#the wedding can wait til tomorrow

[noodletea]

Torturing people who watch my story 3 days straight with gay French bitches

Well yes, I know I shouldn't pick a Crowevert image and put Quastvert music in it but I like the color and Crowevert standing on a bridge bascially explain itself better than Quastvert doing some dramatic act on stage (and I cut the part where it has only the reprise of Stars and no lines from Quast so that I won't feel so guilty :DDD)

Celebrate Barricade day today and my wife death (Javert, ofc) the day after

(from left to right: my wife, me, the uprising leader)

Next year I'm gonna assimilate the whole friend list of mine by countdown to Barricade day by posting one song per day from the muscial

[elliesbelle]

NGL Y’ALL, y’all almost got the next chapter of ncty tonight, but instead i had to play therapist for a couple of 50+ year olds (my parents) all evening lol

[shimonerin]

"Tell Me Why I Married You Again?"

Content: Half of the school ships the teacher and the coach, not knowing they're married

Tags: use of "ma'am/mrs." to the reader, fluff, bickering, old married couple vibes

Word Count: 848

The sound of fists smacking hard against the ball and the high-pitched squeak of the boys’ sneakers can be heard even before you could enter the gym. It’s 3 pm and, as usual, there was an ongoing session of volleyball training. Interhigh Preliminaries are near but that doesn’t mean you’re going to let this slide.

Pushing open the sliding doors, the warm air of, well, sweat filled the enclosure. One of the reasons you don’t like going here. 

“Hinata, nice spike! Keep it up!” Ukai’s loud, booming voice echoed throughout the gym. As expected, he didn’t really notice your presence, despite standing near the doorway. God, he is such an idiot sometimes.

“Hey, Keishin.” Your voice, low yet firm, seemed to catch the attention of everyone. Not exactly how you wanted this to happen.

Ukai seemed startled at your presence, his eyes widening and his mouth agape “Hey! Uh, (Y/N)? What are you doing here?”

With your hands on your hips, he knew exactly why you’re here. He just didn’t want to make a fool of himself. 

You could already see the shit-eating grins on some of the boys’ faces, specifically Tanaka and Noya’s. You rolled your eyes and stepped forward “Where are the jerseys? The principal has been grilling my ass over this for two days now.” You told him, a gaze that only an annoyed wife would give plastered on your face.

Last weekend, there was an emergency. Apparently, during one of their out-of-school jogs around the area, Hinata and Kageyama, expectedly, fell into one of the mud pits. This leads to Ukai having to take two of the spare school uniforms in your classroom, which you let him. What you didn’t know was the fact the principal was keeping tabs over these.

He crossed his arms over your chest, looking off to the side as he tried to explain, tumbling over some of the words “W-Well, you know I didn’t really had time to…wash it yet…with the store and the training and all…” His words sheepishly drawled across his lips.

You raised an eyebrow “Why did I know you would do that?”

“Oh, come on! I-I’ll wash it tomorrow, I promise! I’d even give it to the principal himself if you’re too busy!��� He exclaims, rubbing the back of his head as he looks at you with a pleading look.

By this point, the boys are already snickering behind their back. Probably finding more ways to tease the both of you.

“Do you really think I’m stupid, Keishin?” You scoffed “I’m letting you do whatever so you better keep your word, you hear?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Noya suddenly perked up from his place “Why don’t we just wash it for you, Coach? You should focus on taking Mrs. (Y/N) out for dinner tonight. She seems pretty pissed.”

Daichi smacked the back of his head as soon as his words left his mouth. But the others couldn’t help but chuckle. It’s a bit of an inside joke to the students to ship the both of you together. 

Ukai clicked his tongue at their antics “Hey, Noya, if you don’t zip your-”

“We were actually going to check out that new ramen place by the corner.” You quickly cut him off, leading to a lot of cheers and jeering among the gym.

Lots of “See? I told you they were dating!”, “Wait til everybody hears about this!”, and “I knew that the first time I saw Coach bring Mrs. (Y/N) a cup of coffee!”

Keishin had the brightest red on his cheeks, pinching the bridge of his nose. With all the (silly) bickering you do with your husband, it doesn’t hurt to tease him from time to time.

You turned back to the boys and furrowed your eyebrows “What do you mean dating? Didn’t you already know?”

A chorus of “Huh?” erupted from the team

You grabbed Keishin’s hand and held out the glinting wedding ring on his finger before putting up your hand in comparison “We’re married. For 3 years now. Ever wonder why we bicker so much?”

Needless to say word got out very, very quickly. And a string of new jokes by the Karasuno Volleyball Team were continuously thrown at Ukai every day. 

“You made my life miserable.” He groaned, resting his head on your shoulder while you were on the couch, grading some of your students’ assignments “You should pay for that.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.”

“I don’t!”

You smirked to yourself, letting out a small chuckle. You ran your free hand over his hair, giving it a gentle massage “Alright, I’ll take it back. We’re divorced now, then?”

“No, God!” He’d shout, his head shooting up from your words as his eyebrows scrunched up together “You’re an asshole sometimes, you know that?”

You let out a low hum of amusement, turning to him with hearts in your eyes. “Sometimes, I wonder why I even let you put a ring on me.”

Ukai couldn’t understand how he can love someone more than he already does. He guesses you’re a living example of that.

[ohimsummer]

God I don’t wanna work tomorrow but it’s fine it’s only 2 days

[wlntrsldler]

fratboy!luke save me…

save me fratboy!luke

u get it….

im obsessed with him. soooo part three under the cut 🫣

part 1 | part 2 | part 4 | part 5 (final)

tagged lukecastell4n.

yn_yln: save a horse…

lukecastell4n: ride a cowboy 🤠

yn_yln: my cowboy 🩵

trideltumm: had a blast at rodddeo with you 🙈

liked by yn_yln.

poseidonsfavchild: did shame leave too when u left for college ? what is this caption ?

bethchase: LEAVE UR SISTER ALONE

gr0verunderwood: LET THEM HAVE FUN

poseidonsfavchild: they’re getting too comfortable on this app 🤮

chrisr0driguez: me when

lukecastell4n: WHEN UR BALLS DROP AND U FINALLY ASK HER OUT

yn_yln: LITERALLY TOMORROW IF YOU JUST MADE A MOVE SHE LIKES YOU TOO

clarisselarue: …?

chrisr0driguez: i’ll kill u both.

silenabeauregard: omg ur hat is so cute can i borrow it

yn_yln: always!!!! 🩷

tagged yn_yln, charliebeck, and others.

silenabeauregard: greeks take on the city

yn_yln: best triple date everrrrr

lukecastell4n: we couldve been goin on so many if u confessed earlier chrisr0driguez

clarisselarue: fr

chrisr0driguez: my girlfriend is mean to me :(

clarisselarue: you like it tho

gr0verunderwood: yeah im starting to agree w percy on this one, can yall text each other pls

yn_yln: 💀

silenabeauregard: 😭

charliebeck: we need to do this again!!!!

yn_yln: YESSSS

lukecastell4n: second that

liked by silenabeauregard.

clarisselarue: last night was a movieee

lukecastell4n: i have the video when chris ate shit on the electric scooter 😭

clarisselarue: PLS SEND

chrisr0driguez: PLS DONT I HAVE A CHIPPED TOOTH ALREADY I DONT NEED ANY MORE REMINDERS

tagged lukecastell4n.

yn_yln: we got married 👰🏻‍♀️👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻

poseidonsfavchild: HELLO? WE SKIPPED A FEW CHAPTERS HERE

yn_yln: its a frat wedding percy calm down

poseidonsfavchild: greek life confuses me

bethchase: same. its nothing like what they taught us at camp

silenabeauregard: real ring when 🤨 lukecastell4n

lukecastell4n: can we get a degree first damn

poseidonsfavchild: i’ve never seen any of yall open a book, are u even gonna graduate ???

lukecastell4n: can’t wait til for the real thing ❤️‍🔥

liked by yn_yln.

chrisr0driguez: my best man spot better be secured

yn_yln: fix ur tooth first

clarisselarue: LMFAOOOOO HELP

bethchase: that dress is so pretty yn!

yn_yln: thanks beth! miss u! 🩷

ksigumm: tridelt top srat 🤫

liked by yn_yln, trideltumm, and others.

lukecastell4n: kappa sig’s sweetheart top tridelt 🥱💯

[archangeldyke-all]

proposal hcs/fic plssss 🫶🏾🫶🏾

is Vika the type to do a really elaborate proposal or more of a reader wakes up one random morning with a heavy ass wedding ring on her finger type 😭

WAHHHH

men and minors dni

definitely the latter. sevika's not one for flashy or showy, she prefers to experience her intimate moments in private, somewhere she's comfortable, where the only person who can see her being soft is you.

don't get me wrong, she'd be a romantic sap about it, but she wouldn't go about it like a traditional proposal.

you guys have talked about marriage before. in the more recent months, you've talked about marriage a lot. it's clear that marriage is the direction your relationship is headed, but each time you try to give 'subtle' hints to sevika, she just gives you a cocky smile and kisses all your teases away.

so you assume that means she's just not ready for it yet. you don't mind. eager as you are to make sevika your wife, you'd wait 'til the end of time for her.

so you don't really know what's going on when you wake up one morning to the ring of your dreams on your finger and roses on your bedside table.

you wander out to the kitchen, slightly distracted by gawking at the ring on your left hand, to look for sevika.

you find her behind the stove, whipping up breakfast.

when she sees you, she curses.

"fuck. you were supposed to stay asleep until i brought you breakfast." she says. you blink.

"what the fuck is this?!" you ask, pointing at your hand. sevika smiles shyly, rubbing the back of her neck and blushing.

"a ring, dumb ass." she gruffs out. you blink again and she heaves a sigh. "thought you wanted to get married." she says.

"...is this a proposal?" you ask. sevika rolls her eyes again.

"it was gonna be, but you woke up!" she complains. you blink again, a smile slowly creeping across your face.

"wha-- why'd you... you're insane!" you say, completely flustered. sevika laughs and turns the flame on the stove down before walking toward you, slinging her arms around your waist. "you can't just put the ring on me while i'm sleeping, sev!" you scold her. "you have to ask!"

"why?" she asks. "i know you're gonna say yes." she says. "plus... i wanted to see you with the ring on. looks real good on you. too good to take it back off once i got it on." she says. you giggle, a little hysterically, and smack her shoulder.

"you're crazy!" you say. sevika just laughs and shrugs.

"about you, yeah." she says, softly. you sigh and sink into sevika's hold, all your confusion and apprehension melting away as you laugh against her shoulder. "i... i was practicing a speech. for when i woke you up." she grumbles against you. you blink up at her.

"yeah?"

"yeah. it's no good. i forgot half of it. you weren't supposed to wake up yet." she says, chastising you. you giggle.

"well... give it your best shot." you say. sevika huffs and rolls her eyes.

"i don't... you know i'm not good with words." she says. "but... i want to spend every day with you by my side. forever. i don't know how i managed before i met you. it was like... like i was livin' in black and white. and now you're here and... it's all colorful, you know?" she tries. you smile and nod.

"i know."

"so..." she says. you bite your lip to keep from grinning. she's fishing for an answer, but she hasn't asked a question.

"so?" you ask. sevika rolls her eyes and pinches your hip.

"...so do you want a summer wedding or winter?" she asks. you burst out into laughter and wrap sevika up in a hug, laughing against her neck. she melts against you, pressing her own smile against your shoulder.

"please... like you'd ever tolerate a wedding party." you tease her. sevika chuckles.

"we could go to the courthouse... i kinda already got us an appointment for tomorrow." she admits. you grin and cackle and then pepper sevika's face with kisses.

"oh my god, you're fucking crazy. i can't believe i'm gonna marry you." you say. sevika laughs.

"so... you will then?" she asks. you giggle.

"yeah, sevika. i'll marry you."

taglist!

@lesbeaniegreenie @fyeahnix @sapphicsgirl @half-of-a-gay @ellabslut @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner @shimtarofstupidity @love-sugarr @chuucanchuucan @222danielaa @badbye666

[fluentmoviequoter]

Our Songs

Requested Here! Here's the Instagram video that inspired this amazing request!!

Pairing: David "Deacon" Kay x fem!wife!reader

Summary: Deacon sings your song every chance he gets, but when he finds out why you love to hear him sing, he introduces more Sinatra into your life.

Warnings: fluff!!! song lyrics are italicized! if you're only interested in Deacon x reader, stop at the double divider because there's a baby past that break.

Word Count: 1.0k+ words

Playlist (in order of inclusion): I've Got You Under My Skin, You Make Me Feel So Young, The Best is Yet To Come, From the Bottom to the Top, All My Tomorrows (all by Frank Sinatra)

Picture from Pinterest (crossing my fingers that I haven't used this one already but not taking the time to check)

Deacon Kay is a man of many talents. Since meeting Deacon and falling in love with him, every day, you learn about a talent you haven’t seen before. There’s nothing he can’t do, as far as you’re concerned, and you become more convinced of this after you get married.

When you get home from a long day, Deacon is in the kitchen, and you’re greeted by a mouth-watering scent. You take a deep breath, releasing the tension and stress left over from the day. Walking toward the kitchen, you stop when you hear Deacon humming. As you lean against the island, you watch his back as he stirs a pot on the stove before bending to check the pan in the oven. His humming continues, and you close your eyes as you place the song. It played during your first date, and Deacon decided it was your song, so you played it at your wedding, on your honeymoon, and many times after.

“You know,” you begin quietly, “if I’d known you sounded better than Sinatra sooner, you would’ve been asked to sing at the wedding.”

Deacon smiles as he turns toward you. “You flatter me.”

“You make it easy.”

Deacon pulls you against him, hugging you tightly. He loosens his grip on you, but you keep your cheek pressed to his chest, his steady heartbeat a reminder of how much love you share with him. Deacon rubs your back before he sways you gently, humming again before he starts singing.

“I'd tried so, not to give in

I said to myself this affair never will go so well

But why should I try to resist when baby I know so well

I've got you under my skin

I'd sacrifice anything come what might

For the sake of having you near

In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night

And repeats, repeats in my ear.”

“I love you,” you say against Deacon’s chest.

He pushes you out and spins you, smiling at your laugh as you lay your arms over his shoulders, hooking your hands behind his neck. Deacon wraps his arms around your waist, looking into your eyes as he begins singing again.

“You make me feel so young

You make me feel there are songs to be sung

Bells to be rung

And a wonderful fling to be flung

And even when I'm old and gray

I'm gonna feel the way I do today

'Cause you make me feel so young

You make me feel so young

You make me feel so spring has sprung

And every time I see you grin

I'm such a happy individual.”

“I’m going to fall in love with you again,” you murmur.

“Then I’m never going to stop singing,” Deacon replies, then kisses your forehead.

“Hondo will love that; you can kick down a door and then sing ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’”

“Why limit it to Sinatra? There has to be better breaching music.”

You hum in agreement, using your hands behind Deacon’s neck to pull him into a kiss. When you pull back, ready for dinner, you remind Deacon that you love him more than any song could capture or explain.

✯✯✯✯✯

When you wake up the following morning, it’s still dark outside, but Deacon’s voice is floating in from the bathroom.

“Wait 'til your charms are right for these arms to surround

You think you've flown before, but baby, you ain't left the ground

Wait 'til you're locked in my embrace

Wait 'til I draw you near

Wait 'til you see that sunshine place

Ain't nothin' like it here

The best is yet to come, and babe, won't it be fine?

The best is yet to come, come the day you're mine

Come the day you're mine

And you're gonna be mine.”

You smile as he enters the bedroom, and he returns to his rightful place beside you.

“Sorry if I woke you up,” Deacon apologizes.

“You didn’t. But I wouldn’t want to wake up to anything else.”

“I’m starting to think you love the singing more than me.”

“The opposite,” you explain. “I love the singing because it’s you.”

Deacon kisses you, and you smile into the kiss.

✯✯✯✯✯

✯✯✯✯✯

“And when we have a little Deacon? What will you sing then?” you ask, making yourself comfortable against Deacon’s side.

With your heart pressed to his, Deacon quickly decides on a song.

“From the Bottom to the Top,” he answers.

“I may need a demonstration.”

Deacon kisses you, distracting you from your question. He hums into the kiss, and you pull yourself closer, enjoying the joy of being wholly in love with Deacon.

✯✯✯✯✯

The nursery is empty when you wake. Walking through the house, you hear Deacon and follow his voice.

“Everything I got

No, it's not a lot

From the bottom to the top

You can have all of me

I will try at one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, four

To keep you satisfied

I will try those anything, everything, anything more

To hold you by my side

You can make me laugh

You can make me cry

You can change my heart

If you'll only try

By the stars above

You can have my love.”

When you find Deacon sitting by the patio door, looking down at your baby, you can't help but smile. Moving to sit beside him, you lean your head on Deacon’s shoulder.

“Takes after you,” Deacons says softly. “The moment I start singing, the crying stops.”

“Because you sing from love,” you point out. “And we know you love us.”

“That I do,” Deacon agrees, turning to kiss you.

Your baby coos against Deacon’s chest, and you chuckle as you kiss his jaw.

“I think we need an encore.”

Deacon smiles at you before singing,

“Today I may not have a thing at all

Except for just a dream or two

But I've got lots of plans for tomorrow

And all my tomorrows belong to you.”

“All of my tomorrows are you, Mr. Kay," you whisper.

“And mine are you, Mrs. Kay.”

[magiarec]

🆘🏠 WE NEED SAFE HOUSING.

We moved across Canada last year to escape severe medical abuse, but our living situation rapidly degraded. Our next door neighbour is a violent racist homophobe who has dedicated the last year of my life to harrassing us. More details will be under the cut. After months of searching we finally found a new apartment an hour away, and can have it any time in the next two weeks as long as we have the money. We do not have that much money. We can cover moving costs, the remainder of rent on our current place, and all our normal medical/etc bills. We've asked family for help and gotten a resounding "bootstraps" from them. Mutual aid is my only hope.

Our triad is LGBT (what, all at once? yes!), severely mentally ill, two of us are disabled, and one of us is latina. I'm currently still trapped waiting on a reply from immigration, legally can't work yet, and I don't feel safe doing sex work here when an arrest could mean deportation.

🌈 ♿ £0/2000

total cost: deposit (600), rent (1200), eating this month (200)

Here’s what we’ve been trying to get away from for a year. TW for racism, homophobia, slurs, child abuse, assault, graphic violent/sexual threats, sexual harrassment, fatphobia, the police having to get involved, and anything else that I can add if you need. I’m going to list these in the order they happened.

• Tried to break into our house during a four hour long extended breakdown. Hammered on the door til it dented. Threatened all of our lives multiple times. This went on until 2am. First police report.

• Spent a week hammering on our door or window and screaming “WAKE UP” at any time between 4-6am if she heard us using the kitchen the night before.

• Followed me up and down the road when I ran errands calling me a disgusting pig, the d slur, and a pedophile. Followed all of us down the road more than once screaming at us for being worthless [d slur]s while she was a mother.

• Told her children I was a pedophile, and that I might kidnap them one day. Loudly. In front of their friends. Described in graphic detail what she assumed I would do to them if I did.

• Waited on our doorstep for me and pulled out a fistful of my hair when I tried to push past her to get inside. I have not left the house alone since. Second police report.

• Multiple months of her waiting until after midnight to begin blasting religious sermons or the same fucking eminem song six times through our conjoining walls.

• Began weighing our fire escape grates down while screaming at us that she’d burn us alive to ready us for hell.

• Waited until I was home alone and then came up to the door and began calmly telling me that she’d, quote, “cut my clit off” before offering to bring her guy friends over to rape me straight.

• Taped naked photos of herself to our bedroom window.

• Brought a fucking ant infestation into the basement apartments we split and tried to punch me in the face when I told the inspector we’d been putting down traps and all of the bugs came from her side of the building.

• Chased my husband down the side of our house, spat on his face, and tried (almost succeeded before we both tackled it shut) to kick the door open. Third police report that they actually bothered to come out for, and the first one where the officer who arrived took the genuine threats and physical assault seriously.

It’s going on trial tomorrow. Our landlord has had months to evict her for the assults, or not paying rent, or the harrassment, or the way she keeps threatening to shoot his family and calling them the N word. He has told her instead that we’re “probably” moving out soon for the past year and she insists she’s staying until that point - a thing we found out this week when confronting him about her still being here. We also found out that his plan to rent us her bigger unit is contingent on us furnishing it and leaving it for two months when his family comes to stay for a wedding in August.

We also also found out that when the baliffs said they can’t evict her until he does [basic legal step that she could contest] [... that he could have done last year] he decided it wasn’t worth it. So he’s going to illegally evict her. By waiting u til she leaves next week, unlocking her unit, loading her belongings into a van, changing the locks, and installing a gate. His plan is to have her arrested for tresspassing when she tries to come back to her house.

This is insane. It is not legal, it’s deeply unethical even if I hate her ass, and there is no way in hell that she will not just blame us for it when it happens. My husband leaves for work at 4am. She knows this. I am dead fucking certain she will attack him or us before the week is out if we remain here. I am terrified and traumatized and need your help. Please, please help.

[jusvibbbin]

Graduation Frustrations

Kenickie x Reader: Epilogue 1

1 | 2 | 3

//my original trilogy is near and dear to my heart, and since its been popping off recently i’ve decided to write a few epilogue chapters for it :) i hope you enjoy and feel free to send me more grease requests <3

“I’m sorry kiddo, but it looks like you’re going to have to repeat senior year.”

Kenickie stared back at Mrs. Murdock, mouth slightly agape. The shop teacher awkwardly looked around the classroom as the rest of the class had started to pack up. Graduation was one month away and she knew that boy’s only chance was finals.

“REPEAT WHAT?!” Kenickie had finally processed what she had said.

“Come on, Kenickie. Are you really surprised? You’re passing my class but only because you actually showed up. How many times did you go to history? English?” She threw her hands up, exasperated, and walked over to her desk. Kenickie paused for a beat before following after her.

“What the hell do I do now?” He chewed his bottom lip, a nervous habit he developed years ago.

Mrs. Murdock looked at him and sighed, sitting in her chair.

“Study, kid. Study til you drop.”

At that, Kenickie rushed out the door.

--

Your head slipped off your hand and smacked against your desk with a loud thud. You groaned lightly as you sat back up. Looking out the window, it was much darker outside than you thought it should be.

A short knock at your door scared you out of your thoughts as you quickly tucked the ring on your necklace under your shirt.

“Come in!”

Your dad’s head poked around the door, an eyebrow raised behind his glasses.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed? I thought you had a big test tomorrow.” His eyes scanned the room carefully as he spoke and you rolled your eyes tiredly.

“Kenickie isn’t here, Dad. I’m studying calculus.” You stretched your arms and stood up from your chair. Glancing at the clock you realized he was right. Two a.m. was way too late.

“I know that.” He huffed lightly.

“I know you do.” You crossed the room to give him a hug before pushing him out of your room. You turned off your light and sat by your window. Hearing your dad shuffle back down the hall, you pulled the ring out. 

The engagement ring sparkled in the moonlight making you smile softly. It was beautiful, plain and simple. But would that be enough to ease your parents' worries? You still hadn’t found the right way to tell them Kenickie had proposed. You knew they liked him, but would they approve of him? He was your first relationship, a high school sweetheart. You sighed as you twirled the ring around your finger.

You decided you’d figure it out once finals were done. Right now all you needed to do was sleep.

--

“YOU DID WHAT?”

The T-Birds were utterly gobsmacked as Kenickie smirked proudly. Unlike yourself, he had told anybody who would listen that he had put a ring on your finger. His mom was overjoyed and started ringing all her friends to tell them the good news. 

“Kenickie freakin’ Murdoch is getting tied down?”

“A married man?”

“Never to be seen again?”

There was a cacophony of mock groans and weeping as Kenickie rolled his eyes. The only one of them who was quiet was Danny, who simply gave his old friend a genuine smile. He had already asked him to be his best man, the only guy around for the job, and Danny accepted wholeheartedly. Kenickie had waited to tell the rest of them because of this exact reaction.

“Don’t be so dramatic. You know (Y/N) doesn’t mind havin’ you idiots around.” The guys all whooped and high fived.

“Me on the other hand… I don’t know.” Kenickie chuckled as they shot skeptical looks his way. His face turned serious as he remembered why he was telling them all this in the first place.

“Look, we can talk about weddings all day long, but it’s not gonna happen if I don’t graduate. How the hell am I gonna pass five classes before the end of the year?”

The T-Birds grimaced then looked thoughtful as they tried to brainstorm any possible way for Kenickie Murdoch, the king of skipping class, to get passing grades.

“You could threaten all the teachers so they raise your grade,” Doody suggested.

“Yeah,” Sonny chimed in. “Just tell em that they’ll have to have you again next year!” He laughed loudly as the other boys just shook their heads.

“Why don’t you ask (Y/N) to help you cheat? You’ve got a couple classes together,” Putzie said. The T-Birds agreed with shrugs and ‘yeahs’, but Kenickie frowned. He wasn’t sure about getting you involved in his mess, especially if that put your reputation on the line.

“Why don’t you just pay some nerd to tell you what you need to know?” Danny piped up.

Kenickie grinned and slung his arm around his buddy’s shoulder.

“And that’s why you’re my best friggin’ man!”

The gang cheered and walked across campus to find just the right nerd.

As the bell rang on your calculus final, you breathed a sigh of relief. It was out of your hands now and that meant there was no point worrying. You picked up your things then headed back to your locker to find Kenickie waiting for you.

“Hey you,” you said with a smile as he opened your locker for you.

He sent a sheepish smile your way and you instantly narrowed your eyes.

“What is it, Nickie?”

“Do you think you could uh, introduce me to one of your smart friends?” He rubbed the back of his neck as he said this, and looked anywhere but at you. To no one’s surprise but the T-Birds, they didn’t exactly have the best track record with the ‘nerd community’ so finding help had been damn near impossible. You quirked your eyebrow and nudged his foot with yours. His eyes finally met yours and he turned a bit red. 

“Do you need help with something?” You made a slight face, a bit hurt he didn’t want your help. He scoffed and waved your comment away.

“No, no, no. Uh, Putzie needs some assistance with a history project.”

You gave him a suspicious look as Kenickie stood there starting to sweat.

“I think Alyssa Monroe has the extra time to help him out.”

Kenickie smiled and quickly kissed your cheek.

“Thanks, babe. He owes you one.”

You waved him off and he headed back down the hallway as you looked after him.

You walked up to your house, wondering about Kenickie the whole way. As you walked past the dining room, you noticed something glittering on the table. You took a couple steps backward to look again and to your horror, it was your engagement ring. Before you could snatch it, your parents came in from the kitchen.

“Hi sweetie, how were your tests?” Your mother sat down next to your father and motioned you to sit as well.

“Good,” you replied as you nervously took a seat.

“I found that on the bathroom counter this morning,” your dad remarked, picking it up. “It's a sparkler that's for sure. Where’d ya steal it from?”

“Dad!”

“I’m only kidding!”

Your mother rolled her eyes at his antics as she took the ring from him and handed it to you.

“You know you can tell us anything, sweetie.”

“Yeah honey. Most of the time we know already.” Your mother elbowed your father in the ribs as you squinted your eyes at them.

“Wait… you already knew? How?” You were utterly confused.

“Kenickie came by two months ago, asking if we’d accept him proposing to you. We said ‘of course’, you know we love that boy.” Your father beamed at you.

“We’ve been waiting for you to tell us,” your mother said, looking at you expectantly.

You hadn’t realized you were crying until you felt the first tear roll down your cheek.

“I was scared you wouldn’t approve. Not of Kenickie exactly, but the fact that we’re so inexperienced. He was my first boyfriend and now we’re getting married.” You let out a shaky breath as you processed what you had said. You two were really going to be together for the rest of your lives.

“Sweetheart, we just want you to be happy. If that boy makes you happy then who are we to say anything? No one is ever really ready.” Your mother grabbed your hand from across the table and your father reached to cover both.

“Thank you,” you said softly, feeling the stress from finals and the engagement finally fading away.

“No, the war of 1812 has nothing to do with the Spanish Inquisition. Are you even listening?” Alyssa Monroe had her head in her hands as Kenickie looked over his notes again.

“Shit, I wrote that on the wrong line,” he groaned as he erased and rewrote.

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell (Y/N) that you needed help,” she started. Kenickie shot her a look and she simply huffed before looking around the local library. It was getting dark and people were beginning to gather their things.

“Look, it’s getting late. How bad can your grades really be?”

“Really fucking bad, okay? Bad enough to get dumped. Okay, I’ll work on the history later, let’s go to geometry.” Kenickie pulled out another piece of paper. Alyssa stared at the greaser, wondering if anybody had ever seen him care about school before. She opened the textbook and started going over what he needed to know for the final.

--

After studying for days on end, Kenickie was ready to blow his teachers away. He had prepped as much as he could and thanked Alyssa tremendously. He tried to pay her but she declined, stating she’d rather consider it ‘volunteer hours.’

One by one, he blazed through his tests, even finishing early in history. All he had left was geometry. He was about to walk in when you grabbed his hand and tugged him around. 

“What’s up, hun?”

You pulled him down to plant a kiss on his lips then pulled away with a smile.

“Good luck, handsome.”

Kenickie flushed as a grin spread across his face. He squeezed your hand then headed into his final, confident as ever.

“A D-?! What the hell?”

You bit your lip, listening outside to Kenickie as his teacher graded his test on the spot. Mr. Roberts simply shrugged, and swiveled his chair away from him to do something else. Kenickie stood there, heartbroken as he looked at his test. He had been so close to just barely skating by. Now it was a wash and he would have to do it all again next year.

“Excuse me,” you piped up. Kenickie snapped his head up to look at you in the doorway. Mr. Roberts smiled as you walked in.

“(Y/N), one of my favorite students! You could learn a lot from this one, Murdoch.” He gushed over you as you looked over Kenickie’s final. Several moments went by until you set the test back on the mathematician’s desk.

“I don’t think you graded this right.”

The two men looked at you and then the test as Mr. Roberts picked it up again. He looked over it briefly before shaking his head.

“You must be mistaken. He missed several.”

You glared at the teacher, walking over to the board and writing all the problems he had marked incorrect. You began solving them and as Kenickie looked on, he realized his test looked like what you were writing.

You turned back to Mr. Roberts as he looked on shamefully.

“You don’t have to like him, but you have to treat and grade him fairly. Kenickie, you got a B-.”

Kenickie was sure he had stopped breathing. Here you were, his shy, sweet, brilliant fiance, telling off a teacher in your own nerdy way. And he was in awe of you.

Mr. Roberts changed his grade as the two of you walked out and headed to his car.

--

“Once again, a round of applause for our valedictorian, Patty Simcox. And now to introduce our honors students, our salutatorian, (Y/N) (L/N),” Principal McGee announced as you took to the stage. 

Kenickie cheered obnoxiously loud for you, as you stepped up to the mic. You were glowing with pride and all he could do was thank his lucky stars that he was yours. He thought about your year together and all its ups and downs. He thought about how you had changed him for the better in so many ways. And he thought about what you might look like on your wedding day. He hollered for you again as you got your diploma and you sent him an overjoyed smile. He had never been prouder. As the honors students left the stage, he made eye contact with Mr. Roberts and gave him the finger.

--

With graduation over and done with, the seniors had one last day of celebration at Rydell. The school had shelled out for a carnival on the field and everywhere you looked people were having a good time. You walked with Jan as she stuffed her face with cotton candy. 

“Isn’t this great?” She said with her mouth full. You laughed, nodding as you tore some of her cotton candy off the stick. The two of you walked over to where the T-Birds and the rest of the pink ladies were watching Danny and Kenickie compete at the shooting gallery. Kenickie grumbled as he lost by a few points until you slipped your hand in his. He smiled in that way that he saved just for you and let you drag him away when no one was looking.

“We’ve been so busy I feel like I’ve barely seen you.” Kenickie nodded in agreement as you stopped at a ring toss game. You pulled out a quarter to play while he stood by and watched you.

“Gonna win me somethin’?” He pointed at a long stuffed snake and you knew you just had to get it. A few quarters later, Kenickie had a brightly colored ‘scarf’ around his shoulders. The two of you walked, chatting about everyone else’s plans for after school, when you walked into the line for the ‘Tunnel of Love.’ You sent him a look but he just wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you close to him. As you got up to the operator, Kenickie slipped him a few bucks before you got in one of the cars shaped like a swan.

“What was that about?”

“I just wanna get some extra time for us,” he said as he pulled the bar over you both.

The ride started up and you cuddled into his side. You entered a dark tunnel that suddenly lit up with all sorts of colors and shapes. You looked around at everything, but all Kenickie looked at was you. Your eyes met him and you leaned forward to kiss him. He held you to him as you made out in the middle of the tunnel of love.

Around the corner you could hear the groans of the people in line as the operator lied that it was down for maintenance. You giggled into your kiss and Kenickie pulled away to chuckle too.

“We’re getting married.”

You opened your eyes to find him studying your face.

“I know. How do you feel about it?”

Kenickie thought for a moment as he played with the hair at the nape of your neck.

“I’m the most excited I’ve ever been. I’m happy that you said yes. And I’m hopin’ that I’ll be enough for you, forever.” His eyes flicked away as he finished and you put a hand on his cheek to guide them back to yours.

“I’m a little nervous too. But I know we’ll be okay, because I love you. And we make a great team.” Kenickie kissed your forehead before traveling down to leave hickies on your neck. You moaned softly which only spurred him on as he groped at your hips.

With a jolt the ride started up again, Kenickie letting out a frustrated noise which made you laugh. Blinking at the sudden sunlight, you exited the ride and walked around until the sun started to set. Everyone was standing around Kenickie’s car as the day ended, discussing where to go after.

“You guys have fun, I think I’m gonna head home,” you said with a smile as the other T-Birds begged you not to go. You waved to them and, as you turned to walk home you heard footsteps come up quickly behind you.

“Let me drive you, it’s getting dark,” Kenickie grabbed your hand to twirl you around. 

“It’s not that far.” But he had already started leading you back to the car, ranting and raving about how dangerous the neighborhood could be.

Parking in front of your house, Kenickie kissed your hand sweetly. You kissed his cheek and moved to get out, before he tugged you back gently. 

“Can I take you to lunch tomorrow?” You pulled an amused face as you nodded. Kenickie smiled and let you go, only driving off once he was sure you were safe inside.

--

Lunch had been simple, just a date at Frosty’s. But as he started to drive back to your house, you noticed Kenickie was going a very roundabout way to get there.

“Nickie, what’s up?”

“Huh? What do you mean? Ain’t nothing’s up.” Kenickie was not a very good liar, but there wasn’t much else you could do as he drove you in circles for another twenty minutes. Finally, he pulled into your driveway, getting out quickly to get the door for you. You punched his arm lightly at the gesture, starting to walk up the porch. You looked back to see him peering intently through a window before snapping his attention back to you, an awkward smile on his face. You narrowed your eyes and pushed open the door…

“SURPRISE!”

The lights were thrown on, a bottle of champagne was uncorked and a confetti cannon popped. You gazed around, startled, until you saw your family, friends, and a large banner that read ‘Happy Engagement!’ You started to tear up when the T-Birds brought a cake out of the kitchen.

“Ah shit, did we miss it?” Sonny exclaimed as everyone else just laughed.

You turned to Kenickie, who was standing by your parents, and it all clicked.

“How long have you been planning this?”

“Since he asked if he could propose to you! Isn’t that right, son?”

Kenickie looked at your father, mild shock written all over his face before he quickly nodded. You wrapped your arms around his neck, whispering how much you loved him in his ear. Kenickie grinned as he held your waist, appropriately in front of your parents of course.

As you pulled back to look at him, he looked slightly worried.

“What’s wrong?” You reached up to put a hand on his cheek.

“We still got a whole wedding to plan!”

You chuckled and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Well then, we better get started.”

[legacyfics-archive]

Sebastian Sallow NSFW - Volume 2

Second Volume for Sebastian Sallow x MC/Reader archive, this list is all NSFW works. More volumes coming soon. Not seeing your fic here? Send me an ask/message with a link so I can get it added!

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Oneshots

A duel most desirable - @tinaexe

as our lives chance, come whatever - @shadowtriovibes

Bathtub - @sebsallowapologist

Be Ready - @imagrindylow (feat. Marvolo)

bewitched, bothered, and bewildered - @shadowtriovibes

break a sweat - @shadowtriovibes

-> blood, sweat, and tears - @shadowtriovibes

-> sweat it out - @shadowtriovibes

-> never let them see you sweat - @shadowtriovibes

Charcoal - @sebsallowapologist

Finch - @applinsandoranges

Honeymoon - @sybwss

i think i'm gonna love you (for a long, long time) - @shadowtriovibes

Keep Your Promises - @imagrindylow

Loved Like...? - @ravenelyx

make your mark on me - @hufflepuffwitchhh

-> indentation in the shape of you - @hufflepuffwitchhh

Missing Seb Returns - @blueraineshadows

Naughty Escapades and Wily Temptress - @underthenightskydreamsneverdie

near death experience/smut - @blueraineshadows

Patience, Darling - @sophiver

Rope Burns and Hot Touches - @blueraineshadows

Sebastian and MC's First Time - @sebswebs

Sebastian Sallow x fuller figure f!MC - @blueraineshadows

Sit Down - @sebswebs

Slytherin Party - @finalgirllx

soft fluffy spice - @blueraineshadows

Steamy - @sebswebs

take me to the lakes - @hufflepuffwitchhh

-> i want you right here - @hufflepuffwitchhh

tease me, please me - @shadowtriovibes

tell me anything (but don't you tell me he's what you're missing) - @shadowtriovibes

The Darker Side of Life - @sebsallowapologist

The Green Imposter - @underthenightskydreamsneverdie

The Hypothesis - @anto-pops

The Older Sallow - @sebsallowapologist

The Promise of Tomorrow - @anto-pops

til we get the healing done - @shadowtriovibes

To the Victor Goes the Spoils - @anto-pops

Uneasy arrangement - @cuffmeinblack (feat. Garreth)

vivarium fun - @blueraineshadows

Wedding Night - @blueraineshadows

-> Wedding Night Pt 2 - @blueraineshadows

What You Do To Me - @sebswebs

When It Rains - @sebastianswallows

where there's smoke, there's firewhiskey - @shadowtriovibes (feat. Garreth)

Worth the Wait - @underthenightskydreamsneverdie

Series

Bitter Reward - @ominist

No Light Without Darkness - @blueraineshadows

The Seventh Mistake - @skittish1807 (feat. Garreth)

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Set Me Free Part 5/15

Part 6 and 7 are already out on my Patreon for Free!

Warning - mentioning of abortion

Ruben and Carla have grown apart. With Rubens career taking off he leaves Portugal to live the life of his dreams, breaking Carla's heart doing so. Years later, upon his return home, Ruben learns that Carla has moved on, happily engaged to another man, but not any man, Ruben's childhood bully João Mendes.

Enjoy!

"What does that even mean?" Ruben's brother, Ivan, laughed.

"I don't know." Ruben rubbed his temple, feeling a headache coming on upon his return from meeting Carla. He sat slumped down on his parents couch, going through the emotions. "All I know is that I'm getting her back." He said. Having retold his brother about the event.

"By what, begging her until she gives in?"

"No?" Ruben frowned, rejecting his brother's desire to make him feel better. How could he, feel better, when the love of his life was slipping away.

"How then?"

"I don't know, okay." Ruben stood. "But I'm not letting her marry João Mendes, that's for sure."

"So crashing the wedding is it?"

Ruben shrugged. "If I have to. If it comes down to it. When is it exactly?"

Ivan chuckled. "No idea, I wasn't invited."

"Me neither." Ruben muttered.

"Well, can you blame her?"

"Ivan, she's marrying João Mendes, of all people."

"But can you blame her?"

"What?"

"For moving on, I mean? You've been gone for a long time, Ruben. How can you expect Carla to wait around for so long?"

"Because...."

Ivan crossed his arms. "Because what?"

"Because she promised that she would."

********************************************

"So how did it go?"

Carla ignored her cousin, who despite her demands, had waited up for her.

Carla crossed her room and threw herself face down on the bed.

"That bad, huh?"

She groaned into her pillow.

"Wow. This I want to hear." Maria buckled up.

"He's gonna win me back." Carla said, shifting her head to the side. "No matter what."

"Damn, Ruben told you that? Aunt Gloria is gonna freak."

Carla squinted her eyes in pain. "It gets worse."

"Worse?"

"Yes. Ruben thinks I'm still marrying João Mendes."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. But I think my mother told him that we were still together when he came by the salon the other day."

"The drama!" Maria gasped.

"Will you be quiet?" Carla hushed. "The only reason I didn't bother to correct him was because that seemed to be the only thing stopping us."

Maria frowned. "Stopping you from what?"

Carla bowed her head in shame, blurring out the words. "From ripping each other's clothes off."

"Carla."

"What am I gonna do?"

There was no point in denying her feelings for Ruben, they were still there and still as strong.

"I say, buy the next plane ticket out of here. To Madeira perhaps?"

"I can't?"

"Why not?"

"Because Mamãe needs me."

Carla turned to lay on her back, the tears swelling up in her eyes. Visiting the cemetery today, Carla understood the pain that her mother still had buried inside of her, how lonely these past years must have been without Carla's father around. Perhaps Carla made it worse by announcing her break up with João,  considering how happy her mother had been helping her plan for the event.

"I'm sticking around til the end of the month." She said, "My job has already allowed me the leave since I asked for it ahead of my wedding with João."

"Well, I'm leaving after this weekend." Maria said. "And I did not come home to mourn over lost love. I came to party with my cousin who is finally single for the first time in what, twelve years?"

It was strange, but true. Carla met Ruben when they were ten. They got together when they were fourteen, stuck together until she was twenty-three and not long after their break up she met João Mendes. The truth was that Carla hadn't been single for a minute, nor did she know how to be.

"Tomorrow you and I are going to do what single people do best."

"Which is?"

"To shop until we drop, duh."

Carla wasn't one for shopping. To stand in front of a dressing room mirror eventually became dreadful, considering how much weight she had lost and gain during her year of depression. However, she did enjoy strutting through town. Carla spent the next day admiring her hometown by the coast, greeting familiar faces walking by, as well as catching up with her favorite cousin, who seemed to have a great life going on for herself.

"I can't believe you get to travel the world like that, doesn't it get claustrophobic, working as a flight attendant?"

"No. I love it."

"Well, then I'm happy for you." Carla admired her cousin. She was two years younger but had much more confidence than herself, especially when it came to putting oneself first.

"Have you spoken to João lately?"

Carla snorted. "No."

"So I take it he didn't take the break up very well."

Upon their separation João had referred to Carla as an indecisive selfish little child. Words that still haunted her today.

"No. No he didn't."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry about...."

"Mari? Mari Fernandes, is that you?"

Another familiar face came walking down the street.

"Santina!"

"Mari! Why didn't you tell me that you were back in town?"

The two women rushed to embrace each other, excluding Carla for a good two minutes. Santina was Maria's best friend in high school. Their friendship had been a dynamic one, the two of them often getting into more trouble than they should. But who could blame them when Santina Rivera at sixteen years of age, inherited more money than Carla would ever save up in her lifetime. Her parents death was a tragic way of acquiring her wealth, nevertheless, like Maria, Santina's attitude towards life was nothing short of adventurous.

"And Carla!" Santina squealed, acknowledging Carla who was standing to the side. "My favorite babysitter. How have you been, girl."

Santina was a hugger, a firm one at that.

"Great." Carla groaned.

"Congratulations on your engagement. Everyone is talking about it."

"Oh, no Santi. Carla is not...."

It was impulsive and a bit childish, but stomping Maria's feet was the only way to shut her up. "Aaa!" She groaned, throwing Carla the nastiest of glares. Carla ignored her and smiled playfully. "Thank you Santina, for the congratulations."

"I love weddings, but truthfully when I heard that you were getting married, I thought it would be too...." Santina paused, curiously tilting her head.

"What?" Carla said, feeling targeted.

Santina shook her head. "Nothing, I just remember when we were younger, how you and Ruben Dias used to...."

"That was a long time ago." Carla mumbled.

"God I wanted what you had. He was the hottest guy in school, don't you remember Maria?"

"Thought his brother was hotter." She shrugged.

"Either way." Santina waved. "When did you guys break up? You were together for a long time, no? Even when he was playing for Benfica. Did you move to Lisbon with him or....?"

"A long time ago." Carla clarified. "Ruben and I broke up a long time ago. I'm with João Mendes now."

Carla ignored the chuckles that Maria let out beside her, but she didn't like talking about her business in the street like this, especially not with Santina Rivera, who was a well known gossip. Thankfully Santina took the hint and ended the conversation there.

"You guys are coming to the party that I'm throwing on the beach tonight, right?"

Maria perked up. "Party? What party?"

"My clothing line Saint Sure is celebrating the opening of my second boutique in Lisbon. Please come, it would be really nice to catch up some more."

"We'll be there!" Maria assured.

Carla on the other hand, could think of a million things that she rather fucking do.

******************************************

Except for training with his national team, Ruben came home to relax, to catch up with old friends before heading back to England. However, it was hard to do these things when wherever he went people flocked after him like birds. He used to be able to walk freely in his hometown, which he really enjoyed since it made him feel like a normal guy. But with Manchester City's latest successes it was now nearly impossible to be left alone.

It's the reason Carla left him, Ruben was convinced. She stuck with him through it all. The rise of Ruben's football career happened before her eyes. Carla even made the effort to leave home and move with him when he went off to play for Benfica. Of course, Lisbon wasn't too far from home. Carla often went back to visit her family. However, when Ruben asked her to move to England with him that's when she just couldn't take it anymore. Although Carla made the effort to stay overseas with him for a year, she never really settled down. And Ruben being off training all the time made it difficult for him to look after her, to make sure that she was alright. It was one of his biggest regrets in life, not being able to make Carla feel at home with him.

"Well, well, well. Look who showed up, Ivan and Ruben Dias. To what do I do the honors?"

"Santina, you know us." Ivan smiled, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. Ruben did the same. "We could never say no to a party, especially if we're celebrating the success of your business."

It was more Ivan who couldn't say no. Ruben only tagged along in the hopes that Carla would be at the event. Santina was a bit younger than himself and Carla, but he vividly remembers her hanging around the two, bothering them as preteen children do teenagers. At that time Carla and Ruben were showing a bit more interest in each other, which people around them had noticed. Their family members called it true love because of the early age that they found each other. Ruben called it a blessing, a blessing that someone as beautiful as Carla even bothered to look at him twice, considering Ruben still had buck teeth during those days.

"Well, to that I am grateful." Santina smiled. "How about a photo?"

A cameraman popped up out of nowhere, but Ruben and his brother complied to pose for a picture. Ruben had to pose for a few more after that, since his appearance at the beach caused a bit of a stir amongst the party guests. It became exhausting at some point, but Ruben found the strength to endure once he spotted her, Carla, and her cousin Maria. She wore a flowery sundress, whilst her cousin wore a bikini. Most people at the party were dressed half naked, including Ruben with his unbuttoned shirt. It was a beach party after all. Carla, however, stood puttering around the bar, looking rather out of place for some reason.

As the party went on, Ruben found himself excusing himself from conversations after losing sight of her. He asked around if anyone had seen her, but no one seemed to know where Carla had gone.

"Ruben." Santina interrupted his search. At that point of the night she was a bit too tipsy for his liking,  Ruben who didn't have anything to drink for himself. "Funny how your mother is trying to set us up." She said, slurring slightly on her words.

"Yeah, funny." Ruben turned his head in search for Carla. There was no point in staying if she hadn't stuck around.

"She's not wrong though, we would make a cute couple."

Ruben looked down. "We would?"

Santina shrugged. "I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I've always had a crush on you when we were younger. It got to a point where I used to beg the Fernandes family to let me stay with them, knowing that you were always over at their house."

"Yeah, I wanted to be with Carla." Ruben said, hoping that answer would set his feelings for Santina straight. He also made the mental note to tell his mother to stop setting him up with other women. He only had eyes for one.

"And now she wants to be with João Mendes. Funny how time works."

Ruben clenched his jaw at the mentioning of his name.

"Didn't the two of you get into a fight that one time." She chuckled. "Don't tell me that it was over Carla Fernandes?"

"It wasn't." Ruben grunted, knowing damn well which fight Santina was referring to. The fight between Ruben and João Mendes happened at school, on the football pitch, during a match where his team was struggling and João Mendes had blamed it all on Ruben's terrible defense. It was a silly fight, but Ruben who, even back then, took his dreams of becoming a professional football player very seriously, snapped at the thought of not being good enough. And for the words to come out of João Mendes mouth, had pushed him over the edge.

"Anyway, how is life in England?" Santina asked.

"Great. Have you seen Carla?" Ruben was tired and ready to leave, but not without being given the chance to talk to Carla.

"She left to get some air." Santina muttered. "By the pier, I think."

"Thank you." Ruben said, excusing himself.

He made his way towards the pier, leaving the party behind. His heart skipped a beat seeing Carla's silhouette posing against the descending sun. Ruben knew he shouldn't go, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to spend time with her again.

Ruben found Carla sitting on the edge of the pier, staring out at the waves.

"Hey," she said softly, turning to him.

She must have seen him coming.

"Hey," Ruben replied, taking a seat next to her.

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the waves roll in.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ruben. Never been better."

He chuckled at the sarcasm in her voice. He had missed it, her humor.

"Your mood...." He said, careful not to express himself too vigorously. "Does it have to do anything with us?"

"Us?" Carla turned to look at him, her expression furrowed. "There is no us, Ruben. Not anymore."

He nodded understandingly but in the back of his mind Ruben still had hope, he was gonna win her back.

They sat there for a while longer, watching the stars come out and listening to the sound of the waves. As the night wore on, the tension between them eased a little, at least to a point where they both knew that they had to talk about what was really on their minds. Starting with Carla.

"You left me when I needed you the most." She said,

"I know and I'm sorry." He really was. It was shortly after Christmas Eve three years ago that Carla's father grew ill. He died shortly after, whilst Ruben was away, living the life of his dreams in England.

"I was so lost, Ruben. So lost without you and I hated myself for being so weak."

"Don't say that." Ruben stretched out a hand in an attempt to touch her.

A mistake.

Carla shrugged off Ruben's hand, followed by a warning stare for him not to try anything again.

"Carla, you have to understand..."

"No Ruben, I don't." 

She stood. 

Ruben had to contain himself not to let his gaze wander up her bare legs as her dress blew in the wind. "Carla." He sighed. "Then please tell me. Tell me how I can make things better between us? I'll do anything. Anything."

"Ugh." She groaned in annoyance. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"I still have feelings for you, Ruben. A part of me has accepted that I always will."

Ruben looked at her, his eyes searching her face. "I still have feelings for you too."

Carla shook her head, as if Ruben was completely missing her point. "We're not good for each other, Ruben. You have your own life now, as do I.

"Fuck that." Ruben stood, his height overtaking hers. "We're perfect for each other Carla and you know it."

Her eyes widened, stunned by the passion in his voice.

"There's no other girl in the world for me but you. I love you Carla."

"Ruben."

He went to touch her again and to his surprise Carla let him wipe away a fallen tear with his thumb.

"I love you too."

Ruben's hand fell. Her voice had been as low as a whisper, nevertheless, he heard it.

"You do?"

She nodded. 

It was bold of him, either way, he went for it. Ruben stepped forward and went in for the kiss, capturing Carla's lips with his own.

Her breath hitched as he pulled her flush against him. Her lips were cold in the night, but oh so familiar. Ruben knew the taste of Carla as well as he knew his way around a football pitch. As he felt her ease into him, allowing Ruben's tongue to enter her mouth, Ruben's hand slipped from between her shoulders to her lower back, pressing Carla's body hard against him.

A sigh. Carla let out a sigh deep down her throat, to which Ruben hymned happily against her lips. They made out for a good minute or so, before allowing each other to catch their breaths. Although the dark night, Ruben could tell that Carla wasn't grinning like he was. The opposite. She looked conflicted and angry with herself.

"Ruben." She said, stepping away from him, wiping away their kiss with the back of her hand. "I'm still marrying João."

Ruben's hand went pinch the skin between his brows. "Why, Carla? Why him, of all people?"

"Because he didn't leave." She snapped. "João was there for me when I needed him the most. Unlike you."

"Carla, I told you that I wanted to come back. But your family...."

"My family was only trying to protect me, Ruben."

"Protecting you from what, me?"

She fell silent.

Ruben frowned. "Carla? I would never..."

"I know." She nodded. "I know you would never do anything to hurt me, at least not on purpose."

Ruben shook his head, desperately in need to touch her, to have Carla in his arms again. "How...how did I hurt you?" He asked, desperate to know.

"It doesn't matter, I'm over it."

"Over what? Carla..." Ruben grabbed her wrist before she could turn her back on him. "You need to tell me how I hurt you, it's the only way I'll know how to make things right again."

"You can't!" She cried.

"How do you know, you haven't even..."

"Because, Ruben.....I had an abortion."

Part 6 and 7 are already out on my Patreon for Free!

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

Nahh it’s fine no need for me to request again ♥️🩷♥️🩷 I would like wedding version of Julius, Killian with male Joseph s/o. This gonna be fancy, I love them 😁

Omg a wedding!!!

I love writing for weddings and children you have no idea

Thank you so much for requesting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julius the dressmaker

Julius always cries at weddings

And its no different at his wedding

Hed be oh so excited to plan everything with you!

The venue, the outfits, the decor, everything!

All that boring planning stuff aside, lets talk about the actual ceremony

He was sobbing the entire time he was waiting for you to walk down the aisle, and he almost lost it when it was actually time

You were just so handsome in your fancy attire, it got him emotional!

When it is time to say your vows, he gives you a heartfelt speech he's been preparing for months, detailing his immense love for you and everything you are

And your first kiss as a married couple is definetly your most passionate, him taking you and holding you as tight as he can while your small audience of family and friends clap

The festivities are wonderful, many games are played, many yummy foods are eaten and wonderful music is enjoyed

But by far his favorite part is your first dance with each other

It was just so romantic, the two of you in each others arms, dancing to your favorite love song, whispering in each other's ears how much you love each other

After the party was over, you spend some alone time at the venue, before leaving to go get ready for your honeymoon

Two week trip to paris, anyone?

Killian Lynch

He's a nervous wreck for the entire planning period

He wants everything to be perfect for your special day together!

But once it is time for the actual day, almost all the nervousness fades away and is instead replaced with happiness

When he sees you walk down the aisle, he smiles so proudly at you, blowing you a kiss as you walk

Your first kiss as a married couple is slightly suggestive, with him dipping you and borderline making out with you, but he could care less

Thats his husband now!! If he wants to make out with his husband, then god dammit, he's gonna do it!

There aren't as many games at Killian's wedding, mostly just feasting

And boy was it a feast

His favorite part of the wedding was when you cut your first slice and fed each other your cake

Something about it was just so intimate to him

After the party, he is almost blackout drunk so you'll have to wait til tomorrow to get ready for your honeymoon

[silverhallow]

Part 3: Sophie’s Choice

Summary: the night before the wedding and things get a little too real for the future queen and she’s got a decision to make

The rehearsal dinner came around a lot quicker than Sophie was expecting, tonight was her last free and single night as tomorrow she would become a married woman.

She stood there in her dressing room, the fine gown that adorned her body felt foreign, the fine silver fabric made her feel every inch the princess as she stared at the wedding dress in front of her.

It wasn’t the dress she’d always dreamed she’d wear but then again, tomorrow as nothing like she’d ever dreamed. She was marrying a man that was more like a brother than a lover. She was desperately in love with a man she could never have unless she wanted to lose her crown and country.

But she knew her duty, crown and country must come before all else. She could learn to love Phillip. She was going to have to learn to love Phillip if she was to have any form of happiness, til death do they part…

She felt her chest grow tight and panic washed over her as there was a knock at the door, “Come in” she managed to squeak as she felt her hands move to her chest to loosen the fabric that was around her chest.

She had a feeling it was one of three people at the door, Kate, her grandmother or Ann Gibbons coming to chivvy her along and hurry her up so she didn’t even bother to look up as she took what she thought would be a calming breath but just wobbled and caught in her throat.

“Your Highness they’re… good lord Sophie are you okay?” Kate said, her tone changing from the sarcasm she always employed when calling Sophie her formal name, but it immediately change to concern as she saw her best friend having what was clearly a panic attack.

“I’m fine…” Sophie lied as she felt Kate’s hand on her shoulder steering her a chair.

“No you’re not, Soph… you don’t have to do this, you can call it off, it’s not too late” Kate said to her honestly.

“No it’s too late, it’s tomorrow. I’ll be fine, I just need a moment” Sophie said, taking a shaky breath to compose herself.

“Soph…” Kate started to say, but Sophie shook her head.

“Kate, I have to do this, it’s the only choice” she explained with a look on her face that Kate knew all too well, it was the “don’t argue with me, i’m doing this” face Kate knew all too well, and even more so since she’d learned about her heritage.

She’d seen it not two months earlier when she argued with Lord Cowper and Lord Dorset about the children’s home she wanted to build so she sighed, “very well” Kate said rising to her feet and walked over to the drinks cabinet in the lounge of Sophie’s suite, poured her a stiff drink and walked back to her “here, drink this, it will help steady you” she said handing Sophie a class of amber liquid.

Without even thinking Sophie took the glass and downed it, shuddering as the liquid burned on its way down. She took two steadying breaths with her eyes closed before she stood up, straightening the silk of her dress skirts.

Her face changed from one of panic and heartache to one that stoic, composed and business-like and it was that face that Kate hated, the resignation on her friends face, it was a look she was sure would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Let’s go” Sophie said, sounding every inch the princess and future Queen that she was and without looking back, she placed one foot in front of the other and left the room.

The ballroom was packed when she got down to the main floor and was introduced to the waiting crowds. Phillip walked over to her before anyone else got there and saw the look in her eyes and frowned “is everything alright?” he asked quietly so that no one could hear as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Sophie nodded “everything is fine, just a minor wardrobe malfunction” she lied, patting his cheek before linking her arm through his and smiling as George and Marina walked over to talk to them.

For the next hour Sophie walked around the room with Phillip by her side, making small talk and she found it easy, it was pleasant and she felt her earlier worries dissipate for a little while. She got a glimpse of her future watching Phillip talking to dignitaries and she knew in her head that she’d made the right decision even if her heart ached in the background.

Everything was going well, she’d forgotten or managed to put all thoughts of Benedict behind her until she and Phillip made their way over to Edmund, who had brought his entire family with him and Sophie saw Benedict and he promptly turned his gaze away but it was when she saw Eloise doing the same, the same pained look on her face and the same stoic, trying to hide the hurt and longing look on Phillip’s face and everything seemed to hit her like she’d been shot.

It wasn’t just her that was giving up a person.

Phillip was giving up Eloise, or a shot with Eloise for her and that…

That broke her.

She felt her breath hitch as Phillip was talking to Edmund and Sophie had not even heard what Violet was saying to her as her ears started to pound, her heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces, not only for her, but for Phillip.

“Your Highness? Are you quite alright?” she heard the voice coming through a thick fog, it was barely audible but it was there, it was only when she heard Phillip’s voice and as he shook her slightly that she jumped back to attention, as she realised the eyes of the entire room and party were on her and she knew she had to get out of there.

“I… Excuse me…” she said, her voice catching as she felt frighteningly close to tears as she unhooked her arm from Phillip and not caring that everyone was watching her, that she could feel Benedict’s eyes on her now as well, she ran from the room.

She wanted to run back to her suite, but she knew Kate would come after her, she knew everyone would go there to look for her so instead she headed outside to the balcony.

It was a cool evening so she hardly expected anyone to be out there, there would be no members of the public watching the balcony, unlike tomorrow when there would be hundreds of thousands of people waiting to see their soon to be queen and her new husband, she knew there would be no press as they were all inside.

It was the perfect place to hide and recompose herself, she needed a minute, she needed to think, she needed…

She had no idea what she needed but it wasn’t a room full of people or even the Bridgerton’s, she had known they would be there, as the Prime Minister and her being adamant that her wedding was family friendly, she knew they would be there but she hoped she wouldn’t have to see Benedict.

It was too fresh and painful.

She found herself curled up in a ball as she sat on the floor almost rocking back and forth as she willed herself to not cry, her heart to stop bleeding, for the world to make sense, for things to stop being so unfair when she felt a choked sob escape her lips and then the door opened and her grandmother appeared

“Oh Sophie…” she said, seeing her granddaughter on the floor.

Kate had told her about Sophie’s panic attack earlier on, she’d seen the way Sophie looked at the second Bridgerton boy, she could see the heartbreak on her granddaughter’s face and when she’d ran from the room, she knew what she had to do.

She’d walked through the palace, knowing Sophie would not go to her room and instead finding a spare room, somewhere to hide and as she was about to head down the stairs, she heard the unmistakable sob from Sophie and when she saw her on the floor, curled up trying to hold herself together, in a move that reminded her of her son, of Sophie’s father when Esme had left.

“Oh my darling” she said as she moved close to her granddaughter and lowered herself down and hugged her.

“I’m fine. I’m… I just need a moment” Sophie said, taking a big gulp of air. “I… I can’t do this” she said sadly.

“I know” Sarah said with a sad smile “I know you can’t…”

“But… but… I have to” Sophie said sadly

“Sophie” she sighed “Darling, listen to me, I made my choice: duty to my country over love and just because the arranged marriage worked for me, doesn’t mean you have to do that also… I was lucky. I can see how much pain this is causing you, you have to follow your heart and I know I put duty over true love, it is not something you have to do… it’s how I was raised. Don't make the same mistakes I made, make your own mistakes, there'll be plenty of them, believe me. Now you can go back into that party and tomorrow you can get married, or you can walk away. Whatever choice you make, let it come from your heart.”

“But the crown… Cavander…” she said sadly

“I trust Parliament to do something to stop that happening…” Sarah said “but ultimately it is your decision, if you do not wish to marry Phillip, then you do not have to…” she hugged her granddaughter “No matter what you decide I want you to know that I am so very proud of you and that I love you and I know your father would be proud of the woman you are, as would your mother…” she said, kissing Sophie’s cheek “I will return to the guests, I shall come up with something to cover your absence for the moment” and she got up and left.

Sophie felt stuck, there was the weight of the world, the weight of a country on her shoulders but she knew she had to do the right thing…

But first thing was first… she had to speak to Phillip.

[nicistrying]

Sunday 17th March

Had a lie in.. until 7.30 😂 that's the latest I've gotten up all week 🫠 I did stay in bed til 8 for cuddles with Maggie. How close does she have to be? Touching. At. All. Times!

Had breakfast and went for a lovely warm walk. Dare I say this felt like the first proper spring day, the air was warm, the sun was warm when it broke through the clouds, there were BEES out!! We had a lovely time

Came home and had a snack, did some housework while waiting for painkillers to kick in for my cramps, saw Matt briefly before he went to work, then went out for my weekly run. I'm tentatively hoping now that I'm working from home 3 days a week I'll be able to squeeze a second run in one evening through the week, even if it's only 20 mins down to the river and back. Got to make the most of the longer days!

This wasn't a great run to start with, the sun had come out more since my walk and I was too warm in my long sleeves and thick leggings so I slowed right down to a comfortable pace and just tried to embrace the sun on my skin and take all the sights in. Met some lovely dogs along the way, one little puppy came running alongside me for a little bit and looked so pleased with itself I couldn't stop smiling afterwards 😭😭

Eggs for lunch, did more housework and ran myself a 2pm bubble bath cause it's Sunday and I can 😌 then went back out with Maggie in the sunshine, in a TSHIRT!!!, just for half an hour to play with her ball

Put my wedding shoes on bc I really need to start breaking them in, and wore them to make some breakfast flapjacks that turned out pretty terrible 🤣 good job I only made a small batch 🫣

Now curled up on the sofa watching The Program (traumatising but so morbidly interesting) and winding down to go back to work tomorrow. It's been a busy little weekend! 😴

[dxmedstudent]

A couple of weeks ago, DxDude and I made our wedding rings! Well, technically, made each other's wedding rings. It turns out there are lots of independent jewellers who will give you a class on ringmaking whilst you make your own rings. We started with a flat* band of white gold, and shaped it into a wonky ring, before straightening it out and making it actually ring shaped and the size it needed to be. After that, ensued a TON of polishing. My ring has a twist in it, which looks great with my engagment ring, and I love the almost fluid look it gives it. His ring was straightforward, and kind of felt like making the One Ring, but my man has big fingers so there was a lot more polishing to do.

Our jeweller was very helpful and enthusiastic, and I can't wait to leave a good review. We left our rings for hallmarking (and potentially engraving, but we kind of didn't want to alter them too much with that), and will hopefully pick them up tomorrow.

If anyone likes the idea of doing this, I highly recommend it. It was a relaxing afternoon, and an excellent couple "experience". Most jewellers (I really looked around) charge around the same price for the "class", and then charge for material costs depending on the amount of gold used - and it seems to be pretty similar wherever in the UK you do it. It was so fun, and I can't wait for more pictures. I had worried they might be a bit wonky- DxDude and I are both creative and good with our hands, but y'now, not actual jewellers. But they talk you through it all and by the end they look pretty good, at least to the naked eye! I've had a nasty cold this week, which has made me feel crappy all week But now I feel bummed because I was really looking forward to tomorrow. Now I only hope I can go pick them up and not feel like death. DxDude has of course offered to pick them up by himself, but I was really looking forward to the experience so I want to go unless I'm feeling really horrendous. I'm still really excited to get them back, though! Even it'll be over 6 months til I actually get to wear mine :)

Technically the bands weren't flat, they were shaped into the profile we wanted for the rings, but hey.

[rune-writes]

A Place Like Home

Fandom: Persona 5

Word count: 2937

Rating: G

Summary: Ren takes Ann to his hometown where she spends a day learning about him and his family.

Note: written for @thezinearcana's Shuann wedding zine: With the Stars & Us.

Read on AO3.

~*~*~*~*~

A home-made meal. That was something Ann rarely had in her twenty-something years of life. Her parents were rarely home. In the few times they were, their meals were still prepared by the housekeeper. Maybe there had been a time when her mother had cooked her a simple omelet before school, but that had been years before work took most of her time. 

Such were the thoughts going through Ann’s mind when she beheld the lavish meal being prepared at the Amamiya household that morning. “Lavish” might be over-exaggerating it as there was only miso bubbling in a pot and pieces of mackerel grilling on a pan. But still lavish nonetheless when all Ann remembered of her breakfasts were only toasts and orange juice on a quiet table. 

“Ah! Ann, you’re awake.” Flipping the mackerel to grill the other side, Yuko Amamiya broke into a bright smile. “Good morning. Did you get a good night’s sleep?”

Ann nodded, mumbling half-groggily as she moved closer to the stove. Spices distinctly Japanese wafted up from the pan. 

“Do you always make such elaborate breakfasts?” she couldn’t help but ask. 

“This is hardly elaborate,” Yuko said with a chuckle. “You just throw in a couple side dishes with your rice and voila, breakfast is served.”

Ann nodded, though it still looked elaborate to her. A sort of normal elaborate. One she would find in a normal household with a normal family having a normal meal. Ann couldn’t say she’d had a lot of those growing up. 

“Is there something I can help with?” she asked then. She’d never had much opportunity to cook for Ren. If she could, maybe, pitch in with whatever Yuko needed to cook next, she’d kill two birds with one stone by having Yuko teach her all of Ren’s favorite childhood dishes. 

But the cooking was almost done. Yuko asked if she would like to set the table. Ann tried not to let her dejection show, but despite her best efforts, her face might have betrayed her feelings, because then Yuko called and said:

“Or would you like to grill the next one?” 

Ren’s mother was all smiles when she offered Ann to take the spatula.

 ***

“See? It’s not as hard as you think.” 

Ann placed the last two quarters of mackerel into the waiting plate, feeling a sort of pride burning in her chest. Nothing burned. No smoke rising from the stove. She smiled at her accomplishment, more so when Yuko nodded her approval. 

“The key is in the sake,” the older woman went on. She ladled the soup into bowls as Ann set the fish and side dishes on the dining table. “And salt. You can forgo the sake but not the salt. Coat the mackerels in sake first, then sprinkle salt over the sides. Wait twenty minutes, not too long, not too short. Then once all the water’s drawn out, pat the excess with a paper towel, and all you need to do is grill it—or fry it, whichever you choose—‘til it’s a nice crisp brown.”

Ann nodded and made a mental note of it. With the last dish set, they only needed to wait for Ren to wake up. 

“Want to make breakfast together tomorrow?” Yuko added before Ren arrived. “I’m sure I can pass on some other easy-to-make family recipes which Ren would definitely love.”

Was it really that obvious? When Ann met her gaze and saw her wink, it was all she could do not to laugh. 

***

Mackerels were a favorite of Ren’s. On the couple times Ann had tried grilling them for him, something had always gone wrong, whether it’d be the seasoning or accidentally burning it. With Yuko’s help, however, she’d learned just how Ren liked them. And now seeing the most blissful beam Ann had ever seen bloom across his face, her own lips spread into a smile as her cheeks burned bright with delight. 

“So, how do you like them?” Yuko nonchalantly asked. 

All Ren could do was nod and mumble, “The best,” through a mouthful of fish and rice. 

Yuko grinned. “I didn’t make it, though.”

Ren blinked, then swallowed, tilting his head to the side to ask, “What—” but he couldn’t even finish before Ann cut him off: 

“I did.”

His gaze found hers. He blinked a couple more times. “You did?”

“Yep. How does it taste?”

The way Ren blinked again as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing… Her grin stretched wider. 

“Is it really so good it made you speechless?”

She’d meant it as a joke—half a joke—but Ren’s eyes widened with wonder. She did not expect him to answer so honestly. 

“To think I’d mistake your cooking with mom’s.” His gray eyes crinkled with delight. “Since when did you know how to cook?”

Heat crept up her neck. Ann cleared her throat as she brought a rolled egg to her plate. “It’s nothing much, though. Your mom did most of the prep work.”

“But Ann did all the cooking herself,” Yuko chimed in.

“Just the one you ate,” Ann pointed out to Ren, “which I could only have accomplished thanks to your mom’s guidance.”

Yuko laughed. “Please, Ann, you could’ve still overcooked or undercooked it, but you didn’t.”

“That’s because—”

“What is this friendly mother-daughter banter?” Ren said with a chuckle. “Did I miss something?”

His interruption prompted Ann and Yuko to share a glance, and both broke into snorts and laughter. 

“A daughter, huh?” Yuko said afterwards. She played around with the last piece of her mackerel. When she lifted her gaze to Ann, the warmth Ann felt would have lasted her for an entire winter. “It’d be nice if I could call you my daughter someday.” 

Maybe it was a given, seeing how long she and Ren had been together. But to hear his mother say it… 

A future with Ren and the Amamiya household… 

Beneath the table, Ren’s hand found hers, intertwining their fingers together. 

Someday. 

She looked at him and smiled. 

***

When Ren had invited her to visit his mother, it had come without preamble, she couldn’t help asking if his mother was alright. 

“My mother’s quite fine, I assure you,” he’d said with a light laugh. “I just thought it’s been a while since you two last met.”

He was right in that regard. It’d probably been a year or two since Ren invited his mother to Tokyo. He’d had a sudden assignment then that it’d fallen to her to keep Yuko company. 

“Such a hard worker, isn’t he?” Yuko had said while they’d been out shopping.

For others, the fact that their son was a hard worker should have been a source of pride. Yuko, however, seemed to think otherwise with the way her brows had drawn back when she’d spoken about it. “He’s very much like his father,” was all she’d said. But Ren had always been proud of his father. Yuko hadn’t elaborated further. 

Now they stood side by side by the sink with Yuko washing the dishes and Ann setting them on the rack to dry. Ren had left to take a call from his boss. 

“What are your plans for today?” Yuko asked. 

“Just a walk around town,” Ann said. “Ren’s keeping our itinerary confidential for some reason.” 

“Ah.” 

A nod of understanding. Ann glanced at the older woman. 

“Do you know something?”

“Oh, you know how he is. He likes his surprises.”

Like a certain someone, Ann thought, shooting Yuko with a playful smirk. Yuko might have read her mind, because she looked at Ann and snickered. 

Footsteps approached the kitchen, announcing Ren’s return even before he appeared at the door. Judging from the frown murking his countenance, that phone call had probably not held any good news, as evident by the words that followed when he opened his mouth:

“I’m really sorry about this, but could we push our plans a bit until the afternoon? My boss just doesn’t know when to leave me alone.”

Well, there was nothing they could do about that, especially not when Ren looked so apologetic. “Sure,” Ann said with a nod. God knew how many times he’d had to compromise when her work suddenly called her away, even back before they’d started dating, which had only grown more frequent once she became a full-time model. “I can keep your mother company in the meantime.”

The relief pouring out of him was almost palpable. “I’ll try to finish this as soon as I can.” He was gone not a moment later, and Ann heard the distant closing of a door shortly after. 

“Still working hard, isn’t he,” Yuko mused, “even on his day off.”

Again, that quiet concern. The grayness of Yuko's eyes looked dim and distant; the plate she'd been washing lay forgotten in her grasp. 

“Yuko-san,” Ann began. “Did something happen to Ren’s father?”

Yuko blinked before slowly meeting Ann’s gaze. Her lips pulled to a little dismissive smile, but Ann refused to break her stare. After a few silent moments, the older woman conceded, sighing through her nose and turning off the tap water.

“Have Ren told you about his father?”

He had. His father had died when Ren was fourteen. An upstanding and respectable man—he’d been a journalist, too, and was one of the reasons Ren decided to pursue the same career. Yuko listened in silence with occasional nods. When Ann finished her recount, Yuko smiled.

“Ren did have the most respect for his father,” she said. 

“Is that wrong?”

“No, no, not wrong. His father was a man worthy of respect. Kind, gentle, but also passionate and strong. Trusted by his peers and neighbors alike.” Yuko's lips pursed thin. “He was framed while investigating a case.” 

Ten years Ann had known Ren, and this was the first time she had heard about this.

“An accident, they said. Silenced, more like it. He was an adamant sort. He would not rest until his targets were brought to justice.” The older woman glanced at Ann, whose mouth had hung slightly open in shocked silence. “Much like someone we know, don’t you think?” 

Very much so. Relentless, resolute, unyielding. And yet, it was that steadfast presence that had drawn her to him in the first place. Like a moth to a flame, captivated and spellbound, until she realized how deep she had fallen for him.  

The tap water ran for a couple more minutes, their hands working efficiently even as their minds wandered. Once all the dishes were washed and the kitchen was clean, Yuko leaned against the sink, exhaling a long, breathy sigh. 

“Like father, like son,” the older woman went on quietly. “That’s what they said when they convicted him of assault.” One corner of her lips curled in disdain, her face a picture of contempt. But the anger quickly dissipated, leaving her with nothing but weak resignation. “It is precisely because he is his father’s son that he worries me at times.”

***

Birds cawed in the distance, their silhouettes stark black against the light. A rush of wind brought a faint smell of fish intermingled with the scent of trees and generally fresh air. Beside her, Ren tugged at their intertwined hands, breaking their long, yet tranquil, silence. 

“What did you talk about with my mom?”

She glanced at him, noting the curiosity gleaming in his eyes. He looked so much like his mother. The same jet-black hair. The same deep gray eyes. And while Ren’s face might be sharper on certain angles, there was a distinct softness to it, like the crinkle of his eyes whenever he smiled, the way his mother had looked when Ann promised she would look after her son. 

Don’t tell him about this, Yuko had said. He knows I worry, but I’d rather not have him sacrifice his dreams just to appease my concerns.

Her lips tugged into a smirk. “A secret.”

“Cheeky,” he said, pinching her cheeks. Ann’s shoulders trembled with quiet laughter as she softly slapped his hand away. 

They reached a hilltop park, where families were still having picnics even though the sun had gone past its zenith. A man stood hunched, taking a picture of his wife and children sitting on their picnic blanket. On the other side, a woman and her daughter were having a meal on a bench. 

“I’ve always wondered why people make such a big deal about ‘mom’s cooking,’” Ann began. The little girl at the bench laughed when her mother pointed at a stray cream sauce on her cheek. Ann smiled. “I know now.” A warm and lively atmosphere—watching his mother fuss over him had been enough to fill her heart with joy. It had felt like home.

Ann watched the little girl dash from her mother’s seat, her face split into an ear-to-ear grin. Could she ever give her child a beautiful memory, she wondered, devoid of the loneliness she had felt during her childhood? Like Yuko, who had raised Ren to be the man he was now despite all the hardships she had had to face alone. 

“You have such a strong mother, Ren,” she whispered. “I wonder if I could be strong like her.”

She felt his glance, felt the tightening of his fingers around hers. “You’re already plenty strong yourself, Ann,” came his murmur. When her eyes flitted upward, they were greeted by the most tender smile that made her heart flutter. “But you can. And you will."

Wordlessly, he led away, past the father taking pictures and mother watching her daughter play. She asked where they were going, but Ren refused to give a straight answer. “You’ll see,” he said, accompanied by occasional grins that always meant she was in for a surprise. “You'll love it.”  

A secluded set of winding stairs waited for them at the other side of the park, littered with the thin remaining frost of the thawing winter. Up and up they climbed, her curiosity quickly escalating when a red torii gate came into view.

A gasp escaped her lips unbidden when she beheld the small garden nestled at the top. A lone plum tree stood at the center of a stone pavement, its branches adorned by various shades of pink and white in full bloom.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. 

The chill of the late winter air and the silence that permeated the ground gave the place a serene, magical feeling. She was wondering why Ren had brought her there when his tug prompted her to follow his line of sight. Ann turned around, then found that she couldn’t breathe. 

Standing at the very top of a hill, the town spread beneath her like a lady’s skirt. Brown rooftops jutted out of the ground among the greens and grays with no skyscrapers to be seen, and far on the water bank, boats are docked on a pier. 

They were so high, so far from the hustle and bustle of human activity. Her heart expanded and soared as tears stung her eyes. 

“This was where my father proposed.” The wind carried his soft, pensive voice to her ears. “Right here. Twenty-seven years ago.”

The realization hit her like a van. 

Do you know something? She’d asked his mother. 

Oh, you know how he is. He likes his surprises. 

Of all the surprises she would have guessed, this was not one of them. 

Her head snapped up. What sorrow had colored his features was now replaced by a firmness in his jaws and certainty in his eyes. Ann swallowed her nervousness and begged her heart to settle. 

Ren adjusted his grip on her hand. “I know how much I’ve worried my mother,” he began, “how much I’ve worried you.” His thumb lightly grazed her knuckles. “But we’ve stayed by each other’s side through thick and thin, and if you’re willing, I’d like to ask you to stick with me ‘til the end.”

Her breath hitched when he withdrew a small red box coming out of his pocket. He opened the lid and glittering little diamonds flashed before her eyes. 

“We’ll make the family you’ve always wanted, the home you deserve.” 

Ren plucked the heart-shaped ring from its cushion before slipping it to her finger. The way it fit so perfectly, so snugly, almost made her cry. 

“So, what do you say, Ann?” Ren went on, his hand never leaving hers. The smile he wore almost broke her heart with how precious it was. “Will you marry me?”

She’d always wanted this—always dreamed of it. A proposal on a candle-lit dinner or beneath the Eiffel Tower during one of her modeling gigs. But she’d never expected something as personal as this. 

And yet… it suited him. It suited them. The setting sun painted his profile a golden hue.

“I promised your mother I’ll look after you,” she said. Her ring gleamed under the light. “I mean to keep that promise.” Her breath shuddered; a tear rolled down her face. She met his eyes and gave him the best smile she could muster. “I’ll marry you, Ren Amamiya, if you’ll have me.”

The way joy exploded across his features was something she could not describe. Pure, unadulterated elation as he shouted and laughed, pulling her off the ground and swinging her around. Her cry of surprise was cut short when his mouth covered hers. 

“I love you, Ann,” he whispered.

Like father, like son. Ann wondered how Yuko would react when she learned where his son had just proposed to her.  

Ann threw her arms around him, her face a picture of rapture.  

I love you, too. 

~ END ~