the topic of Jungkook’s family. Dinner went on peacefully. Catalina was glad she got this conversation off her chest. She had been struggling with that topic ever since she came out in high school. It really sounded like her mother was trying to understand, and Catalina couldn’t be more grateful.

               The next day was Christmas Eve. Catalina and Jungkook took a day trip to Frankenmuth, which, as soon as they arrived, they realized was a bad idea. Frankenmuth was packed with people, but the pair still managed to have a good time. They ate dinner at the Bavarian Inn and took a carriage ride around the town. They walked the underground mall and the outdoor shops, but only bought gifts for Lucía, since everything was terribly overpriced. They didn’t even shop for each other, since they both confessed they had already bought each other Christmas gifts a long time ago. Snow covered the ground and everything was wrapped in Christmas lights in the little town. Just walking through the beautiful scenery hand in hand with Jungkook was wonderful. 

               They returned home late that evening, wrapping their gifts in Catalina’s room and going to bed afterwards.

               Christmas morning was pleasant;  Lucía cooked them a big breakfast, then they opened gifts in the living room. Catalina had two gifts from her mom. The first one was a Visa gift card and a heartfelt letter. The second gift was a quilt. Each patch depicted a different cat from t-shirts, towels and linens.

               “You’re grandmother started making this before she passed away,”  Lucía said. “You remember her nickname for you?”

               “Gatita,” Catalina said, tears prickling her eyes.

               “I found it just recently and I decided to finish it for you,”  Lucía said. “Just something to remember her by, something your children can use.”

               Catalina felt a tear run down her cheek. She wiped it away and got up to hug her mom.

               “This is wonderful,” said Catalina. “I love it so much.”

               “I’m glad you like it, cariña,” her mom said, hugging her back tight. “I know I don’t have a lot for you, like when you were a kid, but I didn’t want you to have to lug a bunch of stuff back to California with you.”

               “No mom, it’s perfect,” she said. “This is perfect.”

                Lucía then opened Catalina’s gift, which was a silver bracelet from Frankenmuth. Jungkook had gotten her a handmade scarf and hat set, and she had given him another Visa gift card.

               At some point during the day, Catalina made sure to find time for herself and Jungkook. Lucía went to pick up groceries in the afternoon, which was when Catalina took the opportunity to give Jungkook his gift.

               They were pressed together on the couch, both holding a little gift bag in their hands.

               “You first,” Jungkook said, handing her his bag. She took it and opened it, finding a little box in the bottom. Her heart beat fast as she opened it, revealing a ring with the moon in a glass bubble. She gasped and handed his gift over frantically.

               “Open this right now!” she said, pulling the ring out and putting on her middle finger. He did, his eyes getting wide as he opened the slightly bigger box.

               “No way,” he said, looking up at her.

               “How the hell did this happen?” Catalina asked, holding in giddy laughter. Jungkook pulled the necklace out of the box and put it on. The charm on the chain held the moon in a little glass bubble. The same moon as the one in her ring.

               “We bought each other the same thing,” he said, laughing.

               It was the waxing half-moon from the night they shared their first kiss in the vampire den.

               When Lucía came back home, they immediately showed her their unplanned gifts for each other. She laughed for about ten minutes. She then recruited them to help cook dinner, which was an exciting ordeal. Catalina was happy to learn how to cook all of her favorite dishes.

               The three of them ended up having a beautiful dinner together, bright with laughter and conversation.

               The next few days passed in a blur. They went out, cooked together, played games, and watched movies. Before they knew it, the week was over and it was time for Catalina and Jungkook to travel again for the next leg of their trip. Catalina was reluctant to leave her mom, but she was absolutely filled with anticipation for her stay in the cabin.