#they were roommates at the University of Texas

[sl-ut]

you should probably leave

pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x fem!reader

description: joel is enamoured by his new neighbour, but old patterns will always be his downfall.

warnings: UNEDITED, slight age gap, slight smut, implied unprotected piv, protected piv, swearing, alcohol consumption, insecurity, angst, reader is given a birthday (she's a sag like me)

words: 10.8K (my longest fic to date)

date posted: 14/03/23

part two

(inspired by you should probably leave by chris stapleton)

OCTOBER 12, 1998

The weather was something that she was unsure if she could ever get used to. For her entire life, she had spent the entirety of the late autumn months dreading the first snowfall of the season before lugging out her extensive collection of knitted sweaters and fur-lined boots. Instead, her little archive of winter clothing was left in a cardboard box in her childhood bedroom, along with the majority of her other belongings that she had not brought with her on her grand adventure–if you could even call it that. 

The University of Texas at Austin had not been her first choice of school, or her second, or third; she actually had never even imagined going to school any further than a few hours from her hometown in Pennsylvania, and yet there she was, standing in front of her brand-new home, sweltering under the harsh Texan sun as she struggled to unload her packed car all on her own. Well, to call it her home would be a pretty tight stretch, as well as to label it as “brand-new.” 

The small bungalow-style house had caught her eye on a flyer in the grocery store, a listing for one female roommate in a cul-de-sac not too far from the city. It wasn’t exactly her dream home by any means, with an ugly yellow exterior and a kitchen that could certainly use an updating, but it she had recently been forced out of her own apartment due to her previous roommate preferring her boyfriend to live their with her instead and it was the nicest of the few places within her price range that would also accommodate the mutt she’d rescued during her first year. All things considered, it was quite literally perfect for her situation–plus her new roommate seemed to have been at least more considerate of her boundaries than the last, which gave her some hope that things might actually work out. 

Y/n grunted at the weight of the box, cursing herself internally for enrolling in school and owning so many textbooks as she lugged it up the front steps, dropping it just inside the door. She couldn’t help but grimace as she glanced up, meeting the watchful gaze of Manny, his furry little head tilting curiously–likely wondering why she was making so much ruckus and interrupting his nap. 

“Lazy ass,” she muttered under her breath at him, kicking the box to the side before trudging back out the door.

The next few boxes were filled with clothes and shoes, fortunately for her spine. She hauled several out, dropping each of them to the pavement of the driveway carelessly as she wiped at her sweaty forehead, apparently too enthralled in the work to notice the beat up truck as it turned into the neighbouring driveway.

“Hey there,” she turned to find a young man, his hair combed back to expose his effortlessly charming face to her, “You need a hand?”

She glanced down at the boxes at her feet, “I wouldn’t wanna bother you.”

A young girl appeared at his side, wide eyes peering over at the older female curiously. The man shrugged, puffing out his broad chest as he moved. Y/n almost laughed at how obvious he was being, only seconds after meeting her. The man gave off the impression that he had always thought fairly highly of himself, probably the quarterback of the high school football team, maybe even involved in the armed forces–the navy, she was betting. He crossed the barrier between the two driveways in two long strides, extending his hand out to her as he came closer. 

“I’m Tommy,” he flashed her a grin, his accent coming out thicker than it probably would have normally. He glanced over his shoulder, motioning for the young girl to follow him into the neighbouring yard, “This is my niece Sarah.”

Y/n smiled politely, shaking his hand lightly, “Hi, I’m Y/n. I guess it’s nice to meet some of my new neighbours.”

“Well, Sarah, here, is your neighbour. Me, I live–”

“What happened to Stephanie?” Sarah interrupted, “I didn’t know she was moving.”

Y/n turned her attention to the young girl, “She isn’t, we’re just living together now.”

Sarah’s mouth formed an ‘o��, the gears visibly turning in her head as she formulated her next question, “Are you guys dating?”

“Sarah!” Tommy choked on his spit, “I’m sorry–”

“It’s okay,” Y/n chuckled at his response before turning back to the young girl, “No, we’re not. I guess she just didn’t wanna be living here all on her own anymore.”

Tommy’s shoulders relaxed, the mortified expression leaving his features in favour of one that she might have even considered relief. He shook his head at his niece, giving her a hard stare, “I’m sorry about her. I figured that she would have some better manners by now–my mistake.”

Sarah swatted at him, a pout appearing on her lips as her brows furrowed. The girl didn’t quite understand how the question may have been taken with offence by some, and was quite miffed by her uncle’s insult. 

“No, no, it’s okay,” Y/n affirmed, “I think it’s actually a good thing that she knows about that kinda stuff.”

Tommy glanced down at the boxes, clear discomfort appearing on his features, “Alrighty then, how about these boxes?”

Y/n gave in, offering Tommy one of the heavier of the three boxes, while shifting the smallest and lightest to the young girl, who had been adamant in helping out. She instructed them to just drop the boxes to the floor by the door, not looking to take up much more of their time. 

A loud gasp escaped Sarah, her wide eyes falling on the mutt, who had appeared to have been equally as excited to see her as he rushed over, tongue lolling out of his mouth and tail flapping wildly. Sarah squealed when he barrelled into her, a fit of giggles leaving her mouth as he brought her to the ground and began to cover her face in slobbery kisses.

“Manny!” Y/n groaned, grasping the dog’s collar and pulling away enough for Sarah to sit up off of the floor, “Sorry, he’s just convinced that everyone wants to be his friend.”

“I’ll be his friend!” Sarah beamed, reaching out and squishing the dog’s face in between her palms, “I mean… Can I?”

Y/n shrugged, “As long as it’s okay with your…” She glanced at Tommy for help, unsure about Sarah’s parentage situation. He’d already made it clear that he did not live next door, but had never explicitly stated who did.

“You’ll have to ask your dad, Sarah,” He chastised her, “Anyway, we should get out of your hair now, let you settle in.”

Y/n nodded, “Yeah, thank you for the help, though.”

“No problem, ma’am,” He winked, southern charm on full display as he stepped out onto the front step, “Anytime for a pretty girl like you. C’mon, Sar.”

Sarah begrudgingly offered the needy pup one more affectionate squeeze before following after her uncle, leaping off of the step and bounding across to her own front yard. Tommy paused, hand resting on the railing of the step and giving it a firm shake. His lips pursed into a line as he let out a small huh as the bannister shifted out of its place, then back in under the pressure. 

“Yeah, Steph said there were all kinds of little things wrong with the place,” Y/n noted, “But hey, if it’s got four walls and a roof, it’s good enough for me.”

He chuckled at her, shaking his head, “You know, my brother and I are contractors, we could come over and help you fix things up if you guys wanted.”

She hummed, “I’ll mention it to Steph. Wouldn’t wanna just start making changes to her house while she’s not here, would I?”

Tommy hummed, “‘Spose that’s true. Anyway, I should go see where she ran off to, but I sure hope I’ll be seeing you around.” He shot her a cheeky wink before jogging back over to the neighbouring yard, leaving her and Manny among the mess of boxes in the entryway. 

Y/n huffed, glancing around at the mess, then at the furry little beast at her feet, who waited patiently for her to begin offering him her love and attention. She rested her hands on her hips, shaking her head softly, “Well, let’s just get this done, boy.”

– – –

Joel grunted as he clambered in through the side door of his home, sighing in relief as he slipped out of his heavy work boots and dropped the armload of groceries onto the kitchen counter. He could hear the TV on in the living room, drowned out by Sarah’s yell of a greeting. He rushed to put away the groceries, sticking the brown paper bags in the recycling before stepping into the dimly lit sitting area. 

Tommy was reclined on the couch, slumped into the worn leather like a pile of mashed potatoes as he balanced his can of Budweiser on his bent knee. He nodded to his brother briefly as he lifted the beer to his lips, hardly taking his eyes off of the football game on the screen as Joel plopped down next to him. The older brother leaned forward, pressing a small kiss to Sarah’s head so as to not disturb her as she worked on her homework on the coffee table in front of the couch before finally copying his brother’s position.

“The hell took you so long? You left the site the same time I did, and I had to go pick this shithead up from school,” he playfully kicked at Sarah’s leg, “plus I helped your new neighbour move in.”

“Supermarket was a zoo,” Joel moaned as he ran his palm flat over his face, then furrowed his brow, “What new neighbour?”

Tommy nodded his head back in the direction of the mustard yellow house, “Chick next door got a new roommate.”

“Uncle Tommy was flirting with her,” Sarah chimed in, not taking her eyes off of the math textbook in front of her.

Joel rolled his eyes, “Now tell me why I’m not surprised.”

Tommy shook his head, taking another large gulp of beer, “I know what you’re thinking, but this girl’s different. She’s not from ‘round here. Not sure where, but she’s got an accent. Canada, maybe.”

“You know what a Canadian accent sounds like?” Joel scoffed, knowing that his brother was prone to drawing his own conclusions. 

“Well, no,” Tommy frowned, “But I imagine it might sound like that. Doesn’t matter, I think I’m gonna ask her out.”

Joel grunted in response, turning his eyes to the game on the screen.

“She wasn’t flirting back,” Sarah grinned up at the two men, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her father’s growing smirk and giggling as his own laughter came tumbling out. Tommy kicked her again, only this time with a little more force, “What? You invited yourself over there and were all,” She puffed her chest out and deepened her voice, “Anything for a pretty girl like you.”

Joel rested a palm on his belly as he shook with laughter, his other hand landing on the top of his daughter’s head affectionately as Tommy crossed his arms, sulking. 

“I think she was flirting back,” he argued.

“She wasn’t,” Sarah reaffirmed.

Tommy leaned forward, “Now how the hell would you know anything about flirting, huh? You been doin’ a lot of it at school?”

Her face burned in embarrassment, sputtering for a response, “No, that’s gross!”

Joel frowned at her, shaking his head in feign sternness, “You better not be. Otherwise I might need to break out grandpa’s old hunting rifle.”

She didn’t utter another word, simply gathering her things in her arms and rushing off to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her as the laughter of her father and uncle followed her every step.

OCTOBER 17, 1998

Just under a week had passed since he’d first caught wind of his new neighbour, and Joel had yet to even see this woman. He’d noticed the new car in the driveway, and he’d picked up on the presence of the dog fairly quickly, especially after he’d caught Sarah tossing some of the vegetables from her dinner over the fence for him. Joel hadn’t paid it much mind, he was far too busy to be concerned with some young girl who didn’t seem to be causing much issues. 

He’d had words with Stephanie several times in the past; once for blatantly smoking pot on 

her front step when they were heading out for the day, then for leaving her garbage bin too close to his driveway, causing him to back into it and scratch the paint on his truck, and then once more when she’d had a little get together that ended up lasting until 4am, when the police arrived. He would normally have called himself a narc for having the party shut down, but it was keeping Sarah awake and the door had been shut in his face when he went over to ask politely. 

The day had been long, and normally he would have refused Tommy’s invitation to head over to one of the local dive bars, but after dealing with the shit-show that had gone on at the job site that day, he really needed a drink. Sarah was out of the house, anyway, having slept over at a friend’s house, so there was quite literally nothing keeping him away.

“Brother’s night, my ass,” Joel grumbled into his glass, glancing over to the corner booth, where his brother had joined a pretty brunette, leaving Joel to himself at the barside. He waved at the bartender, motioning for another top-up of his whiskey. 

A figure appeared at his side, leaning onto the bartop to call out to the bartender. Joel glanced over, his eyes raking over her radiant side profile in awe. He shot his gaze back to the glass of amber liquid in front of him, then briefly over to the girl once more. His eyes narrowed in on her pursed lips, noting how her brows furrowed in frustration as the bartender migrated to the other side of the bar. She turned to him suddenly, and Joel whipped his head back around to ensure that he wouldn’t appear to be some creep–though he was positive he certainly had been.

“Is it always like this here?” She asked him, tilting her head. “I swear, I’ve gone to three different spots along this bar, and buddy keeps looking in the other direction.”

He cleared his throat, “You not from around here?”

She smiled sheepishly, “Is it that obvious?”

Joel chuckled, “Just a little. You gotta get his attention, be firm. Here,” he tucked his index finger and thumb into his mouth and let out a loud whistle, nodding at the bartender as he rushed over. 

“Two vodka crans, please,” The girl smiled prettily at the bartender, then scoffed as he turned to begin pouring the drinks, “Shit, I guess I could stand to learn a thing or two.”

“It comes with time,” He frowned, realising that he may have implied that he was at the bar every other night, “I mean, not that I’m–”

She touched his arm softly, electricity running through her fingertips and into his bicep, “Hey, I’m not here to judge you if you’re not here to judge me, heh?”

He nodded, opening his mouth to speak once more when another figure appeared at her side. His smile dropped, taking in the sight of his next door neighbour, probably one of the last people he wanted to see on his night off.

“What the fuck is taking you so long–oh,” Stephanie narrowed her eyes at the older man, who simply turned and took another long swig of his whiskey, “Hello, Joel.”

“Stephanie,” he drawled, “How you doin’ tonight?”

She smirked at him maliciously, “Fine. Y/n, this is the guy I was telling you about.”

Oh, this is Y/n, he thought to himself, suddenly understanding Tommy’s instant interest in the girl. 

“All good things, I hope,” he sighed into his glass.

She shook her head, “Oh, just that you’re the neighbour from hell, and that you’re a narc.”

Y/n tucked her bottom lip in between her teeth, visibly uncomfortable at the confrontation. His eyes fell to her mouth at the movement, wondering what it might feel like to take that same lip in between his own teeth. 

“You keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night, Steph,” he huffed, praying to any god that would listen that she hadn’t completely turned Y/n against him.

Stephanie sneered at him, grasping one of the drinks from the bartop and stomping off, leaving a thick tension over the remaining two. Joel met Y/n’s gaze once again, noting the visible embarrassment on her face as she began to laugh slowly.

“Sorry about her,” She laughed nervously, “For the record, I know that she’s a little dramatic.”

“‘T’s fine,” Joel grumbled, swallowing the last gulp of whiskey, “You ain’t gotta apologise for her, she can feel however she wants about me.”

Y/n chuckled, a genuine one this time and Joel couldn’t help but carve the melodious sound into his memory, “I’m Y/n, by the way.”

He nodded, accepting the soft handshake that she offered, “So I’ve heard.” He noticed the slight furrow of her brow before he clarified, “I’m Sarah’s dad.”

Realisation crossed her face, “Oh, Sarah! She’s a real sweetheart.”

“Yeah, she is,” he smiled softly at the complement, “She sure likes you, and I’m assuming that it’s your pup that I’ve caught her feeding her broccoli to?”

Y/n giggled at him, “Huh, I’d noticed that he was especially gassy lately. Here I was thinking it was something in the water.”

Joel let out a loud laugh, then realised that he had not actually introduced himself, “Shit. Sorry, I just–” he coughed, “I’m Joel.”

“So I’ve heard.” She repeated to him, clearing her throat before turning to gaze at him through her lashes with a soft smile, “So Joel, is this seat taken?”

– – –

Y/n had not expected to have enjoyed herself quite so much when Stephanie forced her to go to the grubby little saloon, feeling incredibly out of place among all of the southerners. She had been hesitant to leave Manny on his own so soon after moving in, but the last thing that she had wanted to do was get on Stephanie’s bad side so early on. Then, she’d stumbled upon the devastatingly handsome man sitting all on his own at the bar, and her tune changed drastically. 

She sat on that stool for the better part of two hours after Stephanie had fucked off, leaving them to become acquainted with one another. Joel had offered her another drink, which she accepted under the terms that she would buy the next round, and against his better judgement, he found himself doing a shot of tequila with her as well. She smirked to herself when she took note of the flush that had crawled into his cheeks, and how cheerful his dark chocolate eyes looked under the dim lighting of the bar. 

Y/n had noticed Tommy in the corner booth, and how he had been blatantly pressing his southern charm onto the brunette under his arm in the very same way that he had to her, which made her feel much better knowing that he couldn’t possibly be that upset about her doing the exact same to his brother. 

Her hand had come to rest on his knee, leaning across to invade his personal space animatedly as she spoke, her own cheeks flushing each time that he grinned or laughed at her words, and she had lost count of the amount of times that she had rubbed her thighs together or considered smashing her lips to his. 

Tommy appeared at his side, clutching his shoulder in his firm grasp, “Hey Joel, you think you’re ready–oh, hey, Y/n.” His cheeks had turned red, one hand self-consciously rising to rub at his cheek, where the stark red lipstick stain had once acted as a trophy and was now an admission of guilt. Tommy pursed his lips, “Wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.”

She shrugged, “Steph forced me out.”

He nodded awkwardly, unsure of how to save himself in this situation. 

Y/n turned her head, catching sight of her roommate’s drunken attempt to seduce the bouncer before turning her attention back to the older of the two brothers, squeezing his knee once before sliding off of the stool, “Speaking of, I should probably leave, she’s gonna get us banned from here any minute now. It’s been nice, talking to you, Joel. See you, Tommy.”

Both men watched as she disappeared into the crowd, eyes trailing after her figure longingly.

Tommy huffed, “You think I still got a chance?”

Joel’s shoulders shook in a drunken fit of giggles, lifting his own hand to proudly show off the nine digits that had been marked into his skin, “Nope.”

Tommy’s jaw dropped, clear disappointment on his features before it was quickly replaced by pride, “Well fuck, brother. Didn’t think you had it in you.”

OCTOBER 31, 1998

Y/n wiped at the sweat on her brow, breathing picking up in delight as she turned the corner and the blinding yellow house came into sight. The sun had already begun to set by the time that she and Manny had set out on their evening walk, now settling low on the horizon and casting a golden hue to the world below it as Manny tugged on his leash, obviously also desperate to escape the heat. 

A loud honk sounded from behind her, muffled slightly by the music playing over her bulky headphones, drawing her attention to the dark pickup truck as it sped past, Sarah hanging out the back window with a grin on her face as she waved dramatically. Y/n chuckled at the young girl, allowing Manny to lead her into a faster pace as they grew closer to their house.

She slid the headphones down to rest around her neck, pressing pause on her walkman as Sarah rushed towards them. The girl paid very little mind to the woman holding the leash, instead dropping to her knees and reaching out for the excited dog’s face, laughing as he began to lick enthusiastically at her cheek. 

“Hi,” her gaze rose to find Joel as he rounded the bed of the truck, hand resting on the top of the tailgate as he tried his best to look casual, “sorry, this one never shuts up about that dog.”

Y/n smiled at him, warmth flooding through her cheeks. She’d only actually spoken to Joel a handful of times since that night at the bar, mostly simple greetings while Sarah occupied herself with Manny. Joel was too awkward of a person to try anything with Sarah present, and Y/n was too compassionate to question him about why he hadn’t bothered to call yet in front of his daughter. 

Y/n shrugged, “To be fair, he never shuts up about her, either.”

“Oh did he tell you that?” The man asked, brows raised playfully, “I didn’t know you spoke dog.”

“There are many things you don’t know about me yet, Joel,” She smirked at him, “Oh, happy Halloween, by the way.”

“Right,” Joel raised one hand to stroke his hairy chin, “Yeah, you too.”

Sarah glanced up from Manny’s pleading brown eyes, “Dad forgot.

Joel sent a sharp glare to his daughter, then smiled sheepishly at her, “Not too concerned about a holiday that’s got nothing to do with me, anyway–this one decided she’s too cool for trick-or-treating with dad this year.”

“Oh don’t feel too discouraged, I gave my dad the boot when I was even younger.”

“See?” Sarah pressed, glancing back at her father, “You don’t even like Halloween, I don’t get why you’re mad.”

Y/n widened her eyes and clutched her chest dramatically, “What do you mean, you don’t like Halloween? It’s like, one of the best holidays!”

Joel rolled his eyes, “Oh don’t tell me you’re one of those people.”

She pursed her lips, “And just when I was starting to like you, Miller.”

His eyes met hers, curiosity pooling into the dark mocha irises as he considered her words. He almost appeared apologetic; could he feel guilty about not calling her? Y/n did her best to not appear too shaken by his lack of contact–she hadn’t expected anything from him the next day, but after two weeks and still no call? She’d taken that as a sign that he’d been a tad too drunk when he had been so shamelessly flirting with her, and that he had no intentions of ever pursuing anything. 

Y/n was thankful when Sarah interrupted the pair, preventing her from spiralling into a nervous breakdown from her own inner monologue, “What are you dressing up as?”

The woman shook her head with a mischievous smirk on her lips, “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see when you come knocking at my door, huh?”

“No big plans?” Joel tilted his head, “I figured that roommate of yours would have you out on the town.”

She shrugged, “Steph’s out of town. Something about the drinks and the guys being stronger. Looks like it’s just gonna be me and my little guy here,” she gently clapped a hand against Manny’s side, “Well, us and a selection of horror movies.”

Sarah stood up, leaning into her dad’s side with her elbow, “How convenient, my dad will also be home alone tonight.”

Joel dropped his head in embarrassment–just leave it to Sarah to blatantly play the role of her father’s wingwoman. He refused to meet Y/n’s amused gaze, ears burning as Sarah continued.

“And he totally loves horror movies. He watches them all the time.”

“Oh really?” Y/n did her best not to burst out laughing, enjoying the sight of both Joel’s embarrassment and how confidently Sarah was trying to talk up her own father. She crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to not make it too obvious how much she actually wanted to invite him to join her, but she didn’t want to display too much interest in him if he genuinely had none in her, “Well then maybe he should head to Blockbuster before all of the good ones are rented.” 

She raised her brow at him, signalling to him that it was his turn to make a move, as she would not be making any more. He nodded at her, red flooding his cheeks as he tried to muster up the courage to discuss the clear tension between them. 

Y/n smiled politely at them both, then glanced down at the heavily panting dog at her feet, “Well, I better get this guy out of this heat. See you guys in a bit, then?” She led the dog past them, glancing back over her shoulder, her lips pursed as she watched Sarah poke at her father’s side sharply. 

The young girl smirked at her dad knowingly, remaining silent, though the expression on her face made her thoughts very clear to the man. She scowled at him, crossing her arms over her chest, “Christina’s sister is so right; all boys are stupid.”

The man scowled at his daughter, watching in silence as she moved around him without another word, disappearing through the front door without so much as another glance. Joel scoffed, shaking his head at her, and wondering how the hell his nine year old could be so goddamn right about the situation. 

– – –

Joel wiped his hands anxiously across the expanse of his thighs, attempting to rid himself of the nervous sweat that had collected in his palms as he stood on Y/n’s front step, mustering up the courage to finally knock. 

“The fuck am I doing,” He cursed to himself, shaking his head as he ran a hand over his face. 

Y/n was younger than him; not by a lot, but they were still in very different stages of their lives. He wasn’t willing to admit that he genuinely did like her, and considering that she was still a young woman and still in college, he wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for with him. Was it just some quick fuck that she wanted? Joel wouldn’t be opposed–hell, he was ashamed that he’d imagined such a thing more than a few times since meeting her–but he wasn’t sure if he could jump into bed with her and then move on with his life, nor could he expect her to be willing to just pick up the role of step-mother to his little girl. 

Joel had woken up on October 17, hungover as hell and struggling to recall any of his memories from the night before. He’d forced himself out of bed much earlier than he would have liked, needing to pick Sarah up before her soccer game. The man had stumbled his way into the shower, blindly going through the motions of bathing himself as the warm water slowly began to remove the fog from his mind. It was then, as he had reached out for his bottle of body wash that he noticed the smudge of blue ink on his skin, and then jumping in surprise at the memory of the beautiful woman who had given him her phone number–the woman who had him laughing like he hadn’t in so long and blushing harder than he thought possible–the woman who he hoped was now lying peacefully in her bed next door, preferably all on her own. 

The few times that he had seen her since then, he had thought about apologising for not calling and telling her the truth of what had happened, despite his embarrassment. He wanted to ask for it again, but every time, Sarah was there, making a fuss over the little pooch that never seemed to leave Y/n’s side. He wished that he were more confident in himself, more willing to speak to other women even if his daughter was there, but he simply would never be able to look at the young girl again if Y/n were to reject him. 

“Shit,” He swore loudly as he turned to rush off of the step, instead booting one of the carefully carved jack-o-lanterns onto the pavement of the driveway and watching in horror as it shattered on impact. 

“Joel?” He froze at the sound of the door creaking open behind him, smiling bashfully at the young woman as he did his best to not appear too guilty. Her eyes fell from his flushed face to the mess of orange at his feet, a surprised chuckle leaving her lips, “Damn, you really do hate Halloween, huh? Enough to come over here and start destroying my decorations, anyway.”

He sputtered for an answer, “I–it was an accident, I just knocked it off by accident on my way out–”

“Your way out?” She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the doorframe, “So what, you were just loitering on my front step?”

He scoffed at her, “I was actually on my way to apologise, but if you’d rather I just get lost…”

Y/n raised a brow inquisitively, “I’m listening.”

“I just–I’m sorry for not calling,” Joel admitted with a sigh, debating whether or not it would be best to explain exactly why, “For what it’s worth, I would have if I hadn’t washed it off by accident.”

An amused expression crossed her features as she mulled over his explanation, “You…washed it off?”

He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “I did.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, as if she were trying to decipher whether or not he was being truthful, “Okay.”

His gaze shifted from side to side, uncertain as to what she meant, “Okay?”

“Okay,” She affirmed, “So what time did you wanna come over tonight?”

Joel swallowed the lump in his throat, “Tonight?”

Y/n shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the butterflies that slammed at the lining of her stomach and threatened to erupt, “Tonight. You said it yourself, Sarah’s gonna be gone all night, so would  you rather be home alone or come over? Otherwise, I’ll just be here by myself, scared and in need of a devastatingly handsome cowboy to protect me from Michael Myers.”

Blush spread across his cheeks, his hands coming up to rest on his hips, “I don’t know about ‘devastatingly handsome’, but I think I could handle some asshole in a mask.”

She grinned at him wickedly, “That’s what everyone thinks, but I guess we’ll see tonight, around eight?”

“Eight.” He confirmed, then glanced down at the mess at his feet, “And sorry about your pumpkin.”

“It’s alright,” Y/n smirked, “You’ll just have to work extra hard to make it up to me.”

– – –

Joel anxiously adjusted his shirt, frowning at himself in the window of her front door. Despite dismissing Sarah’s teasing by claiming that this was in fact, not a date, he’d taken her advice in showering the moment that he had gotten into the house. 

He was aware that she was flirting with him, but until he had gotten out of the shower, towel sitting low around his waist as he wiped the steam away from the mirror and took in his shaggy appearance, he had not been at all concerned about what activities the night might lead to. Staring at his own reflection, nervousness quickly began to settle into his bones.

He had made quick work with the clipper, shortening the length of his facial hair after several weeks of negligence and leaving his lower face to be covered by a light stubble. He put a little more effort into his hair than usual, running a thin layer of gel through it while noting to himself that it was probably time for a haircut. He even took things a step further, dabbing a few drops of some woodsy cologne onto his skin; the bottle had gone untouched for two years, having been a Christmas present from his mother.

“Are you wearing cologne?” Sarah asked as she appeared at his side, face painted to resemble a circus clown, “I knew this was a date.”

“It’s not a date,” He argued, doing his best not to jump in fright at her appearance, “Shouldn’t you be out on the town by now, Ronald McDonald?”

“You showered, put on cologne, and you’re bringing candy? It’s a date.” Sarah listed, “And I’m Pennywise, by the way. Christina’s sister is coming to pick me up soon. She says that guys always dress up when she goes out with them because they want her–”

Joel grunted, glaring at his daughter, “I want you to stop hanging around Christina’s sister.”

Sarah ignored his comment, “Is that what you’re wearing?”

Joel glanced down at his outfit–a clean pair of jeans and an old t-shirt that he’d probably gotten out of a beer box or something, “What’s wrong with this?”

“What’s right with it?” 

Joel considered his parenting style for a moment, wondering if he would be free of this headache if he had spanked his daughter once or twice in her life. Sometimes he forgot that the girl was only nine years old with how intelligent she was and how much more mature she seemed in comparison to other kids her age. 

“It’s not a date, Sarah.”

She rolled her eyes, “It could be. Come on.”

Sarah rushed past him, leading him into his own bedroom as she began to dig through his closet. She frowned with almost every piece that she picked out, tossing them behind her recklessly and ignoring her father’s scolding for the mess that she had quickly created. 

“Hah!” The girl pulled out an egg-plant button down and shoved it into his grasp, “I knew you had to have something that wasn’t that ugly.”

He grunted at her, but didn’t reply out of respect for her brutal honesty as he quickly shed himself of the worn t-shirt he’d previously been wearing in favour of the one that Sarah had chosen. Now, as he stood at her front door and internally decided for himself that this was a date, he couldn’t help but thank God for his daughter’s awareness.

Finally, after tugging at the hem of his shirt, he raised a fist and knocked heavily on the door. Joel choked on his own saliva when she appeared in the window, smiling sweetly at him when she pulled the door open. She had already changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a sky blue shirt that exposed just a tasteful amount of her midriff. 

“Hi, again,” she breathed, a smile forming on her face, “You look nice, purple is definitely your colour.”

Joel burned, “I–thank you. Sarah picked it out.”

Y/n turned to the girl, who had already ushered the dog up onto the sofa with her, “Well she has a clear eye for style.”

“She definitely thinks so, that girl damn near harrasses me about my clothes everyday.” Y/n laughed out loud, Joel’s ears tingling at the melodious sound, “You look great, too.”

Y/n beamed down at her outfit, shrugging to herself, “Thanks, I thought about keeping my costume on but I wasn’t entirely sure how much you would be into Strawberry Shortcake.”

Joel chuckled at her, glancing down at the object in his hand, “I brought beer, by the way. Wasn’t sure if I should bring anything, or if you even like–”

Y/n reached out, snatching the six pack from his grasp, “Ever the gentleman, cowboy. So, you coming in?”

– – –

The house was filled with laughter, both having nearly finished their first beer as they shared stories freely. Halloween played quietly in the background, though neither of them paid too much attention. Y/n did her best not to physically melt when she felt Joel’s arm drape across the back of the sofa behind her, resisting the urge to tease him for attempting to cover it up by faking a dramatic yawn. 

She brushed her fingers along the top of his thigh, smirking to herself as she watched his leg slowly shift closer to her, though he didn’t address the affectionate touch. He spoke to her softly, and made an effort to hold eye contact with her as he did to–she was starting to feel some guilt about the conclusion that he’d drawn about him after he’d failed to call her. Her own gaze continuously fell to his lips as he spoke, and she was sure that he had noticed by the way that his lips began to curl confidently. Her heart hammered in her chest, wondering how much longer she would need to wait before he finally made a move.

Joel, however, was wondering exactly how he possibly could make a move. While feeling confident around her, there was no way to escape the fact that he hadn’t been on a date in at least a year, and he could count the amount of women he’d slept with since Sarah’s mother on one hand. At various points throughout the night, he had considered leaning in to kiss her, but had successfully siked himself out each time. The first time, he’d been interrupted by the pooch who had been jealous of his owner’s attention being focused elsewhere, though he could only blame every other time on his own insecurity.

“Do you want another beer?” Y/n asked as he swallowed the last gulp out of his can, “Or I have wine and pop?”

“Pop,” he scoffed, chest rumbling with quiet laughter.

She raised her hand and slapped his pec as she stood up from the couch, “Fine, you don’t get anything.”

He laughed, watching as she disappeared into the kitchen and shamelessly admiring the shape of her backside in the darkness of the dimly lit living room. He sat there for a few moments, staring at the movie in discontent, sighing as he ran his hand over his face and murmured a nearly silent fuck it, and following after her. 

“Is it too late to apologise and get that beer?” 

She glanced over her shoulder at him, smirking as she shrugged coyly as she turned and leaned her back against the front of the refrigerator and holding the perspiring can out in front of her, “You’ll have to come get it yourself.”

Joel crossed the small room in two long strides, stopping as the can met his chest, though he paid it little mind as she stepped away from the fridge, pressing a fleeting kiss to his lips. He froze for a second, stomach clenching at the soft touch. 

“Sorry,” Y/n whispered, though her tone betrayed how unapologetic she truly was, “Was that okay?”

He didn’t respond, quickly taking the beer out of her grasp and tossing it onto the counter as he cupped her face, capturing her lips with his and pressing her back against the fridge once more. She smiled against his lips, fingers bunching in the material of his plum coloured shirt and tugging him even closer. 

His lips were chapped against her own, the telltale sign of a busy man who hadn’t been too concerned with his physical appearance up until now, though she could not picture another kiss that she had received in the last several years that would even compare to Joel’s. 

One of his hands fell, fingers splaying around her waist as he pressed even closer, parting his lips as he felt the tip of her tongue prod at the seam and allowing her to seek out his own. He moaned at her taste, fingers wandering to her hip and hesitating, almost as if he had been asking for her permission to move even lower. She grasped his hand, guiding it around to cup her bottom.

Pulling away for air, she giggled softly and fluttered her eyelids open to find him already staring at her with blown pupils. One of her hands slid up his chest, tugging at the collar of his shirt before her fingers trailed over his patchy beard affectionately, “I don’t know if this is too soon, but do you wanna move to my bedroom?”

Joel chuckled at her, squeezing her cheek through her yoga pants, “Lead the way.”

– – –

Joel worried that he might have gone into cardiac arrest as he struggled to catch his breath, back slouched against the headboard as Y/n slumped flush against his chest. The cotton sheets pooled around her hips as she continued to move softly, working them both through the aftershocks of their climaxes. The man sighed in appreciation as her lips continued to slide against his jawline and leave gentle kisses in their wake, her fingers still lost in his dark curls.

Joel’s own hands squeezed her hips as she finally slowed to a stop, helping her slide off of him and smirking to himself at the whine she let out at the loss of contact. She shifted, moving out of his lap and curling into the cool sheets on the bed next to him.

“How was that?” He panted, “Have I done enough to make up for lost time?”

She grinned at him, her own chest rising and falling with her slowing breaths, “I think I recall doing most of the work, actually.”

“Bein’ on top doesn’t mean you were doing any work, sweetheart, I think we both know that.” His eyes fell on the digital alarm clock on her bedside table, grunting to himself as he took note of the late hour, “Shit–how the hell is it ten-thirty already?”

She glanced over to the clock briefly, then back at him, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Staring down at her nude form, guilt began to eat away at him as he began to slide off of the mattress and begin gathering his clothes that had been scattered around the room. 

“Are you leaving?” His back was turned to her as he pulled on his jeans, though he could only imagine the look on her face from the emotion that dripped from her voice; she was disappointed, facing the reality that she would be abandoned after doing something so intimate. 

“I mean…” Joel coughed, “Yeah, I should probably leave. Gotta work early tomorrow, and Sarah’s got soccer practice, and–”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest in an attempt to regain her modesty, “I get it.”

Joel couldn’t help but wonder how many times she’d done this. She seemed disheartened, but not entirely surprised at his decision to head out, as if she was expecting this time to be different from the others–as if she was expecting Joel to be any different from the other shitty guys she’d met since moving to Austin.

“Darlin’,” Joel cooed, coming to sit at the edge of the mattress and cupping her face in his large palms, “It’s not like that. I want nothing more than to stay the night, but I know that I won’t sleep a wink tonight if I do.” His thumb stroked her bottom lip as her mouth slanted into a small, saddened smile. He leaned in, pressing three kisses to her lips, each one longer than the last before pulling back, “Can I get your number? I promise I won’t ask for a third time.”

Y/n smiled at him, kissing him once more before snatching a pen off of the bedside table and scribbling on his hand, “You won’t get it if you ask for a third time, Miller.”

MARCH 12, 1999

Y/n sighed blissfully, gnawing at her lip to prevent any moans of pleasure as Joel worked himself into her over and over, his hips meeting hers with slow, meaningful movements as he did his best to keep both of them quiet. Joel wasn’t normally one for booty calls, though he had hardly seen her in the past few days and couldn’t resist when his mind had wandered while in the shower–and for the first time in what felt like decades, he could rely on the help of soft, feminine touches rather than his own fast and rough tugs. 

Her thighs shook, teeth biting into the pillow beneath her face as she pressed her hips back against him and arched her spine in pleasure. She met his thrusts enthusiastically, fingers winding into the sheets tightly. 

“Shit,” She gasped, “Joel, I’m gonna–”

“I know,” He rasped, “Shhh baby. Let go, I’ve got you.”

She didn’t hold back, allowing the white hot pleasure to run through her veins, muffling her cries in the plushness of the pillow. Her walls clenched around him, gripping him for everything that she could manage as he fucked her through it, head rolled back in pleasure as his own orgasm teetered over the edge. His fingers tightened around her hips, hauling her back against him a few more times before his seed painted the inside of the condom. 

His hands slid up from her hips, one pressing on her back to force her to lay flat against the mattress while the other cupped the soft flesh of her belly to roll her over. Joel took in her figure, eyes scanning her face for any signs of discomfort before dropping to her breasts; the man was absolutely entranced by the shape of her breasts, eagerly pawing at them during makeout sessions and suckling at them with the utmost love and desire as he fucked her. She smiled at him tiredly, hooded eyes admiring his own figure as he slipped out of her, sliding off of the bed and disappearing into the ensuite. 

When he returned, he wore a pair of black boxers and carried a maroon washcloth in his hand, carefully parting her legs and sliding the cloth through her folds, puffy and sore from his touch. He whispered an entirely disingenuous apology as he pressed lightly against her abused clit, chuckling to himself as she jumped. Tossing the cloth aside, he settled into the mattress next to her, sliding an arm around her waist and tugging her into his side, sighing in relief at the physical contact. 

The rising sun had slowly begun to peek through the blinds, filling the room with a soft glow in the aftermath of the third round. Y/n glanced at the clock on the far wall, sighing to herself as reality settled into her bones. She hadn’t intended on staying so long, especially after how eagerly the both of them had initiated the first round, having allowed herself to remain at his side until she felt his member begin to grow against her thigh once more. Now, after taking him inside of her three times over the past six hours, she knew that she would eventually need to get up and leave–a habit that they both had and hated when they were finished. 

She pressed careful kisses into his flesh, lips moulding to the sweaty skin of his shoulder and neck affectionately while her palm rubbed circles into his firm chest. Joel nuzzled his head into her hair, his own lips pressing to the crown of her head as he, too, appreciated the afterglow. 

Y/n’s body and heart screamed at her as she finally pulled herself away from him, hopping out of the bed and collecting her clothing from the floor. Joel watched her with sunken eyes, his attempt to remain stoic as he easily recognised what she was doing proving fruitless.

“You don’t–you don’t gotta go just yet,” he called to her, desperation lacing his voice, “Don’t gotta be at the site till eleven tomorrow–”

“Today,” she corrected, “And that’s in seven hours. Besides, I don’t wanna fall asleep and risk having to run into Sarah. I should probably leave.” 

He nodded slowly, continuing to watch her as she dressed and fixed her appearance, preparing herself mentally and physically for her four A.M. walk of shame. Joel wanted to call her back to bed again, to convince her to stay with him and promise breakfast in the morning, but instead watched helplessly as she disappeared into the dark hallway, and closed his eyes disappointedly at the sound of the front door closing behind her.

JUNE 2, 1999

Golden rays of sun peeked through the blinds, trailing up the length of the bed with each passing moment before finally gracing over the soft skin of the woman next to him. Joel laid in his bed as still as possible, one arm around her shoulders to keep her flush against his chest, savouring the intimate, domestic moment before it would eventually come to an end–it always did.

The alarm clock flashed the time tauntingly at him, as if mocking him for wanting to keep her there for much longer than he knew he could. This was undoubtedly the latest she had stayed in his bed; it was nearing six A.M. and she had yet to stir from her deep slumber. 

His eyes trailed the length of her bare back, his fingers pressing gently at the indent of her spine as he pushed her body impossibly closer to her and bathing himself in the feeling of her nude body against his own. Joel resisted the urge to shake the growing ache out of his leg as pins and needles crawled up the length of his limb, too afraid to move and wake her–he knew what would come once her eyes had opened, as she had done it countless times now. 

It was the twitch of her fingers against the soft flesh of his belly that alerted him to her growing consciousness, nails following the pattern of hair that covered his abdomen softly, drawing a quiet moan of delight from the man beneath her. He felt the curve of her lips against his shoulder, turning his head to meet her eyes as they fluttered open.

“Morning, cowboy,” Her throat was dry and her voice was scratchy, but her words still held the power of causing an eruption of butterflies in his gut. 

“Morning,” He leaned closer, the tips of his nose brushing her own before she swatted him away, covering her mouth self-consciously and mumbling something about morning breath. Joel chuckled at her, moving her hand away and planting a soft, closed-mouth kiss against her lips. 

Her smile grew, hazy vision flickering around the sun-lit bedroom as realisation dawned on her, “What time is it?”

Joel’s own smile faltered as he cleared his throat, glancing over at the alarm clock again, “Five-to-six.”

“Shit,” She groaned, a hand settling on her forehead, “I should probably leave. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” 

Joel shook his head at her, “You ain’t got nothing to apologise for. I like having you here.”

She pecked his lips again, fondness creeping through her at the man’s admission, “I like being here. But I should go before Sarah wakes up.”

Joel caught her arm as she moved to crawl out of the bed, “Stay.”

“What?”

“Sarah knows you’ve been coming around and leaving early in the morning.” He told her, thumb smoothing circles against her wrist, “She says she’s happy for me, but she said that she won’t approve until you start bringing that damn dog of yours over here when you come.”

Y/n chuckled, her eyes growing a thin red rim along her waterline, “What are you saying?”

“I’m asking you to stay. Every damn night you spend here, you go rushing out like this is just a quick fuck, but I think we both know that it’s a lot more than that. Just come back to bed, please.”

Y/n shook her head at him, glancing over at the rising sun through the blinds in contemplation before she finally shrugged, crawling back into the bed and settling against his naked form with a sigh, her hand resting on his chest as she massaged small circles into his sweaty flesh. Both of them relaxed into one another, enjoying the silence of the early morning and dreading the unavoidable fate of the alarm going off in the coming hour.

NOVEMBER 27, 1999

Y/n tapped her nails against the hardwood of the tabletop rhythmically, doing her best not to make her dissociation too clear as her friends and family chattered back and forth. Her mother was busy on her left hand side, sharing dozens of her favourite childhood photographs to Y/n’s friends with a fondness that only a mother could have, while the seat to her left was empty. The watch that she’d received as a gift from her parents sat on her wrist, the time ticking away as grief settled in her stomach, the realisation that he simply wasn’t coming eating away at her pride.

Her birthday was not something that she generally liked to celebrate, but knowing that her parents, siblings, and a few members of her extended family had orchestrated a trip to visit and celebrate with her had her counting down the days, especially after she had convinced her unofficial boyfriend to join them for dinner at one of the nicest wallet-friendly restaurants in Austin. Now, as she sat silently and watched as her friends laughed and cooed over possibly the most embarrassing photos of her while picking at their slices of birthday cake, her mind only wandered to where exactly he was, and how much more fun she would be having if she were warding him off of any of those photographs–especially all of the ones from her junior high years. 

She hadn’t had the chance to speak to him at all that day, having woken up after he had already left for work and dropped Sarah off at school. At the time, Y/n had smiled to herself, thanking him mentally for allowing her to sleep in on her birthday, though she was beginning to wonder if she should have taken the lack of birthday wishes as a sign. 

She actively avoided Stephanie’s gaze, wanting to escape the oncoming I told you so, and made as little eye contact as possible with her mother, who watched her sympathetically, and her father, who silently raged over the presence of the empty chair. Y/n now felt embarrassed over how much she’d actually gushed over the man to her family before dinner, wondering if maybe she was more invested in him than he was in her. After all, he had yet to officially ask her to be his girlfriend, despite the fact that she and Manny had taken up residence in his home at least four nights a week and that she had been included in more recent movie nights with him and Sarah. 

Maybe she was reading into it too much–something must have happened. Something happened to Sarah, or maybe Tommy had been locked up again. There was no way that Joel had forgotten her birthday, there was simply no way.

– – –

Joel’s feet ached, crying out in pain with every step and sighing in relief as he finally kicked off his heavy boots. The crew that he’d brought on for his most recent and highest paying job to date had given him hell that day, leaving him aching for nothing more than a hot shower and a peaceful night at home with his best girls. He hated having to tack on extra hours to his day, but not arriving home until after ten was something that he would have to deal with in order to finish the job, and he was hoping to save up to take Y/n and Sarah on a little getaway for a weekend in the near future. 

The kitchen was dim when he stepped in, and he was somewhat surprised when he discovered no plate of food left for him in the microwave, nor was there a pan of leftovers in the fridge. Instead, there was a single empty carton of a microwavable dinner on the counter along with an empty can of Pepsi. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, he shrugged it off, though he had grown accustomed to Y/n bringing dinner over and making sure that it was ready for him on days that he worked late. 

Soft footsteps rushed down the stairs, Sarah rounding the corner with a wide grin on her face as she held a small piece of paper in her hands. 

“Hey babygirl,” Joel kissed her head softly as he moved into the living room, even more confused when he did not find Y/n curled up on the couch with a stack of her textbooks, as she so often did while waiting for him to return. 

“Hi dad,” Sarah’s smile dropped, glancing back into the entryway in confusion, “Where’s Y/n? I made this card at school today but I figured I’d wait until after you guys came back to give it to her.”

The blood in Joel’s veins ran cold, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden realisation of why his house appeared to be so void of his girlfriend, “Fuck.”

“Dad?” Sarah’s wide eyes narrowed, all too used to her father’s undiagnosed case of short-term memory loss, though he had never ever forgotten something like this before.

“Shit,” He swore again, snatching his keys off of the counter and rushing to jam his feet back into his uncomfortable boots, “Sarah, go to bed. I’ll be back later tonight.”

The girl watched helplessly as her father raced out the door, tears welling in her eyes as she stared down at the happy picture she had pasted into the card and frowning as she feared the worst.

– – –

Joel arrived at the restaurant just before eleven. He knew it was a long shot, as the reservation was for seven-thirty, which he had purposefully written down and stuck to the fridge so that he would not forget. The few remaining staff inside shook their heads in pity at the man, quickly coming to understand his situation as he rushed inside, asking about the reservation with a bouquet of flowers in his grasp. 

His shoulders slumped as he parked in his driveway, trudging across the lawn into the neighbouring yard and knocking firmly on the door. He waited a few moments, cursing quietly as he got no response and knocking again. 

His frown deepened when the door swung open, a fuming Stephanie standing in his way. Her face burned scarlet, fists clenched at her side as she took in Joel’s pitiful appearance. She took a step forward, joining Joel on the front step and closing the door behind her. 

“The fuck do you want?” 

“Where’s Y/n?” He asked, ignoring her bluntness.

“She doesn’t wanna talk to you,” the girl sneered at him. “It’s one thing to stand someone up, even to forget their birthday, but to embarrass her like that in front of her family?” She scoffed, “you know, I warned her about you, but I took no pleasure in being right. You should have seen her tonight, barely spoke at all.”

The metaphorical knife in Joel’s gut twisted at her words, the fist clenching the bouquet tightening even further around the stems. He could picture her; all dolled up, chatting with her family as she eagerly awaited his arrival, her pretty smile dampening as time passed and eventual tears in her eyes as she realised the truth–he had forgotten about her. 

“Just let me talk to her,” he begged, “Please.”

Stephanie shook her head, “I think it’s best if you never show your face on my property again, Miller.”

“Joel?” Both of their eyes turned at the sound of Y/n’s voice, finding her peeking around the door curiously. “Steph, can you give us a minute?”

The woman sent Joel one final glare, patting her roommate on the shoulder before slipping back into the house. 

If the knowledge of what he’d done hadn’t been enough, Y/n’s appearance was the final blow to his gut. Her eyes were bloodshot, cheeks swollen and marked with visible remnants of tears. She wrung her fingers together anxiously, keeping her gaze lowered in shame as she closed the door behind her and turned to face him.

“Baby–” 

“Don’t.” Y/n interrupted, “Just explain.”

He sniffled, “I can’t explain it, or excuse it. We got held up at work, and I really need this job to be done and over with already. I’m so sorry, baby.”

She shook her head, lifting her sleeve to wipe at the underside of her nose, “You didn’t even say goodbye before you left this morning. Did you even remember at all?”

Joel bit his lip, “I’m sorry. Let me–”

“Joel,” Her voice cracked, “I love you.” His heart soared as she spoke those words for the first time, then shattered as she continued, “I understand that I’m not your first priority–that’ll always be Sarah and I can’t blame you for that. But, fuck, you suggested the restaurant, Joel. You spoke to my mom over the phone and promised her the best steak in town, and she sure seemed to like it, but you weren’t even there. I won’t ever be your first priority, but I can’t be your last, either.”

“Y/n–”

“I think my cousins liked it, you know.” She continued, wiping at her cheeks, “They’re the type to pray for your downfall, and I’m sure they were loving every second of the dinner once everyone realised that you weren’t coming. Hell, all I did all night was talk about how amazing you were, and then–” Y/n cut herself off with a quiet sob.  “You should probably leave.” 

“Don’t do this,” Joel cupped her face, dropping the flowers to the deck recklessly as he wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs, “Tell me what to do. Hit me, yell at me, do something, but don’t ask me to walk away.”

She looked into his eyes, and for a moment, Joel felt hopeful that she might actually listen to him, though all hope was quickly diminished as he removed herself from his grasp, reaffirming her statement as she stepped back into the house.

“You should probably leave.”

[seresinhangmanjake]

The One I Want: Part 9

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x plus size!reader

Summary: You’re new in town and some guy named Jake is about to be your roommate. Being skeptical of new people keeps you lonely and uninterested in any entanglements, but Jake is desperate to change that.

Notes/Warnings: traumatic past, mention of death, very likely typos

Words: 1342

The One I Want Masterlist

“Can you see?”

“Yes,” Jake says, leading you across the sand with only the moon illuminating his path to the shore. But even that can hardly be considered sufficient, to you at least, as night’s clouds move at a good pace, frequently dulling the glow. Your toes dig into the grains in an effort to find some sense of balance in the darkness, but you're no better than a newborn deer, remaining steady only by Jake’s firm hand. “Don’t step there.”

You’re pulled to the left just before your bare foot lands on a sharp shell and you stumble into his side. “Why did you want to tell me here?”

“I like it here.” Abruptly stopping, Jake drops onto the sand. “This is a good spot,” he says, then releases your hand to pat the sand in front of where he sits. 

“You want me to sit there?”

“Mhmm.”

“Between your legs?”

He glances down to the spot in question before staring back up at you. “That’s the idea,” he says. At the apprehension on your face, Jake snickers and lightly wraps his fingers around your wrist, his thumb smoothing over the delicate skin above your pulse. “Come on, you know I don’t bite.”

“You haven’t had much of an opportunity to bite.”

Jake laughs louder, his head briefly throwing back before he raises a brow. “You were on my lap a few hours ago, but this is where you draw the line?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Nope, just trying to get my bearings.”

His smile is impossible to deny. It’s bright and wide and you feel it tugging at your insides, making you want to spread your lips in a grin of your own and nestle yourself into the space he has made for you. Taking a couple of steps forward, you ease yourself down in front of him. When you are where he wants you, he scoots closer until his legs flank your hips and he wraps his arms around your waist, guiding your back against his chest. Any of the budding hesitancy at his closeness on this beach slips away. 

“See, it’s nice, isn’t it?”

You roll your eyes at the playful smugness in his voice and concede. “Fine.”

He doesn't speak again, not for a bit, and in that time the clouds learn to avoid the moon. It reflects clearly off the waves, helping your vision adjust to the darkness, and suddenly you can appreciate why he likes it. It is peace in its closest physical form. And it tells you plenty before Jake even opens his mouth for another word. Whatever he plans to tell you, he wants to balance it out with something within his control: his surroundings. 

“Are you sure you want to tell me?” you ask.

“You more than anyone,” he says. His breath sways the stray hairs by your ear. “It’s not a long story.”

“For whose convenience? Not for mine, right?”

“Not for anyones, it’s just doesn’t contain many added details.” You nod to let him know you understand, then with an exhale heavy enough to shoot a bolt of anxious energy through you, he begins. “I was eighteen, and getting ready to leave for the Academy soon. My sister Amy was already studying at a university about five hours from our town in Texas, but she was coming home for the summer and, as perfect parents do, they went to get her rather than have her find other means of transportation. My father took off work that day just to drive hours with my mother to bring home their daughter when most kids were spending their money on plane and train tickets to get home,” he says. “They were on their way back, and they, um…” With his pause, his head shakes behind you before his chin perches atop your shoulder. You try to twist to face him but his arms encompassing you don’t allow it. For a minute, he just breathes. He stares where you stare, at the waves crashing over the shore before they slink back to join the rest of the ocean. He hears what you hear: the movement of the water, your synchronized inhales and exhales, but hopefully not the pounding of your heart. When his head lifts he presses a kiss to the spot where your neck and shoulder meet. His next words you can feel before they leave his lips. “They didn’t come back.”

Tears prick at the corners of your eyes. “H-How?”

“Rain,” he mutters. “Poor luck.”

Your hand slides along his forearm until your fingers are resting over his. He spreads them enough for you to sneak yours in between. “Jake–”

“It was a long time ago. I’ve made my peace with it in a lot of ways,” he says. “Anyway, my grandmother stayed with me at the house while everything was arranged and settled, and a few months later, I left.”

“Did you still want to go?”

“I don’t know,” he sighs. “They would’ve wanted me to go, so I did. But I realized I was about to be by myself for the first time in my life and I couldn’t believe how much it terrified me when just a couple of months before I was so excited for that freedom. I knew people would be everywhere at the Academy, but I didn’t know any of them.”  

You think of him lost and alone, so unlike the man you know him to be, and instead, so much like yourself. In one place and then another. Familiar with the faces surrounding him and then not. Parents, and then no parents. It doesn’t matter that Jake is stronger than you in every way nameable, finding resilience in the face of such tragedy is damn near impossible, and it breaks your heart for him.

“But then we were assigned roommates,” he continues, “and mine just happened to be decent enough to help me survive the year.”

“Javy?”

Jake hums in agreement. “It’s not that I can’t be alone. I’ve lived alone before, but I like having someone around, sharing my space. It just hasn’t always worked out too well.” His arms tighten around your waist and he shifts as if it might help pull you in closer. The warmth of lips lay a line of kisses up your neck, stopping just below your ear. “But sometimes it does,” he whispers. 

There are more kisses. They make their way over sections of your skin. He presses them into the curve of your jaw, into your shoulder, and when he pushes your hair aside, a few are planted on the back of your neck. Your eyelids flutter and close as you let yourself meld with the tingling sensation. 

“I need to ask you something,” he says softly, and you hum. “You said this is your eleventh new place.” Your eyes shoot open. “Do you intend for there to be a twelfth?”

Swallowing, you reply, “I never intended for there to be an eleventh, or tenth, or nin–”

“You know what I’m asking, beautiful.”

You do, because it’s something you’ve asked yourself plenty of times. No, you don’t intend for there to be a twelfth, but your moves between towns are not planned. They are dependent on the actions of others which are not within your control. You want to stay with Jake, in this town, with people who didn’t think twice about accepting you, but you’re not delusional as to the possibilities awaiting you that might rip everything away. “Jake, I don’t want to leave.”

“Good.” Again, he rests his chin on your shoulder, and again, he lets moments pass in silence. Then he says, “I’ve been meaning to tell you, it’s my birthday next week. Nat’s setting up a party at Penny’s bar. I want you to come but if you’re uncomfortable being there I understand.”

“I’ll come,” you say, because you’re well aware it’s the least you could do for him. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Though you can’t see it, Jake’s smile radiates. “Thank you.”

---

tags: @wkndwlff @kmc1989 @sagittarius-flowerchild @dempy @oliviah-25 @rosiahills22 @xoxabs88xox @matisse556 @hardballoonlove @ssa-sadboi @lynnevanss @pono-pura-vida @tgmreader @amgluvsbooks @ravenhood2792 @djs8891 @shakespeareanwannabe @sailor-aviator @penguin876 @tgmavericklover @athenabarnes @emilyoflanternhill @wretchedmo @shanimallina87 @crowsreadsarahjmaas @mamachasesmayhem @sky2nd @jessicab1991 @rosedurin @averyhotchner @horseshoegirl @elite4cekalyma @buckysteveloki-me @shelbycillian @kissmethric3 @fox-bee926 @hangmandruigandmav @waltermis @fandom-life-12 @a-serene-place-to-be @bruher @tngrace @mamaskillerqueen @emma8895eb @benedictsvestcollection @blackwidownat2814 @himbos-on-ice @hookslove1592 @whoeverineedtobe @alwaysclassyeagle @chaytea06 @cherrycolas-things

[hugheses]

ellen weinberg

a lot of people online like to praise her because they love her kids, but before she was mama hughes, ellen weinberg was an even more accomplished athlete than her wikipedia page can tell you. well i have way too much time on my hands and an affinity for googling things, so here is a not-so-little primer on the matriarch of hockey who has contributed far more than just her superstar children.

(basically anything not sourced is from the cammi & aj podcast i have a transcript of)

born in st. louis, she was told she couldn't play hockey because girls couldn't play on boys teams in the state of missouri, and there were no girls teams. went to bob johnson's hockey camp in aspen at age 7. moved to dallas at age 8, where she was allowed to play on the boys team. at age 12, is featured in a news clip "girl hockey player" where she says she wants to one day play professional hockey.

at 15, wins nationals with her U-19 soccer team, the dallas sting, and they are sent to represent the US in the first ever FIFA-sanctioned world women’s tournament in china and proceeded to win gold against all expectations becoming the first US team to win any international soccer competition, male or female. also on this team was her best friend, future woso legend carla werden (overbeck). 1, 2

other noteworthy teammates: she played with mia hamm on her state team and was roommates with brandi chastain at her first youth national team camp for soccer.

she was recruited to lots of top schools for soccer, but chose the university of new hampshire because it was also offering hockey. she describes this as "the lack of landscape really drove my next move" because there was only 31 D1 women's soccer programs in the country at the time, and none in the state of texas.

she reached out to the women's hockey coach at unh, russ mccurdy, and told him she was being recruited for soccer but was really coming to unh because she wanted to play hockey, and he told her that it was unlikely she would make the team. so bob johnson called and asked him to give her a shot, and he said ok. he allowed her to have a one week tryout once soccer season was over, and after the first day, he asked, "what size skates do you wear?" and that was it, she was on the team.

the women's soccer coach, marge anderson, was also a lacrosse player, and encouraged ellen to join the lacrosse team that needed more players. so she did. in her own words:

"I wasn't very good. I could run, but my stick skills- and I learned and I did everything, and it was great, and we went to the Final Four, but I was out at that point. So everybody always says I played three sports like, I was on the team. I was, you know, three sports at that level. I was done at that point and I stuck with soccer and hockey after my first year. But it was a really cool experience."

she may have not been very good but she did go on to coach her own kids teams in lacrosse (and potentially owen power, who is confirmed to have played lacrosse with them but it is not confirmed that it was when she coached them)

(she was #21)

she was an elite skater and creative player, and "would often find herself in trouble in Durham for rushing the puck from her defensive post or trying things like a spin-o-rama".

she helped UNH win 3 hockey championships in 4 years, made the all-new england team (soccer) as a freshman, was named an unh athlete of the year finalist after an injury that kept her out for an entire school year, was named to the ECAC all star team, was an ISAA senior recognition award winner, was soccer co-captain in 1990, and then captain of both the soccer and hockey teams as a senior X

in april 1991, she participated in the Eastern Regional Tryouts of the US National Women's Hockey Team

"We've got it pretty good, playing defense," says senior Ellen Weinberg to fellow defenseman Weston. "There aren't as many of us to choose from. But then, when you look at who's there, they're all good!"

she then went on to pursue a graduate degree at UNH where she was an assistant coach for both soccer and hockey for two years, all the while contributing to historical hockey research to the point that she is named in the acknowledgements of Hockey: A Global History by Hardy & Holman

“It was my way of staying involved because I had nowhere to play. Then I participated in the 1992 World Championship, finished my master's degree. Then I really had nowhere to play." (google translated)

The New Hampshire Vol. 83 No. 18 (Nov. 6 1992)

then in 1992, she played for the women's national team in both soccer and hockey.

the soccer team didn't play in any big tournaments that year, but for hockey she went to women's worlds in tampere, finland, where she was an alternate captain. the US won silver, with ellen scoring 3 or 4 assists in 5 games (depending on which source you believe) and ellen was named to the all-star team by the media as the top player in her position.

also in 1992, she was a power skating coach at the summerland female hockey academy, teaching future star hayley wickenheiser.

there was hope that women's hockey would be a part of the 1994 olympics, but when that didn't happen, ellen went to norway anyways to grow the game.

“They were hoping women’s hockey was going to be sanctioned in the ‘94 Olympics and it wasn’t, so the Norwegian ice hockey federation had all this extra funding so they asked USA Hockey for an ambassador to go over and help grow the women’s game,” she said. “We had played in the ’92 World Championships and I was one of the older people and they offered me that opportunity to go over and work with the Norwegian ice hockey federation and what I did was I lived in Oslo. “And I went around to all the little towns and taught the girls how to play. It was awesome. Since Norway was such a small country with four million people at the time, they needed all the buses during the Olympics so everyone went on holiday, so my job stopped for three weeks.” X

ELLEN WEINBERG of Boston and the University of New Hampshire was interested in Coach TIM TAYLOR's tactics at practice. The 25-year-old Weinberg, one of America's best female players, is advising Norway's women's teams. Women's hockey becomes an Olympic sport in 1998. "They complain in Norway that I coach too long on the ice," she said. "They should see this guy, always instructing." X

she was invited to camp in lake placid for the 1994 women’s worlds (which took place every two years then), but suffered a serious knee injury that she believes is because they didn’t have proper support/training facilities

“We didn’t have a gym at the time. It was so different. We just played relying on our athletic instincts. If I got injured, it’s probably because I didn’t have the ideal support,” (google translated) X 

by 1996 she was playing for the itech blaiders roller hockey team in NJ (and her then-boyfriend, jim, was coaching the new jersey rockin’ rollers) while also working in broadcasting

she had been considered a lock for the nagano olympics, despite being “old” but that “blown-out knee effectively ended her competitive career” :( 

she ended up in nagano anyways as a reporter for cbs, one of her first big gigs in her media career, which i can do a part 2 on if there's interest.

and currently she’s on the USA hockey foundation board and is a player development consultant for the women’s national team

[the-heart-of-leo]

Nick's so far under the bus that they might as well change the oil while they're under there.

Okay, because I'm a bit of a masochist and I have adblockers...

I'm going to count how many times James throws Nick under the bus:

@2:40 – 'This fell upon Nick as well, as a non-binary person on the ace spectrum, they wanted to include asexuality and non-binary representation to our videos. But because Nick's experience is not universal – There is no universal experience – people felt that we were delegitimizing their own experiences because we focused on Nick's.' (The reason we were acephobic was because we (meaning Nick) didn't think other ace people had problems and when it was pointed out to us by The Ace Couple that ace people did, in fact, face discrimination and conversion therapy, we (meaning James) accused them of homophobia and sicced their followers on them.)

@6:38 – 'The work Nick and I were doing on the channel...' (Because Nick was here too! Not just me!)

@10:46 – 'I was much more interested in the production of the videos than the writing of them, at this point. So after three or four videos, I brought Nick on as a main writer for the channel. The idea is that they would write the vast majority of the scripts. I would film, voice, and edit the videos and we'd split the money that came in.'(Nick was the main writer for the channel! In case you forgot...)

@14:40 – 'And then my mom died... and I became completely useless. I couldn't think straight, at all, so Nick had to completely take over writing duties.'(DID I MENTION NICK WAS THE MAIN WRITER. ALSO MY MOM DIED; FEEL SORRY FOR ME)

@19:44 – 'When Nick got back, he believed the script needed a first page rework. This was also when he told me he was going to be moving back to Ontario permanently soon as he wanted to live closer to family and live in a bigger city with more opportunities. This was a punch to the gut for me. We'd been living together since 2015 and had become quite dependent on each other. I felt like there was no way I could make this movie without him.'(We couldn't make the movie we promised because SOMEONE DECIDED TO MOVE and since I'm co-dependent on him, I moved with him and screwed up everything. Oopsie.)

@26:32 – 'But by accepting as many sponsors as we did, which became very important when Nick and I started living apart and suddenly had two rents to pay, we ended up needing to produce even more videos. Which, along with the work on Telos and making sure everything was okay with my dad while living thousands of kilometers away meant I had even less time for writing – putting more stress on Nick and leading to even more copy and pasting from me.' (See what you did, Nick?! We have to pay TWO rents now and we need to make even MORE videos. I'm not creepily co-dependent on my asexual ex-roommate at all!)

@32:50 – 'I know what misinformation had made its way into our past videos. That was not something we intended; in some cases it was information I was told by people I considered experts. In other cases it was information that we had researched. In other cases it was things that Nick had learned in university.'(Nick told me some of this stuff! ((which is fair because NICK ADMITTED HE DOESN'T DO RESEARCH)) In other cases it was because I assumed I knew what happened because I'm the smartest person I know so of course Lesbians had it easier! I just forgot that Radcliffe Hall's books were banned and destroyed because of that head injury I talked about earlier.)

And here's an honorable mention where the smug “I'm smarter than you” BS comes to visit:

'To those who say I plagiarized the plot from the novel Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix – Read the book. It's nothing like the plot of the movie. And 'The Final Girl' is a trope in horror movies so if using the Final Girl trope is plagiarism then basically everyone who's made a slasher movie since Texas Chainsaw Massacre owes the Toby Hooper estate some money.'

So, much like how James doesn't understand why people aren't upset at him because of citation issues, he doesn't understand that it's not the fact that he's using the 'Final Girl' trope... it's the fact that he stated the book as a favorite of his and then... suddenly he's writing a movie about the aftermath of the Final Girl. And given the plagiarism, it can not be taken in good faith.

First off, if you just google 'First Final Girl', it just says Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the earliest examples. Another possibility for the 'First Final Girl' was actually Black Christmas which was released the same day in Canada so it is literally tied.

Secondly; the final girl trope is not required for slasher movies. One of the first 'proto-slasher' movies was actually Psycho so there were a few good decades between that and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (I could try and make a case that Lila Crane should count as a Final Girl; maybe even Mrs. Bates/Norman as a subversion... but I'm not that invested or interested.)

So... James was true to form, he just wanted to be a smug asshat and try and seem smart over something easily googled.

[redfurrycat]

🏆📖✈️TOP GUN Fic Recs Masterlist✈️📖🏆

⬇️⬇️Below the Cut⬇️⬇️

Pairings

—🤠🐓—

Recs List 1 (Last update - 17-06-24)

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Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (Last update - 03-11-24)

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Themed

—Special Formats—

5+1 {🤠🐓} (Last update - 20-11-24) > 5+1 {☃️🏍️} (Last update - 19-05-24)

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Fake/Pretend Relationship {🤠🐓} (Last update - 15-09-24) > Marriage Fic Recs {🤠🐓} (Last update - 29-09-24) > Childhood Friends-Sweethearts {🤠🐓} (Last update - 20-07-24) > Getting Back Together (Part One & Part Two) {🤠🐓}

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I'm a babygirl in a daddy's world {🤠🐓} > Daddy Klnk (Last update - 16-11-24) > Sugar Daddy (Last update - 07-05-24)

PWP {🤠🐓} > TO COME > Bosom!Hangman {🤠🐓} (Last update - 25-01-24) > The Chicken Peach & the Zenithal Cowboy {🤠🐓} (Last update - 16-11-24) > The Perched Rooster & the Brooded Texan {🤠🐓} > TO COME > Everywhere. Every-Fucking-Where. {🤠🐓} > TO COME

> Beautiful, Handsome, Pretty {🤠🐓} (Last update - 17-06-24)

—Top Gayn Canon-ish—

Post-Mission (Update Notice - 07-09-23 - I'm halfway done with the collecting of PM fics.. Wait for it, 'cause it's probably going to be several posts xD) > Post-Mission Aftermath > TO COME > Post-Mission Daggers Shenanigans > TO COME > Retelling, Backstory & cie {🤠🐓} (Last update - 01-11-24)

Navy - Not A Pilot!Bradley Bradshaw (Last update - 05-10-24) > Navy - Not A Pilot!Jake Seresin (Last update - 13-02-24) > Not Navy - Still A Flyboy At Heart {🤠🐓} (Last update - 21-04-24) > Top Gun Instructors > TO COME

The Daggers Discover Rooster's Navy Parentage, a.k.a Baby Goose and his Mavdad & Icepops > TO COME

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Daily Heroes {🤠🐓} (Last update - 01-11-24) > Spies & Secret Agents {🤠🐓} > Organised Crime {🤠🐓} (Last update - 03-11-24) > Vigilantes, Superheroes & Supervillains {🤠🐓} (Last update - 14-07-24)

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Musicians, Singers & Dancers {🤠🐓} (Last update - 26-09-24) > Music & Dancing within the Top Gun Verse {🤠🐓} (Last update - 11-08-24) > Actors & Celebrities {🤠🐓} (Last update - 30-06-24)

Royalty {🤠🐓} (Last update - 03-11-24) > Navy Prince, aka THE Nepo Baby > TO COME

Sports AU {🤠🐓} (Last update - 06-09-24)

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Hanahaki Disease {🤠🐓} (Last update - 17-04-24)

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Amnesia & Memory Loss {🤠🐓} (Last update - 23-11-24)

A Rooster in Texas & Texan Jake "Hangman" Seresin (Vol.I) {🤠🐓} (Last update - 01-11-24) > Texan Jake "Hangman" Seresin (Vol. II) {🤠🐓} (Last update - 17-06-24)

Animal Companions {🤠🐓/☃️🏍️} (Last update - 28-09-24)

And They Were Roommates & Only One Bed {🤠🐓} (Last update - 19-10-24) > And They Were Neighbours {🤠🐓} > TO COME

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Requested

Iceman is Hangman's father (Last update - 01-11-24)

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Reccing the Reccers' Recced Fics Lists > TO COME

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PssPss...

Drop an ask if you want me to find you a lost Hangster fic! 💕

If you want a specific Hangster recs list, I'm up to the challenge as well, although I ask for patience (it takes time to search & compile). 🤗

[reidswrite]

One of each

Spencer Reid returns home after another exhausting trip working for the FBI, where he has spent most of his life. Now, on the verge of fifty-three years old, he finds himself thinking about Ethan and the life they could have had if he hadn't turned that love down to become an FBI agent almost 30 years ago.

Warnings: Alcohol/Drugs use, mention of suicide (not from main characters).

Word count: 2.4k

Turning the door handle slowly, the cold air in the apartment was the first sensation Spencer felt. It was empty, dark and quiet, almost as if he lived somewhere in the back of a library, on the shelves that aren't visited by students or readers who seek comfort between pages. He liked it. He liked the silence, the tranquility, the feeling of having a world of his own. Having joined the FBI just over 30 years ago, some cases were still hard to deal with, like the one from the last three days that sent the team to a small town in rural Texas. Arriving back at the apartment after dealing with so much chaos and adrenaline was like turning off the noise in his mind for a moment.

Dropping his cross-body bag on the floor next to the sofa, he headed towards the cabinet that held an expensive old whiskey and a couple of crystal glasses. Reid had promised himself that he would never give in to the habit of drinking away his own thoughts, but after all this time, so much loss and so much trauma, he no longer cared about old promises. He could feel the first sip burning down his throat as he leaned back in the armchair taking a deep breath. The street outside was illuminated by lamp posts and a few people were walking around. He liked to observe all those strangers and spot the small things about them, definitely a very profiler way of spending free time outside of work. After a few seconds a well-groomed young man walked by fidgeting his hands and breathing quickly. If Spencer could take a guess he would say that he was probably nervous for a first date.

Reid smiled to himself as he remembered the times when he used to feel like that. Anxious to see him. Breaking out in a cold sweat when he looked at him. His heart leaping out of his chest every time their lips met. God, he missed it more than anything else.

They were both 19 when they first met in graduate school after university. Two prodigies, the youngest in their class. Spencer had to deal with the awkwardness of not being the only genius in the room, something that had never happened before in his life. If that wasn't enough, they were roommates. Apparently the director of the dormitories decided that the best idea would be to pair the two youngest up together because they would “get along more easily and become friends”. He hated that director for three whole months. He hated the overbearing way Ethan spoke. He hated how he assumed he knew everything. Hated his voice, hearing him breathe, watching him sleep. Hated how he left his shoes untidy and his side of the closet a mess. Hated sharing his space, both physically and academically. Hated him so much that he was not even able to detach his lips from the brunette's when Ethan came into the room slightly stoned after a Halloween party and confessed that he couldn't stop thinking about Spencer. And, after that night, he hated every second of his life in which he wasn't with him.

Their relationship began hesitantly, with neither of them truly understanding how to deal with what they were feeling. Neither of them had even realized that they liked men until they started to love hating each other. Neither of them had had that experience. Two nerds who graduated from high school too early to be invited to parties with cheap alcohol poured into red cups where teenagers learned how to kiss in guest toilets. Together they discovered how to love, in every sense of the word. They spent every Friday night on the balcony of their apartment, Ethan with a weed cigarette between his fingers while Spencer read and talked enthusiastically about thousands of different facts that his superhuman brain had stored for years because no one had had the patience to listen to him talk. No one until then. The brunette smiled as he released the smoke through his nose. Every word that left Spencer's mouth mesmerized Ethan, almost in a hypotonic way. He couldn't imagine anything he liked better in the world than listening to his boyfriend talk.

Yes, boyfriend. It became official after almost two months when a girl hit on him in front of Spencer in a coffee shop. He tried to hide his jealousy but couldn't hold his tongue as he responded with false sympathy that the other man wasn't available. Ethan found it so adorable that he couldn't help but laugh, interlacing their hands as they walked back to the dormitory. The next day, when Spencer came home from his last class, a single rose and two pairs of colorful socks were laying on his desk. The first pair was striped in vibrant green and orange while the other was completely red with some animated animals drawn on it.

- One of each. - He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Ethan behind him.

- What? - Reid asked, still confused.

- One foot from each pair. - the brunette said as if it were obvious and sat down on the chair, putting the striped sock on his right foot and the red sock on his left.

Spencer made a funny expression, still not quite understanding what he meant.

- All my life I felt like an intruder, like someone who didn't deserve to receive the love I saw others getting. I felt weird, I was excluded, I was bullied. I believed for years that no one would be able to love me because of my personality and who I truly am, but you have shown me otherwise. With you I don't feel like an intruder, I feel at home, like we were meant to be. - made a brief pause reaching for the remaining socks. - This one is weird like me. - he pointed to the striped one. - And this one is weird like you. - he pointed to the other foot. - Together they're even weirder and perhaps others will never understand, but we don't need others' comprehension to make this meaningful. I love you, Spencer. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Today, thirty years later, he still remembers it each morning when he puts on his mismatched socks. He couldn't help but think about how that crazy peculiar proposal gave him the confidence to be who he wanted to be, even if others didn't understand. Ethan taught him that he didn't have to diminish himself, hide or try to fit in to be part of something. In the right place he would be appreciated exactly for who he truly is, he didn't have to hide his interests or the way he thought. In fact, his genius brain saved more lives than any of the frat idiots who made his life hell in college could ever imagine. Dr. Spencer Reid. Agent in the FBI's behavioral analysis unit.

But if he began to think about all the implications his career has had on his life, he'd need three more glasses of that whiskey.

Not that he didn't like it, on the contrary. He was proud of each and every case he solved, his studies, the methods he developed, his awards and even of the time he spent wrongfully incarcerated. He was proud of the work he had done during all these years and the people he had helped, but not of the implications it has had on his life. Witnessing the death of friends, the sufferings of people he loved, experiencing more traumas than he could possibly count, not attending his own mother's funeral because sinking into his work seemed like an easier way to escape. Losing Ethan and the life they could have had together.

And although he loved the stillness of that apartment, Spencer couldn't help closing his eyes and imagining coming home to the aroma of the delicious Italian food that only Ethan knew how to make.

He would leave his shoulder bag by the sofa and hug his husband from behind, placing a kiss on the back of his neck while whispering how much he had missed him. They would be interrupted by the two kids (not so kids anymore) coming into the kitchen chattering loudly. Anna would be a senior in High School while Luke was just starting middle school. The daughter came first, adopted by the couple at two years old and named after her grandmother Diana who was the most affectionate granny on earth. Luke came later, adopted when he was just a few months old and named after Ethan's father, Lucas, who would fly from Italy to the United States whenever he had the chance to visit. Anna would tell her fathers about the stress she was under when it came to choosing colleges, while their youngest would talk excitedly about the goals he had scored at soccer practice that afternoon. Spencer would laugh at the jumble of voices trying to pay attention to everyone at once, only to be interrupted by the barking of the dog who also wanted to be part of the family moment. Kiky was an almost seven-year-old golden retriever, originally called Rocky but Luke couldn't pronounce the full name when they adopted it.

He would work at the local library and they would spend the weekends with the family in a park, Ethan playing with the children while Spencer read something enjoying the wind swaying his already long hair. No long work trips, no trophies, no students or lives saved, just a comfortable, happy domestic dream. Reid found himself lost in this imaginary scenario far more often than he would ever admit to anyone. It was his escape from all the scars that his choice had given him. That choice he really wished he could go back in time and make everything different.

- I don't want to. - Ethan said, running his hands through his hair. - I can't do this, I can't join the FBI, I don't want to live in fear of dying. I can't be like my mother.

- Babe please, think about it, it's the chance of our lives. - Spencer insisted, wanting to cry.

- I love you, Spencer. I love you like I've never loved anyone else and that's exactly why I can't do this. I want to have a home, build a family, be happy like we are now. You know I grew up watching what being a cop made to my mom and I promised myself every day that I would never do that with my life. - He said with tearful eyes before mouthing the phrase that would change their lives forever. - I'm not going to hold you here, if that's your dream then you need to go, but you're going by yourself and our story ends right now.

And he left. Spencer packed everything needed and looked at his now ex-boyfriend one last time before never looking back. He knew that neither of them was wrong, they had different ideas on how life should be and they weren't going to deprive each other of that. Ethan witnessed his mother drowning in an alcohol addiction as he was growing up, every loss at work, every new scar, every day with that badge pushed her a little further down the glass. Of course he admired her. He admired the work she did and knew that someone had to do it, but the price to pay was too high. She lost her marriage and later lost custody of her children. She gradually fell out of touch and finally, on a Thursday morning in December, she lost the chance of seeing them grow up forever. On the letter next to her body, she asked for forgiveness for not being the mother she should have been and confessed to a life full of self-blame. A heroine who nobody realized also needed to be saved.

When the FBI offer came, Ethan didn't think twice before turning it down, but something in Spencer was ignited. He saw an opportunity to save people. A good psychologist would probably say that Reid's obsession with saving everyone derived from the fact that he subconsciously knew he would never be able to save the one he truly wanted, his own mother. And there, for the first time, the couple entered an impasse that was greater than the love they felt for each other. Two inner children who were hurt and traumatized in different ways and who sought healing through opposite paths. There was no resentment between them, only the question of what it would have been like if things were different. Spencer often wondered if Ethan also imagined the life they would have had together. He wondered if Halloween was also his favorite holiday because it reminded him of that first kiss. He wondered if he still wore mismatched socks, if he left his sneakers untidy and his wardrobe disorganized. He wondered if he still had dimples next to his eyes when he smiled and if he still breathed heavily when he slept. He wondered if he thought of them whenever he saw the moon and remembered all those Fridays on the room's balcony. He wondered what life could have been like if he had chosen love over his career.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a car braked sharply in the street he was observing, almost hitting a pedestrian and causing a bit of a commotion that soon subsided. Spencer took a final sip of the bitter liquid in his glass, grimacing and trying to remember when he had started to like it, probably an inheritance from David Rossi. He took the cup back to the kitchen and when he found the dark room again, he decided that maybe this was the moment to do something about all of it. Blaming the alcohol in his veins, Reid picked up the phone and dialed the forbidden number in his contact list, finding it ironic that his heart was racing faster in that moment than it had been during the last three days when he was hunting a serial killer.

The call rang three times before a very familiar voice answered, more mature and huskier than he remembered, but still close enough to send shivers down his spine.

- Hi Ethan, it's Spencer. - He breathed for a moment trying to gain confidence, after all he hadn't actually planned to do that. - I know it's been a while but can we talk?

[huntingingoodwill]

texas reznikoff (j.m.)

masterlist

pairing: college roommate! pre&postoutbreak! joel x reader

desc: joel promises to build a home, for you and with you, during the days of naivety and innocence before the outbreak. after reuniting years later, you discover that joel always keeps his promises. (tooth rotting fluff a bit of angst and a happy ending <3)

“I could lie here forever,” you hummed.

You reached out toward the water, fingertips growing numb as your hand delved beneath the surface of the pond. Curious guppies swirled past your fingers, their slippery bodies a shifting iridescent.

“Do it. I’ll be right here with you,” Joel’s calloused fingers ran through your hair, skimming the silky locks that tumbled upon his thigh. Your head was a comforting weight in his lap, the soft skin of your cheek pressed against the rough denim of his jeans. 

“You make it sound so simple,” you sighed, tilting your head to meet his gaze. The deep brown of his irises were honeyed in the golden sunlight that haloed the park. “But, there’s school. And work, for you.” 

“Screw school and work,” he drawled, deep and deadpan.

You dissolved into giggles, managing to break through his serious countenance for a moment as you felt his laugh, a rumble deep in his chest. 

“Screw school and work,” you echoed his words. It was your dreary university lectures and his shift at the construction site that had kept you away from each other all day. 

You had been waiting in anticipation for your classes to end so you could meet him. When you were together, the world seemed to pull into soft focus, muted and sweet. The two of you had agreed to meet here as you both left your shared apartment that morning. He had taken your books from your grasp, tucking them under his arm as he carried them for you, allowing you to trail behind him, still rubbing the sleep from your eyes. 

Throughout the gruelling lessons, your mind was preoccupied with the place you had agreed on, the plush green expanse of grass beside the pond, a quiet place in the park where you could watch the fish swirl through the water, hypnotised by the ripple of the clear surface. A place where the world around you seemed to vanish, leaving the two of you behind, cool in the shadow of a tree. 

“When I graduate, I want a home with a pond,” you sighed, dream-like. “I’d lie out there and watch the fish swim all day.” 

“And where would this home be?” Joel asked, indulging in your fantasy. You closed your eyes, a little future blossoming behind your eyelids. 

“...Somewhere by the ocean. Close to the water,” you could almost hear the rush of waves, your heartbeat picking up as you pictured the clear blue sea washing over you.

Your eyes fluttered open, meeting his dark gaze, the gleam in his eyes set alight by the sunlight. You looked at Joel, drinking in his silent, serious beauty. Your finger traced the sharp line of his jaw. 

“Scratch that,” you whispered, “Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s with you.” Home is where you are.

You thought of the apartment you shared with him, a tiny thing with creaky second-hand furniture and a too-soft, sunken mattress. You loved living with your previous roommate, Maria, but she really did you a favour in introducing her boyfriend’s brother to you. In doing that, she found you a home. 

His heart pounded, a rush of heat thrumming through his veins. 

“A home with a pond,” he muttered, deep voice lilting in an accented rasp, considering the idea. “I’ll build it for you.”

“Really?” An uncontrollable smile spread across your face.

“Didn’t get into construction out of high school for nothing,” he chuckled, fingers grazing the smooth skin of your brow as he brushed away the hair that had fallen across your face. “Might as well put my skills to good use.”

You sat up, lacing your fingers behind his neck. Your hands brushed against the soft curls at the nape of his neck, relishing in the warmth that emanated off of him. You leaned in, lips brushing against his as his hands sailed down the length of your back,  warm palm steady  as he kissed you, lips plush against yours. You felt a dip in the pit of your stomach, that feeling of free-falling, the feeling of love. You held each other beneath the scattered shadows of the leaves. 

“Play me something,” you implored.

Reluctantly, his hand slipped away from its space on the small of your back, reaching for his guitar,  the wood gleaming in the grass. 

The sticky-warm air gave way to a gentle breeze, cool against your skin. Joel, solemn brow pinched in concentration, strummed gently across the strings. You leaned against his shoulder, the stubble of his neck grazing your skin. 

“It’s beautiful out today,” you mumbled. His hand left the neck of the guitar to search for your hand, fingers lacing through yours as his thumb skimmed the ridge of your knuckles. “I’m happy I’m spending it with you.” 

“Joel?” Your voice echoed through the empty apartment as you walked through your doorway the next day, keys clattering in your hand. 

His work boots were absent from their space beside the door. You remembered, then, that he had told you he wouldn’t be home until later that evening.    

Screw school and work. 

You strode into the living room, preparing to flop down on the couch when you froze, the glint of light off a sheen of glass catching your eye. 

You kneeled to the floor, finger skimming the cool glass of the brand new fish bowl that wasn’t there before, perched atop your coffee table. Guppies swirled within their little glass world, their wide eyes tracking the movement of your finger.

You reached up to pull off the yellow post-it attached to the surface of the glass, Joel’s handwriting, a messy scrawl, sending your heart soaring. 

“A home with a pond. This will have to do for now. Love, J.”

You held the note to your chest, a warmth blossoming within you. 

It seemed like the end of the world, at the time. 

The initial excitement had dissolved almost instantly. You had gotten what you wanted. An offer for your dream job, straight after graduation. One in a city, near the sea. Far away. 

You clung to Joel, hating the idea of having to leave him. He wouldn’t have any of it. He even drove you to the airport, your parting kiss sweet under the dark fluorescent glare of the terminal. He smiled the entire time, only letting the mask fall when he was back in his truck, alone, the air still smelling of your perfume. 

After, when the outbreak hit, he was the first person you tried to reach. You had tried, over and over again, the dull beep of the dial tone stuttering in time with your panicked heart. By then, the beautiful seaside city that had never quite felt like home had turned into just one of the many infected wounds on the face of the country. 

The only remnant you had of him was his note. Years and years of hunger, fatigue, struggle, violence, smuggling, flew past. During those long, sleepless nights that couldn’t go by fast enough, you’d take it out, the paper torn and wrinkled, his words faded and smudged. Every breath you took was laced with the memory of him. 

You grew restless after years of fighting to survive within your city’s QZ. That itch to leave grew unbearable, the borders of the zone seeming to close in on you. 

Then, you wandered. State lines seemed to blur into each other as you drove, finding refuge in the shade of dense forests. A part of you knew why you kept on the move. You knew who you were looking for, who you held out hope to find. 

Maria’s bullet had barely zipped past your temple when she found you out on patrol one day.

You swivelled around, hands held up in surrender, barely able to hold your stance as a flash of recognition burned through your eyes. 

She dropped the gun, practically lunging at you as she ran up to you, crushing your ribs in a tight hug. 

You froze, heart in your mouth. You couldn’t believe she was here. Your arms shook as they wrapped around her, shoulders shuddering as you drew in a deep breath, trying to ground yourself. 

“Joel’s gonna be so happy to see you,” she mumbled into the crook of your neck.

Your muscles seized once more, legs almost giving way beneath you as the rush of blood roared in your ears. Joel was alive. Your heart pounded in your chest, fingers digging into the worn fabric of Maria’s jacket. 

Joel’s chest heaved with exertion as he ran toward the gate, pushing past a crush of people, eyes scanning the road frantically. 

The news had travelled quick, Maria bumping into Ellie near the gate and sending her to find him. 

“Joel,” she had huffed, cheeks red from the dash over, “Maria says she found someone. Someone you know.” 

He hadn’t even replied, feet slamming against the ground as he ran, in time with the name that played on repeat in his head, a silent chant, like a prayer.

The crowd parted, and a figure came into view, a bright sun breaking through clouds that had loomed overhead for far too long. 

He had only seen you in dreams for years, your presence a blurry, warm memory. He had always woken up cold. Now, that same heat he had known when you were with him came rushing back, shooting through his chest. 

You turned, the walls you had spent years building crumbling as you locked eyes with Joel. He was paralysed, rooted to the floor. Afraid that if he’d reached out, you’d disintegrate, slipping through his fingers like the mirage of you he had come to know. 

You walked toward Joel, somehow mustering the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Your trembling hand reached out to graze the side of his face, the rough salt and pepper that flecked his jaw. You had feared that you would have forgotten what he looked like after so many years apart. It was the one thing you didn’t want to forget. You had always worried that one day you’d wake up, and he’d be a distant memory, his face a fog of features. But you had remembered. It was still Joel, beautiful Joel, his strong brow creasing helplessly as his dark eyes peered at you with glassy disbelief. 

He melted into your touch. You were real. You were here. 

He held you tight against him, close to his chest, sure he’d never let you slip away again. The both of you felt your hearts thrumming in tandem against each other. He buried his nose in your hair, the world seeming to fall away around you, like it used to. 

“I have something to show you.” He took your hand, leading you through Jackson. The weight of his hand in yours sent relief flooding through your veins. You never wanted him to let go. 

The surface of the water gleamed like a mirror. 

You gasped, hand darting up to your mouth as you saw it, a tiny pond, out of place in the unkempt expanse of his backyard. You stumbled toward it, kneeling beside it. A small pocket of water, clear and rippling with life. Tiny fish sliced through the water. 

“They’re from the river,” he muttered, moving to sit next to you in the grass. 

You turned to him, a cool breeze tousling his hair. You tracked the grooves of age that had dug into his skin, the greying hair, the eyes that had found a new depth, that had seen unspeakable things. Those eyes met yours in the look of love. So much time had passed, but you still loved each other like nothing had changed. 

“I had hope.” He muttered, and it was as simple as that.

You kissed him, fingers tangling in his hair as you held him close. He was almost unsure, hesitant after years of living in a world where affection was scant. Then, it was just like all those years ago, hidden in the tall grass, the wind swaying the trees. He pressed his lips to yours, beard grazing the soft skin of your cheek as he held you tight against him. 

You were finally home.

[myteavsricochet]

Latest fanfics read, part 6

(Part. 1) (Part. 2) (Part. 3) (Part. 4) (Part 5)

I Keep My Mouth Shut Tight (Cause I Don't Want To Lose What's Not Even Mine)

"Being affectionate, he has always used certain pet names with me. He’s called me sweetheart since we met, and I have used several in turn. That night he used a new one... I realised that he had woken me, saying it was time to take another dose of medicine. It was the way he said it, though: “Baby, I need you to wake up for me...” I am only slightly ashamed to admit that I whined pathetically at him calling me that, but he seemed to take it as protest that I didn’t want to wake, and not for what it really was—me absolutely losing my mind over that word coming out of his mouth and being directed at me. The cherry on top of it all was when he kissed me on the forehead and my brain promptly stopped working completely."

OR: At hit wits end, Henry decides to turn to reddit to ask the internet if his roommate likes him back, or if he's going insane. Then Nora intervenes.

Additional tags: Social Media, Ask reddit, Cute, Short & Sweet, Silly, Sharing a bad, Didn't know they were dating, Cuddling & Snuggling

It's Not a Secret

Henry is a boring person.

This is an objective fact. It’s been such a constant in his life that it hardly bothers him. He prefers the mundane. Thrives under routine. Tolerates many things poorly: surprise parties, capsaicin, loud noises.

Another objective fact: Henry loves Alex. Alex is not boring at all.

Unfortunately, everyone else in Henry’s life seems to think that a bore like him is incapable of a relationship like theirs— and, more distressingly, that this must mean that Alex simply doesn’t exist.

Or: Five times that no one believed that Henry and Alex were an item, and one time that they all did.

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Director of Finance Henry Fox, tattoo artist alex claremont-diaz, Opposites Attract, Not actually a secret relationship, Misunderstandings, Developing Relationship, Sexual Content

in sickness and in health

Henry has a rather nasty cold, but June had her appendix removed, which means she wins. Because of her victory in the unwell olympics, Henry will stay in Texas while Alex flies to New York to visit his sister and the rest of their chosen family, something Henry desperately tries not to resent.

Additional tags: Slice of life, Sickfic, Married life

The Room Where It Happens

caged, Alex who he had never thought would be his, making himself at home, in a place Henry hasn’t thought of as home since his father died. It was simply a place he lived. His home was now sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling off his socks.

----

Or, a trio of firsts.

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, First Time Bottoming, Angst, But not like Alex/Henry angst, Lonely Henry angst, Praise Kink

the way it is suddenly there, total and complete

As Alex falls in love with David, Henry falls even more impossibly in love with him, and their little family.

Or: Over the first year of their new life together, Alex fully commits to being a dog dad. Henry is his captive audience.

When I Get Going

“On a scale of one to ten,” Henry says softly, stepping closer to him and lowering his voice in a way that has Alex’s pulse jumping in his throat, his entire body aching to respond, “how far gone are you right now? One being ‘I could easily hold a conversation with the Queen’ and ten being ‘I’m genuinely surprised nobody’s noticed yet’.” Alex grits his teeth, but even the reminder of Henry’s nefarious grandmother can’t quell the arousal burning hotly in his stomach.

“Six,” he hisses, embarrassed and turned on, every molecule of him straining to reach out and pull Henry into something that will start off as a kiss, and end as anything but.

“Let me know when you get to eight,” Henry says firmly, then he just-

Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, PWP, Underwear, Coming In Pants, Orgasm Delay/Denial, delayed gratification, Control, Light Dom/sub, Dom/sub Undertones, Begging, Praise Kink, Henry is a fucking tease

crushed velvet

"In this brief moment of reprieve, Henry pants for breath, digging his fingers into the red material of the sofa to remind himself that this is, in fact, somehow real."

Or, movieverse couch blowjob missing scene.

Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Ficlet, Missing Scene, Blow Jobs, Skull Fucking, Simultaneous Orgasm, Coming In Pants

Comfort in the Backlight

For the prompt: "rainy day in the brownstone, fluff?"

Maybe sneakers weren’t the best choice of shoe for the day, Alex realizes as he shuts the front door behind him and grimaces at the quick puddle forming beneath him.

you are my medicine (when you're close to me)

After one last peck, Henry finally pulls away, leaving a sore spot of hollowness where his touch had filled it before. Alex forces his face to stay even– he doesn’t want his boyfriend to feel guilty for doing what he needs to do, doesn’t want to feed into the assumption that Alex is helpless without him.

Doesn’t want to be another obligation in Henry’s life that will one day grow to be too much to shoulder.

When the door falls shut, leaving Alex alone with a house that is much too empty and silent without his family there, there’s a lump in his throat that he can’t quite swallow. He thinks of Nora, making jokes that Henry is a saint for putting up with him during exam season; he thinks of June who uprooted her entire life to take care of him during college– and finally, he thinks of Henry, gentle and perfect Henry, that has had to worry about others way too much in his life– and a stinging sense of dread settles over him.

-

Or, Alex's no good horrible very bad two weeks without Henry.

Additional Tags: Alex Claremont-Diaz Has ADHD, Alex Claremont-Diaz Has Abandonment Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Panic Attacks, Alex Claremont-Diaz Needs a Hug, Long-Distance Relationship, Mental Health Issues, Established Relationship

Smile, You're on Camera

"Baby," Alex manages, and Henry groans in response, grazing his earlobe with his teeth. Alex bites his lip his stifle his own whimper. "H, hang on."

Henry pulls away from his assault on his neck, face flushed, chest heaving. "What's — what's wrong?"

"Nothing, sweetheart, nothing," Alex soothes, placing both hands on Henry's shoulders. "I just — do you wanna do it? Now?"

Henry blinks owlishly. Alex watches as the realization slowly dawns on him, and he turns his head to look at the camera. He stares for a moment, then looks back at Alex and says, "Can you bring it closer?"

Or, Alex and Henry film a sex tape.

Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Sex Tapes, Explicit Sexual Content, Blow Jobs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Crying During Sex, in a sexy way not a sad way, Switching, Sub Top Alex

no bunny compares to you

Henry is a lot of things as a person and while much of his personality transfers over to his bunny form, his physical attributes do not. Most notably, his size.

Where Alex’s boyfriend stands tall and regal, his furry counterpart is small and fluffy, unable to summit even the most minor of obstacles.

Take their sofa, for one. Alex is watching TV and minding his own business, when he hears a steady thump from just below him. Peering over the edge of the dark cushion, he spots his boyfriend angrily pounding his back foot against the carpet.

“Ha! Is my little bun too tiny to get up here on his own?” Alex teases. He’s promptly rewarded with a whisker twitch followed by a nose scrunch. Henry is pouting and it’s the most adorable thing he’s ever witnessed.

--

or, five times Henry shapeshifts for himself and one time he does it for Alex

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Magical Realism, 5+1 Things, Bunny Henry, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Shapeshifting, Idiots in Love, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Needs a Hug, Protective Alex Claremont-Diaz, Soft Boys, Henry Has Bad Days

[pinksiames]

Teacher AU Headcanons!

Headcanons for my fic linked here

Gale despite being so young doesn’t really get on social media, and when he does use it it’s silly tiktoks that no one else but him find funny

He’s legally blind and extremely near-sided, he cannot function without his glasses, running into walls and stumbling over things when he doesn’t have them on

He used to have coke bottle lenses but started getting thinner lenses cause of how much he was getting bullied growing up

He’s a cat person! He loves dogs but he likes cats more since in his experience they’re more friendly (he almost got attacked by a chow chow as a kid)

He’s been thinking about adopting a cat so he isn’t as lonely at home

He’s a huge space and sci-fi nerd (obviously) and had dreams of becoming an astronaut as a kid, but realized how lonely he would get being so far from earth

His first tattoo he got was a back piece of the solar system, and every year for his birthday he splurges and gets another one! Mostly matching his theme of space and the beyond

He used to have his lobes pierced when he was a teenager but got caught by his dad, who then almost ripped his earlobe off trying to get them out of gales ears

He and Benny became friends in college! They were roommates freshmen and sophomore year and continued to talk and hang out after getting paired with different people

People have told him he smells like roasted pecans

Marge was and still is his best friend, while she still lives in Wyoming they talk constantly

They had a small fling back in high school until they both realized they were gay! But they continued “dating” to save face for both of their families

He easily became one of the more favorited teachers in the school, his classroom being open to anyone who needed it, he ends up with kids who aren’t even his students in his class

His students make fun of him for having to lift his glasses and squint at his phone when he’s trying to read something

The kids have suspicions about Gale and John being together (they’re secretly together but they don’t need to know that) it’s hard not too when John is in gales room almost 24/7, chatting him up while kids file in, bringing him lunches, calling him Buck instead of Mr Cleven when Gale sticks to strictly Coach Egan

Someone ends up making a TikTok video with him in it and it goes viral, so they get some of his students to make his own TikTok account that ends up being ran by Bucky so he can monitor who comments what (he gets jealous when people find his favorite coworker hot)

Bucky went to a local community college near his Ma’s place and then went to the university of Michigan where he played on their baseball team! He was on his way to playing in the MLB until he had a bad accident and destroyed his shoulder :(

He has a titanium plate in his shoulder! He likes to joke about how he’s practically part cyborg because of it

He ended up changing majors since he wanted to still do something in sports, going into sports management and physical education

He started coaching at a decently young age at 23 (he’s 26 now) and has basically taught in Texas since he graduated

He ending up moving down to Texas because of the teacher/coach shortage they were having, but he still visits his mom and sister during school breaks

He has his high school and college medals and trophies up on display in his office with his degrees

He loves all of his kids, making sure each and everyone of them were included, super fundraising to make sure all of them could go on trips or get the best gear and uniforms

He goes to the gym religiously but refuses to be one of those “gym bros” (he definitely is) and posts on his instagram of him flexing in the mirror or just working out in general (he won’t admit it but he hopes Gale sees the post) (sadly he never will cause Gale doesn’t use instagram)

Hope yall enjoyed my rambling!

[ladyofdecember]

Today I learned that Leonard and Sheldon lived together for 17 years 😮

Piecing together the years and ages given to us by Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory combined, we now know that:

Sheldon was born in 1980 and started college at East Texas Tech in 1991 at age 11.

He went to Caltech at age 14 which would be 1994.

He got his doctorate from them at 16 and then spent 4 more years on his second dissertation before beginning employment at age 20. The year was 2000.

Leonard moved in with him when he first started at the University in 2003. They were both 23 years old (both were born in 1980). The difference of course is that Sheldon was employed there and Leonard I believe was still a student working on his PhD? I saw an article that implied that Howard and Raj were also still students there and not yet employees. 🤔

They continued living together in the same apartment until season 10. So if we can trust each season to be one year's time then from 2013 in season 1 to season 10 we get 10 years of time plus the 7 that they lived together prior to the start of the show! 🥺😮

Such a long time to spend being roommates with a guy you supposedly hate! 🤔😅 As always, Shelnard is endgame in this house 😎

EDIT: Someone reminded me Sheldon does move in with Amy before the series ends so in actuality they only lived together 13 years! 2003-2016. But still an awful long time! 😅

[snowviolettwhite]

Several Sentence Sunday

Tagged By the lovelies @anewkindofme and @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad

(Reworking the first chapter of don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up) Not finished with it yet but here is a sneak peak. Name from Harry Style song Matilda.

9-1-1 early 2010s Alternative Universe Fan-Fiction.

Where Buck, Eddie, Shannon and baby Christopher runaway from home to California. Buck and Eddie join the fire academy and soon after the 118, Shannon is studying to be a therapist and they are all roommates barely, adults at eighteen years old and raising Christopher and coming into adulthood together.

Eddie and Shannon were born towards the end of 1992 so they graduate in 2011.

Buck was born in summer of 1992 so he graduated in 2010.

----

It is January of 2011. Public schools across the nation of The United States Of America are still out for winter break from Hershey, Pennsylvania to El Paso, Texas.

Evan Buckley, Buck is the blonde and blue-eyed rascal. It has been nearly a year since he graduated high school and still does not know what he wants from life. He has tried college is dropping out and not returning for the spring semester. He mostly did it to get his parent off his back and away from them.

He has some money saved from over the years from doing chores, birthdays, mowing lawns and gardening around town, shoveling snow, yard sales, lemonade stands and many more little odd jobs.

He is always getting himself hurt and in trouble. He was on the football team. He made a lot of friends but never got close enough to let his walls down. He is the baby of the family but the only person who ever pays attention to him is his big sister Madeline, Maddie Buckley. She is nine years older than him. He does not know what he wants concretely. But he knows that he wants to help people and make the world a better place and just wants to be happy and be loved and find his passion and have stability.

Edmundo Diaz, Eddie is the young teenage dad to be who got his best friend turned girlfriend pregnant. Eddie just turned eighteen in November and Shannon only turned eighteen in October. They are not even eighteen and half years old. He is the middle child and is the only boy in his family. He was the sanest compared to his sisters which, pulled away the attention of the fact he struggled a lot in school. He excelled in other areas like sports and the arts and other hands-on-activities until this past year.

He wanted to be nurse when he grew up but saw the pain it was to get into college and financial aid and everything with his older sister, Adrianna. He needs to figure out how he is going to support the baby and Shannon and himself. He just wants to be left alone in peace with his best friend and baby boy and to have fun, at least for now.

“Edmundo Diaz, young man you will listen to me right now. How could you let this happen?! You and Shannon are still kids in the school. You cannot even take care of yourselves. The last time you tried cooking dinner you nearly set the kitchen on fire. You cannot be trusted to drive by yourself and still need help with your homework You cannot act like a man, you still act like a child. How are you supposed to take care of a baby?”

Shannon Macdonald is the young teenage mom to be. She wants to be therapist when she grows up. She wants to start a new life away from all this chaos and stress and hang out with her best friend and baby and make new friends and find new interests.

She is the best friend of Eddie Diaz.

They say if you want to be treated like an adult act like an adult. How are you supposed to act like an adult when you are still being treated and spoken to like a child. You are barely an adult at eighteen years old just graduated in high school or still in it, being dragged home by the cops and being scolded at the front door or being at by your parents yelled in your childhood bedroom to the point of tears and clutching your clutching your worn-out stuffed animal or getting into screaming contest with two middle aged adults to the point your voice gives out and wanting your mom to make it better.

“You’re too soft! You need to grow up!”

“You’re too soft! You need to grow up!”

“You’re too soft! You need to grow up!”

“I hate you!”

“I hate you!”

“I hate you!”

---

Tagging But No Pressure: @the-flaming-nightmare. @aroeddiediaz. @babygirl-diaz @lochnesswriter @missmagooglie. @tommykinard6

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Derailed [Hotch x Reader]

Photo Credits: Left and Right (@aestheticsoftheinternet) @pennyspearl

Prompt: Characters are sat together on a long train ride. A one shot in which the reader unexpectedly spends an hour on a train with Agent Aaron Hotchner. 

Category: Fluff 

Content Warning: Brief mention of murder / death

Word Count: 3.2K 

A/N: This is another @imagining-in-the-margins prompt for her September/October Challenge! Let me say that I have never been to Boston University, so if my writing is off on that, please forgive me. Trains were part of the prompt, and if you don’t know, we don’t have a lot of those in Texas. Also, Hotch might be a little out of character here, but it was fun to write him like this. Honestly, unless it’s a novel, I find it hard to get his deeper feelings right. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this. Please like it if you liked it, and feel free to send me a request for a Hotch fic if you want. 

P.S. y/n uses she/her pronouns 

List with all stories 

y/n = your name

l/n = your last name 

y/f/a = your favorite album

rm’s/n = roommate’s name 

f/c = favorite color

y/m = your major 

y/min = your minor 

s/p significant person (friend, parent, guardian, sibling, teacher, etc.) 

h/t = home town

m’s/d = major’s department

The passengers on the train started to chatter as this announcement came over the PA, “Good afternoon passengers on the green line. The conductor wants to inform you that there’s been a train derailment at the Boylston intersection. Thankfully no one has been seriously injured, but this might mean we are delayed for some time. I will continue to keep you updated as we have more information. In the beginning, there was a sense of camaraderie with people looking up the news and sharing photos of the train that had derailed.

However, as the minutes stretched to a half-hour people started getting angry. Businessmen checked their watches and phones every two minutes. Mothers with kids tried to keep their children calm, and a group of students sitting in the corner of the car were elated that they would be missing a freshman-level psychology class. The car was more crowded than usual, or at least more full than y/n had expected it to be on a Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 PM.

y/n had to admit that she didn’t normally ride the train at this time, so her assumptions could be totally off. Anyway, she was stuck standing in the isle of the car holding one of those hangers that helped shorter people like her stay steady as the train moved. At the beginning she didn’t mind waiting while she listened to _y/f/a, but now the fact that she was standing and her left foot was in an ankle brace. Her foot was actually starting to hurt her. She wished she had Advil in her backpack, but she knew she didn’t. The bottle of ibuprofen was sitting on the counter in the bathroom. y/n shifted more of her weight to her right leg. Another ten minutes passed and she was getting nervous that she was going to miss the whole guest lecture she had been looking forward to for over a month. 

y/n was pulled out of this train of thought when her phone rang. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw the name of her roommate rm’s/n on the screen. Normally she would cancel the call and just wait till she was outside, but half of the businessmen were on their phones talking to secretaries or business partners and she needed a distraction from her foot, so she answered the call. “Hey, what’s up, rm’s/n?” Her roommate replied, “Hey, y/n I totally overslept and the dry cleaner that has my suit is going to close before I can make it there. It’s only two blocks away from campus. Could you pick it up and put it in your office or something and bring it back when you come back? I really need it for my presentation tomorrow.”

y/n sighed, she should’ve seen something like this coming. She pinched the bridge of her nose and said, “Sorry, rm’s/n, I can’t. A train derailed down the line and I’m stuck here. It’s been forty minutes now and at this rate, I’m going to miss half of that lecture I’ve been going on about for weeks now.” Her roommate put on a syrupy voice saying, “Pleeeeese, y/n. I’ll owe you big time.” y/n was now getting annoyed and said, “No rm’s/n, I’m not picking up your suit for you. Take an Uber and get it tonight or wake up an hour earlier tomorrow and get it yourself. I’ve been looking forward to today for a long time and even if I only get to see the last ten minutes of this lecture, nothing is going to stop me from doing that.”

y/n’s roommate knew the battle was lost but asked anyway, “Who is this guy that you’re so excited to hear lecture for two hours anyway. I’ve certainly never heard of him.” y/n rolled her eyes, This was proof that rm’s/n never listened to her when she was talking in the apartment. In a slightly clipped tone, she replied, “His name is Agent Hotchner, and he’s the Unit Chief of the Behavior Analysis Unit out of Quantico. He’s giving a lecture on Criminal psychopathy and the split mind theory. He’s kind of a hero of mine. I’ve been telling you about this for weeks now rm’s/n.”

There was a hesitant chuckle on the other end of the line and rm’s/n  replied, “Sorry y/n, you know I’ve been busy these last few weeks with my research and this presentation coming up. Listen, when you get home I’ll have a pizza and a bottle of wine waiting. Maybe we can catch up a bit, and I hope the train thing gets fixed with enough time for you to make it to that lecture.” At hearing this, y/n let some of her frustrations go. Sure rm’s/n could be inconsiderate, but there wasn’t a point in fighting right now, so she said, “That sounds nice. See you in a few hours.” With that she hung up the phone and looked out of the still window, knowing that right now the lecture hall was filling with anticipatory students while she was stuck here on a train car. 

Aaron was sitting down on the train. When he heard the announcement he knew he was screwed in getting to the Boston University campus on time for his speaking engagement. He emailed the event coordinator in the psychology department who had arranged this speaking engagement, writing: “Jonathan. Sorry to tell you this, but I may be a few minutes to an hour late to the university. I was going to take the rental, but the tire sprung a leak and it was getting late already, so I thought I would just take the train. Clearly, that was a mistake because it’s been delayed due to a derailment. I’ll keep you updated. Whenever the train does make it to a station I’ll hop out and get a cab, which I should have done from the start. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes. Sincerely, SSA Aaron Hotchner F.B.I. Unit Chief Behavioral Analysis Unit, Quantico Virginia.”

With that, he sent the email and waited for a response. While he waited he pulled out his speaking notes and began reviewing them. He pulled out a pen making notes in the margins for his cadence and pauses. As confident as he was in the material he was covering, whenever he spoke to a large group of people who weren’t N.A.T. trainees, his nerves picked up. Therefore reviewing his presentation, he hoped would calm him. The minutes ticked by and Jonathan emailed him back saying that they would push back the lecture until he arrived and that he and the department understood that this wasn’t his fault.

A few minutes later the person standing in front of him took a phone call. He relegated the conversation to white noise as his attention turned back to the pages in his lap. However, when his name was mentioned his attention flicked back to the person standing in front of him. The person was turned away from him slightly so he couldn’t see their face. They had a f/c backpack on. She was wearing something formal and Aaron couldn’t help but notice that she was wearing an ankle brace and was highly favoring her other foot. After another minute the woman hung up and let out a sigh that was so quiet that he almost didn’t catch it. 

Aaron put his papers away in his notebook and stood tapping the woman on the shoulder. y/n turned to see who had tapped her shoulder and looked up for a moment. When her eyes met Aaron’s and recognized him they went wide for a second. After a moment of stunned silence, y/n said, “Mr. Hotchner?” Aaron smiled and said, “Present.” There was another moment of silence and he continued the conversation saying, “Sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I’m glad to hear that at least someone is excited for the talk that I’m supposed to be giving right now.”

After recovering from the shock of being in the same space as Agent Hotchner, y/n replied, “People have been talking about your lecture since the guest lecturers' names were announced at the beginning of the semester. I can’t believe you’re stuck in here too.” Aaron chuckled and said, “Yes, well I wasn’t anticipating such a long delay, or any delay.” Aaron extended his hand and said, “Sorry, I don’t know your name, and clearly you know who I am.”

y/n took his hand and shook it, saying, “y/n l/n, Sir.” Aaron nodded and replied, “It’s nice to meet you y/n, and please just call me Aaron.” He was about to say something but the train lurched forward momentarily and y/n grabbed for the railing, her face set in a grimace for a second as she placed her weight on her injured foot. The train stopped again after a few seconds and Aaron said, “y/n, would you like to take my seat? I noticed that maybe standing for long periods might not be a great idea for you.”

y/n flushed looking down at the ever-annoying boot on her foot. She tried to seem fine, not really wanting to seem weak in front of someone she had been inspired by for years. However, her leg was hurting her and Aaron had offered, so she begrudgingly switched places with the Hotch. Their arms brushed arms during the transfer. y/n felt a flutter run through her arm as their skin made contact. She sat down and set her backpack on the ground between her legs. She tried not to look at Aaron. The man was commanding, just standing in front of her. His tall height only added to the power she felt from her. Unlike her, who had been grabbing the extended handles for support, he easily rested his forearms on the metal bar running parallel along the train car. y/n was trying to find a place to look that wasn’t directly at Hotch. 

She looked back up at him when he called her name. “Sorry, what was that?” y/n internally berated herself for not noticing that he had addressed her. Hotch smiled with a humorous look in his eyes as if he knew he had this effect on people if he wanted to. Hotch repeated his question saying, “Do you go the the Boston U? What do you study.” y/n looked up to Hotch and replied, “Oh. Yes. I do.

I’m studying y/m with a minor in y/min because I can never make up my mind on what I want to do with my life. I’d like to think that I’m giving myself options, but really as a grad student, I’m just putting myself in debt.” y/n let out a nervous laugh at the absurdity of talking so casually to Aaron Hotchner. They shared a bit too casual banter as the train finally started moving again. The train stopped at Arlington station and the attendant stated over the PA, “Well folks, unless you want a long wait I’d recommend you get off here and find some alternative transportation to your final destination. Our sincerest apologies for the long delay. We hope you have a good rest of your evening.

There was a sigh of relief from those on the train when the doors opened. Aaron offered y/n a hand up. They made it up to the street and as Aaron flagged down a cab, y/n tried to think of a way to get the few blocks to campus. It was rush hour and she didn’t have the money for an Uber, or a cab. By this time Aaron had hailed a cab. He looked around to see if y/n was still around. He figured he might offer them a ride in the cab, after all the university would be paying for it.

He called y/n over saying, “Do you want to ride with me to campus. We’re both going to the same place, right?” y/n walked the short distance to him and asked, “You’re sure?” Hotch nodded and replied, “Of course.” He let her get in first and he told the cab where to drop them off. Hotch took a moment to email Jonathan to let him know that he was on his way pulled his notes back out and looked at them once more to steady his growing nerves. y/n checked her emails and answered a few from her students, as the cab zipped toward Boston University. Her attention was diverted to Aaron.

He was silently tapping his foot, causing his leg to minutely move up and down in his dark blue pants. After a few moments, Aaron felt her eyes on him and he stopped tapping his foot. He looked over to y/n but she turned her face just quickly enough for him to not catch her staring. This did not, however, stop him from observing the blush that bloomed from her cheeks. Thankfully the ride was short and they both got out. y/n led him to the main auditorium where he was speaking. It was the largest on campus.

When they approached the entrance, Aaron was met by Jonathan who quickly stepped forward and shook Aaron’s hand saying, “We’ve got a pretty big crowd still, so please forgive me if I seem to be rushing you. Let’’s get you inside and mic'd up. Jonathan kind of hustled Aaron toward a side door, but before he was swept out of sight, y/n said, “Thanks for the ride. Good luck.” Hotch nodded and said, as he was being led forward, “No problem. See you inside.” 

The inside of the auditorium was still almost filled to capacity. It was a stroke of luck that y/n found a seat in the T-zone with good visibility of the stage. Just as she sat down and began pulling out her notebook, the lights dimmed slightly as Jonathan stepped onto the and introduced Aaron. The lecture was detailed and held the attention of the audience the whole hour that Hotch spoke. He fielded a few questions after the talk and then said, “Due to the fact that I was an hour late to this lecture, my apologies for that by the way, I’m going to cut off the Q and A here. However, if you have questions or would like to speak to me, I’ll be at the front of the stage for a few minutes. Thank you everyone for coming.”

There was a loud round of applause as people in the audience got up and moved to the aisles and exits. y/n got into the line to speak to Aaron. It was about twenty minutes until she reached him. When he saw her, he flashed a smile and said, “Hey, y/n. So, how was it?” y/n laughed slightly and said, “It was incredible. It really was.” Hotch nodded and thought back to the two hours ago when they were on the train and she had first brought him up. He asked, “When we were on the train you said I was ‘a hero of yours.' Might I ask why? I’m rarely given that status if I’m being honest.”

y/n looked down to the wooden floor. She guessed that what she had said to her roommate might come up again and even though she had meant it, it was still a painful thing to think about. Now that she was standing in front of the man himself it felt trivial really. Aaron tilted his head and realized from y/n’s demeanor, that he might have touched on a sensitive topic. He shifted his weight slightly and said in a softer voice, “y/n, I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

y/n cleared her throat and looked back up to Aaron’s sympathetic gaze. She nodded but said, “It’s fine. I’ve, um, actually met you before. It was a long time ago when Gideon was the Unit Chief. My s/p was murdered in front of me and the team came out to my h/t. I was interviewed and everything, but you, you stopped and asked if I was okay. I’ve never forgotten that. In the hype of everything that was happening, I was just a teenager, but you saw me.” y/n’s eyes tried to blink back the tears that had formed in her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Aaron bit the inside of his mouth as he looked over the young woman in front of him. He racked his brain for his past early cases, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t place her anywhere. He gently placed his hand on her arm and as she looked up at him, he said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t remember you. Thank you for telling me that.” y/n sniffled for a moment and replied, “I look a lot different from back then. I’m just glad that I got to tell you in person. You’ve helped a lot of people, not by just bringing criminals to justice, but by seeing people on the sidelines.” 

Aaron was touched by what y/n had said. Not that any of the others who had come before to tell him that he mattered, or that his work wasn’t important didn’t matter. But to have someone remember when he was green to the force. Before he was Unit Chief meant something to him. There was still a line behind y/n and he knew that Jonathan and some of the psychology and criminology professors were taking him out to dinner after this, but he didn’t want to let y/n go just yet.

His hand was still on her arm and he realized it had been there a bit too long. He removed it and said, “I have some things to attend to for an hour and a half or so, but would you like to get a drink later tonight. As long as it’s not distressing or painful for you, I’d like to remember you from that case.” y/n’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she stated, “That, that sounds lovely. I’d be happy to join you.” Aaron nodded and pulled out the generic business card he carried with him at all times. He flipped it over and wrote his cell number on the back. He handed the card to y/n and said, “Shoot me a text with your name and I’ll let you know when I” 'm free to meet. I look forward to it.” y/n flushed again. It seemed to be a theme of the evening as she said, “Okay. See you later.” 

y/n almost floated to her office in the _m’s/d_. In her office, she pulled out some grading she needed to do and sent her number to Hotch. A few minutes later he liked it to let her know that he he got her text. It seemed impossible that this was happening to her. In fact, the whole day seemed like a dream. However long it was before Aaron let her know that he was open to getting a drink, passed quickly and she thought that perhaps the man she had dreamed about for so many years wasn’t such a dream after all. Maybe he was just as great as she had imagined.

Text Break Banner by @cafekitsune

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[simply-smitten]

Smitten Master Post!

About me - my socials - my fics

About me~

She/her pronouns

26 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work

Mcyt is my first/only fandom

I primarily write DNF and Karlnap, but I do have a few multiship thread fics on my 18+ NSFW twitter :)

My boundaries: do not interact with my NSFW content if you’re a minor, do not supply my NSFW content to minors, and do not repost my work whatsoever (only exception is to translate it, but please contact me first to get permission)

My socials~

Ao3: simplysmitten

Main twitter: simplysmitten_

Alt twitter: simplysosmitten

NSFW twitter: simplysmutten (must be 18+ with your age in your bio)

Wattpad: simplysmitten

My fics~

Thread fics - Separated by ship (dnf, karlnap, snf, dnn, dnkn), NSFW threads have a warning in red and are posted to my 18+ twitter (simplysmutten), SFW threads that were turned into chapters of “Between Friends” have the Ao3 and Wattpad links, and NSFW threads that were turned into works for my “Beyond Friends” series have the Ao3 link.

Karlnap fics~

Because You Are Love (rated T, 140k, 61/61 chapters)

Summary: Sapnap grew up in Texas, a state where being gay just wasn't something you were allowed to talk about- so he didn't. He never came out to his family and even when he made new friends who loved him unconditionally, he still couldn't bring himself to come out. Staying in the closet never felt like a problem once he moved to Florida with Dream, well, until a video collaboration introduced him to a boy that made him question if he could keep hiding. Now, Sapnap has to return to Texas for the first time since his move to Florida for his step-sister's birthday. What's waiting for him when he arrives is going to make keeping his sexuality a secret from his family that much harder.

(i’m worried) it will always be you (rated E, 120k, 20/20 chapters)

Summary: College AU. Sapnap, a notoriously sullen computer science major, is attending North Carolina State University, along with his roommate and long-time internet friend, Dream. While Dream has been pining over the pretty British boy in a couple of his classes, Sapnap finds himself having a much harder time avoiding a certain gray-eyed ray of sunshine.

*Story is not told chronologically. Chapters will vary from Freshman year (2015-2016 school year) to Senior year (2018-2019 school year). Chapters will be dated at the top to avoid confusion. Also, for reference, 'present day' is spring semester of senior year.*

Your Telephone Calls are my Favorite Place (rated T, 100k, 62/62 chapters)

Summary: Karl is finding it more and more difficult to hide his feelings for his best friend, Sapnap. He's willing to risk it all for his chance at love, but does he really understanding just how much he's risking?

DNF fics~

Please Let Me Go (rated M, 75k, 14/14 chapters)

Summary: Dream finds himself in an introverts worst nightmare when Sapnap convinces him to host seven of their close friends for Sapnap's 21st birthday. The only thing holding Dream together was knowing he could finally meet his best friend, George, in person. However, the person who stepped off the plane felt like a complete stranger to Dream- an unrecognizable personality inhabiting the body of the person he thought he knew better than anyone in this world. Years of online friendship had built up this moment for him, only to come crashing down when George wasn't the man he thought he was.

Between Friends (rated T, 110k and counting, oneshot collection)

Summary: A collection of fluffy DNF oneshots. Each chapter is its own completed story (aside from ‘Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas’ and ‘Homesick-London-Cafe’). Most oneshots are canon adjacent, and so far two are AUs. Primarily takes place around the time of the meet-up.

All paths lead to you (rated T, 30k, oneshot)

Summary: When George is stressed, he has nightmares, and when George has nightmares, he sleepwalks. In a subconscious search for relief, George sleepwalks to the safest place he can find- Dream's room. Dream finds out more than he bargained for when trying to decode George's nonsensical sleep-talking, but he struggles to make conscious-George as comforted by his presence as unconscious-George.

‘Idiot’ means ‘I love you’ in Floridian (rated T, 20k, oneshot)

Summary: Model-George x bodyguard-Dream AU. George has been working as a model for a few years now. His father, a higher up in the English government, insists that George has a bodyguard with him at all times. As an act of defiance, George makes a point to sneak away from his bodyguards to prove to his father they're useless and he doesn't need one. Desperate to find a bodyguard that can actually keep track of his son, George's father hires a bodyguard from a different background- a masked man named Dream. For once, George isn't so eager to get this bodyguard fired.

The Colors We Don’t See (rated T, 7k, oneshot)

Summary: Soulmate AU. Soulmates are predetermined, but that never held Dream back from loving George. When George is finally able to move to Florida, the first thing Dream notices is the way his laugh bounces more clearly than ever before. The second thing he notices is the bright yellow aura surrounding him, like George had stolen the sun out of the sky and placed it in his heart instead. George is his soulmate, that much is clear, but trouble arises when George can't see Dream's aura in return.

Live, Laugh, (Blood)Lust (rated T, 6k, oneshot)

Summary: Vampire-George x wizard-Dream AU. George doesn’t believe bloodlust is real, so Dream offers to put a love spell on him to prove him wrong… but he’s not the best wizardry student.

The Remedy to Everything (rated E, 196k, 50/50 chapters)

Summary: After nearly a year of waiting for his visa, George is finally allowed to go home. Home, meaning a house in Florida that was already inhabited by his two best friends, Dream and Sapnap. Being an omega, George feared what trouble moving in with two alphas could potentially create. He never expected that trouble would come in the form of soft curls and green eyes, sparking something irreversible inside himself.

First Love / Late Fall (rated E, 13k, 3/3 chapters)

Summary: George has been going down a dark path for a while, carelessly using people in order to satisfy selfish needs. He hides who he is from his friends who only know him via the internet. This double life becomes a lot more challenging when someone shows up on his doorstep in the middle of the night. Could this be the event that triggers George to change?

It Takes Two to Edge (rated E, 7k, oneshot, part 1 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Dream and George are in a fwb (... plus feelings) type of situation. After their edging session gets interrupted, George rewards Dream with the promise of fulfilling his breeding kink for the first time.

my honey, my moon (rated E, 20k, oneshot, part 2 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Dream and George go on fake honeymoons, indulging each other in everything they miss about relationships. Then things change when Dream actually gets a girlfriend.

bet your ass i’m right (rated E, 12k, oneshot, part 3 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Dream and George like to make bets, even over the dumbest of things. The stakes get higher when they start to wager sexual favors.

More Convenient (An Arrangement of Sorts) (rated E, 8k, oneshot, part 4 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Dream can't get off without having a partner to please, but luckily for him, George just moved to America. (also they are idiots in love they are so dumb and so in love but not in an angsty way just a "they're so stupid" way)

GeorgeNotFound OnlyFans (rated E, 37k, 5/5 chapters, part 5 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Fresh out of university and struggling to land a job in his field, George finds himself desperate for a way to make ends meet. While his friends have big dreams of blowing up on YouTube, George decides to make an OnlyFans profile. Shockingly, George goes viral on both platforms, making his money troubles a thing of the past, but maintaining his anonymity a constant worry. How funny is it that he manages to make a friend named Clay on both platforms?

Warm, like Starlight (rated E, 53k, 2/2 chapters, part 6 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: Humans are banned from touching other species in the galaxy, but George, a cat-hybrid, takes a leap of faith and lets the human aboard his ship, Dream, pet him. It awakens a side of George he’s desperate to satisfy, and Dream is more than willing to meet all of George’s needs.

Extra-Circadian Activities (rated E, 12.4k, 3/3 chapters, part 7 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: George had never grown out of the 'wet dreams' phase in life. He'd learned how to navigate it- never sharing a bed, no sleepovers, not falling asleep around other people for more than a quick nap, etc.- but then Dream had to go and derail his plans. Between the flirting, the touching, the kissing- it made George want to do something stupid... Stupid, as in tell Dream all his fantasies about being touched in his sleep. After George's innocent nap in the living room went on for a little too long, Dream got more than he bargained for when he let George use him as a pillow.

(A dnf love story of truly finding the match to your freak)

Use me or Lose me (Beg for it) (rated E, 16.4k, 1/1 chapters, part 8 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: After Dream's most recent fling fizzles out, he's left pent up and searching for relief. George finds himself in the unforeseen position of being the center of Dream's desire- a desire that he's so desperate to fulfill, he's willing to beg for it. Pathetic eyes and frantic pleas for George to be his sex toy for one night open a can of worms in George's mind. But it'll just be this once... right?

high risk, high reward (rated E, 20.2k, 1/1 chapters, part 9 of Beyond Friends)

Summary: George can't come. Okay, he can, but it takes him a ridiculous amount of time to reach his climax. Dream pokes fun at George about it until he goes a little too far, which leaves him scrambling to make it up to him. What starts as spit-balling ideas to solve the issue unintentionally turns into Dream claiming that if he gave George head, he'd come within a designated timeframe. His off-handed comment grows into a full-fledged bet.

Three tries, a thirty-minute time limit, and instructions to pull out all the stops.

The Dream Method™ (rated E, 27.2k, 1/1 chapters, part 10 of Beyond friends)

Summary: The last thing George would have considered himself was a voyeur…

Yet, he had found himself in quite the compromising position.

George had always known that Dream was a person who took creative liberties when it came to his art. What George didn't know was that Dream could transform something as simple as jerking off into a talent.

---

OR

The trials and tribulations of George's self-discovery to being a bottom.

Happy reading!

<3 smitten

[amberjazmyn]

happy birthday dad!

𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮 - happy birthday dad!

𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 - dad x jared, an emotional reunion between father and daughter, happy tears

𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 - jared padalecki's eldest daughter, pressley padalecki had been away at university in australia for the last three years and only now, three years later, was able to come home due to covid restrictions. and it was also her dad's birthday so, there was no way she'd miss out on surprising her old man for his 40th birthday. 

𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 - the one-shot will be written in lowercase and flashbacks, if any, will be written in italics. 

masterlist

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𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫  | 19th july 2022 | brisbane, queensland 

pressley padalecki was tearful, in an emotion she wasn't sure was joy, relief or sadness. joy, because she was finally able to get on that goddamn three-hour delayed delta flight back home to her home state of austin, texas specifically, from brisbane, queensland australia after four whole years, two of them being stuck there due to coronavirus (in 2020 and 2021). relief, because she was able to spend her father's birthday with him at home during a brief break from filming for his cw show walker and sadness because she felt awful that she had become so close to her roommates back at the university of queensland that she felt sick to her stomach that she was one of the very few international university students who were able to travel back home after the whole coronavirus, lockdown situation that the world had been circumnavigating the last couple of years after they had all graduated. however, the moment she finally sat down, alongside her best friend, alania, a fellow international student of the university of queensland in their first-class seats as pressley wore her old oversized supernatural cast hoodie that was for sure first given to her when she was just a wee toddler paired with white flared jeans and fluffy slides. she sighed in relief, with a smidge of joy and a smidge of sadness as she rested her head against the side of the first class cabin she and alania purchased as both girls listened intently to the aeroplanes safety instructions even though they knew nothing bad was actually going to happen. 

after all the safety instructions and usual announcements had been made, both girls settled back down in their seats, pressley reached for her wired earphones even though it wasn't totally illegal for her to use her airpods, and plugged them into her iphone and immediately went into her spotify premium.  pressing shuffle on her playlist, carry on wayward son by kansas and then drowning by her uncle jensen's band radio company and other songs that reminded pressley of her family back home in texas played in her earphones. whilst those songs would always make her cry (and absolutely, positively did on this flight) it also made her smile and be extremely grateful that the flight, although it was delayed by three hours and was an entire twenty-four-hour flight, they were finally on the plane and on their way home on american soil in texas. the overly exhausted texan girl seemed to fall asleep within minutes and it seemed to stay that way for the entire flight. even her fellow uni best friend, alania callahan, didn't want to disturb her twenty-year-old best friend as it seemed obvious from the tear stains on the padalecki girl's face, the slightly distressed wrinkles and scrunched-up nose that she shared with her dad that it revealed to the flight attendants as well as alania that this sleep was extremely needed. especially because she'd be surprising not just her dad for his birthday but also everyone else so, no one disturbed her until alania had to when the plane landed back home in austin, texas. 

pressley was in the deepest sleep, her earphones blasting jason manns, jensen ackles, rob benedict's version of the band's hit song wagon wheel when she felt herself being shaken awake. the girl jolted awake but softly fluttered her eyes open to see the prettiest female eyes, they were the blue eyes of her bestie, alania. rushing to take out her earphones, alania gestured for the girl to breathe and go slow as pressley listened and she took her time before alania spoke up. with the slightly exhausted smile from the blonde, alania took that cue to speak up so, she did. 

"hey little miss sleepy, sorry to wake you up honey but the flight attendants were wanting me to let you know that we've finally arrived back home in austin..." alania smiled at her bestie as that seemed to make pressley teary-eyed and on the verge of tears 

alania wasn't bothered by her bestie's emotional reaction since, it was quite normal for pressley to cry. and, it was also clear to alania that pressley had been waiting for the moment of hearing that she was finally home after being away from it for what had felt like an eternity, just like alania. 

alania let her best friend compose herself before pressley spoke up, "...we're home, alania?" pressley whimpered out as alania sweetly smiled 

"yeah, we're home press. we touched down around ten/fifteen minutes ago, we are currently the last ones from first class to deboard but the flight attendants are still waiting to deboard business and economy classes. so, the flight attendants said to me before waking you up that they aren't really in a rush to get us off but...wait, you never told me whos picking you up..." alania was knee deep in repeating what she was told to pressley when she remembered that she was never told who was picking pressley up as pressley smiled and giggled slightly through her tears

"...oh, yeah, sorry, i...um, i'm surprising my family, but my dad especially for his birthday. it's his 40th birthday today and walker is on a small break from filming before returning back for their newest season..." pressley giggled, smiling as she just imagined the reactions of her dad jared and her brothers and sister, tom, shep and odette along with the reactions from the rest of her walker family, colby, violet, keegan, kale, odette, jeff as well as her mom's reaction as well

seeing pressley's smile at what alania knew was her best friend's imaginings of how the padalecki girl's family would react to the surprise made alania smile even more. she had been friends with pressley and her family since they were basically in diapers after their parents met at an event for pressley's grandfather, gerald padalecki, who was the tax accountant at the same workplace as her grandfathe's at the time and since then, the padalecki's and callahan's had been the best of friends, that friendship continuing on in their children. 

"...so, if you're surprising the whole family, who's picking you up then?" alania giggled as the two girls grabbed their carry-on luggage and awkwardly shimmied out of the plane so they could then leave and truly be back on solid ground, not a plane's ground after what felt like a whole year of being in one 

"no one, alania, did you forget that we drove here and left my car in the parking garage the whole four years..." pressley trailed off as alania suddenly face palmed, remembering all of a sudden as the two girls giggled - glad that they had faith in the undercover parking at austin airport 

"...how did i forget that? we came together cause i stayed at your house overnight--i'm a fucking idiot!" alania chuckled as pressley shook her head and giggled at her childhood best friend

"come on alania! let's go home, it's time for us to surprise our families!" pressley smiled, holding her hand out for her best friend to grab which she did as the fellow blonde girl nodded her head with a smile and took her best friends hand with hers 

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 | 19th july 2022 | dublin, ireland

pressley had just helped alania surprise her family and, it was the sweetest moment ever, especially when alania's parents gina and alexander basically pulled her into joining the family group hug and it only made her even more excited to surprise her own family, her dad most especially. with gina and alexander callahan's help and the help of alania, it was pressley's time to surprise her own family. and the first person to be surprised was genevieve, pressley's mum. 

so, after a couple of moments of gina, alania's mum, convincing genevieve to come outside to the front of the house on her own, gen made her way outside. and the look on both gen and pressley's faces when they saw each other was the sweetest in the world. 

alania filmed as pressley waited in anxious wait for her mum to come outside to the front of the house after gina sent what could be perceived as a suspicious text. pressley had just turned around to smile at alania and her phone when she heard her mum's voice...

"...pressley? what...what are you doing home?" genevieve's voice was shaky and tearful as pressley turned around and only just opened her arms for a hug when gen rushed over to pull her eldest daughter in for a hug 

"surprise mom!" pressley whispered as she started to giggle as she felt herself breathing properly again as she smiled into her mum's shoulder 

genevieve held her heart tightly as she moved out of the hug, one of her hands still holding pressley's, "you didn't tell us you'd be home for your dad's birthday!" she whispered, having an inkling as to that being the entire reason why pressley was surprising her whole family rather than just jared 

"because i wanted to surprise all of you, not just dad. he isn't that subtle when asking for birthday wishes mom," pressley giggles as does genevieve, alania, alexander and gina who are all filming from different angles because, you know, angles

"of course he isn't, he's never been subtle. oh, i'm so glad you're home, press! it's been way too long!" genevieve whispered, hugging her eldest child again 

"it really has! i'm just glad that alania and i had the opportunity to come home because so many other international, especially american, students at the uni are still stuck back in brisbane!" pressley explained as genevieve looked shocked as alania nodded her head in agreement, the girl stopped filming a moments earlier 

.·:¨༺ ༻¨:·..·:¨༺ ༻¨:·.

a few minutes went by when, with the help of genevieve, alania, gina and alexander, pressley surprised her brothers, tom and shep at their soccer game that weirdly enough, their dad, who was sport crazy, wasn't attending because he was celebrating his birthday with his walker and supernatural family.

thankfully, the soccer coaches for tom and shep, another set of good friends of the padaecki family, recognised the surprise and that pressley had returned home and gave subtle head nods, letting the older sister know that she could surprise tom and shep. however, it seemed as if tom, the older of the two brothers, had noticed pressley just a minute or two quicker. 

"...pressley!" tom squeaked out, jumping from the wired fence he was sitting atop and rushing over to the other side of the soccer pitch to his older sister who stood smiling 

her speed picked up as she noticed the look on her brother's face, he was seconds from crying and as though his feet couldn't run fast enough to reach her so, she started to run towards him as well. finally, after what felt like the brother and sister had been running forever, they finally reached each other and tom and pressley padalecki collided with each other. 

jumping into his sister's arms, even though he was coming up to the age of being a teenager, at ten, he didn't care as it had been at least four or so years since he had last seen her that wasn't over the phone on facetime. 

"what are you doing home?" he sniffled with a small giggle as pressley smiled, pulling away and giving her brother a sweet kiss on the head 

"me and alania got lucky as two of very few international students who were able to come home and also, i couldn't resist surprising dad for his birthday, of course!" pressley giggled at the end, making tom giggle too, even with the tears dripping down his cheeks 

"do you need to go back to graduate?" tom then questioned as the laughter from the soccer team started occurring out of the blue - shep had finally realised where his older brother was and that his older sister was home

and, that was when another screech of pressley's name was heard, "pressley!" her heart almost exploded at how her younger brothers always got so excited and emotional when she came home as she turned around, waiting for her brother to run over to her 

similar to tom, shep started getting teary eyed as he ran because he felt like he couldn't run quick enough so, like she did with tom, pressley started to run over to shep.  thankfully though, pressley and shep didn't stray too far from tom who seemed like he was still in shock from this whole reunion thing. after shep and pressley hugged, they immediately pulled tom in as they had a group hug. 

"what are you doing here? i thought you couldn't get home because of covid?" shep chuckled, wiping off a tear from his cheek as pressley smiled, shaking her head 

"no, i was lucky, as was alania--" 

"--alania's home as well?!" shep squealed in even more excitement as pressley and tom giggled, pressley nodding her head 

"yes, she is! she's actually filming this whole thing!" pressley giggled as alania rushed over from a little bush that she had been filming behind, the brothers smiling as they rushed to give the girl a hug 

after the twins reunited with alania, they then chatted with their older sister a little bit more, wondering if odette, their younger sister and their dad knew only to find out pressley was surprising the whole family. 

.·:¨༺ ༻¨:·..·:¨༺ ༻¨:·.

now that mom, tom and shep were surprised, the only two people that needed to be surprised were little sister odette and their dad jared. however, usually, dad would be the person to pick odette up after dancing, however, genevieve managed to convince her husband that she was going to pick up odette when really, it was actually going to be pressley and alania that were going to be picking odette up. thankfully, the dance studio that five-year-old gia danced at was the very same one that pressley and alania danced at so, they would be allowed to pick up odette instead of jared or genevieve since the two girls were very well known at the dance studio. 

and once again, alania was filming as the girls walked into the dance studio to pick up odette, who was around three when pressley first left for uni and was now five years old, nearly six. you would think that a young girl of odette's age, who hadn't seen their older sister since they were three, wouldn't remember them but, that couldn't be said for little odette padalecki...

...pressley had barely walked in when little odette screamed at the top of her lungs and ran over to her older sister. 

"pressley!!!" odette screamed, not even wanting to say goodbye to her dance teacher who smiled as they saw the reason why odette was screaming after they had registered the name that the girl had screamed out 

kneeling down to the ground with her arms wide open, pressley waited for her little sister to jump into her arms so she could pick her up and twirl her around, "odette!!!" pressley cheered, matching her sister's enthusiasm and excitement as she hugged odette as tightly as possible 

then, what odette said next made everyone coo in adorableness, "i missed you, pressley!" odette couldn't have been happier at the end of her dancing lesson, not so upset that it wasn't her daddy picking her up since she would see him later since she could tell that pressley wouldn't just surprise one person in the family 

"i missed you too, odette! you've gotten so big! when i last saw you, you were like, three! now you're five years old! in fact, you're nearly six!" pressley giggled as odette nodded her head in excitement, happy as ever that pressley remembered that she was no longer a little girl anymore but a big girl 

"i know! i'm glad you're home though, because it's daddy's birthday today! he's been wanting you to come home for agesss!" odette drawn out at the end as that got everyone giggling, including alania, who odette noticed shortly after 

"alania!" odette rushed over to the other brunette girl and gave her a hug 

and then, it was time for the all-important surprise. the main surprise, her dad jared! 

.·:¨༺ ༻¨:·..·:¨༺ ༻¨:·.

it had been quickly decided that geneveive would tell the wives and husband of the other cast members from walker and supernatural, including misha, jeff pierre, violet brinson, danneel and jensen ackles, keegan allen, odette anable, molly hagan, kale culley, ashley reyes, alexander calvert, mitch pileggi and a few others. just so they knew that pressley was home surprising jared and that they could tell their kids as well. and this was so the last surprise was jared and then pressley's uncles and aunties. 

and, it worked out because they decided to go out to dinner for jared's birthday and immediately, genevieve wanted to take some group shots, some family shots and then during the shots of jared with his supernatural and walker castmates, pressley quickly slid in standing behind her dad with her arms around him. and this was the funniest thing because, jared just smiled, not hesitating to rest his hands over the top of the hands that were his daughter's, not that he knew that. which made genevieve giggle but managed to keep it quiet enough that jared didn't question it and the photos continued. that was until gen showed jared and the two tv show casts the photos. it didn't take the others long to realise that pressley had joined them for the photo and was the person with their arms around jared but kept quiet so their best friend could get surprised without it being ruined. 

and it wasn't because moments later, jared looked at the photo again. his eyes wide and then turned around to see his eldest daughter, pressley standing right behind him, with her best friend alania behind her filming the reunion. 

"pressley?! what on earth are you doing here?!" nicky's voice shook as he staggered up out of his seat at the restaurant and pulled his eldest in for a hug as pressley giggled 

"you aren't as subtle with your birthday wishes, like always!" pressley simply said as she hugged her dad as tightly as she could, feeling like she could finally breathe properly now that she was finally reunited with her whole family again 

pressley made everyone laugh with her comment as jared couldn't help but laugh at it either as he nodded his head in agreement, "i'm never subtle, pressley!" he mumbled as it was obvious to pressley that her dad could breathe properly again now that his family was back together again 

after one more tight squeeze, pressley then moved to her supernatural and walker families to give them hugs since it was clear they were also surprised, even though they noticed her in the background first. 

after jared had composed himself from the shock that was the surprise of his eldest daughter coming home after four years away in australia, he felt like he was ready to have an actual conversation with his daughter again. 

hugging her again, jared spoke up, "did you just get home today?" jared chuckled, wiping away a tear as pressley giggled 

"yeah, me and alania landed today, we were just two of very few that were allowed to leave, we'll still have to go back at some point for our graduation but, hopefully by then it'll be less restricted," pressley explained as jared nodded his head in understanding as he smiled at alania who he then stood up to give a hug to as she still filmed 

alania smiled, "hey jared, happy birthday!" jared gave her a kiss on the head which made alania blush slightly 

"hey alania, welcome back darlin' and thank you, it is a happy birthday," jared chuckled as alania smiled back with a head nod, understanding that it was easily his best birthday with all of his children home with him 

after a few more photos that had been taken outside of the father and daughter and everyone else, their group had finally picked out what they wanted to eat and ordered it. 

.·:¨༺ ༻¨:·..·:¨༺ ༻¨:·.

after the fantastic birthday dinner and even more fantastic birthday cake for jared, videos and photos from the birthday was posted everywhere. including posts from her parents and uncles but, she still hadn't posted any but, because they had just come back home, pressley finally posted for her dad's birthday. just so those who didn't know the girl had come home (not that anyone did), wouldn't freak out thinking the girl had forgotten to post or acknowledge her father's 40th birthday.

liked by jaredpadalecki, genpadalecki, jensenackles, keeoone, alaniacallahan and 777k others

pressleypadalecki happy 40 daddy, you still look absolutely fire even though you're no longer in your twenties 🤍

view all 66k comments

jaredpadalecki you are never gonna let me live this down are you? 

jaredpadalecki seriously though pressley, thank you so much, this was the best birthday i could have ever dreamt of having 🤍

pressleypadalecki jaredpadalecki it was my pleasure dad, i'm glad i could give you your birthday wish 🤍

genpadaleckithe look on your father's face when he realised it was you in the photo, and not just some random person with their arms around him is always going to be priceless

pressleypadalecki genpadalecki i know! that was my fear as well that he'd turn around to tell me to get the heck off him but, he didn't! 

jensenackles i have to say pressley, how on earth are you going to top this birthday present? in all seriousness though, jared's reaction was priceless! 

pressleypadalecki jensenackles honestly uncle jensen, i have got no clue whatsoever so, i think i may need some help for the first time in forever! and, i know, i can't stop watching the video! 

keeoone i've never seen your dad so shocked before! you are for sure the queen of surprising people for their birthdays, lemme tell you that, pressley! 

pressleypadalecki keeoone thanks uncle keegs, i honestly haven't either! and thank you, thank you, however, i think i may start asking for help after this year! 

alaniacallahan lol, "you still look fire even though you're no longer in your twenties", what a slow burn that is for your old man, press! 

pressleypadalecki alaniacallahan hahaha, you know i had to do it, alania! 

misha jared's reaction was the best i had ever seen in ages! 

pressleypadalecki misha it really was! he was not expecting it at all! 

danneelackles512 your old man's reaction to you being home was the sweetest in the world! 

pressleypadalecki danneelackles512 i know, it was so adorable! 

violetbrinson what the fuck are you going to do for your dad's 41st next year?! there is no way you could top this! 

pressleypadalecki violetbrinson i have got no idea! and i agree, i don't know if i am able to top this! 

realashleyreyes the fbi couldn't have planned this any better and neither could the texas rangers!

pressleypadalecki realashleyreyes i agree aunty ash! 

padaleckifanalecki omg i'm gonna cry! i was so worried you had forgotten about your dad's birthday, press! you were just on your way to surprise him, i'm gonna cry! 

pressleypadalecki padaleckifanalecki don't cry, you'll make me cry! and don't worry, i'd never forget my dad's birthday because i was just on my way to surprise him! 

just as pressley thought she had the most perfect day surprising her dad and family for her dad's birthday, she never imagined she'd be talked about in an ew article about how she surprised her dad. but, she did and it happened and it was posted and she was obsessed over it for the next couple of days.

ew!

PRESSLEY PADALECKI, DAUGHTER OF SUPERNATURAL AND WALKER ACTOR JARED PADALECKI HAS COME HOME FROM UNIVERSITY IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA AFTER FOUR YEARS TO SURPRISE HER DAD FOR HIS 40th BIRTHDAY AT BIRTHDAY DINNER

SAMANTHA HIGHFIELD | EDITOR JULY 19, 2022 

pressley padalecki, the eldest daughter of supernatural and walker actor jared padalecki and wife geneveive padalecki, gave her father the biggest surprise and ultimately, the best birthday present ever for his 40th birthday. she surprised him during a birthday dinner for his birthday as the walker cast has a small break in the middle of their newest season. 

the twenty-year-old is a university student studying for a bachelor's degree in film and television all the way in brisbane, queensland, australia where she had been the last four years, two of them due to the coronavirus pandemic. it was mentioned in a video taken by pressley's family friend, alania callahan, who is a fellow film and television university student with pressley, that the two girls were two of very few given permission to fly home by the university of queensland for her dad's birthday which is what inspired her to surprise her father for this 40th birthday. 

pressley padalecki and her childhood best friend, alania callahan in brisbane, australia | pic: instagram/pressleypadalecki 

in pressley's instagram post for her dad's 40th birthday, she posts three photos. one of her with her father at a restaurant, a photo of her all dressed up for the dinner and then another photo of her at the airport, taken by alania callahan, who is a very well known friend to the entire padalecki family, not just pressley. and this is due to the relationship alania's parents has with pressley's grandfather, gerald padalecki, former tax accountant. 

her caption reads: "happy 40 daddy, you still look absolutely fire even though you're no longer in your twenties 🤍" which is a very simple caption for the padalecki girl as she is usually the one to write paragraphs for occasions like her family members' birthdays and days like mothers and fathers day. however, the eldest padalecki daughter didn't forget the little slow burn that she always gives her dad for every birthday post. this year mentioning that he is no longer in his twenties but still looks absolutely fire. but, it seems as though she wanted to keep it short, sweet and simple since she did surprise him at dinner in front of so many people after it was shown she had surprised the rest of her family. 

pressley violet padalecki is the eldest daughter of jared and genevieve padalecki, born in 2003. however, jared and genevieve didn't meet until season four of supernatural and pressley was actually the daughter of padalecki's former partner before he met genevieve. genevieve then shortly after adopted pressley just as the two married in 2010. pressley is the older sister to jared and genevieve's three other children, thomas colton, austin sheppard "shep" and odette elliot. at the beginning of little pressley's life, there were tons of rumours about how people had no idea that jared already had a child before meeting his now-wife. however, thankfully those rumours never lasted long to cause too much harm to the family. causing only a mild controversy, everyone cheered in the excitement that jared was already a father. then, when pressley was first introduced, everyone rejoiced that little pressley violet was healthy and then in 2010, pressley's parents got married in sun valley, idaho when she was only a few months old. 

pressley padalecki | pic: instagram/pressleypadalecki 

it had been four years since jared, genevieve, tom, shep and odette had seen their daughter and older sister and since the rest of the supernatural and walker family had seen their niece and cousin. as previously mentioned, pressley had been in queensland, australia studying at their university for a degree in film and television because she had always loved acting and performing. the university of queensland is also where her childhood best friend alania callahan studied with her. 

alania, who gave me permission to talk with her, said that she's been friends with pressley and the entire padalecki family ever since she could remember. because one day, during an event that gerald padalecki was hosting, both alania and pressley's parents were attending the event and met, hitting it off straight away with each other. so, since that day the padalecki's and callahan's met, the friendship continued and then moved on to their children, which is how pressley and alania's friendship became so strong. alania was also not one to hide or shy away from her love for her best friend's dad and his tv shows, supernatural and walker when i questioned her on their friendship and the families relationship. she explained that being friends with jared and genevieve padalecki feels like she has an extra set of parents, especially considering that jared and genevieve are the godparents of alania and alania's parents, gina and alexander callahan are the godparents of pressley, it only makes sense for alania to mention that to us in our conversation with her. 

in the comments of pressley's post for her dad's birthday, alania said quote, "lol, "you still look fire even though you're no longer in your twenties", what a slow burn that is for your old man, press!" which clearly indicates the love that alania not only has for her best friend pressley but also for her best friends dad jared. and pressley responded back saying quote, "hahaha, you know i had to do it, alania!" which clearly states that it's now become a tradition for pressley to roast her dad at least once during her birthday posts for her dad. which is the way that pressley shows love to her dad that's just special to the father and daughter. 

talking further with alania, she talked about her first memory with pressley padalecki at a supernatural convention back in 2012, in toronto, canada, saying quote: "i remember the first ever time i was present at a supernatural convention, it was back in 2012 in toronto, canda. it was near the end of the convention so some tears had been shed but a lot of laughs had occured and were being continued. the fan for the final question had been called up and suddenly, i just remembered bawling my eyes out. the fan had asked a question about asking for help but not knowing how and i just remember being so young [...] we, pressley and i, were seven and i remember just crying because someone who was so much older than me didn't know how to ask for help when i asked my own parents for help every single day...i then turned to my right and noticed that pressley was getting teary-eyed because she saw the way her dad reacted and of course, because her dad is jared padalecki and he's known to be an emotional person, pressley is also got that personality trait..."

continuing with a giggle, thinking she sounds insane which, i immediately tell her she doesn't, "...she's also crying and she just hugs me as we watch her dad and jensen just help this clearly nervous and troubled fan. telling them that they just did the very first thing but also the hardest thing. and that was acknowledging that they wanted help but didn't know how to ask for it. they then continued this answer for a little while longer and we were just sitting in our seats completely exhausted by the end of it because of how much little seven-year-old us had been crying. because whilst we were young we still had some understanding to why we were crying. i could tell how much this question had meant to both jared and pressley."

pressley padalecki and alania callahan in brisbane, australia | pic: instagram/pressleypadalecki 

alania then talked to me more about her friendship with pressley and the padalecki's which, if you guys are lucky, will be released publically soon. also mentioning that she is excited to go back to brisbane, queensland with pressley so they can graduate together and then come back home to focus on some musical auditions. she also mentioned however that she's glad to be coming back home with her best friend and glad to be spending time with her best friend's family after being away for so long due to the coronavirus pandemic. in which kept them from coming home a year earlier like supposed to, having to rely on facetime and phone calls to keep in touch. 

welcome home pressley and alania, congratulations on finishing your bachelor's degrees and we cannot wait to see you guys performing on stage very soon! 

and, of course, we cannot forget, the happiest 40th birthday to jared padalecki, we hope you had the best birthday ever and hope you enjoy the rest of the newest season of walker. 

for those wanting to catch-up on walker, check out the cw app or stan for this new upcoming season and the other seasons.  

- - - 

rewriting this was so much fun even though i know i could have done it better lol! i'm just glad to have written another thing after what feels like forever since the last one-shot. 

ok ily bye xx

wc; 5870

[kissmethroughthebone]

I feel so...... disoriented.

A wonderful date, followed by the next morning getting attacked by his ex. All over some tapdancing financial analyst who I wasn't even SERIOUSLY seeing. Why was I in it? God.

Like, something about this dude was too perfect. He was everything I wanted in a man to manifest, and even got me a ruby bracelet I had secretly desired for ages. And I was like, what's the catch, Universe?

Turns out the catch is the catching of hands at 8:30am by a screaming banshee with an Aliexpress clearance sale wig.

And of course him, he was wanting me around since I'm the only girl he has as an option, but slowly distancing and being stingy, since I suppose whatever classy and elegant softspoken charming woman he thought he knew vanished after seeing me with no wig, pimphand his ex, and then set him straight, ever so gently, I was ridiculously calm even, for lying to me in the first place.

He didn't cheat, they were 100% broken up, she just wanted to start drama. And a man lying and saying they were broken up half a year and just roommates, is a huge difference from saying they were broken up a month only. But regardless, not a great scenario all around.

And oh lookie, the guy who was so generous from the jump and a sweetheart and allegedly wanted to do all this extravagance on my birthday, is now conveniently busy, and "saving money" and whatnot.

And I cut him off since he's now going on a trip. Ah, that doesn't scream money-saving to ME.

Also paired with him telling me last Thursday that he wanted to do this one event with me "next weekend, on the 10th or 11th", and then I had to ask HIM myself last night if he was still down. And he conveniently forgot to tell me.

Ah, for someone always on his mind, he sure forgot about plans we made, or to remotely tell me that the plans are undoable thanks to a spontaneous trip.

Fuck him.

Ah well, I don't get to score an apology gift the size of Texas. A conveeeeeeniently undocumented "destruction of his personal items and stealing all the money in his wallet" from his ex. What dumbass would "forget" to take photos of evidence of a destruction of his items? The DA would throw his case out. His funeral, if he is telling the truth!

I shall take the L and move on, ah well, at least I got it on video. And oddly enough that boosted me to the algorithm on multiple social media sites, so, lol.

And now just using men for stuff on my bucket list and refusing to get attached even if I wanted to. I just no longer respect them at this point. It's a cruel joke to even think about liking them.

The last guy I claimed publicly was messaging women on FaceBook Dating behind my back, even during the good moments, so fuck him. The guy before that was actively sabotaging our relationship by being paranoid of me seeing others, whole time he was the one seeing others. And overall I hate a man that gets stingy, comfortable, or unbearable...

I only came back to the recent fella since I wanted an apology gift at best and a hangout buddy that paid for my stuff at worst, but alas. A liar that lied to make himself look good would of course keep the habit. Ah well, let's dip, thank you.

[chunkylechonk]

My Big Roommates (Part 1)

     “Hey Sam, you hungry?” came a muffled shout from down the hall. Lying on his bed, Sam looked up from the book he was reading. He glanced over at the clock near his window, seeing that it was a quarter past eleven, and he could tell the sky was pitch black through the shutters. He knew Peter’s inquiry about his hunger was merely because he himself was hungry. He also knew who would be tasked with getting the food, since Peter found the effort required to get his own food not worth it if someone else was there to do it for him. Groaning, Sam rolled onto his back and stretched his arms wide, stiff from lying on his bed so long. Letting out an exasperated sigh and setting his book aside, Sam slowly let himself roll over and plop heavily off the edge of the bed to plant his feet on the floor. He got up and opened his bedroom door, scratching the back of his head as he walked down the short hallway that connected to the main living room. 

     Sam was twenty-seven years old, with a full head of brown hair that stuck up in the back like a rooster. He had a natural, lean build—thanks to his genetics—and helped by his fast metabolism. Many people would be envious of his body: 5’11” and weighing 185 lbs allowed Sam to still show off a fairly flat stomach. He had been into track and cross-country during college, and although he wasn’t too active, he had still maintained some lean muscle. 

     After graduating from the University of Texas in Austin with his bachelor’s in business, Sam had started working at a local start-up in the downtown area. They were involved in technology, with the big details all being a bit over his head at the moment. “They say what to do and I get it done,” is what Sam usually replied to anyone who asked about it. Working in the office, he kept his beard neatly trimmed. Combined with his bright, blue eyes and natural smile, clients were more often than not won over by his charisma. 

     The job was part of the reason Sam lived with Peter and Antonio. The other of course being money. Living downtown could be pretty expensive, and Sam’s job didn’t exactly pay that much at the moment. He had met Peter back in college, becoming casual friends since they had lived in the same dorm building for several years. When he had seen on Facebook that Peter was looking for another roommate to share an apartment with, Sam had quickly taken the offer. At first he had been a little wary, remembering how Peter had always been about fun, not so much hard work back in college. He remembered several times studying and seeing Peter making a drunken return to the dorms late at night after partying yet again.  But he seemed to have mellowed out at least a little since then, and the two months he’d been here had been fairly enjoyable. Their other roommate Antonio was great as well, but he worked odd hours as a chef at a restaurant, getting back either really early or late, always looking like he hadn’t gotten sleep in five days. 

     As Sam walked into the living room, he found Peter lounging across their sofa, the TV in front of him blaring some annoying commercials. Several beer bottles were strewn around his feet, and another was firmly planted against Peter’s lips as he drained it. Sam rolled his eyes as he waited for him to finish. 

     There was no other way to say it — Peter was a big guy. A full blown Texan, he was 6’2’’ and a whopping 300 lbs. Most of that weight sat firmly on his gut, forming a prominent beer belly that stuck out several inches in front of him. The rest of him was filled out as well, both his biceps and thighs showing a fair amount of added beef. His facial features had turned soft, but he had a full beard to give him a very southern cowboy-look. Brown messy hair and deep hazelnut eyes, he was an attractive man, albeit a very big man. But it never seemed to bother him. Never in the time that he had known him could Sam remember Peter being self-conscious, or even attempting something near a diet. He ate what he wanted when he wanted it, and always seemed to be reaching for more.

     Finally finishing his beer, Peter shot a crooked smile at Sam and repeated his question. “Hey man you hungry?”

     Deciding that a late-night snack could be nice, Sam replied. “Yeah sure, want me to drive and get some McDonald’s?” It was the closest place he could think of, and he wanted this to be a fast trip. 

     “Of course man, get me the usual!” Peter said enthusiastically. Content now, he leaned back further on the couch, spreading his arms wide along the back, causing his shirt to ride up and exposing an inch of the flesh on his belly. For a moment, Sam could only stare at the strip of visible skin. He had the strange urge to reach over and pinch the fat, to see how firm it was or if his fingers would sink in. Shaking the creepy thought away, he went and grabbed his keys and headed out the door. 

     It only took Sam a few minutes to get to the McD’s; the street their apartment building sat on was conveniently and suspiciously home to a number of greasy food joints just like it. Pulling into the lot, Sam opted for just going through the drive-through, and save the hassle of getting down. Stopping next to the menu board, he rolled down his window, and a wave of hot, summer air came rushing to greet him. 

     That classic crackly voice came onto the speaker after a short moment. “Hi, welcome to McDonald’s, what will it be?” Sam quickly shot off the order from memory: three double quarter pounders, two 20 chicken nuggets, two large orders of fries, and a large coke. It really was a testament to how many times Sam had been subscripted to help satiate Peter’s food cravings. Maybe he’d have to bring it up later. He pulled around to the next window and handed the girl his card. He noticed the slight look of surprise on her face as he came around the corner. It was obvious why; one person in the car and enough food to feed a family of six. Usually the workers had the sense to not react to it, or Sam had just gotten used to it after all the delivery trips he’d already made. But tonight he was feeling impatient, hardly glancing at the girl as she handed him back his card. He was still thrown off by the weird moment he’d had looking at Peter on the couch. Pulling up to the next window, the worker handed him the coke first, before somehow fitting through the window the biggest bag Sam had ever seen. Unable to do anything else, Sam grabbed the heavy paper bag being thrust at him from the boy, dropping it right on his lap. 

     “What the hell is this!?” Sam exclaimed as he looked into the bag. It was filled with burgers and boxes of nuggets, with fries spilling from their containers all over the contents. The concerned look on the girl’s face made a little more sense now. Had he said the right orders? Had they repeated it back to him and he just hadn’t been paying attention? The more he thought back, the more Sam doubted himself. 

     The guy just gave him a puzzled look in regards to his question. “Is that not your order sir?” 

     “Yeah I guess so,” Sam said slowly. It was too late to give it back, seeing as he had already paid for it all. With some effort, he managed to displace the massive bag into the passenger seat. He rolled up his window and headed back to the apartment. Let’s hope Peter’s hungry, Sam thought dryly. 

     Pulling back into the apartment complex, Sam turned off the engine and got out of his car. It really was hot tonight, and he didn’t know why he had grabbed his jacket. In his flustered state before leaving, he must not have been thinking clearly. The warm food had smelled heavenly in the car, but it had only added to Sam’s growing discomfort. Beads of sweat could be felt running down his back, and his forehead was glistening. He opened the passenger door, grabbed the giant bag and drink, and headed back up to the apartment. 

     He opened the door, Peter exactly where he had left him on the couch, eyes transfixed on the TV. It had only been like twenty minutes, so Sam wasn’t too surprised. The only indicator that he had moved were the added beer bottles that had appeared on the already cluttered floor. Sam counted seven on the ground as he peeled off his sweaty jacket, and he spied one more in Peter’s hand. His other hand lay lightly on his gut, rubbing in small circles around the beach ball of a belly. In addition, his shirt had also ridden up another inch as his belly expanded with beer, almost exposing his navel. Getting his attention, Sam cleared his throat awkwardly, “Food’s here!” 

     That perked him up, Peter’s eyes darting to Sam and then quickly to the giant bag he had in his hand. Another one of those goofy grins spread across his face, and he patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Well set it down here before I starve and wither away!” Peter found his joke extremely amusing, chuckling at his apparent wit. Sam could definitely tell he was drunk as he walked over to the couch. He set the bag down in the middle of the couch, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

     “They gave me more than I ordered, but I guess we can save some stuff for tomorrow.” Sam said as he sat down. 

     Peter immediately dug his hand into the bag, grabbing a burger and fries from its depths without so much as looking. Stuffing fries in his mouth by the handful as he unwrapped the burger, Sam could only watch as the goliath before him devoured the food. Peter took a massive bite of the burger, chasing it down his throat with another fistful of fries shoved down to follow. The pattern continued like that until both were gone, and then repeated itself. More food went from the bag to Peter’s stomach, filling out his already monstrous gut. The mountain of fat was growing slowly, burgeoning outward as Peter continued to eat. As he got to a twenty piece chicken nuggets, Sam could swear each one pushed Peter’s belly farther out. The sudden image of a slot machine popped into his head: every nugget like a coin being inserted for one more pump to Peter’s belly. His food stained white t-shirt now hugged him halfway up his belly, showing off his deep navel surrounded by a very hairy belly. Dark, curly brown hair matted his stomach, growing even darker and fuller where a thick happy trail led down its center, tracing into his trousers. Looking on in wonder, Sam could tell Peter’s pants were straining to contain his giant ball gut growing right in front of his eyes. The button looked like it was pinching Peter’s underbelly, and he was pretty sure it was about to pop right off if he ate anymore. 

     After finishing the nuggets and yet another burger, Peter stopped, leaning back with a dazed look from all the food he’d just consumed. Both hands were gripping the sides of his gut, fingers digging into the skin getting more taut every minute. A low rumbling could be heard from his stomach, proceeding a massive burp that he let out. Grinning after relieving his discomfort, Peter then proceeded to fix another. 

     “Damn Sam, when’d it get so hot in here? I gotta take off these clothes to cool off.” Without waiting for a reply, he pulled his tight shirt over his head and chucked it onto the floor. He gave Sam a sideways glance, “Hope you don't mind.” His pants however refused to be removed, as Peter had some difficulty undoing the button. Or maybe it was just that he couldn’t see it past his gut. Finally he managed to release the tension after sucking in a bit, causing his belly to noticeably expand out as it was released from the tight waistband and he exhaled, wriggling out of them and tossing them on the floor too (making his belly jiggle slightly). Leaning back into the sofa, Peter let out a sigh of relief as he tucked into yet another burger. 

     Sam was dumbfounded. All of a sudden his giant roommate was sitting in front of him in nothing but some very tight red boxer briefs, chowing down on greasy food. And even more concerning, it was turning him on. Sam had never considered that he might be gay. After all, he’d had a girlfriend back in college, until they broke up fairly recently because of the whole long-distance thing. But now here he was, sitting with his big, mostly naked roommate, and he couldn’t take his eyes off him. This wasn’t exactly an uncommon sight in their apartment, but Sam had never felt this way before, or at least he hadn’t ever sat right next to Peter during one of his binges. Almost against his will, Sam’s eyes roamed over Peter’s nude body. How his belly continued to expand with each bite, resting heavily on his lap. How his entire body jiggled slightly whenever he moved: from his meaty thighs to his gorgeous love handles. And of course how his gut had grown into a perfect sphere that curved up to meet his pecs, which were puffy from their added layer of insulation.

     What the hell is wrong with me? Sam asked himself as he stared gaping at his roommate. Peter was finishing another thing of nuggets, his cheeks filled to the brim and a big smile on his face. Popping the last one in his mouth, he slowly looked over and made eye contact with Sam. Realizing he was still staring, and had been this entire time, Sam quickly averted his gaze, turning to focus on the TV. He didn’t even know what was on — some basketball game? — he had no idea. He could still feel Peter’s eyes on him, burning into him with a scorching intensity. 

     “Hey man, you’re not gonna eat?” Peter asked. Sam turned to see him looking at him curiously, almost as if he was pouting. 

     “No, you go ahead. My stomach doesn’t feel so good.” Which was partially true, Sam admitted. With all that was happening, it felt like a huge stone had been stuck in his stomach. He felt extremely queasy with all these new feelings rushing around in his head, not to mention what was happening in his pants.

     “Aww c’mon man, feel bad eating by myself!” Peter said.

     “You’re fine.” Sam replied, still not turning his head. “The people at the drive-through gave me too much,” he repeated, “so we can leave it for later.”

     But Peter was already shaking his head, a frown now on his previously happy face. “Is not good when it’s cold. Has to be eaten now.”

     Sam tried his best to act normal. “Well you’re doing a pretty good job of putting it all away man,” he laughed a little awkwardly. 

     “There’s a lot left, you have to eat some.”

     “No really I’m fine—“ Sam began to protest, but stopped as Peter rose from his seat. It took a moment for him to lift his new and improved baggage off of the couch. His overhang was so big, Peter had to support his belly with one hand, cradling his engorged belly and leaning back slightly to his new center of balance. Standing up showcased Peter’s body like a fattened hog at the fair. And there was a lot to see. Sam could see how perfectly round his belly was, stuffed full of food. Laboriously, he moved his girth the two steps needed to reach where Sam sat on the couch, his body jiggling with every colossal step. Peter moved the bag of food aside and turned, giving Sam a quick look at Peter’s wide, bubble butt, pushing against the confines of his briefs, before plopping down on the couch next to him. The entire sofa jumped and screeched back a few inches as all 300, and probably now more, pounds of Peter landed, bouncing and jiggling, right next to Sam, who was frozen from pure bafflement. 

    Peter leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially to him, “Then I’ll help you eat some food.” Grabbing a box of nuggets, he pressed right up to Sam, his belly pressing into Sam’s side as he leaned into him. Next thing Sam knew, Peter threw his arm around his shoulder and was lifting a chicken nugget to his mouth with the other. Sam began to splutter at the bizarre situation, and the close proximity he now found himself to Peter. 

     “Peter, I said I’m not hung—“ but he had to stop as his roommate shoved the food into his mouth anyways. Chewing and swallowing angrily, Sam drew breath to protest again, but was foiled by another nugget already poised in front of his mouth. It kept going like this, Peter forcing nugget after nugget into Sam’s mouth, almost giving him no time in between to catch his breath. As it went on, Peter’s right hand moved down to one of Sam’s pecs. Reaching them, his roommate began to gently massage his nipple through his shirt, sending a tingle throughout Sam’s entire body. He closed his eyes and let out a small moan of pleasure around the food in his mouth. Being fed (he had already finished the nuggets and was now being fed a double cheeseburger), and stimulated at the same time, Sam felt better than he ever had in his entire life. He felt his dick growing in his pants as the blood rushed to it, and prayed that it wasn’t too noticeable yet. Peter grinned, speaking drunkenly as he continued to feed Sam. “Feel good Sam?”

All Sam could let out was a faint gasp as Peter leaned closer into his side. His stomach was nestled against him, and very slowly he felt Peter begin to push up against him. “You like that Sammy?” Any reply Sam had planned was cut off by a handful of fries being shoved in his mouth, forcing him to chew. 

          “Doesn’t it feel good pushing your gut to the limit? Reaching for more when everyone else would stop or get sick?” Every question was followed by another few fries. “I love it. Feeling full doesn’t get me going anymore, I need to be stuffed.” Even more fries. Peter leaned in and whispered in Sam’s ear  “Until I pop.”

          Having now eaten enough food for two, Sam’s stomach was beginning to round out; a shallow curve where it had always been flat. His slim button up was getting a tad snug, but only a small diamond of skin was showing from the middle button. Peter’s eyes lit up at the sight, a thrill running through his body, and he increased his pace, Sam desperately trying to keep up. 

Leaning forward, Peter grabbed the forgotten drink on the table and clutched the cup as he settled back in. Sam lay enthralled by how Peter’s belly hung down when he leaned forward. Perhaps for the first time, Sam realized that Peter didn’t really have love handles. Sure, he had fat there like he had across the rest of his body. But for the most part, the bulk of his...added bulk settled stoically on his gut. Sam wondered if this was on purpose, as if he had figured out how to put all his food solely to growing forward. His dick grew even more, making him shift slightly as Peter lifted the Coke to his mouth. He gulped it down, feeling the fizzy liquid filling the spaces between all the food in his stomach. Finally being allowed a breath, Sam burped loudly, earning a quick pinch to his nipple from Peter, who just grinned that same grin. Boxes came and went in a blur, the contents all going into Sam’s growing gut. His shirt was now uncomfortably tight, all the buttons straining to hold back the surging growth of his stomach. As if on cue, the button right on his midriff released with a pop, flying away to allow his stomach to inch out a bit. 

The sound brought Sam out of his daze, and he glanced down at what his roommate was doing to him. His stomach looked like he had a basketball inside of it, grease and crumbs scattered across his straining shirt. Moving a bit, another button flew off, launching across the room and revealing more of the new belly. Sam groaned, realizing how full he was, rubbing his stomach’s curve as its contents sloshed around inside him. Another burp erupted from his mouth, and he blushed furiously. If he had been in the right frame of mind, he might have realized this was the same state he had witnessed Peter in not even an hour ago.

     “Shirt’s begging for release Sammy.” Peter commented. “Think we should let it out of its misery?

     Sam glanced down at his soiled shirt, breathing heavily during his respite around all the food he had consumed. “No...it’s...it’s fine.”

     “Should we let you out of your misery?” Peter teased, fingering Sam’s belly button through the gap in his shirt. Slowly, Peter unbuttoned the remaining buttons on the shirt, pulling it off of his roommate and tossing it on top of his own discarded clothes. Now the extent of the damage could be seen by both men. Peter placed his hand on Sam’s new belly, rubbing small circles around the shallow curve. He marveled at how much of a difference there was after such a short time. Sam’s skin glistened with fast food grease, and his skin felt tight. His belly protruded over the waistband of his pants. Peter turned himself more towards Sam and placed both his meaty hands on his stomach. He traced two circles with his hands, pressing lightly into Sam’s taut belly. The slight pressure elicited another small burp from Sam, who had taken to looking down from embarrassment. 

Continuing to rub Sam’s belly, Peter’s hands explored the new expanse of flesh. Every time he pushed against his belly he was rewarded with another small burp from Sam. This pleased Peter, cause he knew that meant more room in Sam’s stomach to fill with food. His hands moved around until they rested on Sam’s ass. His pants felt like they were tight around his butt. Slowly, Peter pulled Sam across the couch, coaxing him forward until they were nearly on top of each other. Then he began to unbutton Sam’s tight jeans. 

Sam quickly tried to protest and squirmed. “Peter no, stop! You’re super drunk right now! I don’t want—”

But Peter just smiled as he met Sam’s eyes, and continued to unbutton his pants. 

“I think” he drawled, “that you do want this. I saw the way you were looking at me Sammy. While I was eating.” As Peter said that, he successfully released the button of Sam’s jeans. Now he started to work them off. “You couldn’t take your eyes off me. Or, I guess off of my gut.” he corrected as he got the jeans past Sam's thighs. “I’m flattered. I didn’t know you felt that way. You don’t gotta lie to me.” Peter said, leaning down to tug the bunched up denim past each foot. He cast the obstinate jeans away, happy he had finally gotten them off Sam. Raising his head, Peter stopped when he was eye level with Sam’s gray underwear. And the apparent bulge within them. “Seems like a friend of yours can’t lie to me.” 

Slowly, in case Sam got scared off, Peter took Sam’s hands and placed them squarely onto his belly. Sam’s eyes widened for a moment before he began to run his hands gently across the large gut. Starting from the shelf of his belly, Sam touched every part of Peter that he could reach, slowly becoming bolder with his probing of all of Peter’s fat. The big guy let out a moan as Sam pinched his underbelly, and grinned when he tickled his love handles. At the same time, Sam was breathing increasingly heavier, whether from Peter’s body or from his full stomach, it wasn’t clear. 

The two men continued to rub each other’s full stomachs, sitting on the couch in nothing but their underwear. Sam wouldn’t have guessed in his wildest dreams that this is how his night would turn out, but he felt too turned on to care. Whatever he had felt watching Peter eat was magnified now, after being force fed and stimulated like he was. 

Sam glanced at Peter quickly. “So, I didn’t know that you were gay.”

Peter laughed, causing his belly to bounce against Sam’s. “I’ve fooled around a few times with some guys. Mostly frat guys who weren’t out. Usually we were drunk too. What really turned me on was this. Eating until I was so full that I could barely move. Since we were either drunk or high when we’d hook up, there was always food involved. I love feeling this big, but seeing those fit frat guys let go and lose those abs made me get harder than anything else.”

Since Sam was sitting on his lap, he could feel Peter’s dick beneath him, which was pressing against his butt as they spoke. Between his dick below him and his hands on his stomach, Sam was totally in Peter’s control. 

“I remembered you from college and you were always cute.” Peter grabbed either side of Sam’s tight belly. “But always so skinny. And then you moved in here and kept mostly to yourself. Not that I was uh…putting on a show on purpose. But tonight when you were watching me, I felt more turned on than I’d ever been before.” With that statement, Peter finally dropped his hand and grabbed Sam’s dick through his underwear. “I’m happy that you like this too.” 

Sam moaned louder than he had all night, leaning towards Peter and kissing him fully on the lips. They were so occupied with each other, they didn’t hear the front door open. When they pulled apart, the first thing they saw was their other roommate standing in the entryway.