#thank you for asking :) i am normal about cowboy michael

[yupokaysuremhm]

hello stranger, do you perhaps have a favorite Mike Walters

if cowboy michael has a million fans, i am one of them. if cowboy michael has 5 fans, im among them. if cowboy michael has 1 fan, it is me. if cowboy michael has no fans, i am dead.

COWBOY MICHAEL BLAST please enjoy a collection of images from my woe.begone pinterest board that remind me of cowboy michael

[pastelwitchling]

A Forlex prompt with Kylex being best friends 💛 Kyle and Forrest meet for the first time. Kyle's protective, you can add your own twist if you'll like.

***

               “So where’s the babe taking us?” Kyle asked, glancing over his phone as Alex came into the room, tugging his sweater down.

               Kyle’s eyes followed the sliver of naked skin between the hem of Alex’s sweater and jeans before it was gone, and his eyes fell back to his phone.

               “Nowhere special,” Alex chuckled. “Just the Crashdown.”

               “Exciting stuff,” Kyle said, and Alex, who had gone to stand in front of the mirror to try to flatten the wild strands of his hair (it wouldn’t work, and Kyle knew it), raised an eyebrow at him in the mirror’s reflection.

               “You know you don’t have to come, right?”

               Kyle scoffed, rolling over on his back, dropping a couch cushion onto the rug. “Well, that’s nice. After I so kindly offered to come along –”

               “Demanded,” Alex said. “I’m pretty sure the word is ‘demanded.’”

               “So kindly offered to come along,” Kyle said a bit louder, ignoring him, “to – I don’t know – finally meet your boyfriend, to look out for you, as all best friends should do, you treat me like some third wheel. You know, I have other things I could be doing with my nights.”

               Alex laughed. “I’m just saying, you’ve been moping on the couch all day.”

               “What, I’m not as thrilled at the prospect of watching you and Forrest make heart eyes at each other all night as you’d expected? Gee, I wonder why.”

               “And if you don’t want to come –”

               Kyle looked up at him from where he lay. “What gave you that idea?”

               Alex shook his head, smiling. Kyle blushed and lay back down, clearing his throat as he held up his phone again.

               When the knock at the door came, Kyle stood and Alex pointed at him, warning, “If you say anything –”

               “I’ll be the perfect gentleman,” Kyle said with his best smile, snapped a picture of Alex on his phone, and at the airman’s raised brow, shrugged. “What? I’m making memories here.”

               Alex rolled his eyes, but the smile never left his lips. When he opened the door, Forrest was on the other side, a large bouquet in his arms.

               Kyle leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. He searched Forrest’s face for any malintent, any indication that he was someone who wanted to be with Alex just because he needed him for something, but all he could see was love and admiration. Forrest knew he was lucky to have Alex, something Alex’s previous love interest severely took for granted.

               Okay, Blue Hair, Kyle thought. You win this round.

               Alex smiled down at the flowers. “Are those for me?”

               “Nope,” Forrest said, kissing Alex’s cheek as he walked past him into the house. He stopped in front of Kyle. “They’re for you.”

               Kyle blinked, slowly taking the flowers. “Me?”

               “You’re the best friend, right?” Forrest said. “You’re the one I’m supposed to impress?”

               Alex’s smile widened. “No, Forrest, you’re not supposed to –”

               “Yes,” Kyle cut him off, hugging the flowers to his chest, his chin raised defiantly. “I am. Let’s go, Alex’s Boyfriend. The Crashdown, was it?”

               “Kyle, he has a name,” Alex said gently, and Kyle looked over his shoulder at a very amused, yet very silent Forrest.

               “He’ll get a name when I decide he’s worthy of one.”

               “Are you channeling your inner Rosa or something?”

               Kyle scoffed. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. Rosa’s my sister, by the way,” he said to Forrest who was looking from Alex to Kyle inquiringly, “and she’d kick your ass if she was here. Be grateful that I’m a doctor. Now. Let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can be done.”

               On his way out, Kyle heard Alex brightly tell Forrest, “I think he likes you.”

               Dating was hard. Kyle would be the first to admit that. He’d thought accompanying Alex and Forrest would feel like homework, a man’s duty to his best friend. He’d thought it would be awkward and he would be ignored or left alone most of the time, but the longer he and the couple sat together, the more he realized that he was actually having fun.

               Alex was not normally a publicly romantic person, doing no more than blushing whenever Forrest said a kind word (and with such ease), and Forrest seemed to need nothing more than to reach across the table and take Alex’s hand every once in a while, as if to reassure himself that the airman was there and his. Aside from that, Kyle never felt as if they were forced to have him along, but as if they’d needed a night out with a friend, and Kyle had been their choice.

               Alex paid him the same amount of attention he always did, and Kyle felt himself checking Forrest to see his reactions. Unlike a certain cowboy, Forrest never once looked jealous or angry or annoyed that Alex had a friend. Instead, every time Alex looked away from him, Kyle caught Forrest staring at Alex fondly as he spoke, his eyes roaming over Alex’s eyes, cheeks, his lips. He seemed content to just watch Alex all day.

               Round Two, Kyle thought. Well played, indeed.

               Kyle had been enjoying himself, really, so when Michael walked into the diner, and took a seat at the counter, Kyle tensed. For a second, he thought that maybe Michael hadn’t seen them, but as the cowboy sat down, he glanced over his shoulder, right at Alex, taking off his black hat and setting it beside him.

               Kyle’s shoulders sagged. He was willing to bet that the only reason Michael had come in was because he’d seen Alex in the window. Alex and Forrest, thankfully, had been so immersed in conversation, laughing together, that neither had noticed Michael come in.

               Maybe he won’t come over, Kyle thought hopefully. He’d probably just sit there with his back to them, doing his best to stay hidden and watch Alex from afar, and Alex wouldn’t even notice him until they got up to leave. Then Michael pushed himself off the stool, and Kyle stood.

               “I’m going to the bathroom,” he said, making his voice seem casual as he slipped out of the booth. He made his way towards Michael, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Alex hadn’t seen him, and blocked Michael’s path before he could take another step.

               “Don’t even think about it, Guerin,” Kyle said under his breath.

               Michael smirked humorlessly. “Out of my way, Valenti.”

               He tried to step around Kyle, but Kyle blocked his path again. “He’s having fun, if you go over there now, you’ll just ruin that.”

               Michael poked his cheek with his tongue, looking thoroughly done with anything and anyone that was going to keep him from Alex. It was only now that Kyle realized Michael was more on edge than usual, and wondered what had happened that had made Michael want to seek Alex out. Then he wondered if maybe Michael had planned to go see Alex tonight, then caught him in the Crashdown window and came in here instead.

               Then Kyle glanced over his shoulder and saw Alex laughing, his cheeks red and his hands in Forrest’s, and he realized none of that mattered because Alex was finally enjoying himself, finally smiling and meaning it. Kyle remembered too well all the times Alex had sacrificed his own mind and heart for Michael. Always whatever Michael wanted, always Michael first.

               “Alex is gonna wanna see me,” Michael said, and began to push past Kyle again.

               “Yeah,” Kyle muttered, “yeah, he will.” He grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled him back. “But he deserves better than that.”

               Michael’s false smile fell away as he looked down at Kyle’s hand on him. When he looked up again, Kyle knew there would be an earthquake following.

               “He’s happy,” Kyle said. “He’ll see you tomorrow, for now, just give him this.”

               “Valenti,” Michael grit his teeth, “I swear –”

               “How much more do you need from him before you give him a break?” Kyle hissed, and Michael turned silent. “Guerin, he deserves better.”

               “So what?” Michael said, trying for a smirk but not quite managing it. “Give him space? Stay away from him? You’re gonna give me that speech? I’m not giving Alex up –”

               “I’m not telling you to give Alex up,” Kyle said, straining now to keep his voice down. “Honestly? I don’t think you can. I’m not even asking you to give him space. Just give him tonight. Give him a few more hours to be Alex before he has to be Captain Manes again.”

               Michael clenched his jaw so tightly Kyle was sure he would break it. His eyes were on Alex, glimmering as they always seemed to do when he was watching the airman, whatever he was feeling. For a moment, his muscles tensed beneath Kyle’s fingers, and Kyle feared he would pay for getting involved with an alien’s feelings soon.

               Then Michael yanked his arm free from Kyle’s grip, and, with a final look at Alex, turned around and stormed out.

               Kyle took a moment to steady his breathing before he returned to Alex and Forrest, sliding in next to his friend.

               “You okay?” Alex asked. “You look pale.”

               Kyle’s heart was racing. The truth was he really did think Michael had been about to lose control, and Kyle had no idea what he would’ve done if that happened. He’d never seen Michael so angry, and not seeing Alex was probably only going to put some other piece of land at risk. Hopefully, it was somewhere Michael could cause earthquakes to his heart’s content without getting caught.

               “Yeah,” Kyle said, forcing his voice to sound brighter. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

               Alex clearly didn’t believe him, but he must’ve seen something in Kyle’s expression to know that any questions or further inquiries right now would not be well-received.

               He nodded, as if to say he would drop the subject for now, and said he needed to go to the bathroom himself. Kyle let him out and sat back down to find that Forrest was looking out the window, his expression dimmed.

               “Thank you,” Forrest said, and Kyle blinked.

               “For what?”

               Forrest sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked as tired as Kyle felt. “I saw him staring at us through the window for half an hour,” he said, and Kyle’s shoulder sagged. So Forrest had known that Michael was there. “I tried to distract Alex so he wouldn’t notice. I didn’t know what to do when I heard the door open.”

               Kyle pursed his lips, looking out the window himself. Michael’s truck was already so small in the distance, and Kyle wondered how long it would be before he was banging on Alex’s front door.

               “Guerin has a temper, but . . . he’d never hurt Alex –”

               “No, I – I know,” Forrest chuckled wearily, shaking his head. “I just . . . wanted Alex to have a break tonight. Alien Guy can have whatever he wants tomorrow.”

               And the way Forrest smiled told Kyle that he meant it. Forrest seemed to know that Michael had barely managed to restrain himself tonight, that if he’d needed something from Alex, he would get it, and he was genuinely okay with it. Maybe it was because, like Kyle, Forrest knew what Alex and Michael were to each other, that wherever one was, the other was never far behind.

               Forrest, unlike Michael, knew the darkest parts of Alex and seemed to have no problem with loving him anyway.

               Kyle slumped back in his seat, his arms crossed. “Oh you’re good.”

               Forrest grinned, the tension at the table almost completely gone in an instant. “I did say I wanted to impress you.”

               “And you just went for the highest bar, didn’t you?”

               “Did it work?”

               Kyle tilted his head. “Michael Guerin is the one factor you’ll never be able to plan for. You do know that, right? Alex’s darkest point is Michael.”

               “Are you trying to scare me away?”

               “I think Alex has had enough empty promises,” Kyle said. “If you can’t handle it –”

               “Alex is worth it,” Forrest said, and Kyle fell silent. “He’s worth the Manes Legacy, worth the fear of loving someone who will always love someone else, and, yes, worth dealing with Michael Guerin. He’s worth all of it, whatever comes.”

               Kyle said nothing for a moment, not knowing what he could say, and Forrest raised a brow. “Impressed now?”

               Kyle scoffed, grabbing his milkshake off the table, unable to help the quirk of his own lips. “I’m mulling it over.”

[choruscas]

suptober day 10: sweet rides

please let me know if you’d like to be added to my tag list! (or removed if you prefer) it tags you in all my short stories like these so you never miss them!

(THERE WILL BE A PART TWO TO THIS! ONCE IT’S OUT, I’LL EDIT THIS ONE AND LINK TO THE SECOND PART ONCE IT’S FINISHED!)

also, sorry that you’re seeing the earlier days in your feeds! i forgot my writing ipad when i went on vacation this weekend, so I’ve been trying to make up the days i missed! i should catch up soon, i’ve just been incredibly busy!

October 10th, 1890 - Lawrence, Kansas

Castiel drew his breath in as the cold air of fall hit his face. He looked around the town, seeing no signs of anybody out.

Most of them were probably in saloons or shops of some sort, drinking their sorrows away with cheap whiskey and tapping all their fortunes out with gambling.

He had lived in this town his whole life, but downtown he has only recently grown familiar with it.

Two months ago, his parents disappeared from him. And the rest of his family either moved away from Lawrence or were arrested for felony and murder charges. Castiel wasn’t like that. Being the youngest in the Novak family was hard, but he managed. He was the last of the Novak’s and he never made any promises to carry the family name, since he wasn’t interested in women of any kind.

So he wouldn’t. Once he drew his dying and final breath, the Novak’s would be no more.

However, in the meantime, he could make fault of his name. He wasn’t the proudest of being a Novak, but like previously said, he managed.

Walking through the dirt roads, marked with horses hooves and wagon’s wheels after years of use, Castiel found himself at the Roadhouse, like he did every Friday night.

He enjoyed the company there, and the beer was cheap but it was decent. He wasn’t much of a drinker, as his mom had drank her heart out all his life, but alcohol was the norm, so he occasionally had a beer or two.

He went inside, pushing the doors forward to be greeted by Ellen Harvelle, the Roadhouse’s proud owner. She was serving a man, who Castiel had never seen before, with big ears and a long nose.

“Hello Ellen. Is Jo working tonight?” he smiled at her while approaching the counter. Jo Harvelle was younger and was also Ellen’s only daughter.

“Nah.” She shook her head. “She’s got studyin’ so she’s workin’ on that upstairs.”

Castiel nodded and looked around the room, there were the usuals that were normally around, like Bobby Singer with his friend Rufus Turner, Meg Masters (a devil in disguise, ask anybody) and...

Dean Winchester.

Town’s heartthrob. And Castiel would never admittedly say this, but also the only man Castiel had currently sought out for.

About a month ago, Dean’s father had died and so him and his brother moved all the way from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Lawrence. He became a regular and were familiar with some of the townspeople, since he had lived there until he was four. His mother had died in the paper’s fire at their house, and so they moved across the country. Since the town was celebrating its thirty-sixth anniversary soon, it meant that the town was still young, and so was Dean. John Winchester — thy boys’ father, was a state-famous cowboy, which gave Dean and his brother Sam a good name.

However, Castiel’s has barely usurped a full-on conversation with the man. Castiel was fairly confident, but pretty boys like Dean made his throat close up. Normally their conversations were around five minutes long, until some girl comes and ushers him away.

Although Castiel has never heard that Dean has gotten lucky with any of the women in the town. Maybe he kept it a secret, or maybe he wasn’t interested in sex. With a body like his, Castiel was surprised he didn’t. He could do so very easily, with anybody in the town who was willing.

“Hey, Cas!” Dean called out, waving a large arm up in the sky. Next to him was who he thinks was his younger brother, with shaggy hair and a lanky body, Sam Winchester.

Assuming Dean’s gesture was meant to usher him over, Castiel got up from his stool and walked over, taking off his black cowboy hat and placing it on the pool table once he got to his destination. Dean tipped his Stetson in greeting and flashed a toothy smile to Castiel, causing his cheeks to heat up.

“You here for a beer, angel?” Dean asked.

That was new.

“Uhm, yes. Like I normally am.” Castiel replied solemnly, a little bit skeptical since Dean was being extra flashy today.

Perhaps it was because Sam was around.

“Well,” he started. “I’d like ya to meet Sammy, my lil’ brother. Sammy, Castiel. Castiel, Sammy.”

Castiel nodded. “Nice to meet you, Sam.”

The younger brother stuck his arm out, signaling a handshake. It was firm, despite his young age. “You too.”

Dean gave his brother a grin and a wink and Sam had almost immediately left to go to the counter, instantly striking up a conversation with Ellen.

Odd.

“So, have you heard about Lucifer?” The question just popped up out of the blue. Dean was leaning on his cue pole, his hands over the top and his chin resting on his knuckles.

Castiel quirked his head and furrowed his eyebrows.

“The murderer, guy got his face on the wanted posters ‘bout two months ago. People are sayin’ he murdered two people and some animals or somethin’. I don’t gossip like some people do here but it’s somethin’ I’ve heard goin’ ‘round.”

He licked his lips. He hasn’t seen any wanted posters of any kind, so either he was blind or oblivious to his surroundings. Hopefully the latter.

“I haven’t. Is his real name Lucifer?” Castiel asked, now engaged in the conversation, curious.

“Naw, Lucas or somethin’. Lucas... Shurley, I’m pretty sure.” He bit his lip, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets.

Fuck.

“Lucas Shurley? I...” Castiel’s mouth went dry and the world suddenly got dizzy. “I need to sit down— o-or leave... I—“

Dean put down his cue stick, and it clattered to the ground. He gracefully swept over to where Castiel started leaning over the pool table. He put his hands on his back and laced his fingers with his to support him up.

“Cas?” His voice was soft, like of those of a kitten. “Hey... hey, man. Are you alright?”

“I have to go home—“ Castiel started, his stomach feeling like thousands of volcanic ruptures.

“I’ll take ya, man. How far do you live?”

Castiel looked up to face Dean. “About— about two miles up north. You... I can walk.”

“Walk? No. Where’s your horse?”

“Don’t have one anymore. Horse disappeared along with my parents.” Castiel said like it was nothing.

In all honesty, he didn’t believe it was nothing. He just didn’t want to worry Dean.

It was everything. Chuck and Naomi Novak were his favorite people in the world. Sure, the both of them smoked their lungs dry but without them, Castiel would be a goner. They’ve saved him, fixed him, in more ways and times than he could count.

“I’ll take ya, Baby can fit two.”

“Baby?”

“My black mare. God, she’s a beaut. Love o’ my life.” Dean smiled with pride.

Castiel nodded. That’s how Lincoln was to Castiel and his family. He was a very obedient crime colored horse, and he was very fond of him. However, after his parents disappearance, Lincoln had gone with them. Over and over Castiel theorized where they could’ve gone, but nothing of the sorts came to mind. They’ve always sort of stayed around Lawrence. Never the adventurous type, which was why their disappearance was odd.

Baby was a very comfortable horse, but it was even more comfortable to wrap his hands around Dean’s waist, feeling the rise and fall of his breath against his body. His chest was touching his back and Dean talked to him as Baby slowly rode ahead. Dean had reassured Castiel that since he didn’t feel well, Baby wouldn’t go as fast as she normally would’ve.

Hiding his blush in the night sky, Castiel’s eyes were weary and droopy. He never even got the time to get a beer, nor talk to anyone else. His trip was cut short. However, so was Dean’s.

“Sammy’s a genius, I’m tellin’ ya.” Dean filled the empty silence with something to talk about. “Been studyin’ to go to this new college called Stanford. ‘Bout five years old, fairly new. It’s all the way in California, poor guy.”

Castiel didn’t respond, but Dean could feel the nod of his body against him.

“You got any siblings?” Dean genuinely asked, cocking his head back to meet eye to eye with Castiel. Dean seemed like a good horseback, so he trusted him.

Castiel thinned his lips. “Yes... two. They don’t live around here anymore. Older brothers... uhm, Michael and Gabriel and-“

He stopped himself.

“And what?” Worry sort of filled Dean’s voice.

“I also have an older half brother... but I don’t talk to him. He sort of made my life a living hell growing up.”

“‘M sorry to hear that, Cas.”

Baby stopped in her tracks slowly, and Dean eyed Castiel’s cottage. It was on the outskirts of town, and the wooden place wasn’t the biggest, but it managed. He was proud of it. It’s been there since Lawrence founded in ‘64 and he wasn’t planning on demolishing it anytime soon.

Dean hopped off of Baby and grabbed Castiel’s hand to help him. The sickness started riling back in his gut and he walked to his front door quickly.

The wooden patio could barely hold one person without creaking in vain, crying out because of the heavy steps heaving on it. Let alone two. However, Castiel couldn’t tempt away from the green eyes and peppered freckles face with a smile he’s grown so fond of since Dean moved back.

Dean took off his hat and placed it on his chest, his fingers curling around the crease and pinch of it. He looked down.

“I just realized ya forgot your hat at the Roadhouse.” Dean chuckled, his laugh music to Castiel’s ears. “Could I stop by tomorrow afternoon ‘n give it to ya? I promise I won’t mess wit’ it.”

Castiel nodded, his face becoming red. “Thank you, Dean.” He paused, then he furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Dean simply blinked and didn’t hesitate. “Because you made me realize that angel’s were real.”

They said their goodbyes and Castiel laid on his bed, first taking off all his clothing except for his undergarments. His sheets were cold with lack of use, as it has been a while since he’s used them.

Thoughts of Dean and his freckled body filled Castiel’s head. The imagery of his cock in Dean’s soft ass pumped his heart and he bit he lip, to try and attempt himself from getting hard. He had nothing but his hand to relieve himself, so he couldn’t tonight.

However, if he got lucky with Dean, he would be a sweet ride indeed.

(tags below)

@potato-painter

[takottais-oc-askblog]

Oc bullshittery pt.7

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

Bei: I trust flesh!

T.y: You think he knows what he's doing?

Bei: I'm not sure I'd go THAT far.

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

Rico: [Finds a crumpled up piece of paper] Hey, what’s this?

Quinncie: Oh, that’s my to-do list!

Rico: Wow, you’re being so productive, good for you, I never thought that–

Rico: [reads what on the list]

Rico: This only has my name on it...

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

T.y: What do you normally do when I’m gone?

Flesh: wait for you to come back...

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

Peach: why is Quinncie crying?

Elliott: He's drunk and saw a picture of Rico's boyfriend

T.y: But he is Rico's boyfriend

Elliott: Like I said, he's drunk

Quinncie: [crying on the floor in the fetal position]

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

Eva: [on day three of no sleep and forgetting to eat, looking completely dead inside] Self-care is for the WEAK!

Cake: [coughs]

Eva: [frantically swaddling her in blankets] We need an ambulance!!!

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

Flesh: [Talking about Eva] Don’t worry! She likes your butt and your fancy hair.

Cake: [As she runs her hand through her hair] She thinks it’s fancy?

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

Camie brown: Wait, you're gay? As in, gay...gay? As in, you like women?

Peak Lilly: I thought I was being...

Peak Lilly: Crystal queer

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

Bei: alright boys ready to g– Thomas where’s your vest?

Elliott: [smiling mischievously] yeah Thomas where’s your vest?

Diel: ...

Diel: about that..

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

Pimp: Quinncie, baby. How can I get back on your good side?

Quinncie: It’s gonna take about three weeks of not talking to me.

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

Peak Lilly: Why aren't the dishes in alphabetical order!?

Camie brown: WhAt thE FuCK dOeS thAT eVEn MEAn!?

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

Flesh: [being kidnapped] Will I need my toothbrush?

Kidnapper: Shut up!

Flesh: I'm assuming that means you'll be providing the toothbrush.

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

Bei: [on the TV] Boss won't get off your back? Girlfriend won't stop nagging you?

Bei: Did that fuckstick Eva sell you a bullshit dagger that broke almost immediately despite the fact that you spent half your goddamn savings on it?

Bei: Have you considered... murder?

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

My oc's as popular vines:

Quinncie: so no head?

T.y: what the Fuck is up Kyle?!

Peak Lilly: Look at all those chickens!

Flesh: Hi welcome to chilis

Chii: Fuck ya chicken strips!

Poppet: ThAtS My OpInIoN!!

Charlie: Chris is that a weed?!

Diel: what up I’m Jared, I’m 19, and I never fuckin learned how to read

Peach: Wooow

Bei: Ms Keisha? Ms Keishaaaa!? oh my fuckin god she fuckin dead!

Paston: Hi my name is Trey I have a basketball game tomorrow.

Camie brown: I wanna be a cowboy baby!

Elliott: Im a bad bitch you can’t kill me!!!

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

Flesh: [on the phone] dad? i need your help! Th–

Chii: is the apartment complex on fire?

Flesh: ...no?

Chii: then it’s not an emergency. [hangs up]

Dax: well?! what did he say? what do we do about the portal to hell in the living room?!

Flesh: [shrugs] apparently it’s not an emergency.

T.y: [being strangled by a demon] HOW THE FUCK IS THIS NOT AN EMERGENCY??

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

Diel: [muttering]

Bei: Diel what are you doing?

Diel: I’m having an argument with myself so I can finally win something for once.

Bei: would you mind not doing that right now? We need to be quite-

Diel: Well I actually would mind, because I’m losing right now.

Bei: How can you lose an argument to yourself?

Diel: the voices in my head decided to join in, and they’re making some pretty solid points on why I should just kill the bad guys and take their money.

Bei: well that’s........ mildly concerning...

Elliott: MILDLY????!?!!

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

Chii: In terms of instant relief canceling plans is like heroin.

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

Chii: I hope flesh liked the shirt I got him yesterday. Oh, he called.

Voice mail: You have 17 new messages.

Chii: What?!

Flesh: Hey dad, thanks for the Bazinga t-shirt it's… great. I was just calling because I might need a ride later tonight. T.y can’t drive and I ran iris's car into a ditch after we watched Fast Five on Netflix together.

Iris: You still owe me for that.

Flesh: Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Cars are really flammable, did you know that? I didn’t know that. Well, I do now.. but anyway I’ll call you later if we need a pick up from the show, alright?

T.y: [groans]

Flesh: t.y, you’re up! Talk to you later, dad!

Voice mail: End of Message.

Chii: I’m not listening to all of these.[skips to the last message]

Voice mail: Message 17.

[loud screaming of pure terror as a booming demonic roar pierces the air]

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

Rico: hey i used to b uglier believe it or not.

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

Camie brown: What is the worst thing you've done sexually?

Charlie: .... I'm not sure what I'd want to call a worst..

Peak Lilly: A man..

Coccoh: pppfffttttt!

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

Eva: Stay the fuck away from my man, I won’t tell you again!

T.y: BITCH! I don’t wan yo man. Nobody wants yo man. That’s why he’s wit you!

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

Peak Lilly: It was the 80s, we did a lot of drugs back in those days.

Bren: How could she even do drugs?! She's a fucking alien!

Camie brown: Your mother found a way.

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

Random cop: STOP RIGHT THERE! YOU ARE ALL MENACES TO SOCIETY!

T.y: [decks said cop]

Bei: why did you do that??????????

T.y: I am not emotionally involved in this situation!

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

Eva: i sleep with a bow and arrow under my bed.

Bei: oh yeah? i sleep with a gun under my pillow!

Ashton: weak! i sleep with a nanobotic suit ready to be equipped!

T.y: damn, you's all are paranoid as hell!

Eva: yeah? what do you sleep with?

T.y: Elliott.

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

Flesh: So how about a change of name?

Diel: You know, one that sounds marginally less like a porno than your current one!

Bei: [unsheathes sword]

Diel: [running away] You just had to open your mouth!

Flesh: [ducking under a blade swing] My mouth? My mouth?!! This is your fault!!!

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

Eva: [slides flip phone across floor] Fuck this and fuck you! You little spawn of Nokia!

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

Peach: I wonder why I don't like anything around my neck.

Poppet: maybe you were hung in a past life?

[heavy pause]

Peach: I THINK IT MIGHT JUST BE BECAUSE I'M AUTISTIC, POPPET!

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

Eva: -and that's why I think God doesn't exist!

Cake: sorry sugar, I wasn't listenin'.

Eva: what, why?

Cake: look hun, I just really want a cupcake

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

Paston: wow, that jacket is so soft that if someone hugged you they'd die on impact. And I have a deathwish! So come here!

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

Quinncie: [singing to the tune of "We Just Got a Letter" from Blue's Clues] I just got a message, I just got a message, I just got a message, and it's from your man!

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

T.y: Bitches be like "You mine".

T.y: First off I'm on probation, "I" belong to the state.

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

Bei: I was so angry at everything when i was 13. And i was right.

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

Bei: [get assigned a mission out of the city]

Bei: [drives off]

T.y: [storms into the apartment]

Rico: [sorting files]

Flesh: [at the computer]

Iris: [sharpening knives]

T.y: ATTENTION SIMPLETONS! Bei has JUST left the building!

Iris: ....

Flesh: ....

Rico: ....

T.y: and guess who’s been deputized as sheriff of this complex!

Rico: [hesitantly raises hand]

T.y: M E! 

Rico: [hand goes down]

T.y: now [presses play on bluetooth speaker] work bitches!

[Work Bitch by Britney Spears echoing throughout the apartment]

Flesh: uuuughhhh not agaaaaain–

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

Iris: [putting on makeup]

Flesh: [watching]

Flesh: Why do you use so many brushes for makeup?

Iris: Was Mona Lisa painted with one brush? 

Iris: NO!

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

Bei: [walks into the kitchen]

Apartment complex 404 Fam: [eating breakfast]

Bei: just a reminder; it’s Throat Punch Thursday

Bei: [leaves]

T.y: [checks imaginary watch] damn, that time again already ?

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

Quinncie: I made a fool of myself today and I will make a fool of myself tomorrow. Good night!

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

Eva: the only two important Michaels; Jordan and Jackson.

Peach: [while pulling out Michael Myers mask] wooooow aight bet–

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

T.y: they kicked me outta church bc i yelled “fuck the devil!” I thought we all hated that motherfucker!?

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

Peak Lilly: You know, one day you could be a great dad!

Chii: I already am.

Peak Lilly: flesh doesn't count.

Chii: HE IS MY CHILD!

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

Chii: so, what did I miss?

Dax: flesh died twice.

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

Diel: my goal is not to be the best, but to inspire someone enough to one day surpass me.

Bei: you can’t just say that every time you fail a mission.

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

Iris: wow i need a drink.

Iris: [pours chocolate milk into a shot glass]

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

Flesh: I think your calculations might have been off.

Diel: Well, they can't be off if I didn't do any.

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

Iris: [to Elliott] You... you... you rude person!

Dax: Go easy on him, iris.

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

T.y: [comes downstairs to find bei up and about]

T.y: wow you sure are quite the night person..

Bei: buddy I’m barley even a person!

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

Bei: No one expects an angel to set the world on fire. But than again I'm no angel.

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

T.y: oh yea? Well apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

T.y: [Points at flesh] But this one got ran over by a fuckin lawn mower!

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

Diel: I look like I'm supposed to be stalking senpai in this outfit.

Diel: Who's senpai? Hell if I know but I'm stalking him that's for sure.

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

Tag list: @nansblockit @ask-the-amazing-greenland @slasher-beware @ticket-to-ride13 @illwaitinthisplace

If you want to be tagged just comment on this post or shoot me an ask/message, have a wonderful day!

[saadiestuff]

Ready (a fluffy, soul-soothing, friends to lovers, Malex fic coda)

For long months now, they’ve been friends.

It had been a rocky start, involving some awkward get-togethers and near insurmountable tests of self-restraint at times. But they'd done it - they'd settled in to a new type of relationship together.

Neither know when it happened, for it could not be pinned down to a finite moment, but over time things had become easy between them - they could hang out, they could laugh, they could build and enjoy a new shared history. And they'd discovered that when they had things to talk about besides their painful past, they could, in fact, do a lot of talking - or at least as much as can be expected from the strong, silent, types they both are.

~~~

“Thanks for hosting tonight, Alex,” Max says, “Just going to collect Liz and head out-- Oh, meant to ask, where’d you get your BBQ? I loved it, and I’m in the market for one.”

“No problem, thanks for cooking.” Alex says, “And the BBQ is from Costco. On sale in the winter.”

“Nice, well, thanks man," Max says just as the party stragglers begin to stream into the kitchen.

“Ready to go?” Max asks, turning to Liz.

“Actually we’re all calling it a night. It’s starting to get chilly out there,” Liz says.

“I offered to start a fire,” Michael shrugs.

There’s banter and laughter as the group says their goodbyes and heads towards the door, but Michael finds himself not paying attention, instead concentrating on Alex, who has been squirmy and quiet around him all evening.

“Night, Alex,” Michael says with a small wave, trying to act as normal as possible, even though this discomfort isn’t normal for them, not anymore, and Michael's worries have settled like a heavy pit in his stomach over the last few hours.

As Michael attempts to slip by, Alex catches his arm and speaks quietly. “Can you stick around?”

“Yeah,” Michael manages to say casually, nervous but relieved to at least know he isn't imagining things. He hangs back discreetly as the rest leave.

Alex takes a deep breath as he closes the door behind the last guest, leaning there for a moment before turning to face Michael.

“So, what’s up?” Michael asks cautiously. He’d forgotten how much he hates the feeling that he and Alex are on unsure footing, now after being so stable for months. It terrifies him how that may have crumbled in one evening.

“I’m ready,” Alex says plainly.

“Ready for…?” Michael says slowly.

“Us.”

“Us?”

“I’ve being working through my shit this last year," Alex explains as he sways nervously, shifting his weight from side to side, "And… now… I can’t go live the rest of my life without having given this thing with you a try. An honest to god try.”

Michael exhales hard and looks away, running a suddenly clammy hand over the back of his neck. “Alex…”

“Look, I know we’ve never been on the same page at the right time. But I’m here, on the page-- on our page,” Alex says, words tumbling out a lot faster than he'd planned, “And if you’re not ready, if you still need to figure stuff out, I’ll wait. I’ll wait and I’ll help you, if-- I mean, of course, if you want to try too. If-- if you want me.”

Michael smiles that big nervous smile of his, the one that always breaks across his face whenever he wants to hide, when he's torn between laughing or crying.

“Alex Manes, when I was 17 you made me feel for the first time like there might be a place for me, like earth could be my home, like I could be happy here. And ever since then I've been chasing that feeling, tryin’ to find it again, building a frickin' spaceship because I couldn't-- I couldn't find it again... except..." Michael shakes his head ruefully, "Except those few times when you’d blow into town and take me to bed and-- I don't mean to say it's about sex. It's not. Because I had that feeling before we-- you know, just you being nice to me, giving me a place to stay and a guitar? Man, that was everything. And now when we've been friends I get to be close to that feeling again and it's--" he pauses to take a breath, "So… yeah, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm always going to want that. I'm always going to want you.”

“Oh…” Alex says, or rather breathes the wisp of a word, trying to process.

“I'm sorry. That was a lot," Michael huffs out a nervous laugh and lets his lips creep into a small, genuine smile, "I thought I'd try this new thing where I actually say stuff…”

“No, it's good," Alex assures him, taking a step forward, almost involuntarily for the want to wrap Michael up in his arms, "Saying stuff.”

“Ya? Good. Because how I felt tonight... I knew there was something off and I was freaking out," Michael admits, wrapping his arms around himself instead.

Alex smiles sympathetically, "I'm sorry, I decided today was the day and I was nervous about bringing this up - I didn't mean to telegraph it to you all night."

"It's okay. Maybe it should tell me that putting all of that," he waves his hand in the air, "home and belonging stuff on you is too much. I need to find it in myself, you know? And-- fuck, am I drunk or what because I don't even know what I'm saying," Michael blurts out, diving for the cover of humour.

"Nah, I don't think this is drunk Michael talking. I think it's emotionally-mature Michael talking," Alex says, quirking an eyebrow but sounding a little proud.

"No one's ever called me that before," Michael says with a lopsided grin.

Alex beams at him, "Get used to it if you keep up with this 'saying stuff' business."

Michael actually blushes at the praise. He rocks back on his heels, buying some time to collect himself. But Alex, a little anxious, preempts him, circling back to the more serious issues.

"Like I said... I'll wait. Because we still have our shit to work on..." Alex admits, further closing the gap between them and reaching to take Michael's hands in his, squeezing them comfortingly, massaging gently over the scarred one, "If you need to figure some things out for yourself first..."

"No need. I'm emotionally-mature-cowboy now," Michael says slyly, slipping his hands from Alex's and sliding them around Alex's waist, drawing him closer.

Alex laughs, trying to suppress the flutter in his gut radiating out from where he can feel Michael's warm hands through his shirt.

“So… how do we swing this transition from friends to lovers?” Michael asks, licking his lips before plastering his most flirtatious, goofy, smile across his face.

“That would be lovers to friends to lovers,” Alex corrects him playfully as he closes the gap between them, his hands falling softly on Michael's chest, their hips almost touching.

Michael smirks and leans in, “Does that mean we just keep doing what we’ve been doing for months... except that I get to kiss you good night?”

“And good morning…?” Alex adds shyly, not sure if it's too much too fast - he's had time to process this, Michael hasn't.

But Alex gets his answer when Michael smiles so big he feels a little embarrassed for how revealing it is. Alex grins softly back, slowly, deliberately, sliding his hands up Michael's chest to his neck, then jaw, until his thumbs touch the corners of Michael's lips, the caress silently telling Michael how much Alex likes this smile. This smile that's all joy, this smile that's not a wall.

Their lips meet, and it’s like their early kisses: gentle, but needy, and full of hope.

They part moments later, already breathless.

“Damn, we were always so good at that,” Michael chuckles.

Alex hums in agreement as they sway together, foreheads touching, trying to take in the moment, trying to grasp that this is really happening.

“I’m a little nervous,” Michael admits with a gulp cutting through the silence, “This kinda feels like the first time…”

"Yeah," Alex agrees, because for the first time since then, their love feels elevated above the pain and sorrow, not tangled in it. And for that reason it takes all of Alex's strength to make an offer to which he hopes the answer is 'no'. “We can take things slow, you know, if you want?"

“Slow enough to make it to your bed, maybe…” Michael quips.

Alex laughs, and kisses him again.

[Emotionally-Mature-Cowboy action figures are now available at your local Costco.]

Check out my other Malex fic on AO3 - my author name is "Saadie" or you can copy/paste this link! archiveofourown.org/users/SaadieStuff/works

[piccolina-mina]

Holding the Universe Together

Fandom: Roswell New Mexico

Characters: Maria Deluca, Max Evans

Inspo: Dia de Maria

“She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” - Salinger 

A/N: Pre-series Maria and Max. The brotp I need in my life. Freestyle, all errors are due to humanity and sleep-deprivation. 

—

Thwack

“First time’s a warning; next time it’s hitting one of you, got it?” Maria popped her gum while pointing the baseball bat at both rowdy, drunken patrons who were seconds away from a brawl.

“We’re closed now,” she feigned sweetness as she cocked her head to the side. “Now get outta here!”

She stared both men down as neither of them made a move towards the exit. She twirled the bat like a baton and was on her way around the counter when he found his voice in his drunken haze.

“The lady,” he shook his head to better clear his thoughts and assert some semblance of authority. “The lady told you to leave, gentlemen.”

Max glared at the two drunks until they had the right mind to retreat, and when they did, he laughed in delight; it worked.

Two Marias looked back at him.

“Thanks for the assist, newly appointed lawman Evans.” She went back to wiping down the counter. “I had it though.”

Was that sass? Yeah, it was probably sass. It had been a few years since high school, but even then, Maria could kill a man with her sass. It would be the sweetest kind of death though.

“The lady doth protests too much.”

He was pretty sure his words were slurring together, and he didn’t realize he had celebrated his new official role at the sheriff’s department so much. He didn’t normally drink a lot. That was something he left to Michael.

Maria came into focus again, and he realized that the real reason he avoided the Pony was she reminded him of Rosa – she reminded him of Liz.

He didn’t realize the mere thought had brought him to tears until warm hands were rubbing at his neck and face.

“Easy there, Evans,” Maria cooed. I think you had more than enough.“

She sounded so maternal, and it made him want to cry more. If she knew anything about how he affected her life, she wouldn’t be soothing him as if he were a child.

He couldn’t understand why she was in the first place, but she had this faraway look in those soulful brown eyes that made him think it wasn’t about him at all.

“Do you think she would be proud of me?” He asked before he could stop himself, and he cringed at how pathetic he sounded.

She knew. Maria always knew. He never bought into her and her mom being psychics or witches or whatever else the town liked to call them, but she had a certain intuition he couldn’t explain.

“Oh honey,” she smiled a sad smile and patted his hair. “I always had a soft spot for you, you know?”

He scoffed in disbelief since Isobel all but made him believe he was a dope who no one could ever appreciate, at least back in high school.

“You were supposed to be a writer, Evans,” she replied quietly. She rested her hip half sitting on the table and absentmindedly stacked his glasses for cleanup.

“You were supposed to travel the world,” he shot back. “You were supposed to sing.”

He watched her body tense, but he didn’t know if it was out of anger or surprise.

“How the heck did you know that?”

Surprise then.

“You mattered to Liz,” he said honestly with a shrug. “So you mattered to me.”

He studied her face. It was something he was getting better at with the new job. Her eyes were misty, and for a moment he could see a longing in them.

He never knew what held her back; Maria was too big for their small town, and he figured she would take off after high school.

He doesn’t know if she ever did, but if she had, she came back sooner than expected.

“The job, does it make you happy?” She asked. “Does it fulfill you?”

He thought about it for seconds too long, and his head lolled a little too far to the side; she suppressed a smirk. He could tell.

“I get to help people,” he says a little too loudly, and he overcompensates by whispering it again. “I get to help people, and I like that part a lot.”

She smiles down at him. “Then she’s proud of you.” She squeezes his hand and collects the cups.

“Does this make you happy? Does this fulfill you?” He asked, but when her hand stalled and her face scrunched up, he figured he screwed up again.

“Oh, oh, sorry. Please don’t cry,” he shoved damp bar napkins at her and reached for her face before dropping them awkwardly.

“I’m not about to cry, you dope,”  she laughed him off, and he thought maybe she was lying, but he was too inebriated to tell.

“Alright, Evans. Who am I calling for you? The dirty mechanic who is in here every other week or the bitchy socialite?”

He must have looked confused as hell because she took pity on him. “Why don’t you go wash up, and I’ll take you home.”

He nodded and stumbled to the bathroom for a splash of cold water before returning to the bar. The lights were mostly out.

Maria stood palms gripping the bar counter her head tilted into the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder blade.

“I’ll be home soon, Mimi,” her voice was a higher pitch as if she was hiding how exhausted she sounded. She also sounded worried.

“Did you get the food I left you? No, mom. I’m not babying you. You’re right, I was just checking in. I’m making a quick stop, and I’ll be home shortly. No, not that type of stop. Fine, it’s that type of stop. He’s tall dark, handsome and wears a uniform. Whole shebang. I’ll tell you all the details.”

She hung up and leaned forward onto the bar and exhaled. He felt bad for impeding on her moment, but then without even turning back around to look at him, she asked: “Are you ready officer tall, dark, and handsome?”

He stumbled in surprised, and she was by his side propping him up. “Easy there, cowboy.”

“I’m s-sorry, ” he stuttered leaning into her more than he wanted.

“I don’t give this special treatment to just anyone. You should be flattered, Evans,” she grunted under his weight. “You were always one of the sweet ones, and no worries, I’m not taking you home to ravish you.”

She laughed when his eyes went wide, and his cheeks flushed upon realizing she knew he was eavesdropping after all.

The night air did him some good, but Maria stayed tucked beneath him like a toy puppy. She was small, the way Liz was small. But she was strong enough to hold up his frame, and as she helped him get in he wondered why he never bothered befriending Maria.

She was a good friend and a nurturer, and he realized that in some ways they had a lot in common.

He saw the medical paperwork on the seat – endless papers which mostly had Mimi Deluca’s name all over them, and it was beginning to make sense why Maria may have remained in Roswell and at the ripe age of 23 was running her family bar alone.

“No one knows what’s wrong with her, "she said softly as they cruised along. "The doctors don’t even listen.”

“I’m sorry,” he responded sincerely. He reached out and squeezed her hand, and she squeezed it back. “She would be proud of you too. She loved you so much.”

“Yeah, I miss her,” she said with such sadness he wanted another drink to drown out the guilt.

She switched the radio on and Bon Jovi’s “Living On a Prayer” flooded the car. She began singing at the top of her lungs, and he didn’t know what it was about Maria, but by her third nudge, he joined in.

“One of these days we’re going to do this proper, cowboy,” She yelled over the music. “We’re going to do karaoke.”

He snorted and blushed at the mere thought. “I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

“Oh Maximilian, you owe me, and I always get my way.”

His headache was starting to settle in, but he wouldn’t dare derail her jam session.

So it made it all the easier to believe that, yeah, she always did.

[malex-overlord-believe]

Ask Me

Michael returns Maria's necklace earlier.

All Alex wants is a drink and maybe some normality that the Wild Pony brings. He grabs a seat at the bar waiting for Maria to swing by and tell her how the trip to Texas went.

She comes not a minute after he’s seated with a shot of the good stuff ready for them both.

“Manes I made the biggest mistake of my life last night.”

Alex doesn’t think whoever she banged is that bad since she seems a bit lighter.

“Why don’t you tell me about how Texas went then you can lament all about your biggest mistake.” He throws back his shot and enjoys the slight burn that helps take his mind off of all the crazy stuff going on in his head.

Maria nods at the action and takes her too before pouring them another.

“Texas was a hack which sucked and lead me to said ‘biggest mistake’ because I can’t believe I really did what I did. I mean sure there’s always been a bit of tension between us and i’m not saying it wouldn’t have never happened, but still: why him.” She’s leaning against the bar with her elbows on the counter and dramatically covers her face with her hands. They both laugh when she peeks through them with a small smile.

“So DeLuca gonna tell me who ‘he’ is?” They knock their glasses together and down their shot. “Don’t keep me guessing.”

“Well alright it’s-”

She’s cut off when the doors swing open and Michael Geurin walks in shouting, “Hey DeLuca you forgot this. Did you put it in my boot on purpose because this thing is pointy and it hurt!”

Alex turns without a thought to see Michael dangling Maria’s necklace in his hands, who pauses when he sees Alex’s face before continuing to walk over.

Alex thinks he’s in shock but- no he’s felt that before. This is… something else. It’s not anger or hurt because he can’t be at either of them for- well being adults. It’s this weird mix of feelings he honestly doesn’t want to get into. Ever.

“Speak of the Devil. Thank you now leave and never return.” Maria snatches her necklace and tries to shoo Michael away but he just takes the empty seat next to Alex, still looking at him. Alex feels like it’s almost a challenge.

“Geurin.” He says first.

“Alex.”

Alex looks back at Maria who’s glaring at Michael until it turns into a frown. That’s a ‘i’m feeling something here’ frown and Alex doesn’t want to get into that either.

“Maria tells me you’re her biggest mistake.” He downs the new shot Maria poured them and tries not to look back at Michael but he canfeel his eyes still on him. Of course everything he was trying to ignore for just one night wants him to deal with it now. Typical.

“She wouldn’t be the first.”

Maria slides the bottle and their shot glasses out of Michaels reach. “Ya but I might be the last. I wasn’t lying about cutting things Guerin. Now leave.”

Michael finally just sighs in defeat and Alex can feel his gaze finally leave him but it's different this time, like it's final. That's what he wants right? To end this cycle they have of coming back to each other, ending up hurt, leaving then starting the whole thing over again. Right?

“Guess everybody wants to leave me.” He tosses a ten on the counter and stands to go but there’s something pushing at Alex to make him stay and not make this feel like it's actually ending.

“Wait Geurin-”

“You were right Manes, not a bang but a whimper. I’ll start making myself scarce.”

He should just let Michael walk. This time he isn’t the one walking away, this thing between them will finally end and it hurts but maybe-

“Michael Geurin you sit the fuck down now.” Maria hisses as she stares at Alex. He doesn’t even know what his face might look like right now but it’s probably telling her everything.

She slams the bottle down loud enough for everyone to hear and gets up on the counter. “Everyone who doesn’t want to be barred for life better leave in the next two minutes. Now.” Her eyes narrow at Michael who takes a step towards the rush of people leaving. “Geurin you stay or so help me I will end you.” she warns and Michael actually heeds the warning. He slowly makes his way back but sits with one stool between them.  

Hoping off the bar and quickly going to lock-up, she shouts a reminder for everyone to bring any taken glasses back tomorrow before shutting the door.

Maria crosses her arms as she leans back against the locked doors, eyeing the two men all the way at the bar counter. She gives her head a quick shake as she goes to turn the music off before slowly walking over.

“You.” She points at Alex. “Are an idiot but i’m thinking there’s way more to it than that.”

“You.” her hand swings to Michael. “Are still a mistake but a somewhat fun one.” There’s a pause as she ruminates before nodding. “ You’re also Museum Guy.”

Michael lifts a brow at that. “Museum guy?... Oh.”

“Dear lord I slept with Museum guy.”

She takes the seat between them and glares at Alex. “You made museum guy sleep with me!”

“That- I don’t even know what to say to that.” He argues.

“You told her about that.”

Alex reluctantly looks around Maria at Michael. He tries not to look too much into what he sees on Michael’s face.

“Sorta. Just the- the good parts.” Alex gets out. He really is tired. With what he knows now. What he wants to know. Everything he’s feeling. Just… Everything is started to be way more than he thinks he can handle and Alex Manes has handled so much shit.

So many emotions run through Michael’s face before it lands on his stupid go-lucky cowboy attitude. “Oh so you remember we had good parts now?” He gives Alex a sharp nod but his eyes are cold. “And here I thought I was the only one who did.”

Maria slams her hands on the table.

“Guerin stop being a dick and cut the act. I’m going to get you a glass, grab stuff that’ll make us regret drinking, and by the end of tonight we’re figuring out this thing between you two.”

It’s silent as Maria goes behind the bar while Alex tries his best to avoid looking at Michael and Michael only looks at him.

A shot glass is placed in-front of Michael and all glasses are filled with a brand new bottle of something with a fancy name that Alex can smell from his seat.

Michael and Maria down their drinks but Alex is hesitant, considering if drinking while dealing with whatever Maria thinks they need to deal with, is a good idea.

“Alex we are adults and we both know you won’t open up until you’ve had a bit of good old-fashion truth serum in you.” His glass is pushed closer.

He can still feel Michael’s eyes on him but it’s the worried look from Maria that makes him finally drink.

A satisfied grin replaces the worry and Maria leans against the bar eyeing them both.

“So Michael is Museum Guy. It took ten goddamn years for you to tell me and I had to figure it out. Michael and I had a simple easy hook-up last night cause life is shit. It meant nothing, Geurin don’t give me that look, sure it was good but we’re better off as friends, who else am I going to get annoyed with but who gets me? You two need to figure out whatever the hell your shit is right now because i’m starting to get a headache from this hopeful heartbreak thing you both got going on.” She finishes by pouring and draining another shot then hopping over the bar and moving to sit next to Alex, leaving the free seat between him and Michael. “Who’s going first?”

Alex watches as Michael eyes them both before pulling a bottle of nail polish remover out from his jacket and taking a couple gulps straight from it. The surprise from the action is the only thing that stopped Alex from launching across to slap the bottle away.

Michael lets out a long sigh with his eyes closed, looking so tired but ready to get whatever they’re doing over with.

“I’m so fucking tired of everything right now so i’m only saying this once: I’m an Alien.” His eyes bore into Alex, like he’s trying to find something but Alex doesn’t know what.

He’s not gonna lie though, finally hearing Michael say it makes all this alien drama he’s been dealing with so much easier. Alec can actually feel some of the chaos in his head quiet down while the tension in his whole body gives just a little bit.

“I’m not saying having sex with you was out of this world.”

Alex is blaming the alcohol on that even though he’s only had a few shots. He feels Maria shift closer and peer over his shoulder at Michael. “Prove it.”

He scoffs and shakes the nail polish remover like that should be enough but rolls his eyes as he focuses on the shot glasses on the bar until they start to float.

“Crash landed back in 47’ but I didn’t wake up until a century later.” The glasses start to spin in a lazy orbit until they settle gently back on the counter.

Alex didn’t know that part but he can easily piece together the other things. Michael and the Evan twins being found all those years ago. Max and Isobel being adopted. Michael in the system. All of them having to hide this secret for their whole lives.

Whatever tension and relief Alex had a second ago is gone, now replaced with horror. He pours himself another shot.

Alex knows what keeping secrets about yourself does and it being something so vital actually makes his chest hurt.

Maria reaches for the bottle to pour another drink. “Max and Isobel too then.”  

Michael stays quiet.

“Ok well I’m not dumb Guerin but i’ll let this slide. Alex?”

“Guess I made him go into shock.” Michael jokes as he pours a splash of nail polish remover into his glass then brings the bottle over to him to top it off.

Alex swallows down the emotions to keep his voice even. “Who else knows?” He finally asks. His dad brought Kyle in but Alex has a strong suspicion that Liz knows because anyone with eyes can see how her and Max are, and Roswell’s just small enough that there only a few people that would make sense.

“Besides you guys, Liz because she almost died and Max saved her, and Kyle cause Liz can’t keep her mouth shut apparently. I guess having a doc and bio-med researcher came in handy though.” There’s a deep frown on his face and Alex knows Michael still isn’t happy they know but begrudgingly grateful.

“Why tell us then?” Why tell me he asks asks with his eyes. If anything he should have never told Alex, kept him in the dark so he could stay safe.

Michael’s eyes flick away as he turns to face the entrance and lean back against the counter, elbows resting on the wood to support him as his hands dangle over the side. Alex is torn between being grateful he can’t see Michael’s left but desperate to know the mark left on it is still there, the horrid reminder that what happened to them really did happen. That the good parts still happened.

“Guess I’m giving you the best excuse to finally walk away.” Michael has his head tilted up to stare at the ceiling for a moment before he looks back at Alex with a fake smile. “Then again it won’t really matter once I find the remaining pieces and leave. No one wants me to stay, might as well try and find out where i’m from.”

It feels as if pure ice shoots through Alex’s veins, leeching all the warmth leaving him frozen.

Michael leaving. The planet. Leaving to a place Alex won’t be able to follow. He remembers back when he thought Michael might leave after being told to move by the military and how panicked he felt that Michael was leaving to another state but now- now it’s like he can’t breathe, move, do anything right now. Alex always left but some small part of him believed he could always get back to Michael no matter the distant or time it took.

“Pieces? Like for your Alien spaceship?"

Not even the reminder of Maria helps pull him out from where he feels stuck but then his brain gets stuck on the word pieces.

Pieces.

Pieces of alien tech. A piece he has. A piece that could help Michael leave forever.

“Yup. It’s taken a few years, lots of digging and searching on the dark web as well as our good old town, but once I’ve gotten enough I can engineer what I have to so I can leave.”

Alex has just been staring at Michael saying nothing. Trying to read his face and decide what to say, say what he really wants to but he can see a sort of relief on Michael’s face, how it’s a bit more relaxed at the thought of leaving a place that’s been nothing but cruel and unforgiving his whole life.

A hand grabs onto his arm and he turns to see the conflict on Maria’s face reflecting his own about Michael leaving.

But Alex’s mind is stuck on Michael’s face and if he can make Michael feel better- if this is really what Michael needs, to be free and away to be happy, then Alex will help him.

“Michael you’d really- Alex, where are you going?”

Alex gently tugs his arm free and marches to the exit. He’s not thinking, doing anything not to think about what he’s doing. Just keep walking. Unlock the door. Get to his car. Unlock it. Grab his bag. Give Michael the piece he needs to leave-

“Alex what are you doing?”

He tries to shake off the grip on his arm and get closer to his car but the hand only tightens.

“If you’re going to call me in at least give me ahead start Manes.”

Those words finally make him snap. That he thinks Alex would ever- but then he hasn’t really ever done anything to make Michael think otherwise, so all the anger turns to guilt and shame he can only blame himself for.

“Stop making this harder for me Guerin. Let me go so I grab the piece of your stupid ship and you can leave.”

Alex tries to pull away again but Michael’s other hand grabs onto him and brings him closer.

“What are you talking about.”

“Just let me-” He can feel tears of frustration starting to well up but he tries his best to blink them away.

“Alex hey calm down and talk to me-”

He finally pushes Michael away, his chest restricting even more at the hurt confusion that flashes across Michael’s face at his action. But this is all too much and he needs to do this before he can’t- before he losses whatever motivation he has to make Michael happy and be selfish by making him stay. Michael wants him to talk, he’ll talk, say his peace and give Michael what he needs to finally leave for good.

“You want to leave. You want to leave forever and you think nobody wants you to stay. You want to leave a place that’s been nothing but horrible and cruel, and I get that. If you really want to leave then I’ll help but if you stop me now I might-” He clamps his mouth shut and thanks the last few weeks of intense physical therapy that lets him whirl around to get to his car before Michael can stop him again.

He gets as far as unlocking it and a hand on the handle before he’s being turned and pushed back against the door by his shoulders.

“You might what.”

Acetone and alcohol wash against his face with Michael so close. His eyes fall to Michael’s mouth on instinct but he tries to wiggle the hand closest to the door handle with whatever higher brain functions he isn’t slowly losing with being nearly pressed up against Michael’s warm body.

A hand slides up to cups his neck, the contact of skin makes his breath stutter and his hand fall to his side.

“Alex.”

His eyes find Michael’s. Those eyes that never leave him. Those eyes that brings him back to probably the best and worst moments of his life. Those eyes he’s always looked into never saying what he really wants and only things that hurt them both.

“If you don’t let me go then i’m going to be selfish and find a way to make you stay.” He croaks out as his hands go to grip onto the lapels of Michaels Jacket.

“What if I want you to be selfish.” Both hands are cupping his neck now and makes his whole body melt into the hold, the unsaid trust that Michael will hold him up.

“What if I want you to make me stay.” A thumb brushes away a stray tear that falls then their foreheads are pressed together as they breathe the same air, enveloped in this moment. The cool night air up against Alex’s jeep in the empty lot of the Wild Pony with Alex wanting Michael to stay and Michael telling him he wants that too.

But… it can’t be that easy.

“But you’re not happy. You want to leave me.” Alex whispers trying to voice is worries. “What if I can’t- what if we- there’s always something that never just lets us be.”

His father. This town. The world. The damn universe always finds a way to keep them just out of reach.   

“I loved you and I know you loved me too. I still care about you but we don’t even really know each other. I only knew what I thought of you, what I learned from those few moments we had when we were younger and those few times we saw each other when I was on leave, but we’ve always just been physical! I want-” Alex’s right hand snakes its way up to press against Michael’s chest, right over his heart. “I want to know you. I want to- be friends again? Learn who you really are because what we had- the connections I felt was-” Alex tries to find the words but Michael easily voices them for him.

“Cosmic? So strong it’s lasted ten years?” Michael swallows and tries to calm down all his emotions bubbling up from everything Alex is saying, all the stuff he knew Alex was holding back. “Something that keeps hurting us. Something we couldn’t ever really have because I had to keep my secret since it wasn’t just mine.”

Alex shakes his head at that. “I already had my suspicions and knew about the Alien thing and I honestly don’t really care about that. God i’ve known for nearly a month Guerin but all finding out did was give me the chance to finally protect you.”

He looks up to see this shocked but soft look in Michael’s eyes, like amazement.

“I’m a skilled hacker. I’ve built connections in the government. I can help you go home and leave this planet if you really want that.”

“But you don’t want that.”

Alex’s jaw tightens.

“It doesn’t matter-”

“Of course it does!” Michael yells and Alex can feel his jeep starting to shake behind him before going still. “You just said you want to know me and be friends and you don’t wantme to leave.”  

His hand tightens in Alex’s hair and presses them closer together.

“I already said I wanted you to make me stay. The only thing keeping me here is my siblings and you. Sure I want to leave but so do a lot of other people. You’re not such a stranger to doing it.”

“Guerin-”

“All you ever had to do was ask me. That night you stayed when I didn’t even ask you to, was like a dream Alex. I woke up and you were there but then you left  still not wanting people to know. Then you came to me at the drive-in, which honest to god felt like a date, but you left and only came back to say things were over because I was a criminal.” There’s a desperation in his eyes, like he’s trying to get everything out before he crumbles under the pain. “I didn't think you'd be at the Wild Pony tonight but I'm glad you were because I finally got to tell you who I really was but then both you and Maria seemed to freak out that I was leaving even though not a couple minutes before you wanted me gone. So until someone actually asks me to stay, I honestly don't see why I should. Why stay if I'm not wanted.”

His eyes drop and so does his head, falling down to rest against Alex's chest, his shirt starting to get wet from tears.

“Why stay at all.” He croaks out as his arms slide down to loosely hold onto Alex's arms and take a shaky breath before starting to pull away.

“Stay.” The words are a whisper said into Michael's curls.

Alex's right hand fists Michael's shirt while his left wraps around Michael's waist to grip onto the bottom of it to stop Michael from pulling away.

“Stay here. With me.”

He pulls Michael flushed against him, the position uncomfortable but so close and perfect.

“I'm done running away.”

Alex's right hand trials up to snake his fingers in Michael's hair and gently tugs so he can look at him.

“I want you, so please, stay?” he pleads as more tears fall.

Michael stares at him with wet eyes in equal parts hope and fear.

“Don't ask if you don't mean it. There's only so many times I can hope Alex before I'm hollowed out.” His hands rising to hold Alex's face in them. “I need to know you mean it.”

Alex holds Michaels gaze with determination.

“Michael. I want you to stay.”

[cap-pout-ccino]

I'm not gonna leave - A jafael one shot

Hello ! I know it’s not common in this fandom but I was inspired this week-end and I wrote a little jafael something. 

SPOILER ALERT : This story happens just after the particular set episode 7 or 8 takes place. This place is just mentioned but read at your own risk. I hope you see this happening as much as I do !

Hope you’ll like it :D 

SUMMARY : Jane and Rafael broke up and she went in Montana (for whatever reason the writers found). This is their reunion after she’s back from her short trip. 

DISCLAIMER : I own nothing !

Jane banged on Rafael’s door or their door? Nothing is certain now. She even left her set of keys at her mom before leaving, that how lost she was. Anyway, she just got off the bus from Montana and couldn’t wait one more minute to talk to him. He opened the door after a second round of knocks.

“Jane! Hi! You’re back?”

She smiled at the sign of him and nodded, he was still wearing his work uniform.

“Mateo isn’t here; he’s sleeping at your parent’s house. Tomorrow is a school day and he would have been too excited to sleep waiting here for your return. Didn’t you get my text?” He asked with concerned.

“Yeah, yeah, you did well, I’m heading there but I needed to see you first.”

“Ah, it’s kind of bad timing right now … “

Jane looked passed his shoulder and saw a slender woman sitting on their… his couch and drinking champagne. She instantly felt a punch in her gut but kept it together, she needed to stay calm.

“It’s Carla, the new coworker I told you about, we’re…celebrating.” He tried to control the situation. “We finally sold a villa that’s been on the market for 7 months now.”

“Oh, hello! Good job, good… well I guess I’ll see you later.” She turned away, ready to leave and to cry on her mom’s shoulder about how she lost everything, again. She paused, her hand on the doorknob. No, not again. This felt too much like a déjà-vu and she refused to relive that one more time.

“I’m not leaving. I’m done with this wrong timing. I’m not doing it again.” She turned around to face Rafael. “We need to talk, right now. Sorry Carla but it’s a now-or-never kind of moment.”

“What Jane?” Rafael asked in a sigh.

“You were right, I love Michael.” Jane announced as a fact.

Rafael rolled his eyes, ready to kick her out, a painful look growing on his face. Jane read his expression immediately and put her hands flat on his chest to calm him, never breaking eye contact.

“I do. I love the life we had, our wedding, how our relationship changed the way I am as a woman, how it helped me grow… But I’m not in love with him, I’m in love with you.”

Rafael frowns, his lips parted a bit, clearly at lost.

“I’m so stupid, that’s what took me so long to understand! I’m not in love with Michael, I just love the memory of us, of our story. But our story ended 5 years ago and I can’t go back to it, keep writing it because I’m in love with you, of course I’m in love with you! I’m in love with our family, I’m in love with our home, I’m in love with our dreams and how we push each other to realize them. This is the story I want to write, with you. “

“Jane… I…I… you hurt me so much.” Raf stuttered.

“I know,” she wiped the tears that started falling down her cheeks. “I wanted you to know that. I’m not gonna leave anymore. Well, though it’s late and I probably should go back to my mum’s to see my son, I missed you two so much.”

Rafael stayed still, still processing what she just said. Jane patted his chest one last time and left, slowly closing the door behind her.

“Well, that was something…” Carla (Sofia Bush’s character, ed) said behind him, still holding her flute of champagne.

“I’m sorry,” Rafael recomposed himself enough to mutter, turning around. “It was Jane, the mother of my son…we have a past.”

“I got that!” Raf sighed heavily and let himself fall on the couch, Carla followed him. She cleared her throat. “Rafael, you should catch her up, now. “

“Excuse me?” He was shocked, weren’t they on a date?

“You heard her declaration? Man, you can’t let her go. Sorry, It’s not really my business but I swoon for a big romantic gesture and she just Notebooked you.”

Latin Lover Narrator: Really? An American romantic drama? Come on! Ew!

A huge thunderclap awaked him from his trance, he stood up quickly. “I gotta go,” Carla nodded, “thank you and sorry but…”

“Go it’s okay, I’ll find the door. See you at work.”

Rafael ran toward the door, emerging in the street, realizing two seconds too late that it was pouring like crazy and he was only wearing his vest to protect him getting wet, which didn’t work. He looked right and left, a hand above his eyes hoping for a miracle to see that she was still here, but he could not see too far in the dark and with this rain… until he caught the glimpse of a phone screen glowing a 100 feet away from him, a small shadow holding it tightly.

Rafael arrived close to the figure in a few steps. “Jane?” He called out loud enough to be heard over the rattling of the rain on the pavement. She raised her head at her name, totally drenched, keeping her purse over her phone to avoid the drowning of her most precious item.

He closed the space between them.

“Why the hell are you standing out here?” He screamed, “You’re going to get sick.” He took off his wet jacket and put it over her naked shoulders.

“My cab didn’t wait for me and the next one arrives in 2 minutes, I’m okay,” she screamed back.

“No you’re not, just come inside, please.”

At this moment, the downpour started to calm down a notch, turning into a more gentle rain.

“See my cab’s coming, you can go back to your…celebration,” Jane said, her voice returning back to normal volume.

“Jane, I need proof.”  

She looked at him quizzically.

““I’m not gonna leave”, you told me that before, and you left me, and I can’t go through that again. That’s why I pushed you out when you couldn’t answer me if you still love him. I won’t survive living in this fear of losing you again, so I need proof that all you just said is true, and it’s going to stay true.”

“But, what about Carla? That was obviously a date.”

“It was nothing, just trying to see if my charm is still on point,” he smiled nervously.

Jane let out a laugh, mixed with tears and rain. “Oh, you still have it.” She glanced at her cab driver, who was looking impatient. She put her phone back in her jean’s pocket, and riffled through her purse looking for something and finally pulled out a small black velvety box.

Rafael took a step back, obviously in shocked. “Jane?”

“I was actually waiting for the right moment, hoping it would arrive soon enough, I guess this is it. And you should know how hard it is to find an engagement ring in Montana without a horseshoe or a cowboy hat engraved on it.”

Rafael laughed loudly, was he crying too? Or is it just the rain falling down his eyes?

“I love you Rafael. You’re my future and my present, I want to continue the crazy life I have with you, there is no going back between us. I want all of you. Forever. You and me and Mateo and the future kid we talked about… every day. So …” she started to bend down on one knee.

“Jane come on, stand up, you’re already soaked enough.”

Jane sighed, her eyes glowing as she opened the small box, “Will you marry me?” she asked expectantly. Rafael gave her the biggest smile she’s seen on him in a while.

“On one condition, if you wear your ring too.”

Her own smile grew even bigger “Of course I will”.

“Then, yes, I’ll marry you”. He put his hands on the side of her face and kissed her passionately, forgetting the rain and all their doubt and even the cab leaving them on the sidewalk, drenched but happy, oh so happy.

Latin lover narrator: “And friends, what can we say? It felt like a telenovela… oh okay, The Notebook too, I loved that movie.”

The end.  

Acknowledgements : Huge thank you to my friend @babblingsofahopelessromantic​ who isn’t even part of the fandom but nicely beta read me and also @irelandhoneybee​ who proposed to do it (hope you’ll like  it :D). I actually got the idea one I read a comment of someone dissapointed with Jane’s behaviour that wrote “you can love someone and not being in love with them” so big up at you too ! 

[thewolfatmydoor]

For reasons wretched and divine. A “brief” recap of Supernatural season 14 from episode 10 onward.

I wanted to write a post about my thoughts on episode 14x18 and how utterly, ridiculously, romantic that whole fight (whole episode really) between Dean and Cas was. Mostly because the wonderful @bluestar86 asked people to challenge how she felt about it, but also because I just really just wanted to get my thoughts out there. To do that though I ended up feeling like I needed to recap a little bit, especially since this is my first time ever writing down my thoughts that anyone other than my best friend is gonna read. So I am going to recap from 14x10 onward on the things that I remember standing out to me as ‘this is something I need to remember and revisit’, and then I am going to just give my thoughts on 14x18. Pretty much all of this is just going to focus on interactions between Dean and Cas, or the things that affect them both in one way or another so if you don’t wanna read my ramblings on these two idiots in love then I suggest bowing out now, the rest of this is below the cut. If you just want to read my thoughts on 14x18 that is down at the very end!

So hi to those that are still here, nice to see you! As I said I am going from 14x10 mostly because I do not have the patience with my own mind to think that I can keep focus enough to recap all of season 14 so far so yeh...

14x10 - Nihilism

Pamela - How come you only want what you can’t have?

...Besides, you don’t want me. You just like to flirt. I’m a psychic, so I kinda know. 

So what does Dean want? What is he hiding from everyone, everyone including himself, except maybe Pamela who is very blatantly there calling us all back to Season 4 and the Dean/Cas meet cute.

All you’ve got to do is look at the top she is wearing, emblazoned with ‘to hell and back’ and the adorable Wings on her necklace to know who she is there to remind you of.

Then we have the Michael inside Dean’s mind - You only tolerate the Angel because you think you owe him, because he ‘gripped you tight and raised you from perdition’ Or, whatever.

Not only is this one of the most iconic lines ever from Cas, it also meant enough to Dean for Michael to be able to find it within his mind and use it against him. Michael could have pretty much said anything to belittle Cas during the conversation in Dean’s mind, and he does go on to say that Cas is a burden who has only made mistake after mistake and that would have been enough, but using that iconic line brought it back to the forefront of our minds and we were able to realise just how important that was to Dean.

And the locking up of Michael in the closet within Deans mind always made me think of Dean locking away the side of himself that he still isn’t ready to confront, because he can’t imagine the outcome of confronting that side of himself being anything other than destructive. Even if he is, as Michael is, fighting tooth and nail to come out.

14x11 - Damaged Goods

Being a Cas-less episode there weren’t too many points in this that stood out to me on the Dean and Cas front.

On the ‘What do you want?’ front though there were all those shirtless cowboys in Donna’s workshop, and although this had absolutely nothing to do with SPN as such it did give me pause when Dean was using the welder because my mind automatically went to Magic Mike XXL (mostly because of Channing Tatum as Magic Mike running his own business as someone who makes furniture?? I don’t remember exactly what his business is, but he does use power tools, welders included in that, and that whole film was about not only one last hurrah but also discovering who you are and WHAT YOU WANT) The only thing I noticed that was intrinsically to do with Cas is that he wasn’t there, so although Dean said that Sam was the only one who could change his mind, we really know that isn’t true because he couldn’t be around Cas at all, and why not, well we find that out in...

14x12 -  Prophet and Loss

Sam - And Cas and Jack, you haven’t even told them. Dean - Okay, well, yeah, that’s because I’m not good with the whole big goodbyes alright? I-I-I don’t need to get shaky on this thing. So Dean can’t say goodbye to Cas (or Jack) because he is worried about getting shaky on this thing, and yet in 14x10 he said Sam was the only one who could change his mind...Hmm not being wholly truthful with yourself there Dean. Then we find out that Sam has told Cas about Dean’s plan anyway. Go Sammy, Go Sammy!! Cas - Sam. Maybe if I spoke to Dean... Sam - It wouldn’t matter. Believe me, I-I I’ve never seen him like this. He won’t listen to me. H-He just- No. If we don’t find some way... Deans gone.

Dean phones Cas to ask him about the case that he is working on with Sam, and Cas’ relief at hearing from Dean is palpable. Cas - Dean! It’s so good to hear from you. Then he drops the bomb that he knows about Deans plan. Cas - I-I know that I’m not supposed to know what I know, but... Dean - Look, I’m fine with my plan okay? We can talk about my plan later. Yeah right Dean because you’re not going to avoid that conversation at all costs. Cas - Wait, Dean, Dean. We need to have a conversation. Dean - Look, I really got to handle this right now okay? So, thank you, and uh... it’s good to hear your voice. What an odd thing to say Dean. Could it be because you thought you were never going to hear Cas’ voice again? The voice of the person you love? Hmm. Then Sam tells us what we already know. Sam - Dean it’s Cas. I HAD TO TELL HIM. Then dundundun we get Doctor Novak. Oh how I enjoyed watching the emotions play across Deans face when he saw Cas in that get-up. But the most important bit of all is the conversation they then have. Cas -  Oh, no. No, please don’t compare this with your suicidal plan. Just stop. Dean -  Okay, alright. Why don’t we talk about that later? Cas -  Because, according to your plan, there won’t be a later. Dean  -  Cas… if you are a friend of mine, then you will understand that I have to do this and you won’t try to stop me. You think this is easy on me? It has to be done. Cas -  So, then, this is goodbye? The pain, and regret, and love on their faces during this actually broke me. I cried more than I expected to, but of course we have to get interrupting moose breaking into the conversation with news about Donatello before anything could even be resolved. Not to worry though because Cas then shows Dean that there may be another way, by performing a miracle and saving Donatello. Dean -  Wait. How? I thought he was too far gone. Cas -  Dean, if there is a spark – a hope – then I have to try. You taught me that. Our wonderful glowy eyed Angel saves the day... Dean -  Now, look at that. It’s a miracle. Yes Dean, because there is always another way. And even though you said Sammy was the only one who could change your mind I do believe that it was actually Cas that made you stop and think. That line again - if there is a spark - a hope - then I have to try. Just like your relationship with Cas, you have to try, even if the outcome is unknown, because hey, it could just be a miracle.

14x13 - Lebanon

Only a couple of things to comment on with this episode thankfully (sorry this is ending up being ridiculously long guys, I appreciate you if you are still here) At some point Sam and Dean obviously told John about their living arrangements... John -  Then it’s all true. God, the devil, you boys smack in the middle. Now you live in a secret bunker with an angel and Lucifer’s kid. Confirming that YES CAS DOES LIVE IN THE BUNKER!!! Whilst out in town the boys come across AU Zachariah and Castiel. Sam has no qualms about stabbing Zachariah with his Angel Blade and killing him. But even though it is sadly obvious that this Cas doesn’t know Sam or Dean, he doesn’t kill Cas, only banishes him. In the run up to Sam banishing him, Dean was solely focused on trying to get Cas to recognise them, because of course Dean would be solely focused on Cas. Just look at our boys face!

Back at the bunker we finally get the Dean and John conversation. John -  I, uh – I never meant for this. Dean -  Dad, we pulled you here. John -  No, son. My fight. It was supposed to end with me, with Yellow Eyes. But now you – you are a grown man, and I am incredibly proud of you. I guess that I had hoped, eventually, you would… get yourself a normal life, a peaceful life, a family. Dean -  I have a family. Yes you do Dean, and the relief on your face when your Cas comes back through the bunker door is nothing short of fantastic. I might even have squealed a little bit.

I am going to whiz through the next few episodes because I imagine most of them are still pretty fresh in peoples minds, and I am tired, and I really want this finished before tonight's episode airs.

14x14 - Ouroboros 

Well if this wasn’t some of the most, ugh, I don’t even know what this was. I mean a Bisexual Demigod who not only focused on Dean, even though Sam was also around, but when it was revealed that until seeing them face to face he hadn’t been able to see Cas or Jack, he then focused on Cas as well. I just...WHAT!!!! Also this for me hearkened back to Nihilism and the fear Dean has over what is locked away deep inside himself, because he gets knocked out, and Michael gets free, and he destroys. That doesn’t mean that allowing yourself what you want is going to cause destruction though Dean. 

14x15 - Peace of Mind

Cas telling Dean he needs to spend time with their son. Cas being singled out as something different, and wrong. Cas and his hand movements, oh dear chuck. Cas and Sams fight, and how very similar but oh so different it was to Cas and Deans fight. Blatantly showing the difference between the familial connection of Cas and Sam, and the romantic connection of Cas and Dean. Cas telling Dean all about Sams cardigan. So we now know they keep in touch with each other, and gossip. They gossip. Come on how adorably romantic is that, Cas telling his beau about his brothers cardigan. Too cute.

14x16 - Don’t go in the woods

Cas is gone, but how do we know this, because apparently Dean had a conversation with him early that morning about him leaving. Sam -  I’ll grab Cas. Dean - He actually left. Sam - What? Dean - Early this morning. Sam - Why? Dean - I don’t know. Something about being cooped up in the bunker for a few weeks. So our lovable, morning grump has had an early morning conversation with Cas about him leaving the bunker for a while. So what Dean, you had the conversation whilst you were, oh I dunno, laying in bed, fingers running through Cas’ hair???

14x17 - Game Night

And so we come to find out where Cas has gone. Looking for God to try and help Jack. But why oh why do you go off and do these things on your own Cas. You need to learn to confide in Dean, and Sam, because when you don’t things turn out bad. Anael -  The Winchesters-- they don't know you're here, do they? Cas -  Why do you say that? Anael -  Oh, I don't know, just a general reek of ill-conceived lone-wolf desperation. I mean come on Cas, even Anael has you sussed. We know you want to protect the people you love, but this is not a good way to go about it. And there we go, that recap went on far longer than I wanted it to, oh well. Now on to why I truly believe that 14x18 was just so full of romantic pain. I’m not going to make this super long now because that took it out of me sorry.

14x18 - Absence

So, the episode that seems to have made so many people lose hope actually gave me hope in buckets full. All of that hope came in the form of pain and angst though so I do totally see where people are coming from when they say they just don’t have faith in Destiel anymore. I am saddened by it of course, but I am yet to read any negative thoughts on 14x18 that have swayed me in my belief that it was some of the most romantic bs to come out of season 14 so far. Now we start the episode not knowing 100% what has happened to Mary, neither do Sam and Dean, sure there is a bit of worry, but it isn’t full blown panic yet. The first thing that struck me was how okay Dean was, even though he was worried, he still wasn’t sure he had anything to be worried about, so he was probably more okay than we all were, at least on the Mary and Jack front. With regards to Cas though, he was angry. We knew the instant his phone rang that he was angry. He had been fine whilst on the previous phone call, but as soon as he saw who was calling him his face turned stormy, and just my thoughts but I imagine it was because not only wasn’t Cas there with them and Dean was missing him but that he had probably tried to contact him multiple times already. So he was itching to have it out with Cas but it only stemmed from him being separated from Cas and not because Cas had done anything wrong in his eyes at that point. Then Cas gives him the bad news about Jack, and Dean hangs up on him. Now not only is Dean angry because Cas isn’t at home, but also because Cas kept something from him, and they have been doing so well at being more open with each other that this must have felt like a million steps backwards, especially when you factor in the end result of Cas having kept something from him. (Just imagine how angry Dean is going to be when Cas gets whisked away to the empty.) On to that terrible scene. I didn’t draw any conclusions from the promo and I tried to remain as positive as I could even with fandom imploding around me, but when I watched that scene for the first time it destroyed me. It was so much worse than I had thought, because it wasn’t just anger, it was hurt, and betrayal, and dare I say it - heartbreak, and Dean wondering why Cas had kept something of this magnitude from him. To the point where he could barely even stand to look at Cas, and for most of the exchange he didn’t. This was pure spousal breaking apart. Cas was broken because he knew deep down he should have confided in Dean but he had done it to try and protect his family, to stop them from having to go through the pain of knowing Jack wasn’t okay, but it had just made it worse. So of course Dean said something incredibly hurtful, it is human nature to lash out at those closest to us when we are suffering from immense pain ourselves, and we all know that even though Dean is much better at communicating his feelings nowadays this is still a huge part of his character, so it wasn’t surprising in the slightest that he lashed out the way he did. He wanted to hurt Cas as much as Cas had hurt him, that is unfortunately what happens in relationships. We all say stupid stuff when we are hurting. I don’t excuse what Dean said, but I do understand where it came from.It was made even more obvious that it was more about the dynamic between Dean and Cas having been broken than it was about Mary, because Sam wasn’t angry with Cas, not like Dean was, and Dean wasn’t angry with Sam, not even when Sam pointed out that they had all known that things weren’t right with Jack and that they all shoulder the blame. I am so glad that Sam and Dean had that conversation alone, I really do feel that it put it more in perspective for Dean.I think there is the big conversation and apology coming up for Dean and Cas. We aren’t there yet because Dean is still hurting, but the simple fact that he stopped to listen to what Cas had to say when Cas got back from Heaven, and then that Cas had obviously traveled with them to give Mary her hunters funeral spoke of how much Dean wants Cas there. Even if he can’t bring himself to be close to Cas right now (which Sam is very aware of because he kept Cas from trying to go to comfort Dean knowing it would cause more pain), he needs him in his vicinity.One last point on this episode. The Empty. Cas’ deal whammied me again, unexpectedly, when Duma was the one who came to speak to Cas. Yes I know Heaven is short on Angels, and Naomi was probably busy, but sending Duma down to see Cas really brought the knowledge of his deal back to the front of my mind. I know we are all aware that this is something that needs to be dealt with but I thought that with what needs to happen between Dean and Cas, an apology, a confession maybe, seeing Duma again nailed it home for me that the one thing that will make Cas truly happy is Dean.

[makingnewenemies]

Hi Hi Hi. Here is a little blurb I wrote off the top of my head about all my friends on this year’s Group Picture Vol. 8. I love them all. I love their songs. And I love that we still keep up this stupid tradition; and somehow the comp keeps getting better and better. Thanks everyone! Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays :) - walt

Sour Guy - All Those Plans Were Wrong

Last summer Kris Schobert (Sour Guy, Walter Etc. / Mitty core member, Ernie…) was admitted to the hospital… and then again… and then again…. I think he spent like a month total in the hospital. It was not chill. But when he got out, the whole experience gave him a bit of clarity and new perspective on his life and the decisions he has made thus far. I won’t speak any further for him, but Kris… hey, nice song! And your quality home recording production and continuation of the WMAHMO slop sound doesn’t not go unnoticed! This song made me tear up in a coffee shop the first time I heard it. 

Slaughter Beach, Dog - Big Band

Slaughter Beach, Dog are randomly GP staples by now but also one of my favorite bands and greatest friends. This song is a bit of a sound change for them, swapping mid tempo soft rock John K Sampson vibes for a theatrical late 60’s / 70’s sound that is a bit more light hearted than normal and I LOVE IT. It’s catchy, it makes me laugh, yet its so true. Glad to have these boys back this year.

Teal & Jer - Alphabet

Portland’s dreamiest duo Teal & Jer (Chain, Riled, Loose, lots of projects) bring a quirky alt edge to our otherwise bland and boring comp. Without them, we’d just be us. I personally would like to hear more Teal solo work??? Teal???

Milk Flud - Rodeo

If you don’t fuck with Milk Flud then you can get out.

Chase Hoyt - Health

Chase Hoyt (Ubu Roi, Feed, Chaz and the Minions of Chaz, The Rodeo…) is a GP fixture by now, and important asset to MNE because it’s his classic rock sensibilities that balance out the overload of folk / indie rock that we swim in. This song not only has a comically true message (health is the most important, i agree Chase) but the vibe, especially the chorus, has my head bobbing and me feeling like I’m on a grassy hillside at an outdoor concert in the 70’s, but also one glass of wine deep making homemade pizzas at an Air BNB with a girl I love, and that is a nice combo of feelings. “Let’s wrap it up / I’ve embarrassed us all enough”

Dry Goods - Learnt Nothing

You hear that flawless acoustic finger picking? That masculine story telling voice that sounds somewhere between a suburban Bob Dylan and a cowboy singing to the emptiness of the high desert? Yup, its Russell Park AKA Dry Goods and FKA Weston Bookhouse coming at us with another folk masterpiece, but this year adding in some new elements we aren’t quite used to- namely some cruisey guitar solos! Rumor has it Dry Goods is in the studio recording a new album right now and I would not be bummed out if this song were on it.

Byronius Punk - Beautiful Things

I just spent 3 weeks with Byronius Punk (Ian Farmer of Slaugher Beach, Dog / Modern Baseball) at his studio The Metal Shop in Philadelphia making a record with his beautiful mind and his new drum machine- so this song really hits home for me. I could write an essay on why this is the perfect Group Picture song- my three main points being - 1. It is a song about the act of creating. (“in everything that exists there lies a certain beauty / I want the world to know how much it all means to me”) which is exactly what Group Picture aims to celebrate. 2. It’s a song written and performed by someone who is usually more in the background of his bands (bassist / backup vox / recording engineer) but here has a platform to express his own individual style and skills, which is exactly what Group Picture wants to promote. 3. It has a Milk Flud name drop, which is a classic and classy GP / MNE move. Thank you Ian. You rule.

Dante Elephante - It Bothers Me

Dante Elephante are Santa Barbara legends and their new album “Rare Attractions” shows them evolving their sound into more loungey and ethereal territory. I am so glad they have joined GP this year, because I see singer / songwriter Ruben almost every weekend when he DJ’s at The Tavern in Ventura and I drunkenly annoy him / vaguely fan boy out on him. Dante being on Group Picture is a sign that our friendship extends beyond Saturday nights at the Tavern. Also their album vibes hard. Check out Rare Attractions on Spotify.

Peanut Butter Cups - Highest Quality

Petition for Aaron Kovacs (Peanut Butter cups, Lauren Records CEO, Winter Break and Summer Vacation drummer) to finally put out a full album? This catchy lo-fi pop rock is undeniably infectious. Fun fact: I’ve been hanging with this boy for almost 10 years and I’ve never heard him sing, but then he sends me these recordings and I’m like wtf your voice is so cool! If he makes a full album, MNE will put out the LP and still give him 100% of the digital income. That is how much I like Aaron’s style. 

Anika Pyle - Young Love

I once wrote a song with the lyric “I’ll probably see her on tour but she won’t be on Group Picture this year.” I’m so glad I was wrong. Welcome to GP Anika Pyle! Anika (Katie Ellen, Chumped) plays raw emotional pop rock songs and this gem “Young Love” is just the tip of the iceberg. When her vocals max out at the end of the tune and you get a little bit of musical goosebumps, that is the feeling you get for a full 30 minutes of watching her play live. Anika, please come in and stay for a while! 

Walter Etc. - This Would Only Happen to Me

Ok ok enough of the soft emotional bullshit. Here’s a song about someone coming to kill me! It’s 100% true. If you’re reading this, help!!!

Jake Lee - Good Run

Jake Lee (Bleeding Gums Murphy) strikes again with a lo-fi indie gem in which we hear Jake Lee reflect on his gaime from last year. Sounds like he made some interesting choices and is coming to terms with them? Or did I miss the mark, Jake? He is and always will be one of my favorite songwriters and his voice in this fuzz effect is not a bad look, I have to admit. The only way my life would be better is if Jake made a full album. Cheers homie.

Babytooth - State Quarters, OR

Technically, this is Babytooth’s official debut on Group Picture, but Portland, OR singer / songwriter Isabel Zacharias had a song on the comp last year that blew me away. It was her vocals and lyrics that hooked me then, and are still yanking me now. Now backed by a full band that gives dynamic range to her songs, it was still that first line “now you know you want a girl without a phone” that had me nodding “yup i love this”. Fingers crossed for Babytooth to become a GP staple.

Trashbike - Weasel

Trashbike is Bread (Blowout, Walter etc., Donkey Lips) and his homie Ru playing the pedals. He told me he wrote this song while stumbling home from the Bye and Bye. Bread is like a sexy emo prince, can’t you hear it? This song rules and I really hope Trashbike is more than just a one and done GP band. I would listen to a few albums of soft songs like this, wouldn’t you?

Banned From Japan - Vegan X

Welcome back to the Socal Valley punk rockers Banned From Japan! If you know that singer / songwriter Matthew Earle has been sober for a few years, this song is hilarious, simultaneously poking fun at vegan straight-edge and himself. The music rips and his vocals are catchy af. Fat Wrecks Chords come and sign Banned From Japan asap!

Walter X - Winter Shy

Ok. This is a bit meta. Walter X (Michael Mahaffie and his WMAHMO / Walter Etc. hardcore chip tune cover project) covers an old Walter GP song as his own GP song. Pretty niche MNE content! This song, in this Lifetime-esque style, his vocals so clear but so gruff, those guitar harmonies, the creative intro and chip-tuney bridge…. this literally gives me chills and is so much better than the original. I encourage anyone reading this to go check out his own original music under the name Jump Cut. It sounds just like this but with Michael’s own songs, shedding the limitations of the musical simpleton Walter songs.  Also, check out the full Walter X album on Spotify! What a talented dude…

Curling - Genkai Trip

Curling released their MNE album “Definitely Band” this year and the musical arrangements / song structures absolutely floored me. Genkai Trip is a song that got left off the album, but lives on through GP! Singer / guitarist Bernie Gelman noted “There's some pretty wacky guitar overdubs where Jojo and I each doubled some guitar parts while the other person was playing with the trem on the guitar, so you get this really weird detuning effect.” and yup that is Curling in a nutshell for you. Always excited to play around with gear and recording techniques that are way beyond my level.  I think this is an extremely underrated band and highly encourage the world to check out Definitely Band on spotify!

Ali Muhareb - DIY Hell

Ali? What the hell did you even make this song? It’s intriguing in the verses and then when the chorus busts out it sounds like if Dough Martsch were an up and coming artist in Portland in 2018. I actually had to text Ali to ask what these guitar sounds were and, if anyone is interested, he responded, “I compressed two guitars together through a virtual amp. And they’re both running through this sick pedal I got called the Data Corrupter.” For sure Ali! Thanks for a bad ass tune.

Dakota Loesch - Don’t Solve My Mysteries

I’ve been listening to a lot of Dakota’s music (solo, Animal City, Lemp Lungs) recently. I keep coming back to it, and its not a mystery. After hundreds of songs in his pocket, songs like “Don’t Solve My Mysteries” still sound musically and lyrically fresh, like Dakota has never had writer’s block in his life. When I listen to his music, I feel like it vicariously breaks down my own creative barriers. For instance when I first heard this song and he dropped the hook “just don’t solve all mysterious” I had that knee-jerk urge to ditch what I was doing and go write a poem or something. His will to create is just that contagious. Combine that with the Casio-keyboard bedroom drum machine vibe that I love so much about his songs like “The Basmati Rice” and you have a 10/10 GP banger. 

Jerbear - Nowhere Girl

Jerbear is Jeremy Murphy (Teal & Jer, Riled, so many) and he is the king of a few things: weird bad guitar tones, asymmetrical organic song structures, rad lyrics that I never understand, and a voice that is universally loved. He stole my heart with Cranberries in the Cosmos on a previous GP, but I think Nowhere Girl takes the cake. Jer- when do we get the full solo album? Please don’t fall into the category of GP lost wonders. You’re not too shabby at this music thing! 

Hemingway - Catch My Cool

Catch My Cool is a B-side from Hemingway’s You Will Never Be Happy.

I played drums in Hemingway at this time and I always vibed that Benny didn’t really like the way this song came out int he studio. I don’t get why? That vocal melody, soft sad and surfy guitar leads… it makes me wanna hold hands with a girl on Christmas Eve while walking down some bougie street looking at Christmas Lights. It sounds like a Starflyer 59 worship track and I love it for that. Benny, you made a mistake. This song should have made the album. 

Alex Maddox - The Hypocrit’s Dilemma

I’ve heard Alex play this song when we get together to jam, and he always laughs it off as a Walter Mitty rip off song. But honestly, this is what I wish WMAHMO would write about if we made a folk punk record today. If you listen to this song knowing that Alex Maddox was a guy who quit his high paying job to travel Europe in his van, surfing and skating and working on farms, the lyrics to this song are way more wanna-be Walter Mitty. The song depicts a transformation in his paradigm and is completely raw, authentic, and sincere. Alex inspires me to chase a wholesome life that is designed for and by myself, rather than the obvious and sterile template that is provided for us, and this song exemplifies that 1000%. 

Uncle Uncle - Nira (I’m Alive)

We played with Uncle Uncle last year in Santa Barbara and I honestly think we should have opened for them. They are actually a good band, both live and recorded. Stylish, friendly, and comically laid back- they might be the quintessential Santa Barbara band. A semi-new band, Uncle Uncle is gaining momentum quickly, and I won’t be surprised when the day comes that Kevin and Dom big time me on State st. Til then, I’m just glad I get to claim that they were on a Group Picture. 

Humphrey Orlando - Set U Free

Ah, Humphrey. No, Humphrey accompanied by Toast. Two legends as old as MNE itself. What is there to say? I could listen to their wandering ballads til I fall into the Big Sleep, and still the melodies linger on…

[pastelwitchling]

This prompt request is courtesy of @soclosebutyetsofar.

So, I know you’ve already taken a prompt from me last time but I’ve got another one if you’re up for it: “I don’t want you to die for me, I want you to live for me” I’m happy with anything you come up with! Thank you in advance 🙏🏼💖

***

               “Am I crazy?” Alex suddenly asked, setting a stack of magazines on the bar with a hard THUMP.

               Michael looked at him startled, quickly pulling his bottle of beer out of the way before it got pushed over. “Why are you crazy?”

               “No,” Alex huffed, “I’m not saying I am, I’m asking if you think I’m crazy because, see, I always thought that getting married was about being eternally bound to the person you love.”

               Michael’s brows furrowed, though the corners of his lips perked upward. “Isn’t it?”

               “Apparently not. Both Isobel and Maria agree that it’s about,” he gestured to the magazines that had tipped over, stretching across the bar in front of them, “that. Wedding attire and venues and flower arrangements and menu plans and…” he groaned, his head falling onto the table.

               Michael rubbed his back soothingly. “I can’t wait to see what their wedding looks like.”

               “I dared mention City Hall.”

               He raised a brow. “Hence the crazy?”

               Alex nodded. “Hence the crazy.” He sat up. “Am I? I just want to marry you, is it dumb that I don’t care how?”

               Michael’s smile widened, and he brought his hand around Alex’s head, pulling him in to kiss his cheek. His forehead rested against Alex’s temple, and he said, “Maybe we’re both crazy then.”

               Alex smiled, then pulled back, his brow raised. “You don’t seem half as stressed with this as I do.”

               Michael scoffed. “You kidding? You said yes, we’re getting married. Fricking Valenti couldn’t piss me off now.”

               “Oh, not even him, huh?” Alex laughed. It quickly died down to a hum as he brought his hand up to hold Michael’s jaw, and he pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I have a fiancé. I feel so grown up.”

               Michael’s eyes were closed as he tilted his head, attempting to catch Alex’s lips again, and he smirked, dragging his hand down Alex’s back. “You know, if you want, we can skip to the wedding night.”

               “Romantic,” Alex said, his body leaning in to Michael’s touch. His lips neared Michael’s, and he immediately pulled back with a gasp. “Stop,” he said, pushing Michael away, his cheeks red. “Stop it.”

               “What? Why?”

               “I’m not making out with you in the middle of a bar.”

               “Wh – Alex –”

               “No, it always escalates, Guerin.” Michael’s fingers dug into Alex’s back and he laughed, slapping the cowboy’s arm away. “I’m serious, don’t touch me. Not until the wedding.”

               Michael narrowed his eyes, smiling uncertainly until he realized that Alex wasn’t kidding, and his face fell. “That’s a joke, right? Tell me that’s a joke!”

               “It’s only a week away!”

               “Only a week, he says,” Michael said incredulously, and took a big gulp of his drink, unable to stop until the bottle was snatched away from him. He looked to see Alex finishing it, and his shoulders slumped. “You’re so lucky I love you, you have no idea.”

               “I have some idea,” he said, leaning in enough to barely peck Michael’s lips, pulling back quickly before Michael could hold him close. “Vows.”

               Michael raised a brow. “What?”

               Alex sighed, slumping in his chair, watching Michael expectantly. “There are fourteen types of forks.”

               Michael blinked. “Does that matter?”

               Alex scoffed. “Don’t repeat that question in front of Isobel. But that’s how my day went. I got to hear about every detail of what constitutes a perfect wedding, down to the folded napkins. And in all of it, I have to admit, one thing seemed appealing.”

               “The vows,” he gathered.

               Alex’s smile softened, and he looked at his lap where, Michael noticed fondly, he was playing with his fingers. “I know it sounds really stupid, but… I don’t know, I didn’t have anyone growing up who told me that – that they loved me. There was never anyone who I could trust would do anything to protect me. Until you. And I guess I just, I don’t know, got excited to hear it.” He glanced at Michael, and huffed a chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Never mind, ignore that, I’m not – it’s been a long day, and –”

               “I’d die for you, Alex,” Michael said, and Alex blinked, his smile turned small. “You don’t need vows to know that, I’ll tell you whenever you want.”

               “Guerin…”

               “Because, I promise you, if Isobel and Maria ever decide on the right silverware, and we actually do get married, there are three things that I am most definitely not going to say in front of our friends and family. The first is that I’ll love you till the day I die. The second is that you’re walking sex, and it takes everything I have to keep myself from slamming into you every time I see you, but since we’re getting married, there’s no reason to hold back anymore.”

               “Well, public decency’s actually a thing, Guerin, so technically –”

               “—And the third,” he leaned forward, ignoring Alex’s input, “is that I would, without question, trade my life for yours,” he covered Alex’s hand with his own, and shrugged a shoulder, “because you’re Alex, and you’ve always meant more to me than anyone in the universe could. Even more than me.”

               Alex looked at Michael, not with shock, but with a fondness that Michael didn’t think he’d ever get used to, a fondness that he – though he would never admit it to Alex – was looking forward to seeing more than anything else.

               “So,” he sighed, sitting back, though his hand stayed with Alex, “there are your not-vows, because I don’t need some old cliché wedding rule telling me when and how to tell you my feelings for you. Those are our moments, they’re private, and they’re just – they’re ours, Alex, so don’t limit me with a vow.”

               Michael didn’t look at Alex after that, he didn’t think he could without revealing the heavy blush on his cheeks, and while he may have expected a chuckle or a soft kiss, he definitely hadn’t expected Alex’s next words.

               “Don’t,” he said softly, and Michael looked to him with a frown.

               “Don’t?”

               Alex moved close enough to him to whisper. “Don’t say you’d give up your life.”

               “I would –”

               “It scares me, Guerin,” he said, both hands holding Michael’s.

               He stared, then nodded, “Then what do you want me to say?”

               The corner of Alex’s lips rose as he searched Michael’s face, his hold on Michael’s hand tightening. “Say you’ll fight, and that no matter what, you’ll live for me.”

               Michael swallowed. “I’ll fight, and no matter what, I’ll live for you.”

               Alex leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Michael’s. “Say you’ll stand by me, whatever happens.”

               “I’ll stand by you, whatever happens.”

               “Say you love me,” he breathed, and Michael’s eyes fluttered shut.

               “I love you.”

               There was a moment of silence, then Alex moved back. Michael opened his eyes to see him looking toward the back of the bar, hesitant. Before he could ask what was wrong, Alex looked to him, biting his lower lip, his eyes dark, “Now say you’ll follow me to the bathroom because I want to kiss you more than I want to breathe, and screw waiting the week.”

               Michael got to his feet, exhaling shakily, “Hell yeah, baby.”

***

PROMPT SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

Bet you thought this was going to be angsty. Hi again, Kat! Thank you so much for submitting a prompt request, I always appreciate it 💕 I really hope you enjoyed reading this, I know it’s a little fluffier than my normal stuff, but I always wanted to write this kind of scene, and when I saw your prompt, it just seemed to fit.

Thank you to everyone who’s submitted a prompt, I can’t wait to get those out to you as soon as possible ❤

[fernlomwrites]

Chronicles of Tenaria: New Bandmate

“Offkeys! Wait up one moment!” Deputy Harmons and Dr. Krins rush over to meet the band as they walked down the road.

Cal looked up to the deputy “Deputy Harmons. Somethin I can help you with?”

Harmons was panting slightly, but regained his composure “I have a favor to ask of you guys”

Clarice stepped forward “Sure, what do you need?”

“We would like to join you guys on your next tour. Deputy Harmons was…gifted a certain mask and he needs to find its rightful owner.” Dr. Krins gave Clarice a half bow of respect “can we?”

“Oh course groovy doctor man~ We’d be glad to let you join~”

Harmons suddenly hugs Jenny tightly “Thank you!”

Jenny chuckles “No problem Officer~”

Harmons lets her go and steps back. “well, unless one of you wants to be Pinstripe?”

Eric quickly looks up, but Cal turns to him “No” Cal’s gaze stern. “None of us wish to be Pinstripe”

Pandora chuckles “Pinstripe can’t be a girl anyway right?”

The group collectively shrugs as Harmons hands Pandora the mask “No idea”

Pandora looks at the mask with pure curiosity. She smiles before quickly putting it on before anyone could object.

“Wait!” Cal reached out too late, with another bright flash of light, Pandora’s whole look changed, from bright, trendy clothes, to a form fitting cocktail dress, her hair becoming flowing black curls. Her necklace becoming various shades of grey and black.

“oh-ho ho!~ It’s been a millennia since a female hosted me.~” She looked down at her body “Mmm~ Beautiful, but not my desired host~” She chuckled before removing the mask, only her necklace returning to normal.

“wow! Nice dress” Pandora smirked to herself “I think I’ll keep this~”

Harmons looked down at his own outfit as Pandora handed the mask back “Maybe I should change back into my uniform…suit’s just don’t feel right to me”

Clarice scoffed “Nonsense officer Harmons. That suit fits you just fine”

Harmons raised an eyebrow in response “Thank you Clarice. But still, I need to get my uniform anyway. Can I trust you guys with this mask?”

Mike reached his hand out “Sure Deputy. None of us are crazy enough to put it on anyway. Right guys?”

Cal, Jenny and Clarice nod. Pandora shrugs, still softly feeling her own body in her dress. Eric looks away from the mask. Harmons had his doubts, but handed the mask to Mike anyway. “Keep care of it guys. None of us like Pinstripe, but Sherriff Waters has a point, the world needs him, it.” He shivers slightly “just…take care of it okay?”

“Sure Sherriff, we’ll keep it safe” Mike puts the mask in his bag. “Go get changed. We leave tonight.”

Harmons smiles slightly and walks off. Leaving the band, and Dr. Krins, to stand in the road.

“You gonna put it on Mike?” Cal strummed his guitar as he leaned against a wall.

“No, my powers would make him too dangerous. And I don’t think a metal head Pinstripe is what the world needs.”

“Or a not so groovy Dj~ Or a jazz girl~ Maybe a girl who respects the classics~” Jenny playfully nudges Clarice. “Huh?~ You think so Clare?~”

“It’s Clarice Jennifer. I’ve told you this already. Calvin, maybe you can be Pinstripe?”

“No Offence Clarice, but Pinstripe was already a cowboy, and you saw how that worked. Nah, maybe Mike.”

Mike looked up from his bass “Huh? I already said no though. All of us would be a bad Pinstripe. Psyco DJ Pinstripe? Laid back Jazz Pinstripe? Pop Pinstripe? Metal Pinstripe? Cowboy Pinstripe? Maybe Clarice yah, but I still have my doubts. Our abilities would be too dangerous to give to a trained, perfect killer. Let’s just leave it to Deputy Harmons to find the next Host.”

Krins stepped forward into the group “No one in town would be Pinstripe. We all are too dangerous if we became Pinstripe.”

Cal nods “Dr. Krins has a point. Actually, Dr. why are you in town? You normally only come into town for December? Its April.”

Dr. Krins chuckles “Vacation my boy, vacation.”

Cal skeptically nods “Okay…. can I ask another question?”

“Of course” He smiles kindly.

Cal steps closer “Are you…. Santa?”

Dr. Krins laughs “Cal, how long have you known me?”

Cal raises his eyebrow “uh, about twelve years…why?”

Dr. Kirns continues laughing “And it’s taken you twelve years to figure it out?”

Everyone suddenly looks up to Dr. Krins, Jenny drops her saxophone.

“W-what?~ No way groovy candy cane man~ Santa ain’t real~”

“Oh Jenny, for your tenth birthday, you got a bowtie from your dad, it was green with red stripes. You wore it that Christmas, where you got your first flute. Your parents didn’t buy that flute; they didn’t know who got it. I did.”

Eric slowly removed his glasses, revealing his neon green eyes “You got me my first laptop.”

Dr. Krins smiles “You had a hunger to make music. I Got Cal that hat for Christmas last year. Mike his first set of Drumsticks. Clarice her first conductor’s staff. And Pandora her favorite bracelet. I got everyone in town their most prized possession. “

Mike was the only one of the team who didn’t seem to be surprised “I always knew Santa was real. Always kinda guessed it was you. It was pretty obvious actually”

Dr. Krins laughed “Of course it was obvious! I wasn’t hiding, hell, I only come to town in December.”

Mike smirks “yah, pretty obvious”

Dr. Krins softly pats his back “You always were a deceivingly smart boy Michael. That’s why you always got gifts. And the power you have, is perfect for you”

Out of all the band, Cal was still the most shocked. He looked at Dr. Krins with such a surprised expression, full of disbelief. “I…I am friends with Santa”

“Yes Cal. But if it helps, you can still call me Chris.”

Cal sighs with relief “Good, Chris. So, why are you joining Deputy Harmons on this trip?”

“I have seen many things in my life, including all the good Pinstripe has done for the world. I want to see that legacy continue correctly. We’ve said it before, but the world needs a Pinstripe.”

The group nods

“Meet us at the bus station at six tomorrow”

Chris smirks and nods “Alright then. See you then” He turns and waves before walking away, disappearing in a sudden blizzard of snow.

“How long has he been doing that?” Cal tilts his head “Has he always done that?”

“Probably” Mike looked down at the mask in his hands “Let’s put this somewhere safe, the last thing we need is someone in town to put this on”

The band nods in agreement. “No offense to any of yah, but I don’t trust anyone with that thing except Mike”

“Thanks Cal.” Mike looks up momentarily “Let’s go get packed” He puts the mask back into his bag before walking away, whispering silently to himself “the sooner we get this thing out of town, and away from Eric the better”

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

Chrono Link

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Nobody’s Perfect: Part 1

Pairings: David Harbour x Reader

Warnings: Swearing & fluff

Word Count: 3,920

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

“Let’s go in here.” You looked up from your phone to see which one of the many bars your mother was talking about and you couldn’t stop your eyebrows from flying to your hairline.

“Ma, it’s a bar… and I don’t drink.” She shook her head as she pointed at the sign above your head. Back lit in bold, blue letters on a white backdrop against the night sky you read ‘The Roundup’ and in the bottom, right hand corner the word ‘dry’ letting patrons know that there was no alcohol served.

“Come on, (Y/N). Live a little.” You took a deep breath and rolled your eyes as you followed her inside. The room wasn’t too big but enough to hold a small coffee bar, a small stage for performers in the front left corner and a decent sized ‘dance floor’. Country music blared through the speakers around building from the band that was playing that Friday night.

For a dry ‘bar’ in Decatur, Georgia, the placed was packed with people. The decor was almost comically stereotypical; cowboy and old western memorabilia covered nearly every inch of the walls and the booths had plastic covers with similar tacky designs on them. Two pool tables sat in the back with quarters lined up on the rail; unspoken claims for the next game.

“It’s cute!” You mother cooed as she headed over to an open booth. You huffed and nodded sarcastically.

“Totally!” She looked at you with her eyebrow raised as she slid into one side.

“Why do you have to be such a downer, huh? Lighten up a bit and get the stick out of your ass.” You subtly flicked her off by scratching your nose with your middle finger. You began to subconsciously play with the hem of your long, plaid, flannel sweater dress as you looked around at the smiling faces of the other people in the room.

“Are you ready?” You asked as you looked back at you mother. “I wanna head back.” She opened her mouth to say something as she shook her head but she was interrupted before she could respond.

“Excuse me.” You looked up at a handsome, slightly heavy set, older gentleman as he came to a stop at the end of your table. You sat back slightly as he smiled at the two of you, revealing adorable dimples on his bearded cheeks and you couldn’t help but think you knew him from somewhere. He glanced between you and your mother before his blue eyes found yours. “Sorry to interrupt you ladies but… would you like to dance?” You smiled sweetly and shook your head.

“No sorry, we were just…”

“She would love to!” Your mother said as she kicked your shin under the table. Your head whipped over to her as she smiled up at the man. “Please, take my daughter and dance the night away. Don’t let the act fool you, she’s a sweetheart.”

“Mom!” You snapped as your face flushed red. The man chuckled as he held out his hand for you.

“Guess you don’t have a choice in the matter, sweetheart.” He teased. You let out a mortified groan as you scooted out of the booth toward him.

“Alright, one dance.” His smile got impossibly bigger as you took his offered hand and let him lead you to the dance floor. You couldn’t help but smile as he spun you in a circle. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Don’t worry. I do.” You nodded once as he laced the fingers of his left hand with your right and put his right hand on your hip. He nodded as you gently placed your hand on his shoulder. “It’s quick, quick, slow, slow, OK?” You nodded as he glanced over at the group of people already dancing and carefully led you into the circle. It took you a second to get used to the two step but you picked it up easily.

“See, you’re a natural.” He smiled as he gently turned you in a circle. “I’m David.” You smiled at him as you fell back into step with the song.

“(Y/N).” He nodded as he pulled you a little closer to his chest.

“Nice to meet you.” You smiled up at him with a nod of agreement. As you danced, you didn’t notice that for the first time in a long time, you were allowing yourself to have fun. You didn’t realize that one dance turned into four.

“Do you smoke?” You asked as the dancers started to move around for a line dance you didn’t know. He nodded and spun you playfully toward the front door.

“So I’ll give you a choice.” He said as he lit your cigarette for you. “I wanna know about your tattoos or your charm bracelet. You pick.” You looked down at your left arm at the sleeve of tattoos there and the Pandora bracelet you always wore.

“Daisies are my favorite.” You said as you twisted your bracelet to show him the seven charms you had. “My sister got me the moon and stars because I love stars and astronomy and astrology and shit.  Blue, from my mom, is my favorite color, the shell I got from the Ariel collection, because she’s my favorite and it reminds me of the ocean from my home town in Florida. My mom and I are actually up here to try to find a place to move.

The purple is from my dad’s parents; red and blue are their favorite colors and purple was the closest I could find to that combination. Umm, the Tinkerbell is from my dad because she’s my second favorite and the dahlia is my second favorite flower.” You looked up at him as he nodded and reached out to turn the last clip a little more toward him to see it better.

“I like the idea of these bracelets; the way you can tell your story.” He pursed out his bottom lip and nodded again as he looked back up at you. “Thanks for sharing.”

“Of course.” You replied as you twisted your bracelet on your wrist so it sat the way you wanted it. “So your turn. Couple little things about you.” He chuckled behind his cigarette as you leaned back and put your foot on the wall for balance.

“Well… I’m from New York, I’m terrified of the ocean. I’m an actor, I love Indiana Jones and action movies from like the 70’s and 80’s and I like Shakespeare.” You giggled as you took exhaled your smoke away from him.

“I like how you just squeezed that actor thing in the middle as if I wouldn’t notice it.”

“You like that?” He teased as he looked down at his cigarette and flicked the ash to the ground. He looked back up at you with a smile.

“I thought you looked familiar so how.” He nodded slowly as you took another drag. “Anything I would have seen?”

“I have one of those faces where you know you know me but can’t place it. Let’s see… movies that you may have seen. I had a small part in Brokeback Mountain…”

“The cowboy movie?” He nodded as he took a drag of his cigarette.

“Yes, I played a gay cowboy. Not one of the main ones. Umm I was in a Bond movie…”

“Never seen ‘em.”

“End of Watch?” Your brow furrowed as you tried to place the movie. “Cop movie with Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal.” You giggled and shook your head again. “I’ve been in a decent amount of things but never really the lead. And I always seem to sink into the background which is kinda nice. Get paid handsomely but avoid the notoriety on the streets. It’s nice.”

“So if you live in New York, what brings you to Atlanta? Another movie?” He nodded and shrugged.

“Netflix show. Can’t tell you much about it.” You nodded with a smile.

“That’s fine. I’ll have to keep my eye out for it then. Do a little Netflix stalking for David…”

“Harbour.” You smiled and looked glanced down at nearly finished cigarette in your hand as you suddenly became super self conscious.

“Well it was really nice to meet you, David Harbour.” You said as you glanced back up at him. “I should get back to my mom.”

“Wait.” He said as he reached out and took a hold of your arm. You looked back at him with your eyebrow raised, questioningly. “A few people from the cast are going to Stone Mountain tomorrow for some ‘bonding’ that I have no intention of fully participating in. Come with me.” You smiled weakly and shook your head but before you protested, he chuckled and gestured to the door. “I can ask you again in front of you mom if you tell me no.” A blush rose on your cheeks as you looked down at your shoes with a sigh.

“What time should I meet you there?” You glanced back up at him and he shook his head.

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I made my date meet me somewhere. Where do you live? I’ll pick you up.” You blushed and subconsciously bit your lip.

“Um… we’re staying at the Quality Inn, room 717.” He nodded and smiled warmly.

“Does 10 work for you?” With a smile, you nodded as you searched his blue eyes.

“Yea, 10 works fine.”

“Then I’ll see you in the morning.”

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

“What am I even supposed to wear!” You screeched at your mother at quarter to ten as you ripped apart your suitcase for the tenth time. Nothing you had with you and tried on seemed good enough for a first date.

“(Y/N), you can wear this.” You looked back at the jeans and plain, black, 'v’ neck shirt your mom held up and shook your head at an outfit you would normally wear everyday in the winter anyways.

“To boring.”

“No. You wear this and this.” You looked over at her as she pulled out a knee length, grey, white, and black striped jacket that she had bought the day before. “I can find you something else for your birthday.” You smiled and nodded as you quickly grabbed the outfit from her and kissed her cheek. You scrambled into the outfit as fast as you could as someone knocked on the door.

“Don’t you go near that door.” You hissed at your mom when she tried to get up off her bed as you yanked on the sweater on the way to the door. You snatched up your boots, hopped on one foot at a time to the door as you pulled them on and pulled the door open with a smile. “Sorry I’m… OH!” You smiled as David turned around with a bouquet of white daisies in his hand.

“I brought this as well.” He said as he handed you a cheap, plastic vase. “Figured you wouldn’t have one in a hotel room.” You smiled and smelled the flowers.

“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” You glanced back into the room, which was now covered in clothes, and cringed. “Can you just… wait here for one more minute?” He smiled and laughed as you flipped the lock to keep the door propped open.

“You’re not gunna invite him in?” Your mother asked loudly as you poured a water bottle into the vase and put the flowers in. “That’s rude, child. Didn’t I raise you better?” You could hear David chuckle from the hallway as you grabbed a shirt and tossed it at your mom.

“Don’t you have houses to go look at?” You asked as you grabbed your phone, cigarettes and your room key and debit card off the table. She shook her head as you shoved everything in your pockets.

“Nope. My spawn from Satan himself is leaving me alone for the day so I’m going to celebrate.” You whacked at her arm for being loud on purpose to embarrass you.

“I hate you.” You grumbled as you headed out the door, ignoring your untied boots. She jumped up off the bed and grabbed your arm.

“This would be embarrassing.” She said softly as she pulled off the tag on the back of your jacket. You smiled at her and whispered ‘thanks’ as she kissed your cheek and handed you your army green winter jacket and black infinity scarf. “Have fun. Stay out all day. I’m going to meet up with my friend, Rhonda for the day and we’ll probably end up doing dinner since it’s her day off.” You nodded as you stepped back and gestured to your outfit. She gave you a thumbs up and stepped toward the door with a smile.

“Just so you know, she hasn’t stopped talking about you all night. Feel free to make fun of her and take her out to dinner. She has no excuse to rush back.”

“Damnit, mother.” You groaned as you put your coat and scarf on.

“I’ll take good care of her, ma’am.” He said sweetly as he put his hand on the small of your back.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Your mom called after you as David lead you toward the elevator.

“Jesus Christ woman.” You mumbled as you shook your head.

“She’s funny.” You glanced up at him and shook your head with a smile as the elevator doors opened.

“Don’t let her hear you say that. She thinks she’s fucking hilarious but my siblings and I do everything in out power to discourage her.”

“Does it stop her, though?” You giggled and shook your head.

“Not one bit. She laughs at herself which makes it even worse.” He nodded as he gestured you out of the elevator in the lobby. You followed his lead as he led you to a black Ford pick-up truck. “So what do you have planned for us today?”

“Well, most of the cast are kids so they had planned on going snow tubing at Stone Mountain today. They got a bunch of Christmas things going on.” He shrugged as he pulled open the passenger door for you. “Just a bunch of us enjoying a gorgeous day off away from the fucking monotony of filming scenes over and over again.” You nodded as you took his offered hand and got into the truck. You waited for him to get into the drivers seat before you turned in your chair a bit to tie your boots.

“Sooooo…. If I swear to complete secrecy, what can you tell me about this show?” He chuckled as he backed out of the parking spot.

“Well, I play a cop and it’s set in the 80’s which, for me, is the greatest thing ever.” He started as he glanced over at you. “It’s based around a group of kids and involves… aliens?” You giggled as you looked over at the way he made the last word sound like a question.

“You sure about that?” You joked. He chuckled and looked over at you.

“Sorry. We just started filming a few weeks ago and I’m not quite sure what I can and can’t give away.” You nodded in understanding.

“Who else is in the show?” He pursed out his bottom lip and shook his head.

“All of the kids are sort of new to acting and have just had minor parts here and there so you probably won’t know them. Winona Ryder is in it as well.”

“Oh, I love her!” He nodded as he switched lanes toward Stone Mountain.

“She’s great. I’ve enjoyed working with her so far.” He paid for the parking and glanced over at you. “She’s actually not going to be here today. I kinda have to confess something to you.” You glanced over at him with your eyebrow raised as he followed the signs to the main parking lot. He sighed and scratched at his bearded chin.

“So I kinda lost a bet with Finn… one of the kids on the show. I bet them that I could go an entire day without saying the word ‘fuck’ and I lost. So those little brats decided my punishment was to essentially baby sit for a day trip here.” Your eyebrows flew to your hairline as he pulled into a parking spot and parked the car.

“Now trust me, I know that sounds really bad for a first date. ‘Come babysit a bunch of kids with me’. But I swear, I didn’t ask you to come with me today to babysit. I do really, really wanna get to know you. Especially if I only have a couple days to do so. So forgive me for not having another option since this is the only day I have off of filming this week. And it’s not just kids, some of the older kids are coming, too so I only have to like half pay attention.” You giggled and nodded as you carefully set your hand on his arm.

“It’s fine, really. I have an issue with social anxiety and I’m actually not good with large groups of people my own age. Kids are easier to handle because they’re a lot more honest anyways.”

“I totally know what you mean.” A loud bang on the window behind you made you jump and scream.

“We wanna tube David, not watch you make out with your girlfriend!” A curly haired boy shouted as a group of kids laughed behind him.

“Get the fuck away from my truck!” David yelled with a laugh as he turned the truck off and glanced over at you. “Sorry, you OK?” You nodded and giggled as you picked up your phone, which you had thrown on the floor in your fear. You could hear him scolding the kids as he headed around the front of the truck to open your car door.

“… so don’t be little assholes. Brats, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), we have Gaten, who scared you. Then Millie, Finn, Noah, Caleb, Natalia aka Nat, Charlie, Joe and Shannon.” You waved to everyone as David gestured to the main building. “Let’s go, kids. We’re in the 11 o’ clock tube group” The younger kids all took off running as the older kids walked a little ways in front of you and David.

“So you work with all these kids?” You inquired as you looked up at your date. He smirked and nodded as he put his arm around your shoulder.

“And it’s as horrible as you expect it to be.” You giggled as Joe held the door open for the second part of the group. You gave him a small smile in thanks and followed the group toward the ticket window. You were handed a white and blue, snowflake decorated day pass and fastened it to one of the small zipper pockets on the front of your jacket. You laughed as the five younger kids and the two older boys ran past you to the back door to go tubing.

“Do you think they ever grow up?” Shannon asked as the three of you waited for David to sign the credit card slip for the passes.

“They don’t.” You told her with a small laugh. “No matter how old men get, they always still have their childish side.” The two girls giggled and they glanced back at David as he walked over.

“Oh, don’t you go siding with them.” He groaned. You simply shrugged as you laced your arm with his.

“I didn’t say anything.” You looked up at him through your lashes as he nodded unbelievingly at you. He mumbled ‘sure’ as you stepped outside.

“So since you chose the bracelet yesterday, can I hear about the tattoos today?”

“Sure. Um… well, my sleeve is a culmination of my favorite things- Disney, music, movies, photography…”

“Ok, wow. Go slow.” He joked as you stopped at the back of the line for the next group to go tubing. “Music. How is it represented?” You smirked, shrugged out of your two jackets and pulled up your shirt sleeve exposing your arm to the cold air.

“The music notes are for a line from a Beatles song. ‘With every mistake, we must surely be learning’.” He smirked as you rolled your arm a bit to show him more.

“‘Still my guitar gently weeps.’ Great song.”

“It’s my favorite Beatles song, actually. Then the record player and the records are obvious. For Disney you have Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Alice in Wonderland, Princess and the Frog and…” You pointed out each symbol on your arm as you said it before showing him your wrist, where you had a couple black spots; one of which was shaped like the Disney World castle. “101 Dalmatians.”

“Your favorites?” With a nod, you flipped your arm back over and noticed you had now drawn the attention of the kids as well.

“Can you guys guess the movies?” You asked as you turned a bit so they could all see your arm.

“Is this ‘Dirty Dancing’?” Nat asked as she pointed to the silhouette of Johnny and Baby doing the final lift above your elbow.

“That it is. What else do you see?”

“‘Boondock Saints’?” Charlie asked as he pointed to the crossed guns on the back side of your upper arm with ‘Veritas’ and ‘Aequitas’ beside them.

“Is this for ‘Reservoir Dogs’?” David asked as he pointed to a multi-colored straight razor on your forearm. You giggled and nodded.

“Yes to both.”

“Deathly Hallows for Harry Potter.” “R2D2.” “Wizard of OZ?”

“Twister.” You corrected as you looked at the small tornado and the flying cow at the top by your shoulder. “I got a Big Lebowski bowling ball here.” You said as you twisted your arm out to show the other part of your tattoo where you had a giant Polaroid camera and a reel of film that wrapped around the back of your arm. “The Full Metal Jacket rifle, Bender’s silhouette for Breakfast Club, a bloody room 237 key for The Shining & ‘I’m not even supposed to be here’ for Clerks.” You smiled up at the group as you pulled your shirt back down and put your jackets back on.

“Can I keep you?” David asked as he put his arm around you and rubbed your arm to bring some warmth to it.

“I don’t have any set plans for the near future.” He smiled at you as the man who worked at Stone Mountain came over to check passes and let everyone in your group in.

“Don’t break anything or your parents will kill me!” David called out as the kids, young and old, took off toward the tubes.

“You’re doing a good thing here.” You said as he grabbed two tubes and gestured you in front of him.

“Yea, well they deserve a break. They work hard doing school and filming and shit.”

“And because you said fuck.” He nodded and chuckled as the two of you stepped onto the conveyor belt behind the rest of the kids.

“And because I can appreciate a good swear word to accentuate a sentence every now and then.” You smiled back at him and reached for your tub. “I got it!” You giggled and put your hands up in surrender.

“Alright, macho man. See if you still wanna carry two tubes for the next two hours, then.”

Part 2

[ragehappysecretsanta]

Sorry I’m Late

Author: http://rejectedusername-trashfics.tumblr.com/

Recipient: http://theloveandthestuff.tumblr.com

Summary: The photographer for Gavin Free’s Texas photoshoot is late, and Gavin is less than pleased. Maybe the arrival of Gavin’s celebrity crush might turn it around. But the celebrity’s coming out of retirement is not the same as what Gavin assumed.

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 2,733

Sorry I’m Late

Gavin had not always desired to be a model. He had originally signed up for photography school, but his professor had used him as a classroom model most of the time. The professor suggested that he become a model instead of a photographer. So, Gavin tried modeling and was quickly picked up for photoshoots all across Europe.

The fame had gone to his head, and he thought he needed to be a famous model all across the globe. After he had gotten big in Europe, he decided to try his hand at modeling in America. He started off in New York where he was able to pick up an American manager, Michael Jones. Jones scheduled him for magazine photoshoots all over America, all the way from New York to Los Angeles. Gavin Free was becoming a well-known magazine model. People everywhere would swoon over him.

This latest shoot was a summer-themed shoot down in Austin, Texas. Gavin had never imagined going down to Texas before this.

Gavin looked around excitedly as he and Michael entered the set of the photoshoot. “I can’t believe we’re all the way down in Texas!” Gavin exclaimed giddily as he took the environment it.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, this and Texas heat sure is something,” he said.

Gavin hopped up and down. “We’re in Austin! The capital of Texas, no less.”

“Uh huh.”

“Though, I thought that if we were going to do a Texas themed photoshoot, we would do it at a ranch or something.”

“The photographer wanted to get some shots with you at Lady Bird Lake,” Michael explained as he gestured towards the lake. “Besides, there’s a ranch-like set up over there, by the trailers,” he further explained as he pointed to the Texas ranch set.

Gavin huffed. “No matter. Texas has still got to be the most American place!”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Really? You sure the most American place wouldn’t be on the east coast? Like, the place where America fucking started?” he asked, annoyed.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Gavin replied with a shrug.

Michael shook his head. He never knew exactly what Gavin meant. “Whatever.” He pointed to the trailers off to the side of the ranch set. “That first trailer, over there, is where your wardrobe is gonna be.” Then he pointed to the trailer across from the wardrobe one. “And that one is where hair and makeup are.”

Gavin nodded. “Alright then. Will I have to change hair over the course of the shoot?”

“That’s up to the photographer.”

“Ah, I see.” Gavin scanned the set, looking for the photographer. He saw technicians making adjustments to the set, but he didn’t see anyone resembling a photographer. “Where is the bloke, anyway?”

Michael shifted his gaze around the set. “I don’t see him. I’m not sure if he’s here yet.”

“What?”

“Well, the shoot doesn’t start till 1. Plus, maybe he worked some stuff out for the shoot here, last night.”

“Alright. I’ll wait to start getting ready until he gets here,” Gavin suggested.

Michael shook his head. “Gavin, it’s 11. We should have had you in wardrobe an hour ago.”

“But, what if-”

“Just go get started with everything so you can be ready when he gets here,”

Gavin sighed in dismay. “Fine…” he whined.

He trudged over to the wardrobe trailer. Several minutes later, he ran out of the wardrobe trailer over to Michael wearing a skimpy outfit consisting of a belly shirt with a loose flannel on top, cowboy hat, brown cowboy boots, and booty shorts. “Michael, look!” he called out as wiggled his butt around to show off how sexually promiscuous he looked.

Michael looked Gavin up and down, then sighed. “Gavin, I’m pretty sure that’s not the wardrobe you’re supposed to be wearing.”

“Has the photographer gotten here yet?” Gavin asked.

“No, he’s not here yet. Now, you have to be serious. Go back and actually get dressed and get you hair and makeup done, or you’re going to be late,” Michael ordered.

Gavin nodded and ran back to the wardrobe trailer. The wardrobe crew put him in the right clothes for the first shoot: cargo shorts, sneakers, and a tight-fitting t-shirt. Then he ran over to the hair and makeup trailer. The hair crew flat-ironed his hair and made it look fluffy with product, while the makeup crew made his eyes look more defined.

Gavin was finished with everything at 1:05. “Shite!” he quietly said to himself. He couldn’t run because it would mess up his hair, so he quickly sped walked out of the trailer. “SORRY I’M LATE!” he called as he approached the set. He saw Michael standing there by the edge of the lake checking his phone, but still didn’t see any photographer. “Where the bloody toss is the photographer?!” he demanded.

Michael looked up from his phone. “I just got off the phone with him, he said there’s, like, a thirty mile back up.” Gavin sighed in defeat. “You know, you’re lucky he’s not here yet. Some of the bigger time photographers wouldn’t tolerate lateness.”

Gavin sighed. “What are we supposed to do now?”

Michael’s eyebrows furrowed. “We wait for him to arrive, like normal people!” he emphasized.

Gavin groaned and stood impatiently. Michael tried to distract him by talking about one of Gavin’s favorite free-time hobbies, video games. Gavin took the bait and the two of them talked about Destiny for a bit. After a while, Gavin’s patience finally wore too thin. “What time is it?” he asked. He quickly grabbed Michael’s wrist to look at his watch. Gavin’s eyes grew wide as he saw the time. “1 freaking 40?!” he called out angrily.

“Gavin, calm down,” Michael pleaded.

“Is he even going to show up?!”

“He told me he was caught in a major traffic jam, when he called me.”

“That’s no bloody excuse! Does he know who I am?!” he angrily demanded.

Michael face-palmed and sighed. “Look, it’s this photographer’s first major gig. Cut him some slack.”

“It will be his last gig as well if he ever does decide to show up!”

“Gav-”

“I’ll tell all my contacts to make sure they never hire this bloody wanker! What a horrible first impression that this stupid, bloody, piss,” he began to rant in anger.

“SORRY I’M LATE!” a man yelled as he ran onto the set, interrupting Gavin’s train of thought. He was older, well built with broad shoulders, honey brown hair, and a handsome face; overall a very attractive man.

Gavin saw the man running, and his eyes blew up. He grabbed Michael and started shaking him. “Oh my god, Michael, do you know who that is?!” he demanded.

“Yeah, that’s the…”

“THAT’S JAMES HAYWOOD!” he squealed.

James finally got to Gavin and Michael. “Sorry… I’m late… traffic… was… murder. I got here… as fast as I could… God, I’m out of shape,” he wheezed.

“It’s no problem, and I don’t think you’re out of shape at all, Mr. Haywood.”

“Please, call me Ryan,” he said as he offered his hand out to shake.

“Ryan? I thought your name was,”

“James? James is my first name.  But, I’ve always preferred to go by my middle name, Ryan, so I’m doing that this time.”

Gavin nodded and gladly accepted the handshake. “It’s an honor to meet you, Ryan.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. I wanted to meet who I was going to be working with before we got started. I was very excited to hear that I would get to be working with one of the most desirable models in Europe.”

“Oh, you knew who I was?” Gavin asked, surprised. Michael rolled his eyes, where he was standing off to the side, because Gavin had previously expected the photographer to at least know who he was.

“Of course,” Ryan continued, “I do my research. And If I’m being completely honest, the pictures did not do you justice.”

“Yeah.” Gavin braced himself to be torn apart by his lifelong idol.

“You are much more stunning in person.”

Gavin blinked and his mouth fell open in surprise. Then, he smiled at the compliment. “Really?”

“Oh, absolutely. Your slim figure, your fine assets--absolutely sublime!” Ryan complimented. Gavin blushed furiously. “Aww, you’re blushing.”

“I guess I need more makeup, then.”

“No, no, it’s extremely cute. We can totally use that in the shoot.”

“Oh, alright then,” Gavin replied with a smile. He felt as though he needed to compliment him back, and he thought back to the old modeling photos of James Haywood that he still kept to fantasize about. He was glad he could use those as a reference an excuse to compliment him back. “But well, my looks are nothing compared to yours,” he started.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you were a child-actor-turned-dreamy-90s-hunk. You were simultaneously who everyone wanted be and who everyone wanted to be with,” he gushed, his face blushing even more as he fondly thought more about Haywood’s modeling past.

Ryan glanced away as he remembered the fond memories and smiled. “Ah yes. I remember those days.”

“It was a bloody shame when you retired… But, now you’re back and everyone will fall in love with you again!”

Ryan stared off in to the distance as he remembered what his life was now and his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. “I don’t think they’ll be falling for me, this time,” he replied as he thought of different the roll he was taking in the modelling industry, this time.

“Nonsense! Have you seen yourself? You’re still the most attractive man I’ve ever seen!”

“Oh, thank you,” Ryan’s blush reddened.  He checked his watch. “Shit, it’s almost 2! And we’re already late, as is!” He turned back to Gavin. “I’ve gotta go grab my stuff, then we can get this shoot started.”

Gavin nodded excitedly, and Ryan sprinted off to his car. “Ooh, this is so exciting! This makes up for everything!”

“It does?” Michael asked.

“I get to model with my celebrity crush! Getting to model with James Haywood--or Ryan Haywood now--totally makes up for the fact that the photographer’s late,” he gushed.

Michael grinned. “I’m glad that makes you feel better, then.”

“It’s a shame the photographer’s still late, though.”

Then, Michael’s eyes widened in shock of Gavin’s obliviousness. “What? Gavin, no,”

“I hope Ryan doesn’t react too badly to that,” Gavin cut Michael off.

“Gavin, he is the-”

“BACK!” Ryan called as he came running back with his camera bag. “Okay, for this first outfit, I was thinking we use the set up at the corner of the set for more of a street feel since the city’s in the background. It’s a good thing I set up the lighting last night, could not have predicted traffic.”

Gavin looked Ryan up and down and was very surprised. “What?”

“You ready to head over there, or?”

“You’re... you’re… you’re modeling in what you’re wearing?”

“Oh, I won’t be modeling.”

“Huh?”

“You were right about me coming out of retirement. But I decided I wanted to try the modeling industry again from a different perspective. Instead of in front of the lens, I decided I was going to be behind the lens this time,” Ryan explained.

“You’re…”

“I’m going to be the photographer this time around,” Ryan concluded with a smile.

Gavin immediately felt bad for all threats he had made about ruining the photographer’s career before it really started. He dropped his head, “I’m so sorry,” he apologized.

Ryan tilted his head in confusion. “What? Why would you be sorry?”

“I’m sorry for complaining that you were late…”

“Like I said earlier, I seriously could not have predicted the traffic backup,” he reiterated. “It was a completely valid complaint that I was late, though.”

“I’m sorry I threatened to ruin your career.”

“Huh? What are you,” Ryan started to ask, in confusion.

“I was a right prick.”

“Sweetheart…”

Tears began to drop from Gavin’s face. “Sorry, I’ll have makeup fix me back up!” he cried as he ran off to the makeup trailer.

Ryan hesitated. “I am so confused.”

“Ryan,” Michael called. Ryan turned to face him. “Come over here for a minute.” Ryan moved over to where Michael was standing just off set. “Look, Gavin was having a big bitch fit before you got here. The modeling thing must have inflated his ego or something. But now that he knows who you are, he’s star struck. He feels bad about his bitch fit, because he still has such a big crush on you,” he explained.

“Oh,” Ryan’s face flushed. “I wasn’t here to hear the complaints, so I’m not mad about them. And I rather liked the conversation Gavin and I had.”

“But now he thinks you hate him.”

“I don’t hate him though. I think I’m rather fond of him, actually.”

Michael sighed. “Well, now Gavin’s gonna be a drama queen.”

“Hm…” Ryan thought for a moment. “I’m going to go see if I can fix this,” he announced as he began to jog towards the makeup trailer.

“GOOD LUCK!” Michael called out after him.

Ryan opened the door to the trailer to find Gavin crying in the makeup chair. “Oh, this is awful, Turney! My idol probably hates me now!” he sobbed to the makeup artist. The artist gave him looks and nods of sympathy

The makeup artist opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.  Ryan coughed to get everyone’s attention. “May I have a moment with him, Meg?” The artist nodded in understanding and stepped aside.  He walked over to Gavin. “Gavin, I’m not angry with you,” he said.

Gavin looked up, tear streaking his makeup, “Really? Is it even okay that I played with the other wardrobe and put on booty shorts, before you got here? What a right mess I was making.”

Ryan’s eyes got wide for a second as he pictured Gavin in booty shorts in his head. It made him think of an idea and he smirked, “I can’t decide what a better ‘punishment’ would be; telling you to put the booty shorts back on for my enjoyment, or telling you buy me dinner.”

Gavin blinked and let his mouth fall open in surprise, again. “Wait, what are you…?”

“But telling you that you have to pay on a first date would be a terrible thing to do when I’m the one asking you out. So as your punishment, I’d like you to let me buy you dinner, instead.”

“You’re asking me out… on a date?”

“Yes, I am asking you out on a date. If that would be alright,” Ryan replied with a smile.

Gavin quickly jumped out of the chair. “Oh my god, this is so amazing I could kiss you!” Then Gavin’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment and he face-palmed. “Bollocks, I really F-ed that up, didn’t I?”

Ryan snorted. “Not necessarily. It’s awfully forward of you, but I can appreciate that. If you really want to kiss me so much, then why don’t you,” he challenged.

Gavin pulled Ryan’s face towards his, and he shoved his tongue into Ryan’s mouth. Ryan blinked in surprise, then pushed his own tongue into Gavin’s. Ryan’s hands migrated to Gavin’s butt, Gavin didn’t seem to notice anything at first. He only noticed when Ryan gave his ass a light squeeze. Gavin moaned in pleasure quietly in response.

The artist groaned as she witnessed the passionate site in front of her. “Ugh! Now, I need to fix the makeup more,” she loudly complained to get the pairs attention.

Ryan’s eyes widened when he heard the groan and complaint and he immediately pulled away from the kiss. He had completely forgotten that Meg was in the trailer with them and he blushed furiously in embarrassment, he normally was not a fan of obnoxious PDA.  “Right,” he coughed. “Gavin, let’s get your makeup fixed so we can do this shoot. We can talk more about our date, afterwards,” he instructed as he quickly shuffled out of the trailer in shame.

Gavin nodded “Right.” He quickly scrambled back into the makeup chair. “Hope you enjoyed the show, Turney,” Gavin teased with a laugh. Meg sighed, rolled her eyes and got right to work fixing his makeup. The day had gone from bad to good to terrible and finally to amazing. Now he was really looking forward to whatever the photoshoot had in store.

[rejectedusername-trashfics]

Ragehappy Secret Santa- Sorry I’m Late

More Edited version of gift for  http://theloveandthestuff.tumblr.com

Summary: The photographer for Gavin Free’s Texas photoshoot is late, and Gavin is less than pleased. Maybe the arrival of Gavin’s celebrity crush might turn it around. But the celebrity’s coming out of retirement is not the same as what Gavin assumed.

Word Count: 2,740

Parings: Freewood

Gavin had not always desired to be a model. He had originally signed up for photography school, but his professor had used him as a classroom model most of the time. The professor suggested that he become a model instead of a photographer. So, Gavin tried modeling and was quickly picked up for photoshoots all across Europe.

The fame had gone to his head, and he thought he needed to be a famous model all across the globe. After he had gotten big in Europe, he decided to try his hand at modeling in America. He started off in New York where he was able to pick up an American manager, Michael Jones. Jones scheduled him for magazine photoshoots all over America, all the way from New York to Los Angeles. Gavin Free was becoming a well-known magazine model. People everywhere would swoon over him.

This latest shoot was a summer-themed shoot down in Austin, Texas. Gavin had never imagined going down to Texas before this.

Gavin looked around excitedly as he and Michael entered the set of the photoshoot. “I can’t believe we’re all the way down in Texas!” Gavin exclaimed giddily as he took the environment it.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, this and Texas heat sure is something,” he said.

Gavin hopped up and down. “We’re in Austin! The capital of Texas, no less.”

“Uh huh.”

“Though, I thought that if we were going to do a Texas themed photoshoot, we would do it at a ranch or something.”

“The photographer wanted to get some shots with you at Lady Bird Lake,” Michael explained as he gestured towards the lake. “Besides, there’s a ranch-like set up over there, by the trailers,” he further explained as he pointed to the Texas ranch set.

Gavin huffed. “No matter. Texas has still got to be the most American place!”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Really? You sure the most American place wouldn’t be on the east coast? Like, the place where America fucking started?” he asked, annoyed.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Gavin replied with a shrug.

Michael shook his head. He never knew exactly what Gavin meant. “Whatever.” He pointed to the trailers off to the side of the ranch set. “That first trailer, over there, is where your wardrobe is gonna be.” Then he pointed to the trailer across from the wardrobe one. “And that one is where hair and makeup are.”

Gavin nodded. “Alright then. Will I have to change hair over the course of the shoot?”

“That’s up to the photographer.”

“Ah, I see.” Gavin scanned the set, looking for the photographer. He saw technicians making adjustments to the set, but he didn’t see anyone resembling a photographer. “Where is the bloke, anyway?”

Michael shifted his gaze around the set. “I don’t see him. I’m not sure if he’s here yet.”

“What?”

“Well, the shoot doesn’t start till 1. Plus, maybe he worked some stuff out for the shoot here, last night.”

“Alright. I’ll wait to start getting ready until he gets here,” Gavin suggested.

Michael shook his head. “Gavin, it’s 11. We should have had you in wardrobe an hour ago.”

“But, what if-”

“Just go get started with everything so you can be ready when he gets here,”

Gavin sighed in dismay. “Fine…” he whined.

He trudged over to the wardrobe trailer. Several minutes later, he ran out of the wardrobe trailer over to Michael wearing a skimpy outfit consisting of a belly shirt with a loose flannel on top, cowboy hat, brown cowboy boots, and booty shorts. “Michael, look!” he called out as wiggled his butt around to show off how sexually promiscuous he looked.

Michael looked Gavin up and down, then sighed. “Gavin, I’m pretty sure that’s not the wardrobe you’re supposed to be wearing.”

“Has the photographer gotten here yet?” Gavin asked.

“No, he’s not here yet. Now, you have to be serious. Go back and actually get dressed and get you hair and makeup done, or you’re going to be late,” Michael ordered.

Gavin nodded and ran back to the wardrobe trailer. The wardrobe crew put him in the right clothes for the first shoot: cargo shorts, sneakers, and a tight-fitting t-shirt. Then he ran over to the hair and makeup trailer. The hair crew flat-ironed his hair and made it look fluffy with product, while the makeup crew made his eyes look more defined.

Gavin was finished with everything at 1:05. “Shite!” he quietly said to himself. He couldn’t run because it would mess up his hair, so he quickly sped walked out of the trailer. “SORRY I’M LATE!” he called as he approached the set. He saw Michael standing there by the edge of the lake checking his phone, but still didn’t see any photographer. “Where the bloody toss is the photographer?!” he demanded.

Michael looked up from his phone. “I just got off the phone with him, he said there’s, like, a thirty mile back up.” Gavin sighed in defeat. “You know, you’re lucky he’s not here yet. Some of the bigger time photographers wouldn’t tolerate lateness.”

Gavin sighed. “What are we supposed to do now?”

Michael’s eyebrows furrowed. “We wait for him to arrive, like normal people!” he emphasized.

Gavin groaned and stood impatiently. Michael tried to distract him by talking about one of Gavin’s favorite free-time hobbies, video games. Gavin took the bait and the two of them talked about Destiny for a bit. After a while, Gavin’s patience finally wore too thin. “What time is it?” he asked. He quickly grabbed Michael’s wrist to look at his watch. Gavin’s eyes grew wide as he saw the time. “1 freaking 40?!” he called out angrily.

“Gavin, calm down,” Michael pleaded.

“Is he even going to show up?!”

“He told me he was caught in a major traffic jam, when he called me.”

“That’s no bloody excuse! Does he know who I am?!” he angrily demanded.

Michael face-palmed and sighed. “Look, it’s this photographer’s first major gig. Cut him some slack.”

“It will be his last gig as well if he ever does decide to show up!”

“Gav-”

“I’ll tell all my contacts to make sure they never hire this bloody wanker! What a horrible first impression that this stupid, bloody, piss,” he began to rant in anger.

“SORRY I’M LATE!” a man yelled as he ran onto the set, interrupting Gavin’s train of thought. He was older, well built with broad shoulders, honey brown hair, and a handsome face; overall a very attractive man.

Gavin saw the man running, and his eyes blew up. He grabbed Michael and started shaking him. “Oh my god, Michael, do you know who that is?!” he demanded.

“Yeah, that’s the…”

“THAT’S JAMES HAYWOOD!” he squealed.

James finally got to Gavin and Michael. “Sorry… I’m late… traffic… was… murder. I got here… as fast as I could… God, I’m out of shape,” he wheezed.

“It’s no problem, and I don’t think you’re out of shape at all, Mr. Haywood.”

“Please, call me Ryan,” he said as he offered his hand out to shake.

“Ryan? I thought your name was,”

“James? James is my first name. But, I’ve always preferred to go by my middle name, Ryan, so I’m doing that this time.”

Gavin nodded and gladly accepted the handshake. “It’s an honor to meet you, Ryan.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. I wanted to meet who I was going to be working with before we got started. I was very excited to hear that I would get to be working with one of the most desirable models in Europe.”

“Oh, you knew who I was?” Gavin asked, surprised. Michael rolled his eyes, where he was standing off to the side, because Gavin had previously expected the photographer to at least know who he was.

“Of course,” Ryan continued, “I do my research. And If I’m being completely honest, the pictures did not do you justice.”

“Yeah.” Gavin braced himself to be torn apart by his lifelong idol.

“You are much more stunning in person.”

Gavin blinked and his mouth fell open in surprise. Then, he smiled at the compliment. “Really?”

“Oh, absolutely. Your slim figure, your fine assets--absolutely sublime!” Ryan complimented. Gavin blushed furiously. “Aww, you’re blushing.”

“I guess I need more makeup, then.”

“No, no, it’s extremely cute. We can totally use that in the shoot.”

“Oh, alright then,” Gavin replied with a smile. He felt as though he needed to compliment him back, and he thought back to the old modeling photos of James Haywood that he still kept to fantasize about. He was glad he could use those as a reference for an excuse to compliment him back. “But well, my looks are nothing compared to yours,” he started.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you were a child-actor-turned-dreamy-90s-hunk. You were simultaneously who everyone wanted be and who everyone wanted to be with,” he gushed, his face blushing even more as he fondly thought more about Haywood’s modeling past.

Ryan glanced away as he remembered the fond memories and smiled. “Ah yes. I remember those days.”

“It was a bloody shame when you retired… But, now you’re back and everyone will fall in love with you again!”

Ryan stared off in to the distance as he remembered what his life was now and his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. “I don’t think they’ll be falling for me, this time,” he replied as he thought of different the roll he was taking in the modelling industry, this time.

“Nonsense! Have you seen yourself? You’re still the most attractive man I’ve ever seen!”

“Oh, thank you,” Ryan thanked as his blush reddened further. He checked his watch. “Shit, it’s almost 2! And we’re already late, as is!” He turned back to Gavin. “I’ve gotta go grab my stuff, then we can get this shoot started.”

Gavin nodded excitedly, and Ryan sprinted off to his car. “Ooh, this is so exciting! This makes up for everything!”

“It does?” Michael asked.

“I get to model with my celebrity crush! Getting to model with James Haywood--or Ryan Haywood now--totally makes up for the fact that the photographer’s late,” he gushed.

Michael grinned. “I’m glad that makes you feel better, then.”

“It’s a shame the photographer’s still late, though.”

Then, Michael’s eyes widened in shock of Gavin’s obliviousness. “What? Gavin, no,”

“I hope Ryan doesn’t react too badly to that,” Gavin cut Michael off.

“Gavin, he is the-”

“BACK!” Ryan called as he came running back with his camera bag. “Okay, for this first outfit, I was thinking we use the set up at the corner of the set for more of a street feel since the city’s in the background. It’s a good thing I set up the lighting last night, could not have predicted traffic.”

Gavin looked Ryan up and down and was very surprised. “What?”

“You ready to head over there, or?”

“You’re... you’re… you’re modeling in what you’re wearing?”

“Oh, I won’t be modeling.”

“Huh?”

“You were right about me coming out of retirement. But I decided I wanted to try the modeling industry again from a different perspective. Instead of being in front of the lens, I decided I was going to be behind the lens this time,” Ryan explained.

“You’re…”

“I’m going to be the photographer this time around,” Ryan concluded with a smile.

Gavin immediately felt bad for all threats he had made about ruining the photographer’s career before it really started. He dropped his head, “I’m so sorry,” he apologized.

Ryan tilted his head in confusion. “What? Why would you be sorry?”

“I’m sorry for complaining that you were late…”

“Like I said earlier, I seriously could not have predicted the traffic backup,” he reiterated. “It was a completely valid complaint that I was late, though.”

“I’m sorry I threatened to ruin your career.”

“Huh? What are you,” Ryan started to ask, in confusion.

“I was a right prick.”

“Sweetheart…”

Tears began to drop from Gavin’s face. “Sorry, I’ll have makeup fix me back up!” he cried as he ran off to the makeup trailer.

Ryan hesitated. “I am so confused.”

“Ryan,” Michael called. Ryan turned to face him. “Come over here for a minute.” Ryan moved over to where Michael was standing just off set. “Look, Gavin was having a big bitch fit before you got here. The modeling thing must have inflated his ego or something. But now that he knows who you are, he’s star struck. He feels bad about his bitch fit, because he still has such a big crush on you,” he explained.

“Oh,” Ryan’s face flushed. “I wasn’t here to hear the complaints, so I’m not mad about them. And I rather liked the conversation Gavin and I had.”

“But now he thinks you hate him.”

“I don’t hate him though. I think I’m rather fond of him, actually.”

Michael sighed. “Well, now Gavin’s gonna be a drama queen.”

“Hm…” Ryan thought for a moment. “I’m going to go see if I can fix this,” he announced as he began to jog towards the makeup trailer.

“GOOD LUCK!” Michael called out after him.

Ryan opened the door to the trailer to find Gavin crying in the makeup chair. “Oh, this is awful, Turney! My idol probably hates me now!” he sobbed to the makeup artist. The artist gave him looks and nods of sympathy

The makeup artist opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted. Ryan coughed to get everyone’s attention. “May I have a moment with him, Meg?” The artist nodded in understanding and stepped aside. He walked over to Gavin. “Gavin, I’m not angry with you,” he said.

Gavin looked up, tear streaking his makeup, “Really? Is it even okay that I played with the other wardrobe and put on booty shorts, before you got here? What a right mess I was making.”

Ryan’s eyes got wide for a second as he pictured Gavin in booty shorts in his head. It made him think of an idea and he smirked, “I can’t decide what a better ‘punishment’ would be; telling you to put the booty shorts back on for my enjoyment, or telling you buy me dinner.”

Gavin blinked and let his mouth fall open in surprise, again. “Wait, what are you…?”

“But telling you that you have to pay on a first date would be a terrible thing to do when I’m the one asking you out. So as your punishment, I’d like you to let me buy you dinner, instead.”

“You’re asking me out… on a date?”

“Yes, I am asking you out on a date. If that would be alright,” Ryan replied with a smile.

Gavin quickly jumped out of the chair. “Oh my god, this is so amazing I could kiss you!” Then Gavin’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment and he face-palmed. “Bollocks, I really F-ed that up, didn’t I?”

Ryan snorted. “Not necessarily. It’s awfully forward of you, but I can appreciate that. If you really want to kiss me so much, then why don’t you,” he challenged.

Gavin pulled Ryan’s face towards his, and he shoved his tongue into Ryan’s mouth. Ryan blinked in surprise, then pushed his own tongue into Gavin’s. Ryan’s hands migrated to Gavin’s butt, Gavin didn’t seem to notice anything at first. He only noticed when Ryan gave his ass a light squeeze. Gavin moaned in pleasure quietly in response.

The artist groaned as she witnessed the passionate site in front of her. “Ugh! Now, I need to fix the makeup more,” she loudly complained to get the pairs attention.

Ryan’s eyes widened when he heard the groan and complaint and he immediately pulled away from the kiss. He had completely forgotten that Meg was in the trailer with them and he blushed furiously in embarrassment, he normally was not a fan of obnoxious PDA. “Right,” he coughed. “Gavin, let’s get your makeup fixed so we can do this shoot. We can talk more about our date, afterwards,” he instructed as he quickly shuffled out of the trailer in shame.

Gavin nodded “Right.” He quickly scrambled back into the makeup chair. “Hope you enjoyed the show, Turney,” Gavin teased with a laugh. Meg sighed, rolled her eyes and got right to work fixing his makeup. The day had gone from bad to good to terrible and finally to amazing. Now he was really looking forward to whatever the photoshoot had in store.

[vicbartons]

73 and 2. 😘

excuse me; stay here tonight

“Never seen those, to be honest.Is there nothing else on?” Aaron asked, looking up at Robert over the car magazine that his nose had been buried in for the past half an hour. 

Robert, who had been hunched over the kitchen table, shot up at Aaron´s admission, eyes wide. ”Excuse me?“ He huffed, sounding genuinely offended.

Aaron only raised an eyebrow upon hearing the tone of his voice, fearing that he was in for yet another one of Robert´s lectures concerning his lack of knowledge of popular culture. (Or culture in general, if you asked Robert.)

“Never seen those,” Aaron repeated stolidly, his glare daring Robert to go off on one of his tangents.

It was an early friday afternoonand they were in the back of the pub. Aaron spread out on the sofa, bone-tired after a week´s work at the scrapyard, and Robert at the kitchen table with his eyes focused on his phone.

Up until a moment ago, he´d been scrolling through the listing forthe cinema in Hotten. He´d heard that they were doing some kind of throwbackevent and showing nothing but 80´s movies all week, which obviouslyhad Robert interested, giant nerd that he was. 

So he´d brought upthe idea of an impromptu date night.

Work had been busy for both of themthe past week, which had lead to them not seeing nearly enough ofeach other for their tastes. 

That, and they were still trying tonavigate this new phase of their relationship - the one in which theyweren´t reduced to stolen kisses in dark corners and secret meetingsin barns that smelled of hay and farm animals any longer. 

Dating, according to Robert, had toinclude proper nights out for just the two of them, wining and diningmore than a stone´s throw away from either of their bedrooms. (If hewas feeling extra confident, he´d even go as far as to try and getAaron into something other than a black hoodie for the occasion.) 

It´s not that Aaron disagreed per se, he just didn´t see anything wrong with makinguse of the pub right next to his living room and the free pints thatcame with being the owner´s son. 

But no matter how much he loved to tease Robert over his posh ways, if he was being honest, part ofhim enjoyed the nights out of town where it was just them spending time together, away from the eyes of all the gossip-lovingvillagers and the death glares of the Whites. 

It made this thingbetween them feel more real. And given how long Aaron had playedsecond fiddle to Chrissie - never in his wildest dreams allowinghimself to believe he would ever actually have Robert all to himself- just being out and about together in front of strangers, withRobert´s hand reassuringly pressed against the small of his back,was something that Aaron valued more than he could put into words.

Still, he wasn´t going to spendtwo hours of his life watching a sequel to a film he´d never seen.

Normally, he wouldn´t be toobothered by it. If it was up to Aaron, they would pick seats in thelast row of the cinema and he could spent his night leisurely letting hisfingers run up and down Robert´s thigh and maybe snog him senselessduring the boring bits. That way, they´d be too distracted to reallypay attention to whatever was happening on the big screen in front ofthem anyway.

He´d never have thought that thatwas an idea he would have to convince Robert of all people of.

Not when the man had spent most oftheir affair unable to keep his hands off of Aaron even atthe most inappropriate of times. (Aaron´s cheeks still went brightred when he as much as thought of that afternoon up at Home Farm, whenRobert´s hand had shamelessly found its way to his crotch under thetable during a business meeting with Lawrence.)

But as it turned out,now that they were getting used to the luxury of being able to touch whenever andwherever they wanted to, Robert had no qualms about shoving him offand shushing him in favour of some geeky film that Aaron had usually never even heard of, which was more often than not down to the fact that it had come out years or sometimes decades before he was born. Instead, Robert was perfectly happy just to intertwine theirfingers and lean into Aaron´s side, while letting himself beengrossed by spaceships, cowboys or superheros for an hour and a half. He was still Robert Sugden though, which meant that just to put Aaron more on edge than he already was, ever so often Robert would whisper teasing promises into Aaron´s ear that made himthankful for the darkness of the cinema. (Otherwise,the colour of his cheeks would surely have given away to the peoplearound them exactly what Robert´s evening plans for them were.)

So if he was going to spend twohours in the dark, actually having to pay attention to the filminstead of making out with his gorgeous better half, it would have tobe something he´d at least be able to enjoy.

“How?” Robert started, still in an obvious state of shock, “How can you never have seen Star Wars?”

Aaron couldn´t help but smirk upon seeing the look on Robert´s face. “Mate, it´s just a film. Noreason to go all-” he started, rolling his eyes in annoyance, but Robertcut in before he could finish his sentence.

“Just a film?” he mocked, ”Are you kidding meright now?” His voice almost jumped up an octave at that, while hishands were gesticulating in the air wildly, “ ´The Empire StrikesBack´ isn´t just a film! It´s a flipping classic, Aaron. It´s one ofthe greatest films of all time. How did you have the time to make your way through Michael Bay´s entire atrocity of an IMDB page, but skip over Star Wars?”

Aaron pushed himself up off the sofa then, scuffling over to the kitchen table. “Will you just get over it?” he sighed, leaning against Robert´s chair from behind. 

Secretly, Aaron loved seeing Robert get all animated when discussing these things he loved that Aaron himself knew nothing about. 

Whether it were comics, movies or books or even articles from one of the endless number of scientific magazines Robert had subscriptions to. Whenever Robert got talking about these things, his eyes lit up with childlike wonder and Aaron couldn´t stop himself from falling a little bit more in love with him at the sight. 

That was, unless Robert´s usual excitement turned into more of a geeky wreath that he chose to focus directly on Aaron. 

“None of them? Really?“ Robertinquired again, turning around slightly so he could look up at Aaron and wondering if perhaps, unbeknownst to him, Aaron had in fact spent all of his life living under a rock. “Noteven the prequels?“

“The what now?“ Aaron asked, letting his head fall to the side, frustration clear on his face now. 

“I feel like I need to reevaluatethis whole relationship now,“ Robert muttered under his breath, but there was a small grin tugging at the corners of his face. Aaron took it as a sign and -  since he was already well over this nonsensical tiff they were apparently heaving - leaned down and pressed a kiss against Rober´s lips.

“You can be a right drama queensometimes, you know that?“ he said, only pulling away an inch.

“Shut it, you,“ Robert countered, a bit of fire still left in his eyes, but his mouth already pliant under Aaron´s touch, “My boyfriendhas never seen Star Wars! This is a perfectly fitting reaction tothat kind of information.“

Boyfriend. It had beenalmost 6 weeks now, but Aaron hadn´t gotten used to the word yet and it would take him a while still. Though that didn´t change thesmall tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever Robert usedthe term. In fact, he had noticed that Robert used it quite often and the smile on his face when he didso told him that he wasn´t the only one who savoured the term andeverything that came with it. Not that there hadn´t been acertain thrill to their affair, but this, this hadthe potential to be so much better. Thrilling in a wholenew way, because it was real. Because Robert wasn´t going to run offback to Chrissie after a quick screw anymore. Because this timethey were doing things properly, getting to know each other in awhole new way, quirks and all.

“I know about the ´Luke, Iam your father´ twist,” Aaron teased, couldn´t help himself really, ”There can´t be much more to it than that.”

“That´s not even the quote,Aaron,” his tone was harsh, but his eyes betrayed him.

“Course it is.” Aaron kissed him again.

“How would you know? You´venever even seen it,” Robert´s hand curled around the back of Aaron´s neck, pulling him closer. “Makes me question what other red flagsyou´ve been hiding from me,“ he pondered as their noses rubbed against each other.

“Guess you´ll have to stickaround and find out,” Aaron muttered, pressing a kiss in the space right below Robert´s ear, leaving a small mark there with his teeth.

“Though it´s good to know you´re finewith the criminal record, but draw the line at 80´s sci-fi movies,weirdo,” he whispered, feeling Robert´s laugh against his lips, rather than seeing it.

“Nothing wrong with having yourpriorities in order.” 

Aaron pulled back then to look at Robert, a playful, self-satisfied grin plastered on his face. “Let´s stay heretonight.“ 

Robert wasn´t the only one in this relationship whohad his priorites in order.

“You sure?” he questioned, one eyebrow raised, ”We could always-” Aaron shut him up by bending down, there lips once again meeting.

“Mhm,” he hummed, letting his tongue slide over Robert´s bottom lip, “I´m sure.” He let his hands, that had been playing with the hairs at the back of Robert´s neck for a while now, move down along the collar of his white dress shirt until he was tugging on his boyfriends maroon tie. Pulling it lose in one swift motion.

Robert was grinning against him, determined to have the last word eventhough he had clearly already given into Aaron´s plans for their night. “I´m going to have to take Finnto see ´Rogue One´, won´t I?” he whispered against Aaron´s skin in a mock sullen tone, peppering kisses down his boyfriend´s neck, “The guy is such a-” 

Suddenly, he was stopped by a palm pressed flat against his mouth, a mischievous look on Aaron´s face. “If I were you, nerd,” Aaron growled lowly, one eyebrow raised high, “I´d shutup now.”

And Robert did. Mouth too busy with activities far more entertaining than banter anyway.

(Obviously, Robert still made Aaron sit through all seven films a few weeks later. Both of them spending almost the entirety of a long weekend tugged under a blanket on the sofa at Victoria´s together, cuddling close and living off of nothing but pizza and thai food. Aaron didn´t actually end up hating them. Well, the prequels were a bit shite, but according to Robert, watching and hating them was a right of passage. Still, Aaron spent most of those hours watching Robert out of the corner of his eye rather than the telly, enjoying that fluttering feeling that found its way into the pit of his stomach whenever Robert´s face lit up and his cheeks grew pink in excitement.)