#still wish we got a group photo of all five of them together

[thena0315]

Rollisi Family

Dominick Carisi Jr: Husband, Father, Assistant District Attorney  

Amanda Rollins-Carisi: Wife, Mother, College Professor

Jesse Rollins: Oldest Daughter

Billie Rollins: Youngest Daughter

Frannie: Beloved Family Pet

[obaex]

see you in my nightmares - rafe cameron

summary: rafe is forced to make a decision that will alter the course of your future together, but how long can he live with the consequences of his actions?

word count: 6k

warnings: angst!

soundtrack: welcome to breakbreak / kanye west + back to december / taylor swift

Maybe this is wishful thinking Probably mindless dreaming But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right

Present

"Here you go, Kelc, that's Henry and that's Emma" Topper said, pointing to the picture on his phone of your two children, one and three, with bright blonde hair, squealing with laughter at the beach. He continued to swipe through photo after photo of them playing in the sand, in the water, finally landing on a picture of you crouched in the sand with them, their arms and popsicle-stained fingers wrapped around your neck as they climbed on you, pressing kisses to your cheeks.

"Get out of here, Top, Henry is your mini me. Holy shit. It's kinda freaking me out, I'm not gonna lie" Kelce said. "He's gonna suck at golf too if you don't let Uncle Kelce show him a thing or two." He punched Topper playfully in the arm as Topper grimaced at him.

"Nah, in all seriousness, man, you've got it made. Your kids are beautiful and Y/N looks better than ever" he said, shooting Topper a knowing look, one eyebrow raised scandalously. "Being a Thornton looks good on her man, shiiiiittt" he said, still swiping through Topper's phone where he had landed on a picture Topper had snuck of you sprawled out in your bikini.

"Geezus, give that back!" Topper said, nearly launching himself at Kelce, reaching for the phone as Kelce held it out of his reach, inspiring a howl of laughter from the group of guys they were with. They whistled and cheered as Topper wrestled the phone out of Kelce's hands.

"I leave you assholes alone for a few years and this is what I come back to?" a deep voice cut through the chaos.

Kelce's eyes flickered to the voice. "Do my eyes deceive me or has the man, the myth, the legend come back to grace our presence gentlemen?" he said, relinquishing Topper's phone as he stood up to take in Rafe Cameron on the deck of the Island Club for the first time in three years.

Rafe looked older, more mature with his hair shaved, but his boyish grin still rested on his lips. He had grown into his lanky body, filling out a suit that was more expensive than Kelce could mentally calculate.

"Un-fucking-believeable, man!" Kelce said, launching himself to embrace Rafe as a few of the other guys also stood up to shake his hand and clap him on the back, launching a barrage of questions at him.

Topper hung back as the memory of what life was like the last time Rafe was on Kildare Island clawed its way to the forefront of his mind. He slipped his phone protectively into his back pocket.

"Don't let me interrupt" Rafe said as he noticed Topper's movement, "what was I missing?"

The atmosphere shifted noticeably as the rowdy group fell silent.

3 Years Ago

Rafe watched you through the sea of bodies in the backyard at Tanneyhill as you talked with Sarah and Wheezie at their family barbeque. He watched your eyes shimmer and your lips curve into a perfect smile as you laughed at something his sisters had said, his ears straining over the music for a chance to hear that perfect sound that made his heart dance. He took in your sundress, draped over your shoulders, sitting perfectly on your tanned skin. After almost five years together, he could never get enough of you, could never wrap his head around how beautiful you were, how lucky he was to be yours. You lifted your eyes, scanning the crowd, searching for him and when they rested on him it was like fireflies in his stomach to see your face light up for him. You looked at him with such admiration, joy and happiness. He smiled broadly at you and stood to make his way over to you just as Topper joined your group, jumping into your conversation with his sisters and stealing your attention away to offer you a big hug.

Rafe hung back for just a second longer, watching the way Topper listened to Sarah but continued to shoot sidelong glances at you that went unnoticed, eyes shifting to your profile, your sundress. Rafe knew that tactic, knew that look in Topper's eyes because it was the same damn way he looked at you. His feet were moving before he could register what he was going to say or do. He tried to gather himself as he sidled into your group and slid a hand around your waist, pulling you flush against him. Topper had the decency to look embarrassed as he blushed and cleared his throat before sticking his hand out. "Good to see you, man" he said.

"You too, Top" Rafe said, eyes narrowed.

The next morning, Topper was long off of Rafe's mind as he lay in bed and watched the early morning sun shine through the blinds in his room, casting spotlights of warmth on your bare back as he drank you in, thinking not just for the thousandth time how lucky he was to have you curled up beside him, tangled in his sheets that now smelled permanently like you, like a perfect summer day. His heart warmed at the sight of you. You were everything that was perfectly right in his life. He felt himself orbiting around you, drawn to you like the moon draws the tides.

You shifted slightly in your sleep, letting out a contented sigh that was both extremely cute and undeniably sexy at the same time, making him smile. His mind drifted to the ring in the velvet box stashed at the top of his closet. His heart raced at the idea of making you his. His fingers twitched, aching to run his hands over you and eventually his urge won out as he moved his fingers over your back and pulled you gently against his chest, nuzzling into your neck. You let out a sweet laugh that coated him like hot honey as you turned around and buried yourself in his chest, nuzzling him back as his warm arms wrapped snuggly around you. This is heaven on earth he thought.

Present

Topper stood, his hand outstretched, ever the gentleman, as he attempted to change the topic. "It's good to see you, Rafe, welcome back, man."

Rafe took Topper's hand in his strong grip, nodding again to Topper's phone, "well, don't leave me hanging, are you going to show me what had everyone so riled up?"

3 Years Ago

"Sit" Ward said, gesturing to one of the leather arm chairs in his office as he walked to a side table to pour two drinks.

"Dad, I can't, I'm on my way to pick up Y/N, we have reservations in 20 minutes."

"She's what I want to talk to you about, son."

His father had never offered to talk about anything that didn't have to do with work. Rafe's chest bloomed with the idea that he wanted to have a conversation about you, that Ward was finally coming to understand how important you were to him.

He placed the drink in front of Rafe without meeting his eyes. "I know about the ring" he said simply.

Rafe's head shot up at that. He didn't think anyone knew about that, purposely taking a trip to the jeweler on the mainland alone, spending an entire afternoon picking out what was just right for you. As Rafe was getting ready to ask, Ward simply held up his hand, whisking away the question in a gesture that said Of course I know, I know everything.

"Son, man to man, I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea."

"What?!" Rafe said, anger and shock roiling in him, so taken aback at where this conversation was headed he stood to his feet.

"You love her, that's plain to see, Rafe. Which is why I know you'll do the right thing. She's a good girl, Rafe, a sweet girl, she deserves someone that can give her the future she deserves. Someone with... fewer skeletons in their closet." Silence fell heavily between them as Rafe met his eyes in a cold stare. They had never spoken about Peterkin directly or indirectly since it had happened. Ward moved to his desk, pulling out what looked to be a tape recorder and pressed play. Gavin's voice rang clearly, "...He's protecting his son. It was Rafe Cameron that killed Sheriff Peterkin."

Rafe nearly dropped the glass of bourbon in his hand, managing to set it down at the last minute. "W-What are you doing with that?" he asked, gesturing manically to the tape recorder, his voice rising in panic. "Dad, what the fuck is that, what are you doing?!"

"I'm not doing anything, Rafe" he said as he slid the tape recorder back into his desk drawer. "This tape will never be played for anyone else. I want to be sure of that. I want you to help me be sure of that. I need you focused now more than ever, focused on the company, not focused on Y/N. You know what you need to do." And with that, he waved Rafe out of his office.

Rafe stumbled into the hallway, shutting the door behind him, his hands shaking as he shoved the heel of his palms into his eyes. He could feel the sweat gathering at the base of his neck as he began to pace, his mind going a mile a minute.

What Ward hadn't considered was the fact that Rafe had already told you. He'd told you everything, about his drug addiction, about Peterkin, about the darkest parts of his soul... and you had stayed with him through it all, through rehab, through recovery, through finding a way to forgive himself. But all of that was before the threat Ward had just dangled in front of him, the threat that he would ruin Rafe's future and by extension your own, that one day he could hand that recording in and you would be left alone, abandoned as Rafe spent the rest of his life in prison. "She's a good girl, Rafe, a sweet girl, she deserves someone that can give her the future she deserves." He swallowed the bile in his throat as he realized his dad was right.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he swiped it open to see an incoming text from you.

He spent several minutes thinking about how to reply before typing out, "Hey, sorry, something came up, can we reschedule?"

Present

Topper cleared his throat. If he had known Rafe was coming tonight, he wouldn't be here.

His phone burned in his pocket with the pictures of you, his wife with his children. Rafe had lost the right to ask about you 3 years ago. Rafe's gaze was on Topper, unblinking, like a dare. Topper's mind raced with an excuse, a response, another way to change the topic of conversation when his thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice.

"Topper?"

The group turned as you walked through the door, cradling your daughter in one arm and holding your son by the other hand.

Rafe's head snapped to you, drinking in the sight of you while desperately trying to piece together what was in front of him, head turning from you to Topper and back again like he was watching a tennis match only he could see.

"Guys, I am so sorry to interrupt, I know it's boys' night" you said.

Topper brushed past Rafe and walked hastily over to you, pressing a kiss to your cheek. "Everything okay?" he asked quietly.

You continued talking to Topper, eyes trained on his face, a soft smile on your lips that Rafe swore at one time was reserved only for him. He tried to hear what you were saying but the blood in his head was rushing so loudly, it made it sound like everything around him was underwater. All he could do was stare, mouth agape, at the child in your arms and the other by your side. They looked so much like you. They had your eyes and your freckles, even the outline of your nose; it made his heart physically ache. But they also looked like Topper, especially your son who Topper had bent over to pick up and who was hugging him around his neck. The world started to spin as Rafe tugged at his collar, trying to get air in his lungs as he took in the future he would never have with you. He was desperately searching for some sort of explanation, for something that wasn't exactly what was right in front of his eyes.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he said finally, louder than he had intended to as everyone turned to look at him.

You could hear a pin drop.

He wanted to be angry, he was angry. He thought about all the times Topper had ogled you, even when you were his. He wanted to punch Thornton so hard he would never wake up, his fists clenching in response. But more than anger, he felt a deep deep sadness and remorse that sat like an anvil on his chest. His breathing became erratic and before he could control his emotions he started to cry. To cry. He didn't even have the wherewithal to feel embarrassed, too overwhelmed by the picture of the family in front of him, the family that should have been his.

He could feel himself coming undone like buttons flying off a too-tight jacket one at a time. Plink-plink-plink.

You looked at him strangely, your movements, your eyes, your voice devoid of emotion, like you had just noticed he was standing there. "Rafe, are you okay?" you asked.

Rafe's own anguished cries woke him up as his eyes shot open. He was breathing heavily and sweat coated his skin. He sat up, physically clawing at the pain and heaviness in his chest as he looked around and tried to remember where he was. A clock blinked on the bedside table: 4:37 AM. His mind frantically tried to figure out his surroundings. He was in bed. He was in bed in a hotel room, in New York City. He was in bed...

It was a fucking dream?

It felt so real he could feel the tears burning behind his eyes and despite the minutes that passed, he couldn't slow down his racing heart, gasping for breath as he untangled from the sheets and slid onto the floor, head in his hands. Memories that he had tamped so far down into his conscious that he was surprised they were still accessible flew to the surface...

3 Years Ago

You were crying.

You were crying so hard that Rafe didn't know what to do. Every fiber of his being ached to pull the words he had just said back into his mouth, to swallow them whole, to undo the last 20 minutes, to pull you into his arms, but he couldn't. I can't be with you anymore he lied. I don't love you he lied. We don't want the same things he lied and he lied and he lied.

You were so confused, so upset. You begged him, you pleaded with him to give you another chance, thinking you had done something wrong. You promised you would change, promised you would be better and that was when he had finally had enough, unable to take it anymore. He stood up, leaving you alone on your couch and walked out your front door without any further explanation.

He barely made it out of your driveway before his tears caught up with him and he slammed his fist repeatedly on the steering wheel in frustration. He didn't make it another 10 minutes before he had to pull over and get physically sick on the side of the road at the thought of what he had just done.

She deserves better he told himself then. She deserves better he told himself every moment since then.

Present

Rafe had spent every single day trying to forget you as he moved out of North Carolina, resigning himself to a life spent travelling from hotel to hotel, city to city, responsible for the expansion of Cameron Development, which was booming. He worked 75-hour weeks, throwing himself into work as a way to forget. To forget the feeling of your fingers tangled in his hair, shaving it in a desperate attempt to help. To forget the taste of your lips on his, your soft skin under his touch, the way you looked at him and only him, like he was your whole world. The way you loved his sisters, the ring he had bought for you, the dreams you had shared of a family, of a life together, of the way you had loved him when he was unlovable.

He sat on the floor for hours, letting himself feel the things he hadn't let himself even think about in three years through sobbed breaths, living, reliving and killing his own dreams.

Finally, as the sun rose, he grabbed his phone and called Kelce.

"Rafe Cameron? To what do I owe the pleasure, my man, how's it going?"

"Hey Kelc" Rafe said, clearing his throat, his voice still thick with emotion that he was trying to hide. "I uh I'm thinking about coming back into town. Look, this is random, but, Y/N, is she with anybody?"

There was a long pause. Rafe held his breath.

"Rafe, I don't think it's my place to say anything. If you want to talk to her, you can come see her for yourself. But.... I can't promise she'll even speak to you... after everything. She's working at the law firm on Calhoun Street."

Rafe said goodbye, hung up and began packing.

He spent the entire flight and the 40-minute drive from the airport in a daze, trying to think about what to say, what he could possibly say to you. As his truck wound down the familiar roads of Kildare Island, he was overwhelmed with memories, the restaurant he had taken you to for your first date, your favorite place to get ice cream, the beach where you'd kissed him for the first time. He shook his head, trying to right his mind as he pulled onto Calhoun Street, realizing he hadn't made any progress in what he wanted to say. He hadn't slept, hadn't eaten; he caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror, taking in his bloodshot eyes and wrinkled shirt. He looked like shit, but he had already wasted years getting here, years making his own life into a disaster, he wasn't going to wait any longer.

He stepped out of the car and began walking towards the law offices when he heard the unforgettable, unmistakable sound of your laugh that pierced his heart and nearly brought him to his knees. He turned to see you walking up the sidewalk with a young boy in your arms, deeply focused on what he was saying as he babbled and played with a loose strand of your hair.

His heart plummeted into his stomach. I'm too late he thought.

He was standing there, unmoving, eyes transfixed on you.

As you got closer, his figure caught your attention and unlike in his dream, you noticed him immediately. You stopped in your tracks, like you had walked into a brick wall, your eyes widening in recognition.

Rafe Cameron.

Rafe Cameron was here. Rafe Cameron was on Kildare Island and he was standing in front of you, staring at you. Your body shut down like it was in self-preservation mode at the memory of what he had done, and the words he had said the last time you'd seen him. You couldn't move, you couldn't speak, you didn't know what to do. He had taken your whole heart with him when he left and even though 3 years had gone by, even though you had desperately tried to move on, even though you had made significant progress, seeing him made you feel like you were right back on that day, like a vase he had knocked over, shattering into a thousand pieces that would never be fully right again no matter how many times you tried to reconfigure it.

Rafe wiped his hand over his mouth and walked over to you as your heart pounded relentlessly in your chest.

"Hey, h-how are you doing?" he asked.

How am I doing?! You destroyed my life, broke my heart and now you're back 3 years later and want to know 'how I'm doing?' You thought bitterly. You swallowed your feelings, unwilling to let him see how much he still affected you.

He looked nervous, jittery, anxious, his eyes flickering between your face and the boy in your arms and your heart squeezed for a moment at the idea that he might be using again. That, at least, would be a plausible explanation for this ridiculous situation.

"I-I'm okay" you said. The boy in your arms had started to wiggle and you set him down. "Hey, sweetie, why don't you run inside, okay? I'll be right there." The little boy eyed Rafe skeptically before making his way inside.

Rafe cleared his throat as his eyes followed him. "He's-he's sweet" he managed to eke out.

You smiled, looking after the boy affectionately, "He's a handful, but I do what I can to help Rachel out."

Rafe's eyes shot back to you, pointing between you and the door the boy had just gone through, desperately trying to put the pieces together, praying he had heard you right but forbidding himself to get his hopes up.

"Wait, he's not - you're not?" he said, gesturing.

"What? No!" you said, fighting back the tone of offense. Like Rafe had any right to know anyway.

Suddenly, Rafe grabbed your left hand, eyes shooting to your ring finger, which sat bare.

Your hand tingled at the feeling of his warm touch, but you managed to gather yourself quickly, pulling your hand back.

Rafe looked confused, eyes shifting to yours and then away quickly. "I-I thought...Topper...I didn't know...."

"We...dated...." you replied, clocking the tick in Rafe's clenched jaw in response. "It didn't work out."

He wasn't you you thought. Nobody is you and that's the problem.

Rafe turned his back to you and began to walk away, running his hand through his short hair before turning back around, chewing on his thumbnail, startling you with the look in his eyes that were pained, anguished with something else running deep below the surface that you didn't want to linger on.

"Go out with me tonight" he said after a moment.

"What?!" you spat, exasperated.

WHAT!!!!!!!!!! your mind screamed.

"Please, just give me a chance to explain."

"Rafe, I don't know what you could possibly have to say at this point" you replied quickly. You could feel your emotions bubbling up. You needed to get far, far away from him as you felt your resolve begin to crumble. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Please Y/N, I'm begging you. Please. One night. No expectations at all. You can walk away after that, I will completely understand."

Silence.

He took a step closer to you, his voice low as he whispered, "I know I have no right to ask you for anything, but please just give me this."

No, no, no, no, no, no your mind echoed on repeat.

"Okay" you whispered back.

Rafe entered the side door of Tanneyhill quietly, pleasantly surprised that his key still worked. There weren't any cars in the driveway, he hadn't told anyone he was coming home, but he didn't want to take any chances.

He wandered the hallways quietly, equal parts surprised and unsurprised that little-to-nothing had changed in his long absence as he made his way to father's office.

For so long he had cowered in fear of this room, this man, of the threat that hung over him like a guillotine. Not anymore. Let Ward do his worst. He wasn't a little boy anymore. If Ward swung, he would swing right back. He itched to, in fact, as he thought about the conversation three years ago in this very place that had stolen everything from him. He quickly pulled open the drawers of the large mahogany desk, rummaging through the contents before he found what he was looking for.

To Ward's credit, the tape recorder was covered in dust and looked unused and unplayed, buried at the back of the drawer. Rafe set it down on top of the desk and glared at it, reliving momentarily the mistake he had made years ago, deep in the midst of his drug addiction in an effort to save his father, to save his family. He reached for the lamp on the desktop and brought it forcefully down on top of the tape recorder, sending bits of plastic pieces flying onto the floor and across the desk as he nearly ripped the lamp out of the wall, pounding it over and over and over again until all that was left were indistinguishable shredded pieces of plastic and the dented mahogany. Rafe was breathing heavily, his breaths coming in and out shakily as he felt tears burning in his throat, promising himself that he would become more than his mistakes.

After a long shower and a longer nap, Rafe's head was more clear than it had been in weeks in terms of his priorities. Nothing mattered more than you, nothing had ever mattered more than you and he was going to do everything he could to make you see that.

As he navigated to your house to pick you up, he couldn't help but think of the date that he never should have cancelled and how different his life would have been if he had chosen to go out with you that night instead.

You looked achingly, stunningly beautiful in an open-backed dress that teased your tan skin. For years, he hadn't let himself think about how beautiful you were and now that you were in his front seat, riding shotgun where you belonged, he could barely keep his eyes on the road. The drive was silent but for the quiet scratch of the radio. The entire way he stole sidelong glances at you that he hoped went unnoticed, but brought a blush to your cheeks all the same as you desperately tried to keep your own eyes facing forward. His gaze felt like the sun's rays on a hot summer day, as it traced your long eyelashes, your lips, your everything.

You didn't let yourself think too long about the way your body felt under the warmth of his blue eyes.

He didn't let himself think too long about the fact that you had dressed up for him.

Dinner was nice... but awkward. Rafe hated himself for that. He hated the awkwardness and the tension that simmered beneath the surface of every conversation. Things between you two had never been awkward, ever. You were like his second half. You used to be so at ease with each other, life with you was so effortless. It was evident that your guard was still up, so he kept the conversation light, asking about work, your family, your friends, desperate to learn everything new about you that he had missed, like a little kid trying to put together the last pieces of their favorite puzzle.

He managed to make you laugh. Twice. It made him feel like the king of the universe and he tried desperately to keep that smile on your face for the rest of the night; something that used to be second nature to him, now a battle every step of the way.

After dinner, you both stepped outside into the night and a cool breeze tickled your skin, making you shiver. Rafe reached out a hand instinctively to warm you, but pulled back at the last minute, balling his hands into fists at his side.

"Take a walk with me?" he asked, knowing he was on borrowed time at this point, as the night was coming to an end.

You took a deep breath and looked around, trying to think of an excuse, any excuse not to, but you couldn't deny that some part of you was enjoying this; the sweet pain and sweet pleasure of having Rafe back, if only for a moment, like holding a firefly in your hand, brief, fleeting. You knew how this was going to end: you, alone again, back to square one, picking the pieces of your heart up off the ground. But, you wanted to pretend, you wanted to keep living in this make-believe world where the past 3 years hadn't happened for a little while longer.

You looked at him and the way his midnight blue eyes traced your face and you cursed yourself for the unwarranted tenderness you had towards him, would always have towards him, despite everything. You nodded, and followed him to the nearby pier.

You walked side by side for awhile, the only people on the otherwise abandoned walkway; your only company the sound of the waves that lapped against the boats in the water and against the dock. What once would have been a comfortable silence between you felt thick and heavy, weighed down with 3 years' worth of unspoken words and two broken hearts. You bit your lip softly to keep from crying as your emotions caught up with you and your mind whirled. Rafe stopped walking beside you and turned to face you.

You realized looking at him now that ever since he'd come back, he'd looked uncharacteristically nervous and unsteady. The Rafe you knew, or thought you knew, was always confident, self-assured, cocky even. Now Rafe's unease matched your own, putting you further on edge.

"T-thanks for agreeing to this tonight. I don't even know where to begin to explain myself" he said, looking around, avoiding your eye contact.

"Look, I'm a grown man, I've made my own decisions and I know I have to live with that but... fuck... FUCK." He began to unravel quickly as his breaths came out heavy and he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and began to pace.

"Rafe" you said, reaching for him before you knew what you were doing, the instinct to comfort him wound so tightly in your DNA.

"I was gonna ask you to marry me" he said, pulling his hands away from his face to find yours.

Your head spun in confusion and you felt your dinner lurch in your stomach.

"What?" you whispered, your voice wavering.

"My dad knew it. He... threatened me.... he told me you deserved better and the more I thought about it the more I realized he was was fucking right. You are such a good person. Honestly? You're the best person that I know. You had no business being with me. I was living on borrowed time with you as it was and-and I wasn't going to resign you to a life like that, with me. You deserve so much more than to settle for second best, for someone with so much bullshit in his past. A recovering drug addict? A murderer?" he said as he shook his head strongly and tears spilled from his eyes, "I wasn't going to do that to you."

"Rafe you were 19, you were high, you weren't in your right mind. It was a mistake, a horrible mistake, but you have to forgive yourself, you can't let that hang over you anymore."

Your heart and your mind were racing with each other to try to sort out everything he had just said to you. He wanted to marry you? What he was saying now was in such stark contrast to everything he had said then... that he didn't love you... that you wanted different things.... Your own tears bubbled over at the memory and you wiped at them furiously, even though they wouldn't stop.

Rafe hated to see you cry. He hated himself more for making you cry, again.

"And here I am making a fucking mess of it all anyway, just like he said I would" he said as he looked at you. "I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry, baby" he said, stepping forward like he wanted to comfort you as he watched you begin to cry in earnest, his term of endearment tearing open your wounded heart. He pulled himself back, both of you stuck in limbo, your emotions spilling out in front of you, unsure of how to act on them.

Rafe continued to ramble, like his explanations could dry your tears, "I tried so hard to tell myself I was doing the right thing, that you'd be happier without me. Shit, maybe you are!--" he said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

I'm not you thought, I am so desperately not.

"--But I had to come back here and tell you that I never stopped loving you. Not for one minute. I didn't mean anything I said back then. I missed you with every part of me. I-I haven't been with anyone else. I couldn't. They weren't you. It felt awful.... You're it for me. You always have been, you always were" he choked on his last words as he rubbed the back of his hands over his eyes in an attempt to stop his own tears now as he whispered in a grovelled voice, "You're my girl. I wanted... want..." he stumbled over his words, his breathing erratic, "Want you to be my wife. I want the future we always talked about babygirl, you, me, our family..."

You tried and failed to hold back a sob as you covered your face and turned away from him, your stomach in knots. You were having trouble breathing and you couldn't compose yourself under his gaze, not when he was saying things like that.

He was quiet for a moment.

"Fuck" he said quietly. "This was so selfish. I shouldn't have said anything. I-I just had this dream about you..." you turned around to face him as he continued, "...you had moved on, and I just thought if I got to you before it was too late maybe by some miracle, by some gift of God you would give me a second chance. But, I think I know that's too far gone now. You've built an amazing life for yourself, sweet girl, you don't need me."

He looked earnestly, deeply at you, his own face scrunched as the tears rolled down his face. "But God I am so sorry baby, I am so so sorry for what I did" he said, he flexed his fingers desperately wanting to reach for you again, to comfort you.

If anyone asked you later how or why the next few minutes unraveled the way they did, you wouldn't have had an answer for them. Sometimes, there is no answer for the way two hearts, two souls respond to each other. There wasn't a plausible way for you to make a decision about anything, your head was swimming with your tears and as you struggled to catch you breath, you met Rafe's eyes with your own. And like so many of the nights you had spent missing him, the only thing you wanted, the only thing you craved was to feel his arms around you, for him to tell you that everything was going to be okay, that he was sorry, that he didn't mean it, that he wanted you back.

So, you let yourself have it.

You stepped forward and you buried your head into his chest, arms curling around him, grabbing the back of his suit jacket like a lifeline.

He was frozen to the spot and you squeezed your eyes shut as your whole body shook with your cries before he tentatively, gently put his arms around you. When you didn't flinch or step away, he pulled you in deeper, nuzzling into your neck. "M'sorry, I'm so sorry" he whispered over and over and over again as he rocked you gently back and forth.

Eventually, you put your arms around his neck and he could feel your hot breath and your warm tears against him. He could have fallen to his knees. As it was, he was having a hard time keeping himself steady at the feeling of you pressed against him, trying to figure out what it all meant. For now, he wasn't going to question it, he was going to take it one step at a time.

EPILOGUE - 2 Years Later

Rafe was at the sink washing dishes when he heard you padding up behind him in your bare feet. When he turned to look at you, his soul melted.

You were cradling your son in your arms who was just waking up from a nap. His blue eyes were just like his dads as they fluttered open, his head resting on your shoulder as he clung to you. You brushed his bright blonde hair out of his eyes and the ring on your finger that had sat for so long in Rafe's closet caught the sunlight. It looked perfect on you, just like he knew it would.

You were smiling down at your son before you looked up at Rafe and he smiled back at you, shaking his head, thinking how lucky he was to finally, finally be living his dream. You smiled at him, that smile that was his and his alone that felt like the first touch of the sun on a spring day as he reached down to kiss you softly, sweetly. "I love you, Mama" he said as he wrapped one hand around your waist and the other rested against your growing belly.

taglist: @ietss, @gillybear17, @palmwinemami, @sweetestdesire, @softcoremaybank, @diary-of-jj, @m-indkiller, @underscorebabbabybabay

[astrowaffles]

excuse me (you look like you love me)

Teen audiences | banter | ambiguous ending | for @makkisucks

When you are 27 years old and you are about to make what feels like a life-changing decision, there is only one person you call.

Your best friend.

“What the fuck do you want?” Kaoru rasped through Kojiro’s phone speaker. “It’s 10am, I don’t want to speak to you.”

“But Kaoru! I still don’t know what to do about this wedding!”

“I told you. Lie. Now stop being annoying and let me go back to sleep.”

“Hey! Pay attention! I need to find a girlfriend, stat!”

Kaoru sighed heavily. “That’s never going to happen. Girls hate you. You’re a brute and you’re annoying. Now shut the fuck up.” He hung up.

Well. So much for that plan. The call didn’t even last five minutes.

Wait.

Girls hate him?

“WHAT could you possibly want,” Kaoru snapped as soon as he picked up.

“You’re not a girl!”

“….What.”

“You’re not a girl and you know me really well!”

“Um. I suppose so? Where is this going?”

“You can come with me to Ayame’s wedding!”

OR: after an invite to an ex's wedding puts Kojiro on the spot, he panics and asks Kaoru to help him out. After all, what harm could it do? They'd never *really* be a couple...

Kojiro got the invite in the post two days before he needed to RSVP, which was terrible planning by the mailman and even worse planning by the bride & groom. He didn’t even know who the happy couple were, just two mystery people inviting him to their all-out rich-people wedding with gold invitations and calligraphy signatures. He would think it had come to the wrong address, except that his name was printed neatly on the envelope.

“I got invited to a wedding,” he told Kaoru, as soon as the other man stepped through the door of Kojiro’s apartment.

“Oh? Whose?” Kaoru asked, with the practiced disinterest of someone who hears at least ten inane things a day, most of them coming from Kojiro. He swapped his shoes for his house slippers that were waiting under the coat stand.

“I don’t know,” Kojiro admitted. He jerked this thumb towards the opened envelope on the coffee table.

“You must do,” Kaoru said, confused. “Otherwise why would they invite you?”

“I don’t know,” Kojiro repeated. “They just have.”

“Give me the invitation, numbskull,” Kaoru demanded, sweeping past Kojiro before he could be handed the invite. He quickly pulled it from its envelope and scanned the names. “Oh, you actually are a moron. You do know them. It’s Aya.”

“Aya…?”

“Aya Suzuki. You know, like it says. On the invitation. Which you read.”

“It says Ayame on the invitation.”

“Ayame Suzuki. You didn’t make the connection?”

“I don’t know who Aya Suzuki is either!”

Kaoru sighed and muttered something that sounded a lot like ‘idiot’, and then tapped his wristband. “Carla. Search for photographs from August, 2010.”

Kojiro raised an eyebrow while Carla did her best to trawl through Kaoru’s atrocious camera roll  - which he knew from experience mainly consisted of screenshots of emails, which then got sent to him so they could make fun of silly corporate people together. The rest of it was probably memes Reki sent that saved automatically, and maybe some group photos from years ago.

Eventually, one of those group photos was projected from Kaoru’s wristband: Kojiro, Kaoru, and some random girl.

Kojiro peered closer. “Ohhhh, that Aya Suzuki,” he realised. His ex-girlfriend. Of course it was.

“Yes, you gorilla, that Aya Suzuki. Are you going to attend?”

“Hell no.”

“Oh? Why not? I thought you’d like to show off a little.”

“I don’t have anything to show off, do I? She’s getting married, and I’m still single – oh, and I skateboard for a hobby, like a twelve year old.”

“Twelve year olds don’t skate like we do,” Kaoru sniffed. “I think you should go. Free food, and I get a day or two of peace and quiet.”

“You wish you could get rid of me that easily,” Kojiro snorted. “You know I’d be texting the whole time anyway.”

“Mm, but I wouldn’t have to reply.”

Kojiro contemplated this for a minute. Free food, probably free alcohol, plus he had a hotel room. He re-checked the invite. Yup, open bar, and – what was that? A check box?

RSVP plus one, it read tauntingly.

Kojiro groaned. “I can’t do it. They’ve given me a plus one.”

“You don’t have to use it, you know.”

“But then they’ll know I’m single!”

“They don’t care, idiot.”

“But I do!! I’ve been invited to my ex’s wedding and I don’t even have a girlfriend!”

“Just lie and say she couldn’t come,” Kaoru shrugged. “Now, can I have my dinner – if you’ve finished caterwauling?”

Kojiro huffed. “Yeah, I’ve finished. Let’s eat.”

But despite the fact that he’d apparently reached a satisfying compromise for Ayame’s wedding, Kojiro found himself thinking it over again, hours later as he was just drifting off to sleep. Kaoru had long gone home, laden with Tupperware full of leftovers and a promise to host next time (he wouldn’t), and Kojiro missed the distraction of their bickering.

My ex is getting married and I’m single, he thought.

They don’t need to know that, an eviller thought - that sounded a lot like Kaoru -interjected. You can just lie, you know.

I don’t want to lie, he argued. I want to show off something concrete.

Then get a girlfriend, came Kaoru’s voice impatiently. Or don’t. Just RSVP and leave me alone.

“Why is Kaoru in my head?” he wondered aloud. “Get out.” But the advice stuck with him. Get a girlfriend.

Where would he get one from? One of the girls from S would probably oblige, but she’d come across as more of a fan than a partner. No, Kojiro needed someone who’d seem like his equal, someone he was comfortable with and who was comfortable with him. Someone Ayame & Husband would accept as legit.

Did someone like that even exist?

This is too much thinking, his braincells protested, and finally sunk him into unconsciousness.

Waking up the next morning was nothing more than being plunged back into a pit of stress and panic. He didn’t have much time left to RSVP. He wanted to RSVP a plus one. He didn’t have a plus one. He didn’t know where to find a plus one.

When you are 27 years old and you are about to make what feels like a life-changing decision, there is only one person you call. There is only one person who will tell you what they really think you should do.

Your best friend.

“What the fuck do you want?” Kaoru rasped through Kojiro’s phone speaker. “It’s 10am, I don’t want to speak to you.”

“But Kaoru! I still don’t know what to do about this wedding!”

“I told you. Lie. Now stop being annoying and let me go back to sleep.”

“Hey! Pay attention! I need to find a girlfriend, stat!”

Kaoru sighed heavily. “That’s never going to happen. Girls hate you. You’re a brute and you’re annoying. Now shut the fuck up.” He hung up.

Well. So much for that plan. The call didn’t even last five minutes.

Wait.

Girls hate him?

“WHAT could you possibly want,” Kaoru snapped as soon as he picked up.

“You’re not a girl!”

“….What.”

“You’re not a girl and you know me really well!”

“Um. I suppose so? Where is this going?”

“You can come with me to Ayame’s wedding!”

“I can what?”

“Be my fake boyfriend!”

Kaoru hung up.

A minute later, he called back.

“You’re buying me a suit.”

“What?”

“For the wedding. You’re buying me a suit, paying for everything, we’re leaving as soon as I get bored-“

“So you’ll do it?!”

“…I guess so.”

A pause. That had been surprisingly easy, which made Kojiro all the more panicked. “What’s the catch?”

“Hm? You mean besides the huge amount of money you’ll have to shell out?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t do something like this for free. What else am I gonna owe you at the end of this, you conniving-“

“Oh, you know that word? Wow, Kojiro, you’re getting smarter-“

“Shut up and tell me what you want.”

“I can’t do both,” said Kaoru patronisingly.

Kojiro hoped he could feel his glare at the other end of the line.

Kaoru snorted. “I’m never hosting our dinners ever again.”

Kojiro huffed. “You never do anyway. It’s a deal.”

“Great. Now RSVP. I’m going back to sleep. Bye.”

Realising what was about to happen, Kojiro jammed his finger down on the hang up button; as always, Kaoru got there first. Kojiro sighed.

How on earth was he going to afford all this?

Asking Kaoru to pretend to be his boyfriend was potentially the best idea of Kojiro’s life, he thought, watching Kaoru go through his room like a hurricane, packing with an efficiency that only came with an organised mind and a lot of work trips.

“Why do you still have this?” Kaoru asked, holding up a ratty Hawaiian print shirt.

“I like it.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Just because you have no fashion sense-“

Kaoru threw the shirt decisively into the back of the closet and continued rustling through Kojiro’s clothes. “You have the taste of an overgrown toddler.” He threw neon flip-flops over his shoulder; Kojiro dodged them and looked into the suitcase Kaoru was putting together.

“I think you’ve packed enough,” he said, eyeing the growing pile of folded clothes. “This is like what I’d wear in a week, not two days.”

“I haven’t even added the clothes for the actual wedding yet,” Kaoru tutted, removing Kojiro’s dry-cleaned suit from the closet and carefully rolling it up. “What shoes are you wearing with this?”

“Um, my formal ones?” Kojiro put them in the suitcase.

“You only have one pair. Of course.” Kaoru rolled his eyes, tucked the suit into the luggage, and zipped the case shut. “There. Now we can go.”

“We still have another hour!” Kojiro complained, lifting the suitcase and testing its weight. “Jeez, Kaoru, what’ve you put in here, bricks?”

“No, moron. You watched me pack it.”

“Yeah, watched you pack bricks.”

“The way you pronounce ‘bricks’ irritates me.”

“Your face irritates me.”

“And here was I, thinking you wanted me to do you a favour-“

“No no no I’m sorry Kaoru please go to this wedding with me-“

“That’s what I thought. Let’s load up the car.”

“You driving?”

Kaoru stared at him. Kojiro sighed. “Of course not. Let’s go.”

Kaoru was generous enough to carry his own suitcase to the car, but left it for Kojiro to put in the trunk while he made himself comfortable inside the car, rigging up Carla to the radio system (a simple task, since he did it every time they went anywhere in Kojiro’s car. It annoyed Kojiro to have his friend’s robot girlfriend in the car with them but he put up with it because Carla was much better at directions than any sat nav he’d ever met.

The drive to the venue was short enough, punctuated by Carla’s robotic voice and Kaoru’s sharp comments on Kojiro’s driving – which inevitably lead to an argument where Kaoru insisted he was not even remotely like a princess, hadn’t he just finished putting up Kojiro’s shelves a week ago, no it didn’t matter that he never drove anywhere, yes he was still entitled to comment on Kojiro’s skills, and would Kojiro please close his huge hairy mouth before he got something in it. Something shaped a lot like Kaoru’s fist.

“Kinky,” Kojiro noted, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kaoru pinched him and threatened to tape his mouth shut.

“Kin-“

“Shut the fuck UP!”

The town was nice. The hotel was nice. Their room was nice. Their bed was nice – they had long given up caring about having to share. 20 years is too long a friendship to care about being in each other’s space. Most importantly, their shower was nice, with water pressure Kojiro had long lost from his own shower at home. Kaoru might have felt differently. He had enough money to get fifty new water-pressured showers, probably, which was why he was already out and dressed by the time Kojiro finished towelling off.

“Imagine if we actually were dating,” Kojiro mused, eyeing the fairy lights above the bed as he pulled his shirt on. “This place’d have us stuck in bed for-“

“Enough,” Kaoru interrupted. “We’re here for free food, not dramatics.”

“You’re more dramatic than me,” Kojiro argued. “Why didn’t you let me finish my sentence?!”

“Because I do not want to hear about what you plan to do with your girlfriend.”

“Whyyy, are you jealouss~?”

Kaoru stared at him.

Kojiro stared back.

“Do we need rules?” Kaoru asked, hunting in his suitcase for a hair tie.

“For what?”

“I don’t know, maybe pretending to be in love?”

“Oh, are we in love already? Damn, this relationship is moving fast.”

“Can you take anything seriously? At all?”

“Nope.”

Kaoru rolled his eyes. “Don’t kiss me, don’t call me any pet names. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Kojiro nodded. “Can I make up our love story?”

“Don’t make it ridiculous.”

“What do you mean?! I wanted to have you ride in on a unicorn and sweep me off my feet, and then-“

Kaoru sighed and finished tying his hair up. “Are you ready for the rehearsal dinner?”

Kojiro pulled his sock on and nearly fell over trying to follow it up with his shoe. “Yep.”

“You’re not.” Kaoru reached over to settle the curls that had flung themselves every way they shouldn’t have on Kojiro’s head. “Now you are. Well, as much as a gorilla like you can be.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kojiro snarked, and tightened Kaoru’s tie a little. “You won’t strangle yourself, y’know.”

“I might, if I have to spend any more time alone with you.”

“Wowwwww..”

Kaoru grabbed Kojiro’s hand and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to do this. At all. With you.”

“So you’d do it with someone else?”

“I’d rather do it with Ayame in front of her new husband.”

“And yet, here you are.” Kojiro squeezed their hands. “Can you manage being affectionate or will it kill you?”

“It’ll kill me,” said Kaoru decisively.

“Then I might finally get some peace and quiet,” Kojiro said gleefully, and they walked out of the room.

“’Jiro!” Ayame greeted enthusiastically when she saw the pair come into the hall. “So nice to see you again!”

“Aya!” Kojiro smiled back; no-one would ever guess he’d been staring at her name in total confusion just a few months ago. “Marriage, huh?”

“Marriage,” Ayame agreed. “And- is that you, Sakurayashiki?”

“Hi,” Kaoru said, only just avoiding sounding bored out of his mind.

“Don’t tell me you’re Jiro’s-“ her eyes flicked down to their joined hands. “Oh! Silly me, of course, I should’ve guessed…”

Kojiro tensed a little, trying to analyse Ayame’s face. He hadn’t thought this far ahead: what if she thought two men holding hands was wrong?

“It’s about time!” Ayame laughed, and grabbed Kojiro’s free wrist to drag him over to meet her fiancé. Kojiro kept his grip on Kaoru to make sure he got pulled along too.

“Why are you pulling me,” Kaoru hissed.

“I’m not going alone,” Kojiro whispered back. “’Sides, what would you do by yourself? Talk to people?” He snorted, causing Ayame to look back in confusion. He shot her a smile and strengthened his grip on Kaoru’s hand.

“That hurts, you stupid gorilla!”

“Sorry, but I need to make sure-“

“This is Izumi!” Ayame said excitedly. She’d let go of Kojiro’s wrist in order to hang off of Izumi’s arm, and was looking at them expectantly. “My husband-to-be!”

“Oh,” said Kojiro, realising he and Kaoru must have been whispering to each other suspiciously right in front of the happy couple. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Izumi said, eyes moving between Kojiro and Kaoru like he was watching a tennis match. “You’re Kojiro, yeah? Knew Aya in highschool?”

“That’s me,” Kojiro agreed, trying to follow the other man’s eye movements. “She was absolute chaos, I can tell you.”

“Don’t embarrass me!” Ayame scolded, slapping Kojiro lightly on the shoulder. “I’ve got some stories about you too, you know.”

“Ah, but you couldn’t embarrass me in front of Kaoru!”

“It’s true, I know everything,” Kaoru nodded.

“So you’re together?” Izumi asked.

“Yep,” said Kojiro, praying Izumi was as cool with it as Ayame had been.

“Oh. How long have you…?”

“They’ve been together since college, surely!” Ayame chirped.

Kojiro stared at her. “What makes you think that?”

Ayame stared back. “Are you joking?”

“He’s always joking,” Kaoru interrupted, rolling his eyes and elbowing Kojiro. “Don’t tease her, dear, she’s right.”

“Dear? I thought you said no petnames?” Kojiro questioned under his breath, then continued at a normal volume, “Sorry, Aya, I couldn’t resist..”

“I said *you* couldn’t call *me* a petname,” Kaoru reminded him.

Ayame laughed. “Silly me, I always fall for your jokes! What kind of idiots would you be if you hadn’t acted on your feelings by college? Of course you got together then.”

“Ah, were we that obvious…?” Kojiro laughed nervously, exchanging a confused glance with Kaoru.

“You really were! You know, darling-“ she turned to Izumi – “They had a secret handshake, and every time they did it I was sure they were going to kiss. Really makes me wonder what I saw in you at all, Jiro – no offence, no offence meant! You were just so obviously into Sakurayashiki…”

“I was?”

“I guess I was just so happy to be picked by someone I didn’t mind if he was actually in love with a man…”

“Was I??”

“Don’t get me wrong, Sakurayashiki was just as bad, he just didn’t have a girlfriend to notice these things…”

“I was not,” said Kaoru decisively. Kojiro inched away slightly in case his friend decided to take his anger out on him.

“You were,” Ayame insisted. “You think I didn’t notice your heart eyes whenever Jiro managed a good trick? I’m not blind, you know.”

“HEART EYES?” Kojiro turned to Kaoru, mirth already dancing in his eyes. “You hear that? You had heart eyes, Kaoru!”

“Of course I didn’t.”

“She says you did!”

“She also says you were in love with me, idiot.”

“You are in love, aren’t you?” Ayame asked, confused.

“Oh- yes, we are,” Kaoru recovered quickly. “I just meant I didn’t think it started in high school.”

“Good save,” Kojiro whispered. Then, at a normal volume, “I think we’d better find our seats before your rehearsal dinner starts. Thanks for the invite!”

“Of course! See you later!” Ayame waved them off with a smile, already turning back to her fiancé to ramble more about her highschool days.

“WhatdidshemeanIwasinlovewithyou?” Kojiro garbled as soon as they were out of earshot.

“I have no idea,” said Kaoru grimly. “But it makes our job easier because she already thinks we’re together. We don’t have to pretend quite so hard.” He dropped Kojiro’s hand. “Drink?”

“Please.” He didn’t say his order; he knew Kaoru knew. Instead, Kojiro sat down at their assigned table and started absently folding origami swans. The table’s other inhabitants didn’t attempt to start a conversation. He watched Kaoru order their drinks at the bar and listened in to the gossip happening at the neighbouring table – someone was getting divorced because the wife had an affair, someone had moved back into their parents’ house after losing their office job, someone had been caught posting on Instagram while at a private christening…

“Here,” said Kaoru, practically shoving the drink into Kojiro’s hands. “What’s got you in such a mess?”

“I’m not a mess!” Kojiro said indignantly, letting his fifth napkin swan fall to the ground as he wrapped both hands around his tall glass. Kaoru pulled a face, probably thinking of the fingerprints Kojiro was leaving.

“You’re a total mess,” Kaoru told him, and swept the swans off the table. “Not that that’s not normal for you.”

“Well, whatever,” Kojiro huffed. “It didn’t concern you at all? That she thought we were in love at 17?”

“What? No. It’s not real, anyway,” Kaoru shrugged, taking a sip of his own drink. “Now, when’s dinner arriving?”

Getting back to the hotel room was significantly harder than leaving. For one thing, Kojiro was a lightweight and could already feel the fuzz overtaking his brain by the second drink. Kaoru had cut him off early, but had kept drinking himself, meaning they were both struggling to walk in a straight line as they attempted to return to their room. Neither of them were so bad they couldn’t speak, but Kojiro was bad enough that he couldn’t stop speaking, rambling on about nothing much as Kaoru shuffled through his pockets for a keycard.

“I should’ve just kept hold of it,” Kaoru muttered, finally finding the plastic card in Kojiro’s jacket.

“But you didn’t,” Kojiro pointed out.

Kaoru rolled his eyes. “Thanks, genius. Go inside.”

Kojiro obediently went inside, only to turn back around at a loud thunk coming from behind him; it was Kaoru, walking into the doorframe.

“Careful,” said Kojiro.

“Don’t be irritating,” said Kaoru.

Kojiro shed his shirt, tie, shoes, socks, and eventually pants; Kaoru didn’t force him into the shower and he didn’t feel like being clean so many times in one day (he’d showered this morning AND before the dinner, alright?!) so he simply clambered into bed and watched Kaoru attempt to remove the ten hair ties holding his hair up.

“Is it weird that we’re sharing a bed?” Kojiro pondered.

“No? We’ve done that since we were five?”

“Well, yeah, but we’re not dating or anything…”

“And? What does that have to do with it?” Kaoru swapped his shirt for a pyjama t-shirt and started stepping out of his pants.

Kojiro thought about it. “Isn’t this all couple stuff?”

“No, because we’re doing it and we aren’t a couple.” Kaoru added something under his breath that sounded a lot like ‘yet’.

“Hm. Alright.”

Kaoru slid into bed and reached out to turn the lights off from the switches by the nightstand.

“…Kaoru?”

“Hm?”

“Can we cuddle?”

For a minute, it genuinely seemed that Kaoru would say no, freaked out by all the ‘couple stuff’ they’d been accused of that day. But then, a few seconds later, Kojiro heard a soft huff, the sound of Kaoru expelling a fond sigh through his nose.

“Of course we can. Come on, idiot – but if you roll across me again I swear to god I’ll-“

“Yeah, yeah,” Kojiro said flippantly, and dragged Kaoru closer. “G’night.”

“Night, Kojiro.”

A03 | Exclusives | Tip Me | Commissions

[danceswithsporks]

On the (very late! Look I’m trying here!) 11th day of Batchmas I gave to all of you!

Bogano and Boooglings!!

So this is gonna be Mina playing around with events and timelines and jazz. So, keep that in mind!

Now this will take place in the universe I’ve built for my fic A Star Above the Rest! Some may be sneak peaks at future events, little glimpses into past events, or things I wanted to do but couldn’t work into the story! I hope you all enjoy them and Happy Holidays!

Day 11 of 12 days of Batchmas- Bogano and Boglings

“Cal! Don’t go too far!” Zirena chewed her lip as her Padawan and Omega took off towards the many cliffs of the planet they now stood on. Off in the distance a Binog watched the children with interest as Boglings scurried away.

Wrecker reached over and squeezed her shoulder gently. “Don’t worry so much, Zee! Have some fun!”

Zirena watched as Cal flipped over one of the ledges before reaching out to help Omega. The female clone easily jumped the gap and the two high fives before running deeper into the mesas. He had his communicator if he got into trouble. Making a face, Zirena let BD down to the ground. “Make sure they stay out of trouble?”

BD whistled in agreement before taking off quickly after them.

“You really must give your padawan more leeway. He will be fine.” Master Fisto patted her back before adjusting the bag that hung over his shoulder.

“Easy for you to say.” Zirena sighed as she double checked she had her saber. “He’s not your padawan. He’s mine and I know the trouble he can get into.”

Kit chuckled and motioned for them to begin their track to the large mountain ahead of them. That’s where they’d find the vault they were looking for. “Come on, this is gonna take us a bit to deliver.”

“Are you sure this is a smart idea? Hiding something as important as this all the way out here?” Green eyes slid to the satchel that Fisto carried.

“I don’t like the idea either. But if what Cordova said was true….then we really should explore every avenue to protect these children.” No one else would believe Cordova besides himself and a small group of others. It was up to them to hide the holocron.

Making a face, Zirena nodded as she followed behind him. “The fall of the Jedi. It’s still hard to believe.”

-*-

“Woah! Cal! Look up!” Omega pointed to the ceiling where the large binog looked down at them inquisitively. “What do you think it’s called?”

A chirp from behind them alerted them to BD now running over excitedly. Scanning the large beast he chittered information to Cal and Omega.

“A binog? How cool!” Cal raised his hand up towards the beast, wishing he could touch it.

The Binog looked at the two small children with interest. He wasn’t sure what these little things were, but he liked them. Leaning his face down farther he allowed the red furred one to pat his nose. Oh now he really liked that. With a huff he turned and looked at the yellow furred one. It’s eyes went wide and hesitantly raised its hand to pet him as well.

Omega couldn’t believe she was touching this giant beast! “BD! Take a picture!”

BD whirled and ran farther from them to get everything in frame. After snatching the photo he chittered excitedly.

“You know, I bet if Master Kenobi was here he’d be able to get the Binog to let us ride it.” Cal carefully ran his hand over the brown fur of the beast, impressed with how soft it was.

“That would be the coolest!” Omega really liked the big beast, it was sweet.

Back towards the entrance, BD beeped excitedly, ready to show the kids more things. From his scan of the planet there were a lot of cool places to check out.

Cal sighed and gently patted the Binog. “Looks like that’s our cue to go.” Stepping away from the beast, Cal reached over and took Omegas hand. Together the two left the small gorge they were in and moved to explore more of the planet.

-*-

“Umm…when Master Cordova told you about this vault. Did he mention to you that it would be a very tight squeeze?” How in the galaxy was she supposed to fit through this gap?

Kit chuckled as he watched Zirena stare at the opening. “Well, if you didn’t have such a nice rack and an ass sculpted by the Force itself. Maybe this would be easier.”

Zirena rolled her eyes. “Well, they’re not going anywhere so what’s the plan?”

“We could strip and then lube you up.” Kit wiggled his eyes at her.

“Cause that’s totally the way we should go.” Placing her hands on her hips, Zirena made a face before stepping forward and beginning to slowly wiggle her way through the opening.

“Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.” Moving next to her, he helped push her through. How in the world did Master Cordova squeeze through this? Maybe there was a backdoor somewhere?

“Stars, this is amazing!” Never had she seen such an impressive place. “ Think of the historic implications of this place. What we could learn about early force users!”

“It’s certainly impressive.” Kit pulled the holocron from his bag and looked at it. This would be where they’d hide it. Safe and secured in this place only they and Cordova knew about. Their mission was a secret, their flight paths went unrecorded and their frequencies scrambled. Until they were far away there would be no contact with anyone either. This was right.

Zirenas emerald eyes looked at the holocron as Kit slid it carefully into the slot on the floor. “I hope it never comes to this. Scrambling to the edge of the Galaxy for the last list of force sensitives.” Visibly she shivered at the thought of the order falling.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to prevent that. Did you do what Cordova asked?” With a soft click the holocron vanished into the ground.

“Yeah. BDs emergency protocol has been updated. He knows what to do.” She didn’t like all of this secrecy, especially from her padawan. Her Padawan, he’d be at risk if something happened as well.

“You’ve trained him well, I’ve seen it. He’ll be ok if something happens.” To know this was something that had to even discuss was nerve wracking. But it was a necessary discussion.

“I hope so. For all the worry I give, he’s at least very responsible. I know that if we were to be separated he’d survive.” She had faith in her Padawan. He had a good head on his shoulder.

-*-

“Not. A. Word.” Cal sighed as he stood up from the muddy bog he’d fallen into. Up the slope he’d fallen down, Omega was giggling. “Master is gonna kill me. I promised her I’d stay clean this time.” It wasn’t really his fault that he’d slipped down the slope, right?

Omega looked around for some kind of vine or rope to help the padawan out of the marsh he was in. She’d get a scolding from Tech and Crosshair if she came back filthy. “Can’t you like…Jedi jump out of there or something?” She’d seen Zirena get out of worse situations.

Groaning, Cal fell back into the marsh before laying in the mud and accepting his fate. “That’s next week in training.” If he’d live long enough to see it. Zirena was going to be disappointed in him for getting so dirty.

A noise next to him drew his attention and turning his head, Cal watched as a weird bunny-like creature hopped towards him. It’s large black eyes stared at him as it’s nose twitched quickly. It looked so fluffy. Reaching out his muddy hand to the beast, Cal hoped it would let him pet it.

“I wonder what it’s called.” Omega stretched her neck to try and see the creature. Her hand gripped the edge of the slope for balance but it seemed a certain droid had a better plan. Gasping in surprise, Omega tumbled down the slope and landed with a loud plop next to Cal. The little creature jumped away for a moment before carefully creeping close once more.

Cal laughed loudly at Omega, a large glob of mud colored her hair from blonde to dark brown. “Now we’ll both get in trouble!”

Now that looked like fun! With a loud whistle, BD dove off the slope and into the mud as well. He chittered a few times while recording all of them. This would be fun to show Zirena later!

“BD, No!” Cal knew for a fact he’d be the one to have to clean the droid now. He watched the droid jump in place excitedly for a moment before scanning the creature from earlier.

The droid trilled off information to the two children and Omega smiled at the new knowledge. “A Bogling! It’s so cute!” She wondered if she could keep it? If she asked Wrecker he’d totally let her. “So they dig burrows and lay eggs! That’s really cool!”

“A group of them is called a Heckle. That’s a pretty funny name.” Cal smiled as the boggling pressed it’s nose into his hand. Oh, it was soft! “You know. I bet my Master would let me keep it! Her apartment is big enough!”

“Think so! That would be so cool!” Omega moved to stand up but slipped on the mud beneath her feet. Squeaking loudly she felt something pull her and suddenly she was on top of Cal. The two kids stared at each other before hearing a noise behind them. “BD, No!”

“Did he just…take another picture?” Cal stared daggers at the droid. Omega nodded above him and they both swallowed. “As long as he doesn’t send it to anyone. I think we’ll be ok.”

Send it to someone? Oh that would be brilliant! Maybe his master? Oh what about Captain Rex? He got it! With another few trills he sent the picture to Fives and Echo. They’d get a laugh out of it!

Cals eyes went wide at the sound of the trills. “He just sent it.”

Omega jumped away from Cal as she gasped. “To who?”

Oh that wasn’t going to be good. “Echo and Fives.”

“Echo?” She was dead! More than dead, she was history!

BD wasn’t sure why they were so upset, he liked the picture!

“We need to get out of here and hope Echo hasn’t seen the picture yet!” Cal struggled to stand up in the slippery mud. They needed to get back to the ship before they got in trouble.

Omega pushed herself off the ground once more and carefully shuffled her way towards the slope they’d fallen down. “Maybe if we move slowly we can get up this?” They just needed something to grab onto. Beside her the Bogling chittered before bouncing by them and easily up the slope. Omega sighed as she slid back down. “Show off.”

-*-

Chewing her lip impatiently, Zirena paced back and forth outside the Marauder. “Where is he?” Her padawan still wasn’t back yet and this place was littered with cliffs and deep holes. They could be stuck somewhere for all she knew!

“You remind me of Master Windu when you went missing on Coruscant.” Kit leaned back against the ship and sipped his tea slowly. “He was absolutely terrified you’d fallen down a shaft somewhere.”

“This isn’t the same! I was hiding from him because I lost my saber. Cal could be in trouble! Stuck in a hole or or or cornered by a beast or…” her hands flailed as she continued to worry.

Kit chuckled as he stepped away from the ship.“Or riding a Binog caked in mud with Omega holding a Bogling and BD leading the charge?”

“Yeah! Or riding a…” wait, that was extremely specific. Turning around, Zirena sighed as she watched her padawan sheepishly wave to her. “Cal, I’m going to need a lot of answers.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she questioned her sanity.

The Binog carefully relaxed into the ground near the ship while letting out a long breath. Cal carefully slid off the great beast before turning and offering a hand up to Omega. “Pass Pickles down?”

“Pickles?” Kit walked over and used the force to lower both Omega and the bogling down. “And who is pickles?” He chuckled as BD ran across his shoulders before running to Zirena.

“It’s the name of our bogling!” Omega smiled at the Jedi before nudging Cal. “Ask her.”

Zirena raised an eyebrow as she stepped towards the two, her arms crossed. “Ask me what? My little padawan?”

Oh, that was the tone she used when she wasn’t happy with him. Maybe this wasn’t the right time to ask. Another nudge from Omega had him swallowing before finally asking. “Master? Can we keep Pickles?”

Beside her, Master Fisto had excused himself to laugh very loudly behind her. There was no way he was keeping it. She watched as Cal nudged Omega back and the blonde held the bogling up towards her. It’s little nose wiggling at her. “Cal, Omega. It belongs here, in its natural environment.” It’s little eyes blinked at her a few times. Be strong, she couldn’t give in.

“There is the Coruscant Menagerie. They’re always looking for new specimens.” Kit had finally composed himself and had rejoined the conversation. “We could take the little guy back with us and send him there.”

“The menagerie?” Wasn’t that the place with all of the caged animals? Cal turned and looked at Omega, the corner of his lip in his mouth. “Umm, maybe my master is right.”

Omega sighed as she placed the little creature down. “Yeah, it wouldn’t exactly be fair to pickles,huh?”

Kit nudged Zirena with a smirk. Leaning over he whispered to her. “Works every time.”

Squinting as she stared at the little creature, a realization hit her. “Wait, you said the same thing to me three years ago when I tried to get Master Windu to let me keep that baby eopie!”

“Stopped you from getting it, didn’t I?” He was a pro at talking Younglings out of unnecessary pets. Now if he could just talk Bly out of collecting rocks from every planet they went to. Maybe he had a blind spot when it came to his clone?

Rolling her eyes, Zirena knelt in front of the two younglings. “It’s very wise of you to release him back. I’m sure he has a family that’s worried about him. You know they mate for life, right?”

Omega sighed as she watched the bogling hop away. “I’m gonna miss him.”

A noise from the Marauder drew the group's attention. “I know one way you kids can remember him.” Echo crossed the field to the group and passed Zirena his datapad. His eyes shooting daggers at Cal.

Zirena snorted out a laugh as she passed the datapad to Kit. It was a cute picture of Cal and Omega in the mud. Omega leaning over Cal with a shocked expression and the Bogling watching the two with a head tilt. She liked it, maybe she’d frame it? “Do I want to know?”

Cal shook his head and quickly tried to rush by them, red creeping across his cheeks. “Come on Omega. Let’s go give BD a bath!” He def didn’t want to talk about it.

Both Jedi shared a laugh as Cal stopped in front of Echo for a moment, before sheepishly waving and then sprinting off to the ship. Zirena watched as Echo turned to say something, reaching out she used the force to pull him back. “Relax, big brother. Cal knows better.”

Echo smirked as he looked over his shoulder at Zirena. “Not Cal I’m worried about. Don’t forget, Zee. Omega grew up around clones.”

Oh. Oh! With an inhale Zirena moved quickly after the Younglings. “Cal!”

[z-h-i-e]

New Year's Fanfic Asks - 4&5/5

The final installment for my good friend Anonymous...

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?

Oh, Unforgettable. You are basically done.  Someone just has to get my ass in gear and get it all put together and posted.  Probably me. But peer pressure helps, too.

17. Do you typically answer all comments/reviews individually? Do you plan to change the way you interact with your readers this year?

>.> This is something I am terrible at on AO3, but great at in emails and on Discord.  If you connect with me on Discord and show an interest in wanting to discuss what I’ve written, chances are we will end up in a voice chat where I will tell you stories that may never get written down and will wish you sweet elfy dreams when we part. Emails, there’s a good chance I’ll answer back and we’ll become email penpals and start writing fic together.  On Tumblr, I am likely to answer back.  On AO3, I have an embarrassing amount of unanswered comments (maybe someday we’ll play guess a number); I used to take one Friday a month, take myself to lunch at Panera, specifically one that I used as the basis for Salgant’s home, and answer AO3 comments. Then pandemic. So I need to get a routine going again.  But until then – I’m .zhie. on Discord, and I can be poked there. Or here. Here is good, too.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method? 

I am chaos. Both. Either. And I’ve even written and posted chapters out of order. I’ve posted them so out of order I’ve posted endings before the middle has been figured out. 

19. Would you consider non-fandom writing events, like NaNoWriMo or writing contests? 

Oh.  Oh, you have no idea.  I spent about 12 years as a NaNoWriMo ML, I run a state-wide writing Discord for the state I’m in, and I do in fact enter writing contests.  I was published as a poet when I was in high school, placed in a playwriting contest as well, had three different plays I wrote produced in a community theater type setting (I got to direct two of the three – two were comedies [those I directed] and one was a drama), and three times in five years been chosen for a local short works contest to be in their chosen ten for writing, and one of the years was a chosen photographer for the same contest (ten or less photos are chosen, and ten or less written works, and then they are read in public at an event night), and I perform at open mics on the regular, so locally, in person, not just online, a fair number of people know me as Zhie as well. (And at some of the public open mics, I do sometimes read fanfiction. The first one I read was back in 2005 or 2006, and it was a story about Celegorm, and then there’s been various stories since then, the latest one I recall was about Celebrimbor and Feanor reuniting in Valinor.  I read these while on a stage or in the middle of a room filled with people drinking fancy coffee drinks and eating pastries and there’s a couple of IRL fans who have recorded some of the readings, so they’re probably out there somewhere.) And I do all of those how to write sessions and events – at one of the writing groups I regularly attend (I’m a regular member of two in-person writing groups at local libraries) a member gave me the title ‘The Book Doctor’ and I kind of like it. 

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year?

Yes. Fingers crossed. I need this fantasy horror story out of my head and on paper. 

21. Will you try writing software, like Scrivener or those programs that won’t let you stop writing?

I have used some of those in the past, but I don’t really have much of a need for them anymore.  I do still enjoy a good session of written? kitten! from time to time, and I’ll use Fighter’s Block during nano or any time I need to write much faster. (It’s the only reason I managed to write 50K words in 10 days during NaNo a few years ago.) 

22. Do you plan to take writing classes this year?

I’m kind of at the point where I give writing classes. I enjoy going to the two in-person writing groups because I think it’s important to interact with other writers outside of one’s normal genre, and I have a lot of different people I interact with.  One of the groups leans more nonfiction, and the other is more fiction.  So there’s a guy who writes these nonfiction essays about dead people (basically, famous people, but they have to be dead, I think so that he can have a definitive end, but he’s recently started writing a book about banned books), a WWII vet who writes poetry about the war, someone who professionally is a blogger, someone who writes social psychology pieces, someone who writes these one-page anecdotes that relate back to a Bible passage, someone who writes anecdotes about Jewish life in the 1960s/70s, someone who writes blogs about libraries and books, someone who writes about economics. Then there’s someone who is a children’s author (3 books published), someone who writes YA fiction, someone who is an illustrator, another who is writing a theatrical play for a specific band’s music, someone who writes those nostalgic books full of postcards, someone who is writing her family stories down for her grandchildren to read later when they’re grown up in case she’s not around when they start asking about family history, a scifi writer, a romance writer, a fantasy writer, a songwriter. And me. Those live writing groups are better than any writing class. I get exposed to so many ideas and levels of writing and things I would never write but analyzing them gets me thinking about other things, and all in all, makes me a better writer. 

23. Would you like to go on a writing retreat?

I would like to host one.  I’ve done college-level coursework in convention and meeting planning, and I’ve done a lot of convention and event planning.  However, at this point, one of the above mentioned people in one of the groups does run a writing retreat, and she has two of the events of that retreat open to the public, so I went to one of the events this past November, and I enjoyed it.  So maybe I’d consider going to her retreat, especially since I wouldn’t have to majorly travel to get there. 

24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as “that author who _______.”

I don’t need to wait until the end of the year.  In the back of a dresser somewhere there’s a shirt that has a big purple rabbit on the front and on the back, it says something to the effect of “I’m the author that brought your fandom cheesecake and flamingos and purple bunnies”, and that’s pretty much what I do and what I’ve been doing.  I brought a little chaos, as a treat, and people seemed to like it, so I just keep doing weird shit, like licking virtual couches in Yahoo!Groups or running an event called Screw Yule just because I could. I bounce around, from the fanfic and fanart groups, into the crafting groups, over to the gaming groups, around to the bookclub groups, sliding into the scholarly groups, and I’m always just a little quirky and a little unexpected and very authentically me–I’m just tiggering my way around, and like tiggers, the wonderful thing about zhies is that I’m the only one. 

25. If you answered questions from this list last year, find your answers and compare your goals to your results. How’d you do?

I did not answer these last year, but now that I have a full slate, perhaps I’ll have to revisit next year.

[elcarimercanto]

ANAKIN AND PADME RE-DO WEDDING

So I was thinking. What if Anidala did some kind of re-do wedding after their marriage is out to world, and this way they can have their families there and it's a lot more like a traditional wedding.

Like they wouldn't undo their marriage but they would have like another ceremony with speeches, a party and stuff.

Obi wan is best man, obviously

Ahsoka is the maid of honor

The notable 501st members are the groomsmen

Padme's handmaidens are the bridesmaids

Bail Organa is the officiator

Padme's nieces are the flower girls

Yoda shows up to the wedding, happy for Anakin, and happy that the war is over. He may not agree with what he's doing but he's not a bitch so he'll still show up.

R2 is the ring bearer, because now they can officially have rings. It was a surprise that Obi-wan thought of so Rex had the rings be made, with custom engravings, with their last names.

Both Padme and Anakin had no idea about this so when R2 came out with the rings Padme started tearing up, and Anakin was trying and failing to hold it together.

The rest of the guests include Padme's family, the rest of the 501st, the entire 212th, and Plot Koon along with all his sons(the clones).

Anakin and Padme say their vows and their "I do's" then they kiss. Everyone cheers, Obi wan is bawling, Ahsoka and wiping a tear away.

Then there's the after party:

Anakin and Padme have their really cute dance.(Anakin is a surprisingly good dancer)

Obi wan makes a really heartwarming speech about how he's always known and loves them, and this causes Anakin to start bawling, so him and Obi wan have a really cute hug.

Ahsoka has a speech similar to Obi wan's but with a lot more taunting and jokes.

Rex goes up there and only says one sentence "I would just like to point out that Anakin told me first."

More dancing ensues along with lots of drinking(mostly by Obi wan).

Hardcase and Fives have a dance battle but just as Hardcase is about to win Yoda jumps in and wins with his "epic" breakdancing skills.

At the end everyone goes home and Padme + Anakin end up having a "honeymoon" vacation thing, while staying at the lake house.

Bonus:

They all take a huge group photo, and it is beautiful.

(I just really wish we got this happy ending au)

[theladybarnes]

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? : CHAPTER FIVE

“Listen, don't take it so personally, okay? I don't like most people. He is in the vast majority.”

▸ summary: your curiosity leads you into joining a hunt ▸ characters: nancy wheeler, jonathan byers, (ft. steve harrington + dustin henderson) ▸ word count: 4,879 ▸ warnings: angst, mentions of stalking behavior,  ▸ series masterlist

There were only the sounds of leaves crunching under the soles of heavy feet, and light murmuring voices the morning of Will Byers’ funeral. After finding his body in the quarry, it would seem Jonathan moved forward right away with the arrangements for the funeral. 

 All the attendees were slowly moving in a single file on the way down to the gravesite. Giving you the chance to take notice of the grassy pathway. So dull and colorless. Most likely from the changing weather, but you couldn’t help but frown at it for being so lifeless on a day like this. The sky didn’t seem to get the memo as it shined a blue over the sky, sun shining bright alongside it. 

 You were thankful for the large dark gray overcoat that your Aunt Claudia had given you. Not only were not expecting to go to a funeral anytime soon, but the people in Hawkins seemed to dress in a different type of consertive way. It wasn’t like you needed any more curious eyes on you.

 Today it would be you who had the wandering eyes. All around there were different emotions going on. Starting with the Byers family, the man you assumed was Will’s father sat beside Jonathan, awkward while having a somber face. Jonathan looked as sad as you had seen him lately, and really, if you weren’t so upset about the photos you’d have spoken to him. But when you arrived earlier and got caught in his line of vision, you couldn’t help but turn away. 

 Joyce Byers had to be the saddest of them all. There was so much grief in her that she looked the most distant of this whole thing. A part of her apparently still held out hope he was alive. You could never understand that pain. And you wish to never go through it.

 Before you stood your cousin and his two other friends. All dressed up with their attention focused on the ground before them. You would have felt more sorry for them, but ever since you had woken up this morning. There was an odd way Dustin had been acting. Not that Dustin ever acted normal, but in this case, he wasn’t the same grieving friend you had comforted the other night.

 Still, after everything, you were ready to follow the group up back to the church to join the service in the rec room when you noticed two stragglers. Nancy and Jonathan had huddled close together before they both moved to duck down.

 There’s a struggle to fight against what your curiosity wants to see and what your mind is telling you to do. But really, the inner nosiness that you try to hide comes out and you’re already sneaking up to where they’re hiding by the time you really register it. 

 “If we do see it..then what?”

 “We kill it.”

Crossing your arms, you stepped forward, creating a loud enough step to jump scare the two of them. “Nancy Drew, what are you and creep doing over here all huddled together?” The nagging in your head to mind your own business for once was being heavily silenced by your curiosity. After what happened with Steve’s confrontation and the camera, you were sure that these two wouldn’t be around each other.

 “It’s not what it looks like.” Nancy started, climbing up from the floor. Jonathan looked red in the face, as he patted down the fallen leaves from the back of his pants. 

 “You mean you two weren’t hiding from everyone huddled to the ground talking about murdering something?”

 Nancy winced a bit, looking over at Jonathan to help. All the pale boy could give her was a head shake. “She wouldn’t believe us..” he whispered. Giving her a look that she seemed to understand. But instead of agreeing with him, she pulled out a photograph from her coat pocket. 

 “We could use the help. And..I trust her.”

 Leaning forward, you notice the photo in her hand to be a black and white picture taken from the night of the party. Only the thing in the image was contorted and unnatural. “What the hell am I looking at?”

 “Well, it all started when I went to Steve’s house yesterday...”

  The story ended up sounding more crazy than you had imagined. The very idea of a monster lurking around just didn’t seem possible. Not only was that insane, but the theory of the body you witnessed being buried possibly not even being the real Will Byers. It was all just too much.

 “You know, as much as I’m sticking around. I feel this is insane.” you coughed, crossing your arms as you stood in front of the open car door. Nancy blinked over at you, brows furrowed as she looked at you hopefully. 

 “It’s the best evidence we have..I just want to make sure that I’ve checked out everything. Barb would want that.”

 Eventually Jonathan found what he was looking for, causing Nancy’s eyes to widen as she looked at the object in hand. “Are you serious?” she gasped. 

 Turning your head over, you noticed him stuff a gun into his coat pocket. Making you cover the front of your eyes. “We’re in deep shit now.” you muttered. Jonathan peeked out to look over at the two of you exasperated.

 “What? You guys want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?”

 You stepped out of the way once he was finished grabbing what he needed, moving over to stand between them as you tried to keep down the anxiety that was building back up.

 “This is a terrible idea.”

 “Yeah, I think I’m with Wheeler on this.” you winced, trying not to stare at the pack of bullets he was trying to stuff in his coat. There were so many problems with what you were getting yourself into.

 “What? You guys can try to tell someone but they’re not gonna believe either of you. You know that.”

 Fixing up the scarf around your neck, you shook your head at his words. “We have photographic evidence. It’s not like some highschooler can just make this up. Isn’t Nancy considered a good kid? Won’t they believe her?”

 Jonathan scoffed a bit at that. “No one believes the kids in this town because they don’t want to. Regardless of who’s trying to talk.” Turning to face you, he reached out to show you the photo again. “This thing might have taken Will and Barb. If you want to back out of this, then we get it. But if you want to help stop this thing from taking someone like Dustin or..even yourself, then help us.”

 Turning to look between you and Nancy, his lips pressed together before he threw his hands up a bit. “There’s not much else we can do. Again, no one would believe us.”

 “Your Mom would.” Nancy pointed out.

 “She’s been through enough.”

 “She deserves to know.”

 “Yeah, and I’ll tell her..when this thing is dead.”

 For a second you felt almost awkward like your first time meeting Nancy. Something about the two of them talking had this unspoken chemistry. You weren’t sure either noticed, but it was enough to have you reeling back a bit. Jonathan for whatever reason, seemed to bring out this side of Nancy that you couldn’t quite place. 

 Perhaps it was their shared motivation for getting this thing down. Or something else you weren’t aware of, but it was easy to make you feel like a third wheel. 

 “If I stay.” you coughed out, snatching up the paper to stare at the beast again. “I’m not killing whatever this creepy thing is in my Gucci shoes. So, we’re gonna have to recon.” 

 Jonathan nodded, leading you both back towards the church parking lot. “She’s right. We’ll meet up in the woods around Steve’s house. From then on, we search until we find the thing.”

 “And then?” you sighed. Nancy breathed heavily through her nose, looking over at the two of you.

 “We kill it.”

  There were many moments in your life where you knew you had to dress a certain way. Even earlier that day you had on a better outfit for the funeral. But hunting down a vicious beast? Who even knew that would call for?

 Many of your outfits were meant to be looked at and admired. Not for you to be prepared to run and fight. Still, you managed to dig up some older clothes from your last visit. What used to be an oversized sweater now well against your frame. An old pair of your Aunt’s boots were well enough for the hunt and luckily you managed to grab a pretty good corduroy jacket for the trip over.

 You were fussing over how to manage your hair when the phone blared loudly. At first you were going to ignore it, most calls weren’t for you here anyway. That is until you remembered you recently did give your number out to a few of your new friends. 

 Rushing out of your room and into the living room, you grabbed hold of the phone. Pressing the cool plastic to your ear. “Henderson residence. What do you want?”

 “Just take those old records off the shelf! I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself! Today's music ain't got the same soul! I like that old time rock and roll!”

 “Is this Bob Seger?” you giggled into the receiver. “I swore only gave my number to a couple of friends.”

 The sound of Steve’s chuckling picked up through the phone and you found yourself grinning hard. “Well, you did give it to your friends and a very enthusiastic impersonator.”

 “Oh yeah, you’re great.” you drawled out, sitting down on the seat beside the phone. “Might have to book you for my Aunt’s birthday coming up.”

 “I think I could squeeze that into my schedule. What do you think about a tour?”

 “I think Steve Harrington being a pro basketball player and a good singer are a dangerous combination. You’ll kill all the ladies across the nation.”

 The sound of his laughter picked up on the phone again. “I’m only looking to get the attention of just one.” For a second, you almost felt giddy at his words until you realized he must have been referring to Nancy. The fact that you were about to go hunting a monster with her made this even more awkward. 

 “Well, you should probably be serenading her instead of me on the phone.”

 “I love to perform for everyone.”

 Shaking your head, you take a glance at the time, frowning at how late you already were. As much as you liked entertaining Steve. Nancy and Jonathan couldn’t wait for you forever. Not when the sun was going to be going down soon. “Was there a particular reason for the call or were you really just hoping for a record deal.”

 “I was actually hoping that the two of us could hang out tonight.”

 “Really? Just us two?”

 “Is that so strange?”

 Rolling your eyes, you sighed loudly into the phone. “It’s strange that you’d rather hang out with me than with your girlfriend. And what about your friends?” There’s a beat of silence on the other end, before he speaks again.

 “I did ask Nancy. She’s busy. And Tommy and Carol are on their date night. I’m supposed to meet up with them later.”

 Something in your stomach didn’t like that answer at all. It was fair to say that you clearly were his back up choice in all this. Not that you had a right to be the first choice. You were after all just one of his newest friends. But you couldn’t help but still feel an ache in your stomach at the idea of being the last thought.

 “As lovely as it is to know I’m your last resort, I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline.”

 “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that!”

 “Oh?” you mused. “And would I have received a call had Nancy or anyone else been free?”

 “Duh, I wanted all of us to hang out. Do something normal for once.”

 Normal. The word you had been so keen on being since the start of this mess. Unfortunately, you were well past normal at this point. Had Steve called this morning, you might have been able to avoid this. But you also wouldn’t be able to be part of the team to hopefully take this monster down. God, this town was messing with your damn head.

 “Unfortunately, your highness, I’m all booked for the night.”

 “There’s no way you can’t cancel and come see All the Right moves with me?”

 It was more disappointing when you remember that it was a movie you had actually wanted to see. But something about leaving Nancy and Jonatha alone to fight off whatever was in that picture without any help didn’t sit right with you. Stupid morality kicked in at the worst times.

 “Sorry, you’ll have to endure it alone.”

 “Cold. But fine, I guess I’ll wait out for Tommy and Carol.”

 Glancing at the clock, you notice that Steve has taken up too much of your time to get ready. You wouldn’t be able to find a weapon to take with you now. “Alright.” you sighed, getting up from your seat. “I’m sure you’ll figure out something to do in the meantime.” 

 “Get ready for my singing career?”

 “Atta boy, sounds like an idea to me. I’ll talk to you later?”

 “Yeah sure, if you’re free.” he teased, having only a slightly hurt tone in his voice. You definitely were kicking yourself right now. “Bye, trouble.” 

 “Bye, Steve.” Hanging up, you stared down at the phone. Pleading with yourself to pick it back up and take Steve on the plans. You didn’t want to be involved with a crazy mess like monster hunting with two people you hardly knew. Steve wanted to hang out. Sure, it was because all his other options were busy. But-

 The phone in front of you rang again and you nearly jumped back from its sudden noise. Reaching down, you curiously pick up the receiver and press it against your ear. “Hello?” you called out.

 “Oh thank God it’s you!” 

 The worried voice of your cousin was enough to distract you from the disappointment of not having Steve be  the one who called to try and convince you again.“Dustin, what’s wrong? I didn’t see you come home after the funeral.”

 “Uh yeah, Mike convinced Lucas and I to go back home with him. We’ve been kinda talking about stuff.”

 Curiosity sprang back in your chest again. Despite his words now, you couldn’t help but remember how odd he had been acting that morning. Even when they all lined up to bid the Byers’ family sympathetic words, he had been trying to hurry back to the Church for the reception.

 “Uh huh. About what kind of stuff?” you asked carefully.

 “You know, boy things, …uh science things.”

 Dustin was proving to be a really bad conversationalist or a bad liar. And considering how he usually didn’t shut up, you went with the latter. “What the hell are you planning on doing today, Dustin?”

 There was suddenly a lot of murmuring on his end, hushed voices trying to argue with each other as well what could be slapping noises before he spoke up again. “We’re not planning anything. Really, we’re going to just go outside and mess around with our..compasses. Yeah! We’re gonna see why our compasses are broken.”

 Scrunching your face you can’t help but get confused by his words. “Why the hell would they be broken? They don’t run on batteries.”

 “That’s what I said!” Again slapping could be heard again before he cleared his throat. “We’re just gonna be in Mike’s backyard testing out theories. Wanted to tell you and Mom in case it gets late.”

 “Well I’m actually heading out myself so I guess I’ll leave a note for her..” The three of you were going to be around the wood area tonight and you couldn’t help but be thankful that at least Dustin would be safe at his friend’s house. “Dustin, do me a favor?”

 “What?”

 “Try and stay safe out there, ok?”

 Something in your voice seemed to throw Dustin off because instead of answering back, he softly said your name. Almost with worry. “Are you okay?”

 “Yeah, just promise me.”

 “Alright, weirdo. We’ll be safe. I’ll see you later, okay?”

 It wasn’t long till the call ended and you didn’t bother looking at the time as you quickly wrote out a note for your Aunt. There was no turning back on this, despite the feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you to do otherwise. 

  The part of the woods that Jonathan had told you guys to meet at, looked just as dead and ominous as the lawn of the church from earlier that morning. The borrowed boots pinched at the sides of your feet but you ignored the slight pain the moment you started to hear gunshots.

 It wasn’t till you reached the source of the noise that you were shocked to find Nancy sending off a perfect shot against a can that had been lined up. For once the girl had a sense of fierceness over her. The gun definitely made her look cooler than the timid girl you’ve spoken to a couple of times.

 “Shit, Nancy Drew. You’ve got aim!” you exclaimed, coming closer to the two. 

 Nancy blushed a bit, trying to take the compliment humbly before she picked the gun up again to aim at another can. With each new shot it would seem her confidence only grew. It was after she finished the round that Jonathan declared that you three should begin your search for the monster.

 Nancy began to led the way into the woods, giving you a clear stepping path to follow her on. The uneven floor of the wood and piled leaves were making it a bit hard for you to walk, but any trips or hard steps were met with only a stoic face. 

 You weren’t going to be the girly girl who hated the woods and whined the whole time out there. Even though that’s what you really wanted to do.

 “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” Jonathan muttered beside you. Making you almost jump at his sudden presence. You would have thought he’d join Nancy at her side. But from the way he fiddled around with the strap of his bag, he looked like he needed to talk.

 “Well, you have me here now.”

 He hummed at that, probably expecting a little more fight from you. But since you know what he’s about to bring up, you couldn’t help but be taken back again. The whole taking pictures of the party still didn’t sit right with you. Even if all the ones you were in weren’t anything scandalous, it still felt awful to know what he had done. 

 Jonathan glanced over at you, giving you a sad smile as he tried to mull over his words. “I didn’t mean to go that far the other day..I wasn’t planning on doing any of that. It just happened..I’m sorry.”

 “You mean you didn’t realize after several photos of us how creepy it was to be doing that?”

 His lips pursed together in a thin line and his knuckles gripped harder onto the bat at hand. “I don’t take photos for any particular reason. The whole thing caught my eye and I didn’t think of what could happen.”

 “Were you ever going to be honest with me about it? That night you said you’d show me your photos. Were you really going to show me all of them?”

 “Yeah, I mean, mostly the weird Barb one but yes. I love taking pictures, it didn’t matter the subject, I just didn’t think this one through. I wanted to purely just capture a moment. It was all just saying something to me.”

 The memory of Steve breaking the camera came into mind and you couldn’t help but feel guilty for the action despite trying to stop it from happening. But it was all so embarrassing and invasive. You hated the idea of anyone making you feel something you did not give permission for them to do. The bitterness just seemed to grow in you about it.

 “Did you really have to do it then and there? It was seriously the wrong time and place. Especially since you were supposedly looking out for Will.”

 “And I was! I promise. Look, I know you of all people might not get it. But I see things differently when I take pictures of people. Things they normally wouldn’t see of themselves.”

 “Yeah, like Nancy had no idea what she looked like with her shirt off.”

 The two of you stopped in place at that. Having a standoff as you both stared hard at each other. For a second, you thought that he might fight about that, try and find a way to stick up for himself. Instead, he merely shook his head and looked down at the ground. 

 “I don’t have an excuse, I regret taking it.”

 “Did you make sure she knew that?”

 The two of you glance over to find Nancy had still continued on the path, unaware of your conversation at all. Nodding in her direction, you made the two of you follow her again. He’s gone quiet and you can’t help but want to go back to his previous comment. “What did you see when you took that photo of me and Steve?”

 Strangely, Jonathan turned a bit bolder as he gave you a small smirk. His focus was still on the girl ahead as he replied back to you. “I saw two people who I don’t think really see each other as friends.”

 “Yeah?” you scoffed, trying to control the rapid beating of your heart. “And just what exactly do we see each other as?” There wasn’t supposed to be any sort of clue of you liking Steve. It was only a crush and that’s all it was ever going to be, he liked Nancy and you were just getting over Bil-

 “Can’t speak for Harrington, but you? It’s clear as day. Speaking from someone in my position,” His eyes quickly scanned over to Nancy again before he looked over to you. Making you cringe at the truth of his next words.

 “It’s easy to say. You’re fucked.”

  At some point during the walk, you and Nancy managed to switch positions, leaving you leading the walk as the other two staggered behind. The shorter girl must have had her own reservations about what happened yesterday as well because before you knew it, the two began to fight. 

 Poking and taunting one another for things you weren’t entirely too sure about. For one thing, you did not think he was pretentious, creepy yes, but he wasn’t entirely mean to you the first day there. The second, was Jonathan did not hold back his tongue as he basically tore her a new one.

 As Jonathan brushed past you, grumbling to himself, you couldn’t help but look back at Nancy with sympathy. And even though you weren’t close and in any other world, you two wouldn’t be friends. You couldn’t help but walk over and give her a small smile. 

 “Boys suck.” you stated simply.

 “They seriously, ridiculously, suck.” she groaned, trudging alongside you in the direction to where Jonathan went. “I mean, to go as far as to say that I’m going to end up exactly like my parents? How could he think that? How could he just- UGH.” Her hand pinched the bridge of her nose and you're thankful her focus isn’t on your face as you remember the type of person her Father was.

 “He’s wrong for that, but..I don’t know. He’s kinda being a douche for making it seem like some people who do live that kinda life aren’t happy.”

 Her eyes flickered to you, watching you curiously. “What do you mean?”

 “Well, it’s like that feminism that’s so taboo to talk about.” When she didn’t seem to catch your meaning you went on. “On one hand, girls should be allowed awesome careers and lives that they choose. Change the ideology right?”

 “Right.”

 “So like, by that definition shouldn’t women also choose to have small careers and stay home if they want to? Doesn’t make it bad or anything, just different. The whole thing is that it’s their choice.” 

 Nancy seemed a little bit stunned, stopping in place as she became unsure of how to reply to that. A part of you became worried you might have said the wrong thing until she nodded her head finally. “You’re right, it’s not what’s gonna happen to me, but it’s fine if someone else does.”

 “Exactly, people, especially men, should not tell us hot girls what’s good or bad for us, right?”

 You gave her a small smirk, hoping now your words will help fix up her mood a bit. And when she gives you a small smile you take that as a win. Nancy going as far as to playfully nudge you as you two moved on again. 

 “So is that the kind of lifestyle you want to live?” she asked softly.

 “Me? I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it.”

 “Would you live that way with the right guy?”

 Your mind dangerously flickered to a certain boy that you knew you shouldn’t. Shaking your head, you quickly push that thought out. 

 “The only guy I’m willing to do all that for is the delicious Harrison Ford.”

 Nancy chuckled a bit, shaking her head before you noticed a small smile on her face. “I’m not so sure I’d stick that out for Harrison Ford, even if he did look good in that Indiana Jones movie.”

 “He doesn’t do it for you?”

 Her head shook no before she leaned over towards your ear. 

 “Now, that Tom Cruise? I might have to reconsider.”

The search continued on into the night, making you realize then how tired and sore you were from the day. The woods continued to be empty, filled only with the sounds of trees creaking, leaves rustling from the wind and the occasional echo of an animal from down the treeline.

 It all seemed to be a total bust until Nancy heard the sounds of a crying animal. Not just any regular animal, but a deer, bleeding out on the ground. The sight of the poor thing had you behind the two, squeezing your eyes shut as they approached the creature closely. 

 “It’s been hit by a car.” Nancy deduced. The fact that the three of you were far from the road side seemed to slip past your minds, because all you could focus on was the sound of the deer’s labored breathing.

 “We can’t just leave it.”

 The silence that follows has you nearly keening over with nausea. They’re going to have to put it out of its misery and you barely could stomach seeing the animal documentaries the schools showed the kids back in freshman year. 

 “I’ll do it.” Jonathan offered and you wanted to reach out and tell Nancy she should probably look away too but your eyes seemed to need to see the grizzly act as well. Making you watch in horror as he held up the gun to the animal.

 Before he could take the shot, the animal is quickly dragged away, making the three of you set off in a calm panic as you try to track down the direction of where it went. Whatever that was had to be the monster you guys were looking for.

 To your dismay, the three of you end up splitting up into different directions. Even with only just a flashlight as your only weapon, you grip onto the heavy item tightly as you scan around the area, eyes wide in hopes that it’ll help you catch anything that might be coming at you.

 A snarling sound could be heard in the distance, making you gulp as you try to go to the source of the noise. The further down you step the more you realize you’ve sort of made a circle. A small panic creeped up on you when you remembered you didn’t know your way around the woods. 

 “Guys?!” you called out, looking around. “Hello?! Guys, I think I’m lost!” 

 There’s a faint noise, something that sounds like your name. Calling out for the two again, you’re met with only a small whisper from the trees. “Hey!” said a deep voice suddenly, Jonathan, who had managed to come up quietly, looked over at you with wide eyes. 

 “I’ve been screaming for you, where’s Nancy?” he asked urgently. Almost as if he was as anxious as you were. 

 Before you could give out an answer the panicked screaming of Nancy suddenly made the two of you jump. Together you rushed towards the direction of the noise, yelling out the girl's name again and again. 

 “Where the hell did she go?”

A/N: I just want to apologize for how long this has taken me! I don’t know why it’s hard to do these build up chapters but since I didn’t have this prewritten, it’s been kind of hard to write these out. Also, I had to set up a lot of things these past two chapters so it’s like semi filler and semi setting up for the plot. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading! 

TAGGED REQUESTS:

@m-rae23​​​, @teeacooper (won’t let me tag), @ally-holmes​​​​, @namesaretomainstream​​​​ , @lilygreennn​​​​,

[firstbeachgoblin]

Hey! I hope you’re well, can i request an imagine where reader is Embry’s imprint and they haven’t seen eachother in months because reader has a life she can’t just drop for him but she comes back when the pack is blowing up her phone ? Thank youu and don’t worry if you don’t write it, it’s fine!

Thank you for the request! It took a Long time But It's now complete with a total whopping 5k words!! Any way I hope you enjoy the fic.

I put it under the cut because it's so long but it's my brain baby at the moment lo.

Returning to you.

Embry Call x Reader

5058 words

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Most of my life has been spent in the Forks area so getting to travel to Europe for six months to see the art and culture was a dream come true. The past four months I’ve been travelling through Europe, starting in Greece and ending my trip in the Irish countryside.

The old art and architecture filled me with a joy that I could not get anywhere else in the world. The smells, sounds and sights all played their own part into the experience. I got to see the moon rise over Mount Olympus, the David by Michelangelo in the Vatican, tour through the Louvre, drink wine on the beaches of France and so much more. I’ve been living my best life.

It's been a dream to see the world, I've met so many new people and tried so much food. I’ve enjoyed every minute of my trip, but there was a part of me that longed for the beaches of La Push.

That part is Embry. Embry Call. My boyfriend, my pal, my love and my light. To me Embry is my everything and to him I’m his everything. That is one thing that has been made perfectly clear the past four months I’ve been away. Every day he’s told me he misses me and I know he means it, I’ve been told not just by him but also the rest of the pack.

Everyday I’ve woken up to ‘Good morning I miss you.” Sometimes he phones to tell me that he feels like he might die if I’m away for any longer. I always chuckle and tell him he will survive, it’s not like I’m going away forever; but that's what he feels like it is. This usually earns me a long winded whine from the other end of the line.

My phone buzzed against the smooth surface of the bedside table while Embry’s face flashed across my screen signalling that he’s calling. A smile graces my lips as I pick up the phone to be greeted with his loving voice.

“Hi (y/n)!! I miss you so much.” sadness was laced in his usual cheery greeting, it hurt my heart to be away from him but I would never trade this experience for anything. I’ve been planning this for years and I wasn’t going to pass up cheap plane tickets.

He filled me in on the pack's shenanigans, complaining about how they keep teasing him for being glued to his phone awaiting any updates I would send him. The later it got the heavier my eyelids seemed to feel, my speech started to slur with exhaustion of time zones while Embry continued to become more energetic with each passing minute.

“Em. . .” A yawn interrupted me mid sentence, a low whine emanated from the phone as he knew I would want to get to bed to have the energy for the long trip I’ll embark on tomorrow for Ireland, which is my last stop. I’d be spending the remaining two months of my trip in the lush countryside.

“I think I should get to sleep, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.” I mumbled into the phone.

“But (y/n)!” he dragged out. I knew he wanted to talk longer but I physically cannot do it. Even though Embry and I don’t live together officially yet, we’d talk into the early morning till one of us fell asleep.

“But (y/n) what?” I dragged out the ‘a’ matching his whine.

“I miss you and want you to come home.” I could hear him pause over line before he continued.

“Besides, sleeping isn’t the same without you.”

I ran my hand through my hair gently tugging on the roots easing the tension that’s built up over my trip. As much fun as I’ve had, he does have a point. Sleeping just isn’t the same without Em. My nights have been spent restless in beds that aren’t mine without the comforting touch of my boyfriend; but that doesn’t mean I can just drop everything and go back home.

“Em you know I can’t just pack everything and go home. . .” I looked at the painting that hung over the tv that sat opposite of my bed. A puppy-like whimper fell from his lips when he spoke again, his voice cracked like he was going to cry. It broke my heart hearing him upset.

“I-I know I just really miss you.”

“I know Embry I miss you too, but it’s only two more months then I’ll be home.”

We chatted for ten more minutes before I fell asleep on the phone. As much as I missed falling asleep in his warm embrace I can’t just fly back home, not yet at least.

The blaring of my alarm woke me from my slumber. The clock face read 6:02 a.m. taking everything within myself to peel back the blankets that encased me in their warm grip. I patted through the bed sheets to find my phone only to knock it onto the floor in the process.

My lock screen adorned a photo of Embry with icing smudged across his face from his birthday party but a swamp of text messages from the pack covered my favourite photo of him. Five texts from Leah, seven from Jake, nine texts from Paul, 12 texts and two missed calls from Sam and a whole group chat titled ‘(y/n) come home.’

The group chat kept pinging with the members of the pack who were still awake discussing the logistics of flying out to Ireland to take me back home. Was Embry really causing that much strife in the pack for them to create a group chat? Knowing him, it couldn’t be too far from the truth.

Leah and I call once a week to check in and make sure the other is doing okay since I left. It’s one of my favourite parts of the week being able to have a one on one with someone sensible. Every week she fills me in on Embry begrudgingly, she does it because she knows it makes me happy which I appreciate.

Reading through her texts she didn’t say much in regards to Em’s behaviour the only message relating to him was “come get your man child please, he’s getting snot on the floor.”

I listened through Sam’s voice mails which were begging me to come home, he informed me that once Em knew I was asleep he started moping around Emily’s house again for the fourth consecutive night in a row. This was news to me.

The texts entailed that Embry was becoming a pain on patrol and that Paul ‘couldn’t take another minute of the incessant whining.’ I told them the same thing I told Embry; I’m not dropping everything and rushing back home to sooth the wails of a love sick boy. There isn’t much I can do from across the ocean anyway.

I stretched my body and headed towards the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower before I had to leave for the airport.

I packed the few remaining things I left out to prepare for the flight and headed my way to the lobby to check out. I enjoyed travelling but I wasn’t going to miss sleeping in hotels and hostels.

Two weeks have passed since I touched down in Ireland and to say I’ve been having the time of my life is an understatement; I’ve been having a ball living my best life.

The land was capped in a luscious emerald green sea of grass that waved in the wind, the roads were lined with hand built stone walls that marked the division of farmers fields.

Sheep and cattle grazed in pastures, and old castles dotted the countryside. It was gorgeous. It was a view that I wanted to see again, a view I want to see with Embry.

It felt like time was flying by between sight seeing, trail hiking, museum tours and calls with Embry and Leah. It has already been a month. I had one more month before I was to jet set back to the U.S. and see my Embry.

One more month before I was back in La Push surrounded by the scent of sea water and trees with the looming threat of rain constantly overhead except in the summer. For two months of the year La Push was bright and sunny with the expected summer storms that happened.

I had fallen asleep on the phone with Embry again when I realized my phone was lost in the sea of sheets as it buzzed with an incoming phone call.

I couldn’t find it until the call had gone to voicemail and my phone landed on the ground when I gave up and ripped the blankets off of the bed but whoever called must have felt it was really important. Picking up my phone the most unflattering photo of Jacob was plastered on the screen, his name in white.

“Hello?” I asked groggily into the phone, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I looked over at the clock which said in bold red numbers 1 am.

“Hey (y/n)! You sound like you just woke up.” I heard him chortle from the other end.

“That’s because I just woke up Jake, it’s one in the morning.” a yawn escaped my lips, I know I’ll have a rough time getting over jet lag when I go home.

He occupied twenty minutes with idle chatter and borderline interrogation about all the sights I’ve seen before I asked him why he was calling me so early in the morning

“Embry has spent the week at my house, you need to come home there’s nothing we can do anymore to occupy him till you return.” He sighed, Jake knows I want to finish my trip but we made a deal that I would come home early if there were absolutely no options left to keep Embry from sending the pack into hysterics.

I knew he was buttering me up for something.

“Are you sure you can’t figure something out? It’s just another month!”

“Another month of him eating my cereal and getting dirt on me from my dad!”

I snorted with laughter at the fact that Billy was telling Embry every embarrassing detail from his childhood.

“Jake please just let me think about it okay?” I sighed, flopping back into my hollowed cave of blankets and sheets.

“Okay, I’ll let you think about it but don’t think I won’t be telling Sam.” he warned.

We laughed together and he wished me a good night before hanging up the phone, before I slipped back into slumber I sent Jake one more text.

‘You wake me up at one in the morning again and it’s over for you.’ in which he responded with ‘Oh no I’m so scared lol.’

I reached over to the bedside table and plugged my phone in before the sweet embrace of warmth and slumber took over my senses.

The next three days I was bombarded with texts from Paul whining about the wolf mind link and how every patrol shift he had with Embry was spent tuning out his constant thoughts of me.

Standing in the shower with hot water running over my skin soothing my tense muscles I heard my phone buzz against the granite countertop. I rolled my eyes and continued to bask in the endless hotel hot water.

As bad as staying in hotels could be, the hot water made up for the early breakfast and sheets that were tucked in a little too tightly.

I had shampoo in my hair when my phone started buzzing again, this time with a call. I grumbled under the stream of water washing away the soap before it could get in my eyes; whoever's calling can wait.

I moved on to conditioning my hair, letting it sit while I wash the rest of my body with a lightly scented lavender soap.

I refused to use the complimentary soap because it dried out my skin and the lotion just left me feeling sticky instead of moisturized.

Watching the soap run down the drain my phone rang again, I clenched my fists, who could possibly be calling me now? I still refused to get out of my steamy heaven to answer my phone.

My gut told me that whoever was calling wouldn’t let up until I answered. I washed out the conditioner from my hair and wrapped it in a towel.

The mirror was coated in a layer of steam, the tiles were cool against my feet. I wrapped the plush towel around my body, mopping up the droplets of water that remained.

My phone started vibrating with rapid fire text messages from the pack’s group chat they made a month ago. I sighed, picking it up to sift through the messages. I read a message from Jared telling me he’d pay me to return.

The pack always made me laugh, together they’re a walking sitcom. There is never a dull moment with them, someone always had something witty or sarcastic to say.

I checked to see who had called me and it turned out it was Sam, I listened to his voice mails and immediately phoned him back.

As soon as I hit the call button it only rang for half a second before he picked up.

“Thank you for calling back, I thought I’d have to call two more times.” he chuckled.

“Well I was in the middle of a shower, can’t really take a call there.” I moved through the room with my phone pressed between my shoulder and cheek. Stopping at my suitcase to pick out what I was going to wear for the day.

“I’m going to be frank with you, I need you to come home. . .” I let out a huff before he continued.

“Embry needs you badly, he’s just a pile of mush on the floor now. It’s a chore to get him up to go on patrol. Please?”

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do Sam, I’ll try to book a flight for the earliest date I can find.” I knew I was giving in but from what they were telling me and the constant texts were getting to be difficult to manage.

“Thank you, when you get back I’ll buy you take out for a month okay?”

“I hate that you know what my weakness is.” I laughed through the phone, a month of free take out? Hell yeah. It made the prospect of going back a little brighter since I wasn’t going to complete the rest of my trip.

I wasn’t losing out on too much though, I had seen and done everything that I wanted. It wouldn’t be too bad to go home early.

We talked for a couple more minutes before parting ways, I threw my phone on the bed and watched it bounce a couple times before turning my attention back to getting dressed. Since I had a flight to book it was okay to spend the rest of the day lounging in pj’s.

The soft fabric of my pj’s brushed against my skin as I jumped into bed with my computer in hand, and now it was time to book a flight back home. Maybe text Paul and tell him he can quit complaining as well.

I woke up the next morning with my flight booked for take off in the afternoon and my daily good morning text from Embry. I felt a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful country but the trees, ocean and Embry all called my name.

Pacing through the room I grabbed the comfiest set of clothes I packed for my return flight back to Seattle, I had enough time to sleep on the plane to be conscious enough for the three and a half hour drive back to La Push.

I was set for a long day ahead of me but it was going to be worth it in the end, seeing the bright and happy face of my boyfriend, getting to hug him and kiss him again.

I made one last check of the room before I gathered my clothes and toiletry kit and made my way into the bathroom to shower before my long flight. As I was stepping into the shower my phone pinged from the counter with a text from Sam.

“Have you booked that flight yet?” it read.

“Yeah I’m due for take off at 1. I should be back in La Push some time tomorrow!”

My fingers brushed the cool surface of the counter top as I put my phone back and got into the shower, hot water immediately running down my back; this time my phone wasn’t being blown up by a desperate wolf pack trying to get my attention.

I can’t sit in the shower for hours on end this time, I have a flight to catch and a boy to surprise. Embry was currently still under the impression that I would be coming home in two weeks. Boy would he be in for a surprise.

The residual steam wafted out of the bathroom while I brushed my teeth revealing my towel wrapped body and hair in the mirror behind the skin. I checked the time and noted that I had two hours to check out, make my way to the airport, and check into my flight back home. Two more hours before I could smell the trees and ocean, two more hours before I could see my friends and hug Embry.

The time managed to move by in a blur by the time I was shutting the trunk of the yellow cab that was going to drop me off at the airport. I got into the back seat and the driver peeled away from the hotel front onto the winding roads.

“Aye where are you headin’?” The driver inquired in a thick Irish accent.

One thing I noticed in my stay here was that the accent changed in every town or village I passed through. It added to the charm

“Well, I’m on my way home after spending six months in Europe.” My eyes scanned over the green hills that rushed past in a blur.

“My favourite places I’ve been have definitely been Ireland and Greece.” I smiled towards him.

The lines around his eyes crinkled with the smile that graced his face at the mention of Ireland.

“Well that’s good to hear innit? Glad you’ve enjoyed your stay. We welcome ya with open arms if you return.”

We held a light conversation until we arrived in front of the drop off area for passengers, thanked him and grabbed my bags before heading into the crowded lobby.

The front of the terminal was metal and glass that reached towards the heavens with automatic doors gaping open like a mouth. Inside was a dull white with light grey floor which my shoes clicked against with each step.

It was packed with people like a can of sardines, I weaved my way through the masses towards the check in desk which thankfully only had a short line to get through.

Under the mix of fluorescents and natural light the desk lady’s bags that donned under her eyes glared with visible exhaustion from the mass amounts of people that swarmed the terminal.

Despite her clear drowsiness she still greeted me with a warm smile and a soft hello.

I grabbed my ticket and thanked her then turned and pushed myself through to the security check, dropped my luggage off and took a seat to wait for the boarding call for my flight.

As I waited grey clouds started to fill the sky blocking out the little sun that was once shining in its place.

My eyes grew heavier by each minute that passed, waiting could be hard, but waiting in an airport where there’s no sense of time is worse. So I distracted myself by people watching.

A lady was bouncing her baby, the old man across from me was snoring. A businessman paced back and forth speaking urgently into his phone, a family chatted excitedly for their family trip to the Canary Islands.

I pulled my eyes away from them as the call for my flight rang out over the crowded terminal, grabbing my suitcase and making my way towards the gate.

Excitement filled my every step as the anticipation grew and bubbled inside me. I gave the greeting flight attendant a small smile and made my way to my seat, for being last minute I managed to get a window seat.

We sat on the tarmac for twenty minutes before taking off and before I knew it the seat belt light pinged off and I was fast asleep jet setting my way back to America, back to my home.

I couldn’t tell what time it was when I woke up but the clock on the tv screen said 2 a.m. and that we’re due to arrive in an hour. I sat up in my seat and gazed out the window into the starry night sky.

Energy started to course through me as I watched the arrival time tick closer and closer. A light rain misted down over Seattle as I left the Seatac terminal and made my way through the maze of cars in the night that was made darker by the rain.

I spotted my blue Subaru and popped the trunk so my interior and seats wouldn’t get wet. It had been a long six months since I last sat in my driver's seat, the wheel almost felt foreign in my hands as I turned the key and listened to the engine roar to life.

I drove through the winding roads of the city to the Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry to take the 45 minute ride into Bainbridge and headed North to get on the 101 then turn onto 110 which would take me back into the heart of La Push.

The closer I got to Forks the brighter the sky became; well as bright as it could be on a gloomy day. The clouds became painted in the glow of purple and pink as the sun rose over the horizon, the rain had let up and left me with an overcast sky for the remainder of the drive back.

Since I slept virtually the entire flight back I didn’t feel the weight of exhaustion at all, but surely when I arrived back in the arms of Embry I knew I’d hit the wall with sleep deprivation.

As I barreled through the corridor of trees I passed the signature ‘welcome to Forks’ sign and turned right onto the 110, twenty minutes to home. I was so close but my soul felt like it was light years away.

The clock on my radio told me that it was currently 6:45, the pinks and purples that coated the sky faded away to the typical grey that fills my senses with delight. Sea salt and washed up kelp started to seep into the air that circulated into my car making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Closer to Beach Drive I got the stronger the smell of the ocean became. The turn signal clicked as I turned onto the road that gave way to Sam and Emily’s house so they could take me over to Embry’s in the off chance that he happened to be awake at this hour.

It’s highly unlikely that he would be up at this hour but it’s not something I could be one hundred percent positive about. I stepped out of my car and turned around to see Emily running as fast as she possibly could towards me with open arms and a huge smile plastered across her face.

Dropping my bags I dashed across their lawn into her embrace.

“Oh (y/n)! I missed you so much, you must be so tired.” She released me from her hug and settled her hands on my shoulders giving them a gentle squeeze.

“I missed you too Emily, I knew I’d be tired but not this tired.” I chuckled while wiping at my under eyes in a feeble attempt to wipe away the exhaustion.

She put her hand on my lower back and led me inside for the awaiting cup of tea while Sam moved my bags into his truck.

The warmth of their home embraced me, the comfort of their kitchen was familiar. The only thing missing was the rowdy group of boys that made up the pack who usually occupied every available seat in the home.

I took a seat at the kitchen table where three cups of tea sat waiting, I should have expected a q and a when I returned. Wrapping my hands around the mug the warmth that radiated from it filled my hands.

Emily took a seat beside me and Sam entered through the door and sat adjacent to both of us.

“So how was the trip?” We sat around their table chatting until our cups were empty and filed out of the house into the early morning air.

“Emily and I will drive your car back to your place after I drop you off at Embry’s, the kid’s been sleeping in my living room more often than I’d appreciate.” Sam’s eyes crinkled with a smile, I knew he was joking but at the same time there was truth to his words; and honestly I couldn’t blame him.

“Thank you for putting up with him while I was gone, I owe you guys one and you owe me take out for a month.” He rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair turning into the Call's driveway. Embry’s mom had already left for work leaving him to his own devices; which meant he would sleep in as late as his heart desired.

We got out of Sam’s truck and he dropped my bags on the doorstep. I turned and gave him a quick hug and a thank you before sticking my key into the lock.

The door creaked open and I dragged my suitcases to a stop in their front entry way and shut it behind me.

My shoes landed on the floor with a soft thud and I gingerly walked up the stairs to ensure I wasn’t too noisy while making sure to avoid the one squeaky stair.

I got to the top of the stairs and hung a left down their light beige hallway that gave way to the oak door that guarded Embry’s room. His soft snores filtered through the door, it’s door knob was cool in my hand. Making an audible click with the turn of my wrist.

Dark mahogany brown hair peaked up from beneath the sheet that tucked Embry’s body out of view. One pillow was on the floor while the other was tucked firmly between his cheek and arm, I smiled at the sight of my sleeping boyfriend which filled my every inch with the utmost joy.

My sock covered feet pressed into the carpeted flooring with each step I took towards his bed making sure to step over the piles of dirty clothes that were scattered around the room.

The sun filtered through the gaps in the window blinds casting pools of golden light on the floor and along his walls causing the crystal prism that hung above his closet to sweep dashes of colour across his walls.

I pulled back the grey top sheet to reveal his peaceful face and I swear my heart was going to burst with the amount of love that I feel for him. His hair was tousled in every direction and a cow lick stuck straight up on the left side of his head.

My hands ran over his hair, smoothing it out while I whispered his name. Embry groaned a bit and rolled over, I whispered his name a little bit louder and moved my hands from his hair to his shoulders running them along his arms finally waking him from his slumber.

“Hi Em!” I gushed out as his brown eyes opened and focused on me. His face split with his toothy smile and his arms shot around me, pulling me down into his chest.

“Do you know how much I missed you?” Embry mumbled into my hair.

“I figured a lot with the amount of texts I got from the pack.” I reached up brushing the hair from his face.

“You can never leave me for that long again. . .I didn’t know what to do without you here.” He ran his hands through my hair placing a gentle kiss upon the top of my head.

“I was so worried about you. I couldn’t protect you and make sure you were safe.”

“Well next time I’ll make sure you can come, then you don’t have to worry.” Craning my neck up I placed a kiss upon his lips which were still a bit swollen from slumber.

“The important thing is that I returned safe and in one piece. The other important thing is I get to spoil you with the gifts I brought back!”

His laugh filled the room sending vibrations through my body.

“Hey! That’s my job to spoil you, not the other way around.” He ruffled my hair causing us both to laugh. I peeled off my socks and wiggled my way under his blanket.

“I think it’s time we catch up on six months worth of cuddling.” I poked a finger into his side.

“Yeah I think that’s a good idea, you owe me for being gone so long.”

“What? I came back early!” His hands made their way under my shirt to rest on the bare skin of my back sending waves of heat through my body from being pressed into him. Oh how I missed my heater.

“Yeah, by like what? Two weeks?” his silky voice chuckled out.

“I missed you Embry.” I told him, placing a kiss on his exposed shoulder.

“I missed you too. Now let's go back to sleep, you look tired.” He said to me as he rested his chin atop my head and pulling me closer.

[gucciwins]

The First Kiss

Harry and Y/N go on their first date...will they finally become something more?

Word count: 4814

A/N: I know how much you all love breakout room and the follow up it's your birthday. I love writing them and it's been a while but do know they are doing well. this is nothing but sweet fluff. I do mention the vaccine and wearing masks which I hope you all are doing. it's important to stay safe and truly wish nothing but the best for you all. I love you xxx

please reblog and let me know your thoughts

_____

“Are you feeling good? I sent over a goodie basket.”

Harry giggled, loving how concerned you were. “I’m doing good, baby.” He sees you tuck your head into your sweater smiling, when he notices it’s the one he sent you in a goodie basket after you got your second shot of the vaccine.

It’s spring break, and Harry can finally say he is officially vaccinated after letting the mandated two weeks pass. It’s perfect timing, honestly, as he has been itching to finally see you in person again.

Your university let you know that they would begin to have vaccine dates open to students through an email that you quickly forwarded to Harry. You had to register to get a date for your first vaccine, and slots were filling up fast. You shot Harry multiple texts telling him what day you got and time, but you went without an answer for an hour which is weird, seeing as Harry never liked to leave you waiting more than five minutes.

By the time he got back to you, he had to wait two weeks, unlike you, who would be getting in only three days. You asked why he didn’t answer, and he said he was in class. You frowned because even then, he always answered. He then confessed he lost his phone in his apartment and didn’t have time to search for it.

You laughed about it, but he was disappointed because he wanted to see you. To give you a hug. To hold your hand.

After spending his birthday together, you both decided against meeting in person for safety even though you both wanted to, more than anything. You postponed your date to the future. Instead, you completed the group assignment through zoom meetings that led to facetime calls. After submitting the project and learning that you aced the assignment, well, you both caved in.

Harry gushed on how he always got B’s on the professor’s assignments, and to celebrate, he sent you a dozen cupcakes from the bakery that you never stop raving about located only three blocks from where you live. Then proceeded to call him over to celebrate and who was he to say no. Harry was shocked at how rich and full of flavor they were because he wasn’t aware it was vegan. Yet, it tasted better than anything he ever had. Harry realized why it was your favorite, promising to take you there in person to have your pick of favorites and not only red velvet and carrot cake because they were safe choices.

You couldn’t say you’ve been on a proper date with Harry, but you’d like to count all the zoom calls and facetime calls as dates not that you let Harry know it would only inflate his ego. You’d start a call to ask a question on assignments, and it would lead to sharing stories back and forth of what their favorite book was to where they would visit if they could go that very second. You loved how insightful he was, also liked how he used pastel highlighters to mark his annotations. Harry was a fan of how you always had a pencil in your hair or behind your ear. How you always had a snack on hand because you didn’t want to listen to professors without something to eat or you’d lose focus.

You were glad you’d be able to get together safely but also taking all the needed precautions. Safety is hot, as Harry liked to say all the time when you sent him photos of you wearing your masks.

“Yeah, like the basket?”

Harry grins, but it’s not as bright due to the lacking pixels of your laptop. He holds it up, having placed it in his lap. “I did love the bath bombs.”

You smile back at him, “Going to change your life. Self-care is important, bub. Even in the smallest ways as a bath.”

Harry nods, “I know, baby. The reason I remember to take deep breaths each morning, no longer eager to reach for my phone.”

“Proud of you.”

“And I of you, baby.”

Harry shines his dimples at you when you turn your head away at the sweet name he started calling you a few weeks ago. You adored it, honestly, but it always left you feeling flustered.

“H, please.”

“Baby, I like seeing you flustered.”

“You’re a menace.”

He shrugs, still giggling.

“How are Mitch and Sarah?”

“Wonderful, sickly in love as always. Spend their time at Sarah’s like composing together.”

“That’s sweet.” You lean in, smiling at him, “you know we should all hang out together. I get to meet Mitch properly and see Sarah again, and you’ll get to meet Amy.” You grow excited at the thought.

“Not before I get to see you.”

“H, we got to coordinate a day that works for all of us. No need to get jealous.”

“Not jealous.”

“Sure,” you reply sarcastically.

“Got to learn to share me with Amy. I cook her lunch and dinner; otherwise, she’d be nothing but a walking cadaver.”

“I want you to make me lunch and dinner,” he pouts.

“I can now that you’ve vaxxed.”

“That I am, so you are.”

“Yes,” you’re waiting for him to go on.

“Will you go on a date with me? Think we waited long enough, and if my feelings weren’t obvious enough, I like you and really want to take you out.” he rambles on.

You interrupt him knowing fully well he could go on for days, “I’d love to, Harry.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Yes, Harry.”

“Great. Friday then.”

“I’m free.”

“I know, know your schedule by heart.”

“Creep,” you gasp at the news.

“Shush, like you don’t have my classes added to your planner.” Your turn to pout.

“I like knowing your schedule, and they overlap.”

“I do too. Look forward to your messages every day between classes.”

“So Friday? What are you planning?”

“A picnic.”

You jump up in excitement, causing your laptop to fall back on your bed before you dive to save it. Harry yelling dramatically in the background as if you just dropped him.

“H, be quiet. You’re fine.”

“Dropped me, darling.”

“Dork.”

He mutters something in return, but you can’t hear him.

“So I’ll prepare lunch because you’ve told me once or twice that you’re hopeless in the kitchen.” Harry doesn’t even try to fight you because it’s true. “You’ll take care of drinks and desserts.”

“Seems like you’re planning the date,” he teases.

“I like picnics.”

“Well, I like you, so I’ll let you take over.”

Your smile turns soft, reaching your hand out as if you could reach in and caress him. “I like you, too. I can’t wait to give you a hug.”

“Counting down the hours.”

“Alright, you have class in ten, and you always struggle to log in.”

“Making me hang up. Not fair.” Harry frowns, debating skipping class for you.

“Don’t think about it, Styles.”

“Fine. Take care, baby.”

“Bye, H.”

A date.

You have a date with Harry.

Finally, it happened.

_____

You were nervous.

Why were you nervous? It was just Harry.

Harry, who wanted to date you from your first meeting, who emailed you asking you out, and who has not stopped talking to you since February. Constantly reminding you of his feelings for you. You hope he knew you felt the same, in texts and sending him little gifts even as small as writing him a letter.

You got up early today to prepare lunch. You decided on sandwiches, a non-messy meal, and Harry always said he wanted to try the bakery bread you use and not the basic store-bought. It was a bit pricey but not as much anymore because you had become a regular, meaning the sweet owner began giving you a discount, especially when finding out you're a student. Still, you always remember to leave a good tip. The turkey sandwiches were finished with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Looked so good that Amy had one as you were making them. You made three and packed them up in your glass reusable containers.

Staring at the sandwiches, it felt like too little food when Harry had told you many times how much he enjoys eating, so you cleaned up and got to make a second meal. You decided on vegetable rice paper rolls. A favorite and easy meal to make that you enjoyed eating. It was packed with lettuce, avocado, cabbage, bell peppers, cucumbers, noodles, and fresh herbs. This was a meal your dad made you all the time as a child with the special slightly spicy peanut sauce that you could drizzle on top.

Harry was going to enjoy this, so you hoped. He promised to make strawberry lemonade. Assured you that it would not be store-bought, and you believed him. During one of your late conversations, he shared how his sister would make him some when she returned from uni. Reminds him of home, he would say.

After packing everything away in the fridge to keep it cool it was time to get ready. You stood in front of your closet for a good five minutes before you began to swipe through the hangers. You knew you wanted to wear a dress; it was warm weather and would only get hotter as the day went on.

You searched your entire closet, there were three options once you had decided on, but you called Amy in to make the final decison for you. She decided on the one sitting in the middle of your bed, which was exactly what you were thinking.

The dress was a white button-front high slit that fit you nicely. You hadn't used it in quite some time, seeing as when you left your apartment, it would be in leggings, sweats, and the first sweater you could slip on.

You couldn't stop looking in the mirror, loving how it flowed around you when you twirled. For accessories, you slipped on a gold ring that had a little heart on it and another that was a gift shaped like a small snake as it was going to scale down your finger. A simple heart locket gifted to you by your grandparents hung right above your cleavage. You decided to leave your hair natural, liking how it air-dried after the shower you had that morning.

There was no makeup on your face, just your favorite rosebud salve lip balm that left your lips soft. Amy insisted you put some on, but you stood firm in your decision, knowing you'd be wearing a mask and didn't want anything smudging.

You looked down at the time on your phone and knew it was time to head down, Harry said twelve, and you didn't want to make him come up to your apartment only to walk down the three levels again. You grabbed the picnic basket that was sitting in the back of yours and Amy's shared doorway closet and made sure to place everything neatly, leaving room for Harry's drink and stashing a bunch of napkins in for any accidents. Basket prepared, you slipped your sunglasses in your hair, placing your lavender tote bag with tiny embroidered daisies on your shoulder that contained sunscreen, your wallet, extra face masks, and a book Harry had told he had wanted to read.

Before opening your door, you put on the white mask that you embroidered sunflowers on. It was one of your favorites, and glad it complimented your look well. You walked down the stairs slowly, not wanting to drop the basket.

You walk out the front door and find Harry getting out of the yellow mask on his face. As you get closer, you can see it's the one you made him. It has bees on it, and embroidered on the left side is 'my honey.' Harry had turned quite pink when he opened the gift he got in the mail over facetime with her. You happily screenshot his reaction, happy to have it to look back on.

As soon as you reach him, it's as if all the nerves you had disappeared. Calm washes over you as he comes to stand in front of you. You can't see the smile he has, but the crinkles by his eyes prove he's just as happy to see you.

"Hi, Harry," you say, your eyes taking him all in.

Harry doesn't hide, he's checking you out, and you're thankful for the mask at the moment, able to hide how bashful you're feeling. "Hello, baby. You look gorgeous. I'm a lucky man."

"Yeah," you swayed side to side, "gave me a reason to dress up."

"Always beautiful, but I'm so glad to see more than just your shoulders." He laughs, and you join him.

"Look pretty, H. I had not seen this cardigan." You reach out, running a finger down over the pastel yellow cardigan that looks to be well-loved. He paired it with a plain white shirt that fits him loosely with Gucci denim trousers that he told you he found a few years ago when he was thrift shopping in London with his mother.

"No, brought it out just for you. Wanted it to match my favorite mask." Although he couldn't see it, you hoped your eyes were doing their job expressing your joy. "Let's put this basket in the trunk. Got a blanket and a few pillows as well as the lemonade."

"And the dessert?"

He chuckles, "and the dessert."

You place everything in the trunk, taking a step back for Harry to close it. He walks you over to your door, opening it for you, you offer a soft thank you, but before you get in, you turn to look at him.

"What is it, baby?"

You stare down at your ribbon-tied wedges before looking up into his piercing green eyes. "Can I have a hug? I just--I'm really happy to see you."

Harry falters for a second before answering, "of course, come here." He's quick to bring you in for a hug, and it feels like home. It's comfortable, and you can't believe you haven't hugged him since February, a good two months ago, when it has honestly felt like a lifetime. "I would have earlier, but when you came out, you truly shocked me with how amazing you looked."

You just hug him tighter, enjoying feeling his strong arms around you. He looks at you smiling. "That was nice." You nod because it was, and if he'd let you, you'd stay in his arms all day.

"Well, shall we go?"

"We shall."

And with that, you were off to your first date with Harry, which would hopefully lead to more.

_____

The drive to the park was short; you unloaded everything from the car once you got there. Harry offers to carry the basket, letting you lead to picking the spot. You walked ahead, glad he brought you to a park you recognized; it's one you liked to walk around during finals week when you were drowning in essays and exams. This was a nice break. On the other side of the park is a lake where you can rent pedal boats, but you were sure they hadn't opened up for business just yet, wanting more of the population to be vaccinated.

You led him to a secluded area laughing when he joked if you were leading him to his murder. Once you reached the clearing, one large tree with lots of shade and a few rose bushes surrounded it.

"It's beautiful here." Harry awed in amazement.

"Yeah, I found it my first year when I was trying to destress; I don't think many people know about it because it's not on the maps."

"Lucky us."

Harry grabs one end of the blanket, helping you spread it on the grass. You set your tote bag on one corner as well as setting down the pillows. As you make your way to sit down, Harry gently grabs your elbow, causing you to turn and look at him; he's holding a bouquet of tulips.

You felt your eyes well up with tears, not used to such a kind gesture; it's been a long time since you've been on a date with someone you really care about, "You got me tulips, H."

You reach forward and cradle them in your arms. "Course I did; I think you deserve all the beautiful things life has to offer."

You set the flowers on top of the basket before straightening up and pulling Harry into a hug. Your arms around his neck, his resting tightly around your waist, "including you," you whisper in his ear, causing him to squeeze you a bit tighter. Harry pulls back, leaving a gentle kiss on your forehead.

"Let's eat, baby. Know you made something delicious for us to enjoy."

Harry set the food out, and you are sure to hand him the wet wipes to clean your hand before you could begin wanting to be clean and not wanting to venture out to find a restroom. He eyed the sandwiches first, then the veggie rice paper rolls.

"Couldn't decide?"

"Wasn't sure what you'd like. So I gave you two options."

"Too sweet angel." Harry leans in to kiss her cheek.

"Think we ought to take off the mask now." You giggle, sad you didn't get to feel his lips on your cheek.

"Yeah, so comfortable it doesn't really bother me wearing them. I am hungry."

You place your mask in your bag, and Harry puts his mask in his pocket. He opens up both containers and digs into the veggie rolls first. He hums after the first bite, chewing happily. "Delicious," he mutters between chews.

"Can add this peanut sauce to give it more flavor, just a tad bit spicy." He watches you as you pick up and spoon drizzle a bit on top, taking a bite. Harry follows your steps taking another bite, and his eyes go wide at the added flavor.

"Shocked, I've lived all my life without this food."

You laugh, "well, now you don't have to."

He chews happily at your response.

_____

Lunch is filled with little conversation, both praising each other for a well-planned meal. The strawberry lemonade complimenting the food perfectly. He brought a raspberry lemon loaf cake for dessert, and you happily admit you ate two pieces. It tasted so heavily, making Harry promise you to buy more in the future for you. He agreed, stating he'd do anything to make you happy.

"It's nice going out with someone, enjoying the sweet fresh air." Harry comments.

You hum in agreement, "I adore my alone time, but with the right company, it can feel just as perfect."

Harry's cheek turns rosy pink quickly, not at all trying to hide from you. You love that he loves to show how much you affect him.

"It feels normal like we've done this hundred of times already.”

You chuckle, nudging his shoulder. "It's cause we have. Just never called any of them dates."

"So you agree, we've been dating since February," he teases.

"Yeah, I think we can say that."

"When was our first zoom call?"

"Hmm...after class a week after your birthday. Think we worked for an hour and talked about nothing for another."

You look over at Harry loving how the sun reflects off his skin; it makes him look like a gift from the Gods. Harry feels your gaze on him, flashing you a big grin, his dimples on display just for you, because of you.

"We will call February eighth our anniversary," he declares.

You laugh, not a silent one but a full-out belly gripping laugh; you can feel the tears welling up in your eyes. Harry sits there confused, not sure where the joke was.

"You alright, baby?" He asks, just a bit concerned.

"That is what you were thinking so hard about; you couldn't figure out a week from your birthday quickly. Took you a good few minutes." You shake your head, trying to catch your breath, tiny giggles still escaping you.

"Oi, no need to be rude."

"Sorry, honey."

"Never claimed to be smart."

"The pretty ones never are," you tease.

"Alright, that's it. I've had enough."

Before you can stop him, he's on top of you, his fingers tickling you from your sides to your thighs. He knows your body getting all your secret spots that make you squirm away from. You almost succeeded in getting one of his hands over your head, but he surprises you by straddling you. You've stopped laughing, but Harry keeps going.

His curls are falling over his head, his eyes shining bright, a new lightness to them. At that moment, you realize how lucky you are, and before you know it, you reach your free hand up and place it on the back of his neck, bringing him down to your lips catching him by surprise.

Harry stays frozen for a second before sinking into the kiss, responding softly, wanting to explore you as he'd been thinking about this moment for months. You love the feel of his lips against yours; you'd happily give up breathing, never wanting to part. Harry tries to pull away, but you chase his mouth, not ready to stop kissing. He smiles against your lips, humming when he places a hand on your cheek, adding more pressure; you're not sure who lets out a moan letting it out into the universe wishing for more, hoping for forever.

You don't get butterflies or fireworks. Instead, you feel the ease of calmness wash over you like when you arrive home after a long day. That's what kissing Harry is like coming home.

You pull back, laying your head on the pillow Harry was wise to bring; you don't try to contain your smile as Harry stares down at you in a look of awe. You run your thumb over his bottom lip-loving how swollen they look thanks to you. His eyes never leave yours; you gasp as he places a kiss on your thumb before taking it in his mouth, sucking it gently; a moan escapes you, surprised at how hot the teasing is getting you.

"You're filthy, honey."

Harry smirks, "just for you, baby."

"Only our first date, H. We aren't going to move fast."

"A makeout isn't too fast for you," he teases.

"Felt just right." You smile, loving the feeling of his weight on top of you as he has not moved from his position, still straddling you.

"I agree."

"Sorry, I didn't ask if I could kiss you. Consent is sexy."

Harry's smile is soft, his eyes flicker to your lips, then back to your eyes, "You hereby have permission to kiss me whenever you please, my love."

"You know all the right things to say to make me puny for you."

"Good to know. Got to keep a mental list."

"What's on there so far?"

Harry smirks, leaning down his mouth right over your mouth; you remember the taste of lemon you felt when you kissed him, and well, you don't try to stop yourself when you attach your lips against his. There's no sweeter feeling, you've decided.

He pulls back, keeping the kiss short, "Know you can't be close to me without giving me a kiss. Know your heart is racing like it might beat out of your chest, and I know you're dying to ask me to be your boyfriend."

"Guess you are smart," you whisper.

He chuckles, nudging his nose against yours, humming as he places a kiss on the top of your nose.

"You know, I was right."

"Yeah, about what, H?" You reach your hand up to run your hand through his curls, brushing them back, giggling as they fall forward again.

"That your laugh sounds better in person. Know it's cheesy but truly music to my ears."

"You nutter!"

"Oi, picking up my slang, are you?"

"Got to, especially when you called that Evan kid a wanker for dismissing my response." You snicker, remembering the moment a few classes ago when you spoke up to give your opinion only for Evan trying to mansplain how women in politics were growing already especially having a female-run as a candidate a few years back. You would have cussed him out, but Harry did it for you. He packed up all your points with his own references. Safe to say, Evan has not spoken up since then.

"Cause he is one. You're the smartest person in the class, and that tosser should not even be in this class. Clearly, hasn't learned one bit since January."

"Settle down, honey. All in the past." You pat his chest a few times, getting his focus back on you. "Got that book you've wanted to read, want to give it a read now?"

"Course, baby. Happy you had it in your collection." He's gotten back into reading now that he seemed to have more time on his hands, and they had been bouncing recommendations off of each other. You had told him to stay off Book Tok because it was the same ten books being promoted by every page. His sister told him to read The Silent Patient, but he couldn't rationalize spending fifteen dollars, and he couldn't find the free pdf. He asked you and told him Amy bought it for you as a gift for feeding her.

"Let me get it out of my bag; you can lay in my lap easier to listen to."

Harry's eyes go wide; you're going to read him. He did not expect that, but he had to make sure. "Going to read to me, darling?"

"If you don't mind." you tuck your hand into your tote bag again, "brought my kindle in case you didn't want to. Won't be sad if you don't want to."

"No, I want you to. Yeah, more than anything. Got the prettiest voice." Harry pecks your lips, pulling back giddy because that's the first time he's kissed you, and well, he has to do it again. Your lips move in sync, the kisses feeling smoother but just as passionate. You break the kiss, playfully push him away, hands-off, letting you adjust yourself before he sets one of the smaller pillows in your lap and lays his head. Your hand is quick to find a place in his hair, thankful you've mastered the one hand reading and page-flipping due to always having a book in your hand growing up.

_____

After reading for a bit, Harry lifts his head from your lap, taking the time to admire you. You kept reading, letting him take you in from this new angle. You stopped brushing his hair instead, allowing yourself to get immersed in the book once again. You giggled, thinking back at Harry's reaction to the opening line of chapter one.

You had just flipped to a new page, ready to start chapter seven, when you saw how fidgety Harry had gotten. He clearly had something on his mind, so you wanted to give him his space; you had only read five words when he spoke, interrupting you.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Harry blurts, shifting to sit in front of you.

You don't smile, but you know he can see the gleam in your eyes at his words, "Hmmm...will you give me a cute nickname?"

Harry doesn't know what you're doing but goes along with it. "Already do, so yes."

"Will you let me make you more masks?"

"Yes."

"Will you knit me a sweater?"

"I'll knit you hundreds."

You nod, "then yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

"Yeah, you want me to be your boyfriend," Harry teases.

"Dork," you shove his shoulder, causing him to fall back. He gasps in shock.

You laugh, and it's music to his ears; his dramatic response is swallowed as he takes you in. Harry isn't sure where he'd be without you. He takes in the happiness displayed on your face and knows if you could look in a mirror, he'd look just as happy if not more. You are a light in his life.

These last few months have changed everything about him. Harry hadn't really understood what it meant when people said that your partner should also be your best friend. He thought it was cheesy and something to give false hope to others, but with you, he knew it was true.

Starting off as friends built a strong foundation for you both to grow together, and he is forever thankful you took a chance on him.

Harry called it fate, but you well, you think it was all thanks to the zoom gods who set you up in a random break out room not once but twice.

_____

thank you for reading :) I adore you xx

[typewrittenluck]

as the seasons change

C!Technoblade x gn!reader highschool!au

Word Count: 9.1k

Pronouns: they/them

A/N: this is literally so self indulgent, i spent a whole day writing this because im going through my techno feels rn. it basically follows the story of oblivious Y/N and Techno throughout the four seasons :)

Warnings: Underaged drinking, Swearing, Smoking, Drugs (very brief)

Suggested Songs: The State of Grace, Taylor Swift/ MEET ME AT OUR SPOT, THE ANXIETY, WILLOW, Tyler Cole/ that way, Tate McRae/ Falling, Chase Atlantic/ Compass, The Neighborhood

SUMMER------------

The August air was thick with the heat of the almost-setting sun. Her rays beat down on the backs of the group of teens, and mosquitos filled the silences between them with their incessant buzzing.

A small crack of static preceded the soft sound of music, accompanied by the sharp smack of Niki and Jack’s celebratory high-five.

“Didn’t you start setting up the speaker like an hour ago?” questioned Wilbur, who was sunk into a half-broken lawn chair that he had found in the garage. 

“Yeah, it would have been much faster if you had asked Techno” chimed Y/N from their place leaning against the above mentioned man’s leg.

His grunt of response was cut short by his little brother, Tommy, bursting into laughter.

“Because he’s TECHno! Get it?!”

Everyone groaned and Wilbur smacked Tommy upside the head, grumbling about “shouldn’t have let you come hang out with us”

Y/N giggled at that, but took sympathy on the boy. “Aww don’t be like that Wil, Tommy, I thought that was hilarious.”

“Don’t encourage him, Y/N” Techno leaned down to murmured to them in his low, monotonous voice.

There it was. The way he said their name! The way his calf felt under Y/N’s back! The way he whispered sentences directly to them, as if it was some closely guarded secret. It was enough to bring butterflies to their stomach as they praised whatever higher being was out there for the heat of the day covering their blush.

“It’s so fucking hot,” Fundy moaned, kicking Wilburs shin from his place lying facedown on the grass. “Can we go to the pool or something?”

His request was met with a spectrum of responses, varying from Tommy’s “YES, PLEASE WILL? PLEASE!” to Technoblades indifferent shrug.

Jack took note of Technoblades open response with a shout of laughter. “TECHNOBLADE IN THE POOL! I WOULD PAY GOOD MON-”

“I’m not getting in, dumbass.”

“Why? Scared you’ll ruin your hair?”

“No, he doesn’t want us to know he’s secretly jacked under the sixteen sweaters he wears.”

Technoblade picked up the hem of his sweatshirt, making eye contact with Niki. She has a point.

“How do you wear that in the Summer?”

“It’s n- TOMMY!!” 

Shrieks of laughter follow Tommy’s water gun assault on his brother. “When did he slip away to go get those?” Y/N wondered aloud.

“WHEN ARE WE LEAVING??” Tommy asked enthusiastically. 

---

A crowded minivan, a stop to pick up Tommy’s friend, and a raid of Phil’s linen closet for pool towels later, the group arrived at the neighborhood pool. The sun hung low in the horizon as people spilled out of Phil’s van and began dragging the pool toys and water guns towards the gate.

The air around the black metal bars barring their entrance to the pool seemed to quiver. 

“I think Wil has the pool key.” piped Niki in response to Fundy throwing his weight against the fence. 

Fundy, in turn, sprinted back to the car, where Wilbur was taking inventory of snacks (and probably hiding the best for himself). 

Technoblade looked down at the two younger boys and Y/N conversing in hushed whispers. All of a sudden, they screamed out in perfect synchronization, in equally high pitched voices,

“Let me innnn! Let me in pleaseeee!”

And promptly burst into giggles. Y/N almost toppled into Techno, both from laughing and the slight weariness from the heat. 

The pool noodles he was balancing beneath his arms (laden with tote bags of pool toys and towels) toppled to the ground, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was Y/N’s hand steadying themself on his chest, and the way his face began to heat up almost unbearably considering the weather. 

“Oops, sorry!” they squeaked, leaning down to pick up the fallen noodles.

Technoblade was burst out of his daze by the return of his brother and Fundy, who triumphantly swiped the access card against the pad before kicking the gate wide open.

The clang of metal against the concrete pool clubhouse sent reverberating waves into the air, and everyone winced as the metal continued to drag. 

Pool entrances varied, Niki, on the one hand, took her time tip-toeing into the water by the stairs, while Tubbo and Tommy almost knocked each other out crashing over the edge to the deep end.

Y/N chuckled at their antics, but seeing as they had settled on not getting wet today, they picked out a chaise in the shade and pulled a book and pen out of the small bag they had brought with them.

Technoblade watched them with almost unwavering interest, unless someone happened to look his way, in which case he would quickly turn back to his phone, scrolling aimlessly through his home screen until they turned away.

From his spot under the little roof of the clubhouse, he had an almost unobstructed view of Y/N, and how they chewed at the end of the pen they used to annotate their book. Oh how he wished he could read the little notes they scribbled in the margins, or the drawings they would surround words with when they got distracted from reading. And the way that pen dangled from their lips, their tantalizing, soft lips. Taunting him, almost. And their jewel-like, bright eyes. Always so inviting and playful; like the way they were meeting his right now-

Shit

He hadn’t realized he’d been staring that intently. A small quirk of their eyebrow and a smirk on their lips was enough to make his heart give out. But not now. Not when they were waving their hand so intently to get him to sit next to them. Pretending to ponder the decision and gather his belongings, (when in reality he was just collecting his bearings), he walked over to them.

“See! You don’t always want to be alone, Mr. I’m so antisocial and I hate everyone!” they smiled, patting the adjacent seat.

You’re the only exception, he thought, his brain screaming and pushing to let the words leave his mouth. He couldn’t though, not when they could never think of him the way that he thought of them.

So he answered with a small smile and a chuckle. 

“What are you reading?”

“The Picture of Dorian Gray! Remember you said you thought I’d enjoy it?” they answered with enthusiasm, that sparkle still evident in their eyes.

It warmed his heart to know that they had taken the suggestion and committed to the book, which was admittedly a pretty tough read, because of him.

“How could I forget?”

Their smile widened and they buried their head back in the book, that cursed pen once again being squished between their plush lips.

Technoblade peered over their shoulder to see that they were nearing the middle of the book, where Dorian returns from his  theater date with Basil and Henry. Feeling satisfied enough that they were invested in the story, given their gasp and furious scribbling in the margins, he felt it safe enough to stare at them under the orange-tinged glow of the sunset. 

Of course, he forgot about the crowd of his friends who were nudging each other and whispering about his infatuation with you. The whispers reached Wilbur who narrowed his eyes in his twin's direction and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

Once dark hit and the water began to run a little too cold for anyone's taste, they began to wrap themselves up in towels and raid Wilburs snack stashes. The snack distribution was cut off by Wilburs phone, screen lit up with a zoomed in photo of none other than Philza. 

DADZA!!! Read the contact name as Wilbur swiped the screen and held the phone between his shoulder and ear, continuing to hand out snacks.

“OI, where in fucks sake are you lot? It’s an hour past the devils ass why i…”

The rest of Phil’s screaming faded as Wilbur walked away to calm his father down. 

“AN HOUR PAST THE DEVILS ASS” Y/N screamed with laughter, sending the entire group into raucous peals of giggles.

“Yep, mhhm, we’ll be there” Wilbur walked back towards the group, motioning for everyone to get in the car.

“Yes dad I know, yes, okay we will drop him off. Okay, bye” Hanging up the phone, he ushered people back into the car, holding Tubbo back by his upper arm so that he could sit with easiest access to the door.

After dropping Tubbo off, and then doubling back and driving around town to drop people off at various houses, Technoblade, Tommy and Wilbur were alone in the car with Y/N. 

“Here. Here. WIL! Pull over!” 

The van screeched to a halt as Y/N clambered over Tommy’s long legs, almost falling out onto the pavement. They leaned against the door of the passenger seat, thanking Wilbur and bidding farewell to the brothers. Just before they stepped away, Technoblade leaned down and kissed the crown of their head where it was leaning against his open window. Their stunned expression was lost in the dark and the window slid shut as Wilbur slammed the gas pedal to make it back in time before his dad’s curfew.

“What the fuck was that” 

Technoblade gave him a glare, which lost its effectiveness when paired with the burning red blush flooding his face and neck, highlighted under the harsh white lights of the car. He turned his face away and resigned to staring out the window, the night air filtering through the small crack giving his face a little bit of relief.

“Okay at least tell me, are you together?”

“No.”

“But he likes them!” piped up Tommy from the back seat, looking up from his phone where he was playing a game.

“No I- I don’t” Damnit The crack in his voice gave it away.

Wilbur, sensing that it seemed to be more of a sensitive topic than he thought, decided to drop the subject for the time being, and Tommy was already absorbed back in his game.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence as they raced against time and the rules of Philza Minecraft.

AUTUMN----------------------

School started a few weeks after the pool night, which was followed by many late nights and summer fun by the friends, the knowledge that half of them would be away to college next year heavy in the atmosphere. To say the least, Junior year was not treating Y/N well. They were almost always working on homework, if not doing SAT prep, and they rarely went out with their friends. The only time Technoblade got to see them was during his AP Lit class, and because of it, he considered himself the luckiest man in the world. Ms. Ren’s Literature classroom was the only place Technoblade seemed to see the old Y/N, the one from over the summer who got enthusiastic over books and gave him playful punches when he was a little too mean to their friends. Now, the only Y/N he saw was a stressed, tired person who was always carrying an energy drink in one hand and a stack of homework in the other. Except for in Lit. Y/n’s eyes would brighten as they discussed the reading from the previous night and their legs would jostle Technoblades from under their shared table to show him an annotation they had made. Technoblade assumed they were just rejuvenated from the literature, never once letting the thought cross his mind that maybe, just maybe, he was part of the equation too.

On the rare occasion that they would hang out with their friends, they would be easily prone to tears and every conversation would be redirected to how tired and stressed they were. Of course, Technoblade wanted them to be happy, and felt enormous empathy for his friend in the harshest year of high school, but he had suddenly become hyper-aware that the clock was ticking on his time left with them. He was a senior this year, and while Y/N still had a year left to go, Technoblade would be on his way to college, perhaps out of the country, in less than a year. It wasn’t wrong to want to make the most of his time with them.

It didn’t help that this internal time bomb was also counting down the opportunities he had left to tell them how he felt.

-----

He decided to get to them when they were in a good mood, and more likely to say yes. After Ms. Ren had finished assigning the reading due by Monday, he turned to the beautiful person who sat next to him and muttered in a low voice, 

“How’s your weekend looking?”

They looked up with a bright smile and whispered back

“I have tons of homework but I should be able to knock it out with a good day of work. Why? What do you have in mind?”

He knew this was the right time to ask you. 

“Just be ready by 4pm on Saturday.”

----

Technoblade sat on the edge of his usually neat bed, now strewn with almost every sweater he owned. He was picking a stray piece of lint from the sweater nearest to him when he saw his brother walk past, then backtrack out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s got you all indecisive?” Wilbur asked, gesturing vaguely to the sweaters and random articles of clothing adorning his room.

“Wait! Is today your date with Y/N?”

“It’s not a date.” grumbled Technoblade.

“Then why are you so stressed about what to wear?” he replied with raised eyebrows.

Technoblade groaned and threw himself on top of the pile of wool on his bed. “I just need this to be perfect. Y/N needs a break, and they deserve everything to be just right.”

“And you want to impress them” sang Wilbur, now nudging Techno aside to sift through his sweaters.

Technoblades noise of indignation was muffled as Wilbur threw a cream colored sweatshirt at his face. 

“What about this?”

“I couldn’t find what to wear it with.”

Wilburs sigh rang through Technoblades room as he opened the closet, now in his proper mindset as the family fashion consultant. Garment after garment was thrown in Techno’s general direction, and he leaned and reached to grab them all. 

“Try that”

Technoblade walked out of the bathroom to find Wilbur rummaging through his jewelry. 

“When did I say it was fine for you to go through my stuff?” asked Technoblade, shoving Wilbur away. Wilbur shrugged in response, motioning for Techno to open his hand so that he could drop his selection of rings and necklaces into his open palm.

As Wilbur walked out the door, he thought he heard a faint “thank you”, and smiled to himself.

-----

“This is elaborate”

“I’m a dynamic man Y/N.”

Y/N laughed at his response to the back seat of Technoblades car, which was filled with “supplies” for the evening.

“That outfit sure is dynamic.”

“Why?” Technoblade asked nervously, drumming slightly on the steering wheel. “Do you like it?”

“I love it! I didn’t think you could get any hotter but you somehow pulled it off!”

Realizing what they said, Y/N’s cheeks flushed a deep red and they began to pick at their flannel. As soon as Technoblades surprise wore off, and the butterflies faded back to the dull sensation that always seemed to linger when he was around them, he let out a snort of laughter. That sent both of them into a fit which continued until Technoblade hit a pothole from laughing so hard. 

Y/N’s momentary fear only made them laugh harder, but Technoblade attempted to quell himself before he no longer had four functioning tires.

“Do I get to know where you’re taking me?” Y/N asked. They had driven a little ways out from the city, to the vaguely familiar areas that one only drives by when they’re leaving town.

“Yes.” He replied, slowing the car into a small parking lot. “Because we’re here.”

The pair entered the small bookshop and a bell rang overhead. The store smelled of dust and books and Technoblade saw Y/N breathing the scent in like a breath of new life. Of course, this ended up in a small coughing fit which he pulled them out of with a few pats to their upper back. 

“Okay we are on somewhat of a schedule, so I need you to go get a book. Any book, and meet me back at the register in 10 minutes.” He said, grabbing them by the shoulders and making direct eye contact. “Okay, Go!” 

And they both got lost in the mazes of words.

At 4:30 sharp, Y/N found Technoblade waiting for them at the register with a stiff red hardcover. He reached out for their book as they reached for their wallet. 

“Tech, no, you don’t have to buy me books I can get it myself”

If for nothing else, the way they shortened the already shortened version of his name made his heart stutter, and he was overcome with the sudden urge to buy them every book in this store. But he wordlessly nodded his head ‘no’ and paid for their two books. 

As they walked back to the car, Y/N admired the way his jewelry glistened in the sun. The gold necklaces contrasting against the black turtleneck he wore under his sweatshirt made them think of the summer, when his rings would shine under the sun and in the light of their almost nightly group bonfire. Technoblade opened the door for them when they got to the car, pink hair flying in his face because of the wind. Before getting in, Y/N threw their arms around his neck in a hug.

“Thanks”

They mumbled into his neck.

He blamed his pink cheeks on the cold.

-----

“Let me carry something!” Y/N argued as Technoblade led them down the path of a park a little ways away from the bookstore.

“No.” he answered, a basket and three bags dangling from his arms. 

The argument continued as they made their way down the paved path, leaves crunching underneath their feet. A little ways into the walk, when the conversation had faded to discussing the latest reading assigned by Ms. Ren, Technoblade stopped Y/N by throwing a tote bag-laden arm against their chest.

“Here.”

He parted the branches that covered a small, unpaved path that led deeper into the trees.

“How do I know you’re not trying to lure me here to kill me?” mused Y/N, already a few steps ahead of the pink-haired man on the pine-straw path.

“Yeah hold on, let me just get my axe out from this basket real quick” deadpanned Technoblade, earning a giggle from Y/N.

A few moments later, the path opened up to a clearing with a few fallen logs and a small brook trickling near the edge.

“This is beautiful Tech! How did you find this?” they asked with an awestruck expression.

He hid the way that his ears flushed with his hair and busied himself laying out the picnic supplies he had dragged all the way out here, mumbling something unintelligible.

Once he was done, he looked up to find an empty clearing, Y/N nowhere to be found.

“Y/N?” he called

He received a response in the form of a small yelp and a rather loud splash. “Over here!”

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked, sprinting over to the edge of the stream. Their giggles calmed him a little bit, but didn’t absolve him of all his worry as he subtly looked them over for any injuries. 

“I thought the rock would be steady enough to hold me” they pouted, gesturing vaguely at the rock in question, now shiny with water.

Technoblade sighed, rolling his eyes at their antics, but hoisted them up nonetheless. Once they were back on solid ground, he curled his finger around the back of his sweatshirt's neckline and pulled it over his head, almost knocking off his glasses in the process. He missed the way Y/N’s eyes narrowed and focused on the way his black knit turtleneck hugged his figure, tucked into the dark brown trousers Wilbur had dug out of his closet just hours previously.

“Are you warm?” asked Y/N with an incredulous look, teeth slightly chattering.

“It’s for you, dumbass. You’re almost sure to get sick in those wet clothes.”

Y/N’s heart stuttered at the gesture, and at the way Technoblade shushed them when they tried to argue.

He turned away as Y/N shed their dripping flannel and replaced it with the sweatshirt, warmed by his own body heat. 

When he turned back, he almost lost his breath again. Seeing them in his sweatshirt, the sleeves dangling past their fingertips and their hair a little tousled from pulling the garment over their head, messed with him just a little bit. He ignored the way that his cold-nipped nose was turning redder and redder and instead gently picked up their hand to guide them over to where he had set up the picnic, next to a towering tree with a thick trunk.

Both of them were hyper-aware of the way that his fingers held theirs, and the warmth that seemed to radiate from their touch. Neither one of them wanted to let go, but as they plopped down onto the picnic blanket sitting on the ground, their grip fell apart.

The loss of contact made the October day seem colder.

The muffled crunching of the leaves under their butts filled the air as they settled into a comfortable position and began digging through the picnic basket Technoblade had brought with food. The tension in the air slowly faded as they began to eat and the atmosphere filled with the joyous conversation of the two painfully oblivious teenagers. 

When they had both finished eating, Technoblade pulled out the bag that he had brought from the bookstore and handed Y/N their book. The smile that graced their lips as they mumbled out another ‘thank you’ brought another wave of butterflies down Technoblades stomach. He pulled out his own book and made himself comfortable against the thick tree trunk behind him. Y/N reached into their back pocket and pulled out a ballpoint pen, the cap of the pen riddled with chew marks. 

The damn pen.

They stuck it between their teeth and let it hang off of the right side of their mouth. Technoblade felt his chest heat up as they nudged him over to share his spot leaning against the tree. He opened his phone and hit play on a mix of Arctic Monkeys and Gang of Youths, before leaning back to where his shoulder was pressed with theirs and opened his book.

Time seemed to forget its rules in this quiet little forest, with just Y/N and Technoblade lost in their separate worlds of words. The peace was only ever disturbed by Y/N occasionally scribbling something down in the margin of their book, to which Technoblade would demand to see, and they would fall into a small discussion about the topic.

These occasions slowly began to wane off until Technoblade felt Y/N lean their head against him with a thud. He looked down to see them fast asleep, half leaning on his shoulder with the pen still clutched between their fingers. He took note of the way the pen was balanced like a cigarette and the small puffs of air following their cold breath resembled smoke. Ignored the way his heart was almost convulsing on itself, he chose to wrap his arm around them and savour the moment.

Because he was aware that before he knew it, it would be over.

WINTER---------------------------

The student media center had a hushed atmosphere to it, as people took advantage of their last afternoon to study for semester finals. Winter break would let out the next day, but for the overwhelmed Juniors and Seniors now crowding the library, the excitement would not set in until they quelled their nervousness over the last final of the semester.

One of the study rooms situated in the back was now crowded with the notorious friend group as they crammed for their last final. Fundy, Jack and Niki were trading around their history notes, Wilbur and Minx were arguing over the proper situation of a unit circle, and Technoblade was flash quizzing Y/N on the Polyatomic ions. Their frantic studying was interrupted by their friend, George, who had gotten bored of watching his two best friends during their last football practice of the semester. He quietly walked in and took a seat in the corner, pulling out a notebook and studying something or the other. 

“Why aren't Dream and Sapnap here cramming with us?” Minx asked George.

“They have their ‘weightlifting’ final tomorrow” seethed George, most likely jealous of his friends’ somewhat pointless final.

Everyone laughed, and some groans of similar jealousy rang through the air right before the cracking loudspeaker of the school crunched to life, announcing that the doors would close at 6:00. Y/N looked down at their watch face, which read 5:45.

“Fuck, I’m never going to learn these charges! Don’t even get me started on the fact that I don’t have the solubility rules memorized!” squeaked Y/N in frustration. Everyone gave them a sympathetic look, knowing the rigorous emotional and mental demands of taking AP Chemistry.

“Don’t worry, you still have the whole night to study!” consoled Fundy.

Technoblade felt his heart break at the way their eyes filled with tears of frustration. 

“My siblings scream way too much, I can never concentrate at home”

“Come study at our house!” exclaimed Wilbur. “We can kick Tommy out so he won’t bother you!”

Wilbur sensed their hesitation and cut in before they could say ‘no’

“Come on, Dad won’t mind, he loves you! And it gives us an excuse to send Tommy out!”

Y/N turned their head in questioning to Technoblade, who grunted and nodded his head.

“I mean, if you’re sure”

Eager nodding.

“Thanks so much Wil!”

---

It was 11:50 and Phil’s living room resembled something closer to an FBI clue board, with flashcards and chemistry notes strewn on every possible surface. Wilbur had retired to bed after reviewing his Calculus notes one last time, and Tommy was spending the night at Tubbo’s. Phil leaned against the doorway and watched his son coach his best friend through the last few chapters of the textbook with a smile on his face.

“Make sure not to go to sleep too late! You need enough sleep for your final!” he called, retreating up the stairs.

Y/N checked their watch and sighed at the time. “I should get going soon.” they mumbled, beginning to collect their notes.

“Stay the night” suggested Technoblade, pulling a blanket over their shoulders to protect them from the December chill that seemed ever-present, even with the crackling fireplace illuminating the room. 

“I can’t-” A yawn cut their sentence “I can’t stay, I don't have anything and I’ve wasted enough of your time already”

Technoblade took them by the shoulders and looked them in the eyes, albeit having to lean down. “You can never waste my time”

Shivers ran through Y/N’s tired body and they offered him a weak smile.

He plucked the pen that was hanging from their mouth out and feigned disgust as he wiped it on their shirt, before throwing it in the pile of stationary by his feet.

“How about you stay for a hot chocolate?”

The invitation was too hard to resist so they gave in, as long as it was “only ten more minutes”.

Technoblade filled two mugs from the pot of the beverage that Phil had left on the stove, and topped it with marshmallows and whipped cream.

Y/N took the mug from him with a ‘thank you!’, and led the way back to the living room to nestle under the warmth of the fireplace. The pair were both exhausted from the day of studying, and chose to sip their beverages in silence. Before either of them knew it, they were both asleep under Y/N’s blanket, cuddled up against the cold of the night.

---

They woke up to the banging of Wilbur running down the stairs. 

“Shit, you two are still asleep?”

Y/N jumped up, knocking over their empty mug in the process. “Fuck, what time is it?” they asked, urgently rummaging around for their bag.

“8:00”

“What time is your final?” grumbled Technoblade, still half-asleep with no intention to get up until his final later that day.

“8:20” they whined, almost breaking down. 

“Hey, it’s fine, go get clothes from my room, take anything you want. I’ll drive you.” said Technoblade in a calming voice.

Y/N looked at him with desperate eyes and thanked him before retracing the familiar path to his bedroom.

Technoblade cracked his back and followed Wilbur into the kitchen, intending to make Y/N a nutritious breakfast and pack them a lunch, but was met with Wilburs smirking face.

“What’s the deal?” said Technoblade in his monotonous low, pulling things from out of the fridge.

“Are we going to ignore that you and Y/N slept together?”

“Gross you perv, we just fell asleep studying”

Wilburs smart-ass response was cut off by the arrival of the person in question, clad in one of Technoblades sweaters and sweatpants and ripping their fingers through their hair to attempt to tame it.

Technoblade ignored the all-too-familiar flutter of his heart at seeing them in his clothes and handed them a yogurt bowl he put together. “Let’s go, you can eat it in the car.”

They definitely broke laws driving at breakneck speed, but they pulled into the school parking lot at 8:15 and jumped out of the car, Technoblade following them to make sure they made it to the Chemistry classroom on time. With a minute and a half to spare, they arrived at the door to the classroom, earning a sigh of relief from both of them. 

Dr. Yachtrong ushered Y/N into the classroom, but not before Technoblade placed a kiss on their forehead and wished them good luck. They entered the classroom in a daze, which they quickly shook off when the tests were passed out.

---

The final bell rang for the day and the cheers rang around the school, drowning out the crunchy loudspeaker announcements to “have a good Christmas” and to “make good decisions”. Y/N had headed off to their last few classes following the Chemistry final, which had gone as good as one could expect a Chemistry exam to go. They were fairly sure they had passed which at this point, was a major win. As they left the History hallway, they saw their friend Karl leaving the art classroom. 

“Karl!” they waved him down.

“HEY! Y/N!!!” he giggled excitedly “Schools out!”

“I know!”

Excited chatter filled the hallways and they bumped into Sapnap, Punz, and Dream leaving the weights room. 

“How was your weightlifting final?” snickered Y/N

Punz answered with a slight push to their head. The group was shot out at the front courtyard, where almost all of their other friends were waiting.

The celebratory mood was punctuated by Karl inviting everyone over for an “Epic School Sucks Party” at his house later that night.

Y/N looked around, searching for the pink-haired man that had been flooding their thoughts more than usual lately.

He had been acting differently, nervous even, since the day they fell asleep on him at the park. Y/N was only scared last night's incident would make it worse.

“He’s probably finishing up his Latin stuff” murmured Wilbur, leaning down to their ear.

Y/N’s ears burnt a bright red upon knowing that Wilbur knew who they were looking for. They looked up to answer, but he had already gotten immersed in a conversation with Quackity and George. 

The man in question came out of the front doors of the building and made a beeline for their cluster of people upon seeing them. Y/N couldn’t help but admire the cuffs he wore on his slightly pointed ears, and the way his long pink hair fell behind his-

“Oi Y/N is that Technoblades sweater?”

Screw you Minx

“Y/N spent a surprise night over last night” snickered Wilbur, wiggling his eyebrows.

“It's. Not. Like. That.” screeched Y/N, punctuating each word with a smack to Wilbur, somewhat drowned in the laughs and gasps of everyone in their group.

“Why are we hitting Wilbur and can I join?” asked Technoblade once he integrated himself into the tangle of people. The laughs hushed as everyone turned to look between Y/N and Technoblade.

“What?”

-----

The heat of Niki’s curling iron sent warm shivers down Y/N’s neck, a grateful contrast to the harsh December chill plaguing the outdoors. She blew gently on the warm hair before letting it all fall back, tousling it to break up the curls.

“Thanks Niki!” said Y/N gratefully, examining themselves in the mirror. “You’re going to have to teach me how to do this someday.”

Niki laughed, already standing in front of the bathroom mirror to apply her eyeliner. With one eye closed, she spoke to the person now standing behind her, checking their outfit from different angles. 

“So really, what’s going on between you and Technoblade?”

She knew of their intense crush on the pink-haired boy, which had started somewhere between 8th grade and freshman year, but she also knew that Y/N tended to be more closed off about their deep personal life.

Y/N sighed, almost in disappointment. “Nothing. And that’s the problem.”

Due to Niki’s sympathetic look thrown their way, they fell down a rabbit hole of ranting which led them to where they were now; on the floor beside Niki’s bed with Y/N’s head in her lap.

“He always acts so weird around me. One minute he’s  holding my hand or kissing my forehead, and the next he won't even look at me, or only answers in short sentences. And it stresses me out because I think he hates me, but then he does shit like buying me books just to go read in a forest with him, or staying up all night with me to study for my Chemistry final, and I just-” They took a deep breath, containing their rambling.

“I just get more confused.”

----------

 Karls party was in full swing by the time Niki and Y/N got there. They were met at the door by Sapnap and Quackity, who for some reason were handcuffed to each other, and were both giggling and flushed. Y/N and Niki hung their coats on the rack by the door and walked into the festive atmosphere of the house, seeing familiar faces in every corner.

Despite the rowdy environment and the deafening noise, the party was relatively small, consisting of only 20 or so of Karls friends.

They followed Quackity and Sapnap into the living room where a semi-circle of people was lounging on various couches, passing around a blunt and playing what seemed to be truth or dare.

Ah. That’s where the handcuffs came from.

Niki and Y/N decided to play, Niki offering to go fetch them both drinks in the kitchen as Y/N found their place in the circle. To their surprise, Technoblade was there, seemingly uninterested in the game and more invested in something he was doing on his phone. Upon seeing Y/N, he gave them a smile, cheeks flushed with alcohol, and gestured to the small spot between him and the couch armrest. All eyes followed Y/N as they perched on the armrest, mumbling a small ‘hi!’ to Technoblade.

Niki returned with two drinks in hand and shared a knowing glance with Y/N, as well as a miniscule smile, before handing them their drink and taking a seat on a cushion next to Jack and Minx.

“Okay okay, In honor of our new guests arriving, Y/N, truth or dare?” 

Y/N knew by the looks everyone was giving them that choosing truth would not be the best option.

“Dare.”

A small sigh of disappointment left Karls lips before a mischievous light came into his eyes and he perked up again. “I dare you to sit in Technoblade’s lap”

Snickers echoed across the group as Technoblade looked up at the sound of his name. He looked up to where Y/N was balancing themself on the edge of the couch, and with some burst of courage, that was probably induced by the alcohol, he wrapped his arm around their waist to tug them into his lap with a squeak of surprise.

After recovering from their initial embarrassment, Y/N turned to the man whose lap they were in. “Techno, truth or dare?”

He huffed but quietly breathed out “Truth”, suddenly very aware of how close their face was to his. After a few brief seconds of eye contact which seemed to last an eternity, they stuttered out

“Umm, do you,- actually, how did, how did they get you to play? This game... I mean?”

“BOO! WHAT A BORING FOOKIN QUESTION!” called Minx from the cushion she was on.

His response of how he didn’t mean to get dragged in to this “stupid middle schoolers game” was slightly slurred as he took a big chug of whatever liquid was floating around his red solo cup.

This worried Y/N. They never saw Technoblade drink more than enough to get him slightly tipsy, but they brushed it off on end-of-the-semester excitement. In any case, they would confront him when they got the opportunity to talk to him alone.

---

Said opportunity arose after the Pizza arrived, and most people began to file into Karls movie room to watch whatever garbage show he decided on running. Y/N stayed back, intending to have full access to the pizza and Technoblade, noticing this, stayed with them. Y/N hopped up onto a counter and pulled the pizza boxes to them.

“Hey Tech?”

“Heh?”

“Are you okay? I haven't seen you drink this much before?” they asked, running a concerned hand through his hair before pressing it to his forehead to check how hot he was.

His eyes closed and he nuzzled into their touch.

“I guess I’m just nervous.”

“Nervous? What do you have to be nervous about? It’s winter break” they answered, a small smile on their beautiful face.

This was his chance.

“I have to start applying for colleges.”

Fuck, he missed it.

-----

The food brought a new bought of energy to everyone at the party, and by 3 in the morning, the celebration was still heavy in the air. Everyone thanked whatever brought Karl’s parents to buy a house far removed from any close neighborhoods, so the noise wouldn’t earn them a police visit.

Loud music blared from the speakers in the living room, which had been cleared of furniture to make space for the energetic teenagers.

Y/N took turns dancing with Niki, Minx, and Jack before being stolen away by Sapnap who spun them around until they almost threw up. Eventually, Y/N ended up on the outskirts of the dancefloor, where they saw their favorite apathetic pig-boy leaning against a corner, snickering at everyone who was embarrassing themselves in their drunken haze. 

“WANNA DANCE?” asked Y/N leaning towards him to enunciate over the music.

How could he say no? When they were looking up at him with those big, bright eyes and a slight sheen of sweat over their face.

-----

The party began to dissipate nearing the hours of dawn. Around 5, people began trickling out. Except for the select few who had decided to just crash with Karl.

Technoblade and Wilbur parked a little ways away from their house, walking the rest of the way and ushering each other up the tree by Wilburs bedroom to sneak back in. 

It was locked.

“You dimwit, didn’t you unlock the window?”

“Of course I did you arse, where do you think I snuck out from?”

Their bickering was interrupted by a small tap on the glass by none other than a smirking Tommy. 

“Leave it to him to only wake up when he wants to annoy us”

“Tommy, let us in.”

Tommy made a rubbing motion with his index finger and thumb. Looking at Wilbur and sighing, Technoblade pulled his wallet out and held up a 10. 

Tommy made a ‘more’ motion

20. Then 40. Then 50.

“So generous of you lads, come on in!” he giggled, snatching the money from his brother and leaving the window open for the two to clamber in awkwardly.

Technoblade snuck back into his room, stripping off his sweaty clothes and falling onto the mattress. Before he blacked out, he saw two notifications come in.

BitchBur: I took these pictures tn, thought u might want them ;) (8 images attached)

And

Y/N <3: I hope you figure out the college situation! <3 let me know if you can hang out sometime :D

He opened Wilburs text to find a collection of candid pictures Wilbur had snapped over the course of the night. One of Y/N in his lap, a few of them laughing together over pizza, a few of them on the dance floor, and what had to be his favorite: a picture of them kissing his cheek as a ‘good luck’ for his arm wrestle with Dream.

A smile creeped onto his face and he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for his brother. He set the last picture as his wallpaper before turning off his phone and falling into a realm of blackness.

SPRING------------------

“That was my very last AP Exam!” exclaimed Y/N, walking through the door of the coffee house where all their friends were lounging. 

The small shop erupted with cheers as they celebrated everyone finishing their school year. The cheers eventually died out, though, as the realization sunk in. Tomorrow was graduation.

The seniors in the group, Wilbur, Technoblade, Minx and Fundy were all going off to college. 

Wilbur to England, Fundy to the Netherlands, and Minx to Ireland. The one person who hadn’t decided on a college yet was Technoblade.

“Why do you all have to leave the country?” whined Y/N.

A chorus of similar sentiments left the other juniors who were scattered around a few tables that had been pushed together. 

As the conversation descended into dorms and expenses, Y/N received a text from Technoblade. The shock of the ‘ding’ made the pen that had been balancing between their lips clatter onto the floor.

Apathetic pig-boy: come outside

Y/N looked around, not having noticed that Technoblade had disappeared from the table. Taking advantage of the conversation everyone else was immersed in, they quietly snuck out, but not without avoiding Wilburs keen eyes, which narrowed upon realizing his brother was not at the table.

They wandered outside, finding Technoblade sitting at one of the outdoor tables covered by the awning. 

“My Yale email came in.” he said as soon as he saw them walk outside.

They jumped with barely contained joy. “What did it say?”

“I wanted you to be here when I opened it.”

Everyone knew that Technoblades dream college was Yale. He had talked about it ever since he was a little kid, screaming about Greek mythology on the school playground. Y/N knew that it was Technoblades biggest ambition to study literature at one of the most renowned colleges in the world, but they still felt a twinge of sadness. On top of losing half their friends, they couldn’t lose the one person that meant the most to them too.

“Open it!”

Y/N leaned against the back of Technoblades chair, almost falling over his shoulder as they watched the loading icon on the college’s website.

Technoblade clicked on the notification and they both read it together

Congratulations! We are glad to inform you…

“THAT YALE UNIVERSITY HAS DECIDED TO ACCEPT YOUR APPLICATION! TECH I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!” Screamed Y/N, wrapping their arms around his shocked figure. They placed a million kisses all over his face, gushing about how proud they were of him, ignoring the gut wrenching feeling inside of them.  

“What’s the screaming about? Did you two finally get together?” Asked Wilbur as the group flooded out of the coffee shop to see what the commotion was about. 

“Yale accepted me.” mumbled Technoblade, just loud enough for them to hear.

The cheers that followed his announcement almost made their small hometown collapse. Congratulations were exchanged and backs were pat, and in the mess, Y/N managed to sneak off to the side. The only person who noticed was Niki, who followed them to the corner of the parking lot where they were kicking at the asphalt with their converse. She sat down, and the two rested in silence, the April wind blowing their hair all over the place.

“He’s leaving.” He’s leaving me. They wanted to say, but they didn't.

Niki gave her friend a small side hug, somehow interpreting the sentence accurately. “He’s pursuing his dreams Y/N, you know he doesn’t want to leave you.”

“How do I make him stay? It’s selfish and I’d feel like a bitch but Niki I don’t think I can live without him.”

“Y/N.”

“Hmm?”

“You need to tell him how you feel.”

----

The next day brought sunny skies and the enthusiastic atmosphere of graduation. They had all managed to snag themselves some graduation tickets to see their friends finish high school.

Jack, Niki, and Y/N were sitting in a Wendy’s parking lot, waiting for the clock to hit 11:45 so they could start making their way to school. It seemed empty without the Seniors of the group, as they were all at school getting ready for the ceremony. Y/N voiced this concern aloud, to which Jack responded, “We’ll have to get used to it. This is how it’s going to be next year.”

And the three fell into silence, sullenly dipping their fries into their frostys.

----

Jack, Niki, and Y/N let themselves be jostled into school with the crowds of emotional parents and kids who were already bored of the event. They found decent seats, near the front aisle and set their belongings down. 

Not a moment later, they were greeted by Philza, who filed in with the rest of the boys extended family to sit beside them. 

The dimming of the lights led to hushed whispers erupting from the previously rowdy crowd. 

Procedure came and went, the salutatorian and valedictorian giving their respective addresses to the crowd, the speech of the somewhat bored principal, and finally, 

“Without further ado, presenting the Graduating Class of 2021!” 

Cheers erupted from the crowd as names began to be called. 

Within the first five minutes, the boredom began to set in and Jack began a game pigeon game, which Phil demanded to be added to. The four played the digital card game until they were pulled out of their concentration by a familiar name being called. They erupted into cheers as Fundy walked across the stage to pick up his diploma and shake the Principal’s hand. The process was repeated until Minx, her eyes shining as she shook the principal's hand earnestly, then flipped him off quickly behind his back, which sent the auditorium into a fit of laughter.

Person after person was called up, until...

“Technoblade Minecraft”

Philza almost cried. He stood on his chair, screaming in excitement for his son which made the boy in question flush as he collected his diploma and took a rather rushed leave off the stage, but not before seeing the heart that Y/N made with their fingers in his direction.

The same general act happened  during Wilburs announcement, except that he laughed and gave his dad a cheering motion with his hands.

---

The group spilled out onto the lawn of the school, congratulating people they knew when they saw them. Technoblade and Wilbur joined their family, receiving hugs from a very emotional Tommy. Y/N, Niki, and Jack waited behind for their friends to finish up with their families before tackling them in hugs. Screams and whoops came from the puddle of people on the floor, everyone yelling things to each other. The atmosphere was charged with happiness, and relief, and one couldn’t help but feel elation despite the bittersweet nature of graduation.

“Alright mates, party at my house!” boomed Philza over the noise.

The infamous graduation party. They had planned the two-part party in middle school, when they had had their first sleepover at the group's “hub”, aka Philza’s house. Since then, the party had become a reality and the first part would be executed tonight. The next being, of course, when the remaining half of the group graduated.

A marquis was set up in Phil’s garden, now uncluttered and full of spring blossoms. It was such a different atmosphere than it had been last summer, when their bonfires would stretch out into the early hours of the morning.

Food laden tables were scattered around the marquis, and to everyone's delight, a chocolate fountain rested on one of them.

After collecting food and gifts from various guests, the group found themselves sitting under the shade of a large tree with a rickety old treehouse balancing on it, which Tommy and Tubbo were attempting to devise a plan to get into with the help of their friend Ranboo, who didn’t seem as enthusiastic about the idea as the others.

“My flight leaves next week.” sighed Minx, leaning against Niki’s shoulder.

“I’ll be out of here by July the latest” 

“Phil’s taking us to London next week and I’ll just be staying”

Everyone turned to Technoblade to reveal when he would be leaving for college. 

“I’m going to Connecticut a week before the beginning of the term”

“So how long will you be home this summer?” Y/N asked, setting down their cookie.

“Between travelling and dorm set-up, I’ll probably only be here for about two weeks total.”

Y/N’s eyes filled with tears as they pushed their head into Technoblades chest. 

“I just-” sniffle “I just can’t believe you’re all leaving!” they cried, muffled by Technoblades button down.

This sent everyone into a fit of tears as they all began hugging each other for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

The moment was interrupted by Phil, who came out of the house with a camera and various props. Encouraging everyone to gather around and take pictures. Everyone scuffled around to fix their disheveled appearances and began making their way to Phils makeshift photo booth.

“Tech- wait!” called Y/N, pulling him back by the forearm. “Your hair”

They put pressure on his shoulders to get him to lean down so that they could fix his stray hairs. 

Right then, looking at the way Y/N’s shoes sank into the ground and feeling their light touch in his hair, he decided. I have to tell them. This is my last chance.

“Hey Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“I-” deep breaths, “I need you to-”

“Come on, lovebirds get in the picture!” called Phil, walking over to drag them to where everyone else was. 

Y/N gave him an apologetic look, woven with the silent promise of later.

Damnit Dad.

----

The pictures had lasted what felt like eons, but between the corny props and the harsh afternoon sunlight, they held valuable memories.

But Technoblade had no interest in them at the moment, as he dragged Y/N behind the trunk of the tree they had sat at before.

The sunlight filtering through the leaves made Y/N’s face all that much more beautiful, and Technoblade struggled to tear his attention away to focus on telling them. He gathered up his courage and opened his mouth to speak.

But the only thing that came out was “OW!”

As a pinecone bonked off his head and rolled away on the ground, leaving chips of it in his hair. 

“Look out below!” Called Tubbo from somewhere above them. So they managed to get in. Damnit.

Y/N took his hand and led him to the other side of the tree, away from the boys’ field of destruction. They sat down gently, pulling Technoblade down with them to pluck the pieces of pinecone out of his hair.

“Here. Distraction free! Now tell me what you’ve been trying to say because there’s something I need to tell you too.”

That gave Technoblade the perfect opportunity to gather his nerves. “You go first”

“No, it’s fine you!”

“No you go!”

It seemed as if the stars had collided and sent out particles so many eons ago with the knowledge that everything would lead up to these two kids coming to the same conclusion at the same time. 

“I love you”

“I love you”

Their eyes met as they stared, wide-eyed and gaping-mouthed at each other. Overcoming the initial shock, they began to ramble.

“I didn’t think you felt the same way because you always got quiet around me and then you woul-”

“Can I kiss you?” Technoblade interrupted them, not really hearing their rambling through the buzz going through his brain.

They nodded shyly in response as he wrapped his hand around the back of their neck to pull them dizzyingly, tauntingly closer. He looked into their eyes one more time to make sure they were serious, but Y/N was already closing the gap between their lips. They hoisted themselves into his lap and gripped his hair to bring him impossibly closer.

But alas, in this group of people, nothing goes unnoticed or undisturbed.

“EW! TECHNO’S KISSING Y/N!” screamed Tommy from the balcony of the treehouse which resulted in whoops and cheers from everyone at the party.

“FINALLY!” yelled someone amongst the crowd. 

Y/N felt their ears burn a bright red as they buried their face into Techno’s neck.

“Yeah Y/N! Get some!”

“Oh fuck off!”

A/N: i hope u guys liked it :D, also this is my first time writing with they/them pronouns so if i made a mistake pls don’t hesitate to correct me!

[quicksilverrwrites]

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: peter maximoff x reader 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: you can’t sleep and neither can peter, but at least you both know exactly how to comfort one another. 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 2.4k 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 18+, fluff, peter and reader are early to mid twenties, british reader 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: y/n is known by the mutant name “scribe” and is charles xavier’s niece.

It’s eleven-thirty, and you can’t sleep.

Your thoughts shift to your lessons in the morning; to how tired you’re going to be; to that iced coffee you’d had while getting your assignment done after class; about how that drink was definitely a bad idea considering how you’re lying awake now. It had tasted good then, and it had given you the energy you needed to fire out five thousand words in the span of a few hours… but now you regret it.

Sighing, you roll over. Your eyes glaze over the objects on the nightstand beside your bed. Your alarm clock, rectangular in size and wooden in material, glares at you. Eleven thirty six. Eleven thirty seven. The time seems to spiral, and you realise that you might as well do something with yourself if you’re awake.

You eye the books stacked on top of the alarm clock; you’d been reading one before and it had bored you half to death, so you can’t bring yourself to pick up any again. What else? What else?

Your gaze settles upon the picture frame on the dresser next to your nightstand, and you let out a sigh as you settle upon the silver-haired speedster within it. You’re next to him, a mere blur since he’d sneakily taken the camera from your hand and taken a picture with an expression that radiates cheekiness, but you’d liked the picture enough to keep it.

You’ve got a few more picture frames scattered around your room—photos of you with Scott, Jean, Jubilee and Kurt. Even some of Charles. You might not be close, but he is your uncle, after all. He’s still family.

And yet it’s Peter you keep your eyes on. It’s Peter's mischievous aura which calls to you across the room.

What would he be doing right now? He’s probably playing video games or practicing on one of his guitars. You’d been surprised to see him play well; you’d been surprised to see that he actually had the attention span it takes to successfully learn an instrument. You would know: your mother used to nag you about practicing the piano to perfection. Practice makes perfect, she’d always said, and yet she’d always left out how much energy it took to practice in the first place.

Is it too late to reach out to him? The two of you have a specific way of speaking to one another across distances by now, although even the thought of doing such a thing due to the time seems rude. Your mother had always told you that it was your duty to be polite, and your father had by example. You think you picked it up from him rather than her, but—

Don’t think of him right now. Don’t think of what happened. Don’t.

As if in an effort to push the memory of that night from your head, you move. You pull the drawer attached to your nightstand open to reveal a mess of junk inside, but what you need—and what you spy—is a pen and paper. You pull it from the drawer and slam the nightstand drawer shut quietly, and after, you get to work writing:

Are you up? Can I come over?

Your fingers buzz with azure energy as you feel your mutation working in your favour. A tiny portal of blue opens before you, one you could make larger if you wished but one which you keep small for now. It’s no larger than a letterbox would be, and the faint sound of music from the other side tells you that Peter is very much awake.

You slip the note through the portal, and then you leave it open as you wait.

When you receive no response for a solid fifteen seconds but can hear movement on the other side, you wonder if this was a mistake after all. It’s too late, you scold yourself, mentally preparing for rejection. Oh, god, this is going to be awkward. What if he—

An empty Twinkie box falls at your feet.

You blink at it, momentarily confused, and then you pick it up. You glance about the dessert’s display as you begin to turn the box over in your hands. Nothing on the front, but on the back—

Scrawled in pink glitter pen—probably his sister’s—, the box reads on the back: Yeah. Come through.

You grin lazily as you set the box down on your bed and extend the portal with your fingers like you’re prying open a heavy door. The orange light from Peter’s basement slips through and becomes one with the light of your dorm, which is yellow and warm with your room’s wooden accented walls and flooring. And as you slip through the portal and your bare feet touch the soft tartan carpet of his room, you let the portal shut with a soft shum behind you—

But Peter Maximoff does not look his best. In fact, he looks downright miserable.

His eyes are red as if he’s been crying, his hair is messy—messier than usual, at least—and he’s wearing a band tee and some tartan pajama bottoms that look intended for comfort rather than style. You were about to say hey, but you stop in your tracks. You tilt your head as you look at him.

Peter is still. It’s strange, especially since he’s usually so eccentric. He blurts out, “What?”

You frown, momentarily stuck for what to say. “Nothing,” you respond, but it doesn’t seem right.

Peter stares at you. You stare at him. You’re both quite similar, so it strikes you then that you both know that you’re each not telling each other something.

“You okay?” You ask, suspicion clear in your tone.

Peter shrugs nonchalantly. It’s a rigid movement. “Yeah,” he says, far too confidently to be true. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

You narrow your eyes on him. His tone of voice has all but solidified your suspicions. “Okay, first of all,” you say, crossing the small space of the room between you and the sofa, “you use a very distinctive tone when you lie.” You settle down on the sofa as you cross your legs under you. “Second, your eyes are really red. Have you been—?”

“No.”

Crying, you were about to ask, but he cut you off. You narrow your eyes again.

Peter sighs and averts his gaze, running a hand through his hair. “Tonight’s just… not a good night.”

You press your lips together as sympathy wells in your eyes. “Why not?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“That makes two of us."

Peter inhales deeply, and before you know it, he’s sitting on the sofa next to you. You’re used to how fast he moves by now. Something warms your heart in the way he sits with his body angled towards you. Like he’s opening himself up to you.

“Wanna stay here tonight?” He asks.

You glance at the other end of the sofa and then back to him. You’re reminded of how he took the sofa to sleep on that night after you guys got caught in the rain. “Here?”

Peter’s brows rise. “Is my basement not fancy enough for you?”

You know he’s joking even despite the lack of humour in his tone, and you let out a small huff of laughter as you flash him a lazy smile. You sit back on the sofa, reaching out your hand to intertwine it with his. Things between you are still blooming after your first date, but you both feel comfortable enough to do this. Peter’s fingers wrap around yours as he starts drawing patterns on the back of your hand with his free one.

“I just mean,” you murmur, just loud enough to be heard over the backdrop of quiet music, “won’t your mom mind?”

“She didn’t mind when you stayed over last time.”

Your lips quirk upwards in gentle amusement. “That time you slept on the couch. This time I was thinking, I mean, if you want to, then maybe—”

“Oh,” Peter murmurs. His head lifts upwards in a sort of understanding motion. “Yeah, I mean… ah, I can deal with whatever safe sex talk she wants to give me in the morning.”

Your cheeks flush red. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant maybe we could…” Oh, god, embarrassment— “cuddle.”

Peter grins. “Cuddle, huh?” He pauses, until— “Okay,” he murmurs, reaching an arm around the back of the couch to wrap around you. “I guess I could be down for cuddling.”

You snicker softly as you lean into his touch, your head resting against his shoulder. “Do you want to tell me why you looked so upset when I arrived?”

Peter tenses. “It wasn’t because of you, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“Mm,” you murmur, “I think I’m confident enough in our relationship to know that your reaction when seeing me is generally excitement rather than the dread that accompanies sad under eyes and red markings around them.”

He pauses for a few seconds before he lets out a long breath of defeat. “That obvious, huh?”

“Mm,” you murmur, looking up at him. “A little.”

His lips twist to the side as he lowers his gaze. “I was thinking about my dad.”

It’s your turn to pause now, looking up at him in a way you didn’t before. You assess every detail of his body again: the way his shoulders slump, the way his head hangs low, the way his hair falls in the way of his view and his eyes are heavy with something you haven’t seen in him before. He’s usually so full of life.

Is this what he’s hiding deep down?

“Tell me about it,” you say softly.

Peter grimaces. “It’s a long story, and the stupid thing is it’s mostly my fault.”

Frowning, you sit up and face him. “I don’t believe that.”

Peter lets out a humourless laugh that might be bitter if he showed a hint of anger, but he doesn’t. “It’s true. The only time I’ve ever been too slow and it’s in finding the most…”

He trails off, pulling his arm away from around you so that they both now rest in his lap. He continues, “It’s a mess.”

“Start from the beginning."

So he explains, if not vaguely: about trying to find his father, about finding a house empty and police arriving on the scene. Peter had fled at the sight of them, and—

“His name’s Magneto,” he admits. “Erik Lehnsherr. You’ve probably… seen him on TV or something."

Suddenly, it all adds up. You weren’t at school to see what happened with Apocalypse, but you’ve heard about it from your friend group. Peter doesn’t talk about it very much, and now you know why; had he been part of that whole adventure because of his father? He hadn’t been involved with Xavier’s School before, that much you know.

You suck in a breath. Okay, Y/N, push the fact that his dad’s a known terrorist aside— “Does he know?”

Peter shakes his head. “Nah. I had the chance to tell him and I didn’t. I screwed it up. And now I’m right back where I was before all of it, because I have no clue where he is and no way of telling him the truth. I couldn’t even do it for Wanda.”

“Hey,” you murmur, your fingers moving to cup his cheeks. “Fight or flight, right? It’s normal. To see him right in front of you—to have to muster up the courage to tell him? Knowing what a change that would be for you? Peter, that’s normal.”

Peter’s eyes well with softness as he listens to you, gazes upon you, and you think you’ve never seen him look so vulnerable as he lowers his head to your shoulder. He takes in a shaky breath; wraps his arms around you; pulls you into his lap—

“Thanks,” he murmurs into your shirt. It’s not his shirt this time; you’re wearing a pyjama set that consists of blue silk shorts and a top. “Not sure I believe you, but thanks, Y/N.”

“Is there anything I can do to make you believe me?”

Peter takes a deep breath. “Aside from mind control? Not sure.”

You press your lips together and begin to stroke his hair. “To be honest,” you murmur, “I’m not sure I’d believe you if you tried to tell me something similar about my father, either.”

Peter lets out a choked laugh. “Maybe that’s why we work together.”

Your lips curve upwards, still stroking his hair. His face is still buried in your shoulder. “Maybe,” you whisper, pressing a soft kiss to his head.

Peter shifts so that he’s leaning against the back of the sofa and you’re in his lap again. You turn so that you’re straddling his waist, but your fingers find his jaw to cup the skin there. Your thumb brushes soothingly against his skin.

“You mean a lot to me,” Peter murmurs, staring up at you. It’s almost as if the music in the room has stopped; it’s almost as if the two of you are the only souls left in existence. His brows are slightly raised and there is awe in his voice as he says, “I don’t really believe you’re real half the time.”

You let out a soft laugh. “Definitely real, Peter. Definitely here.”

“Yeah,” he says, his tone riddled with amusement, “and here of all places. You could be anywhere. You’re like, perfect and—”

“Ssh,” you murmur, pressing a finger to his lips. “I don’t want to be anywhere but here with you.”

Peter tilts his head up towards you, a silent request for consent, and you kiss him in answer.

He wraps his arms around your waist as he deepens the kiss, your tongue slipping out to meet his own. He makes a low, guttural noise between pleasure and content at the feeling of it, and your free hand clutches at his shirt as your other hand remains at his jaw.

You spend the rest of the evening like that, whether it's on the sofa or in his bed, but in those moments together there’s nothing carnal about it. Your touches are soft and comforting rather than lustful and yearning, and as much as you’ve thought about him that way before, you know that now’s not the time.

Tonight, you both need this. Tonight, your sole purpose is to be there for one another.

“And for the record,” Peter murmurs between kisses, his words random and uncalculated, “I think your tragic backstory’s way worse than mine.”

[coffee--writes]

The Message on the Wall

Pairing: James Potter x gn!Reader - Marauders x Reader Content

Word Count: 5.9k (jdklfdh im sorry) 

Warnings: Underage Drinking, Implications of... yeah. I think that’s about it. 

Requested: Yes, a long time (i feel bad for only getting to it but i hope the nonnie stuck around to see this piece) by an anon who asked for James x Reader with childhood best friends to lovers trope. 

Summary: In which, James Potter was busy writing himself a message on the wall but was too blind to read what he had to say. 

Pictures. 

In actuality they were only images. For Muggles, they stood stagnant, for James Potter they moved slightly. 

But in deeper meaning pictures were moments in time captured in a frame. They were a personal reminder of things that were, things that used to be and anything else that didn’t fall into one of the other two categories. 

James Potter adored pictures. His room was littered with them. A handful were of Quidditch players and Tutshill Tornados merchandise. One picture of him and his parents sat on the nightstand beside his bed. But adjourned on the wall to the left was a mostly blank wall. One small Tornados banner was pinned against the soft red paint and in the middle a picture he was particularly fond of. 

The film captured James at the age of four. A broom was clutched in his left hand and a toothy smile on his face as the wind rustled his hair causing it to stick up more than it already did. Beside him was you, your eyes crossed and your tongue licking a swirled lolly. 

When his mother had shown him the picture you had just left for home, making a young James quite sad that his friend couldn’t stay just a little longer. Euphemia Potter had smiled, handing the picture to her son. “It’s okay, my love. Now you have a piece of Y/N with you.” 

“How?” James had asked, his lower lip jutting out in a frown. 

Euphemia laughed. “The picture captures you together. Look how happy the two of you look!” she points at her son’s smile in the photo. “You can do whatever you’d like with it.” 

James grinned, his eyes lighting up once more. “I want to hang it, mum!” he dragged her hand into the bedroom with him, climbing on top of his bedsheets and pressing the picture to the wall. “Here. That way I can say goodnight to them even when they're not here.” 

Euphemia Potter smiled watching as her son tucked himself under the covers. “That’s a brilliant idea, James.” With a wave of her wand, two pins fastened themself to the wall, the photo beneath. 

That was the beginning of James’s love for pictures. More pictures would accumulate such as the one of him and his father at a Tornados game. Drawings you would give him of flowers and Kneazles. The pictures would come and go but yours stayed the same. An additional picture of you and James would later be added three years later when the two of you were seven. James’s broom no longer sat in one hand, instead was gripped with two and hovering five feet off the ground. He had a wicked smile on his face, his glasses slightly falling down his nose. You sat behind him, your small fingers clutching to his waist as the picture captured you mid-squeal. 

Time went on yet the pictures of the two of you stayed the same. Along with your drawings, which had improved dramatically since you were seven, he’d occasionally find a Hollyhead Harpies banner plastered to his wall. When he came to scold you, pink banners adjourned in his hand, you’d laugh at the pout on his lips. He could never stay angry at you and always joined in on your laughter. 

The final year before things would slightly change was the year before going to Hogwarts.  A third picture was added at the age of ten. The Potter family had accompanied your family on a trip to Diagon Alley in which you had bought your screech owl, Juniper. James had one arm wrapped around you. His hair was untidy and a goofy smile was on his face as his other hand flicked your forehead. Your eyes were closed mid-laugh as one hand pushed his face away and the other perched with Juniper who screeched happily on your available arm. 

Again, time went on quickly and changes were made in James Potter’s room but you were not one of them. He packed up his Hogwarts things the night of August 31st, leaving his room full of pictures with a soft smile. 

You rode on the train with him, both of you waving goodbye to your loved ones. You grinned at him wickedly, “Excited?” you ask. 

“Definitely.” he responded. “Do you have money for the trolley?” 

You slide into a train compartment, one small boy already sitting there. “Yeah. Do you need to borrow some?” 

James nodded and you rolled your eyes, handing money over to the kind witch who passed by, grabbing pumpkin pasties for you and Bertie Botts for James. 

The ride was life-changing as you made acquaintances with similar mindsets. Two more boys entered your compartment and along with the scrawny boy from before, all of you made it to Gryffindor. “Where dwell the brave at heart” as James liked to put it. 

First year was an interesting feat with James quickly falling head over heels for Lily Evans. Your friendship never faltered although the thought of her in his life made you feel odd. However, you were sure she wouldn’t be in his life for quite some time seeing as his persistent efforts were met with an equally stubborn rejection. 

“She’s a firecracker, that one.” he sighed, walking beside you down the hall after another devastating encounter with Lily. 

“You’re just embarrassing yourself now, my boy.” you reply, dubbing his nickname to ease the comment. 

He smirked. “Then why do you hang out with me?” 

“Because, I’m the one who makes sure you don’t cross the line from embarrassing to mortifying.” 

He shakes his head with a silly grin. “I doubt that. You love me. That’s why.” 

You laugh, an effective way of avoiding the curious ideas that ran through your young mind. “Don’t throw around the l- word so quickly! You’ve got to mean it.” 

James bumped your side. “But I’ve known you for years.” 

You ruffle his hair, making it messier than it already was. “Save it for Evans.” 

---

The year ended and the two of you went home to Northern England hands overflowing with Gryffindor red, spirits high with a drive for Quidditch practice and addresses from Remus, Peter, and Sirius tucked away in your pockets. 

James’s room changed tremendously that first year. Alongside the Tutshill Tornados merchandise were small Gryffindor banners, lions enchanted to roar at the touch. You had given him one of your sketches from the school year, one of Sirius and him laughing in Transfiguration, another of him and Peter skipping stones. The pictures of the two of you still remained, a small collection of dust coating the edges which he wiped away with a smile. 

Second year was merry and full of high spirits. James had acquired his father’s invisibility cloak which gave cause to a number of nighttime rendezvous and adventures in the kitchens. Suspicion arose on Remus, whose monthly disappearances came to your attention. With the help of Sirius and Peter, the group soon discovered Remus’s guarded secret and accepted the furry little problem with open arms. 

The Lily Evans situation did not get any better with James’s persistence holding up fiercely and her hatred toward him even more harsh. As Sirius had dubbed it, “Mate, at this point you’re never getting married.” Remus and Peter whole-heartedly agreed, sending James into an adolescent spiral. 

“What if I don’t get married, Y/N/N?” he confided in you by the shores of the Black Lake. 

You chuckled, his delirium quite adorable. “You’re going to get married, James. Trust me.” 

He sighed, snapping a twig between his fingers. “It’s not definite.” 

“Nothing is.” you counter. 

James groaned. “I know. I know. But I would like it to be. Wouldn’t you?” 

You contemplated the idea, a thought coming to your head. “What if it could be?” 

He stared at you curiously. Your eyes lit up and James grinned. “Hit me.” 

“If by the time we are thirty neither of us are married then we should get married to each other.” you propose, a proud smile on your face. “That way we can have a definite of our own.” 

James grinned. “I like that idea. But what if one of us gets married before that?”

You frown. “Then I guess it’d be a flop. But it’s better than nothing, right?” 

He agreed quickly. The sun was setting into a pond of pink. The wind rustled and birds chirped and the moment seemed picture perfect and James wished a camera would magically pop up and capture the moment so he’d be able to hang it on his wall for years to come. It did not work that way, instead, he turned to you with a smirk. “I don’t have anything to propose with.” 

You looked down in embarrassment and gave him a shove. “We’re not getting married yet! It’s just a deal not the real thing.” 

He rolled his eyes at you. “I know but it feels as though something special should happen. How about we seal with a spit swear?” 

You stick your tongue out and pretend to gag. “Ew! No.” you flick his forehead causing him to wince. He grins before flicking you back, watching as you fall back onto the grass. 

“I guess a flick works as well.” he sighs. “Y/N Potter has a nice ring to it.” 

Your head falls against his shoulder. “I can’t believe I might be a Potter one day. Sounds disgusting.” 

James laughs, the weight of your head feeling oddly familiar against his shoulder. “Oh, shut it!” 

--- 

The years came and went. Third year, James made the Quidditch team and he quickly became a ladies man despite his obvious pining over Evans. You made sure to keep his feet on the ground as you didn’t want his ego to get larger than it already was. You came to all his games, occasionally bringing a camera so that James could add his moments of glory onto his beloved room wall. There was the time he tried dedicating a shot to you and ended up getting knocked off his broom by a Beater. 

He made the next one thankfully. 

On the other hand, you had earned the title of master dueler amongst the third years for your quick arm and sharp spellcasting. While James was at Quidditch practice: you, Peter, Remus, and Sirius would practice in empty classrooms although after a while they became rather bored as you would always win. James would cheer you on, even when you beat him there was a compliment of your skill and he was more than anything, proud. 

The summer between third and fourth year was the year the Marauders got their first group picture together. Everyone had met up at the Potter residence, Euphemia Potter snapping the photo with Sirius and James to the left, Peter and Remus on the right, and you in the middle. James hung the picture on his wall as it was routine by now. The whole gang got to see his famous wall of pictures, his life an open storybook to anyone who looked closely. 

Fourth year sparked love, pranks, and new ideas. Peter went on his first date, flaming at the cheeks as his friends waved him off embarrassingly. Group pranks ensued upon Snape whose oily hair was dyed all colors of the rainbow by the end of the first semester. You had gone on your first date as well, Steven Goldstein from Hufflepuff whom James threatened to beat up and Sirius who gave him “a talk”. 

Most importantly, the group addressed Remus’s furry little problem seeing as each year he came back with more and more scars than before. Two ideas sparked up from the meeting and both were large feats that every member of the group was willing to take. 

“So wait..” Peter asked. “You want to make a map… that tracks everyone in Hogwarts?” 

James nodded and Remus shook his head. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Don’t look at me that way, Remus.” 

Remus shoved him lightly. “How would that even work though? Isn’t it a little invasive?” 

You smiled. “It most certainly is invasive but think about how awesome it’d be to have something like that. All we would need is…” 

“A complex locator spell.” you and Sirius said together. 

Everyone grinned. “Pete can do the drawing and sketching. He’s good at that stuff. We should check for secret passageways. All of us could do the magic. We’ve got the brains.” 

“I don’t think someone with brilliant magic technique would use the word brain to describe their intelligence.” you point out. James simply flicked you in the head. 

“And there’s the Animagi thing…” Sirius added. 

“That’s a reach.” Remus replied. 

“More than the map?” Peter questioned. 

Remus sighed. “You guys don’t have to do that for me. I’ve been transforming on my own for years. No need to have buddies now.” 

“Nonsense.” you say. “Anything for you, Rem. This is what you deserve.” 

The friends looked at each other silently. “Are we ready to pull off the biggest student feat in Hogwarts history?” Sirius whispered. 

“Aye, aye.” Everyone cheered. 

Peter grinned. “We’re up to no good.” 

James smiled back. “Then let us manage our mischief well.” 

WIth that the group commenced, exiting the abandoned classroom they used and taking off to class. James walked by your side as you headed to astronomy together. 

“I can’t wait till we pin this down. It’s going to be an epic year.” he grinned. 

You chuckle. “I know you’ll end up stalking someone, Potter. Evans by the looks of it.” 

He shook his head, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Nope. I’m gonna stalk you instead. See if you’re hiding any secrets from me.” 

You smile. “What secrets could I possibly be hiding from you, my boy?” 

James nudged your side with a smirk. “You’re telling me a good-looking fellow like yourself isn’t sneaking off with some other lad other than their best friends.” 

You shook your head, the word “good-looking” repeating itself in your mind. “No. If I did I would tell you.” 

“Good.” he said, starting up the stairs to the Astronomy tower. “I don’t need some arsehole stealing you away from me.” 

You roll your eyes. “No one could ever steal me from you, James. I’m not a Quaffle.” 

He nods with a grin. “Yeah. I suppose you’re more of a Snitch.” 

You laugh, dashing up the stairs in hopes that you wouldn’t be late for your Astronomy lesson.

--- 

As one could guess more pictures and sketches made their home on James Potter’s wall. It was a cluttered mess but beautiful nonetheless. It was as though the wall had an expression of its own with its array of Quidditch jerseys, photographs, art, and ticket stubs. Nobody touched the wall except James as he liked having every picture in place. His wall organized the way he liked it best… messy. 

Fifth year was the first year you didn’t see James every week. He had eagerly signed up for Quidditch camp and had left for Wales with promises that’d you write about the boys and the progress on the map and Animagi projects. The projects went well with Peter completing the outline sketches of the maps, Remus filling piles of papers on Animagi transformations and finally Sirius and you gathering the needed ingredients for the Animagi process. 

You had grown taller over the summer, hair lightening and your features more accentuated. Eagerly you awaited James’s return and when the time did come you had woken up early in the morning to see him arrive by Portkey on the hill. The second he appeared you had rushed over, engulfing him in a hug. You had missed his touch, his constant nagging and overall  the James Potterness that followed him around that would never fade with time. 

Meanwhile, he was left out of breath, a couple of inches taller and a smile on his face as he squeezed you back. “Y/N/N! I missed you, you lazy hag.” 

You laughed, messing up his hair that sat more neatly than in previous years. “And I missed you, my boy.” 

The next days before school were spent catching him up on the map and at the pond by your house. With each swim you noticed the changes in James such as the six-pack the tedious trials at Quidditch camp had given him. 

“Oi!” you shouted, splashing him in the face. “Whatever happened to the skinny twig that was my friend?” 

He smirked. “Oi! Why are you looking?” 

You bit your lip, not allowing him to see you flustered. “I’m sorry. You’re my best friend and it’s a very noticeable change!” you pointed at his toned stomach. 

James tapped your nose and you stared at him in annoyance. “It’s only noticeable if you want to notice it.” 

He turned around, making to walk back to the shore of the pond. You didn’t remember when James had gotten so cheeky although he’d always been that way, just never with you. Wickedly, you took the bucket that floated beside you and dunked it in the water. With a mischievous grin, you snuck up behind him, dumping the bucket of water on his head. 

James turned around with a gasp, jaw dropped. You laughed, a wide smile on your lips at the sight of him drenched in his swim trunks. It wasn’t until his arms tucked along your waist, dragging you to the deeper ends of the pond did the smile drop and his return. 

“Why you little…” you seethed. “James Fleamont Potter if you-” 

It was too late by then, your body submerged in the water and you swam up, his laughter the first noticeable sound. You scowled as he doubled over with laughter on the shore. “I’m never letting you go to Quidditch camp again.” 

The two of you walked home as the sun set, many flicks to the forehead ensuing as you did. 

---

Fifth year was by far the most epic year of your Hogwarts experience. Everything was prepared for the Animagi transformation and phase two of the map project was ready to launch with Remus having gained access to the restricted section of the library. 

It seemed as though the whole student body had recognized the change in James’s physique which only led to an inflation of his ego. The worst part was that Lily Evans just so happened to be one of those said noticers and while her defiance toward him was still strong, she could be caught staring in class much to James’s delight. 

The Animagi process began as soon as the September full moon. While Remus suffered in the Shrieking Shack, the four other Marauders set their Mandrake leaves into their mouths preparing for an uncomfortable month of bitterness on their tongues. The leaves were held under their tongues when talking in class and for the rest of the time they resorted to note passing leaving the entirety of Hogwarts wondering why the Marauders went quiet so suddenly. 

During the period between moons, they worked on their map. Stacks of books, both regular and restricted, lay among them. Each had a quill and parchment used to take note of spells or pass messages back and forth. As you worked you received a message from James in the form of a crumpled ball of parchment. You smoothed it out with a sigh. 

I hate this thing. It tastes like piss and lime. 

You held back a chuckle, writing your own message next to his. 

You’re not backing out of this, Potter. It’s for Remus. 

He stuck the leaf under his tongue in order to stick it out at you and you rolled your eyes. He scribbled a message back. 

I know. I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it. 

You smirked, tossing the parchment back to him. 

If your scrawny arse can come back from Quidditch camp with abs then you can stomach keeping a leaf in your mouth for a month. 

He smoothed it out and you went back to your work only getting in a minute's reading before the parchment bounced off your head. You scowled at his antics but he only looked at his book with a smirk. Unfolding the paper, James’s messy handwriting took up the last blank space on the parchment. 

Nice to know you still think about my abs. 

Your stomach squirmed at the feeling that inflamed from his words and the smirk that was on his face. You flicked him on the head, throwing the parchment into the fire before Sirius could ask what it was. 

--- 

It took moon soaked leaves, untouched morning dew and a lightning storm to finally complete the transformations. It was on a late November night that a lightning storm finally struck and in the fifth corridor bathroom the Marauders made their first transformations. For Peter, a small rat with a wriggling tail. For Sirius, a pure black dog. For James, a large stag with mighty horns. For you, a sly fox with sleek orange fur. 

Thus that night began the use of the nicknames: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Vixen. Dubbed by James and agreed upon all around. The final full moons of fifth year were spent prancing around Hogsmeade alongside Remus whose scars diminished with each transformation spent with his friends. 

The downside of it all was the building tension in the school. With Lord Voldemort on the rise, more and more of your classmates were showing their true colors. Select Slytherins no longer wore short sleeves, their wrists always covered even in the heat of summer. Watchful eyes and protective glares, you went home for summer in worry. 

Over the summer, Prongs lost his Pronginess. He wrote to Lily Evans most days of the week and now the things she sent him hung on his wall alongside you and the Marauders. An anticipated change but a scary one still. Every outing with James became more about Lily and less about anything else. You could feel your best friend slipping away and you told him so the night before the start of sixth year. 

The two of you sat together in the branches of a tree. The sun hit your skin in rays and clouds passed by over your heads. James’s voice droned on about his darling Lily flower and with an unknowing malice you snapped at him. “Shut it!” you groaned. 

His eyes looked over at you, hands holding your head in remorse. “Aren’t you happy for me? You’ve been acting off all summer.” 

“I’ve been acting off because you’ve been acting off. I am happy for you but Evans is the only thing you talk about these days. What happened to talking about the Tornados or sneaking out together for milkshakes?” 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s different now.” 

“Well, it shouldn’t be.” you exclaim. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t grow up. I support the idea of you no longer being a cheeky bastard. If you’re happy with Evans then I am happy for you. But being with Evans doesn’t mean you have to forget about me or the Marauders or everything else.” 

James nodded, a leaf spinning between his fingers as he frowned. “I’m sorry, Y/N/N.” 

You shake your head. “I am too. Sorry I snapped at you, my boy.” your head fell onto his shoulder the same way it had done for years only this time things had changed. The weight still felt perfect on his shoulder but now his stomach turned and his breath hitched at the close proximity. Things were indeed changing although the two of you only danced around it, not wanting to address the mess you two had made. 

Your head was still against his shoulder as you spoke quietly. “Just remember you’re not a Quaffle.” 

He chuckled, stroking your hair affectionately. “I guess I’ll be the snitch then.” 

You smiled, swimming in the feel of the James Potter you knew so well. Later that night, the two of you snuck out like old times, sharing a chocolate milkshake and sending each other glances the whole way home. 

--- 

Sixth year was a rollercoaster. The map was finished, all the efforts poured out finally receiving an equally impressive outcome with the parchment branded with the names of the Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Vixen. Remus had his first kiss and Sirius decided on leaving home and James welcomed him with open arms. 

The other Marauders were not impartial to the changes in your and James’s behavior. The miniscule changes in his face when you napped on his lap or the flush of your skin when he rustled your hair. In all honesty, it was as though the two of you were finally waking up and seeing what they’d been seeing all along. However, your own defiance was strong and love wasn’t simple. James was still under the impression that his heart beat for Lily Evans and you flirted around your feelings as opposed to finally confronting them. 

When Gryffindor won the Quidditch season, you were the first one in James’s arms to congratulate him. He spun you around, a large grin on his face. “We won!” 

You smiled. “That you did, my boy. Celebration calls and are you thinking what I’m thinking?” 

He tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. “Hmm? Let me guess… Firewhiskey?” 

“That’s my boy.” you cheer, linking your arm in his and dragging him off the field as Lily Evans watched the boy she had taken a chance on run off with someone else.

---

Firewhiskey made for a fine celebration and resulted in James and you collapsed on the floor of the Gryffindor common room at two in the morning. His glasses were crooked as he stared up at the ceiling and your hair fell in waves on the floorboards. 

“Blimey, I can’t believe we won.” James chuckled, his words slurring together slightly. 

“You deserve it, my boy.” you say, lightly punching his arm. “How are you feeling on this fine evening?” 

His cheeks went pink but a smile overtook his features making for a hilarious expression when he shouted out. “Randy!”  

You doubled over with laughter. “Gosh, James. I don’t need to hear about this.” you shove his grinning face with your palm. 

“What, you've never felt randy before?” he asked, a childlike expression on his face juxtaposing such an intrusive question. 

You hide your embarrassment behind a grin. “Yes, but I’m not going around telling you about it.” 

He tapped your nose with the tip of his finger and your stomach swirled. “And why not?” 

You turned over to your side. “I’m not sure best friends tell each other about being randy, Prongs.” 

James sighed. “I guess not. But how are you feeling, my little vixen?” 

With a swig of your drink and a grin you reply. “Randy.” 

The two of you erupt into fits of laughter. James pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I suppose it’s the whiskey then.” 

You stare up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I suppose so.” 

Both of you knew that wasn’t the case. You knew that despite the whiskey slowing the gears of your mind you still noticed James’s hand laying by your waist. You could still trace the outline of his chin and the bridge of his nose. James could still see the curve of your lips and the rise of your chest. Firewhiskey was most definitely not the cause of your randiness. 

But it was the easiest thing to blame. 

--- 

Your birthday came soon after with the Marauders celebrating in joy. Presents were exchanged with Remus giving you some books, Peter knitted (with the help of his mother) a pair of mittens for you and Sirius had gifted you a record to play on your stereo. 

But James had to be extravagant. It wasn’t everyday his best friend turned seventeen and he marked the occasion with something expensive yet meaningful. When you opened the small box inside had been a silver fox ring. It’s eyes sparkling gems that twinkled as if blinking. 

“James, I’m going to kill you.” you seethed. “This is way too expensive. I’m turning seventeen not fifty.” 

He laughed. “Oi, woman! It’s fine. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Besides, only the best for you.” 

You stared at it once more before engulfing him in a hug. “It’s beautiful, my boy. Thank you.” 

His arms squeezed your waist, breathing you in and remembering the sweet smells of childhood and friendship rolled into one. His eyes closed and it was as if he had drifted off into a pleasant dream. “Of course, my little vixen.”

You made certain to flick his head after. 

He was starting to regret giving it to you already. 

---

Sixth year came to a close with an even more devastating end than the last. The war only continued to rage with Muggles being murdered miles away from the school, Muggle-borns driving into hiding. Sirius’s brother was slowly falling into line with the other Slytherins, devoting their hours to the torture of Muggleborns, Lord Voldemort and the likes. 

James left Hogwarts heart-broken when Lily Evans broke up with him on the last day of term. “Look around!” Lily had told him. “You’re blind, James. I’m not the person you want and it’d be clear if you’d stop and take a look.” 

He hadn’t known what she meant and the first week of summer was spent crying and eating ice cream on the sofa with you by his side. His room had become a mess and Lily’s letters no longer remained on the wall instead crumbled up in a ball in the trash. 

Euphemia Potter couldn’t dread to see her son in the dumps any longer and she made sure to tell him so one evening after you had left. 

“James, you need to get your life together, my love.” she whispered, rubbing her sons back reassuringly. 

His words came out muffled into her neck. “It’s hard.” 

“I know.” she soothed. “And I’m always going to be there for you.” 

“Promise?” he asked. 

“Promise.” she smiled. “Now how about you go clean your room. It’s become quite dirty.” 

He nodded, trudging to his room with a broom. Lily’s words repeated in his mind as he entered. “You’re blind, James. Look around!” But there was nothing to look for. All he saw was his wall and a soft smile came to his face as he approached it. The Tutshill Tornado banners clung loosely to the paint and drawings of Kneazles and landscapes and trees. Pictures of the Marauders and Gryffindor lions. 

And finally the ones of you. 

His fingers ran across the picture in the middle. Four-year old James grinning and you licking a lolly. His eyes moved to the next one, seven years old and flying together on a broomstick. A grin broke out on his face as he saw the one with your owl in Diagon Alley, his fingers flicking your forehead. James’s mind was on hyperdrive as he examined each picture, one common factor in almost all of them. 

You. 

You were in many of the photos, a smile adorned on your face. If you weren’t in the photos you were the one taking them, knowing how much he adored them. Any pictures that hung were sketched by your hands. Here was James Potter’s open story, the story of his life all plastered to the wall as though it was an empty canvas. Present in every moment, every aspect, had been you. You had been the start of his book, the picture of the two of you as tots still smacked in the middle of the wall. Yes, he realized. You had started his book and had remained in it for quite some time. 

Lily Evans must’ve noticed and maybe everyone else had too. 

James had been blind to the message that was sprawled across his wall. He had been the one writing it, maybe not knowingly but writing it out all the same. Everyone had seen it except the writer and his subject, the message painstakingly clear years prior to its conception. 

He quickly removed all the pictures from the wall, grabbing each one that hung and piling them up in his hand. The door swung open as he dashed out of his room yelling, “I’ve got to go, mum!” before running out the front door. The hills of green were illuminated by the night sky, the stars burned for James as he hopped over branches and boulders to get to you. 

Your house was in the distance, your figure standing a few feet away from the home. He called out to you, your eyes turned to meet his. When he reached you, he paused, catching his breath. 

“James, what on Earth are you doing here?” you laugh, placing a hand on his shoulder as he breathed. 

He stood up straight, panting as he held up a photo. “This is us when we were four. The first photo we ever took together.” 

You squinted at him. “Right?” 

He shuffled through the pictures, fingers tracing each one. “And this is from when we were seven. That one from when we were ten. You gave me this drawing when we were six because you loved Kneazles and wanted one as a pet. That drawing was from the first year when we went skipping stones at the Black Lake and you sketched me and Peter.” 

Your face melts slowly. “James, I don’t understand. You’ve had these for years.” 

He exhaled, his eyes lighting up. “That’s the thing. I never saw it till now but Lily said I was blind and that she wasn’t the person I wanted.” You nod, wiping the sweat from his forehead with your sleeve and he grinned. “See that right there. That’s what I want.” 

The night air bit at your spine. “You want me to wipe the sweat from your forehead?” 

He shook his head with a soft chuckle. “Not exactly. I want you to wipe the sweat from my forehead for the next year and the next ten and then the next fifty. You’ve been doing it for years already and the thing is… I don’t think I want anyone else doing it for me.” 

You blinked as he came closer, his palms cradling your cheek as you gazed into his eyes. “You’ve been in my life for as long as I could remember and I want you to stay in it for as long as I live. You told me once to not throw around the l-word and I said…” 

“But I’ve known you my whole life.” you mutter. 

“I think I’ve loved you for a while. I just didn’t know it yet.” 

You shook your head as the wind rustled the branches, the windchime on your porch creating soft melodies. A large grin spread across your lips yet you continued to shake your head. “There’s a war, James.” 

He smiled. “Only more the reason to be with me.” 

“But I’ve been with you my whole life.” you tease. 

“Oh, shut up!” he chuckles, before leaning down to capture your lips. At that moment everything made sense. All the pieces of the puzzle sifted into place and the stars applauded you from the sky and the night gale created a ruckus at your shed blindfold. 

“Be my Snitch?” he asked. 

You rolled your eyes, “That’s the cringiest thing you’ve ever said, my boy.” 

He smirked. “Oh, but you love it.” 

“Perhaps I do.” you replied, flicking his forehead for good measure. 

---

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[teddy06writes]

the quackity + karl irl stream but add y/n ✨ (and maybe sapnap if that's not too hard to write 😳😳)

quackity x karl x reader (I tried to Fit in Sapnap but it didn’t work with the way the meet up actually went)

trigger warnings: swearing

premise: you finally get to meet your long distance boyfriends in person, the stream that follows is WACK

(y/s/n) - your screen name

(y/n/n) - your nickname

“Blep” talking

‘blep’ texting

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

“WE’RE POPPING OFF! WE’RE POPPIN OFF!”

You roared with laughter, doing your best to stay out of the way as Alex and Karl started swinging guitars around.

~~

two and a half hours earlier:

You had gotten off the plane in NC, practically buzzing with nervous energy, or maybe it was the coffee you’d gotten on the plane, combined with the two energy drinks earlier in the day, but hey! it was a long flight, and it was already late.

It was nearly 10:30 by the time you got your bag, and pulled out your phone to check the new messages from Karl and Alex.

You had all planed to meet up originally at Karl’s house but then plans had changed when you and Alex figured it’d be cheaper to uber together, even if it ruined the plan of all of you meeting at once.

‘I just got my bag where are you?’ you texted Alex.

‘I only just got off the plane, I should get down to baggage claim soon tho’

You smiled, ‘I’ll see you them <3′

‘nerd’         ‘<3′

You stood against a wall, quietly scrolling through twitter as you waited, until a new message from Alex popped up.

It was a fairly blurry photo of a crowded airport, with a red circle drawn around one person.

‘that is you right?’

You chuckled, zooming in on the picture to determine that is was indeed you, ‘yup, that’s little ole me... stalker’

You looked up as you sent the text, rising on your toes to look over the crowd, trying to spot him, pulling out your camera you quietly explained what was going on and then:

“(Y/n)!” Alex emerged from the crowd, and immediately you grinned, throwing your arms around him.

“Alex!”

You pulled away long enough for Alex to ask, “Can I kiss you?”

Laughing you nodded, and his lips met yours, as your hands came to rest on the sides of his face.

When you pulled away Alex muttered, “wow.”

“That bad? Sorry.” You glanced down sheepishly.

“Not that-” he said quickly, taking a half step back, “It’s just- wow, you know. Like, we’re actually here together, and about to go meet up with Karl, and wow.”

You chuckled, “I guess that makes sense.”

He garbed your hand, “C’mon, I already called an uber.”

~~

The whole way to Karl’s you sat nervously fiddling the cuffs of your hoodie, occasionally glancing at Alex, who smiled back reassuringly.

You sent a message to the group chat the three of you were in saying you would be there in two minutes at which he sent back a long string of emojis you could only take to mean that he was excited.

The car pulled up in front of the house and you got out, thanking the driver as Alex got your suitcases from the back.

Quietly you pulled out your camera, just as you had at the airport.

“Why are you filming everything?” Alex asked as you walked up to the house.

“We’re gonna do what George could never.” You laughed.

“Yeah but the lightings gonna be shit, it’s dark out here.”

“It’ll still be better than George!”

Alex laughed, high fiving you, “True!”

Almost as soon as you knocked, the door opened and Karl came barreling out, tackling both of you in a hug, “YOUR HERE!”

Alex barley kept him from falling over, “Yeah!”

“It’s almost like we planned it.” You couldn’t help but scoff at the camera.

Karl grinned, quickly pecking at your lips, and then Alex’s as he let go of you, “I am so excited that you guys are here!”

“Woah Karl where's the consent?!” Alex feigned shock.

“Oops?” He giggled.

You rolled your eyes with a chuckle, “Can we come in? It’s cold out here!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, come in, come in!” Karl quickly moved back inside, waving you and Alex in, “Sorry.”

~~

After getting your suitcases inside and being formally introduced to Shaun, Karl all but demanded for you to take pictures together, resulting in many shots that were blurry from too much laughter, but a few good ones, like the picture with the boys on either side of you, kissing your cheeks, which later went up on Instagram, and a picture of Karl, mid laugh looking back at you up on Alex’s back.

All of your previous anxiety was very much gone.

You laughed, looking at Karl’s phone as he showed the picture, “Oh my god!”

“That is amazing!” Alex agreed, leaning over you to look.

“It’s gonna be the stream announcement!” Karl declared, pulling up twitter.

You glanced at your phone, “Karl it’s almost one in the morning, no one would show up to a stream.”

Karl laughed, “You seriously underestimate the fans.”

The next thing you knew you were up upstairs, sitting off to the side of Karl’s streaming set up as Alex grabbed the guitar from the corner, “Karl you don’t even actually play, why do you have this?”

“Because I can?” He said absently, starting to set up for a stream.

The air was thick with excitement as Karl hit ‘go live’, and handed you and Alex extra sets of headphones.

Alex was still messing with the guitar, and you barley stifled laughs as he began to sing Country roads in a strange accent, and the chat filled with people.

“It’s pop off time!” Karl announced in a high pitched voice, making you laugh even more.

The face cam was turned on, and the yelling began.

After a few moments, and a couple more terrible bars of country roads, Karl grinned, “Everyone! This is, Quackity, our, uh, our guitarist for the day!”

Alex laughed, “We’re poppin off! We’re poppin off!”

“And (y/s/n)s here too!” Karl dragged your chair further in frame, “Welcome! Welcome!”

“It’s pop off central tonight boys!” You chuckled.

The alert box went insane as did the chat as Alex finally sat down next to you, and Karl stopped laughing enough to sit back up.

“Guys! Chill! You’re gonna break the alert box!”

You laughed again, “Yeah just tell your chat to stop, just knock it off, leave we’re done!”

Alex snorted, “It’s over!”

Karl pulled his chair closer to the desk, “Thanks for uh, being here, with the boys, uhh.”

He turned to Alex who was now essentially just spamming random chords, yelling, “I can’t hear you!”

You berried your face in your hands, trying to control your laughter.

Karl sighed and pulled his headphones off, “You know what? I’ll be right back, I’ll be right back.”

You immediately hopped seats as he left, “Hello chat! Hello!”

Alex leaned over, trying to grab the mic to pull it towards him, “hell-” part of the stand snapped, “Oh my god!”

“Oh my god you fucking broke it!” You yelled, pushing away from the desk.

“Oh god, hold on!”

He did his best to fix it, leaning in to talk to the chat, while Karl came back with another guitar.

“Why do you have two of them?” You laughed.

Karl grinned, “Technically it’s Shaun's!”

“OH WE”RE POPPING OFF! WE”RE POPPING OFF!”

You roared with laughter, quickly moving back out of the way as Karl jokingly swung the guitar at Alex.

Once you calmed down you caught a glimpse of the chat, “Guys I think you fucked something up!”

“Oh god!” Alex muttered.

“Wait- hold on- did-” Karl examined the mic, “Wait its unplugged!”

It took a few minutes to get things sorted out, and as Karl and Alex went back to yelling about popping off you spun around in your desk chair, “Pop off crew! Pop off crew!”

Things settled down again when you moved your chair back to between them, a sub goal was set for a height check, and you started to try and get things some what orderly.

“So yeah this isn’t just a Minecraft stream, I think we’re just hanging out, Popping off, you know, we’re gonna talk to chat-”

Karl began to laugh, and Alex tried not to chuckle as he said, “He’s laughing at you (y/n) he’s just laughing at you! What are you gonna do about it?”

“Listen man, I’m trying to get your fucking stream in order. If you just wanna fucking ignore me then fine!” You held your hands up in surrender.

“Well, I mean-”

Karl started to stand up, and you knew he was going for the fit check but Alex screeched, shoving his chair back, “Fuck off!”

“Wha?”

You laughed, “He thought you were going for the Hight check early man!”

“Dude it’s the fit check!”

Alex laughed as Karl sat back down, “Holy shit- cash app with the hundred tear ones!”

You giggled at the message, “They wanna see the height check! Who wants to see the height check? Who wants to see the height check chat?”

“No no no no! No height check early! It- it doesn’t matter, cause height is stupid, and a choice!” Alex struggled for words.

You shook your head whispering, “He just looks short next to Karl and he’s scared.”

“Shut up!”

~~

A while later, after both Karl and Alex’s stream descended into chaos or partial chaos, you found yourself tucked between them on the couch.

Karl’s fingers were intertwined with yours, and Alex’s head lay on your shoulder.

“I’m glad to have finally met you guys.” You murmured.

“Yeah,” Alex hummed, “Actually being able to cuddle is much better than the online thing.”

Karl hummed in agreement, “I wish you guys could be here all the time.”

“Let’s get a house somewhere.” You mused.

“Somewhere convenient for you two nerds to go to school.” Karl chuckled.

Alex yawned, “Somewhere near good take out.”

You smiled sleepily, “Anywhere with you guys is fine by me.”

Distantly a clock on the wall read 4:23 am.

[carmensbroom]

I've once again had 6 hours to process everything I saw in season 4 so I'm just gonna say my thoughts on it (hold onto your fedoras again folks)

first off, WE FOUND OUT GRAY'S LAST NAME?? I was so shocked and happy at the same time I love how everyone asked for player's real name and we ended up with gray's surname for some reason shsjsj. NOBODY ASKED FOR THAT BUT THEY DELIVERED ANYWAY

ALSO GRAHAM IS AN ORPHAN?? my precious boy *throws mommy's boy headcanon out the window*

the second episode really had me shipping carmivy they're so cute we got a girl's trip and I'm all for it

I think I may now be a dash haber stan but let's not make a big thing of it

also ivy eating the chocolate in the middle of a mission deserves an honorable mention because of her cute little tongue (I'm weird okay djsjsjs)

zack trying to bond with shadowsan and him having none of it was delightful

that fucking robot god damn bellum really thought of everything didn't she every time I thought it was gone it made a come back I literally said out loud "carmen is so fucked"

I SWEAR TO GOD EVERY TIME GRAY TALKED ABOUT CARMEN I KEPT THINKING HE WAS GONNA SAY "BECAUSE I LOVE HER" IN WHICH CASE I WOULD HAVE DIED AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY

yall have no idea how relieved I was when I found out that photo of julia was her and her (presumably) mother and NOT a boyfriend sjsjsjs

catch me making a headcanon that julia has a single mom because her father disowned her for coming out as gay based on that picture alone 😭

I'M SORRY BUT THE AMOUNT OF FLIRTING BETWEEN CARMEN AND JULES?? PLEASE THEY'RE SECRET GIRLFRIENDS JUST ADMIT YOU CENSORED THEM AND GO

OKAY BUT WHEN THEY WERE IN JULIA'S OFFICE AND CARMEN SAID "WAY TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART JULES" AND SHE WAS LIKE "YOU REMEMBERED" I LOST IT WHAT DID CARMEN REMEMBER JULES?? DID THEY HAVE A CONVERSATION OFF SCREEN? MAYBE I'M JUST A BIG HUGE LESBIAN BUT THAT'S A BIT GAY LADIES

carmen getting all worried when julia wasn't answering her phone was the blessed gay content I signed up for PLEASE THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH

never thought I'd say this but I loved devineaux this season he was funny, he improved his treatment towards julia (I don't recall him officially apologising I must have missed something djsjsjs)

the only thing I didn't like was it kinda seemed like they were trying to hint that chase and jules were into each other and I didn't really vibe with that

all that shit with dr bellum and the crown for cleo really had me thinking cleobellum was gonna be canon what a clown I am (seriously tho the way she lost it when the crown got stolen GIVE IT BACK IT BELONGS TO HER WIFE)

look all I'm saying is: tigress new outfit in the egypt episode was hot

HER FACE AT THE END AFTER SHE GOT TRAPPED WITH ALL THOSE BUGS

I wish julia and gray could have met there's so much friendship potential there 😭

is player... is he a bit 💅 I SEE THAT PRIDE STICKER ON YOUR LAPTOP YOUNG MAN YOU'RE NOT SUBTLE

ngl I nearly teared up when player finally met carmen in person

I'M SORRY BUT JULIA'S BLUSH IN EPISODE 7 PLEASE SHE'S SO SMITTEN WITH CARMEN IT'S BRILLIANT

EVIL CARMEN WAS REALLY SOMETHING ELSE I WAS SO SCARED SHE'D BE STUCK LIKE THAT FOREVER

I mentioned this in another post but when julia was like "don't you remember me? I'm your girlfriend friend, jules" I NEARLY FUCKING CRIED THEY WERE GETTING KINDA CLOSE AND THEN CARMEN GOT MIND WIPED

JULIA TOPS JULIA TOPS I SAID IT ALL ALONG AND IT'S TRUE SHE REALLY PINNED VILE CARMEN THAT'S TOP BEHAVIOR (also this now makes carmen a bottom I don't make the rules)

kinda shocked that paper star was hardly here I don't stan her so it didn't bother me much but still it was just strange they didn't use her this season

when shadowsan whipped out the last doll and carmen had all those flashbacks to when she was at vile I nearly started crying AGAIN

I LEGIT THOUGHT CARMEN HAD KILLED GRAY DJSJSJS AN ELECTRICIAN GETTING ELECTROCUTED THAT'S SOME IRONY RIGHT THERE

gray really confused me towards the end he kept switching sides every five minutes for the whole season I wasn't sure whether to trust him half the time dhshsjs

THE LOOK ON CARMEN'S FACE WHEN SHE THOUGHT SHE'D KILLED GRAY WAS SO HEARTBREAKING AND THEN SHE STARTED CRYING OH MY GOD I'M SORRY BABY

the way she's always been against hurting people/taking lives and then she ended up hurting all the people she loves (she nearly killed zack for god sake) really hit me hard

gray's ending was... kinda weird I understood the parallel of him not wanting to complicate carmen's life like she said about him in season 2 but it was still kinda strange that they didn't have one more conversation or get any closure

I'm obviously kinda upset that carulia wasn't canon they had so much potential imo and the show isn't about romance anyway BUT I'm happy with the content we got and THEY FLIRTED SO MUCH THEY'RE CANON IN MY HEART

THE TEAM RED GROUP HUG KILLED ME IT WAS SO CUTE

kinda annoyed that carmen just straight up left zack and ivy she really just left a note and said YEET

ivy's voice crack when she read the note got me all choked up

ngl I'm still not entirely sure how it ended I had to rewatch it a few times to understand what they were trying to imply sjsjsj

would have loved to know carmen's given name but at the same time she's literally THE carmen sandiego that's who she is, it would be silly to go by a name that she doesn't connect with just because her parents gave her it

her mom being a regular citizen was kinda bittersweet I mean a plot twist would have been good but at the same time it would make the story even more complicated

*dreams of a spinoff movie where we get better closure on everything*

ACME IVY ACME IVY I'M NOT AN IVY STAN BUT DAMN IF I AIN'T SIMPING FOR ACME IVY

I know carmen didn't want revenge but I feel like chief got let off with killing her father way too quickly if I'm honest sjsjsj

JULIA BEING IN CHARGE OF FINDING CARMEN'S MOM OH MY GOSH

I feel so bad for laughing when julia got knocked out the way the cloth fell on her head sent me but when the pole hit her head I was like "OKAY I TAKE IT BACK THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE"

was not expecting julia to physically fight anyone I mean she's always been so calm and collected and then this season she was like fuck it might as well hit a few people before we finish forever

wishing carmen and jules could have hugged or had a scene together where they talked about stockholm but I won't complain it wouldn't have really made sense anyway considering they were cool with each other at the university

so glad the trailer was misleading about the coach brunt situation I really didn't want her to get a last minute redemption

another honorable mention: cleo snapping at julia "DON'T YOU DARE IMPLY THAT I AM COMMON" sent me djdjs she was just stood there like "I am but a humble history lesbian leave me be"

I think that's everything I'll probably add to it later if I think of anything or I might make a part 2 djsjsjs (I've been writing this for almost an hour now 😭)

overall I enjoyed it from start to finish. I haven't really cried about it ending yet I'm still processing everything but I'll probably have a little sob when it finally hits me djsjsjs

CARULIA NATION WE BASICALLY WON NOW EXCUSE ME WHILE I REWATCH ALL THEIR SCENES TOGETHER AND MAKE IT MY ENTIRE PERSONALITY

[spencers-renaissance]

This Gravitational Pull

Summary: Penelope Garcia sets her two best friends Derek & Spencer up on a blind first date. Even with the best intentions and highest expectations, no-one could've predicted it would go quite this well.

Tags: fluff, first date, au: diff first meeting, shy spencer, insecurity, anxiety, flirting, cuddling, protective derek, silly amounts of affection

Pairing: Derek Morgan x Spencer Reid

Word Count: 2.9k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

I started writing this and then realised that I'd set their date in a pub's beer garden? I googled it and apparently they are a thing in America so I kept it in. I don't know how common they are, but I hope it's all good and you can picture the setting just fine.

Spencer really wishes he hadn’t agreed to this blind date.

Not because he doesn’t trust Penelope — he does, he trusts her implicitly and entirely — but because it's a blisteringly hot day in late July and the heat compounded by his shaking nerves is making for a rather unpleasant sweating situation.

A bumblebee buzzes quietly around the table he’s sat at, briefly interested in the iced coffee he’s got his hands wrapped around, and Spencer watches it with a gentle sort of intrigue, able to briefly take his mind off the impending date. He knows that Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan is physically attractive, Penelope had made that more than clear with both her copious photos of him and the way she’s sung his praises since she started working at the FBI, but if anything, that just makes him more nervous. If Derek wasn’t his type, then he wouldn’t have as much to lose.

He runs a nervous hand through his hair as he heaves a small sigh. Worst case scenario, he can run home to his apartment, order Indian food, bury himself in the early edition of War and Peace he just won in an auction and forget that this date ever happened.

“Spencer? Spencer Reid?”

A surprisingly deep and sexy voice has him looking up from the watch face he’s been staring at perhaps a little too intensely, and he’s instantly taken aback by the Greek God standing in front of him. He’d known Derek was attractive, he'd seen pictures of him, but no camera could ever hope to do someone so beautiful any semblance of justice.

“Uh, y-yes, um, yeah. That’s me.” He shakes his head to try and recover his awkward word stumbling before discreetly wiping his sweaty palm on his trousers and standing up to shake Derek’s hand. “You’re Derek?”

“The one and only,” Derek says cheekily, shooting Spencer a grin that already has his stomach churning with a mix of excitement and crippling nerves. “Penelope told me you were gorgeous, but let me tell you, she really undersold it, pretty boy.”

His cheeks instantly flush red as he fights to maintain eye contact, blinking owlishly at the other man. Did he really just say that?

“I was going to say the same thing.”

Derek’s grin only widens. “Well, it looks like Penelope matched us well, then.”

This time Spencer allows himself to briefly duck his head as a baffling mix of pleasure and mortification swim around his chest. He puts it down to inexperience. Any other explanation will only compound his embarrassment.

“She did,” he agrees, smiling over at Derek and hoping desperately that he’s managing to stay cooler on the outside than he is on the inside. “Do you want something to drink?”

Derek nods. “I’ll go and order a beer at the bar. Do you want anything or are you okay with that coffee?”

“Oh no, I’m fine, thank you,” Spencer says, and mentally he praises himself for finally getting out a coherent sentence that doesn’t sound hopelessly mangled and flustered.

He watches Derek as he strides into the pub, looking as cool and confident as his looks and personality allow, and he realises that he really does just have a way about him. The bar is relatively crowded due to the blinding heat on a Saturday afternoon, but the bartender serves him instantly, all the girls eyeing him interestedly and the guys knocking his shoulder and joking about with him as though they’re all easy, long-time friends.

It’s nice, Spencer thinks, to be the focus of someone like that’s attention. Derek could have his pick of most people drinking here, but he only has eyes for Spencer as he comes back out, holding a tall pint and wearing a happy, focused expression as he sits back down.

“Do you not drink?” Derek asks curiously and without judgement, gesturing to his coffee.

“I go out with my friends sometimes,” Spencer says, blushing again, “but I’m a bit of a lightweight, and that’s not the best state of mind to be in on any first date, let alone a blind one.”

Derek chuckles warmly at that, and the sound is a pleasant rumble reminiscent of a distant thunderstorm. Spencer wants to melt into it.

“I think I’d like to see you all messy on a night out, pretty boy,” Derek says wryly, still grinning shamelessly, and Spencer gets the distinct impression that this ‘pretty boy’ business is going to be a Thing between them.

Spencer cocks his head and takes a sip of his coffee through the long metal straw. “Maybe you’ll have to join us some time.”

“Does that mean we’re going on another date?” Derek asks, but before Spencer can panic that he’s said the wrong thing, he’s smoothly continuing. “Because I’m more than down for that.”

“You are?”

“Pretty boy, you ever looked in the mirror?” Derek demands playfully. “Add that to this cute little nerdy bashful doctor thing you got going on and you’re the whole package. Of course I want another date with you, and we’ve barely even started this one.”

Spencer flushes bright pink at that, and decides to move the conversation on before he melts into a literal puddle in the middle of this beer garden. “So you know Penelope through work?”

Derek gets the hint. “I was part of the group that arrested her, actually,” he chuckles, “and I thought she was gonna be a nightmare to work with when we gave her the option of working for the FBI instead of going to prison. But then she showed up on her first day decked out from head to toe in pink and yellow, her hair dyed back to her natural blonde, and the way she smiled when I called her baby girl… well, it was smooth sailing from then on. Did you know her back in her Black Queen days?”

“I was her one phone call,” Spencer answers, his face splitting into an easy grin as they discuss his favourite person on planet earth. “I was terrified she was going to jail and I’d lose her forever, so I was over the moon when you guys offered her that deal. We went to get our hair done together the very next day.”

“Oh yeah? And what did Pretty Boy have done to his hair, hm?”

Spencer blushes. “Let’s just say she wasn’t the only one who had a rebellious phase?”

“Now that I have got to know more about.”

“Save it for date number two, SSA Morgan,” Spencer shoots back, relaxing into the easy banter between them.

“Alright, alright, baby, I can do that,” he says, winking again. Thankfully, Spencer manages not to do an embarrassing impression of a traffic light this time. “How did you and Penelope meet?”

“Back in college actually,” Spencer nods. “She was sort of going off the rails after her parents’ death, but I think finding a scared 12 year old in her Geography elective helped her rein it in a bit. We’ve been glued at the hip pretty much since we met. Even when I went to MIT for a bit to complete my Engineering PhD, she came with me. Since her job back then was mostly hacking and some supplemental side jobs, it didn’t really matter where she was based, she was just hellbent on protecting me like she has ever since that first Geography class.”

“Wow,” Derek says, looking genuinely shocked as he leans back a little bit, eyeing Spencer with curious eyes. “You went to college when you were twelve? I’m glad you had Penelope because that could’ve been a disaster.”

“It kind of was,” Spencer nods, laughing a little. “But it meant that I had five degrees including three doctorates by the time I was twenty-one so I wasn’t too mad about it.”

Derek stares at him consideringly, the soft smile on his face making Spencer’s stomach fill with butterflies. “You’re quite the genius aren’t you?”

“Well, I don't believe that intelligence can be accurately quantified, but I do have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words per minute.”

Derek just stares at him.

“So, yeah, I guess I’m a genius?” he says bashfully.

Derek laughs, shaking his head. “Definitely a genius. I mean, Penelope told me you were clever, but this is like… insane. Are you sure you’re okay to go out with a mere mortal like me or should I see myself out?”

“Yeah actually, Derek, sorry, it’s not going to work out,” Spencer says, feigning seriousness. “I can’t be with anybody who’s not within twenty IQ points of me or doesn’t have at least two PhDs.”

“A good actor, too? What don’t you have going for you, pretty boy?” He laughs in that wild and free kind of way Spencer always wishes he could, and he wonders whether Derek could teach him how.

Derek watches him like there’s something special about Spencer as the sound of their laughter mingles, looks at him like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be but right here, right now, and the warm intensity of it has a buzz going in Spencer’s chest, a pleasant feeling he can’t imagine anything dousing, and he never wants Derek to take his eyes off him again. Not if this is how it’s always going to make him feel.

The hours of the afternoon fly by and all of a sudden the sun is setting and they’re feeling distinctly hungry.

“How do you feel about getting some street food and taking a wander down to the beach?” Derek suggests hopefully, and Spencer can’t help the wide grin that splits his cheeks at the idea.

“Let’s do it.”

The beach is slightly cooler than the garden now the sun is setting and a soft, salty breeze is floating in from the ocean, so they sit close together in the sand, sharing their servings of nachos and fries between them.

“What’s your family like?” Spencer asks, a little daringly after a couple of minutes of comfortable silence.

Derek smiles. “They’re amazing. It’s been just me, my mom, and my two sisters since I was ten years old, but I think losing my dad only brought us closer together, y’know? We had to learn from a young age how to rely on each other, and we were also taught the very valuable lesson of just how important family is and how nothing in life is guaranteed, so we’ve made every effort to be as close to one another as possible.”

Spencer watches with quiet admiration as Derek gushes about his family, and takes another bite of their nachos. “Do they live locally?”

“No, they’re all still back in Chicago,” Derek says. “It’s sad sometimes, being so far away from them, but they would have killed me if I’d stuck around back home just for them and hadn’t chased my dream of climbing the ladder of the FBI.”

Spencer nods, chuckling along with Derek as they stare out at the quiet, tumbling waves of the ocean.

“What about you?” Derek asks. “Are you close with your family?”

Shit. He hadn’t exactly considered that asking Derek about his family would lead to reverse questioning about his own. I mean, call him a genius all you want, but social interaction is not his area of expertise.

“Uh, it’s just me and my mom. She lives back in Vegas,” he explains, clearing his throat awkwardly as he hopes that’s enough to appease his date.

Truthfully, it probably would have been, but Derek doesn’t say anything immediately, and the silence feels like it’s choking him into admitting the truth, however much it makes his chest tighten and his stomach flip with anxiety. What if this is it? What if Derek doesn’t want to start something with someone who has a family history as fucked up as his? What if he reads between the lines and sees that Spencer could be just like his mom in the future, and thinks that starting a relationship is just too risky?

“She has paranoid schizophrenia,” he blurts out, the words rolling off his tongue without his express permission, and instead of shutting up, they just keep coming. “When my dad left when I was ten, I had to be her sole carer until I left for college at twelve, but even then she refused professional help and medication, so I was taking the train from Pasadena to Las Vegas every weekend to try and help her out, and it got messy a lot of the time. It was only when I turned eighteen that things got a little bit easier, and that was only because I betrayed her trust and had her sectioned into a Sanitorium.

“They’re amazing, they take really good care of her and I did my research obviously, but I think a part of her still resents me for doing that.”

He stares out at the ocean for a couple of seconds before he suddenly realises where he is and what he’s just done.

“Oh my god,” he says as horror and dread fill him from the bottom up, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have just dumped all that on you, I’m sorry, just—”

“Hey, pretty boy,” Derek says gently, placing a reassuring hand on his back to get his attention. “It’s okay, don’t worry. I’m just happy you felt comfortable enough to tell me all of that, and besides, I asked the question, and I meant it. I wanted to know the answer.”

Spencer feels some of the panic recede a little, and he looks up at Derek to try and gauge whether he’s telling the truth. “Really?”

Derek’s expression only softens further. “Really.”

He relaxes a little further and leans into Derek’s side, smiling to himself when Derek wraps his arm fully around his waist, resting his head on top of Spencer’s.

“I feel like I’ve known you way longer than just four hours and fifty six minutes,” Spencer says eventually.

Derek chuckles, and this time Spencer can feel the low rumble against his cheek as well as hear it. “It might be the biggest cliche in the book, but I feel exactly the same, baby.”

“I think sharing street food on the beach while staring out at a sunset as romantic and beautiful as that one has cemented the cliches in this date enough already,” Spencer points out, laughing a little.

“That is very true,” Derek agrees, squeezing his hand against Spencer’s waist. “We could round all the cliches off with a kiss, if you’d like.”

Spencer sits upright, blushing again as he eyes Derek’s flirtatious but serious expression. “I’d like that a lot.”

Derek wastes no time in taking Spencer’s jaw in his hand and leaning in slowly to place a long, sensuous kiss to his lips. Spencer kisses back with as much control as is possible when your experience is next to none and you have one of the most beautiful men in the world turning your stomach inside out with his attention, but it seems to be enough for Derek because as soon as they pull away, he’s grinning widely.

“You’re quite the kisser, pretty boy.”

Spencer fights the blush but it comes anyway. “I like that.”

Derek’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “The kiss?”

“No, the pet names.”

Derek’s expression smooths out and he smiles again, a little more tenderly than his usual cheeky grin. “Well, that’s good, because I have plenty more up my sleeve, sweetheart.”

Spencer flushes with pleasure this time and settles back against Derek’s side, observing the blue sea as they settle into silence once more.

“I’m not very used to all of this, by the way,” he says after a while, the sky slowly darkening.

“Used to what?”

“This. Kissing. Dating. Pet names.”

Derek looks down at Spencer to try and get a better look at his face. “Really? You could’ve fooled me.”

“I’ve only ever had one boyfriend before, and this is only the second date I’ve ever been on.”

“Any girlfriends?”

“Not really my area.”

“And this other date, was that with boyfriend number one?”

Spencer shakes his head against Derek’s shoulder. “No, I never went on a date with him. I met him in college and we were friends first, so we never really dated, just fell into a relationship.”

“Ah.” A brief silence settles over them again, but Derek doesn’t let it hang long. “You know I’m not bothered by any of that, right? You could have never dated anyone ever before or have screwed your way round half of California and DC and it wouldn’t matter a single bit. Not if you were here with me, right now.”

He laughs softly as Derek lightens the mood, and something in Spencer’s chest feels like it falls into place at that, like his last anxious reservation has been washed away and he can really move forward, forge onward with this scarily exciting endeavour.

“You’re a good man, Derek Morgan. You know that, right?”

Derek kisses the top of his head. “I do,” he says, “but I’m not sure it’s ever sounded quite as special falling from anyone else’s lips as it does falling from yours.”

Further down the beach, another wave crashes against the shore, and the colours of the sunset fade away slowly. People pack up their picnic baskets and head home, and seagulls attack their leftovers, but none of that matters, because right now, Spencer’s world is Derek Morgan.

Penelope Garcia deserves a medal.

(Yes, I've used that "yeah I guess I'm a genius" sequence in way too many fics, leave me ALONE. )

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @lesbiantodds @suburban--gothic @strippersenseii @takeyourleap-of-faith @negativefouriq @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @livrere-blue @hotchseyebrows @enbyspencer @reidology @transhanniballecter @spencerspecifics @bau-gremlin @hotchedyke @tobias-hankel @marsjareau @oliverbrnch @im-autistic @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @reidreids @ropoto @thosecriminalminds @wifeyprentiss @cmily @love-pyramus @notevanbuckley @hotchscotchh (add yourself to my taglist here!)

[bbyboybrock--archived]

Hide and Seek (Colby Brock Imagine)

Summary: *REQUEST* omg what about Colby helping the reader hide in a laundry basket during hide and seek and she wins 😳✨

Written: 2020

Word Count: 1,611

Warnings: mention of death, minor fluff, swearing

Masterlist

I’m laying flat on my back eating the pizza we ordered. I feel my head being lifted and placed in someone’s lap. I shift my eyes up and meet Colby’s eyes. I furrow my eyebrows and glare at him. He really has the audacity to interrupt me during pizza time.

“Don’t get mad at me. If you choke on death while eating pizza, I’m not saving your dumbass. I keep telling you to not eat laying down, Y/N.” Colby says kissing my forehead.

“If I die eating pizza, at least I’ll die doing something I love,” I shout before shoving another bite of pizza in my mouth.

“I’m something you love, why not go out doing me?” Colby asks smirking.

“For the love of God and all things holy, please get a room. This Air BnB is full of them.” Corey screams from the couch.

Everyone got together for the week and chipped in on an Air BnB. We each chose days and what videos we would film for everyone’s channel. Even Mike is here, which I thought would be more awkward than it is because Xepher and Griffin are here too. Corey and Devyn are here too, but that is less awkward than it is with that trio. The fact that we were able to get the whole family together is amazing.

We’ve gotten together for some group videos, but because the pandemic was happening at the time so we tried to keep it to less than ten people. But now that all of that is over, we figured we would surprise our fans with a slew of group videos. They don’t even know that we’re here. We all planned by taking photos and videos before we left so we can post on our stories and everyone will think we’re at home, not hanging out together. 2020 was stressful, 2021 is going to be better for all of us, so we’re getting our fans in the right mindset.

“Everyone almost done? It’s dark enough now so we can get ready to film my videos.” Sam says as he starts to grab the empty pizza boxes. Kat helps him by grabbing the empty bottles.

I shove the rest of my pizza in my mouth and shoot up. Colby stares at me in disbelief and shoves my drink in my mouth.

“My God, woman, people are going to start thinking I starve you at home. I’m not joking about letting you choke. Eat like a normal person, please.” I manage to swallow what I had left in my mouth and smile.

“I’m sorry babe, you know how much I love pizza. I’ll be much more careful this week, I promise.” I kiss Colby’s cheek and go help everyone clean up.

Everyone is lined up for Sam’s videos. Of course, we’re playing hide and seek AND playing the mafia game. I have yet to win either game, but I am dead set on winning hide and seek. I found the perfect hiding spot earlier when we were filming Kevin’s video earlier. I’m so excited, Colby is holding my hand to try to get me to stop bouncing off the walls. It’s not working. I think this has something to do with the five cups of coke that I drank earlier. That’s a lot of caffeine. I hope I can stay still in my hiding spot.

“Okay everyone, you guys have 15 minutes once I close the door to find a hiding spot. Remember, you can only move once.” Sam explains before leaving us alone.

I pull Colby’s hand and drag him upstairs. When we get to the room that Colby and I chose to stay in, I let go of his hand and take off my jacket.

“I like the idea, but we don’t have enough time.” Colby jokes.

“No— I need your help. Empty the hamper.” I say quickly as I open the cabinet door and showing him the built-in hamper. It was already full when we got here, and it’s bolted to the wall. Sam can’t pick it up and hopefully, he won’t move the clothes. It’s the perfect spot.

“First of all, that’s disgusting, those are other people’s clothes and we don’t know how long it’s been here. Second, you’re going to suffocate. You really do have a death wish tonight, don’t you?” Colby turns on the lights so I can see him

“Do you really want to talk about death wishes, Mr. X.P.L.R. in dangerous places every day? Besides, I thought of all that. Just help me. I want to win this time. Pretty please?” I pull out all the clothes and give Colby the old puppy dog eyes.

“Fine, but you’re going to owe me big time. And I’m going to text you every few minutes so you don’t die.” I jump up and run back into the room. I position my shoes so it looks like I’m hiding under the bed. I grab the tape and a towel before running back to Colby. I empty the contents of my jacket pocket into the hamper.

I turn to Colby so he can help me climb in. He scoops me up and places me gently in the basket.

“Hand me the towel, please. It’s my only buffer with the dirty clothes.” I explain, pointing to the towel.

“That’s a great idea babe, but how are you going to breathe? Or not pass out from the heat?” Colby asks as he starts to cover me with the towel.

“Don’t worry, this is why I’ve been stealing straws all night and took off my jacket. Before you ask, I stole some water and snacks so I should be good for an hour or two. Make sure you cover me well and close the doors.”

“I hope my next girlfriend isn’t a crazy dumbass,” Colby mutters as he places the dirty laundry on me.

“You’re next what now?” I move the towel and sit straight up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wait at least a year after you’re gone. I’ll mourn you every day. I’ll name my next dog after you.” Colby is smirking, trying not to laugh.

“Okay, after tonight, we’re having a serious talk about your fascination with my death. Also, you name a dog after me, I’m haunting your ass when I actually do die. Now hurry up, time is almost out and you still have to h—” Colby throws the towel back over my head and dumps a whole bunch of clothes on me.

“I’m kidding and I love you!” Colby yells before shoving more clothes on me.

A few minutes later I feel Colby stop putting clothes on top of me. I look at my phone and see that Colby has about 5 minutes left to find a hiding place. I slide down and comfortably position myself. It’s already getting hot in here, maybe Colby was right. Like I would ever tell him that. His head is already big enough, I don’t need to fuel his ego anymore. I pull out my AirPods and turn on my favorite playlist to keep me occupied for however long I’m going to be in there. I get a text from Colby saying that he found a spot and asking me how I was. I reply to Colby and film my perspective of where I am for Sam’s video before closing my phone to save battery. This is going to be a long night, I can already tell.

****

“Y/N, wake up, this isn’t funny anymore.” Someone, I think Colby, yells as they shake me.

I rub my eyes and yawn before opening one eye. Sam and Colby stand over me, shining a light in my face.

“Did I win?” I ask sitting up and stretching.

“Oh my God! You little shit…” Colby falls back on the floor and mutters a slew of swear words to himself.

“Yeah, Y/N you won. And gave all of us heart attacks in the meantime.” Sam explains helping me out. Aryia, who was probably holding the camera, also helps me out.

Colby is standing up now and helping me get my stuff out of the bottom of the hamper. I notice the camera on the camera and do a cute pose in front of it. I’m not sure if I passed out from the heat or fell asleep because I was tired. Either way, I’m super sweaty now and I have never loved being out in the open more than I do now.

Sam and Ariya start to head downstairs, and I start to follow them until I feel Colby pull me back. I twirl around to face him. His eyes have a twinkle to them and the corner of his mouth are creeping towards his eyes. He has those crinkles that I love, the type he only gets when he smiles. He doesn’t do it much anymore, at least, not when we’re working. I see them a lot when we’re together, he hates them but I love them. It means he’s truly happy and it makes my heart full.

“What? Sam has to end his video.” I push Colby’s hair out of his eyes.

“Just wait a second. I know I joked a lot about you dying tonight, but when you stopped responding to my text and when I found you asleep in the bottom of the basket— No more stupid ideas for a while.” Colby kisses my forehead and strokes my hair.

“Fine, but you know that Jake and I are going to eventually cause chaos on this trip.” I kiss Colby’s cheek before going to join everyone downstairs.