#that punchline hit me like a truck
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xviistrings · 1 year ago
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In an alternate universe...
Kamoshida: I care for the students here at Shujin Academy. It's my responsibility as a teacher to act like a second guardian, and I'm determined to protect them with all I have.
Kamoshida: When I was told who the mastermind behind all those scams were, you just know I was infuriated.
Kamoshida: So, naturally, I did a little bit of research on my own... and I sent a threatening letter to the guy telling him to not fuck with my kids.
Kamoshida: Said I was gonna wreck his ass 'til his spine snapped in half. Hopefully that serves as a good enough warning.
Elsewhere...
Kaneshiro: ...you know i'm more experienced with oral but that sounds okay too
ok. wow. my post was written for me
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bulbabutt · 5 months ago
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i don't know the etiquette for posting other peoples tiktoks but the delivery of this punchline hit me like a FUCKING TRUCK please
NikhilClayton <- you should follow this guy on tiktok he's fucking hilarious
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erinravenseeker · 2 months ago
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what's somehow more hilarious than hearing Terribly Accented English in anime, is when they have one character who has an extremely japanese accent, directly talking to ANOTHER character whose accent just registers as Normal English.
funnily enough i actually can't be certain they didn't do it on purpose because canonically the very-japanese-sounding american guy is being POSSESSED by a japanese ghost so like. ????
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princess-of-the-corner · 2 years ago
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https://youtu.be/jjPq-r91oB4
That's actually kinda sweet.
Also the punchline with Spartacus hit me like a truck.
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kitchenscene · 4 years ago
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Cheese and the firehouse for the buddie fic thing
cheese + the firehouse
Eddie’s alone, but not in the lonely way. Firefighters pass through the loft, a gentle murmur, but him and Buck, they’re in their own bubble. Fluorescents fill the station. Garage doors shut, sleep begins to roll through. An easy day, quick calls, long breaks. A long day, the slow ones always are. Boredom set in around nine p.m., two hours later and he hasn’t been cured. Tired eyes replace the slow drag of feet. There's the soft hum of the espresso machine from the kitchen, the sound of someone fighting off sleep one shot at a time.
Eddie’s given up on the fight, letting his head fall into Buck’s lap. They’re sitting on the couch; Buck’s sitting, Eddie’s draped across the cushions, leg hanging off the edge. He’s read the title of Buck’s book at least a dozen times, and studied the reviews on the back cover twice as much. The spine is worn, binding peeling apart, well read, well loved. Every few minutes, Buck taps his feet, jostling Eddie’s head, though he never mentions it and lets him fidget as he reads.
One hand tangles in Eddie’s hair, only moving away to turn the page. He leans into the scratches against his scalp like a cat, pressing further into Buck’s touch, humming softly. Content, yes, but still, he’s restless. He traces the back of Buck’s book, knocking his knuckles against the spine.
Buck taps the book against Eddie’s nose, his face scrunching in response. He huffs before pushing the book to the side to uncover Buck’s face.
“Hi,” he whispers, smiling down at Eddie. Buck’s hand slides towards his hairline, thumb rubbing small circles against his forehead. “How’s it goin’ down there?”
“I’m bored,” he sighs, reaching his hand up. Buck sets his book face down on Eddie’s stomach and tangles their hands together, resting on his chest.
“You need entertainment?”
Eddie pulls his leg back onto the couch, knees bent up. He taps his fingers against Buck’s knuckles, scrunching his face. “Maybe.”
“You’re in luck,” he says, squeezing his hand gently.
“Oh, am I?” Eddie raises a brow. He shifts in his seat but makes no effort to sit up.
“Absolutely,” he grins. “I’m full of jokes. What kind of tea is hard to swallow?”
Eddie squints his eyes. “Are you asking or telling?”
“Reality!” He throws out the punchline, ignoring Eddie’s question. “Why did the man get hit by a bike every day?”
“Why are your cheesy jokes so dark?”
“Because he was stuck in a vicious cycle.”
Eddie closes his eyes and groans at the punchline. Buck smiles down at him, clearly pleased with his reaction.
“Oh, I have more.”
“Are they just as bad as that one?”
Buck ruffles Eddie’s hair and he makes a face. “No, they’re worse,” he assures. “What do you call an alligator detective?”
“An investi-gator,” they say in sync.
Buck drops his jaw in mock offense. “Don’t steal my punchlines,” Buck taps his nose with their interlocked hands. “What do cows like to read?”
“What?”
“A cattle-log,” Buck grins. Eddie shakes his head, amused. The jokes keep rolling as Buck continues brushing through his hair. “What’s the difference between a poorly dressed man on a tricycle and a well-dressed man on a bicycle?”
“Do you only know bike jokes?”
“Bikes and animals,” he corrects, pointing at Eddie, dragging their locked hands along with the gesture.
“Fine,” Eddie concedes, “What’s the difference?”
“Attire,” he says. Eddie gives him half a laugh in response. “Why did the bike fall over?”
The bell rings before he can finish the joke, before he can tell Buck, “please get new jokes.” Buck swipes his book off Eddie’s stomach and plants a kiss to his forehead before sliding out from under him. He takes a moment before following him down the stairs into the truck, surely more jokes to come on the ride to their call.
send me a word + a place and i'll write you a short buddie fic
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coinsofmcguffin · 2 years ago
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I was wondering where this was going and the punchline hit me like a truck down the highway!
chinese room 2
So there’s this guy, right? He sits in a room by himself, with a computer and a keyboard full of Chinese characters. He doesn’t know Chinese, though, in fact he doesn’t even realise that Chinese is a language. He just thinks it’s a bunch of odd symbols. Anyway, the computer prints out a paragraph of Chinese, and he thinks, whoa, cool shapes. And then a message is displayed on the computer monitor: which character comes next?
This guy has no idea how the hell he’s meant to know that, so he just presses a random character on the keyboard. And then the computer goes BZZZT, wrong! The correct character was THIS one, and it flashes a character on the screen. And the guy thinks, augh, dammit! I hope I get it right next time. And sure enough, computer prints out another paragraph of Chinese, and then it asks the guy, what comes next?
He guesses again, and he gets it wrong again, and he goes augh again, and this carries on for a while. But eventually, he presses the button and it goes DING! You got it right this time! And he is so happy, you have no idea. This is the best day of his life. He is going to do everything in his power to make that machine go DING again. So he starts paying attention. He looks at the paragraph of Chinese printed out by the machine, and cross-compares it against all the other paragraphs he’s gotten. And, recall, this guy doesn’t even know that this is a language, it’s just a sequence of weird symbols to him. But it’s a sequence that forms patterns. He notices that if a particular symbol is displayed, then the next symbol is more likely to be this one. He notices some symbols are more common in general. Bit by bit, he starts to draw statistical inferences about the symbols, he analyses the printouts every way he can, he writes extensive notes to himself on how to recognise the patterns.
Over time, his guesses begin to get more and more accurate. He hears those lovely DING sounds that indicate his prediction was correct more and more often, and he manages to use that to condition his instincts better and better, picking up on cues consciously and subconsciously to get better and better at pressing the right button on the keyboard. Eventually, his accuracy is like 70% or something – pretty damn good for a guy who doesn’t even know Chinese is a language.
* * *
One day, something odd happens.
He gets a printout, the machine asks what character comes next, and he presses a button on the keyboard and– silence. No sound at all. Instead, the machine prints out the exact same sequence again, but with one small change. The character he input on the keyboard has been added to the end of the sequence.
Which character comes next?
This weirds the guy out, but he thinks, well. This is clearly a test of my prediction abilities. So I’m not going to treat this printout any differently to any other printout made by the machine – shit, I’ll pretend that last printout I got? Never even happened. I’m just going to keep acting like this is a normal day on the job, and I’m going to predict the next symbol in this sequence as if it was one of the thousands of printouts I’ve seen before. And that’s what he does! He presses what symbol comes next, and then another printout comes out with that symbol added to the end, and then he presses what he thinks will be the next symbol in that sequence. And then, eventually, he thinks, “hm. I don’t think there’s any symbol after this one. I think this is the end of the sequence.” And so he presses the “END” button on his keyboard, and sits back, satisfied.
Unbeknownst to him, the sequence of characters he input wasn’t just some meaningless string of symbols. See, the printouts he was getting, they were all always grammatically correct Chinese. And that first printout he’d gotten that day in particular? It was a question: “How do I open a door.” The string of characters he had just input, what he had determined to be the most likely string of symbols to come next, formed a comprehensible response that read, “You turn the handle and push”.
* * *
One day you decide to visit this guy’s office. You’ve heard he’s learning Chinese, and for whatever reason you decide to test his progress. So you ask him, “Hey, which character means dog?”
He looks at you like you’ve got two heads. You may as well have asked him which of his shoes means “dog”, or which of the hairs on the back of his arm. There’s no connection in his mind at all between language and his little symbol prediction game, indeed, he thinks of it as an advanced form of mathematics rather than anything to do with linguistics. He hadn’t even conceived of the idea that what he was doing could be considered a kind of communication any more than algebra is. He says to you, “Buddy, they’re just funny symbols. No need to get all philosophical about it.”
Suddenly, another printout comes out of the machine. He stares at it, puzzles over it, but you can tell he doesn’t know what it says. You do, though. You’re fluent in the language. You can see that it says the words, “Do you actually speak Chinese, or are you just a guy in a room doing statistics and shit?”
The guy leans over to you, and says confidently, “I know it looks like a jumble of completely random characters. But it’s actually a very sophisticated mathematical sequence,” and then he presses a button on the keyboard. And another, and another, and another, and slowly but surely he composes a sequence of characters that, unbeknownst to him, reads “Yes, I know Chinese fluently! If I didn’t I would not be able to speak with you.”
That is how ChatGPT works.
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sepublic · 4 years ago
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King’s Identity Crisis
           Making a HUGE character-dive into King;
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           I’ll say it again, but I ADORE how this episode really dives into King as a person, how he ticks- It really and truly takes him seriously, it treats his feelings and insecurities as real? Just like The Intruder and other King-centric episodes or B-plots, but Echoes of the Past ESPECIALLY…!
           Just… when he asks if Luz and the others are secretly laughing behind his back; I expected angst to some degree, but that line, the emotion, the broken heart and fear, King’s world crumbling down around him- It really hit like a freight truck and completely blindsided me to how real it felt… Because this was reality for King!
           Because King is someone who’s always felt like a joke- He’s always felt like someone who’s never really taken seriously, never really acknowledged as a person, just a flat punch-line to laugh at, most of the time… Just something cute and pretty to amuse others against his will, and that’s all he’ll ever be, and it really must be a suffocating kind of realization!
           And I think King’s whole memory issues just play into this larger identity crisis over who he is, what he’s actually good at, etc. I get the sense that he really is trying to reclaim who he is, his past, by essentially creating his own idea from it- And it really is all the more heartbreaking when he’s forced to confront that, no, he never did those fantastical things!
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           It really reminds me of Luz, but for King, there’s this hidden layer of King not really knowing for sure what or WHO he is- So he makes up a story that sounds as flattering as possible, and latches onto that as tightly as he can. I have to wonder if he always knew or suspected, deep-down, that his story was flawed and likely fake; And that’s why he never really returned to that temple;
           (LOTS of content and analyses below!!!)
           King didn’t want to challenge that story. He didn’t want to change it up, he was already content with the past he had, the delusions he’s made for himself; So he didn’t want to risk or shake things up by uncovering the truth, because he had the unfortunately correct feeling that he wouldn’t like the answer. But even if he knew deep-down that it was all fake, it still meant a lot to him that his friends trusted King enough, took him seriously enough to actually believe him anyway!
           So, the fact that they didn’t believe King, not necessarily on some basis of not quite trusting him, but… Just not taking him seriously, because again King is just a joke and a punchline, just something to coo over and laugh at; It really breaks his mind because he doesn’t know what he’s good at! King really DOES want attention and to be admired, but he wants to do have it on his own terms, for something he chose and did- Because he’s KING, he’s King and these actions reflect the person he chooses to be!
           And I think this thing of deciding who you are… Again, I appreciate that the show goes out of its way to stress and emphasize who King is without the backstory; That Luz, Eda, as well as Lilith and Hooty- They know King not as some fearsome tyrant of the past… They just know him as the little guy they know and love! And I think that makes their appreciation and respect of him all the more meaningful…
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           They don’t value King on some nebulous story that’s ultimately proven to be a lie; They value King based on the time they have with him, on things that ARE very much real, and very much what King did! Maybe they didn’t take him seriously enough about the backstory, Eda understandably because she DID actually know the truth-
           But, again it just stresses to King that he IS someone to Luz and Eda, regardless of whatever mysterious past he has, if any. The real King is who they’ve loved, no delusions or anything- And it’s sweet that in this episode, King kind of learns to see and love himself the way his friends do? Without any needed fluff to compensate, no hidden past, because the King as he is now, and will continue to be… That’s great! They’re not mourning some lost, past King that isn’t anymore or never was.
           It’s meaningful that King confronts who he is without a backstory or origin, who he actually CHOSE to be- The King his friends love, THAT is the King that resulted from his actual agency in things, instead of things he can’t actually control. I think that really furthers the themes of Found Family, that King can’t decide his own past nor origins, but like Luz and the others- He can make his own identity from even nothing regardless… And he can choose his own family, who he is to others, etc.
           King just wants to be respected, to be taken seriously- He’s tired of being underestimated! And when it turns out that his story WAS fake, that everyone’s doubts in him really were justified, it just makes him break, in a way that utterly shatters my heart, because he’s suddenly doubting himself… 
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          His credibility, his belief and confidence, just the person he is! And I have to wonder if King suffers from Impostor Syndrome, low-key? That he really does try to think the best of himself, but he thinks he’s just fake, that others don’t actually respect or take him seriously, they’re just trying to be nice because they pity him…
           And they DID kind of pity him in this moment, and it’s just so horrifically existential! Because King has NOTHING to fall back on, no past nor origins, no family or anything! Eda knew who she was, Luz has her mother, and so forth- But King, it feels like he has nothing of his OWN, and that connects a lot to how he envies Eda and Luz, low-key… Sees them as cool heroes of their own story who have it all good, but what about him? Is HE being left behind, because they’re secretly too good for him?
           Maybe that’s why King exaggerates his importance- Because he thinks that if he’s important, people will value him, they’ll pay attention to him. Maybe he won’t be so lonely… Eda was obviously an amazing parent to King, but then so was Camila to Luz- And alas, there’s only so much a single parent can do for their kid. Eventually, they need to go out into the world and meet others, and really build themselves…
           Again, it’s heartbreaking how King just has this huge expectation and pressure to be more than what he is when he’s only like, eight years old- Because he’s afraid that if he doesn’t live up to HIS expectations, he’ll prove everyone right! Everyone will be right about him, about dismissing him… King will fulfill that exact prophecy everyone had of him as nothing.
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          He wants to prove them wrong, he wants to defiantly defeat those assumptions- So to still be wrong anyway, it’s like everyone else really does know King, more than he knows himself. Which… with Eda knowing his backstory over him, OUCH. Honestly, why does King keep trying to defy the odds, to defy the fate- Is he really brave, does he really think he can overcome this? Or is he just in blind denial of the truth, of reality…
           …Yet- Luz was able to see past the falsehoods and fantasy of King’s alleged past, and see him for who he TRULY was- And THAT person, was a good friend she stuck around with. She’s an illuminating Light, after all; She cast away the shadows and helped see King for who he really was, and that’s someone who doesn’t have anything to prove! He’s already great as he is now, he doesn’t need to justify nor compensate, to say that he deserves autonomy and respect, to have agency and whatever he desires on his own terms!
           Because I bet King has a complicated relationship with being cooed over and taken care of, because I think he DOES want to be pampered like a kid, and treasured like one- He just also wants to have it on his own terms, to also be taken seriously and respected, to have autonomy. It really is like how a lot of kids struggle with wanting to be loved like a child, to have the fact that they’re just a small kid trying their best be acknowledged- But they also really do want some autonomy and to be taken seriously and listened to, and it’s such a dilemma!
           And Luz- She’s a kid, she’s basically King’s sibling, and SHE respects that! She gets that! She listens to King, she humors his requests, but she still takes him seriously as a friend, holds him to a certain standard because she believes in him to be better and grow, to own up to his mistakes because he’s NOT just some dumb kid, Luz is also a kid and she can grow, even while people like Eda recognize that she deserves some slack because again, this is a child trying her best!
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           King just wants things on his own terms- He doesn’t like people assigning this identity to him without regard to how he feels, regardless of whether or not that happens to align with what he does want! Because people didn’t actually take that into consideration, King was lucky- But if he ever DID bring up what he wanted and it was contrary, he’d never be listened to. And it’s this weird, self-conscious self-image thing of… He doesn’t want to live up to people’s image of him, to tell them they’re right- But he also wants to be true to himself at the same time?
           It’s like people take that away from him, they take that identity from King- He wants to prove them wrong in assigning him such a dismissive identity, but. What if that IS who he his? Is he gonna be true to himself, or define himself as someone contrary to whatever people perceive? If so, then he’s still a puppet to what others think of them, in a sense… He just needs to live for himself, be happy in his own skin-
           And I think he’s beginning to be! Obviously that hesitance, that pause at the end when Luz asks him if he’s okay and content with all this, it makes me concerned… But honestly, I wouldn’t blame King if he still needs a bit more time to settle into this. Because he’s not entirely sure of himself and his own decisions, if he IS fine- He’s figuring himself out a lot, and he’s literally only eight. King, cut YOURSELF some slack- You’re not insulting or downgrading yourself, you’re not dismissing your ability for not living up to this standard…
           You’re simply acknowledging your reasonable limits that nobody should be ashamed for, least of all you! So I like that the episode, before it reveals that there IS a bit more to King’s origin, even if there’s nevertheless nothing else to King’s own feats- The episode makes sure to reiterate to King, to make himself realize and understand who he is, regardless. And I’ve always felt that way about King, passionately, that with or without a hidden past, he really is a very in-depth character with plenty of pathos- So seeing Luz validate that, remind him of that before any truth can be reached…
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           Again, I truly love it. He really does look so small in this large, frightening world, so alone- So King tries to take some stake in it, tries to set up a wall and a terrifying image to defend and protect himself. He’s small, he doesn’t want to be overlooked and not noticed, forgotten and left behind- Like in Really Small Problems. King wants to be recognized for who he IS… Whatever that is, he’s not sure, and maybe others can help him figure that out, should they pay attention to him.
           And, they did! They did pay attention to King, hence how Luz, in her repeated understandings with King, as early as The Intruder, where she recognizes his genuine insecurities and need for validation, to be taken seriously and acknowledged- Luz really DOES understand King… And in turn, that helps King can understand himself through her, because she can look at him. She can look at him without any conceptions of his past, and say who he is, and LOVE that person.
           Maybe King did prove Eda right in being unable to handle the truth at first… But even if he’s not much now- Look what he chose to be! He can choose. He can grow and change, King has AGENCY in this world, and again, he can cut himself some slack for not being perfect! Yeah he’s a wittle guy, what about it, to those who mock him for it- Don’t you have anything better to do than taunt a little creature for being himself, for something he cannot help?
           People like Boscha or Tibbles- They can screw off. As King said, people like that couldn’t afford him anyway… He’s a King of Self-Confidence, and like Luz, if he isn’t NOW, he can MAKE himself that way! Luz wasn’t Luzura, but she WAS Luz, and she could change what that meant, add to that- King wasn’t the King of Demons, but he IS King, and he can change what that means, add to that… And he has.
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           He’s been a friend to Luz and Eda, helped them out. Grown beyond his own selfish tendencies and immaturity. Helped guide Gus. Discovered and honed his artistic inclinations, his creativity… King’s discovered that he can be a pretty decent teacher, either to Luz or to an entire classroom of kids! 
          He really is on a journey of self-discovery, so it makes sense that with Echoes of the Past, he finally confronts the illusion he made for himself. King’s discovered who he is and can be, and will be, he’s decided that- Now he needs to know for sure who he was…
           I’ve said it before that he’s a lot like Lilith, especially with Separate Tides confirming that Lilith doesn’t know who she is now without a coven nor bile-magic… She’s a person who’s childish and hasn’t grown, but now she’s also beginning to discover herself and build off of that. Lilith found her own Luz in… Hooty, of all people. Her and King both feel like they’re not important, and now?
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           I think it’s interesting that King is going to consider his own relation to someone else, a relative who DOES have actual feats, who’s actually done things! Will he also begin to feel overshadowed, like he’s not living up to a certain expectation- When for so long others expected the worst, now King feels like he has a standard to live up to? To again, also defy how others underestimate him? I can’t say for sure, and I have concerns that King might relapse or struggle a bit…
           But you know what? That’s fair. He’s literally a kid, he’s allowed to struggle. He’s allowed to doubt and reconsider and hesitate- He’s going through a lot, he’s still figuring out who he is… King is allowed to be a bit unsure of himself and if he’s ready, if he’s moved on or still needs help. Again, he figured out who he was with Luz and Eda, and with them as well as Lilith and Hooty, and Gus- I think King can figure that out a second time.
           King… King just wants his emotions, his desires, his anger at things, his sadness and mourning, his self-esteem on the line here; He wants it to have VALUE, to be valued by others. So I love that Luz and Eda confirm that their love is unconditional to him- That they DID think he came from nowhere, but that didn’t change a thing. I bet they both felt like nobodies- Luz canonically, and Eda, Lilith confirmed that the Clawthornes weren’t exactly high-status.
          Eda also had an identity issue in figuring herself out, what she wanted to do and who she was; She embraced that as the Owl Lady, she decided who she was in defiance to what others expected and labelled her as! So again, Eda being someone who can work with these labels- She really is also good for King, and I think he can learn a lot from her, more than he already has, same with Luz. King wants to be given gravity, to be given respect, and he really does have that now.
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           As Luz sums it up, in THE final scene and line of the episode;
           “Whatever we discover, we’ll be there for King, no matter what.”
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please-buckme · 4 years ago
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A Broken Heart.
Lee Bodecker x fem!reader
Chapter 2
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Chapter warnings: 18+ mentions of death, mentions of sex, cursing, Lee being an ass, angst, meninist behaviors
Chapter summary: You move back home after three years to find your heart still in shambles.
Masterlist
Series Masterlist
Chapter 1 // Chapter 3
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3 Years Later
After moving a whole county away, Highland Ohio to be exact, you stayed for quite some time. Your aunt was amazing and the sweetest woman you’d ever known, and living with her was a breeze. She’d even gotten you a job at the auto shop her recently deceased husband left to her, which you loved. Life was good, for a while. You never had a reason to come home until your momma got sick.
For the past year you watched as your momma slowly faded away until the last week of April when she finally passed in her sleep. You were devastated, of course, but not only because of her death. She didn’t have much to her name besides a couple thousand in the bank and the house you’d left so long ago, which she left all to you.
The house was old. White paneling a faint tint of brown, grey shutters that were almost all off their hinges and rust anywhere you looked. It was a fixer upper and there’s no way you could sell it in its current condition. So, you decided to move back to Knockemstiff, just for the time being.
In all honesty, you’d grown to hate that town. Nothing but bad memories and any good memories you’d had were tarnished completely. So, once the house was decent enough to sell, you were out of there and back to the life you’d created in Highland.
Your aunt and you drove together in her pick up truck back to the house after your momma passed. She helped you unload your stuff and take things to the necessary rooms.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? I can make my famous pancakes. I know you love’em.” She grinned.
“As tempting as that sounds, I’m fine. Please, I insist you go now before it gets dark.” You pull your aunt into a hug, a tight hug.
“I’m gonna miss havin’ you around, kiddo.” She sighed, her breath fanning over your neck.
“It’s only for a few months. I’ll be back to annoying you in no time, oldie.”
“Hey, I’m not old.” She laughed and pointed her finger at you sternly but still in a lighthearted way.
“And I’m not a kid.”
She laughed a little more then sighed, “Well, I guess I’ll head out. Call me if you need anything and don’t forget to go down to Billy’s tomorrow. He’s excited to bring you in.”
You smiled, “How could I forget? I need some sort of income to fix this craphole up.”
You walked your aunt to her car and waved her goodbye as she drove way. Your eyes welled up but you made sure not to cry in front of her or she’d never leave.
Once you went back in, you immediately got to work. Starting in the kitchen, you didn’t have much but a few coffee cups. The house was still occupied with your momma’s things and you were already dreading having to go through it all.
Things started to come together room by room as you worked most of the day away. You cleaned and rearranged things to your liking now that it was your house. It felt almost empowering to do what you want. You’d never lived alone so, in a way, this was an adventure as well.
You took your old room instead of the master, since that’s where your momma passed. It gave you goosebumps just thinking about and you knew you’d never get any sleep if you stayed in there. Your room wasn’t big but it was good enough for now and much better than sleeping in your momma’s death bed, hard pass.
You’d taken a seat on the couch with some tea you’d brewed up earlier that morning. This was the first time you sat down since arriving, and of course there’s a knock at the door.
“Whatever you’re selling, I promise you, I ain’t interested.” You shout, too exhausted to even attempt getting up.
The knocking continued, “Oh, for fucks sake.” You groaned under your breath and stood on your aching feet to tell them to fuck off in person. You opened the door, “did you not hear me the first time. I said-“
“Hi, Y/n” Lee greeted as he removed his hat.
You scoffed, “Can I help you with somethin’, Sheriff?”
Lee stood there, fiddling with the bill of his hat. His belly had gotten a little bigger and his cheeks had gotten a little chubbier, but you couldn’t help the hitch in your throat when his wedding ring caught your eye. Just a basic silver band, nothing special. But it still left a hollow pit in your stomach.
“I-“ he cleared his suddenly dry throat. “I heard you was back in town. Thought I’d come see for ma self if the rumors were true.”
“Welp, here I am. You can go now.”
“Y/n, I-“
“No, Lee, please. I’ve had a long day and I honestly don’t feel like talking to you right now. No, I take that back. I don’t feel like talking to you at all.”
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think, doll.” He grins.
“Goodbye, Sheriff.” You shut the door only to hear him holler at you from the other side.
“Still can’t say my name, huh, Doll? Boy, I really did a number on you, didn’t I?” Your heart sank at his words. It seemed your pain was a joke to him this whole time. You’d always pictured him crying alone like you were but clearly that was never the case. Y’all’s relationship didn’t seem one sided until you were the only one hurt by the fall out.
“Welcome home, Y/n.” He said before you heard his boots click against the porch as he left.
You took a deep breath as you backed away from the door. Tears rimmed your eyes and you scoffed aloud to yourself. After three years you still weren’t over him and you knew that. You didn’t know, however, that he’d still have such a hold on you. And by the way he reacted to how sensitive you were towards the situation still didn’t help the ever growing void that ran through your entire loveless body. The only man you ever loved looked at you as if you were a quick fuck and a punchline.
A tear burned against your cheek and you were quick to wipe it away. You swore to yourself that you’d never cry over that man again and you won’t, instead you decided it was time for a much needed bath.
The bath was scolding hot, just how you liked it, and you opened up a bottle of wine as a sort of reward for the work you’d done today. Once the water got cold and the wine ran out, you brushed your hand and teeth and went to bed.
//
The sun beamed down against your skin as you walked to the local auto shop where your aunt had set you up with another job. You were always good with numbers and they desperately needed someone on the books. Your job would be to look at their spending over the last few months and figure out some sort of budget. You did that for your aunt at her shop, so this didn’t worry you at all.
“Hi, you must be Billy.” You greet the owner, “I’m
y/n, Peggy’s niece.”
“Oh, yes. I’m glad you finally made it down.” He beamed, shaking your hand, “How long will you be here for?”
“I’m not sure, actually. Just until I get my house fixed up enough to sell.” You say, retracting your hand from his sweaty one.
“Ah, well as luck would have it, our secretary just quit on us last week, so there’s a position you’ll adjust to right fine.”
You scoffed, “Wait a minute. Did you say secretary?”
“Yeah. You need to get your hearing checked, Honey?” He grinned. What is it with the men in this town?!
“No, I heard you just fine. My problem is that I was supposed to be your Budget Holder, not a damn secretary.” Your face was turning a touch of pink as you became increasingly annoyed.
“That’s a man's job, sweetie. We don’t you blown a fuse tryin’ ta add up all them numbers, now do we?”
“You can’t be serious.” You say flatly.
“Look, it’s the only position we got. Take it or leave it.”
Everything in you wanted to March out of that shop and never go back again. A secretary's position is nothing to frown upon, but to only be offered it because you’re a woman was despicable. Sadly, you needed this job and it would only be for a few months. So, when you told him you’d take the job you swallowed every ounce of respect you had for yourself. Knockemstiff was truly the worst town in America.
“Sounds great. We’ll see you tomorrow for training. There’s no dress code but there are a few things you’ll need to know before starting. I’ll fill you in once we start your training tomorrow.” He shook your hand again, completely ignoring the furious grimace on your face.
“Great. See you tomorrow.” You mumbled, walking away so you didn’t ‘accidentally’ hit your new boss.
//
Before heading home you decided to stop and grab some things for the house. Being sick, your momma didn’t eat much besides soup, and there was an over abundance of vanilla flavored Ovaltine cans littering the kitchen counters, which you hated.
The second the doors opened, all eyes were on you. You even heard a faint gasp coming from the woman at the register. A smirk crept upon your face. These people's lives were so boring that they still aren’t over your breakup that happened so long ago. Rolling your eyes, you grabbed a cart and headed down the produce aisle.
Once you grabbed the vegetables you’d need for a stew, you headed towards the baking aisle. You need the ingredients for an upside down pineapple cake your momma used to make for you as a kid. Your aunt was coming into town on Saturday to lend a hand and celebrate her birthday. You told her to go have fun, but she insisted on spending her special day with you.
As you searched for the baking soda, you heard your name.
“Did you see Y/n’s back in town?” A lady with a high pitched voice whispered.
“I did. I just saw her. Poor thing. She’s probably still caught up on the sheriff. Prolly wish it was her that was on his arm instead of Laura-Jean.”
You rolled your eyes.
“I know it. Wouldn’t you, though? He’s so handsome.” The lady with the high patched voice giggled.
“Oh, hush! Don’t say things like that.” The other lady joined the high pitched one in whispered giggles. “Oh my goodness, here he comes.” She cleared her throat, “Afternoon, Sheriff.”
“Evenin’,Ladies. Y’all behavin’ yourselves?” You could hear the smirk in his voice.
They both giggled and in unison said, “Yes, Sheriff.”
“Oh give me a break.” You grimaced to yourself.
“Heard Y/n’s back in town.” The high pitched one spoke up. Your face burned. Why would they bring you up to him so bluntly like that? Everyone in this town was so unbelievably nosy.
“I- I heard. Actually just went to see her yesterday.” He said, clearing his throat.
“Uh-oh, the misses didn’t like that, I’m sure.” They giggled.
“Oh, no. She didn’t mind. I was just droppin’ by to give her my condolences about her momma dyin’. Then, she slammed the door in my face. I guess she’s still pretty upset with me.” He was pouting, trying to get some sort of sympathy. If you rolled your eyes any harder you thought they’d pop out of your head.
“Oh, you poor thing. Is there anything we can-“
Suddenly the baking soda slipped from your hand and scattered all other the floor in a puff of dust. “Shit, shit, shit.” You whispered to yourself.
“What was that?” One of the ladies asked.
“Excuse me, ladies.” Lee said. You could hear his boots clacking against the floor on there way over to you.
Shit.
You desperately wanted to run away but leaving this mess for someone to clean up wasn’t right, not even with the predicament you found yourself in. “Well, well, well,” Lee mocked as he rounded the corner. “Only here for less than a day and you’re already causin’ trouble.”
“Stay out of this, Bodecker.” You huff, trying to scoop the baking soda back into the card box it spilled from.
“Was you eavesdroppin’, girl?” He asked, kicking the soul of your shoe.
You scoffed, “Oh, please. I could give two shits what you say about me, Bodecker.”
He leaned in close, hovering over your left side. You heard him chuckle which startled you. He was so close. You could feel the familiar heat radiating from his body and smell that familiar cologne. His lips came down close to your ear. He licked them and then whispered, “If ya weren’t eavesdroppin’, how’d ya know I was talkin’ bout you, hm?”
Your eyes shuttered closed as he spoke, feeling his hot breath against your cheek. His deep southern drawl always made you weak. It took you back to those times in the back of the cruiser. He whispered such dirty praises in your ear when you would ride his cock. Those dirty words that could make you cum in seconds.
“You still with me, doll?” You felt him tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear.
You flitched and stood up, “I- don’t touch me and stop calling me doll, alright? I really don’t have time for your games today, sheriff, and I’m not even really sure what you’re playin’ at in the first place.”
He smirked, running a thumb across his lip, “Darlin, I think the only thing I ever played was you..”
“I-“ your breath hitched in the back of your throat, “I have to go.” You turned to walk away, leaving the mess you’d made and your cart behind. Your eyes welled up with tears again. You didn’t know the man that stood in front of you. Lee was nothing but good to you when you dated and now he’s the most hateful man you’d ever met. The man you loved had disappeared and there’s nothing you could do to bring him back, no matter how bad you wanted to. A tear stained your cheek as you sped through the aisle. You could hear Lee hollering for you to stop but you wouldn’t this time.
All the heartbreak and sorrow that you’d left behind was creeping its way back in. The sooner you sold the house and got the hell out of there, the better.
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Dividers by: @firefly-in-darkness
Taglist: @haydens-moles , @c00lkidvibes , @tcc-gizmachine , @buckysm3talarm , @gogolucky13 , @cryptidcasanova , @heavenlyseb , @writersbuck , @teddy-bearbaby , @bbmommy0902 , @sweetllamaparadise , @thereblogcrusader , @aleemendoza2425-blog , @frostbytebaby , @jessyballet , @emotionallyandphysicallydone , @sarge-barnes-sir , @generalbagelcookieslime , @lady-loki-ren , @dime-piece-xo , @greeneyedblondie44
(Dm me to be added to taglist)
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str8aura-no-not-that-one · 2 years ago
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so this needs work. i still dont think the vocals are at the same speed as the song. but a part of me knows i NEED to finish this and include this in the final album because. uh.
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THE CREATOR OF THE FUCKING SONG MADE THE INSTRUMENTAL BRAND NEW AND HOT OUT THE OVEN FOR ME TO USE.
plus its such an obscure song i know the punchline will hit everyone who listens to it like a cement truck
Songs:
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
Furries Ruin Everything - Greatfox
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silverslipstream · 8 months ago
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I was waiting for the 'Bill and Ben are ex-lovers' twist for so long that the actual punchline hit me like a fucking Mack truck
Bill and Ben | Tom Cardy
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haysianrose · 4 years ago
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Transcript of Kelly Marie Tran and Jenny Yang’s conversation for CAA Amplify’s Town Hall on Confronting Anti-Asian Racism on April 1, 2021. Watch the full video on CAA Amplify’s website at amplify.caa.com/library/ (linked in source). 
Kelly and Jenny’s part starts at the 47 minute mark and is about 7 minutes long.
To know more about what was discussed at the town hall and the other speakers, read ‘CAA Amplify Town Hall Confronts Anti-Asian Racism; Asian Community Finds Power In No Longer Staying Silent – Commentary’ on Deadline.com.
Jenny Yang: [waves] Hi, Amplify! Kelly Marie Tran: [laughs] Hi! JY: Kelly! Hi! KMT: Jenny! Oh my gosh! JY: I just want you to appreciate the matchy-ness of my look today. KMT: I’m loving the coordination. The shirt with that little pot in the back. You look like someone who’s got everything together. [laughs] JY: You know, we’re trying to. We’re still in a pandemic. And now we’re gonna talk about being in Hollywood as an Asian American! KMT: Great! [laughs] JY: Let’s do it!
JY: With everything that’s been going on in the world, um, with… Frankly, feeling like Asian Americans, being an Asian woman in particular, with the shooting and murders in Atlanta… Like, feeling, like, under attack and super sad. How have you kind of come to understand who you are now as an Asian American in entertainment because of all of this?
KMT: There’s just so many emotions being felt at one time and I think… [sighs] For me, I wanted to dismantle, like, internalized racism, racism inside of me. It’s no secret that I left the Internet for very specific reasons. One thing that I think made a really big impact on me was recognizing just how deep seated the racism was. That was something that I don’t know that I knew the extent of it. And it made me really think about, okay, how do I figure out how I’m working within this system that has… perpetuated this thing.
JY: You unfortunately saw some of the worst, um, hate and ire that’s directed at.. women and particularly you as an Asian American woman, right? I mean, like, publicly. Just because, just because you exist! And this is what’s so, so, like, like, bonkers for me. And I think it’s really cool that, like, you’re admitting to having internalized some of this. Because I feel like that’s one of the first steps, right? It’s like… we need to educate ourselves and get right with ourselves as well as take action.
JY: When, uh, the pandemic first hit, we all had to stay at home. March, like, 11th, was my last day, 2020, of being out in public. About a week later, I was going out, just me and my, you know, blunt bangs, right? And my Asian ass eyes. In front of me stops a pickup truck of, sort of a middle aged white guy. He stopped right in front of me while I was at the corner when he had a green light and flipped me off. What was that for? Nothing had happened. And yet I’m getting accosted, assaulted, whatever. And then it hit me. And then I got hot in my face. And I was like, oh! This is because people think I am responsible for the pandemic. This is because our president and other people call it the China Virus, call it Kung Flu, make it a punchline. It’s telling someone driving down the street that I am a target for their, their hate. It was really upsetting that, okay, wow, this is the beginning of the pandemic, this is what’s to come. It is really important for me to think about what does it mean for us now as Asian Americans in Hollywood and honestly other people who are non-Asian in Hollywood to step up.
KMT: Like, what is helpful moving forward? You know, there’s so… so many instances of uh… you know, my friends and people that I’ve worked with who have, you know, done the social media posts and donated to foundations. They’re reading books about how to dismantle their own internalized racism. Like, what is that next step? And how do we actually, um… Help create change.
JY: You know, Andrew Yang, presidential then presidential candidate, put out a Washington Post op-ed that’s essentially said Asian Americans, if you want to fight anti-Asian racism, then you need to show that you’re more American so that we can be more liked. And, um, I wanted to test that premise in a video and I did that. And, um, you know, I went out with a sign that says, you know, honk if you, uh, if you won’t hate crime me. A middle aged white woman and her son drove around and stopped me and said, “I honked earlier and we just made two loops just so that we could talk to you.” And she just started to go into tears. She’s like, “I am so sorry what’s happening to you and your community. We are… I want you to know that we’re here for you.” That, I will never forget. Because that’s what we need. We need people who, um… are going to be there for us, not just as allies, ’cause we say that word so easily. We need people to be like adopted family! Who wanna join us, alright? Who are, uh, willing to be the intense aunties and uncles of our families who will stand up, whether you’re Asian or not, to actually risk something. ’Cause to me this is what, this is what it’s about.
KMT: During the pandemic, you had this comedy show called Comedy Crossing over Animal Crossing because we couldn’t do it in person and you raised over 30,000 dollars for Black Lives Matter. And that’s someone who is showing up. And that is someone who is risking something. When you’re talking about holding on to hope and you’re talking about a vision for a better world, like, that’s what you did. I’m getting emotional talking about it!
JY: I know! Why are you doing this, Kelly! [wipes eye] KMT: Because it’s true! [laughs] JY: Why are you doing this! KMT: Because it’s true! [laughs]
JY: I mean, listen… There’s more we can always do, but we need to do what we can, you know? And I’m not perfect at all, and… I probably could risk more. I really admire, you know, in your journey, sort of your moment when you, when you, I feel like really took a step forward. And so— Oh, now I’m gonna tear up again. I remember reading the draft of it in that cafe before the pandemic and tearing up and being so happy and proud of you because I know for a fact that, like you were saying earlier, it was very challenging to all of a sudden be thrusted into the public spotlight and become… automatically representation as an Asian American woman, right? In pop culture. And I don’t think people are prepared for that! Honestly, every single person who works in entertainment who has any kind of platform, we all need like mandatory training or something. Asian American studies… KMT: [laughs] JY: Asian American history. So.
KMT: Um. I was just gonna say I’m really grateful for our friendship and the way in which… recognizing that no matter how hard an experience gets, it always gets a little easier if you’re not in isolation within that experience.
JY: The more we can stay connected with each other, right? And encourage each other and not feel alone, I think that’s the way we get through this.
KMT: I’m really grateful to have had this conversation. Just to hear more about your insights as someone who is a community organizer, someone who has been furthering, um, not just the movement in terms of, you know, combating anti-Asian hate, but also anti-Black hate. Um… And how do we continue to be productive as people who all obviously are now sort of pulled into wanting to help in ways that will further, um, hopefully these movements.
JY: Yeah. Thank you. KMT: I love you so much, friend. It’s so good to virtually see you. JY: I know! I love you too, Kelly Marie Tran. KMT and JY: Bye!
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bonny-kookoo · 4 years ago
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Chivalry is dead (JJK x Reader) 💜(☁️)🔞
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🖤 Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader
🖤 Genre: CEO x Secretary AU, Fluff/Romance, Coworkers to lovers?, mild angst, Smut
🖤 Warnings: swearing, mentions of surgery, did I mention swearing, Kookster is whipped, it’s kinda cheesy, please someone get me a Jungkook like that, slow sex, gentle lovemaking, it’s nothing freaky this time, oral (f rec.) protected sex, sugary sweet live confession you might get diabetes
🖤 Summary: Jeon Jungkook was your boss. The roles were clear as day, so why did it seem so complicated?
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You had no idea who in the hell actually invented coffee- like who thought roasting some weird beans and spilling hot water over that stuff was a good idea? Well, whoever it was, that person could go fuck themselves royally; because first of all, that stuff tasted bitter as hell, and second of all, it made your early morning shift an absolute nightmare.
Maybe it wasn't the coffee, but the person who loved them- Jeon Jungkook. Self-proclaimed savior of his Dad's company after taking over at the mere age of 22. Now, at 25, he was a well known face in his business, with famous magazines naming him 'one to watch out for' when talking about deals and sudden decisions. He's headstrong, smart, and unbelievably good looking too.
And also an asshole.
Thats at least what your flatmate Jenny usually says whenever he's the main course of your conversations. You'd told her time and time again that he was merely this rough with you because he was stressed- yet she simply stated that you were just an angel too good for this world- and especially too good for him.
"2 Minutes late." Came his rough voice as he didn't even look up to greet you, simply tapping on the surface of his crisp white table where he expected you to put his coffee. (Black and bitter as his soul, as Jenny always said.) He nodded, hand raising to dismiss you as always, until his eyes turned downwards, spotting your scaped up knee; half-hazardly covered by a bandaid that already came off at one side due to the rush you'd been in. Sure, you could apologize now, tell him how you were late because that freaking dogwalker let a leash of one of his huskies slip, which basically ran you over like a truck considering your rather short height, but you'd found out early on that Jeon Jungkook didn't care about your stories. Yet with his still lingering stare, you felt like he'd glued you to the ground by the soles of your shoes, without his dismissal you were forced to stay right where you were. He took a sip of his black beverage before setting the cup down with a sigh, getting up to walk towards a small bathroom connected to his office. Emerging out of the room again with a couple of items in his hand, he sat down on his chair behind his laptop, turning it towards you.
He had to lean down a bit as he took off the bandaid, not even saying sorry as you hissed at the sting. You did notice however how he took it off more gently after that, as he threw it into his bin, opening the plastic bag of desinfectant wipes, before his large hand held the back of your knee, almost delicately. He began to clean the scrape, brows furrowing a bit at the view of the raw skin, thinking about how you probably ran with that all the way to his office just to not be even later. He wanted to apologize, at least give you some form of verbal reassurance that it was okay to put your own health before his goddamn coffee, but the words got stuck inside his throat as he gently placed a new, more properly sized bandaid over the wound, sighing as some red seeped through immediately. "Get that checked after work today." He simply said before getting up to put all of the items away into their proper place as you were left with still tingling skin from his touch. He turned around, looking at you with an almost bored, but soft look. "What're you standing there for? You're dismissed." He said, and you practically ran out of the office.
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"He wants to fuck you." Jenny simply said as she bit into her sandwich, while you were left almost spitting out your lunch. "What? That was electricity, I'm telling you! He so wants to screw you." She said, almost accusingly pointing a finger at you as she took a sip of her water, watching you.
"Stop. He only did that because he.." Oh well yeah, why did he do that? He could've simply told you to get it checked instead of taking care of it himself for that matter. But he was someone who wanted things done immediately- e rarely could wait for things to finish or to be done, so maybe he just wanted to have things more proper during your shift? Exactly. He just wanted to keep the image of his company intact- maybe even raise it by showing other employees that he cared for everyone deeply, even if he didn't. "He probably just wanted me not to look like I got scraped off the streets." You mumbled before taking a bite of your lunch, Jennies eyes rolling.
"Truth is;" She started, as she threw away her plastic waste before checking her watch, "That I still think he wants you bend over his desk." She finished, as you turned shades of pink, lowering your gaze at that. You always tried to keep those thoughts away from you, knowing how unprofessional it was. "Does he know you're leaving soon?" She asked, now a bit softer since she knew it was a touchy topic. You shook your head.
"I haven't put in my termination yet." You answered, your food suddenly looking stale. Jenny sighed, hugging your side.
"I'll buy some icecream on the way home, you're finishing later than I do I assume?" She asked, and you nodded again as a confirmation. "Alright. Let's binge on movies tonight, and have a nice weekend alright? Heads up." Came her reply as she left with a wave, to get back to her own desk in the company.
Jenny and you had met while you were waiting for your interview with Jeon to begin, and when you began to talk, you immediately hit off. You'd told her how much the driving back and forth from your old apartment to work would be, and eventually she'd decided to share her apartment with you close to the company. You were a bit hesitant at first, but eventually agreed; and it was one of your best decisions yet. The way to work was basically half an hour by foot- if it wasn't for your daily task of bringing your boss a coffee from this one specific shop downtown, almost an hour away by foot. It was okay however. Everyone had their preference.
At least you told yourself that to feel better about being Jeon Jungkooks personal slave.
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"You're in love with her." Jimin stated, as Jungkook almost choked on his instant ramen.
"What the fuck dude, I don't." He exclaimed in a scandalized manner, long dark hair successfully hiding the red tips of his ears. He simply furrowed his brows, chopsticks now digging in his cup as if to search for treasure, just so he didn't have to look up and meet the eyes of his very nosy friends who were sitting in his living room.
"So you only want to fuck her." Yoongi grumbled as he hit after Jimin, who'd tried to steal a peace of meat from his plate.
"Exactly- Wait no!" The young company leader corrected himself immediately. No, this wasn't just pleasure he was seeking with you- but he also denied every single clue that he was into you, romantically. After all, he'd had his fair share of romantic involvements in the past; all pathetically killing themselves royally simply because there was never true love involved. It was either for benefit, for public image, or most of the time- for his money. It was never truly just about him.
Jungkook was simply a number, nothing more. In a way, his success was mostly just a curse for his soul; he was convinced by now that everyone just wanted something from him at this point, as pathetic as it sounded. He was always just the punchline of a joke, elderly woman seeing him as a piece of meat on a richly designed table ready to be consumed- just to be spit out as soon as he'd loose flavor. It was sad really, how much he hated trusting at this point.
"Look." Namjoon started, putting down his empty cup as he sniffled from the spicy meal he'd just consumed. "As far as I know, she'd from a regular background, right?" He asked, and Jungkook nodded, slurping some noodles without paying much attention. "How long has she been working for you at this point, two years? Three years?" The younger in question nodded at three, remembering the moment you'd stepped into his office for your interview, back then with a different haircut and color, and a bit more shy than you were now. You'd found friends in coworkers, when it came to gatherings and dinners you were always missing, however. He'd never seen you at any afterparty or bithday gathering for that matter as well. "She also didn't eye you up at all during these years, right?" He asked, and Jungkook got a bit more serious as that, because his friend was right. You surely looked interested in him, but you kept it charmingly subtle- it was more like a shy glance every now and then, never to linger uncomfortably. Just like a mouse showing itself to the cat every now and then to keep the chase going without any intention to.
"Oh, did you ever pay her for buying you a new suit by the way? The one she spilled her strawberry milk on?" Jimin asked with a laugh as Jungkook shook his head.
"She didn't want it." He said, and suddenly everyone got quiet.
"She what?" Yoongi asked. "Is she stupid?" He got out before Jungkook threw him a serious glance.
"Shut up." He said through gritted teeth, as Jimin laughed and the oldest in the round threw his hands up in mocking defense. "No but.. I offered several times, but she said it was her fault. She even got mad at me when I simply put the money on her paycheck- she practically demanded me to take it back." He explained, and Namjoon nodded.
"Probably because she'd feel bad." He answered. He knew you longest and most personally out of everyone in the current gathering; he'd been in the same class back in school for a few years. And you'd always been like that- you hated being paid back favours, because you didn't want to seem like you did them just to gain something afterwards. You kept people at a safe distance, never to have them cross that line, so you could always push them away without getting seriously hurt in the process. You'd also never been in a romantic relationship for long as far as he knew- only having had one scandal back in school, where the guy you'd lost your virginity to had publicly shamed you for being 'bad in bed'. It was a mess really, and Namjoon had felt bad back then, but there was no way you'd let anyone close to you afterwards. "Look." Namjoon started, looking at the youngest. "I'd say go for it. From what I know, she's a genuine person. I'm more concerned about her in this situation than you, if I'm being honest." He said, and Jungkook looked at him scandalized.
Yoongi chimed in. "You're known to fuck around. Don't just use her as a place to throw your half-assed cumshots into, that's what he wants to say." He replied, making Jimin scrunch up his nose in distaste.
Jungkook only continued to eat in silence. You maybe had the role of the mouse in this chase- but he was a tiger waiting to be taimed.
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"What is this?" He asked, very unamused, and very much not pleased. It was understandable to a level- after three and a half years you'd just handed in your termination. What you did not understand however, was the amount of emotion you could spot swimming behind his eyes- he looked a bit like when he'd accidentally spilled tea over his workspace once, scared to death if that accident would mean the death of all his hard work of the day. You'd reassured him back then that everything had been saved on the main servers, so even if his laptop was to die, which it did not, everything would still be save. He could surely find a new secretary however- there was no use to make such a huge fuss over it.
"It's my termination sir. I'll be leaving at the end of this month." You answered, a bit unsure now on your spot in front of his desk, as he pushed the tip of his tongue against the inside of his cheek, a clear sign of irritation on his side.
"Thats in two weeks, Y/N." He stated, and you nodded. "As a reason you stated 'health issues'. Is there something I should be worried about?" He asked, and you swallowed, hard.
"Is it uhm.. do I need to answer-" You began, but he cut you off with a stern voice.
"You don't have to, but I'd have to decline the termination if I don't see the reasoning as fit to be taken seriously under such short notice." He began, putting down the papers as he suddenly looked at you more intensely. "We have clear rules here Y/N, I thought you knew them by now. Vacation requests three weeks prior, and terminations as well, except for important reasons." He said, and you looked down.
"I'll be having an operation that can't be pushed anymore soon sir, and I fear I won't be able to meet your standards afterwards. Which is why I'm terminating my contract." You stated, and you swore you could see a flash of concern in his gaze as he nodded.
"Is there anything I can help you with, in preparation for that?" He asked, now shifting his interest on his laptop screen again, typing something as you got confused.
"Pardon sir?" You asked, and he clicked a few times on his touchbad, seemingly searching for something before he turned his attention back onto you.
"Your severance pay will be quite high due to the quality and timespan you've worked here. I want to make sure however, that you're taken care of personally as well, if you'd let me." He said, in such a manner that you felt like he was actually growing a bit self-conscious.
"I uhm.. I will stay at the hospital for a while to recover, and afterwards I guess I'll be fine on my own. It's really fine sir, I don't uhm.. you don't need to do anything really." You said, before sending a smile his way, trying hard not to think of this chapter as finished. Your eyes already stung at the realization that you'd be leaving this comfortable environment soon. It may seemed childish for someone else, but you considered this place a second home- everything was familiar, every routine saved into the memory of your bones, it was your comfort to work here. "I uhm.. I really enjoyed working here." You finished, as Jungkook took a closer look at you.
He seemed to think about something, before he carefully stood up, slowly walking over towards you. For the first time he didn't look detached or as if he needed to do something; his gaze was soft and gentle, and it made it so much harder not to be a crybaby in this situation. You'd always thought that he merely saw you as a secretary, but this situation, as normal as it seemed, felt so intimate. "I'm glad." He simply said, slightly opening his arms to give you the option to take or not to take his invitation for a hug.
You would've been a fool not to. After all, Jungkook wasn't a physically affectionate person- he hated the act of merely shaking hands with a passion, he'd once told you.
"Will you tell me what exactly it is?" He asked, voice so much richer and deeper now that the side of your face was leaning against his chest, head growing dizzy from his presence. You could smell his faint cologne and a fabric softener similar to the one you used- again showing you that he preferred to wash his clothes himself rather than letting others do it for him. "You don't have to, but you have me worried." He simply said, now detaching himself from you hesitantly as he saw some coworkers outside the office staring. He didn't want to make you the talk of town now, only weeks before leaving. Rumors could be aggressive, after all.
"I uhm.." You started, sniffling a bit as you sat down in front of his workdesk. "I'll have a surgery on my knee, since I take a lot of medication for the pain now, and I kinda don't want that anymore so.." You explained to him, as his brows furrowed.
"Why didn't you say anything? I wouldn't have let you work so hard if I'd known you were in pain." He said, almost with a whine, which made you smile a bit in return. You waved him off, however.
"No no, it's fine really. I keep stuff like that to myself anyways." You admitted, and he thought for a moment, before he decided, no.
He wouldn't keep you working just so he could benefit from seeing you. That would be selfish- and he didn't want to be like that. Not with you, at least. He screwed up his chance, and that was okay; he'd had all the time to ask you out, to get closer with you, after all. Maybe it was simply karma. "Take those two weeks off. Don't worry, it won't affect your payment in any form- you'll need to take your vacation time anyways, or I'll get a slap on my hands for not letting you have freetime." He simply said, as you nodded. "Dismissed." He said, in his usual tone.
This time, it made you smile, as you nodded, stood up and walked towards the door. "Y/N." He said from his desk, not looking up. "I really enjoyed having you here." He mumbled, and you grinned, nodding, before leaving the office- and the building alltogether.
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"Still can't believe you haven't hired anyone else yet." Jimin accused,as he drank his soju across from Jungkook, who'd simply shrugged. It's been two months by now, and he still refused to let any secretary work as closely with him as you did before. He rather got up a bit earlier and got his morning coffee himself instead of telling anyone to do so; it was as if that was reserved to you. It wasn't the act of having you bring him his coffee like a personal assistand; it was more the fact that he got to see you first thing in the morning. In a weird way, he didn't want to see anyone so early apart form you- he was simply too grumpy for that. "What about Hannah?" He asked, and Jungkook shook his head. Hannah was a promising candidate for the role of a future girlfriend- he really liked her. But there was no romantic spark between the two, and when she'd looked at him almost as if he'd ate her dog when he'd told the waiter to split the bill of their shared dinner, he knew that it wouldn't work out. She'd been so sure that he would simply pay for everything that he had to pay the entire thing- because she didn't even carry her purse with her. "Another piranha, I see."
Namjoon came into the room, several take out boxes in hand. "What're you talking about?" He asked, and Jimin chuckled.
"Jungkookies nonexistent sex-life." He said, before getting hit with a spoon from the younger one.
"Oh, interesting actually-" He began, putting down the food before sitting down himself. "Just saw Y/N-" He started, but Jungkook, almost chomically, cut him off.
"Did she look okay? Was she alright?" He asked, and Namjoon laughed for a second before taking some chopsticks for himself, breaking them apart and making Jimin laugh when they broke the wrong way.
"She seemed okay. Walked without help, but seemed a bit wobbly still." He explained, and Jungkook nodded. "My dad said she's gonna be alright, but it's gonna take a while since she waited so long to get it done-" Suddenly, Jungkook coughed.
"Your DAD did the surgery on her?!" He yelled out, making his dog bark as if alerted, as Namjoon became wide-eyed.
"Yeah, I mean, didn't I tell you.?" He began, but Jungkook shook his head, still heavily irritated.
"No, you did not!" He began, before letting himself fall into the couch defeatedly, whining. "I could've sent her flowers or some other shit, now I fucked it up!" He exclaimed to no one in particular, his dog jumping onto his lap.
"And they say chivalry is dead." Jimin said, playfully wiggling his eyebrows as Namjoon shot him a look to shut him up.
"You can still do that though?" He asked, and Jungkook furrowed his brows.
"No, that's just.. weird. Like, imagine getting flowers from your boss MONTHS after you quit." He said, before huffing like a child. "I screwed it up, its fine." He mumbled, before Namjoon continued.
"I mean, she asked about you though.." He hummed, taking a bite of his food.
"She did what?!" Both Jimin and Jungkook asked in disbelief.
"She asked about you. How you were doing, you know, that stuff." He explained, before continuing. "Told her you fuck around, she left after that." He said, shrugging his shoulders as Jungkook yelled furiously.
"You did what?! Namjoon, what the fuck-" He started, almost tearing up before the elder one laughed. "Not funny." Jungkook commented, clearly unamused by the humor in Namjoons face.
"Sorry." He said, putting down his chopsticks. "No, but for real, she actually told me to tell you she didn't change her number or anything so.."
Jungkook looked at him quesitoningly. "So?" He asked, and Jimin groaned.
"What the fuck, is she supposed to lay on your doorstep with her legs spread out while telling you 'Oh hey come inside and make yourself at home' for you to get the message?" A grumpy Yoongi groaned out as he walked into the living room, greeting the dog. "She basically told Namjoon to tell you she wants to sit on your dick." He said, stealing a dumpling from Jimin as he took off his jacket.
"She did not-" Namjoon started, before turning to the youngest again. "But she basically did say you should message her."
"To make up a date to fuck each other!" Yoongi yelled from the kitchen. Jungkook groaned.
"I mean I do have her number.." He mumbled, and suddenly a hand was on his shoulder as the eldest came back, a glass of water in his hands.
"Then go get pussy." He said, and everyone laughed.
Everyone but the young man in question.
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"You uh.. sorry its nothing special but you said you wanted something not fancy so.." He said, as he pulled out the chair as you sat down.
"No no, its fine. I like this." You answered, now a bit shy with him sitting in front of you- all casual and not at all in the regular environment you both met in. He wore a simple black button up, ripped jeans- clothes that were so.. regular, yet he made them look so expensive. Maybe it was how his body was proportioned, with long legs and a broad chest, or maybe it was simply the way he carried himself.
"You look really nice." He casually complimented, as you blushed a bit, unfamiliar with such compliments as he smiled at your reaction, licking his lips almost impishly.
He would've been a bit more shy if it wasn't for the several conversations over the phone you both have had in the past couple of days; your answers and innuendos making it clear that you were genuinely interested in him, on a higher level than just 'hit and run'. No, you'd asked about his dog when he'd sent you a picture of him, you'd wanted to know about his family, or what he did in his freetime- you both even played several rounds of overwatch together when you'd revealed to him that you play the game as well.
It made him feel confident.
Another reason he was so adamant on making sure his impression on you was the best was that you'd openly talked about your, admittedly shitty ex partners, giving him even more reason to treat you the best he could think of.
You felt a bit weird.
Not a bad weird, but a.. tingling weird. This kind of weird where you don't know where to put your hands because wherever you began to rest them your mind thought about if it looked weird. It made you feel like a kid waiting to finally be let loose on a playground. You felt so comfortable with him, that it was important for you to make a good impression on him. So when the waitress came back after you both ate a bite, you began to search for your wallet, as he smiled at you, his larger hand covering yours in a manner that told you he'd pay. "All on me." He simply said, as he payed, making you pout a bit.
Walking outside, he made sure that you were comfortable with him walking you home before walking side by side with you, never too close to not pressure you. After a moment, you began to speak. "I could've payed, you know-" You started, but he cut you off with a question.
"Why won't you call me by my name?" He asked, and you began to chew on your lip. There was no specific reason you could think of that would make sense to him. It just felt like you'd let him in if you were to say his name out loud. It was a taboo thing to call your superior by his first name, but that had been the past. Now it would mean that you were considering him your friend. Or maybe even.. more. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" He asked, and you shook your head immediately.
"No, its just.." You started, trying to think of something.
"Don't make something up now just for me. I promise I won't be offended; just be honest." He said, and you nodded.
"I'm not someone who, you know, lets people get close to me, normally." You explained, before you continued after he'd nodded, telling you wordlessly that he was following your words. "It just seems.. so intimate, if that makes sense?" Against what you'd expected however, he simply continued his gentle smile.
"That's okay. You don't have to love me right away." He offered, looking down at you with a smile. "Say it when you feel like it. We'll do whatever is comfortable with you." He offered, and you smiled.
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"So you both did not, in fact, fuck each other." Jenny said, as she ate another spoonful of icecream.
"No, we did not." You said, and smiled a bit at the memory. Jenny had just gotten back from her business trip; a week full of torture as she'd called it. "We simply talked and he brought me home every day." You explained, and your friend fake-gagged playfully at that.
"Oh god, someone get me a grater for all that cheese!" She laughed, as she suddenly smiled a bit more seriously. "No but really, I'm happy. He seems nice." She said, and you nodded.
"He does."
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"Do you treat everyone like me?" You'd asked one night as you shared takeout with Jungkook in his living room, having agreed to meet up at his place.
He shook his head. "Not to that extend, no. But I learned from my dad was common chivalry is- it's not that deep to be honest." He explained, as he continued eating. He looked so young like this; merely wearing a sweater and sweatpants combo, hair a bit unruled and piercings on full display. With all that business on his shoulders, one could easily forget that he was just a young man, even if he did turn 26 recently.
"Its not common, though." You commented, and he shrugged his shoulders, leaning back against the couch as he finished his meal.
"Do you want to take my bed or the couch?" He asked after a moment, after you'd finished your meal as well. You shrugged. "Then we'll sleep together." He playfully said, but got a bit shy after you'd simply nodded, not having noticed that he didn't truly mean his statement. No taking it back now though.
"Are you tired?" You asked, wondering if that was why he'd brought up the question. Jungkook was an honest guy, so he affirmed.
"A bit, honestly. Sorry." He said, but you shook your head, already picking up the empty containers and plastic bags to throw them away.
"It's fine." You simply said, as he nodded, his gaze following you for a moment before he opened the door to his backyard, ushering his dog to go out to finish his business before bedtime.
You knew you should feel at least a bit nervous, after all you'd be sharing a bed with him. But for some reason you weren't- even if something was to happen, you felt comfortable with him- enough to trust you at your most vulnerable state. At this point he'd already sneaked his way around your made up walls, way too close now to be let go off without pulling on your skin painfully at the same time. Hurting him would hurt you now- so you had simply accepted the fact that he was going to stay at your side for as long as he saw fit.
"Alright, bedtime mister." He said, leading the dog to its bed by the front door- a place his pet had chosen willingly, he once told you. "Goodnight." He mumbled, gently petting his companions head before he made his way inside his bedroom, where you followed. He closed the door quietly, turning on a small lamp on his bedside desk, before opening a window. "I like to sleep with the window open, hope you don't mind." He said, as you shook your head. You simply got into the bed after him, your way of trying to find out which side he preferred as you slipped under the covers, the smell of his by now familiar fabric softener, and distinctively his smell flooding your senses. His mattress was soft, way softer than yours at home- but it was probably worth several months worth of rent as well.
"I uh.." he suddenly said, low voice cutting through the silence after he'd turned off the lights, darkness swallowing the room fully. "I have a habit of, uhm.. undressing myself during the night so. Just to warn you." He said, before groaning a bit. "Oh god that came of kind of creepy, sorry-" But you simply laughed.
"It's okay. I hug things when I sleep, so I'll probably latch onto you during the night." You admitted, and he chuckled.
"Oh I don't mind that at all." He hummed, as you felt him turn over, probably to face you as your suspicions were confirmed when a finger almost shyly brushed over your bare arm. He was silently testing the waters, trying to find out if you were comfortable enough with him to let him go that far. To his surprise you reacted by scooting closer towards him, until your nose was close to his. He couldn't quite see you, only able to make out rough outlines as the moon wasn't shining at all outside his apartment. "Is that okay?" He asked, in a whisper, careful as if he didn't want to scare you away. He felt you nod as his hand went to lay down on your cheek, thumb finding your lower lip as he guided his onto yours, slow, as if he was only testing the waters yet.
Always so considerate.
You slowly deepened the kiss, a bit hesitant since it has been a while you'd ever kissed someone; but he took the lead after noticing you accepting his gesture, his tongue gently asking for entrance as you granted his wish, making him close his eyes as he lazily continued kissing you, his desire taking over.
Everything was slow, comfortable, and warm- the way he slowly moved to lean over you, the way his hands roamed over your body underneath your clothes. It was as if you both knew eachother already, as if you didn't need to hurry anything at all. And it was true.
He slowly undressed himself, before directing his attention towards you, helping you out of your clothes as well, careful to leave the covers over his body, as if to shield you from the chilly air coming inside from the opened window. He truly enjoyed every second, every inch of skin he laid bare of you, as his head dipped downwards, placing open mouthed kisses against your neck and collarbone as his hand gently ran over your chest, squeezing the soft flesh or a moment before his thumb grazed over the hardened nipple, making you squirm underneath him. You felt torn between a feeling of being worshipped almost, and the frustration of him going so slow. Every past sexual encounter had always been straight to the point- this was entirely new territory.
"We got time darling." He hummed suddenly amused as you began to squirm more underneath his touch. You felt his hard on against your inner thigh clear as day, yet he seemed to absolutely not notice it; his attention more so on you, as he suddenly moved underneath the covers, shaking his head a bit to get his long hair out of his eyes, piercings jingling brightly at his sudden movement before he dipped downwards, making you gasp as you felt his tongue on your center. He chuckled again as his hands held down your lower belly, keeping your hips down and legs open for him as he sucked and swallowed, making you whine at the feeling. This was the first time someone had ever gone down on you, and it made you feel absolutely incredible.
Jungkook moved again as you became close to your orgasm, hands fumbling around for a moment until he found in his drawer what he'd searched for; the crinkling sound of the foil package filling the room as you still breathed heavily. He rolled the condom over his length before he moved over you again, cooing at the cold feel of your damp skin, sweat making your body cool down rapidly. "Are you cold?" He asked, and you nodded, but held out your arms, desperate to have him close to you again. "Let me warm you up." He hummed lowly, pulling the covers over his back again before he led his cock into your core with the help of his hand, groaning at the feel of your warm walls welcoming him inside. He moved after a moment, kissing you again as if he needed to confirm that this was truly happening. "You feel like home darling." He whispered out of breath as he slowly moved a bit faster, your hands searching for his as he helped you find them, fingers intertwining as he felt his soul grow fond. He loved you, he truly did, and in that moment he realized it to the full extend. It was the same for you as he kissed your neck, hot breath against your skin making you feel protected and adored as he picked up his pace, thrusts becoming more erratic as he suddenly pushed himself inside you in one swift move, hand leaving yours to desperately move over your pearl, making your back arch off the mattress as you whined in pleasure, throwing him off the edge as well as he spilled inside the condom.
His forehead rested against your shoulder as he chuckled, slowly slipping out of you as you laughed along with him.
"I swear that was not my intention when I said we'd sleep together." He said, and you laughed a bit harder at that, kissing the side of his jaw affectionately as he kissed your neck. "I love you. I really do."
"That's okay." you said still a bit out of breath, and he wished you could've seen the bright smile he sported at your next words.
"I love you too, Jungkook."
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transsonicfan2006 · 2 years ago
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I was super invested in the story and then the punchline hit me like a truck.
Once upon a time there were seven dwarves.
They were the dwarves’ dwarves, the grey-bearded masters of their trades. They were the craftsmen of such crafts you never see today, and they had come together to make a machine.
An autonomous, mechanical miner, they said. A machine that will never fear falling stones or firedamp. It’ll revolutionize the industry, they said, change the face of history.
Plans were drafted, gold was soldered, and in the heart of the mountain they bent metal around their dream.
It was a masterpiece. Iron black as ebony, mithril grey and glittering as a winter morning. In its head, gold circuitry clung to crystals as blue as the belly of icebergs. It was a thing of beauty.
It was also alive; worse, it was kind, and gentle, and unfortunately easy to love. And one day as it babbled through its language processor, it said, “Dad!” and seven heads perked up in a moment of mutually embarrassing recognition.
From that moment on, the seven agreed to raise the machine as their own child. And the seasons passed happily around the mountain until one bitter summer.
It was never known where the apple had come from. A jealous craftsman, possibly, or a seriously waylaid sorceress. But one day the dwarves came home to find it locked in the steel grip of the sleeping mechanical girl.
Cunning and clever as they were, not one among them knew how to wake her. Wizards and warlocks were sent for, and each walked away pulling their beards in frustration.
But at the last – truly last – there was a young magician, who knelt and whispered in the ear of the mechanical girl.
The cavern held its breath. Even the stones were listening. Then gears began to spin. Gold circuitry crackled. And all at once she woke. The dwarves fell amongst themselves, sobbing happy tears into their beards and holding their mechanical child.
And from the clowder, one asked the young magician how they had done it, where wizards and warlocks and the great craftsmen of the dwarves had failed.
“All you had to do was uninstall apple,” they said.
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refinedbuffoonery · 4 years ago
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Quarantine Moments (14)
Soooooo this started as me vibing to a Halsey song and then it turned into angst. Oops. Sorry. 
Also, in case you missed the announcement earlier this week, this is the last QM. I’ve had so much fun writing these, but it’s time to move on to new things. :)
*****
It’s a quiet night in the MacGyver household. 
Mac lays on the couch, practicing the ukulele. Bozer and Riley are in their respective rooms, doing their own thing. As much as he loves them, Mac has to admit it’s nice having some alone time. 
His fingers land on the wrong strings, and the resulting chord grates on his ears. 
Progress is coming slowly, to say the least. 
Riley shuffles into the kitchen and fills a glass of water for herself. Using her presence as an excuse to pause his increasingly frustrating playing, Mac studies Riley’s posture. Her shoulders cave inward, and she shifts her weight back and forth, from one leg to the other. When Riley turns around, Mac notices the heavy expression in her eyes. 
Something is wrong. 
They hold eye contact for a few seconds, saying nothing. It’s almost as if Riley is trying to convey her thoughts without actually speaking. 
Mac wishes he could understand her. Usually he can. But this look...he can’t pinpoint what it means. 
“C’mon,” Riley beckons. “Let’s go for a drive.” 
Mac frowns, checking the time. “Now? It’s almost ten.” 
“Let’s go,” she repeats. Crossing the distance to the couch, Riley lowers her voice. “Bozer needs some space. I accidentally walked in on him while he was on the phone.” The heavy look in her eyes suddenly makes sense. 
“His mom?” 
“Mac—” Riley lowers her gaze. “She’s...she’s not doing well.” 
“Fuck,” he curses under his breath, sitting up. Bozer’s mom is the closest thing Mac has to a mother. She certainly raised him like he was her own. 
Riley squeezes his shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll drive. Does your truck have gas? Mine’s almost out.” 
Still thinking about Bozer’s mom, Mac almost doesn’t hear her. “Yeah,” he belatedly stutters. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep, steadying breaths, Mac pulls on a pair of sneakers and follows Riley out the door. 
It feels good to leave the house.
Riley winds her way through the city streets, turning periodically but generally heading west. Mac’s beach playlist plays softly through the speakers. The roads are empty, which still shocks Mac even after two months of lockdown. Even late at night, there’s usually people on the road. The eerie stillness of his city is unnerving. It’s usually pulsing with life, not...whatever this is. 
A ghost-town, perhaps. Haunted by the memory of the diverse, vibrant beings that once inhabited it. 
“Did you hear anything else?” he asks, referring to Bozer’s phone call. 
Regret flashes in Riley’s eyes. “No. I left as soon as I realized who he was talking to.” 
After a few more turns, they’re in a part of town Mac isn’t familiar with, and he can’t stop himself from asking, “Where are you taking me?” He knows the difference between Riley aimlessly driving and when she has a destination in mind, and this is definitely the latter. 
“My spot.” 
.
They end up at the beach. 
Riley rolls down her window partway, and the smell of saltwater and seaweed wafts in on the gentle breeze. The lights of a ship glimmer in the distance; it’s big, maybe a cargo ship or an aircraft carrier. 
There’s something soothing about being near the ocean, Mac thinks, like all his troubles will be washed out to sea with the receding tide. 
There’s a lot he’d like to wash away.
Mac exhales with each wave's retreat, letting his thoughts and emotions go with it, one by one. After a few minutes, Mac feels lighter than he has in days. "Thanks for getting me out of the house," he says. "I know it wasn't your intention, but I needed this."
"You're welcome." Riley glances at him and looks away, biting her lip. Something flickers in her eyes, just for a second, but it’s gone before Mac can figure out what it is. 
“So, I heard a good joke today,” Mac says. 
“Oh really? Where’d you hear it?” 
“On my run. The teenage boys on the corner were practicing their stand-up comedy routine in the front yard again.” 
Riley smiles. “Let’s hear it.” 
Mac takes a deep breath, mentally preparing himself so he doesn’t start laughing before he lands the punchline. “What did the fish say when it hit the wall?” 
Riley makes a show of thinking for a second. “I don’t know. What?” 
“Dam.” 
Riley tips her head back and laughs, the sound loud and full of life. Tendrils of warmth curl in Mac’s insides, taking up residence in the shadowed corners of his soul. He’s been thinking about that joke all day, waiting for the right moment to tell her. 
Because Riley is the first person he wanted to tell, not Bozer or Desi or anyone else. 
Just Riley. 
She’s still laughing as her gaze catches his, and her raw, unguarded expression sends a chill down Mac’s spine. 
Sometimes Mac lets himself think about what it could be like if that wall between them wasn’t there. 
She���d consume him, in every way possible. And he’d gladly let her. 
But that wall is there. It’s been there since the day they met, and Mac respects her too much to poke holes in it. Maybe it’s a good thing. With the wall there to block sparks and fireworks, they developed a quiet rhythm of love and care, and Mac wouldn’t trade that for the world. 
If he let himself love her, really love her, there would be no going back from that, no returning to the way things are now. Either they’d be it for each other—be the one—or they’d wreck each other too thoroughly to ever be just friends again. So even if the wall came down, in a future where Desi is out of the picture, Mac would think twice before crossing that line with Riley. 
And he knows she would too. 
But that wall is there, Mac reminds himself again, and he and Desi are trying to make their relationship work. And as for Riley...
Riley will always be the “what if” he never got the chance to answer. 
Mac can live with that. He doesn’t have a choice, really. 
*****
Riley didn’t think about where was going. She just let her hands and feet take her where she needed to go, and it’s only in the comfortable quiet after Mac tells his stupid joke that Riley realizes what she’s done. 
“I’ve never taken anyone here before,” she confesses suddenly. Riley found this lesser-known beach access point in high school, not long after getting her driver’s license. Her spot has always been a quiet place she could escape to when she needed to avoid the real world for a while. It has always been there for her—when Riley was mad or sad or frustrated, or when she just needed some alone time to think. 
Mac snaps his head up in surprise. “Really?” 
“Yeah.” Riley looks away. She wants to tell him, but she can’t bring herself to do it while he’s looking at her like that. “Though, I almost took Aubrey here once.” 
“What stopped you?” 
“I chickened-out at the last minute. I thought I was ready to share it with him, but there was this little voice in my head telling me to keep this place to myself. So I kept driving. I parked in the lot a couple miles south and said that was my spot.” Riley avoids thinking about what it might mean that she didn’t think twice about bringing Mac.
There’s a long pause, and then Mac says, “Thank you for sharing this with me. You didn’t have to. And for the record, even if you had told me about your spot, I never would’ve asked you to bring me here if you didn’t want to.” 
It takes a couple tries to swallow the lump in her throat. “I think Aubrey knew I was lying,” Riley deflects. “So I made out with him long enough for him to forget, and he never brought it up later.” She picks at her nails. The dark gray polish is chipping; she’ll have to repaint them soon. “That was the only thing I ever lied to him about. Besides work stuff, of course. And we know how that turned out.” 
The stench of seaweed and decay fills her nostrils. Riley focuses on it—anything to distract her from the scent of Mac’s laundry detergent. It’s plagued her ever since moving in with him after breaking up with Aubrey. The scent she’s long associated with safety and her friend—and now the person she has unrequited feelings for—follows her everywhere, since her clothes smell like it too. Most days Riley can ignore it, but sometimes....sometimes it feels like torture. 
And right now, at her special spot, in his truck, wearing clothes that smell like him, it all feels like a mockery of what Riley wants and can never have. 
Once, just this once, she lets herself imagine it anyway. 
They’re on another drive, just like this one. It starts with stolen glances, then she switches to driving with one hand so the other can rest innocently on the center console, and soon enough, Mac’s fingers slip between hers. 
Then they’re parked at Riley’s spot, and his lips are on her neck, trailing light kisses across her throat. They get a little carried away, marking skin and untucking shirts, and a murmured Let’s get out of here has Riley speeding home so they can continue this in private. 
Riley shivers. Taking a deep breath, she tucks the fantasy into the far corner of her mind for safe keeping. Riley knows she should just let it go. There’s only so long she can sit in the silence, waiting for a sign and wondering if kissing him would really ruin everything they already have. 
Riley finally dares to glance at Mac again. He’s already looking at her, still wearing that soft expression from before. It’s enough to make her wonder, what if? 
What if he’s everything she ever wanted? 
But what if she loses everything instead? 
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joaquinwhorres · 5 years ago
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Best of Friends (Ch. 1) {Bucky x Reader}
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SUMMARY ››››› When your best friend steals marries Bucky's best friend, the two of you are left with only one solution: to become best friends yourselves.
PAIRING ››››› Bucky Barnes x Reader
WORD COUNT ››››› 3,916
WARNINGS ››››› There is no abuse in this story, no drug use, no depression, and as the only warnings worth putting up throughout the series, will be based around major plot points and surprise, I’m just going to rate certain chapters on the movie scale. This is chapter PG. 
A/N ››››› So I love and adore this story so much. I originally wrote it as an OC story and you can find those versions of the chapters on AO3 or FFN​
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The pounding on the door was seriously the last thing you needed right now. 
The first thing you needed was a drink.
Unfortunately there was no way on God's green earth you were going to successfully parallel park that UHAUL, and the idea of going to a liquor store within walking distance of your new place seemed about as safe as letting in the person on the other side of the door. Something told you it wasn't the UPS guy causing the door to rattle against the frame.
You sent up a silent prayer that whoever it was would just go away and leave you to the excellent pity party you had been throwing herself.
The banging grew louder. Which was about right for today.
Since dying probably couldn't make you feel any worse than you did right now, you strode across the apartment and wrenched open the door. In the next second, you were pushed back into the apartment as someone hurled themselves at you. 
"You're here!"
Thank goodness. Bernadette. 
Your shoulders dropped as you wrapped your arms tightly around your best friend, squeezing your eyes shut and willing yourself to relax into the wave of relief. "Hi," you mumbled.
"Took you long enough to open the door," Bernadette complained, but you could hear the smile in her voice as she rocked you from side to side.
"I thought you were a crazy person."
Bernadette let out a wild laugh right in your ear, and you flinched but refused to let go. 
"She is a crazy person," a male voice interrupted your moment, and you opened your eyes to find two hulking figures leaning against the wall behind Bernadette. The brunette smirked at you--or maybe Bernadette--as the blonde seemed preoccupied with scanning the hallway. 
"Fuck you, Bucky," Bernadette lifted her middle finger for him to see without releasing you from the hug. 
Bucky just laughed in response. "I suggested texting you that we were on your way, but she thought you'd enjoy the surprise." His eyes glimmered with amusement as your eyes rolled on their own accord. 
"And you did, right?" Bernadette asked, pulling back enough to look at you eagerly. 
"Maybe we should get out of the hallway," the blonde suggested, putting a stop to the bickering and saving you from having to pick sides.
"Yes!" Bernadette's attention shifted as she released you from the hug. "Let's see it!" 
Your stomach constricted. "It's pretty rough."
"Of course it is. You just got here like thirty minutes ago," she dismissed, pushing past you. You sighed, opening the door and letting the men enter. 
“Hi Y/N. Sorry we didn't text,” the blonde greeted, giving you a quick hug on his way in. 
“It's fine, Steve,” you patted his back before dropping back down onto your feet.
“Your Honor,” Bucky grinned, entering the apartment. 
“Your Bestness.” You smiled back, following him in and closing the door behind you to keep anyone else from seeing the depressing state of your new reality. 
The three quickly fanned out to survey your apartment.
"This is a .....nice place," Bernadette smiled too brightly as she circled a pile of boxes in the kitchen to flip on the tap water. You watched as it sputtered a few times before picking up into a yellow-ish stream. She quickly flipped it off, turning to face you and see if you had seen. Making eye contact, she shrugged. "That clears up." 
Bless her. She had to be the best friend to ever exist. Because if you were her, you totally would have hit her with an 'I told you so' by now.
Bernadette had warned you that an affordable single apartment was suspicious. That sometimes landlords blurred the neighborhood lines. That you may need to fix it up in order for it to even be considered a fixer-upper. Everything she warned you about was true.
You had thought you were going to Williamsburg. Instead you were in Bed-Stuy.
The picture on the listing must have been from like 10 years ago. Or maybe it was a neighbor's place. Or straight photoshopped. Because exposed brick was one thing but crumbling walls were another. 
Add to that the three locks on the door and the fact that you were eight hours away from pretty much everyone you knew and loved, and you were feeling super great about this life decision. 
"Does it?" you asked, making your way over to the living room area where about half of the floor seemed to have been ripped up. 
"Sure," Bernadette nodded, moving out of the kitchen. "And if it doesn't, that's what Brita is for." 
"You locked the truck, right?" Steve asked from where he stood by a window, staring out to the street below. 
"Stop, the neighborhood's not that bad," Bernadette waved at Steve. She made a show of rolling her eyes as she moved past you to open the door to your bedroom."You did lock the truck, right?" she paused to whisper in your ear. You hummed a yes and turned to follow her. 
The bedroom was less depressing than the rest of the apartment in the way Mount Everest was less dangerous than K2. It was still a fucking mountain.
"Interesting paint job," Bernadette remarked, staring at the wall which was half royal blue and half blood red. And not even artsy diagonal halves. No, of course not. Vertical halves. "I think I've seen something like this on Pinterest." 
You groaned. 
Bernadette tilted her head slightly, considering the room. "I think you probably have enough room to fit a twin and a dresser in here if you line them up against the wall." 
"It's terrible," you whined. "The whole place is a complete shithole."
Bernadette gave you a sad smile. "It's better than I thought it would be,"  she brushed past you, walking back  into the living room. 
"There's a random hole in the kitchen ceiling!" You flung an arm out gesturing vaguely towards the kitchen. 
"It could have been way worse. I was expecting it to be like a fourth of the size or for there to be a random dude you had to share it with. And anyway, Bucky's handy."
Your eyes flicked to Bucky, who was surveying the hole in the kitchen ceiling.
"You can't see into the apartment upstairs, so that's good," he commented and Steve snorted. Bernadette slipped off her shoe and chucked it at Bucky. He ducked, and it hit the wall of the kitchen, knocking loose part of the wall. 
Whatever. 
Bernadette winced. "Sorry," she apologized to you, meekly, shuffling across the apartment to retrieve the shoe from Bucky's outstretched hand. Taking the shoe, she whacked him in the arm with it. Bucky laughed again, making eye contact with you and shaking his head. You allowed a single exhale of amusement to escape you. But that was pretty much all the humor you had to spend on the situation.
"Do you have the keys to the truck?" Steve asked, and you nodded, patting your pockets before finding them and offering the small keychain to him.  "Alright, Buck," he nodded with his head towards the door, and Bucky moved around Bernadette, giving her a wide berth as he went to follow Steve. 
She started to follow when Steve stopped her.
"We got it. It's just the heavy stuff, right?" he asked you. 
You nodded. "Yeah, I got most of the boxes up before you came." 
"Are you saying we can't handle the heavy stuff? Did I secretly marry a misogynist?" Bernadette asked, putting her hands on her hips. 
Steve shook his head, smiling. "We need someone to watch the stuff up here since the door's going to be open." 
"Steve--" Bernadette started to protest again. You weren't sure if she was about to argue about her physical prowess or the apartment's safety, but regardless of the argument this eternal optimist wanted to make, you were fairly sure Steve was right.
"That'd be great, you can help me figure out where to put things as we unpack."
Bernie brightened at the prospect. "I'm glad you said that, because I already have some ideas." She turned back to face Bucky and Steve. 
"Bucky, make sure he doesn't overexert himself. I need him fully functional tonight." You hoped that everyone mixed the grimace that crossed your face. Steve blushed slightly, and leaned down to whisper something in Bernie's ear. A grin spread across her face, and you were very thankful Steve was not one of those people who couldn't whisper.
"Ah newlyweds," Bucky made eye contact with you again, and you couldn't read the look on his face. He seemed almost like he was waiting for you to get the punchline of a joke. Maybe if your brain was operating at all correctly, you would have gotten it. Instead, you snorted before turning to Bernadette.
"Kitchen should be easiest and least in the way, right?"
"As long as we get it done in time for Bucky to take a look at the ceiling. And the bit of wall he knocked off." 
You knew Bernadette well enough to see the red herring for what it was. You were not going to get distracted with holding her accountable for further destroying your shitty apartment.
"I'm not going to ask Bucky to fix my ceiling," you said, gathering the utensils out of the box and sticking them in a drawer by the stove. 
"It's not a big deal--" Bernie dismissed, crossing paths with you to take the utensils and stick them in one of the mason jars you'd already unpacked.
You shook your head, "It's weird to ask one of your friends to fix my ceiling--"
"He's your friend too," Bernadette argued, taking the napkins out of your hands and disappearing with them. 
"I've met him twice." 
Bernadette came back and rustled through the open boxes, the sound of glass clinking and metal shifting against each other in her wake."Yes, but the second time you spent four days practically attached to the hip with him." 
"Because he was the best man, and I was the maid of honor. It was our job to be attached at the hip and make sure everything went well."
"Was creating cute little nicknames part of the job as well?" Bernadette asked, pausing to pin you with a look.
"It's just an inside joke, and they're not that cute."
"Oh, they're pretty cute," Bernie smirked, bending back down to go through a box. "Where did you put your dish towels?" 
You stood up from your box, coming over to join her in looking through the box. "I mean he calls you Bernie."
"Everyone calls me Bernie now," Bernadette dismissed. "Besides he has two nicknames for you." 
"K is not a nickname. It's a taunt."
"You mean flirtatious teasing."
"I mean a jab at how I'm a shit texter."
Bernadette looked you dead in the eyes before shooting you what was probably supposed to be a sultry wink. " 'k." 
You threw the dish towels you'd just dislodged at her and she laughed, picking them back up from where they fell in the box, and moving over to the open drawer. "Setting aside the two nicknames and their quality, he volunteered to come help you. I don't think he'd mind taking a look." 
"Maybe," you conceded, knowing Bernadette wouldn't stop until she'd had some measure of success. It's what had to make her such a good law student. You had given in enough times on the promise of maybe that with a glint in her eye she dropped the subject.
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It took Bucky and Steve a little over an hour to unload all of your things from the truck. It was another forty-five minutes of Bernadette reimagining the floor plan and forcing the four of you to continuously shuffle the furniture around before she was satisfied. When all was said and done, the apartment did look marginally better. At least some of the punched in outlets were hidden and the worst of the floor was covered.
"Well," Bernadette said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "That's it. You're officially a New Yorker." 
"And you can officially stop sending me those sketchy Craigslit ads and Monster listings," you nodded, placing your hands on your hips and surveying the apartment. 
"Neither of you are New Yorkers," Bucky shook his head, navigating the words around a hair-tie as he fixed his bun. Bernadette turned to glare at him, and he laughed, slipping the hair-tie around the bundle of hair.
"You married in. Doesn't count."
"Excuse you, I’m fluent in Subway Announcement and I’ve had a rat steal some of my food. If that doesn’t make me a New Yorker then I don’t know what does,” Bernadette huffed.
"You're a New Yorker," Steve soothed, putting an arm around her, and kissing the top of her head. 
"Well," you sighed, hoping to stop another bantering fight from breaking out between Bucky and Bernadette. "I need pizza. And beer. And to get out of this apartment. Anyone else?"
"Oh," Bernadette's face fell as she glanced quickly up at Steve and then at you. "I wish we could, but Steve and I have reservations. I wasn't even thinking when we made them, and it's such a long wait list…" she trailed off, frowning sympathetically "I'm so sorry, babe."
"I'm free," Bucky offered. "And I actually know a decent place that's not too far from here. Since I'm a real New Yorker." The jab effectively stopped the sly grin that was growing on Bernadette's face.
"I--"
"What line did we take to get here?" Bucky asked, and Bernadette sulked. "It just slipped out."
"It's a tourist mistake," Bucky shook his head, tsking. "The green line." 
"Well," Bernadette hmphed, "Steve and I are going to take the G train back home to get ready for dinner." She moved over to you, placing a kiss on your cheek. "I will see you for lunch sometime soon because we can do that now that we live in the same city!" 
You smiled, and reached up to hug Steve as he bent down to say goodbye. 
"Bucky, please do not take my best friend to any godforsaken hole in the wall back alley pizza joint that's definitely just a front. I don't care how good their pizza is," Bernadette cut off his protest and he smiled, shaking his head. 
"You're missing out on all of the best food."
"Ok," Bernadette dismissed, her disbelief dripping from each syllable. She took Steve by the hand, and you and Bucky walked them to the door. "Love you both." And with that, Bernadette and Steve were gone, leaving you alone in your apartment with Bucky. 
He sighed, running a hand through the roots of his hair, despite the fact that it messed up his perfectly done man bun. 
"You don't have to get pizza with me," you said, flashing a quick smile at him. 
"Trying to get rid of me?" Bucky asked, looking down at you amused. 
You shook your head, turning away from him quickly to try to locate your purse amongst the boxes. "No, I just--didn't want you to just come along to be nice. Or because you felt bad that Bernadette ditched so I'm all alone."
"How could I feel bad when you put it like that?" 
"I didn't mean it like--" you started, stuttering and Bucky stopped you, coming up beside you with your purse hanging from his finger. 
"I know. Just rest assured that I'm happy to put up with you for pizza." 
You snatched the purse from him, slinging it across your body as Bucky laughed at you. "Ready?" 
You nodded and the two of you headed out the door.
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For all of the inconveniences and tragedies that had befallen you today, the walk to the pizza place was not one of them. In fact, second to seeing Bernadette at your door, it was probably the best part of the entire day. The walk was short, and the September evening air was pleasantly warm. With Bucky and his MMA fighter build next to you, navigating through the neighborhood didn't wrack your nerves as much as it could have. Although, it might not have been Bucky's muscles as much as his easy conversation that provided the comfort. He told you about his job, where to find the best bodegas, and one embarrassing story of Steve growing up. By the time you arrived at Tony's Pizza Spot, you had almost forgotten about how awful your day was.
"Hey Tony," Bucky called out, entering the place, and the owner looked up from where he was cutting a pizza. He jerked his head up in a nod. It was a small wood paneled shop with no tables or counters to sit at. Instead, there was one large display case with different meats and breads. You looked up at the simple menu, and Bucky stood closely next to you despite the fact that you had a feeling he didn't need to look at the offerings.
"Pepperoni and sausage ok?" Bucky asked, and you nodded, scanning the drink refrigerators for any sight of beer. "And for your milkshake?"
You raised your eyebrows at him. "I'm getting a milkshake?"
"You are," he nodded. 
"Well," you looked up at the board. "Cherry vanilla." 
"Excellent choice," Bucky smiled, approaching the counter as Tony tied off the pizza box with twine and then approached. 
"What can I getcha?" he asked his eyes flicking between you and Bucky. 
Bucky placed the order quickly, and Tony nodded, quickly tallying it up on the register. You reached into your purse for your wallet, but Bucky waved you off. "I got this."
"Pretty sure it's customary for the person who just subjected you to two hours of moving stuff to pay for the pizza. "
"Nah," Bucky shook his head, already handing the cash over to Tony."Think of it as a housewarming gift." 
"Just moved to the neighborhood?" Tony asked, passing back Bucky his change, and you nodded. "Welcome." 
"She's right down the street," Bucky said, dumping the change into the tip jar and stuffing the bills back into his pocket. "Figured I'd show her the best pizza spot in town."
"Damn right," Tony grinned, moving away to grab out an already prepped cheese pizza.. "How's Clint doin'? Didn't see him last week."
Bucky shook his head. "Broke his wrist last week, so Kate's placed him under house arrest to make sure he doesn't make it worse like last time. I'm guessing one of them will be in soon." 
Tony had the same look of exasperation as Bucky as he ladeled sauce onto the pizza. "It's always something with him. Broken bones. Concussion. That boy's a walking accident."
You sorted through your memories trying to remember if you had met Clint at the wedding or either of the times you had been up to visit Bernadette at school. The name sounded familiar enough, but you couldn't picture the face. If Bernadette was here she could jog your memory. She'd remind you who Clint was give you a few facts about his life and a quick story so you felt like you knew him already. But she wasn't here. She was off being married, and you were in this tiny pizza shop with a boy you hardly knew who was doing his best to keep you company.
"You ok?" Bucky bumped shoulders with you. You hadn't realized their conversation ended and Tony had moved away to make the milkshakes.
"Yeah, I'm fine," you shook your head trying to clear your thoughts. 
Bucky shot you a very disbelieving look. "I can't tell if you're a bad liar or just too tired to try to be good at it."
Your shoulders dropped. Frankly, it was both. "It's nothing...it's stupid," you dismissed.
"Bummed you're stuck here with me instead of Bernie?" Bucky guessed. Very correctly. 
"No," you sighed.  "I just wish she was here too."
"Yeah, I get it," Bucky nodded, facing back forward to watch Tony making the milkshakes. 
You felt bad. After all, Bucky had volunteered to give up his Monday evening to helping you move in. He probably had a whole list of things he'd rather do after work than lug a bookshelf up your stairs, but he'd done it, hadn't complained, and then treated you to pizza. And here you were wishing he was Bernadette. 
"It was kind of rude of your best friend to steal my best friend," you commented with a half smile.
Bucky snorted. "Sorry, your honor, but your best friend stole my best friend."
"What?"
Bucky looked back down at you. "You weren't there. He was gone long before she was. Pretty much the second he met her  it was over for him."
"What, and you were there the second they met?" you sassed back, placing your hands on your hips. 
"Actually, yes," Bucky said, reaching forward to grab a milkshake Tony placed up on the counter. He peered into the top of the cup and passed it over to you. "Steve volunteered both of our services to move in Bernie's stuff."
"I didn't realize you were there," you said, accepting the dessert from Bucky.  "She only ever mentioned Steve."
"Maybe he did steal her away fairly instantly then." Bucky shrugged. "Anyway, you realize there's only one solution to our problem, right?"
You gave him a flat look. "I'm not going to kill them."
"Holy shit, no," Bucky laughed. "That's where you went first?" Your face heated up, and you quickly busied yourself with a sip of the milkshake which was very good. Better than alcohol good. "And?" Bucky asked. 
"It's delicious," you said, returning for another sip before looking back at him. "But what's the solution?"
"We'll be best friends."
"You want to be my best friend?" you asked, with a small smile.
"More like I want you to be my best friend," Bucky said. "Steve's been doing a shit job recently, and you moved all the way from North Carolina to be with Bernie--I like that kind of effort." 
You laughed, and Bucky grinned back, taking his milkshake from off the counter.
"Alright," you agreed, feeling a little bit lighter. "I'm not replacing Bernadette though. You'll just have to be the substitute for when she's not up to par."
"I can work with that," Bucky nodded. "And as my first act as your substitute best friend is to demand to throw you a housewarming party. Don't make plans for next Saturday."
The smile slid off of your face. "No, thank you.  I don't want anyone walking into my trap house apartment."
"Your apartment is not that bad."
"Bucky. It's terrible."
"Your Honor, Steve and I shared a glorified closet for our entire sophomore year of college. We couldn't both stand in our kitchen." Bucky leveled you a glance. "And our friends still came over to visit us."
You mulled it over, stirring your milkshake with the straw. It wasn't a terrible idea. It was bad,, uncomfortable, ill-thought out, and overall not good, but it wasn't terrible. You nodded. "Alright, Your Bestness. Saturday."
"Excellent," Bucky grinned, grabbing the box Tony slid across the counter. "We'll discuss details over pizza." 
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puckyess · 5 years ago
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4 Times His Teammates Said “I Love You” + 1 Time He Did | Ryder Donovan
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S/o to @penaltbox for being my favorite brainstorm partner and encouraging the hell out of me. Inspo: @that-fandom-stuck-in-your-head 
I found the one TikTok that was deleted, so now all TikToks are linked!!
** FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED **
Words: 7.5k
Shay Donovan 
You weren’t allowed to have favorites on the team outside of Ryder, but if you did it would be Shay hands down. The relationship you had with him was like that of a brother. He watched out for you and you for him. You’d play the part of his best wingwoman and he supported your relationship with his brother. You’d fight like siblings too. He knew exactly which buttons to press and you knew how to get under his skin. You knew each other well and this is what made you two Ryder’s worst nightmare. You constantly ganged up on him with his brother. You were able to get Ryder to do/fall for just about anything and that made you Shay’s favorite secret weapon.
The boys had some free time this weekend and wanted to make the 5 hour drive to Duluth to spend it on their boat since it would probably be one of the last times they would get to do so with the season ramping up. Ryder’s annoyance for you and Shay began promptly at 6 a.m. He was not a morning person and you definitely weren’t either, but Shay insisted you both get up early so that you get to the boat at a decent time in the day. He did not however, set his alarm for 6 a.m., rather 6 p.m. and was awoken by his brother’s shouts to get out of bed. You, on the other hand, were just running late because you thought you could get ready in a shorter amount of time than was realistic. By the time you and Shay make it down to Ryder, who already has the car packed and ready to go, he’s huffy. “You guys know I hate when you tell me a specific time and then you show up late”.  “Well this should be a fun trip, right Rizzer?”, Shay speaks up with fake enthusiasm. You shoot Shay a look from the front seat as a signal to shut the hell up, to which Ryder appreciates.
The first hour is pretty smooth, not a whole lot of talking going on in the car. Everyone just appreciating the sunrise, or at least that’s what you thought until you glanced in the backseat and saw Shay sound asleep. At your “awh” Ryder moved his eyes from the road to the rear view mirror. “So that’s why it’s been so peaceful”. Even though you laughed you gave Ryder’s hand that was on your thigh a light squeeze. “Don’t be so grumpy Rydes. This is going to be a fun weekend, I just know it”. He can hear the smile in your voice without even looking over and he knows you’re right, flashing you his signature bright smile of his own.
As if he knew he was being talked about, Shay begins to stir. The quietness is disturbed immediately upon his awakening. He takes over the AUX and the road tripping can finally begin. Him and Ryder argue over music, whether to play alternative or country and which has more of a summer vibe, until finally a summer playlist, containing both is chosen. You pick up your phone, scrolling through some Tiktoks when you find one you just have to send to Shay. You watch as he gets the notification and opens it immediately. The music is broken up, replaced with the voice of a guy saying, “Send this to someone you don't like. You look like a rat, and you are so fat. I would be so sad, if i looked like that”. You’re dying laughing in the front seat at the offended look on Shay’s face and the death glare he’s receiving from Ryder. “I hate you” is all Ryder spits out, as this is a regular occurrence in any car ride. You love how you can get Shay in trouble without even really trying and how Ryder only yells at his brother when you’re the one who sent it to him.
The rest of the ride is spent on the highway and though you love the singing of the boys in the car with you, you’re getting pretty bored just watching the trees pass by so you say, “Let’s play a game!”. They both look at you like you’re 12.
“What? It’ll be fun I promise”. They shoot you skeptical looks, but ask what the game is anyway.
“It’s like license plate bingo kind of. You see the type of car first, you call it out and then you get to punch whoever you want”, you say with a shrug.
“Ooo, I like this game”, Shay says rubbing his palms together as he studies the list of “rules” you sent him: Slug bug, no punchbacks. PT Cruiser, get a bruiser. Tacoma, put you in a coma. Kia, wouldn’t wanna be ya, could be substituted with kia kick. Big truck, no luck. Subaru slap. Jeep jab. Honda hit. Train, feel the pain. You read them out loud to Ryder so that he can play too while he drives. Ryder shakes his head as you continue down the list, clearly not as impressed as Shay was.
“Where do you come up with this stuff, Y/N?”, but he agrees to participate nonetheless.
The rest of the ride is now much more exciting, everyone on high alert for a vehicle that would allow them to inflict pain on a passenger. You and Shay are admittedly better and much more active in the game since Ryder has to also pay attention to the road. As a result, he also ends up taking most of the hits, both from you and his brother. Everytime you would excitedly jab him, he’d give you puppy dog eyes. He was easy pickings, as he was right next to you, but the sad eyes did make you choose Shay as your target a little more often.
After Shay slugs Ryder in the arm for about the fifth “Kia, wouldn't wanna be ya”, his personal favorite, Ryder expresses his annoyance for the game. “This is abuse. I can’t even play right since I’m driving. The only person I can hit is Y/N, and unlike some people”, he says, shooting you a look, “I don’t enjoy hitting my significant other”.
You just roll your eyes at him, but Shay is quick to jump in, unhappy that Ryder is squashing his fun. “Awh can widdle brudder not take a few punches? You’re going soft, Ryder” Shay says with his fake baby voice.
You know it grates on Ryder’s nerves like no other so you call the game quits before they engage in an argument in the small space. Luckily, you were just pulling into the drive leading to where the Donovan’s call home. Getting out of the car Shay throws an arm around you, “I liked our game, Y/N. Very fun. We should play it more often”.
You all enter the house long enough to drop off the bags and pack some snacks for the boat. Shay leans over to you. “Want to see something funny?”, he asks with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. You raise your eyebrow at him in response. “I’m going to get Ryder in trouble with only four words”, he promises. You use your hand to gesture him on to whatever it is he has planned.
“OW, Ryder! Ryder, stoppp!” He suddenly yells. Ryder, who was digging through the fridge, turns around, giving Shay a confused look as if to say “Wtf”.
“Ryder, seriously! Stop!”, he continues yelling.
“Knock it off!”, their mom calls down from upstairs. Ryder’s clued into what’s happening now, giving his brother a little shoulder check as he passes him to drop the strawberries on the island, just in time for his mom to come around the corner.
“Ryder stop!”, Shay yells at his brother one last time for good measure.
“Seriously, Ryder? You two are home for not even two minutes and you’re already trying to test my patience? And with a guest in the house. Did I teach you boys nothing?”, she reprimands her sons and you have to hide your smile as Shay’s plan plays out accordingly.
She’s bringing you in for a hug then and eventually her two sons the same. She catches up with the boys for a few minutes, but knows they’re impatient to get to the boat so she doesn’t chat for long.
Once she leaves the room you turn to Shay, “I have to say, I’m impressed. I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Shay has a very pleased smirk on his lips.
“I used to do it when we were kids, all the time. Good to know it still works now too, isn’t that right, Rydes?” he says nudging his brother.
Ryder looks back and forth between you and his brother, shaking his head. “You were in on this? You two are the worst. I’m about to drive back to Wisconsin and leave you both here”, he says with a huff.
Unfortunately for Ryder, your antics with Shay weren’t finished yet. While he was driving the boat, Shay had found a Tiktok that he wanted to make, but he needed your help to do it. You were lounging at the front of the boat when Shay brought it to you, explaining his plan.
“Okay, so I’m going to sit over there and just act like I’m on my phone, but I’m actually going to be filming. You’re going to put your fingers like this”, he says showing you  his thumb and pointer finger touching like in the ok sign, “and then tell him to do that on his chin, but put it on your cheek. “I want to see how many times it’s going to take him to get it right. My bet is 5. You in?”.
You felt bad goading your boyfriend like that, but you knew he was the perfect victim for it. You loved Ryder, but he was a little slow to catch onto things sometimes. The punchline of jokes? Not his thing, he’d get it a few seconds after everyone else and even then, sometimes you weren’t really sure if he even got it then. It was a wonder how he played such a fast paced game and came up with chirps on the fly. Mulling it over once more, you finally nodded your head. “Yeah, I’m in, but $10 says it’s going to take him 8”, you say with a wink.
Shaking on it, he says, “I like the way you think. You have a deal”.
Getting up you go over to your boyfriend, trying not to feel guilty. “Babe, I have a test for you”, you say as innocently as possible.
“And what is that?”, he asks, giving you his full attention.
“Put this,” Showing him the same sign Shay showed you, “on your chin”, demonstrating for him, placing the ok sign on your cheek.
He narrowed his eyes at you. “Is this a tiktok or something?” he asked, looking around for your phone. Your eyes widened with fake offence as you pointed to your phone over on your towel. “Babe, do you see me filming? My phone is way over there. It’s fine. Just put this on your chin”, you said, once again demonstrating for him.
He looked around, still suspicious. “You’re not going to hit me right? This isn’t another one of your ‘beat up on Ryder games’?” You shook your head, promising him you wouldn’t even touch him. Satisfied with that, he gave in to your request, like he always did and copied your actions. Meanwhile, Shay was trying his hardest to remain camouflage but his brother’s predictable actions were making it very difficult to not start laughing behind his phone.
You repeated your phrase again, “Put this on your chin” and he again mirrored your movements, putting his ok sign on his cheek and looking at you expectantly. You tried again, enunciating the “this” as you watched him. He again put his fingers on his face.
You tried not to laugh, repeating the phrase, trying to clue him in as you said the words slowly this time. “Put this on your chin.” He studied you real hard this time, but copied your placement exactly with his ok sign on his cheek.
You tried again, “Put this,” showing him your ok sign in front of his face and speaking slowly, “on your chin”. This time the poor boy grabbed your wrist, bringing your ok sign to HIS cheek and waiting for your approval. This time you had to let out a little chuckle and as you glanced over at Shay he was ready to bust a gut trying to hold back his laugh. You tried to compose yourself, as you tried to get your boyfriend to do the simple task.
“Put this on your chin” you practically yelled at him. Even though he was frustrated with what you were saying, he had a big smile on his face because you did. “I’m not fucking stupid” he said through laughs and grabbed your hand with two hands this time and put it on his cheek.
You were really laughing now, pulling your hand away and trying one last time. “Ryder. Put this. On your chin”, you said hoping this time would stick. But nope. The boy really put that okay sign on his damn cheek and really had the audacity to look at you to say he did it right.
You took a deep breath, trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard. “On your chin”, and he just looked at you, processing what you just said and then finally his hand shot to his chin and he started laughing again. “Oh shit”. You started cheering for him and Shay practically exploded from his spot as he fell to the floor laughing.
“Oh my god. That was too good. I’m so posting this”, he said between laughs.
“I believe you owe me 10 bucks, Shay. Pay up”, you responded with your hand out.
Ryder once again was stuck looking between you and Shay. “You set me up!” he accurately accused. “And you BET on it? You bet against me?” he said, turning to you. Seeing the hurt look on his face you felt bad.
“Rydes I didn’t bet against you per say, I just guessed how many times it might take you to catch on to what I was saying. I love you though”, you say as you run your fingers up and down his arms at an attempt to get him to forget your tricks. He’s not pleased with your answer though.
Now you’re pouting and sticking your lip out at him, throwing Shay under the bus. “It was Shay’s idea!”.
“Dude!” Shay exclaims.
You roll your eyes at him, “Oh like he didn’t already know”.
The slight frown on Ryder's face had turned into a small smile as he spoke to Shay. “I can’t believe you turned my own girlfriend on me. You guys are being extra annoying today”.
“It’s all for the tiktok, bahd” Shay answers with a shrug, unbothered by his brother’s annoyance.
You, however, spent the rest of the afternoon trying to suck up to Ryder.
“I hate you,” you said as you passed Shay to get to the cooler to fetch Ryder a drink for the fifth time as part of your penance. Shay just grins up at you, shooting you a wink. “I love you too, my little partner in crime”.
---
The following weekend you’re out with the guys, walking down State Street and a car passes your group. Shay glances at you and then Ryder and an ear splitting grin takes over his features. Lightning fast he hits Ryder, yelling “Lamborghini, hit you in your weenie!”.
You stop in your tracks as your boyfriend doubles over in pain and you double over in hysterics. The guys, as well as the few passerbyers who had heard Shay’s outburst look on in confusion.
As you finally catch your breath you move to help your still struggling boyfriend. You crouch down so you can see his face as you ask if he’s okay, but his grimace tells all. There’s nothing you can really do for him but let him breathe it out so you stand back up, high-5ing Shay. “That was pretty good,” you say shaking your head at the memory of what just happened and your road trip from last weekend.
“How long did it take ya to come up with that one?”.
He proudly announces that he’s been thinking of new ones to add to the list all week.
“Whoever introduced you two was a real idiot and is 100% regretting that decision” Ryder says from his still bent over position. You only offer your hand to help him stand straight in response.
Shay’s animatedly trying to explain the game to the boys, who all seem very excited to play. They spend the rest of the walk to KK punching each other and calling out the phrases as they search the cars lining the sides of the road. You walk a few steps behind them with Ryder leaning on you for a little support and maybe some protection.
“You’ve really created a monster now” he sighs, watching the boys.
All of a sudden he strikes your arm. “PT Cruiser, get a bruiser!”, he hollers and takes off down the street, suddenly fine. He looks back at you with a big grin.
You shake your head, “Smooth, Ryder Donovan, smooth” and you chase after him.
Mike Vorlicky
Being in a group chat with a bunch of hockey players meant that you were no stranger to your phone blowing up with nonsense, but you knew the boys were at practice, as Ryder had left for it 15 minutes ago, so when you heard more pings from your MacBook- 4 in a row to be exact -  all from Mike, you knew something was up. Quickly checking your phone, your brows knit as you read the succession of messages, confirming your suspicion that something was definitely up.
“Y/N! SOS.”
“I know you have your phone, I NEED YOU”
“Come on my ass is about to be shipped back to Edina”
“Y/N! I hate to do this, but Ryder got hurt on the way to practice. I mean like really hurt”.
The messages didn’t make sense, but the last one had you calling Mike immediately.
“Oh, thank God-'' he answered, but you cut him off, wanting to know about the status of your boyfriend.
“What happened? How is Ryder? Where are you?”. The pause on the other end of the line had your heart beating in your ears, filled with anxiety and worry for your boyfriend, at least for a moment.
When you heard “Dude she’s gonna kill you” from Cole in the background, a different emotion filled you.
“Mike Vorlicky, what the HELL is going on?”
Despite the anger and annoyance in your voice, Mike still let out a smug chuckle. “I knew that last one would get you to answer your damn phone. But listen-“
“So he’s fine? Nothing happened?”, you asked just to be sure.
When Mike lets out a nervous chuckle you release the breath that you had been holding. “I should hang up on your ass right now, Vorlicky. You can’t just-“
“No seriously, Y/N this is important. You can yell at me later, but will you pleaseeee, pretty please with a cherry on top please bring me my practice jersey? I was serious about coach shipping me out. This is like the third time. He’s gonna bench me next game and my parents are coming to this one...”.
Even though you were extremely pissed off at him for even speaking into existence your boyfriend getting hurt, you also couldn’t deny him or any of the boys when they needed your help and he knew that. After letting out a groan you asked him where the jersey was and made your way over to his dorm. Getting into his building was scarily easy and the jersey was surprisingly right where he said it would be, laid out on his bed. It’s a wonder how he forgot it.
Minutes later you were pulling up to the practice facility and walking through the glass doors that led to the rink. You were met with cool air and smiling faces. As the boys noticed you began to head your way, but not before Mike rushed over. He was coming so fast he barely had time to stop before he hit the boards and wrapped you in a hug, “I love you so much right now I could kiss you” he said, taking the jersey from your hands.
“Don’t even think about it, Vorlicky” Ryder called to him as he made his way through the boys to give you a quick kiss before the whistle blew signifying practice starting, just in time for Mike to slip the jersey over his gear.
Owen Lindmark
Cooking had never been your thing, still having never really gained that skill even after living on your own. But as much as it was not your best quality, it was even less so for the boys that were about to come crashing through your door any minute. Dating Ryder was amazing and equally as amazing were the 20 other boys who’ve you’ve come to call close friends that came along with him.
You had just gotten an air fryer and were excited to test it out. You’d been promising the boys you’d cook for them for weeks and figured what better time to do so than now. They had a big rematch coming up that weekend against PSU anyway so you had told Ryder to invite some of his teammates over for a mini team dinner.
You were pretty impressed with yourself you had to admit. Not only had you planned a full meal and dessert, you had timed it perfectly so that everything was just about finished as you heard the door unlock.
“Honey, I’m hooommee”, Shay called out as he dropped his bag in the pathway of the others behind him.
You shook your head as you stirred the marinara sauce one last time, knowing that the pet name bugged Ryder even though it was a movie line and he was so obviously joking.
“Dude it smells amazing in here”
“What’re we having?”
“I’m starving”, and curses could all be heard as the crew continued to pour into the apartment, the noise and chaos level instantly rising.
You cleared your throat and very dramatically tapped your spoon on your wine glass to gather the boys’ attention.
”First of all, everyone is to wash their hands before eating, please and thank you. Salad is already on the table. You guys can grab yourselves a plate, the pasta is over by the sink, the sauce is right next to it and then the chicken’s already been cooked in the air fryer so it follows your guys’ diets (kind of) and parmesan melted on it so you can just put that on top of the pasta. I have bread in the oven that I’ll bring out when it’s done. Oh and dessert for when everyone’s ready”. You barely finished your spiel before the boys were shoving each other to get in line.
Shay of course had battled his way to the front of the line, claiming seniority, Mike unsurprisingly behind him, followed by Lex, Owen, Cole and Dylan. For being as large as Dylan was, he had been easily bullied to the end of the line. Ryder stuck around, wrapping you in a hug and placing a sweet kiss on your forehead.
“You’re amazing for doing this. The boys haven’t shut up about it all week. You really went all out didn’t you, babe?” He asked with a proud smile on his face. His little acknowledgment coupled with how proud he looked made you blush. You knew he wasn’t lying about the boys obsessing over this meal either, as you had been receiving daily texts from each of them about it.
“Don’t get too excited, you haven’t even tasted anything yet. What if it’s the worst Chicken parm, you’ve ever tasted in your life?” You asked pouring on the dramatics. It was your first time using the air fryer after all, you had no idea how it would turn out and you were a bit nervous, but had warned the boys ahead of time that they may be ordering pizza instead.
Your disclaimer was countered by moans coming from the living room, a chorus of them actually. You and Ryder share a look before busting out laughing. “I guess there’s your answer for ya.” He replies, followed by a “No one better be having sex out there”.
You shoo him along so that he can eat with his friends and you can grab the bread out of the oven. After slicing it and putting it on a plate you deliver it to the vultures in your living room and prop yourself on the armrest of Ryder’s chair, rubbing his back as he eats.
The boys don’t stop gushing about your cooking as they continue to shovel food in their mouths. “This is seriously- the best meal- no, scratch that- food- I’ve had in months”, Cole says between bites.
“Hey, I just made you that really good burger and Mac cheese thing last week and you gave it 5 stars!” Dylan protests.
You and Owen lock eyes and instantly start laughing. “Dyl, did it come in a red box with a glove on the front?” You ask, still giggling. His eyes light up, happy that you recognize it and he nods.
“Dude, that’s Hamburger Helper!” Owen howls.
“And an insult to Y/N’s cooking”, Alex chimes in.
”Even this salad is more gourmet than Hamburger Helper, sorry bro”, Cole adds.
At this point everyone’s laughing at Dylan’s expense, yourself included. He’s immediately apologetic, hoping he didn’t truly insult your cooking, which just eggs the boys on assuring him that he did in fact insult you.
“Yeah, that’s like comparing Wayne Gretzky and Shay in hockey, but for cooking”, Mike chirps, feeling the need to get involved.
”Nice one Mikey. Dylan fucks up, but let’s roast Shay”, Shay retorts.
You grin, loving being a part of the relaxed banter that’s going on but wave them off. Dylan attempts to grumble out his weak defense, claiming that he’s from Canada and didn’t know about Hamburger Helper, just making you giggle harder.
“Okay, okay okay,” you say in an attempt to calm yourself and the room down. You were wiping tears from your eyes. “I’m going to go get the dessert so you clowns can get out of my apartment”.
Once in the kitchen you opened the cabinet by the fridge and felt around for the plate of brownies you knew you’d hidden up there so that the boys, specifically your boyfriend, wouldn’t pick at them before dinner. You felt a pair of hands on your hips. You had expected it to be your boyfriend, but with his body slightly pressed against yours you knew it wasn’t him.
“Need some help?”, the voice confirmed your thoughts. It was Owen.
“Please”, you said, accepting his offer.
He grinned once he pulled the plate down and saw the perfectly proportioned brownies. You had used one of those baking pans that had individual brownie shapes so that every piece had four edges, the best part and Ryder’s favorite.
“I love these, my mom makes ‘em like that. Smart to keep these hidden from Ryder”, he says with a wink. Though his tone is light toward the end with the little chirp at Ryder, you don’t miss the hint of sadness that laced his voice in the beginning. And he doesn’t miss the look of concern on your face either.
He puts the plate down and leans against the counter. “I love you for doing this tonight. I really can’t thank you enough. I needed this, the laughs, the home cooked meal”, he confesses, running a hand through his hair.
“Missing home a little extra?” You ask, knowing exactly how he feels.
”You could say that. I know the guys and I don’t say it enough, but we love you and appreciate how much you take care of us and keep us sane. What you do for Ryder is obvious, but stuff like this that you do extra for us, making a really good dinner and dessert, always letting us hang out here, and come to you with our problems. It means a lot”.
Not really having words for all that he’d just told you, but wanting to show him you really did care for him too, you wrapped your arms around him and gave him a good squeeze.
“Awh, O. I don’t know what to say. You and the boys are like family to me. You always have a second home here.” The sentimental moment is broken up by Mike shouting about dessert and someone telling him to shut up and stop being rude.
“I guess we better get this dessert to the boys so they can get out of your hair”, he says grinning.
Before letting him go you pull back and say, “Tell your mom I said hi when you call her later”. He picks the plate of brownies back up and you make your way toward the rowdy group occupying your living room.
“You know me too well. But I surely will let her know. I’m sure she’ll appreciate you keeping me alive”, he says with a chuckle.
Dylan Holloway
Everyone was huddled close together in the dimly lit booth as it came down to just Roman and Dylan, each with two fingers on the full pitcher in the middle of the table. The two boys were half out of their seats staring each other down. Roman had a smug smirk on his face as he watched Dylan sweat it out across from him, his mind clearly going a mile a minute.
The guys had just swept PSU and were definitely feeling themselves tonight. They decided to opt for the usual celebratory tradition of KK and Fingers, a game that Dylan was historically terrible at.
It was Dylan’s turn and he was still shaking his head, both at himself for overthinking a simple drinking game and at Roman who was continuously chirping him, which was not helping him decide. He only hoped the winning luck of the night would continue as he began counting down, “Three, two, one - two!”, Roman yanked one finger off the pitcher as Dylan left his two on, for a total of three fingers.
The team erupted as Dylan threw his hands in the air, “Fuck! I always lose this stupid, fucking game”.
“Drink up, bud!”, Roman chided him, pushing the pitcher closer to him on the table.
Dylan just groaned and stared at the full pitcher of unknown alcohol with a grimace.
“Come on, Dyl, you know the rules. Or at least you should, you’ve lost enough times by now”, Shay chirped from behind him. You felt bad for the guy because Shay wasn’t wrong. Of the handful of times you had watched and played the game, Dylan had lost all but maybe twice.
“You’re right Shay, maybe we should spice it up this time, eh? What do we think boys?” Mike suggests with a devilish smile and a rub of his palms. You don’t miss the look that he shares with Roman and your eyes narrow in on the boy who suddenly has a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Dylan, I dare you to go ask that girl for her number”, he challenges, nodding toward a blonde who had been looking over at the group.
Following his gaze you notice who exactly it is that he pointed out and you choke on your drink. You want to stop Dylan before he makes a fool out of himself, but he easily gulps down the pitcher and quickly makes his way over to the girl waiting for him. You can’t get your words out as you’re sputtering and coughing from your drink.
When you finally catch your breath you give Roman a shove and hiss “Fuck you Ro. What’re you doing? Aren’t you talking to that girl?”. He doesn’t answer, just shrugs as he watches on with a smirk plastered on his face, as if he knows exactly what is going to happen. Ryder nudges you in confusion at your little interaction with his teammate. Moving closer to him you filled him in on the unknown drama that was going on. “I played wingwoman for Roman a couple weeks ago so that he could pick up this same girl. Of course with my 90% success rate, he got her and I guess kept her. He’s been texting me about her all week”.
Suddenly understanding, he said “You have to go save D. The guys will never let him live this down” and you knew he was right. A freshman hitting on an older guy’s girl? Even if it was on a dare and even if her and Roman were just talking, it would still be embarrassing on Dylan’s part and chirp content for the team for the weeks to come.
So with a flip of your hair and a pat to Roman’s head you strode over to where Dylan was flirting with the blonde. He was really pulling out all the stops trying to earn this girl’s number, you had to give him that. You would even say that it actually appeared to be going well, but judging by the look that was on Roman’s face, you knew it wouldn’t end well.
“Excuse me, mind if I borrow him real quick? No? Ok great, thanks! I’ll give him back in just a second!”. You gripped his wrist with both hands and all but yanked him off the barstool until he was stumbling toward you, very confused. Once you were a few feet away, you steadied him with your hands. He was clearly annoyed with you.
“What the hell, Y/N? what’re you doing? I need to get back there. Things were actually going well”.
“And you will, D just listen to me for a second. I’m trying to help you here”.
“Help me? What’re you talking about?”.
“Dylan, Roman’s been talking to that girl for weeks now. He’s just trying to set you up because he knows she won’t actually give you her number because she’s with him so you end up coming back to the table empty handed and the guys can chirp you for weeks about trying to get with Roman’s girl”.
Realization washed over his face as he took in the situation. He glanced over at Roman’s now displeased but confused face and back at the girl who was seemingly waiting for him to return to the empty seat next to her.
“Whatever you have to do to get that number Dylan Holloway, do it. You can’t come back to that table empty handed, got it?”. He nodded furiously. “Good boy. Now go charm her pants off!” And with that you sent him on his way and returned to the group, all of whom were looking at you with quizzical faces.
You just shrugged it off saying, “He just wanted me to check if he smelled like beer. I guess she hates that stuff, only drinks Claws.” With that, Roman shoots you a look, knowing that was a load of shit and a jab at him. Her hatred of beer and love for white claws had been one of the many “fun facts” he had shared with you over the week. His attention turns as the guys erupt once again in cheers as the girl plants a kiss on Dylan’s cheek and sends him back to your table. He smiles victoriously as he stops in front of Roman. “I hope you don’t mind sharing your girl, she seems pretty into me”, he says and drops the napkin with her phone number on it on the table in front of Roman. The “ooos” and hollers from the boys are golden, but pale in comparison to the look on Roman’s face. Ryder fist bumps him and Dylan leans in to give your hand a squeeze, “I love you so much for that. The look on his face? Totally worth it. Really saved my ass. I owe you”.
+1
Ryder wasn’t one to overuse the phrase “I love you”. He held great value in those three words and reserved them for times when it was just the two of you or for when the moment deemed necessary. Today was one of those moments.
He had gotten home from practice early to find you out on his balcony wrapped in a blanket and your computer on your lap. He hadn’t thought much of it as he shed his bag and went to wash his hands and make a snack, but the door was cracked and he could hear a familiar laugh that wasn’t yours. He stopped what he was doing and listened for it again. As if right on cue, his baby sister’s laugh found his ears. He debated with himself whether or not he should make his presence known. Curiosity eventually winning out, he decided to wait it out and see what his two favorite girls were talking about. He’d be lying if he said his heart wasn’t ready to burst at seeing you voluntarily FaceTiming his baby sister.  
His snack forgotten, he sat himself on the couch out of view and just listened and watched. He watched the way your hair fluttered with the breeze, how you focused your attention on the girl on the screen, and nodded your head in agreement with whatever she was saying. He watched the way you interacted with his sister and couldn’t deny the feeling that was consuming him.
Even more so he watched the way Clara’s face lit up as you spoke to her, a look he’d seen before, one she reserved for her big sister. It was one of idolization, respect, and love. He watched her smile and her head tip back as she laughed with you like you were her best friend. Mostly he watched as the two of you had become part of each other’s lives in a way he hadn’t even known.
He listened to the beautiful sound of your laugh mix with hers and to the way both of your voices were so animated with each other. He listened as you spoke naturally with her, your kindness genuine instead of just treating her as some little kid. He knew she hated that but had unfortunately had her share of heartbreak by girls who only used her to get to him. He hated that he had caused her any kind of pain, but loved that you had somehow found a way to right his mistakes. He knew right then and there that he’d never take you away from her and she wouldn’t let him.
His thoughts were broken up by you reentering the apartment.
“Having a stalker moment there, Rydes?”, you ask him with eyebrows raised.
Deflecting the question, he clears his throats and instead asks what you guys were talking about. “Didn’t you hear the whole conversation already?”, you tease him. He just rolls his eyes, so you divulge as you pull stuff out to make dinner.
“We were just checking in. She was making sure you were still alive, taking your vitamins, treating me right, our usual. She had some drama stuff, but V is busy getting stuff ready for the baby so she didn’t want to bother her. Oh, and we’re planning your sister’s baby shower! Well, Clara’s in charge but she wanted my opinion on some details”.
The feeling he had before as he watched you two only intensified as he discovered what you had actually been talking about.
“What do you mean your usual?”
You’d stopped adding ingredients to the pot as you looked up at him, realizing you had just let Ryder in on something you hadn’t planned on. “Um. You know how you FaceTime Clara every week? Well uh, I do too...that’s ok right? That’s not like weird?”
He processed the information you had just told him. You actually took the time out of your busy life to get in touch with his sister every single week and were asking him if that was ok? He hadn’t even imagined you doing that, but you continued to amaze him. The smile he gave you was so warm and full of love. “Of course that’s okay. I love that you do that and I’m sure she does too. I saw the way she looks at you, you know. The same way she looks at V.” Your heart swells at his comment and you almost start crying on the spot.
“So she’s coming to you with drama huh? Anything I should know about?”. You laugh and default to “girl code” aka Ryder doesn’t get any deets. Despite his best efforts, including puppy dog eyes, he doesn’t get anything out of you.
“You’re MY girlfriend, you can’t let my sisters convert you to their side already” he whines.
You laugh and respond with “Well would you rather I convert to your brother’s side? I’m sure Shay could pitch a good argument.” He looks offended that you’d even say such a thing and grumbles out a “no”.
After he’s decided he’s done pouting he comes around the counter and wraps his arms around you from behind, nuzzling his face into your hair. “You told Clara I treat you well, right?” He questions, still thinking about your conversation with her. You’re surprised to detect nervousness in his question and that he’d even ask that. Turning in his arms you answer him, wanting him to see the conviction in your face when you say “Of course, Ryder. You don’t ever need to doubt that, baby”. He looks relieved and surprises you again with a confession.
“Good. I want Clara to see how she should be treated. What good love looks like, a healthy relationship, ya know?”.
Tears start form in your eyes and it takes you a second to find your voice. Eventually you do and you gently pull his face down to yours, running  your thumb over his cheek. You melt over the way he leans into your touch. Even though your voice is barely above a whisper, it’s strong as you tell him, “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. You show me what love is everyday and inspire me to be better for you and for me. You are such a role model to her Ryder. When she looks at us, I promise you all she will see is genuine, pure love.”
His heart is beating so hard as he absorbs your words. He takes your wrist and pulls your hand to his lips. He kisses your palm then cups your face in his hands, bringing your foreheads together. His own eyes are glassy and throat thick as he tries to put what he’s feeling into words that will convey the same amount of strength and emotion. “Every time I think ‘she can't get any better’ you surprise me. Well not surprise me because I’m not surprised you get better, but- fuck! I can’t get my words out right now.” He can feel you smiling and takes it as a sign to keep going.
“What I’m trying to say is you keep loving me and showing me that you love me in new ways that I didn't even know existed. You’re always taking care of me before games, after games and practices. Even just asking about practice and my day and coming to my games, waiting up for me after road trips. The highs of winning and you right there with me are amazing, but what I love most and what are even better are when you sit there and watch us lose, me lose and you just know how to deal with me afterwards. I can’t tell you how much it helps me to have you hold me after a game or offer dessert or just let me bitch about it. The lows are better because you still want me after. Like even if I couldn’t play hockey anymore, you’d still want me. You still believe in me to do better next game. You inspire me to be better. Off the ice especially”, he takes a deep breath then and as badly as you want to say something, you don’t interrupt him knowing he still has more to say. 
“You’ve shown me what it feels like to be loved. Really, truly loved. You take care of my friends, regardless of what they need and you do so out of the goodness of your heart. Watching you with my family, I can’t ever imagine you being anywhere else but a part of my family, Y/N. The fact that my favorite people in the entire world love you makes me so happy I can’t even describe it. You’re FaceTiming my baby sister of your own free will, planning a baby shower with her for my other sister? You keep up with Shay and get Boden out of his shell. I couldn’t dream it up better if I tried. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but somehow I was blessed with you and I swear to you, promise you I will never stop loving you, ok? I love you with my whole heart and then some, Y/N”.  
The tears are absolutely streaming down your face and into his hands and his into yours. The moment had gotten so intense and so fast. These were rare between you two, preferring to keep the relationship light and fun, but occasional moments like this where you attempted to pour your whole heart and soul into each other would occur and you were left breathless every time. But of course, you couldn’t resist a good chirp.
“You’re gonna have a hard time topping that for a proposal, Donovan”.
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