#strawberries just earlier at a coffee shop while i waiting for my cousin

[braindeadmaggot]

Took a while but here are the next 2 sweaters I made for my nieces. (First one here)

[lovemesomesurveys]

What Rhymes With “AY”? Warning: This survey has 114 questions

1. Do you enjoy listening to reggae music? I haven’t listened to much reggae music.

2. Have you ever rolled in hay before? No. I’m actually allergic.

3. Has anyone ever broken a promise they made? Of course. 

4. Last time you went to a café, what did you order? Coffee.

5. Have you ever been to a matinee performance before? No.

6. Would you like a chance to ride in Santa’s sleigh? Why or why not? Would it be like the one in The Santa Clause that had a hot chocolate and cookie dispenser? ha. Swap the hot chocolate with coffee, though.

7. Have you ever taken ballet lessons before? How about any other type of dance lessons? No. That was actually something I wished I could do when I was a kid and in high school. I thought the dance team was cool.

8. Do you own any sexy lingerie? Nope.

9. Have you ever caught a bouquet of flowers at a wedding before? Nope.

10. Do you know how to do the Whip/Nae Nae? I do, actually.

11. Have you ever played croquet before? Nope. 

12. Has a horse ever neighed at you before? No.

13. How much do you weigh? I’m not exactly sure, but I am definitely underweight. 

14. Do you ever wear a beret? No.

15. When’s the last time you’ve been to a buffet? Back in February. There was a breakfast buffet at Disneyland where you got to visit with various characters while you ate. It was cute.

16. Have you ever attended a cabaret? No.

17. Have you ever eaten at Swiss Chalet? No. Never even heard of it.

18. Do you know how to crochet? How about doing macrame? No.

19. Do you have a duvet on your bed? No.

20. What was the last thing that ricocheted off of a surface? My phone did.

21. What do you put on your ice cream sundaes? I’m good with just vanilla ice cream and strawberry syrup, but sometimes I’ll add chocolate syrup as well. Bananas and whip cream are also great additions. Wow, it’s been yearsss since I’ve had one but that sounds really good right now.

22. Have you ever woken up to the “Reveille” bugle wake-up call at summer camp? No. I’ve never been to summer camp.

23. What is your favorite entrée to order at your favorite restaurant? My favorite restaurant is Wingstop and I always get the garlic parm and lemon pepper boneless wings.

24. Is crème brulee your favorite dessert? I don’t like actual creme brulee, but I like the creme brulee latte at Starbucks that they offer in the winter.

25. Do you know anyone who wears a toupee? I don’t think so.

26. Have you ever made a soufflé before? Was it good? Nope. I like the spinach and artichoke breakfast souffle from Panera, though.

27. Do you prefer ice cream or sorbet? Ice cream.

28. Do you know anyone named Renee, Jay, Clay, or Ray? I know someone whose middle name is Renee if that counts, and I also know a Jay and a Ray.

29. Have you ever had café au lait? Yes.

30. Have you ever gone to a restaurant called “Chez ______”? No.

31. Hey, how’s it going? It’s almost 730AM I should be going to sleep. My medicine I took a bit ago is making me feel a little nauseous, too, cause I took it on an empty stomach. That wouldn’t have been a problem if I just went to bed, but nooo. :/

32. When’s the last time you wore a lei? It’s been several years.

33. Did you obey your parents when you were younger? Yes.

34. Who do you want to hunt down like prey? No one.

35. Have you ever had whey before? No.

36. What message would you like to convey to someone right now? Nothing at the moment.

37. Whose survey did you take last? I don’t know who made it.

38. Have you ever been to a bay before? Yes.

39. Do you have a bae? “Or nah.” Ha, old Vine reference. Anyway, no, I do not.

40. What’s your favorite day of the week? They’re all the same to me, really, since I’m not in school nor do I have a job.

41. Have you ever had to read “The Cay”? Nope. That title doesn’t ring a bell.

42. Are you feeling okay? I’m feeling tired, hot, and kind of nauseous. 

43. Do you know anyone who is gay? Yeah, a few people.

44. Do you like the acting of Tina Fey? Sure.

45. Have you ever listened to The Fray? Yes, I like a few of their songs.

46. Do you have any frayed clothing? No.

47. Do you prefer bluebirds or bluejays? Bluebirds.

48. Is May your favorite month? No. I only like saying, “It’s gonna be May” haha. You know, the NSYNC/Justin Timberlake meme.

49. May I ask you some more questions? Sure.

50. Have you ever voted “nay” to anything before? What? Yeah. I was a board member for a club in college and there were things we voted on. 

51. Have you ever wanted to make someone pay for something that they did? I’m not a revengeful person.

52. Do you ever just lay around all day? That’s all I pretty much do everyday. 

53. Are you a happy little frickin’ ray of sunshine? No. I’m a little black raincloud. 

54. Is there something that you would like to say to someone? “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t know howwww.” 

55. When’s the last time that you were so excited that you exclaimed (or at least thought) “yay!” ? I said that the other night when my brother said he was making his bomb spaghetti. haha.

56. Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your way? I’ve been feeling that way for the past few years.

57. Do you ever wish that people would just go away? lol I’ve felt that way in some situations.

58. Have you heard an animal bray before? What animal was it? Yeah, a donkey.

59. What’s the last thing that you made out of clay? Nothing.

60. Are you starting to go gray? I’ve found a few here and there. D: It was like the minute I turned 30 I found my first one, ha.

61. Are you feeling okay right now? No. I still feel how I felt earlier when you asked how it was goin’. :/

62. Do you pray? How often? Yes, but not nearly as much as I ought to. 

63. What’s the best play you’ve seen before? The Phantom of the Opera.

64. What did you like to play with when you were younger? I was obsessed Barbies, I could play for hours. I also liked playing house and school.

65. Do you know how to sashay? “Sashay away.”

66. Would you like to slay dragons? Nah. I wouldn’t want to mess with a dragon.

67. Have you gotten your pets spayed? All my dogs were fixed/spayed. My doggo was spayed before we could take her home from the adoption shelter.

68. Have you ever begged someone to stay with you? Not begged, but I didn’t want them to leave.

69. Has the room ever started to sway before? I hateeee that feeling. 

70. When’s the last time you ate a meal on a tray? Uhhh. I don’t recall.

71. Do you know how to do math arrays? You’re speaking math so no. 

72. Have you ever experienced a delay of any sort? Yeah.

73. Do you have any tooth decay? No.

74. When’s the last time you wrote an essay? What was it about? Back when I was still in school, so it’s been 5 years now since the last time. 

75. When’s the last time you competed in a relay race? I participated in a few wheelchair race events when I was a kid.

76. Have you ever wondered how you could ever repay someone? Yes. I wish I could spoil and take care of my mom one day for everything she has done and continues to do for me. She deserves so much.

77. What did you do today? So far just Tumblr, surveys, and listening to ASMR.

78. Would you ever take in a stray animal? We don’t really have room for another pet, but I’d want to help in some way. Once we had a stray dog wander in our backyard and we took care of him until we were able to find him a good home. We also once had a cat who often went into our backyard and she ended up having kittens, so we cared for them and found them all homes, including the mama.

79. What’s the last cleaning spray that you’ve used? Lysol disinfectant spray.

80. When’s the last time you splayed your fingers? I’ll do it right now. 

81. Has your airway ever been blocked before? Yes. Such a scary, traumatizing experience. It’s why I can’t take pills now at all unless I can crush them.

82. Has anyone ever led you astray? In some ways.

83. When it’s hot out, do you sleep with blankets anyways? Noooo. 

84. Have you ever felt betrayed? Yep. Not a nice feeling.

85. When’s the last time you listened to a DJ? My cousin’s quince a few years ago.

86. What’s the last unfortunate thing that happened, to your dismay? This pandemic.

87. When is payday? The 1st of the month (disability). 

88. Do good moments or bad moments replay through your mind more often? My mind likes to dwell on all the bad stuff instead. 

89. Do you prepay for anything? I typically like to pay all my bills at the same time each month instead of waiting until the day each of them are due.

90. Have you ever walked on a runway before? No.

91. Do you know a runaway? No.

92. Have you ever ridden the subway before? How about driven on the skyway? Nope.

93. Have you ever used an ashtray before? No.

94.How do you feel about public displays of affection? I don’t mind a little bit, like a quick kiss, hand holding, arms around each other, or a hug. 

95. Where would you like to go for a getaway? I wish I could rent a beach house and have my own private beach area.

96. Do you do any gateway drugs?  Some say weed is a gateway drug, but I personally never had any interest in try anything beyond that.

97. Have you ever felt like someone wasn’t meeting you halfway? Yes.

98. What were you doing at midday? I’ll be sleeping.

99. Have you ever stopped midway through a survey before?  Yeah, I did that with this one. I started it last night, but got too tired to finish it.

100. What’s your favorite holiday? Christmas.

101. Do you like to drive on the highway/thruway? I don’t drive, but yeah I prefer taking the highway over driving through town and hitting all the red lights.

102. Have you ever put something on layaway before? I haven’t, personally, but I’ve gone shopping with my mom and added stuff of my own along with her’s that she put on layaway.

103. Have you ever been cornered in an alleyway? No.

104. When is your birthday? July 28th. 

105. Do you know anyone who was a castaway? No.

106. How long is your workday? I don’t have a job.

107. What do you typically do on the weekdays? I do the same things everyday.

108. Is there a walkway or a pathway to your front door? Yeah.

109. What do you want to be someday? A functioning adult.

110. What is something that you do everyday? Drink coffee.

111. Do you park in your driveway? Do you even have a driveway? I don’t have a car, but yeah my house has a driveway that my parent’s use for their cars.

112. Have you ever won a giveaway? Yes.

113. How important is foreplay? I wouldn’t know.

114. Hooray! You’ve made it to the end! What are you going to do now? Eat my ramen. I was waiting for it to cool a bit.

[a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

[selfignitingimagines]

Lydia- Because I Had You

Request- Hi I love your writing, they’re my favorite! Can I have a Lydia x girl reader based on the song Because I Had You by Shawn Mendes? Maybe a happy ending? But it’s completely up to you! Thank you!

A/N- Coincidentally, I have both quit my shitty job and finished school, so guess who has time to write more imagines! I know this one has been in my inbox for a while, and now that I’ve got the time, I’m working on clearing it out. Next up is a Stiles imagine!

You were scrolling through your phone, not so patiently waiting for the Starbucks line to thin out as you waited to order. You tapped your foot to the upbeat music and sent a quick text to your cousin Derek, letting him know you would be at his loft in twenty minutes.

It had been over a year since you left Beacon Hills with your other cousin Cora, and the flight from Canada, combined with the flight back, had sapped the energy right out of you. You normally wouldn’t have stopped so close to Derek’s, but you were fading fast, and Cora wasn’t there to keep you awake on the drive over.

She had opted to stay in Canada for this trip, even though you had desperately tried to convince her.

“Last time I went home, I was trapped in a vault for three months,” she had reminded you. “I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to go back.”

You eventually relented and caught the plane back home alone.

Up until Cora decided to leave Beacon Hills, you had never lived anywhere else. After Deucalion and his alphas had been defeated and the sacrifices ended, Cora told you and Derek she was planning on leaving.

It seemed like a cruel joke at first. To believe she was dead for six years and get her back, only to have her disappear again would have broken your heart. After losing Laura a year earlier, that wasn’t a blow you were prepared to take.

“I’m coming with you,” you had announced suddenly, a couple days after Cora made plans to leave.

She had quirked her eyebrows up at you from where she sat on Derek’s couch and shut her book. “You want to go to Canada? It’s so far from home.”

Cora was met with the roll of your eyes. “No shit. After everything that’s happened here, I’m open to something new.”

“You sure there’s not something you want to stay for?”

At that you had paused. You knew the something she was referring to, and it was one five-foot-three, strawberry blonde genius.

You were older than Lydia by a year, but after Scott was bitten, you became a lot more interested in the budding werewolf in the sophomore class. After Derek ordered you to keep an eye on him, you were somewhat forced to hang out with him and his friends. Luckily they turned out to be pretty cool.

You liked everyone except for Jackson, but even then, you got the feeling that he wasn’t really a part of the group. Scott was mostly focused on making sure he didn’t expose everyone’s supernatural secret. Over time, Jackson left for England, Erica and Boyd went missing, and you and Lydia became incredibly close.

When she was trying to figure out what she was in the midst of Jennifer’s sacrifices, you were by her side the whole time. You were actually the first person she called whenever she found a body. Up until that point, it was no secret that you felt something for her, but you had never said anything. She had never asked, but if she had, you would have been prepared to tell the truth.

The night Jennifer tried to strangle her, you had rushed to Lydia in the parking lot. Scott and Stiles were preoccupied with figuring out where Jennifer had taken the Sheriff, and rescue crews had swarmed the school after the music teacher had been killed. Despite the commotion, you and Lydia actually had a moment alone.

You were frazzled and worried, and you held tightly to her hand as she sat in one of the ambulances that were called. She was silent for a long time, and you didn’t blame her. Someone had just tried to kill her, and if the Sheriff hadn’t been there, she might have succeeded.

“I know you might not be ready to talk about it,” you had told her quietly. “But I’m here if you do.”

Lydia had taken a deep breath, looked over at you with wide green eyes and said “I don’t want to talk.”

Then she leaned over, cupped your cheek with her hand, and kissed you fiercely.

You had only dated for a few weeks before your cousin announced she was leaving. At that point, you were torn between leaving someone you loved or losing Cora all over again. It was the hardest decision you had ever made, and while you loved Ottawa, you couldn’t help but wonder if you had made the wrong one.

Now, standing in the line for coffee, you were startled when you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“The first thing we need to do is start on your application essay. Community college standards aren’t crazy high, but you still need to work on your writing.”

You turned around, eyes going wide while you watched those familiar red locks blow in the spring wind as she walked through the door. Lydia carried a laptop case in her hand, and she was followed by a taller brunette, carrying two backpacks. You knew one of them was Lydia’s.

“Do you think I can actually get in?” she was asking.

“With practice, absolutely,” she said, smiling up at her. “And my help, of course.”

Her eyes scanned the room, and before you could even think about turning away, they landed on you. Lydia’s face fell, and the laptop case slipped from her hands. The other girl caught it before it could hit the floor, but followed Lydia’s gaze and glowered at you suspiciously.

Lydia quickly reached for the other girl’s hand and grasped it tightly as she straightened up. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with one hand and lead the girl over to the line.

“Y/n,” she said smoothly. “How do you like Ottawa?”

“It’s great,” you told her honestly. “Peaceful.”

You wanted to say more, to maybe tell her that she would love it, and that it would be so much better if she had come with you. But Lydia had turned down the offer a year and a half ago, and it looked like she was perfectly happy where she was.

“Who are you?” the girl next to her asked abruptly.

Lydia squeezed her hand. “This is Y/n. She’s Derek’s cousin, remember?”

“Oh,” Malia said, her eyes going wide.

“And Y/n,” Lydia began. “This is Malia-”

“Peter’s daughter,” you cut her off. “You look like him.”

Malia scowled. “That’s the only thing we have in common.”

“Trust me, that’s a good thing. I guess that makes me your second cousin, and uh, you’re Lydia’s girlfriend, right?”

Malia opened her mouth, but Lydia smiled brightly. “Yes!”

Malia looked over at her and nodded, smiling wordlessly.

You couldn’t hide the way your expression darkened, but you smiled at them anyway. “That’s great. You seem really happy.”

You felt an all too familiar ache in your chest, and looked back over your shoulder at the counter. You were exhausted, but you weren’t ready to stand there talking to Lydia for more than a few minutes, not with her new girlfriend by her side.

You had spent the past year and a half trying to distract yourself with other girls, but none of those relationships had ever panned out. They could never be Lydia, and you were certain that, even after a year and a half, you weren’t able to love anyone else.

“You know what?” you suggested. “Why don’t you guys take my spot in line? I’m already late getting to Derek’s.”

Lydia frowned. “Are you sure? You look exhausted, Y/n.”

You nodded vigorously, but you knew they were unconvinced. You had never inherited the Hale poker face. “Go ahead. It looks like you guys are gonna have a long night of studying. It was nice to meet you, Malia.”

“Y/n, wait,” Lydia said, but your eyes were already watering.

You rushed out of the coffee shop, and headed straight to your car. Lydia had looked happy, but when she saw you, her entire demeanor changed. This trip was supposed to help you make the decision of whether to come back or not, but by the way Lydia had looked at you, she might not even want you in Beacon Hills. If that was true, was it even worth coming home?

-----

“If I ask you what’s wrong, will you stop moping on my couch?”

You glanced up at Derek from where you had buried yourself in a pile of blankets. “I’m tired.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“You’re a terrible legal guardian.”

Derek huffed and sat down in the armchair next to you. “You don’t actually think that.”

“No I don’t,” you grumbled. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s Lydia, isn’t it?”

You frowned at him. “How did you know that?”

He shrugged. “She’s the only person you’ve ever been this upset over.”

You sighed and sat up, causing the mountain of blankets to cascade onto the floor. “I saw her in the coffee shop this morning. When she saw me, she just looked...horrified.”

“Did you talk?” he asked thoughtfully.

“A little, but she was with someone else. They were holding hands and studying together and...and she looked really happy.”

“Did you-”

Before he could finish, a sharp knocking on the door echoed through the loft.

“Expecting someone?”

Derek’s brow furrowed. “No. I’d better see who it is though.”

He rose from the armchair and walked over to the door. Once he got closer, he paused and turned to you with raised eyebrows. “It’s Lydia.”

Your breath caught in your throat. “Oh god. You can’t let her in.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Derek, please!”

He huffed. “Okay, go upstairs.”

You shoved the remaining blankets off of you and rushed upstairs. There, you hid just behind the door frame and listened as you heard the telltale screech of the loft door opening.

“Hey, Lydia. What’s up?”

“I’m looking for Y/n,” she told him. “She’s staying with you, right?”

“She is, but she’s out right now,” Derek lied smoothly. “Is there something you want me to tell her?”

There was pause. “I saw her this morning in Starbucks. She saw me with Malia and...I just really need to talk to her. When is she coming back?”

“Wait. Malia was the girl she saw you with?”

“Yeah. Did she say something to you?”

“I think you two need to talk,” he told her.

His voice grew too soft for you to hear, and you listened as his footsteps crossed the loft. The door screeched open once more, and you froze. Was he leaving?

After a few seconds, Lydia’s soft voice called out. “Y/n, I know you’re here.”

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself. You should have known you couldn’t trust Derek.

You popped your head out from behind the door and plastered a bright smile onto your face. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming.”

She let out a tired sigh. That was when you really got a good look at her. Her red hair was wild and curly, spilling out of the bun piled on her head. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were splotchy. She looked exhausted.

“Lydia? Are you okay?”

You felt yourself drifting down the stairs toward her. “Hey, are you okay?”

She took a deep breath and ignored your question.

“Was it worth it?” she asked softly. “Leaving?”

You were speechless. On your flight home, you figured Lydia might confront you about this. You just didn’t realize it would be so soon.

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “I was sick of fighting for my life. I’ve been fighting since I was eight years old.”

“So you just ran,” she whispered bitterly.

You paused and looked down in shame. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“Well you got what you wanted,” she told you. “You stayed out of it. You stayed out of everything. Stiles getting possessed, the assassins, the crazy, giant werewolf that tore apart the school. You missed all of it. You didn’t even come back for Allison’s funeral.”

Shame burned through you. That was probably the thing you were most angry at yourself for. You wanted to return, but you had made the choice to leave in the first place. There was a part of you that wasn’t sure if you should intrude.

“I wanted to,” you said softly. “Lydia, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

“You didn’t know what to do?” she demanded. “How do you think I felt?”

Her eyes were watering now, and she was trembling with anger.

“I felt her die,” she told you softly. “And after she was gone, I wanted you there so badly. But you never came back. You’re not even planning on staying, are you? You’re just going to leave again.”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “But Lydia, you never needed me. You’re so strong. And now you have Malia.”

She blinked in confusion. “Malia?”

“She’s your girlfriend now, right?”

She scoffed. “God, no.”

“But you said-”

“I was trying to make you jealous,” she admitted to you. “And I was surprised when it worked. When you left Beacon Hills I thought you didn’t care about me anymore.”

You blanched at her. “Lydia, no. No way. I left because I needed a change, but I asked you to come with me! I wanted you to come with me...more than anything.”

“I couldn’t leave our friends,” she told you. “And I wouldn’t have left you. I was in love with you, Y/n.”

“I was in love with you too,” you informed her. “I’m still-”

You caught yourself before you could finish. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

“Wait,” she said suddenly. “You’re still what?”

“It doesn’t matter. I know you’re happy-”

“You don’t know anything,” she cut you off. “Just tell me the truth, Y/n. You’re still what?”

You let out a breath. “I’m still in love with you. I tried to forget about you. But there was never anyone else, Lydia. I could never love anyone but you. I know I left you. I know you probably hate me now...but you’re right. I ran away. Derek always says that once you start running, you don’t stop. That’s why I didn’t come back. I couldn’t stop.”

“And now?” she asked, her green eyes boring into yours.

“Now it’s time to stop.”

You crossed the distance between you in one stride, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her close.

“God, I missed you,” she breathed.

She stood up on her tiptoes, and it was only then that you realized she wasn’t wearing heels. That was the first indicator that there was something different about Lydia. She had been through so much in the past year, and when you looked into her bright green eyes, you could tell that something had changed. But whatever she had been through, she was still Lydia. She was still yours.

“I couldn’t get you out of my head,” you whispered against her lips. “I’m not sure I ever will.”

She smiled. “Don’t.”

Then she kissed you, pressing her red lips against yours in a way that would definitely leave lipstick stains.

You were definitely coming home.

[trashyazeohane]

Yo, yo, yo yoooo!! Let’s keep this party going!

Part 1 can be found here!

Adult!Maxvid!AU - Part 9 (Here comes Gwen!):

Deciding on trying was way easier than actually trying – Max concluded as he stared at yet another message from David.

The situation between them was good, not the best, but it was close to what they had before that night. David asked him over to hang out a few times after the last time and even though Max usually didn’t stay long, he had fun.

Plus David looked way better, livelier, more vivid, more energetic, so Max didn’t mind. He was happy.

So it took Max another week before he actually decided to do something. Of course, he did the lamest thing that he could do, but he saw David eyeing those damn cookies in a shop, so Max decided to buy them.

And he took them one afternoon to David’s and put on the coffee table.

“What is it?” David asked, putting his feet on the ground and getting closer to the coffee table.

“Cookies.” Max said, suddenly very aware of how dumb this whole situation was.

“For me?”

Max nodded, looking away.

He more heard than actually saw David reaching to open the pack.

“You often cook enough for the two of us, so well… I mean, it’s lame and stupid as fuck, but I decided to add something from myself…” Max bit the inside of his cheek. “You can throw them away, if you –“

But David was already ripping the pack open with a childish glint shimmering in his eyes and then was pushing the package in his direction.

Max eyed the cookies for a second, before he reached and took one. David grinned and grabbed one to munch on – or actually devour it – in the speed of light. Max didn’t even manage to move the cookie close to his lips and David was already done with his one!

The man looked up at him and grinned sheepishly, brushing away a few crumbs from the corners of his mouth.

In the end Max went to the kitchen and poured them both a glass of milk so they could dip the cookies in it.

In the end it wasn’t much, but David smiling like this was the best day of his life made Max all fuzzy and warm inside.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

But buying and giving one bag of cookies probably wasn’t enough to win David’s heart (if that was even possible).

Another situation somehow presented itself.

Max was picking his cousin from the kindergarten, when he noticed the kids hanging on David like he was some kind of a tree or a climbing wall. They shrieked happily, too loud for comfort and David laughed with them, but Max could see the exhaustion pulling on his muscles. Max definitely noticed the bags under his eyes, smeared over with purple and grayish paint.

Max didn’t want to ask about it in front of all those kids, plus David’s co-workers. So Max waited until he was alone to take out his phone and message David.

heyzzz wanna grab some coffee? my treat

Max walked around the city, hiding his mouth and chin behind his scarf. He felt dread roaming around his body, the consequences of his behavior finally seeping into his mind. Had he theoretically asked David out on a date?

Fuck. He did! Oh god! Shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, what if David got the wrong impression from it? But wait, Max wanted to get closer to David, so thinking about it as a date wouldn’t be that far away from the truth, right?

Now he was stressed for sure! What if David says no? What if he decides that he wants nothing to do with Max anymore? What if he suddenly stops talking with him altogether –

Sure :) But right now?

yeah if you are done working

Max stopped to lean on a concrete wall near some random shop. A few people shot him weird, suspicious glances, but he didn’t care.

I’ll be done in thirty minutes :)

Perfect.

Through the whole Max’s way back to the kindergarten he felt stressed as fuck, with the nervousness growing inside his stomach. But it was a weird stress, mixed with a lot of positive emotions, because, damn, David had said yes!

When it was around thirty minutes later he moved to the parking lot and almost immediately found David’s car. When he stepped to it, he saw David exiting from the back door. When the male noticed Max, he waved his hand, grinning like crazy.

Max felt excitement bubbling in his chest.

“Hey Max, did you have to wait long?” David asked, approaching him with that honest smile.

“No, I just got here.” Which, of course, wasn’t true.

“Great! Do you mind if we get my car back home?”

“No problem.”

All the way back to his house David hummed under his nose or started random conversations. Max tried to keep them up and going, but he was a mess inside and often forgot his way of thinking even before fully replying.

After they parked the car, David excitedly asked Max where they were going.

Gladly Max already knew. Or more or less knew. He kinda remembered a café Preston once had mentioned, which wasn’t too far away. Max never had been there, but hey, there has to be a first time for everything.

(Plus Preston had talent in digging out amazing places.)

Gladly Max googled this place earlier.

They talked about random topics while they were walking there. The stress in Max’s muscles was getting smaller and smaller with every passing second. And in just few minutes they were in front of the café.

Max only hoped that it will be good or he will personally kill Preston.

The café wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the whole universe, it wasn’t one of those really climatic places, but Max could understand why Preston had said that it was cozy and kinda neat.

Of course, David immediately opened his mouth after entering, looking around in awe.

David picked the coziest free place and kidnapped all the cushions that were laying around the couch. He took the seat under the window (kinda on the window sill) and put all the pillows and cushions behind and around him.

“Cozy enough?” Max asked, not being able to stop a small smile from forming on his lips.

David chuckled.

“A few more pillows and it would be perfect.”

David had more than a dozen of cushions laying around, beneath and behind him. Max raised his one eyebrow and David slumped down on his seat, grinning from ear to ear.

Yeah, it was better not to question it.

“What do you want?”

“Eh…” David said and then looked up at the ceiling. “Café Au Lait.”

“I take you out for a coffee and you literally pick the one that has the smallest amount of caffeine.” Max shook his head. “But okay. Anything sweet to eat?”

“No, you don’t have to get me anything.” David said, grabbing one pillow and hugging it close. Of course, he had to pick the one with an animal drawn on it.

Was he twelve or actually thirty three? Because it was hard to guess now.

“Okay. Wait here for a bit.”

And with that Max walked to a cash register. The woman behind it wasn’t that young, but she couldn’t be called old either. She took his order with a kind smile.

Max ordered for himself a simple black coffee and for David Café Au Lait and a piece of cake, with a strawberry on top, that looked kinda tasty.

Well, his mom was sending him money, so Max might as well use it to give his crush a little piece of happiness.

Wait, that was so terrible, oh God, he wanted to hide under the ground.

The cashier chuckled at him and gave back a few coins. Shit!

Max returned to their table to find David curiously looking out the window. When he sat down, the red haired male turned to him with a grin as bright as the Sun and Max felt his chest clench.

They talked about random and important things. Few times David laughed loudly and Max found peace and pride in seeing the man not having the tension his shoulders had possessed during the last few meetings.

Few minutes later the barista brought their coffees and the slice of cake.

Max leaned to grab his coffee and push the plate in David’s direction.

“It’s for you.”

“But I… I didn’t…” David said, looking down at the food with hesitation.

“I said it’s on me. Plus you look like you need some energy.”

David nodded and looked up at him.

“Are you sure?”

“It’s already paid, better eat it now.” Max took a sip of his coffee.

David grinned at him and grabbed the cake. He brought it closer to himself and started to eat.

They talked and simply enjoyed a calm afternoon in each other’s presence. People went in and out, the barista walked around, bringing and handing out orders and sometimes glancing in their direction, but Max didn’t mind.

Max enjoyed the evening. He felt happy, satisfied with the calmness surrounding them both. And David looked like he was enjoying himself too, so this was what mattered. It even seemed that some part of his usual energy was back.

“Oh, shoot I didn’t even ask. Do you want to try it?” David asked, lifting the fork with a small piece of cake on it.

Max wasn’t one to eat too many sweets, but he guessed there wasn’t anything wrong with trying.

And to be honest he wasn’t sure why he did it. His brain just short-circuited – with the black-out overpowering all his senses and logical ways of thinking. And before he knew what was happening he was already leaning forward and taking a bite of the cake from the fork still held in David’s hand.

Only when he moved away, Max really comprehended what he just had done. He blinked and snapped his eyes open to look at David, who was staring back at him with slightly opened mouth and a blush rising to his cheek.

“Oh… uhm, is it tasty?” David asked, slowly putting the fork down.

Oh, what? Who? Wait! Ah, yes, the cake.

Max swallowed hard. The sweetness spread on his tongue, overwhelming his senses. He blinked and licked his lips.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good.”

David grinned, still with those red tones smeared over his cheeks. But Max wasn’t probably any better as he could feel his skin getting warmer and warmer, though he still tried to keep his face calm and collected.

They finished their coffees and Max walked David back home. David insisted on doing the opposite, but it would be dumb as David’s home was closer than Max’s dorm.

David thanked him with the kindest and most precious smile he had ever seen and Max felt like he could faint any second now.

During another few days Max wasn’t doing much. There were days when he wished David a good day (and he really meant it), there were days when Max sent him a few jokes (usually dirty ones, or stupid memes) to cheer him up when it seemed that David wasn’t in a best mood. He tried to be nice to David – but still while being himself. When he went to pick his little cousin, he helped David gather the toys scattered around and then helped get some kid out of a tree (even though Max was sure this kid was pretty capable of doing so herself, but David looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown).

He wasn’t doing much, but he was trying.

And the soft smile spreading over David’s lips was enough to make him feel better.

A few times David invited him over for dinner and once he asked Max for help in making some weird cutouts for the kids in the kindergarten.

(Max never expected that he would be cutting out animal shapes in David’s house.)

It looked like everything was turning out okay and that he was getting closer and closer to David. That was until Max got a call from Gwen.

(Back to David ->)

David smiled to himself as he stared at his phone. He wrote a quick reply and then laid his phone down on the counter to mix the soup he was making.

“You’re in a pretty good mood.” Gwen said, moving to him and leaning her side on the counter.

“Yeah, I am.” David replied, glancing at her for a second.

“Is there a reason behind your… extraordinary good mood?” Gwen asked, prolonging every word, using that low tone which David already had heard a lot in his life.

And somehow this time it made his heart skip a beat.

There wasn’t any reason, right? Or maybe there was.

“There is, but not like that!” David quickly added when Gwen was starting to smile at him way too seductively.

“Oh really?” She insisted, stepping closer.

“Yes!”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then why do you ask if you don’t believe me afterwards?” David asked, raising his eyebrow while looking at the girl.

“Just for fun, I guess.” Gwen shrugged.

Seriously.

But he wasn’t happy because of that! He definitely wasn’t. David was happy just because! He was usually an optimistic guy, but today he was extra joyful. Or lately he had been weirdly in a good mood.

His phone peeped and he immediately reached for it, but he was too slow, as Gwen snatched the device from under his hands.

“Haha! I got it!”

“Gwen!”

But the woman was already unlocking the screen and staring at his old and new messages. David tried to grab his phone, but he had to focus on the dinner he was making.

Gwen’s finger was moving smoothly up and down on the screen. And it moved and moved and moved, scrolling down further and further.

“Oh wow, that is a lot of messages.” Gwen finally said after an eternity passed between them.

David curled up. But was it bad? He enjoying talking with Max. He enjoyed spending time with him. He enjoyed seeing him smile, no matter how rarely he was doing that.

However lately David felt like Max was doing it more often and often.

“David…”

“Yes?”

“Are you two dating?”

“N-no!”

“Yhm, right…” Gwen murmured, moving further into their messages’ den.  Her voice indicated that she didn’t believe it. “You are really not dating?”

“Gwen, if we did, I would tell you.”

But they weren’t, so that was out of the question.

They weren’t dating. They were just talking a lot and they occasionally went out together. Sometimes they ate dinner together and Max was always there when David was in a bad mood. Max had helped him a lot nowadays and, well, spending time with Max was making him feel calm.

But they weren’t dating!

Max was an adult now. A good adult. Well yeah, of course, he was still sarcastic, sometimes brash, swore like a sailor, but he wasn’t a bad person. He was kind, but he simply showed it in different ways. Kinda unusual ways, but he still was a very good person.

Whoever will be with Max will be lucky.

(David’s heart thrummed painfully inside his chest. Oh, weird. It was a kinda painful sensation.)

“Do you mind me taking his phone number?” Gwen asked.

“Erm, I don’t?”

“Great.” And Gwen wrote the number down in her own phone.

Oh golly, what was she thinking of doing? Should he warn Max? Gwen’s plans could sometimes end in a disaster. But it was Max, he will manage. Probably.

(Back to Max ->)

How Gwen managed to make Max arrange a meeting with her was a miracle. Or maybe not so much, as she only wrote that they needed to talk about David and Max was already asking for a date and time.

And this was how Max found himself again in front of Gwen’s apartment, knocking loudly.

“I’m going, sheesh, calm down!”

Max smirked at the pissed look on her face as she let him inside. Man, to be honest, he kinda missed pissing her off. He had been a little shit at the camp and now he didn’t change that much.

“Do you want something to drink?” Gwen asked.

“Depends on how long we will be talking.”

“Depends on how well you will be cooperating.”

“Black coffee then.”

Gwen sighed, but made two cups – one coffee and some lemon balm for herself apparently.

They sat at the same table as they had done some time ago and for a few minutes neither of them talked, only stared at the abyss while taking long sips from the cups.

“Are you gonna spill the beans?” Max finally asked, after almost half of his cup was empty.

Gwen sighed and massaged her temples. Only now Max could finally see the wrinkles gathering around her eyes and forehead, spreading around like waves.

“I’m gonna be pretty honest with you. It came to my attention that you and David are spending a lot of time together nowadays.” She moved the cup to her mouth, but then pushed it away after a second.

Max looked up at her.

“Are you two dating?” She asked.

Max’s heart stopped beating.

“Why do you ask me? You’re David’s best friend. Shouldn’t you ask him?”

“Just answer my question.” Gwen sighed.

Max licked his lips and with a heavy heart he told the truth.

“No.”

“Okay, so you confirmed David’s words.” Gwen mumbled, more to herself than to him.

But Max heard her.

And he felt mixed feelings roaming around his body. On one side – ouch, it hurt as the words sent a ton of prickling needles through his chest. But on the other side – it made him feel kinda good to know that Gwen and David had been talking about him.

Gwen glanced at Max and then some kind of a resolution appeared in her eyes. She put her palms on the table and intertwined her fingers. She exhaled slowly through her mouth, lifted her head and stared right at Max.

“Max, do you feel something for David?”

Max swallowed hard.

“Why should I tell you?” He found himself speaking without even thinking.

But to be honest he was right – why should he answer? Not many people knew about his crush. To be precise only two people, not counting Max, knew about it and he liked it that way.

Gwen looked up at him and suddenly she seemed ten years older than she really was.

“Listen Max.” She took a deep breath. “Not every person is as blind as David.” Well, that was true, but hearing it from Gwen of all people made him twitch internally. “And I can see that something is happening between you two, so please tell me the truth.” Then she furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at him with some angry spark, some murderous glint, some horrifying fire blazing in her eyes. “Because if you are only leading David on so you can laugh later then – “

“I would never do that!” Max found himself snapping back, looking right at Gwen.

The woman stopped speaking and then blinked, looking kinda taken aback by Max’s sudden harsh tone.

To be honest, Max himself was surprised. But his heart thrummed and beated so heavily and painfully at the simple idea that he could have done that, that he acted on impulse.

“Max.” Gwen said.

Max huffed and then combed his hand through his hair, getting stuck a few times on his black locks.

“I like David, okay? I really like him.” Max finally said, letting his hand fall down on his lap, where he tightened it. “I’ve liked him for a long time.” He let out a dry chuckle. “It feels like an eternity now.”

“How long?”

Max sighed and slumped down in his chair. He felt tired. He didn’t have enough strength to fight Gwen now. Or maybe he simply didn’t want to do it anymore.

“Seven years or so.” He mumbled, looking away for a second. “I don’t know, it didn’t happen in a day.”

“You’ve liked him for seven years?”

“And I still do.” Max said, licking his lips afterwards. “I thought that if I stopped going to camp, I would forget about him. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. But I tried.” He chuckled. “Yet nothing worked. Then I thought that if I tried to ignore it, then maybe my feelings would disappear. But it didn’t work either and then I met him again. And I found myself liking David even more.” Max exhaled slowly and then took another shallow inhale. “That night was a mistake. I should have controlled myself more. If I could, I would change it. I felt so terrible afterwards. I didn’t want to hurt him. I really didn’t. I thought stopping contacting him would be the best option here.”

“I believe you.” Gwen said. “But it wasn’t.”

“I know.” Max huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. ”I know.” He repeated himself and then moved his hands to wrap them around the cup. “But it made me realize that I really like him. I’m tired of pretending that I don’t. And I want to do something with it.”

“So you’ve been making a move on him?” Gwen inquired, raising her eyebrow with a sort of evil smirk appearing in the corner of her lips.

“I – I think I did?” Max mumbled, now really aware of everything he had done during the last few weeks. “I mean I’ve been kinda trying to?”

“Yeah, I can see.” Gwen said. The smile was present on her lips for a few more seconds until she took a sip. It immediately disappeared after she put the cup down and was replaced with something dangerous luring in the dimples. “But if you are only being kind so you can – ”

“I don’t want to use him.” Max said, glaring at the woman while feeling hurt that she would even think about it. But to be honest Gwen knew him only from the times when he had been a kid, so it was kinda understandable. “I actually want to make him happy. I…” Okay, here comes the cheesiness! “… like seeing him happy. I like seeing him smile. I know I’m not the best at being this good and kind person, but I actually like doing it…” Then like some kind of an explanation, he added. “… sometimes.”

Gwen’s eyes softened and she let out a small, raspy chuckle.

“I never thought in my entire life that I would hear those words coming from your mouth.” Max was already opening his lips, but Gwen continued. “Listen Max. David is a nice guy. The nicest one I know. And life has kicked him too many times.” Max frowned at that. “After the last serious relationship it took him a lot of time to pick himself up and I don’t want him going through it once again. David needs someone stable, not a person that would leave him after a few years. He wants someone for the rest of his life. So if you’re not going to be this someone, I need to ask you to step down.”

The rest of his life. Being able to be with David for the rest of Max’s life?

This sounded –

“I want that.” Max said, looking at Gwen, right into her eyes and not wavering even a bit. His heart beated loudly inside his chest, but he didn’t step down. He didn’t want to step down. To be honest he wanted to move further, to run, jump and fly. “I want to be this someone.”

Because it sounded amazing, delightful and blissful.

Gwen stared at him back for a few more seconds, not twitching or blinking at all. And only when she found this something she had been searching for in his face, maybe posture or even heart, she sighed.

“Okay, I believe you.”

Max let out a deep exhale, which ended abruptly when Gwen continued:

“But if you ever hurt him, I will personally cut every one of your limbs, burn it and then burn the rest of your body too.”

“I understand.” Max said and, damn, trembled, because something in Gwen’s posture, eyes and stiffness told him that she will do it in the blink of an eye. “I won’t do it.”

Or maybe Max simply knew Gwen too well and knew that if she said she would do something, she would do it.

And Max didn’t want to feel her wrath, especially on himself.

But mostly Max didn’t want to hurt David.

“Okay, just remember it.”

“I will.”

Gwen grabbed the cup and took a sip.

Max fiddled with his cup for a few more seconds, gathering the strength to ask another question. He pushed his pride aside and simple asked:

“Do you think… I even have a chance?”

Gwen opened her eye and glanced at him. She put the cup down and then crossed her arms.

“Well I didn’t see him so happy while talking with someone in a very long time.” She nodded to herself and then turned to Max. “So maybe not all hope is lost.”

Typical Gwen. Lifting his spirits one moment, only to let his mood crumble down the very next second.

But something in her mischievous smirk at the end told Max that he should focus on the first part.

And to be honest his heart fluttered at that, it rose and floated inside, making his chest swell with warmness.

Only when Max was walking back to his dorm, a lone thought hit him.

Had Gwen given him a blessing?! Had Gwen given him ‘the talk’?!

What?

And that is the end of this part! I hope you stay tuned for the next ones, when maybe something will finally move forward in David’s and Max’s relationship!

[fitnesshealthyoga-blog]

New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/a-whole-day-from-start-to-finish/

a whole day, from start to finish

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts! When I reviewed survey results earlier this week – I look at them all year, so thank you so much to those of you who chimed in! I truly value all of your feedback and refer back to it often – there were a lot of requests for more posts like this. We had a day this week that was pretty *normal* (what does that even mean?) and I remembered to snap some pics, so here we go!

7:15: I wake up feeling EXTREMELY rested. I reach down for my phone and see that it’s 7:15… an entire hour after I had set my alarm to go off. I had set it for “Every Saturday” so it didn’t go off and I just enjoyed a nice little slumber. We have exactly 30 minutes before we have to be out the door, so I throw on a lulu top and some leggings, some sneakers, run a brush through my hair, and blitz downstairs. The girls are hanging out on the couch watching a show, so I put their piles of clothes next to them to get dressed (feeling very thankful I put out their outfits the night before) and make them a quick breakfast. They have hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and toast, and I put their lunches into their backpacks, fill water bottles, do their hair, make sure they have their teeth brushed, put sunscreen on them, and we’re out the door. 99% of the time, I make Bulletproof Decaf coffee in my Yeti mug to take with us, but I’m out of coffee. 

8:50: I’m done with school drop-offs, so I head to the Starbucks at the grocery store to grab a coffee. Decaf almond milk latte with 1 pump of vanilla.

9:10 Back at home, and I put some sourdough into the oven that I prepped the night before. While the first loaf is baking, I finishing writing my blog post for that day and hit publish before putting the second loaf into the oven. I know it’s kind of a busy day, which works out well since it’s my rest day from the gym. While the second loaf is in the oven, I head upstairs for 7 minutes of meditation, a quick journal exercise, and do some easy stretches and mobility work.

10:20 Bread is done, so I cut a couple of slices for myself and make breakfast: 6 scrambled liquid egg whites, 1 whole egg, sautéed spinach, nutritional yeast, and bread with Kite Hill everything cream cheese spread and Everything But the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s + a side of strawberries.

In between eating, I run the eufy (still my favorite ever), clean up the kitchen from the girls’ breakfast and the bread adventures, throw some laundry into the washer, make the beds, and spray down the countertops. I also take my supplements and fill up my giant water bottle to take for the day’s adventures.

10:50 I pick up Nani to go visit Baby August! She hadn’t met him yet, and I wanted to take Kyle and Meg some bread, so it was perfect timing. I swoop Nani, and we have a wonderful visit with Kyle, Meg, EJ, and August. 

How perfect are his little toes???

I hang out outside playing games with EJ and get to hold sweet August again, and we have a lovely visit with them. 

12:30 I’m back from picking up P, and I grab her a quick snack (a Perfect bar and a sliced apple). We also play dolls and do a puzzle in the playroom for a bit. She settles down to watch a show – we try to let the girls stick to a “2 shows per day” rule – and I make myself some lunch and answer a couple of quick emails. I eat lunch outside while she swings on the swing set.

This is a frozen chicken burger from Whole Foods with Sir Kensington’s Mayo, roasted red bell pepper, spinach, mustard, on a brown rice tortilla. Notice the bite marks on the outside of the tortilla, courtesy of P, haha.

1:30 We take the dogs for a walk together around the neighborhood. The weather is so gorgeous and P is officially a pro dog walker. It’s crazy to think of how many walks I spent with her in the Ergo or in the stroller and now here she is, walking a dog completely by herself. 

I think it’s so cute that Bella lets her hold her, too. She doesn’t mind it at all. 

I switch the laundry out, and then P helps me make some cookie dough. I’ve been using this recipe and it’s INSANE (I just make the cookies smaller than the recipe suggests and skip the walnuts). 

I wish I could say I just had this tiny bit of cookie dough, but let’s be real here. After scooping spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, I cleaned the bowl with a spoon. 😉 SO good.

After baking the cookies, we let them cool and head out to pick up Liv. 

3:15 We’re back home from picking up Liv. I make the girls a snack plate (bell pepper, carrots, hummus, pepperoni, cheese, and crackers) and they eat it outside playing while I make some dinner to take to Kyle and Meg’s house. While I’m cooking, I have a Larabar and some tea with collagen.

I put rice into the Instant Pot, and chop a quick Greek salad (romaine, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted red pepper, kalamata olives, and feta), then start on the Chicken Parmesan. Enchiladas are my go-to baby meal, but since I made them enchiladas a couple of weeks ago, I want to switch it up. I make doubles of everything and wrap it in the fridge since that will be the girls’ dinner that night, too. 

4:45 Everything is packed up and ready to go,

so we drive down to Kyle and Meg’s. The Pilot is there waiting for us, snuggling with August. <3

I watch the little cousins play outside while Kyle and Meg eat and the Pilot holds August. After a little while, we switch out. Usually we would be driving to gymnastics, but I let the girls skip class since they hadn’t met the baby yet. They loved holding their new little cousin. It’s hard to believe that he’ll be running around with all of them before we know it!

6:00 We’re back at home, so I make the girls their dinner plates, switch the dishes out, and clean up from the enormous mess I made baking cookies and frying chicken. Usually we would just all eat together, but I asked our babysitter to come over that night. (It wasn’t the best planning on my part. Usually when the Pilot and I go out, I make the girls something super easy, like meatballs, pasta, and some chopped fruit or sautéed veggies on the side.) I set out the girls’ pajamas and toothbrushes, and then we get ready to go. 🙂

7:00 Nerd date! The Pilot and I have a date once a week, and quite often they’re something we call “nerd dates.” Basically, we’ll grab a quick snack or glass of wine somewhere, and then head to a coffee shop to catch up on work stuff. We sit there with our computers and headphones on like nerds, but at least we’re together. 

We have poke bowls and wine at Ra, and then go to Cartel for tea and nerd time. He’s studying like crazy for airline interviews, and I have a ton of blog stuff to catch up on, especially since I didn’t spend much time working during the day. (Usually when the girls are at school, I blitz on as much work stuff as possible!)

9:30 We’re back home! The Pilot packs Livi’s lunch for the next day – P only stays for lunch at preschool a couple of times each week – and I head upstairs to fold laundry. I used to go to bed super late – easily midnight or 1am – but ever since the girls have been going to sleep at a normal time and staying in their beds (!!!) I’ve felt like I can go to sleep much earlier. I’m tired now by about 10, and ready to wake up around 6 most days. It’s amazing to meditate a little, catch up on work, or even take a Peloton class before we start on the morning chaos. I set out the girls outfits for the next day, set out my clothes and fill up a water bottle for a morning Peloton class, and crawl into bed to read for a few minutes until my eyes start to droop. 

10:15 Bed.. and ready to do it all over again. 

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[mavengers]

Date Night

Okay so this isn’t the fic I’ve been writing but I whipped up this one to put out until I can finish the other one. This one’s just pure fluff (kinda leads into smut but not too far, you’ll see.) BUT THANK YOU. Obviously the past couple months have been difficult for me (just by reading Sleeping Bags, you can tell I was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff), but THANK YOU for not giving up on me and continuing to give my fics some love and send me some love. Your words do not fall on deaf ears, this one is for you guys, from the bottom of my heart. 

Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings: pure fluff, the warnings will give the story away but I promise its nothing bad!!! Pls trust me!!!

Word count: 2.3k

April 6, 2017, 9:17 pm.

“Captain Rogers, is there anything I can help you with?” The officer asked politely, coming around the desk to stand next to him. Steve looked at you and Bucky, the two of you soaked and looking guilty as ever.

“Yeah, I’m here to bail these two idiots out.”

 *23 Hours Earlier*

April 5, 2017. 10:29 pm.

“Y/N, we’re stuck in a rut.” You stopped short as you walked from the kitchen and into the common room, your hands busy with two glasses of wine and balancing a bowl of popcorn between your teeth. Bucky couldn’t help but smile as he stood up, picking the popcorn bowl from your mouth as you pouted.

“What do you mean?” He placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table beside you and took the two wine glasses, putting those next to the food before pulling you down on the couch with him. You sat on his lap, waiting for him to elaborate.

“This is the eighth time we’ve ‘netflix-ed and chilled’ this month.” Your pout grew more prominent.

“I thought you loved cuddling and watching movies with me.”

“I do, but doll, I don’t think we’ve actually gone on a proper date since your cousin got married last August, and we hardly stayed after they handed out the cake.”

“What are you trying to say, Buck?” Your eyebrows raised up in question as you twisted in his lap to straddle him, looking up at him with doe-eyes. His hands slid up your thighs to settle loosely on your hips.

“I’m just saying that maybe we should actually go out; a night on the town. Just us.” You lifted your left eyebrow, pushing his hands off you and spinning in his lap to slide off. You grabbed both wine glasses as you turned back towards him to briefly press a kiss to his cheek.

“Alright, Sergeant. You can plan tomorrow night. Show me how you stole the ladies’ heart in the 1940s.” You walked off to bed, sipping at one of the glasses.

Bucky grinned to himself, knowing that tomorrow night, he was going to give you a night you surely would never forget.

The next morning, you woke up to the all-too-blinding sun warming up your exposed skin. Groaning, you turned over in bed, ready to bury yourself in your boyfriend’s side to stave off the morning. Except there was no warm, muscular body next to you. Only cold sheets and a pillow with a pink sticky-note on it. Sitting up in bed, you plucked the note from the pillow.

Rise and shine, gorgeous. Breakfast’s waiting in the kitchen.

-Bucky

You hated to admit it- because admitting it would mean Bucky was right- but your heart fluttered in your chest. Slipping out of bed and into a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a white tee, you wondered what his idea of “breakfast” would mean today.

To say you were stunned was an understatement. Laid out on the kitchen table, where the rest of your team was also eating breakfast from the huge buffet, were chocolate chip pancakes, a giant bowl of strawberries and cool-whip, a pot of coffee, applewood bacon, and eggs, sunny side up. “Morning, Y/N.” Steve said, taking a sip of his coffee. You took your seat next to him, almost cautiously.

“Morning, Steve,” you picked a pancake on to your plate and Nat poured you a cup of coffee, Wanda adding the cream and sugar. “Where’s Bucky?”

“Told us not to tell you.” Sam said, trying his best not to smile.

“Back in our day,” everyone at the table groaned upon hearing the dreaded phrase come from Steve, but he continued. “We didn’t see the girl until the night of the date.” You furrowed your brows.

“So he’s just going to hide around the compound all day until he takes me to dinner?” You jumped when hands came around to shield your eyes.

“I don’t have to hide because you’ll be out with Nat and Wanda all day.” You smiled brightly, trying to twist in your seat to follow his voice and kiss him. But his palms held your head in place until you were basically just doing torso twists on the bar stool. He pulled your head back until you could’ve been looking at the ceiling, and he placed a kiss on your forehead. “Enjoy breakfast, baby girl. I’ll see you soon.” His hands left your face but before you could turn to look at him for the first time today, Steve’s hand shot out to cover one eye, and Nat’s hand shot out to cover the other one.

After breakfast, you got dressed. You pulled on a pair of your favorite jeans, a black tank top, and slipped on a pair of vans. Nat and Wanda insisted that you didn’t do your makeup or your hair, so getting dressed was all you got the chance to do before a red glow was nearly pushing you out the front door of the compound. “Not fair, Wanda, maybe I had to pee.” You said, once you reached the parking lot where they were waiting for you in Sam’s jeep. She laughed as you climbed in.

“Buckle up,” Nat said from the driver’s seat, smirking. “You all know how I drive.”

The three of you nearly fell through the front door after hours of shopping. Each of you had at least eight bags from various stores at the mall. Wanda helped you pick out your outfit for your date- a short red wrap dress with a plunging neckline with a pair of classic tan heels. But Nat was the one to drag you into Victoria’s Secret. Originally, you had only planned to buy one set of lingerie. Originally.

That wasn’t the case when you couldn’t decide what you looked better in- the black, the white, the baby pink, or the royal blue.

Then the rest of your trip was spent at random stores that just seemed to call out to you.

Tony’s credit card took quite the hit, to say the least.

It was around 5 pm when you got home, which according to Steve, meant you had two hours to get ready.

And then that meant that you rushed to shave almost every hair that wasn’t on your head off your body while Nat and Wanda eagerly waited to help get you dressed and do your hair and makeup.

Once you were dressed in the dress, Wanda began curling your hair in big, relaxed, perfectly tousled curls, while Nat did your makeup. “Stop moving or I’ll get eyeliner in your eye.” She warned, but you couldn’t help it. You had been dating Bucky for almost two years now, and you’ve never felt this much pressure about a date. Things between the two of you had always been fairly relaxed. The dates that you guys had actually gone on had been trips to Wrigley Field for baseball games or dinner at a crowded pub a couple blocks over. And you’ve never let Bucky plan the whole date- you had no idea what was up his sleeve for tonight, but you had no choice but to relax when you were pushed to stand in front of a mirror.

How is it possible to look classy and downright hot at the same time?

“You’re gonna give the old man a heart attack, Y/N.” Clint said, as you stepped into the common room. And by stepped you mean that Natasha and Wanda had nearly thrown you down the stairs for everyone else to admire their handiwork. Sam whistled as he walked in a circle around you. Steve’s eyes were everywhere except you.

“Problem, Steven?” You asked, smirking. Steve finally looked at you, almost pouting.

“Yeah, I’m finally realizing I’m old. I can’t help but want to tell you to change.” You laughed loudly, Clint and Sam quietly joining in as they snickered from their spots against the wall. They all quieted down when footsteps took everyone’s attention to the stairs. It was as if the air had been sucked out of your lungs, you felt your heart stop.

Bucky was coming down the stairs, dressed in a dark blue suit with a black button up underneath. He hadn’t touched the stubble on his cheeks and upper lip that you adored, but his hair.

HIS.

HAIR.

It was shorter, and pushed back. It had just enough volume that it didn’t look completely slicked back, which you appreciated. You couldn’t even describe it. He just looked so sexy. And you had only seen him with this hair once before:

World War 2. The pictures that him and Steve had shown you. The pictures from the museum.

But never in a million years did you think you’d ever see it on him again. He smirked as he realized your mouth was parted open in a gasp and that you just couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. He approached you, but you couldn’t move for the life of you. “Doll, you’re going to catch flies.” Taking his middle and ring finger, he lifted them to your chin, effectively putting your lips back together. He grasped your hand in his, walking towards the door with you trailing behind him. You quickly turned your head back to Wanda and Nat, giving them a look that silently told them that you were grateful for your purchases at Victoria’s Secret.

“Did you grab the car keys?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“You told me to plan the date based on how I dated in the 1940s.” He said, stopping and pulling you to him by your hips. You tipped your head up to him, relishing in the feeling of his hard chest pressing against yours.

“And that doesn’t include a car?” You asked as he gently pressed his lips to yours.

“Walking leaves more room for conversation.”

And so you did walk. You two walked to the restaurant, laughing and talking the whole way. He told you about life in the 1940s and how different dating back then was. When you asked him if he preferred dating back then than dating now, he told you no because dating now meant he got to be with you. He told you that despite anything Steve had told you about his dating experience back then, Steve knew how to flirt when he saw a girl he was interested in enough. Before you knew it, Bucky was holding the door open for you at the fanciest restaurant in New York.

You talked some more, laughed some more, and definitely drank maybe too much champagne over dinner, but honestly, you didn’t have a care in the world. It felt like you two were the only people in there. You were absolutely transfixed on Bucky and Bucky only.

And Bucky couldn’t take his eyes off you, nor did he want to. It was as if you had made everything else fade away into insignificance. All he wanted in that moment was for you to never lose that smile that only he could ever bring to your lips- the smile that reached your eyes and practically lit up the world around you. Your smile could move mountains, he was convinced.

You gasped as you stepped out of the restaurant, sputtering water out of your mouth. It was pouring. Bucky was next to come out of the restaurant, ready to ask why you were soaked when he stepped out of the protection of the awning. You couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. “So maybe a car was a good idea.” He said. You shook your head, smiling at him as you pushed some of his hair from his forehead. You grabbed his hand, and began the trek home. You loved the rain, and you loved tonight- maybe this wasn’t the perfect scenario to anyone else, but to you- you couldn’t have imagined a better one.

As you passed by nightclubs and bars down the avenue, you realized that instead of blaring loud, energetic music, they had slowed it down to music that you recognized Bucky had shown you. You stopped short and turned to Bucky.

“Dance with me.”

“Doll, its pouring rain. If I don’t get you home soon enough, you’ll catch a cold.”

“And have you take care of me? I don’t see a problem with that,” he smiled and yours got brighter, if that was even possible. “Please, Bucky.” You pouted at him and you watched giddily as he took his bottom lip between his teeth, giving in to you. You giggled as he lifted his arm and yours to spin you in his grip and dip you. Pulling you back up, he continued to dance slowly outside the bar with you, in the pouring rain, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way. You bit your lip as he looked down at you, eyes full of adoration, and you couldn’t help but slide your hand up from his chest to the back of his neck, pulling his lips to yours.

Once his lips were on yours, it was as if neither of you could stop yourselves. His hands slid down to your hips as he led the both of you into a nearby alleyway. His arms caged you in against the brick wall of a building and one of your legs slid up to wrap around the back of his knee, urging him closer to you until your body was touching his anywhere you could get the contact. His hands slid down from your hips until they reached your thigh, and he began urging your dress up around your waist as your hands went to his belt buckle. Right as things were about to escalate, a loud booming voice reminded you where you were and what you were about to do.

“Hey! You two!”

[jonasmaurer]

a whole day, from start to finish

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts! When I reviewed survey results earlier this week – I look at them all year, so thank you so much to those of you who chimed in! I truly value all of your feedback and refer back to it often – there were a lot of requests for more posts like this. We had a day this week that was pretty *normal* (what does that even mean?) and I remembered to snap some pics, so here we go!

7:15: I wake up feeling EXTREMELY rested. I reach down for my phone and see that it’s 7:15… an entire hour after I had set my alarm to go off. I had set it for “Every Saturday” so it didn’t go off and I just enjoyed a nice little slumber. We have exactly 30 minutes before we have to be out the door, so I throw on a lulu top and some leggings, some sneakers, run a brush through my hair, and blitz downstairs. The girls are hanging out on the couch watching a show, so I put their piles of clothes next to them to get dressed (feeling very thankful I put out their outfits the night before) and make them a quick breakfast. They have hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and toast, and I put their lunches into their backpacks, fill water bottles, do their hair, make sure they have their teeth brushed, put sunscreen on them, and we’re out the door. 99% of the time, I make Bulletproof Decaf coffee in my Yeti mug to take with us, but I’m out of coffee. 

8:50: I’m done with school drop-offs, so I head to the Starbucks at the grocery store to grab a coffee. Decaf almond milk latte with 1 pump of vanilla.

9:10 Back at home, and I put some sourdough into the oven that I prepped the night before. While the first loaf is baking, I finishing writing my blog post for that day and hit publish before putting the second loaf into the oven. I know it’s kind of a busy day, which works out well since it’s my rest day from the gym. While the second loaf is in the oven, I head upstairs for 7 minutes of meditation, a quick journal exercise, and do some easy stretches and mobility work.

10:20 Bread is done, so I cut a couple of slices for myself and make breakfast: 6 scrambled liquid egg whites, 1 whole egg, sautéed spinach, nutritional yeast, and bread with Kite Hill everything cream cheese spread and Everything But the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s + a side of strawberries.

In between eating, I run the eufy (still my favorite ever), clean up the kitchen from the girls’ breakfast and the bread adventures, throw some laundry into the washer, make the beds, and spray down the countertops. I also take my supplements and fill up my giant water bottle to take for the day’s adventures.

10:50 I pick up Nani to go visit Baby August! She hadn’t met him yet, and I wanted to take Kyle and Meg some bread, so it was perfect timing. I swoop Nani, and we have a wonderful visit with Kyle, Meg, EJ, and August. 

How perfect are his little toes???

I hang out outside playing games with EJ and get to hold sweet August again, and we have a lovely visit with them. 

12:30 I’m back from picking up P, and I grab her a quick snack (a Perfect bar and a sliced apple). We also play dolls and do a puzzle in the playroom for a bit. She settles down to watch a show – we try to let the girls stick to a “2 shows per day” rule – and I make myself some lunch and answer a couple of quick emails. I eat lunch outside while she swings on the swing set.

This is a frozen chicken burger from Whole Foods with Sir Kensington’s Mayo, roasted red bell pepper, spinach, mustard, on a brown rice tortilla. Notice the bite marks on the outside of the tortilla, courtesy of P, haha.

1:30 We take the dogs for a walk together around the neighborhood. The weather is so gorgeous and P is officially a pro dog walker. It’s crazy to think of how many walks I spent with her in the Ergo or in the stroller and now here she is, walking a dog completely by herself. 

I think it’s so cute that Bella lets her hold her, too. She doesn’t mind it at all. 

I switch the laundry out, and then P helps me make some cookie dough. I’ve been using this recipe and it’s INSANE (I just make the cookies smaller than the recipe suggests and skip the walnuts). 

I wish I could say I just had this tiny bit of cookie dough, but let’s be real here. After scooping spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, I cleaned the bowl with a spoon. SO good.

After baking the cookies, we let them cool and head out to pick up Liv. 

3:15 We’re back home from picking up Liv. I make the girls a snack plate (bell pepper, carrots, hummus, pepperoni, cheese, and crackers) and they eat it outside playing while I make some dinner to take to Kyle and Meg’s house. While I’m cooking, I have a Larabar and some tea with collagen.

I put rice into the Instant Pot, and chop a quick Greek salad (romaine, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted red pepper, kalamata olives, and feta), then start on the Chicken Parmesan. Enchiladas are my go-to baby meal, but since I made them enchiladas a couple of weeks ago, I want to switch it up. I make doubles of everything and wrap it in the fridge since that will be the girls’ dinner that night, too. 

4:45 Everything is packed up and ready to go,

so we drive down to Kyle and Meg’s. The Pilot is there waiting for us, snuggling with August. <3

I watch the little cousins play outside while Kyle and Meg eat and the Pilot holds August. After a little while, we switch out. Usually we would be driving to gymnastics, but I let the girls skip class since they hadn’t met the baby yet. They loved holding their new little cousin. It’s hard to believe that he’ll be running around with all of them before we know it!

6:00 We’re back at home, so I make the girls their dinner plates, switch the dishes out, and clean up from the enormous mess I made baking cookies and frying chicken. Usually we would just all eat together, but I asked our babysitter to come over that night. (It wasn’t the best planning on my part. Usually when the Pilot and I go out, I make the girls something super easy, like meatballs, pasta, and some chopped fruit or sautéed veggies on the side.) I set out the girls’ pajamas and toothbrushes, and then we get ready to go.

7:00 Nerd date! The Pilot and I have a date once a week, and quite often they’re something we call “nerd dates.” Basically, we’ll grab a quick snack or glass of wine somewhere, and then head to a coffee shop to catch up on work stuff. We sit there with our computers and headphones on like nerds, but at least we’re together. 

We have poke bowls and wine at Ra, and then go to Cartel for tea and nerd time. He’s studying like crazy for airline interviews, and I have a ton of blog stuff to catch up on, especially since I didn’t spend much time working during the day. (Usually when the girls are at school, I blitz on as much work stuff as possible!)

9:30 We’re back home! The Pilot packs Livi’s lunch for the next day – P only stays for lunch at preschool a couple of times each week – and I head upstairs to fold laundry. I used to go to bed super late – easily midnight or 1am – but ever since the girls have been going to sleep at a normal time and staying in their beds (!!!) I’ve felt like I can go to sleep much earlier. I’m tired now by about 10, and ready to wake up around 6 most days. It’s amazing to meditate a little, catch up on work, or even take a Peloton class before we start on the morning chaos. I set out the girls outfits for the next day, set out my clothes and fill up a water bottle for a morning Peloton class, and crawl into bed to read for a few minutes until my eyes start to droop. 

10:15 Bed.. and ready to do it all over again. 

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