#thank you for sending this prompt morgan! ily

[kylermalloy]

26, Ed and Al gen 👀

💙💙💙

Hi Morgan! You know just what I like 💙💙💙

(Okay so this little fic is completely self-indulgent. It’s set in the AU I conceived years ago in which Al, instead of being a suit of armor for the entire story, just has to drink Ed’s blood to live.

He’s much more resilient than a normal human—he can heal from what would otherwise be fatal wounds, so long as Ed can supply him with fresh blood. This comes into play in this particular snippet—which is this AU’s version of events when Scar catches up to the brothers for the first time.)

The alchemist catches Al first.

They’re both running for their lives, trying to escape the man who set his sights on exploding Ed’s head. Both boys are panting, exhausted. Ed claps and transmutes frantically, but the man breaks down every barrier they erect in his way.

Maybe if they can make it to headquarters, find another safehouse—something—anything—to escape the man in glasses, who, like Ed, apparently doesn’t need to draw a circle to transmute.

Al trips.

The man gets a firm grip around his knee, and—

Al’s leg explodes.

He screams, but it’s at Ed—to run.

Ed has no intention of running. Al is bleeding out, and though his leg looks horrific, beyond saving, Ed’s seen him come back from worse.

He just needs more blood. Ed can give that to him.

His momentary preoccupation with Al is all the alchemist needs to shatter his arm.

Al’s scream is somehow louder this time.

The man offers him a moment to pray.

Al screams in panic. This time, he’s cut off by a sick-sounding cough.

He won’t last much longer.

Ed stares past the man in the long coat and dark glasses. “Can you give me a minute with my brother instead?”

“I will not.”

“Will you hurt him if you kill me?”

“I will not. Your sins are not his.”

“Okay, then, go ahead.”

“Brother!”

Ed closes his eyes, so the sound of the gunshot surprises him.

The military clashes with the would-be killer, and he flees. It’s over in less than a minute, then the soldiers have two injured boys to deal with.

One is hardly hurt, his automail the worst part of him. The other…well, at the very least his leg is gone. He might not even make it off the street, given all the blood he’s lost.

That is, that’s what the soldiers think until he sits up and slugs his brother in the face.

“You idiot!”

“Ow! Al—”

“What were you thinking? You absolute dumbass, were you going to let him kill you?”

“He promised not to hurt you. I had to—”

“You had to what—cause the least possible collateral damage? News flash, brother—if you die, I’m not far behind! What were you expecting, for me to lick your blood off the streets?”

“Al, just take my blood—”

“Fine.” Al pounces on his arm and bites.

“Ow! Son of a—”

“You deserve more than that, but right now I’m going to pass the fuck out unless I drink.”

He’s bitten hard enough to draw blood, so Ed guides him close under the guise of a hug so he can press his lips to the cut and suck. Ed winces but accepts the burning pain as his punishment.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Al. I didn’t want to leave you, but—”

Al squeezes his arm, casting an icy glare up without breaking his hold on Ed. Somehow, as always, Ed knows what he means. Just because you’re sorry doesn’t make this go away. You’ll still hear plenty about this.

Honestly, Ed wouldn’t have it any other way. Al wouldn’t be Al otherwise.

He presses his lips to Al’s forehead anyway, marveling at his brother’s resilience. Anyone else would’ve never walked again, but not Al. Al is still alive, and strong, and in a few weeks he’ll be up and about like this never happened.

God, he’s beautiful.

And then Lieutenant Hawkeye is there, draping her jacket over Al’s shoulders and retrieving the tattered remains of Ed’s coat to wrap him up in. “Just stay here,” she warns in a low voice. “We’ll get an ambulance. Triage his leg. Is he okay?”

Ed allows her a weary smile of thanks as Al drinks his fill, replenishing his body of the blood he lost. “He will be.”

Send me a prompt and a pairing!

[degrassi-fanatic]

Hey babie,would you like to write some hotchreid fic about "choose reid over haley",like after hotch divorce,he always deny his feelings about reid,but when some unsub mentions about "the one you most care about is in danger ",he try to save reid but the one exactly in danger is haley.And after these there will be hurt/comfort thing and happy ending...I don’t know if I’m asking too much ,just wanna say I enjoy your hotchreid fics so much.Anyway wish you have a good day!!Love you!!

thank you for sending an ask !!! ily 

i changed up the prompt a bit because i personally do think, even as a hotchreid shipper, that hotch cared a lot about haley and loved her till the end. so i replaced haley in this prompt with kate joyner instead

hope you like it !!

Having just returned from their latest crime scene, Hotch wracks his brain around for any theories on their latest unsub as he steps out of the driver’s side of the SUV. 

The BAU team had been sent out to the FBI Office in New York at the request of Agent Kate Joyner to assist with a case involving the abduction and subsequent murder of federal agents. Their unsub somehow managed to pluck highly intelligent and capable agents off the street and lure them away to a secondary location where he would riddle them with bullets, only to bring their corpses back to the city and leave them strung up in areas with high foot traffic; all without being seen. 

It was no surprise that Kate had decided to amass as many resources as possible, she had even created an FBI-NYPD task force. This case was going nowhere and their volume of victims was only increasing as time went on. 

He knows he’s not the only one desperately hoping that they’ll get any sort of lead soon. 

As Hotch makes his way towards the glass doors of the New York FBI office, he feels his cellphone vibrate in the pocket of his suit jacket. Without looking at the caller ID, he assumes it’s one of his team members and accepts the call.

Before he can greet whoever it is on the other line, a gravelly voice begins speaking, one he does not recognize.

“Agent Hotchner.” the unknown man says. 

“Yes, who is this?”

“Oh, me?” he asks flippantly, “Who I am doesn’t matter right now. It’s what I have, or rather who I have.”

In the middle of the sidewalk just outside the office, Hotch stops in his tracks; ignoring all the passive aggressive looks sent his way as people wade around him and the occasional shove against his shoulder. 

“Excuse me?”

“Did you really think you could come after me and not suffer the consequences?” the man sneers through the phone, “You’re going to regret coming to New York.”

“Who do you have?” he asks, not caring for any of the vague threats the man was sending his way. 

“The one you care for the most.”

His stomach drops and immediately, Hotch tries to remember the last time he called Reid, the last time he saw him, and for some reason both instances seem so long ago that he wonders if Reid hasn’t already been shot yet. 

“Goodbye, Agent Hotchner.” the man says.

And with that, he hangs up and the call ends. 

For a moment, his feet stay planted where they are against the pavement and he cannot move. 

Then, it feels as though someone has dragged his head under freezing water and he begins racing into the office; darting past everyone as he makes his way towards the board room where they had been instructed to use as their home base. 

As he makes it to the door, his eyes survey the room frantically as he checks to see if anyone else is missing; Rossi is arguing with Prentiss over something trivial, JJ is flipping through case files with Morgan, Garcia has her laptop opened in front of her and is typing away, and…

Reid.

Reid is there, staring at the crime scene board as he pushes his thumb between his lips in deep thought. 

“Spencer!” he calls out as he rushes over to him, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

He watches Reid twist around to look at him, a confused expression spreading across the features of his face. The only expression only grows as Hotch rushes over to him, dragging him into a tight hug. It’s a tad bit awkward at first as Reid’s arms are squished between their chests and his whole body has grown stiff but he cannot bring himself to care about that because he has Reid warm and alive in his arms. 

It only gets better once Reid retracts his arms from between them to wrap around Hotch’s back as he returns the embrace.

Reid was okay, he realizes as he pushes his face into Reid’s hair, ignoring the tickling sensation caused by his tousled tufts.

He was fine. 

“I thought you were… Thank God that you’re alright.” he says breathlessly as he pulls away, “But, the unsub, he said on the phone that—”

Wait, if Reid wasn’t the one the unsub had abducted, then who was? It couldn’t have been anyone from his team since they were all here and accounted for. Perhaps, the man had gotten a hold of the wrong agent’s phone number or maybe he had simply…

Oh no, Hotch thinks as dread pools somewhere deep inside of him.

“Where’s Kate?” 

“We thought she was with you.” 

It had taken them a couple of gruelling hours but eventually they had managed to figure out where their unsub, who they discovered to be thirty-three year old Peter Samuels, was holding Kate captive. Although Samuels was clearly a man with an above average level of intelligence, he was clearly lacking when it came to fighting and was overpowered by Prentiss and Morgan within minutes. 

In the end, Kate was alright. A bit bruised and a little worse for wear than Hotch would have preferred but she was alive and that’s what mattered. He was still rather reluctant leaving her so soon after such a traumatic event and would have stayed in New York for a bit longer but Kate had all but shooed him off, stating that she didn’t need him coddling her for her entire leave. 

Now, the team is back on board the jet and well on their way back home. It’s dark outside the windows and the cabin lights have been dimmed. The team, with the exception of Reid and Hotch, are fast asleep in their own seats; the exhaustion of the last couple of days finally catching up to them. 

Hotch fishes his cellphone out of his pocket and pulls up Kate’s contact information; she never explicitly stated if texting was considered coddling. 

“Is Agent Joyner going to be alright?” Reid whispers from beside him, in an effort to not wake the others.

“Yeah,” he answers as he finishes sending a message, “It’s going to take some time but she’ll recover.”

“That’s good.” Reid murmurs. 

Hotch makes a soft noise in agreement as he tucks in his cellphone back into his pocket. Shifting around in his seat as quietly as he can, he attempts to get into a comfortable position so he too can rest up before they land; he ends up sinking into his chair with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes closed. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Reid pipes up again. 

“Sure.” he mumbles back. 

“Why did you think I was the one Samuels took?” 

For a brief moment, Hotch considers feigning sleep but, then Reid is gently shaking his arm to gather his attention once more. 

“Hotch?” he whispers, “Aaron?”

“It’s something he said on the phone.” he admits quietly, “He said he took the one I cared for the most.”

“Oh.”

The hand on his bicep falls away and the absence of it feels like a gaping wound. 

Right away, Hotch is opening his eyes and sitting up right. 

“I’m sorry.” he says frantically, “I know this is inappropriate and you’re probably uncomfortable—”

Oh God, why did Hotch say that? Maybe he could blame it on a lack of sleep? Or he could say he misspoke somehow?

“No, wait, listen—” 

He wouldn’t fault Reid if he wanted to file a complaint against him for inappropriate advances or some other form of misconduct. Any formal punishment was far better than the torture he would endure if the rest of the team learned that he was preying on their youngest member. 

“I completely understand if you want to file a complaint—”

“Hotch, that’s the last thing—”

Now, Reid will most likely want to transfer out of the BAU. Who wouldn’t after learning their boss had more-than platonic feelings for them? No, he couldn’t do that to Reid. He knows how much the BAU means to the other man; he’ll be the one to leave. 

“It probably disturbs you to be on the receiving end of my feelings.” Hotch says “I know I’m old and I’m not enjoyable to be around and that I come with far too much—”

Before he can get another word out, he feels a pair of hands fly to both sides of Hotch’s face, followed by a pair of lips slotting between his own. 

It takes a second for his brain and body to realize what’s going on but, once he does, he reels Reid in closer; practically pulling the other man into his lap. 

Far too soon for his liking, however, Reid pulls his mouth away. 

“Hmm?” Hotch hums questioningly, his eyes still closed. 

“I care for you too.” Reid whispers. 

“That’s nice.”

“That’s all you have to say?” he questions, his breath fanning out over Hotch’s mouth.

“Sorry, my brain is coming back online.”

Hotch hears him let out a soft laugh and that alone is incentive enough to finally open his eyes again. He’s greeted by the sight of Reid smiling in the feeble lighting of the cabin, his lips glistening with spit and a faint flush across his cheeks that is almost undetectable with how dark it is. 

“Well, when it does,” Reid says fondly, “Tell it to ask me out on a date.”

“Will do.”

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

📚 here's a stack of books, so if you want to talk about more than one idea you can! <3

on my computer at least, this looks like four books so... imma talk about four wips. Thanks friend!

The bot rolled 32, 26, 13, and 2, soo...

32. My rebuke sickfic prompt for @malecacidd! I haven't started it yet, but here's the basic plan I made up on the spot in em's askbox one time lol:

this took me forever to find i had to scroll through em’s blog forever why does tumblr not let you see asks you’ve sent previously

Luke gets sick first because of course he does. It’s pre-Christmas so he’s still at school, trying to pretend he’s fine like an idiot, Reggie’s all cute and doting, catering to Luke’s every whim (because Luke is Both a denier AND a milker when he’s sick). Bobby is not in the mood for bullshit and lasts till about lunch before insisting Luke go home. Luke ends up convincing Bobby and Reggie to leave school with him. Cue peterpatter cuddle time while Bobby goes full Mother Bear mode. The whole time bobby keeps insisting Reggie’s gonna get sick if he lets Luke glom all over him (and he’s correct) but Luke’s all sad and clingy.

26. molina siblings dance like idiots (nicknamed billyjoel): This is a prompt from @burntchromas for platonic Reggie and Julie that I plan to mix with an idea I already had about Julie realizing Reggie plays piano and them bonding over Billy Joel. I haven't started it yet but I'm excited!

13. My Alex's Religious Trauma fic for @whenweremarried. Part of my All Too Well series. I only have one scene so far and it was part of my Alex Comes out to Reggie First fic but then I decided that fic was trying to do too many things so I split it into two. But this fic will include: Alex and his church camp crush, Alex coming out to his parents, and Julie helping Alex find a way to be comfortable praying with her family by telling him he doesn't have to pray to God if he doesn't want to (and then he chooses to pray to Rose Molina which I stole from @weneedglitter hi morgan ily)

Snippet under the cut!

2. This one's my Big Bang fic so I can't talk about it. But. I'm like halfway done and I made Bobby gayer than he needed to be because I'm incapable of writing him if he's not in love with Luke apparently, so. Get excited for that.

Send me a book emoji and I'll tell you about one of my too many wips!

Alex's Religious Trauma Snippet:

There’s a knock on the door, and Alex looks up with a start as his mom slips in, flushed but smiling softly, a tall glass of lemonade in her hand. “Hey,” she whispers, placing the glass on top of the dresser and shutting the door behind her. “I’m so sorry about all that, dear. You know your father and I don’t like arguing in front of you kids.”

Alex manages a nod, trying to keep his breathing steady as his mom comes over to sit next to him, clamping a hand—too hard too much—on his leg.

“But you’re feeling better now, aren’t you, darling?”

He nods again. Doesn’t trust himself to speak. Just tries to remind himself to breathe and not focus on the itchy wrongness thrumming under his skin where she’s touching him or the tightness of her smile or the something in her eyes that he can’t quite identify but that sends warning bells screaming in his head.

“I didn’t think you were friends with Jeremy Weaver,” she continues, cautiously watching him out of the corner of her eye.

Alex swallows, his mouth dry and cottony, stammers, “I—I’m not, really.”

“Then I don’t know why you were so upset.” She says it casually, not trying to be mean, not angry or suspicious, not even like she expects him to explain. Alex wouldn’t know how to respond even if he could form the words to speak.

“Tell you what.” His mom’s grip tightens on his leg—it should be reassuring, but Alex flinches, stiffening under her touch. “Your father has a meeting tomorrow with some of the other church leaders. Obviously, Jeremy won’t be allowed to teach Sunday School anymore, but they’re going to decide if they should make an announcement about it or just ask him quietly not to return. Either way—your dad will be gone all evening, so why don’t you invite Luke and Reggie over for dinner and I’ll make your favorite? I’ll even pick up those dark chocolate cookies you like—no dairy, no nuts, just a whole lot of sugar? How’s that sound?”

He nods, thanks her, maybe says something else but he barely hears himself, and then she’s patting his thigh one more time before standing and heading back to the door. “Drink some of this, get your strength back up,” she tosses over her shoulder at him, pointing to the glass of lemonade sweating condensation onto his dresser. “And then go see if your sister’s finished her homework, will you? She never gives me a straight answer when I try to ask.”

[reidamancy]

Yoyoyo returning the 500 follower celebratory stuff (congrats to you too!!): 50💋? Ily ❤️

omg hii thank you!! and wow, celebrating together?? love that for us <3 i had fun w this blurb,, ty for sending ily!

50. “You look pretty today. I like you in blue.”

(spencer reid x fem!reader)

---

“You know, nothing’s gonna happen if you keep staring at her.” Morgan’s voice interrupted Reid’s stare.

Spencer was flustered after being caught staring at you from across the bullpen. He sheepishly looked at Morgan as he fervently denied, “What, I-I wasn’t staring!”

He cringed as his voice came out an octave higher than usual.

Morgan rolled his eyes. “Reid, why don’t you go up there and talk to her?”

“I, I have talked to her...”

“How about talk to her about something other than a case?”

Spencer brought his gaze back to you. “What do I say?”

Morgan leaned down so his was right above Spencer’s shoulder. He looked at you from Reid’s angle and said, “Something. Anything. The first thing that comes to your mind.”

“Unless it’s a fact or statistic.” Prentiss interjected.

The two men looked at her interruption with wide eyes. “What? I wanna root for Reid, too.”

Morgan laughed as he stood up. Prentiss slowly turned in her chair to look at you. “Reid, just go over there and compliment her or something.”

“Do I have to?” Spencer nervously asked.

The two agents deadpanned at their younger coworker, answering ‘yes’ with their eyes. Spencer gulped as he asked, “Okay, well, um, how do I-”

Prentiss cut him off by placing a stack of papers on Reid’s desk and calling out to you, “Hey Y/N?”

You turned in your seat, causing Spencer to immediately look down at his desk, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, Emily?”

“Reid has some papers to give you,” she smirked.

Spencer’s eyes widened as he looked up at Prentiss and silently begged her to rescind her statement. But she slightly shook her head and beckoned him to walk over to you.

He took a deep breath before looking back up at you, only this time he was met with your expecting eyes. He hoped the flush on his cheeks wasn’t as visible as he thought they were as he made his way over to you.

“Hey Y/N.” He nervously greeted as he handed you the papers.

“Hey, thanks Spence!” You bubbly responded, prompting butterflies to erupt in his stomach.

As you smiled up at him, Prentiss’s words echoed in his mind.

“You look pretty today, Y/N.” He complimented before clearing his throat. “I like you in blue.”

You glanced down at your outfit and laughed. “Thanks, Spencer! Maybe I should wear blue more often, then.”

Was that a tinge of pink on your cheeks?

Spencer blinked and it was gone, but the sight gave him a bit more confidence as he nodded and replied, “It’s definitely your color... Especially since blue is associated with reliability, inspiration...”

“Derek look at him,” Emily whispered from the other side of the room. Your two coworkers peered over at your conversation with Spencer, observing the body language between you two.

“He’s talking for a really long time, you don’t think...” Morgan trailed off, looking over at Prentiss.

“Oh, he pulled out the statistics!”

“Wait no, look.” Morgan gestured at your body language. “I think she’s into it.” They both leaned forward, trying their best to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“... And it’s overall a calming color.” Spencer finished.

“Really?” You asked, genuinely intrigued. You played with the pen in your hands as you asked, “And what color is associated with wisdom, warmth, and... joy?”

“That would be yellow.”

“Then yellow is definitely your color, Dr. Reid.”

You both giggled as you smiled at each other. Spencer shoved his hands in his pockets as he asked, “Do you maybe want to get dinner? With me?”

You smiled at him as the blush on your cheeks came back. “I’d love to. As long as Morgan and Prentiss aren’t there to watch our every move.”

You and Spencer turned towards your coworkers and saw them quickly go back to their desks, unconvincingly hiding the fact that they were eavesdropping. You laughed then redirected your attention back at Spencer.

“Can I pick you up tonight, at 7?”

You nodded and beamed, “I’ll be wearing blue.”

prettyboy-reid’s 500 follower celebration!

[clumsyclifford]

hello bella’s ask box it’s been a min damn.

so the vibes are fucking everywhere w the music in the lab today so i’ve mostly been ignoring it but then unforgettable by thomas rhett started playing and my brain was immediately like This Is a Fic Song

more importantly it is a Bella Fic Song

last time you not so subtly wanted me to prompt u w w thomas rhett song you told me to do that here so i am back again w another song from ur boy

okay i def snuck out just to send this so i gotta go now but this felt important laksdjdld

ok ily bye 💛

hi sam :)

so.................... i was stuck on what to write you for your birthday fic. you sent me this ask prompting me with a thomas rhett song that i had literally been meaning to write a fic based on for almost a full year. the puzzle pieces just aligned REALLY nicely on this one.

happy birthday, my love. there's gonna be a LOT more sappy shit in the ao3 notes, but please know that my life is irreversibly changed for the better because i met you. i am dangerous close to sounding like glinda from wicked and i really want you to get to READ this fic so please see ao3 for more schmaltz. i love you so much.

tw for alcohol

read here on ao3

-

Every life has a moment that imprints on memory like ink on a fresh page. The kind of moment that permanently alters the trajectory of that life, that marks the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. Some people are lucky enough to have more than one. Some people’s minds are laden with crystallized memories. But there’s always at least one. One completely unforgettable moment.

For Jack, this moment happens twenty-four minutes after he enters the club.

Twenty-three minutes after he enters the club, Zack returns with his and Jack's second beers and says, "There's some guy at the bar who's totally your type."

"Yeah?" Jack cranes his neck, but he can't quite see the bar from where he is. "My type how? Not just 'lonely and drunk,' right? My standards have gotten higher, you know."

Zack hands Jack his beer. "He's cute and he's wearing a One Direction shirt, and I'm pretty sure he's drinking a margarita.”

"Oh shit," Jack says. "That checks all my boxes."

"I know it does," says Zack, winner of the Wingman Of The Decade award. He claps Jack on the shoulder. Jack sidesteps people until he gets eyes on the bar and scans for a cute guy in a One Direction shirt drinking a margarita.

Twenty-four minutes after Jack enters the bar, he sees Alex.

And everything changes forever.

*

"Woah," Jack says. His gut is feeling weird and it’s probably unrelated to the beer and a half under his belt.

"What?"

"The guy at the bar," Jack says, grabbing Zack's arm. "Zack. You grossly undersold my future husband to me."

"Your future husband?" Zack sounds amused, but Jack isn't kidding.

"Remember this moment," he says seriously, giving Zack a sloppy pat on the bicep before moving away from him, towards the bar, towards the cute guy with the One Direction shirt who's making Jack understand clairvoyance. "Remember this so you can tell the story at our wedding!"

"Your wedding," Zack repeats.

"Our fucking wedding!" Jack insists, more loudly as space and drunk people fill the growing gap between him and Zack. Zack just gives him a good-luck-and-godspeed wave.

Seconds later, Jack is at the bar.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

The cute guy in question looks up, surprised. Jack practically reels. It's a miracle people aren't flocking to this guy; he's not just cute, he's gorgeous. Bleach-blond hair — clearly from a bottle, which somehow Jack finds more attractive — flops over his forehead in a stubborn commitment to the emo fringe that died out a decade ago, and long lashes frame brown eyes that rival the glossy chestnut color of the bar. Add the five o'clock shadow and the sharply angled jaw and Jack's speechless.

Fortunately it's not his turn to speak. "I have a drink," says the guy, who is rapidly progressing from Cute Guy At Bar to Possible Soulmate At Bar. He quirks a smile. Jack's done for. "I'll buy you a drink, though."

Jack sets his partially-drunk beer on the bar top and slides it as far as he can reach. "Okay," he says.

Possible Soulmate laughs. He slides his margarita away from him, too, pushing it into the space of another person sitting down the bar. "Touché. Okay, you can buy me a drink."

"Well, hey, I don't want you to waste yours," Jack says reasonably. He retrieves his beer and then Possible Soulmate's drink. "I'll get the next one."

Possible Soulmate smiles. Jack is going to need his name eventually. "I appreciate your commitment to environmentally-friendly consumption of alcohol."

Jack blinks. "Yeah," he says. "That was a lot of big words, but sure. No problem. I'm Jack, by the way."

"Alex." Alex. Jack can see the wedding invites now.

"Nice to meet you," Jack says. "I like your shirt."

Alex glances down out of instinct as the wide collar of the shirt slips over his shoulder. "Thanks," he says with a chuckle, and looks up at Jack. "I like yours."

With great effort, Jack tears his gaze from Alex's shoulder and the hint of collarbone peeking out, but he would like it on the record that it is tremendously difficult. Fortunately he already knows what shirt he's wearing because he'd agonized over it for several minutes longer than Zack's patience ran, shortly before going out.

"Yeah, Kurt Cobain," he says, nodding with probably too much enthusiasm. "I'm a lead singer guy."

"Really?" Alex tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. "Meaning what?"

"I go for the lead singer types," Jack explains. "Kurt Cobain, Billie Joe Armstrong, you know." He nods at Alex's shirt. "Harry Styles."

"Harry Styles wasn't—" Alex breaks off and snorts. "Eh, whatever. Who cares."

"Wait," Jack says. "Hold the phone. Did you fucking cross out Zayn's face?"

Alex looks down at his shirt again like maybe he'll have forgotten what it looks like. "Oh, my friend did that. But now the shirt is factually accurate."

"If you wanted an accurate shirt you'd have to cross them all out since none of them are in the band anymore," Jack observes.

Alex slowly smiles. "I guess."

"I always liked Zayn," Jack says wistfully. "His solo shit is so good, though."

"It's good," Alex says, kind of in the tone of voice of someone who doesn't really agree but doesn't want to get into it, so Jack leaves it be. They can poll their wedding guests. "I'm really digging Niall's solo shit."

"That's an extremely acceptable answer," Jack says, nodding vigorously. In the moment it slips his mind that he's holding a beer and the liquid begins to slosh out of its container. "Oh shit, fuck, sorry."

"Didn't get me," Alex says, passing Jack a napkin. "Couple too many, I get it."

"What?" Jack is very focused on drying his hands so they don't get sticky and gross. "I'm not drunk."

Alex laughs. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not!"

"Okay," Alex says lightly, but it's clear he doesn't believe Jack. On the bright side, he doesn't seem bothered by it.

"I am acceptably drunk for a guy in his mid-twenties at a club,” Jack amends. "And you owe me a drink anyway."

"Hey, I intend to buy you that drink," Alex says earnestly. "Another beer?"

Jack shakes his head. "Vodka soda," he says. "It's a special occasion."

"Really! You celebrating something?"

"I am now," Jack says. "Celebrating meeting my future husband."

"Your future husband?"

"You," Jack says, in case it wasn't clear. "It's not every day you meet the man you're gonna marry. I think it calls for a celebratory vodka soda."

Alex stares, obviously expecting Jack to say sike! When Jack does no such thing, he gives a small, incredulous laugh.

"Fair enough," he says. He sounds like he's humoring Jack. That's okay. Jack is serious, but Alex will figure that out on his own time. "I guess you're not wrong. That doesn't happen every day."

A large shadow materializes on Alex's other side, blocking light like some very cliché movie villain. It's not Doc Ock, but it is some tall, burly guy, a leer affixed to his face that's probably been there since Alex's haircut went out of style.

"Hey, baby," he says in an unnervingly deep voice. The part of Jack that isn't super skeezed out is a little jealous. But Burly Guy isn't talking to Jack; Jack may as well be invisible. To Alex, Burly Guy says, "Saw you across the bar and I just had to come over."

Didn't have to, Jack thinks grumpily to himself. You could have stayed across the bar. If you walk away now we’ll pretend we never saw you.

"Can I get you a drink?" Burly Guy asks, and honestly, Jack has no idea what Alex is going to say.

Big Burly Guy with a deep voice a la Morgan Freeman vs. resident beanstalk Jack whose voice sounds like a rejected cartoon character design. What a tough choice.

Jack is just preparing to cut his losses when Alex grabs Jack's wrist, turns to him, and says, "Honey? What do you think?"

Jack's tipsy, but Alex is definitely communicating something with his eyes, and between that and the pet name Jack is pretty sure he's on the same page.

"You want to buy my boyfriend a drink?" Jack asks Big Burly Guy, cranking up the Bitchy energy because he doesn't get to do it a lot and it's kinda fun. His voice has definitely gone vaguely southern-auntie, but he's rolling with it. "Sorry, sugar, this seat's taken. Must be this guy" — he points at himself — "to ride."

"This guy?" Burly Guy echoes, furrowing his eyebrows at Jack and then looking at Alex with profound confusion, like he just doesn't get it. "You're with this guy?"

"Happily," Alex says, glancing back at Jack, who offers him what is definitely a convincingly enamored smile because Jack is legitimately enamored. Alex laces their fingers together and Jack's not delusional, can't be, not when they fit this well together. No way. "So I'm gonna pass on that drink. Sorry, man. No hard feelings."

Burly Guy seems to have some hard feelings. Maybe he didn't get the memo. "Whatever," he says gruffly. "Your loss."

Jack can't resist countering, "Actually it's your loss, sweetums," as Burly Guy retreats. If he dies tonight, he knows who’s responsible.

As soon as he's gone, Alex breaks down laughing, and Jack quickly follows suit. Alex's hand slips from Jack's and begins to tug at the ends of his own hair instead.

"Sugar?"

"I don't know what happened," Jack says/wheezes. "I became possessed by Blanche from Golden Girls.”

"You have to be" — Alex prods Jack's chest — "this guy to ride." He dissolves into giggles and Jack is laughing too but mostly because Alex's laugh is incredibly contagious.

"Look, I don't blame him," Jack says, feeling exhilarated. "You are the best-looking guy in this establishment. He just happened to have creepo vibes."

"I am not the best-looking guy in this establishment," Alex says, grinning at Jack. "Nice of you to say, though."

"Hey, I'm serious!"

"I thought you were Jack."

Jack stares at Alex and Alex doesn't even last a second before he's breaking down laughing yet again.

I'm going to marry you, Jack thinks, and it almost scares him how serious he is about that. He opens his mouth and says, "That wasn't even— that's not even one of the good dad jokes! That's the most boring one!"

"There is no such thing as a boring dad joke."

"You should go into stand-up," Jack says dryly. "You'd tear down the house with this set. I can see it now." He waves a grandiose hand in the air as if painting the marquee into existence, but when he goes to introduce the act he realizes he's missing most of the crucial information. "Alex…something…something. Austin, Texas, one night only."

"Gaskarth," Alex says. "That's my last name."

"Alex Something Gaskarth," Jack loyally amends, and gives Alex a look like, well?

Except Alex is giving Jack that same look. "I only know your first name and you expect me to tell you my full one?"

"Jack Bassam Barakat," Jack says, gesturing impatiently. "Come on, I'm trying to introduce your act here."

"Guess," Alex says.

"Guess?"

"It's a pretty basic middle name," Alex says. "I'll buy you your vodka soda when you guess it."

"Alex," Jack says. "I am not going to guess your middle name. I am so bad at these games and I'm fucking drunk."

"Quitter," Alex says. "Do you want your drink?"

Jack scowls, trying to channel Blanche again, but Alex is apparently immune.

"Give me a hint," he finally concedes.

"It's a British name," Alex says. “Pretty standard British.”

"Are you British?”

Alex nods. "Born and raised. Moved here when I was about…eight? But I'm not an American citizen. I have a green card."

Yet another reason they should be married. Jack could extend his citizenship to Alex. Plus he'd gain British citizenship, which would probably be useful for, like, travel or One Direction stalking or whatever.

"That's sick," Jack says. "I was born in Lebanon. We moved when I was a baby."

"That's so cool," Alex says, sounding genuinely interested. He props his chin on his hand and gives Jack a cheeky smile. "Now guess."

Jack sighs. "Uh, Charles."

"No."

"Darcy."

"Darcy?"

"Margaret."

"Jack."

"You said it's a British name!"

"A British man's name," Alex says, rolling his eyes in fond exasperation.

Jack takes a long pull from his beer, swallows, and says, "Harry."

"No."

They're going to be here awhile. Jack pulls out the seat next to Alex and settles in while he racks his brain for British names.

*

“Alfred.”

“Nope.”

“John.”

“No.”

“Paul.”

“No.”

“George.” Alex shakes his head. “Ringo.”

“Yup, you finally got it,” Alex says. Jack is over the moon for a split second before it sinks in that Alex is fucking with him. “Alex Ringo Gaskarth. Well done.”

“Fuck off, I’m doing my best here,” Jack says.

“You’re missing one incredibly obvious name,” Alex says. “It’s not that hard.”

“For you,” Jack says. “Because you already know it.” Alex is grinning. Jack likes that he’s enjoying himself. It makes this guessing game fun. Under any other circumstances, this guessing game would not be fun, but Alex makes it fun.

Alex has also finished his mango margarita by now, and Jack’s beer is long since empty. He’s itching for another drink, mainly for something to do with his hands.

As if reading his mind, Alex flags down the bartender, who sidles up with a small smile and says, “What can I get you boys?”

Jack blinks at her. Mostly at her accent, which is not American.

“Vodka soda,” Alex says. To Jack, “I think you’ve earned it.” Jack smiles.

“And a mango margarita,” he puts in to the bartender, “and are you British?”

The bartender looks amused. “I am British,” she says.

“Please help me,” Jack says. “Alex says his middle name is a British name and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it fucking is.”

“Jack, the nice bartender lady has other things to do,” Alex says with a laugh. The nice bartender lady probably does have other things to do, but she shifts her weight and gives Alex an appraising look instead.

“Harry?”

“Tried that,” Jack says, realizing at once that this is a pointless endeavor. The nice bartender lady is going to guess everything Jack’s already guessed and he’ll just have wasted her time. “I’ve tried every member of One Direction, every member of the Beatles, every member of Oasis, every Harry Potter character, every member of the Royal Family—”

At this, Alex coughs conspicuously.

Jack rounds on him. “I have.”

“Edward,” the bartender offers. Alex’s lips are pressed together in a smile and he shakes his head. “Meghan. Kate. Richard. Dick. Philip.”

A lightbulb goes off as the bartender is listing Royal Family names. Jack wants to kick himself. “Oh my— William?”

“Yeahhhh, there you go! See, it was easy,” Alex says, grinning widely.

“William,” the bartender repeats with a charming little laugh. Her lipstick is bright with clean lines, an impressive feat considering Jack has seen her bustling around this bar for almost an hour now. “I had an ex called William.”

“Oh no,” Alex says. “I hope he didn’t ruin the name for you.”

“Please,” the bartender says, waving him off. “The only thing he ruined for me was a few meters of drywall.” Jack and Alex must have twin looks of concern, because she explains, “Anger issues. No worries, boys, I sent him packing, and a vodka soda for you, and a mango marg for you.”

She slides their drinks into waiting hands and starts to turn away. “Wait a sec,” Jack says.

The bartender turns back to him with wide Bambi eyes. “Did I fuck up the drink? I’ve made it a million—”

“No no no,” Jack assures her. “I just wanted to know your name. You rescued me from an eternal guessing game, you’re my hero.”

The bartender smiles and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Maisie,” she says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, Maisie,” Alex says. “Thank you for the alcohol.”

Maisie laughs again as she moves to the other side of the bar.

“William,” Jack says, swirling his drink with the miniature straw. “God damn. I can’t believe I missed William.”

“You got close,” Alex says. “You guessed Liam twice. And thanks for the drink.”

“Same to you,” Jack says. “It’s a good drink. Yours, I mean. You know what offends me, though? Why aren’t mango margaritas orange?”

Alex furrows his brow. “Why the fuck would they be orange?”

“Mangos are orange! Fruity drinks should be the same color as their fruit.”

“Mangos are not fucking orange,” Alex says with an incredulous laugh. “They’re straight-up yellow.”

“They’re orange with yellow tendencies,” Jack says, “but mostly orange.”

“They are entirely yellow,” Alex says. “Coldplay even wrote a song about them. They were all yellow.”

“They’re orange,” Jack insists, but now Alex has moved on completely and is loudly singing Coldplay.

“I came along! I wrote a song foooor youuuuu! And all the things you do!”

“You’re ignoring the truth!”

“And it was called ‘Yellow’!” Alex shouts.

“Okay, I surrender! Sheesh. You win.”

“Thank you,” Alex says placidly, like he hasn’t just been yelling obnoxiously over the (worse, but much louder) club music. “I’m going to enjoy my yellow mango marg very much.”

“And I will enjoy my victory drink,” Jack says, lifting his glass. Alex lifts his. It smells like mango and tequila. They clink the rims together. “To William.”

“To William,” Alex agrees, laughing.

*

The DJ plays a song Jack loves to hate from hearing it on the radio so many times and Alex is out of his seat before Jack’s managed to put down his drink.

“What are—”

“I love this song, I want to dance,” Alex insists. The implication is clearly that he wants Jack to dance with him, which is like. What is Jack gonna do, say no?

Alex must anticipate some kind of argument, though, because with a glint in his eye he adds lightly, “These are the kinds of things you’ll have to do if we’re married.”

On the one hand, he’s clearly making fun. But on the other hand, the fact that Alex was a stranger an hour ago and is still comfortable teasing Jack about suggesting they’re going to get married speaks volumes. Alex is smiling. They’ve known each other for less than an hour — a drink and a half each — and Alex is smiling at his own joke about marrying Jack. Like he likes that Jack said it first. Like he likes Jack.

“Just wait ‘til you learn all the weird shit you’ll have to do when we’re married,” Jack says, sliding out of his stool.

Any sane person would have run away by now. Even Jack knows when he’s coming on too strong.

But Alex does the opposite; Alex grabs his wrist and pulls him towards the dance floor.

“Fair warning,” Alex says. “I don’t actually know how to dance.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Jack says, and then eats his words not two seconds later when Alex demonstrates how very much he doesn’t know how to dance. All of his limbs seem to move as their own entities, zero synchronization. A couple surrounding people take various minor assaults before taking the hint and giving Alex some space, but this does not stop him. “Okay,” Jack says loudly over the music. “You were right. But luckily neither do I.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Alex says.

Jack does the sprinkler. Alex snorts. He does the wave, very poorly, and Alex continues it, also very poorly.

“Mr. Moves,” Alex says. “I’m impressed.”

“Yeah? Check this one out.” Jack does the running man with extreme focus. Alex laughs, leaning towards Jack as he does. Jack stops dancing so he doesn’t accidentally hit Alex, who is suddenly much closer and who somehow smells like pine and flannel and fall and winter in one and is the best-looking person in blue jeans and checkered Vans on this dance floor. Far from the only person, but without question the prettiest.

Fuck.

“I don’t think I can do that one,” says Alex, grinning. Jack nods at him like, try it, so Alex does, proving himself right. He almost takes Jack’s eye out.

“Yeesh, okay, you’re— alright, take it easy,” Jack says, swatting Alex’s wayward hand away and laughing. “Well, we all have our strengths.”

Surrendering the running man, Alex starts up with some bizarre hand-wavey foot-kicky thing, singing along to the music.

“Do you seriously like this song?” Jack asks, attempting to imitate Alex’s dance. “Dance,” heavy quote marks implied.

Alex shoots Jack a look. “Hell yeah. What, you don’t?”

“It’s just…always on,” Jack says. “Everywhere. How are you not sick of it?”

“Because it fuckin’ slaps!” Alex looks incensed.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised you’re a pop music person when you’re literally in a One Direction shirt.”

“I’m a lots of music person,” Alex counters. “Including pop music, yeah. You don’t like pop music?”

“I sometimes do,” Jack says. “I like Taylor Swift. Britney Spears.”

“Okay, well, you’d have to be insane not to like them.”

“Yeah, and I’m obviously sane.”

Alex barks a laugh. “Drunk but sane.”

“I am not drunk!” That’s probably a lie by now.

“You’re not convincing me otherwise,” Alex says. “I’m confident you’ve been drunk this whole time.”

“You haven’t exactly been an innocent bystander,” Jack says. “You bought me a drink, and you’re gonna buy us shots in a minute.”

“I did— I what?”

“Yeah,” Jack says, and this time he drags Alex off the dance floor, back to the bar. “I can see the future, I forgot to tell you.”

“You—” Alex laughs again and leans on the bar, trapping both his elbows between his stomach and the bartop. “You’re buying the next round.”

“Oh, happily,” Jack says. “I’m actively trying to get you drunk.”

“Why’s that?”

“Studies show I am 75% more attractive to people when they’re drunk,” says Jack.

Alex turns to him. Without missing a beat, he says smoothly, “I don’t think it’s possible for you to get any more attractive.”

Fuck. Actually, fuck. Seriously. Fuck.

“You must be drunk already, then,” Jack says.

Alex smiles serenely. “I feel pretty sober.”

“Exactly what a drunk person would say,” Jack says. “J’accuse, William.”

Alex laughs. “In that case, your studies are right.”

Jack’s probably blushing. He does that in extreme cases only, but this is nothing if not an extreme case. Alex is fucking relentless.

Maisie the bartender is back, and Alex orders them shots of tequila. Somewhere in the recesses of Jack’s mind, this unlocks a memory, and he snaps his fingers. “I should hunt down my friend, he loves tequila.”

“Friend?” Alex looks around while Maisie pours their shots. “You ditched your friend?”

“He told me to,” Jack says. “He’s probably gonna pick up some girl. Actually, he probably already has.”

“Really,” Alex says, sounding amused.

“Zack’s a strong silent type,” Jack explains. “Emphasis on strong. We’re single guys in our mid-twenties, Alex. We’re not going to clubs for the atmosphere.”

“Admit it,” Alex says. “You a little bit are.”

Jack bites his lip. “Fine, I like the atmosphere,” he admits, more affected than he should be that Alex seems to have picked up on this about him. “And the alcohol. And the chances I’ll meet my future husband, which clearly paid off. Zack will never admit it, but I’m pretty sure he likes trying to set me up with random people in clubs.”

Alex laughs. “He set you up with me?”

“Oh yeah,” Jack says. “He wingmanned me hard. You can thank him in your vows.”

This only serves to make Alex laugh harder. “I’ll thank him now,” he says with a grin. Taking his cue, Jack grabs his shot glass. Alex does the same. “To Zack.”

“To Zack!” Jack cheers, and they both down their shots.

“Me?”

Jack whirls around and trips straight into Zack. “Zack!” he says brightly. “We toasted you.”

“I heard,” Zack says. “Why, exactly?”

“I’m Alex,” says Alex, holding out a hand. Zack shakes it. “Apparently you set us up?”

“Oh,” Zack says. “I wouldn’t really say that. I just kind of pointed Jack in this direction. If you can put up with him, that’s all you.”

“I was gonna come find you anyway,” Jack says. “We’re doing tequila shots. Next round on me.”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Zack says. “Count me in.”

They can’t come up with a toast for their second round so they just knock it back with an ambiguous cheer; then Zack offers to buy another, and Jack’s not about to refuse. It’s starting to hit just right, so he’s buzzed but not incoherent. All his most brilliant ideas come in this state.

Case in point: as Maisie is pouring them their third round, Jack suddenly says, “Maisie! Do a shot with us!”

Maisie looks up and laughs. “I’m not supposed to drink on the job,” she says.

“It’s not drinking, it’s bonding,” Jack insists.

“Yeah, we’re forming lasting friendships,” Alex jumps in.

Zack looks entertained. “You guys know each other?”

“As of half an hour ago, yes,” Maisie says.

“Maisie here helped me guess Alex’s middle name,” Jack explains. “Which is William. Like the prince.”

“I feel like I missed so much,” Zack says, half to himself. He shrugs and nods at Maisie. “One shot. On me. For Jack. We won’t tell.”

Maybe it’s because Zack is buff and has cool tattoos or just has good vibes or whatever, but Maisie hesitates only a second before inclining her head. “Just one, and no blabbing,” she says, meeting all of their eyes in turn. Everyone nods solemnly, and Maisie discreetly pours herself a fourth shot.

“Hell yes!” Jack whoops as they all take a shot glass. “To Maisie!”

“To Maisie!” Everyone echoes, including Maisie with a wry grin.

The third shot goes down smoother than the first two. Jack swallows his easily, as does Alex. Maisie puckers her face a bit. Zack has zero reaction, because Zack’s just kinda like that.

“While I’m here, I was hoping to get another beer,” Zack says.

“On it,” Maisie says immediately, giggling. “Thanks for the shot, boys. You’ve kept me far more entertained tonight than my usual shift provides.”

“You can give a toast at our wedding,” Jack says to her. Zack’s eyes widen a little, Alex snorts, and Maisie laughs.

“I’d be honored,” she says. “Back to work now. You need anything, let me know.”

“Seriously, Jack?”

“What?” Jack gives Zack an innocent smile. He pats Zack on the cheek. “Don’t worry, sugar, you can give a toast too.”

Alex laughs. Zack stares at him and shakes his head. “You’re insane,” he says, but he says that roughly twice a day so he’s still below his quota. “I’ll leave you two alone. Come find me when you wanna go. If…” He eyes Alex. “...Just…yeah.”

And with these eloquent words, he disappears with his beer into the crowd.

“I like him,” Alex announces.

“Me too,” Jack says. He turns back to Alex. “Back to the dance floor?”

“Get out of my brain,” Alex says. “I’d like to see your drunken running man.”

“It is gonna blow your fucking mind,” Jack promises, and Alex laughs again.

*

They’re not even being gross like everyone else. Alex has pulled Jack into an exaggerated tango performed mostly with missteps when it happens: someone shoves them aside as they walk past, and Alex loses his balance and falls into Jack, who just barely manages to catch them both. He doesn’t manage to stop his arm from winding around Alex’s waist. To be fair, he doesn’t try very hard.

Jack’s first thought is homophobe, but then he spots the offender, lumbering off with heavy footfalls, and it’s Burly Guy from earlier. The guy who tried and failed to pick Alex up.

All of this registers as Alex slowly regains his footing. “Damn, who pissed in that dude’s Cheerios?”

“It’s the guy from before who tried to buy you a drink,” Jack says, pointing at his back.

Alex whips his head around. “Seriously? Asshole.”

Jack chooses not to observe that from his vantage point, being shoved close together is hardly a dick move. In intent, sure, but not in actuality; Jack’s enjoying the proximity a great deal. Like, a lot.

Like, his hand is still on Alex’s hip, subtly keeping Alex close, and Alex has his arm around Jack’s shoulders from their dance and he’s not moving, either.

“Yeah,” Jack says. They’d already been on the outskirts and now they’re off to the side of everyone, wallflowers.

Alex breathes a laugh and looks back at Jack. He doesn’t step back or even lean away, even though their faces are too close to be friendly now. Jack hadn’t really been expecting friendly, but they’ve been tightrope-walking between sides, and if neither of them breaks this up then they’ll be irreversibly left on one end.

Jack has no intention of moving away. He likes this end of the tightrope. For all he cares, they could cut the tightrope and free-fall together.

“You’re pretty good at bad tango-ing,” Alex says, reaching up to brush away the sweaty fringe that’s clinging to his forehead.

Jack grins. “Well, you know what they say. It takes two.”

Alex kisses him so suddenly that Jack almost loses his balance.

*

He tastes like tequila. That’s all Jack gets before they’re not kissing anymore. The room feels quiet and then unforgivably loud the next second, and Alex is flushed and smiling nervously, and Jack is smiling too, not nervous at all.

“Did I tell you I’m in a band?” Alex asks in a rush.

Jack’s brain struggles to keep up. He can’t remember Alex mentioning a band, but he’s also distracted by wanting to kiss Alex again. There’s no understating the power of wanting to kiss someone over failing to clock anything they say. “What?”

“I’m in a band,” Alex says. “Not as a job, just like, for fun.”

“Oh,” says Jack.

“I’m the lead singer,” Alex says, with a flickering look down at Jack’s shirt.

“Oh,” says Jack, because, like, oh. “Can I kiss you again?”

“What, here?” Alex meets his eyes. “With all these people around?”

“You kissed me first,” Jack says. “Let me kiss you and then we can call it even.”

“Okay,” Alex says, and Jack’s kissing him before the word’s really out of his mouth.

And he tastes like tequila and mango and sugar and the color yellow and the sweat of the dance floor and God, it’s good. It’s like kissing a memory, except this memory is still here, not frozen in time, not trapped in an ornate frame. He’s creating a memory that he knows he’ll relive for the rest of his life.

Somehow, though he doesn’t know the end of this chapter, he knows the end of the book.

Alex’s warm palm cradling Jack’s cheek to hold him steady, fingers splayed out like a star; Alex’s other hand grazing skin over the collar of Jack’s shirt. Alex singing Coldplay in Jack’s ear. Alex’s blue jeans and his checkered Vans and his ridiculous One Direction tank top. Alex holding Jack’s hand and calling him honey to get Burly Guy to leave him alone. Grinning as he shoots down guess after guess for the elusive middle name. Laughing at Jack’s stupid dance moves. Knocking back a shot like it’s nothing. Smiling when Jack says they’re going to get married, never moving away, only ever closer.

Alex sitting undisturbed at the bar, ankles crossed, and Jack seeing him from across the room like something out of a goddamn Hallmark movie and just knowing.

He tugs Alex closer but Alex is already pulling away with a smile. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah,” Jack says. He smoothes a hand over a crease in Alex’s shirt and nods. “Taxi’s on me if we go back to your place.”

“Sucker, I was gonna suggest that anyway,” Alex says with a quiet laugh. “You should tell Zack. Don’t wanna just leave him.”

“Don’t worry,” Jack says. “He knows.”

“He knows?”

“Zack and I are brothers in clairvoyance,” Jack says. “How many times do I have to tell you this?”

“I knew you could see the future,” Alex says. “You never told me Zack could, too.”

“Zack can see everyone’s future,” says Jack. “I can only see mine.”

“Yeah? What’s your future look like now?”

Jack filters out several inappropriate comments. It’s hard when Alex is smirking, clearly baiting him. “I told you,” he says. “You, me, vows, rings, the works.”

“Not that future,” Alex says. “I’m talking about the immediate one.”

It takes everything in Jack not to get down on one knee and say so was I. There’s a tilt in Alex’s head, like a dog listening carefully for a familiar sound.

“Honestly?” Jack says, and Alex nods. “I think it’s more fun if we find out together.”

[jamesdeerest]

cuddle spider

pairing: natasha romanoff x reader

request: @fangirl-rage asked “ok so I just desperately need some Nat X female!reader fluff, I have no plot ideas I just need it desperately ok thanks ily bye” i decided to use a prompt for this! Person 1 is sleeping over at Person 2’s house which results in them sleeping on the same bed and cuddling all night cause it’s too cold on this winter night.Extra: Person 2’s sibling/s catch them and take pictures and sends it to Person 2 making Person 2 angry when they wake up and secretly putting the pictures on a locked file when they’re supposed to be deleting them.

notes: this was originally on my sideblog, but i’ve moved it to my main!

warnings: swearing, very short writing? lets save my dignity and call this a blurb

word count: 500

It was your movie night with Nat, and you had decided to marathon the Star Wars movies. Armed with popcorn, blankets and very obvious crushes, you had sat down on the sofa hours earlier, FRIDAY turning down the lights and playing the first one. It was now 1 am, and you were about half way through the third movie, eyes drooping as the sound of lightsabers clashing faded into the background. Soon, you had dozed off, curled up in your blanket as Nat watched the movie, not realising you were asleep. She laughed at the movie and turned to you, wanting to see your smile, but instead was faced with your sleeping face, at peace.

Nat’s heart thumped, and she tried in vain to push back the smile that was pulling at her face. A second later, however, you snuggled into her, tugging your arm around her, and she gave up, flushing furiously. Some heartless assassin, she thought. You wrecked that the day you walked into her life. Whispering to FRIDAY to turn off the movie, she wrapped the blanket tighter around the two of you, staring through the windows at the night sky before she fell asleep as well.

Tony walked through the kitchen, Morgan clinging to his back as he made himself a cup of coffee. Grabbing her some juice, he put it in her favourite Hulk cup, setting her down before giving it to her. Apple juice all over him at seven in the morning? No thank you. “Daddy, can we watch Peppa Pig?” He sighed dramatically, making her giggle, and grabbed her hand, walking into the TV room, to find a big lump of blankets in the middle of the massive sofa. “Stay there, bug,” Tony said, walking closer. Gently pulling the corner of the blanket back, he found you and Nat, clinging to each other like koalas. He grinned, shocked but happy, gesturing for Morgan to come over. “Look, Morgan! It’s Auntie Y/N and Auntie Nat!” Morgan squealed, about to jump on them when Tony caught her. “Whoa whoa whoa, IronBaby, have you had too much sugar? Let’s leave them be, hm? I’ve been waiting for this to happen for way too long.”

He led Morgan out the room, promising her to watch Peppa Pig later, but fondly looked back on his favourite almost-couple. “FRI?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Send some pics to Nat. I have a feeling she’ll like them.”

“On it, sir.”

“That son of a-” Nat cut herself off, glaring at the offending pictures Tony had texted her. She sighed, about to press the delete button, when she paused. You did look rather cute, she supposed. It would be a waste to delete it. Just leave it in her camera roll. Not set it as her lockscreen, or anything.

Of course Nat would never do that.

“Nat, what’s on your homescreen- wait! Is that us?!”

[literallyprentissstwin]

Week 2) Monday, May 21th to Sunday, May 27th 2018 

bonjour y´all and welcome to the second week of my reading list :) this is actually the second time i´m typing this down since tumblr actually decided that it wouldn´t save my last draft where i once had all typed down for the list (thanks for that!). i don´t remember what i wrote down to all the fics the first time, but guess i just start again :D i really hope you all enjoyed my list last week & left some love to the writers <3 

as usual, i put together a list of (this time) 19 fics which i enjoyed reading a lot the past week! please don´t take it personal if you didn´t make it to this list, it doesn´t mean that you´re a bad writer or stuff. you are all really talented and underrated. it´s just my personal opinion and taste. 

feel free to tag me in your fics or send me the links via direct message. since my notifications aren´t working properly, sending the links via message is the better option. i´m excited to hear from you:) 

so, i really hope you all enjoy this weeks list and don´t forget to leave some love and feedback to the writers since this is the only credit they will get for their work :) 

- aileen 

1) No matter what - Spencer Reid X Sister!LGBT!Reader by @infinitefandomimagines 

this is some of the cutest stuff i read all week :) spence is the perfect big brother and i really want him to have either a sibling or a child, fact. this story is everything. also the topic is so important and i´m proud you choose to write about it! <3 well done! 

2) Always by @butsomeofusarelookingatthestars 

yey, you´re back! i miss my daily dose of Luke fics bc you´re the best at writing them <3 also i´m a sucker for Dad!Luke fics and i also love these stories about Nessa and him, they are perfect! this one was amazing, i loved it! :) 

3) Time - Chapter 1: Seconds by @spencerthepipecleaner 

Okay, woow. my poor heart...wtf. this heavy angst <333 it´s heaven and very well written. but my poor spence thooo :((((( i really need to check out part 2, bc this part was perfect! great work! 

4) Article of Faith - Chapter 9 & Chapter 10 by @dontshootmespence 

okay, this is one of the most underrated series on here and shame on me that i have to do some catching up on it, but those two parts very amazing! i love spencer in it. this story is giving me life. i can´t wait to see where you´ll be going with it bc it´s perfect! go give it some love! 

5) Why? by @a-court-of-stydia 

MATT <333 okay, we def need more stories about him bc he deserves all the love and recognition he can get bc he is a pure babe and i love him so much <3 okay, back to your story: this was perfect and i´m in love. short, but sweet and i´m so glad i got to read it! thank you! 

6) The Angel in the Room by @dontshootmespence  

Eventhough I don´t like Alex, I loved reading this story a lot. I loved Alex & Hotchs relationship in this story as well as the bond between Ellie & Reid :) Perfect! <3 

7) Talk Nerdy to Me by @multifandomfanfiction 

okay this story was lit :D i´m sorry for this word, but it´s true. at the beginning i was like “ugh gideon” but then, his niece was so awesome and the tension between her and spencer and just everything about this story was so perfect and i enjoyed reading it a lot! <3 

8) Dishes by @ionlyreadfivebookslastweek 

again, short but sweet and ultra fluffy <3 cuteness overload incoming :) i loved reading it. also can we talk about your username? bc it is goals af. <3 great work! 

9) The Reaper by @trashyficsfortrashykids 

okay, wow. i´m sad i can´t remember what i wrote here the first time bc it was a pretty ass long paragraph bc this story gave me chills and everything. at first i was like “ugh another fic about this” and then when i read it I was totally speechless (this doesn´t happen often btw.): i really liked the way you wrote about the whole foyet drama happening and now i hate him even more. how can he kill an innocent little child? wtf is wrong with that dude??? i´m also a sucker for Dad!Hotch and i think you portrayed him perfectly with all this blaming himself. but OMG WTF THE ANGST WAS PRETTY HEAVY BUT I LOVED IT AND IT WAS SO GOOD AND I´M SORRY FOR SCREAMING. it´s also very well written and i´m pretty impressed (teach me how to write like this please). overall, this whole fic was a success and i´m happy that i got the chance to read it! Thank you! 

10) Secret Keepers by @illegalcerebral 

THIS would have been the perfect way to deal with the whole Doyle drama thingy. like uggggghhhhhh....it wouldn´t have made things complicated. why didn´t they let you write it? this was amazing and i loved the team <3 they are a perfect little family :) oh, and did I ever mention that i miss my Hotchner? ily btw :)  

11) Too Much On the Line by @dontshootmespence  

okay first of all, can we agree that the show didn´t pay enough attention to the Reid drug addiction story line on the show? thank you! this fic was perfect. the angst & suspense = loving it. i also love a comforting and supporting spencer and the way he tries to helpt the reader by talking about his own addiction. my heart was heavy reading this but i enjoyed every bit of it! great job! 

12) In his arms by @winchestergirl23  

again, short but sweet. it made me miss morgan even more :(((( it was so cute! i want a bf like him, thanks! 

13) Surprise. (Pt 1/3) by @crimindsaspe 

YESSSS, I LOVE IT! i love a happy spencer, he deserves all the love and happiness. do this boy some good and give him a happy storyline thanks!! i loved this part and i can´t wait for the others :) well done! 

14) Paranoid // Spencer Reid by @itsmeedee 

okay this is so so so so so so so good. like holy hell, the angst <3333 also i already read part 2 and jesus christ, i need a third part asap. could you please tag me in it?? this is a masterpiece. read it, y´all!!!!

15) Writing Prompt #4 - Spencer Reid Imagine by @multifandom-fics0904  

awwww Spencer, my poor heart <333 i just love him so much, he is so precious and kind and caring. give him a child already. this was perfect! 

16) Call Out My Name (Spencer Reid x reader) by @spencerreidreads 

omg the end....no it can not end this way. i really need a part 2, please tell me you already planned a part 2?? this was soo good! please! 

17) Guess You´re Not the One part one (Spencer Reid x reader) by @spencerreidreads  

same here....the second part was as intense as the first part and i can not wait for more. like seriously...give me more! 

18) One Wish by @captainreid  

oh G, why do you have to make me feel like this?? all i want for spence in his life is a child and then this...</3 my poor heart. the angst tho <333 perfect! ily :) 

19) The Thread That Holds by @dontshootmespence 

awwww happy Jack and Hotch <3 my heart is swoooning, tho it makes me miss them both a lot. i really wanna see them again in S14 :))) also this is kind of the life i imagine for them both right now too. like happy and together and safe. they deserve it. great job! ily :) 

20) We all Fall Down - Thirty Two by @criminal-minds-fanfiction 

okay, seriouly, how can i NOT put this serie on my list? tho i still have a lot of catching up to do but this kind of is also a reminder to myself to get my lazy ass up and reread the whole fic bc it is pure perfection and def underrated. i loved this part a lot. your writing skills are on point, i´m jealous. people, go read it! i dare you! well done, great job! ily :) 

so, this was this weeks list :) i really hope you enjoyed it and don´t forget to leave some love for the writers and their works. again, if you wanna be featured on that list, send me your fics and i´m gonna read them and maybe you´ll be on the next list :) 

hope you all will have a great week & see you next sunday :) 

- aileen 

[mrsjugheadjonesthethird]

Like a Puppy (Jughead x Reader)

Prompt: Hi! I love your writing so much and I was wondering if you could do a request :D could you do like the reader is really closed off and she always wear black and wears a beanie all the time just like jughead, and she's like super sarcastic so one day jughead comes up to talk to her and follows her around all day ? SORRY THAT THIS IS SO LONG

A/N: I switched it up a bit so the reader is a bit newer to riverdale! (Sorry if it sucked.I’m writing it at 4am with no sleeping) Hope you enjoy it. Requests are welcome (ALSO THANKS TO MY BBY FOR READING THE BEGINNING FOR ME <3 ILY @jugheadneedsahome )

Masterlist 

Like a Puppy (Jughead x Reader)

Jughead wasn’t one to chase after girls or even glance. He simply had his laptop and unless the girl had food with her, he wasn’t interested.

That was until she came to the school.

He didn’t notice her at first. Of course he didn’t. He had his face glued to his laptop.

It was Ronnie that pointed her out during lunch a few weeks after she started.

(Y/n) were more of a loner than he was. She didn’t want to make friends and gave a glare or snarky remark to anyone who tried.

People started to notice that she wore similar clothes everyday. It was always some combo of black jeans, tight black tee with some sort of leather jacket, and her hair controlled with her beloved beanie.

“She’s literally just like you, Jug!” He just looks up in confusion.

“Who are you talking about?”

The group roll their eyes at him and point to a lonely girl sitting at a table, buried in a book.  

He glances over and almost falls off the bench. Woah. He didn’t think he’s ever seen a girl as pretty as her. How did he not notice her?

“Juggie?” Betty raises her brow at him.

“She’s pretty.” the words escape his mouth before he even registered them.

The whole group froze and Jug turned to look at them.

“Did I just say that out loud?” His face turning a faint pink.

“Oh my god. Yes.” V all but squeals. “I ship it.”

Arch gestures to the girl in black. “Dude, Go say hi.”

He shakes his head quickly. “Nope. Not happening. We’re all going to pretend that most definitely did not come out of my mouth.” with that, grabs his laptop and leaves.

You were at your locker, looking for your Biology book when he walks up to you.

“Hi.” You glance at the boy with a beanie crowned on his head. It was similar to the one on your head.

“Can I help you?” You try not to wince. You always seem to sound rude without helping it.

Instead of giving the reaction most people do, he just gives a half smirk and nods his head.

“Jughead Jones the third. You?” You were a bit shocked that he didn’t seem fazed by your rude exterior.

“(Y/n).” You pull out the book you were looking for and slam your locker shut.

You turn to the boy and give him a two fingered salute. “Well Jugster. Nice to meet you but I must get going.”

He just shrugs and walks next to you to your next class, not saying a word.

It was free period when you managed to lose him. Jughead. He’s been following you around all day and every time you threw a sarcastic comment that most people would find rude, he’d just laugh and say something even more witty back.

You didn’t know what to think.

You weren’t one for friends. Hell, People never had the same sense of humor as you did so you never tried.

But Jughead. He was different.

He liked the comments you made in Biology.

He liked the snide remark you through at the Queen Ginger.

You sigh and close the book, unable to focus now.

A body plops down beside you.

“You know people will start thinking things if you keep this up.” You move your head to see Jughead grinning at you.

“Don’t worry what people think. They don’t do it very often.” He replies and you let out a laugh.

“Why do you keep following me around like a puppy, Jugster?” You decide to just ask the poor boy.

“I want to get to know you. Is that a crime?” He shrugs.

“Stupidity is not a crime so you’re free to go.” He just laughs and rolls his eyes.

“Keep rolling your eyes and maybe you’ll find a brain back there.” Before you could say anything else, he interrupts you.

“Have you ever been to Pop’s?” You raise a brow to the blushing boy.

“I’ve been a few times, Jugster. Haven’t tried his burgers yet though.”

He sends you a smile and asks, “Go to Pop’s with me?”

“Are you asking me out, Jugster? It’s only been a day.” Dating wasn’t something you were used to, but you had to admit he was definitely your type.

“Yeah. Let’s go for burgers and milkshakes.” His eyes meet yours and you find yourself nodding.

“Okay Jugster, but i warned you.”

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