#that cheeseburger now lives rent free in my head

[flurgerbla]

[genderfluidtechnoblade]

NOT TECHNO ASKING IF PRISON IS TREATING DREAM CORRECTLY... NOT TECHNO THREATENING QUACKITY IF HE FINDS OUT HE’S LYING... NOT TECHNO MAKING UP THE MOST BULLSHIT STORY POSSIBLE ABOUT DREAM’S FAVOR... RIVALS WE FUCKING WIN AS FUCKING ALWAYS

[atlafan]

The Boys Next Door

a/n: I have no idea where this came from. enjoy some smut and some other college!Harry. 

You lived in a college town, and your parents were landlords for many college students. They owned a few different properties along one of the street close to campus. You were twenty-one and going into your senior year. You didn’t mind going to school where you grew up. You went somewhere else your first year, just to get out of town for a while, but eventually coming home was the best choice. Plus, you got to live off campus in one of your parent’s apartments with your friends. You were having a great time.

They wanted to go on vacation, do a little traveling this summer, so they put you in charge of one of their smaller properties. The home you were in this summer was converted into two apartments, side by side. Your parents had someone else to run the larger properties, but they had a great deal of trust in you. You happily accepted, especially since you could take a cut of the rent as pay. You also weren’t too upset because the boys moving in next door were really cute. Soon to be seniors as well. They were international students, and as much as they liked going home, they were still college students. It was easier to save up the airfare for the holidays, rather than to fly home for the summer.

You’d be in your apartment alone. Your friends all had to go home to their families and jobs, not that you minded. You loved being crazy with them, but the alone time would be great. You put the keys to the other apartment outside under the mat, and emailed them to let them know. You also left instructions on rules for living there. Your parents weren’t in the business of dealing with idiots.

It was a beautiful day out, so you decide to set up the small inflatable pool out back, and throw on a two piece to sunbathe in. You get your lawn chair, put some sunscreen on, and dip your feet into the pool. You crack a hard seltzer open and throw your shades on. You sigh with happiness and relaxation.

The boys, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson, all show up to the apartment. They find the keys and head inside. They get all their things moved in and wheel their grill out back. There was no fence between the two sides, but it was still clear that it wasn’t an overly shared space.

“Oh shit!” Niall says, pointing to you. “Is that our landlord?”

“I think so.” Louis says.

“We should go introduce ourselves then.” Harry says. “After all, she could be hungry for somethin’ off the grill.”

The three walk over to you. You had your headphones in and you had fallen asleep.

“Excuse us.” Louis says. You don’t move. “Think she’s asleep…”

Harry rolls his eyes and nudges your shoulder.

“Huh?!” Your eyes snap open and you flinch when you see three very good looking men standing above you. “Um…can I help you?” You stand up and look for your cover up, but you never brought it out. Your two piece was strapless, and a little revealing.

“Sorry to wake yeh, I’m Harry.” You shake his hand. “This is Niall and Louis, we’re your tenants.”

“Oh!” You laugh. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you guys. I’ve seen you around though, you’re all on the soccer team, right?”

“That’s right.” Niall says.

“We were just about to fire up the grill, wanna join?” Louis asks.

“Sure! I actually have some fresh lemonade in the fridge inside, I’ll bring it over.”

“Sounds good.” Harry says.

They go back over to the grill and you go inside. You grab a large t-shirt to throw on, and the jug of lemonade out of the fridge. You grab some solo cups as well, and you head over to their side.

“I don’t wanna be a Debby Downer, but my parents wanted me to remind you guys that you’re getting a discounted rate because you agreed to mow the lawn, and shovel once winter comes. Everything you need is in the shed.” You point to it. “The keys for it are inside a combination box. The combo’s on the paper I left in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, yeah, we found that. No worries, the lawn will look perfect.” Niall assures you and you smile at him.

“Any other official business? I’d like to add some vodka to this lemonade.” Harry says, shaking the cold bottle in his hand.

“Nope, that’s it for now. Please, make the drinks.” You say.

“What can I make yeh, love?” Louis asks.

“I’d love a cheeseburger, please and thank you.” He nods to you and Harry hands you your drink. “Thanks.”

“So, you’re all alone in there this summer?” Niall asks.

“Mhm. My friends will come up for a weekend here and there, but I don’t mind it. This is my favorite apartment of the ones my parents own, I’m excited to be alone in it for a bit.”

“Well, if you ever get lonely, just give us a call.” Harry winks and you blush as you bite the rim of your cup.

You all enjoy mini BBQ and get to know each other more. You all talk about your majors and how excited you all were to be seniors.

“We’re gonna head down to the pub later if you’d like to join us.” Niall says.

“That sounds great!”

“What’s your number, we can text you when we’re ready.” Harry says. You hand him your phone and he puts his number in.

You head into your apartment to shower and wash all the sunscreen off. You throw on a crop top and pair of shorts, and do your make up. Harry texts you when it’s time, and you walk downtown with them to the bar. You all find a booth, and he happens to be the one to sit next to you. Niall grabs the first round of beers.

“What do I owe you?”

“As if I would ever make a girl pay for her drinks.” Niall scoffs. “You don’t ever have to worry about that with us, Y/N.”

“Oh! That’s really nice of you.”

You all clink your glasses, and take a swig of your drinks. They ask you questions about what it was like growing up in the area, and you talk about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. Eventually, you get a pretty good buzz going, and it makes you want to dance to the music playing. There were plenty of people out on the dance floor already.

“Do you guys wanna dance?”

“Sure!” They all say at the same time.

The four of you make your way to the dance floor, and you start dancing. You all giggle and have a great time. You got a little more drunk than you thought, and it hit you like a ton of bricks when you left the bar at closing.

“I’ll never understand how these places close at one in the morning. We’d just be gettin’ started back home.” Louis laughs.

Harry looks at you and sees you sort of struggling to walk.

“Want a piggy back ride?” He offers.

“Seriously?” You slur.

“Sure, come on.”

You hope onto his back and you giggle as your eyes start to droop. Yup, way too drunk.

“M’just gonna get her settled, I’ll be home in a minute.” He tells the two of them as he takes your key.

“My room’s upstairs.” You mumble and he hums his response. He pushes the door open and sets you down on your bed.

“Thanks.” You smile at him. “Tonight was fun. This’ll be a great summer.” You yawn.

“Yeah, it will be.”

Harry goes down to your kitchen to get you a glass of water. When he returns you’re passed out on your stomach. He leaves the water on your nightstand, and heads out. Niall and Louis were on the couch, eating some cold pizza, when he got back.

“She alright?” Louis asks.

“Yeah, passed out already. I left her some water.” Harry grabs a slice of pizza and sits down with them. “She’s cute, I like her.” He says with a full mouth.

“You should ask her out then.” Niall says. “She’s a lot of fun so far.”

“Too soon for that. I need to play it cool.”

“You’re too shy for your own good.” Louis says.

//

You spend a lot of time with the guys over the next couple of weeks. You go out with them to the bar quite a bit, and you all share many meals. Your favorite thing to do was happen to be outside when Harry mowed the lawn. He would do it shirtless, and he loved when you’d bring him out something cold to drink. You also liked watching them get into little games of soccer.

Sometimes at night you would go over there and watch them play video games, or maybe they’d come over to watch a movie. You found yourself to have gotten the closest with Harry.

Harry: too hot in my room…2:02AM

You: no fan? 2:10AM

Harry: it broke :( 2:12AM

You: I have ac…2:13AM

Harry: is that an invitation? ;p 2:14AM

You: if you want it to be ;p 2:15AM

You slip out of bed, and stop to look at yourself in the mirror. You usually slept naked…you sigh and throw on a large bed shirt, but that’s it. It covered everything just fine. You go downstairs and open the back door for Harry. He was only wearing shorts.

“Hi.” He smiles.

“Hi.” You smile back. “What are Niall and Louis doing?”

“Oh, both of their fans work just fine. I’ve been too lazy to go to the store, but I suppose suffering in sweat just isn’t worth it anymore.”

“Well, my room’s nice and cool, so come on up.”

You and Harry go up the stairs up to your room, and you close the door behind you.

“Oh my god.” He moans as he stands in front of the A/C. “Now this is livin’.” You can’t help but giggle at him. He watches as you reach into your dresser for a pair of shorts. You wiggle them up your body. “Were you not wearin’ anything under that before?”

“Nope.” You grin and sit on your bed. You pat the spot next to you.

“I can just sleep on the floor…”

“Don’t be silly, bed’s plenty big for the both of us.”

He nods and gets on with you. You both lay and face each other.

“Comfy.” He says.

“Mhm.” You push some hair away from his face. “You have nicest hair, have I ever told you that?”

“No. In fact, you could stand to compliment me a lot more.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm. It’s the least you could do in exchange for all the free alcohol we give yeh.”

“Very true, okay, well, I also like your tattoos.” Your fingertips lightly graze his arm.

“You do?”

“Yeah, they’re cool.”

“What else do you like about me?” His leg gentle slides between yours.

“You have a great sense of humor, and you’re just really nice.”

“You’re nice too, and you’re really pretty.” Your cheeks flush, you were thankful it was dark. His leg inches up a little further between yours. “Sexy, actually.”

“God, I think you’re hot as fuck, Harry.”

“You do?”

“Mhm.” You adjust yourself on his leg, and move closer to him, your faces only inches apart now.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please.”

He cups your cheek and pulls you into him, his mouth slotting over yours. Your eyes flutter closed as you sink further into the kiss. You open your mouth for him and he doesn’t waste any time getting his tongue on yours. You groan against him, and grind yourself on his thigh.

“I wanna fuck you so bad.” He groans.

“Okay.”

“What?” He pulls away. “Really? Just like that?”

“Sure, why not? I want it, can’t you tell?”

“Sometimes it’s not about bein’ able to tell…you wanna have sex with me?”

“Yes, I do.” You turn and reach into your night table to grab a condom. You place it on top of the table for when you need it. “I’m on the pill too, but I think using a condom is for the best.”

“Agreed.”

He moves to hover over you, and starts kissing you again.

“How long, ngh, how long have you wanted to fuck me for?”

“Since we met.” He mumbles as he starts to suck on your neck.

“Fuck, why didn’t you?”

“I was tryin’ to play it cool.” He chuckles against you.

He motions to have you sit up to take your shirt off, and he marvels at your breasts. He cups both of them in his large hands. He tweaks your nipples and leans in to suck on one of them. Your head rolls back as he kneads the other one.

“Harry…I wanna, I want you to…”

“Need my mouth somewhere else, angel?”

“Please.”

He gets between your legs and tugs your shorts down. You were glistening. He licks his lips and dives in. He licks a flat stripe from your center up to your clit, and circles the tip of his tongue around you before sucking on it. You gasp when he does so, and your hands fly to his hair to grip on. Your hips buck up when you feel two of his fingers slip inside you. He pumps in and out as he continues to work your clit with his mouth. You were panting, your body had never felt so good before.

“Holy fuck! Oh my god, don’t stop, Harry!” You moan out.

He pumps fast, brushing your g-spot. It was all too much, and you release around his fingers. He retracts them sucks them into his mouth.

“Tastes even better than I thought it would.”

“Get the condom on, now.”

He smirks and grabs the foil packet. He gets it open with his teeth, slides his shorts down. His hard clock slaps against his stomach and your jaw drops.

“Oh my god.” You say under your breath. “Harry, you’re so…big.”

“I know.” He mumbles as he slides the condom down his shaft. “Don’t be nervous, I won’t hurt you.”

“M’not worried about that.”

He leans in and lines himself up with you and slowly pushes inside. Your head rolls back into the pillow as you feel him stretch you out. Your nails press into his shoulders. Once he’s all the way in he gives you some time to adjust.

“Alright?”

“Mhm, you can move.”

He starts with slow thrusts, rocking in and out of you. You can’t help the moans that leave your lips. You had never felt so good before. You wrap your legs around his waist to pull him closer.

“Go harder, Harry. I want you to make the bed shake.”

“Fuck.” He groans, and does as you say.

He grips your legs and puts them over his shoulders. He thrusts in hard and fast, and the bed does start to shake. His thumb finds your clit, and he rubs it furiously.

“Fuck, oh fuck, that’s it, oh my god!” He had you screaming. “Harry!” You cry out as you come around his cock.

He fucks you through it and comes to his own release, spilling into the condom. He collapses on top of you, and you kiss his neck over and over. He pulls himself up and gives you a kiss on the lips before pulling out.

“Where’s your trash, angel?”

“In that corner, next to my desk.”

He hums his response and gets up to throw it out. He hears you get off the bed and turns to look at you.

“Just going to use the bathroom, get comfy.” You smile.

He gets back on your bed and waits for you. When you come back you don’t even both with a shirt.

“I like to sleep naked, that okay?”

“You don’t see me wearin’ anything do you?” He smirks.

You get on the bed and lay your head on his chest. He puts his arm around you and rubs your back.

“That was, uh, really something.”

“Felt good?”

“Really good.”

“You took it really well. You were so wet, felt good for me too.” He kisses your hair line.

“You can come here to beat the heat any time you want.”

[astralaffairs]

voltaire to versace 02 | thomas jefferson

title: voltaire to versace 02

pairing: professor!thomas jefferson x reader

words: 8.7k

warnings: honestly not much. sex jokes n references, dolley simping for james, broke college student meals

desc: from francis bacon to foucault, descartes to dante, your political philosophy seminar doesn’t promise to be a blowout — and yet, one mysterious stranger and a risqué evening later, your burberry-clad professor gives you the feeling it won’t be quite the snoozefest you’d expected.

tags: @lunariasilver @tinywhim @nyxie75 @wreakhavoconmacroissantdiggs @checkurwindow @katierpblogg — let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

"Dolley, holy shit; please tell me you're already home." Y/N's words were breathless as she hurried across the quad, muttering under her breath into her phone. She'd darted out of her lecture hall the moment they'd been dismissed, having no desire to stick around for the confrontation she knew was inevitable.

"I'm just getting out of class, dear," Dolley responded, but when she continued, her words were teasing. "What sort of trouble did you manage to get yourself into while I was gone?"

"I cannot begin to explain." Y/N let out a huff, glancing over her shoulder and ducking her head as she whispered, "but it's not good."

"Oh, good lord, Y/N; I was joking." She could hear the genuine worry begin to creep into Dolley's voice and couldn't help but wince.

"Yeah, I wish I was, too." She chalked the subsequent rush of static through the line up to Dolley's sigh. "Where are you right now? Can I meet you somewhere?"

"Want to go to dinner?"

"Too broke for that."

"Packaged ramen from the drugstore on the east side of campus?"

"Now you're speaking my language." Y/N grinned, and she could only picture Dolley rolling her eyes from wherever she was. "I'll be there in a few."

"You'd better. I can't wait much longer to hear what sort of nonsense you've been up to."

-                              

"You slept with a professor?!"

"Shh, Doll; not so loud," Y/N hissed, pulling her back into the soda aisle and frantically checking for any prurient eavesdroppers. Her voice was low when she added, "It was the guy at the bar last night. I had no idea he was a professor here."

Dolley let out a dry, disbelieving laugh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is... a mess."

"You're telling me."

"So, what's the plan going to be?"

When Dolley folded her arms, raising an amused eyebrow (a little too amused, in Y/N's humble opinion), but Y/N furrowed her brow. "What d'you mean, 'what's the plan?'"

"What are you going to do the next time you run into him?" Dolley asked. There was a pause; Y/N hadn't thought that far. "You don't really think you can make it through the semester ignoring this, do you?"

"I... Maybe? I don't know!" Y/N let out a frustrated huff. "That's what I need you to help me figure out. What else are you here for?"

"Oh, you make an excellent point," Dolley sighed. "All I do is pay half the rent and help you get laid at bars downtown."

Y/N scowled. "You helped me get laid by a professor. Just help me."

"Mmh, I don't think I heard a 'please' in there."

"Please, Dolley, my white knight to whom I owe my life," she pleaded, clutching her roommates arm and sighing wistfully. Dolley's lips were pressed into a line, but that didn't stop her smile from showing through. "I would be nothing without you; just please, do me this one final favor."

"Alright, alright," she conceded with a huff, shaking free from Y/N's grip. "Drama queen."

Y/N shrugged shamelessly. "I bring excitement into your life. Don't be ungrateful."

"Whatever you say, dear." The defeat in her words made Y/N grin. "So back to your excitement, then."

"I'm so lost," Y/N groaned, finally emerging from the soda aisle with shoulders slumped in defeat. "If the sex hadn't been so good, I'd probably just pretend it never happened."

Dolley creased her brow. "Was it really that good?"

Y/N turned to her with a serious demeanor, a hand on her shoulder as she looked her in the eye. "Dolley. I am covered in hickeys from my neck to my hips. That man damn near threw my back out. I won't bullshit you; there's no way I'm gonna be able to sit comfortably for—"

"Okay, alright! A 'yes' would've sufficed," Dolley cut her off, pushing past her to the shelf of instant noodles. Y/N looked disproportionately self-satisfied when she followed. "That's about enough details for one evening."

"You asked!"

"But you can't spend the entire semester ignoring him, Y/N," Dolley continued, ignoring her words. "That class is notoriously difficult — the only people I know who didn't frequent his office hours were the ones who got 'C's."

Y/N sighed, rubbing her temples as her roommate pushed cup after cup of beef ramen into her basket. "So then shouldn't I just put this whole thing behind me? I can't really start asking him to help me analyze Kant if I open the conversation with, 'hey, good to see you again, you're almost as good at teaching as you are in bed.'"

Dolley laughed at her dry tone. "I don't mean that, of course."

"Then what do you mean?"

"If you never agree to put this all behind you, I think it's going to be on both of your minds for the rest of the semester," she said matter-of-factly, hesitating when the freezer at the side of the room caught her gaze. "Should we pick up pizza rolls, too?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course we should," Y/N scoffed, brushing past her toward the Totino's section. "But if he and I both just ignore it, wouldn't that be an easier way to put it behind us?"

"Oh, grab a bag of the cheeseburger flavor, would you?" Dolley leaned in to look over Y/N's shoulder, ignoring her words altogether, and she glanced back with a raised eyebrow.

"Can you focus for five seconds?" She dropped three bags of pizza rolls — pepperoni flavor — into her basket with a huff. "Anyway, the cheeseburger flavor is disgusting. Get some taste."

"Don't discount the nostalgia of it!"

"Dolley." Y/N fixed her with a pointed look, and she sighed.

"We both know ignoring it is a poor idea, even if it is the easier option." Dolley didn't waste a second in pushing right past Y/N when she stood, grabbing a bag of the cheeseburger pizza rolls (an oxymoron in itself, as Y/N would've told her) before the freezer door could fall shut. "Just talk to him after class one day. Don't make it take more than five minutes."

"I don't even know where I'd start with that. I've dealt with awkward fallout from one-night stands before, but never with a professor." Her footsteps stalled within the last yard of the frozen section. "I've just gotta ignore it and focus on the coursework, Dolley. Wanna get some Ben and Jerry's?"

"Are you trying to distract me with a pint of chocolate fudge brownie?" Dolley asked incredulously, before adding, "Because it's working. Let's get two."

She grinned. "Excellent."

Y/N figured that was the end of it, that two pints of ice cream and an incredibly vague game plan would be enough to satiate her friend for the time being, but after they checked out, trying to figure out how many meals they could extend one pack of ramen to (because, really, if you just add more water, doesn't it make the servings bigger?), Dolley felt the need to return to it as they walked through the sliding glass exit doors, her words holding an air of finality.

"If you really want to insist on not just communicating with the poor man, Y/N, then fine." Y/N raised a quizzical eyebrow, not yet following where Dolley had abruptly turned the trajectory of their conversation. "But after his lecture on Wednesday, when you realize that leaving the subject untouched just makes it more unbearable—" ("'When'?" Y/N muttered dubiously.) "—then I need you to agree to go talk to your professor."

Dolley didn't wait for her response, squinting at the nutrition facts on the ramen labels as her focus drifted elsewhere (sure, it said two servings, but she was fairly sure that only the bourgeoise couldn't have stretched it to three), but Y/N let out a surrendering sigh.

"Wednesday's going to be just fine," she said, realizing but not caring that Dolley was no longer listening. "But if it isn't, I'll talk to him."

-                        -         

Wednesday was not 'just fine.'

Y/N spent the entire class on edge, trying futilely not to let her thoughts drift back to the other night in the bar, then on the street in front of her building, then in the elevator, in her living room, even in the kitchen— but no, she was getting off track. Little did she know, Thomas was having precisely the same issue.

She jotted down his words almost robotically, the meaning of them going into one ear and out the other, more focused on the sound of his voice than on what he was actually saying.

Only once did she manage to focus for long enough to actually process a thought, but when he was fielding questions about the material, Thomas conveniently managed to miss her having raised her hand from where she was seated. She supposed she'd just positioned herself too far back and thought no more of it.

Despite how 'not fine' that day had been, she dismissed it as a fluke, showing up the next Monday with her head on straight, her readings prepared and annotated, and took a seat several rows further forward. Her motivation may have been misplaced, leaning a bit too far toward wanting to impress her professor and not far enough toward a desire to understand the material, but she was familiar enough with the content to feel comfortable giving her input on the questions he posed to the class throughout the lecture.

Again, her efforts bore no fruit. Her notes were better that day, so that was certainly something to count as a plus, but she left feeling put-out by the fact that she hadn't even had a chance to participate. Usually, she wouldn't have been so perturbed by this — sitting through a Socratic seminar playing tetris on her laptop was no unfamiliar experience — but this class accounted for six of the twelve credit hours she still needed for her chosen major. She didn't suppose that it'd be a good look to have the class dragging down her GPA to be the same one she was supposedly most passionate about; generally speaking, that wasn't what graduate schools were looking for.

Besides, she liked the subject, too. Surely that had to count for something?

And that was how she kept pushing off the inevitable conversation with Thomas — sorry, Professor Jefferson — and coming up with increasingly creative excuses as to why her efforts were being so plainly ignored, not only that following Wednesday, too, but also the Monday and Wednesday after. She'd made it through three weeks of classes before she could finally work up the nerve to confront him.

Unfortunately, that task proved to be no easier than her previous one.

Thom— her professor was always the last one into the lecture hall and the first one out, leaving no opportunities for chatter, or in her case, a supposedly inevitable clash she'd already begun arming herself for. She'd nearly caught him in the halls at various times, but he always seemed to have somewhere he urgently needed to be. The same doctrine followed in his office hours; apparently, another student had scheduled a meeting with him three minutes after every single time she arrived, without fail, so could she please just come back another time? Surely, another time would be better for both of them.

That time never came.

It was near the end of the fourth week that she was entirely fed up. They'd moved from Kant to Machiavelli, and so far, The Prince had her ready to tear her hair out. It didn't help that they'd all just finished the book, their first paper of the year on it due the next Monday.

She was far past lying to herself about her motives being purely academic while she continued to privately just want his attention — no, by then, she was hopped up on forty ounces of sugary coffee and just a touch of RedBull, and she hardly had a thesis for her paper. She'd read the same passages time and time again — she likely could've recited them word-for-word by the time she demanded feedback — and any shallow, vain desires for recognition were the furthest thing from her mind. She needed a professor, and she was pissed that Thomas didn't seem to have any interest in acting like one.

It was late Thursday evening when she marched across the green from the library to the building that housed his office in a fury. Yes, it was the last week of January; yes, the entire city was still coated in snow, but no, she could not bring herself to care about the very real possibility of frostbite as she trudged through the snow in sweatpants, slippers, and a tank top. Practicality wasn't her priority. Finishing her paper was.

Thomas's office hours were from 7 to 10 PM every evening, a schedule he stuck to religiously. It was 9:24 when Y/N began tracking snow through the bottom floor of his building, and 9:31 when she finally managed to locate and reach his actual office.

It was reluctant when she finally knocked, struggling to resist the urge to simply bust in and rip him a new one, but to her relief, it was simply met with a 'come in.' That was when she threw the door open in a fit of annoyance.

"You've been avoiding me," she said, eyes narrowed and tone accusatory before he could so much as react to her presence.

"Y/N, I—" His eyes were wide; he seemed to be at a loss for words as his eyes drifted down to her sweatpants and Hello Kitty slippers. He couldn't have convinced her it wasn't a dignified look even if he'd tried. "What are you doin' here?"

"We need to talk." She dropped her bag into one of the chairs in front of his desk, though she chose not to take a seat, instead glaring down at him, arms folded.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and though his head was down, his shadow of a grimace told her everything she needed to know: he'd been dreading this conversation far more than she had. "Look, right now really isn't a great time. I've got—"

"Don't bullshit me, Thomas."

"Professor Jefferson," he corrected her, the words hissed through gritted teeth, and she huffed, rolling her eyes.

"My bad. Don't bullshit me, Professor Jefferson." Y/N scowled as she took another step towards him. "Your office hours don't end until ten. There's no way you have time for a meeting between now and then if you haven't already started one."

He let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. Alright, fine. And I know what you're gonna say, but—"

"Do you really?" she challenged him, head cocked to one side. "Because the fact that you haven't given me one chance to speak to you in almost a month tells me pretty clearly that you don't. Generally, you find out what people have to say by listening to them."

"We can't have this conversation here. You've gotta come find me some other time." The urgency in his voice only served to infuriate her further. What right did he have to be dictating this when he'd tried to stop the conversation altogether?

"Oh, believe me, I've tried," Y/N huffed. "I'm done accommodating. If you wanted to talk about this some other time, I would've been happy to, but we're well past that."

He held her burning gaze warily for another moment, but she didn't let up. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. Say your part. I'm listenin'."

"You've been completely freezing me out. You haven't been answering my questions in classes; you haven't been letting me contribute to discussions; you, most recently, haven't let me talk to you for more than five seconds, hence why I'm here." She launched into an irate monologue without any further encouragement, and to his credit, Thomas at least had the decency to look guilty. "You've been turning me away at your office hours; for fuck's sake, Thomas, you haven't even answered any of my emails!"

"I know, I know," he said, and though she could see the exhaustion written across his face, she didn't let him continue. "But you've gotta understand—"

"I'm not done," she cut him off, and it was then that he raised an affronted brow. "Anyway, I get why you're keeping your distance. Really, I do. And honestly? I can't really blame you for it."

"Well, great, so—"

"But with that said," —she gave Thomas an expectant look as she continued to speak over him, challenging him to try and interrupt— "You've been doing more than keeping your distance. You've been outright ignoring me, and that's where I'm drawing a line in the sand. Refusing to engage with me doesn't help either of us."

She let out a heavy breath when she finally reached the end of her rant, and though he was certainly taken aback, Thomas looked unimpressed.

"May I speak now?" he asked mockingly, and she scowled. "Or are you just gonna keep cuttin' me off?"

"Depends how much bullshit comes out of your mouth."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure." He put his pen back into the cup on the edge of the desk before drawing himself up to the fullest height he could reach in a rolling chair. With how he was looking at her, with how cross his tone was, Y/N may have backed down in another context, but quite frankly, she was beyond having anything to lose. "I understand that you're hurt, Y/N, and for that, 'm honestly sorry, but—"

"I'm not hurt, I'm ticked!"

"Y/N." That time, his hard voice, his barely-contained anger, did make her shrink away, just a bit. "You've gotta realize that what happened is in the past. It was a mistake. I didn't know you were a student here — you even told me you went to school in Chicago."

"I did, for two years."

"Doesn't matter. Moral of the story is that you've gotta leave that in the past. I'm your professor now, and that's a boundary that can't be crossed. We both need to stop dwellin' on it." His saying 'we' rather than 'you' certainly didn't go unnoticed, but Y/N deemed it not worth addressing.

"Great. It's behind us. Can you stop ignoring me now?"

"Come on, Y/N—"

"Seriously? You're gonna argue with that?" She threw her hands up in a huff, beyond exasperated and crossing the line to indignance. "You wanna remind me that you're my professor? Then stop acting like I don't exist. It's that simple, Thomas."

"It's Professor Jefferson. And I'm not tryin' to ignore you," he defended. "But don't you see the position this puts me in? My job's at stake here. This can never happen again!"

"And who said I wanted it to?" she bit back immediately, and for just a moment, Thomas was rendered silent.

"If that's not what you're lookin' for, then what are you here for?" His voice was quiet, his gaze searching, and Y/N sighed.

"Seriously? I haven't made myself clear enough?" She raised an eyebrow, but his blank look told her all she needed to know. The tension in her shoulders dropped; her combative stance went neutral when she reached into her bag, pulling it from the chair in front of his desk. "You're the one who keeps emphasizing that you're my professor — and that's what I need you to be right now."

He raised an eyebrow, clearly lost as she withdrew Machiavelli's The Prince from her bag, beaten up and slathered in colored tabs around the edges. She added in a small voice, "I've been struggling with the reading. I did it all, but there are just a couple passages that... I need help with."

Thomas — no, Professor Jefferson (god, was she ever going to struggle with getting that down) — looked stunned, plain and simple. Y/N had expected all of his assumptions for why she'd shown up there. Two weeks earlier, they may have also been accurate ones, but ultimately, she was still just a student. He'd really had to have had a big head to think he'd take priority over that for any extended period of time.

His eyes were wide. He continued to look toward her, but his gaze was blank, slowly drifting to his desk, until finally, he sighed. "Well, shit. I, uh... I'm really sorry, Y/N. Really." If the growing guilt behind his shock hadn't been clear enough in his demeanor, it was woven tightly into his voice. His stare flickered back up to her, and despite her lingering irritation, the apology in it softened her. "I got so caught up in my own problems that I didn't even consider. I didn't mean to assume that you... y'know."

"Came here to try and get dicked down?" Y/N supplied, voice dry as she watched him expectantly. He cracked a sheepish smile.

"Somethin' like that."

"As though it'd be worth the effort," she snorted. "There are, like, thirty frats on campus, and I have a paper due Monday — in case you'd forgotten. If I wanted to get laid, I'd do it much more efficiently."

"Mm, but would it be as good?" At the clear ego in Thomas's playful stare, Y/N's eyebrows shot toward her hairline.

"Now who's crossing boundaries?"

Despite the skepticism in her voice, Thomas laughed. "'M just kiddin'. Promise."

"Hilarious." Her small, persistent smile undermined her sarcasm, and his gaze was soft.

"Alright, alright, come take a seat. Show me which pages you're strugglin' with."

"Yeah, so it's less full pages and passages than it is key phrases I just can't seem to connect to the rest of the work." Y/N lowered herself into the chair that wasn't already holding her bag as she flipped open her book to her third pink tab, turning it to show him. "Like, here. Chapter 19."

"Mhm."

"I understand what the whole page is getting at, but look at this..."

They sank easily into the text, despite being focused more on one another's voices than on the writing itself. Ten PM had long since come and gone, but as the night stretched on, the pair only continued to pass Y/N's book back and forth, bouncing from passage to passage, idea to idea as though no time had passed at all. Neither of them bothered to check any sort of a clock until Y/N let out a loud, drawn-out yawn. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"You gettin' tired?" Y/N gave a halfhearted shrug as he finally checked his watch, and his eyes widened. "Shit, it's past eleven. We should get you outta here."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Her voice was weary as she lifted herself out of her seat, tucked her book back into her bag. "I've got everything I need for my paper, anyway."

"Glad to hear it." Thomas reached for his coat as she made her way to the door, but she paused when he asked, "You're not thinkin' of walkin' home, are you?"

She glanced back over her shoulder. "What if I am?"

Thomas furrowed his brow. "Tell me that's a joke. That's gotta be a joke." Y/N shrugged, and Thomas groaned lightly. "In that outfit, you freezin' and gettin' abducted are equally likely, you know that?"

"Aw, thanks for letting me know! Now I feel so much safer," she said, plastering on a mocking smile.

"Lemme call you an Uber," he offered, and Y/N quirked a brow.

"Are you that much of a one-trick pony?"

"If makin' sure women get home safe is my only trick, I think it's a pretty good one to have," he said matter-of-factly, and Y/N had to laugh.

"I can appreciate that. An Uber would be great." Y/N pulled her bag up her shoulder as she returned to his door. "I'll see you Monday?"

"Mhm. Your driver's named Amy, and she's drivin' a blue Camry, by the way," Thomas informed her, and Y/N smiled. "G'night, Y/N."

"Night, professor."

             -           

From then on, Y/N began frequenting Thomas's office hours, only hesitantly at first. While her motives were genuine, all of them being centered around getting into grad school, she didn't want to become overbearing, especially with the one night, the sixteen stolen hours that still hung over their heads. She stopped by twice the following week, neither time staying long as other students began to trickle in, peeking nervously around the corner toward his office, knocking so quietly at first that neither Thomas not Y/N realized someone was there. She didn't need him any more than her classmates did, so she yielded her time gracefully.

Moreover, she knew that only very little of the time he offered to students wasn't already occupied, and while the reason for that was certainly clear to her, she wasn't sure whether it'd gone over his head. It wasn't until the fourth time she went to meet with him that she found he was every bit as aware as everyone else.

"Hey, Thom—" Y/N cut herself off with a wince. "Professor Jefferson, you around?" she called down the hall to his office, nose still buried in the email from the anthropology department that she'd pulled up on her phone (apparently they were having a bake sale on the east green; Y/N didn't bother to read further and learn why once she saw they'd have caramel brownies). She only glanced up when she didn't receive an answer, instead hearing chatter drift down the hall, and her footsteps slowed as she neared his doorway. Her eyebrows shot up.

Y/N recognized the woman seated — well, hardly still seated, at that point — with her back to her as Lucy Hart, who sat front and center during every single one of their lectures, who was now all but draping herself across Thomas's desk, leaned onto her forearms and with a pen between her teeth.

Though she seemed to find whatever Y/N had just missed to be hilarious, Thomas's amusement was forced, uneasy as he eased his hand away from where hers had fallen to cover it, holding the book open by one of its ends.

"Alright, Miss Hart, we'll see." Whatever the question was, Thomas wasn't about to give her a straight answer, but Lucy seemed to take that as a challenge. Her cleavage finally spilled back into the neckline of her dress when she sat back in her seat, but she traced one finger up Thomas's forearm.

"I guess we will," she replied. She hadn't seemed to have caught on to how wildly uncomfortable she was making him — Y/N could only assume Lucy had decided she'd left him 'flustered.' She reached for his copy of Hobbes's Leviathan, her perfectly manicured fingers brushing over his as she did so. "Now, where were we?"

Ahem.

From the angle they were seated at, neither Thomas nor Lucy had noticed Y/N standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised — when she cleared her throat, though, they both jumped. Their reactions to her presence couldn't have been more disparate. The relief written deep in Thomas's tiny smile was obvious, but Lucy was looking her over with a scowl.

"Hey," Y/N finally said, taking a step forward. "I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"'Course not." It was Professor Jefferson who answered, tone formal and body language neutral, but how quickly he'd answered, overtly cutting off Lucy, told Y/N she wasn't misreading the situation. "What can I do for you, Y/N?"

"Yeah, Y/N," Lucy furthered, eyeing her dubiously. "Why are you here?"

Y/N's gaze flickered between the pair of them, the tension in Thomas's shoulders subtle but clear as he inched his arm further from Lucy's. "Last I checked, Professor Jefferson, we had a meeting scheduled for right about now."

Her smile was genuine despite how Thomas knit his dark brow; she hadn't yet moved past finding the ordeal wildly entertaining. "Do we?"

"I thought so," she added with a shrug, and when her pointed gaze fell to Lucy, who still looked irate sitting in the small tufted chair across from him, Thomas sighed, and Y/N felt confident it'd been a sigh of relief. He seemed to have realized the escape rope she'd thrown into his lionness's den. "Unless I got the time wrong? It could've been tomorrow evening, I—"

"No, no you're in the right," he cut her off a little too adamantly, and though she'd already begun to dig through her phone for the nonexistent calendar event, she looked up with her eyebrows raised. "'S my bad. I took the timing down wrong."

Y/N had to bite down her self-satisfied smile. "Are you sure? Because really, we can reschedule; I'm also available—"

"No. Now's just fine," he assured her, and the indignant look Lucy shot him had the beginnings of a smile creeping past Y/N's innocent mask. "Made a promise, and it'd be only right to keep it, wouldn't it?"

"It is your responsibility to model integrity, professor."

"Then I guess I've gotta make sure I don't give anybody the wrong idea."

Y/N wasn't sure whether the words, 'the wrong idea' were pointed at her or at Lucy, or whether they were even pointed at all, with her simply reading too far into a nonexistent subtext to take them at face value. She didn't dwell much longer.

"Well, thanks for stoppin' by, Miss Hart—" Vindication flashed in Y/N's eyes when she noticed his electing not to use Lucy's first name. "—I hope all this discussion's deepened your understandin' of Hobbes's view on human nature."

"Oh, I've learned quite a bit about human nature," Lucy said as she stood, and Thomas's discomfort hadn't faded. Y/N was struggling to comprehend what about her words possibly justified her tone being so suggestive. "I hope I can come back another night for you to teach me a little more of it, Thom— oh! I mean, Professor Jefferson."

She glanced bashfully at Y/N with her final few words, her sheepish front fooling no one. Y/N wasn't sure to what end, but this was a clear ploy for her jealousy — she'd been around the block once or twice. Y/N genuinely struggled to contain her amusement as Lucy shot him a wink before turning to leave, exaggerating the movements of her hips. The door fell shut behind her.

It wasn't until Lucy's footsteps were out of earshot that Thomas let out a heavy sigh, sinking down in his chair, and Y/N let out the laugh she'd spent the past ten minutes swallowing.

"So, Lucy Hart, huh? That's who you've been spending all your alleged 'office hours' with?" she started, and Thomas's glare was weak.

"C'mon, Y/N."

"Is that why your door's locked half the times I show up here? Today wasn't very subtle, you know."

"Y/N." His voice was hard when he gave her a pointed look, but with how tired he looked, she didn't push it further, just smiled.

"Relax; I'm just kidding." She shrugged off her jacket. "I know that if you were to sleep with a student, it wouldn't be Lucy. Don't worry."

He raised his eyebrows at her audacity, her smug grin, but he couldn't prevent the amusement that showed through to his expression. "Really? You're gonna go there?"

"Go where?" When she knit her brow, plastered on a confused frown, Thomas had to swallow his laugh. "Now, I'm just not sure what you're implying, professor. Do you plan on sleeping with Lucy?

"Hilarious, Y/N." His rolling his eyes left her undeterred. "In all seriousness, though, I think she really believes she is bein' subtle."

"Unfortunately, I'm well aware," Y/N sighed. "I've seen her at a few too many parties to have any illusions about what a painfully tactless flirt she is."

"You're tellin' me."

"Has it been like this all semester?" she asked. Sure, Y/N had seen how shameless Lucy was during lectures, leaving no stone unturned to draw attention to herself, but this seemed a new level of egregious. Yet, Thomas nodded.

"Once a week, every week. Least, when it isn't more than that."

"Sometimes it's more?" Y/N let out a breathy, disbelieving laugh, and Thomas nodded his solemn confirmation. "Jesus. So this is why you look pissed every time she participates in class. I figured you just hated the sound of her voice as much as I do."

"Believe me; I've been startin' to."

"That's so harsh!"

"Aw, c'mon, and you wouldn't?"

Y/N shrugged, pursed her lips, but her eyes glinted with hubris. "Well," she said, "It'd depend on how hot the student was. I mean, in my opinion, if Lucy was me, it just might be a different story."

Thomas couldn't bring himself to look annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. Alright," he said, shaking his head at her words. "You think you're fuckable. I get it."

"Glad we agree." Y/N's lips quirked up into a smug smile, but Thomas raised his eyebrows.

"Hang on, now. That's not quite what I—"

"But if she's really bothering you," Y/N continued, altogether disregarding his protests, and Thomas sighed. "You know you could just, like, talk to Lucy about it, right? You're the one with the power, here."

She couldn't put her finger on exactly why he winced at the latter sentence.

"Guess so, I just... I dunno. 'S really no big deal; I'm just gettin' fed up with all that." He gave a halfhearted shrug that made her raise an eyebrow. "But don't worry 'bout that. Why're you here, if not for the meetin' we've supposedly got scheduled for tonight?"

His tone was light, playful with the question, but Y/N was still stuck on what he'd started with. "Hold on; you can't just deflect that easily."

"Deflect from what?" He furrowed his brow, but Y/N just huffed, walking toward the near side of his desk.

"From whatever you're getting 'fed up with all of,'" she said, and when she eyed him skeptically, his fatigued sigh told her she wasn't imagining things. "Can I sit?"

"Yeah, sure, join me." Thomas beckoning her toward his empty chairs was almost absentminded. "But really, it's nothin'."

"No offense, but I don't know if I believe you." As she sank down into one of his guest's seats, a conflicted look flickered across his gaze, building further on the concern in her words. "What's up? C'mon; talk to me."

He hesitated. "'M serious, Y/N; it's not—"

"Thomas."

He raised an eyebrow, but it took her a moment to notice her own error. "Excuse me?"

"Professor Jefferson, I mean. Of course." Her smile was sheepish, but it just made him chuckle.

"Alright, alright. 'S nothin' serious, anyway, but 'm just gettin' sick of not bein' taken seriously."

Y/N's words were hesitant as she raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? People take you seriously."

"Mm, but do they?" He sighed as he sat back in his chair. "I'm the youngest professor on campus; half my office hours are taken up by undergrads hittin' on me. It's hard to feel like I'm gettin' a lot of respect when you don't even treat me like a professor."

"Hey, come on, I respect you," she defended, and he shook his head.

"I don't mean you, specifically, Y/N. Just... your whole class. I'm already hardly old enough to be teachin' at a university, but it also kinda sucks to see how many people pretend to care about learnin' just to get my attention," he said, and his voice was soft. His quiet sigh made Y/N frown, especially as his absent gaze wandered through his own office.

"I'm sorry," she said, and he glanced back over to her. "Keep in mind, though, you made the first move on me. Not the other way around."

Despite her having been entirely serious, her words made Thomas laugh — a full-bodied laugh, too, one that couldn't help but make her smile in return. "Thanks for lettin' me know," he said, and though she rolled her eyes at his sarcastic tone, she was glad to see him lightening up. "Sorry to say it, sweetheart, but not everything's about you."

Neither noticed his casual term of endearment. "What a shame," Y/N sighed.

"Mm, I'm sure. I guess I just..." When he trailed off, Y/N raised a brow, and the concerned look in her eyes was what prompted him to continue. "I know I'm smart, 'n all, but it never feels great to feel discounted. Especially bein' new to the faculty."

"I hear that," Y/N said, her tone light but gaze solemn. "For what it's worth, I do come to your office for help because I know you can and want to provide it, not because I have some ulterior motive."

"Glad to hear it." Though his tone almost suggested he may have been being facetious, Y/N could tell that he wasn't making fun. "But on that note, thanks for givin' me an out with the Lucy fiasco. What'd you need, comin' here?"

Y/N's smile was small, all but apologetic as she unzipped her bag after pulling it into her lap. "Right. So, I know this isn't your job, and all..."

When she trailed off, Thomas eyed her suspiciously, especially as her lips only seemed to stretch further into a grin. "What's this about?"

"Is there any chance you'd be willing to read over my paper for my constitutional law seminar?" At the hopeful look she wore as she withdrew her printed essay from her bag, he had to laugh.

"Really? You're not even here for somethin' about my class?"

"Yes or no, professor?" She raised a brow, waving the packet back and forth expectantly.

"And why'd you decide to come see if I'd look through it? What makes you think I'm gonna?"

"You read over my French paper last week!" she pointed out, and Thomas sighed.

"Yeah, 'cause I speak French."

"You speak English, too. And you worked in government." Y/N shrugged, putting the paper down on his desk regardless. "So, please? I'd ask my roommate, but she's studying business, and you must know how that goes."

"You trashin' on business majors?" Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"If I was, would I be wrong?"

Her deadpan stare made him laugh. "Can't argue with that. Give it here."

He held his hand out for the essay, and she gave it to him with a wide grin. "You're the best."

"What else is new?" he asked, and despite how dry his tone was, his eyes were teasing. "You wanna go through it with me now, or should I get it back to you some other time?"

"Any chance we can go over it now?" she asked. "It might sort of be due in two days."

His eyebrows shot up. "Are you tellin' me I'm some kinda last resort?"

"Of course not!" she defended, but she hesitated before continuing, "Just an eleventh-hour supplementary resource who's going to help me get a diploma."

"I'm sure," he said, and the skeptical look he gave made the corners of her lips twitch. "You owe me, y'know that?"

"Really. I should start paying you, one of these days."

"To be fair, you do pay my salary."

"Mm, maybe some students do, but I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you."

Thomas furrowed his brow, confusion permeating every aspect of his expression as he looked back at her. "What, you 'n Elizabeth Warren linked up in a personal campaign for free college?"

"No, but the president of financial aid and I did." She shrugged. "Honestly, they saved my ass. Sorry I'm not raising your salary, or anything, but I hardly pay to go here."

When he slowly nodded, she could see the small, subtle smile tugging at his lips. "I'll try not to hold it against you. 'M glad you ended up here anyway."

Y/N's grin was exaggerated, a fact she did nothing to conceal. "Aww, professor, I knew you secretly liked having me here."

He rolled his eyes, but his smile mirrored hers. "I meant that I'm glad that money isn't holdin' you back from gettin' a good education."

"I'm sure you did."

Thomas cocked a brow. "D'you want me to read your paper or not?"

At his words, Y/N had to bite back her cocky grin, and she nodded. "Yes, please."

"Then get off your high horse 'n listen." Despite his words, amusement sat heavy in the way he was skeptically eyeing Y/N.

"Of course, professor."

-                         

"It's been shockingly chill."

Y/N was sprawled out on the carpet of her living room, a styrofoam cup of ramen in one hand and chopsticks in the other, while Dolley sat curled up at the end of the couch flipping through Netflix on their TV.

"No lingering sexual tension?" Dolley challenged, glancing down to where Y/N was slurping her noodles (she'd asserted that ramen on the couch was too high of a stain risk). Y/N shook her head, and Dolley raised an eyebrow. "Really? No secret desire to end up bent over his desk?"

"Okay, listen, what I want and what I act on are two very different things." She pointed her chopsticks at Dolley accusatorily. "I can have it both ways."

"So you're still looking for another night of fun?" Dolley raised a playful eyebrow, and Y/N only grinned.

"Are you offering?"

"I could be convinced, dear." The wink Dolley sent her made Y/N laugh, broth sloshing down the side of her cup that she didn't hesitate to lick off of the back of her hand.

"Mhm, because my sex appeal is through the roof, I'm sure."

"Alright, I'll confess. I am only joking, after all," Dolley sighed, a wistful look in her eyes as she scrolled through the Netflix TV dramas category. "But only because things with James are going better than I expected."

Y/N's eyes widened; she spun in her spot on the floor. "Dolley, oh my God, spill! You've been holding out on me."

"There's not much for me to spill, really." She shrugged, and the smile she wore was coy. "He and I have just been getting on well. Nothing more to it."

"No. Uh-uh." Y/N shook her head, setting her near-empty instant ramen onto their coffee table. "You're gonna give me more than that. You have to. Clearly something's been happening."

Dolley bit her lip. "So, would we rather watch Stranger Things or The Good Place?"

"Don't you dare change the subject!"

"Alright, alright," she finally sighed, and her gaze was soft when she finally met Y/N's eyes. "So, we've been seeing each other more often. Getting coffee, grabbing lunch between classes. He's even had me read over different drafts of his thesis."

"Aww, he's using you as an editor? How romantic!"

"Make fun all you want, but he trusts me with it. Isn't that worth something?"

"Of course it is, Doll." Y/N smiled, unable to tease Dolley further when she had such a sappy look in her eyes. "But if you've been dating, why am I just finding out?"

She didn't meet Y/N's gaze, fiddling with the cuffs of her sleeves. "We haven't been going on dates, really."

"Oh yeah? This is how you talk about hanging out with everyone else you aren't dating?" The challenge in Y/N's tone made her scoff, roll her eyes, but they both knew she had a point.

"It's nothing official."

"But do you want it to be?" Y/N quirked a brow. Dolley's smile was faint.

"Maybe a little," she said quietly, and Y/N's grin broadened.

"That's adorable. I'm thrilled for you," she said, but there was a heavy pause before she hesitantly added, "but be careful with him."

Dolley furrowed her brow, finally turning toward where Y/N sat. "What d'you mean?"

"You have a habit of quickly getting attached to men who turn out to be terrible for you. Remember Henry?"

"Knox or Clay?"

"Either. You're making my point." Y/N gave her a knowing look, but Dolley didn't seem overly offended. "You're just too quick to give people the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone deserves it."

"But that's what you love about me, dear."

"Don't you turn my undying love and affection for you against me!" Y/N protested, and though she rolled her eyes, Dolley appeared to be entertained. "I adore you for what a sweetheart you are, but it's also what men take advantage of."

"Yes, I know; you've given me this talk before," Dolley sighed. "But really, I think this time might be different. I really like James."

Y/N pursed her lips. "It'd better be. Otherwise he's gonna have hell to pay."

"I'm not too worried."

"I am."

"Would you feel better if I gave you a chance to screen him?" Y/N raised an interested eyebrow at Dolley's words. "Because I invited him to come over Wednesday night for dinner. If you'd like, it'll be a prime time for you to interrogate him."

She sighed. "I dunno, Doll. I don't want to third wheel."

"You live here. You won't be third-wheeling," Dolley pointed out. "And you wouldn't have to stay! You could just pop in, say hello, and either leave or just go wait him out in your room."

A small smile grew across Y/N's lips at her words. "And you'll seriously let me interrogate him?"

"Have at it."

"I'm in."

-                                  

Dolley 🥺💋 sent: James is coming over in five minutes, so get home whenever

Dolley 🥺💋 sent: unless of course you've decided to grant him your tacit approval

Y/N sent: be home soon 😪

Dolley 🥺💋 sent: see u 😘

"Y/N?"

It was Wednesday evening, around 6 PM. Y/N's political philosophy seminar had just been let out, but she'd really spent most of her focus over the past three hours on figuring out exactly how to determine whether or not James was a piece of shit. Apparently he was bringing takeout to her and Dolley's apartment for all three of them, which she saw to be a point in his favor.

However, as her classmates filed out of the lecture hall, Y/N stood idly, taking hesitant steps forward out of her row as she tried to multitask, neither eager to stop texting Dolley or to trip all the way down the steps to the front of the room. It was Professor Jefferson who knocked her out of the reverie that'd been induced by the promise of James delivering what she imagined to be the best food she'd had in weeks.

She looked up with a brow raised, tucking her phone back into her pocket. "Hey, professor."

"You have a second to talk?"

"Oh, um..." Despite her deep-seated motivation to get home before dinner was cold, she supposed it could wait just a little longer. She nodded. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

She pulled her bag onto her shoulder as she stepped out onto the hall's staircase, maybe three rows up from where Thomas stood at the bottom floor.

He leaned nonchalantly against the first row of desks. "So, the TA I've had since first semester's leavin' in a week or two. He's goin' abroad to South Korea for the fourth quarter, 'n he's decided to resign from bein' my assistant at the end of this week, so that he can make sure he's got everything in order for the next three months."

She frowned. "That's too bad. I'm sorry to hear it." She folded her arms, paused before adding, "So what, you want me to break the news to the class that we aren't getting those papers on the Enlightenment back anytime soon?"

At her quirked brow, her playful smile, Thomas had to give a light laugh. "Mm, I'm hopin' it won't come to that."

"You should probably get to grading instead of keeping me from dinner, then."

"Oh, 'm sorry; how dare I, really?" He responded, a hand over his heart, and she had to bite back her entertained smile at the irony in his indignance.

"Honestly. I can't imagine why I put up with it."

"I'll make it up to you," he said dryly. "But seriously, 'm not just tellin' you that for the sake of small talk. What I'm sayin' is that I have an openin' to find a new TA."

"I see," she said, raising an eyebrow. "And where, pray tell, do I come into all this?"

It wasn't that his train of thought was hard to follow, nor was his implication, but until he said it outright, Y/N had no desire to make any sort of an assumption.

He smiled. "You have any interest in becomin' a TA?"

"Seriously?" She furrowed her brow. "I mean, I appreciate it, but why?"

"First off, your work's consistently at the top of this class," he said matter-of-factly. They both knew she was well aware of this, after the hours in his office she'd spent grilling him on the historical context of every one of Voltaire's assertions and the implications of every early revolution. "You're a good writer, 'n you're more than capable of reviewin' other students' work. You've also already taken most of the other classes I teach, so you're familiar with all the material."

She nodded slowly, folding her arms, and though her expression would've conveyed that she was deep in thought, she couldn't suppress her growing smile. "I see. So it doesn't have anything to do with how attractive or charming I am?"

When she raised a playful eyebrow, he laughed outright. "Whenever your charm can start gradin' thirty ten-page papers a day, I'll start takin' it into account."

"Don't underestimate it."

"Alright, alright, I'll keep it in mind." He shook his head, and his lingering smile made the corners of her lips twitch. "'M serious, though. If you've already got enough on your plate, and you don't wanna take on another commitment, that's cool 'n all, and I can always ask someone else. But would you want the position?"

She pursed her lips, eyed him hesitantly. "Will I need to apply for it?"

"Nah," he said. "By the university's policy, you've gotta send me your resume and transcript, but if you wanna be my TA, you've got it. So?"

When she bit her lip, his eyes flickered down to her mouth so briefly that she almost didn't notice it. "I don't know, Thom—" He raised a brow. "Professor. Is there any chance I can think on it and get back to you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, 'course. I can give you 'til the end of the week, if that's enough time?"

"That'd be great." As she held his gaze, she couldn't help but ponder exactly what she was being asked. She was sure his motives were pure; she couldn't imagine for the life of her Thomas giving her a job with the intent of breaking down professional boundaries so he could sleep with her, but that was where her mind was going regardless. "I'll stop by and let you know on Friday."

"I'm countin' on it." He wore a wide grin that shouldn't have and usually wouldn't have put her on edge. Her mind had fallen down the rabbit hole of fixating on just how much more time she'd be spending with him as his TA — he saw enough of her during his office hours, but she was of two minds with that. On one hand, what would a few more hours change? However, on the other, all she was hearing was that he didn't mind spending a few more hours with her. "I'll see you then?"

When he raised an eyebrow, she finally realized she'd spaced out for a solid minute, and she fixed on a smile, though it was tense. "See you then."

She left without another word.

James proved to be a nice guy when Dolley had him over; he brought burgers and milkshakes for all three of them. However, Y/N knew she'd only find herself on Dolley's bad side however many hours later. As much as he was talking, Y/N didn't retain a single word he shared about himself, despite having promised she'd use the evening to formulate her opinion on him. So much for protecting Dolley.

Instead, Professor Thomas Jefferson occupied every one of her thoughts.

[elsanna-shenanigans]

June Contest Submission #12: Boom Boom Pow

Words: ca. 3,300 Setting: mAU Lemon: lime CW: sand, alcohol, beanbags, dash of lime, language

“Do you like the stars?”

“Anna it’s fucking noon, the sun is up, it’s bright as shit. Why are you asking about stars?”

“Yo, my dude, chill. The sun is a star… right?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and turned up the radio, blasting 80’s music, but only the good songs. “I don’t know why I agree to come with you on these things.”

At this Anna laughed and danced a bit offbeat to the song that was playing. She didn’t know the lyrics, but the bass line was nice and she could vibe with that. She let the whole song play out before answering.

“Because you loooove me” She sing-songed, earning another eye roll from the driver. “You love me and we’re going to the beach and it’s going to be a good time.”

“If I didn’t love you, would it still be a good time?” Elsa asked, smirking.

As a response, Anna reached over and changed the radio. A loud, bass-heavy rap song overtook the speakers. The signer immediately spitting out questionably appropriate lyrics for the radio. Elsa’s face reddened under her large glasses and she reached to change channels so quickly that she turned it off. Enveloping the small sedan in a brief silence till Anna’s laughter filled the space.

And it went on like this the entire car ride, bits and pieces of random songs rapidly changing. Anna would allow something Elsa liked to play out entirely but when it was her turn she either skipped around or Elsa changed the station for her. The older woman apparently hated both rap and country music. The first part Anna didn’t understand and the latter, she agreed with. She was desperately trying to find a gospel station, just to see her sister’s reaction, but she found nothing but commercials.

Finally, she heard what she was looking for and turned to see Elsa’s reaction just as the other girl reached over and turned the radio off again. Anna was going to protest when she realized they were in a drive-thru.

“What can I get started for you today?” a tired-sounding voice asked over the intercom.

Anna leaned over Elsa to get closer to the open window and thus the speaker box. Making sure to be just close enough to be annoying.

“We would like to get married please, with Elvis if you have him, if not we’ll take what you have.”

“Anna!” Elsa exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder.

There was an audible sigh come over the loudspeaker, “Ma’am this is a Wendy’s.”

“Oh right, then I’ll take a cheeseburger and a medium Coke, no ice. Thank you!”

“Anything else?” the tired voice asked. “I’ll have the same thing.”

They continued driving towards the beach after the drive-thru. Cupholders full of sodas in flimsy paper cups, and Anna’s lap full of white paper bags of greasy food. She kept sneaking a fry when she thought Elsa wasn’t looking. But it was a small car and Elsa could see every bit of fried potato Anna took.

The closer they got to the beach, the darker the sky became. Tall looming clouds crept over the horizon. They couldn’t see the beach yet as it was the east coast, and most roads took you to the beach straight on instead of winding down cliff faces like the Pacific was famous for. But still, the clouds loomed. Elsa knew there was a storm somewhere off the coast, but it seemed far away last she checked, which wasn’t today. She refused to check the weather today for fear of bad news.

On the main highway, traffic was starting to get heavy, more tourists were headed for their long-awaited vacations and the road ahead was either congested to the point of slowing down. Or there was an accident and everyone had to slow to a crawl to creep a glance at the carnage.

Thankfully the girls weren’t tourists, unthankfully they lived close to this tiny town that became a major city in the summer months. Having to deal with millions of tourists every year meant that locals had a series of short-cuts. So when traffic started building, Elsa took the next exit rather suddenly, cutting across the solid white lines and nearly missing the crash barrier.

“Elsa! Shit! What the fuck!” Anna yelled and shot out her hands with nearly inhuman speed to catch the drinks before they spilled out of their too-small cupholders. “There’s a backup, I’m not sitting in that,” Elsa replied, taking the next turn so hard that the car nearly tilted on two wheels.

“But I saw flashing lights, it could have been a firetruck!”

“It could have been a police car…”

“But Elsa you don’t understand, the hot firemen! …and women.”

“Anna I’m not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or even longer, just for you to ogle at people in uniform.”

Anna took another fry, “Not people in uniform, F-I-R-E-M-E-N and women. It is very different.”

Elsa let out a heavy sigh as they came to a stop at a red light. “If I buy you that stupid Australian calendar will you shut up?”

“Wow, harsh.” Anna dramatically threw one braid over her shoulder. “But, yes.”

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes and continued forward when the light changed. It was only a short while later that they left the main road and turned into a small, older housing development. The narrow street lead them all the way to the ocean, coming out on the far end of the main strip. Highrise condos and hotels dotted the skyline to their left, but right in front of them was the beach, concealed behind a short sand dune. Because life is a bitch like that sometimes.

Luckily for them, there was also free parking at this end if you didn’t mind a bit of a walk. Which, for the price of 17 bucks to park next to the beach, who wouldn’t mind the walk. 17 dollars could buy many cheeseburgers, Anna pointed out.

The beach wasn’t nearly as crowded down where they were, away from the boardwalk and the hotels. The sand also happened to be rockier, rough and pitted with long-forgotten footprints and broken shells. The beach groomers didn’t come this far. Which was fine by them, they would take a rough sandy beach with fewer people over a crowded hellscape any day.

There’s nothing more relaxing than simultaneously listening to eight different speakers all playing different music. While children screamed for no reason and the air was filled with a mix of sunscreen and cigarette smoke.

So yes they will miss out on the hot lifeguards and yes there will be fewer people to watch. But you can’t put a price on the quiet and the fresh air that this section of the beach had to offer.

After crossing the highway on foot, climbing the dune, and laying out their towels, only then did they pause to look out on the water. The ocean was angry, white caps dotted the surface as far as they could see. The horizon line was blurred with fog or rain and the dark clouds from before were more ominous than ever. Why the two women didn’t notice all these signs until now was some kind of act of God. Or stupidly. Probably the latter.

The beach itself was even more sparsely populated than normal. A smart person would have gone home after seeing all the warning signs. But this was Anna’s only day off for the next few weeks. And Elsa, well Elsa was too stubborn to admit her beach idea was a bad one.

They both laid down, on separate towels, choosing to ignore the warning signs and attempting to soak up as much sun as possible before it was swallowed by the coming storm. Elsa tried not to think about it too much. Neither was sure how long it had been before they were interpreted.

“What are you two gay ass losers doing?” Came a female voice.

“Ch’yeah it’s like gonna rain bruh.” Said a male’s.

Elsa opened one eye to see her cousin and her boyfriend, or so it fiancé now? Standing over them. The sky beyond them somehow looked even darker than before, which was very rude.

“Trying to enjoy the sunshine, obviously.” She mumbled in response.

“What sun?” their cousin asked, in a weird out of place, and badly performed accent.

“Wait but what is that voice?” Anna asked, sitting up and brushing the sand off her arms. How that girl could get sand everywhere, Elsa would never know.

“It’s like our new characters,” Eugene answered, earning not an eye roll from Rapunzel but a nod of approval.

“I’m New York and he’s Los Angeles. Both strong and independent cities that you could almost say are their own character. And those characters are us.” She added

“Why though?” Elsa was also now sitting up and confused, though nowhere near as sandy because she wasn’t a dirt gremlin-like her sister.

“Because we wanted to be unique characters, otherwise we’re just boring white people and where’s the fun in that?” Eugene or rather Los Angeles answered.

“Oh boring, like you watch Star Trek and try to fit it into everything even though it has no business being there?”

Eugene shot Anna finger guns, “exactly, this one gets it… bruh.”

A boom was heard in the distance and it sent a few people running towards their cars, towels billowing behind them. A long-distance away, over the water, there was a flash and with it, the wind picked up.

“Looks like our beach day is ruined, I’m sorry Anna.” Elsa stood and began to roll up her towel. Even with the limited sun, she was already red on her front, making a stark difference to the pale skin of her back.

“Nah we just getting started, come back to our place and play some ping pong. We just pulled the table out of storage.” Rapunzel aka New York offered. The two of them didn’t live far from the beach, having taken over Rapunzel’s parent’s beach house. It was very old and run down, but the pair was fixing it up in exchange for free rent.

‘Aye New York is right, and we can take my new whip… bruh.” Los Angeles gestured over his shoulder towards the dunes. They couldn’t see it yet because that dang dune was blocking things again. But everyone knew he was referring to his new golf cart.

Reluctantly the girls agreed and a few long minutes later they were rushing inside an old house to avoid the rain that had just started to fall. Their car was left abandoned in the free parking lot.

Inside was an odd mix of old and new. Brand new stainless steel appliances dotted a kitchen with dark wood cabinets and a yellow linoleum floor. A half-torn-down wall gave way to the living room with floor-to-ceiling wood paneling and floral print furniture.

“It ain’t much but it’s home.” Los Angeles said once everyone was inside. He walked beyond the torn-down wall and slapped his hand on the wood paneling. “New York over there hates this stuff, but it’s hella soundproof if you know what I mean.” With this, he wiggled his eyebrows and finally, earned an eye roll from New York.

“How did you know we were on the beach by the way?” Elsa asked as she took a step further into the kitchen to look at the collection of magnets on the fridge.

“Your sister posted about it on her tumblr of all places. Honestly, get an Instagram like the rest of us already.” New York said throwing her hands up dramatically. The drama ran in the family apparently.

The ping pong table was in the basement, a dimly light space with concrete walls and a tiled floor. Mix-matched chairs lined the walls and a mini-fridge sat in the corner next to a shelf full of liquor bottles.

The ping pong game quickly descended into beer pong with a twist. No one had to drink from the cups the ball landed in. Because that’s gross, don’t do that. Inside if someone managed to land the ball in a cup the other team had to take half a shot of vodka. Los Angeles had wanted to do full shots but Elsa and New York talked him out of it, if only for not dying reasons.

Even so after a few games with no true stand-out winner, just a bunch of dumb luck, they were all fairly buzzed. Flushed creeks and slurred speech. Outside the storm finally hit. Rain battered the small basement windows and thunder boomed overhead.

With each thunderclap, Elsa reached for Anna’s hand and wouldn’t let go till the other girl gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally, everyone seemed to have enough of the game and collapsed into bean bag bars that Anna and Elsa had both not noticed before. Elsa scooted her bean bag closer to Anna’s, the other two people didn’t seem to notice. New York was hanging all over Los Angeles. Her fingers tracing the curve of his jawline down, her eyes practically boring holes into his face. He acted like he didn’t see, but it was obvious he knew.

“You guys can stay here for the night if you want since the storm sounds so bad,” Eugene said, dropping his horrible accent.

“That’s very kind, but it’s just a little rain, we’ll be alright,” Anna replied, completely forgetting their car was many blocks away.

New York stopped messing with her man and turned to them. “Anna, it’s more than a little rain. It’s a hurricane, I mean it was a tropical storm and it was supposed to miss us. But you know how it be sometimes.” She said with amazing clarity for a drunkard.

Elsa’s hand shot to Anna’s and she let out an audible gasp. She had refused to check the weather before heading out the door today, figuring what she didn’t know, can’t hurt her. Which was stupid and out of character for someone who claims to be responsible.

Another boom followed by a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second. Elsa looked terrified so Anna took it upon herself to change the subject.

“So we will be seeing you in two weeks right?”

Rapunzel playing New York smiled and clapped her hands together, “Yes! At the church!”

“For things better left unspoken,” Eugene playing Los Angeles groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Another boom and the room was suddenly cast in darkness and accompanied by an eerie quiet. You never notice how much sound your electronics make till everything is off. Elsa grabbed Anna’s entire arm, holding it so tightly Anna was worried she would lose it.

“Ah fuck the power is out. We have some candles upstairs, I’ll be right back, Rapunzel can you see if the camping lantern is over on the shelf?”

“Um excuse me, it’s New York, but yes I will look.”

Two bodies moved away in the darkness, their paths illuminated by the small light on their phones. Next to Anna, Elsa’s breathing became rapid and she clung to Anna as if she was in danger of being blown away.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Anna whispered, using her free hand to pet the top of Elsa’s head. The older girl shifted so in one fluid motion she was off her beanbag and on Anna’s before curling into the young girl’s side.

“I found it!” Rapunzel slash New York exclaimed. She turned it on and the room was partly lit up. She walked back to where the other two women were cuddled together and sat back down in her own beanbag.

“Wow, that’s like hella gay.” She said, pointing to the pair.

“Oh shut up, she just doesn’t like storms, you know that.” Anna quipped

Elsa let go of Anna’s arm long enough to extend a hand and flip off her cousin, earning her a laugh in response.

Eugene returned shortly after with the candles, a tray of food, and some cards. “Anyone up for a game of hurricane poker? It’s like regular poker only there’s a hurricane.”

He rejoined the group, placing the tray in the middle of everyone and paying no mind to the two women who now shared a beanbag.

Elsa lifted her head to look, the tray was adorned with a random assortment of food. Celery sticks, M&M’s, KitKat bars, Cheetos, Grapes, and some animal crackers. She made a face.

“What’s wrong uh bruh?” Eugene asked in a bad attempt to get back in character. Los Angeles would never quite be the character that New York was.

“I’ll only eat celery sticks if you pay me,” Elsa responded.

The next few hours consisted of Eugene completely wiping the floor with everyone. They played for the M&M’s, of which he now owned all of. With the power still out and the storm still raging on the decision was made for the sisters to spend the night over.

Their room was completely unrenovated, the same wood paneling from the living room made up the walls and the carpet was a thick green shag rug. Eugene was right about one thing though, the paneling sure did dampen the sound. Once the door was shut the two women could hardly hear anything, which was good because Rapunzel had started blasting Mandy Moore music for some reason.

There was only one bed, pushed into the corner, but it didn’t matter anyway. There could have been 80 beds and they still would have shared just one.

Anna laid down on her back and traced the grains in the wooden wall. “Really makes you want to carve something in this stuff you know? Something that would be around for hundreds of years.”

“Please don’t vandalize our cousin’s house,” Elsa said before sitting on the edge of the bed. She turned the lantern off so the only source of the light in the room was the candle on the nightstand.

“You alright?” Anna asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

“Yeah, I’m just worried about the storm, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Anna reached out and gently grabbed Elsa’s arm, guiding her back to lay in the bed next to her. “Do you want to sleep or keep your mind off things?”

Elsa paused for a brief moment before removing her arm from Anna’s grip. “I don’t know…”

“It’s your choice, either way, I’m here for you.” Anna smiled at her, a flash of lightning lit up the room but no thunder.

It startled Elsa but she remained where she was, staring at Anna. Thinking, always thinking.

“It’s just a storm and this old house seems to be built like a tank anyway.” She made a fist and pounded the wall to prove her point.

Elsa started twirling the end of one of Anna’s braids but her eyes remained locked on Anna’s. The delayed thunderclap came and Elsa inhaled sharply. Anna leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead.

“You sure this is okay?” Elsa asked and Anna nodded, running the back of her hand down the other girl’s cheek. “Let’s get our mind off of things then.”

Elsa crawled till she was straddling Anna who gazed up at her with eyes that shown like stars in the candlelight.

“What’s your favorite constellation?”

“Hmm, probably Orion, because you can find his belt so easy,” Anna answered, “Yours?” “Your eyes”

“Ew, that’s so fucking cheesy.”

Elsa leaned down, her mouth slightly agape. Anna’s eyes fluttered shut as her hands found their way to the other woman’s shoulders.

The storm, the damage, their car, all these things could wait until tomorrow. Tonight they were out of their control so for tonight they didn’t matter.

Elsa blew out the candle, and they both plunged into the sinful escape of the darkness.

[rynhaswritersblock]

new york boy (hc) | p.p.

a/n: 50TH IMAGINE WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWWWWWWWWWWW!! this shit go 🅱razy!

summary: life is hard when you visit your uncle in new york and all of a sudden there's a cute boy named peter parker in your life (i suck at summaries just stick with me here)

warnings: the usual fluff/hella cussing + like a minute of slight angst, also DEADASS THIS IS LIKE 8.5K WORDS I GOT SO SO SOOOOOO CARRIED AWAY AHSAHDJFKSNFK

ALSO I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONSISTENCIES OR TYPOS OR ANYTHING I LITERALLY WROTE THIS OVER A FEW DAYS AND GOT SO CARRIED AWAY WITH DIFFERENT PLOTLINES AND BASICALLY WHAT IM SAYING IS THIS IS VERY VERY CHAOTIC BUT I HOPE YOU GUYS GET THE POINT LOL

+ + +

- SECOND HEADCANON IN A ROW YEAHYEAH

- you guys i've had a one direction relapse i was literally Obsessed with them like eight years ago (when they were still together rip) and all of a sudden they are just living in my brain Rent Free once again

- btw harry is my favorite and always has been. call me basic but it's been an eight year bond so try and fight that 😌✋

- anyways time to write the actual fucking story

- haha Oops!

- no i didn't accidentally spell oops "opps" at first. the fact that you even think that is complete absurdity

- CAN LITTLE THINGS BY 1D STOP MAKING ME EMOTIONAL RIGHT NOW

- this is the eighth bullet point and i have yet to get into the actual story holy fuck

- guys i just watched knives out (yeah i know i'm late whatever) and i haven't fully processed it yet but it was Muy Bueno!

- STEAL MY GIRL IS PLAYING

i knowwww i knowwww i knowwww for sure

EVERYBODY WANNA STEAL MY GIRL

EVERYBODY WANNA TAKE HER HEART AWAY

- i am so sorry

- OKAY THIS IS WHERE THE ACTUAL STORY STARTS HOLY SHIT

- yeah ❤

- SO BASICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- fuck what is this imagine about again?

- OH RIGHT

- OKAY

- YOU'RE TONY STARK'S NIECE OKAY

- don't ask me how that works i have No Fucking Clue (which i'm sure you've gathered at this point)

- (i don't know what i'm doing)

- y'all i've got a headache but ❤ nevertheless she persisted ❤

- so basically

- you live like

- not... in new york...?????????

- so like SOMEWHERE ELSE

- let's say you live in like california

- YEAHYEAH OKAY

- SO LIKE YK HOW TONY USED TO LIVE IN CALI

- so you and uncle tones (😌) were super close when he lived in cali and he'd like pick you up from school and get you ice cream and basically be the Coolest Uncle Ever

- ur mom (let's say she's tony's sister) would be like 🙄 whenever he'd goof around with u but she loved y'all's relationship

- ain't that fluffy

- but THEN

- tony moved to new york

- bitch how fucking rude is that

- so u were like

- a little dead inside

- but that was when you were like six so time moved at Hyper Speed back then and you don't really like Remember the Pain 😀

- OH AND BY THE WAY KINDA IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE!!!!!

- SINCE UR MOM GOT MARRIED SHE TOOK YOUR DAD'S LAST NAME (aka l/n) AND YOU KEEP THE FACT THAT TONY IS YOUR UNCLE A SECRET FOR LIKE SAFETY REASONS IG LOL

- Anyways! from there on you only visit once a year and be there for a week

- but u best BELIEVE those visits were HYPE AS FUCK YEAHYEAH

- when you turned 13 ur mom surprised you by finally letting you start going by yourself

- badass 13 year old y/n 😌

- so u were like Heck Yeah!

- YeahYeah 😀😀😀

- happy picks you up from the airport and ur like "uh hi"

- ANYWAYS THE POINT IS YOU START TRAVELLING TO NEW YORK ALONE

- SO!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE NOW IN PRESENT TIME

- you go on your annual trip

- happy picks you up as per usual

- the usual awkward convo goes on which typically goes something like:

"are you excited to see your uncle" "yeah" "cool" "mhmm"

- yeah ❤

- but anyways by the time you're like 10 mins away you're practically Bouncing in your seat

- happy is like.... Girl. Calm Down! 😀

"oh by the way tony has the kid over today"

- bro Huh???????????

- ??????

- "the kid" Very Specific Thank You!

- you're like "who tf is the kid"

"spider-man"

......

��😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

- your head SPINS over to happy

"he's SPIDER-MAN?"

- happy just gets that Smug Smile Look on his face (y'all know the face) and shrugs, pulling into the garage

- you JUMP out of the car

- you wanna see sum real speed?

"identific-"

"FRIDAY! it's y/n let me in!!!"

- bitch calm down

"welcome back, y/n"

- WANNA SEE SUM REAL SPEED? 2.0

- you BUST through the doors

- not to mention your backpack is Barely Hanging On and happy is still in the garage hurling your suitcase out of the trunk

- sorry happy 😔😔

- happy ain't lookin so happy rn!

"friday, where's my uncle?"

"he's in the laboratory"

- WANNA SEE SUM REAL SPEED?????? 3.0

- go! go! go! go! go! go! go! go!

- spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬

- you FLY down the stairs to the lab

- tony looks over and a smile immediately breaks on his face

- you look disheveled as HELL cause you're like panting and Far Too Excited

- peter looks over and sees you and is like 0_0

- as soon as you see peter you're ALSO like 0_0

- he cute

- wait no fuck he's HOT

"short-circuit!"

- you manage to tear your eyes from peter Somehow and look over at tony, smiling like a madwoman as you jump into his arms and give him a hug

"short-circuit?"

- oh damn

- this kid's Voice!!!!!!!!!!

- adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- you and tony pull apart and tony explains the nickname

"peter, this is y/n, my niece. short-circuit just so happens to come from when this idiotic girl will be talking about something when we're in the lab and she suddenly drifts off and gets this zoned out look on her face. she short-circuits, basically"

- peter's Still like 0_0

- his brain can't even Function Properly because tony was just explaining the next updates to peter's suit and then you're here and you're really pretty and tony apparently has a niece? and Everything Is Happening!!!!!!!!

"well im so sorry that i drift off because my brain is coming up with super cool stuff, which usually tends to make your little inventions even better. let's not forget me figuring out how to properly program JARVIS"

- *not peter's 0_0 look managing to amplify*

- eyebrows are RAISED

- (also quick moment of silence for jarvis i miss him 😔)

in memoriam:

graphic design is my passion 2.0

fyi graphic design is my passion is becoming a new ~segment~ on these hcs because i love making them and i deadass couldn't stop laughing at my last one

- okay back to Da Program

- all tony does is scoff, clapping you on the back

"anyways... peter's interning for me, so i was just explaining-"

- intern? i don't think so!

- time to be a stark and fuck things up!

- YEAHYEAH

"happy told me he was spider-man? the suit is literally on that table over there? unless he's doing both spider-man and an internship? which is honestly impressive, i mean-" you look over at peter, "with school and everything- unless you don't go to school, but still-"

- you look back over and tony and this man is.........

- he's got that Look on his face you know what i'm talking about

"dammit, now i gotta go yell at happy"

"oh shit was i not supposed to know?"

- tony gives you an exasperated look and you're like Oops!

"it would've been better if you didn't know. just don't go running that big mouth of yours"

- you give him an offended look before being like Okay Fine Whatever

- tony is just tired and peter's standing there like OH FUCK UH OKAY??????????

- aka that one scene in infinity war

moving on

"y/n, your room is set up. i'm gonna finish up here with pete and then we can go get cheeseburgers. deal?"

- you smile and nod, giving tony a kiss on the cheek (signature stark move)

- (i'm sad now)

- (fuck)

- you start to walk off and look over at peter

"it was nice meeting you, peter"

- mans is like Oh! Who? Me!

"oH- uh- y- yeah, it was nice meeting you, too"

- you give him a small smile and walk up the stairs out of the lab

- fucking dopey ass smile on your face because YOU JUST MET CUTE BOY SPIDERMAN AND HES CUTE AND HOT AND KJSDFHKSDJF FUCK!!!!!!!!!!

- peter looks back from watching you walk away and makes sure you're out of earshot

- fyi his ears are like Red Red and homeboy looks WHIPPED

- silly goose. fools fall in love

"i-um, i didn't know you had a niece?"

- tony just kind of scoffs

- very original reaction, tony! Never Been Done before, Especially by you! Wow!

"and i didn't realize how little time it takes for you to fall in love. i mean the bar was low but, jeez, kid"

"wait- no- i'm not in love"

"hmm okay. but if i catch you pulling something i will not hesitate to say i told you s-"

"no- yeah- that won't be, uh, that won't be a problem, mr stark"

- yeah tell that to your FACE peter

- he's like No! Of Course Not! meanwhile his face is just 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

- why are emojis so goddamn funny. they're the stupidest shits ever but i love them so much

- ANYWAYS!

- you go to your room and unpack and everything and yeahyeah whatever

- btw tony Knows you so when he first moved into the headquarters he immediately set aside a room for you with a view he knew you'd love and like all ur favorite things (posters, comfy bed and pillows and blankets, any instruments u like to play etc) because Uncle Tony is Bae Man

- then tony like sticks his head in and knocks on the doorframe

- ur like "hola!" (soy dora!)

- is that what she says? fuck idk i didn't take spanish and have the memory of a breadcrumb anyways!

"y/n i think you made my intern fall in love with you"

- bro Huh?????????/

- cute random slash ryn! Very Good At Typing!

"what on earth do you mean?"

- on the inside though ur like YEAHYEAH

- MOVING ON I'M GETTING A BIT DETAILED AND IT'S CONFUSING MY DICKHEAD OF A BRAIN

- you and tony get cheeseburgers yeahyeah okay

- so you have the whole week in nyc right

- guess what

- guess

- the fuck

- what

- can i just make my goddamn point already goodness gracious

- these hcs are literally me just writing down every single thought i have while writing these

- you guys do be living rent free in my brain 0_0

- OH MY GOD ANYWAYS

- you best BELIEVE peter is at headquarters

- every

- fucking

- day

- YEAHYEAH

- now the whole reason for that is

- when you got back from the Cheeseburger Extravaganza! tony called peter and was like

"sup bitch"

- i'm kidding

"kid listen my niece needs a friend and at this point maybe even a boyfriend. she hasn't managed to pull anyone yet and you'd be a nice fit ANYWAYS come over tomorrow and show her around new york"

- now, hearing this, peter cannot breathe

- internal monologue be like holyhdhdjhksjdbfhitshitskjfdbjfk

- basically me

- my thoughts

- ���always✨

- the inner snape in me just came out SORRY

- I JUST MADE MY SCREEN SMALL WHAT THEFUDBS

- oh i fixed it

- okay so YEAH

- peter wakes up next morning and pays SO MUCH ATTENTION TO THE WAY HE LOOKS

- puts on his best science pun tee (i love him so much wtf) and makes sure his hair is just right

- aunt may is like o_0

- Hmm...... something Hinky is going on!

(once you get your bearings, find the carpet that covers the taillight, peel back the carpet, make a fist, punch the taillight out the back of the car, thus creating a hole in the back of the automobile, then stick your little hand out and wave to oncoming motorists to let them know that something hinky is going on!)

- bae man john mulaney

- i can't hear or even fucking THINK of the word hinky without thinking of detective jj bittenbinder STREETSMARTS

- shut up! you're all gonna dieSTREETSMARTS

- guys i'm starting to think i have ADHD

- oh my god okay BACK TO THE FUCKING STORY COME ON KAMRYN

- writing my full/actual name on here felt weird as fuck. dunno how often i'll be doing that okay anyways

- peter gets to headquarters and is immediately met by thor

"ah, the spider!"

0_0

"sir stark said something about you coming today to show madam y/n around the city!"

- thor gives peter the biggest pat on the back and peter Does Not Know How To Act

"uh, yeah, that's um.. that's what i'm doing"

- thor smiles (the smile he gives hulk in that one scene in ragnarok makes me LOSE MY MIND it's so FUNNY)

- can my cat stop rubbing her face on my laptop goddamn

- I MADE MY SCREEN SMALL AGAIN WTF

- okay reset ANYWAYS

- take a shot every time i say anyways

- hi i'm editing this imagine rn and according to ctrl+f i wrote "anyways" 20 times. time to get blackout drunk and chug a bottle of perfume everyone!

- Not Me with the john mulaney reference Again!

- thor's like "go get em kid"

- peters like "y-yeah thanks"

- gets in the elevator and he's still so flustered and confused and anxious

- his voice fucking CRACKS when he asks friday to take him to your floor

- why is it so cute when boys' voices crack wtf

- when he reaches ur door his heart is like WANNA SEE SUM REAL SPEED? 4.0

- he just knocks quietly and ur like "yeah?"

- ohgodohfuckohgodohfuckohgodohfuck

- peter opens the door and the LOOK ON HIS FACE

- he (⊙ˍ⊙)

- as soon as you see him you go into Fight Or Flight ur like (ง •_•)ง...?

- but u regain ur composure cause ur a stark 😎

"oh, hi peter!"

"hey, um,"

- he like slowly walks in

- mans is So Unsure of what he's allowed to do

- ur just like My Man it is OKAY

"mr. stark- your uncle-"

- yes peter i know hes my uncle

"so i said to her, 'we've been married for three and a half years.' and she knew that."

no i will not stop with the john mulaney quotes do not even try me (Do Not Fuck With Me)

"told me to show you around new york today"

- ur like O Shit Okay?

- you already know tony is tryna pull some SHIT because this is deadass like the idk..... at LEAST tenth time you've been to new york??????

- you tell peter you'll be ready in a few and he just cautiously sits on your bed cause he's so unsure of everything (babey)

- the two of you talk about the whole story about you and tony and stuff

"so yeah then he moved to new york and i've just been visiting him for a week once a year"

"wait"

- you look over, aggressively shoving on ur shoes and peter's just Thinking

"if you've been here before then why does mr. stark want me to show you around"

- you shrug

"he's weird like that"

- so ANYWAYS (take a shot!)

- ur ready n stuff so the two of you leave

- sam is being himself ofc so he starts clapping for the two of you and whooping as you walk past

- bucky starts clapping too but he doesn't know what he's clapping for so he's just looking around like o_0? 👏

- (he eventually sees the two of you though and smiles SO BRIGHT)

- sam's like

"I KNOW THE TWO OF YOU JUST MET BUT DAMN Y/N'S BEEN NEEDING A MAN!"

- you turn and almost beat the Fuck out of that bird-man ur like:

┗|｀O′|┛

- WHY IS THT SO FUNYNJFDN

we ┗|｀O′|┛┗|｀O′|┛┗|｀O′|┛┗|｀O′|┛┗|｀O′|┛

WHAT THE FUCKDBGKDJFGNSKDJFNHEHAHHFSBJDFA

┗|｀O′|┛I'M WALKIN HERE!

- oh my god ANYWAYS (TAKE A SHOT)

- tony just chillin in the back with a smug look on his face

- so you guys just start walking through the streets and peter just points out random things

"this is where an old lady gave me a churro"

"right up there is where i did a flip for this guy at a hot dog cart"

"i hung a bike robber right here- oh shoot well like i didn't hang him but i like suspended him in the air.. with my web.... if you, uh, know what i'm sayingi'mgonnastoptalkingnow"

- ur like bitch if you keep acting like this (aka like yourself) imma start Acting Up

- it's Too Cute

- the two of you take the subway to get to queens so he can show you around His Area Of New York

- which is a whole experience cause it's

- the fucking

- subway

- in new york

- you see a subway rat and you get SO EXCITED

- the fucking brightest smile is on your face and peter just looks at you in awe because it's a fucking rat but for some reason you got so happy over it???????

- the subway car was PACKED AS HELL (aka peter. we all know it)

- (there's NO WAY peter's dick is small moving on)

- so the two of you are forced to hold onto the pole things

- and since cali doesn't have subways and subway poles are not something you generally see

- does it? i've never fucking been there i shouldn't be spitting facts that probably aren't actually facts

- for the sake of this imagine california does not have subways

😌

- you decide to Pull a Move and fucking wrap your leg around it, laughing as you spin slightly

- very ungracefully might i add

- we're talking about y/n. the Clumsy Messy Hair Bitch from every goddamn book on this app

- can we talk about how y/n is a whole ass character. like ask anyone who reads fanfic to describe y/n and they Would Not describe themselves DESPITE THE FACT THAT Y/N LITERALLY MEANS "YOUR NAME"

- anyways (two shots of vodka *glug glug*)

- peter gets slightly flustered at your stripper move but covers it up with a laugh

- something about The Way peter's holding onto the pole above ur head is VERY ATTRACTIVE

- now is the time to go look back at the gif i used for this imagine

"what's a camera like you doing in a place like this?"

- fuck you tom for being cute shut up

- the car stumbles and

- CLICHE MOMENT ALERT y'all know what's going on

- you stumble slightly and peter (speedy spidey reflexes) quickly grabs you by the waist to steady you

- AWKWARD MOMENT

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"thanks"

"oh- yeah, uh, no problem"

- he like... awkwardly pulls his hand away from your waist and suddenly his hand feels like a fucking lead balloon with No Purpose so he just stuffs it in his pocket because Pockets!

- you lowkey wish he'd kept his hand on your waist OOPS

- we desperate for human contact 😔

- the two of y'all get off the subway at his stop and as soon as you step out into the like Actual Street or Whatever you're like 😀 cause it's so PRETTY and it's peter's home so it's even more exciting

- you get lunch at delmar's (ofc)

- mr delmar kept making suggestive eyes between the two of you so you were like o_0

- but it was SO CUTE BECAUSE PETER AND MR DELMAR JUST HAD SUCH A CUTE RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER

- AND FUCKING MR DELMAR HAD THE BALLS TO GO

"supongo que ya no preguntarás por mi hija, eh?"

- WHICH

- IF YOU DON'T SPEAK SPANISH CAUSE I SURE AS HELL DON'T

- thank u google translate for the assistance😌

- TRANSLATES TO "guess you won't be asking about my daughter anymore, huh?"

como estas tu hija eh?

that'll be ten dollars

IT'S FIVE DOLLARS

- anyways (shots! shots! shots shots shots shots! shots!)

- ur like Bro Huh and peter's like NOTHING

- and fucking 🅱ETER

- this BITCH

- ALSO HAD THE BALLS TO FUCKING REPLY IN SPANISH

"ella es la hija del señor stark" (she's mr. stark's daughter)

- ngl you couldn't breathe for a second

- cause who The Fuck can when 🅱eter 🅱ucking 🅱arker speaks ESPAÑOL

- ????????????? WHO

- moving on (not saying a****** to give you a break from the shots you're welcome)

- you get your sandwiches and they fucking SLAP

- peter smiles SO HARD WHEN HE SEES YOUR REACTION CAUSE HE'S SO EXCITED THAT YOU LIKE HIS FAVORITE SANDWICH (not you saying "i'll have what he has" just because you were too busy thinking about him speaking spanish oops)

- the two of you share a bag of gummy worms

- overall 11/10 experience

- i got a bit carried away with that and we're running on over 3000 (rip) words here so i'm gonna hurry this up goodness fuck

- editing ryn here to say HAHA 3000 words little did i Fucking Know

- the two of you get back to headquarters and peter DROPS YOU OFF AT YOUR ROOM LIKE THE GENTLEMAN HE IS AND IT'S KINDA AWKWARD BECAUSE HOW ON EARTH WOULDN'T IT BE BUT HE'S SO CUTE SO IT'S OKAY

- ngl you lay on your bed for a second like "wait was that a date?"

- peter legit just walks to the end of the hallway before closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall, letting out a sigh

- he's like holy shit i need to stop getting so whipped over girls within less than 24 hours

- then fucking sir STANK rounds the corner

"hey, pete! how was showing short-circuit around?"

"oh, hi, uh, it was good"

- this boy is fucking Flustered As Hell

"good? good. what'd y'all do?"

"we, just, um, walked around and i showed her around queens, too"

- tony just looks at him for a second and is like damn this kid needs a break i'll lay off of him

- so like the Cool Guy he is he like awkwardly pats peter on the shoulder and walks over to your room

- u and tones have a convo about your day and you end up gushing about it a little bit OOPS

- tony is so proud of himself him and his egotistical ass Goodness

- a n y w a y s  ( t a k e  a  s h o t ! )

- peter ends up coming over everyday because It's Summer! and he has No Life!

- just thought i'd let you know that i have spent the last couple days binge watching bestdressed's videos and now everything i write down is being narrated by ashley

- actually fuck that everything i THINK is narrated by ashley

- also can we gush about her in the comments like she seems like the coolest person ever and like the big sister i never had and she's so open about her life and funny and quirky but in a good way and i just have So Much Respect For Her!!!!!!!!!!!

- and i want her apartment SO BAD I'M LITERALLY OBSESSED WITH IT

- THE FUCKING FIRE ESCAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- not me having a weird obsession with fire escapes ever since reading/writing peter parker fics which tend to involve them in some way or another

- SO YEAH peter's hanging around a lot

- at first it's a bit weird cause you're like..... You Don't Live Here.....??????????? but At This Point You Almost Do????????????????

- AIN'T NO COMPLAINTS THOUGH

- the two of you break the ice pretty quick

- the night of the day after peter showed you around (did that make any sense at all probably not) you were just chilling in your room watching uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

- let me think rq

- um okay uhhhhhh (bonus points to you if you read that in peter's voice)

- OKAY SO YOU'RE WATCHING LADY BIRD (bomb movie)

- fun fact time! i like saying "what you do is very baller" at random times because idk why but that line makes me laugh SO HARD

- timothee's character in general was just..... so............

- ????????????

- yeah so you're watching lady bird and peter passes your doorway cause he was "going on a walk"

- headass

- you see him and ur like o_0

"peter?"

- bitch fucking TRIPS

- oh u got me trippinnnnn oh stumblinnnnn oh flippinnnnnnn oh fumblinnnn oh

- clumsy cause i'm falling in ~love~

- are those the right lyrics? eh whatever

- CANADA EH

ah the serotonin.. okay MOVING ON

"y-yeah? oH hi y/n didntuhhhhhhh didn't see you there"

- he's casually scratching the back of his neck because he's nervy

"yeah, i'm, um..."

- YOU'RE NERVY TOO

- composure equals regained though bc stark. yeah!

- my thoughts are........ incoherent

"i'm watching lady bird, uh, if you wanna join"

- WATCH A MOVIE?

- WITH YOU?????????????????

- hells yeah!

"o-oh, yeah, sure"

- mans awkwardly waddles in and sits at the edge of your bed

"you can like... lay down, peter. i don't bite"

- he just awkwardly lays down and his side lightly presses against yours

- you have to shut your eyes for a second because MAN does unexpected contact from a boy have such a big effect on you

- not even kidding one of my guy friends patted me on the head as he walked past my desk and i DEADASS GOT BUTTERFLIES I WAS SO ASHAMED

- LIKE WHAT THE FUCK WHO ALLOWED THAT ???????????????

- so anyways (🥂)

- why isn't there a shot glass emoji this is discrimination (i'm kidding)

- the movie was great like

- you and peter would just laugh at random parts and eventually just started critiquing every little moment

- it ended up as a very great moment very nice very cool

- we like furthering our relationships with cute boys :D

- those of you who have been following the story (on my message board) abt the boy i'm talking to aka furthering my relationship with... yeahyeah!

- essentially you and peter start hanging out every day

- the Chemistry you have is Unmatched

- like you just clicked really well

- mainly y'all just watch tv in the commons

- you binge watch i'm not okay with this even though you've already seen it

- peter's like "so why do you like this show so much?"

- ur like 0_0 ... "the plot"

THE PLOT IN QUESTION: stanley barber

- who happens to give me peter parker vibes a little bit

- food network turns on and it takes you like five minutes tops to migrate to the kitchen

- the brownies y'all made did not turn out well

- bucky took a bite, made a face, then smirked

"you two put weed in here?"

- no, bitch, we just suck at baking

- lots of late night convos ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- BIG ICEBREAKERS THERE

"wait so like... how big do you expect our dicks to be"

"peter what the fuck"

"i'm curious!"

- if you haven't had one of those convos with someone of the opposite gender... You Haven't Lived

- also why do guys like talking about their dicks so much???? the amount of comments they make about them during those convos.. meanwhile i'm just trying to figure out their personality 😔

- the two of you even spend time in the lab together

- this is when he sees ~short-circuit~ in action

- y'all are doing some dumbass experiment idk

- OOH IDEA

- so y'all are making ✨something✨ for an upgrade on peter's suit

- my idea was only half developed don't make fun of me

- and you make a Stunning Realization and fucking SPIN around in your chair to face peter

- ur just rambling making science-y smart connections and peters like holy shit she's a fucking genius of course she is how on earth did she just

- and then as you get further into your discovery you suddenly just cut off and stare into the distance with this Super Serious Look on your face

- THE WAY THAT AS I WROTE "SUPER" 1D WENT "I CAN'T BE NO SUPERMAN"

(but for you i'll be superhuman!)

- then you just SPIN AROUND in your chair and start working on the suit again

- peter's just like 0_0 for a moment

"huh, okay"

- it takes you a few seconds to realize he even said anything but then you look up and ur like 0_0 (we're gonna have to start taking a shot every time i use that face goodness fuck)

"what?"

"you short-circuited!"

- he's all giddy and smiley about it too cause he FINALLY UNDERSTANDS

"shut up, parker"

- peter Totally has a thing for being called parker i just know it

- MY CAT JUST JUMPED UP AND CLAWED ME

- greedy bitch

- AS I WAS SAYING...

- once you get in the ~thing~ that you designed for the suit

- okay i really need to think of an actual upgrade give me a min

- OKAY SO YOU MADE A VOICE CHANGER

- wow very cool, me! innovation that Excites!

- we're just gonna ignore the fact that the interrogation protocol has a voice changer got it? yeahyeah

- peter's like No Way when you tell him you finished it

- you slip on the mask and tell karen to activate the Grown Man Protocol (not peter being offended by the name)

- you start talking and immediately BUST OUT LAUGHING because you sound like Siri

- and since you're Hella Genius you made it so you could change the voices just like how siri is

- so suddenly you're a BRITISH MAN

- you and peter can't stop laughing

- you give it to peter and then you're like

"wait no try it on with the suit too"

- peter's like o_0?

"for effect!"

- walter beckett?

- TOM?

- okay whatever

- peter's like

"okay um i'm just gonna uh... change over here"

- you nod and turn around

- just the sound of his clothes hitting the ground itself gives you butterflies

- and then you realize

- you can deadass See Him Through The Reflection Of The Microscope

- is that even possible? for the sake of this imagine Yes

- your face gets SO HOT

- it's a very small reflective area thing so not a lot of detail but ENOUGH TO SHOW HIS TONED SEXY ASS PHYSIQUE

- fucking crush me peter please i beg it would be an honor

"i want you to do it so i can stomp you with my hooves, i'm so fucking crazy"

- (crazy for you, peter!)

"okay it's on"

- you practically BLAST around in your seat because the VOICE IS WORKING AND IT'S STILL BRITISH

- peter your tom is showing

- ngl though you couldn't stop thinking about how peter looked through the reflection and you didn't even want to THINK about how he would look-

...

- you know

- in all actuality you did want to think about it like think about it for literally the rest of your life if you could but we're gonna ignore that

- nonetheless the experience was Muy Bueno Very Fun and you and peter spent a solid hour just messing with the voices

- ALSO!!!!!!!!!! another plotline: WHEN PETER'S AT HEADQUARTERS FOR A LEGITIMATE REASON

- that reason being training

- let me just say

- even though he only trained twice during ur visit

- you fucking CHERISHED those moments

- because when peter told you the night before his training session that he would be training in the morning you were like Hmm...... I Need To See This

- so you deadass "take a walk" (Very Peter Of You) by the training room

- and ur met with the sight of this:

i hate him so fucking much

who the FUCK ALLOWED THIS i can't breathe

- you definitely take out your phone to snap a few pics DON'T EVEN LIE TO ME YOU WOULD

- ur camera is on live mode too 😌

- then you run away before you get caught but DAMN

- when you go back to your room you just Inspect those pics like a crazy person and keep replaying the live

- then u look at the time

"friday, when does peter's training end?"

"peter parker's training is scheduled to finish in two minutes"

- TWO MINUTES?

- SAY LESS!

- you check yourself in the mirror before ZOOMING downstairs and distracting yourself in the kitchen

- silently thanking the gods (thor?) that no one was in the kitchen when you got there

- (hi i'm getting carried away with this mini plot so just like don't mind it)

- (carried away as in i really really did get carried away LOL)

- you're like what the fuck i can't just Stand Here in the Middle of the Kitchen so you grab some strawberries from the refrigerator and start cutting them up (they just Taste Better that way don't fight me) for a "snack"

THE SNACK IN QUESTION: peter

- yeah ❤

- just as you pop one into your mouth peter walks in to get a glass of water

- now let me just set the scene:

you: mouth in a weird 'o' shape as your mouth forgets how to chew because fucking peter just walked in peter: curly hair a sweaty mess, skin glistening with sweat, wearing black shorts and a gray tank top which Just Fucking Ends You, his usual adorable baby face, oh and he's also panting cause he's fucking exhausted and now you're also out of breath because damn that is Hot strawberries: chopped

"oh, hi y/n"

- the fucking PANTING

- why is breathing heavy so hot?

- i think we all know

"hey, peter"

- shoutout to your stark genes for giving you fake confidence whenever you need it

"want any strawberries?"

- he fucking chugs half of his water just Right In Front Of You

the jawline i hate him so much can he shut up right now like genuinely please shut the fuck up goodness fucking gracious tom

jk please step on me

- he swallows and has Finally Caught his Breath

"oh, yeah, thank you"

- he just walks over to you

- as if he doesn't look the way he does

- and just grabs a strawberry and pops it into his mouth

- nonchalantly or whatever

- you pray to THOR he can't hear your heart as it fucking SLAMS AGAINST YOUR STERNUM

- it's beating so fast it's like LET ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- he hums

"strawberries taste so much better after training"

- you know what would taste better after training?

- lol

"thank you for the snack, i'm gonna go shower now"

- he elbows you and smiles lightly

- you almost can't speak because it's all Far Too Much for you to handle rn

"no problem, peter"

- as if you weren't having a heart attack okay

- i really got caught up in that but WHATEVER

- ladies and gents we are running on over 5k words at this point holy shit

- SO I'M GONNA START WRAPPING THIS UP A LITTLE

- basically you and peter become good friends by the end of your trip

- and then

- the dreaded

😔

- time to leave, bros

- the night before is kinda weird cause you and peter are just hanging out on the roof of headquarters because why not

"leaving new york usually doesn't feel as weird as this"

- peter looks over at you

- btw at this point 🅱eter is Beyond Whipped so he's fucking SAD that you're going home

"what do you mean?"

- the two of you share a look and it's very sad because you both know that you've become really good friends and both want a bit more

- part of you considers being a baddie and just trying to like at LEAST kiss him tonight (maybe more wink wink) so you could at least have that before you go but you chicken out

- the two of you say goodbye that night because your flight is at the Crack of Dawn

- he awkwardly pulls you in for a hug and suddenly you deeply consider locking yourself in your room so nobody can make you leave

- and then you remember vision can fucking Hover through walls and you're like Well Damn!

- you hug him tightly (a bit too tight yeah maybe)

- when you pull apart this Bitch literally goes

"well it was nice meeting you"

- you CAN'T FUCKING HOLD IT IN AND JUST MAKE THE MOST OBSCENE LAUGHING NOISE

"peter we spent a week together and you're acting like we had a 5 minute encounter"

"i don't know how to act!"

- me neither, peter. me neither

- so you leave in the morning and you're fucking UPSET

- tony is in the car with you and happy and he WONT STOP TALKING ABOUT YOU AND PETER BECAUSE YOU SPENT AT LEAST HALF OF YOUR TIME WITH HIM

- YOU'RE LIKE SHUT UP I'M GOING THROUGH A HEARTBREAK OVER A BOY I'VE KNOWN FOR SEVEN DAYS

- aren't we all

- your goodbye to tony is sad but like Not Even As Sad as your goodbye with peter which is KINDA MESSED UP BUT

- the heart wants what it wants

- and just when you get on the plane

- is when you realize

- you and peter didn't get each other's numbers

...

- Wtf 💔

- so THE WHOLE PLANE RIDE IS SAD

- YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC AND DRAMATICALLY LOOK OUT THE WINDOW LIKE UR IN A SAD MUSIC VIDEO FOR HALF THE FLIGHT

- YOU ALSO REWATCH LADY BIRD :,(((((((((((((((((((((((( in remembrance of the good old times

- when you get home you're like kinda happy to be home but you miss new york and tony and peter and everyone So Much

- even ur mom notices she's like 🤨 Hmm... this Ain't The Usual!

- so this is where the request ended off but i'm adding to it because i do Not want to leave this on an angsty note

- I'M ABOUT TO HIT 6K WORDS BUT IT'S FINE

- LET'S CRANK THIS OUT WOOT WOOT

- so peter just so happens to wake up that morning and SIT UP VERY QUICKLY AS IT HITS HIM

- (ur like on ur flight probably zooming over the Goddamn Midwest)

- he has the same realization that you did

"may!"

- the woman RUNS in she's like WHATISEVERYTHINGOKAYAREYOUOKAY

"i just realized i didn't get y/n's number"

- woman melts she's like i thought you were fucking DYING goddamn spider bitch boy

- but then she melts even more because she didn't even need peter to tell her how Whipped he is

"awh, i'm sorry hon"

- next time peter goes to headquarters he talks to tony and the mans just like This Is Your Fault!

- but then nat pops in

"peter, you do realize you could probably find her on social media, right"

- moment of silence for you and peter's stupidity because somehow Neither Of You Thought Of That???????????

- rip

- as soon as he leaves from training (looking Sexy As Hell) he searches your name on instagram

- "y/n stark"

- and nothing shows up

- because you never told him your actual last name because IT NEVER CAME UP

- he just assumed it was stark cause why wouldn't he

- SO HE'S LIKE :,)

- until his next time at headquarters

"mr. stark i couldn't find her on instagram"

- tony's like i really got this kid hooked huh

"pretty sure she has one, pete"

"well i looked her up! y/n stark. nothing"

- then tony's like oHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"kid, her last name's l/n."

- peter just sits there like 0_0 for a second before it all ties together in his head and makes sense

"oh my god"

- SO HE GETS YOUR INSTAGRAM

- he definitely looks through all his posts and deletes a few embarrassing ones before requesting to follow you

INSTAGRAM peterbparker has requested to follow you.

- you SHOOT UP IN YOUR BED

- NOBODY MOVE

- you do the same thing peter did and look through all your posts and delete a few before accepting his request

- and then you request back and he immediately accepts it

- commence the hour of stalking!

- the two of you just fucking Investigate each others' accounts before peter's like O Shit! i should Probably message her!

peterbparker: Right after you left I realized I forgot to get your number

- kinda awkward but your heart is RACING you're like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- the two of you begin talking and get each other's numbers and snapchats and whatever

- over time the two of you get really close over the internet like

- you become the first ones you go to when you see a dog or get food at a cool place or see a funny meme/tiktok or just like have a problem in general or want to talk

- and ofc you gush about him to your friends and they're like

- Girl... u really fell for a New York Boy Huh

- after a few months you finally muster up the courage to facetime him

- you almost Collapse once his face shows up because guess the fuck what

- he just finished training

- mua ha haaaa

"hello!"

- he says it all goofy like hi hello we're facetiming now holy shit oh FUCK we're FACETIMING!!!!!!?????!?!?!?!?

- i luv him

- the two of you talk for a bit and you fan yourself off-screen because the sight of him Genuinely made you light on fire and plus you were just nervous in general

- he even runs around the entire fucking building to find everyone so you can say hi cause he's babey

- the team DEFINITELY yells stuff like "lovebirds!" and "date already!" in the background and peter's face just gets So Red

- he finds tony and deadass goes

"mr. stark! it's your niece!"

- tony's like No Shit!

- overall amazing 100/10 time facetiming

- so the two of you start facetiming practically every day even though it's not summer anymore and you're back in school and have hella busy lives (peter's literally a superhero?)

- you'll facetime while doing homework and he'll help you with physics (even though you don't really need the help you pretend you do anyways) and it's so cute when he does because he Loves physics so much so he gets really excited and into it

- sometimes you'll fall asleep while on ft and he'll take screenshots

- ngl he set his favorite one as his lockscreen because he loved it so much and ned and mj definitely saw it and were lowkey like 🥺🥺 cause they ship you two so hard

- and when he'd fall asleep on ft you'd take screenshots too and look at them every time you missed him

- NOW THE EXCITING PART

- so it's winter now

- the Horrible Disgusting period between thanksgiving and christmas break

- because of finals the two of you facetime a bit less so it's kinda sad

- BUT THEN

- right when you get out of school for christmas break you're about to call peter so the two of you can celebrate (not peter checking the time every few minutes after he got out of school because he's a couple hours ahead)

- somebody's got a surprise

- you get a call from peter right when you get into your car and you're like Perfect Timing Hell Yeah

- you answer it and are met with the sight of him and tony smiling at the camera

*immediately screenshots it*

"oh, hi tony!"

"we have a surprise"

- peter's like bouncing from excitement and tony gives him a look before starting to talk

"we're fl-"

"WE'RE FLYING YOU TO NEW YORK FOR CHRISTMAS!"

- peter interrupts and tony looks so defeated but YOU BARELY EVEN NOTICE BECAUSE YOU'RE SO EXCITED

- tony explains everything cause he worked it out with your parents (y'all are just gonna celebrate early)

- (tony doesn't say this but deadass the reason ur parents even let you is because they know how much you wanna go back mainly to see peter)

- eventually tony leaves the two of you alone to talk and you're just in your car in the school parking lot practically yelling at your phone as you and peter talk about how excited you are

"and you can finally meet may-"

"may!"

"yes, may! and we can go back to delmar's and see murph-"

"murph!"

- peter can't stop smiling cause you're so excited and you look so cute cause you're Trying Your Best to get out of the parking lot while maintaining excitement

"can we go see times sq- MOTHERFUCKER GET OUT OF THE WAY JESUS CHRI- sorry peter i didn't mean to explode"

- if anything that made you even cuter in his eyes

- you and peter facetime while you pack and neither of you can handle your excitement AT ALL

- the night before you leave you're both in your beds across the country just talking quietly to each other over the phone and it's like the quiet cute excitement because you're seeing each other in less than 24 hours and you're both so so whipped by each other and just Cannot Wait

- it's really late ESPECIALLY for peter since he's ahead of you but he doesn't care at ALL

- so y'all are just whispering to each other

"i'm so excited, pete"

"i know, me too"

"i'm not gonna know how to act"

"me neither. you're not allowed to make fun of how awkward i am, okay?"

"peter, you being awkward is cute"

- the two of you can barely sleep from excitement but you fall asleep (on ft ofc) with smiles on your faces

- as soon as you wake up you text peter and you're like GO GO GO (spinch🥬spinch🥬spinch🥬)

- you call him one last time while you're waiting at the gate

"i think i'm gonna pee myself"

"well if you do at least clean yourself up before i get there"

- his LAUGH

- the boyish laugh that FUcking Ends Me

"i'm still so amazed at how i managed to convince mr. stark to let me pick you up"

- you can't stop smiling especially at the thought of peter DRIVING (hot as FUCK)

"you'd better be a good driver, peter"

"it's fine, the car has autopilot so we won't die"

"glad to hear it, pete- oh sHIT my plane's boarding"

- peter FREAKS OUT

"have a safe and amazing flight and text me when you land, okay?"

"i will peter, thank you. see you in new york"

"see you in new york"

- y'all say that in the most Giddy Way (literally how could you not)

- you're bouncing in your seat the whole flight and the dude next to you is like o_0

- the SECOND you land you text peter

y/n: IM HERE IM HERE WE JUST LANDED ILL BE OFF THE PLANE IN A FEW MINUTES

- peter's sitting in this Far Too Expensive Car and he's just bouncing in his seat cause he has so much pent up energy

- he gets the text and that's when it really settles in

- he starts freaking out a little and like constantly checks himself in the rearview mirror and starts playing the playlist the two of you made together (puppy eyes) and makes sure he smells good

- then he sees you walk out out of the airport looking really excited and tired and confused

- mans JUMPS OUT OF THE CAR

"y/n!"

- you see him and ur literally smiling SO HARD

- you run at him, suitcase flopping around and backpack nearly falling off of your shoulders

- but you look so cute and peter can't handle it especially when the two of you finally make contact and your arms wrap around him

- he squeezes you so tight and even lifts you off the ground cause he's Strong and Excited

- that sounded a bit sexual OOPS

- you can't even process the fact that you're finally back in peter's arms after half a year and now you're literally so much closer than you were when you left new york last summer

- when you pull apart you can't stop looking at each other and just smiling giddily

- your arms are still like holding onto each other

- what finally breaks you is a fucking Ungodly gust of wind and you're like

"holy shit winter here is a lot colder than cali"

"oH, right, uh we have blankets in the car"

- the two of you just take another few seconds to look at each other until it gets a bit awkward and you clear your throats

"i can take your bag?"

"yeah, thanks"

- you watch his muscles flex as he lifts your suitcase into the back and you're like i hate this man

- this GENTLEMAN even RUNS OVER TO YOUR SIDE AND OPENS YOUR DOOR FOR YOU BEFORE YOU GET THE CHANCE

- you MELT

- when you sit down he closes the door for you and you're hit with the sound of your shared playlist and the car smells like peter's scent and it's AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- when he gets into the driver seat (which was very attractive to watch) you're just staring at him excitedly

"you put on our playlist!"

"why wouldn't i?"

- he smiles at you before reaching back and getting the blankets for you, also turning on your seat heater to make sure you're comfy

- mans just watches you as you shift around, buckling in and getting your backpack situated at your feet

- by the time you're all ready and stuff you look over and he's just looking at you

"pete-"

"would it be too soon for me to kiss you?"

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- it takes you a second to process but you're like OH MY GODKFSDKNFSK

"yeah, peter, it would"

- your serious tone RUINS PETER

- HE'S LIKE OH MY GOD WHY DID I ASK THAT WHY DO I EXIST

- until you laugh and wrap a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him to you and planting your lips on his

- (AAAAAAAAAAHDKSJDFHSKJDFBKSDJGNSDKJFNADSJKABBJFS)

- bonus: the two of you are just singing in the car and (peter looks so hot when he's driving anyways) peter suddenly goes silent and you're like "what" and he just glances at you before going "is it bad that i really want to pull over so i can kiss you again?"

- double bonus: he pulls over and y'all makeout LOL

+ + +

holy FUCK i got so so carried away but i really like this one soooooo

OKAY HERE'S MY LITTLE THANK YOU NOTE IN HONOR OF THE 50TH IMAGINE AAAAAAAAAA: you GUYS. when i started this book it was literally just me being like "i'm in love with this fictional boy and need an outlet and have FAR too many ideas," which is really how every fanfic writer starts tbh. but oh my god, i never expected to get so much love and support and just such an amazing experience from this. there are people all over the world that read my chaotic fluffy shit, that are actually touched by my work and it legitimately blows my mind. 180k reads in almost a year? like 250 followers? INSANE. i've made so many friends on here that i can come to when i have no one in my real life to talk to and every time i reach out, you guys are here for me and so incredibly supportive and helpful and amazing. i love each and every comment you guys post on my works. they make me laugh so hard and are so beyond sweet and make my heart melt. some of them blow my mind cause you guys will be like "omg hi you responded oh my god i love your work" and like hype me so much and i'm like BRUH!!!! i'm literally just a stressed out, anxiety ridden teenage girl in love with peter parker lol and the fact that you guys support me so much and love my work just truly makes me so happy. i love writing and i love that my writing has reached other people, even if it's literally just silly fanfiction. I APPRECIATE AND LOVE YOU GUYS WITH EVERYTHING IN ME AND EVEN IF I DON'T REPLY TO YOUR COMMENT I SEE IT AND YOU GUYS MAKE ME SMILE AND AAAAAAAAAAAKJSDFNKJDF <33333333333333

okay now i have 5 more requests to write HAHA but i hope u guys are having an amazing day/night/whatever and that ur drinking enough water and eating enough and staying happy and healthy <3 MWAH!

[talesofawaywardsoul]

A friend of mine recently started sending our group story prompts. I saw this as a perfect way to actually use this tumblr for its intended purpose which was to get me writing again and actually sharing what I wrote. Today while at work I pushed out a little short story based on the first prompt she sent. Hope you enjoy!

Prompt: Curse breaking only pays like, half the bills. The other half comes from Arby’s. (I changed it to Burger King)

The Curse Breaker’s Curse

Every hero or adventurer has a struggle that haunts them, a battle they lost, a person they couldn’t save, a villain that eludes them. It comes with the territory.

For me it was a curse, the only curse in my long career of curse breaking that I’ve never been able to break. The curse of working in food retail.

“Hey buddy you listening?”

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Jesus Christ, I don’t have all day you know. I shouldn’t have to repeat myself, you should be doing your job. I got places to be, important places. I don’t have time to be dicked around.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“I want the whopper without the lettuce, tomato and onion.”

“So a cheeseburger?”

“No a whopper without the lettuce, tomato and onion.”

“Without that on it, it’s just a cheeseburger. It would be cheaper for me to charge you for that.”

“Yeah except I don’t want a cheeseburger, are you dense. I want a whopper.”

I wanted to respond. Wanted to break my vow and place a curse instead of break it. It would be so easy. But the side eye from my manager stopped me.

“Of course, sorry about that. Would you like to make it a meal?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, you can check the screen for the price.”

“What, why is it so much?”

“That’s the price for a meal.”

What a Neanderthal.

“No, that’s not what the board says.”

I turn to look at the large menu board. With my back to the customer I finally roll my eyes, a nice deep eye flip. An easy ten if eye rolling was a gymnastic sport. I finally turned back to the customer.

“That’s the price for just the sandwich.”

“This is ridiculous. I order the same thing every time I come and I’ve never paid that much. Where is your manager?”

My manager had been nearby the whole time, listening to everything. I only had to turn around and he was walking over.

“What seems to be the problem sir?”

“This cashier is overcharging me for a whopper meal. He’s obviously charging me some fee for asking for it without the tomatoes, onions and lettuce.”

“Everything he has entered is correct. There are no additional fees.”

“This is ridiculous. You are making me late for a very important meeting. I am not paying this ridiculous amount.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. What I can do in this instance is ring you up for just the whopper and drink and give you the fries for free. That will bring you closer to the price you mentioned. Is that satisfactory?”

“Fine, whatever. Just put my order in so I can leave.”

I tried to keep my anger at bay as I watched my manager ring up a cheeseburger with a meal add on. The customer shoved his card at him and then huffed off with it as soon as it was swiped, without his receipt.

I stared at the customer imagining him breaking out in boils or weeping sores. I whispered a quick phrase in Latin as he walked away. Not an actual curse just more of a marking. If any other curse breakers interacted with him in passing they would avoid him.

“My office please.”

The manager didn’t even wait for a response. A fellow employee who had seen most of what occurred gave me a sympathetic look. No one enjoyed the manager's chats.

“Please have a seat.”

I sat gingerly on the overturned crate that sat diagonally from the desk. This room was never meant as a real office. Just a dumping ground for the safe, important papers and security cameras.

“You’ve been with us for what two years now?”

I nodded.

“I know customers like that can get annoying especially the longer you’ve been here but we have to be diplomatic with them.”

I stared at the monitors behind my manager instead of directly at him. The customer had just received his food.

“I know customers like that can be difficult but we have to be empathetic, who knows what’s going on in his life, maybe he’s cursed.”

I didn’t find his joke funny. People are either assholes or not, it has nothing to do with curses. Most norms don’t truly understand curses. Or the fact that the people like me out there breaking them don’t get paid near the amount we should. Most of what I make is from cleaning up after people trying to break a curse themselves and no one thinks they should have to pay as much when they “got the process going”.

“Tell me, where do you see yourself in five years, surely not as a simple cashier. There has to be more you want to do with your life.”

I’m only six years older than him, but he has a way of making me feel ancient.

“I think you have potential as assistant manager but we’ve got to work on your attitude. Act like you want to be here, like you care about the work and the customers. I see you going places.”

Yeah out the door in thirty seconds.

“Think about it, okay. Here’s the application, take it home with you.”

I took the application, wishing I was a pyrotechnic instead of a curse breaker and could burn it right there in front of him.

“I’ll take a look at it, thank you.”

“Good to hear. That’s all.”

I stood to leave.

“Oh make sure you clean the bathrooms before you leave.”

I looked at my watch as I stepped out of the office closet. It was already 4, time to clock out. I considered just not doing the bathrooms but I believed strongly in Karma, unfortunately.

I went to the back and started grabbing the cleaning supplies. Maybe it was just time to quit. I could manage on just curse breaking for a bit. I’d have more time to build my clientele. I shook my head. I knew it would never work. I had rent payments, insurance, had to eat no matter how much I tried living off rice and beans it never worked for long. My student loans were out of control. Why I ever thought going into curse breaking was a viable career I’ll never know.

I grudgingly pushed the mop bucket toward the front using the mop as the steer. A customer was at the counter but I pretended not to notice. I almost kept going but realized the other cashier was nowhere around. I wanted to go home, why couldn’t I go home.

“What can I get for you?”

“Hi, can I get a Big King with a meal and a chocolate shake.”

“Sure thing. Will that be all?”

“Actually there was something else.”

She looked from side, getting an eyebrow raise from me.

“I hear you’re the person to ask about breaking a curse.”

I tensed slightly and looked around. I could get into trouble talking about my “side business” at work but I didn’t want to miss out on a potential client.

“Im off in like 15 minutes. Can I find you after?”

“Of course. I’ll be sitting in that booth.”

I rang her up. I couldn’t even hide the smile on my face. I hadn’t had a new client in weeks. I rushed through cleaning the bathrooms. I wasn’t going to be any later than the fifteen minutes I told her. I clocked out as soon as everything was put away and then grabbed my backpack, pulling out my notebook as I walked over to the booth.

“Thank you for sitting with me. I know there’s technically a process for these kinds of things but it’s an emergency.”

“Understandable. Tell me what the problem is.”

I pulled out a pen and opened my notebook to a blank page and started scribbling down notes.

“We didn’t realize it was a curse, just thought I was suddenly unlucky. But the past year things have just gone horribly wrong.”

“Is it just random things or is there a similar factor.”

“I honestly hadn’t thought about it, it’s just been random things.”

“The best made curses are always the ones that seem random.”

At this point I’m feverishly writing down notes. The possibilities could be endless, but I take in things I observe about her that will hopefully help narrow things down once I have time to think it through.

“They’re also the hardest to break. We’ll have to take some time to get to the root of each occurrence and see what they have in common. When can you meet again?”

“Tomorrow, I want this to be over as soon as possible.”

“Alright, tomorrow evening works for me. About my fee, I have a standard consultation rate and then the cost of the actual counter curse will depend on the intricacy of it.”

“Okay, will the discount be applied to the consultation or the counter curse fee.”

I pause my writing.

“Discount?”

“Yes, the discount. I was told that if I came here and ordered food I would get a discount.”

“And you believed that?”

“Well you do work here, I’m giving you business.”

I put my head in my hands rubbing my eye sockets. Part of me wanted to gauge them out.

“I don’t own the business lady, I don’t make money from you buying a meal.”

“But they pay you here, so in a way I’m paying your salary.”

“And I don’t make nearly enough.”

I stood, stuffing my notebook and pen back into my bag and sling it onto my back dejectedly.

“If you change your mind and want to pay full price like everyone else here’s my card.”

I turned and headed for the door. As I did I saw my manager behind the counter, arms crossed, a scolding look on his face. Maybe it’s time to look for a new job.

[an-annyeoing-writer]

vampire!Baekhyun x Reader: meant to belong.

Word count: 7 998 Date of release: 06.05.2019 Warnings: blood, mentions of death, minor descriptions of violence;  

The first step was difficult, but there was a sense of purpose that kept you going.

You wanted to belong somewhere. You wanted to know your place. If you couldn’t have it where you were born, then you wanted to find it elsewhere. No matter what effort it’d take.

That first step was to convince yourself that you can manage to live on your own, that your world doesn’t have to close up on what you’ve experienced until now. You weren’t brave, you didn’t really know if what you’re doing is right. But you had your purpose and you knew that the best advice you can get, is to do exactly what needs to be done.

You pressed your lips together, calming down your breathing. The pretty, elegant clothes you wore suddenly became too tight for your liking, the white shirt pressing on your chest as if it wasn’t heavy enough. 

Checking the way your pants fitted in the window’s glass, she stepped inside.

“Hello, I’ve heard you have a vacancy. Could I…”

“What’s your experience?” the woman in her fifties, standing behind the cash register, asked in a bit harsh tone. Some of the customers sitting nearby spared you a glance, making you feel even more nervous. 

“It’d be my first job” you replied truthfully.

The woman squinted her eyes at you. 

“School?”

“I’m a college student” you admitted. 

“Need quick cash, I see.”

You didn’t answer to that, not really wanting to get into details. Her eyes seemed to judge your very existence, and in her head – you could literally hear that – she was making assumptions as to what were you looking for here.

“Sorry, we look for experienced people” she replied thoughtlessly. 

“I-I can learn…” you stuttered.

“I won’t take responsibility for a kid running around.”

“I’m not a kid, ma’am…” you tried to explain politely.

“Told you I won’t take you, just go away.”

“Ma’am…”

“Want me to call security?”

You pressed your lips together and forced a strained smile onto your face. Your patience was wearing thin.

“Hope you go bankrupt, ma’am” you exclaimed politely and turned around. It wasn’t the only shop in the city. And surely there were other places that could hire you. Surely. 

You left the building and leaned against the wall, exhaling slowly. The conversation unnerved you more than you’d like, the woman’s attitude didn’t leave any doubt that the lack of employees must have been a result of not-too-friendly atmosphere at the workplace. In fact, who would want to work with such a b…

“Hello, you okay?”

The door of the coffee shop opened and a man stepped out, smiling softly. Your upset face did nothing to take him aback, as though he was prepared to see it. At first, you didn’t really believe he was talking to you – but when you quickly proceeded the facts, he must have been a witness to the situation that just took place.

“Oh, I’m alright” you replied quickly, smiling back with your lips pursed. The last thing you wanted to do was to bother strangers with your own problems. It was bad enough that they had to witness the situation.

“Mm, it wasn’t really nice of her” he noticed, closing the door behind himself and leaning against the wall next to you. You glanced at him curiously, but also with a doze of suspicion. 

“Well, it’s up to her how she chooses her employers” you shrugged. 

“But it doesn’t give her right to treat others like this.”

To that, you only nodded, pressing your lips together. A silence welcomed the two of you as you stared forward, slowly letting the tension flee away from your body. The stranger’s presence seemed peculiarly comforting.

The weather on this day was really pleasant, warm, but not hot, with soft breeze doing a good job at calming you down. You smiled.

“Well, guess it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll go look somewhere else. Thank you” you said, bowing softly.

“Is it true that you need money fast?” he asked, peeking at you from underneath his lashes. His face was a bit more relaxed now, not smiling anymore, but still somewhat welcoming. 

You sighed.

“Kinda. I need to pay rent as soon as possible. But I need to have a job in order to afford it later, of course” you explained. Sensing the other’s curiosity, you cleared your throat. You felt just fine sharing with him such brief peeks from your life, but you didn’t want to overwhelm a stranger with your problems. “I barely moved out, so it’s all new to me. I need to settle down.”

The stranger nodded his head understandingly. 

“You know, there are ways to get money quickly” he started carefully, glancing at you and watching your expressions, unsure as to how would you react.

The realization of what the man was – in your opinion – implying, made your whole body go stiff, and your mind automatically started imagining the worst case scenario that could occur now.

“I-I’m sorry, I think I’ll be going” you muttered, pushing yourself off the wall. Before you could take a step, a hand wrapped around your wrist, stopping you from going any further. You felt your heart drop. 

“Please, hear me out” the man said calmly. “It’s not what you think it is. And I’m not going to force anything upon you. I just think we could help each other out.”

It’s not what you think it is.

Was he truthful now? Could you really trust him? You needed money. Even if you found a job today, you’d still have to wait a long time before getting your first salary. You already borrowed money from your friend to pay the fee, you needed to give it back to her as soon as possible. And you had to get food, too. 

You cleared your throat, glancing back at the man. He seemed somehow desperate, and that much you two had in common.

“O-okay. But if it gets fishy, I’m leaving right away.”

He exhaled and nodded quickly.

“Let’s go sit somewhere. There should be some better place nearby” he announced, and you had to admit, the coffee shop was the last place you’d like to spend anymore of your time in.

“Before we go. What’s your name?” 

The man smiled gently once again.

“Byun Baekhyun. Nice to meet you.”

You nodded slowly.

“[F/n]” you replied, deciding that it’s too soon to share your last name yet. “Nice to meet you, too. I hope.”

* * *

The two of you ended in some fast food restaurant. Your stomach grumbled at the smell – you didn’t eat much for breakfast, both to save money and because of the stress tied to the task you had. It didn’t look like a proper place for business conversations, but neither of you cared.

“What would you like?” the man asked, eyeing the meal offers sprawled on the screen above the counters. “’I’ll pay. I owe you for coming with me. No big deal.” He smiled warmly. As much as you didn’t want to agree, you weren’t in a position to turn down a free meal.

“It’s up to you then, I’m not picky” you replied. “I’ll go look for seats.”

Once the two of you finally sat down, the atmosphere finally started to get less awkward. The slight smile on the stranger’s face seemed to be nothing but polite now. It was hard to tell what he was thinking – it seemed as though he was doing his best not to scare you away. And you appreciated it. It had some sort of sincerity in it, something that caused you to trust him a little bit more. In fact, even not knowing any details yet, you were almost sure that what he said before was true and he was not going to ask you for anything inappropriate.

Or maybe it was only the facade? A well-prepared way of gaining the others’ trust, learned through years of experience? 

You sat in silence, glancing either at him or the surroundings every few seconds, waiting for the order to arrive. The man seemed not to hurry, letting you ease yourself in the situation. When he looked away, you took it as an opportunity to study him a little more. He seemed not much older than you, and, what kind of struck you – he was handsome. His hair seemed strong and fluffy, which you envied instantly. There was nothing about his appearance that’d seem less than perfect and it, in fact, did nothing to ease your suspicion. 

Someone called your order’s number and he stood up to get it, not even giving you a chance to do it instead. You waited for him to arrive a few second later and put a tray in front of you. The tray contained two of everything: two cheeseburgers, two packs of fries, two boxes of nuggets and two cups of some sort of drink. Your mouth salivated from the smell that overwhelmed you instantly. 

“Cola or juice?” he asked, pointing the cups.

“A-anything will be okay.”

“Then juice, it’s healthier” he said, taking the cola and putting it in front of himself, encouraging you to take the other cup. You couldn’t help but smile at his reasoning. 

“Shouldn’t you take the juice for yourself if it’s healthier?” 

The man laughed shyly, looking down at his hands. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but eventually decided not to. A pleasant silence fell upon the two of you and you decided to reach for the nuggets. They seemed like the best treat right now. 

“So? What’s the deal, Mr Byun?” you asked politely. The man seemed a bit dumbfounded for a few seconds, as if not proceeding what you just said.

“O-oh, please, just call me Baekhyun.”

“W-well then, Baekhyun. What’s the…”

“Have you ever donated blood?” he asked casually, lazily swirling the straw in his cola, whatever the gesture’s purpose was.

You frowned. It was definitely the last question you’d expect to hear. 

“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to” you admitted. “But it’s not a problem for me. Why?”

Baekhyun took a sip of his cola, watching you with full interest. 

“It’s kind of what I’d like to pay you for” he announced straightforwardly. Your frown only deepened. 

“Illegal medicine business?” you asked hesitantly, feeling slightly nervous again. Maybe the idea didn’t sound that bad, it surely was an easy money, but you didn’t want to engage yourself in any sort of illegal stuff. Once again, what if someone decided to use your body in a way you wouldn’t approve? 

“Not really” Baekhyun said slowly. “It’s nothing that could get you in trouble.”

“Then what it is?”

The man bit on his lip, not looking away. He must have been thinking of what to tell you and it urged you to stay cautious – who knew how many of his words were true.

“I can show you. But I need you to promise that you won’t walk away once I do.”

You crossed your arms, leaning back.

“I can’t promise you that. I told you I’ll leave as soon as it gets fishy. And it’s already fishy.”

“Please. There’s nothing I could do to harm you now, there’s a lot of people around, and cameras. It’s technically safer than if you were to leave now.”

That was true. You were relatively safe here. If you left though, and he followed you – before you reached home (or the police station) you’d surely be passing through someplace secluded enough to make it easy to harm you. The fact he was the one to point it out made you realize just how aware he was of your doubts. 

You exhaled.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll hear out whatever you have to say. But it still doesn’t mean I’ll agree.”

He nodded quickly. 

“Just… try not to freak out.” He glanced around quickly, making sure there was no one nearby. He rested his chin on his palm, blocking the view of his face from anyone who could be accidentally looking in his direction. There was only you, with your frown deepening with every second.

And when you were about to ask him what’s the deal about, he blinked, and his eyes suddenly turned red. You stared at him, completely dumbfounded, unsure if your sight wasn’t betraying you now. But the way he looked at you, the way the crimson flickered when he glanced away for a brief second, it only ensured you that – in fact – it was exactly what he wanted you to see. 

Your lips parted slightly in shock, still unable to proceed what just happened. Was it some sort of illusion?

Baekhyun licked over his lips briefly. With another blink, the crimson disappeared, exchanged with the previous, dark color. 

“U-um…” He looked down, letting his hand fall onto the table. He sipped on his cola again, probably to ease the tension. “So, do you have an idea of what I am?” he asked quietly, seeming slightly self-conscious. 

“I… Uh… no” you blurted out.

“Think carefully.”

Was it some sort of a joke? You felt like this situation was somewhat familiar, you’ve read stories, you imagined things like such being real. 

You laughed hysterically.

“No, no way.” 

You stood up without thought, as if to walk away just like that. You were pretty much ready to ignore the promise you gave earlier. If it, in fact, was a joke, you were only going to embarrass yourself. 

But the look on Baekhyun’s face, filled with despair and sincere shame of his own nature, made you realize that in fact, you didn’t want to leave just like this. You felt annoyance at the thought of it being a lie. But no fear, no resistance.

So you sat back down, biting on your lip, crossing your arms and staring forward at the man. His face showed some kind of uncertainty, and he seemed to shrink a little under your bold gaze. 

“You gotta tell me more” you exclaimed. 

He breathed out, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and mindlessly swirling the straw in his cup. 

“I don’t want to drop too much onto you right now. But tell me what are your thoughts right now. If you don’t want to help me, it’s the right time to say it, and I’ll just let you go. I don’t need you to promise that you won’t tell anyone, because no one would believe you. But I don’t want to tell you too much for nothing” he explained carefully.

You nodded slowly.

“I… In fact, I’m interested” you admitted. “I still need money and if what you’re saying is true, this deal is even less risky than what I originally expected.” You scratched your neck, looking away for a moment before looking at him again. “But I still need to know more. About everything. You need to understand that it’s um… new. Of course I want to know more.”

Baekhyun watched you thoughtfully.

“How about that. I’ll tell you about what we will need to do, and after we do that, I will tell you more about myself. This way, the both of us will have some sort of… security here.”

You nodded. Your eyes landed on the food in front of you. Both of your sets were getting cold already, so you decided to focus on the fries now. 

“Technically, we can do it in two ways” Baekhyun started, finally letting go of the straw and starting to eat his fries as well. “I could use the supplies that are usually used for blood donation or… well… do it traditionally.” You gulped and he must have noticed your uncertainty, because he glanced up at you now. “Whichever you prefer. I’ve done it with needles before, you don’t have to worry about it. And you’d be able to see how much exactly I take.”

“Speaking of which. What about my… um, fee?” you suddenly recalled. After all, you were doing it for money. 

“I don’t have a specific interest rate, but… Technically, fully recovering the amount of blood I’d need would take your body around two months. How about twice the average monthly salary, then? It should be enough for you to settle down.” Your breath hitched. The average salary is above what you’d expect from a job at a coffee shop. Getting it now would be surely more than enough. You’d be able to settle down. You wouldn’t need to worry about getting a job as soon as possible. And you’d still have time to study.

“Where have you been all my life” you muttered thoughtfully, licking over your lips. “Okay. It’s a deal.” 

“Huh-”

“I mean, I agree.”

The man blinked, a bit surprised, but not opposing. Apparently, he could have mentioned the money at the beginning, and it would save him anymore explanation. Okay, then. 

“In this case, do you have a free evening?” 

In fact, you were supposed to spend all this day hunting for job. But if you were to actually earn money during this time, then it was even better, right?

You nodded eagerly. 

“Would you mind coming to my place? I have everything we’ll need.”

“Okay.”

“[F/n]?” You tilted your head to the side, watching as Baekhyun’s expression turned soft, completely concern-ridden. “Thank you. You’re literally a life-saver.”

* * *

You didn’t really know how was it possible that knowing such a peculiar piece of information about someone’s life would be enough for you to trust them so much. After all, the fact of Baekhyun being – in fact – a vampire, should scare you away. Yet, the very moment you made decision to accept it, you found yourself putting all your trust in this mysterious man, completely dismissing just how dangerous could be the thing you were about to do. 

“How often do you need to… you know?” 

“Around every two weeks, but I can go on for around a month without it.”

“What happens if you starve?”

“Well, I’m… hungry, weaker, unnerved. But I rarely ever let that happen.”

“And when was the last time you drank?”

Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrowed when he glanced at you. These and other questions were asked in the past few minutes of your way from the restaurant to his apartment. 

“Isn’t it too many questions? I promised I’ll answer everything after we’re done” he muttered. Well, weren’t you a little nuisance to him right now? But he had to tolerate you, you were aware. 

“Just this one, and I swear I will shut up” you pleaded. 

Baekhyun laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Three weeks, so it’s not that bad yet.”

“And do you always just walk around asking strangers for-”

“It was your last question, wasn’t it?” he smiled, politely cutting you off. 

You pouted childishly, but decided to restrain yourself from asking anymore. Apparently, you would still have some time to ask him later.

Baekhyun’s apartment block was an average place, one of many doors in the staircase led to a flat that didn’t stick out at all. It was quite minimalist, with barely a few ornaments on the walls and the space filled mainly with things that were just useful, like a laptop, treadmill, PlayStation, first aid kit. These random things were placed in various places around the house, along with empty pizza boxes, chips bags and energy drink cans. 

He seemed to live here alone.

“U-um, sorry for the mess” he muttered, closing the door behind the two of you and taking off his jacket. “Make yourself at home. Hungry?”

“We just ate” you reminded.

“Ah, right. Want some drink though? Juice?”

“Do you really have a juice here?” you doubted, seeing how most of the trash here was after anything but healthy foods. 

“I always keep something healthy in the fridge. In case, you know, humans.”

Ah, right. It probably didn’t matter to him what he ate. Did he even need food at all? 

“Maybe later” you smiled. “I know I was supposed to ask things later, but I really need to know this one.” The man turned around, looking at you expectantly.

“When you asked me about there, it looked like you weren’t really sure how to proceed this. And I don’t think you have to tell someone about yourself every month. How do you usually get blood, then?”

He bit on his lip, a bit unsure. Apparently the topic was something he’d rather avoid, but at the same time – it was the answer he owed you, too.

“Well, we usually have a deal with several people we drink from regularly. Around three humans is usually enough so that if we drink from one, and then from the others, by the time we need to drink from them again their body manages to regenerate. So it doesn’t influence their health.”

“Is that what you’re usually doing?”

“Please, later.” The man’s expression was tense, making you realize that you touched something he anything but wanted you to touch. It made you wonder though – what happened to his donors? Why couldn’t he use their blood now? If they were away for any reason, he could just say that. It wouldn’t cause him to act so tense around this topic. So there definitely had to be something wrong.

But it was none of your business. 

“Okay. Sorry.” You nodded, accepting it. You had a feeling that even “later”, he still would be unwilling to share it with you. But how could you blame him – you were here only to earn money, and all he wanted from you was a food supply. You weren’t automatically becoming friends only because he told you something so crucial about his nature.

“Take a seat” he said, pulling over a huge armchair and pushing some cans off. “I’ll prepare everything, so just try to relax, okay?” He glanced at you as you sat, making sure you were still alright. You smiled reassuringly. Your heart skipped slightly, realizing how close you were to the whole ordeal. 

“Do you always do that donation thing? I’ve read a book where vampires didn’t actually have fangs and they had to cut their victim with something like a knife to cause bleeding, because their teeth couldn’t really do that” you blabbered. Was it nervousness speaking?

It made a small chuckle escape the man’s lips.

“I told you before that we can do it traditionally. With the use of fangs is exactly what I meant back then.”

“Ah, right.” True, you suddenly recalled what exactly he said back in the restaurant. “Wait, so you could just bite me? Can vampire attacks actually happen in real life, then?”

He smiled wider, clearly amused, sitting by some drawer and starting to pull things out of it.

“Theoretically, they do. But people usually don’t die from it because the amount of blood we take on one go is not lethal. And we usually try to make sure the person won’t tell anyone about it.”

“How so?”

“Vampires are generally pretty good at convincing humans to do what they’d like.”

Seeing you frown deeply, Baekhyun only chuckled. 

“Mind games. We can’t really hypnotize people into being completely obedient, but we can influence their emotions.” 

You pouted, feeling somewhat offended at the thought.

“Have you used it on me so that I wouldn’t run away back then?”

His smile faltered. 

“I didn’t have to. It was your decision to stay. But if you actually tried to run in panic, I’d need to calm you down. Ah… here it is.” He finally took out something from the drawer, some sort of wires and other things, pushed into a plastic bag as if they weren’t, in fact, medical supplies. 

“W-wait, it’s not sterile” you noticed. “Is it even clean?” 

“Well, I always wash it. If you think dried blood tastes nice, then no, I wouldn’t want to have that either.”

“Wash it with what.”

“Water? And vodka.”

“Do you have fresh needles at least?!”

“…I wash them too.”

Your lips parted in horror. You wouldn’t be surprised if he’d caused his previous donors go sick with such treatment, hence why he couldn’t ask them for help now.

“You ain’t putting that on me.”

“…W-what?”

“No way! I don’t want to die from some infection.”

He put the supplies down, sighing deeply. 

“Then there’s only one other possibility. But if you’re getting stressed over a used needle, then you really won’t, won’t like it.”

“Your saliva doesn’t stress me half as much as this” you admitted truthfully. 

“…It’ll hurt more, too.”

“I still value my life.”

The corner of his lips turned up and he looked away, smirking.

“Is that why you agreed to go to a stranger’s apartment, knowing he wants to empty your veins?”

“…I still need money” you grumbled in response. “Just stop mocking me and let’s get this done.”

“Sure!”

He stood up and in that moment, the doorbell rang out. The both of you froze, instantly looking in the door’s direction. 

You hesitated, glancing at Baekhyun. His finger touched his lip in a silent request for you to stay silent and you nodded, not letting out a single noise. 

The man stepped towards the door so quietly you swore he could as well have been a ghost. Not a single sound could be heard and you wondered if – in fact – vampires possessed some sorts of unnatural abilities. Your conversation still hasn’t gone far enough for you to find out that much. 

He found himself by the door and you watched silently. The doorbell echoed yet again. But before Baekhyun managed to turn around and tell you what was going on, the door suddenly creaked and fell off the hinges, straight at the man and pushing him inside with such force that he was thrown a few meters into the room and landed by the window with a loud thud. At this point you stood up suddenly, fear sinking through you. The heck was that?!

Two men stepped inside, their calm demeanor sending shivers down your spine. Their presence screamed with danger as they looked around, taking in the surroundings. Their eyes fell on you and you froze.

“Another donor? Thought we’ve found all” one of them spoke, stepping in your direction. With a blink, his eyes turned red and something in you suddenly screamed in fear. If you weren’t already panicking, the look sent you down onto the floor as your trembling knees gave up underneath you.

“Jongin, no.” The other gently placed a hand on his shoulder. The sensation disappeared, leaving you blank and confused. “Just calm her down and we’ll take her home.” 

You crawled backwards, trying to escape as far away as possible. The two of them were on your way to the door, which definitely didn’t help you. A quiet whimper echoed from your left and, to your relief, Baekhyun stood up, pushing the door off himself.

A thin trail of blood dropped from his nose, but the attack affected him way less than it’d affect a human. You were sure that if you were the one to be thrown all the way through the room, you’d get some brain damage at least. 

“She’s not a donor. Don’t drag her into this” Baekhyun spoke, trying to stay as calm as possible. 

“Don’t lie. You’re the one who’s dragging her into this” Jongin spoke, slightly annoyed but – to your surprise – it seemed as though he wasn’t half as hostile as it would seem from what they welcomed Baekhyun with. 

“You knew we won’t let you feed until you join us” the other said calmly.

“You want to sabotage me? Would you rather I walk around and drink from random people?”

“That wouldn’t happen. We warned you we’d watch you.”

“Just what are you trying to achieve?!” the man burst out, making you flinch at the harsh tone. Unlike what he was like while talking to you, now he seemed almost furious. 

As if he was keeping enormous amounts of rage deep within and now suddenly they erupted, completely reversing his demeanor. 

“And you? What do you gain from being alone here? You belong with us. You’re our blood, we’re not going to leave you.”

“I don’t belong to you! And you can’t force me to join you.” With these words, you felt a hand wrap around your fingers tightly and pull you up abruptly. You whimpered, Baekhyun’s fingers dug into your shoulders, keeping you in place. You looked up, at the other two, their faces showing fear you didn’t expect to see. You turned your head briefly, a flash of crimson appearing in the corner of your vision.

You thrashed in panic that suddenly overwhelmed you, but the firm grip mercilessly held you in place. 

“Baekhyun, you need to calm down” the man spoke. “You’ll hurt her if you feed from her now.”

“Minseok, he’s going to…”

Sudden pain erupted in the side of your neck, overwhelming your nerves and thoughts. Your lips parted in a silent scream of agony, everything around you mixing suddenly, all the colors, shapes and sounds losing their sense and purpose. 

In the next moment, you were harshly pulled away. The rough motion felt as if a part of your body had just been ripped away. The air wouldn’t reach your lungs, you realized, the mixture of hot and cold spilling all over you. 

It felt numb. The whole world started to feel numb.

“Fuck. Her trachea…”

“…have you done…?!”

“…didn’t mean…”

“The venom, she needs the…”

“Hurry up…!”

“Please…”

And the last thing you saw, was a flash of three pairs of crimson eyes, staring at you with emotions you couldn’t quite interpret. Then, the world went black.

* * *

Something touched your cheek gently, but the motion seemed to wake you up from your slumber and you groaned lowly, turning your head away from the touch’s source. 

“How is she?” some familiar voice could be heard nearby, the touch disappearing soon after. 

“The wound seems healed so it surely worked. But we have to feed her as soon as possible. She needs to wake up.”

You groaned again, moving your head as a sign that you, in fact, were already awake. The other voice was unfamiliar, but its soft tone instantly gained your trust. Something shuffled and you didn’t have to open your eyes to sense that theirs were locked on you. 

“Can you hear us, [F/n]?” the familiar voice echoed again and you finally forced yourself to raise your eyelids. You were in a room you didn’t recognize. A pair of cat-like eyes stared at you intently. You instantly recognized this face. Was his name Minseok? You briefly remembered someone calling him like this.

You slowly pushed yourself up. Your eyes met yet another gaze – this one belonged to a man you’ve never seen before. Everything seemed hazy in your head, you felt like you were swaying, yet your body felt lighter than ever. Kind of as if you were drunk. 

You looked around, expecting to see yet another familiar face. And surely there he was – a tad further from the couch you were laid on, staring at you intently with an inscrutable, serious look on his face. 

His shirt was covered in dry, red stains and it made all the memories hit you, forcing you to recall all that happened.

You panicked, your first instinct was to run, but a hand was quickly put on your shoulder, pushing you down gently, yet firmly at the same time. It belonged to the man you didn’t know. The man smiled softly and you calmed down at this. 

“Hello.”

You opened your mouth to answer, but no sound would leave you. Your throat felt dry and it hurt from the very attempt to speak.

“Ah, don’t strain yourself. Your body lacks of liquids now, but we’ll fix it.”

You mouthed a silent who are you, and the man chuckled. His voice was pleasant to your ears.

“My name is Yixing, I’m Baekhyun’s friend.”

In the background, you spotted the man roll his eyes and rest his chin on the palm of his hand in visible annoyance. Seeing you feel better than not must have pushed the main concerns off his mind. Then his eyes met yours and he lowered his gaze. From afar, you saw him clear his throat. 

“Well then, we will check on you later” Yixing announced suddenly, probably spotting the tension. “Baekhyun, you know what you have to do.”

The both of them – Yixing and Minseok – stood up, smiling at you with something pity-like, which you couldn’t quite comprehend. What exactly happened right before you lost consciousness, was still unknown to you. And when the two left through the room’s door, all you could do was to rely on the one who stayed there.

A weird silence fell upon the two of you. You yourself couldn’t speak, the ache in your throat didn’t subside even a bit. The other seemed to be still dwelling on what to do. You sighed quietly and that was when he finally looked at you. The look in his eyes showed the same kind of pity the others held, but there was something more to it.

He finally stood up and your gaze followed him as he reached under some table and took out a bottle of water. He came over and handed it to you. You bowed thankfully, opening the bottle. Cold liquid filled your throat, giving you some sort of relief. You coughed, discovering that your speech seemed to be no longer missing. You leaned against the couch’s backrest. 

“What happened?” you spoke huskily, putting the bottle down on the floor.

Baekhyun sat down on the stool Yixing was using barely a minute earlier. 

“I bit you” he stated shortly. 

“I… remember that much” you admitted, frowning. You remembered the way the pain blossomed from your neck. You couldn’t really make out what kind of pain it was, its intensity blinded you completely. But it could be nothing else.

“…I was angry. And hungry” he continued, words coming out a tad awkward, as if he wasn’t sure what would be the right thing to say. But you didn’t expect anything in particular. Any sort of apology would be nothing but useless right now. What happened, was already done. You could see the regret on his face, an attempt to make up for his mistake.

It still didn’t explain anything, but somewhere in the back of your head, you already knew what happened. Or, to be specific, how was it possible that with your carotid being ripped out you were still alive and feeling more than fine – at least considering the circumstances. Your hand unwittingly traveled to your neck and, just as you thought, your skin was clean. No kind of wound or even scar was there to be felt. 

“I, uh… W-we had to…”

“I’m like you now?” you asked, the words coming out lighter than you expected them to. 

The man licked over his lips, taking in your whole frame. You seemed to react better than he expected you to. Once again, your ability to accept your situation had taken him aback. 

“Not yet. But you will.”

He stood up from his stool, switching to sit on the couch next to you. The proximity was not something you braced yourself for and you moved away a bit, partly to give him space to sit comfortably and partly because you still didn’t know what he’d planned. 

“We’ve decided to empty you from blood completely. It’s half of the deed. Minseok’s venom in your system is the only thing keeping you alive now. But it won’t last long before you run out of it” he explained slowly. He raised his hand and you froze, watching him intently. To your surprise, his fingers met your forehead, pushing loose strains of your hair aside. “You’re… something like a zombie now.”

“Gross.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, but his face turned serious soon after.

“If you drink a vampire’s blood, it’ll mix with the venom and fill your veins. Your body will start to produce your own venom, and then all you’ll need to stay alive will be human blood. That’s long story short on how it works.”

“And if I don’t, I’ll die” you concluded. What he said before about Minseok’s venom made it more than clear that you were still on your deathbed. 

“But it won’t happen.” He took his hand away and, without hesitation, bit into his own wrist. You winced at the sound of his fangs going through the flesh as if it was an apple. You cleared your throat, gazing at the blood that started to seep from the wound. 

“W-wait…” 

He didn’t let you think, thrusting the wound at your mouth. The taste was foul and you instantly coughed, pushing it away.

“I-it’s gross” you whined. “No way I’ll be drinking this all my life.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, half-amused.

“It’ll get better. Vampire blood will always taste different than human, but it’ll taste better once your body adjusts. Just deal with it for now.”

You tried to shake your head, but in the next moment, his wrist was back on your lips, his other hand firmly tilting your head back. The blood filled your mouth, running down your throat. The taste was even worse than before, making you sick to the core. 

Your head spun from the effort and you finally gave up, resting back and letting the liquid fill your insides. 

Everything was burning, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. Except for the gross flavor of the other’s blood, everything else felt ecstatic. You felt dizzy and alive at the same time; your vision was hazy, yet your mind was clear. Somewhat, you quickly connected the feeling with the way liquid filled your throat. And it made you want to drown in it, to take in all you could find, no matter how awful it tasted. You found yourself sucking on the wound greedily, a quiet hiss escaping the man’s lips as your own, blunt teeth bit into the wound, extending it to gather more of the precious thing.

Something in you snapped and you threw yourself at the man, your instinct to bite into his neck taking over. The two of you landed on the floor, but he was fast to react, rolling you two over and pinning your wrists down, a lazy smile curling up the side of his mouth when he squinted his eyes, looking down at you in some sort of dominance.

“Easy there, you’ve had enough” he announced, clicking his tongue. You pursed your lips, resting your head against the carpet underneath you. The whole ordeal costed you a lot of effort and you were panting now – exhausted, but weirdly happy nonetheless.

After he was convinced you wouldn’t go for his neck again, he finally released you and sat you back on the couch. A handkerchief was pressed to your face, wiping off the blood that adored it right now. You thoughtlessly licked over your lips, taking in all you could before it was gone.

Next, he pressed the cloth against his wrist. It all got so messy. You looked up at his face. He seemed slightly dizzy and you supposed that blood loss for a vampire was just as unpleasant as for a human. 

“Are you okay?” you asked with worry.

“Yep” Baekhyun brushed you off. “But better don’t attack me again. I know how to use fangs, too.”

You crossed your arms.

“We’ll see about it.”

“Now. We need to talk.”

And then, you talked.

It took a few hours. Baekhyun explained everything that seemed to be important, from how to feed without making a permanent damage on one’s body, through explaining why vampires’ eye color changed in some circumstances, to why the venom in vampire’s system was so important. 

He wanted to explain everything to you. When you asked him about it, he told you that he won’t be able to do that later. You didn’t dwell on it.

Thorough the talk, you found yourself becoming more and more tired. It was nothing surprising, in fact, you were surprised you didn’t pass out way earlier. Your body was still accustoming, the dull ache in your skull being the best proof that it still needed rest.

Baekhyun put you down, a blanket finding itself around your frame. “Are you doing all this because you feel guilty?” you asked suddenly. The question was something you held back before, but you sensed that it was the best moment to ask it.

“Hm… Somewhat, but not only” Baekhyun admitted, brushing some of your loose strands aside. “You see, just as I’m from their blood, you’re from mine. So you’re kind of my kid.”

You snorted at that. 

“Is it really so important? It’s just blood.”

“My blood is in your veins. For vampires it’s always something special. I mean, just think about it. You’re my creation, in a way.”

You could somehow understand it. The way he looked at you when you craved his blood, or earlier, when he brushed your hair aside as though it was him it should bother. In a way, you felt like you belonged to him. There was some kind of bond, almost parent-like, but tighter, more intimate. 

A yawn escaped you and you felt a chill run down your spine, a feverish feeling making you curl up in the blanket. 

“Let’s talk later” you mumbled. A hand touched your head gently, a single pat that lingered on your hair a bit longer than necessary. 

“Yeah, let’s. Rest lots, [F/n].”

And once again, you’d been engulfed by darkness.

* * *

The sound of birds chirping was so vibrant that for a minute after being woken up by it you were ensured that they somehow got inside the room. Only once you finally forced yourself to open your eyes and have a look at the outside world, have you noticed that the windows were closed, and it was only your sharpened senses that could pick up on such small noises. 

It took you aback for a moment and you just stared forward, listening to the sounds. Slowly, more of them appeared in the range of your hearing. The walls of the house were thin, it seemed, and the sounds of steps echoed all through. At least three or four pairs of steps mingled together, and you wondered if one of them belongs to Baekhyun.

Slowly, voices emerged as well.

“He said he wouldn’t stay. We can’t keep forcing him. It already has gone too far.”

“We did all we could.”

“It’s still just… not right.”

“Do you think he’ll be fine on his own?”

“He’s a grown up guy, just let him go.”

The words didn’t quite make a sense to you at first, but then, although briefly, you realized that it could be Baekhyun they are talking about. The more you thought, the more sense the idea held. 

Was he leaving?

You thought that maybe after all that happened he’d decide to stay with the group. But, truthfully, it was never stated. 

Apparently, you weren’t enough of a reason to change his mind. You could understand it, though. Whatever their reason was, they still threatened him in a way, taking away his donors and – pretty much – stalking him all along. Did it mean that they gave up on trying? Were they letting him go?

You ran out of the room. The sudden speed you managed to reach almost sent you onto the opposite wall. You looked around, the stairs to the ground floor were nearby, and you used it without hesitation. The very moment you found yourself in the main corridor, five men, three of which you already knew, stared at you, as though they’d already known you’d come here before you even stepped down the stairs. And maybe they did, maybe they heard your shuffling just as you heard theirs. They must have had way more experience in figuring out the meaning of noises coming from afar.

But you couldn’t care less right now. One of them stepped in your direction, extending his hand to you in a welcoming gesture, but you didn’t spare it a single glance.

“Where is he?”

A silence filled the hall for a few moments. You could tell what they were thinking – looking at you, almost enraged; you must have felt abandoned, like an orphan. 

“Where is he?!”

It was Minseok who stepped out, finally speaking to you.

“He left half hour ago. He told us that he won’t let us find him anymore, and that we shouldn’t even try. He’s probably taking off to another city. Or maybe country.”

You felt your heart drop at that. So that was, in fact, what he meant when he said he wouldn’t be able to talk to you later. 

He was leaving you.

“He wanted you to stay with us” someone else said. The man smiled at you reassuringly. “You’re welcome to do so. You’re from our blood, too.”

You bit on your lip, but didn’t really listen anymore. It didn’t take you long before you made your mind.

“Where can he be now?”

“Maybe his flat?” Yixing spoke up. 

“But you won’t get there on time. He’s probably already leaving” Minseok noticed. “You won’t find him like this.”

You felt frustration rise within you, a strong urge to move, to go just anywhere to find him. 

“You can stay here, you know” the other one spoke again. “You don’t have to chase him.”

The offer seemed to be the simplest of ways. In fact, if you were to stay with them, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Neither about getting a job, nor about staying alive with your new nature. You didn’t know them all that well, but in a way, they felt like a family – one you didn’t know you’ve had, but still like someone who you can rely on. Unlike Baekhyun, you didn’t hesitate to admit it. 

“Then how can I find him?” you turned your head to Minseok.

The man glanced at the others around him, as if looking for affirmation. No one dared to speak a word though, as if all of them already acknowledged your decision.

“You’re from his blood, you can track him. Go to his apartment and get a hold of his smell.” With a swift move, he tugged off his hoodie and threw it at you. “You’ve got blood on your shirt. Cover it. You’ve got around a week before your body starts to crave for blood, so make sure you won’t take longer than that.”

You pulled the hoodie on. Its smell was already familiar. 

“How do I make him come here, though?” you asked, rolling the too-long sleeves up.

“You don’t.” The other man spoke yet again, his calm composure making you stop and look at him. You didn’t realize that before but from the way the others were gathered around him, it seemed as though he was the leader. “If that’s what he wants, don’t force him.” The man’s eyes flickered with bright red, so briefly you almost didn’t catch it. “But no matter what happens, don’t let him leave you. You’re from his blood, and he knows that.”

You cleared your throat and nodded, understandingly.

Minseok’s eyes flickered at that moment, too. You briefly remembered it being a sign, something that connected them, as a family. Your own eyes itched at the thought.

“You belong in his world now. Don’t make him wait.”

That was the last thing you needed to go.

With one, respectful bow towards the others, you left the house. 

The familiar aroma was what led you.

The first step was, in fact, difficult. But there was a sense of purpose that kept you going.

Please reblog if you enjoyed! Follow me for more uwu!

[jenomark]

Floor Plan

○Pairing: Jungwoo x Reader (Female) ○Other Members/Characters- X ○Genre- fluff ○Warnings: a kiss  ○Word count: 2,666

→Summary: You’re moving into your very first apartment! The night before you’re set to move in, Jungwoo goes with you to check the place out. Conversations start and soon enough you’re questioning your place in the world and your relationship with Jungwoo.

______________________________________________________________

    Moving out on your own is scary. You thought you would be prepared enough to take the final step alone, but you’ve been feeling unsure of yourself, lately. This world is big, and although you think you know what kind of person you are, you’re not sure where you belong.

    “You know, you’re the only person who offered to help me.” you said.

   Jungwoo adjusted the box he was carrying. “I’m not surprised. Your other friends are always too busy for you.”

 His words stung. These days, your old university friends didn’t pick up your phone calls, or they sent one-word texts as a reply.

Lol

Ok

Yea

Sorry

 You told yourself it’s because they are busy finding their own place in your post-university life. Your mother told you when you were a child that this day would come.

People move on, she said. You can’t keep people. You have to let them go.

 And you would have accepted this as fate and kept going on your path, but their pictures with each other were always on social media. You didn’t know what you were supposed to think about it , just that it hurt to never be invited anywhere.

“I’m sorry, “ Jungwoo said. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“No. It’s okay.”

 Shifting the box into one of his hands, he rubbed his thumb against your cheek with the other and gave you a smile that showed his two front teeth.

 “Really,” you said. “It’s okay. I wish they would tell me what I did wrong, or at least let me go instead of letting me beg for friendship.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” you said. “I feel like they’re all laughing behind my back whenever they hang out without me. I’m forever that loser picked last in gym class. Like, were we never friends? Did I daydream all those years? Some of them were there for me at my worst times and they’ve even met my family. I should probably stop asking to hang out. I’m doing this to myself, aren’t I?”

“Not necessarily,” Jungwoo said. “You have a kind heart.”

 “I would forgive them so easily,” you said. “I had plans for this milestone in my life. I was going to invite them over to my first apartment and we would play games and get drunk. There would be housewarming gifts and chips.  Things would be how they were always supposed to be. I guess that makes me a fool.”

“ I don’t think it makes you a fool.”

“You’re just feeling bad for me.”

 You stopped in front of the door to your new home and placed the box you were carrying at your feet. Jungwoo did the same, albeit comically. As you placed the key in the lock, he looked up and down the narrow hallways.

“ Why did we come here at night?” he asked. “This place gives me the creeps. Is this how I die? I hate horror movies.”

“I need to make sure I have everything all mapped out for when we come tomorrow with my things.” you said.

“More plans,” Jungwoo said. “Unsurprising.”

 You opened the front door. It felt like the two of you were standing in front of a walk-in freezer it was so cold. Jungwoo poked his head inside the darkness and let out a dramatic sigh.

“Maybe having plans can be a good thing.” he said.

 You stepped inside the dark apartment and dragged your box in behind you. You pulled out a few candles and lit them with a lighter, placing them around the apartment.

“Your electricity doesn’t work?” he asked, hovering in the doorway.

“No,” you said. “My dad is coming tomorrow with his friend to fix it. I talked to the guy renting out these places and he was going to send an electrician, but my dad is weird about those things. He would rather do it himself. I think it’s his way of showing me loves me.”

 You placed the lighter on the counter and motioned for Jungwoo to come inside. He grabbed the box and took three steps in before he stopped.

“I’m scared.” he said.

“But I lit candles.”

  Sensing your eagerness, Jungwoo let his face relax into a smile. He put his box next to your box (they’re hugging! he said) and looked around at the candlelight making shapes against the wall.

“ It’s …..homey.” he said.

“I know it’s small.”

“It’s a shoe box”

“And there is no working lights right now.”

“We’re going to die any minute.”

“But it's my first place and it was really close to my job.”

“Are you happy?”

“I think so?”

“Well, that’s all that matters,” he said. “ Now, let’s eat.”

  Jungwoo plopped himself onto the hardwood floors and hugged his knees to his chest. You shut the front door and sat yourself across from him. As you were taking containers out of a bag, he watched you intently.

“Is there something wrong?” you asked.

“No. Nothing's wrong.”

“You’re looking at me weird.”

“I’m just happy I came.”

  You handed Jungwoo his cheeseburger and wondered how you had managed to find someone like him at the right time. When you left school, you were a little aimless. You moved back in with your parents and tried your hardest to get into the job market. Every day you took the train into the city to “beat the pavement” as your dad put it.  With the interviews and the frustrations piling up and the stress threatening to break you, you spent the train ride home encased in your own misery.

“Do you remember the day we met?” you asked him.

“How could I forget?” Jungwoo said, licking cheese off his thumb. “It was the best day of my life.”

 You didn’t see him at first, but he said he saw you. When you pressed him for more details, he told you he’d never seen someone look so sad. It wasn’t the first time he had seen you, either. He would spend his commute thinking about how he could make you smile, but he kept to himself because he was shy and didn’t want you to make you uncomfortable.

 “What was my general appeal? I can tell you what yours was. You have a perfect smile. I can tell people trust you easily. ” you said

“You looked lonely”

Your face fell. “Is that it?”

“How many times do I have to tell this story? You know I love you.”

“Until I feel less bad about myself.”

Jungwoo laughed. “Is this the story we’ll tell our kids?”

“Oh, definitely.”

 The story started off the same: it was nighttime. Jungwoo, who always said you met around quarter to 8 at night, was wrong. You knew the right time because you had looked at your phone beforehand and that is when you noticed him sitting across the aisle, on the opposite side. It was 9:13 p.m. He was wearing a dark denim jacket and his hair was dyed copper (a mistake, he had said ). It’s not that you were attracted to him, because attraction meant a lot of things to you, it’s just that he stood out. Usually, people on the train blurred past like the scenery outside of the window, but Jungwoo sat motionless. He was pretty, and his legs were so long they bumped into the train table. His eyelashes were thick, his lips full and pouty. He was beautiful.

“Do you know that when the train stopped, I really thought we were going to die?” Jungwoo said.

“You cried! I had never seen anyone react like that.”

 The train had stopped, jerking you both a little. There was no one else in the train car but the two of you, so all you could look at was each other. When it came to a full stop, Jungwoo moved from his seat and sat across from you without saying anything. You had never seen anyone move like that. Jungwoo moved so delicately that you were mesmerized.

“I was terrified,” he said. “I was on that train every day and it had never stopped like that. And it was dark. And raining.I thought for sure a mass murderer was going to come out from the shadows with an axe.”

  You giggled at the memory. He had looked like a child sitting across from you. His bottom lip stuck out like he was going to burst into tears and his eyes grew wide. You didn’t know what to do, so you offered him your hand. It was something your mother did for you when you were young to soothe you.  

“I’m really affectionate. I liked it.” he said.

 Both of you sat in the darkness of the apartment, chewing your food in silence. Jungwoo gazed out of the lone window in what was meant to be your living room. The view was of the brick building next to it.

 “We never found out what happened.” you said.

  When Jungwoo brought his attention back to you, he got this odd look on his face. You knew his expressions well enough to know that he was thinking hard about something. The two of you weren’t dating. You had never entertained the idea. You hung out occasionally when you were both free. He would call you up and ask you out to lunch. You would text him to see how he was doing. There were moments that made your heart swell, when you would meet up again on the train whenever your new work schedule allowed it. Now that you lived within walking distance, you were not looking forward to seeing him less. Life without Jungwoo seemed like a life you didn’t want to live at all.

“Is everything okay?” you asked.

“It is,” he said, shoving a fry into his mouth. “Let’s not talk about the past. Let’s talk about the future.”

  Jungwoo stood up and paced around your living room. You loved when he was chaotic like this. He enjoyed making people laugh, whether it made him look like an idiot, or he brought you in on the joke. He had a way of speaking that made you listen, that made you feel good on the inside. He bounced when he walked, his hands moved animatedly, and his face lit up when he had a brilliant idea.

“There is no bedroom in this place?” he asked.

“There is not. My bed will be somewhere in this room.”

“This place is hardly big enough for a mouse,” Jungwoo said. He made mouse ears with his fingers and tilted his head. “Where do you plan on putting it?”

“ I was thinking by the window, but now that I’m looking at it, I’m not so sure.”

“What if…” he said “ We put it right here.”

He stood in the spot where you were going to put your couch. You shook your head no. That spot was a place where a couch should go and nothing else.

“Close your eyes and imagine it,” he said.

“If I close my eyes, how can I imagine it?”

 Jungwoo walked over to you, grabbed your hands and pulled you to your feet. You almost stumbled over onto him, but he set you right. Jungwoo always set you right.

“Close your eyes and no peeking.”

  You did as you were told. There was something about Jungwoo that made you see life a little differently. When you told your mother about him, she asked if the pair of you were dating. When you said no, she seemed surprised. There was never any plan to date, and although the thought invaded your mind often, you were just going to be friends.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Don’t look!”

  You heard his shuffling feet all around you. By the sounds of it, you could tell he was digging around in the boxes you brought. The only thing inside was a few kitchen utensils and  dish towels. Truth is, you don’t own much furniture or  any appliances. You were moving into this apartment without a clue of what really went into surviving your own first place. You read in an article somewhere that people living on their own sometimes forget simple things like sugar and dryer sheets. You made a list somewhere of what you would need to buy once you were settled.

“Can I look now?” you asked.

 A whoosh of air hit you as Jungwoo came up behind you . He was so close you could feel his breath on the back of your neck.

“Just wait.” he whispered.

  Jungwoo brought his hands up to your eyes and covered them. This was the first time his hands touched you since that day on the train. Back then, it was easy for you to let him touch you because you could control it. His hands were soft and warm. Feeling his skin on yours now gave you a feeling of loss that scared you.

“ Don’t think too much about it,” he said. “If you overthink, you’ll ruin it.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to just really imagine it. Forget your plans.” he said. His voice was close to your ear and it brought shivers down your back.

“Okay.” you said again.

  When Jungwoo removed his hands, it took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the scene. Nothing had changed in the room: It was still bare and cold and small. When you looked down at the floor, Jungwoo squealed in delight.  He moved in front of you and waved his hands in the air like he was a salesman.

“The bed could go here. It’s perfect. It would tie the room together.” he said.

  On the floor, spoons, forks and knives were laid out in a rectangle to mimic the size of your bed. He had folded his jacket into a makeshift pillow and placed it at the head of the bed.

“Can you see it?” he asked. “The vision.”

  Jungwoo stepped inside the “bed” and laid down on the floor, placing his head on the pillow. He patted the floor next to him. You didn’t join him. Instead, you walked around the perimeter and tried hard to think about it.

“I’m not sure…”

“About me, or the bed?”

   His words made you stop in place. Jungwoo smiled his two-teeth smile as a way to break the tension in the room, but it was still pulling you to shreds. Quietly, you stepped over the silverware barrier and laid down beside him. The two of you looked up at the ceiling, heads inches apart on the pillow.

 “What do you think would happen if you stopped being in control?” he asked. “ If you stopped trying to get people to like you, if you stopped doing things the way you think they should be done, and if you finally did all the things you wanted to do? Don’t think about it. Answer truthfully and honestly.”

 Jungwoo turned on his side and rested his head in his hand . He was so close to your face you could turn your cheek and your lips would be on his lips.  It didn’t occur to you how much you wouldn’t mind kissing him until then. 

“I think ….”

“Wrong. Try again.”

 You always avoided the topic of you and Jungwoo, feigning disbelief when someone suggested you should date. Maybe there were a lot of reasons you didn’t understand for doing that, but the one that sticks out to you most is that you never expected him. 

“My world would implode.” you said.

“Only small parts of it.”

You turned your head. You pressed your lips against his lips softly. The kiss was exactly how you thought it would be and also nothing like you thought it would be. You didn’t know if you would ever be able to stop being who you are, but you knew that if you wanted to, you had a perfect place to start.

[kickstartmyheartmc]

Revival: Chapter 2

Word Count: 2,656

Taglist: @fastnfearless, @fandomshit6000, @public-enemy-sixx

               Nothing sounded better than a relaxing day at the spa for your 18th birthday. You were nearing six months at Dottie’s house, and you were just about ready to head out on your own. Over the course of working at Donny’s, nothing suited you better than working six days a week, eight hours a day. This meant more tables, more hourly pay (despite only being $2.14/hour), and less time to sit and think about the future. After listening to Dotty’s advice about planning for the future, you sat down and considered your options, but nothing came to mind. You thought you had your life planned out but turns out it was all fabricated within your own head. You never knew what you wanted to do with career choices, how you wanted to live alone and where, nor did you know how the hell you were going to keep your head afloat while paying the high rent in Los Angeles. Ah, this is what Dottie meant by planning for the future. You shook your head and decided it was a problem to solve later.

               Your mornings started at 10:00 AM every Monday – Saturday. You woke up, took a shower, got dressed in one of the many uniforms you’d acquired, and shuttled yourself to work on quickest Greyhound bus. Watching people interact with each other was always the best part of the ride. Some days there would be women staggering down sidewalks in broken heels or torn jackets, clearly heading home after a long night of partying. On other days, couples strolled down the sidewalk, leisurely chatting after a filling brunch. Some days you were jealous, and others you despised the very idea of a relationship.

               A relationship in itself was not the part you disliked so much as the actual act of going through the pain and heartbreak to get to the one you would be with for the rest of your life. Back home in Florida, it was rare to run into someone that was interested in you as a person since it was a small community and they all knew about what happened with Mom. Once she passed away, nothing was the same. Your friends abandoned you in fear of becoming black sheep and losing their more popular friends; none of the older kids even spared you a glance; even the younger children, the ones that remained friends with a couple of your younger siblings, would not give you the time of day. No one acknowledging your presence when you so desperately needed it hacked away at your identity; maybe that was the reason why you felt the need to start over.

               Starting over was harder than it sounded, especially when homesickness was such a bastard. One day in July, only three months after you arrived in California, you fell into temptation and called home. Jim, the second youngest brother, picked up. “Hello?”

               You smiled instantly. “Hi, Jimmy! It’s Y/N, how’ve you been?”

               The line was silent for a moment. “Y/N? Where did you go?” His voice was strained, as if he had to hold back his emotions.

               “I-I can’t tell you that, but I miss you a bunch.” You sniffled, not realizing your eyes started to water until then. “How is everyone? Are you all alright? Where’s Dad?”

               “He’s working right now.” He paused for a moment, and you heard the shake in his voice when he said, “We’re mad at you. You didn’t have to leave.”

               That felt like a knife through your heart. “Jimmy, I never meant to hurt any of you. I did this for me and my well-being, please understand.” You chewed on your bottom lip, wiping away a tear. “It sounds selfish, but I promise it was for the best… for everyone.”

               There was a bang through the phone, as if Jim slammed it against the wall. “God damn it, Y/N! When you disappeared, he went on a binge and fucking left for three days! We may not be children anymore, but we can’t get jobs yet! We’re stuck with him until we all turn old enough!” You could not see him, but he was clearly crying. It was odd for a 14-year-old teenage boy to show this many emotions. “You abandoned us, just like Mom.”

               Your voice dropped almost an octave. “Don’t you dare compare me to her.”

               “Why not? What’s different between her not being a part of our lives and you just up and leaving? You even had the choice, and still left!”

               Now it was your turn to slam the phone against something; unfortunately, the nearest surface was the glass surrounding you within the phone booth. The glass shattered and left a few open cuts on your hand as you screamed at your brother. “I NEVER wanted to leave, but I had to so I DIDN’T end up like Mom! Good fucking luck, Jim, because Dad will ruin your life like he tried to mine. At least I got out while I could.” With that, you slammed the phone back down, hanging up on your little brother.

               Your hands were shaking as you walked away from the phone booth. You loved Mom and everything she tried to do, but it still hurt to be compared to her because of how she didn’t even try to help herself. After hearing Jim say what he did, your mind raced a mile a minute, efficiently pumping adrenaline through your veins.

               “Sure, Y/N, just call home and casually act like nothing is wrong,” you muttered to yourself, arms crossed to ensure you looked scarier than you actually were. “They’ll definitely just speak without resentment. What do they have to hate you for?” You kept crying while striding down the streets of Hollywood. Stores passed by without a second glance, music coming from some and the sounds of sizzling grills leaving others.

               You stopped in front of a music store with a canopy covering, hoping to sit and bawl your eyes out without interruption. You let your back slide down the brick wall, smudging the light eyeliner you applied only hours later. It was only a few minutes later that the door flew open and smacked you in the knees, effectively causing a scream of pain to emit from your lips. “Fuck!”

               The person who’d swung the door open quickly bent down. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” He awkwardly held his hands in front of you, not sure where to place his hands to help you.

               You glared at him. “Fuck off, will you?” You sniffled and stood up, wincing a little from the pain. “You should’ve been more careful.”

               The stranger stood with you and huffed. “I was only trying to help.” He eyed you, his lips curling back into a light sneer. “What were you doing sitting there anyway?” He opened the door to the store and, despite your rude attitude, silently motioned for you to go inside with him. You complied, albeit reluctantly.

               “Long story short, my family sucks and I’m glad I left.” You shivered as the air conditioning hit your skin. “I’m… I’m sorry for reacting the way I did.” You tried to smile at the stranger, but it turned out to be a lost cause because he was turned away.

               “Don’t worry about it. I have my fair share of family shit to deal with.” He turned back around and smiled at you. “What’s your name?” he asked gently.

               “Y/N. What’s yours?” You managed to pull off a real smile this time.

               “Frank. It’s nice to meet you.”

               “Next stop, Sunset Boulevard!” The bus driver’s voice boomed throughout the tin container, jolting you from your memories. You stood up and followed everyone else getting off. A few of them filed into the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, more than likely employees considering it was only 9:50 in the morning. You paced yourself to Donny’s in order to walk through the doors right at 10. While strolling and taking in the scenery of fall time in Los Angeles, you let yourself get lost in your thoughts once more.

               “Frank. That’s an original name.” Your snort indicated the sarcasm underlying your tone.

               Frank shrugged. “It was my dad’s name, but he left when I was three, so I don’t really feel much of a connection to it.” He took a few long strides and quickly positioned himself behind the register. “On that note, welcome to High Hits.” He let his arms open to either side of him, indicating you to look around the store and take everything in. “Is there anything I can get for you today, young lady?”

               You rolled your eyes and sauntered over to the Beatles’ section. “That’s funny.”

               Frank tilted his head inquisitively. “How so?”

               “We’re practically the same age, therefore I’m not ‘young’ to you, I’m just new.”

               “Smart ass.”

               Your head whipped around as you tried to act shocked. “How dare you insult me, a lady, by cursing in my presence.” You went back to flipped through some of their greatest hits and gasped when you saw their 1968 album The Beatles. “Oh my god, a legend.”

               Frank popped up behind you, making you jump a little. “That’s one of my favorites. Wanna listen to it?”

               “Well, yeah, but I don’t see a player in here.” Just then, someone walked into the store and pulled Frank away from you. He shot you a glance and shrugged, as if to say sorry. You sighed and slid the vinyl back into its place, effectively leaving the store in a better mood than when you walked in.

               “Hey, Y/N!” yelled Donny from the kitchen window. “About time you showed!”

               You looked down at your watch. 10:30 AM. Holy shit, you were late. Where had the time gone? “Sorry, Donny! Just have a lot on my mind.”

               “Don’t worry about it, just get this place open for me.” He slipped his head back into the kitchen as the sound of flames on a grill took over the place. You immediately clocked in and got to work.

 It was dinner time rush that same day. Someone didn’t show up for their shift and Donny asked if anyone could cover it, so you opted in for the extra cash. Besides, he promised a free meal on the house and you couldn’t turn down the best burger in town.

               “Order up!” yelled Donny from the window. You lumbered over, piled the three plates on your arms, and rushed over to table 42.

               “Hello, boys,” you said, putting on that dazzling smile. “Here I have an order of blueberry pancakes, a grilled cheese sandwich, and my personal favorite, a cheeseburger supreme without the mayo.” You placed the food down in front of all of them and wiped your hands on your apron. “Is there anything else I can get you—” Your voice cut out as you locked eyes with the one on your right, alone in his side of the booth. “Frank!” You instantly recognized him from the record shop three months ago. The only thing different was he dyed his hair jet black.

               “Call me Nikki,” he said, clearly trying to hold his smile back. “How’ve you been, uh…?”

               Your smile faltered a little bit. “Y/N,” you reminded him, clearing your throat. “Is there anything I can get for you three?” You scanned the rest of the table, carefully examining the other two men there, but neither of them were paying you any mind as they were too busy scarfing down their meals.

               “Don’t mind them,” Nikki said, waving his hand their way. “We just finished performing at the Starwood.”

               “That’s pretty neat,” you said. “I need to get back to work now, but if I have time I’ll come back over.” You flashed him a smile once more and ran off. I wonder what happened to cause him to change his name. You shrugged and got right back to work. Twenty minutes passed by and it felt as if it was only a few seconds. Time may fly when you have fun but working has a whole other concept of time by itself.

               As the night began to slow down, you leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, taking in the restaurant as a whole, wonderful home.

               “See something interesting?”

               You jumped at the sound of someone speaking so close to you that you could feel their breath. You turned and came face-to-face with Nikki. “Jesus, Nikki, what the hell?”

               He chuckled and dug the toe of his boot into the floor. He looked you in the eyes and his breath covered your face, allowing you to detect traces of alcohol. There’s no way he’s old enough to drink, you thought. “Just wanted to hang around and talk to you. Are you done working yet?”

               That caught you by surprise. “U-um, not yet. I still have to finish my side work and front of house duties.”

               “Well, whenever you’re done, you’re invited to the party I’m holding with my bandmates at the lead singer’s apartment.” He smiled, held out a piece of paper with an address on it, and sauntered off. As you examined it, memorizing the address, a customer asked for assistance and you hopped to it, sliding the piece of paper into your apron, destined to be forgotten in a moment’s notice.

 An exhale left your lips as you let the cool October air cover your face while leaving the restaurant. It was an exhausting day, and thankfully Donny said you could have the following day off to rest instead of working like you always did. On the walk home to Dottie’s apartment, you remembered the invitation to Nikki’s party. “Shit,” you hissed, searching in every apron pocket, unable to locate the small slice of paper. You thought you would remember where it was at, but fatigue plagued your memory, making it impossible to form a cohesive thought at the moment. You sighed once more before turning to head home.

               Along the way you spotted a golden retriever laying on a cardboard box, watching everyone walk by with sadness in its eyes. He pulled at your heart strings and you could not resist the urge to stop and check on him. “Hey, baby,” you whispered while crouched beside the dog, petting it on its head. “What’re you doing out here alone?” The dog looked up at you and scooted a little bit closer, silently begging for more connection. That broke your heart.

               “Y/N, why is there a dog behind you?” Dottie asked as you snuck into the apartment—or tried to.

               Your shoulders tensed up and you turned around to face her. “She looked so pitiful,” you complained. “I couldn’t just leave her there.”

               Dottie crossed her arms, taking a firm stance against your weakness. “I’m not allowed to have pets in this apartment, let alone strays. You’ll have to let her go and she’ll need to find her way to someone who can take care of her.”

               “Please, Dottie? I’ll take her to a shelter tomorrow.” You folded your hands in front of your chest, bending your knees a little in order to pull the sympathy out of her. You always wanted a dog, and if you could save this one, it would make you feel that much better.

               Dottie huffed out a “fine” and went back to the dining room table. “But if I find out you don’t take it to a shelter tomorrow, I will evict you both myself!”

               You chuckled. “Thanks, Dottie!” The dog followed you to the guest bedroom, which had evolved into your own room because of the sheer amount of time you’d been there, and made itself at home, taking comfort in the carpeted floors and heating that coursed through the apartment. You gave the dog one last pet before heading to the bathroom to take a nice hot shower and head to bed for the night.

[geekygoddesss]

More

Youngblood series

Also based on my favorite friends episode

Different is Weird. Good weird, sometimes bad weird, but right now it’s mostly good weird.

Days when you’re preparing for something big in your life, always felt the weirdest, not only because you’re changing something big but because you have that feeling inside of you, that feeling where you want to hold on into your old life to not let it go, and that’s mostly what I am feeling right now. Nostalgy.

Ever since Me and my boyfriend, Michael, started dating, we’ve been discussing the possibility of getting a new place just for the two of us outside of the city, a place where we could build our life and have memories together, this has been on the plans for the longest while, Two years to be exact, and the moment was now here and even when I was not the kind of person who liked to rush things or the kind who tights other people around, I was definitely feeling excited about this big change in my life, I was more than ready for it.

After a while of discussing how this was going to go or if this was a good idea at all, we’ve decided that it was better for the two of us to hold back a little from getting our own place, yet. Instead, I was the one who was going to be moving into Michael’s place, which was definitely big enough for another person to live in, while mine was definitely not big enough even for me, so I am pretty stocked with everything at the moment, this was a big step for us and I couldn’t wait to take it.

In the meantime, Moving out of my place was definitely the hardest part. I loved this place, it kind of hurt to finally leave, even though I knew this had to happen sometime. It hurts that I have to finally move out from the place where I made so many memories in, ever since I moved to Los Angeles, Somehow it kind of felt like part of my heart was staying here, but I also felt like it was time for me to evolve, make new memories and live new experiences with the person I loved the most.

It’s time.

Moving day has been surrounding me for the entire week, not only because I had so much stuff stored in that little apartment, but also because there were so many things I sadly couldn’t take with me and the idea of going shopping for new stuff pained the heck out me, I hate shopping.

I spend all of my day, going from store to store with my best friend, gathering everything, from cardboard boxes we needed to start moving everything to new kitchen tools I was for sure going to need when moving into the new apartment. It’s been exhausting, all I wanted was to get to my old apartment and sleep through the next day, were more work was waiting for me and I was not that excited for that, but it was still good, It’s going to be good.

One thing I was not ready to see, it’s the mess that probably surrounded my whole apartment, because it literally couldn’t get any worse. Michael has been packing some stuff for me while I’ve been gone, or at least I hope he has, I can’t seem to picture how much of a mess everything must be right now. However, this is a good kind of mess, I am sure I can somehow deal with it.

I felt some weird kind of relief inside of me when I finally reached my apartment door. I open the door very slowly, being careful to not disturb anything or to knock something out on accident, just like I predicted, everything was a real mess and it gave me a bit of a headache to see my apartment like this, however, right in the middle of the room there was just the person I wanted to see. He was right there, sitting on my floor and packing, he’s gotten a lot done, it almost makes me feel a little guilty I wasn’t here to help him, but I will eventually, I think right now we both need a break.

“Oh what a mess” I teased at the sight of Michael being surrounded by my stuff, he looks up at me and gives me a soft smile as he finishes setting another cardboard box for us to pack stuff. I smile at him softly and show him the bag I am currently holding, leaving it beside him as I lean to kiss his cheek “Cheeseburger” I say, pressing my lips to his scruffy cheek and finding an empty spot on the floor to sit.

“Thanks” he says with a clear enthusiasm in his voice as he takes the bag “I'm almost done” he announces almost as a joke but not really, he has gotten a lot of the job done since I left and I got to say, it was looking pretty great at the moment, Maybe it will be less hard to pack the rest tomorrow.

“You look like you could use some help though” I say, Moving the empty box right to my side and letting him have some space for himself “Eat, take a break” I say, giving him a little smile and getting my hands to work “How long have you been here?”

“Five hours or so” He shrugs, taking the burger out of the bag and checking it out before eating it, sometimes he could be a picky eater, but not right now, I’m sure he was too hungry to even think about that. “It took me a good hour and a half to find boxes and another hour to pack your books, that by the way, are too much, have I mentioned that?” he says with a bit of irritation in his voice, but I just chuckle at that.

Yeah, my book collection was pretty damn big, that’s why I am so proud of it.

I don’t say anything about it though, I just take some of the stuff on the coffee table in front of me and start packing, just to get some of the job done while he eats, time is gold, especially when moving day it’s right around the corner, We need to be ready.

“How was shopping?” He asks, moving a little to the side and nudging me with his shoulder.

I give him the biggest sigh “Exhausting” I admit, as I keep packing stuff “I got some really fun kitchen tools though, it was not that bad to be honest” I chuckle to myself as I look at Michael for a second “Caitlyn says she is free to help us moving my stuff tomorrow, so I don’t think we need to rent a truck”

“Great” he says awkwardly with a mouthful of food as he nods “that’s cool”

A deep and uncomfortable silence falls between both of us, thing that is really weird because we don’t usually have them a lot, we stay silent when we’re together, for sure, but they are never this uncomfortable. He keeps eating his food in complete silence as I pack and doesn’t look up at me not even for a second to tell me what’s up or even to ask anything else about my day. I just want him to say something, for god’s sake.

I pack the box halfway with stuff I usually have around my living room, it’s been around ten minutes and he hasn’t said a lot, which is definitely weird and concerns me a little, so I proceed to be the one breaking the ice, it’s now or never.

“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask innocently, as I put down a book down in the box. He finally looks up at me, his eyebrows raised like If he’s been caught off guard by my voice. “You’re acting weird Mikey” I chuckle nervously, as I move a little closer to his side and stop what I am doing for a second.

“Oh, I’m fine, it’s just-“ he says a little hesitated as he moves on his place as if he is uncomfortable “Hey, can we talk about what Caitlyn said earlier?” he asks out of the blue, trying to be casual about it but definitely taking me off guard.

“You mean that bad joke about musicians?” I chuckle, not being really sure if that’s the thing he was being so weird about, I just shrug and show him a kind smile “Don’t mind that, she does that kind of jokes, she doesn’t mean it” I answer, letting my hand rest on his shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s not it” He says with a weird smile “I got the joke, as sophisticated as it was” He says making me laugh a little “that hubby thing, It weird me out, you know?” he shrugged as he turned to look at me directly.

“Oh, really?” I answer, definitely a little lost on what there was in a joke like that to be weird like that “I mean it was just a stupid joke”

He nods quickly, now definitely being hesitated about it “I know, it’s just-“ he starts talking but a big sigh coming out of him cuts him off “I don’t want to say it” he admits as he shakes his head repeatedly “We should have talked about this earlier”

I frown, now definitely concerned by his attitude. I lean on him, kissing his cheek and putting my hand on the back of his neck, caressing it up and down with my fingers, hoping that it would bring him some calm to tell me what’s going on.

“Mikey, you know you can tell me how you feel, right?” I mumble softly, trying to sound calm enough for him. I didn’t want him to be upset, at all.

“It’s just us with this moving together thing” he tries to explain but again, he doesn’t find the words “I love you, I really do but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about where I want this to go” he says chuckling nervously as he leaves his food on the table to look at me.

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to hide how nervous I was because at the moment all of this just sounds wrong.

He breathes in deeply while he tries finding the correct words to express himself when he does, he looks at me and speaks up.

“With us, moving together, you’re not expecting a...proposal, right?” he finally says with an awkward tone.

I can’t do anything else but laugh, honestly, I was expecting this to be a lot worst but it still surprised me in a way. My best reaction right now it’s too laugh while I shake my head “Oh no! not really” I say while laughing before explaining “I mean, of course right now we’re just moving in and testing the waters, see how things go…” I say, hoping that it would be all for this conversation.

“Yeah, that’s the thing” he cuts me off, with that same awkward tone he’s been using this whole time  “again, I love you very much, but Us moving together is the farthest I’m willing to take this” he finally says, my smile fades “No matrimony, no legal contracts, if we feel comfortable with each other maybe we should leave it like it is and that’s enough” he keeps talking, before raising his hands almost defensively and finishing off with a “just wanted to make that clear”

“Oh” I say uncomfortably as I looked down at my hands that were nervously playing with the ends of my shirt without me noticing “I didn’t know you felt that way” I say with a nervous laugh, trying to be normal “How come?”

he shrugs, suddenly looking like if he just lifted a big weight off his shoulders. “I don’t know, I just feel like Marriage makes everything complicated” he admits  “When we live together, we’re going to really really know each other and trust me that’s not going to be so pretty” he says with a weird frown on his face “What we have going on, it’s amazing, but relationships don’t last forever”

So that’s how he feels. Oh.

I don’t know how to react, or if I even agree to anything he is saying. He talks about it like he’s been thinking it for a while and that makes me feel a little hopeless. Somehow I did imagine myself having some kind of future with him, I was surprised that he didn’t see the same with me, which makes me feel so weird inside. How am I supposed to feel?.

“Oh” I say awkwardly “right” I nod, not really finding anything else to say.

“Yeah” he says, being a little calmer now that he spoke up his mind “I’m sorry, I just thought this needed to be laid down” he says with half a smile after his confession.

“It’s okay, it’s good that you said what you thought” I try to show him a smile, but in reality, I can’t even look up at him, this is weird for me in so many ways, I don’t know how to feel.

There’s another silence between us and this one I hate even more than our first one. He eats a little more and I try to keep packing, but I really don’t feel like doing anything now. There are a million thoughts surrounding my mind, I feel like I should say something but I can’t, this is so difficult. He really shouldn’t have said anything.

“I’m going to sleep, okay? thanks for the food, love, but I’m way too tired” he says, getting up his place and putting his food back on the bag  “we can finish that later” he says, looking down at me and reaching to caress my hair “are you coming with?”

I look up at him, he’s giving me a soft smile and holding out his hand for me to take it. Being in this situation makes me feel so weird, Really bad weird, this kind of weird where I don’t really want to be with him at the moment, I just need some time to think and lay my thoughts out, because I can’t really think straight around him. I can’t.

“Oh- Yeah, no” I say, doing my best to show him a smile and shrugging a little “I think I’m going to stay here for the night” I say “I could get some packing done for tomorrow”  

he nods, caressing my hair one more time “Okay” he says in mumble before leaning to kiss my head and go on to grab his stuff “I’ll be here in the morning to help you out with your things” he says.

“Sure” I say, with that stupid smile plastered in my face and right now, I wish I meant it because I don’t, I want him to get out of here now, cause I can’t think clearly, not even a little bit.

“Goodnight, I love you” I hear him say as he reaches the front door.

“I love you” I repeat immediately after him and wait a couple of seconds, hearing him leave me and my thoughts alone.

I wonder if he means every word he said, but also, I wonder if they affected me as bad as I feel them hit me right now. Maybe I am being dumb and this isn’t really something to be acting weird about but this Is also kind of disappointing because I disagree. We don’t want the same things and that hurts.

But what if he’s right? That’s what I am probably most scared of.

If relationships never last and we don’t last, then it means we won’t have a future together, we will have an end, and that’s probably my biggest fear.

I don’t want us to end.

                                                           ***

The same conversation keeps playing and replaying in my mind for the rest of the night.

I can’t stand it anymore.

One part of me understand why he thinks that way, but the other part feels like it’s unfair for me that he thinks so. I’ve always known he’s come from an unstable home, a home where his parents had problems and in so many opportunities had contemplated the possibility of getting divorced, Michael has seemed marriages getting complicated, he has lived complicated relationship and one way or another, I understand why he doesn’t ever want to get married. I really do.

However, a part of me seems to die a little when I understand, the person I love doesn’t seem to like the idea of something else in the future, that’s what pains me the most.

I knew he was the one the moment he told me he loved me for the first time, he made me feel good with myself, he made me feel like I am a better woman every day, I wanted to give him all I could, I want him to feel safe with him. I want everything with him.

Too bad he doesn’t want the same.

I wish this didn’t affect me so much. Somehow he’s drawing a line between us that I can’t promise not to cross, he says he wants to be with me but I can’t just stay in with someone I love without hoping for more. I want to be able to have more.

I would never be able to have a wedding, to wear a white dress, have my father walk me down the aisle. I would never have a honeymoon, or a party, where I could celebrate love with my family and friends, more importantly, with the love of my life. All of those hopes for the future are gone.

All night. I’ve been thinking about this all night and I can’t seem to find an end to this topic, I just can’t stop thinking about it. I could be wrong on thinking that Michael is wrong, I could even be wrong on thinking that marriage is even necessary, but it is not about necessities, it’s not about marriage, it’s not about big parties, It’s not about honeymoons or post marriage rituals that I may never have. It’s about evolving.

If the person I love doesn’t want to move forward into becoming something more in the future, then what’s the point?

All of this thoughts surround me for the rest of the night and I try to sleep it off and forget, but before I can even do it, Michael is already coming through my front door at seven in the morning, cause I’ve been up all night without even notice and now I have to face the only person who I didn’t want to confront right now. great.

One way or another, I manage to get off my bed and start my day somehow normally, even when right now it just seems impossible. We spent most of the morning packing my things in boxes before we have to move anything to his car, he’s been talkative this morning, which is the total opposite to me, because I don’t feel like talking, I don’t feel like getting up my bed and I certainly don’t feel like being with him right now.

I kept packing as he kept speaking, somehow that became my mechanism for me to ignore him and that went on for the whole morning. I could hear him talking on the background, but I wasn’t listening, his words just floated around as I kept wondering around my own little world, It looks almost like if someone has disconnected me from my own self and I can’t find a way to just go back to normal. This fucked up. How can I find a way to overcome this if this is killing me inside? Why does this have to consume me so much?.

“Are you okay?” he asked and that I heard loud and clear.

I was snapped out of my thoughts instantly, desperately trying to look for every possible excuse on my mind to not talk about it, but he already knows I am not feeling too great and now he looks concerned, which makes it more difficult because the last thing I want it’s an argument, not right now.

“Yeah, yeah” I say trying to sound somehow convincing but somehow I give up almost instantly. I drop the box in my hands and sit on the first place I can find, I am too tired, I am drained, I have to talk about this or else this will be killing me inside for the longest time. I have to tell him. “actually, no I’m not” I admit, looking up at him almost with an apologetic smile.  

“Hey, are you alright?” he says softly, walking up to me and grabbing my hands as I sign of support. I could notice he was genuinely worried for me, but it was too hard for me to bring it up, but if I don’t do this now, I might never do it.

“All you said last night” I say softly, looking down at our hands tangled together, trying to distract myself “Do you really mean that?” I let out, in a small voice. he stays silent for a second but he answers without any hesitation, one more time, speaking his mind up like no big deal.

“I mean, kind of” he said in a soft voice “I just think marriage is too overrated, having kids all that Jazz, I don’t want to live under those Standards,they’re dumb and most of the time kind of pointless if you think about it” he says adding a small chuckle at the end of his sentence while squeezing my hand a little “Why? I thought you agreed with me”

“Well, at first I kind of did” I mimic his chuckle even when I don’t mean it  “until I realised how much I actually like it and I guess that sucks, because I do want all of those things” I shrug, daring to look at him directly in the eyes “Matrimony, kids, engagement, all of those tacky stuff” I said, making sure I made myself clear “Yeah, Maybe it’s true, people suck at maintaining relationships, it’s not for everyone, but do you really think we’re going to have an end game?”

Maybe I should not put it out like that, but there’s no other way I could do it anyways. He said it himself, relationships don’t last and that means, he thinks of us as something that will eventually end, when on the other hand, I wished for him to think differently and wished to be with me until we grew old, because I don’t want to be the only one wishing for such a thing. “No, I don’t mean it like that” he says shaking his head and trying to speak but I interrupt him, for the first time being able to speak my mind. “It sounded exactly like you meant it” I argue  “We’ve been dating for a good while, I know is not like we’ve been together for the longest time, but I thought you knew that I’m the kind of person who doesn’t fool around” I say raising my voice in the process when he looks straight at me while I speak  “Michael I actually want this relationship to go somewhere, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being someone’s girlfriend” he shakes his head like he is trying to deny all of it, he wants me to change my mind and I know it, but I can change my mind about something as big as this.

“Babe, it’s all just symbolism, we don’t need a label to know we love each other” he tries to explain to me. “Well, maybe I like those labels” I say, shrugging as I speak “it’s true, maybe they’re corny but who cares?” My voice breaks in emotion “You just said all of those things like it was no big deal, but honestly, it might not mean anything to you but it does for me” I say pointing at myself with one finger  “and it hurts me that you want us to be together but at the same time you’re taking all of this away, it’s selfish of you” He frowns at me, he is looking at me like If I am crazy. “You want us to get married?” he asks, a bit of horror in his voice.

“Not right now” I say shaking my head “but I don’t want to take out the possibility of it, maybe in three years or whatever, it’s what I’ve always wanted and if the person I love doesn’t feel the same way then I don’t know what to do” I can feel tears on my cheeks, I wish I could stop them, but this is hard for me to talk about and seeing that he doesn't cooperate with me in this topic breaks my heart in pieces even more.  

“you say relationships never last and I completely disagree, because we could make it work if we really wanted to” I keep talking, trying to be clear as I say “I’m sorry Michael but if you really think that way, I don’t think it’s a good idea we live together” I finally say, feeling like the biggest weight have been lifted off me “I think I need to be with someone who wants what I want”

Now his eyes are filled with pure horror and it breaks my heart to look at him, but it is what it is, If we want different things, maybe it’s a sign we shouldn’t be together at all.

“What?” he says, taking a step back from me and separating from our touch, I hate it, but this had to happen. “What are you doing?” he asks in pure panic “Are you breaking up with me? Right now?”   “No, I am not” I say harshly, getting up from my seat and confronting him face to face “you said what you thought and I did too” I say “now it’s on you”

I try walking away, but he stops me, taking my hand in his and stopping me from anything I could do right now “Look, we don’t need to do this” he says, turning me around to face him one more time “We can start living together and maybe then you’ll change your mind about marriage” he says, with a nervous chuckle on his voice, trying to look for any kind of solution on this matter. “Yeah But are you going to change yours?” I say in a broken voice as I look up at him.

I can see he is broken but he is consistent on his word, I see pure truth in his eyes as he mouths a “No” as his finals answer, not really giving us any other option to fix what he started.

“Me neither” I shrug  “Michael, you can’t just expect me to change my mind about this, it’s something I’ve always seen myself into and you want to take that away from me”

He says nothing, I know he is trying to find some words to say but there’s nothing he can do to fix this. Maybe he knows I am right, or maybe he is too stubborn to see it, but as long as he doesn’t respect what I want I don’t think it is the right thing for us to be together, as much as it hurts, I would like to be with someone who I can look forward with.  

“Listen, Mike, I think we should take a couple of days for ourselves and give us time to think” I say, let him know, that not everything is lost.

I take his hand in mine and tangle our fingers together, after all of this times, I still feel butterflies in my stomach everytime we touch, I was going to miss it with all of my heart. I will miss him so much.

“I don’t want this to end” he says in a mumble, he means it, but I already made a decision.

If he doesn’t change his mind, I won’t change mine.

“I don't want this to end either” I say truthfully  “but if you keep being that way then I don’t know what to tell you” he looks down and gives me the most frustrated sigh as he says “So are we just ending this? Just like that?” he asks me in a broken voice, I hate to see him like this, I really do, I wish I could make this better. “I don’t want to” I say in all honesty “but I think you should think about this and when you make up your mind then you can come back” I show him a smile, a comforting one, hoping it might make it better. “I’ll be right here” He nods, believing in my words but still taking some steps back. He looks shocked, he is still processing it and I am so sorry he has to feel this way, especially today. Today should have been different, it was supposed to be a happy day, I was supposed to go home with him and make a new start, but maybe that was my big wake up call, maybe this was the time for me to wait for someone who would love me until the day I die, someone who would want to be through everything with me, for better or for worse. “I guess I’ll get going then” he finally says and together, we make our way to my front door. I am the one opening the door for him, making sure he knows that I am sure on what I am doing and I won’t be changing my mind anytime soon.

“I love you” he says when he reaches the door. I want to say it back, I really want to, but my pride doesn’t let me and with that, I watch him walk out just like so, without saying anything else we walk away from me and possibly from my life too and I can’t say it doesn’t hurt, because it does, more than it needs to.

I hate to be the one breaking his heart, I hate to be the one calling things off like this, I hate myself for this, I hate everything.

but I guess this is it.

Now it’s all on him.

[writinanon]

In the Blood

If you missed the first part here it is.

  John paced back and forth. He didn’t have any idea how to explain that the Deputy was immortal. He had no footage. He had no proof but what his eyes had seen. Haloed in sunlight until the candles of the church lit her. Three arrows in her chest. He would have rent the man responsible on principal. The Deputy needed to be brought in alive. She needed to reach atonement. What if Joseph already knew? But then he would have brought her to the safety of the compound if he had known. Someone so precious couldn’t be left to run wild. He turned and looked at the monitors. Deputy Hudson was attempting to kick her door open again. He smiled.

  Rook huffed and puffed, wincing as her arm mended a graze.

 “Holy shit.” Grace muttered through the radio as she watched from a distance through her scope. Nothing quite like going for broke. Rook had lived through two world wars already. She had no way to gauge how old the Seeds were, but she would figure they were at least her age if not older. Sometimes it was good to vent through aggression, Rook had helped a few Courts in their Civil Wars, the ones that treated humans with some respect and not like playthings or pets. Hell, she had even helped to hunt Rogue Wolves down and she knew a Wizard in the Badlands that would be up for a Hunt any time. Tracking down and killing a Rogue Immortal was always satisfying because fighting with an Immortal was always rewarding and her kind were illusive, there was no telling what tricks and tools they had ready to fight with. She had gone on two different Hunts before and both times the other had been glad to finally be ‘ended’. She wondered if that was the price of freedom, insanity. It was something that she didn’t want to keep thinking about, having started to feel the aching loneliness that came with losing loved ones to death again and again. She’d come to like Earl and Staci and Joey, she hadn’t had much chance to meet anyone else. After everything went to hell in a handbasket she gained Nick, Kim, Boomer, Dutch, Grace, Jess, Eli, Wheaty, Hurk, Adelaide, Sharky, Mary-May, Jerome, Peaches, Cheeseburger, and she felt so loved by them. She wanted to free them from the Seeds. But that nagging worry, that whisper that she shouldn’t get attached, crept up on her sometimes.

 “Rook.” She heard Nick over the radio and wondered what he was doing, he was supposed to be scouting to see if there were any convoys in the area. “Rook you ain’t gonna believe this. Someone just hit a convoy. But they didn’t just kill the Peggies.”

  Rook looked over the slaughter, because that’s what it was this wasn’t just killing, and felt dread pooling in her stomach. She had chosen this section of the United States because it was vast, it was quiet, but more importantly it was supposed to be away from Packs, Courts, and Covens. This land was supposed to be isolated, where she would just live for a while, carving a nice niche for herself maybe get a farm or an orchard or hell a ranch. Becoming a Deputy was only to get a foot in the door, to meet people and learn the county.

 “Jesus what the hell happened here?” Grace muttered as they looked over the carnage. Rook shook her head and looked around them. She wanted to be wrong, she hoped she was wrong.

 “We need to get back to Nick and have him tell us what he saw.” She glanced over at her companion. Confirmation was better than denial.

  John smirked, this would work. Joseph and Jacob believed him, mostly because the Deputy had single handedly destroyed two outposts and a supply convoy. And walked away without a scratch. Now he had a plan, they would move Deputy Hudson, and actually pretend to move her because Rook would flee the second she realized they didn’t actually have her fellow law officer.

  Rook blinked as she heard her radio go off. She had laid low for the last few weeks, trailing her newly unwelcomed guest. She had set a few snares for them to trip and the worst possible outcome had hit. There was a Rogue Immortal, a young Rogue Immortal. If she was right they had just reached the Destruction Stage of apathy. Which meant they wouldn’t just fight to fight, they would fight to survive because they found something that took away the empty feeling if only for a little while again. The tracking and trying to get into contact with Cassandra had chewed up Rook’s time and she hadn’t been able to raise to any of the bait the Seeds were trying to lure her out into the open. She had cleared out a few outposts and freed people along the road ways, but that was mostly because she was already in the area and wanted to keep people safe from the Rogue.

 “Well Deputy I’m happy to say that Deputy Hudson has finally confessed all her sins!” John’s voice carried through the silent room. Rook stilled instantly. “So she’ll be joining Jacob and I’ll be taking Deputy Pratt for his turn now. Now that she’s had her sins purged she’ll make a fine hunter don’t you think? Or perhaps a soldier to protect and serve the Flock?” This was bad. She had stopped the Rogue from taking prey, they would be anxious now, and this was a convoy to lure her out specifically. There would be extra people. Perhaps even John or Jacob themselves. It would be too tempting to the Rogue. Rook was out the door and grabbing her rifle and a bowie without conscious thought. They would all die if she didn’t. She knew she was walking into the hands of the Seeds. She ignored the calls of Jerome and of Mary-May as she grabbed one of the dirt bikes that the resistance had stolen back. She revved the engine and took off. They’d use the main road. This was a trap and someone else was going to spring it.

  The man was dodging all of Jacob’s shots. He was toying with them. And then a dirt bike slammed into his chest and then it exploded as it was shot. Jacob looked over swiftly and found the Deputy standing in the middle of the road, rifle in hand and a grim expression on her face. She glanced at the truck that housed Hudson before checking on John. There was a crack and clapping. The man was back up. Jacob narrowed his eyes knowing this man had to be Immortal too. Rook stood and faced him. She didn’t bother shooting him again and Jacob watched it play out.

  Rook could tell by looking at him this man was young. He couldn’t be much older than her.

 “I figured sooner or later I would actually come across you.” He said. “Zachariah.”

 “Rook.”

 “You could just stand aside. It’s only a little county. You’re already catching the Sickness.” She scoffed and raised her rifle.

 “This is my county.” She remarked and fired. He dodged just enough to only get his shoulder and she cursed. He grabbed a fallen Peggie’s gun and fired back. They both dove for cover.

 “You have to be young to care about territory or human life.” He remarked and she scoffed at this.

 “Or I’m more willing to fight the Sickness, and not just give up at the first sign of struggle.”

 “Oh, you want to see a struggle? How ‘bout we both put down our guns and settle this with a good old-fashioned knife fight?” She scoffed and pulled herself from cover at the same time he did, both shoot the guns in the other’s hands. “Now I’m disappointed in us both.”

 “Are we going to keep talking or are we going to fight?” She mused tossing the now useless rifle down and unsheathing her knife. She kept it in a defensive position as he unsheathed his own knife.

 “You wanna play little girl? Well then let’s play.”

  Rook noticed John’s gun and knew he’d have what she needed but she had to get over to it. She brought her arm up and felt a knife bite straight through it and grunted. She stabbed him in the shoulder and forced him back before diving towards the gun. She grabbed it and felt herself get lifted and thrown backward. She clung to the weapon as Zachariah stalked toward her. She took aim and smirked.

 “Welcome to the bliss.” She muttered and fired three shots in his chest. He stumbled back and glared.

 “It’ll take real bullets to bring…” His eyes darted around. “What the hell?” He took off and Rook groaned before sitting up. She pulled the knife out of her arm and winced but her arm healed cleanly. She looked over and frowned at the cultist laying in the road before dodging a dart meant for the back of her shoulder.

 “Really?” She mused and looked up toward Jacob’s general area. “After all your talk of culling the herd and being strong you’re gonna take the coward’s way and shoot me in the back?” She yelled out to him. There was a rustling and Jacob appeared. She waited and he was across from her moments later.

 “I never did like this plan of John’s.” He chuckled and set his rifle down. She dropped John’s gun, useless to her now Bliss seemed to have no effect on the Vampires that produced it. She flipped the knife into her clean hand and rolled her shoulders.

 “Round two.” She murmured to herself.

  Jacob was not going to win this fight with his strength alone, something that was rare. Rook was tired but still on her feet. But she’d lost a lot of blood and an idea sparked. He’d need to get to her leg.

  Rook blocked an attack but wasn’t ready for Jacob to body slam her into the road and to have all the air in her lungs knocked out. She struggled trying to recover but she felt sharp teeth tear into her inner thigh.

 “No.” She muttered and tried to shove his head away but she could feel suction and her struggles grew weaker and weaker as she felt the blood being pulled from her veins. “Moth… fuck.” She was swallowed into darkness. Bleeding out was the worst it always took the longest to recover.

  Her mouth was dry. She was dizzy. She looked over and found a pile of wolves in the middle of the room. She was laying on a nice bed. There was water on the end table. She grabbed the pitcher and took a large mouthful but didn’t swallow. She let it sit in her mouth before she spat it out into the glass. This got the attention of the wolves and she noticed red crosses painted on their muzzles. She rolled her eyes and took a small sip from the pitcher. Slow rehydration was key to not making yourself sick. One of the Judges got up and padded over, nudging her knee on the bed. She chuckled and ran a hand through its fur and grabbed the tray that the pitcher and glass were on, setting it down she poured out some of the water. The other two Judges got up and loped over to it and took a drink as did the one that nudged her. She looked back down at the remaining water and slowly sipped on it. She had a feeling she knew where she was given the small comfort she had woken in. One of the Judges turned around and jumped onto the bed, laying down on her legs. She set the pitcher on the end table and gave the wolf a soft scratch the other two soon joined her and one nestled in behind her and the other laid down on her stomach. It gave a pitiful whine and she gave it pets with her other hand.

 “Clever Jacob.” She muttered.

[cosmcther]

— answer these questions then tag 20 blogs you’d like to know better!

tagged by: I’LL STEAL IT! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW! tagging: pickpocketing is an art yknow.

nicknames:  AA-Ron (never by choice), Arson (also not by choice), Residential Little Brother (by choice)

zodiac: Aries!

height: 5′11 1/2″ last time I was measured. Might be six feet now.

time:  At the time of writing this answer, 11:13 PM EST. I’ll write what time it is by the post’s finish because I’m never sure whether to update it or what. Update: It is now 3:17 AM EST. i took a break to play smash with friends, it didnt take me five hours to do this meme i swear.

favorite band / artist: I’ve never been a proper artist/band kind of person, but my answer always goes to Danimal Cannon. Love love LOVE me some chiptune. Virt too, and Samsa for some Lofi-vibing rap. Altas is wrapped into that category too. Currently listening to Frank Sinatra, though, I’ve been listening to those classic songs a good bit lately, but at this point I’m just listing Favored artists instead of favorite artists sdcfghygtrfde.

song stuck in my head: Anything Goes - Cole Porter. D...Don’t ask. I’ve never even glanced at Fallout before in my life. It just showed up in my recommendeds recently because old timey music is a jam and now it’s just living in my brain rent free.

last movie i saw: The Nightmare Before Christmas! Watched it in the Smash RPC server. Join the Smash RPC server.

last thing i googled: ‘baked potato minecraft’. Can you tell what I’ve been getting back into since Minecraft Steve graced us with his presence in Smash.

other blogs: I’ve got my sweet son Tails over at @skyfcx​ and a multimuse at @musesoiree​ ! Attention’s been leaning more toward Rosalina and Tails, but they’re all teetering hand’s amount of active right now.

do i get asks: On Rosalina, yeah, I get a fine amount of asks! 

why did i choose this username: It’s a blog for space mom. Smacks cosmos and mother together and calls it a day. Highkey though, I love Rosalina’s url, I typically don’t like my urls. But Rosalina’s is real chef kiss.

following: 315. 

average amount of sleep: Mm, I’d say 6-8 hours? Yeah no, I can sleep like the best of them, but When I’m sleeping is typically the problem sdfvgbhygtrfdc. My sleeping schedule is balancing out rn, thank god, but I’ll be passing out at four or five o’clock pm when it’s off kilter. 

what i’m wearing (right now): Blue and white checkered pjs! They cute.. they make me feel cyoot.....

dream job: oh god please dont ask me this question i have no clue what i wanna do with my life and it’s better to not even pretend like i know what the fuck i want.

dream trip: Traveling is stressful because new things are stressful. But Japan seems pretty swood I guess.

favorite food(s): Bacon and pepperoni pizza. Bacon cheeseburger. Whatever else that’ll taste good and get me closer to death in the same swift motion.

play any instruments: I used to play Baritone, but I wasn’t very good at it so I stopped. I do sing though, and activates band director voice: your body is the instrument, the thing we call instruments are merely funnels for your innate sound uwu.

eye color: Good ol’ bland brown.

hair color:  Good ol blackin’ black.

languages you speak: English. but like. see-saws hands again.

most iconic song: Me and my friend had a debate on what the hell the word iconic even means and I still couldn’t quite tell you what I’d describe as Iconic. But if I had to pick something, I’d say Summer’s Day from Spirited Away. Or, at least the version I most frequently go to. It’s a bop, and I’d certainly say it fits under that vague Iconic umbrella.

random fact: I won a writing contest in middle school and high school. Not really that surprising or amazing since next to nobody entered because what high schooler enjoys writing in their freetime, but yeah, i won little contests. pins a self-made badge to my chest.

describe yourself as aesthetic things: That Spongebob scene where he’s inflating and deflating as he cries and sucks up his own tears. That’s me. 

[larrytcamp]

Traveling: What To Do In Toronto

I love being a traveler.

Sure, when we're taking a trip, it's wonderful to go to the off-the-beaten-path, less jampacked places. In Japan, we stayed in AirBnBs that were in peaceful household neighbourhoods where we can see kids walking to institution in the morning. We ate at a tiny ramen restaurant at the end of the block and also did our laundry at the laundromat around the corner. That's all really good.

Yet I definitely wish to see the landmarks of a city we're checking out. I absolutely wish to take a trip if there is one-- to find out about the history of an area. I recommend heading to a crowded "tourist trap" due to the fact that hello, there's a reason the place is bring in travelers !!

Even in Edmonton, I love being a "visitor" in my own city. It's a great mentality to enter, to explore and discover the important things that make a place so terrific.

To ensure that was my method this summer when Mike and I saw Toronto, Ontario for the very first time.

We existed to celebrate the marriage of our two excellent close friends, but additionally there to eat consume eat (certainly-- see my article of Where to Eat in Toronto!) and also tourist hard.

Below is a wrap-up of What We Carried out in Toronto, that hopefully assists you decide What To Do in Toronto when you go! Mike as well as I allowed fans of this gorgeous, bustling, multicultural city, and also we can not wait to return!

What to do in Toronto, Ontario

1. Take the City Sightseeing And Tour Toronto Double Decker Trip Bus

Taking the red double decker City Taking in the sights Toronto tour bus was among our favorite things we did during our trip. This hop-on, hop-off bus tour gives you accessibility to the bus for 48 hours, and is a fantastic means to check out as well as learn more about several of the city's most popular and earliest neighbourhoods. With your ticket, you obtain access to 21 quits across the city, AND ALSO a totally free Harbour as well as Islands Watercraft Cruise The buses go to all the crucial Toronto places-- the CN Tower, Yonge-Dundas Square, Kensington Market, the Entertainment Area, as well as a lot more. If you remain on for the whole trip, it has to do with 2 hours long however if you decide to get on and also off, there's generally an additional bus that comes over every 15 mins, so if you want to quit at Kensington Market for a visit, you can proceed your scenic tour after because there's constantly mosting likely to be a trip bus coming to choose you support!

My favorite component of this scenic tour is the history that you learn from the tourist guide. Mike and I just got on and off twice, but both the tour guides we obtained were really amusing as well as shared some of one of the most fascinating facts. For example, through the City Taking in the sights Toronto trip, I discovered that the co-creator of Superman, Joe Shuster, was birthed in Toronto and in fact created for the Toronto Daily Star! He's claimed Toronto's downtown/skyline provided him motivation for Superman's City. AMAZING right! We additionally found out that Yonge Street was the longest street on the planet (up until the Guinness Book of Globe Records removed them of that title due to the fact that Yonge really develops into Ontario's Highway 11 (and is as a result not called Yonge Road any longer) lol. We discovered that film staffs from the UNITED STATE get some rather excellent tax breaks if 51% of their movie staff are Canadians (we already knew that the popular show Matches is shot in Toronto so it was also cool driving down the streets where Matches usually shoots). As well as we found out about Toronto's Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, that renamed the city to York, however then the city obtained called 'Little York and also Dirty York' due to the fact that there was clearly a larger York at the time (New york city) as well as Torontonians waited up until years after Simcoe passed away prior to transforming the name back to Toronto (an extremely respectful thing to do lol).

We really delighted in the City Sightseeing and tour Toronto scenic tour and also would highly suggest it from a traveler standpoint, from a seeing and also finding out a lot concerning the city in a short amount of time standpoint, as well as also simply from a transportation viewpoint. We walked a whole lot in Toronto, however were thankful to be able to utilize the bus as a way of transport every now and then also!

2. Get on the Harbour and also Islands Watercraft for a Cruise.

As component of the City Sightseeing Toronto scenic tour, you also break out admission onto the Harbour and also Islands Boat Cruise Ship. The boat anchors at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre pier and makes it way via Toronto Inner Habrour and its 14 islands. The 45 min scenic tour offers some rather outstanding photo opportunities of the Toronto horizon. Similar to the bus excursion, the boat tour guide likewise shares excellent info (with a terrific sense of humour)! You discover as an example that Hanlan's Factor Beach, one of the Toronto Island beaches, is clothing-optional. lol.

We didn't obtain an opportunity to go to any of the islands however I have actually also been told by a couple of Torontonians that doing an excursion out on the islands (renting a bike as well as striking the beaches) is additionally a truly remarkable thing to do in Toronto. Next time!

3. Walk the Toronto Harbourfront

While you're near the Harboufront, you need to have a look at all the tasks around here! In the summer season, the Harbourfront Centre hosts free live music shows. There's a selection of vendors and the Amsterdam Bridge (called after Toronto's sister city-- Amsterdam, which we found out on our bus scenic tour!) There's also the Purina PawsWay at the Harbourfront, a terrific museum-like space with a pet-friendly cafe, Purina's Family pet Hall of Fame, and different pet tasks throughout the day. Regrettably the PawsWay closed this September 2017, but I think of whatever they put in its place will still be worth a visit.

Likewise at the Harboufront-- this interesting art slash slide point!

4. Consume at allllllll the Toronto restaurants

I indicate, I assume even if you lived in Toronto it would be impossible to consume at ALL the Toronto dining establishments but male-- what a wonderful objective that would be. On our visit to Toronto we consumed a lot. I attempted to press in second lunches and also 3rd dinners and also truly that still had not been sufficient-- there are a lot of unbelievable dining establishments in this multicultural city, I can't wait to come back and consume some even more! Take a look at my article summarizing the 20 Places We Consumed in Toronto and also use that as your guide of where to consume. Still, we really did not even make a damage. Terroni was my favorite, for incredible, home made pasta. Asian-Caribbean at Patois was superb. Lee Susur Lee is a must-visit (their cheeseburger springtime rolls!) Something interesting we learnt more about Toronto is that there are a lot of Jamaican-inspired dining establishments and also food, and also a lot of dining establishment shower rooms lie in the cellar of buildings! (It's a little an expedition to get down to those shower rooms, lol). I now recognize I 'd been seriously missing out-- Toronto food is simply sensational as well as it simply felt like every place had an impressive vibe. We enjoyed it.

5. Walk through Graffiti Street

I seem like there's an Instagrammable Wall on every edge in Toronto however there are likewise committed areas for some actually awesome mural walls as well as road art. Graffiti Street, in Toronto's "Fashion Area" is one of them. I guess this is also where Rick Mercer does his well-known tirades! Graffiti Alley runs west from Spadina Ave. to Portland St. (however feels like it's continuous). There are actually vibrant, outstanding artsy walls here that make for terrific photo opportunities. When we went, the alley was loaded! It was truly great to see and entirely enhances my love of these Instagrammable Walls. All walls should make people want to stop and take a picture! You need to get your own taken at one of Toronto's incredible artistic wall surfaces. I love them so much I need to share a couple of more right here:

6. Choose a hotel midtown for very comfort

We remained in two hotels during our Toronto journey-- the initial part of the journey we stayed at the Fairmont Royal York and the 2nd part of the trip went to the store Templar Resort. We had pretty good experiences at both hotels, however actually the very best component to both stays was their area and proximity to, well, so many things! We really did not rent out a cars and truck on this journey to Toronto since we chose hotels that were right in the middle of all the action. We were essentially able to walk all over we wanted to go! Selecting a resort downtown, near King as well as Queen Road, John Road, Adelaide Street, Spadina Method, for example, was possibly the best Toronto decision we made. Our feet were eliminating us throughout the trip (since we strolled so much) however it was rather phenomenal having the ability to leave of our resort space as well as stroll 5 or 10 minutes to a dynamic area full of things to see and also do.

6. Walk King and Queen Road

Mentioning walking ... you should ensure strolling down King and Queen Street gets on your Toronto travel plan. Well, not just walking but eating also (naturally!) I can not count how many dining establishments there get on these 2 streets. Originating from Edmonton, I would certainly relate King and also Queen Road to Whyte Ave and also 124 Road for the sort of walkability, shops, dining establishments, and total vibe (yet much longer, as well as far more stuffed with services!).

Plus there's a great deal a lot more Instagrammable Walls on these streets ...:D.

7. See Chinatown/ Kensington Market.

And the strolling continues! We additionally enjoyed our stroll down Toronto's very large Chinatown as well as via the fashionable Kensington Market. I've actually heard other Toronto-area Chinatowns are far better than Toronto's actual Chinatown, but in terms of size and shops, we really did not feel like it was lacking anything. Kensington has a pretty diverse ambiance, and comparable to King/Queen, is simply one more really walkable area with a range of stores and restaurants!

8. Take an image with the Toronto Indication.

If you're touristing hard, you have to make a quit at the Toronto Indication situated in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square. I do not understand if there's anything more I can see concerning this than that, lol. It's simply a must-check-off-your-list, however depending upon when you go, they do hold events at the Square, as well as there is additionally a Farmers Market at the Square too!

9. See the Love Locks at Distillery Area.

Clearly there is more to the Distillery District than the Love Locks however among the primary factors I wanted to visit this area was to take an image with this gorgeous art setup. I think love locks at various other public spaces in Toronto had actually been hacked off so this was erected type of in response to that. It's a truly excellent art piece and I like the picture we obtained taken there. There's also nice stores and also dining establishments to check out in this district, which has a number of old heritage buildings and also is really a historic site (and also at one point back in the 1860s, was house to the world's biggest distillery).

10. Catch a Comedy Show.

Mike and I like an excellent comedy show as well as it so happened that our buddy Drew Behm had actually relocated to Toronto to do funny around (make it big!) so we were delighted to be able to capture one of his shows at The Corner Comedy Club throughout our go to. This teeny, tiny club is so tiny, it's funny (that's really the club's tagline however it's so true lol). As a rule of thumb, similar to just how I'm constantly looking for a Vietnamese restaurant to consume pho at no matter where we take a trip, catching a funny program is additionally an advantage to do in a city you have actually never ever been in. Laughter is quite universal.

11. See a Themed Shop/ Bar/ Restaurant.

There's a lot of fun themed stores, bars as well as restaurants in Toronto. We intended to reach The Lockhart (a Harry Potter themed bar) and also Curiosa (a Harry Potter themed boutique) yet we weren't able to reach it. There was also a Tiki themed restaurant that was suggested to us (The Shameful Tiki Space) that we would certainly try on a return journey to Toronto. And Mike had the ability to check out Rotate-- a Ping Pong Bar as well as Medieval Times (a medieval-style supper theatre) during the bachelor party as well as assumed both were lots of fun!

12. Go to a Big League Baseball (the Blue Jays!) Game.

We were quite excited to take a look at our very first Big league Baseball game ever before-- watching the Toronto Blue Jays versus the Boston Red Sox during our journey to Toronto. Although heaven Jays lost, I did have fun with my very touristy Blue Jays foam finger as well as it was cool to see the dome open throughout the game! We got a pretty pleasant sight of the CN Tower and the groom's sibling also leased a Field Room at the Renaissance Hotel Toronto (which becomes part of Rogers Centre) so we reached look out onto the field during their warm-up before the game started, right from the convenience of his hotel area!

The couple we were commemorating are huge Blue Jays/baseball followers so this was obviously a must-do with them as well as I'm so delighted we did!

13. See Toronto from the Sky at the CN Tower.

What's even more touristy than rising an actually high tower as well as keeping an eye out onto the city below you? We appear to do this almost all over we travel and it's worth the views every time. In Toronto, we took a 58-second glass lift up 1,136 feet (346 metres) to the CN Tower's Search Level, to keep an eye out over gorgeous Toronto.We also We additionally stopped on the Glass Flooring and looked into the Exterior SkyTerrace (it's rather gusty up there/out there!) I couldn't encourage Mike to do the EdgeWalk with me (that's the destination where you walk and also lean out on the edge of the tower, eep!!!) but possibly that's something we can try on our return see.

14. Obtain Lost at Casa Loma, Toronto's Castle.

Ever before want to live in a castle? Or visit one in Canada? Toronto's Castle-- Casa Loma-- was once residence to Sir Henry Pellatt and also Woman Mary Pellatt. Casa Loma took three years and also $3.5 million to construct from 1911 to 1914. It's a Gothic Revival style castle with massive yards and also is now a museum as well as also prominent shooting place! In the cellar of Casa Loma they highlight all sorts of films that have actually been shot in Casa Loma's spaces. There was a wedding event taking place when we visited, and also they were establishing for a Halloween occasion in the tunnels underneath the castle (which you can additionally explore). It's quite amazing and also is a stop on the City Sightseeing excursion so if you're into background, old structures, and also scary (but awesome) castles (as well as not planning a trip to Europe anytime quickly to see their castles) then you must see Casa Loma!

15. Attempt a Secret City Adventures Retreat Area.

As escape area aficionados below in Edmonton, we were really delighted to try a room in Toronto. The business Secret City Adventures came highly recommended (many thanks @britl!) and also are recognized for their live stars as well as immersive narration. We tried to escape from The Secret of Fire Station No. 4 and were possibly a min or more away from resolving the space (yet alas, we failed). We were put in the area with complete strangers but the team was really excellent and it was really fun in spite of not fairly resolving it! Often I assume escape areas with live stars can be truly hit-or-miss (yet primarily miss) however in this case, it was a significant hit. I extremely recommend a Secret City Adventures escape area if you're into getaway areas!

16. Take the Niagara Falls Hornblower Cruise + Trip Behind The Loss!

We had the ability to press in a fast field trip to Niagara Falls throughout our Toronto visit and also had such an outstanding time, we intend to return once more and invest more time in Niagara as well as go to Niagara-On-The-Lake (which we've heard resembles the Kelowna of Ontario). In Niagara Falls, we took the Voyage to the Autumns Watercraft Tour, which is a 20-minute ride that let us stand up close and also personal to the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, as well as the magnificent Canadian Horseshoe Falls (which is the most effective of the Niagara Falls!) It was a complete 'Mist Experience' (we obtained rather wet right up under the Horseshoe Falls!) and had so much enjoyable.

Then after we were done, we strolled down the major Niagara Falls strip (kind of like a more serene Las vega strip lol), obtained a bunch of pictures and also different angles of the falls, and afterwards took in a 'Journey Behind the Falls' Niagara Parks experience where we reached stroll in the passages behind the Horseshoe Falls. It was fantastic exactly how close we were to the drops. These water drops are genuinely extraordinary to see personally, and I could not think that it's not an All-natural Wonder of the World since seriously-- it's remarkable. It's a have to see!

The post “ Traveling: What To Do In Toronto “ was seen first on linda-hoang.com

The IV Lounge - IV Therapy Toronto Drip Clinic

[woodworkinghere1]

Up to date Ocean Isle Seaside Information

Breaking News Today -

Good morning, mates!! I wished to share an *up to date* Ocean Isle Seaside Journey Information at the moment (together with all of the outfits I wore whereas I used to be there). My household has been visiting Ocean Isle since earlier than I used to be born – so I’ve actually been going there each summer season my whole life! It appears like my second house – and it’s one of many solely locations on the planet the place I’m actually in a position to chill out. I’ve such good reminiscences from our summers there rising up, that it appears like such a secure, comfortable place after I’m there.

I additionally wished to notice that I’m not encouraging anybody to journey proper now resulting from COVID. Nevertheless, if you have already got a visit to OIB deliberate, otherwise you need to journey there subsequent summer season, I hope the following tips will assist you to out!

pom pom gown, additionally is available in purple and white

Brixton straw hat // Rayban sun shades // “Discuss to the Palm” T-shirt // AGOLDE Parker denim shorts

Brixton straw hat // Amazon coronary heart necklace // striped one piece swimsuit

Brixton straw hat // Amazon swimsuit (these are oranges!) // AGOLDE Parker denim shorts // related straw bag

Crimson Costume Boutique white eyelet gown // Cella Jane store headband // Amazon coronary heart necklace

The place to Keep

A RENTAL! My household all the time rented a home for per week each summer season. We rented by a number of completely different firms all through the years: Sloane, Cooke and McClure are the perfect. You must also take a look at VRBO! Chris and I personal a seashore condominium and we do lease it out by VRBO, nonetheless it’s not in the marketplace this summer season resulting from renovations (I’ll you should definitely share the hyperlink with you guys subsequent yr!).

A HOTEL: In a pinch (or if there aren’t any leases out there), then take into account reserving a room at one of many two oceanfront inns, The Ocean Isle Inn and the The Islander Inn. They’re proper beside one another and very related, and situated proper subsequent to the pier in a simple and handy location. The one draw back is that, like a typical resort, the rooms are fairly small. However they do provide a buffet breakfast each morning, and boast a pool and sizzling tub!

The place to Eat

BREAKFAST/LUNCH

59 CAUSEWAY: Our new favourite breakfast place in Ocean Isle! 59 Causeway is situated proper alongside the canal with a tremendous view and affords all kinds of bagels, cream cheeses and breakfast choices like cinnamon buns and donuts. We picked up bacon, egg and cheese bagels FOUR instances whereas we had been there final week – they’re among the greatest bagels I’ve EVER had!! In addition they devoted a whole part of the restaurant to a “espresso bar,” and provide a number of completely different espresso and espresso drinks, in addition to wholesome smoothies. Plus the ambiance is tremendous cheerful and beachy.

BREAKERS PIZZA AND GRILL: At the very least as soon as per go to we head over to Breaker’s for some mouth-watering sizzling canine and french fries. (We attempt to restrict our journeys because it’s not very wholesome – BUT SO GOOD!) Breaker’s additionally has a bunch of various Hershey’s ice cream flavors, and I personally love thier banana splits. Situated subsequent to the pier, Breaker’s additionally has an arcade within the again and a surf store situated upstairs.

DRIFT COFFEE & KITCHEN: We looove Drift Espresso for each breakfast and lunch! They’ve wonderful avocado toast (known as an “Avocado Smash”) and a Market Breakfast Bowl that’s tremendous wholesome and scrumptious with egg, avocado, candy potato, greens, quinoa, child tomatoes. Plus their espresso is AMAZING. It’s good to both stroll or experience your bike right here for breakfast!

THE PURPLE ONION: This can be a native secret that we found a few years in the past The Purple Onion serves wonderful pastries and conventional breakfast objects, in addition to burgers, sandwiches, salads and soups for lunch. My favourite is the Purple Onion Cafe Salad with a facet of candy potato fries! For those who go right here for lunch you HAVE to order a slice of cake. Take a look at the “cake fridge” whenever you stroll within the door – there are tons of various sorts, all mouthwatering.

OIB SURF AND JAVA: Situated throughout the bridge, OIB Surf and Java is well worth the drive in case you are a real coffee-lover. Half surf store and half espresso store, they provide nearly each espresso drink possible (critically, simply check out their menu), in addition to baked items like their well-known monkey bread. And the HUGE plus is that they’ve a drive-through, so that you by no means even have to go away your automobile in the event you don’t need to.

DINNER

BOUNDARY HOUSE: This is among the nicer restaurant close to Ocean Isle Seaside… its a bit pricier than the encompassing eating places however 100% value it! It’s sooo good – they serve buttery recent honey croissants with each facet salad and people are all the time my favourite a part of the complete meal! They’ve wonderful appetizers, seafood and my dad says their steak is phenomenal!

CAPTAIN JOHN’S SEAFOOD HOUSE: Captain John’s is my household’s favourite place in Calabash for fried seafood! My dad and mom and brother all the time get the seafood platter with deviled crab (I normally get a salad topped with coconut shrimp). You need to eat right here in the event you like seafood – then cease at Callahan’s subsequent door to buy groceries – they’ve a HUGE number of trinkets, jewellery, decor and items. Even in the event you don’t purchase something, it’s a lot enjoyable to peruse!

INLET VIEWBAR & GRILL: We love this place as a result of it has nice meals and it’s dog-friendly! Chris and I like taking Winnie, sitting on their outside patio and eating whereas looking over the water. I all the time get the mahi mahi with a baked potato on the facet as a result of it’s mmmm good!

MARIA’S PIZZERIA: We bought takeout a number of instances from Maria’s final week (we simply found it, due to some mates of ours!). Their actual specialty is the “Maria’s” pizza – I might eat the entire dang factor on my own!!

OCEAN ISLE FISH COMPANY: Often known as OIFC, Ocean Isle Fish Firm is a good place to seize a drink earlier than dinner. They’ve a Tiki Bar situated on the highest with superior views of the sound! My mother and I all the time order enjoyable drinks in a coconut. We additionally love their retailer – they promote a bunch of cute T-shirts, children toys and have a big number of Yeti cups. For those who keep for dinner, we expect their meals is simply “okay” however we love the ambiance and it does have an superior view!

OYSTER ROCK: I really haven’t been right here however all of my mates RAVE about Oyster Rock. It’s a brand new restaurant situated proper on the water in Calabash and serving up inventive cocktails and all kinds of dishes, from seafood to pasta. Their menu seems to be actually mouthwatering and we’ll for-sure be stopping by on our subsequent go to!

PROVISION CO.: This restaurant is definitely situated in Holden Seaside, however we drive in yearly for his or her wonderful meals! This was my favourite place for hamburgers and cheeseburgers in the complete world. Attempt their onion rings – they’re OMG so good.

SHARKY’S: Sharky’s has been an Ocean Isle Seaside staple for greater than 30 years! Tucked beneath the Ocean Isle Seaside bridge, the restaurant has a big indoor eating space in addition to outside eating that overlooks OIB’s lovely waterfront views. My household loves any of their seafood, and their pizza as effectively! The Tropical Shrimp Salad is BOMB, and I all the time order it with a beer adopted by a slice of key lime pie.

What To Do

THE BEACH: The obvious factor: benefit from the seashore! The seashore at Ocean Isle is very nice, we deliver our personal chairs and umbrella and arrange camp for hours at a time. Typically we pack lunch in a cooler, different instances we’ll head again to the home for an hour to eat and take a break from the solar. Our journeys all the time contain getting as a lot seashore time as potential!

BIKE RIDE: Bikes are very easy to lease in Ocean Isle, and you may experience everywhere in the island wanting on the fairly homes! We wish to experience our bikes to Drift Espresso within the morning for breakfast.

PUTT PUTT: There’s a cute little putt putt place proper subsequent to the pier in Ocean Isle (you possibly can’t miss it – you will notice it in your left whenever you drive onto the island!). Our household loves pleasant competitors, we all the time play no less than as soon as throughout our week on the seashore.

YOGA: Yoga on the seashore is the proper method to get up within the morning (together with the dawn). It’s $10 per class, and you may see the schedule right here. You don’t even want a yoga mat, simply deliver your seashore towel and also you’re good to go.

FARMER’S MARKET: There’s a extremely cool little Farmer’s Market that units up store subsequent to the Museum of Coastal Carolina each Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. in the course of the summertime. Though they don’t have a lot produce, they do have a ton of native paintings, pure soaps, honeys and jams, and even some cute seashore towels and seashore baggage. (Notice: this may be on pause this summer season resulting from COVID.)

CONCERTS & OUTDOOR MOVIES: For those who’re into music, you might be in luck! OIB affords FREE live shows each Friday night time from 6:30 to eight p.m. All live shows happen within the lot subsequent to the Museum of Coastal Carolina on the island. Carry a seashore chair and your individual drinks and prepare to benefit from the music (and do some dancing!). For teenagers, OIB additionally has free outside film nights each Wednesday in the identical lot. You’ll be able to test the film schedule right here. (Notice: this may be on pause this summer season resulting from COVID.)

What To Pack

A lot of the eating places in Ocean Isle are fairly informal, however my mother and I like to decorate up so we normally put on attire and wedges to dinner each night time. You definitely don’t have to try this, although – we’re normally the dressiest ones there! For a visit to Ocean Isle, you’ll undoubtedly have to pack a number of bathing fits and cover-ups, in addition to a seashore bag, towels and sunscreen. For journeys to Drift Espresso and bike rides across the island, pack a cute tee and a few denim shorts. A pair of good sandals can also be a should!

Let me know in the event you’ve ever been to Ocean Isle and when you have any favorites! I’d additionally like to know in the event you’re planning a visit there sooner or later – it’s my favourite seashore of all time, in spite of everything

The post Up to date Ocean Isle Seaside Information appeared first on Breaking News Today.

source https://daily247.net/updated-ocean-isle-beach-guide/

[pinkiepieaddict]

That time I sympathized with a Townie

Despite coming from all over America – from both coasts, from cities, and from suburbs – most of the kids that move to my town have one thing in common: as soon as they arrive they start whining. Those that don't start whining as soon as they arrive are usually asleep, or have been whining most of the way, and thus arrived pre-whined. They whine about pretty much everything. They whine about how bad the phone signal is and how slow the internet is. They whine about there not being a mall, and about the local stores not selling their favorite brands. They whine about it being too hot in summer or too cold in winter. About there being too many trees, or there not being enough channels on the local cable network. They even whine about how much the other townie kids are whining. Some of them whine because they are entitled brats who naturally whine about anything and everything, while other whine because they've been uprooted from their childhood homes and dragged half way across the country to a backwater town were everything is different, and rather than express this in a grown up way they treat their angst like a case of herpes caught on prom night, and set out to inflict on everyone around them. After a while most of them come to realize that whining about everything won't make it better, and they slowly reduce their protestations down to a few core areas that really irk them. Usually, one of the first things that they stop whining about is the food. At first you can barely hear your self think over the braying voice of a new townie kid venting that the nearest McDonald's or Burger King is a 4 hour round trip away. Or that the local grocery store doesn't sell triple sugar candy frosted pop tarts. But, quite soon, they come to realize that the local dinner does a much better burger that's twice the size and half the price of a big chain, and has about 50 times the flavor. More than this, they come to realize that real food – the kind that isn't heavily processed and artificially sweetened – is both healthier and tastier than what they were used to, and they come to actually like it. For the most part, this is a universal thing. Even townies with weird diets or food fads quick stop whining about the food pretty quickly. It's really easy to be a vegetarian when you live in a town where every family has at least 10 vegetable casserole recipes that have been perfected over the generations. If you want kale or quinoa it doesn't matter that there isn't a local Wholefood, because the farmers market sells it fresher and cheaper. However, last year a family of townies moved in, and their kids just would not shut up about how much they hated the local food. They seemed to hate absolutely everything about absolutely everything. Having to share a lunch period with them was is like listening to one of those talk radio shows where the host thinks that Obama made it his personal mission to destroy the country. Whatever food the cafeteria served, and no matter how good it was, they ripped into it like it was deliberately spiting them. The loudly proclaimed that everything was too bitter, or too spicy, that it was so tough that it made their jaws ache and so solid that they couldn't swallow it. They pretty much existed on a diet of mashed potato, Macaroni and Cheese and Jell-O, and even then they let everybody know how much they hated it. Given that most of the food served in the cafeteria is locally produced, this didn't make them many friends. It's pretty hard to like somebody when they are doing nothing but insult food that was grown by your family and friends. For the most part, I did my best to ignore their antics, like I do with other townies, but things came to a head last summer during one of our many local festivals. They sat down at a table opposite me during a communal barbecue, and proceeded to insult the food that they were eating. It was prime steak from a free range grass fed cow. Totally organic. Totally GM free. If you'd brought that steak in a good restaurant it would have cost you at least $100. Which I knew with up most certainty since I'd reared the cow, my bother had slaughtered it, my uncle had butchered it, and my grandmother had grilled it, and we sell the exact same meat to restaurants in New York who do in fact sell it for upwards of $100 a steak. After the kids had given up on their food and had gone off to whine somewhere else, I got up and I voiced my displeasure to their father. I told him exactly how good the steak was, and how ungrateful his kids were being in treating it like old boot leather. Now, townies don't tend to react to well when you tell them that their entitled brats are in fact entitled brats. They usually react on one of two ways: They are totally surprised, and simply don't understand why you are getting so upset, or they react explosively because their child is absolutely perfect, and anybody who suggest otherwise is just plain wrong. It doesn't matter where they set the fire, or who was almost killed when they decided to play with that gun that they stole from the back seat of that pick-up truck, their kid could do no wrong. Instead, this townie gave me this look, one that I rarely seen on the face of a townie. It said – in bold letters – You really don't know the half of it. It turns out that this particular townie had gotten on the wrong end of a crusading judge during a particularly acrimonious divorce. Said judge had given his ex-wife full custody of their kids, and had given him the kind of visitation rights normally afforded to convicted sex offenders. Said judge had also allowed said ex-wife to move out of state. Apparently, the second that the kids were out of his direct supervision his ex had proceeded to feed them nothing but heavily processed convenience food, and had continued doing so for the next 4 years. They closest thing that they got to a fresh vegetable was the garnish on a bacon triple cheeseburger, and the nearest thing that they got to fresh fruit was pop tart filling. He tried constantly to get custody, or at least to get family court to do something about their awful diet, but the same judge kept giving the same answer each time. Eventually, he managed to get a change of venue - to the state that the ex wife (and the kids) now lived in - at which time he got one of the kid's teachers in to give evidence that one of the kids was so overweight that they couldn't do a single sit up, and another was so unfit that they could barely even get as far as the gymnasium. While the third child ate their breakfast cereal with soda instead of milk. After getting custody back he struggled to get his children to eat anything that wasn't tinned, canned or cooked in a microwave. They were so used to bland, heavily processed, food that they weren't used to having to chew it, or to it having any flavor at all. They even struggled to swallow their food because they weren't used to things that didn't turn to mush in their mouths. His kids fought pretty much every effort that he made to get them to eat a healthy diet. They started off using their allowance to buy candy bars from other kids on the school bus, and when it took their money away they started stealing from other children in order to get their junk food fix. Eventually, in sheer desperation he'd gone on line and somebody had told him about the website that we use to advertise for new residents in which we make a big thing about the fact that we don't have fast food restaurants, or convenience stores, and how the school serve locally grown organic produce. So, he'd packed up his kids, put his house up for rent, and had moved them to my town in the hope that going cold turkey would get them to kick their junk food habit. I think that this was pretty much the first time that I'd ever actually sympathized with a townie about their kids. It was certainly the first time that I'd ever encountered one who thought that his kids were worse than I did. Which is extremely unusual for a number of reasons. Since then, or so I have been informed, all three of the kids have graduated from being super morbidly obese to being just regularly morbidly obese. Which is something, I guess.