#the way twenty minutes ago i was just like aw her pink sweater and now i'm in the trenches fighting for my life like

[maraczeks]

bcs s6 thread pt 4

[etherrealoblivion]

A Broken System

MASTERLIST

Summary: At her birthday celebration, Y/N is out on the town enjoying herself when she runs into a cute FBI agent who she’d love to take home and do terrible things to. Normally, someone meeting an FBI agent at a bar wouldn’t be that big of a deal. There’s just one, miniscule, microscopic, meager, problem... Y/N is only twenty.

tags: Large Age Difference, power imbalance, choking, Dom/sub, safe sex, vaginal penetration, dirty talk, cliffhanger.

A/N: this just made so much more sense in third person. i tried replacing it with second person, but trust me it did not work. hope you enjoy! gif by @toyboxboy​

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Words: 5,930

~

Spencer Reid never really thought he was attractive.

Probably had something to do with his perpetually messy hair, gangly stature, and his tendency to ramble on and on and on and. . .

Yeah. Like that.

Another factor definitely was the fact that he was in his 30’s and had never really had a stable relationship. Sure, he’d had relationships with a few women. Well, two women. The first being a girl he’d met in college with whom he had a brief fling. Spencer didn’t really count it as a stable relationship due to the fact they barely even kissed. And the other woman, the only woman he’d ever really loved, died tragically several years ago. 

Maeve.

Maeve was the real reason Spencer didn’t like going to bars with Morgan or being set up on dates by Penelope. She was the reason that Spencer wasn’t interested in anyone anymore. Who could possibly compare to Maeve?

Damn it. That was the other reason he wasn’t looking to date. He knew how the mind worked and there was no doubt that if any new person came into his life, she’d be unconsciously compared to Maeve. He couldn’t put anyone through that. 

So, Spencer Reid stayed single. Which, for him, was relatively easy. Whenever someone started to get a little too close with him, he’d blabber and spout facts until they ran off. Morgan would ask what happened and Reid would just put on a slight frown, mumbling how she had to go. 

The charade got more effortless the more they went out. Morgan, almost always going home on the arm of some woman and Spencer content to get a cab back to his own place, have a quick efficient orgasm, and fall asleep.

He had a system. And no one was going to break it.

~

Y/N hated the summertime. 

Well, she didn’t usually. Anywhere else on the planet it would be mildly enjoyable. The beach, ice cream, staying up all night. All that fun crap. In Washington D.C, however, summer was hell.

But! When one was accepted into Georgetown and their parents offered to pay FULL tuition plus housing, how can one say no?

Seriously, she wanted to know.

After two whole years in this armpit of a town, Y/N had finally gotten used to the sweltering heat that plagued the city during the summer. Whatever. She just stayed in the comfortable A.C. all day anyway.

But, the summer before her third year was almost over, and the only thing she could think about now was graduating with a major in Journalism. She didn’t really like most of the courses, but it’s what she needed to do to become a full-time editor.

Living in a rent-free apartment was heaven. No roommates meant no worrying about, well, anything. The only problem was, her parents could hold it over her head every time they called. Which is why she never answered their calls.

Today, however, answering was unavoidable.

Because not only was it the day before her first class, today was her twentieth birthday.

Y/N was in the middle of getting dressed to go out with her friends when her phone vibrated from the kitchen table.

“Hello?”

She tried so hard to suppress the cringe at her mom’s voice.

“Sweetie! How are you? Are you eating?”

“Yes, mom.”

Oh boy. Strong start, mom. 

“You look skinny in the pictures on Facebook!”

Yeah, she was definitely going to be late.

Surprisingly, it only took five minutes to push her mom off the phone, insisting that her friends were on their way and she had to keep getting ready. 

A sharp rap on the door saved her.

“Come on!! It’s almost ten!” Y/N’s friend, Mina, said, annoyed. “All the old people leave the bars at ten and if we don’t get there soon, the bouncers won’t let us in!”

Y/N didn’t really understand the logic there. Hot girls always got into bars. Especially late at night. How were there not more crimes committed in clubs? Maybe she’d find out in her first class tomorrow.

“Hey!” Mina snapped her out of it, “Come on! Let’s go.”

They arrived outside a dinky little club a few minutes later. It had taken Y/N a while to get accustomed to how close everything was together in this town. Before college, she had been a small-town girl. Promise ring and everything. That, uh. That didn’t last long.

Before they got in line, Mina took a long satin sash out of her purse and secured it across Y/N’s torso.

“What the hell’s this?”

The sash was white with large pink flowy letters that poignantly spelled out: Birthday Bitch.

“It’s a sash.”

Three of Mina’s friends strode up, quickly exchanging hugs and wishing Y/N a happy birthday.

“I see that it’s a sash, but why am I wearing it?”

Mina confidently strode up to the bouncer, Y/N at her side, fake ID at the ready. Technically, it was the right birthdate, the year was just a little off.

“Go through. Happy Birthday,” the guy said, barely sparing the ID a glance, more focused on the huge sash. It made sense. She didn’t look her age. No one would think she was only in college by taking a glance at her.

“Oh, thank you.”

“Look,” Mina pulled her aside just before they entered, “this makes every single guy in there want to buy you a drink. So, go enjoy a free Shirley Temple, on me.”

Y/N scoffed and entered the club, immediately overwhelmed by the booming of the music.

Jesus Christ. How did people not die from this? It felt like her heart was beating out of her chest.

Sure, she’d been in a bar before. But not a real, proper club. She was pretty sure she saw some people wearing neon. Oh my god, there was a DJ.

Suppressing a laugh, she headed to the bar. At least there was a bar. There were so many people gathered around though that she couldn’t get much access to the one bartender on staff.

Luckily, he spotted her sash that seemed to shine under the blacklights.

“Hey, make some room for the birthday girl!” 

And the crowd parted like the red sea, every man’s head turned towards her, and she cautiously approached the bartender who gave her a quick wink.

“Scotch. Neat.”

A dark man with a silver nose ring slid onto the stool next to her.

“It’s on me,” he addressed the bartender, staring at her the whole time. “So. Birthday girl. How old are you turning?”

She smiled softly. The sash was working great, but now she had to come up with a way to answer his question without explicitly lying. 

“Who wants to know?”

Maybe flirting would be distracting enough.

He smiled, glancing down for a moment, then holding out his hand. Ha. Men.

“I’m Jon.”

Ugh. She hated handshakes. But for this man, she might be able to make an exception.

“Y/N.”

Five minutes later, she wished with all her heart she could take the handshake back. Y/N should have known better than to talk to a guy at a club. They were all sleazebags. But! She did manage to get a couple of drinks out of it.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said after his fifth time mentioning Outback Steakhouse.

But before she could leave the bar discreetly, a hand wrapped around her arm, yanking her back.

“Hey, what’s the matter? I thought we were talking?”

Y/N may have been a small-town girl, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing his shoulders and driving her knee up into his crotch, stomping off toward the exit.

Only when she got outside did she realize how fast her heart was beating. She leaned over, hands on her knees to catch her breath.

A soft hand on her shoulder made her snap around, grab the hand and twist it around the stranger’s back, shoving him up against the alley wall.

“I’m sorry!” the man squawked shrilly. “I’m sorry!” It wasn’t Jon.

“What were you doing?” she demanded, not releasing him yet.

“I saw you lean over. I just wanted to see if you were ok!”

She finally drank in the man’s appearance. He was wearing a soft purple sweater vest over a grey button-down, slacks, and worn black converse on his feet.

Confident that he wasn’t a threat, she released him and took a step back.

The man rubbed his elbow softly, glancing at her chest. Before she could tell him off for staring at her rack, he pointed to the sash.

“Is it your birthday?”

She looked down. Oh, he’d been looking at the sash of course. Then why did she feel … disappointed?

“Oh, yeah. Some guy bought me a drink and got a little, er, touchy.”

Suddenly, the man’s face went dark.

“Who is he? Where is he?”

He started to walk back into the club but she stopped him, reaching out and gently grabbing his arm.

“Hey! It’s fine. I kicked him in the crotch.”

The man’s eyes switched from anger to surprise in a flash. He flustered for a moment, before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back into the alley.

Y/N now took a closer look at his face. He had deep, wise brown eyes, a small five-o-clock shadow gracing his jaw, and very full lips, the latter of which he was biting profusely. Aw. He was nervous. But why?

Maybe because he was in an alley with a random girl who had just been groped at a club and he didn’t know what to do.

She chuckled, attempting to diffuse the tension.

“Um. I didn’t get your name?”

He smiled brightly, thankful for the change in topic.

“Oh! Of course, sorry. I’m Spencer!”

And Y/N braced herself for the telltale outstretching of the hand.

But none came. He simply stood there, one hand in his pocket and the other waving at her, a dopey smile on his face.

Her face lit up. 

“You didn’t try to shake my hand,” she muttered, awed.

The man, Spencer, got an embarrassed look on his face, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I, uh. I’m a bit of a germaphobe. But, really, everyone should be! The amount of germs passed in a handshake is staggering. They really should be abolished altogether.”

“Right! People should just bow their heads or, or, wave!” she said excitedly, gesturing to his hand. “I mean a handshake is like a hug with a part of you that comes in contact with everything! Might as well go up to someone and start making out with them.”

As she spoke, his face lit up in wonder.

“Right? It’s crazy! But the thing is, some people actually do that! I was in that club for fifteen minutes and I swear I saw three couples leave together that definitely didn’t go in together.”

“I know!” she said, starting to pace in the cramped alley. “I mean, who goes home with someone that you just met! They could be a serial killer for all you know!”

She looked at Spencer and was delighted to see a joyful expression on his face. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t introduced herself.

“I’m Y/N. Sorry for blabbering,” she waved, chuckling slightly.

Spencer smiled even wider.

“Don’t be sorry! Usually, I’m the one who has to apologize.”

“Apologize for what?”

“Blabbering,” he said sheepishly, hands back in his pockets. When he was talking, they had been moving about wildly. It was kind of endearing.

“I don’t know,” Y/N said, considering. “Blabbering is underrated. One could argue it’s the best way to learn useless information.”

“Well, I’d agree but no information is really useless.”

Y/N held up a finger.

“‘Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.’”

Spencer’s mouth fell open.

“Timothy Harris?”

She nodded. “The 4-Hour Workweek. Outdated, but still applies.”

When she noticed his expression, it nearly knocked her breath away. He was looking at her like no one ever had before. Like he’d just realized the most important thing in the universe.

Before her cowardice could catch up, she took a step forward, closing the distance between them. His face went blank, shocked by the sudden approach. He nearly gasped when she spoke.

“It’s totally ridiculous to go home with someone you just met, right?”

Spencer’s eyes widened.

“Totally.”

“Why were you out tonight in the first place? You don’t exactly seem like the club-going type.”

He smiled softly.

“I, uh, just got a promotion last week. My friend Morgan wanted to take me out to celebrate. It was either this or karaoke.”

She chuckled softly, their faces so close he must have felt her breath.

“I don’t know, I’d have liked to see your rendition of Bad Romance. Has anyone ever told you you’ve got a whole Lady Gaga vibe?”

“You should see my Beyonce.” And he did a little mime of the Single Ladies dance, sending Y/N into a fit of giggles. Without thinking — probably due to the trace amounts of alcohol in her system, not enough to be drunk, but enough to be tipsy — she reached up her arms around his shoulders, clasping them together behind his neck like a teen slow-dancing at prom.

Spencer seemed startled by the sudden physical contact. He froze, hands unmoving at his sides.

Y/N pulled her arms back, stepping away from him, discouraged and embarrassed.

“Sorry,” she said, collecting herself and walking back towards the club door. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Wait!” he called before she could reenter the club. A tiny part of her let out a breath in relief. She turned around to see him with a hand outstretched toward her, frozen with the uncertainty of what to do next.

He recovered quickly, a blush visible on his cheeks in the lamplight of the alley.

“If you’re leaving, would you, um. Could I walk you home?”

She had no idea what possessed her in that moment but just as he spoke, she walked up to Spencer, threaded her fingers through his hair, and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

To her surprise, he responded immediately, running his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against him, eagerly returning the kiss.

His lips were so warm. He tasted very faintly of alcohol and maybe a breath mint? Y/N let herself fall into the sensation.

Suddenly, her back was pressed up against the wall of the alley, Spencer’s hands lighting a trail of fire down her body. He hesitated, pulling back briefly to make sure she was ok.

A glint in her eye, she yanked him back down, tongues clashing together in a blaze of glory. He hiked her leg up around his hips, pressing them closer together. Y/N could feel the hardness in his pants pressing into her stomach, sending a wave of heat down to her core.

She pulled back. If they went any further, she didn’t know if she’d be able to leave the alley.

Y/N tried to hide the smile on her face but it was no use. She beamed at Spencer, linking her arm through his elbow.

“Lead the way. Wait, that doesn’t make sense, you’re taking me home. I’ll lead the way!”

And so they walked, arm in arm down the busy D.C. streets, silently enjoying each other’s company.

They arrived outside her apartment fifteen minutes later, Y/N clumsily unlocking the door, nervous from the thought of what was about to happen. They hadn’t explicitly said anything in particular. Was he going to come in? Would she invite him?

Spencer, it seemed, was also daunted, standing awkwardly on the threshold of her place, hands buried in his pockets.

An idea sprung into Y/N’s brain.

She approached him, wrapping her hands around his neck again only this time, his hands rested lightly on her waist.

“Still think going home with a stranger is a bad idea?”

Spencer chuckled softly, stroking the exposed skin of her waist from where her top had ridden up.

“I’m still debating it.”

“Oh?”

He slid his hand around the sash, fingers hovering above her chest.

“I never asked, how old did you turn?”

She smiled. For some reason, she felt she could trust this man. The worst that could happen was he calls the cops on her for having a fake ID. She could deal with that. Destroy the evidence, bat her eyes. Easy. Besides, he looked barely of age himself. She quickly wondered what he did for a living? He did say he got a promotion.

It would be easiest to just tell him the truth.

“I don’t know if I should tell you this…”

He chuckled lowly in her ear, moving his lips gently across her neck.

“I can handle it.”

She gasped at the sensation, legs clamping together.

“Officially, it’s my twenty-third. At least, that’s what it says on my ID. One of them.”

Spencer froze, waiting for her to go on.

Y/N quickly backtracked.

“It’s okay! I’m twenty! Not a minor, no worries.”

But Spencer pulled away, an extremely worried look on his face despite her assurance.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re underage.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah? Come on, by one year. What, you never had a fake ID?”

“No!” he said shrilly, running a hand through his hair.

“Spencer, it’s ok! It’s not like I’m gonna get caught. I look much older and when are there cops at a place like that?”

He reached into his pocket and fished out a folded wallet. Snapping it open, Y/N’s jaw dropped at the FBI badge with his picture in the corner.

She floundered for a moment, unable to truly comprehend what was happening.

“You’re . . .”

“Yep,” he said shortly, pocketing the badge.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much my reaction too,” he said, sighing. “I should arrest you.”

Y/N took a step back, incredulous.

“Arrest me?”

“You have a fake ID. You’re clearly drunk.”

She scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Great idea, Spencer. Book me. Take me down to the FBI and tell them exactly what happened to lead to you finding out I’m only twenty. I’m sure they’ll need very specific details.”

A look of realization flitted across Spencer’s face and he buried his head in his hands, groaning.

“How old are you anyway?!” she demanded, upset at him for being upset.

“Thirty-four!” he shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.

Oh shit.

This was bad.

He was fourteen years older than her, in the FBI, and probably was seconds away from arresting her.

“There’s no way you’re thirty-four. I mean, look at you!”

He rolled his eyes, snorting, and beginning to pace the small hallway.

“This is exactly what I get. I meet a girl I really like for the first time in years and she’s decades younger than me. And a criminal!”

“Hey!” she said, shoving his shoulder. “Not decades. I’m not a criminal. And how the hell do you think I feel?  I’m out trying to have fun on my birthday, some guy gropes me leading me to run into the perfect man, take him back to my apartment thinking I’m gonna get lucky only to find out he’s a cop who’s gonna arrest me. Best birthday ever.”

Spencer eyed her carefully.

“Get lucky?”

Y/N’s eyes went wide. Shit. She hadn’t meant to reveal that part. Even though it was pretty obvious, something about it not being said added to the excitement.

“Did you really . . . I mean were you…. Um.” Spencer seemed to lose all authoritative tone suddenly, stammering nervously. It was such a 180, it shocked Y/N. 

“Was I going to let you fuck me?”

He cringed at the bluntness but nodded sheepishly.

“Yeah, Spencer. I was.” She scoffed. “Honestly, I still would. But I understand if I’m more than you can handle,” she said coyly, trying to keep a straight face. “Just please don’t arrest me, Sir.”

His expression darkened at her words. Something deep and lustful behind it. Feeling bold, she went with it.

“Or is it Agent?” she cocked her head, holding a finger to her lips in thought. “How do I address you properly, sir?”

A small groan left Spencer’s mouth and he stepped forward, brushing a hand over her hair.

“We shouldn’t do this, Y/N…”

Slowly, she backed up into her apartment, pulling him with her.

“We shouldn’t.” She gently led him to her bedroom, sitting down on the edge of the bed, him towering over her. “To be fair, you’re the one with handcuffs.”

He groaned again, wiping a hand down his face.

“This is a bad idea.”

But he crouched down in front of her, pressing his forehead to her exposed knee, breathing deeply.

“Spencer,” it was barely a whisper but he met her eyes instantly. She smiled gently, reaching out to him and coaxing him up from the floor so he was hovering above her, mouths inches apart. “Listen, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” she assured him. “But I want this.”

She leaned back, pulling him with her so he was lying atop her, an obvious bulge pressing against her through their clothing.

“I want this, Spencer.”

Y/N hoped that he knew he could leave if he wanted. She didn’t want to pressure him into anything. Despite the age difference, she seemed to be the one more in control.

Spencer lowered his head, sighing.

“Fuck,” he moaned, lightly thrusting against her, a moan escaping her mouth at the contact.

That seemed to be the last straw.

He sat up, ripping his sweater vest off along with his button-down, quickly moving back over her, lips latching to her neck and chest.

Oh thank god. She wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to stand it if he’d left. But from the way he was touching her, hands moving up and down her sides, gently pulling her skirt down, looking up at her every now and then to make sure it was alright, he wasn’t going anywhere.

She just spurred him on, stripping off her top and bra, now only wearing her panties.

Spencer groaned at the sight, a hand reaching up, hovering over her breast. She arched her back up into his hand, letting out a gasp as he started to fondle her. 

God, his hands were huge. And nimble. Oh, so nimble.

She reached for his belt, quickly unbuckling it and tossing it across the room, pushing his pants down faster than possible.

He groaned again, a magical sound, reaching a hand down to stroke her through her panties, coaxing a gasp from her beautiful lips.

In a flash, Spencer had pulled down her panties and buried his head between her legs.

Y/N gasped, hand flying to the back of his head, edging him on.

He slipped two fingers into her, his tongue flicking against her clit wildly, making her writhe and moan on the bed, gasping his name.

“Spencer, Spencer.” It took all the resolve she had to pull his head away from her. “I need you to fuck me.”

Spencer looked at her, trying to read her expression.

“Y/N . . . are you sure?”

Rather than answer, she yanked him up, crashing their mouths together, one hand quickly pushing down his boxers, his erection springing free.

Good god.

Wow.

How the hell was she supposed to fit that inside her?

She looked up at him, impressed, only to see a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Well,” she said, kicking off the panties pooled around her ankles, laid bare underneath the stranger on top of her. “This night gets better by the second.”

His size was a little daunting, but the thought of him slowly filling her up, probably not being able to fit all the way in, only added to her desire.

He dipped his head down, stealing a quick yet passionate kiss.

“Do you have . . ?”

“Yeah, in the drawer.”

He reached over, grabbed a condom, and rolled it on. It looked extremely tight on him. Y/N unconsciously licked her lips. Spencer chuckled.

“Maybe next time. I need to be inside you.”

And with that, he flung her legs around his hips, positioning his cock at her entrance, slowly running it up and down, moistening the condom with her juices.

God. The feeling of him being so close and yet so far was almost enough to push her over the edge right there. He had been a god with his tongue and she was desperate for more friction.

Reaching down, she lightly circled her clit, moaning at the instant pleasure.

Before she could enjoy it much, hands gripped her wrists, pinning them above her on the bed, Spencer staring at her with a dark look.

“If you wanna touch yourself, you have to ask permission. Understood?”

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

Words escaped her so she settled for a small nod.

“Use your words.”

His tone was so commanding the word left her mouth the moment he finished speaking.

“Yes.”

He lightly placed his hand around her neck, not applying any pressure, just hovering.

“Yes, what?”

Fuck. She wondered if it was possible to come just from being talked to.

“Yes, sir.”

And with that, he slid inside her, slowly filling her up with his length, moaning roughly at the sensation.

Y/N’s eyes snapped open, watching as Spencer’s face tightened, jawline even sharper, and a dark look in his eye. He carefully applied a bit more pressure to her throat, quickly releasing his hand afterward.

They were both still as she adjusted to the size of him inside her.

“Is this ok?” his voice sounded so different than it had a moment ago. He had shifted back to the geeky guy she’d met in the alley.

She nodded gently at him, running a hand over his cheek in a way that was surely far too personal for a one night stand. 

“My safeword is apple.”

He froze for a moment, shocked. Apparently she was kinkier than he’d expected. 

Tired of not being fucked by this man, she dug her heels into his back, directing him to move.

He did without hesitation, groaning at the sensation of slowly pulling out and thrusting back in. 

The feeling overwhelmed both of them, a litany of curses and moans falling from their mouths. Spencer’s hand moved back to her throat, squeezing much harder now that he knew what to listen for if she wanted to stop.

The sound of her moaning was enough to make him come right there and then. That, with the feeling of her around him and the fact that his hand was around her throat, totally in control.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking tight.”

Oh my god, where was this coming from? Her nails scraped down his back, leaving a trail of marks.

“You like feeling me fuck you?” he wrapped a hand around her leg, pulling it higher to try to hit the magical spot inside of her. “You like when I wrap my hand around your pretty little neck? Showing you how in control I am of you.”

She nodded ecstatically, legs tightening around him. She was definitely close to coming.

“What were you thinking? Going to a bar when you’re underage. Then leading a stranger to your home, intending to let him fuck you silly. Finding out I’m ages older than you and still practically begging me to bend you over and pound you till you can’t see straight. Is the age difference what gets you off, Y/N?”

At the sound of her name, she let out a raucous moan, no doubt waking up the other tenants of the building.

Spencer smiled, drilling harder and tightening his grip on her throat.

“Oh, you like it when I say your name? You like when I shove my big cock in you and moan your name in your ear?”

She practically screamed as his hand started to circle her clit, the stimulation practically knocking the air out of her.

He was hitting her g-spot with every thrust, pushing her closer and closer to the edge. She was so close. She just needed….

“You gonna come for me, Y/N?” he punctuated it with a particularly hard thrust, feeling her begin to clench around him, orgasm washing over her.

Her walls tightening around his cock was enough to send him barreling over the edge, grunting as he thrust in her four more times before feeling his balls tighten up and spill his seed deep inside her.

“Fuck,” he grunted, using his forearms to stay above her, both of them completely out of breath.

Slowly, he pulled out with a sigh, discarding the condom in the trash by her bed.

Y/N was seeing stars. This man had just given her her first penetrative orgasm. And, possibly the best sex she’d ever had.

‘Fuck’, was right.

Spencer flopped down next to her, still naked, trying to catch his breath.

Y/N turned to him, placing a hand on his chest.

It was strange. Even though they’d just had some of the best sex Y/N had ever had, she didn’t even know this man. And yet, somehow, she felt like she did. Did that happen a lot once you had sex with someone?

Her eyes refocused from where they’d been staring off into space to see a concerned Spencer looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

He studied her for another moment before speaking.

“You were biting your lip.”

A blush crept up her cheek.

“Yeah sorry. Helps me think.”

He let out a sharp breath, a sort of soft laugh.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said as he retrieved his underwear, slipping them back on and starting to button up his shirt.

Oh. Was he going to leave? Of course he was! That’s all this was, anyway. A one night stand. You had sex. That was the point.

Then why did it feel like hell?

“You okay?”

Her thoughts had drifted into space again. Spencer had laid back down, now on his side facing her, holding her hand, looking at her intensely. His gaze was practically burning.

“Yeah.”

“I, uh, I don’t normally do . . . that.”

She chuckled. It was rather obvious he wasn’t the hookup type. Despite the dirty things that had come from his mouth.

“Me either.”

He softly stroked her cheek. 

“Are you going to stay?” she blurted.

His face fell.

“Oh, no I wasn’t going to impose if you-”

“NO! I mean,” she took a breath. “I want you to . . . I mean, if you want . . . I'd . . . I’d like you to stay. If you want?”

God. She sounded like a teenager asking their crush to prom. This was no stuttering sophomore she could kick in the crotch if he said no. He was a man. Although, he did tend to stutter. Maybe it wasn’t all that different.

He lit up, a wide smile brightening his features and he began to stroke her hand.

“I’d like that too.”

Wondering if it was possible for cheeks to sprain from smiling, she pulled up the covers, cuddling up against him, falling asleep almost immediately.

~

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Ugh. The stupid alarm. She had been right in the middle of a wonderful dream involving Spencer’s hands and her bruised throat.

What time was it anyway?

The red clock radio proudly displayed: 7:00.

Right, it was the first day of classes. Maybe she’d just ditch and stay in with Spencer. He had been so warm she was sure he had a sun where a heart should be. College didn’t matter anyway, right? Ugh.

A shiver ran through her. She reached out for Spencer, only to find the cold other half of the bed.

Sitting up in bed, she stared at the empty spot.

Had he really walked out on her in the middle of the night? No…. No? Fuck. How could she be so stupid. Of course he didn’t want to-

Oh, he’d left a note.

In a fast yet tidy scrawl, Spencer had left the following message on a little notecard.

Good morning! I am truly sorry to walk out like this, but I have a class at 7:30 and I have to stop by my place and get ready. I’ll be back at the bar tonight, 10:30. I’d love to see you there.

-Spencer. X

Her heart melted into an ocean at the sentiment behind each individual letter. The man she’d just had a dirty one night stand with wanted to see her again.

Wait, he’d said a class? He hadn’t told her he was a student! To be fair, neither had she. That’s another thing they had in common apparently. It made sense why he didn’t tell her. A lot of people were ashamed of going back to college later in life. She thought that was ridiculous. Good for him.

Maybe she could look him up in the student registry. Actually, he may not even go to Georgetown. There were plenty of colleges nearby. She couldn’t have looked him up anyway. She didn’t even know his last name.

It was probably a good thing he left, because she, too, had a class at 7:30.

It only took her twenty minutes to shower, get dressed, and walk the very short distance to campus.

She arrived in the lecture hall with exactly one minute to spare, finding a seat next to a brightly dressed redhead holding a fuzzy pen.

“Hi! I’m Allie.”

“Y/N,” she said, suppressing the cringe as Allie reached out to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you! What’s your major?”

Oh god. The inevitable college question.

“Journalism. You?”

“English,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Super boring I know, but it lets me take fun classes like this one. Why are you taking this class?”

“Oh, um. It looked fun, I guess. My dad was a lawyer and he kind of piqued my interest in the criminal justice system.”

Allie sighed.

“Thank god. You know half the girls are here just because the Professor is a hottie,” she said with air quotes, rolling her eyes again.

“Really?” Y/N asked, glancing around at the seats noticing the vast majority of the population were women. “Wait, I thought Ms. Merklins was the teacher? Did something change?”

“You didn’t get the email? It just went out the other day, Ms. Merklins had to retire. Something about a club foot. Anyway, the new teacher is supposedly super overqualified. Plus, he’s cute.”

“Huh.”

“Yep. I talked to this one girl in the hall, she actually said she’d sleep with him! Can you imagine?”

Y/N laughed.

“Nooooo. I cannot and I don’t want to. I’m just here to learn, I promise.”

“Same here. Although, if I start getting C’s, all bets are off.”

Y/N laughed and politely chatted with Allie while they waited.

The Professor’s office door swung open and Y/N reached into her bag to get her laptop.

“Hello, class.”

“Hello,” the class echoed.

“Welcome to Criminology. I am Professor Reid and I-.”

Y/N looked up over her screen as he stopped talking, making sudden eye-contact with the Professor.

She froze in her seat, blood running cold.

No way. No fucking way.

Spencer?

~

TAGLIST

~

@whollytaciturn​ @101donuts​ @thegingerfairchild @safertokiss @happyiidiot @cielo1984 @thupidalethea @darkacademiacherry @matthewreid @aloha-ashley-taylor @justchiara-02 @spnobsessedmemes @sweet-darlin @matthewreid

[iamakiller]

Zoom call with Henry

Today, Mom talks with Dad for ages. She makes Henry leave the room like always, ordering him to go play, and she closes the door behind him.  As if that ever stops Henry from being able to hear everything she says.  She always talks in such a loud voice to Dad.

But today, her voice is really quiet.  Even with his ear pressed flat against the door, the only words he can make out are right at the end of the conversation: “I just don’t want you to tell him yet, Charlie.  We both know what you’re like.  He’ll only be disappointed.”

Henry knows she’s talking about him, but he doesn’t understand what she means.

When Mom opens the door again, he’s sitting in the middle of the hallway with his colored pencils and sketchpad, deeply engrossed in his latest masterpiece.

“Henry? Do you want to talk to Dad?”

Henry’s heart leaps with excitement.  He tears off the page he’s been working on and brings it with him, leaving the rest of his mess on the floor.  He bounds into the office and climbs into the comfy leather chair, wiggling around until he’s comfortable.  His feet almost but not quite touch the ground. Grandma said the other day that he’ll be as tall as Dad soon, and Mom gave her a look that Henry didn’t get.

There’s a lot he doesn’t understand sometimes.  Grownups are strange, he thinks.  Especially his parents.

“Hi Dad!”

“Hello, Henry.”  Dad’s little smile is the same as ever, but he looks tired today.  The same kind of tired as when he was sleeping on the couch, when him and Mom thought Henry didn’t know.  “How are you today?”

“GOOD!” Henry happily rattles off a list of all the fun things he did.  A playdate at the park with Josh.  Frozen yogurt on the way home.  Helping to bake cookies to take to Grandma’s tomorrow.  Mom even let him lick the spoon because he’d done such a good job of measuring out the ingredients without making a mess.  The only dark spot on the horizon is the bath that Mom has been threatening him with since this morning, but Henry thinks he can probably sweet-talk her into an hour of video games if he goes without protest, so it’s not all bad.  

He has to take a big gulp of air at the end, because he’s forgotten to breathe in his excitement to tell Dad everything all at once.  “How about you, Dad?  It’s late there, right?  Did you and Britt do something fun today?  Is she there?  Can I talk to her?”

Something weird happens.  Dad flinches, like Henry does when Mom catches him doing something he knows he shouldn’t do.  But when he starts talking, it’s completely normal.  “Britt’s not here, honey.  We were both very busy doing different things today.  She’s been … planning something.  And I’ve been working on my writing.  Well, trying to.”

Dad picks up a funny-shaped glass of something red, and takes a long swig of it.  He told Henry once that it’s grape juice for adults.  Henry asked Mom about it afterwards, and she said something about Dad being just like his parents.  But that can’t be right, because Dad doesn’t have any parents.  That’s why Henry only has one grandma, right?

Dad likes to write like Henry likes to draw.  It’s his favorite thing to do, and he does it a lot. Henry can sit silently so much better than any of his friends, because he learned very early on that if he could be still and quiet, he could sit with his dad for as long as he wanted to.  He loves visiting Dad in New York.  Going out and doing a million different activities is so much fun!  But the best times are when they’re in Dad’s study, and Henry is sprawled out on the rug with his pencils and sketchpad, doodling whatever comes into his imagination.  He likes hearing the sound of Dad’s fingers flying over the laptop keyboard, and the way he occasionally mutters to himself while he thinks.  And he really likes the way Dad will often close his laptop with a frustrated sigh, and come sit on on the floor next to Henry, and listen to him talk for hours about whatever he’s been working on.

Speaking of which, Henry has something he wants to show him. “Dad, look!  I drew this for you!”  He holds up the picture he finished only moments ago.

Dad peers at the screen, makes an impatient sound, and then reaches off to the side, retrieving his glasses and putting them on.  For a moment, he tilts his head to one side, and then the other.  “Why don’t you talk me through it,” he suggests eventually, his voice very kind.

Henry huffs.  Isn’t it obvious? Dad must have really bad eyesight.  Probably because he’s so old. “This is you,” he says, pointing at the tallest figure, who has very long legs.  “You’re wearing black, of course.” He points to the next largest person, with long hair.  “This is Britt.  She’s wearing her favorite big cardigan.  And in the middle, it’s me.”

Dad nods slowly and appreciatively.  “Very nice.  Your grasp of proportions is improving, and everyone has the correct number of fingers this time.  But can you explain why we are surrounded by so many dinosaurs?”

“Because we’re at the Museum of Natural History!”  It’s Henry’s favorite place in New York, aside from Dad’s study, and maybe that pizza place they go to every time he visits.

“Ah. Of course.  Silly me.  And … what is that strange looking dinosaur in the middle between you and Britt?”

Henry rolls his eyes.  “DAD!” he complains.  “That’s not a dinosaur!  That’s the baby!”

There’s a spluttering sound as Dad, who is halfway through another mouthful of his “juice”, begins to choke.  “W-what?” he stutters eventually, grabbing a tissue and wiping frantically at the front of his sweater.

This is it.  Henry’s big chance.  

“Well … Josh’s Mom had a baby during lockdown.  She brought it to the park today and it was so cute, and Josh says it’s annoying and cries all night, but I think he’s just jealous because HE still wants to be the baby, and I actually think it would be really fun to be a big brother, so I asked Mom but she said absolutely not, so basically you and Britt should have a baby so I can play with it and teach it all about dinosaurs and show it how to read and write and draw.” 

Henry runs completely out of steam at the end of his big speech, and has to take another of his massive gasps of air as he’s started to feel a bit lightheaded.

Just for a moment, there’s a strange expression on Dad’s face.  He almost looks sad.  But then he’s smiling again, although he still looks tired.  “Now, Henry.  That’s rather a big ask.  There’s an awful lot more to take into account than you wanting a sibling, I’m afraid.”

“But Dad – I asked Mom where babies come from, and she said that when a man and a woman love each other very much, they can have a baby.  And you and Britt love each other very much, right?  So you can have a baby, RIGHT?  By Christmas would be great.  It can be my present, instead of a replacement for the Nintendo Switch I lost last time I was there.”

Dad is laughing now.  Properly laughing, like he hardly ever does.  It’s hard to imagine how sad he looked a minute ago.  Maybe Henry just imagined it … “Henry, it takes an entire nine months for a baby to grow in a woman’s tummy.  Even if we were to acquiesce to your request immediately, there’s no way we could produce a baby by December.  Indeed, at the very most, Britt would merely be looking slightly round in the middle by Christmas …”  He tails off for a moment, as if lost in thought, with a little smile on his face.  But then he shakes his head slightly and continues talking.  “The answer’s no, honey.  You will get your new Nintendo Switch, and that Goose game you’ve been talking about nonstop, and you will be grateful.”

Henry pouts.  “BUT DAD …”

“No.”

Henry tries a different approach.  “I love you, Dad.  I miss you …”

“Nice try.”  Dad folds his arms across his chest.  “But that pout you wield originated with me, and you should know by now that it holds no power over me.  The answer’s still no.  However, I do love you an immense amount.  And I miss you. Very, very much.”

Dad looks a little bit sad again.  Henry feels sad now, too.  He really does miss him.  Mom is great, but Dad gives the best hugs.

Suddenly, Mom’s voice calls out from the hallway, loud enough for him and Dad to both hear. “Henry?  It’s getting late.  You need to finish up and take a bath before bedtime.”

NOOOOOOOO.  

Henry doesn’t want any hecking bath!  And he isn’t done talking, either.  He casts his mind around, trying to think of a way to stall for time.  Finally, something strange Dad said earlier comes back to him, and he decides to ask for further clarification.  “Dad? I have a question.”

He knows Dad knows that he’s stalling because Dad’s super smart.  But he also knows that he doesn’t mind.  He never wants their calls to end, either.  “Yes, honey?”

“How exactly does the baby get into the woman’s tummy?”

Dad’s eyes widen for a second.  Then he grins.  “Why don’t you ask your mother,” he suggests, voice loud enough for Mom to hear him from the hallway.  “She knows all about it.”

***

Twenty minutes later, Henry is wallowing in the bath.  It isn’t as bad as he thought it would be.  (It never is.)  Mom let him choose one of her Lush bath bombs, so the water is pink and sparkly, and covered in a thick layer of foam.  At least twelve of his dinosaur figurines have joined him for moral support.

As he lines them up along the side of the tub in alphabetical order, his mind wanders to something Mom shouted just as Dad finished the call.  What’s a bastard? he wonders.  She uses that word a lot when she talks about Dad.  

Mom said that when a man and a woman love each other very much, they can have a baby.  But Mom and Dad haven’t ever seemed to even like each other very much.  So Henry can’t help but wonder how he came to be.  Maybe Mom got it wrong, though that doesn’t seem likely.  Maybe Henry misunderstood.  That’s probably right.

There’s a lot he doesn’t understand sometimes.  Grownups are strange, he thinks.  

Especially his parents.

[ren1327]

Sweater Weather ch.4

Kenji quickly took Ben by the hand and threw out a half assed excuse about needing to talk to Ben.

He pulled Ben outside and led him behind the house and into a small grove of trees.

“Kenji?” Ben asked.

“Stop. Stop talking now!” He demanded.

He stopped and whirled around to Ben, who lifted his arms on instinct to cover his face.

“No! I’m not gonna…fuck, fuck, fuck!” He yelled, grabbing his head.

“Kenji?”

“…I…How…” He looked at Ben and swallowed.

“Pinky?”

Ben paled and took a step back.

“No, no, no!” Kenji said softly, holding his hands up.

“You do remember.” Ben whispered.

“I…I tried to forget. We moved to California and…Ben…”

“Don’t. Don’t say something cause you’re guilty…”

“…Did you almost die?” Kenji asked.

“Dave had a back up for me. He gave it to me in his truck and…” Ben stomped his foot. “Why did you do that? Who are you? You tormented me for months and hurt me and humiliated me and now you’re some wholesome big brother and want to be with your family?!”

“Ben—”

“I was just trying to survive and make sure my mom was comfortable and happy and the stress of all that made her sicker and—”

“Wait, what?”

Ben was crying and scrubbed at his face.

“She was really sick, Kenji…And she wasn’t getting better to begin with…” He said softly. “I knew she was gonna die. Dave knew too and…We didn’t have enough money to go to Seattle. She wanted to see it one more time and she couldn’t. So we moved with Dave back to San Antonio and…it didn’t help. You hurting me didn’t help! Why were you so awful to me?!”

Kenji stared at Ben and in the snow, and he saw the small, slight fifteen year old Ben. With paler skin and so thin Kenji could break him. With eyes rimmed with dark circles and a little pink from crying. In worn down clothes and secondhand shoes. And an old backpack held together by terribly stitched close tears.

But still…when he himself was only fifteen.

He had fallen in love.

He always smelled like basic fabric softener. His grades were always the best. The teachers liked him and he was always so quiet and reserved.

Kenji had asked him for a pencil and Ben had lent him a cheap dollar store pencil with a worn down pink eraser in the shape of a happy face on the end.

And Kenji had fallen in love with those big expressive eyes of his. How pink his cheeks got when he was flustered.

Why did he pick on Ben so much?

He felt his cheeks heat and he realized…Ben was still so expressive and kind. Could he fall in love again?

“I…I don’t know.” He whispered, more to himself.

Ben sniffed and crossed his arms.

“So what now?”

“…Do you want to leave?”

“…Let’s just stick it out.” Ben said. “Get your money and just…”

“I’m still helping you with your shop.” Kenji said.

“What?” Ben asked. “No, don’t do this out of guilt—”

“You needed it.” Kenji said. “From guys like me.”

Ben stared at the taller man as he took a step closer.

“You needed a safe place away from me. And so do other kids. And maybe…Maybe I needed that place too.” He said. “To teach me to be���better.”

“Kenji…” Ben sighed. “Let’s just put it behind us. It’s exhausting thinking back on that day.”

“Ben…for what its worth…I’m so sorry. I swore from that day on I would never treat anyone like that again. And now Carmen..”

“…You swore?” Ben asked, looking skeptical.

“I did. I never want to see anyone cry like you did. Never.”

Ben sighed. “Okay. Come here and hug me.”

“What?”

“Carmen has been peeking through the blinds and if we want to sell this…”

Kenji huffed and shook his head before enveloping Ben in a tight hug. Ben wrapped his hands around the others neck, closing his eyes.

“By the way, your Dad is totally my type.” Ben whispered and Kenji sputtered, pulling away as Ben laughed.

  “Everything ok, boys?” Candy asked when they came back in.

“Yeah. Ben was just finky about his Christmas present.”

“Present?” Candy asked, turning to mix something in a pot.

“Uh, yeah…I uh, planned to get him…a…a…” He looked at Ben who frowned and shrugged.

“A dog!” Ben yelled, panicked.

“A dog?” Candy asked, turning. “Kenji, how sweet! You two are already becoming pet parents!”

“Y-Yeah.” Kenji said. “He didn’t want a pure bred. He wanted a rescue.”

“Oh, Ben.” Candy cooed. “How sweet. You two should have Owen take you to the city to see if anyone sparks your interest.”

“T-Today?” Kenji asked.

“Carmen has been wanting to go into town to get some comic books or something. I’ll give her some spending money.” She said. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, we can bond!” Kenji said nervously.

“…Son, you’re yelling an awful lot.” Candy said. “I’ll ring Owen, you go tell your sister she has twenty minutes to get ready.”

“Yeah, sure, come on Ben.” Kenji said, leading Ben into the hall.

When they were far enough, Kenji looked at Ben. “A dog?”

“I panicked and just blurted out something.” Ben whispered back.

“Do you even like dogs?”

“I love dogs! I’ve always wanted an emotional support animal and we can even have one for the shop.”

“…as your investor, I have to agree with this idea.” Kenji huffed. “Studies have shown dogs to help in emotional therapy and with stressed children and teens.”

He was about to go up the stairs when he noticed his sister waiting at the door dressed in a raincoat over a sweater and matching boots.

He chuckled and sighed. “Okay, lets go.”

  Carmen walked around happily as they shopped around the mall.

She had them stop every so often to take pictures together.

“I haven’t seen you take this many pictures since before I left.” Kenji said as they sat on a bench.

Carmen was moving her manga from her shopping bags into her backpack. She folded the plastic bags and put them in a pocket inside her backpack.

“I didn’t have any reason to. But since you’re here, I might as well take as many as I want. Who knows when I’ll see you again!” She said, but frowned. “Oh…I didn’t mean…”

“I get it.” Kenji said and touched her shoulder.

Ben walked up to them with a tray of lemonades and soft baked pretzels. “Hungry?”

Carmen nodded and accepted the food with a grin. “Kenji, you’re so lucky you have Ben!”

Kenji blushed and looked at Ben as he took a pretzel. “I know.”

“I need to get one more thing. Wait here?” She asked.

“Sure.” Kenji said and Ben sat next to him. “Thanks. She looks so happy.”

“Of course. I like Carmen. And your parents are cool too. You have a really great family.” Ben said. “Can I ask…”

DING!

Ben looked down to see Carmen had left her phone on the bench. He picked it up to see a message on facebook.

How sad is it your brother’s so hot and you’re not?

Ugh, even his boyfriend looks like a loser.

Queen Kon looks even fatter than before, lol.

Ben gasped and dropped the phone on Kenji’s lap.

Kenji picked it up and paled when he read the messages.

“Carmen…she’s still being bullied…” He whispered.

He looked at Ben.

“Tell me…”

“She’s gonna feel trapped and scared and try to fight off her negativity. But cyber bullying is a whole other ballgame. If you report them, they’ll just make new profiles.” Ben said softly. “And come at you harder. And you can try to talk to their parents, but most likely, seeing from what class and area they come from, they wont face too much punishment…”

“So what can she do?”

“She needs time for now.” Ben said. “Maybe after all this, we can talk to her about it.”

“Okay.” Kenji said, deleting the messages and blocking them.

  Owen opted to wait in the indoor car park with their coats while they went into the shelter, Carmen excitedly looking at the toys and leashes.

“Right this way, please.” A tired looking man said softly, leading them to the back.

The smell of kibble and wet fur hit Ben first, then the loud sound of the dogs barking.

He looked around at the dogs.

There were so many and it was so loud—

Kenji took Ben’s hand and looked down at him.

“You good?”

“Um, yeah.” He said, noticing Carmen staring at them.

“Guys, look!” She suddenly said and walked up to a pen labeled “Bumpy”.

Inside was a terrier mix with a short crooked looking ear and matted fur.

“Poor thing…” Ben whispered.

“Just got her a bit ago. Not a lot of people want her because of the ear. It makes her waddle since her hearing is a little off.” The employee said. “But she’s really energetic and great with kids. And she’s been here two months.”

He looked at them.

“And two and a half is our limit before we send them to the other shelter.”

“We’ll take her.” Ben said quickly and Carmen cooed as the pup lifted her head.

“Hey, Carm, go pick a few things for her?”

“I’ll throw in some of the food she’s use to.” The employee said as Carmen sped off.

He lifted Bumpy and held her to Ben. “We were going to get her to a groomer. But she never let anyone with scissors near her.”

“I know someone!” Kenji said. “Can we groom her here?”

“Sure.”

  Owen sighed as he finished clipping away the extra fur off Bumpy. 

She now looked like the mix of a jack russel terrier and a rottweiler, short and barrel chested with a curled tail and pointed nose. She panted happily, freshly bathed and wearing a mint green leather collar with a spotted bow where the matching leash clipped. Kenji had made her tags and put the lighthouse as her place of residence, along with a bone shaped name tag with her name engraved on it.

“The vet checked her last week, so she’s good to go. She’s housebroken and good in public places, but I wouldn’t keep her out all day. Once you get home, just let her run around and get familiar with her surroundings for a good thirty six hours.” He said. “Thank you for giving her a home. I think you’ll make each other really happy.”

Carmen was taking pictures with Bumpy, sending them to her parents before she went to pick more toys for her seasonal housemate.

“Yeah.” Ben said as Carmen found a doggie raincoat and boot set that looked similar to hers. “Thank you.”

[lickrustdavid]

Should I Walk By Again A hockey game, a slowly-failing business, talks of skin care, and a mutual crush.  Rated E  3.2k AO3

+ + +

David only comes to these stupid hockey games for Alexis. She’s been to almost every single game since she and Ted started dating, and once they got engaged she started inviting David. He’s really not into sports at all and doesn’t understand how anyone can find that much physical endurance fun. This is only his fifth week coming, wrapped in his warm sweater as he sits on the cold bleachers, hot chocolate warming his hands. 

“Remind me again why I’m here?” David huffs, glaring at Alexis, who’s got Ted's other jersey on. She looks cute, he has to admit, wearing her fiancés too-big jersey in support, her blond hair curled and falling down past her shoulders. 

“Uhm, because David, I told you- Ted told me he wished you’d come because then it could be a family thing,” she looks at him with her eyebrows raised. “He’s told me like twenty times the past month how hes always excited to see you here. You’re going to be brother in laws soon, he just wants to be part of the family.” 

“Right,” David frowns. “But couldn't we do something else together? Like...I bet he’d like manicures! Or I could shop with him for new clothes?” 

“Da-vid!” 

“Fine! I’ve been here the past month haven’t I? I even watched that one guy break his arm? That was traumatizing Alexis!” 

Alexis rolls her eyes. “Whatever David. Just…” her expression softens a little, going kind of shy. “I just want him to feel like there’s more than one person rooting for him in the family. I know Mom and Dad like him, but I also know Mom will never come to a game, and Dad’s so busy with the motel…” she trails off, eyes darting all over the large ice house. 

“I suppose,” David sighs, looking like he’s about to regret his next words. “I suppose that there could be worse things to be doing. We’re at least in the city, and there’s food here, so…” 

“Thank you David,” Alexis brightens up, watching the game. He grumbles about being hungry and gets up to go find a pretzel. He’s not been paying attention to the game, too busy texting Stevie and browsing Instagram. Looking at the scoreboard, he sees their team is up four points to Lancaster. That’s good right? Promising? Maybe? He stands in line, deciding next time he’s inviting Stevie too. After getting his pretzel and making it back to the stands, he tries to actually watch the game, begrudgingly letting Alexis take a pinch of the pretzel, too. 

Because they’re in Elm Glenn (which is where Ted and Jake both play, because it’s the closest minor league hockey team), their team is in their home jerseys, dark blue. David watches most of the team start going towards the opposite goal, Lancaster in all white jerseys. Ted, number 12, is speeding down the rink along side another guy, who hits the puck into the goal, completely missing the goalie, going straight into the net on the upper right corner. 

“...and newcomer Brewer makes the shot! The Guardian’s win!!” The commentator says into the mic. Everyone on their side of the rink yells and claps and hollers. David claps a little, but not too much, because that would mean possibly dropping his pretzel, and that’s absolutely not happening. Alexis is bouncing up and down on her heels, grinning widely. Ted is good for her, David thinks. He’s known this for a long time, but it’s reaffirmed now, seeing how happy she is. He tries not to think about his own love life, or lack thereof, and takes another bite. 

A good twenty minutes later, Ted is walking up to them, sweaty and red faced, but happy. He’s got shoes on now, instead of his skates. “You did so good, babe! Like...so good!” 

“Yeah...you did great,” David offers, wishing half heartedly that he knew more about hockey so he could at least seem like he knew what he was talking about. 

Ted leans in close to Alexis for a quick kiss and then beams at David. 

“Thanks bud! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Oh, hey, hold on…” Ted walks a few paces over to where a guy that looks a little out of place is standing. He has on an Elm Glenn jersey too, but David’s not sure he’s ever seen him before. True, he rarely pays attention to the players, but this man is beautiful, he knows he would have noticed him before.

“Guys, this is Patrick. He’s been on the team since Tuesday, since Mark broke his arm. He was great though wasn’t he? That last shot was golden!” 

Alexis shakes his hand and compliments him, but David’s barely aware of it all, as he stares at the guy- Patrick. As he stares at Patrick. He’s smaller than Ted, but still muscular, his brown hair wavy, like maybe if he grew it out, he’d have curls. His eyes are a warm brown, and when David meets them he has to look away, the intensity too much. 

“Hi, I’m David...Alexis’s brother,” David is suddenly very aware of the older Givenchy sweater he’s wearing, sure he probably looks more dingy than he’d like. “You uhm...you played great!” Played great? Come on Rose. Jesus. 

“David...nice to meet you,” Patrick’s smile is more of a smirk, kind of cocky. “Thank you. I was nervous to start on the team, but everyone’s been great. I live in Schitt’s Creek too, just moved here. Ted and Jake have been great.” 

“Oh! You should totally come have dinner with us then,” Alexis pipes up, looking at David with a knowing smile. “We’d love to get to talk more, wouldn't we David?” 

David shoots her a withering glare. “Yeah. You should come.” 

“Oh, I don’t want to intr-“ 

“It’s a tradition! Seriously, it’ll be fun. I insist,” Ted speaks up, his golden retriever attitude coming out. David snorts as Patrick looks a little overwhelmed. 

“Sure, I’ll come.” 

“Great!! We’ll meet you at the cafe?” Alexis wraps an arm around Ted. After a nod from Patrick, both men go back to the locker room to change. 

“What the fuck, Alexis?” 

Alexis has the audacity to just shrug. David is going to kill her, and her weird ability to seem to be able to read his mind. 

“Look, Ted told me he’s single, just broke up with his like...high school on again off again girlfriend or something. And he’s super nice, and kind of hot, in a weird, cute way. All I’m saying, is it might be good for you to put yourself out there.” 

David rolls his eyes, fighting the urge to shake her. “One problem- you said girlfriend. Clearly he’s not into guys.” 

“Wow, okay, you of all people should know not to judge. From what Ted’s told me, he’s bi. They were talking about celebrity crushes or something while practicing and Patrick said he’d die to kiss Sebastian Stan, sooo….” 

At least his taste in celebrities isn’t awful, David thinks. “He’s not going to be into me. I’m like, the furthest thing away from Sebastian Stan. But whatever. We’re getting dinner with him. Let’s go.” 

The forty five minute drive is filled with 90’s pop music and Alexis talking about Jared Leto’s apparent new yacht. They get to the cafe and sit in their usual booth, but when Twyla sits the usual three menus down, Alexis grins. “Actually, Twy, we need another tonight. One of Ted’s teammates is coming too.” 

“Oh! Okay! That’s really nice of you guys, I know when Jake tried to-“ 

“Jake’s different from this guy, we have a...history,” David grimaces, trying to push the weird thruple memory out of his head. A few moments after Twyla’s put the other menu down and headed back to the kitchen, Ted walks in, followed shortly after by Patrick, and oh...okay. Wow. Patrick looks amazing in his deep blue sweater and khakis. Usually not the type of thing David’s into (he tried dating that one jcrew model back in his early twenties but…), but it suits Patrick, and he looks especially...cozy. 

Alexis kisses Ted’s cheek when he sits, and David scoots down on his side to let Patrick have room. He smells like cedar, citrus and...oak moss, maybe? David’s mind flashes to one of the Burberry colognes he’d sampled a while back while at the mall with Stevie. 

“When did you move here?” Alexis asks Patrick, as they all browse over the menu. He looks up and smiles. 

“Two weeks ago.” 

“Oh wow, so you’re like...really new,” she laughs a little.

“Yeah, uhm,” Patrick clears his throat. “I uh...needed a change. So I came here. I work for Ray Butani?” 

Both Alexis and David groan, making Patrick and Ted laugh. 

“He’s not that bad,” Patrick tries to defend his boss. “I mean...he’s a talker, that’s for sure, but...what do you guys do?” 

Alexis starts rambling about Interflix and her PR stuff, and David tunes her out, thinking about what she’d said earlier about Patrick being single. He’s pulled out of his thoughts when a hand touches his shoulder. Patrick’s looking at him, a mix of amusement and worry on his face

“What?”

“I asked what you did,” he laughs a little, lips quirking up. David blushes and sees Alexis talking to Ted. 

“Oh...oh, uhm. I own Rose Apothecary, across the street.” 

Patrick’s eyebrows raise. “Wow, that’s...amazing. I haven’t been in yet, but I’ve walked by, it seems really nice. I’ll have to stop in,” he assures, and David feels his heart stutter. 

“Oh..you don’t...you don’t have to. It’s a lot of face care and candles and…” he trails off, thinking Patrick wouldn’t be interested in anything his store has to offer. 

“And what makes you think I’m not into that kind of stuff? I mean...I know my skin could use some work but...maybe you could recommend some stuff…” Patrick looks hesitant. 

“Your skin is good, especially if you don’t do anything to it,” David frowns. “But...yes, I’d be happy to help. Your t-zone could use work.” He watches pink blossom on Patrick’s neck and cheeks. Cute. 

“You should stop in before it’s closed,” Alexis pipes in, and David kicks her under the table, glaring. “What? I’m being realistic David. I don’t want it to close either, but..” 

Patrick is looking at him, frowning. “Why would it be closing?” 

“Uhm….well...I don’t,” David groans, wishing he could smack Alexis. Of course he now has to explain to this cute stranger why his business is failing. “I’m not great with numbers? And my dad...he’s trying to help. He co-owns the motel with my best friend Stevie. But…” he trails off, feeling his whole face heat up. 

“Oh,” Patrick suddenly looks much more worried. “I went to school for business...I’m really good at forecasting numbers, I can take a look if you want?”

David isn’t sure whether to be amazed or insulted or embarrassed. He’s maybe all three. “As nice as that is, I think I can handle it on my own, but thank you,” he clears his throat, then gives Patrick a small smile, hoping he’s not offended him. 

“Of course David, sorry for overstepping.” 

At that moment, they’re interrupted by Twyla, who takes their orders. David expects Patrick to order a beer, but is surprised to hear him order mint tea. It’s a pleasant change from every other guy he’s met here. The dinner is easy with Patrick there, the dynamic hasn’t changed. If anything, now David has someone to talk to while Alexis and Ted have little private moments. It’s nice. By the time they’re all outside in the cool autumn air, David’s surprised to find he doesn’t really want the night to end, happy that the slight awkwardness about his business hasn’t actually deterred the nice company. 

“It was great meeting you,” Patrick looks at the Rose’s, then turns to look at just David. “I might stop in soon, see about some new face care,” he winks, and David tries to stop from smiling. After saying by to Ted, Patrick gets in his silver Kia and drives off. Tonight has been a surprisingly good one, and with that, David goes to text Stevie. 

++++

“So, Alexis just told this guy all about your business having issues?” Stevie’s eyebrows are knitted together, eyes a little wide. “I mean...I knew she was stupid, but-“ 

“She just fucking trashed my whole store. In front of him!” 

“And what did he say?” Stevie leans over the front desk, watching As David paces around the small check in. He feels antsy, like if he doesn’t keep moving he’s going to fall into the pit of despair he always falls into when something isn’t going the way he’s planned. 

“He offered to help? Which, who does that?! Who offers to help a complete and total stranger with their financial issues? It was mortifying,” he huffs, shaking his head. “He works for Ray, apparently. Just moved here two weeks ago,” David adds, chewing on his lip. 

“Well...I don’t know David. I know it’s a little sketchy, but. If your dads not even having luck, maybe it couldn’t hurt? You said he went to school for business?” 

David widens his eyes, mouth open. “Are you siding with him?!” His hands fly upwards. 

“No! No...I just,” Stevie looks away. “You’ve worked so hard, and the store is amazing. I don’t want to see you fail.” 

Feeling a lump in his throat, David blinks rapidly, then rubs his eyes. “...I guess it couldn’t hurt...to at least see what he has to say,” he decides. “Thank you...for believing in me.” 

“Of course, I’m your best friend. What else am I going to do? You need to talk to him,” Stevie gives him another small smile. “Okay, too much emotion. Go work.” 

“Thanks Stevie,” David calls as he leaves and heads over to the Apothecary for another day of what he’s sure will be slow business. He has to tamper down the smallest bit of hope that maybe, Patrick Brewer can help him. 

++++

As expected, business is slow, but not slower than normal. There’s been the few stragglers, but also a handful of people buying body milk or new candles. The bell chimes while David is eating a sandwich, and it takes a moment for him to swallow and go out. If it’s Jocelyn, he swears he’s going to tell her they’re closed. Stepping out from behind the curtain, he freezes. Patrick is standing at the middle table, a bottle of the body milk in his hand, reading the label. 

“What can I help you with?” David walks over, smiling. Patrick’s eyes find his own, the man's face lighting up. He’s wearing Levi jeans and a light blue sweater today, and while usually that kind of mid range denim and sweater would make him cringe, seeing it on Patrick isn’t bad- it suits him. 

“David! It’s so different from what I pictured, but better,” Patrick assures. “It’s calming...an oasis in the desert of Schitt’s Creek.” 

“How philosophical of you,” David shakes his head a little. “But thank you, it...it’s something that helps living here, I guess,” he shrugs. Patrick nods, then looks around. 

“So...are you still willing to show me the skin care products you were raving about?” 

David nods and flits around, in his element now. He’s happy Patrick’s going to see him here, instead of a hockey game. He picks up a couple different glass jars and a tube. He can tell, as he shows everything to Patrick, that he’s out of his element, so David takes a breath and starts again. 

“This,” he holds up the first bottle. “This is for washing your face. It’s like the baseline of good skin care. Literally just use it twice a day, it’s easy, I promise. You can’t go wrong.” Patrick nods, which makes David laugh. “I know it’s overwhelming, but it gets easier.” 

“Next is your toner. All you have to do is put some on a cotton ball and swipe it all over your face. There’s a spray too, but the cotton ball lets you make sure you get it evenly everywhere. It takes off any left over face wash, balances oils, and evens skin tone. Lastly,” David holds up the little tube. “This is moisturizer. This one specifically is good for combination skin types. You probably get oily on your t-zone but dry out everywhere else. It’s also got spf 50 sunscreen in it, which will help protect your pale skin.” 

Patrick seems to actually be understanding this time, smiling along. “So face wash, toner, moisturizer. Got it. That’s pretty easy,” he says, and David nods. 

“Just remember not to wipe your face like...ever. Pat it dry. That’ll help not clog your pores. And cold water to rinse the face wash off.” David puts the three items up on the counter, watching as Patrick continues to look around. He stops at the scarves hanging on the back wall, touching the black one. 

“This is soft.” 

“100 percent cat hair,” David admits, making Patrick instantly drop it. “Allergic?” 

“Yeah, don’t really feel like going into a Benadryl induced coma right now,” Patrick laughs, scrunching his nose up. It should be illegal to be as cute as he is. 

“So, uhm,” David wrings his hands together as Patrick turns to look at him. His eyes are trained on David, making him feel exposed. “After talking with Stevie...I think...does your offer still stand on looking at some of the store’s numbers?” He’s nervous and embarrassed, staring at the floor, and then Patrick’s closer. 

“Of course, David. I’d be happy to. Just let me know a good time that works for you, and I’ll come over. It can be whenever, during store hours or not, I’d just be in the back anyway.” 

David lets out a sigh of relief. “I uhm...We could do Thursday, if you’re free?” He needs some time to tell his dad that he’s found someone to help, so he’s not blindsided and offended. 

“Sounds perfect to me,” Patrick looks at the tea at the front of the middle table and grabs a bag of the mint, setting it on the counter too. 

“Good choice. It’s popular,” David nods at the paper bag with the loose leaves in it. 

“Have you not had it?” 

“I am...not a fan of tea, I’d rather have coffee, like, injected into my blood,” David talks as he rings the items up. He glares a little at the laugh that comes from the other man's mouth. “Coffee is an essential way of getting my energy, I’ll have you know.” 

“Of course, David,” Patrick smirks, and okay, it should be illegal to be that cute, especially when he’s in a boring button down and Levi’s. “Thank you for the lesson on skin care, and I guess I’ll see you Thursday?” He looks like he wants to say something else but stops himself at the last second. Watching him walk out the door, and down the sidewalk, his breath catches when Patrick stops mid step, turn around, then pause. As if he’s talking to himself, Patrick bites his lip and then turns back around, decidedly walking away this time. David can’t help but let his mind wander to all the possibilities of what Patrick might have said, or why he would have come back, for the rest of the day. 

[lovelyrocker]

Love Is Blind Ch.8

~RPF

~Characters: Jarad Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Lexi Ackles

~Parings: Jared x Lexi

~Warnings: Age Gap, Underage Intimacy, Cursing, Jared being incredibly sweet.(Yes that needs a warning)

~Word Count: 4,086

Love Id Blind Masterlist

<Previous Chapter

The house was quiet as Lexi made her way downstairs that morning. The sun had fully risen above the mountains and the birds sang their songs. She made her way through the kitchen, making coffee and a small breakfast before leaving to go to the university. Normally Jared and Jensen would be digging around for food and laughing as they drank their coffee, but this morning they were nowhere to be found. She knew she hadn’t missed them because she had been up over and hour already.

As she began cooking her pancakes, she saw a figure running across the backyard. She glanced and Jared walked into the house, sweaty and breathing heavily from a morning run.

“Morning.” He said with a smile, pulling out his headphones.

“Morning.” She smiled back. “Coffee is fresh.”

“Why are you up so early?” He asked, his breath slowing back down.

“I have to turn in a few papers to the university and run a few errands. You going to work late?” She asked, handing him a cup of coffee. 

“No, I got back an hour and a half ago. We pulled an all nighter. Jensen is still there. He is getting a few hours before we start back up around three.”

“Then the last thing you need is coffee.” she said, smirking. “See, I told you I was bad for you. Now you won’t be able to sleep.”

Jared chuckled as he stood. “I’m going to go grab a shower.”

“Are you hungry? I can make you some pancakes before I go.”

“Sure.” He smiled that smile that made her heart jump.

He walked back downstairs twenty minutes later, fresh and with damp hair. She placed a  pancakes in front of Jared and he looked at her. “These look amazing.” 

They made small talk as they ate breakfast and drank their coffee. A small amount of nerves built up between them because they weren’t sure how to behave. It had been a few weeks since the snowstorm and they hadn’t talked about things between them since the morning after. Other than stolen glances and smiles, they remained platonic. 

Jared placed his plate in the sink as Lexi set her cup aside. “Skipping out on shaving?” She said, rubbing her hand along his chin.

“For now.” He smiled as she played with his stubble.As she turned Jared pulled her back by the waist and rubbed his stubble on the back of her neck making her giggle, goosebumps rising on her skin.

“Ah!” Lexi’s soft laugh echoed through the kitchen.

Turning in his arms, her eyes widened. “Oh crap!” She said, holding up his watch. “I need to get going.” She grabbed her bag and sweater.

Jared reached out a hand grabbing her waist. “Hey.” He placed a small kiss on her lips.“Have a good day.” He kissed her once more. “And thank you, for breakfast.” He added with a smile.

Lexi bit her lip and backed away. “You too, I mean you’re welcome.” She said as she turned and walked right into the chair before walking out of the house.

Jared chuckled at her sudden bashfulness. She was always able to control her nerves around him until it came to being physical in an intimate way. Then she got nervous. He had an effect on her even though she didn’t completely understand. He made her feel like she was floating on a cloud. Pulling into the university parking lot, her phone buzzed. She clicked it on to see a text from Jared.

Jared [7:59am]

 I hope I didn’t freak you out with the random kiss.

Lexi [7:59am]

Not at all. Just caught me off guard. I’m not used to affection like that. But I liked it.

Jared [7:59am] 

I can keep doing it if you’d like.

Lexi [8:00am]

I would.

~

More days passed and things continued to carry on as usual. Lexi was sitting on the couch concentrating hard on her book in her lap, taking notes diligently. Jared was sitting on the couch opposite her, observing her instead of the sports teams on the television. It had been a few weeks since the storm and still neither of them had brought up what happened since Jensen walked through the door the morning after. It was almost like it hadn’t happened. Aside from the stolen glances and smiles here and there. 

In her gray and plaid skirt that secretly drove Jared crazy, she sat with her feet on the table in front of her. He knees up with her note book propped up on her legs with another book to her side. Her hair was slightly in her face as she moved her eyes from book to book Jared nibbling on his lip slightly.  When her eyes darted to his he grinned.

"What?” She smiled at him.

“Oh, uh, nothing.” He said quickly shifting his attention back to the TV.

“Then why are you staring at me?”

“Just wondering what you are working on? You are very concentrated.”

“Trying to figure out this stupid equation. I officially hate math in general.” She huffed throwing her notebook aside. “Hey, weren’t you like a mathnerd in high school?”

Jared gave another laugh. “My mom is a teacher so I had a leg up.”

"Well, next time you see her, tell her I am still yet to use algebra in real life. Just an F.Y.I. But algebra was easy compared to this.”

Jared stood and walked over to her plopping down next to her. “Let me see.” Jared looked over her notebook and Y/N felt her cheeks flush a bit. The last time she was this close to Jared he was touching her in a way she’d never been touched before. His cologne was light but still filled her nose as her heart fluttered. “You did these backwards.” He pointed out. “Give me your pencil.” She placed it in his hand and watched carefully as he reworked the problem for her. “See?”

“You mean this whole time the problem was that simple?” She looked at him in disbelief.

“Yup.” He grabbed the remote and turned the volume up on the T.V.

“Well I feel like an idiot.”

"You’re not an idiot. You’re learning. I did the same thing when I did this.” He put an arm around her pulling her to him. 

Unsure how but over the next hour or so she ended up laying in Jared’s lap with his arm around her while he watched the game and she finished her school work. His long legs stretched out onto the table in front of them, her back pressed to his chest. His arm resting around her shoulders while her head rested on his arm. 

“Don’t forget to flip this.” Jared pointed out as she reworked her problem. 

“Like that?” She asked looking at him.

“Yup.” He took the pencil from her fingers and added a small heart next to the mess of numbers.

She smiled as he placed a small kiss to her head. “Who’s winning?”

“Not the cowboys.” He grunted.

“Awe,” She looked up and poked fun, giving his nose a little pinch on the end. “Your team is losing.”

He grabbed her hand with a smile. “Be nice. Or I won't help you with your work anymore.”

Jared leaned in a little closer unsure if he should kiss her. Then, almost as if she’d read his mind, she reached her hand up pulling him to her closing the distance. His lips were soft and gentle like satin sheets on freshly shaved legs. The feeling making her breath leave her. Shifting to face him, his hands drifting to her waist. Hers tangling in his hair. His tongue swept over hers as the kiss began to grow passionate.

“Hello?!” Jensen shouted as the door banged shut behind him. “Any one home?!”

They jumped apart, Y/N grabbing her notebook that had fallen to the floor. “In here!” Jared answered, the two of them looking casual.

“What’s up?” He eyes the two curiously.

“Uh, Cowboys lost and Y/N sucks at well, any form of mathematics.” Jared grinned.

"Not possible.” Jensen shook his head plopping down on the opposite couch.

“Only this!” She spoke up. “But Jared showed me what I was doing wrong and now it’s a piece of cake.” 

Jensen gave a chuckle. “You’re a genius, don’t worry. Toss me the remote.” He clapped his hands looking at Jared.

Jared tossed the controller to Jensen taking a breath relaxing into the sofa. Jensen flipped through the guide on screen, eyes focused ahead. Jared let his eyes linger toward Lexi, who was now sitting on the opposite side of the couch. He watched her take an uneven breath, he face slightly flushed. His eyes focused in on her lips, his mind still fuzzy at the thought of his lips on hers. When she looked up at him he gave her a soft grin, one that she returned before turning her attention back to her book.

~

The sun was setting over the mountains as Lexi sat cross-legged on the back patio, headphones in, her arms stretched overhead. Jared had just walked in from filming. He placed his jacket on the couch and noticed Lexi outside. He paused at the back door and watched her with a smile for a few minutes before walking out. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Lexi gasped looking up. “Geez, you scared me.” She said, placing a hand on her chest.

“Sorry.” He smiled, sitting next to her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.

“It’s okay,” She took her headphones out. “What are you doing back so early?”

“I’m done for the day. I actually have a light week this week. What about you?”

“Trying to stretch out a bit. Taking a little break. Finals are killing me.” She stretched again.

“Come here.” He said, turning a bit, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Wow, you weren’t lying, your muscles are in knots.” He worked out the tension. “I have an idea. How about you take the night off from studying and I take you to dinner?”

Lexi froze and turned to look at Jared. “Dinner?”

“Yeah, and maybe a movie or something?”

“Like a- a date? Are you sure?” Jared looked at her oddly. “Like in public?”

“That’s not normally the reaction I get when I ask a girl on a date.” He jested, watching her cheeks turn pink. “And, we won’t be all over each other, But yeah, a low key date.”

“I-uh- okay.” He could tell she was nervous. “But how will we pull that off?”

“I know people.” He smiled. ”Go get changed and we’ll head out.”

She stood and started towards the house. “Um, how should I dress?” she turned back to him.

He bit his lip in contemplation. “Nice, casual.”

Lexi ended up in a black, cinched waist, A-line skirt and a slim fit, gray, v-neck long sleeve wrap top and black ankle boots. She changed four times, unsure of what to wear. She walked downstairs and saw Jared in a dark blue button down and black slacks.

"You look amazing.” He said with a heavy breath.

“You, too.” She blushed.

In the car, Jared kept stealing glances as he tried to play it cool. He hadn’t been this nervous on a first date in a long time. “So, I know I said low key, but being our first date, I thought we could go to that French restaurant downtown.”

“Don’t you need reservations for that place?”

“Not when you know the owner.” He grinned. “And we would have a private table.”

“Wouldn’t that raise a red flag?”

“No. I told him I was taking Jensen’s little sister out because of the whole finals thing. Said you needed a break and you’ve been dying to go there.”

“Well played, Sir.” She smiled at him with a nod.

~

Jared’s friend ushered them in and sat them at their table. Jared talked to him for a moment, and then they were alone. The table was nice and they were off to the side on a balcony, completely away from other guests. Lexi gave a sigh in relaxation as the server came out and placed a bottle of red wine next to the table.  Jared poured them both a glass.

“Jared, you know I’m not old enough to drink.” She spoke in a low voice.

"Shh. It’s one glass and you aren’t driving.” He slid a glass toward her with a sly smile.

They talked about the most random topics during dinner. It didn’t take long for them to relax and become comfortable with each other, to stop thinking about what they should and shouldn’t be doing. At some point during their dinner, they began rubbing feet and h a little flirtatious. A bottle of wine later, they were leaving and walking in the park.

“Hey, instead of a movie, how about we check out some of the local music places and see a few sites. I’ve never really had the time to just explore.”

“Anything you want, baby girl.” He smiled looking down at her.

Lexi’s stomach flipped when he said that. Babygirl. That was the first time he called her something that wasn’t generic, like a friend. Normally it would be sweetie or hon, the kind of things that you call your best friend's little sister. But this was different. This had feeling behind it. This was just for her and it made her heart flutter and her stomached danced.

They walked around, listening to local bands play on the riverwalk and watching the street performers do their bits. The scenery was beautiful the way Jared was looking at her gave her a buzz no bottle of expensive wine could top. He’d brush his hand against hers and or even his shoulder. Sneaking in little touches when he could. Lexi wasn’t sure what she should or shouldn’t do  with Jared, so she let him take the lead tonight.

They’d nearly walked throughout the whole park, the trail lit up by thousands of twinkling lights. Soft music played through the speakers near the coffee shop in the distance.

“I love that song.” Lexi gave a silly smile.

“Savage Garden?” Jared raised an eyebrow.

 “Yes! How can you not like them?”

“I do, I actually love this song. I’m just surprised you even know who they are.”

“Unlike most in my generation, I appreciate good music.” Jared stood and held out his hand. Lexi looked at him confused. “What?”

“Dance with me.”

“With all these people around?”

Jared shifted his eyes around them. “What people?” Lexi looked around only seeing a few people off in the distance far enough away to not even know who they were. “We are off to the side. No one will notice.” He took her hand and pulled her into his arms.

Jared took her hand into his and draped the other over his shoulder. Jared gently held her to him, his hand on the small of her back. She looked up at him, his eyes shining like an aqua twilight. She bit her lip and leaned her head into him, his lips near her temple. Jared began to softly hum the melody of ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ as they swayed to the faint sound of the music, then Lexi gave a soft giggle.

“What?” Jared asked looking down at her.

“This is like a scene from every 90s teen movie.”

“You saying I’m cheesy?”

“I’m saying I have a thing for 90s teen flicks.”

“Good.” He smiled into her hair pulling her back closely.

 After the song, Lexi took a step back and gave a little stumble. “Whoa, you okay? I should get you home. I may have let you drink a little too much wine.”

“No, I'm fine. Just not good in heels. And I am enjoying this way too much.” Her cheeks reddened. “ And to be honest, I really want to kiss you and out here I have to restrain myself so-”

“So you are using the public as self control?” He watched her cheeks redden more. He looked around, scanning before he looked back to her. “Tell you what, come here.” He took her hand and led her behind some bushes. When he stopped, he grabbed her lips with his in a deep, passionate kiss. Lexi’s knees began to feel weak and Jared pushed her against a tree to help steady her. She wrapped her hands around his neck as his tongue took control over hers. His hand cupped her face as he nipped at her bottom lip. Jared pulled back, his breath hot on her lips. “You aren’t the only one holding back.”

They walked from the back of the bushes and Jared stopped by the little coffee stand and got them each a cup of coffee. As they walked back with their coffees a few fans noticed Jared and politely asked for autographs and pictures. The girls’ excitement drew a few more fans. Jared quickly grew concerned that Lexi would get annoyed because, after all, this was a date. But to his surprise, she didn’t. Instead, she interacted with the fans and offered to take pictures with their phones. She was recognized by a few as ‘Jensen’s little sister’ and she didn’t mind. Jared and Lexi used the cover of her taking a break from finals and Jared making sure she stayed away from the school books for one night so her head wouldn’t explode.

When they were on their way home, the music played softly through the car speakers as the snow began falling outside. “It sure does snow a lot here.” Lexi looked out the window.

“You get used to it after awhile.” Jared said, seeing the way she watched the falling flakes through the window. He reached and slipped his hand in hers, lacing their fingers. Lexi turned, looking at their hands then at Jared. “Is this okay?” Even though they’s just made out in the bushes and had sex, Jared still asked that she was okay with him holding her hand. She loved how considerate he always was with her.

When they got back to the house they noticed Jensen was still out. Lexi slide her coat from her shoulders, Jared stepping behind her slipping it off the rest of the way, hanging it on the coat rack. “I know I need to study, but I don’t want to.” Lexi exhaled sliding her heels off, heading towards the stairs.

“Then don’t.” Jared grabbed her hand. “Just because we’re home, the date doesn’t have to be over.”

She stopped at the bottom step, turning to him. “What would you like to do then?” She asked as Jared took a step closer.

He leaned down and kissed her gently. “How about,” he kissed her again “we go to my bedroom and you get out of those clothes.” Lexi froze and pulled away a bit. She went to speak but Jared, keeping his hand firmly around her waist, placed his index finger over her lips and Lexi swallowed hard. “I want you in my bed,” he looked at her sternly, his voice still thick and sensual, ”and out of those clothes,” he gave her a devilish smile “and into some pajamas, because we are binge watching Star Wars for the rest o the night.” His tone changed from husky to playful. With a smile he turned and climbed the stairs pausing at the top, Lexi still at the bottom step with a look of shock and relief mixed together. “What?”

“Nothing.” She walked up the stairs. “I-I just thought you were-” Her cheeks still flushed a rose colored as she reached the top.

“Thought what?” He smiled. “Hinting at sex? We said we’d take it slow. Get your mind out of the gutter.” He said playfully as he walked to his room.

Not too long after, she walked into Jared’s room in her Foo Fighters tee and her running shorts. “I have gummy bears and sour strips.” She said, tossing the bags on the bed. “I also have a question.” She asked, climbing in the bed as Jared walked out of his bathroom in a white v-neck shirt and pajama pants. “How did you know I would be into to Star Wars?”

He smirked, crawling into the bed a guilty smile. “Because I saw your R2D2 panties in the wash yesterday.”

“I knew you were one of those creepy guys that steal girls’ underwear.” She teased laying back in the bed.

Jared climb on the bed kneeling over her. “Yeah, totally.” He let out a laugh and grabbed her side. Lexi grabbed his hands letting out a giggle, wrestling with him until he was hovering on top of her, his hands over hers, fingers laced together. 

When Lexi’s shirt lifted, Jared’s eye caught the nearly healed fingerprint bruises on her ribs. He stopped and his smile faded. He brought a hand down, running his fingers over the yellowing marks. “Does it hurt still?”

“No.” She shook her head. “The never really hurt.” He lowered his lips and pressed feather light kisses over the bruises. Lexi stiffened as goosebumps rose on her skin. ”Stop.” She said shyly exhaling sharply. “That- um...”

“That turns you on.” his voice was husky. She nodded, looking down at him as he kissed her body again. He moved across her belly, peeking through his hair that fell into his eyes. Lexi bit down on her bottom lip as he moved toward her neck. The feeling heating her skin sending a spark through her core.

When he reached her lips, she took him in with a feverish passion that left him breathless. Before they realized, Jared had her on the bed, pulling her shorts down her thighs. When he tossed her shorts away she pushed him back and straddled his lap, rubbing against him in all the right ways

“Wait, wait.” Jared said, pulling away as Lexi continued to kiss down his neck. “Wh- what happened to going slow?”

“Shut up.” She said pulling up his shirt.. “Take this off.” 

He dropped his hands to her ass and gripped hard, not like he needed to, because Lexi was grinding against him so roughly that he was damn near ready to explode. Lexi slid fingers into his waistband and lowered his pajamas. Jared gripped her panties and pulled, tearing them at the seam. He lifted her with an arm, her hands bracing herself on his broad shoulders. He lowered her slowly onto his erection, Lexi letting out a whimper as he slid inside of her. The stretch of him burned Lexi not stopping until she was fully filled by his erection. He gave her a second to allow her passage to mold to his length, her face buried into his neck. Another whimper escaped her as he began thrusting, careful not to hurt her. He lifted his hands tilting her face to look at him. She winced as he rock his hips  upward.

“You okay?” He pushed her hair from her dampening face.

“Yeah.” She breathed out heavily.

“Am I hurting you?”

She shook her head. “Don’t stop.”

He caught himself several times holding on a little too hard. After Lexi had adjusted, she began moving quickly adapting to his rhythm. Jared revelled in the sight of her throwing her hair back as she rode him. He held her close to him, never letting her go as they moved together panting, moaning. Jared let out an almost guttural sounding moan as Lexi began to climax. She dug her nails into his shoulders as his name fell from her lips in the softest breath of a whisper.

~

Hours later Jensen walked up the stairs at nearly three a.m. He peeked his head into Lexi’s room and saw it empty. Rubbing his eyes with a furrowed brow, he heard noise from Jared’s room. Pushing the door open, he saw the end titles and theme music to Star Wars playing on the TV. He walked into the room and saw Lexi laying on her side and Jared laying on his back, as if they’d simply fallen asleep while watching the movie. Jensen moved the candy bags from the bed and shut off the TV before heading to his room. Lexi stirred with the sound of the door closing and moved closer to Jared. Jared simply turned and pulled her into him.

Next Chapter>

TAGS: @saxxxyjared @onethirstyunicorn @xostephanie

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

Sexiled (Part 7/23) ~ Steve Rogers x Reader College!AU

A/N: Hi lovelies!  More Sexiled! :) Hope everyone has a great week. 

Summary: Getting to know the important people in Steve’s life. Aka parent’s weekend with your not boyfriend 

Rating: T

Warnings: Nothing really, probably language 

Word count: 1798 

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

“Looks like traffic from Brooklyn to Boston on a Friday afternoon was worse than they thought. They’re still in Connecticut,” Bucky reported at 5:30. “Becca says it’ll probably be two more hours.”

Steve frowned but nodded.

“I’ll call and see if we can move our reservation.”

“Good plan, but I’m starving. I’m going to go to the dining hall. You two coming?”

“I ate after lab. Sweetness?”

“Not that hungry,” you yawned.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I ate a ton after the exam.”

“Alright. Well I’m going to head down there then.”

Steve was already dialing the restaurants number so Bucky waved and left. You hopped down from the bed and he looked at you questioningly. You mouthed “bathroom” at him and slipped out of the room as the host answered the phone.

When you returned Steve was sprawled out on the bean bag chair flipping through his phone.

“Did they move the reservation?” you asked as you kicked your boots off and shrugged out of your sweater.

“Yup. We will now be seated at 8:30.”

“Perfect.”

You settled yourself between his legs, leaning back on his right thigh so you could look at him. He smiled softly as he scrubbed a hand over his face.  

“You look tired, love.”

“I am. The labs were killer today.”

“Yeah, this week was bad,” you agreed.

“Do you want to watch some more supernatural?”

You weighed the options, grimacing slightly.

“I’m taking that as a no,” he chuckled as he rubbed circles into your lower back.

“I’m just not really awake for it. Something less mentally taxing?”

“Scooby Doo?”

“Perfect.”

“Witch’s Ghost?”

You nodded excitedly and shifted on the bean bag so you were leaning fully against him. He reached for the remote and turned on the movie before settling his arms around your waist.

Neither of you had realized how much the three almost all-nighters had gotten to you, and soon you were fast asleep.

You woke to a bright flash.

“Becca,” someone hissed as you rubbed your eyes trying to get your bearings.

“The flash wasn’t supposed to be on,” someone whispered back.

As you blinked away the blurriness your eyes widened and your stomach dropped. You scrambled to your feet waking Steve in the process. Bucky seemed to be unsure whether he was amused or apologetic. You fiddled with your dress and tried to discreetly smooth your hair down.

“Oh hey everybody.” He grinned, unfazed as he hopped to his feet and hugged his mom. “I’m so glad you could come, ma.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

When he let go of her, he reached out and slipped his hand in yours tugging you closer.

“Everyone, this is y/n. She’s my best girl.” You hadn’t been sure how he was going to introduce you, but the term had a warm feeling settle in your stomach. “Y/n, this is my mom.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Rogers.”

“Sarah,” she corrected. “Please. And I’m so glad I finally get to meet you. You’re even prettier than your picture.”

You bit your lip as you glanced up at Steve. His cheeks were pink and he nudged you towards Mr. Barnes.

“And this is Bucky’s dad.”

“George,” the older gentleman supplied with a kind smile. You could see where Bucky got his looks from.

“You can call me, Winnie, dear,” Bucky’s mother offered as she took your hand and squeezed it in both of hers.

“And I’m Becca. We’ve heard so much about you,” Bucky’s little sister gushed surging forward to hug you, making you drop Steve’s hand to embrace her.  

“Bex, chill,” Bucky laughed.

She pulled back, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Sorry.”

“Oh be quiet, Bucky. I’m really excited to meet you too,” you told her with a genuine smile.

 Your nerves settled fairly quickly once you got to dinner. Sarah and Bucky’s family were so kind – hardly a surprise knowing their sons, but it still put you at ease.

“So you’re studying biology as well?”

“Yes, I am.”

“And are you premed too?” George asked.

“No, I ruled that path out a while ago. I do want to be in the medical field just on the other side of it.”

“Injuring people?” Bucky teased and you rolled your eyes, but smiled good-naturedly.

“Research,” you explained. “Regenerative medicine, to be exact. But even that is still broad so I’m still trying to figure out my future.”

“That’s very impressive, Y/n. Now what exactly is regenerative medicine?”

“The area I’m interested in basically strips something like a skin cell back to its most basic state where it can become any cell type. It hasn’t made what are called cell fate decisions.”

“And how does that help?”

“Well, by itself it doesn’t really. But the goal is to discover what specific factors cause these cell fate decisions and induce them in the pluripotent cells to create whatever type we want. The end goal being to recreate tissue and even organs that won’t be rejected by patients because it’s their own DNA. But that’s a long way down the road.”

They asked a fair amount of questions and you ended up spending the next twenty minutes explaining the research you someday dreamed of doing. You were so engrossed in what you were talking about that you didn’t notice the slightly awed look Steve was giving you. Bucky didn’t take much notice, that was how Steve always looked at you when you weren’t paying attention, but the rest of the family certainly did.

“How do you choose something like this? I’ve never even heard of it,” Sarah wondered.

“I sort of fell into it. I was reading for bio class junior year about cell fate decisions, and I had this thought – what if we could decide which cell type something would become? We could do so much. I thought I was so original, and then I found out there was a whole field dedicated to doing just that.”

“That’s amazing.”

“It was a welcome discovery if I’m honest. I thought I would end up in medicine, but the prospect of working directly with patients was a bit daunting. This way I’ll get to stay in the field and focus on the science. Assuming everything goes to plan."

“So you want to save the world?” Winnie deduced.

“As much of it as I can,” you announced proudly.

“You two really are well matched,” George chuckled as he looked between you and Steve.

“There’s a reason she’s my best girl.”

 “Thanks again for letting me stay with you tonight, y/n.”

“Of course. I’m glad we get to hang out for a bit.”

“Sorry if I was kind of overzealous earlier. It’s just the way Bucky and Steve talk about you, I knew you’d be really cool,” she mumbled as she played with the end of her braid.

“You weren’t at all. I promise. It was actually a relief. I was super nervous about meeting you guys.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “Why were you nervous?”

“I wanted to make a good impression. Though I probably didn’t do a great job of that.”

“Because you two were asleep when we came in?”

You bit your lip and nodded.

“It was honestly really cute. And from what we could tell, totally innocent.”

“Of course,” you rushed to confirm.

“You have nothing to worry about. You completely live up to the hype.”

“So do you.”

“So, since I’m not sure we’ll get any other time alone together, is there anything you want to know about the guys?” Becca offered with a mischievous grin.

“Is there anything juicy I should know?”

“Well…”

The two of you spent a couple of hours gossiping and getting to know each other. Becca was so endearing, you two were fast friends.

 That was how the whole weekend felt. You managed one on one time with all of them, and you grew very close to Sarah. She shared your love of music and the ballet and you fell into easy conversation. On Sunday, after brunch, the seven of you were walking through the park when you noticed one of the public pianos was open.

“Would you like to play a little?” Sarah asked when she noticed your preoccupation.

“I wish I knew how. I can pluck out Mary Had a Little Lamb and that’s about it. Do you play?”

“I used to. I can show you a little if you like?”

“Please.”

The two of you sat on the cold wooden bench and she ran her fingers up and down the scale.

“Surprisingly well tuned for an outdoor piano. So place your hands like this,” she demonstrated and then fixed your hands as you attempted to mimic her. “Good.

You fiddled around playing a few little snatches of things.

“Maybe I’ll stick to singing.”

“That is always an option,” she laughed as she absent-mindedly played a soothing tune. “Y/n, darling. I am so glad that Steve has found you.”

Her words twisted in your gut and you felt like you had been deceiving her.

“Sarah, I have to be completely honest with you.”

“About what?”

“Steve and I aren’t dating.”

The crinkle of worry that had creased her forehead disappeared as she laughed.

“I know that, sweetheart.”

“You do?”

“I do.”

“Then why…”

She continued playing but looked over at you.

“Steve has had Bucky his entire life. Even when he had no one else. When he finally got healthy and grew into his handsome self,” you glanced over at Steve, smiling at how he held himself as he spoke to George and Winnie. “People finally noticed him, but they didn’t care about him. It’s obvious that you do.”

“I really do.”

“Do you feel better now?” She asked, blue eyes twinkling just like Steve’s.

“Much.” You finally recognized the song she was playing and began to hum the opening chords. “I love this song.”

“It was always one of Steve’s favorites when he was little. His father and I would put the record on and dance to it, and he always loved it.”

Your eyes drifted shut, imagining dancing with Steve as you began to sing along.

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper I love you

Birds singing in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me

You sang quietly, not wanting to draw to much attention to yourself. But it felt good to stretch your vocal chords.  

“Wow.”

Your eyes snapped open at Steve’s hushed exclamation, and you twisted around to look at him.

“I could listen to you sing forever.”

You felt like a deer in headlights, caught by his intense gaze.

“Well, that’s very hard on the vocal chords, so you’ll have to settle for special occasions,” Sarah teased, breaking the moment, allowing you to breathe.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! I’m sorry the A/n are like barely there on this one. I’m half asleep. 

Sexiled Tag List @yourspecialcrush @part-time-patronus @impala-with-wings @shitty-imagines-95 @zlixlle @peter-parker-steve-bucky @encounterthepast @holygaygal @hista-girl @steves-on-a-plane @juliagolia87

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[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 23-24: Escape From Box Fort

Currently trying to stop checking twitter more than once a day, and I’m getting legit twitter-shakes so I’ve decided to stave it off by watching nonsense television. So, last update I said that this was a 3 episode game arc yada yada, but that was apparently me just assuming that Yugioh had a formula. Because, to my shock, this one game was 4 episodes long.

It was 4 episodes mostly of Pharaoh rolling his eyes to the sky every time Kaiba said anything.

According to my bro who actually cares about the rules of this game, they broke basically a whole lot of established game rules in this particular match but like, I was all over that fast forward button so if I didn’t catch it, no harm, no foul. I was more interested in Tea and Mokuba’s very bizarre meet up at the box warehouse.

And while they formulated their half-brained plan (which is still better than Yugi who is always two halves of a brain) Marik and his snuggie villains tied Joey up in some dark room full of just one million cupboards and no light bulbs. Even Joey was not entirely sure of the purpose of any of that effort.

He also threatened to beat them all up so I assume he was just going to start bouncing around and headbutting everyone? His hair isn’t sharp enough for that - that’s a Yugi move, who probably greases those weird bangs with gel and then wipes all 4 of them it through a knife sharpener every morning.

There goes Marik, tying people up when he was just going to possess them anyway. Congrats Marik, now you have to untie the guy you only tied up like 3 minutes ago.

It really does feel like this villain just has zero idea what he is doing, and I’m guessing that probably happens a lot when your sister can see the future all the time. Why make plans or decisions when you have Ishizu to over explain everything to you? Honestly he wouldn’t even have had to tell her his fast food orders, she’d just show up with tacos when he starts feeling munchy. The life. Maybe he’s only been kind of a mess ever since he decided to embrace that whole cursed boy lifestyle?

Luckily for him, everyone else on this show is just as incompetent, and his big rival is a dead Pharaoh with amnesia who is currently squatting in the body of an angsty teen who plays the slowest card game I have ever seen played.

Anyway, speaking of ridiculously wasteful plans, will Tea decide to make a box, fort, again, although it really, really didn’t work the first time?

(read more after the cut)

So like, if Tea does it, she’s too heavy, but if Mokuba joins in--a kid who probably only weighs twenty pounds less than Tea, then...it works? I mean maybe this time they used tape?

I mean Mokuba is a genius child, so maybe he’s just better at building stuff. Maybe that’s what he learned from whatever vague genius orphan program these two underwent that still somehow landed Seto in public school. Mokuba learned to put the heavy boxes on the bottom.

And the moment Mokuba’s gifted feet left this box tower, Tea fell right back on her butt.

It took Yugi and Seto so long to play a card game that Tea and Mokuba had enough time to formulate a plan, follow it out, and actually succeed.

This is Mokuba.

They took so long Mokuba escaped. The kid who has been some sort of tied up/in a cage for over half of this show so far.

Anyway, Tristan narrowly avoids missing his train, which would have saved them both from what I’m guessing will be a hell of a lot of trauma.

Such an awkward train ride.

This show just can’t get anyone together, huh? Not complaining, mind you. Just...noticing. First it was Yugi/Pharaoh who really didn’t even blink once when Tea friendzoned them. I mean I think he just sweat a single forehead droplet or something. Now we have Tristan and Serenity, who haven’t even been on a real date--one of which is still in bandages from a very severe operation--and it’s like “we gotta break that one up waaaaaay before it starts.”

Who knows, maybe this anime was like “we can’t risk a Sailor Moon on this, we are already too much in hot water. Can’t be pulling out relationship stunts if we also gotta tie Tea up in a weird bondage chair and somehow still stay on the air during daytime kid’s TV.”

Which really happened, by the way.

How tall is this Odion guy PS? 11 ft?

Anyways, that’s one episode. Rip Joey. Other than that, not much to say about that one, so, lets jump into the next one.

On the other side of town things are still effed up but slightly less effed up as we are about to yes, absolutely, still blow a hole through the ceiling of this well populated building whether the team wins or loses.

So, they decide to work together. Well not really. They decide to trust that the other one won’t screw it on his turn. Considering these two are both card masters, this really was the lowest bar ever as far as trust goes. Can Yugi trust that Seto will play cards well? Y...yes. That’s literally all this kid does other than skip school and run a multicorp that only exists to invest in even more cards.

And he played them so well that this happened

I mean there are a lot of kid’s shows where villains fall to their deaths, but something about how realistic all these characters are drawn and how it’s put in a realistic-enough location to make it feel a lot darker than lets say Gaston falling off of Beauty and the Beast’s tower, you know what I mean?

But no matter, because Marik got these evil snuggies custom made and it is freakin weird.

I mean sure, whatever it takes to keep your 15 yo from doing a murder, Yugioh, I’ll take it, I guess. Even though like...I keep getting flashbacks to Mannequin. I never really wanted to remember Mannequin, so thanks for that.

Anyway, this began a really bizarre fight where Yugi wanted to interrogate the last guy standing--as if this guy knows anything--and Kaiba just wanted to straight up kill him for abducting his little brother. Both ideas were bad, so it’s fine that Marik nipped this in the bud.

Again, standing here next to Magic Muto, Kaiba is just refusing to admit that any of this is even slightly magical. Maybe he was such a bad wizard in his past life that he was cursed to not even believe in the concept of magic in this reincarnation. Not like it really matters, since Kaiba’s tech is basically magic.

Also get a load of this effect.

Hell yeahhhh it’s getting real 2001 now! Mm, probably took them like 4 computers to render back then. Glorious.

So, they both decide to drop this guy and he passes out on the roof of this building. No need to move him or anything. No need to disable the three other bombs. Just like...just loot his body and leave. I love this kid show’s weird ass morality.

So after ALL of that, Mokuba arrives. Good thing Kaiba didn’t actually murder anyone in revenge for his little brother (though he did try) or that would have been...awkward. Though, probably not the first time.

Since Tea saved his brother, Seto decides to help Yugi out by saving the lives of Yugi’s friends (of which, two are in the finals of Seto’s tournament, so he does actually need them.) He makes a note that he’s only doing this so he won’t owe Tea anything, and that Yugi did absolutely nothing at all. Which was kind of true, this entire match was a bad idea that gave them nothing but broken glass.

That’s right, it’s anime food time. Yes yes yes, my favorite time.

Just kidding, it’s all in boxes.

Thanks 4 kids, for not allowing us to think that people in other countries might not eat the same food we do. I guess they figured that the triangle shaped rice ball that Serenity had in the next scene looked enough like a taco to trick us.

Real talk, if my Taco Bell came in a fancy real wood box all cutely wrapped like that, it would be NUTS. Can you even imagine if Taco Bell decided to make Burrito Supremes into cute bento boxes? Hell. I would eat a Burrito Supreme again for the first time in 3 years. I would even eat it if they somehow put a burrito in that nasty Nacho Cheese Dorito flavored shell (though tbh that Cool Ranch shell was absolutely delicious and 10/10. Nacho cheese Dorito shell: bad)

Sorry I’ve been thinking a lot about Taco Bell ever since I realized you could go online and customize your burrito and I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of other people’s mad quesalupas and freaky deep-dish crunchwraps (one guy said he just gets a plain 5layer burrito and shoves a bunch of Doritos in there with extra nacho cheese sauce and he asked “Is this weird?” and the top comment was “no, you are God among men”)

Anyway, I just want you to imagine that spectacularly awful custom 5 layer burrito smothered in extra queso sauce and lovingly wrapped in a box with adorable wrapping paper and being given just two chopsticks to eat it with. And you do. On a train for everyone else to smell.

And then a few weeks ago I asked rhetorically, does Yugi and Seto get to go on a bachelor-style helicopter date and the answer is--YES.

Bless this storyboarder. Get this cross-stitched so I can hang it over my fireplace. Maybe it’s just me who thinks this shot is maybe the best joke in Yugioh, but I mean. Look at it. It just keeps giving. Yugioh characters are just so bizarre when they’re shoved into very small, very normal looking spaces.

And FYI I totally checked twitter four times while writing this so like...so much for that life goal. Boy, I have a twitter problem.

So, next week, on Yugioh:

Does anyone else in Marik’s troupe get real hot, so they take off their hoodie and we find out that nearly everyone else is also wearing the same exact pastel pink crop top sweater as Marik? Do Marik’s snuggie parachutes accidentally go off at embarrassing times? Does Seto pull out a neck pillow and just pass out for a few episodes while stealing Yugi’s arm rest? Does Mokuba offer to watch a movie on the copter and all they have is just Serendipity and Sleepless in Seattle?

And for those new here, this is a link to the Yugioh recaps in Chrono Order from Ep 1 so you don’t have to scroll through comments and stuff

[feminarrie]

because seb’s thighs make me feel some type of way

It started out innocently enough. Sebastian had pulled her into his lap, tipsy and warm as he spoke with members of the crew. She engaged happily, leaning into Sebastian’s broad frame while listening to their recounts of the past few months of filming. She laughs appropriately at jokes that she’s clued in on and simply sips her vodka tea and smiles when it moves away from familiarity.

Sebastian’s hand had come to sit comfortably on her hip, rubbing the inch of exposed and freckled flesh with a calloused thumb. She’s very content with the moment. Doesn’t think it could get any better, really. They’re atop a rooftop in New York City, the lights and bustle of the busy city seeming miles away despite being in the center of it all. Her body is tingly and loose with her third vodka tea workings it’s way through her veins.

It’s when rain droplets don’t simply begin to patter onto the concrete and expensive furniture, but pelt against her already warm skin and dampen her clothes that the moment of contentment flutters away. Sebastian pats her jean clad thigh and nods toward the door.

“We better make a run for it,” he says, a once empty cup of aged whiskey filling with water.

Y/N nods her affirmation and all but stumbles to get up. She’s not drunk, honestly. It’s just the way the denim sticks to her thighs and constricts that makes it hard to stand up gracefully. Sebastian’s hand comes to rest on her back—ever the gentleman—to guide her toward the sliding glass door. The cool air of the rented condo raises goosebumps across her neck and arms.

She looks to Sebastian, hair damp and gray Henley outlining every ridge and dip. He’s preoccupied with their guests, though. Muttering apologies for the sudden weather change and offering a change of clothes. They’re the last of the guests here, the two men. Everyone else having left hours ago to catch flights or return to their own homes following the wrap party Sebastian had hosted.

Y/N doesn’t stay to overhear the remainder of the conversation. Too preoccupied with the way her clothes are sticking uncomfortably to her body. Her once loose blouse now feels suffocating. When she finally peels it from her skin and lets it fall to the bathroom floor with a wet slop alongside the black denim jeans, she feels free—like she can breathe again.

Her feet hardly lose contact with the floor as she drags them from tiled bathroom floor to the plush white carpet of the connected bedroom that she and Sebastian share. Y/N searches for a baggy shirt that belongs to her boyfriend, settling on a boxy creme top that does little to conceal the flesh underneath. She has full intention of pulling one of Sebastian’s sweaters over top and a pair of sweatpants so that she can rejoin the fun.

. . .

Y/N’s lids are heavy with sleep when she wakes up two hours later. She doesn’t recall falling asleep on the king sized bed nor pulling a blanket to sit just underneath her chin. A soft groan leaves her pink lips when her eyes adjust to the pitch black of the room. She can’t believe that she fell asleep with guests over. Well, she can—she’s done it before, but that had been her senior year of college and quite frankly, she had done it intentionally when a house party had gone for too long.

She isn’t sure if anyone has stayed late into the night, but she knows regardless of who is here that she has to at least come out to apologize. Wrapping the forest green throw blanket around her shoulders, she swings her slender legs over the side of the bed. She’s grateful for the warm carpet beneath her feet because there’s a chill that hangs in the air. Sebastian had likely opened a window between the time it had begun to pour and now. Always one to welcome to smell of rain and the sound of the droplets on the pavement.

Y/N shuffles toward the living room, peeking around the corner to see if anyone else was in Sebastian’s company. Instead, she’s met with a cozy looking Sebastian that looks up from his laptop when he hears her enter the room. His lips pull into a smile reserved for just her. It’s one that is filled with love and awe that she hasn’t quite gotten used to even after nearly two years together.

“There she is,” he says as he closes his laptop and sets it on the glass coffee table in front of him. “A sleeping beauty.”

She comes to sit next to him on the leather couch, a pout setting on her lips. Her legs are bent at the knee in front of her, eyes drinking in every inch of his profile. 

“Didn’t mean to fall asleep, Seb. I hope Paul and Trey weren’t offended.”

He shakes his head and scratches at the stubble forming after his first shave in weeks. Calms the doubt sitting uncomfortably in her tummy when he pulls her into his lap for the second time that night. She’s still so soft and pliant that it makes Sebastian’s heart swell. 

“They went home a little after I checked on you. Had only been out twenty minutes.” He says, brushing hair away from Y/N’s neck and resting his palm against the lightly freckled and warm flesh for a moment. 

“Still sorry. I didn’t think I was that tired.” She mumbles, readjusting herself so that she sits more fully in Sebastian’s lap.

Perhaps it’s the fact that they had been separated for months that causes his cock to twitch when she slides to sit fully in his lap. Or maybe it’s the sixteen hour stretch between the last time he had his hands on her and now that makes him harden beneath her. Regardless of what it is, it does not go unnoticed by Y/N. 

“Seb,” she giggles, the noise light and innocent. 

And fuck, it’s almost teasing to listen to such a beautiful and innocent noise. Almost makes him feel bad for the filthy thoughts running through his head. Almost isn’t quite enough, though. It doesn’t stop him from nudging Y/N’s thighs apart to trace the soft, sensitive skin there. It doesn’t stop Sebastian’s lower lip from taking up residence between his teeth when Y/N opens her legs just a little further, almost instinctively.

“Yes, little one?” Sebastian’s voice is low and authoritative. 

It’s a tone Y/N has grown to know, love, and submit to. 

She remains silent, however. Simply letting her left leg fall to lay across Sebastian’s lap and a pleading look in her eye. His fingers cease their movement at her silence and she knows that he’ll tease her if she doesn’t submit. He’s done it before. Made her watch him as he wrapped long fingers around his cock, not once breaking eye contact with her as he moaned her name. All while her wrists were tied together in front of her, knees beginning to become sore and bruised from her position on the floor. 

“Little one,” Sebastian warns.

Silence. Daring and complete silence. She wants to press her luck tonight. The months of being apart having drove her absolutely wild. The hours of sweet touches and committing each other’s bodies to memory was nice. But Y/N wants more than that. Needs more than that.

Y/N lets out a small hmph when Sebastian shifts her leg off his thigh, gradually pulling himself out from underneath her.

“You can’t be a little brat and expect me to put my hands on you, kitten.” Sebastian says, attempting to push himself up from the plush couch.

Y/N doesn’t let him, though. Instead scrambles to cage his hips with her thighs, placing the entirety of her weight on his lap. Her small hands come to rest on Sebastian’s broad shoulders. (She’s pretty sure they’re made for her to grip just like this. Her case made stronger by the crescent shapes that have scarred in clusters across his shoulder blades).

Almost instinctively she begins to rock her hips against Sebastian, rutting against the bulge developing once again in the navy blue tracksuit pants he has come to wear around the house. His top teeth pull at his lower lip, biting at it for a single moment before letting his mouth fall open with a soft groan.

The noise spurs Y/N on, her own pink and swollen lips failing to hold back a whimper. Her hips bear down on Sebastian a little more, searching for that added pressure against her clit. And she finds it, but fleetingly. It’s not enough and the frustration shows on her face and in the noises she makes. Her brow is furrowed and she’s making small, repeated whimpers that she only makes when she’s desperate for his touch.

“Practically gagging for it, aren’t you?” Sebastian laughs darkly.

His right hand comes to cup her jaw, a calloused thumb pressing against her bottom lip. Y/N doesn’t answer, but opens her mouth enough to encompass the thick digit. She runs her tongue along the side of it before letting it play and swirl at the tip.

“I asked you a question, little one.”

Y/N looks down at him through thick lashes and fuck, Sebastian has half a mind to simply take her there and then. But, he wants to see her beg for it. Wants to watch her unfold right there on his lap. Needs to show her who can still make her feel completely out of control even after months apart.

“Yes, sir.” She mumbles, lips still wrapped around his thumb.

Sebastian pulls his thumb from her mouth, smearing the spit soaked digit across her lower lip. She looks absolutely fucked out, eyes wild and chest heaving without even touching her.

“Up.”

It’s a simple statement, but it takes Y/N a moment to process it. Mind cloudy with thoughts of what’s to come. Sebastian taps her thigh to bring her back to reality and it’s then she moves to stand before him. Her cheeks are flushed with arousal and her thighs feel tight from holding herself above Sebastian.

“Everything off, kitten. I want to see every inch of you.” Sebastian orders, hands come to rest flat on his thighs. 

Y/N nods, attempting to make quick work of the tie of her sleeping shorts, fingers fumbling. Sebastian tuts at her and urges her to go slower. A smirk tugging at the corner of his lips and she knows she is so incredibly fucked. Sebastian is rarely one to slow down the process, only doing so when he plans to tease her--to make her beg. 

She slowly pulls the tie from the loose bow of the sky blue and white spotted shorts that sit on her hips. She tugs the material to sit just past the junction between her thigh and ass, letting gravity do the rest. Once they pool around her feet, she nudges them to the side and glances up at Sebastian. He is watching her every move, captivated and it makes her shy away just slightly. Her hands halting halfway up her torso as she begins to discard her shirt. 

“Oh, don’t get shy on me now, little one.” He says, darting his tongue out to lick over his chapped lips. 

He looks like the absolute definition of ease and control. His hands are relaxed against his thighs, thick and tantalizing. His eyes half lidded with desire, but the way they move is calculated and observant. Y/N feels small beneath his gaze, but it sets something alight in her. Thinks there is something so freeing about someone else dictating your next move--about not having to worry about what comes next. It’s so different from the way Sebastian handles her in their day to day lives, living independently and handling their own affairs. 

Y/N’s fingers pull at the hem of the creme top and pulling it from her body. The chill from the open window hardens her nipples into peaks and a shiver runs down her spine. She’s left in only a pair of red boy shorts that do little to conceal the dampness between her legs. She doesn’t stand around for too long, instead pulling the elastic material from her body. 

Sebastian lets out a moan at the sight of her. The way the dim yellow light hits her, he can see just how wet and ready she is for him. There’s a path of slick down her thigh and god, does he want to be in between them. But, Sebastian has other plans. 

He pulls her to sit along his right thigh, legs astride his own. She inhales sharply with the sudden, but delicious pressure against her clit. It doesn’t take any encouragement from Sebastian for her to build up a rhythm against his thigh. Even through the thick material of his pants, he can feel her absolute weeping for him. Each calculated thrust smearing her wetness along his thigh. 

“Fuck,” she moans, hands gripping onto his shoulders to steady herself when she rotates her hips. 

“Can’t wait to fuck that tight little cunt.” Sebastian all but growls into her ear. “But I need for you to cum for me first, little one. Think you could do that?”

She nods quickly and repeats a string of “yes, sir”, too caught up in Sebastian’s words and how fucking good she feels to say anything more. Her thighs tighten around Sebastian’s as she loses her rhythm, teetering on the edge of her impending orgasm. Sebastian’s hands grip at her ass to help her, moving her forward and back. The grip is bruising and it’s enough to send Y/N over the edge. 

Sebastian doesn’t think he’s seen anything more heavenly and sinful than the sight of Y/N coming. Tendrils of hair stuck to her forehead, head thrown back with her lip trapped between her teeth. And she’s chanting his name as she cums, fingers still digging into the flesh of his shoulders. 

He lets her ride through her high until her body is jerking with overstimulation. Even lets her collapse into him, forehead pressed to the side of his neck for a moment. Sebastian strokes her hair, letting her recover and even out her breathing. 

“Don’t think I’m finished with you yet, little one.”

[bughead-ficz]

Cabin In The Woods (C1)

Chapter 1- The Cabin

Request: Inspired by a request from @leigh3114 (I’d include the ask but it would spoil the story)

Summary: A three-parter based off of the 2x14 promo /// The Core Four attend a luxury weekend to Veronica’s family’s cabin to relax and unplug. Little do they know, relaxing is the exact opposite of what they’re going to do as secrets are revealed and a new danger is just around the corner.

☾ ☾ ☾

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to him. There wasn't supposed to be endless streams of cold, conniving blood flowing out of the jagged wound in his lower abdomen. It was supposed to be fun. A way to just embrace their teenage lives for once, not to lose them. None of them could have been prepared for their fragile souls to be snatched away and sliced up in front of them, a cynical knife ruining what was left of their innocence. None of them could have guessed this was going to happen when they first arrived, twenty-four hours ago.

☾

The peaceful sound of silence was overcome by the electrified laugh of Betty Cooper, as she squealed excitedly towards the large, brown cabin in front of the four teenagers.

"It looks amazing, V!" the blonde giggled, her perfect features joined in an astonished gaze.

The cabin truly was amazing, like something out of a fairy-tale. Neat and orderly wooden tiles soldiered together on each surface of the shelter, a few with slight erosion, yet still vintage-like. Two grand rectangles tilted to meet each other made up the roof, an impression which invited them to sit upon it and stare at the stars all night long. Tall chimneys stuck out of the roof itself, one with a cloudy smoke escaping the tip, the pigment blending into the grey shade of the afternoon sky.

And it wasn't just the cabin alone that pulled at them like the invisible force of a powerful magnet. The scenery that crowded around it was impeccably alluring. Acres of greenery and forest crowded the area they lingered in,with towering trees that seemed to go upwards for hundreds of miles, the photosynthesising protectors that guarded their shack. And the enticing lake that laid just adjacent to their temporary home, was gorgeous and inviting. It possessed a pleasingly poetic glisten, despite the gloomy aura that dwelled above. Yet it's ripples had a hint of despondency, like wide worry-lines etched into its surface. They were cut-off from the rest of their evil world. Like four song birds trapped in a cosy cage. Perfect isolation.

Jughead Jones followed close behind his girlfriend, an astonished look plastered onto his face as he too peered upon the enchanted view. It was safe to say that Jughead was most astounded by the area than the rest of them. His life had been one of ready-meals and trailer parks, holey shoes and a singular beanie. He'd never even been on a school trip, let alone a holiday of this sort, so his newly found amazement wasn't anything of surprise to the boy.

"Agreed." He smirked, "this place is definitely optimum."

The raven-haired girl clapped her hands together in satisfaction as her red-headed boyfriend wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Just wait till you see the inside guys." She replied, leading them all to the nut-coloured door and pulling out a silver key from her louboutin handbag.

Veronica slotted the key into its hole and proceeded to unlock the door, anticipation flooding her face. As the door opened, an inviting warmth escaped the inside crevices and summoned the four teenagers inside. Everyone's faces became much wider, if that was even possible. This. Was. Breathtaking.

"Wow, V!" Betty gasped, as she followed her best friend into the middle of the room.

"God you really pulled it out of the bag didn't you, Ronnie?" Archie beamed, leaning down and delivering a soft and grateful kiss to his girlfriend's grinning lips, leaving Betty and Jughead to continue staring around in awe.

"Well, the point of this luxury weekend is to relax and unplug." Veronica spoke when she pulled away, "I wanted to do something special for us all, considering the real-life drama we've been going through these past few weeks."

"It's perfect." Betty breathed, using that word she hated oh so much. But it was true. The whole place was positively phenomenal. Or at least, that's what it seemed.

"Come on then you guys, let's see the rooms. Arch, ours is through here on the left, and Betty and Jughead, yours is on the right." Revealed Veronica, jogging up the stairs and using her free hand to gesture towards the rooms.

"We'll unpack and meet downstairs in an hour?" Archie enquired. Everyone knew that by 'unpack', he'd meant heavily making out with Veronica on the king-sized bed their room possessed, yet they nodded all the same.

As the two couples parted ways, Betty wiggled her eyebrows at Jughead.

"Unpack." She snickered, grabbing her boyfriend's hand and pulling him into their said room. Jughead chuckled at her insinuation, letting out a scoff as if to say too much information.

"And I always thought I was the dirty-minded one, Cooper." He smirked cheekily at the blonde, placing their bags down on the navy blue duvet covering their bed. Thoughts of the things they could be doing on the piece of furniture certainly questioned his long-forgotten innocence. After all, now that Betty had given all of herself to him, he couldn't help imagining her lacy pink underwear tossed over it's frame. Or her smooth, perfectly shaped long legs thrown over his shoulders, her needy panting the only sound that could be heard as he devoured every inch of her.

The boy quickly shook his head of the thoughts; he didn't want a visit from his little friend just now (although, Betty had made a point of telling him just how big she thought it was).

"You wish." Betty whispered teasingly, snapping Jughead out of his thoughts and snaking her arms around his shoulders. It was as if she knew what he was thinking. In response, Jughead pulled her waist close to him, his large hands desperately grabbing her sides.

God, the way he looked at her. His eyes filled with adoration, his love for her glazing over the dark abysses of his pupils. A confident smirk played his lips, much different to the shy, suspenseful one he'd possessed after that first kiss in her bedroom. This is what the youngest Cooper girl did to him. She'd brought out this soft yet mischievous boy within him. And she knew, he was completely and utterly infatuated. She'd promised herself long ago to take it easy on his heart, and to carefully treasure it, as she wished he'd do the same. Betty loved Jughead. And she loved the way his eyes were now darting to and from her lips, silently pleading for them against his own. She granted his wish.

As if pulled together by an omnibenevolent force, the lips of the raven-haired boy joined with the blonde's plump and pink ones into a breathtaking kiss that sucked away the oxygen from their lungs. He was hungry for her. Only her.

Jughead brought his hand and tangled it in her soft, flowing hair, desperately bringing her face closer to his. She moaned quietly as his tongue swiped over her bottom lip, parting them for entrance. He thought she tasted simply amazing. He could never taste enough of her.

They continued for what seemed like hours, yet in reality it had only been a few minutes. It seemed that time had stopped, and they didn't care that they were seeing stars due to the lack of oxygen. The stars in their sky were the most beautiful things they'd ever laid eyes on. They were addicted to these stars. They were addicted to each other.

When Betty finally pulled away, Jughead groaned loudly. She giggled at his annoyance, stroking his now swollen bottom lip with her thumb and rolling her eyes.

"Sorry Jug, but we need to unpack." The blonde pointed out. "And I need to shower, we were in that car for ages."

"Yeah," he raised his eyebrows suggestively, pulling her form against his again "so let's unpack."

She swatted at him as he began kissing her neck, reaching her sweet spot and making her go weak at the knees. That was until Betty gently pushed him away, poking his chest with an accusatory finger.

"Behave." She scolded, a hint of a smirk lingering upon her features. "And maybe we can have some fun later."

Then, keeping her eyes trained carefully on his, she slowly reached down and pulled her sweater above her head. A black, lacy bralette was revealed underneath, thin enough that Jughead could see her perked nipples through the sensual material. Jughead's mouth gaped and his eyebrows raised in surprise, lust screaming in his eyes. His girlfriend gave one last provocative look over her shoulder, and pleased with his reaction, slipped into the bathroom.

He stood there for a minute, thinking about how sexy she looked and of the 'fun' he wanted to have with her that night. He pictured her showering in that very moment, just a thin wall separating him from her wet and dripping, naked body-

"I don't hear any unpacking!" She yelled from the bathroom, shocking the beanie-clad boy from his hormone-induced trance.

"N-No, I am!" He gulped back, hearing her giggle at his embarrassed response.

Fuck, that girl did things to him.

☾

That evening, the group had decided on playing some board games (much to Jughead's dismay). About half an hour into Monopoly, things were screwed.

They all stood around the board, Betty's hair damp from the shower. Everything had been going fine for Betty, great even. After all, she'd been winning the game. Four houses and three hotels in, it had been pretty clear to the group who was going to come out on top in the end. But it was fine, it was just a game and everyone was having fun. Except Veronica.

"Whose hotel is that?" Veronica huffed as she landed on Mayfair.

"Betts again. How do you do it so fast, Betty?" Jughead chuckled, nonchalantly tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"I guess I'm just naturally talented," Betty joked, then peered at her best friend. "Pay up, V."

Veronica seemed angry about something, Betty noted. But it couldn't have been the fact that she'd landed on a hotel, could it? It was just a game?

"Wow, B," Veronica glared across at the blonde, "you just have to have everything of mine, don't you?"

Everyone at the table frowned at the raven-haired girl, shocked at her sudden outburst.

"Excuse me?" Betty questioned, careful eyes waiting for her response.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, B." Veronica snapped, spitting out Betty's nickname like poison on her tongue.

Betty started, bewildered. Why the hell was Veronica suddenly acting like this? What did Betty take that was hers? Confusion swept her mind, furrowing her brows as she saw Archie's arm come around Veronica's waist- Wait... Archie.

"Listen, V-"

"I thought we had an agreement. I thought you were fine with me and Archie?" Veronica looked furious.

"I am, I'm happy for you guys-"

"Then why'd you pounce on him the first chance you got?!"

The room was silent. So silent you could hear a pin drop. Too silent.

"V, it wasn't like that-"

"God, you have zero loyalty. At least Archie had the decency to tell me about it. I expected more from you, B. I never thought you'd betray me like that." The dark-haired girl huffed, her eyes becoming wetter and wetter. "I can't even stand to be in the same room as you right now."

And with that, she ran off to her bedroom, Archie quickly following suit after throwing an apologetic look the blonde's way.

Betty stood still, staring down at the unfinished board game, baffled at how things had escalated so quickly. Then she heard the closing of a door. Whipping her head towards it, she wondered why it had shut like that. The wind? Maybe- Oh God. Her beanie-clad boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't even realised-

Jughead.

[noorakardemmomesaetre]

Southside High 

Chapter Seven

Or read it on Ao3

Chapter One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

Pairing: Betty Cooper x Jughead Jones 

Summary: Only fools fall for you, only fools Only fools do what I do, only fools fall -Troye Sivan

The Day the Northside Arrived

“Yo, Jughead!”

Sweet Pea’s booming voice combined with the fact that FP had finished off the last of the coffee before Jughead had rolled out of bed twenty minutes late this morning has Jughead in an especially irritated mood. He can feel the way his jaw is clenching, the vein in his neck prominent, as he walks past the unusually long line waiting at security.  

The school cop had quickly been made to understand that there would be no need for Jughead to participate in their faux metal detector pat-downs.

Words had not been necessary for the explanation.  

“Morning Jug,” Sweet Pea observes, leaning against a locker, his cocky grin begging to meet Jughead’s fist, “you look like shit.”

Toni offers Jughead a sympathetic smile as she swings open her locker next to his and Jughead cocks his neck to one side, attempting to release some pent up tension.  

“Northside starts today,” Toni says nonchalantly and Jughead sighs, opening his locker and rubbing his temples. That explains the long security line. He had been dreading this day since the school announced the temporary merge several months ago.  

“I can’t wait to see how many Northside girls are interested in what Sweet Pea has to offer,” Sweet Pea grins, rubbing his hands together and speaking about himself in the third person, which elicits a harsh eye-roll from Jughead.  

“Even Southside girls aren’t interested in what you have to offer, Sweets,” Toni teases, pulling out her Statistics book and tossing a playful smile at Sweet Pea’s scowl.

Jughead is attempting to yank out his Spanish textbook from the clearly over-stuffed and unorganized depths of his locker when he hears it. The softest groan of annoyance coming from the security line.

“That’s because you’re always stealing their attention away!” Sweet Pea glares past Jughead at Toni, running his fingers through his jet-black hair.  

He hears it again, over his friends’ bickering, a soft snap of irritation and Jughead glances over at the metal detectors, his heart sinking when he sees her. Tight blonde ponytail, tight pastel pink sweater, tight dark-wash jeans. Even with the hard frown on her face, she’s fucking beautiful.

“Aw, Sweet Pea,” Toni shakes her head at him, a teasing glint in her eye as she slams her locker shut, dragging Jughead’s attention back to their conversation, “if it’s that easy to steal their attention away, you never had it to begin with.”

The words of frustration coming from security push Jughead to the edge and Sweet Pea and Toni jump at the sound of his locker door slamming as he saunters over to Eugene, the dipshit security guard currently making this girl’s life unnecessarily difficult.

He watches as she walks back to the line, the swish of her ponytail and swing of her hips hypnotizing him until she turns around and he suddenly remembers why he’s there.

“Enough.”

The word is laced with more venom than he had originally intended, but the darkness of his tone combined with the authority in his stance is more than effective. Eugene quickly steps back, allowing the girl to rush through to the container holding her shoes. The aroma of soft sugar cookies and sweet strawberries wafts around Jughead like a light, airy mist and he stands there, watching her, this girl who has peaked his interest in more ways than he would like to admit.

Before she can turn and acknowledge him, he shifts and heads back to his friends, a small part of him hoping the large embroidered Serpent on his back will be a clear warning to her.

“You alright, Jones?” the suggestive curiosity in Toni’s tone only serves to piss Jughead off, knowing how out-of-character he’s acting, and he scoffs.

“I’m fine.”

But he wasn’t fine. Far from it, in fact.

“Are you listening to me, Jughead? Never fall in love. Never even let a woman get close to you,” those drunken words had fallen out of his father’s mouth too many times for Jughead to count since he was 13 years old, “they’ll ruin you. They’ll ruin every single fucking thing we’ve built.”

His mother had taken his sister and run four years ago, moved to another state without looking back, leaving nothing but a broken alcoholic and a son too young to understand in her wake. He’d spent the next two years picking up the pieces after his father, pushing him to continue leading the Serpents through his whiskey-induced haze.

On his 16th birthday, Jughead had been initiated into the Serpents himself. What was expected of him and what had come easy to him. Joining the Serpents was a given. The initiation beat down ritual had been long awaited. He had embraced the Serpent Prince title like an old friend.  

The Serpents were family to him, one which appeared to be his greatest priority alongside his father and the little sister he wrote to once a week. Jughead loved to write, his true passion lay with a laptop and an imagination above everything else. The Red and Black had become the perfect place to focus his energy, when the Serpents didn’t need him.  

And while the women of Southside High were interested in him, he could barely see them through the weight of the dim world that rested on his young shoulders.

Which is why, when a petite blonde from the Northside had shaken him to his very core that morning only to end up in his Red and Black meeting later that afternoon, Jughead was seething.

He had survived almost the entirety of high school on the path that was beaten down for him without a distraction in sight. And yet, here she was, bulldozing her way into his life like a burst of sunshine smelling like a goddamn Sunday morning. He had quickly noticed the way she was the only person in the entire meeting taking notes. His gut told him she’d be a fantastic journalist. A great addition to the student newspaper he had built from the ground up.  

And so he’d immediately shut it down in the only way he could without calling out her name specifically: No Northsiders.

And she had retaliated.

She was fire and ice, rocky and smooth, sweet with a hint of sour, too much for Jughead Jones, and yet he couldn’t get enough. He was addicted to her wit, her mind, her humor, the challenge she posed him and the way her smile melted pieces of him that had long since frozen over.

He’d fought hard to avoid her and when she’d lost her lack of a decent meal combined with a liter of jungle juice all over his boots, he’d lost his inner battle to keep her at arm’s length. At least for one night. Swooping her up in his arms with ease, bringing her to her friends, attempting to ignore the way her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck like he was some kind of cigarette-smoking tattooed super hero.

He saw it. The way Toni had looked at him, confirming his deepest fear, as if to say, you lost, Jones. You tried to fight it and you lost.

“You’re an idiot,” Toni snaps as she slides a pair of pliers on the ground next to where he’s lying under his father’s truck.

“Yeah, I know.” Jughead had just finished telling Toni about how he had finally mustered up the courage to call Betty late on Friday night, feeling like he’d really put himself out there, only to have her tell him she was busy and immediately hang up.

“I don’t think you do, actually,” she continues, the heels of her boots clicking against the pavement of the garage, “you love her.”

“I don’t.” He attempts to loosen a bolt that’s stuck in a particularly hard-to-reach spot and huffs when it’s much tighter than he had anticipated, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his forearm.

“You do, Jones. I still can’t believe you didn’t try to reach out to her,” Toni says in disbelief, tossing a wrench down to him, the metal sliding until it stops an inch from his face, “women like Betty Cooper won’t wait around forever, you know. And some midnight booty call from a cheap burner phone isn’t going to make up for you completely ghosting.”

“I liked you better when you and Cheryl were fighting,” he huffs, sliding the pliers out from under the truck, “and it wasn’t a booty call.”

“You don’t deserve her.”

Her voice is quiet now, laced with disappointment and Jughead rolls himself out from underneath the truck, covered in grease and dirt as he stares up at her.

“You think I don’t know that?” he says, his voice growing louder as he heaves himself up to a standing position, “you think I haven’t thought about that every single fucking day since I met her?”  

He steps forward but Toni stands her ground, her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed as she takes him in, running his fingers through his dark wild curls, his beanie slung across the bench seat of the truck.

“You don’t deserve her because you’re not allowing yourself the chance to,” Toni says, shaking her head at him, frustration straining through her voice, “you didn’t tell her your phone’s been broken? You didn’t go see her after Friday night? At school? You just thought you could show up at the Black and Gold on Wednesday and what? She’d be waiting there with that perfect smile, happy to climb back on your lap?”

“I don’t fucking need this,” he says, the wrench he’s holding sliding against the garage door with a loud bang as he walks past her.  

“No, you do fucking need this,” she says, reaching out to yank his arm until he looks back at her, “how long are you just going to push away everyone who cares about you?”

He’s staring at her, his mouth set in a hard line.

“You’re not FP. Your mom didn’t leave because of you,” she says, her voice softening as she drops his arm, “so quit punishing yourself as if she did.”

He looks down, swallowing loudly and shaking his head as he stares at the pavement, only lifting his eyes when the clicking of Toni’s heeled boots starts again.

“Well, I’m going to go pick up Cheryl. We’re heading down to Sweetwater River for a swim and you know I can’t wait to see that beautiful bod in a bikini,” Toni sighs wistfully before picking up her purse and turning her gaze back to Jughead, “we’ll be there for a while if you and Betty would like to join us. You know, after you finish groveling.”  

It takes 45 minutes for Jughead to take a hot shower, put on clean clothes, and ride to Betty Cooper’s house. 2 minutes for him to gather up the courage to get off his bike and face her. 30 seconds for him to walk up her driveway to her front door. And 1 minute for Alice Cooper to dismiss him with an air of superiority and a clipped, “Sorry, Betty’s not here.”

He debates heading home and being productive, nothing like writing a few chapters of his book or reading a new novel to distract himself from the woes of his current love life situation. But he already knows where his heart lies and he can’t give up yet. He heads over to Cheryl’s, hoping to catch her before her and Toni leave for the river, but is quickly met with a resounding, “they’ve already gone.”  

Sighing to himself, he rides to the one place he knows will pick him up when he’s feeling especially disgruntled: Pop’s.

After parking his bike and pulling off his helmet, he yanks his beanie on and heads inside, his eyes scanning every booth in search of a blonde ponytail.

“Jughead! Shall I throw a burger on?” Pop Tate grins a toothy grin at Jughead who’s busy swallowing his disappointment after realizing she’s not there.

“Yes, please. Extra cheese, Pop.”

He finds a seat at a booth in the back, figuring a burger will at least mend his empty stomach pains, and sets his helmet on the space next to him. Running his hand over his face, he sighs, wondering how he had gotten himself into this mess. It’s not like she’s going to want to be with him. A beautiful, intelligent, funny Northside girl and her sarcastic, dark, gang member boyfriend? It’s a cliché he’s read too many times (something he would never admit out loud), but not one he has ever seen occur in real life.

“Thanks Pop!” her voice rings out melodically in front of him as she walks out of the bathroom and grabs a strawberry milkshake off of the counter.

“Betty!” her name leaves his lips before he even has time to think about what he wants to say next, her eyes raising to meet his in surprise.

“Jughead?”

He quickly stands, leaving his helmet at his seat as he walks over to where she’s leaning against the counter, smiling a smile he can’t stop from adorning his face at the sight of her.

“I was just looking for you.”  

“Oh?” her eyes are wide as she stares at him, her pouty pink lips parted in surprise as her ponytail stills behind her.

“Um, yeah,” Jughead says, laughing lightly, his nerves starting to get the better of him as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket to keep himself from reaching out and pulling her into a warm hug, “I wanted to talk to you, see how you’ve been.”

“You wanted to…see how I’ve been?” she repeats, her eyebrows furrowing as she sets her milkshake down on the counter.

“Order up, Jughead!” Pop calls out, hitting the bell and setting his plated burger next to her milkshake.

Jughead smiles tightly in acknowledgement at Pop before turning his gaze back to Betty, biting his lip anxiously and pulling off his beanie, wringing it between his fingers.

Her gaze is set on him, making no move to continue the conversation, but not leaving either and before he can come up with an excuse to flee, he decides it’s now or never, “yeah, Betty, look, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m an idiot, I-“

“Betty?”

The voice of Richie Sandoval interrupts Jughead’s broken apology speech and his eyes flash to the guy who’s now walking over to them from a booth at the other side of the restaurant. The concern laced through Richie’s voice and etched across his expression makes Jughead grit his teeth, his beanie held tightly between his fingers.

“Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yes…Jughead was just-“

“Leaving,” Jughead finishes for her, putting two and two together and yanking his beanie back onto his head, heat crawling up his neck and onto his cheeks as he heads back over to the booth that holds his helmet.

“Jughead! Wait-“

She’s calling after him but he’s already thrown a $10.00 bill on the table to pay for his uneaten burger, pushing open the back door to Pop’s on his way to his bike.

Wow. The response to this fic has truly been mind-blowing and I can't tell you how much I appreciate every single kudos, comment, and like on both here and Ao3. You all are so incredible and supportive and I can't express my appreciation enough.

I hope you enjoyed a taste of Jughead's POV! I'd love to hear your thoughts, so leave them if you'd like! ❤

[decembercamiecherries]

Continue to Fall

Ao3 link

Word Count: 3842

Summary:

Gon smirked. “It’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”

“…so?”

“So, they’re going to cancel school! And if you stay over tonight…”

“We can spend all day together tomorrow,” Killua finished, clarity washing over him at the realization, and Gon bobbed his head vigorously.

“Exactly! Plus, you know.” His smile turned shy, and Killua’s heart stuttered at the light blush forming on Gon’s freckled cheeks. “Aunt Mito’s out of town this week.”

Killua’s pulse started to climb, heartbeat loud and thumbing in his ears. “Oh.”

Gon wiggled his eyebrows. “Yeah. Oh.”

This fic is a bday gift for @sketchxhunter who I love very dearly <3 I could write a gazillion pages on everything I love about her but I’ll shut up now and let you all read the fic instead haha. 

The plot for this fic was inspired by @ohlookitscazz; she gave me this as one of the three prompts from our art trade a few months back and I liked it so much I decided to write this prompt too! And finally, @crowsintheforest (aka @xyliane) beta-d this fic for me so a huge thank you goes out to her, this fic wouldn’t be half as grammar-ly correct without her help!!!!

The snow was already up to the patio railing, and it was only nine-twenty-four in the morning.

Killua stared out the window, jaw agape as he watched layer after layer of fresh snow fall from the sky. There seemed to be no end of it. The snow just kept piling up while new, fat, and clumpy snowflakes continued to spiral through the winter air.

A pair of warm, strong arms wrapped around Killua’s waist. He didn’t react at all the sudden touch, or the familiar voice that whispered into his ear, “See? I told you.”

Killua let out a long sigh and leaned back instinctively into a broad chest. “Yeah. You did.”

Gon giggled and Killua’s lips twitched upwards. He had to admit, he had been skeptical when Gon had approached him yesterday. He had good reason for that though; the sight of Gon stomping through the middle of their crowded high school hallway, brows furrowed and lips set into a stubborn frown, would have put anyone on edge.

Killua had simply raised both eyebrows as Gon marched his way. He was no stranger to that determined look on Gon’s face. Gon wanted something, clearly, and he wanted it now. Killua raised his voice to ask Gon over the hallway chatter, “What’s up with you?”

Gon completely ignored his question, of course. “You’re coming home with me today,” he demanded and Killua’s eyebrows jumped up even higher.

“Any reason why?”

Gon smirked. “It’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”

“…so?”

“So, they’re going to cancel school!”

Killua scoffed. “Don’t be stupid. They never cancel school, Gon.”

“They will this time! I’m sure of it! And if you stay over tonight…”

“We can spend all day together tomorrow,” Killua finished, clarity washing over him at the realization, and Gon bobbed his head vigorously.

“Exactly! Plus, you know.” His smile turned shy, and Killua’s heart stuttered at the light blush forming on Gon’s freckled cheeks. “Aunt Mito’s out of town this week. She’s visiting Grandma back on Whale Island.”

Killua’s pulse started to climb, heartbeat loud and thumbing in his ears. “Oh.”

Gon wiggled his eyebrows. “Yeah. Oh.”

“That’s…” Killua coughed, trying and failing to fight down the heat crawling up his neck. “Good. Uh. R-Really good.”

“Mhm.” Gon reached out and grabbed Killua’s sweaty hand. He immediately interlaced their fingers, squeezing tight. “So. What do you say, Killua?”

And that was how Killua ended up here, at Gon’s house, wearing lightning-bolt pajamas that Gon’s aunt had bought for him at Christmas over a month ago, watching in awe as a blanket of crystalline white covered everything in sight.

“I can’t believe you were right,” Killua said, dumbfounded, and felt the vibrations of Gon’s hum through his back. “They never cancel school. How did you know they were gonna do it this time?”

“Dunno.” Gon rested his chin on Killua shoulder. “Maybe I’m a secret weather genius.”

Killua snorted, rolling his eyes. “Maybe you’re just lucky.”

“Maybe I just wanted to have you all to myself,” Gon teased back and warmth rushed to Killua’s cheeks.

“Sh-Shut up.” He weakly hit Gon’s arm while Gon burst into laughter. Killua could feel Gon shaking through their embrace and he had to lightly pinch the skin at Gon’s wrist to get his attention back. “You already have me, doofus. You don’t need a snow day for that.”

“Mmm, yeah. I know. But like this—” Gon squeezed Killua in his arms, nuzzling his face in Killua’s tussled silver curls, “—I don’t have to share. I get to spend all day with you and no one else.”

Killua bit the inside of his cheek at the swell of pure love rising inside him. He loved it when Gon held him like this: tightly, their bodies pressed so close that Killua could feel Gon breathing and the strong, rapid heartbeat in his chest.  It was impossible for the cold radiating from the window to touch Killua while Gon was here with him, reminding him how he was adored and cherished. Gon’s love warmed him from the inside out.

“Well, you got your wish,” Killua murmured and let his head tip backwards to rest against Gon’s shoulder. “What do you wanna do about it?”

“I was going to ask you that. Do you want to go outside? We could make a snowman or have a snowball fight or go sledding….”

Killua frowned, thinking. He imagined having to get out of his pajamas and putting on layer upon layer of thick sweaters and heavy coats. He imagined snow inevitably getting into his boots and soaking through his socks as his toes slowly turned numb. He imagined the wind—chilling, icy, freezing—on his cheeks and nose until his skin started to ache and flush pink.

“No,” he said loudly and Gon laughed in his ear. “Definitely not. You can go outside and die of frostbite if you want, but I’m staying in here.”

“You sound adamant, you know.”

“I am,” Killua growled.

“Too cold out there for you? Hmm?”

The house groaned as a gust of wind suddenly picked up. Snow whirled around in mini tornadoes, the glass of the window shrieking from the pressure, and for a moment all Killua could see was white.

Within seconds the flurry died down again, giving way to the peaceful snowfall that Killua and Gon had been admiring previously. But those few seconds but were more than enough to convince Killua that he was right—wasn’t setting a single foot outside for the rest of the day.

He shivered. “Yes. There’s no way in hell you can make me go out there.”

“I wasn’t going to make you do anything,” Gon said and Killua didn’t need to turn around to see his smile. Still, he didn’t like the tone of Gon’s voice—it was teasing, sly. He was obviously planning something, and knowing Gon, that something probably involved Killua.

Killua started suspiciously, “What are you—?”

Gon’s arms disappeared from around his waist. Killua cut himself in with a sharp gasp as Gon swept his feet out from under him, catching him around his waist and lifting his legs up into the air to carry Killua in his arms bridal style.

“GON!” Killua flailed, scrambling at Gon’s shoulders to grasp onto something solid. He didn’t get the chance to right himself before Gon began walking confidently away from the window and back into the living room. Killua was jolted with every step and he clung to Gon even tighter, wanting nothing less than to accidently topple out of Gon’s arms and onto the hard floor.

“It’s okay, Killua.”

Killua’s eyes snapped up to find Gon grinning down at him broadly. His boyfriend chirped, “I got you, I promise!”

Killua’s stomach lurched as Gon bounced slightly. “Th-That’s not what I—”

Gon released him abruptly and Killua let out a small shriek as he tumbled down onto the Freccss’s couch. He let out a small oof when he landed, face shoved against the bottom cushion. With an irritated grow he rolled over onto his back and tried to sit up. Gon, however, seemed to have other ideas. He firmly pushed on Killua’s shoulders and Killua collapsed onto his back once more.

Killua snarled up at the ceiling, starting to get genuinely annoyed now. “Gon, dammit, let me up! What are you trying to do—”

A blanket landed on top of him. Killua blinked at the fuzzy green cloth, mouth still hanging open. He didn’t have the time to think before Gon was tugging the blanket off his head. He smiled brightly at Killua.

“Stay still for a second, okay?” he asked while Killua continued to gape at him. “You’ll love this, I just know it!”

“I don’t—” Killua grunted as Gon started to tuck the blanket under his body, pinning his arms and legs to his sides with the blanket, “—know about tha-at, ow! Hey, watch your hands! What are you doing to me?!”

“I’m tucking you in!” Gon said seriously and Killua made a sputtering sound.

“I don’t need tucking in! This isn’t even you tucking me in, okay, I look like a burrito!”

“You do need tucking in! You get cold easily and I need to keep you warm while I go make hot chocolate!”

Killua sat up at the word ‘chocolate.’ Excitement coursed through his veins and his heart sped up. “You’re making me hot chocolate?” he blurted out

Gon huffed. “Yes, but you’ll stay here.” He grabbed some pillows from the side and stacked them up before pushing Killua’s head back down again. “Okay? I’ll only be gone a couple of minutes.”

He pressed a kiss to Killua’s forehead and Killua pouted. “Why can’t I just come with you?” he whined.

Gon smiled, amusement lighting up those golden eyes. “Because you’ll eat all the marshmallows out of the packet before I can boil the water. And the hot chocolate won’t taste as good then.”

Killua felt his expression sour. “Meanie.”

Gon laughed, patting his flop of white hair. “If you say so. Stay here, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.”

He got up and left. Killua scowled at the ceiling for a minute, listening to clinks and clatters as Gon messed around in the kitchen to his right. He knew it wouldn’t take Gon that long to fill the teapot with water and set it on the stove for it to boil. That’s not what he was mad about. No, more than anything he was just pissed that Gon wasn’t letting Killua indulge his sweet tooth like usual.

Even worse: he felt the need to trap Killua here just to prove his point.

“Dammit, Gon,” Killua growled and dropped his head back onto the pillows Gon had oh-so-thoughtfully propped up for him.

Gon just knew him too well at this point, plain and simple. That wasn’t surprising, considering the fact that he and Gon had known each other for nearly three years now ever since their initial meeting on their first ever day of high school. Being with Gon had been a breathless whirlwind of activity from day one- from trying to cram calculus into Gon’s thick skull hours before their final exam, to riding their bikes to the Freecss’s home in pouring rain and blistering sun alike, between racing each other in Bisky’s gym class and stealing bites of each other’s snacks—

To shyly brushing each other’s fingers at the lunchroom table. Holding each other’s stares for a second too long across the classroom. The heavy blushes and pounding heartbeats whenever they accidentally got a little too close, even for best friends. Neither of them asking anyone out for Homecoming until Gon finally showed up the day of the dance at Killua’s house, dressed in a tux and wearing a determined expression on his red face.

And they’d never turned back since.

“Killua!”

The cushion under him was jostled and Killua blinked as Gon suddenly reappeared by his head, elbows pressed into the couch edge. The other teen was beaming brightly with eyes that sparkled as if they contained rays from the sun itself.

“What’s with that look, huh?” Killua asked, feeling his cheeks start to prickle and burn. The way Gon was looking at him…

“Nothing!” Gon chirped. He crossed his arms and rested his chin on them. He tilted his head, still watching Killua with that content, soft smile gracing his lips “I’m just happy is all.”

Killua huffed. “You’re always happy.”

“Only ‘cause I’m always with you.”

Killua scrunched up his nose and turned away to hide the horrible, mortifying blush that was slowly making its way across his face. “Sap,” he muttered, but the insult had no bite. How could it, when Gon had so easily rendered him helpless with a few choice words?

Gon giggled and reached out to poke Killua’s warming cheek. “You okay, Killua? Your voice sounds kind of squeaky there.”

And just like that, the melting sensation evaporated. Killua grit his teeth to keep himself from snapping. Gon really did know exactly how to push all his buttons. That bastard.

“I’m fine, Gon,” he growled. “You just like to imagine things.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, Gon.”

“You’re not too cold or anything? I wouldn’t want you to freeze with that blizzard raging outside.”

Killua tried—and failed—to resist the temptation to roll his eyes. “Gon. You’ve literally tucked this blanket under me to the point where I can barely even move. I think I’m warm enough.”

“I dunno…you still look kind of cold to me.”

“You must be losing your eyesight, then,” Killua retorted.

“Hm.” Gon, disappointingly, didn’t rise to the bait. He untucked his arms, extending one hand to reach out and play with one of Killua’s stray silver curls. Something inside Killua melted a little at the gentle move and he almost missed it when Gon asked, “Maybe I should put the fireplace on? That would drive out the cold a bit.”

Killua blinked distractedly. “I-I guess? You really don’t have to, though—”

“The only other real option would be to get you more clothes to warm you up. More socks and sweaters and even gloves, maybe.”

“Gon,” Killua said, exasperated. Seriously, this was getting a bit out of hand now. “I don’t need to wear gloves inside, or anything else for that matter! What I have on is fine, really.”

Gon sighed heavily. But the sound was fake, overexaggerated. Suspiciously so.

“Well. If you don’t like either those options, there’s always a third…”

Killua really did not need to be warmed up at this point. He could hear the water starting to boil and whistle in the opposite room, and the cushion underneath him was starting to warm to his body temperature. Neither the wind nor the snow could reach him here, wrapped securely in Gon’s blanket.

Still, though. He was curious. He wanted to see where this little game of Gon’s led.

“Oh, yeah?” Killua asked, narrowing his eyes, and Gon grinned back.

“Yeah.”

“And what is it? This third, other option? I assume it’s better than the other two you’ve offered me.”

Gon laughed slightly. “I think it’s better. I think you will too, but who knows.”

“Tell me what it is then and we’ll find out.”

The corner of Gon’s lips twitched upwards into a smirk and Killua’s heart stuttered at the sight.

“Well.” Gon leaned forward, until all Killua could see were two burning pools of gold. He felt Gon’s fingers move from his hair to his forehead, to carefully trail down his cheek and leave sparks of electricity dancing under his skin…

Gon moved even closer and murmured into Killua’s scarlet-tipped ears. “I could always warm you up, you know.”

Killua’s eyes bulged and he inhaled so quickly he nearly choked. A wave of heat crashed over him and his face burst into flames. “G-Gon!” he squeaked, jerking upwards into a sitting position, and Gon pulled back with a cackle. He lunged for Gon but missed; the other teen had already jumped away and out of reach.

“You bastard, you did that on purpose!” Killua hissed but Gon simply grinned. “Why do you always tease me like that?!

Gon raised his eyebrows. “Who said anything about teasing you?” he asked and Killua’s jaw dropped. “I meant what I said; I have no problems warming you up. I would prefer to be your method of choice, actually.”

Killua’s breathing hitched, his pulse starting to race with anticipation at Gon’s words. He didn’t know exactly what Gon was implying. But, if Gon was saying what Killua thought he was saying—

“But,” Gon continued with a sigh. “I also promised you hot chocolate. So I gotta do that first.”

Of course he had to do that first.

Killua glared at him through tousled silver bangs. “You’re still a tease.”

“And you’re still as fun to tease as ever,” Gon chirped and gave Killua a wink. “Now don’t miss me too much, Killua! I’ll be right back!”

He was gone again before Killua could say anything else, leaving Killua to stew in his own shock and embarrassment. He let out a long, shaky sigh and pushed his hand through his hair with a scowl. He hated how easy it was for Gon to poke fun at him. Gon was the only one who could do that, besides Alluka, and the stupid gremlin knew it too.

Killua looked back towards the window. The snow was piling up even higher now, fat snowflakes still falling down at a steady pace. If anything, they were falling down even faster than when he’d first woken up. It made him wonder just how much snow their area would receive before the storm was over. His parents would be furious with him for going over Gon’s and being trapped here instead of coming home right away, but that was the whole point—

“Okayyyyy, here you go!”

Killua tore his gaze away from the winter wonderland outside. Gon was slowly padding his way back into the living room, carefully holding two steaming cups of hot chocolate in both hands. Killua couldn’t help but smile as he spotted the mugs’ patterns: one had a fishing rod with the line for the cup handle, and the other was covered in skateboards.

“You still have these?” Killua asked as Gon gently placed the mugs on the edge of the coffee table.

Gon puffed out his freckled cheeks. “Of course! We won them for each other freshman year during the Autumn Festival!”

“Yeah, but—” Killua grunted while Gon climbed onto the couch besides him, jostling him in the process, “—that was, ow, Gon! That was, ugh, a while ago…”

“Mmm. Not really? Two years isn’t that long of a time.” Gon tugged at Killua’s arms and Killua let himself be pulled sideways into Gon’s lap.  He didn’t resist it when Gon’s arms wrapped around his waist, nor the way Gon to held him gently to his broad chest before draping the blanket from earlier over them both.

“Besides,” Gon continued and Killua felt the vibration of his deep voice all the way down to his toes. “There’s no way your mom and dad would’ve let you keep the mug I won for you, so that meant I had to keep both of ours here for safety!”

Killua hummed his agreement. His cheeks and were starting to warm again, slowly turning red like a sunset sky. He could hear the faint thrum of Gon’s heartbeat like this, strong and sturdy and true. He sighed quietly, content, and curled himself into Gon’s never-ending warmth.

“Are you warm enough yet, Killua?” Gon asked quietly, a small smile tucked into each word.

“Yeah,” Killua whispered into Gon’s collarbone. Killua heard Gon’s breathing hitch the slightest bit, felt his arms tightening around Killua’s waist.

“Killua?”

“Mmm?”

Tan fingers grasped at his chin and Killua was gently forced to look upwards into Gon’s face. Gon’s expression softened when their eyes met, solid gold locking on blue. “I was just thinking, you know, that the hot chocolate is supposed to warm up your lips but it’s too hot to drink right now…”

It took Killua a few seconds to process what Gon had just said. And when he did, he burst into laughter.

“Are you—” He snickered and wheezed, unable to hold back his giggles while Gon’s smile slid into a frown, “—is that seriously your way of trying to say you want to kiss me?! Seriously? All that smooth talk from before and then you use that?”

Gon was full out pouting now. Killua might have teased him about how cute he looked if the situation wasn’t so freaking funny.

“Killua!” Gon whined, shaking Killua slightly. “Hey, stop laughing! I was just trying to set the mood—”

“Yeah, well, you ruined any mood that might have been there in the first place!” Killua gasped and wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes. God, he would never let Gon live that one down. Trying to warm up his lips, c’mon, really?

Gon scrunched up his nose. “At least I was trying to do something! You didn’t even—”

Killua didn’t wait to hear the rest of Gon’s sentence. He grabbed Gon’s cheeks with both hands and smashed their mouths together, cutting off whatever the hell else Gon was planning to say.

Gon didn’t seem to mind the interruption, though. He pulled Killua closer by his hips, angling his head at the same time so that their noses weren’t awkwardly pressed together anymore. He kissed Killua with the eagerness of someone who’d been waiting hours to do this very thing. Gon’s mouth was insistent on Killua’s, not letting Killua breathe for more than a half second or two before diving back in for more.

“G-Gon!” Killua yanked his head back, caught between gasping and laughing. His head spun dizzily and he almost tipped over the side of the couch before Gon pulled him back upright.

“You okay, Killua?” Gon asked, grin dazzling and cheeks flushed bright red.

“Yeah,” Killua said breathlessly. “I’m more than okay, I’m…”

He reached out to cup Gon’s jaw, rubbed his thumbs over burning freckled skin, let his gaze meet golden eyes that practically shone from Gon’s giddiness, before finally leaning in to press a chaste kiss to those lips. Gon’s arms wound around his torso once again, crushing him and chasing the air out of his lungs, but Killua didn’t mind.

Finally, Killua pulled back. He rested their foreheads together, taking in unsteady gulps of air. His chest was full and light and bursting with emotion and as much as he hated talking about feelings, he knew he had to, or else he really would explode.

“Gon, I-I’m really happy right now, here, with you,” he admitted, face aflame, and Gon glowed.

“Awww, Killua.” Gon ran a gentle hand through Killua’s tousled hair, smile wider than Killua could have ever remembered seeing it. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, silly. I’m happy with you, too.”

“Really?” he whispered. His skin was still radiating heat like he was the center of a sun, but Gon didn’t seem to care about that.

“Mhm. Why do you think I asked you to come over if that wasn’t the case? Do you really think I would spend all day with someone who didn’t make me happy? That I would date someone who didn’t make me happy?”

Okay, now Gon was just teasing him.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Killua grumbled and Gon giggled. He let out a low whine of protest as Gon leaned forward to plaster his face in feather-light kisses, covering all available space. “Gon, hey!”

“No take backs,” Gon murmured against the corner of Killua’s right eye. “You decided to come over, you gotta deal with my eternal love now.”

Killua laughed—a real, chest-deep and heart soaring kind of laugh—and wound his arms around Gon’s neck to hold him close to his pounding heart.

And outside, the snow continued to fall.

[cdg174]

Just another Babysitter: Part 3

Summary: As Y/N attempts to adjust from coming back from the dead, the angels are stirring and this doesn’t fall silent on Castiel’s ears. The Winchester brothers and their best angel friend leave the bunker to discover who had been brought back in Cottonwood falls. When they get there Dean grows angry and Sam is upset. What will they do when they reunite with someone they never thought they would see again? How will Y/N survive in a world that is not hers? Let’s find out.

Words: 1677

  Masterlist

The Bunker Lebanon, Kansas: Saturday June 24th, 2017

General pov.

All is calm in the bunker, Sam is tucked away in his room reading a book, Dean is in the kitchen lurking for food and Castiel is examining through the shelves in the library. Everything is quite as he takes a book from one shelf, just at random, to read possibly. The two men and the angel haven’t had much to do in a few weeks, they’ve had no hunts and no calls for help. Maybe one or two messages from Jody and Donna to ask how they’ve been but aside from that, nothing. However the silence doesn’t last for long, not in a hunters life.

All of a sudden, a piercing whistle sounds in Castiel’s ears. He grabs his head in shocking pain, it subsides as soon as it came though. Castiel knows exactly what the screeching means, the last time he experienced anything like that, the Winchester’s half brother Adam was resurrected. This one is more painful than the last which is to indicate whoever was revived is closer in perimeter. Before Castiel loses the location, he grabs a marker off the library table and marches into the war room.

“Sam! Dean!” Castiel’s yell echos down the halls to the two hunters ears. They immediately stand at attention at the broken calm of the bunker. Dean pulls his pistol from his belt, closes the fridge and bolts toward the library, Sam not far behind him with a blade clenched in his fist. When they reach the source of the call, Castiel hears their stomping feet. “In here!” They step into the war room, faces confused when they see no threat.

“Is there a reason you gave me a heart attack?” Castiel turns from the map to look at Dean. 

“You haven’t suffered any heart problems.” Dean wipes his hand down his face in response and Sam smirks behind him.

“Nevermind Cas. What were you calling about?” Sam interjects.

“This is why.” Castiel walks to the map on the wall and points to the red dot he made. Sam and Dean make their way over.

“A dot is why you were yelling in panic?” Dean say skeptically. “That red dot must be a big deal.” Castiel rolls his eyes at Dean.

“Not the dot, the location it is placed.” Sam motions for him to continue. “Angels are speaking again. A soul has escaped Heaven and that red dot is where this person has come back to life.” The boys look at each other and then they both take a closer look at the map.

“Cottonwood Fall, Kansas?” Dean reads in recognition.

“You know it?” Castiel asks.

“We both do.” The younger Winchester answers. “It was home once but that was over thirty years ago.” Castiel and Sam look to Dean as he pivots toward the library. He shouts over his shoulder.

“We leave in twenty minutes.” 

When Dean reaches his room, instead of going straight to his duffel bag, he goes to the trunk full of his family’s photos and such. Once opened, Dean shuffles through its contents and within a few seconds, he finds it. The ring Y/N gave him all those years ago. 

“A home you can come back to if need be.”

Meanwhile Sam is stuffing clothes into into a knapsack in his room. He grabs his laptop next and gently places it in its case at his desk. When he grazes his room for anything he missed, he spots John’s journal on his nightstand. Picking it up Sam goes to the page with the shoelace peeking out the top. The same page John wrote about Y/N’s death on it. Slung through the lace is the petal pink ring Dean gave him from Y/N, when he was five. The ring was still too big for his little fingers, so he had taken a shoelace off one of Dean’s shoes and wore as a necklace.

Sam takes the shoelace and packs the journal with his laptop. Seconds later he hears Dean call his name from down the hall. Time to go. Still holding the lace, he shifts his bag on his shoulder and picks up his laptop. One handed, Sam slides the necklace over his head and tucks the ring into his shirt with a smile on his face.

Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

Y/N’s pov.

“Here you go.” Gwen places a sandwich in front of me, along with a glass of apple juice. “All I had was peanut butter and strawberry jam.” After I was invited in, Gwen grabbed me some clean clothes and helped me start a shower. It felt like a weight was taken off my shoulder as I watched all the dirt and grime wash down the drain. After the shower I stood in shock looking in the mirror, seeing for the first time a hand print burned into the lower left side of my abdomen. How I didn’t notice or feel it sooner, I have no idea. 

However long later, I walked out of then bathroom in new clean clothes, the old ones tossed in the trash and bandaged knuckles. Gwen then gave me her house phone and the number to call a tow for my ‘car’. Now here I am seated in the kitchen, staring at food she insisted I eat before I go on my way.

“Thanks.” I look around her small kitchen, plain white cupboards, a round tan table in which I sit at and sun shinning through the window above the sink.

“If you need anything, I’ll just be in the living room.” I nod as Gwen walks out the doorway. I pick up the sandwich, ready to demolish the thing when I see a calendar to my left, pinned to the wall. It’s placed on the  month of June but what startles me is the year. 2017.

“Oh God!” I whisper scream. “I’ve been dead for thirty-three years.” I hold my head between my hands, about ready to cry when Gwen comes back into the kitchen. She opens a drawer beside the sink and places a stack of dish towels in it. When she turns around I straighten my back and grab the sandwich, putting on the best smile I can. Gwen smiles in return and proceeds back to the living room, without a word. I slump my shoulders. “What the hell do I do now?”

As shocked as I am, my stomach is hungrier and so I eat.

General pov.

“This is definitely the place.” Dean says as he puts the impala in park. Castiel had directed the eldest Winchester to the site where the recent rising took place. Sam is first out of the vehicle and he stares in awe at all his flattened surroundings. Trees snapped down, hedges as low as the grass and old supports of a house, splintered to nothing. Just like when Dean came back. The two men and the angel look at each before they separate.

As Castiel and Dean explore the old building’s ruins, they hear Sam beckon them from a distance. When Dean spots the graves, he already feels dread for what he has not yet seen. From the dishevelled look of Sam and the dug up ground, the eldest Winchester knows he won’t like what comes next. They reach the headstones and Sam looks to Dean with concerned eyes. One says the name of someone they boys have never met and the other is of a person they hoped they would see again, just not in this way.

Here lies Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N Beloved friend, niece and a sister to many. May she fly in the heavens for all eternity. Born August 12th, 1965 - Died June 24th, 1984 

Of course the dirt is dug up around Y/N’s headstone which makes Dean angry and so he walks away. 

“You two knew her?” Castiel asks Sam already knowing the answer. 

“Yeah.” Sam rubs at his tired eyes. “She was the last real babysitter we ever had after mom died.” Castiel looks down at the dirt pile wanting to ask more about this Y/N but the angels knows it’s best if he doesn’t. Whoever she was to the Winchester’s was someone they grew to love, he can see that much in Sam’s expression.

“You’ve already guessed that she is the escaped soul.” Sam only nods at Castiel’s statement and he begins to walk the direction Dean went. Over his shoulder, Sam indicates to the angel.

“We’ve got a dead babysitter to track down.”

Y/N’s pov. 

As I am about to leave Gwen’s home, I stop by the mirror just by the front door to take in my new clothes. The plain pink tank top I wear is covered by an overly baggy grey pull over sweater and the faded logo says something along the lines of ‘Disney Resort’. Aside from the new tops, I’m sporting some tight fitting blue jeans with scuffs here and there, as well as some bouncy black slip on shoes. Overall a very comfy outfit but I can’t help but feel completely out of place. I guess being dead for over three decades will do that to a person.

“Here you go. One more thing for your troubles.” Gwen startles me out of my head as she holds out an old pink knapsack, seemingly full of things. I look up from the bag confused and Gwen smiles sadly at me. “I know a runaway when I see one dear.Your bandaged knuckles give you away.” I can’t really deny her claim as that is exactly what I have to do now. I only had Auntie Terry before and if she is still alive she would be in her seventies now. I’ve been dead far too long that I could possibly give her a heart attack if she all of a sudden saw her dead niece. “I won’t convince you too stay but the least I can do is give you some things to help you survive a little while.”

“Thank you.” I reach for the door knob and march scared into a new world I never got to grow up in.

Special mentions: @palominojacoby

Call me Jane Doe mentions: @arazialotis @cyanpintglass @goldenolaf25 @when-innocence-is-gone @jaylynnaredsky @fallen-castiel @spnfanficfavorites@anothertimeinspace @klleexy @flare-chan003 @isnt-the-blog-youre-looking-for @imnotalosechester @mary-meee @yascalum @jsamstar@driadgoch @vvinch3st3r @kayarisa@misguidedconqueress @heeeeeether @messy-buns-and-shotguns @breathexxinxxthexxflames @ryantherandomhero @simirachel@supernatural-fangirl13 @lilypalmer1987 @beatlesobsessionlove @ultracleverthing @possesstiel

[breeeliss]

[Miraculous Ladybug]: Sweet Deliveries

day 1 and already im like an hour late but fuck it what else is new?

first up is all of the week 1 prompts for @thinkoutsidethelovesquare ! im trying to warm up to nathanael as a character and i’ve also been meaning to push out more mlm in this fandom, so consider this me killing two birds with one stone. hope you enjoy~

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Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

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Prompt: Day 1 - “Wrong Number” Pairing: Adrinath (Adrien x Nathanael) Title: Sweet Deliveries Summary: Wrong Number AU in which a sick Nathanael tries to ask Rose for things to help his cold and calls Adrien instead. Adrien, of course, exceeds all expectations.

Sweet Deliveries

“Are you sure you’re going to be fine taking the bus home?”

Rose was standing on her tippy toes, pressing the backs of her hands to Nathanael’s cheeks and forehead, frowning at the heat that was burning her skin. He smiled weakly — wincing against his sore throat — and zipped his sweatshirt all the way up to his chin. “It’s only a fifteen minute ride. I don’t want maman to have to take time off work just to come get me.”

“You’re running a fever you silly!”

“It’s just a tiny one,” Nathanael assured her, even as he began to feel lightheaded the longer he stayed on his feet. “I’ll rest up for the rest of the day and be back at school tomorrow.”

Rose frowned and gently smacked his elbow. “I better not see you in school tomorrow, Nathanael. I’ll march you right home!”

“It’s already so hard to concentrate in class, I don’t want to miss even more by being absent.”

“Maybe if you put that sketchbook of yours down for more than two minutes at a time….”

Nathanael jutted out his bottom lip and stared at her pitifully while Rose rolled her eyes half-heartedly. “Come on, give me your hand.”

“What for?”

She pulled out a pink pen and scribbled some numbers on the back of his hand. “When is your mother going to be home?”

“Late probably,” Nathanael admitted. “Late shift tonight.”

“Alright. I want you to call me when school finishes and let me know if you need anything,” she explained. “I have soup, medicine, tea, and snacks at my house and I can run them over quick. You only live a few blocks from me so it’s no trouble.”

Nathanael smiled softly. “You don’t have to do that, Rose.”

“Oh, let me fret over you a little,” she grinned, tapping him on the nose with the end of her pen. “You were looking so faint in class just now, it puts my mind at ease to lend a hand.”

They walked to the entrance of the school and Rose reached up to pull Nathanael’s hood up so that his ears wouldn’t get cold. He checked his pockets to make sure he had enough for the bus and waved over his shoulder. “Thanks for walking me to the nurse. I appreciate it.”

“Just make sure you come back healthy, okay? Juleka and I will take notes for you!”

Nathanael tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweater and shivered against his fever as he made his way across the street to wait for the bus back home. Luckily his timing was good because he only had to wait a couple of minutes before the mostly empty bus rolled up to the stop and left him with a double seater that he could use to prop his legs up. Usually he liked to use the bus ride home to get some sketching done, but his nose was so stuffed and his body was so hot that he merely rested his bag on his lap and used it as a pillow as he rested the entire ride home.

Mme. Mendeleiev had already sent notes home to his mother about the fact that he was slipping behind in physics because of his lack of attention in class. Nathanael tried to explain that it was more than that — the lessons went by so quickly and it was hard for him to keep his attention on all of the equations and demonstrations without switching to his pencils and sketching across his notes. His mother understood, but he had promised her to bring his grades up and prove himself to his teachers soon. He couldn’t very well do that by missing school, but he supposed that sitting in class with a fever wasn’t going to do anyone good.

When the bus finally reached his stop, Nathanael had gotten up from his seat and felt the dizziness hit him all at once, finally convincing him that maybe he was more sick than he’d thought. It felt like ages before he got to his building, thankful that his apartment was on the first floor of the walk-up.

His mother was on a double shift at the café until dinner, which meant he was on his own as far as taking care of himself, but he hoped that sleeping off the fever would be enough. He walked straight to his room, replaced his jeans with sweatpants, and crawled into his bed, falling asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

About four hours later, he woke up and felt like complete death. A headache, a worsened sore throat, a persistent fever, and violent chills made him think that maybe Rose was onto something when she mentioned him staying home tomorrow. He checked his cellphone and saw that school had let out about five minutes ago and figured that it might be a good idea to take Rose up on her offer. He didn’t think there was any medicine left in the kitchen and he wasn’t sure if he was up to making himself some warm soup anyway.

Bundling the blankets around him into a warm cocoon, Nathanael copied Rose’s number from his hand into his phone. Her writing was really loopy and hard to make out at spots — was that a 5 or a 6? A 4 or a 9? — but he did his best and got sent to her voicemail.

“Hey Rose,” Nathanael croaked, his voice coming out scratchy and pained. “It’s Nathanael. I think I might need some things after all. Not much! But, uh….if you could pick up some medicine for a fever, some tea, and maybe some soup, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll pay you back for all of it, but I really don’t feel up to getting out of bed at the moment. Take your time! No rush! Uh….thanks.”

Normally he wouldn’t dream of putting anyone out of their way like this, but Nathanael was desperate and alone in his house with a sickness he was convinced was going to keep him bed bound for at least the next twenty four hours, so he tried to reign in the guilty feeling as best he could.

Nathanael turned the television on in his room and watched through some old re-runs of a few cartoons and sitcoms that he liked watching until he heard the doorbell ring. Perfect. That must be Rose. Medicine and soup sounded absolutely heavenly right about now. He wrapped all his blankets around him until he was covered up to his nose, forced himself out of bed, and padded across the apartment to the front door.

Of course the very last person he expected to be standing on his welcome mat was Adrien Agreste.

Nathanael suddenly felt silly showing up to the door with all his blankets tied around him like this.

“A-Adrien?!” Nathanael asked in surprise. “Um….hi? What are you doing here?”

Adrien was standing there as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be visiting Nathanael as his home. He lowered the scarf away from his mouth and frowned at the sight of Nathanael. “Aw, buddy, you look awful! Do you have the flu or something?”

Nathanael blinked and looked down at his feet self-consciously. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Might just be a nasty cold, or strep throat. Sorry, uh….what are you doing here exactly?”

“Oh, right!” Adrien grinned. He picked up the two shopping bags that were sitting at his feet and thrust them forward. “You mentioned that you needed some things to help with your cold, so I went and picked them up for you!”

“Things?” Nathanael frowned. “Wait, I thought….Rose was going to get that stuff for me. I left her a message. Could she not make it?”

Adrien chuckled. “I think you might’ve typed in her number wrong. You called me.”

Nathanael’s eyes widened. He’d called the wrong number? “Are you sure?”

“I mean, I can play the voicemail for you if you want, but yeah I’m sure,” Adrien laughed.

“Oh, no,” Nathanael groaned, hiding his face in his blankets. “I’m such an idiot, I’m so sorry about that.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” Adrien waved off. “That sort of thing happens all the time. Mind if I come in, by the way? It’s a little chilly out here and I forgot my gloves at home.”

“Y-yeah sure!” Nathanael stumbled, moving aside the umbrella stand to give Adrien room to come inside. “Sorry about that. Maman isn’t home yet so make yourself comfortable I guess.”

Adrien respectfully toed off his shoes to leave by the door and made his way to the kitchen while Nathanael locked the door behind him. He sneezed into his blankets and climbed up on top of one of the chairs in the kitchen while Adrien busily unpacked his shopping bags and organized all of the contents on the table. He stared incredulously at all of the purchases and swallowed to soothe his throat. “What is all this?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with you, so I got a little bit of everything? I hope you don’t mind.” Adrien folded up the bags and left them on the countertop while he pointed at each thing left on the table. “So here’s some ibuprofen for your fever. I also grabbed some cold medicine — drowsy and non-drowsy because I wasn’t sure which one you liked best. I got you some ginger tea and honey too in case your throat is feeling a little bad. I went to the café near my house and picked up some chicken soup for you too. There’s two servings here so that you’ll have some leftover to heat up later.”

Nathanael felt himself gaping. “Wait just a min—”

“I grabbed some bananas and apples since maman always gave those to me when I was sick to snack on. But I know that’s boring so I also had Marinette pack me some chocolate croissants for you to eat when you get better. I also grabbed all of the books from your locker that you’d need for our homework — sorry I hope that wasn’t weird or anything — oh, and I also made copies of my notes in the library real quick so that you wouldn’t miss anything.” He stepped back from the table with a proud grin stretching the apples of his cheeks as high as they would go and clasped his hands behind his back. “Yeah! So, uh….hope that’s everything you needed.”

Nathanael twisted around the tins of tea that Adrien had bought him and gaped at the expensive brand written across the side. “You didn’t have to go and get all this!”

“I mean, I couldn’t find Rose after school, and you sounded so miserable over the phone when you left that message, I couldn’t just ignore it,” Adrien replied. “It was the least I could do, honest.”

“I don’t know how to pay you back for all of this though.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Adrien frowned. “Don’t even worry about that, paying for all of this stuff was nothing.” He blinked at the wording. “Er, sorry. That sounded a little elitist, didn’t it? I just meant that I was happy to help you out and get this stuff for you. You honestly don’t have to worry about paying me back.”

“But you went through all the trouble.”

“It wasn’t trouble in the least,” Adrien said. “I’m always eager to help a friend.”

Nathanael couldn’t tell if he coughed in surprise or whether he had to add cough to his list of symptoms. “Friend?”

“Of course. How could I just leave you suffering here like this?”

To be fair, when Adrien put it like that, it seemed like the only option was for him to come over with probably one of the biggest care packages Nathanael had ever received in his life. But he was sure that anyone else would’ve just called back and told him he had the wrong number so that he could figure out where he went wrong dialing Rose. To actually go out to stores, cafés, and bakeries for him — especially when Adrien and Nathanael didn’t really talk all that much — seemed so baffling and so touching that Nathanael didn’t quite know what he was supposed to do or say.

“I….thank you,” he finally said. “This is way more than I ever expected anyone to do for me. I really appreciate it.”

Adrien took off his scarf and jacket and hung it over the backs of one of the kitchen chairs. “Want me to make some tea and heat up the soup for you? My Chinese lessons don’t start for another half hour so I can hang around for a short bit.”

“Oh, you don’t have to….” Nathanael trailed off, because it seemed like Adrien didn’t mean for what he said to be posed as an actual question. He was already looking through the dishwasher for a clean kettle and filling it with water from the sink.

Figuring that there was no sense in arguing with Adrien at this point — he was already in his house and it was hard to stare at that sunny smile of his and dare to tell him no — Nathanael pulled his knees up to his chest and pointed out where the pots and mugs were.

It was almost endearing to see Adrien move around the kitchen. It didn’t seem like he spent much time in the kitchen himself — he struggled turning on the stovetop burners and he burned his finger on the handle of the pot when he went to stir the soup — but he was whistling while he moved around and kept asking Nathanael questions about the history project they had to turn in next week and what he got on their last visual arts assignment. They never really spent time talking much during class, but Adrien was a very simple, honest person. It didn’t take much effort to share a space with him. He brought up easy topics, and when Nathanael didn’t feel like talking he took the silence with ease. Nathanael had a smile on his face right up until Adrien brought his tea, soup, and medicine over on a tray.

“Do you like any sugar or milk in your tea?” Adrien asked.

“No just honey’s fine.”

Adrien carefully stirred in a spoonful of honey, slid the tray in front of Nathanael, and sat in the chair across from him. “Take the medicine first, you look like you’re about to pass out.”

Nathanael sighed and made a show of picking up the bottle of ibuprofen and shaking out two pills. “It’s probably one of those twenty four hour things. I’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

Adrien leaned his cheek against his hand. “Are you sure? I think you should stay home tomorrow. I’ll bring all your notes and homework again if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, but thanks for the thought,” Nathanael smiled, and gosh he realized he’d been smiling ever since Adrien started boiling water for his tea. “I just hate missing school, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand,” Adrien laughed. “I came into school one day with a chest cold because I didn’t want to miss school and Nino all but pulled me by my ear to the nurse’s office halfway through our first class.”

“I remember that. He kept scolding you for the rest of the school day.”

“Yeah, that sounds a lot like Nino,” Adrien grumbled. “He gave me a lecture about not infecting the rest of the class with my sick. I didn’t think of that. But, I dunno, I guess when you’ve been homeschooled for most of your life you don’t want to miss out on actual school, you know? Where you get to walk to classes and have lockers and sit next to your friends and stuff.”

Nathanael didn’t much see what the big deal was about walking and lockers, and sitting next to friends wasn’t really why he prioritized coming into school everyday. But Marinette told him during visual arts one day about how Adrien pitched a fit to his father about getting the chance to go to public school after being homeschooled with very little friends before this. Someone as vibrant as Adrien didn’t really seem the type to thrive in a homeschooled setting anyway. Someone who splurged on soup for someone he didn’t really know well needed to be around people.

“I just don’t want to get marked down for any reason,” Nathanael mumbled in between sips of soup. “I already get in trouble for not paying attention in class. I don’t want to make it worse by not being there at all.”

“Do you not like the subjects?”

“It’s not that. It’s just really hard to concentrate sometimes. Especially in physics. Mme. Mendeleiev is always watching me to make sure I’m taking notes, and I try. But sometimes she just talks too quickly and it’s all gobbledygook to me. So I just draw and do other homework and try to catch up at home.”

Adrien pouted his bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know physics gave you such a hard time.”

Nathanael shrugged. “I try not to make a big deal about it. It’s my fault anyway.”

“It’s not your fault at all,” Adrien insisted, pointing to Nathanael’s mug of tea to make sure he was drinking it. “I imagine it’s frustrating to try and pay attention in a class when things don’t make sense.”

“I was never much of a math or science person,” Nathanael admitted. “It’s always been like that.”

Adrien’s shoulders were slumped and his face was pulled into a deep frown, making him look more like a kicked puppy to Nathanael than anything else. It was almost strange to think that Adrien would be so upset on his behalf. Even Nathanael didn’t think it was too much of an issue, just inconvenient more than anything else. But suddenly Adrien’s face lit up, and he smacked his hands on the table so hard that he almost made the tea in Nathanael’s mug spill over. “What if I helped you?”

“Huh?”

“I’m really good at physics!” Adrien said excitedly. “Well. I mean. I do well in it. I like it, I mean. Not to brag or anything, God no! Just that I….well, anyway. If you needed help with assignments or with the material I could totally give you a hand.”

Yup, a puppy was definitely a good descriptor for Adrien. Nathanael could almost picture drawing ears and a wagging tail on Adrien right now and being perfectly content with the results. “You don’t know what you’re signing up for,” Nathanael insisted. “Honest. I’m probably hopeless.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Adrien waved off. “Look, you don’t have to say anything now. Just think about it. You have my number now. Just text me if you ever need any help. I’ll try to explain it slower than Mme. Mendeleiev does.”

There was no way that Nathanael could brush off that kind of kindness — and Adrien really was pulling out all the stops without even realizing the weight of what it was he was doing — so he nodded and ducked his face down towards his soup. “Alright,” he decided. “I’ll think about it.”

Adrien was only able to stay with Nathanael for a few minutes before he had to leave for his Chinese lessons. It was mostly Adrien talking about something silly that happened with him, Marinette, Alya, and Nino during lunch that afternoon, but Nathanael was fine to just listen and watch Adrien gesticulate through the whole story. Nathanael was slurping the last of his soup and feeling the medicine improve his fever a little bit when Adrien pulled his jacket on again. He stared at Nathanael for a moment looking pensive and unsure, but he shrugged his shoulders and pulled Nathanael into a brief hug.

“For good luck!” Adrien said as he pulled back and helped wrap Nathanael’s blankets around him again. “Let me know if you need anything else okay? I know your mother is coming back soon but still. Just in case.”

“I will,” Nathanael promised. “And….thanks again for all of this. I’m starting to feel a lot better.”

Adrien waved goodbye with both hands as he let himself out and locked the door behind him. Now that the apartment was empty, Nathanael couldn’t help but burst out into laughter, the tight bundle of warmth sitting in his chest the entire time finally unravelling and making him feel a lot less like the sack of garbage he felt like before. He finished up his lunch, shoved everything in the sink, and crawled back into his bed to try and rest off the cold.

He hugged his pillow to his chest and smiled into it before he fell asleep.

Nathanael had been one of the people who’d been in the class the longest, but he was perfectly fine with feeling like he didn’t strongly fit in anywhere.

He and Marinette had been drawing partners since they were six, Nino had been his back row buddy for as long as he can remember, and Kim had always been the one chasing bullies across the park to steal back the colored pencils they’d taken from him. But those young friendships weren’t nearly as deep as some of the others he’d seen. Marinette and Alya were practically inseparable, Kim and Max had more inside jokes than Nathanael even thought was possible, and Nino and Adrien were always huddled together by their desks coming up with secret handshakes and sharing headphones before class.

It never interested him to try and insert himself into those dynamics, and even though Rose insisted that wanting to be friends with people who already had established friend groups wasn’t intrusive in the lease, Nathanael stood by his word. He enjoyed the time he spent keeping to himself, and genuine kindness from his classmates was all he ever asked of anyone.

Of course Adrien Agreste went and took that normal brand of genuine kindness, injected steroids into it, and handed it back to Nathanael in a show of sincerity that he still felt undeserving of.

Adrien was an enigma. Nathanael watched him on first day of school as he did most of their classmates who joined them for the first time. Chloe was hanging off of his arm, he seemed to struggle making friends, and he stumbled around for a bit as he tried to figure out how this public school thing worked. But by his third day, Nino and Adrien were laughing with each other like they’d known the other for years. Everyone came up to his desk in the mornings to say hi not because he was a famous model, but just because he had a kind word and a warm smile for anyone who passed him. He was brilliant, excelled in his classes, did so much after school, and still had time to prove to everyone that there was nothing intimidating or reserved about him.

It was a wonder how someone’s presence could be so assuming and light up a room so brilliantly that people couldn’t help but be attracted to it. Nathanael wanted to chalk it up to natural magnetism, but he was really good at seeing beautiful and precious things in unlikely places and transferring them to all of his sketchpads. Adrien was something special, and Nathanael never thought that he’d be able to see that kind of specialness up close and personal in a way that left Nathanael’s head feel like it was swirling.

But….it was a nice kind of swirling. Sort of like when you spun around in circles for too long and left yourself feeling dizzy at the end of it, but still marveled at the way all the colors around you melded together into something breathtaking. It was overwhelming, but Nathanael wouldn’t necessarily mind more of that kindness.

Which led to Nathanael sitting in his room, thumb hovering over Adrien’s phone number in his cellphone.

His fever was gone, but his sore throat was still bothering him and he still felt generally weak and tired. So he decided to follow Rose and Adrien’s advice and stay home another day, which worked wonders since it meant he had a long weekend ahead of him. But he was looking through the physics homework that Adrien had brought him yesterday, and he kind of wanted to cry.

Adrien had the highest physics scores in the class, and he already offered to help Nathanael study. It seemed silly to say no to the help.

Nathanael took a huge breath, opened his texts, and deleted his message seven times before he sent it.

 nathanael: hey adrien, it’s nathanael! i hope school went well today. are you busy today? i was wondering if i could take you up on your offer to help me with physics? yesterdays homework isn’t making much sense.

 He carded his fingers through his hair, got up from his chair, and practically canon balled into his bed, hiding his head under his pillow.

Why was he nervous ? It wasn’t like Adrien was difficult to talk to or too intimidating to even look at. That couldn’t be even further from the truth, and it was evidenced by the fact that everyone always seemed to be at ease just by being around him. So why did Nathanael feel like his heart was about to burst out of his chest just from asking him for some private study lessons? It didn’t make any sense, but it certainly didn’t stop Nathanael from peeking out from underneath his pillow and waiting for the phone on his desk to illuminate with a new text message.

The moment it vibrated, he leaped out of his bed and unlocked his phone

 adrien: hey nath! are you feeling better? fencing practice was cancelled so i can come visit if you want.

 Visit? Have him come here again? Two days in a row?

 nathanael: oh gosh you really don’t have to if it’s too much trouble. im sure i can figure it out over text

adrien: lol it’s no trouble if im offering :P only if it’s ok with you ofc

nathanael: i mean i am feeling a lot better

nathanael: and i imagine this stuffs easier to explain in person?

adrien: haha so is that a yes? :D

nathanael: i guess so?

adrien: alright cool! i can come over in about an hour if you want. i just have to stop by my house and leave my fencing stuff. do you need notes and homework?

nathanael: actually that’d be amazing thanks

adrien: notes, homework, and your own personal study buddy coming right up! ;)

 Nathanael laughed at the long string of thumbs up emojis that Adrien decided to tag onto the end of the message, and he was almost positive that he didn’t know a single person in the world who could possibly get this excited about sitting down for an entire afternoon just to go over a pile of physics homework. He wondered if it was similar to the way Nathanael wished he could just take French and visual arts classes all day and got excited whenever he saw a nice charcoal set in the store.

When Adrien finally knocked on his door, he was practically bouncing on his toes and holding two boxes of pastries from the Dupain-Cheng bakery with a blinding smile on his face. “Hey!” he greeted. “Wow, you’re looking so much better. It was the soup, wasn’t it? It works wonders, I tell you.” He gently shook the boxes he was holding. “I brought more snacks!”

Nathanael raised a brow. “That’s….a lot of snacks.”

“I said the same thing,” he frowned in thought. “Marinette sort of pushed them on me when she heard I was coming over. She was really adamant about it too.” Adrien cleared his throat and shook his head a little. “Uh, anyway! They’re palmiers and opera cakes. I hope that’s okay? They were on sale.”

“That’s fine,” Nathanael chuckled. Something about Adrien’s enthusiasm was exasperating in a really sweet way. Even though it was a lot, he was sure Adrien didn’t even realize he was doing it. “I’ll get us some water. We can study in my room if you want.”

Nathanael hung up Adrien’s jacket, grabbed some water bottles from the fridge, and led them into his room that he spent most of the morning cleaning. The moment they stepped inside, Adrien immediately dropped his bag on the floor by Nathanael’s bed and sprawled across his carpet, his limbs thrown about as if he were at a close friend’s house. He dug through his things and handed off a folder filled with papers and post-its. “Here’s all the notes and homework assignments for today. Let me know if you can’t read anything.”

“Thanks,” Nathanael said, accepting the folder and breathing a sigh of relief when he saw how little homework there was for this weekend. “So, brutally honest opinion, on a scale of one to ten. How impossible was the homework from yesterday?"

“A 3 max. Not that bad, I promise,” Adrien assured.

“Says the physics nerd.”

“Excuse me, I prefer the term physics connoisseur,” Adrien winked with a smile.

“I guess I’m lucky if I get to borrow your help for a bit.”

“Nah, don’t think of it like that. I think I’m pretty lucky to get to study with you. We don’t hang out much and I’ve always wanted to talk to you more.”

Nathanael’s back straightened up almost immediately and he couldn’t pretend that that didn’t make his heart flutter just a little bit. “Y-You’ve been wanting to talk to me?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “For a while actually. I just wasn’t sure how to go up to you and just….ask if you wanted to hang out. I didn’t want to be awkward about it.”

“You? Awkward about making friends?” Nathanael snorted. “You’re so popular! Everyone talks to you.”

“I’ve never really had to make friends before this,” Adrien admitted. “I mean, I was lucky where Nino was concerned. He reached out first, and he’s just the best. But everyone else I guess just came up to me and started being nice, and I only ever knew how to be nice back and just put on a smile, and making friends after that just sort of came naturally. It’s been working so far, but I’m still kinda bad at starting conversations.”

Nathanael furrowed his brows. “I don’t know if I believe that….”

“I’m serious!” Adrien insisted. “You for example! I’ve never known how to talk to you. You always seemed to want to be left alone and I never wanted to bother you.”

“I mean…I’m not really the best at socializing,” Nathanael said. “People sort of already know that so they tend to give me a lot of breathing room so to speak. But….it’s not like I don’t want people to bother me.”

Adrien reached out Nathanael’s hands. “I didn’t mean to offend you! It was just what was going through my head, I wasn’t trying to make assumptions.”

“It’s okay,” Nathanael laughed. “To be fair, I kinda thought you were really unattainable. Like you sort of give off all this positive energy and make it look so easy. I didn’t know how to talk to you .”

“Sounds like we’ve both been wasting a lot of time,” Adrien said. “I’ll admit, that’s kind of why I rushed over here yesterday.”

“Because you didn’t want to waste time?”

“No, because I thought it’d be the perfect chance to talk to you. I mean, it was mainly to help you because you looked miserable yesterday, but it was also just a great chance to get to talk with you. I-I hope that’s not weird or anything.”

Nathanael’s fingers were tangling themselves up in his lap. “No. That’s….actually really refreshing. I don’t think anyone’s ever told me they were that eager to talk to me. It’s not like I take up a lot of space.”

Adrien shrugged. “You don’t have to. I noticed you without you having to do that.”

Nathanael took a shaky breath in and was suddenly heavily aware of Adrien’s hands that were still gently braced around his wrists. He stared at him as if he hadn’t just admitted something that was making Nathanael think terribly indulgent but horribly silly thoughts that he was doing best to keep locked up tight in his head so as not to ruin the moment. Adrien had only been in their class for a few months and it was hard to believe that he’d been wondering how to talk to him of all people. But it was hard not to let his insides melt a little when Adrien smiled at him, and it was then that he realized that maybe this whole physics studying thing was a really bad idea.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and could literally feel the heat radiating off his face. “G-Good to know.”

Adrien must have realized that he was still holding onto him, because he moved back and rubbed his hands on the carpet underneath him. “Right! Yeah! So, physics! Uh….do you have the homework sheets.”

Adrien was a really patient teacher. He was good about letting them take breaks so that they could plan hangman and tic-tac-toe in the corners, and Adrien seemed to get a kick out of the fact that Nathanael was making silly comics of people running away in fear from his physics equations and interacting with all of the diagrams in the problems. It made focusing on the really complicated equations a lot easier, and Adrien was great at explaining everything in a way that was much more simple than what Mme. Mendeleiev liked to rattle off in class. It was the quickest he’d ever gone through his physics homework, and he even felt confident enough to try and do this weekend’s homework without any help. They managed to get through all of the problems together and rewarded themselves with pastries every time they got a problem right. It wasn’t often that Nathanael got to do homework with friends and he didn’t think that he’d ever find himself spread out across his carpet and laughing with Adrien while they stuffed themselves with sweets. It seemed like a strange dream that he didn’t quite know how he entered but wasn’t about to wake himself up from.

When they were finally finished with their physics homework, they were both laying on their backs next to each other, each with a box of pastries sitting on their stomachs, Nathanael allowed his giddiness to give him the courage to speak. “Can I ask you something? And you promise to answer honestly?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Why did you want to talk to me so bad?”

Adrien kept his eyes on the ceiling and spoke around a mouthful. “I….don’t really know. I had a feeling you were a really interesting person, and I was right. And you just caught my eye I guess.”

“Why though?” Nathanael asked.

Adrien smiled nervously and didn’t turn his head to look at Nathanael. “You’re going to laugh. And I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Is it bad?”

“No! Not bad!” Adrien promised. “Just….well. I was really excited when you called me by accident. More excited than I thought I’d be. I guess.”

Nathanael moved his box, propped himself up on his elbow, looked down at Adrien. “Why were you excited?”

“I’m serious, you’re going to laugh.”

Nathanael bit his lip. “Try me. I might not laugh.”

Adrien blinked and for the first time looked like he was perfectly planning what he was going to say in his head. “What do you mean you might not? You don’t know what I’m going to say.”

“I don’t,” Nathanael admitted. “I know what I’m hoping you’ll say.”

“What are you hoping I’ll say?”

“I asked first.”

Adrien’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Fair enough.” He sat up from the floor and turned around so that he was facing Nathanael. “Just….promise that if I don’t say what you’re hoping I’ll say we can just go back to making jokes and eating junk food.”

Nathanael really really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. “Promise.”

Adrien took a huge breath and raked his fingers through his head as if to psych himself up. “Well, during the first week or so of school, my driver had forgotten to get used to my schedule and remember that he had to pick me up after school. There was a time where I was just sitting out on the stoop waiting for him to come pick me up and I saw you listening to music, humming to yourself, and sketching in your binder. I don’t know if you remember that.”

Nathanael liked to stick around after school a lot to sketch when he wanted to enjoy the nice weather a bit before going home. “I tend to do that a lot. But keep going.”

“I knew that you were in my class and I sort of remembered your name, but I like I said, I didn’t really know how to go up and talk to you. Plus I didn’t want to bother you.” Adrien stared down in his lap and smiled. “I, uh….well the first thought that popped into my head was that you were really cute.”

Adrien squinted his eyes shut and turned his head away as if preparing himself for a blow, but all Nathanael could do was hope that all of the sudden joy that was rushing from his head all the way down to the tips of his toes wasn’t too obvious. “W-Wait. Do you mean….?”

“Aw, don’t make me say it, it’s embarrassing and I didn’t rehearse,” Adrien groaned.

“So you do mean that!”

“I-I’m not making you uncomfortable, am I?”

Nathanael’s head dropped in relief as he shook his head. “No. No way. Quite the opposite, actually.”

“Wait, really?”

“I’m just as surprised as you are.”

Adrien still looked at Nathanael like he was starstruck. “Wait, there’s no way this is happening….”

“That makes two of us.”

Adrien licked his lips and scooted closer to Nathanael so that their knees were touching. “Can I try something?”

Nathanael nodded. “Uh. Sure. What is it?”

Adrien’s eyes darted down to Nathanael’s lips before dropping back down to his lap out of nerves, and suddenly Nathanael felt as if he were going to faint. Surely that’s not what he meant? This was just the over imaginative parts of Nathanael’s imagination getting away from him and making him anticipate things that weren’t actually coming his way. But Adrien finished surprising him that afternoon by buckling up all the courage inside of him and leaning forward to give Nathanael a sweet, short kiss on his lips, so short that Nathanael only had time to inhale sharply through his nose before it was over and Adrien was keeping his shoulders bunched up to his ears and keeping his eyes turned to the ceiling.

“Sorry,” he whispered out. “I panicked.”

“It’s okay,” Nathanael chuckled. “Do….do you want to try again?”

Adrien scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m so bad at this.”

Maybe it was because Nathanael thought it was so sweet to see someone as personable as Adrien suddenly look like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands or where to drop his gaze that Nathanael decided to take Adrien’s hands, lower them away from his face, and try to go something brave for once. He kept his hands around Adrien’s wrists as he leaned in and left a softer, slower kiss on Adrien’s lips, waiting patiently for Adrien to relax and gently open his mouth to kiss him back.

It wasn’t Nathanael’s first kiss, but it was his longest one — long enough for him to pick up little details about Adrien that he hadn’t noticed before. He had long eyelashes, his lips were a little chapped, and his bangs were long enough to tickle Nathanael’s temples when he tilted his head just slightly. He was also a really sweet kisser, one that made his toes curl in his socks and all his sighs come spilling into Adrien’s mouth. He wasn’t sure how long it had lasted, but he was practically counting the seconds that passed the moment Adrien ended the kiss and kept his lips just half an inch away from Nathanael’s, his breathes furling and mixing with his own.

“Man,” Adrien muttered. “Nino is never going to believe me.”

Nathanael couldn’t help it. He laughed with his whole body and felt like there was almost too much happiness running through his body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to distract us.”

“Please. That was a great distraction.”

Nathanael tilted his head back towards their books. “Should we try and do the rest of it? Aside from the physics.”

Adrien winced. “Ehhh. I mean. It’s Friday. There’s no rush.”

Nathanael smirked. “And I’m guessing you don’t want to head home yet.”

“Kissing is more fun than homework.”

Nathanael blinked and cursed under his breath. “Aw, shoot. I might still be contagious. I’m sorry.”

Adrien shrugged. “Worth it. Besides, if I get sick, I can always leave you a message by accident so you can bring soup to my house.”

Nathanael rolled his eyes when Adrien cupped his cheeks and pulled him in for another kiss. He supposed that after all of this, taking care of Adrien tomorrow when he inevitably got sick would be fair turnabout anyway.

[pixelmins]

Oh! please do a thing with Lucy's super cold and Natsu "warms her up"!

I hope you don’t mind that I took it in my own direction! Please enjoy!

Lucy’s teeth chattered as the rough morning air hit her face. Her blonde hair was swept messily around her chin to further prevent the wintry frost from reaching her neck. Her lips held a crusted layer of chapped nothingness and her eyes were coated with a thin layer of tears. She opened her mouth, huffing out and watching the cold air particles bundle together around her before puffing out into the cold, drenched atmosphere.

Her hands shook violently underneath the wool sweater she was currently dressed in. Her heart raced and her eyes darted involuntarily to her phone’s screen for the third time in the last minute. A lone text message lay forgotten. It was sent two hours ago, and read almost instantly after being discharged. There hadn’t been a reply, though. There were never replies.

Her boyfriend of almost a year now never bothered to show her much attention, but Lucy didn’t mind until much recently. She was idly making a birthday cake for him, and sent him a little teaser of the frosting. He replied with a simple ‘Whatever’, and that was that. In a normal situation, Lucy would have just brushed it off as him being busy, but it had already happened one too many times before. Her heart ached every time she was left alone or forgotten, and it just didn’t sit well with her.

So today she had asked to meet him at the coffee shop near her apartment at promptly five o’clock. She only had one goal in mind: to finally break things off with him. After months of suffering the way she did, she decided enough was enough and was ready to untie the knot. Her fingers trembled with anticipation, glancing at the time on her phone. It read four-fifty, so there was still a good ten-to-twenty minutes before she even expected him to leave wherever he was.

“Luce? What’re ya’ doing here?”

She whipped her head around to see her best friend since childhood, Natsu Dragneel, enter the coffee shop. He was bundled in a thick red coat and his signature white, scaly scarf was tied around his neck. His pink hair was just as spiky and loose like it always had been, and his eyebrows were raised, directed at her.

“Natsu?” Lucy asked, her head cocking to the side in confusion. It was rare the pink-haired guy ever stepped foot into cafés and hangouts like this, so to see him standing so casually in the entrance was a surprise to her. “What happened to you? I’ve never seen you in this kind of place before.”

“Gray asked me to run an errand for him,” Natsu explained hastily, making his way to the counter and promptly saying, “One steaming hazelnut coffee please with five creams and twenty sugars. Yes, I said twenty sugars. Oh, and can ya’ make it look like it doesn’t have anything in it? Yeah, it’s a prank, how’d you know? It was obvious? Suit yourself, bro.”

Lucy watched in mild amusement as Natsu walked over to her table with the weird order in his right hand while a plain spicy peppermint coffee rested in his left. She raised an eyebrow when he began to slurp it down.

“Doesn’t Gray like regular iced black coffee?” she asked, absentmindedly sipping at her own drink. She had gone for a simple hot chocolate as she really wasn’t in the mood to drink anything that had too much caffeine in it. She didn’t want to sound too hyper when she broke the news to her boyfriend about them breaking up.

“Yeah, but he should’a known better than to trust me with his coffee,” Natsu shrugged. He set his- empty- mug down and flashed the blonde an ear-splitting grin. “Anyway, what’s up with you? You looked a bit sad when I walked in.”

Lucy sighed. Natsu was bound to find out soon enough anyway, and she’d rather have him hear it from herself. “Called the boyfriend up to meet me here at five.”

Natsu cocked an eyebrow. “Well, it’s…” He glanced at the clock, “five-oh-five right now, sooo…”

Lucy shrugged. “He probably hasn’t even left his house yet. Or wherever he is.”

“I don’t get it,” Natsu started. “I know you don’t like him much anymore, and everyone knows he doesn’t like you anymore. Why’re ya’ still hanging on?”

“I’m not,” Lucy admitted. “I texted him to meet me today because I want to break up with him. He never replied to my text, but thank Mavis he doesn’t know I sneaked onto his phone and turned his ‘read messages’ signal on.”

Natsu snorted at that. “That’s funny,” he said, smirking. “And good for you, Luce. I’m… happy you’re finally moving on from that jerk.”

Lucy hummed and nodded. “I am too,” she said softly. Her mind raced as she recalled the past year with her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. “Dammit…” she whispered, throwing her head back and running her fingers through her hair. “Dammit dammit dammit.”

“What? What is it, Luce?” Natsu asked, instinctively reaching his hand out and placing it on her free one which was still resting on the table. “Are… are you okay?”

“Dammit,” was Lucy’s only reply. “Dammit, Natsu, I… I can’t believe I wasted so much time on that guy.”

To her surprise, Natsu flinched. “I can’t either,” she faintly heard him whisper. In a louder, clearer voice, he then said, “I’m sorry, Lucy.”

“He ignored every single one of my texts, cancelled on all of our dates, probably cheated on me a few times, and now he won’t even show up to our break-up,” Lucy said, her voice getting quieter and quieter with each passing word. “I’m such an idiot, Natsu. I can’t… he made a fool out of me, and now I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Her head was hurting and spinning around in circles over and over again. Her lips parted slightly and her vision hazed. She could shakily make out Natsu’s figure still in front of her, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite place.

Unlike her lame excuse of a boyfriend, Natsu was always there for her. Whenever she cried, he always stayed with her. Whenever she wanted to rant to him about what happened in her favorite manga, he would quietly sit by and listen to her. Whenever she was happy, he laughed and joked along with her. It was a wonder why he hadn’t already gotten himself a girlfriend, but Lucy knew that was something only he could decide upon. Sure, he’d been asked out a few times, and many times it occurred in front of Lucy, and she would be lying if she said something weird clenched in her chest whenever it happened, but the feeling quickly subsided when he shot every single one of those girls down.

When she’d ask, he’d always reply with a simple “They aren’t you.” Lucy didn’t know exactly how to take that.

“Natsu, I… am I really that much of an idiot? Can you believe how much time I’ve wasted on that guy, because I sure can’t.”

Then, Natsu was speaking, and she was listening. “Lucy, stop berating yourself. You’re an amazing girl and you’re my best friend. I don’t choose random people to be my best friend, Luce, but you’re really special. You’re kind, awesome, and a little bit weird-”

“Hey!”

“The point is, you’re not the one that’s the idiot, he is. He doesn’t know what kind of an amazing person you are, and that’s his loss,” Natsu continued. In a lower voice, he added, “I’m just glad I know what kind of person you are.”

“What?” Lucy asked, leaning closer to hear him better. “What do you mean by that?”

“Shit! You weren’t supposed to hear that!” Natsu quickly said, shaking his hands back and forth. “Gahhh whatever.”

“Funny,” Lucy said, a sad smile creeping onto her lips, “that’s exactly what he said.”

Natsu stayed silent after that.

“Gosh, Natsu, I’m such a mess,” Lucy whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and snuggling into the sweet warmth of her abundant layers of cloth. She glanced up, but when she saw his stricken expression, her eyes gained a glossy overcoat of tears. Her bottom lip trembled and she was just about ready to burst out crying. Natsu noticed this, and quickly leapt up out of his seat, walking up behind her, bending down, and wrapping himself around her. His arms laid just above her chest and he nuzzled into her neck, causing her to lean back into his touch. “D-do you think I d-deserved this? Was I meant to be insulted like this?”

“No,” Natsu immediately replied. “No of course you weren’t. You’re just a girl. A sensitive, playful girl who I’ve grown to care for a lot.”

Lucy, finally, cracked a small, pitiful smile at his words. She reached up, holding his elbows with her dainty fingers and sighing deeply. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, Natsu… for everything you’ve ever done for me.”

“Yeah,” Natsu said, before finally letting go of her and reaching out on the table to take her phone into his hands. He cradled it in his grasp, ignoring the look of confusion that now painted Lucy’s delicate face-features. “Just gimme a sec,” he said, and Lucy watched him as he appeared to be typing something.

She gasped in awe when he finally gave her the cell phone back. Lucy stared directly at the screen, where she saw a brand new text message that was just sent to her boyfriend.

‘Don’t want to meet me? Fine. I’m breaking up with you. Enjoy your life sucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

Lucy looked blankly up at Natsu, who was currently wearing a huge grin, and then back at the screen.

“Don’t you think the exclamation points were a bit much?” was the only thing she said.

“Hey! Exclamation points help you get your point across!” Natsu said pointedly, to which Lucy finally let out a low, melodious laugh.

“Well, thank you,” Lucy said, “although your text break-ups are pretty intense. Let’s hope I never have to go through anything like that. Especially those exclamation points, jeez.”

Natsu looked at her. “You won’t have to.”

Lucy blinked, and a pang of something she didn’t recognize coursed through her entire body. What did he mean by that? By saying she never had to go through a text break-up with him, did that mean that her chances with Natsu were completely eliminated?

There was no point in denying it anymore, in Lucy’s opinion. Over the course of her last unhealthy relationship with her now-ex-boyfriend, and going through everything with Natsu at her side, she had definitely come to terms with her growing feelings for him. She had to face it. She was madly in love with him, and she knew it. After knowing him for practically her entire life, she couldn’t withhold her feelings for the pink-head any longer.

But now, she was second-guessing herself.

“What?” she asked, her hopeful thoughts shattering with every passing moment. Natsu’s eyes quickly widened.

“Wait! That came out wrong! I meant that you don’t have to worry about going through a break-up with me because I’ll never break up with you! Gaahh that was too straightforward. Okay you know what, just pretend I never said anything in the first place and I-”

“Are you asking me out?” Lucy asked, incredulous. Natsu stopped, his facial expression changing a few times before settling into one Lucy recognized as relief. A broad grin made its way onto Natsu’s face and he was unable to hold back a low, breathtaking laugh.

“Uh… kinda?” he said, his statement coming out more as a question.

Lucy’s lips twisted upwards and her eyes lit up with excitement and happiness. Her emotions were overflowing and she knew she was about to burst any minute out of sheer delight.

“Yes! I say yes!” she quickly said, jumping up out of her seat to leap into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Just make sure you don’t ignore my texts and don’t make up excuses and don’t do anything bad like he did and just don’t-”

“Luce. Luce,” Natsu said, lifting a finger and placing it on her lips. She giggled at his touch, leaning into it and not being able to wipe the giddy look off of her face.

But then, just as their moment was about to be further advanced, a short ping interrupted them. Lucy glanced down in the direction of her phone, watching as a text flood into her messaging platform. Unable to keep her curiosity at bay, she picked up her device and scanned the text, not minding Natsu peeping over her shoulder.

‘Good luck getting a new boyfriend as great as me.’

Lucy, smirking, didn’t hesitate to respond.

‘I already got a new boyfriend, but he’s nothing like you. He actually makes me happy.’

[artificialqueens]

Ugly Christmas Sweater (One shot)- Ty5000

AN: Yep This is a Christmas fic in July I have nothing more to say on the matter. Inspired by Ugly Christmas Sweater by the AAA girls. I haven’t really read through this yet so sorry in advance for any mistakes. 

Alaska sighed at she checked the time on her phone for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes; just over four hours till Christmas. When she woke up this morning the last thing she had been expecting was to be spending the night alone in her dorm room of the now almost empty school. By now she should have been with her family in Canada enjoying a well needed holiday away from this place. The weather however had other plans and a thick layer of snow had grounded all planes flying into Toronto leaving Alaska no choice but to stay in the school for at least the first few days of the holiday period until the weather cleared up.

 It was eerily quiet, even at night it was never silent for too long, Sunny Manor has five hundred enrolled students of which more than three hundred girls took residence in its dorms. Of course, with everyone gone it was much different, even the few teachers who stayed behind to care for the remaining students hardly showed their face all day which is why when Alaska heard footsteps coming along the hall way for a second she was somewhat startled until the “Intruder” showed their face.

“ Yo Thunder get dressed and meet me in the senior common room in ten minutes.” Willam called from the door way.

“Why?” She asked sceptically the senior was known for being somewhat of a trouble maker, she didn’t really know much about her other than that she had been good friends with Alaska’s ex Sharon who has been expelled after a mysterious incident in her junior year.

“We’re having a Christmas party!” She replied mischief laced in her voice as she turned away. “Where something festive!” she added already half way down the hall.

Now Alaska new that whatever Willam had in mind was probably against at least one of the school rules, and while she wasn’t a complete goody goody she also wasn’t in the habit of getting into trouble often. Then again there was little else she could entertain herself with tonight…

With a final sigh, she pushed herself off of her bed and over to her still packed suitcase, thankful that her reindeer sweater was sitting at the top.

Well if you can’t beat them you may as well join them.

 When Alaska made it to the senior commons just over ten minutes later she was surpised to find Willam wasn’t alone. A small girl who she recgonised from her home economics class was sat beside her sporting a baby pink sweater decorated with little penguins which made her look incredibly soft in comparison to the other girl in “Santa’s Bitch” sweater.

“You’re late.” She says finally looking up from her phone.

“Hardly. Hi my names Alaska, what’s yours?” She asked the other girl who had been silent up until now.

“I’m Courtney.” The girl spoke up with a strong Australian accent.

“Oh yeah! We have home economics together; your cooking is amazing.” Alaska replied dragging her words slightly.

“Thank you.”

“All right losers let’s get this party started!” Willam yelled suddenly pulling a bottle of makers mark out from under a sofa cushion.

“Oh, um I don’t really drink.” Courtney mumbled while eyeing the bottle with wide eyes.

“You do tonight miss Sandy.” The older girl says passing her the bottle.

Courtney looked at the bottle worriedly for a second before bringing it to her lips and taking a small sip, immediately regretting it as the amber liquid burned on its way down making her face scrunch up in disgust. She passed the bottle on quickly to Alaska who despite not being much of a drinker herself took a mouthful with more confidence than the aussie girl had.

“You girls are pathetic, pass it here let the boss show you how it’s done.” Willam butts in grabbing the bottle for herself and taking three big gulps.

“Sorry we can’t all be alcoholics like you Will.”  Alaska laughs beginning to settle into the company. She simply shrugs in response before taking another mouthful of the drink.

“It’s not like there is anything else to do around here is there. Why are you still here anyway Alaska? Word on the street is you were off to Canada for the break.”

“I am… once the weather over there calms down.” She reaches for the bottle while she speaks, Willam is right there is nothing better to do.

“What about you Court, No Mommy and Daddy waiting for you down Under?” The senior questioned.

“Of course I do, it’s just too far to travel for just a week and they are really busy with work anyway, I wouldn’t want to get in their way.” She said hoping no one would detect the slight sadness in her usually happy demeaner.

“How precious.” Was Willam’s sarcasm laced response.

“What about you why are you spending the holidays here Willam?” Courtney asked expectantly.

Alaska looked at Willam across the room, in her whole four years at Sunny Manor she had never seen or heard of the other girl ever going home for any holiday, not even over summer. She just knew there was a story there.

“Oh, you know the usual story. Mom got remarried and her husband isn’t a fan of the “troubled” daughter so he pays a shit ton of money to keep her away. “No one in that moment would be able to detect any kind of negative feelings from her response if the sentence hadn’t been punctuated with a large swig of whiskey.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah that’s terrible Will.”

“Oh, hell no we aren’t doing this pitty party it’s all good. I’m cool, I couldn’t give a shit.” Her reply was met with silence. “Oh whatever Christmas sucks anyway, let’s change the subject.”

                                                .          .            .

Three hours and almost a full bottle of whiskey later the three girls had really warmed up to each other.

“…and that’s the story of how I blackmailed a guy for $225” Willam concluded grinning as the others laughed at her story. She really liked these girls.

“I’m so drunk this is the best Christmas ever!” Courtney yelled bursting into a fit of giggles. She was only just slightly worse than the others who were only really tipsy yet the others still cooed at her in awe. Within a few hours she had become like a baby sister to Alaska and Willam.

“Shit! Court that gave me an idea.” Willam called out suddenly. “‘Laska quick, what is your worst Christmas memory?”

Alaska looked up at the others in shock, all her Christmas memories had been lovely and spent with family. Up until now of course, but she was enjoying herself too much to use this as an example, but then something came to mind.

“So, there is this one year and it was Christmas, and my brother got karate patches and I really wanted to get karate patches, So I thought I was gonna get karate patches, and then I didn’t get karate patches.”

“ Jesus girl, no karate patches? That is so tragic.” Willam pipped in sounding bored.

“Oh yeah like you have anything better.”

“Don’t try me I have plenty of terrible Christmas stories. Like This one time my mom got so pissed she threw our tree into the pool or the next year I got super drunk, it was cool no one noticed anything they were all too busy cooking. It was great until I woke up under a tree miles from home.” She recounted her stories happily almost like she was gloating, grinning even wider when she saw her friends shocked reactions.

“C’mon court your turn.”

“Okay so a few years ago my entire family were supposed to be on the morning flight to Paris, but the night before they punished me and sent me to the attic. The next morning everyone woke up and rolled out. Mum forgot about me until she was  on the plane and freaked out. While they were gone two guys tried to break into my house but I was smarter so I set a bunch of traps, set a guy on fire.”

“Shit that’s wild” Willam said shocked that Courtney had actually done something interesting for once.

“Yeah, I nearly died.” She added nodding for sincerity.

“Wait a second that sounds really familiar …” Alaska spoke up “That’s the plot of home alone!.” She suddenly shrieked laughing aloud. 

“Do they even have Christmas in Australia?” She asked once her laughter had dulled down

“No…” She sighed defeated. It really did feel that way.

“aww it’s okay Court at least you got to experience Christmas with us and our ugly Christmas sweaters.” Alaska said gesturing around the room at the three teenagers dressed up in their various Christmas attire.

“I guess everything is better in my ugly Christmas sweater.” She replied smiling softly.

“Shit!” Willam screamed suddenly looking at her watch. “I’ll be right back.” She shouted before running upstairs leaving the other girls confused. She returned barely a minute later with a large bottle of champagne.

“How did you get that?” Alaska asked raising her eyebrow suspiciously?

“I have my ways… but who cares because guess what! It’s Christmas!!” She replied popping the cork and letting the champagne spill out onto the floor for a second before taking a big gulp and passing it on.

“Merry Christmas you guys” Alaska cheered before she and Willam were dragged into a group hug by Courtney.

“Thank you for making this a Christmas to remember.”