#the kind of courage I wish more footballers had

[leonsliga]

the little rainbow armband 🥹 I'm so proud how manu stayed strong when everyone told him to drop the issue. he stands for lgbtq and I love him even more for it

Thinking about him again (rainbow armband Manu):

With that armband, he sent a clear message: he wants football to be a space where everyone is welcome. He showed that he’s the kind of captain the sport desperately needs—one who recognizes his influence and uses it for good. The idea that he felt so strongly about lgbtq rights that he was willing to go toe-to-toe with UEFA is everything. The people’s princess, truly

[allgoodnamesrgoneee]

Mbappe x reader where haaland tries hitting on reader and mbappe gets jelly ?? Fluffy and sweet 😇😇😇

Jealousy, Jealousy

Masterlist

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — The one where Kylian gets jealous.

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — Kylian Mbappé x you

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 — 1.5k

Warnings! Fluffity FLUFF, tiny bit of angst (just a smidge), Swearing (barely), Love bomb.

Kylian doesn't get jealous.

At least that's what he's telling himself as he stands by the snack table watching Erling Haaland flirt with you.

He knew he had no right to be. After all, it wasn't your fault that he wasn't man enough to ask you out. But that didn't stop the green-eyed monster from possessing him.

It should be him.

Him making you laugh, whispering in your ear, holding your hand. If only he had the courage to talk to you. But how could he? You were so out of his league.

You look beautiful, wearing a green dress, the silk hugging your curves in all the right places. Your skin glows radiantly under the soft glow of the chandelier, accentuating your beauty. The emerald shade of the dress compliments your eyes, making them shine even brighter, even from all the way he's standing.

You're beautiful.

His grip tightens around his wine glass as he watches you tip your head back in laughter at something he says. His eye nearly twitches when he sees Haaland place his palm on your shoulder, almost caressing you. It should be him.

And it will be.

Taking one last swing of his champagne, he clears his throat and marches over.

"So, what are you doing after this."He overhears Haaland ask once he's close enough.

"Um..."

"Y/N." His breath hitches as you turn around, your usual smile lighting up your face, melting his heart. He swears he almost faints when you reply to him in that soft, sweet voice of yours, the sound sending shivers down his spine.

"Hey, Kylian."

He has to take a moment to compose himself, subtly wiping his moist palms on the pants of his suit. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" From the corner of his eye, he sees Haaland stiffen at him being here, clearly threatened by his presence. And the thought brings a small satisfying smirk to his face.

"Yeah, sure. Um, Erl, can you excuse me for a second." He hates the way you have a nickname for him. But his heart flutters at how polite you are.

You were by far the kindest most gentle person he had ever met in his life. Even on your worst day, you still managed to show kindness and compassion towards people. The good and the bad. It's why he fell and continues to fall in love with you every day.

Now, if only he could say that out loud.

I will. He thinks to himself, determined.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about." You ask once you guys are away from the crowd, tucked in a little corner beside the chocolate truffles. He watches with amusement as you grab one and stuff it into your mouth. Completely unapologetic.

Another thing he loved about you. You're never afraid to be yourself, but not in a weird way. In a way that makes people comfortable around you.

He remembers the day he first met you. At this children's charity football match that you were helping organize. His manager had asked him to surprise the kids after many of them expressed their wish to meet him. And he had agreed.

Little did he know.

He was dribbling the ball, showing off a bit for the kids, when he spotted you across the field. You were there, cheering like crazy, smile shining brighter than any stadium light he had ever seen. You were a sweaty mess, hair tangled and sticking to your forehead, surrounded by kids. But you didn't seem to care.

And for a moment he felt like the universe paused.

It's been two years since then, but his heart still skips a beat every time he sees you, thinks about you. You're like a drug that he can't get enough of. Getting high every time he takes a hit.

Now you guys are friends, have been since that day. But he wants more. More of you.

He knows that risking the friendship you have built is risky, but he can't ignore this anymore. No matter what happens, he's glad he's had you in his life.

Besides, the worst you can say is no. Right?

With a deep breath, he musters all the strength in his body, feeling like his knees are about to give out from under him. "Y/N," He starts his voice shaking slightly, "I've been thinking..." The rest of the sentence dies in his throat as he looks into your eyes.

Fuck.

Just say it, Kylian.

Your curiosity grows as you wait for him to continue. The bright light of the chandeliers above seems to dim around you, leaving just the two of you in a cocoon of his vulnerability.

You furrow your brow when you notice his hands visibly shaking, now a bit concerned by his serious tone and nervous behavior. "Kylian, what's going on? You're starting to worry me."

The way you're looking at him takes his breath away, so much warmth in your eyes and something else, and he can't stop himself from blurting it out.

"I love you."

Time stops. You blink, processing his words, as the words hang heavy. Kylian's heart pounds in his chest as he waits for your response, palms clammy with fear. The silence stretches on, leaving him feeling insecure and exposed.

The vulnerability in his eyes tugs at your heartstrings. And you put him out of his misery.

Without saying a word, you lean in and kiss him. It's slow and passionate, a culmination of all the emotions that have been building between you. You taste of chocolate and champagne , a sweet intoxicating combination that leaves him craving for more.

So he takes. Deepening the kiss, he wraps his arms around you, pulling you closer. The world around you fades away as you both lose yourself in the moment, savoring every sensation.

The kiss speaks volumes, confirming what words alone cannot express—your love for him too.

It lasts for a minute but feels like an eternity, as if time has stopped just for the two of you. When you finally pull away, you both are left breathless, your hearts pounding in sync.

The intensity of it all lingers in the air, crushing you under the weight of your newfound bond.

It's a feeling neither of you want to forget.

"I love you too." You whisper softly, your voice barely audible amidst the background chatter

Kylian is speechless as he looks into your eyes, his crinkling with how wide he's smiling. Then he's kissing you again, this time with more fervor. And you lose yourself in him, the taste of him, the feel of him.

Him.

Your back hits the wall and you snap back to reality, realizing where you are. The last thing you wanted was for this private moment between you to become front-page news tomorrow.

You're hidden by the large curtains that surround the secluded corner of the room, but you don't want to risk someone seeing you.

"Kylian," you mumble breathlessly, breaking away from the kiss. But he won't let you, going back for more. You almost melt into it but the sound of footsteps approaching causes a surge of panic to rush through your veins. And you push him away.

Kylian looks at you with confusion and concern, a bit hurt, but when Erling Haaland rounds the corner, he quickly understands.

"Y/N! Y/N. There you are. Where did Kylian g-?" Erling's voice trails off as he takes in the scene before him. Your lipstick is smudged and your hair is disheveled, and Kylian stands a few steps away from you with red-stained lips.

Kylian steps forward, a smug expression on his face as he stares at Erling. Erling's eyes flicker between the two of you, his confusion turning into a smirk. "Well, well, well," he says teasingly. "Looks like you've finally done it."

Kylian's slight smirk turns into a frown and he crosses his arms defensively. "Done what?" he asks, his tone defensive. Erling chuckles and nods towards you. "Ms, girl over there has been crushing on you forever," he replies, a playful glint in his eyes as his eyes fall on your cowering form. "Erling, I love him but I don't know how to tell him." He does an exaggerated high-pitched imitation of your voice and your face flushes with embarrassment as you avoid making eye contact with Kylian.

"Stop." You reach over and playfully swat Erling's arm, trying to hide your embarrassment with a smile. Kylian watches the whole interaction with a smile. Kylian's smile widens, and he takes a step closer to you. "You love me." He singsongs, placing a soft peck on your lips.

Erling gags beside you causing you both to giggle.

Kylian shouldn't get jealous. Because you were his all along.

-Bianca🌻

[yuriririnnie]

To Hug a Porcupine

A/N: I remember getting so much hate and having to go through so many conversations about how much of a walking red flag I am literally with everyone I know and love. I know a lot of us can relate, and we get along so well with those who tolerate us so much, it’s so unhealthy. Let this story be a homage to those who have been so patient with us, and love us so dearly despite it being so difficult. The metaphor is just so beautiful and I can’t help but reflect!

PAIRING | Sim Jaeyun (Jake) x reader

WC | 3.2k (again, wth Alice?)

GENRE | angst, fluff, everything’s sfw y’all is it even me if it’s not?

WARNINGS | explicit language (pardon my French, I can’t help it) mentions of sex, alcohol consumption, attachment issues, and all that teen angst

SYNOPSIS | You’re hard to love. That’s it. That’s the plot. 

—

“That’s it?” he breathed, “two years worth of my life and you’re going to throw it all away because “you can’t take it anymore”?”

Looking around the field you finally pluck up the courage to nod. 

“Yes.”

It was about 10 more seconds before he picked up his backpack and left you sitting on the bleachers by yourself. It was the first break up of your life and you thought it would be more eventful, tearful, and painful, but the reality was that it was pretty straightforward and simple. Maybe it was the build up you’ve been feeling for a while, or maybe this wasn’t the kind of love you thought would have you begging on your knees. He was your first boyfriend and you thought that this break up would feel a lot more meaningful than this. 

You stay there alone for a while.

“So how did it go?” you finally feel the presence and warmth of a human being. “Did he cry? Oh my god please don’t tell me he cried.”

“No, Jake he did not cry.”

You moved from where you sat making room for him and his huge gym bag. Judging from his wet hair and pink cheeks, he probably just got out of football practice and just couldn’t wait to hear the news from you. 

“Man, I wish I could have made it on time before he left. The guy could have used some comforting.” 

You snorted, “You didn’t even like him that much.”

“Because he was totally jealous of me! He even asked you to avoid me at one point. He didn’t deserve you.”

“I actually think that it was me who didn’t really deserve him,” you countered albeit reluctantly, “Jay was a good guy.”

Jake could only nod slowly.

“And besides, it was me who woke up one day and realized I just didn’t like him anymore.” 

You sighed, getting lost in your thoughts trying to dig deep into your feelings to get an answer as to why you did not feel an ounce of regret or longing for any comforting yourself. It wasn’t every day you get to break up with your first boyfriend after all. 

Jake knew exactly why though. He’s been your best friend since childhood and witnessed you grow into the woman that you are now. The extrinsic changes were present and evident, but he knew who you were deep inside so everything you ever did or every decision you’ve ever made was still somewhat predictable to him. He will never tell you that, but you were hard to love, not because you were a bad person or because you treated others like shit. But because you were so fiercely loyal, strongly assertive, and undeniably rational. You wore your emotions up your sleeve but never put up with other people’s shit. This was especially because you had the patience of a driver stuck in rush hour traffic, and had absolutely no tolerance whatsoever. 

You were a walking red flag and even you knew it. And for some “unknown” pathetic reason, Jake tolerates you anyway. 

The very reasons why you were hard to love are the same reasons why it’s easy to fall head over heels for you.   

You looked at him, and he looked at you. You both smiled when he said, “Let’s get outta here.” 

—

You were now in college and you’d think that the break ups would get harder over time because you learn to understand and feel for others even more. They do still get a little difficult, especially with how invested people become when they fall in love. However, as you grew, things got a lot more complicated and the more that you’ve been pouring your feelings onto someone else, the thinner your patience got as time passed and it became easier, a lot less regretful for you to leave someone behind. 

“Heeseung told me you broke up with him.” Jake sat next to you on the couch as you mindlessly flipped through the Netflix shows you and him saved to watch together over the summer. 

You shrugged, still tapping on the remote. 

“Yeah, it was only a few months in, I didn’t think it was a big deal and— hey!!” 

He snatched the remote away and you were forced to face him. He looked at you with piercing eyes. Like, he had been angry with you before but you always hated having to confront him with these things. 

“Y/N, seriously. Tell me what happened.”

You sighed, rolling your eyes and finally caving in only because you thought that he would never let it go, and you wanted to watch your movie. 

“Things got too serious too fast. You know how easily overwhelmed I get.”

“What did he do to overwhelm you?”

“He told me that he loved me.”

You both paused. Jake witnessed the many boys that went after you but none of them had ever dropped the L-word knowing the kind of girl that you are. This was foreign territory for him too, but now that he knows what your reaction would be when someone tells you that for the first time, he suddenly felt the need to be more cautious, to be more careful of the things he might end up saying. 

“Oh.” he finally spoke. 

“I told you it was overwhelming.” you muttered, stealing back the remote from him. 

That night, he didn’t feel the need to pry even more. It was enough for him to know how sensitive you were about being told that you were loved. Nonetheless, he felt a small ache in his heart knowing that someone beat him to it. 

—

It was the night after graduation and instead of rejoicing over the milestone and celebrating with your friends and family, you were crying on the rooftop, burying your face into your arms as you wept. It was the first time you ever cried over a boy this hard, and you didn’t think it would hurt this bad. 

You heard footsteps nearby and a familiar warmth surrounded you. Jake cradled you in his arms and rubbed your sides as you continued to hide your face from the cold night air. 

“He said I was controlling and that I had too much of a chokehold on him,” you broke down, “he said that he felt like he was losing himself through the course of our relationship and that he allowed me to make all the decisions for us way too much.”

“There, there. It’s not your fault.” he whispered, “you did your best to love him in a way that you thought he wanted to be loved.”

“No, Jake, just no!” you lifted your head up and Jake swore that he heard his heart crack at the sight of your tears. “I loved him in my own way. I loved him because that’s how I wanted to love! It wasn’t how he wanted to be loved!” 

Jake felt the urge to just get up and punch Beomgyu, the boy who made you cry, in the face and make him regret that he ever broke your heart. However, he didn’t find it in him to argue, so he pulled your head onto his chest and let you cry and cry. This time, he finally witnessed you fall hard and actually admit it, and it awoke something in him. He was always on the fence about how he felt because you were best friends, but this time it’s decided. 

Sadly, he knew you weren’t in the right headspace. He knew he wasn’t ready. He will tell you when he’s ready. 

—

“You ghosted him?!” Jake put his beer down firm and loud, it made your dog jump in surprise. Poor Cookie.

“He was getting clingy, and you know that that can’t be for someone who’s struggling to obtain a law degree. School’s demanding, you know that.” 

You took a sip of your own beer nonchalantly.

So this was boy number four for you. Soobin. 

Okay, maybe number five because you couldn’t stand the guy you hooked up with twice a year back. Yeonjun was great, but he was also a law student and all you ever talked about after sex were your professors, subjects, and just law school in general. It was like sleeping with a coworker and you didn’t want that. 

“Soooo… you don’t like nice guys, you don’t like guys who say I love you too quickly, you don’t like it when they don’t allow you take control, but hate it when you have too much control.” he took a deep breath and continued, “you don’t like clingy, but you don’t like distant either.”

God he sounded like one of your classmates reciting important provisions, it almost gave you a headache. 

“I can’t help but be myself.” 

“You’re so hard to love.” he groaned.

Letting out a squeaky laugh you sang, “You love me anywaaaaayyy~!” and moved closer to him.

Jake choked on his beer and looked at you with panicked eyes. He knew that you were just playing and didn’t mean it in a way that’s past the boundary of being friendly. Well in your case, best-friendly. Still it made his heart skip a beat. 

You lift your feet up to fold your knees and made yourself comfortable on the couch next to him. It was always weird that you never felt any tension between you and Jake despite being so close to each other. You had nearly maximum skinship and spent more than half of your lives together and yet the relationship between you two was always tiptoeing the lines between romantic and just friends. It was the perfect trope, however, you knew Jake so well and loved him despite his lack of bitches and possession of so much negative rizz. 

He was so undeniably attractive yet never opened up to you about any girl. You always thought that maybe he was just picky but as the years passed you couldn’t help but wonder if he’s being too invested in you or is spending way too much time on you. Just the thought of those things being the reasons why he might not be getting any girlfriends made you cringe.

“It feels like hugging a porcupine.” he suddenly felt so confident in lecturing you.

“Hmm?”

“Like hugging a porcupine. You know, loving someone that’s difficult to love.” 

“That metaphor is so adorable, I almost feel like I am not offended.” your smile was there, but faltered when you suddenly felt the seriousness of the conversation. You don’t remember how much you two drank at this point of the night but you’re sure it has already been 6 beers in each and 6-beer Jake was truthful Jake and you’re not sure if you’re ready for it. 

You cleared your throat to ease some of the tension and scooted to the right to create some distance between you two, small enough to not be awkward, but distant enough to create a proper boundary. 

“What about you?” you finally said, “You were always at the front-row to witness my failed relationships but I have never heard you talk about your love life like literally ever.”

“You never asked.” he said.

“Never felt like I needed to ask.”

“Well I’m telling you now that you need to ask for me to answer.”

You felt a surprise chill at the change of atmosphere. If he liked someone he would have talked about her long ago, or could have at least mentioned her. You felt slightly disappointed in the newfound knowledge that he might really have had a girlfriend or liked someone before and you didn’t know why. It was unfair of him to keep that from you, but you also felt selfish in a way because you made everything seem like it was about you all these years. 

“I like someone Y/N, duh. I’m still a guy after all.” he chuckled. 

You sighed, not sure if it was out of relief or worry. “So are you gonna tell me or nah?”

He pretended to think for a while. “You’ll know.”

“Oh come on!!” you whined, “is she someone I know?!” 

“I said you’ll know her soon!” he continued to tease, “I’m actually making it blatantly obvious.”

“Fine. Though even if you don’t tell me, you know I’ll find out one way or another.”

“I hope it doesn’t drive you crazy.”

“Please. You can’t make me what I already am.” 

He laughed out loud and rubbed the top of your head. “Right. A crazy little porcupine.”

You deadpanned him and stuck your tongue out but snuggled back to him anyway, finally watching whatever movie it was that was playing in the background. 

—

The restaurant was quiet when you arrived. No one was around except for the waiter that greeted you as you walked in. You take in the ambiance with all senses, ears were surrounded by faint jazz music, everything was painted emerald and gold, roses carefully placed at the center of each table. The smell was a mixture of fresh mint and musk. Adding to it were the sounds of kitchenware clanging and chefs bickering in the background. It made you feel a little small considering you were kind of underdressed for the occasion. 

Jake told you to wear something decent and you did. You just didn’t think that decent meant extra formal. It was a little embarrassing and you make a small reminder inside your head to kill him later. 

You finally sat down on a table by the window feeling really nervous about meeting the girl Jake has been dying to introduce to you for the first time. He was extra giddy about her lately you weren’t sure how you felt about him being all worked up about some girl all of a sudden. Also, you wondered where has she been all this time. There was no build-up regarding her existence whatsoever so the whole idea of her made you skeptic. 

This whole thing reminded you of you guys’ childhood when one of your friends confided you saying that she liked Jake. It was just a small middle school crush and was meant to be a secret but it sent such a bad taste on your tongue. Granted that you were a kid back then, but thinking about it now, you knew that you still would have felt the same bad mood knowing someone else was making Jake the object of their affection. You were occupied with falling in love with other people and drowned in the flattery others were giving you, but never too distracted from the feeling of anger when you knew someone was crushing on your best friend.

It’s so funny how much you guys have been through together and how much you’ve grown. You know that a lot has changed for you and him but the dynamic of your relationship was your only constant. The idea of it changing because of this girl caused an emotional whiplash quicker than you ever imagined—and you haven’t even met her yet!

This another reason why you were so difficult. You were greedy and never swallowed your pride.

Fast forward to today. Here you are contemplating on your life decisions that involved Jake at the very last minutes of your chances of ever actually getting to be with him. How pathetic could you get picturing yourself watching him fall in love with someone else? 

The wait felt like hours and you checked your phone about 10 times within the last 12 minutes. He said he was going to be late because he was picking her up but the suspense was killing you.

You heard a bell ring from the entrance indicating that someone’s finally here. You looked up from your phone and spotted a familiar four-legged cutie walk up to you. 

“Layla?” you gaped, running towards her as she wagged her tail at the sight of you. “Oh my gosh, look at how big you’ve gotten!”

It has been ages since you saw Jake’s dog. She grew up alongside with you guys but you haven’t seen her since college and whatever Jake was up to right now made you forgive him for making you go through whatever this was. A million good girls, hugs, and slobbers later, your cute aggression subsided as you noticed something dangling from her collar. It was a locket with a picture of you and Jake back when you were kids on your first play date. You couldn’t remember taking that photo but you do remember not liking him at first. He was hugging you while you made a face. 

Were you gonna cry right now? Oh my god you are literally going to cry right now.

You stood up as the dog ran back towards the door and that’s where you saw Jake in his black turtle neck shirt, hair falling down to his eyes, just enough to cover his eyebrows, perfectly bordering his perfectly sculpted face. You always knew he was handsome but had you always known he was this handsome? He crouched down to ruffle Layla’s head of fur before walking to where you were. 

You were completely, utterly dumbfounded. What the hell was going on? Was he pranking you? If he was pranking you right now you would dump him so fucking hard both as a lover and as a best friend.

“Hi.” he smiled as if he didn’t just drop the biggest love bomb on you.

“You said you were going to be late because you were picking her up.” your voice was stern, still pretending to be your iron self even if deep inside your guts were doing somersaults. 

“Well, picking Layla up from home is a bit hard. She isn’t as light as she used to be.”

You both laughed.

You hear him take a deep breath and whispered, "I love you, Y/N."

Wasting not a second further you wrapped your arms around his neck and held him the tightest you have ever held him your entire life. You felt his hands grip your waist as he kept you guys in place. You hugged him so tight it nearly knocked the both of you down. He giggled and finally settled with rubbing your back, taking in the sounds of your beating hearts. Nothing compared to how close you were at this very moment, and you two have had your fair share of moments of zero-personal space. It wasn’t like when you sat close the day at the bleachers with his arm around you, not when you cried on his shoulder at the rooftop during graduation night, and not even like the drunken nights where you fell asleep on his chest. Nothing compared to how close you were right now.

“Did you see our photo?” he broke the silence, “I told you it was hard, but even as a kid I always knew how to hug a porcupine.”

“You’re insufferable.”

And with that, you shared your first kiss with your one true love, your soulmate, your best friend. And all it took was a leap of faith and the courage to love who was difficult to love.

[blackjackkent]

After searching around for a while, Rakha and company finally find the keyhole that fits the key that was on Sarevok's body.

Really, though, Rakha could tell this must be the abbatoir even before she checked the key. She can smell the weight of the blood even through the heavy stone door.

She wasn't really expecting the hollyphant though.

(A/N: It is kind of nice that Sarevok and company let Valeria keep her pipe and fez and monacle while waiting for her ritual slaughter to the glory of Bhaal.)

Rakha's head is already hurting and she is terribly tired and deeply angry about basically everything at the moment, so Valeria is not really doing herself any favors by beginning to shout petulantly as soon as the door opens.

Rakha draws a very slow breath and lets out it out very heavily. "I could kill her," she says to Wyll idly.

Wyll shoots her a sharp look - and then relaxes as he realizes that, astonishingly, Rakha is making a very deeply deadpan joke. "Satisfying as that would be..."

Rakha grunts. "No purpose," she murmurs, and then strides towards Valeria, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

"Citizen! Thank the gods you're here! My wrinkles are starting to chafe. As an officer of the law, I demand you free me at once!"

Rakha sighs, lifts a ball of fire in one hand, holds it just long enough to potentially make Valeria nervous, and then fires the bolt into the chains holding the hollyphant to the floor.

"Thanks for freeing me so quickly," Valeria says with a relieved sigh as the bonds come loose. "No idea what those Bhaalist berks had planned with me, but those chains were starting to chafe. Though..." Her already-droopy eyes take on an even sadder droop. "I *do* wish you'd figured this all out before I, ah, put the blame for Father Lorgan's murder on that *poor* refugee. Well. At least it's over now."

It's a good thing that looks can't actually kill, because Valeria would be as dead as a hammer. Rakha has had a REALLY bad couple of days and she does not need this hypocritical nonsense from a football-sized little asshole that is only not turned inside out like a meat pillowcase because of great effort of will on Rakha's part.

"I didn't do it for you," she growls between her teeth. "I did it to gain access to Orin."

"Oh." Valeria sniffs indignantly - quite a dramatic display with a nose of her size. "Well. I'd call you rude, but I have the misfortune of owing you my life." She gnaws on the end of her pipe briefly, then goes on more ingratiatingly: "You gave these reprobates a proper seeing to. You clearly have what I don't. Courage. Insight. Heroism."

Rakha scowls. Were it someone else than Valeria, and some other day than this, perhaps she would draw some comfort or even pride from this description. But Valeria is a prick, and Rakha's Astral showdown with the Emperor is still ringing in her head; she hears the taunting manipulation in the words.

Valeria grunts, seeing the words are not having the desired effect, and then shrugs. "The city needs you," she says. "I overheard these pigs talking. There's a Bhaal temple deep within the old Undercity that the cult is using. A century ago it was destroyed by a group of heroic sorts. Let's hope history repeats itself, eh?"

"Mind who you call history, hollyphant," Jaheira says irritably, clearly as annoyed with Valeria as Rakha is.

"The wrinkled orb is correct!" Minsc puts in cheerfully, immune to the subtleties of the situation as usual. "Boo remembers the stench of the temple still."

"Very good," Valeria says hastily, clearing her throat as Jaheira glares at her. "Now less talk, and find that temple!" And without waiting for a response, she darts off through the door behind them and disappears towards the light beyond.

-----

They already more or less have what they need, but nevertheless Rakha spends a long time exploring the abbatoir anyway. She has a sort of numbed look to her face, exhausted by the strain of being in this place that calls so much to the dark urges in her mind.

In particular, she spends a long time looking at this book, which is stuffed in a bloodstained chest in the corner:

She spends long enough staring at this that it makes her companions a little uncomfortable. That ending imagery resonates painfully with words in her handwriting found in the depths of Moonrise Towers.

Father, you created me to be the last soul alive... when the time is right and my power is assured, I will slaughter Gortash and Ketheric upon your altar, where I myself hope to die when the world itself is gasping its last. At the end of this all, Father, there will not be a single creature living.

Everyone will die. Everyone will die for YOU.

I will make you proud.

[dear--charlie]

Dear Charlie,

hi it's me, again. It's been a while, I know. I'm done with my masters and I work as a teacher now. I teach 1/2 grade and 5/6 grade in mixed age classes. It's so much work that that's all I do, but since all my friends live away, I'm pretty much alone all the time. It's not as if I had anything better to do, but I'm slipping down again. I guess I'll pick myself back up again when I got the time. Anyway, that's not why I am writing. 

My 6th grades were supposed to do a chore. Instead, they used the comment section of the word document and insulted each other. And I mean, they're teenagers. I could deal with them calling each other jerks, but that's not what they did. They called each other gay. "gay" as in "that's so gay" as in "that's so fucked up". And well, I couldn't let that sit on me. I went home and did a worksheet. Screenshots of their conversation on the cover. On the next 4 pages an instagram post Hoshi shared, where she received insults and death threats for being a lesbian, as well as her statement about it. Then I made them watch videos: what is LGBT, why is there so much suicide in queer youth, why are gay footballers scared of coming out, what do kids mean when they "gay" and what's the real possible consequence. They were shocked. 2 boys cried. I brought my point across but there is so much more talking to do. They know nothing about the matter and I dived in head first. Now we will decompose, and I will make sure that they do not use gay as a slur even in their dreams. 

Anyway. I shared this with J., the woman I work with in 2nd grade. She is really nice and knows the kids and the school and I just needed to share what had just happened because I was really emotional. And well, we talked and talked and it was nice and she made me feel safe but I didn't manage to come out to her because something in me was still scared. But then I was home and felt like shit. Not only had I not told her the truth but I had gotten back in the closet when for the past 2 years I had been out and proud abroad. Well now back at home I'm a little closeted bat. And I hate it. I feel like I am betraying myself and my values and losing part of myself because I am hiding it away again. 

So, I texted J. And I told her that I didn't really know how to tackle this but that there was something I wanted to tell her and I was scared to do so because I was scared out work relationship would change and I really appreciate that relationship. But then I told her about A. And she didn't answer for hours. Then this morning, I receive this text: Hi Lena, thank you for your message, I could see that this topic is really important to you and that you are passionate about it. I can imagine that it was not always easy and I am terribly sorry for that. Unfortunately, our society is still quite primitive and conservative in this sense. I wish you and your girlfriend only the best. I am very open-minded and think that everyone should go their own way without having obstacles put in it. And besides, there is no such thing as THE right way. You are authentic and have dared to come out. Many people do not have this courage because a large part of our society does not tolerate it. This changes absolutely nothing in our teamwork - on the contrary! As I said before, I think it's good that you wrote this to me. It was very emotionally touching. You're a really kind, sympathetic and emotional person/ teacher. Stay true to yourself because you'll see it's worth it in the end. Feel hugged.

And well, I cried my eyes out and then I just thanked her. Now I'm better but I still think about it a lot and well Idk, I don't like that wherever I go there has to be a coming out again. It's annoying. 

Plus, a kid asked me why gay people decide to be gay if it means they are threatened. And well... that's a whole other story. 

Anyway. 

Love always, 

Lena. 

30.09.23

Post

[spookycatholicknight]

Eight Pilot (PT1)

Rachel stood in front of the black and white stone. Phyllite was his favorite kind of stone... and looked good as his early grave. Rachel felt her heart throb as the broken hole within her began to tremor harder. The young woman stood with what should have been her family in law. What should have been her new cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents.

What should have been....

But now they were only humans in the same pain she was. As they all had once loved the young man that was lost in their lives. Like so many others around the world. Everyone was just hurt and lost within it.

"Bruce Ochroma... was a very dear and erm, decent, caring, tough son of mine." Emilia said as her voice broke. The gray and haired woman sniffed and looked out to the crowd with her puffy brown eyes. "He was always a curious soul who couldn't stop his feet from walking into a new adventure. And- he brought me the best moments of mine, and his family's life. He was a gracious and protective, generous, older brother. Always helping his sister find something to laugh about. Even when she had injured herself in soccer and couldn't play or make school. I will never forget the weeks he made her soups, grilled sandwiches, and tucked her in when watching their shows. Bruce loves his sister, and even in their fights he still made it his duty to set things right. Bruce doesn't run away, he would always get re-charged before sprinting back into battle. The only time however he did bunker down.. Was when he told me about a beautiful girl he had seen. Training beside him for early football practice in the season. What made him like her even more you see- was she was running on a messed up tendon in her right foot. He had overheard her talking to someone saying 'I'm running on it more to make it better!' which had only caught his attention more." To that the whole church chuckled upon hearing about Rachel, making her heart uncontrollably swoon at the memory. "Finally, when he had enough courage- or rather I kicked him out of the house until he asked her to prom. Did we get to see the enchanting girl Rachel, the next Sunday afternoon." Emiliia then turned and gestured to Rachel who no longer held her puffy face in her hands to hide. Seeing how the two females both held the same emotions within each other's eyes. It only made Rachel recoil further as she sat on the bench alone. It was a terrible pain to see how a mother could be so distraught and disturbed that her baby had died.'They all have lost him. They won't be able to see him again like me...' "And I'm so glad he did. Rachel, we still love you." The woman's voice cracked. Bruce's mom seemed to do well in playing the part of being strong and to bear her pain. But it had been obvious when he was being buried of what her true feelings were.

The woman had dropped to the muddy grass, her hand tightly held fast to the black casket. "No, no!!" She cried, trying to almost bargain with God to not take her son away. It broke everyone's heart, to see how tunnel visioned she was. Her darkened eyes only focused on the casket. The closed casket which held her son- which had been closed earlier and did not open to allow the harmed mother a hug, kiss, or word goodbye. No seeing the last of what was a part of hers for about 21 years. Not even her husband could rip her away from her weeping. The dirt was softened more from her eyes than the rainy clouds above.

Finally, it was Rachel's turn to stand up after other various family members or friends went to stand. It was the lady's turn to present a moving speech about how Bruce and her fell into a wonderful love. How they talked and wished to have a family together. How they wanted to have children and grandchildren, to grow old together. To look at each other everyday and say 'I love you. I will fight for you. I will do anything best for you, because I serve you. My spouse, my true love.' But a log was stuck in the dark brunette's throat, as everyone waited quietly, save for their soft sobs. They waited for her, but she couldn't say anything. She couldn't move, Rachel just felt broken, and that all the happiness was ripped from her. That she didn't know what to do, now that her number one supporter, believer, and protector. Rachel was so out of it she didn't even notice Bruce's younger sister Lucy reaching out and hugging her from the bench behind as Rachel crumbled and leaned into the other lighter brown haired female. Holding onto her the two just hugged for dear life, scared they'd lose each other too. "I don't care if we aren't family legally. But you're still my big sister. And we'll take care of each other." Rachel nodded and hugged Lucy tighter. To ensure their friendship would stay together.

.

.

.

[demcgorgons]

real- eddie munson

summary: jason carver won’t leave you alone, so you ask an unexpected someone for help.

wc: 4.0k

pairing(s): eddie munson x fem!reader

warnings: making out, this is my first fic so shitty writing maybe, unedited

eddie sat at the bench and drummed his fingers, slightly impatient. after a few seconds, he pulled the tiny piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. his fingers ran over the words you hastily scrawled, rushing before mrs. o’donnell caught you passing notes. ‘woods behind the football field after school. asap’ the note read, the words slightly smudged from folding it before letting the ink dry. he wondered what you wanted, wondered why you couldn’t indulge the tiniest bit of information, just so his mind wouldn’t race, the way it was now. the two of you had never really spoken, just polite smiles given in class, if he managed to catch your eye. you ran with different crowds. he was the freak of hawkins— in a cult, corrupting young minds, dressed outlandishly in all black, and a twenty year old high school senior. you were simply an angel on earth. a cheerleader, but kinder than most of the girls on your team. you were smart and gorgeous. you were always willing to help anyone out with their studies. eddie was nearly failing, but for some reason, he could never pluck up enough courage to speak to you. he wasn’t even sure that you knew who he was. every time he got close, your bright smile damn near knocked him off his feet. eddie swore that you were the sweetest person in the entire world. 

eddie glanced at his watch. 20 minutes after school let out. he wondered if he was somehow wrong about you, if you had lured him out here as some kind of prank. he looked around, wondering if jason and his posse were waiting behind trees and bushes, ready to jump out at him. just as he was about to call it quits, he heard twigs snapping and rushed footsteps heading towards him. you appeared, looking flushed and apologetic.

“i’m so, so sorry,” you said quickly. “i tried to get here fast, but people kept stopping me and jason wouldn’t leave me alone and-” 

“‘s alright,” eddie smiles, cutting your rant off. “you’re here now.” 

the girl beamed, still looking guilty for leaving him waiting for so long. moments of awkward silence passed as you stood awkwardly and eddie looked at you expectantly. you gestured to the picnic table and sat across from eddie. “um, about that note,” you began. “i don’t really know how to start this, honestly. it’s kinda weird and i don’t want you feeling obligated to do anything for me.” 

“look who you’re talkin’ to,” he smirks. “i think i can handle weird.” the corners of your mouth tugged up into a smile again. 

“o-okay.” you took a deep breath. “i guess the short version of it is that jason carver won’t leave me alone. he keeps hitting on me and asking me out and it’s making me uncomfortable and honestly, i didn’t know what else to do.” you frowned at yourself. “well, i guess i could have come up with something else, but this way would be more effective, i think.” at this point, you were talking to yourself and eddie was still as confused as ever.

“what would be more effective?” he asked.

“um, i wondered if you would be my fake boyfriend?” you half-whispered, wishing that you had just given up in the idea. getting jason off your back was not worth this much embarrassment. 

“sure.” the answer came easily. you blinked, not sure if you heard him properly. 

“r-really?” you spluttered.

“sure. it’ll get carver off your back, and i get to pretend that a pretty girl actually wants to be my girlfriend.”

“o-okay,” you said. “i’m not exactly sure what to do now.” you laughed sheepishly. “in my head, you thought i was a freak and in some scenarios, you ran screaming.” he laughed at that, and all you could think of was how much you loved his laugh. in that moment, you thought you could listen to that sound for the rest of your life and never get tired of it. 

“you? a freak?” eddie exclaimed. “hell no. i’m the freak, and you want to be seen with me?” you shrugged, not offering an explanation. “are there any rules, then? this is fake, so i don’t know what you’re comfortable with, touching wise. i mean, it’ll be weird if we never touch each other, right? isn’t that what couples do? i mean, tommy h and carol spent most of their junior year groping each other in the hallway.” 

you gigged at his rambling. “don’t tell me you’ve never been with anyone before, eddie.” 

he scoffed. “i’ve been with girls, y/n. however, it’s never been long enough to hold hands in the hallway and be so sweet that everyone around us wants to gouge out their eyes at the sight of our undying love.” he rolled his eyes at the last part, smiling sarcastically. “totally fine with it, though. never met anyone that made me want to stay the night.” 

you eyed him curiously. “i’m okay with anything,” you said. “let’s just ease into it. i’ve never actually done anything before, so just give me warning, i guess.” at that eddie’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“are you serious? never kissed anyone or held hands or anything?” you shook your head, embarrassed again. “well, then i won’t do the big things. want them to be real for you.” you smiled at his words, feeling a warmth spread throughout your chest and all over your body, making your fingertips tingle. “you need a ride?”

you hesitated, then nodded. “sure. i usually walk, but i guess this is a part of a relationship.” eddie led you out of the woods to his van and drove you home. the ride was a bit awkward and eddie tried to turn down his music to a reasonable amount. he was happy when he noticed you bobbing your head along to ozzy. when he dropped you off, you gave him your number on a slip of paper. wishing him a good rest of his day, you watched his van peel out of the cul de sac, giggling to yourself as you realized that he drove a lot more carefully with you in the car. the rest of the night, you felt as though you were on autopilot, unable to think of anything else but eddie munson.

the next day, eddie picked you up. you surprised him with a donut that your mom had bought. he beamed when you handed him the sugary treat. “i could get used to this!” he joked. the ride to school was slightly less awkward than the night before. you asked him about his classes and offered to help him in o’donnell’s class or any other class.

once in school, you went about your day normally. you did your best to pay attention in your classes, but you found yourself thinking of eddie’s smile, how beautiful he was. you smiled to yourself at how comfortable he made you feel. your smile faded as you remembered that this wasn’t real, he was just doing you a favor for a bit. you shook your head and tried to put eddie out of your head, focusing on your schoolwork.

after your third period, you headed to your locker before lunch. as you switched out your books, you felt a person saunter up beside you. “hey, y/n,” the person said. you groaned internally. jason carver. shoving your binder into your bag and slamming your locker shut, you turned to the jock.

“hey, jason,” you said with a fake smile. “what’s up?”

he smirked and you grimaced internally, knowing that he thought he was the hottest guy alive. “some of the guys and i were going out tonight to see that new horror film. couple of ‘em are bringing dates and i was wondering if you’d like to join me?”

“um, no thanks. i have plans.”

“c’mon, y/n, don’t be like that.” he reached up to caress your cheek, in what he assumed to be a sweet gesture. instead, you felt like throwing up in your mouth. “some of your cheer friends are going. don’t be a drag.”

“hey, she said no.” you recognized eddie’s voice behind you. relief washed over you. eddie kissed your cheek, and you smiled, leaning into his touch. you tried to hold back your laugh as you watched jason try to keep his expression calm, but you could see anger and disbelief in his eyes. 

“munson. what are you doing here?” jason sneered.

“meeting with my girl,” eddie said. your stomach fluttered at his words. “not that it’s any of your business anyway. she told you no, carver. go back to your circle jerk-off and leave my girlfriend alone.” 

“y/n, you’re dating this freak?” jason said in disbelief. “you know he’s the leader of a cult, right? that’s what that stupid hellfire thing is. i’m just looking out for you here, babe.”

“don’t call her that!” eddie snapped. he took a couple steps towards jason, getting up in his face. “she’s not your girlfriend, dickhead. now, leave her alone or else.” jason glared at eddie furiously, before scoffing and shoving him away. he stomped off and you realized your heart was nearly beating out of your chest.

“thank you,” you said, giving him a quick hug. “but you nearly got into a fight. this isn’t worth you getting suspended.”

“of course you are,” he said easily. “come on, i’m starving.” the two of you walked to the cafeteria, hand in hand. you attracted quite a few stares and whispers, but eddie squeezed your hand, willing you to ignore everyone. it was a strange feeling, having someone to hold onto. you couldn’t remember the last time you held someone’s hand, romantically or not. to you, it seemed that your hands were made to hold his. your fingers intertwined perfectly and his warmth was very comforting. 

eddie led you to his table, where the other hellfire members sat. he sat down in his seat and motioned for you to sit in the empty chair next to him. the other boys at the table eyes you curiously. you sat down quietly, giving everyone a soft smile, but not wanting to maintain eye contact for too long.

“who’s that?” a curly haired boy said loudly. 

“this is y/n, my girlfriend,” eddie said proudly. “y/n, this is gareth, jeff, and grant. that asshole is dustin and that’s mike and lucas. those three are freshies.” every single guy at the table’s jaw dropped. 

“your girlfriend?” dustin spluttered. “since when do you have a girlfriend? and a pretty one at that!” you covered your mouth with your hand, trying not to laugh. eddie looked offended. 

“well, screw you, henderson.” the group laughed at his pathetic comeback and then the boys broke into separate conversations amongst themselves. 

you leaned in close to whisper to eddie. “i didn’t know we were lying to other people about us. i thought it was just for jason.”

eddie shrugged. “seemed more realistic to me. you don’t have to introduce me to your family if you don’t want to, though.”

“no, i-i can. i just didn’t know what you wanted to do.”

“hey, love birds!” mike’s voice cut through your hushed conversation. “you coming to hellfire tomorrow night, y/n? we’re in the middle of this epic campaign.”

you glanced nervously at eddie, unsure how to reply. “if you guys want me there, i can come, i guess. is that okay, eds?” you decided to try out a nickname, just to make your fake relationship seem more real. his cheeks turned slightly pink and he smiled at you.

“‘course, my girl is welcome to anything.” he grabbed your hand, and you fought the giddy laughter you felt bubbling up in your chest. 

the rest of the day went by, and once more, eddie drove you home. you gave him a quick hug and raced into your house. you had decided earlier in the day to do something nice for eddie’s club, since they had invited you to watch their campaign, which was mostly unheard of, according to gareth. you decided on chocolate chip cookies, as those were usually a crowd favorite. 

the next day was the same. eddie picked you up and drove you to school. you sat with hellfire at lunch. the only difference was that jason never had the chance to come up to you, as eddie had taken it upon himself to walk to each one of your classes. “what about you?” you protested, unable to keep the smile off your face. “you’ll be late!”

“you’re worth it, sweetheart,” he’d said, pressing a kiss to your forehead. your heart skipped a beat at his actions, and you refused to remember that this was just for show. that afternoon, you stayed at school after the final bell had rung. you met eddie at your locker, and he led you to the hellfire room, where everyone was already waiting.

“shit, we don’t have another chair,” eddie said, looking around the room. he took his place on his throne and smirked at you. “guess you’ll have to sit on my lap. unless you want to stand the entire time?” the boys groaned.

“can you not do that shit in front of us?” dustin complained. “some of us value our virgin eyes.” you giggled at his theatrics.

“i have something for you guys, before you start,” you said shyly. eddie looked at you, confused, as you hadn’t told him about surprising the club with a special treat. you brought out the container of cookies from your bag, and let them pass it around the table. it was heartwarming to see their faces light up at the cookies.

“no way!” lucas exclaimed. “eddie, you didn’t tell us she baked!” he moaned as he took a bite from a cookie. “this is the best cookie i’ve ever fucking tasted.” you beamed as the rest of the table agreed. 

you inconspicuously sat in eddie’s lap, feeling his warm hand on your waist as you adjusted yourself. the campaign began and you were immersed in the world of dungeons and dragons. it was a fascinating game and you found yourself rooting for the team to defeat whatever monsters or obstacles eddie threw at them. at one point, you got up to use the bathroom and while you were gone, dustin said, “i like y/n. she’s really nice. and her cookies are really good.” 

the table agreed and mike added, “please don’t let her go. none of your other hookups ever wanted to be a part of hellfire.” eddie smiled as he thought about what the club had said. he was lucky. it had only been a few days, but you had easily slipped into his life and routine. you returned and snuggled back into eddie. gareth had given him a knowing look.

 the hour and a half flew by rather quickly, and everyone gathered their papers and bid you and eddie good night. “wanna come over to my place?” he asked you, as you walked to his van. “my uncle’s probably heading to work right about now, so we’ve got it to ourselves.” you hesitated before nodding.

once at his trailer, you called your mom to let her know you were at a friends and you’d be home late. eddie put on a movie and gestured for you to join him. he offered you a joint, and you shook your head.

“never smoked before?” he asked, looking amused. you shrugged sheepishly. “i can teach you, if you’d like.” 

“sure.” eddie showed you how to inhale, hold it in, and then exhale. you took a drag and immediately started coughing up a lung. eddie laughed at you, and once you stopped choking on air, you started laughing too. “oh my god, that’s so embarrassing!” you shrieked with laughter. 

“no, that was good,” he assured you. “everyone coughs the first time. and the second and third and maybe fourth.” you rolled your eyes at him.

“can i try again?” you took a shorter drag this time and only coughed a tiny bit. your face lit up. “eds, i did it!” 

“good job, baby,” he laughed. the two of you fell silent, taking turns with the joint, somewhat paying attention to the cheesy horror film eddie was put on. your head was beginning to feel woozy as the high set in. your head was full of thoughts about eddie. you were very aware of how close the two of you were and how he called you ‘baby’. eddie was thinking of you, as well. how well you interacted with his friends, how you called him ‘eds’. it made him weak in the knees. he tried to shake off those thoughts, knowing you didn’t actually like him. this was just get jason off your back. 

“hey, eddie,” you giggled. you snuggled close into his chest and he swore his heart was beating so loud and fast, the entire park heard it. your hand was draped lazily across his stomach, and he was very aware of how close it was to the waistband of his black jeans. “you smell nice, did you know? and you have pretty eyes. and hair. and everything.” your voice sounded gone and eddie laughed. 

“y/n, baby, are you high?” he teased. you shook your head.

“noooo,” you said. “i’m fine, i am just feeling a little weird and floaty, but i like it.”

“take a nap,” he said. “sleep some of this off, and i’ll take you home, okay?” you don’t really remember the rest of the night, but you woke up in the next day in your own bed, with your mother shaking you, telling you that your ‘friend with the loud music’ was here to pick you up. 

weeks and months went on, with mostly the same routine. eddie would take you to school and take you home. on hellfire days, you’d bring snacks for the club members and occasionally, you’d hang out at eddie’s trailer or your house. you introduced him to your parents and you met his uncle wayne. the two of you felt so right together that you almost forgot why you came together in the first place. stares from jason had subsided weeks ago. he’d stopped badgering you about a month before that. eventually, everyone at school had gotten used to seeing the two of you together. eddie’s grades had even risen a bit, due to the time you spent together where you forced him to study even a little. eddie took every opportunity he could to hold your hand, kiss your cheek, forehead, anything. 

one night you were hanging out with eddie, getting high and watching a movie, same as always. you were cuddling with eddie, bodies intertwined so you couldn’t tell where you ended and where eddie began. it occurred to you that no one was around, and there was no reason for you to be cuddled up. you shifted slightly, and eddie’s grip around your waist tightened, keeping you close. the same warmth that you felt whenever he touched you in any way spread over your entire body. you must have sighed, because, all of a sudden, eddie had your face in his hands, searching your eyes while asking if you were okay.

“what’s gonna happen when this is over?” you said, tears forming in your eyes. “jason has moved on. why are we still pretending?” eddie didn’t know what to say. you didn’t know what to make of his silence and the weed and alcohol weren't making your brain work normally. you rambled on, “i mean, of course i don’t want to pretend anymore. i spend all my time with you. i think only about you. i caught some guys eye in my science class and he winked at me and i felt dirty. i felt like that was disrespectful to you and then i remembered that this isn’t real and i can go out and kiss anybody i want. anybody i want!” you took another liong sip of beer, your words slurring together now. eddie looked concerned and grabbed it from you, taking your second half smoked joint, as well. “but, i only wanna kiss you, munson. i wish you would just kiss me!” you crawled onto his lap and got up in his face. 

this entire time, he hadn’t said anything. you put his hand on your cheek and he rubbed his thumb on you face. you leaned into his touch and glanced at his lips. “are you sober?” he asked quietly. 

you shrugged. “had some of this, had some of that. you know.” you laughed at yourself. eddie smiled.

“come on, baby. let’s sleep this off and then we’ll talk, okay?” you bobbed your head and he led you to his room, you nearly falling on your face after tripping over your own feet. once in his bed, you snuggled into him, breathing in his scent. eddie stroked your hair until you fell asleep. eddie tried to sleep as well, but your words kept him awake. were you serious? or were you so cross-faded that you made up an entire confession of your affection?

eddie dozed off, and hours later, he woke to your groaning. “my head,” you moaned. “i’m never doing that shit again.” eddie rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got up.

“i’ll get you some ibuprofen and water,” he said. when he returned, you took the pill and flopped back onto your pillow, pressing it on your head. “hey, um, do you remember earlier? like, what we were talking about?”

you turned and blinked at him, still looking incredibly sleepy and miserable. “kinda? it’s a little blurry.” that was a lie. you’d have to be blackout drunk to forget what you did, probably not even then. eddie’s face fell a bit, but he recovered quickly.

“what do you remember?” he asked.

“i-i remember drinking and smoking. i remember cuddling with you, and then i remember asking about us and i remember climbing on top of you.” you felt embarrassed, remembering how he had rejected you and taken you to bed, instead of kissing you. “um, sorry about that. i think i said something dumb and then we went to bed.”

“something dumb?” eddie said, somewhat dejectedly. 

“yeah,” you laughed awkwardly. “i’m sorry about that. i know that this isn’t permanent and that you’re just being a good friend.” eddie was starting to hate that word. “honestly, i think we could end it now. i mean, this was just to get jason off my back right? well, he’s moved onto chrissy cunningham last i heard.”

“what if i don’t want it to end?” the words tumbled out of his mouth before eddie had a chance to stop them. you looked at him with wide eyes. “y/n, you told me that you liked me and you wanted to only kiss me. did it ever occur to you that i feel the same?”

“w-what?”

“did you mean what you said earlier? do you like me?” he waited with baited breath for your response. after a few agonizing seconds, you nodded. eddie took your face in his rough hands, your face impossibly close to his. you felt his warm breath fanning your face. “is this okay?” he whispered.

“yes,” you breathed back. eddie closed the distance between the two of you, lips pressing against yours. it was your first kiss, and you thought that this was the best thing to ever happen to you. your hands wormed their way up into eddie’s hair. he kissed you intensely and you whimpered into the kiss. breaking apart to take a breath, eddie’s eyes found yours.“y/n, i really like you. maybe even love. i want to be with you for real. will you be my real girlfriend?” 

you captured his lips in a kiss again. “yes, eddie munson, i will be your real girlfriend.” 

i didn’t know how to end this and im not going to reread it to edit it bc i’ll end up deleting it. lowkey hate this anyway. thanks for reading!!

[avenirdelight]

A Friend?

John Stones

(ft. Jude Bellingham & Jordan Henderson)

No one ever believes it when they introduce each other as a friend. His teammates are no exception. [Requested]

John should’ve known better. No one was going to buy it when he introduced her as a ‘friend’. But he didn’t really have any choice, did he? It was the truth. They were friends, as much as he wished that they were more than just friends.

“A friend?” Jude asked almost in disbelief as he raised his eyebrows when he shook her hand. “Right. You two are friends,” he said in a teasing tone. A playful little smirk appeared on his face.

John glared at his younger teammate. They were all in the stands after the match with their friends and family. John had just been talking with her when Jude and Jordan came out of nowhere. Jude asked John to introduce him to the lovely lady. To be fair, John had mentioned her name a couple of times before in front of his teammates. Now that she was finally there, they could put the name into a face.

“What a nice friend you are, coming all the way here for John,” Jude continued. John was sure he was on a mission to tease him. “Must be a special friend then, John?”

“Manners, Jude. That’s rude,” Jordan whacked Jude on the back of his head and the lad acted hurt. Jordan then extended his hand to shake her hand and they both introduced themselves to each other. “I’m Jordan. Pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Finally? Sorry, uh… John’s mentioned me before?” The shy look that had been on her face was replaced by a look of surprise.

“He’d just been moaning about how the tea here doesn’t match his taste. Man loves his tea, doesn’t he?” Jordan glanced at John and for a second John thought that there was a mischievous look in his eyes. “He kept mentioning a name to Kyle, saying that this person makes the best tea and he missed it. Kyle thought that he actually missed the person though, not the tea.”

John shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Oh, come on. You need to go that far?”

Jordan and Jude got the same triumphant smile on their faces—John sighed in defeat and she let out a nervous giggle. Fortunately, the two lads were kind enough to let it go.

It wasn’t until they left that John found the courage to look at her. She just stood there biting her lips, her cheeks looked more rosy than before. John felt more embarrassed knowing that she was embarrassed. He was definitely going to give Jude some lessons later, and maybe, bring Dave the cat close to Jordan so Dave could give him a little scare.

“I’m sorry,” John apologised, running a nervous hand on his hair. “They can be like that sometimes.”

“It’s fine, John. I’m actually happy to see that you guys are getting along so well.”

“Yeah, imagine what I have to put up with every day.”

John caught her smile before he quickly looked away, mostly because he still felt embarrassed. They both fell silent and John could feel that it was suddenly getting slightly awkward. This was only normal, but it really wouldn’t be awkward if she was truly just a friend.

But she was never only a friend to John. He adored her—if he was asked to be honest right now, he’d say that he was really in love with her. She was the one he thought about when he woke up in the morning, the one he always wanted to tell Kyle about, the one who occupied his mind when he wasn’t thinking about football. It had been almost a year since things started blooming between them, but John had always been holding back because he knew she wasn’t looking for a relationship yet—she’d just gotten out of a serious relationship that didn’t end well—and he respected that.

“Ugh…I actually hate every time this happens, you know. This… Awkward moment.” John turned to her with slightly furrowed eyebrows, but she didn’t look back at him; she was looking far into the empty pitch. “It’s just like, funny, how everyone is surprised every time we introduce each other as friends. Like, which part of it is really hard to believe?”

John let out a nervous chuckle, unsure of how to respond to that. For some reason, he agreed. But he could also actually give her plenty of reasons right now why no one would buy it.

It was the way they looked at each other, the way they behaved around each other, and treated each other. There was something different, something special between them that was so noticeable.

“But they’re right, though.” She sighed, finally looking back at John. Her voice was low but loud enough for John to hear.

“About what?”

“About us. We’re kind of… More than friends. It’s always been that way.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. You don’t think so?”

John shrugged. “No, sure. Sure, I do.”

John’s heart rate accelerated. All this time he’d always tried to convince himself that she felt the same way like he did—that there was something special between them—and now he’d just gotten the confirmation for it.

“Right. I mean, like, I kinda know that you’ve been giving me space, but… I feel like I’m ready to share that space with someone else.”

John couldn’t believe that they were having this conversation right here, right now. He quickly scanned his eyes around and thankfully everyone was busy with their own families and friends; his parents were engaged in a conversation with Ramsdale’s parents. John turned on his seat, facing her. He stared at her beautiful eyes and he could feel that there was something slightly different in the way she looked at him.

“Well… If you want to be more than friends, I’m up for it.”

She scoffed and then laughed, drawing a grin from John. She shook her head and stared back at John with what he believed as a fond gaze.

“That’s a very lame way to ask me to be your girlfriend, John Stones.”

“But you get the point. I can’t really take you on a date and bring you flowers now, can I?” His gaze then shifted to her hand and he confidently took it in his hand, giving it a light caress. “I promise I’ll take you on a date when we get home.”

She nodded. “Fine, okay. Uhh, I think it’s time for you to go?” They both looked around and saw his teammates started leaving. It was about time for them to go back to the hotel. “You go, then. Please pet Dave for me?”

John smiled. “Yeah, sure,” he said as they both stood up. He pulled her into a tight, warm hug and he wished that he could spend a little bit more time with her. He knew he would already miss her once he hit the dressing room. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered in her ears.

“Sure. You okay with the cameras?”

“I’m gonna make it real quick.”

“Okay.”

With one swift motion, John let her go from his embrace and gave her a quick peck on her lips; his stomach flipped when their lips met. She was rather stunned when he’d done it, a shy look was painted all over her face. She couldn’t contain the happiness so she laughed and John laughed with her.

“Okay, then. Call me when you get back?” John asked.

She nodded. John then said goodbye to her and his parents.

Everything had happened so quickly. John had just started to process everything when he walked down the tunnel. His heart was comfortably pounding in his chest and if Picks saw him right now, he’d definitely say “You look like an idiot, why are you smiling like that?”. He’d gotten the win and the girl, you’d understand why he was smiling like that.

“Here’s the thing, John.”

John felt an arm around his shoulder. It was Jude again. He looked serious this time.

“Friends don’t really kiss each other on the lips, you know,” Jude said.

John rolled his eyes and shrugged Jude’s arm off. He gave Jude a look and started to quicken his pace. “Well, that’s the thing. We’re not really friends anymore.”

Jude stopped on his track and he dropped his jaw. John wished he could have taken a picture because the boy was absolutely stunned.

“Wait— What do you mean??” He said, and John saw realisation slowly hit him. “Nah, you didn’t, mate! You didn’t!!”

John laughed in satisfaction and ran off before Jude started chasing him.

—

world cup is over but i still have a couple world cup-themed imagines, i hope you don’t mind!

i enjoyed writing this one, and it’s always fun to bring on the other players~ i hope you liked it! likes, comments, reblogs, and feedback are always appreciated!💖

My Masterlist🤍

[errythinisblue]

hi… i wanted to request something around the idea of mason and reader dating privately for a while and because dec and lauren still want him back w his ex (they all still friends) they are kinda against the relationship and she feels awkward whenever w his friends and family cause she heard comments and she starts to push herself away and ben notices and he’s the one to figure it out and tell mason attempting to save his relationship? W a fluff ending

it’s just the idea u can do what you prefer :) sorry if its too long, love your writing ❤️

Hi! This was such a good idea you gave me! Thank you, and I hope you'll like what came out of it!!!❤️

"It's only me and you."

Mason Mount x Y/N

Summary: Since you and Mason started dating, you kept your relatioship as private as you could. Only your families and closest friends knew about you two, and that was because Mason wanted to protect you from people hating on you. But he didn't know that even in your bubble there was someone that couldn't bear the sight of you.

Warnings: swear words, nothing more.

gif credits to @masnmount 

You knew Mason from quite a long time as you were one of Ben’s closest friends like he was as well, and it’s safe to say that you liked each other since you both met. You were just too shy to act on your feelings and he was in a relationship so that couldn’t really work. At least almost until a year ago, when Mason finally had the courage to ask you out after he broke up with his now ex girlfriend.

 Since you started dating him, you really couldn’t be happier. And it was the same for him. Your relationship felt as perfect as it was at the beginning; even after many months he could make your heart beat as fast as it did on your first date, and you were absolutely convinced that you couldn’t love anybody else the way you loved him. That nobody else could make you feel safe as he did.

 He would always look out for you, especially since he knew the risks that could come your way with dating a football star. That’s why you two decided to keep your relationship as private as possible; he wanted to show you off, to let the world  know that he was absolutely smitten with you, that he was in love with you like he never was with anybody else before; but he didn’t want to risk your happiness by putting you through hateful comments or unnecessary drama.

 You lived in your own little bubble of joy, only surrounded by the people who were the most important ones for the both of you. Only your family and closest friends knew about you two being together; as for the rest of the world, they could go on thinking you were just friends, you didn’t really care. Mason didn’t care either, as long as you were happy and right beside him.

 And you were, even right now as you were at Declan and Lauren’s house for dinner. You were really glad you had such nice friends to hang out with, and you enjoyed every occasion you had to spend some time with them, especially since you knew how close Mason and Declan were.

 At least that’s what you thought before unintentionally overhearing a conversation between your two friends.

 Mason forgot his phone at yours and while you all waited for dinner to be ready he went back to your house to grab it, leaving you there as you casually chatted with Lauren.

 Just as you heard the sound of his engine, you stood up and made your way to the bathroom to wash your hands before you all would start eating; but just as you were going back to the kitchen you heard the couple talk, and you clearly heard your name being said in their hushed conversation.

 “You know, it’s during nights like this that I really miss my Chlo…” Lauren said to Declan with a quite sad voice.

 “I know right? I miss the old times too… we were such a great quartet to be honest…” Declan agreed.

 “I kind of wish they would get back together you know, Mason and Chloe?” she lowered her voice, but you could hear her all the same, as a lump started to make your throat feel tight, “I mean when I hang out with her, I wish we could do that all together like we used to…”

 “Yeah, but that’s not our decision to make is it? We can’t force thing babe,” Declan reasoned with his girlfriend, “and he’s happy with Y/N, we have to accept this.”

 “I know, I know-“ she stopped abruptly once she hear the door being opened and saw Mason coming in.

 -

 Days passed since the last time you went to Declan’s, and as time passed by your head was filling more and more each day with thoughts about Mason and Chloe.

 When you first met they were going through a rough time in their relationship, that resulted in a break up months later. This happened during spring time, before you started going out with Mason in September, six months after the end of their relationship. But you didn’t really feel a competition with her, you knew she was in the past, Mason made sure to let you know that. He was always showering you with love and affection, and he didn’t leave any time for you to have doubts. But now you were having them, and you were having pretty nasty thoughts about yourself too.

 You started doubting yourself in every single moment of your day, especially during the ones you got to share with Mason. Even right know, as you were getting dressed to go and have lunch with his family, you started to get anxious. You never doubted your taste in clothes, quite the contrary since Mason was always appreciating your looks no matter what you were wearing; yet today you couldn’t seem to find anything that would fit you like you wanted to.

 “Woah! What happened in here??” Mason exclaimed as he noticed the pile of clothes you tried on in your walk in closet, the same clothes you discarded on the floor the second you saw them on your awful figure, “It looks like a bomb went off in our closet!”

 “I don’t know what to wear Mason, that’s what happened…” you murmured as you were trying on yet another dress. As you were going to remove it from your body, finding it absolutely terrible, Mason stopped your hand from doing so.

 “Leave this on,” he whispered in your ear, “We match! Look!” he smiled at your reflection in the mirror in front of you. It was true, your white silk dress matched perfectly with his white shirt, even if he was wearing a pair of jeans with it you still looked like the most beautiful couple in Mason’s eyes.

 Not in yours though. You forced a smile on your face as he slowly stroked his thumbs on your hips, over the smooth material of your dress. You forced yourself to look happy, even if your thoughts were consuming you, even if you thought he would be better off with Chloe. She would have known what to wear right from the start, she would be sure of herself no matter the clothes she had on, and she would make everyone happy as she was the one that Declan and Lauren wanted with Mason, probably all of his family too was missing her too; and for a second you thought the same about Mason.

 You forced the knot that was tightening down your throat and put on your favorite heels, in hope they would give a little boost to your lost confidence. And you couldn’t help but feel your heart crack a little when, after you closed your front door, you made your way to Mason’s car, where he sat, waiting for his girl with the biggest smile on his face, as he looked at you.

 Once you entered the restaurant his family was already there waiting for you and Mason to show up, you sighed when you saw them and Mason couldn’t help but notice.

 “Hey what’s up?” he softly asked you as he held you back by your intertwined hands.

 “Nothing it’s…” you sighed another time and Mason was now getting slightly worried by your behavior, “It’s just that they have been waiting for us, while I couldn’t decide what stupid dress I should have put on-”

 “Hey look at me,” he told you, with his ever so sweet voice, “you’re perfect baby. And you don’t have to worry about a thing, they were used to wait for me all the time anyway so, that’s really not a problem is it??” he laughed as he hoped he made you feel less nervous at least.

 “I guess not…” you smiled back, while in the back of your mind you kept thinking about the fact that they probably had never waited for his ex though.

 “C’mon now,” he squeezed your hand, leaving a gentle kiss on your forehead, “looks like Summer spotted her favorite auntie!”

 ‘Yeah, her favorite auntie…’ you thought, only hoping that the lunch would be over soon.

 -

 Since that lunch Jaz called you pretty much every day, to see how you were doing, as she must have figured out how you were feeling. You kept telling her that you were okay, that you were only stressed out due to your work and because you didn’t have the chance to spend much time with Mason at the moment.

 And that was true; what she didn’t know was that you found yourself keeping at distance from Mason and even his friends, especially Declan. You would spend your days working, even adding extra hours every day to keep yourself from going home before dinner. You would come home to your boyfriend and your dinner waiting for you, then you would eat and you would go to bed, excusing yourself from Mason saying that you were exhausted.

 Mason on his part was completely oblivious about what was going on in your head; he trusted you when you said to him that you had lots of work to do, and that you would come home later than expected. He trusted you when he found you in tears in the bathtub and you told him you were crying because you were worn out from work. He trusted you, but at the same time he couldn’t wait for this stressful period to be over, because he couldn’t take anymore of seeing you like that. Well, he couldn’t bear the fact he almost didn’t see you at all during all day.

 The one person who wasn’t oblivious to what you were doing was Ben. He was worried for you, and he was worried for Mason too. You would always stop by the training centre on your way home from work, but he didn’t see you there in days, weeks even. And he could see that it started to affect Mason too.

 He would always get a call from you in the morning, while you were on your way to work, but even your calls didn’t happen in weeks. He thought you and Mason argued over something, he even thought you were taking some time apart, but he didn’t dare to ask Mason as at the same time he decided to leave you some space. But now the time was over, he needed to make sure you were okay so that morning he grabbed his phone and called you, while he waited for Mason in the canteen.

 “Hi Ben, everything okay?” you answered his call and Ben could immediately tell something was off simply by hearing the sound of your voice.

 “You tell me, stranger,” he smiled, “I thought you disappeared…”

 “I didn’t Ben don’t worry,” you sighed as you knew he would call you sooner or later, “did you need anything?”

 “I just wanted to check on you,” his voice sounded so sincere it made your eyes well up with tears, “it seems like I didn’t see you in years!” upon hearing his words you couldn’t help but sniffling as you were slowly starting to cry, “Are you okay??” Ben was clearly worried now, as he heard you crying through the phone.

 “I don’t know Ben…” you whimpered, “I don’t really know! I only know that I feel like I don’t deserve to be with Mason anymore… it’s like nobody wants me with him…”

 “Why are you saying this??” he frowned as he really couldn’t understand what you meant by saying those things.

 “Because he would be so much better off with Chloe, Ben!” you sobbed.

 “Where’s that coming from Y/N/N? You know he loves you, why are you saying this?” he was now feeling your pain like it was his own, he was feeling so sad upon hearing the state you were in.

 “I-I heard D-Declan and Lauren talk about how much they would be happy if Mason and Chloe were back together!” you sniffled once again, “And you know how much Declan m-means to Mase, Ben… he doesn’t like me, I can’t be with him… so I’m keeping my distance from him, I don’t want to bother him with this…”

 “You’re wrong Y/N/N, you’re so wrong… and Declan doesn’t have a say in your relationship. Okay?” he felt his head clouding with rage, as he didn’t really understand why they had to say something like that, or even to think something like that, “You’re all Mason talks about, he’s so in love with you he can’t shut up about you not even for a second! I���m not the only one saying this, you should definitely ask the others!!!”

 You couldn’t deny that what Ben said made you smile through your tears, he always had that power over you; and you couldn’t deny that he was right, neither Declan nor anyone of his or your friends had a say in your relationship with Mason, and you’ve been a fool for even doubting about him.

 “I don’t want to say you’re right,” you laughed at him as you cleared your voice, “I don’t want to boost your ego, not after that terrible tattoo you got!”

 “Hey! Chilly is beautiful!” he feigned being offended by your words, while in reality his smile couldn’t be wider as he was happy that his friend was clearly coming to her senses.

 “You even gave that thing a name???” you were laughing hard right now, the tears rolling down your cheeks were now happy ones as you couldn’t contain your laughter at the thought he gave a name to that horrible tattoo on his right arm.

 “You know what?? I should have left you crying and being miserable.” he teased you, “Oh I have to go, Mase’s here, I’ll talk to you later okay??”

 “Yeah ‘Chilly’, love you, and thank you…” you smiled, feeling definitely better after the talk you had with Ben.

 “Love you too!” he said before hanging up.

 “Who was that on the phone??” Mason laughed at his friend.

 “It was Y/N actually. Sit down Mount we need to talk.” Ben told his friend, keeping his stare on him.

 “Y/N?” Mason was taken aback at Ben’s words, “Did something happen?? Fuck I have my phone on mute was she looking for me??”

 “She wasn’t, I was the one who called her as she didn’t stop by since forever! I wanted to check on her you know, I hope you don’t mind…” Ben told Mason as he watched him intently to see his reaction.

 “Oh I know…she’s going through hell at work, I barely see her at home man… I miss her so much…” Mason said with a sad expression on his face.

 “Yeah, work… how oblivious can you be??” Ben raised his eyebrows at the boy in front of him.

 “What do you mean??” Mason looked absolutely dumbfounded ad Ben’s words, “Ben what was the call about really?” he felt like something was wrong when he thought at his friend’s question. And in a second he thought about your strange behavior in the past weeks, but still he couldn’t really understand what was happening.

 “She overheard Declan and Lauren talking about you and Chloe, she told me they want you with her and that she thinks you would be happier with her.” Ben simply told him, as he watched his best friend running his hands through his hair, “Before you start panicking, she didn’t tell you because she knows how important Declan is for you, and she didn’t want to start an argument between the two of you…”

 Mason didn’t really hear any more of Ben’s words after he heard him say what you overheard; and now every piece of the puzzle was back in its place: you started acting off since that night, Mason remembered you not being in the mood to do anything when you went back home, and that never happened before; he remembers your extreme insecurity about yourself, a trait you never showed to him before; and he remembered the way you wouldn’t even look him in the eyes when you were back from work late at night, and the way you would always escape his touch when you were finally spending some time together in bed before you fell asleep.

 “I’m so stupid. So, so stupid!” Mason groaned, “How couldn’t I notice this! Something was off and the signals were clear! Yet I didn’t do anything…”

 “It’s not your fault Mase, she didn’t want you to know. And she managed to keep the secret pretty well until now…” Ben told him with all the calm in the world, “But she needs you now, she broke down in tears while we talked on the phone Mase, she needs her boyfriend man…”

 “Yeah, yeah she needs me!” Mason looked Ben in the eyes before he stood up abruptly from his chair, “Tell Tuchel I won’t be here today, tell him I’m sick or something! I owe you Chilly!” he told his friend before turning around, finding himself face to face with none other than Tuchel.

 “Mount, you look sick.” the manager told him smirking, “Yeah, you definitely look sick, love sick if I must say.”

 “Coach I-“ Mason tried to explain himself but Tuchel cut him off.

 “Go to your girl Mount,” he smiled at the player, “but I want you in before the others tomorrow, you’ll have some extra work to do.”

 “O-okay! Thank you!” a wide grin appeared on Mason’s lips as he run out of the building to his car, hoping that you didn’t leave to go to work yet.

 -

 As you were putting on your jacket and your shoes before leaving your house you heard Mason’s car in the driveway and you frowned. ‘He must have forgot something…’ you thought before the door swung open and you didn’t even have the time to turn around before you were wrapped in Mason’s arms.

 “Mase what happened??” you were a little scared by his sudden come back, and by his behavior too.

 “I love you,” he murmured in your neck, “I love you I love you I love you!” he told you as he took your face in his cold hands, “I don’t want anyone else but you please believe me when I say this!”

 “Baby slow down!” you smiled as he started peppering your face with sweet, little kisses.

 “Ben told me everything,” he turned serious before going on with the speech he prepared while driving back home, back to you, “I don’t give a fuck about Declan, about anyone else in this world that’s not you! You got that??” he leaned his forehead on yours as he spoke, “I don’t give a fuck about Chloe either, she’s my past. And you’re my future and I want to spend all my life with you!”

 “Mase-” you tried to speak but he didn’t let you.

 “Let me finish,” he pleaded, silencing you with his forefinger on your soft lips he couldn’t take his eyes off, “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me, this past month has been hell without you! You were there, yet you were so far away at the same time and I was so dumb for not noticing the way you were feeling. I promise I’ll do better from now on, just please talk to me if you have a problem okay? I’ll do the same. ‘Cause it’s only you and me in this, no one else.”

 You couldn’t help but smile at his words, his eyes showed you nothing but love through their deep color, as they always did since the very first time you looked into them.

 “I’m so sorry I acted the way I did… I love you so much!” you told him as you tightly wrapped your arms around his neck, breathing in his scent that you missed terribly.

 “Are you really alright now?” he spoke against the skin of your neck.

 “I’m with you, nothing else matters…” you smiled in between happy tears.

 “Good…” he relaxed completely in your arms, as the tension he felt before left his body.

 “Yeah but we should go to work now,” you squeezed him tighter before letting him go, “We’re gonna be late!”

 “I’m not going anywhere, Tuchel gave me the day off,” he told you as he pulled you back into his arms, and started leaving kisses on your jaw, “and you’re not going anywhere either my love…” he breathed in your ear.

 “Well I could definitely take a day off, since you made me work overtime for the last month…” you teased him.

 “I made you work overtime??” he pulled himself away from you, “Oh babe you don’t know what you got yourself into!” he smirked at you before taking you over his shoulder and slapping your bum.

 “Ouch Mase!” you shouted as you slapped his bum too.

 “I’ll show you what’s like working overtime!” he joked as he made his way to your bedroom, ready to have his way with you after all the time apart.  

[waitimcomingtoo]

Wicked Game ~ T.H

pairing: frat! Tom Holland x Reader

chapter three: slow and steady

series masterlist

Tom saw you that Monday for your date, and again on Tuesday for early morning coffee. When you didn’t answer his texts the following Wednesday and Thursday, he called you. You were walking to class when you felt your phone buzzing in your pocket.

“Tom?” You laughed in surprise when you picked up the phone.

“Hi. Is it okay that I’m calling?”

“Yeah, of course. I just wasn’t expecting it. A boy hasn’t called me since like 6th grade. You know, back when that was still a normal thing to do.” You teased him.

“I know. I just wanted to hear your voice. I haven’t heard from you in a few days.” He replied and you could hear his smile through the phone.

“I know. I’m sorry. I had a lot of work to do this week. And I’m terrible at replying.”

“You know what I do when I have a lot of work?”

“What’s that?” You laughed, having a feeling you knew his answer.

“I don’t do it.” He replied, making you laugh even more.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone to school without my homework done.” You told him as you played with the straps of your backpack.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone to school with my homework done. Do you know any hot tutors who’d be willing to help me out?” He flirted through the phone.

“I don’t know.” You smiled coyly. “What’s your major again?”

Tom went silent on the other line and you stopped walking.

“Tom? What’s your major?“ You asked again.

“I have no idea.” He admitted. “Sports management I think?”

This time, you were the one who went silent. You slapped a hand over your mouth to try and muffle your laughter.

“Darling? You still there?”

“Sport’s management?” You asked. “What even is that?”

“I don’t know.” He playfully whined. “I just picked it because it had sports in the title.”

“Oh my God.” You laughed. “That’s so bad. That’s even worse than I thought.”

“All right, genius.” He teased. “What’s your major?”

“Biomedical engineering with a minor in women’s, gender and sexuality studies.”

“Wow. I knew like three of those words. Tops.”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” You explained. “It’s the combination of biology and engineering. I want to help improve medical equipment to advance healthcare treatment across the world.”

“Wow. I think all I could do with my degree is become a football coach.” Tom replied, making you laugh again. He grinned on the other side of the line, loving the way he could make you laugh.

“Hey, that’s still important.” You told him, making him smile even more.

“You’re so smart.” He sighed. “You’re like the smartest person I ever met.”

“Aw.” You smiled shyly. “Thanks.”

“I wish I was more like you. You have goals and ambitions. You want to help people. All I do is chug beer through my butt.”

“Do you actually do that?” You asked him. “Because you joke about it a lot. I’m starting to get suspicious.”

“I promise I don’t.” He chuckled. “Unless you would date a guy who would. Then I do. All the time. I’m doing in right now in fact.”

“You’re such an idiot.” You laughed, taking notice of the way he implied he wanted to be the kind of guy you’d date.

“Yeah. Hopefully not too much of an idiot to be with a biological-“

“Biomedical.” You corrected with a laugh.

“Right. Biomedical.” He smiled when he heard your laugh. “I hope I I’m not too much of an idiot for a biomedical engineer.”

“I don’t think you are.” You replied. You were outside your class now but you didn’t want to hang up. Tom was working up the courage to ask you to officially be his girlfriend and your last two answers made him feel like you’d say yes. Before he could say anything else, Brad came into his room.

“Dude. Does this look infected to you?” Brad asked as he lifted up his shirt.

“Gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tom said quickly and threw his phone on the bed.

“Who was that?” Brad asked as he lowered his shirt.

“No one. It was just Y/n.”

“Bro.” Brad laughed in surprise. “Shark Week called you? This chick is like scary obsessed.”

“I know right? Who calls people anymore?” Tom forced a laugh as his eyes darted to the side.

“I feel bad for you, bro. You got the worst deal in this bet. Shark Week sounds horrible to deal with. How do you put up with her?” Brad asked as he leaned against Tom’s wall. Tom gulped and looked down at his phone. He really liked you, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit that.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess I just do.”

“Damn.” Brad shook his head. “So about my rash.”

Two weeks later

Since you were always busy during the week, Tom picked up the habit of meeting you after class to walk with you around campus. No matter what day it was or what time your classes got out, Tom was always there to walk with you. You thought he’d get bored of this after the first few days, but he was still there to greet you every day after two weeks.

“Damn. He let you out late today.” Tom said as you walked out of your building. He immediately took the books in your hands and carried them as he always did. His old fashioned chivalry was the last thing you expected from a frat boy, but you appreciated it nonetheless.

“It was my fault.” You told him. “We started talking about covalent bonds and I carried away.”

“Oh. Talking about covalent bonds with your professor, huh? Should I be jealous?” Tom teased as he walked beside you.

“Ew.” You laughed. “My professor is like 70. And he smells like moth balls.”

“Good. Because I can’t have him moving in on my girl.” He said and he shot you a wink. You looked down at the ground and turned your face a little so he wouldn’t see the childlike grin that broke out on your face.

“Oh, I’m your girl?” You raised your eyebrows. “But I’m not even wearing your weird little gray hat.”

“It’s blue today.” He playfully rolled his eyes and pointed to his hat. “Wow. I spent all day getting ready to see you and you don’t even notice my hat. That hurts, darling. That really hurts.”

“Well maybe I was busy looking at what’s beneath your hat.” You shrugged, trying your best to flirt back but you were slightly out of your element. Tom let out a loud gasp and looked around for who might be listening.

“My penis?” He whispered loudly and gave you a disapproving look.

“No!” You laughed and shoved him. “Not that far beneath your hat, dummy.”

“Oh, I see.” Tom nodded. “You were talking about my incredibly handsome face, weren’t you?”

“Actually I was talking about your receding hair line. But face is close enough.” You replied with a sweet smile. Tom’s jaw dropped at your insult and he shoved you back.

“Wow.” He laughed. “You are evil, my darling. You look like a daydream but you are a nightmare. This is the last time I walk you to class.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. As much as I love having you walk me to my classes, and I do, don’t you have any classes you should be attending?”

“I don’t really go to class.” Tom shrugged.

“You don’t? Then what do you do all day?”

“Wait for you.” He said like it was obvious. He was the first guy to treat you this way. You thought boys like him, boys who always knew what to say to make you smile, only existed in the movies. Something about him felt too good to be true, and you worried he was exactly that. Even if that was the case, you decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

“Well I appreciate that. Thanks for walking me to class. And for always carrying my books. I’m kinda a sucker for old fashioned gestures.”

“What do you mean by old fashioned?”

“You know. Like what guys used to do in the olden days. Carry a girls books, bring her flowers, open the door for her, ask her to go steady. Things like that.”

“What exactly does it mean to “go steady” with someone?” Tom chuckled. “I’ve always wondered.”

“It means you’re both agreeing to commit to a serious relationship.” You explained. “You’re in it for the long game. You don’t see other people. You don’t play games. You just have a consistent, steady relationship.”

“Good to know.” He smiled. “And just so you know, I’m totally gonna bring you flowers one day. Because now I know that’s the way to your heart. I’m gonna bring you so many flowers that your room gets infested with bees.”

“I love bees.” You smiled.

“I know you do. You told me that on our first date. You said you loved them ever since you were a kid because you went on a field trip to a bee colony and found out that they made honey. And you loved honey. So by association, you loved bees.”

“I forgot I told you that.” You smiled softly. “You’re a good listener.”

“I’m a terrible listener, darling.” He admitted. “I just really like you.”

Your hands had been bumping against each other’s the entire walk and this time, he slipped his hand into yours. You bit back a smile as you walked in comfortable silence towards your next class. When you got there, you felt more disappointed than usual that your time together was ending.

“This is me.” You sighed and looked at the building.

“This is you?” Tom frowned and looked at the building. “And here I was thinking you were this pretty girl. Turns out you’re an old brick building.”

“I honestly think that was the worst joke I’ve ever heard.” You grimaced and took a step closer to him.

“It made you smile though. I consider that a win.” He smiled as he closed the gap even more.

“I wasn’t smiling. I was cringing.” You teased him and he cupped your face in his hands.

“Yeah? Well you still looked pretty doing it.” He said before connecting your lips in a kiss. You smiled against his lips, still not fully believing that this was your reality. A frat boy was the last kind of guy you ever imagined you’d be interested in, but here you were.

“I get out at 3:20.” You told him once you pulled away. “Do you want to hang out after?”

“Will I get to kiss you some more if I say yes?“ He asked as he played with your fingers.

“You might.”

“Then it’s a date.” He grinned and leaned in to kiss you again.

“Great. So I’ll meet you after class and then we can go to your house.” You suggested, making Tom’s smile fall. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of bringing you around his frat brothers. Any one of them could slip up and tell you about the bet before Tom got a chance to.

“Do you mind if we go to your dorm instead? The frat house is being fumigated.” Tom lied and felt guilty about doing it.

“Again?” Your eye widened. “But sure. Peyton’s home for the weekend anyway. We’d have the place to ourselves.”

“Woah woah, wait. Peyton’s gone all weekend?” He smirked. “You know pretty girl, I hate to think of you in your dorm all alone. What if one of those giant campus rats come to attack you?”

“I’ll be okay. Maybe it’ll be the kind of rat that can cook.”

“What?” Tom frowned. “What kind is that?”

“What? You haven’t seen Ratatouille?”

Tom shook his head and your eyes winded in surprised.

“We’re watching it. It’s settled.”

“But I thought we were gonna watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to see our favorite manic pixie dream girl.” He reminded you.

“We can watch both. Make a night of it.” You suggested, making Tom’s excitement grow.

“Okay. Sounds good to me, darling.” He smiled and took his hat off his head. He placed it on top of your head and you gave him a confused look.

“There. Just in case anymore professors try and steal you from me.” He teased as he fixed the hat.

“Good call.” You laughed. You waved goodbye to him and started walking towards your class, unable to fight the smile on your face.

When Tom met you outside your class later that day, he noticed you were still wearing his hat. He broke out into a grin at the sight of you in it. It wasn’t much, but it meant you were as invested in this thing as he was.

“You’re still wearing my hat!” He smiled as you walked up to him. He ran the rest of the way and scooped you up in a tight hug to greet you.

“Put me down.” You laughed. “You’re like a hyperactive golden retriever sometimes, I swear.”

“That describes me so well.” He said as he put you down. “You’re so smart. What’s your GPA again?”

“4.4.” You smiled shyly. Tom’s eyes widened and he bent over to process that information. He wrapped an arm around you infe he stood back up and started walking towards your dorm.

“Yo, my girl has a 4.4 GPA.” Tom bragged to a stranger you passed on the sidewalk.

“Stop it. It’s not that big of a deal.” You laughed shyly as he continued to tell more people you walked by.

“It’s a huge deal. Oh my God. You’re incredible, darling. My GPA is probably like a 1.8.”

“Because you don’t go to class.” You reminded him. “Or do homework.”

“Because that stuff is boring.” He whined.

“Then why did you come to college?”

“For the parties. Duh.” Tom smirked at you and pulled you closer. “Now come on. I wanna see this rat who can cook.”

You intertwined your fingers with the hand he had around your shoulders and led him to your dorm. Tom had been living in the frat house since he was a freshman, so he hadn’t been inside the dorms before. He looked around as if he was in a museum as you led him through the halls. You were both very aware of the many stares you got as you walked down the hallway. Seeing you with a frat boy was the last thing anyone in your dorm expected.

“So what’s first on the agenda? Rata booyah?” Tom asked as he sat on your bed.

“It’s Ratatouille.” You laughed. “And we can start that now if you want.”

“If I want? That sounds like there are other options.” Tom smirked as you sat beside him.

“Maybe there are.” You shrugged as you avoided eye contact with him. Tom sensed your nerves and gently placed his hand on your knee.

“We don’t have to do anything. We can just put on the movie.” He said in a soft tone. You gave him an appreciative smile and put your hand on top of his. You stared at his face for a moment and decided to seize the moment.

“Yeah. Let’s just put on the movie.” You said as you leaned in to kiss him. Tom was quick to kiss you back as he cupped your face with his hands. The hat he’d put on your head fell to the floor as he laid you down on the bed. You tangled your fingers in his hair as you kissed him, something you’d been wanting to do again since the night of the party. His fingers unbuttoned the buttons of your cardigan and you felt his hand slip underneath your shirt. It was new, but you welcomed it. You slipped your hands under his jersey and scratched down his back, making him groan in your mouth. Tom began to trail kisses down your neck and just as he was about to unbutton your pants, you sat up.

“Wait.” You grabbed his hand and held it back as you struggled to catch your breath. Tom immediately retracted his hands and scooted back to give you some space.

“Sorry. Can we just…” You trailed off, unsure of how to explain yourself. You hugged your cardigan tighter around your body and drew your legs closer to yourself.

“You need to stop apologizing, darling.” Tom said softly as he rubbed your knee.

“I know. I just didn’t want you to be disappointed if you just came here to….you know.”

“I actually came here because I was promised to see a rat who can cook?” Tom said as he scratched the back of his head. “I’m not really sure when he’d be arriving? I was just kinda promised there would be a cooking rat and I have yet to see him. I was honestly thinking about him the entire time we were making out and I’d just really like to see him, please.”

“Tom.” You laughed and covered your face in embarrassment.

“I’m serious.” He insisted. “It’s kinda rude to wave this magical cooking rat in my face and then not show him to me.”

You laughed again and felt all the tension leave your body. Tom noticed you relaxing and let out a content sigh.

“You always know what to say.” You said once your laughter died down.

“I don’t. I just say the dumbest thing I can think of and hope it makes you smile. Because no offense, you have a really beautiful smile. Best I’ve ever seen, really.”

You broke into a smile and shook your head at him. He could he unbelievably sweet when he wanted to be, and you loved every minute of it.

“All right. I’ll show you the rat. You earned it.” You sighed ostentatiously and grabbed your laptop. Tom crawled next to you in the bed but gave you some distance. You looked over your shoulder at him as an idea formed in your head. You sat up on your knees and situated yourself between his legs, wiggling your butt a little to make some more room for yourself. Tom blushed in surprised and wrapped his arms around you to get even closer. You placed the laptop on your tummy and hit play on the movie. You stayed in Tom’s arms until it was over and looked up at him when it was done.

“So what did you think?”

“It was good, yeah. It was good.” He nodded as he wiped his face with his hand.

“Are you crying?” You laughed and craned your neck to look at him.

“Are you judging me? That was a cinematic masterpiece. I never knew a rat could make me feel so much.”

“Here. Sorry I put you through that.” You chuckled and handed him a tissue from your nightstand.

“Don’t be sorry. I had a really good time.” He smiled down at you and hugged you closer to his body.

“So did I.” You sighed and relaxed against his chest. You stayed in his arms as the two of you talked until the sun began to set. You dragged your fingernails up and down his arm as you listened to him speak.

“Tell me something no one else knows about you.” You said as you looked up at him.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” You shrugged. “Something real. Something like - like who’s your favorite Alvin and the chipmunk?”

“I don’t know.” He laughed. “The blue one.”

“The blue one? Simon?”

“I don’t know their names.” He whined. “It wasn’t very popular in England.”

You laughed again and pulled your laptop back onto your lap. You typed something into Google and showed Tom what came up.

“These are the chipmunks.” You said as you pointed to the screen. Tom frowned and pulled your laptop closer to get a better look.

“I kinda hate the green one.” He said after a minute. “Like, I want to see him die.”

“Tom.” You laughed and sat up to look at him.

“I’m just saying. Look at him. He’s horrible. I want to punt him across a football field.”

You laughed again and covered your face with your hand.

“Don’t cover up.” He whined. “I want to see your pretty face.”

He moved your hands away from your face and replaced them with his own. His eyes flickered from your eyes to your lips and before you knew it, he was kissing you. It wasn’t like the kiss from before, though. It was slower and sweeter and caused butterflies to erupt in your chest. When you pulled away, you smiled shyly and rested your forehead against his.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” You asked as your fingers toyed with his sleeve.

“Sure. Anything.” Tom replied as his eyes gleamed with hope.

“Do you wear a jersey every day?”

“Not everyday. Sometimes I wear a hoodie when it’s cold.” Tom joked to hide the fact the he was disappointed. He thought you were going to ask him something deeper.

“Hm.” You folded your lips together and nodded as you eyed his jersey.

“Are you making fun of my attire? Because I can see penny loafers in your closet right now.” Tom said as he pointed to the open closet behind you.

“Don’t judge me.” You playfully gasped. “They’re comfortable.“

“So are jerseys.”

“How is this comfortable? It’s full of holes.” You pointed out as you tugged on his shirt. Your hands slid down a little and landed right on his bicep.

“Sorry.” You laughed nervously and took your hands away.

“It’s okay. You can touch if you want.” He said and flexed his muscles for you. You sucked in a short breath and put your hand back on his bicep. You gave it a squeeze and felt your mouth go dry.

“This is the most cliche thing I’ve ever taken part of.” You said as you continued to feel his muscle.

“Me too.” He laughed. “But I’m kinda into it.”

“Do you want to touch my arm?” You asked in your beta seductive voice. You pushed your cardigan off one shoulder to expose your arm, gasping ostentatiously as you did it. Tom laughed at your antics before jumping in with his own.

“Are you sure? It’s a little soon.” Tom played along and looked around for who might be listening.

“Shut up.” You playfully shoved him.

“You shut up.” He shoved you right back. He shoved a little too hard and you almost fell off the bed. He quickly caught you by the arms and pulled you closer to himself as you both laughed. When your laughter died down, you leaned in to kiss him again. You cupped his face with your hands this time and softly stroked his cheeks with your thumbs. When you pulled away, you kept his face between your hands.

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Is it about my cargo shorts?”

“No.” You laughed. “What are we? Like what do you think of us as?”

“Oh.” He smirked. “This conversation.“

“I know.” You rolled your eyes. “I’m just curious what you’re thinking. I mean, you walk me to and from class everyday. We talk on the phone all the time. We make out on the occasion. What does that make us?”

“What do you want it to make us?” Tom asked, just as nervous about this conversation as you were.

“What do you want it to make us?”

“I have an answer.” Tom told you. “But I’m worried that it’s not the same as your answer so I don’t want to say it.”

“That’s why I don’t want to say my answer.” You laughed and pointed to yourself.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll be the brave one here.” He sighed sarcastically and held up his hands.

“Okay. Do it.” You challenged him. Tom took both your hands in his and gave them a squeeze.

“My darling.” He began. “If it’s cool with you, would you do me the honor of going steady with me?”

You broke into a grin when you heard the way he phrased the question. He could’ve just asked you to be his girlfriend, but that wasn’t good enough. He had to remind you that he was the good listener you thought of him as.

“That’s cool with me.” You nodded and rested your forehead against his again.

“Cool.” He smiled shyly but was reeling with excitement on the inside. You sighed happily and wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him even closer.

“Cool.”

Tag List 🏷

@scenesofobx @martinaityte @inthegetawaycarwithtaylah @spideyywife @white-wolf1940 @freakofmusic25 @comfortablemelancholy @beautifullmelodyxx

@ebureon @d0jascatt @yeswhatever33 @daydreamingchaos713 @parker-2 @lowkey-holland @imobsessedzs @lnmp89 @namoreno @gloriuspurposee @angelreyesisdaddy04 @ilovefrogs1000 @allthisfortommy @adrienette715 @open-minded-chip-101 @spideyyhoe @wondergal2001 @letsmeetintheafterglow @fangirling-galore @ziggyspurplehaze @gayyvodka6 @belovedholland @thegardenofdeath-and-dreams @ciarahollands @hungryyeyes @simppond @eloquentree @ihatefoil

[latenitetea]

what a shame it would be - rodrick heffley

in which rodrick takes a few too many shots...

cw: underage drinking, swearing

word count: 3,228

~~~

Great victories deserve great parties.

That was the way of thinking at Crossland High School when it came to homecoming. After weeks of anticipation from the entire student body, the Crossland football team had defeated their rivals with one touchdown in the last five minutes of the homecoming game. It didn’t matter that half the school didn’t care much about football to begin with - with a victory that big, there were bound to be parties all over town.

As a varsity cheerleader, you weren’t surprised that you were invited to the biggest homecoming party in town. And you weren’t surprised by the atmosphere when you arrived, either.

Music blasted in your ears as you entered through the backdoor of the crowded house. Cheerleaders were laughing so loud you could feel it in your whole body, people were drunkenly dancing and making out with each other on the dance floor, and the football team was taking a celebratory round of shots for their biggest win. Hell, you even saw the student body council and academic decathlon team on the dance floor. Bottles upon bottles of all kinds of alcohol were being pulled out at the bar - kegs of beer, bottles of tequila and vodka, and a giant bowl of punch that was being spiked with a frothing drink. Still, the abundance of alcohol wouldn’t last long at a party this big. But before you could get to the bar to get your pick, you heard your name being called from across the room.

“Y/N!”

There were too many people covering your view to see who called you when you turned around, but you knew exactly who it was coming from. It wasn’t too hard to weave your way through the drunken couples and football players to find him.

Rodrick was leaning against the basement’s doorframe, wearing his favorite Converse, a pair of ripped black skinny jeans, and his Loded Diper t-shirt with a cargo jacket. He ruffled his unkempt, raven hair and took a long swig from his solo cup.

“Give me your keys.”

You raised your eyebrows, stifling a laugh. “Well, hello to you, too.”

After taking another sip of his drink, he held out his hand. Rolling your eyes, you took your lanyard and dropped your keys in his hand, which he put in the pocket of his jacket.

“There we go.” His mouth quirked up into a smirk. “I thought you said you’d never go to another homecoming party again after last year. You still owe me for that, you know.”

Memories of Rodrick holding you steady as you stumbled to his van and slurred your words resurfaced in your mind. You couldn’t hide the tinge of embarrassment that crept up on your cheeks.

“I wasn’t that drunk.”

“Do you or do you not remember me having to brush your teeth because you forgot how to do it yourself?”

Your once pink cheeks now turned scarlet. Still, you couldn’t help but laugh at the memory.

“Fine. But I definitely don’t owe you anymore after being the only reason you didn’t fail physics last year.”

He paused, taking another drink from his cup. You could tell the alcohol was beginning to slow his thoughts already.

“I guess I stand corrected.”

You cursed yourself for being sober, wishing you had more confidence to flirt with him. You swallowed the forming lump in your throat and attempted a compliment.

“Look at you, making yourself look nice for homecoming. You even got the new converse and eyeliner and everything.”

God, that couldn’t have been worse. You mentally facepalmed yourself as the words left your mouth.

He chuckled. “Well, I’ve gotta make myself look nice if I’m gonna get one of these cheerleaders to go home with me, right?”

Your embarrassment dissipated into a twinge of disappointment. Quick to cover up any sort of reaction, you cleared your throat.

“I’m gonna go get myself something to drink. See you around, Rodrick.”

You heard him call out a warning about “knowing your limits,” but you didn’t turn around or respond. At first, you were only planning to get buzzed tonight. Your disappointment, however, made a change to your plans.

“Hey, Y/N,” your friend, Allison, said from the bar with a wave. “What do you want to drink?”

“Something strong,” you insisted. With a nod, Allison filled a solo cup with vodka and topped it off with the frothing punch.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” She asked as she handed you the cup. You took a swig, ignoring the way the alcohol burned your throat.

“Who knows,” you sighed. “I just got back from talking to Rodrick.”

Allison raised her eyebrows. You paused for a moment, but you gave in to the temptation of getting your feelings out. “Every time I try to flirt with him, I feel like he ignores it. Or worse, he just brings up other girls.”

“Maybe you’re just not flirting hard enough,” Allison suggested. Her comforting smile became smug, pointing to the solo cup in your hand. "Or maybe that liquid courage will finally get you to tell him how you feel.”

The taste in your mouth turned sour at her teasing. Last year’s drunken shenanigans seemed harmless compared to any hypotheticals of you blurting out “Hey Rodrick, I’ve had a crush on you since last homecoming!” and forgetting it by morning. You placed your cup on the bar, deciding that your original plan of a buzz was the safer option. “Actually, I think I’m gonna stick to beer tonight.”

Allison let out a laugh. “Whatever you say. But your feelings are gonna eat you alive at some point. You’re gonna have to tell him how you feel eventually.”

“Emphasis on eventually. See you, Allison.” You gave her a small wave and went out to the dance floor, hoping to find some of your friends and dance your way into forgetting about Rodrick.

~~~

As the wild night began to die down, waves of stumbling high schoolers started leaving the party. Watching the clock hit 3 AM, you decided that it was time for you to head home. Waving goodbye to your friends, you made your way out of the house and to your car, more than ready to open the door and practically fall asleep at the wheel and-

Damnit.

That asshole still had your keys, didn’t he?

Pulling out your phone, you called Rodrick, nearly praying that he didn’t already leave. As you put your phone to your ear, you heard another phone’s ringtone go off. Muttering a “what the hell?” under your breath, you looked up from your car.

Rodrick was standing on the sidewalk across the street, holding onto a streetlight pole as though it was taking everything in his power not to fall.

A noise of both amusement and concern left your lips, and you hung up the call and made your way over to him.

“Hi,” was all he said. His eyes were glazed over and a sheepish smile was spread across his face.

You couldn’t help but smirk. “Oh, how the tables turn, huh?”

“I don’t,” he paused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You let out a laugh. “You’re drunk off your ass.”

“No, I’m not!” He blurted out defensively. You cocked your head, giving him a do-you-really-think-you’re-gonna-convince-me look. After a moment, he sighed. “Maybe I’m a little drunk.” He let out another sigh, but it quickly turned into a fit of giggles.

Suppressing the thought that his drunken giggles were extremely cute, you draped his arm over your shoulders. “Come on, drummer boy, let’s get you home.” Rodrick leaned his bodyweight into your side, trying not to fall in the middle of the street.

“I like that nickname.”

“Where’d you put my keys?” You asked him. Instead of answering, he broke into another fit of giggles. With a sigh, you pushed down your embarrassment and started rummaging through the pockets of his jacket. He leaned his head into the crook of your neck, making butterflies swarm in your gut. You tried your best to ignore them and finally pulled out your keys from his pocket, helping him into the passenger seat of your car.

“Wanna hear something funny? I wanted to take home the cheerleader with me. But now the cheerleader is taking me home.” His smile turned into a smirk as he buckled his seatbelt, and you reminded yourself that he was only joking.

“You’re a pervert.”

“You’re pretty.”

Your eyes widened at what Rodrick had just said. The next second, you couldn’t be more thankful that it was too dark to see the blush on your cheeks. You believed that he meant what he said for a second, but the smell of alcohol on his breath brought you back to reality.

“You’re really drunk.”

“You’re really pretty.”

Instead of responding, you started the car and turned on the radio, hoping that it would act as a distraction.

Pulling out of the driveway, you started the drive home. You heard Rodrick laugh again from the passenger’s seat. And then he placed his hand on your thigh.

Your eyes widened in shock, and you tried to stop your breathing from turning shallow. “What are you doing?”

“Flirting with you.”

Your cheeks burned at his direct manner, but you reluctantly took his hand off your thigh. “You can’t flirt with me when you’re drunk.” Pulling into his driveway, you helped him out of your car and to his front door. You grabbed the spare key from under the doormat and opened the door.

After helping him to his room, you filled up an empty glass with water and grabbed a bottle of pain medicine from his kitchen, bringing it upstairs and placing it on his nightstand.

“Here’s for tomorrow when you have a hang-“

“I don’t remember how to take off my shoes.” Rodrick looked up at you from where he was sitting on his bed, his blank stare turning into another eruption of laughter. “I sound like you right now.”

You sighed, letting out a chuckle. You took off his Converse and his jacket, placing them in his closet.

“Well, as long as you don’t need anything else I better get going-“

Before you could finish your sentence, Rodrick grabbed you and pulled you onto his bed. “Can you stay a little while?” Your cheeks burned even brighter, and you knew he knew it too. His flirting was overwhelming; you thought you were going to explode from the butterflies. Still, you managed to stay somewhat composed.

“You need to sleep.”

“I don't want to sleep.”

You shook your head, but the look on Rodrick’s pleading face was enough to convince you. “Fine.”

“Why don’t you let me flirt with you?”

“What?”

Rodrick was looking directly at you. “I always try to flirt with you. And then you act like I’m just joking.”

You wanted to tell him that he didn’t know what he was talking about, that he was just drunk and the alcohol was talking. But Allison’s words of advice were echoing in the back of your head.

You’re going to have to tell him how you feel eventually.

“Because I didn’t think you could ever be serious about actually liking me.”

His eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. “Of course I’m serious. You’re the prettiest girl in school, you like good music, and you’re just so nice. And pretty.”

You let out a chuckle. “I bet you weren’t thinking those things when you were brushing my teeth for me last year.”

"Yes, I was," He moved a piece of hair from your face. “That’s when I realized I had feelings for you, Y/N.”

The smell of alcohol on his breath was enough to make you want to burst into tears. Here you were, laying on Rodrick Heffley’s bed, close enough to make out the dark outline of his pupils, and you were confessing how you felt for him. And he wouldn’t remember any of it in the morning.

“Can I kiss you?”

His abrupt question silenced your thoughts. “What?”

He closed his eyes and started leaning in for the kiss, but once you processed what he had just asked, you pulled away. “Not right now.”

“Why not?”

You took a deep breath, trying to slow your racing heartbeat. “Tell you what. If you wake up tomorrow and you decide that you still want to kiss me, you can kiss me.”

He thought about your offer for a moment. “Okay. But tomorrow feels so far away.”

“Tomorrow won’t feel far if you go to sleep.”

He smiled and buried his head into your side. “You’ll stay until I fall asleep, right?”

“Right.”

“Promise?”

You felt the urge to cry again. You knew that every promise made tonight would be broken by tomorrow.

“Promise.”

You laid in his bed as his breathing slowed into soft snores. Taking one last look at him, you gently climbed out of his arms. As much as you wanted to stay, wanted to wake him up and confess every feeling you had for him, wanted to kiss him and kiss him and kiss him, you knew that would be wrong. You had to ease the inevitable future pain as much as you could.

So you grabbed your keys and left, not finding it in you to look back.

~~~

When Rodrick woke up, he could barely find the energy to open his eyes. The ache he felt across his entire body was throbbing, but he fought the urge to give in and go back to sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw a glass of water and pain medicine sitting on his nightstand.

Considering how awful he felt, there was no way he put that there. Taking two of the pills and downing the glass of water, he tried to connect some of his memories of the night before. As the medicine started to set in, some of his fuzzy memories began to clear. Taking a shot of tequila with his bandmate, taking another shot of tequila with his bandmate, your face turning bright red when he reminded you of when he took care of you last homecoming.

Even though he’d never find the courage to admit it, you looked cute when you blushed. And he always seemed to have butterflies in his stomach around you after last year's homecoming party. But there would be absolutely no way he would ever admit that.

You probably were the one that got him home last night. He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that you saw him that drunk, even if he’s seen you even drunker before. He hoped he hadn’t said anything too humiliating to you last night.

His stomach twisted with another wave of embarrassment. What had he said last night?

He stood up, noticing your jacket laying on the other side of his bed. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and unknown embarrassment. He picked up your jacket and grabbed his keys to his van, ready to give it back and thank you for getting him home last night.

But when he picked up the jacket, more memories flooded his mind. You laying in his bed, him pulling the hair out of your face, you being close enough to him that he could have kissed you.

Oh, shit.

He ran to his closet and threw on his converse, too frantic to even tie them. Running out the door, he practically jumped into his van and started the drive to your house.

~~~

You sat on your porch, drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying that crisp October air on your cheeks. Thankful that you didn’t have even the remnants of a hangover, you were certain that every upperclassman at Crossland was sporting a massive one.

You opened your phone and anxiously twiddled your thumbs at the keyboard. You wanted to text Rodrick and ask him how he was feeling, but you were too nervous to contact him after last night. Hell, you weren’t even sure if you would ever be able to look him in the eyes again.

Your concern for him overshadowed your embarrassment. No matter where your relationship with him stood after last night, you still cared about him. Pulling his contact up on your phone, you typed a short message.

Morning, sleepyhead. You feeling ok after last night?

But just as you were about to hit send, you saw a van barreling down your street from your peripheral vision. You didn’t need to see the messy writing on its side to know who’s van it was, either.

Your heart dropped to your stomach. Did Rodrick remember what happened last night? Was he here to reject you, to tell you that he couldn’t even be friends with you anymore? You wanted to run inside your house and pretend you weren’t home, but you felt frozen in place.

The van pulled into your driveway, and Rodrick stepped out from the driver’s seat. He was still wearing the same outfit from the night before, but he had his drumsticks in one hand and your jacket in the other. He ran up to your porch, almost frantically.

“Y/N?” He said.

You took a shaky breath, trying to act as casual as possible. “Hey, Rodrick, you feel okay after last night?”

“I’ve had worse hangovers. Er, you left my jacket at my house.” He handed you your jacket.

“Thanks.” You shifted on your feet nervously, looking for the right thing to say. See you Monday? Sorry I confessed my feelings to you last night?

Rodrick looked down at his feet. “Can we talk?” He blurted out.

A plethora of curses went through your head, and you felt the urge to run into your house and curl up in a fetal position until you disappeared. Still, you stayed standing where you were.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Last night, did we,” he anxiously twirled his drumsticks in his hands, “did we kiss?”

Your eyes widened. He did remember last night.

“Well, you wanted to kiss me.” Your stomach churned, and your head was swirling with so many thoughts that you couldn’t stop talking. “But we didn’t kiss because it was just the alcohol talking and I know you didn’t actually want to kiss me and that last night was just the alcohol and I get that you wouldn’t want to kiss me which is totally fine and really it’s no big deal-“

“It wasn’t the alcohol talking.”

Rodrick looked up from the ground and stepped closer to you. You had never seen him look more serious in your life.

“Y/N, everything I said last night. I meant it.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve... I’ve felt this way about you for a while. And I know I’m not a serious person, but I am really serious about this. And I really, really like you.” He took another step closer, and once again, he was close enough that you could see the outline of his pupils.

“So about that promise we made last night,” your breath hitched in your throat, “I think it would be a shame if we broke it.”

“You’re right,” Rodrick’s shy smile spread into a smug grin. He lifted your chin so your faces were barely inches apart.

“It'd really be a shame, wouldn't it?.” He said, closing the gap between your lips.

[youryanderedaddy]

Love Fuel

Summary: You were Jason’s first love before you broke his heart and rejected him. It’s all your fault that he can’t move on.

Tw: female reader, obsessive behavior, incel behavior, nice guy behavior, self - hatred, threats of non-con, implied non - con, implied masturbation, bullying based on appearance (not reader), deregatory language, kidnapping, misogyny, generalizations, stalking

this is a hot mess but its 1 am and i am tired, ik that incels are bad irl (obviously), but this is fiction and I kinda wanted to explore the dynamic and shit. 

Everyone used to call him JJ or The-Big-Jay back in high school. Well, most of the time his classmates weren’t really calling out to him or even talking to him, the names were whispered behind his back, after he had just passed the hallway, or on bad days - right to his face. The jocks, these dumb motherfuckers, would beat him up, mock him for whatever stupid reasons they had chosen to use as an excuse to torment the smaller and weaker. The popular girls would giggle like brainless bimbos as Kyle or Brad or any other football player stole his glasses or continuously punched him in the guts until he threw up all over the floor. Even the nerds, the kids at the bottom of the school hierarchy, messed with Jason from time to time when they wanted to feel the oh - so desired rush of power they so rarely managed to experience. 

Looking back, Jason could see why his classmates hated him so much - he was everything that society deemed as wrong and unattractive. He was thin, pale, “scrawny” as the others called him, on the shorter side, and on top of that the teen was terribly shy and introverted, never having the guts to stand up to his bullies or even tell someone about the abuse. The male spent most of his free time at home, playing hours upon hours of video games, watching anime and reading books he was simply too young to understand or look critically at. As he grew older, the man began to view the world as it trully was - a dark, miserable place that ate up sore losers like him. Men were primitive and foolish, which somehow managed to soften their faults. Women, on the other hand, were  calculative and manipulative, greedy and sinful. His whole life they had done nothing but reject him when he needed love and support the most. Of course, there were many other reason why the brunette detested the weaker sex. In his eyes women were evil two - faced sluts, showing off their bodies yet acting innocent and hurt once someone finally decided to use them for the only thing they were actually good for.

But you Jason hated the most. You reminded him that no matter how much he hated the outside world, he would always hate himself the most. He had to admit you were pretty, painfully so, with a perfect little body to match your looks and a sweet sugary smile that almost deceived him years ago. As much as the man regretted his weakness, he had fallen right into your trap at the time.

You weren’t the most popular girl, but you had your fair share of friends, all nice and loyal like puppies. You weren’t the smartest either, but unlike the other stupid giggling sluts you always tried to do your best. You were beautiful just like them but you were actually kind to the pathetic bullied kid no one else bothered to acknowledge even existed outside of being a punching bag. You always asked him whether he was alright and often took him to the infirmary when he looked paler and sicker than usual. You talked to him as if he was a normal human being and despite the initial doubt, Jason appreciated it. 

It was the last day of your senior year when the teen finally gained the courage to confess. He was shaking the whole time and by the end of his little speech there were small tears in the corner of his eye. You were the first girl the male cared about, the first one to show him kindness, to offer him friendship without asking for something in return. You were the only one who could make him feel deserving of love, worthy of affection. And then you took it all away in a matter of seconds.

“I am sorry, bud.” You had said that day after giving him a  half - hearted hug and an apologetic smile, that started to seem more and more like a mocking grin the longer the teen started at you. “I already have a boyfriend, but I am really flattered. I am sure that you will find a lovely girl once you start college.” You had added quickly, cheerfully, rubbing the salt all over his wounds, honey dripping from your plump red lips. He had wanted to kiss them, bruise them, bite them until your stupid lying mouth was filled with blood. Obviously you didn’t have a boyfriend or he would have known by now, he stalked your social media religiously after all. Even if you had one, he probably treated you like shit. And how could you even suggest him finding another woman? As if he wanted any of the stupid money - grabbing sluts out there. As if some of them could replace you.

The boy was too furious to form a proper response besides “Fuck you, bitch”. His cheeks turned red and he didn’t realise that the bitter words had escaped his lips before he could stop them, then his legs took him far away from that shithole of a school. He didn’t manage to see your reaction before running away but it didn’t matter anymore. You were just like the others. 

***

That day Jason swore to show you just how small and insignificant you had made him feel. He wanted to see you crumble, cry and beg for forgiveness, desperate for his love but never good enough to get it. The man formed a plan to change himself and come back for you once he had erased each and every trace of his past. The brunette came to terms with his terrible social anxiety and decided that he needed to gain social abilities more than anything. That’s why, as much as he dreamt of working from home as a boring programmer with an even more boring, but flexible working schelude, the male chose to study something that involved a lot more human interactions. The next step was to hit the gym for the first time and get a monthly subscription. It wasn’t hard to see that females nowadays liked brain - dead athletes with defined jawline and cheekbones, toned chests and strong muscled bodies, so if he wanted to impress you, he had to look his best. It wasn’t easy at first - it felt like everyone in the fitness salon had their eyes on his weak frame, laughing and pointing their fingers at his imperfections, but things gradually got better as time went on. The trainings became easier to get through and from time to time they even helped the man forget about his loneliness and nihilism. 

Jason soon returned to his old habbit of spending hours looking through your accounts - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, he knew all of your usernames, each post, every picture and text. He couldn’t believe how much of a desperate attention whore you had become over the years. The male remembered you in your long brown skirts, cozy sweatshirts and pure-white shirts, all the gray buttons closed to the very top, blushing, laughing, smiling like the adorable Goody-two-shoes you were. Now you were smirking seductively in every photo, overconfident and vibrant, flaunting your tits for every man to see and wearing tight little dresses that barelly covered your ass combined with heels so high and sharp they could be used as a weapon. You were such a stupid slut it was disgusting, and he couldn’t stop himself from jerking off every single time he saw your pretty little face on the screen. He wanted to cum down your throat so badly it was ridiculous, and even after knowing that you had probably already had hundreds of cocks shoved deep inside your pussy, the brunette still wished to see you split open on his, taking his lenght like a good little cocksleeve. 

***

The moment when he could see you again finally came. How many years had passed since graduation - five, ten, fifthteen? It hardly mattered. Jason was successful, at last. The male had his own business that was doing surprisingly well, there were some guys from the gym he could call friends and the best thing, he looked absolutely unrecognizable. There was nothing left of the tiny scrawny kid with quiet voice that everyone stepped over, he was now replaced by a strong capable man, determined to get what was rightfully his and his alone.

It wasn’t hard to find you since the brunette knew everything about you - where your job was, what time you finished, how long it took you to go home and what path you took. You lived alone and worked as a barista in a small local cafe even now that you had finished your studies in your dream faculty. Turns out the princess wasn’t so great and smart after all, having to resort to working a minimal - wage job day and night just to be able to pay her rent. Jason was absolutely delighted though, he loved your stupid dead - end job and your endless struggles to survive in the materialistic world honestly and fairly without selling yourself like a common whore. On one hand the male was happy that you had clung onto your last bit of innocence and on the other your pitiful lifestyle gave him the chance to snatch you away much easier. And that’s exactly what he did.

 ***

You woke up confused just like he had expected, bombarding him with questions, asking him who he was was, begging him to let you go, to at least explain what’s happening. You were so dumb, but God, you were still so pretty, if not prettier than before. You cried so beautifully when Jason told you you belonged to him now and you cried even more when he slammed his cold rough lips over yours in a deep wet kiss. You whimpered and whined while the male sucked on your lower lip and bit down, good, he wanted it to hurt. The stalker couldn’t wait to be inside you, he couldn’t hold back anymore. 

He climbed on top of you and pinned your wrists to the floor before tying them up with delicate red rope and tightening it. It wasn’t like the man was scared of you slipping away and hurting him, you were too weak and tiny to stand a chance against his years of power - lifting and muscle - training anyways, he just wanted you to be as uncomfortable and squirmish as possible. Your tormentor wished for you to be in worse pain than he had been during his youthful years, and he knew exactly what to do. Next thing you knew Jason had ripped your dress apart, leaving you vulnerable and exposed in just your plain old panties and bra. Cold shivers ran down your spine when the chilly air hit your naked flesh and you finally realized there wasn’t getting away from this. You had to stay there, limbs bound together, unable to move or fight back, the stranger’s hands caressing your neck before moving dangerously close to your clothed breasts. You felt so sick you were going to throw up for sure if your abductor didn’t step back so you decided to use your last resort.

“Jason, please stop!” You screamed out of the blue, forcing the brunette to freeze instantly at the use of his birth name. You had already called him a pervert and a psycho which didn’t seem to faze him, but the name clearly caught him off guard. This only seemed to prove your theory further - the man really was your former classmate, despite the only similarity between them being the dark distant look in his eyes. “I beg you, don’t hurt me!” You continued, hoping to at least buy yourself more time before the assault took place. 

He gulped loudly and stared at your quivering form. The impossible had happened, you had recognized him and now together with fear, there was also pity in your gaze, the one emotion your captor absolutely despised. You used to be the only one who pitied him, and even now that he was bigger, better and stronger than before, you still had the guts to pity him. It drove him insane but any attempt to hurt or touch you was fruitless now - your soft skin was suddenly burning his fingers like hellfire. 

“You must be thinking that I am a monster.” Jason started out dryly, chuckling bitterly, humorlessly even. He clenched his fists unconsciously and brought them to the floor in a fit of rage, missing your head by mere inches. Your heart was beating like crazy and you only hoped the mandman couldn’t hear it. “A freak.” The man spat out the word like it was a curse and for a split second his eyes softened before turning into two spinning torches. “Right?” You were sure that if looks could kill, his would have you dead by the end of the night so you quickly nodded your head no.

“You are lying to me again, pretty girl.” The brunette replied feisty, "pretty” rolling off his tongue like an insult. Then he broke into hoarse maniac laugher and lowered his head so his face leveled up with yours, so close you could feel his warm breath on your tear - stained cheek. “When I am done with you, you wouldn’t be so pretty anymore, darling.” Your captor growled and attacked your neck, sinking his teeth deep into the flesh. “You will see exaclty how ugly my love is.”

[kojinnie]

With The Exception of You

I dislike everyone in the room.

Pairing/Character: Reiner x Reader (she/her), Porco Galliard

Tags: SFW, fluff, college!au, Reiner Braun is a jock who is tired of his own friends, secret relationship

WC: 3.2K

Summary: Reiner had agreed to be in a discreet relationship with you, but after six months and with the arrival of Porco Galliard around you, he couldn’t help but to mark his territory.

Reiner couldn’t seem to fathom the butterflies wreaking havoc in his stomach. It came out of nowhere, as it often happened to be. Once in a while, he could feel his guts twisting as his chest filled with overflown emotions at odd times. Reiner hated it when it happened, because as much as he wanted to convince himself that he wasn’t self-aware of his image, those feelings could potentially strip himself off of his cool guy status.

Reiner had come to realize that such strange feeling often occurred caused by the sight of you.

It could be anything. Things so mundane, so simple. Like the way you twisted the pen in your fingers, the way you squinted your eyes at the blackboard during a lecture, and how you hastily scribbled things on your leather-bound notebook.

Or maybe it’s the way you sighed deliberately loud when someone uttered a dumb, sexist remark in class with no trace of shame, after they tried to debate your sound, well-researched opinion, and how you’d resolved it with a sarcasm that could disintegrate a man’s ego. Reiner sat on the corner of the classroom, disguising his chuckle by clearing his throat, finally coming to experience what they had called butterflies-in-your-stomach all along. 

At that point he had found himself painfully and helplessly in love with you.

He was well-aware of how different the two of you were. Reiner was the athlete, admitted to the uni through football scholarship, and you were the hard-working academician that mostly kept to yourself – hard to approach, hard to tame. Reiner hated how stereotypical he was – tall, buff, blonde, jock, with cheerleader exes and a DM full of thirst trap from his assembly of admirers. Reiner once wished he was anything but a cookie-cutter of everything you had been appalled of.

Reiner could feel every ounce of confidence he had ever had shriveled around your presence. It’s the way the two of you almost collided to each other at the campus hallway, and the way you threw an acknowledging, formal smile at him before striding away that made his heart ached. He wished you’d run to him and shriek his name with affection, but Reiner realized you were not one of his cheerleader exes, and not that he wanted you to be one. You were an anomaly he had yet to understand. A misplaced figure sticking out of his history of penchant for conformity.

“I really like you.” one day he finally said. Never had he been weak on the knees for a confession to any girl before, but this one occurrence? He did.

He didn’t know how he mustered the courage, but after hours, days and weeks he had spent trying to know you – learning your favorite song, accompanying you for book hunting, baking your favorite muffins, texting you good morning and good night – he finally got you alone, in the campus library, only five minutes before closing time.

You laughed at first, because the confession sounded ridiculous to you. The last thing you needed was a horde of girls sending you anonymous hate comments on Insta because you took the campus’ most eligible hunk off of the market. But he didn’t laugh along, and that was when realization hit you.

“So, is that why you’ve been following me around?”

Reiner furrowed his thin, almost non-existent brow, “What do you think?”

“I thought you were just bored with your jock friends,” you scoffed, “because you know, I’d be bored out of my ears too if all I ever heard all day is insecure men constantly praising themselves.” you glanced at Reiner, trying to discover even the slightest amusement on his hardened face to no avail.

“Reiner, are you serious?”

He sighed, couldn’t believe his ears. The first time ever Reiner caught you being stupid beyond recognition, “For the millionth times, yes.”

“You’ve only said it once, though.”

“For fuck’s sake,” the jock grunted, but there was a slight smile arose from his face, “I like you, really much. Times eight hundred ninety-eight thousand.”

“And?”

“So would you be my girlfriend?”

And you said yes, after three minutes of hesitation, you said yes. With a laughter. Because the absurdity of you being with someone like Reiner was lurid. Yet still, you were in no capacity to lie when his good morning text had been the most unsubstantiated text you looked forward to every day.

You wondered why? It’s just text. But maybe, you tried to convince yourself, it’s because of the effort he put, of trying to wake earlier before you every morning although he was hardly a morning person. Or it’s the way he listened to your kind of music although he was practically tone deaf, and returned to you the next week with his analysis on why your favorite band’s first album was their masterpiece and that sadly they never outdid it with any of their following albums.

And maybe, it’s the sight of the topless Reiner in the football field, after a home match. The way he was quick to run to the side of the field with his Captain instinct, lurching himself towards the start of a brawl between the two teams’ players, heated by animosity over the match result. Reiner was strong enough to break at least ten muscular jocks apart from throwing punches at each other, and with his deep, stern, authoritative voice, he commanded them to “Stop it. Fuck off.” You remembered immediately leaving the bleachers and found the nearest toilet because you needed to breathe and that you felt things simmering in your nether area. You never felt like that before to any of your exes.

Reiner knew the mutual pining between the two of you was evident, and so he was left puzzled when you said, “But please don’t tell anyone yet.” He asked why, but you only shrugged your shoulder with an answer that gave very little explanation, “I just don’t feel like having people talk about us.”

Reiner trusted you, because at first, he thought it was for modesty, you were not a fan of the limelight, evidently. Or it’s for practical reason, you don’t want to be burdened by society’s expectation on how two adults in relationship should be. Reiner could make 1,000 excuses for you that would justify your terms and conditions, so he went with what you wanted, because he was so hopelessly into you.

Nonetheless, still he enjoyed holding your hand in the dark alley of the campus – away from all the prying eyes, or the girls that’d giggle walking past the beautiful giant. Still he liked to have you sleeping naked in his embrace, making lazy circles with his calloused digits on your small back, at the emptiness of his dorm room when his roommate was home early for Christmas. Still he enjoyed teasing you at unassuming place, at the quiet library, studying together in silence for the upcoming exams, he’d be sitting next to you, leaning to his chair and slithered his right hand underneath your sweatshirt, to playfully and quickly unclasped your bra, only for you to smack his stomach in annoyance. He liked you, and he liked how you scurried to the restroom to fix your bra. He liked to be with you, no matter in silence or in noise.

However, after six months, questions started to throb incessantly inside Reiner’s mind. Even after all the time you had spent together, why must still he go alone to the football team soiree? Why would you let his team mate thought that Reiner was single, and promised him chances with girls, left and right? Why were you unfazed to see the girls sliding into his DMs? And when you put on that tight, backless black dress on New Year’s Eve, why would you put it for your friends’ party, and not for his eyes only? Why would you color your lips with the blood red Chanel lipstick Reiner gave you, and smile at other people that’s not him?

Reiner could not make sense of you. He pondered, he wondered and he became jealous. He’d look at you intently and see whether there was any trace of other man on you that he had not recognized? He’d become quiet and his friends thought he had gotten sensitive over nothing. The captain had become agitated, irritable and his head was hardly in the game – all with seemingly no reason.

Reiner began to think that he knew the reason why. He thought it’s the boy you’d met at the Academic Writing class, with stupid name and equally stupid undercut. Porco Galliard, you said his name was. In an instance his name had become a staple in your conversation. When Reiner asked you out for a dinner, it’d be like, “Ah sorry babe, I got this assignment with Porco.” A trip to the zoo? “You know, Porco have this funny experience with apes.” A night out in his dorm? By the point Reiner had a half-boner forming already seeing you in your lounge shorts, you’d be giggling and stayed busy with your phone. Reiner asked, “What’s so funny, babe?”

“What’s so funny, babe?” he asked again, because you didn’t seem to hear the first time he asked you. Distracted, you showed a stupid meme on your phone, “Porco sent me this.”

Porco here, Porco there. Reiner was sick of hearing that dumb name.

He had tried to look up for his background, and he hated to find that all that ever came up about him were amicable. His friends knew him, said he was chill, said he was smart as fuck, said he had a cool family, said he turned down a track and field scholarship for law school. Porco Galliard is a cool dude, they all said.

At certain point Reiner had grown to be furious, and the more your text messages became sparse or the more you spent your Saturday nights without him, the more he set his mind to do something about the two of you. He had become so sick of hiding and he wanted the whole world to know that you were his. Especially that guy with a name that sounded like her mother hated giving birth to him.

So came that day. You hadn’t been replying to his texts since morning, and only did so after chains of messages he left.

[you | 11.35] oh my god reiner!!! I’M SO SORRY, i left my phone uncharged all morning. i’m heading to cafeteria rn, it’s muffin tuesday 😵👅

[reiner | 06.37] good morning baby

[reiner | 07.49] you awake now?

[reiner | 08.15] sleepyhead 😪💤 see you today pretty

[reiner | 10.23] i got practice today until late. see you tonight? my room?

[reiner | 10.55] are you in class rn?

[reiner | 11.36] wanna go together?

[you | 11.45] haha noo a lot of people there

[reiner | 11.45] who r u going with?

[you | 11.55] with pockooo haha we got class together after lunch

Pocko. Is that an endearing term you came up with for the jizzhead? Reiner thought, pissed off beyond compare. He paced restlessly in his room, trying to figure out what did Porco have that he didn’t have? Thinking of how his undercut made his head looked way bigger for his neck, just like sperm; and it made Reiner mad angry. “Fuck you, Jizzhead”, he hissed, kicking the pile of dirty laundry on his dorm room.

The cafeteria was bustling busy when you arrived with Porco. The two of you immediately joined the line for lunch and the muffin. The man was busy babbling about yet another stupid thing that he had done back in high school, but your mind was darted on the muffins that were sold off fast. You looked around and almost everyone you disliked were present – mostly Reiner’s jock friends and their girlfriends. The prospect of one day going public with Reiner and having to spare days in your life to socialize with these loud people made you squirm. Not that you were completely against it, you were just… enormously reluctant to do so. Also, what would they say about you? You barely existed for them, evident by how they just greeted Porco with huge affection, yet pretended like you were invisible despite the fact that you were talking and standing close to him.

Your mind was elsewhere, between eyeing the muffin and managing your detest towards the it crowd, you weren’t even listening to the small talk that Porco was having with some of the jocks, until the mention of your name spilled out of Porco’s mouth, “Hey, have you guys known ___ before?”

You blinked with surprise, and they looked at you unenthusiastically, “Ummm, no?” one of them said.

Porco stared at them in disbelief, as if not knowing you was a big sin, “Get to know then! She’s cool, she’s really into—” but even before Porco could finish his words, they averted their attention elsewhere, pulling out their phone like it was the most important thing in the world, and talked amongst themselves. How fitting, because the first thing they talked about as an excuse for ignoring you was to talk about Reiner, “The captain’s been grumpy. Haha. That man. What’s up with him?” You cringed, because you knew there was no weight in talking about Reiner that must be done at that time, that moment. They just wanted a reason not to be roped into talking to you, obviously because you didn’t think you were cool enough or some other shit excuse only them and their bobbleheads understand. So, conveniently throwing out Reiner’s name was an effective way to basically say ‘haha look at us talking about the coolest guy in the campus so you know we’re in this cool clique unlike you’. You read them too well. You couldn’t even be amused anymore.

Porco looked embarrassed, he smiled at you awkwardly and stayed silent, until one of the girls threw their attention back to the man dirty blond undercut, “Anyway, Porco, do you know Reiner?”

“Ah, I haven’t had the chance to.”

The girl frowned rather dramatically, “Oh my god, we all should totally hang out together with Reiner, right? He’s like—super cool.” her question was obviously in exclusion of you. You rolled your eyes and turned away to see new text from Reiner appearing.

[reiner | 12.15] im going there

[you | 12.16] convenient. right in time. your cool friends are all here and you can sit with them and be cool with them or whatever I guess haha

You immediately pulled your phone to your chest; you could feel your heart thumping. Is this it? Is this it? The question became menacing in your head, because you were not sure on what Reiner was planning to do. The line to the muffin was still far away, and it would be stupid to run away.

[reiner | 12.17] idgaf about em

[reiner | 12.19] i want u

You could hear the girls were still talking about Reiner. Reiner this, Reiner that. You were nowhere to lie that you could feel your chest heat up with annoyance. The way their squeaking voice praised Reiner’s body, Reiner’s personality, Reiner’s wit. For the first time, you knew you were experiencing jealousy, vibrant and up-close.

“You know what? One time, Reiner thought that the way I did my hair was so cute that he wanted—”

Just in time, one of the boys raised his voice, “Oi Reiner!” and in unison the jocks erupted, welcoming his arrival like they were in some goddamn party.

You could see Reiner walking towards the line you were in, his face was hardened and his walk was swift. You immediately turned away to look at the opposite direction, not wanting to see him.

“Yooo Reiner! Where have you been? We’ve missed you dude,” one of them said. You cringed at how they all tried so hard to sound cool, “have you met Porco, by the way? And his friend—”

“—hey, what’s her name again?” one of the girls chimed in, asking Porco instead of asking you directly, as if you were not there. At that point, Reiner was standing not too far behind you, and you pretended like you were too busy with your phone, hoping the floor would engulf you instead.

“Is she like, deaf or something?” the girl whispered to Porco with a jeer, before getting back to Reiner, “So, Rei, I’ve got this party—”

“—yo Capt, do you know that—”

“—have you heard about the news, dude? Like—”

The way all these people tried to suck up to Reiner was so pathetic and incessant, they all chirped like hungry birds all in a matter of couple of seconds. You hated them and you hated the situation.

“—come on, Capt, that would be awesome—”

“—oh my gosh, Rei—”

“—you must try it, Rei—"

“Shut the fuck up,” Reiner said. Rather abruptly. His voice was cold and deep, like he couldn’t give a damn in this world about any of them. Surprised, they all dropped quiet in an instance. You looked over your back at him. Reiner was staring at you, and at you alone, not even at the Jizzhead he had grown to hate so much, “you all talk too fucking much.”

You snorted, suppressing a laughter to escape from your mouth. Clearly, it was too audible, that the girls were now looking at you with complete disdain.

“Babe,” Reiner said, staring at you, while you were still facing the opposite direction, “babe, what are you doing with this Jizzhead here? I can bake you muffins remember? If you want it so much.”

Your surrounding fell deep in silence. Everyone was either confused or surprised. Murmur started to sweep over the crowd, most audible was: ‘Who is Jizzhead?’

You scoffed, finally turning your back, although still closing your mouth trying to prevent the laughter and the embarrassment to display itself.

“What the hell?” one of the girls asked in dismay, obviously she was one of the girls sliding into Reiner’s DM and sending him bikini photos by the pretense of ‘Rei, you should join us for summer holiday!’ when all she wanted to do was to show her tits.

“Shut up,” Reiner said to her, baffling the girl to complete silence, “and stop sending me your beach photos. They’re ugly.”

An uproar of restraint laughter was heard throughout the cafeteria.

“Babe,” Reiner said again, this time extending his arms toward you, gesturing for you to come closer, “now you know why I need you, right? My friends are fucking whack.”

Few laughter was starting to break. Yet Reiner was unfazed.

“Reiner, what—”

“—yo dude, what the hell?

“—who is she?”

“—are they dating?”

“And listen here, you hag,” Reiner now turned his attention to the girl who called you deaf, “she’s got a name. Her name is ___, and she’s my fucking girlfriend.”

Embarrassed yet amused, you finally let out a small chuckle, “Reiner, please you’re humiliating me.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged off. Reiner now turned his attention to Porco, “and listen here you, Jizzhead. You can be nice to her but keep in your fucking mind, she’s mine.”

Without hesitation, Reiner pulled your hand and yanked you closer to him. You stared at him for a second, eyes broadened and heart thumping, “Reiner, what are you gonna do—”

“—shut up.” he said, cupping your face with his gigantic hands, and pulled your face roughly to him, before landing his dry, chapped lips to yours. He had gone sick of pretending, and doing things in secret. So there Reiner Braun was, hungrily, longingly, sloppily devouring your lips with his mouth, so deep, so thirsty of your taste. He finally showed the world who the true owner of his heart was. You.

[football-writing]

Mason Mount - Always

Prompt: I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then

Summary: Mason and Y/N have been in love forever. It takes a graduation dinner for him to finally come clean about his feelings.

Warnings: friends to lovers aye, mentions of graduation, some tears were shed but it's all good! Also very little dialogue bc i wanted to try something different :)

If someone asked him how long he's been in love with her, he wouldn't know what to tell them. It had developed gradually, really.

First they were friends, meeting for the first time as she got transferred to his school. She'd been quite the character. On the frist day she was there, she'd asked the boys if she could play football with them. They said no girls were allowed, so she stole the ball from one of Mason's friends, dribbled around two other boys and kicked the ball right between the legs of the goalie. He'd admired her then, her cheekiness bringing a boyish grin to his face, and they easily hit it off. She would never allow him to go easy on her, although she would sometimes get in a mood when he'd win for the twentieth time that day. He'd cheer her up and ask her to play at his house, playing boardgames and watching cartoons as they chatted amongst themselves every schoolday.

She'd slowly grown out of playing football with him; clearly they were on different levels entirely nowadays. Still, they remained close friends. He'd gone off to London, then, and it was hard at first. But they would call all the time (he hated phonecalls, but she said she preferred hearing his voice, and so he called her almost daily) and she would come to his home games to cheer him on. He had given her a Chelsea shirt with his name on it, and she'd joked that people would think they were together. The words left his mouth before he could register that he was talking: 'Would that be such a bad thing?' She had remained silent, but the blush that adorned her cheeks must've meant something, right?

It was a silly thing he said back then, though he often lets his mind wander back to that day. Perhaps he was just being ballsy, or joking around, gauging her reaction to a topic that she brought up. But somewhere after those words, the lines had blurred. Their goodbye hugs lingered a little longer, the gazes between them seeming to be softer - a little too soft for two people to just call themselves friends. He would take notice of the way she twirled her hair around her fingers when she was nervous, how her locks would shine in the sunlight. Her scent - sweet and faintly resembling the smell of spring - edged into his memory.

She had felt it, too. It started with missing him more than she used to when he was away for his job. She'd resorted to sleeping in one of his hoodies, just to miss him a little less. Then, she'd set one of their selfies together as her lockscreen, Mason pulling a silly face as she kissed his cheek. A smile would edge onto her face anytime she opened her phone. And when he'd lost a game and got all upset, biting his fingernails to hide his anxiousness, her heart would break for him too. She would do anything to cheer him up. Though, mostly she just wanted to hear his beautiful laugh ringing in her ears - the one that made his nose scrunch up and his eyes crease at the corners.

It wasn't something they spoke about, or ever acknowledged. But the pair was awfully aware of how much the line had blurred since that day on the playground.

But if asked about the moment he knew she was it for him? He'd tell them it was this very moment. Some would say it was cliché, that it was something straight out of a movie. And maybe it was. But he'd seen enough romcoms (he wished he could say it was courtesy of her, but really, he loved those films) to know that the movies hadn't described it well enough.

Because his breath did catch in his throat. His cheeks flushed as he saw her, heart beating louder than it would when he'd been running on the pitch. As she was walking down the stairs, floorlength dress accentuating her figure, her hair falling loosely and her make-up complementing the colour of her eyes perfectly. Her heels were still in her hands, and he fought the urge to smile. He knew how much she hated heels, and how her clumsy self would've probably fallen down the stairs if she'd put them on already. God he felt it all over his body - the hairs on his arms rose as the tingly feeling in his stomach spread through his body. He was so utterly and completely in love with her.

"Y/N. You look- I mean- I-." He tried to start, stammering over his words as his cheeks burned.

"D'you know what? I'll take that as a compliment, Mase." She laughed as she put her heels on.

"You should. Can't even find the words to describe how beautiful you look." He admitted as he groaned mockingly, holding his arm out for her to take so they could walk the short distance to the restaurant.

"Well that doesn't happen often, does it?"

The both of them joked some more as they walked together, before arriving at their destination.

It was her graduation diner. All her family and relatives were there, which to her included Mason. It was a good night, laughing and reminiscing on the past years, wondering about what the future holds as they not-so-subtly stole food from each other's plates.

That was, until her family started speeching. Some of her family members had prepared something, and she'd held Mason's hand tight;y in hers as she listened to all the encouraging words.

"Mason, son. Would you like to say something too?" Her dad asked.

"Uhh, well. I didn't really prepare anything, actually."

"I'm sure you can think of something. Stand up, son." He cursed himself for being so close to her dad. But he was right, he had something to say.

And so he begrudgingly scraped his chair back and stood up. Suddenly all eyes were on him, and although he should be used to that by now, he felt vulnerable. He cleared his throat and looked at her next to him, only to find her kind eyes already on him, an encouraging smile send his way enough to make him start speaking.

"Well. Y/N and I have known each other for years. She was always joking around, roughhousing with me and the boys, never giving a care in the world as long as she, and the people around her, are happy. She'll do anything her way, even if it's the wrong way, because she's too stubborn to admit her mistakes." Some of the guests chuckled, and he took a moment to smile before he continued on.

"That's just what she's like. And I admire that in her - in you." He directed his attention towards her now, as she looked up at him with large eyes. "You're not one to admit when you're upset or stressed, or when you need help. And I know these past few years have been hard on you, but I am so proud to see how you've handled everything. How you persevered through your struggles while still being true to yourself. I admire that in you, and it gives me strength, too. Maybe you're a bit of an inspiration of mine. And-" He had to swallow hard, then, and he glanced at her to gauge her reaction as he did. Tears were brimming in her eyes, and she would no doubt get mad at him later for ruining her make up. He had to swallow again.

"I guess what I'm saying is- It's been an honour to have been by your side through your highs and your lows. Seeing you grow from that little know-it-all girl into the strong woman you are now. And I can't wait to be by your side for everything else you're going to achieve." He sniffled then, wiping a sleeve underneath his own eyes to keep himself from crying in front of - quite literally- her entire family.

That sentiment had gone out the window for her, though, because she'd let the tears stream freely over her cheeks. Worry overtook him as the faintest of sobs left her lips, and so he quickly reached down to her. He held her face in his hands, thumbs wiping her cheeks dry as she let out a teary laugh.

"God, I'm so embarassing." She laughed as she took his hands from his face, resting them on her lap as she played with his fingers - something she had a habit of doing to calm herself down. "You could always become a speech writer if the football thing doesn't work out, though." She added, laughing slightly at her own joke as she tried to lighten the mood. She really hated feeling so vulnerable.

"You're not." He whispered back.

If there was any moment to tell her, this was it. So he mustered up all the courage he could find in himself to just tell her.

"And I'll support you through everything else. All the highs and lows and victories and defeats, I'll be there for you whenever you need me. Because- Because I love you."

Gasps were heard from around the table, but the only reaction he cared for was hers.

"You do?" Her voice was timid, questioning the extent of his words as she was still sniffling.

"I do. I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then."

"I- Mason."

She wasn't sure what to respond, so overwhelmed with emotions that she couldn't contain her tears overflowing her eyes for the second time that day. He was crying now too, though, albeit silently. The whirlwind of emotions she felt - that he so clearly reciprocated - were enough to confess her love for him too. Something she now felt they should've done much sooner.

"I love you too, Mason. Always and always and always." She repeated as she let her face fall in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent as he held her inexplicably close to him, arms tight around her waist as they took in the moment. Their moment.

The other guests applauded, sniffled as they tried to hide their tears at the heartfelt moment, even cheered for the two of them.

But all of it went unheard.

Because who cares about what others think when you've got that kind of love right in front of you?

[prose-for-hire]

Shared Affection

Pairing: Willow x fem!reader; Xander x fem!reader [Bi reader !!]

Request: Hey! can you please write a Willow/Xander x fem reader story where they both have crushes on the reader and they're trying to figure out if she likes boys or girls only to find out shes bi?

Requested by: Anon

A/N: I feel like I’m still a little rusty but I did like writing a little something for this request !! Hope it’s what you wanted and I’m sorry about the wait 💖

You were a new transfer to UC Sunnydale. You could sense that you were on a Hellmouth as soon as you set foot in this new place you would call home. You could sense things, energies and what some may call magic. It just hadn’t occurred to you that this was any different to how other people felt and experienced the world. This would all change, however, once you met who would be your new group of friends. They would show you new possibilities as well as showing you just how powerful you truly are.

You met Buffy in a class you had both taken and subsequently bonded over how much you regretted it. From that first day you both vowed to help each other get through the year. It was as if you just clicked, she was an instant best friend, you could feel it. She then introduced you to her other friends, Willow, Anya and Xander. The latter didn’t actually go to college but he would sneak onto the campus so often and he was good company so you were pleased at this. You got on with everyone so well, it was clear that they had become fond of you almost instantly. Some, more than others.

Over the next five months, Xander and Willow had found themselves adoring you. Neither realising that the other held feelings for you. Xander and you both loved films. You would watch them together all of the time and it became a weekly tradition. You would either go to his basement or he would spend time in your dorm. Sometimes you would forget that the film was on and laugh until you cried at the comments he would make. He was so funny and you couldn’t help but feel so comfortable in his presence.

Willow and you spent time together, she had shown you some small spells for you to practice and you described to her the energy you felt especially now you were in Sunnydale. You could spend hours through the night, just talking. Laughing and sharing your deepest thoughts. She was so sweet to you and you really valued all of the time she spent with you.

Both of them had made you feel so welcome and you enjoyed the attention you had been getting more and more of from them both. You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t suspect that one or both of them may have feelings for you. Although, whenever you thought this you berated yourself for assuming more from their friendly natures.

You couldn’t help loving them, they were so kind and they both looked after you in their own ways. Willow and her magic, Xander and his courage. They were truly now extremely important people in your life. You were thinking of this as you saw Buffy saving your usual seat in your class.

She smile and got you up to speed on all of the latest news you might have missed since you saw her last night on patrol. She was now your closest friend and you basically told each other everything. She had finished telling you all about Riley and what she had found out after the Gentlemen had finally been taken care of. Although, she suddenly changed the topic with a smile and a glint in her eye. She wouldn’t go into detail although she happened to hint about you having a ‘secret admirer’. 

Your mind went to Xander and then to willow in almost the same second. Who you suppose you wished it to be. But then, would you want to choose between them? Hurt one at the expense of the other? Would you even be able to choose? Or could you share them both, forget about monogamy, or would that put a strain on their friendship?

Stop. You had to halt all of the scenarios spinning around your head. It was possible it was nobody in your new little friendship group. Perhaps it was a pretty demon that Anya used to know from the olden days that had seen you from afar.

Willow and Xander were sat in the college canteen while you and Buffy were finishing your lecture. Xander had slid in with a group of guys that had finished a game of football so that nobody would question him. They sat and talked for a little but both of their minds had been on you. On their feelings for you. Neither knew that they had never felt this strongly for another person before. They just didn’t know how you could take it.

Willow had been thinking though. She had told Buffy she was gay. She had finally done it. She was a lesbian. She liked girls and only wanted to date girls now. Specifically, you. God, she adored you. Buffy had been surprised at her coming out but after a few months found herself being Will’s biggest supporter. It was easier to accept as Buffy already knew about your sexuality. You had always been open with her about being bi, you just hadn’t gotten around to telling anyone else.

“So, what do you think?” she asked after her usual rambling as she tried to broach the subject with Xander. She needed to see what he would say. She had realised instead that he had zoned out. His eyes watching for someone who was supposed to be here soon.

“Hm?”

“About y/n. I was thinking of asking her out-”

“You can’t!” Xander said, his voice had gone high-pitched at the suggestion. He then coughed and deepened his voice more than he would usually speak it to compensate, “…She’s not gay, Will”

“You don’t know! What are you th-the king of gay people now?”

“No!” Xander said quickly but his heart wasn’t really in their conversation. All he could ever do now was think of you. There was a pause for a while as both of them thought of the other, knowing now that they both felt the same for you. Then they thought of you. Of how close you had become. How kind and affectionate you could be with them. You cared for each of them but neither of them could help but wish for more. Xander suddenly spoke up again, still staring into the distance, “I know, of course I know. Do you, uh, really think… you know?”

“Sometimes she looks at me and I forget to do the breath-y thing” Willow admitted, now rubbing her hands together in her anxiety.

“Well, yeah she does. She’s- Y/n!” He suddenly said, his voice announcing you as he saw you walk towards them. You smiled and waved a little as you weaved between the tables to get to your friends.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she’s-” Willow replied, not realising you had been standing behind

“Hey, Y/n! Our Y/n, uh, Y/n our friend!” Xander said a little more urgently, over whatever Willow had been trying to say about your sexuality.

You smile and slide into a seat beside them. Both of them made you so comfortable to be around, you had this sense of home around both of them.

“Buffy caught up to Riley in the corridor, so it’s just me today,”

“That’s good!” Willow said, “Well, n-not good that she isn’t here but good that you are and that they have time together”

“Yeah, I think they’ll be okay. I hope so anyway, he could be good for Buffy right? I don’t know much about Angel but she looks so sad every time someone talks about him”

Willow nodded but Xander wasn’t quite listening. He was trying to think of a way to subtly change the subject from Buffy’s love life to yours. He ended up throwing subtlety out of the window an blurt it out.

“So, Y/n, how would you describe your type. What would your ideal man-”

“O-or woman! Or anybody else!”

“Oh, uh, well I’m not sure I have one type. I fall for people for more than their looks I guess. It just depends on the person!” You smiled but faltered slightly as their brows furrowed at your answer. It wasn’t specific enough for them to gauge who you might be interested in.

However, Willow loved your answer, as did Xander. He was usually a little insecure that he wasn’t the best looking guy or that he made too many jokes to be taken seriously by anyone. But of course, with you, it was different. You could sense goodness from them. You could sense love and promise and potential and you adored spending time with them so much.

But you could feel there was a slight tension. As if they were competing where usually they wouldn’t. Or that they were in some kind of unresolved discussion.

“Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity! We are, um, curious cats”

“If for example, Willow asked you on a date and uh, for the sake of this totally hypothetical situation, I also asked you out too – who would you pick?”

“Well, I think that I would be happy with either of you” You shrugged. And their mouths both widened in surprise at the same time. Neither of them had even considered you might like men and women. Even after you said this as you had to elaborate, “I’m bisexual”

They smiled at you, somewhat satisfied with this answer and both hugged you tightly at you admittance. You couldn’t help grinning so wide at their warmth. Then they caught each other’s eye and saw that they mirrored each other’s expression. That they saw that they had a chance with you. At your love. As you got up and excused yourself that you had to get to another class, there was a silent agreement. Both of them were set on competing for your attention. Especially now that they knew they definitely could have a chance to be by your side.

You weren’t really sure what to make of their question, you told yourself not to think too much into it. Just in case your mind began to spit out unrealistic scenarios that would disappoint you. You left them, not aware that they were both intently watching you leave. Your form dancing away from them in that way that they loved. Their eyes never left you and their thoughts lingered even longer.

One day, you would probably have to make some kind of decision. For now, you were just pleased that they accepted you for who you were. That you couldn’t sense even the smallest change in their fondness for you when you told them. For now, you could enjoy their love, whether platonic or otherwise and keep spending as much free time as you could with them.

[rosycheekedandsmilin]

Here Comes the Sun

Here Comes the Sun

Luke Patterson Imagine

Summary: Luke sees you at one of the boys’ practice sessions.

Warnings: just fluff with a hint of angst, I think. There is a mention of a pregnancy rumor and implied bullying, but not extensively

(A/N: I’m soooo sorry this took so long. Things have been hectic. Also, this would be before they died back in 1995. Plus, I’m new to all this so any recommendations, comments, tips, etc would be appreciated)

You had told your friend, Dianne, that you had homework to do, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. The boys of Sunset Curve were rising quickly on the LA scene and your friend was just one of the many to join their legions of female fans. It also helped that they happened to go to school with you. You couldn’t deny that they were all pretty cute, but you sided with many when you decided you had a preference for the front man: Luke Patterson.

You both used to be close your freshman year, but after he joined Sunset Curve your sophomore year, you both went your separate ways. You’d actually seen him several times in the hallways this year when he wasn’t surrounded by girls. He would be stepping in time with some imaginary beat, his fingers plucking on the old messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. He was always looking up, ever the optimist, looking at the horizon like only good things could ever come his way. His bottom lip caught in his teeth through a beaming smile, his hair brushing along his long eyelashes-

Whew. He was gorgeous.

And trigonometry homework could wait for you to see that gorgeous again up close.

The boys would sometimes hold open practice for a few fans to come watch and hang out, but it was starting to become exclusive as more people began to show up than they had room for.

Thus, your friend lept at the opportunity when she cornered Reggie alone in World History. You giggled at his adorable smile as your friend twirled her hair and flirted his socks off. Before you knew it, she was running back to you with a grin and the promise to see the band practice that coming Thursday after school.

You dressed in some simple mom jeans and a graphic tshirt tied at the waist, hopefully to flatter your figure. Dianne guaranteed you looked “smokin’ hot”, in her words. 4:10 struck and you both got in her car to head that way. The practice started at 4:00, but Dianne told you repeatedly that being fashionably late would set you both apart from the crowd.

On the way to the studio garage, you found yourself extremely nervous. You didn’t even fully know why; it was just a band, just a boy. It wasn’t a date or you throwing yourself at him, but you couldn’t help the fluttering feeling in your stomach at the thought of seeing Luke Patterson perform before a selected crowd, you being one of them.

Meanwhile, the boys were starting to warm up when Reggie started rambling.

“Isn’t it weird that no one comes on Thursdays?”

Bobby snickered. Alex and Luke shared a look before Alex turned to Reggie.

“Dude, that’s because the school has lacrosse games on Thursdays. No one wants to be here when our team is on a winning streak.”

Reggie thought a moment before laughing at himself.

“Oh yeah! I completely forgot. Then Dianne must have forgot too.”

Luke, Alex and Bobby all turned back to Reggie.

Luke spoke up this time.

“Dianne as in Dianne Parker?”

Reggie nodded. Luke’s eyes widened.

“Dianne Parker, as in friends with-“

Reggie smiled. “Yep. Y/n y/l/n.”

Bobby turned to Luke.

“Isn’t that the girl you’ve liked since-“

“-freshman year. Yeah,” Luke sighed.

He turned to Alex, but Alex waved him off.

“Even I have to admit the puppy dog eyes you used to get around her.”

Luke smiled softly, falling back into a memory.

You and he had been lab partners in Chemistry your freshman year, as well as shared a homeroom together. This was back before he was introduced to the music that saved his life, so he was still a shy little kid. He hadn’t found the passion that spurred him to connect to people. You, on the other hand, were everything he wished he could be: kind, smart, and courageous.

You weren’t quite an extrovert, but you always made sure others felt included and valued. When someone fell quiet during group discussion, you encouraged them to speak up and always made sure they knew you valued their input. When he would inevitably get an answer wrong in class, you would quietly show him the correct answer and explain it to him in a way that he didn’t feel stupid. And you would regularly invite people eating alone to join your small group of friends.

There came a point where Luke’s parents pushed him to get a tutor because of his failing grades, and you offered immediately after hearing about it. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you both would meet in the public library after school. As time went on, Luke grew to enjoy your time together and even grew a crush, but he never thought you would like the little shy kid that couldn’t speak up for himself. Then his sophomore year, his parents gifted him with his first guitar and it changed him forever. He connected with people in a way he never had before. By the time he worked up the courage to tell you how he really felt, you were in your first relationship with Danny Fenton, the star quarterback.

Luke just had to watch as you walked with him everyday and cheered him on the loudest on Friday night football games. Then, you had a messy break up. Not even a week later, a rumor spread that it was because you had cheated and were pregnant. It was a nasty, false rumor, but enough people believed it that you moved away your junior year.

In the meantime, Luke had already formed a band and was rising through the social ranks. When he learned you had moved back your senior year, he flipped. Still, he could never find the nerve to talk to you again, and you kept your head low to avoid the social radar.

That all changed today. The boys cornered Reggie.

“Is she coming today?” Luke asked.

Reggie gulped, his eyes darting between the three faces in front of him.

“I-I don’t know! Dianne just stopped me in world history and started asking about the band and Luke and-“

“She asked about me?”

“Well, yeah and she was twirling her hair and you know I have a thing about hair-“

“Did she mention anything about y/n?” Alex piped in.

“Well, she said that she and a friend wanted to watch practice today-“

“A friend? I’m sure it’s her,” Luke spoke to himself, running his fingers through the scruff on the back of his neck.

“Dude, are you gonna be okay?” Bobby asked, the three other boys staring nervously at Luke’s retreated figure.

He turned slowly, his deep hazel eyes wide in uncertainty.

“Well,” he said, taking in a breath, his shoulders dropping in finality, “it’s now or never.”

•••••

“We’re here!” Dianne cheered as her mom’s van screeched to a halt in the drive of the studio garage.

Forget the butterflies, hornets filled your stomach now. And they were angrily looking for a way out.

“Are you sure about this?” You asked weerily, holding your stomach.

“Absolutely!” Dianne beamed, turning to you from the front seat.

Your eyes finally caught the obvious problem outside your window.

“Um, Di?”

“Hmm?”

You blanched.

“Where is everyone?”

“Oh. My. Gosh. Well, what do you know! I must have completely forgot that everyone goes to the lacrosse games on Thursdays! Looks like we’re the only ones to watch today!”

It took all the zen you had not to throttle her little neck.

“Why do you hate me?” You cried out.

She giggled. “‘S all love, darling.”

“Dianne,” you begged, “you know our history.”

“And I know your chemistry too.”

You let out a small wail and looked out the tinted window at the studio garage. The doors were closed, but you could hear the muffled sound of guitars and drums warming up still.

Dianne had already stepped out of the van.

“Y/n, c’mon. We’re already late.”

“That was your idea!”

She held out her hand, giving you a pleading look.

“Di, I don’t know if I’m ready to face him again. So much had happened since-“

“Since you realized you liked him? And Danny got jealous and started that rumor?”

You nodded.

“Darling, that is the past. This is the now.”

“But what if-“

“Can I let you in on a little secret?”

You took a deep breath.

“Yeah?”

A small smile made its way onto her face.

“Reggie told me that Luke still has it bad for you.”

Your jaw dropped.

“You’re lying.”

She shook her head, smiling.

“I’m completely serious. That’s one of the reasons that Reggie was so excited to have us come today.”

You rolled your eyes.

“And what was the other reason?”

Dianne blushed.

“I may have told him that I would make out with him under the bleachers tomorrow at lunch.”

You smiled softly at her.

You were still a scarlet letter when you came back to school, so you couldn’t find anyone willing to be seen with your reputation. That was until you met Dianne, who was known as a serial home-wrecker. That wasn’t true, of course, but a bended truth of a spited ex-girlfriend. Still, she’d had more romantic exploits than you could count on your fingers and toes.

“C’mon, (y/n). Prince Charming is waitin’ for ya.”

You blushed as you made your way out.

•••••

There was a knock on the studio doors and three heads snapped up.

Alex, Reggie and Bobby all looked to each other and Luke.

Luke was facing a nook in the back, his headphones playing from a Walkman. He was still trying to see if he could learn the riff from Wonderwall by Oasis before you came in, but none of the boys wanted to be the one to nudge him with the way he was practically vibrating in his seat.

They shared a silent look before Reggie nodded knowingly.

“Rock, paper, scissors, boys.”

Alex turned to him, blinking.

“Reggie, there’s three of us. That’s not gonna- ok.”

Alex walked up to the door and opened it to reveal you and Dianne, both smiling nervously.

“Hellooo, Dianne,” Reggie crooned as Dianne waved at him, a suave smile painting his features. Dianne giggled beside you and you found yourself bristling with nerves. 

“Uh, hey, y/n,” Alex greeted you warmly, nudging Bobby forward as well to greet you. 

You pressed your lips in an awkward smile and forced your hand up into a wave. Your mind began to get caught in a cycle.

I should not have come I should not have come I should not have come-

“Hey, y/n, welcome to our practice. Because you both made the wonderful choice to come watch today, we have decided to gift you with free merch!” Reggie grinned, winking at Dianne. 

“Reggie, all our merch is free-” Alex started, but Reggie pressed a finger to his lips, pressing them to the side as Alex glared at him. Bobby laughed and you quickly joined in, eager to rid yourself of your nerves. You all began to fall into comfortable banter and the boys were hilarious. Dianne was flirtingly feeling up Reggie’s bicep, asking him about his workout schedule. 

“Oh, yeah,” Reggie said, his voice jokingly low and gruff. He flexed his arm. “I have quite a regime.” 

Alex scoffed. “What regime? Your type of workout is chasing down the ice cream truck and lifting meatball subs to your mouth.”

“Hey,” Reggie said, turning to Alex with a look of betrayal on his face, “it is an intense regime none the less!”

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from the back corner.

You stiffened.

The boys had forgotten about the tense guitarist behind them, who had been blocked from your and Dianne’s view by their figures.

A footstep. Another. Then another.

The boys parted and your heart stopped.

Two perfectly sparkling hazel eyes looked up at you through brown tasseled hair. And there it was, that beaming smile that warmed every inch of your body.

You were thrown back three years to the vision of that shy boy with a nervous bounce asking you for help with number three.

That same boy stood before you now, gazing at you like you were a triple-chocolate sundae surprise, a brand new guitar, an open stage, a raging crowd, and every answer he would ever need, all wrapped up in one person.

 “Hello there, Sunshine,” he said, at last.