#this all took place while i was waiting for the ticket to print. sigh

[youssefguedira]

unsolicited medical advice from a customer today 😃

[mercurygray]

A Falcon Circling - Mike Sadler x OFC

You know me - have period drama, will travel. 1940s Cairo was a dandy to try and research.

Mike Sadler was bloody late for poker.

Late was, perhaps, being generous - in point of fact he'd completely missed last week's game after Captain Stirling's late night jolly had kept Mike and the other drivers of the Desert Taxi Service busy until well into Friday afternoon, when there was not a snowball's chance of making in back in time for a pint of beer and a fair shot at the deep pockets of the boys stationed at the Embassy.

Cairo, on the whole, held few attractions for him, outside of the poker game – while there was always the chance for a clean uniform and a bath and a bed, it was all too much, sometimes, with the noise and the people. There was a beauty to the silence of the desert that he missed when he was in town, and something to be desired in the way of solitude when he was pressed up to the bar, waiting for the game to open, and the rowdy crowd of fellows next to him had, twice now, nearly spilled his drink. 

His hand rose, reflexively, to his face, and the now-neatly trimmed beard - shaving it off entirely made him look about eighteen again, which he hated, and the beard itself was a badge of honor, a sign of having been in places where the discipline didn’t matter so much as being able to survive did. He’d had a haircut, too, and he looked, in the long mirror behind the bar, almost civilized, if one ignored the deep tan. That was one of the things he liked about the desert, too - that one could blend in, disappear into the sand until you were wanted or needed or neither. One could be anonymous, in places like this - but one never really disappeared. 

Mike glanced around the room and realized, with some annoyance, that not only was he not alone, but that he was being observed.

She was tucked unobtrusively into a table in the corner, blonde and wearing a particular shade of blue that stood out against the dark. It was strange to him, after being so long in khaki that bleached you into the sand, to want to be noticed. And by god, was he noticing her now. (Not a working girl, he didn’t think - she wasn’t trying hard enough for that. Rules were different in Cairo, but single women still couldn’t drink at the bar unless they wanted something. )

Mike considered his drink and the wad of bills burning a hole in his pocket and sighed. What the hell. I have some time. It had been a long week, and he might do worse. He took his drink with him and walked around to her end of the bar, taking advantage of an empty seat right next to her. "Evening."

"Hello. You must be here for Sandy's poker game." She looked amused at his surprise to be so easily found out. "Everyone else here's getting soused and you've barely touched your drink." 

Well, damn her for observant indeed. A regular here, then, if she knew that Alex Higgins - that Sandy - had a regular game here in the back room. Strange that he'd never seen her before. He wasn't sure he liked being known. "Journalist?" He gestured with his eyes at the notebook and pen next to her, the word almost accusatory in tone.

A brief smile. "Novelist."

Somehow that was even worse - someone collecting specimens for study and later mounting in prose. "Ah, Miss Hemingway, my apologies." 

She rolled her eyes. “If I had a shilling for every time someone made that joke I'd be able to buy a ticket home.” 

“And? Do you? Want a ticket home?”

She snorted. “Not likely. The war's as awful at home as it is here. At least in Cairo it's warm.” She held out a hand to shake.  "Daphne Markham-Reed, how do you do."

She sounded like Stirling's people, with a name like that. He tried not to be angry about it - it would look good in print, probably. "Oh, both barrels. You don't waste time."

“Not a lot of time to waste. There's a war on, you know.” She gestured to the chair opposite and he sat down, taking another sip of his whisky and trying to make himself comfortable.

"And what is a... young lady of the horse and hound set doing here in the tail end of Garden City?" 

"I should have thought it was obvious,” she said with a smile, leaning back a little with her cigarette, the light just catching the glint of gold in her wristwatch. “Chasing out my prey.” The way she said prey, her eyes lighting up a little, made him go cold and hot, all at once. She took a drag of her cigarette, still obviously observing him. “Do you have a name, Mister Poker Player, or should I make one up?"

He wasn’t sure he liked that, being a character she could name and shape, but he didn’t want to give her his name – not yet. "Curious to see what you think I belong to."

She sat up a little, composing her thoughts as she looked him over again - closer this time, someone looking to see and not only imagine.  “One stripe is a corporal. Scorpion on your jacket says you're one of Bagnell's LRDG chaps. A...mechanic, maybe, on the state of your hands, or a driver.” 

He suddenly wanted to hide his hands, choosing instead to tighten them around his glass. No amount of washing would get some of the oil off his nails. “Do they teach insignia recognition at finishing school?”

She chuckled at that, but didn’t deny him. “They don't let women in the Long Bar, so we have to get our intelligence elsewhere. And everyone can read a rank badge nowadays, the army's practically everywhere.”

He could see her, at one of those parties filled with people like Stirling and Lewes, or at the Empire Club in a slinky dress, surrounded by men with public school degrees and Honorables and names in the court circular. “I'm sure it's all colonels and generals where you are.”

“Yes, and they're much less fun," Daphne declared without missing a beat. "I think if I were putting you in my novel I'd call you...Paul. No - David." She laughed as his face fell, thinking, unceremoniously, of what he'd like to do to David Stirling. "Oh, not David - do you know someone by that name? Another, then."

He liked hearing her laugh - and found he liked surprising her even more. “How do you feel about Michael?”

“Michael, hm.” She rolled the name around her tongue. “Like the archangel. You might be a Michael. Or maybe it's Mike, for short,” she offered, leaning in. He caught a whiff of perfume, amber and civet, and suddenly felt a little bold.

“To my friends, too.”

She arched an eyebrow, her smile vague. “Are you looking for friends?”

“I might be.” He shrugged.  “Are you?”

But what her reply would be he never heard - someone behind him clapped him on the shoulder and broke the scene. “Sadler, you bastard! You stood us up last week.” Alex Higgins was the sort of man who drew attention to himself everywhere he went, a talent that one could attribute as much to his height and his shock of red hair as much as his personality. “Word was out you were on a regular reconnaissance jaunt, thought for sure we’d see you.”

“Word was wrong,” Mike said, rising from his seat to shake hands. ”Can’t say more than that, loose lips and all.”

“And I see you’ve met Daff,” Sandy said with a grin, turning his gaze to the woman behind him.  “Care to join us, Miss Markham-Reed? There are always extra seats for pretty girls.”

What, and he knows her? Mike took another moment to hate being in town, where people knew things he didn’t and liked to catch you out. “Thanks, but no,” Daphne said, rising from the table and collecting her notebook, obviously preparing to leave. “I like keeping my money too much. You all have fun. I’ll see you around, Mr. Sadler,” she added, draining her glass and setting it back down. “Don’t let Sandy win.” 

Several sets of eyes followed her on the way out, and Mike was ashamed to say that his were one of them. “How do you know her? Does she work at the embassy?”

Sandy scoffed and gestured for the barman, who caught his eye and went to work on a drink. “Work there, ha. You can tell you’re not posted in town. Her father’s on the staff. Only third or fourth down the list from Lampson. She’s good fun, though - doesn’t treat you like part of the furniture.”

The staff! Good god - so she really did belong with the Turf Club set. “She said she was a novelist.”

Another short laugh from his friend. “Daphne says a lot of things,” Sandy announced, glancing after her with a grin. “Sometimes they’re even true. Ought to put her in intelligence, honestly, she’s in everywhere.”

Mike made no reply as Sandy went on to flag down another friend, taking another sip of his drink and considering, anew, the calm way she’d been watching him across the bar, and the way she’d responded to his question about what she was doing. What do you think? Chasing down my prey. He’d said horse and hounds as a joke, but he was thinking of the desert again, and black-winged kites with their sudden high whistling calls, circling high in the air above their targets, wings white against the sky. Is that what you are, Daphne Markham-Reed? A falcon circling? 

But Sandy had collected all the poker players, and there wasn’t time for more thought. Mike was here now - he would not be late again.

--

The Long Bar, at Shepheard's Hotel, was famous for being the place to meet people. It was a joke that if you wanted the plan for a battle in North Africa you only need to sit there long enough.

Garden City was the core of the British settlement in Cairo, slightly less exclusive than Zamelek, where houses were a bit more expensive. The Turf Club was an all-male social club that catered to the British social scene, which would have included railway and canal executives as well as the diplomatic corps.

Sir Miles Lampson was the British Ambassador to Egypt; before the signing of the 1936 treaty he'd been the High Commissioner.

Comments, tag commentary, and reblogs are seen, read, and appreciated!

[crazywritertomboy1224]

(I feel you in the empty inbox too 😢 I have a deal for you, I send you this kirishima request since imma kirishima simp and you have something to write about, deal?)

How about this:

Kirishima and his girlfriend managed to sneak out of the UA campus for a night city date. They were all nervous about being caught, but those fears fade away when they started having fun. Like they went to the arcade were the tried their best to kick each others ass. (you can add whatever else you want to the date). They were having so much fun they almost lost track of time, then tried to sneak back to the dorms without being noticed, but obviously, they failed.

(if you don't mind I'll keep sending you requests :p)

I've been WAITING for a Kiri one! So happy to finally have found another Kiri simp! Sorry this one took so long, I had to get it just right, yk? (Plus I've been kinda busy ;-;) Anyways, hope you like it (and hope it brings Kiri justice)! (Also yes please keep sending in asks!!) As always, stay safe and hydrated and don't forget to eat! <3

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

Eijiro Kirishima x Reader

TW: cussing

Genre: Fluff, romantic

Word count: 1579

You cracked your door open, peeking out to make sure no one was around. After you assured the coast was clear, you slipped out, closing the door with a small click behind you.

You stood outside your dorm room, waiting patiently. A nearby door creaked open and you shushed him frantically. “Shut up! God, you’re loud.”

He just laughed quietly, pulling you into a hug and pressing his nose into your hair. You sighed in contentment, having missed these times when it was just the two of you.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He grabbed your hand and you both tiptoed down the hall, took the stairs down, and opened and closed the front doors, all with barely any noise.

Once outside, you turned around to see if you could see any lights turning on, just checking no one had heard you.

“It’s fine, babe. No one saw or heard us. We’re good, now let’s go!”Eijiro grabbed your hand and led you off campus and over to a nearby arcade.

He ran ahead of you and held the door open for you. “M’lady?” he says, a smile playing on his lips as he swung his hand in a semi-circle around, over his head, and under his other arm.

You grinned and walked in, giving him a cheek kiss as you passed. “Thhaannnkkk youuuu,” you said, drawing out your words dramatically.

He giggled and followed you in, trying to fight you to be the first to the counter. You elbowed him in the ribs, temporarily pushing him out of the running.

You ran up to the counter and slammed your hands down on the old, faded linoleum. “Two pleas- DAMMIT EIJIRO!” you screamed as Eijiro came up behind you and pulled you away by your waist.

He slid the money across the counter and turned back to you with a huge smile plastered across his face. You growled under your breath and walked up to him, looking straight up at his face, arms crossed.

“What, pebble?” he asked, tugging your hand up to the counter so the cashier could give you your band and cards.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that I feel bad for you.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because I’m gonna kick your ass.” You smirked, dashing off to find the first game.

You skidded to a stop in front of the only available skee-ball machine and swiped your card. Eijiro did the same on the one paired with yours. It beeped and the plastic shield above the balls slid back.

You picked up the first one and rolled it, landing it in the outer ten-point ring, Eijiro managing to make it in the twenty-point cylinder. You growled to yourself, knowing you’d have to up your game to beat him.

He glanced over at you and flashed you a grin as he rolled his second ball, making it into the ten-point this time.

You roll it with so much angry force that it actually makes it into the one-hundred slot. You freeze for a second, registering what just happened before Eijiro nudges you with his elbow.

“Great shot, y/n!” He beams a huge smile at you and you can’t help but smile back and hug him.

“Thanks, babe!” You roll another one, scoring a ten, Eijiro rolling a fifty.

“One minute left!” The machine squealed out.

You both made a show of quickly rolling all of the balls down, not really caring what holes they landed in. You ended up with 380, Eijiro with 370.

You met him halfway as your machines printed out your tickets and he wrapped you in a hug, breathing in your ear. “Good job, pebble.” He congratulated you.

“Thanks, you too," you replied, ripping your tickets off and shoving them into your back pocket.

“What’s next?” you ask him, since you picked the first game.

“Umm, air hockey? I’m not horrible at it,” he suggests, pointing to the left.

“Sounds good," you reply and he leads the way over.

You take your positions at either side of the table and swipe your cards. You place your hand on your paddle as Eijiro does the same. The puck falls out on his side and he places it in front of his paddle, swatting it over to you.

You swat it back at him, aiming for his pocket. You missed and he deflected it, shooting it back toward your pocket with a little wrist flourish.

You tried to defend it and send it back at him, but you missed and it landed straight in your pocket. You sighed as you grabbed it and placed it back on the table, cracking your neck.

Eijiro laughed. “Why- why are you-” He doubled over in laughter. “Why are you- why are you cracking your- popping your- your neck?” He asked, stuttering from laughter.

You glared at him playfully. “Because I’m about to beat your ass.”

His face suddenly went serious. “No way.” He deflected your shots and sent the puck spinning into your pocket time after time after time until the buzzer went off.

He won… 26-1. He laughed and hugged you. “I love you!” He said, grinning. You sighed in acceptance but were unable to stay mad at him.

“Why do you have to be so cute?” You mock-complained, pressing your face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around you tightly.

“Alright, let’s go. What’s next?” You stood up on your tiptoes and looked around, eyes scanning and mapping out the whole place.

“Hmm… bumper cars?” You suggested, lowering yourself back to the ground and shrugging.

Eijiro reached out and grabbed your hand. “Great idea! Let’s go.”

You dashed across the building and joined the line. You checked the time on your watch. “Oh, shit. Kiri, it’s already two am!”

“Oh shit.” He flipped his wrist to check his own watch and his eyes widened. “Okay, after this, we go back.” You nodded.

After what felt like forever, you were at the front of the line. You showed the nice girl your bands and she let you in. You sat down in the [____] one, your favorite color, while Eijiro chose the red one.

You zoomed around the track, waving pageant-style at him as he hunched over the wheel in the little bumper car that seemed way too small for him. You laughed, throwing your head back as you finished in third place all in all, first between you two.

You stood up, brushing off your clothes, and walked over to help a struggling Kirishima out of his doll-sized car. “Need some help?” You asked, chickling as you extended your hand to him. He took it with an annoyed face but you could see in his eyes that he was joking.

You pulled him up by his hand, your fingers lacing together by instinct once he rose completely out. He wrapped you in a hug as you waited in line to leave.

“Ugh, bottle-necking us like this isn’t cool.” He muttered against your hair, annoyed at the people who designed it with only one exit gate.

You giggled against his shoulder and pull away, leading you out in a hurry. “SHIT!” You yelled. “That took an hour!” Eijiro froze in terror, staring at his phone.

“Fuck. Kaminari and Mina have been texting me.” He said, tapping the screen.

“Dammit. Jirou and Momo have been texting and calling me.” You replied, opening the messages to tell them you’re fine.

You finished texting before him and grabbed the front of his shirt, guiding him out of the building and back to the dorms.

You pulled the doors open and saw Mina and Momo. They were sitting on the couch, sipping tea. Mina looked over as you two walked through the doors. “Care to explain where you’ve been all night?” She asked, raising an eyebrow over her mug.

“Uh- we were with… Denki and Jirou,” Kirishima tries to explain. You nod, thinking you might be able to get away with it.

Denki and Jirou pop their heads over the back of the other couch. Mina looks over with a pointed expression. “Care to try again?”

“We wanted to get away for a bit, just the two of us and have some fun before finals. We were at the arcade down the street.” You blurted out, ducking your head in shame.

“Why didn’t you invite us? We could’ve all hung out!” They exclaimed, clearly riveted that you didn’t invite them.

“Like we said, we just wanted some alone time. Sorry guys, maybe next time?” Eijiro responded, placing a hand around your waist and pulling you close.

Mina seemed satisfied with that answer and sent you off to bed while the four of them stayed downstairs, doing whatever the hell they were doing.

Before you went into your dorm, Eijiro pulled you close and smothered you in a hug. You pulled away, tired, but he gripped at the back of your hips and pressed a sweet, loving kiss to your lips and another to your forehead.

“Goodnight princess. I love you.” He whispered into your ear, hugging you tight one last time.

“Goodnight my manly man. I love you too.” You kissed his neck, which was the highest part you could reach.

You both turned around and went into your separate dorm rooms to sleep in your own separate beds that night. You fell asleep smiling and all the second thoughts you’d ever had slipped away. This was exactly what you needed.

[charmingyong]

Sukidesu

Genre: local!Yuta x tourist!reader (gender neutral), fluff, a dash of angst

Warnings: none

Word count: 1.9k

Plot: You went on a solo trip to Japan after your friend backed out, despite the fact that you barely knew Japanese as you were relying on your friend to be your translator. Thankfully, a local boy helped you out with his limited vocabulary in English.

A/N: in loving memory of my japan trip that got cancelled last year (eff you covid!!) Please let me know if there are any issues with the gender-neutral assignment.

gif: mine

- ❀ -

“I’m really so so sorry, Y/N. I feel so bad,” Aeri said over the phone.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. And I’m always down for a challenge.”

Aeri being the one who planned the trip was upset that her boss decided to be rude and have her come in for work, stressing about her presence being needed to handle a very important client. “I swear, I would have handed my resignation letter if it weren’t for the good pay.”

You rolled your eyes at her words. “Don’t say that. I’m sure we can go again together in the future.”

“Yeah, but are you really okay going alone? You don’t even know any Japanese except for like four words or something.”

She was right. You had only picked up a few words from the handful of anime shows you watched, not to mention that you knew nothing on how to read any of the writing systems. “I have the translator ready on my phone. I should be fine.” Though your confidence wavered the last second before hearing the boarding announcement of your flight, you tried to remain strong and think that everything would all work out. “It’s time for me to go now. I’ll text you when I get there.”

- ❀ -

[Memory one]

You let out a long sigh as you stared at the foreign characters on the menu board, never learning any of the Japanese writing systems. The lady owner patiently waited for you to give her your order.

“I… I don’t know,” you muttered, your head hanging low. Anything would do as long as it filled your stomach and was an authentic local specialty.

“Um hello?”

You heard from behind you. Turning around, you found a boy giving you a shy look. “Oh hi,” you politely greeted back with a confused look.

He shifted on his feet. “I uh... you help?” he offered with an unsure tone as he struggled a bit with his broken English.

“You want to help me?”

He nodded.

You smiled gratefully. “Thank you so much! I just want anything good and will add to my experience here.”

“Good?” The boy picked up and said, “I...” and lost his words before pointing at him and then at the owner.

“Oh, you want to order for me?”

He hesitated but nodded eventually when hearing ‘for me.’ “Yes.” The boy turned to the lady, placing an order with two fingers held up. The lady smiled and quickly got to work preparing the round fried food, and soon enough handed two plates of takoyaki to each of you.

You thanked her and took a bit of it with your chopsticks, eyes going wide with the flavour bursting in your mouth. “Woah! This is really good!” you beamed happily at him. “Thank you so much! And oh, I almost forgot. I’m Y/N,” you introduced yourself with a wide grin.

He mirrored it back, making him look like an angel with his healing smile. “I Yuta.”

- ❀ -

[Memory two]

“So cool,” you uttered under your breath as your eyes wandered around the vast array of Japanese sandals on the walls.

Too busy deciding which style to go for, you didn’t hear another customer enter the small traditional shop until they spoke your name.

“Y/N?” The voice was familiar, and you twirled around to see Yuta’s smile grow, relieved that he guessed you right.

“Oh! Yuta!” you smiled back. “It’s nice to see you again.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes. How... are you?”

“I’m great, except...” your eyes traveled back to the wall.

His face fell slightly in worry. “What wrong?”

You shook your head. “Nothing bad. I just don’t know which pair to buy. They all look so good,” you pointed to the variety of sandals.

He hummed and asked, “Can I help?”

You blinked at him. “You want to?” An opinion from the local cute boy was definitely something you’d be down for.

His pearly whites were on full display as he nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

- ❀ -

[Memory three]

Just as your eyes were fixed on observing the cute little souvenirs on the shelves, you heard a series of loud knocks on the window and you jumped, being startled greatly by it. You looked out the window and found a familiar Japanese boy peeking into the shop, laughing happily when he caught your attention. He backed off to make his way into the shop.

“Yuta, you scared me there,” you laughed it off.

He sheepishly apologized. “Sorry.”

Shaking your head, you said “It’s okay. But it’s nice to see you, once again.”

He nodded and was lost in his thoughts for a moment. “Um Y/N?”

“Yes?”

“You alone?”

You nodded. “Yeah, my friend couldn’t come, and I really wanted to explore Japan. So I came alone.”

He took in your words, his brain on full gear to process them. “Can I help?”

“Help? Like how?”

He pointed at himself. “I... uh travel... you...”

It took you a few seconds before you were able to grasp his thought. “Do you want to be my tour guide and show me around here?”

“Ah! Yes. Your tour guide,” he beamed excitedly like a little child who learned a new word.

That sounded like a great idea. While you had the itinerary that you and your friend prepared, you weren’t dead set on doing everything list there as long as you were able to enjoy your time and explore to your heart’s content. After all, you were going to come back anyway with your friend in the future. And a plus point with having Yuta as a guide, you wouldn’t be struggling with your limited Japanese ability.

You nodded, your lips curling up joyfully. “I’d love that.”

- ❀ -

[Memory four]

“Yuta? Where’s-”

You had probably asked the Japanese boy a million things by now when shopping inside the variety store. Before Yuta became your traveling buddy, you had to rely on capturing the Japanese writings on your phone and have the texts translated via an app. Not to mention having to stroll down the aisles endlessly looking for a particular thing.

He showed you the ramen cups of interest as well as recommended some face masks, cleansing tissues, and sweet treats, especially matcha flavoured. “This good,” he pointed out.

You hummed curiously and put them all in your basket. “Thanks, Yuta. You’re a lifesaver.”

His ears perked up at the thought of him ‘saving your life’ and smiled proudly.

- ❀ -

[Memory five]

“You sure you’re doing it right?” you asked worriedly.

Getting lost in Japan was not on your to-do list. But it was fine to as long as you weren’t alone.

Yuta was trying to figure out how to get the tickets printed at the Kyoto Station. “Long time,” he chuckled nervously.

Going around Kyoto was apparently something he hadn’t done in a while being an Osaka man. You shrugged, “Looks like this will be an experience for both of us,” you joked.

He managed to have gotten the right tickets and you two sat in the train side by side. “Kyoto pretty,” he commented. “Very good,” he added with thumbs up.

The train began moving and you by the window made sure to pay attention to the scenery.

“Wow! The cherry blossoms are so beautiful under the blue sky,” you chatted cheerfully. “And those houses look so pretty,” you gushed, getting anime vibes from how neighbourhoods looked in them.

Yuta watched you getting excited over the sceneries, and was pleased to show you something that wasn’t on your itinerary in the first place.

- ❀ -

[Memory six]

Yuta watched you closely as you licked the matcha soft serve in hand.

You let the cold cream swirl around your tongue and hummed. “Wow, this is nice!”

He beamed, squealing as he clapped his hands from the happiness. “Yes,” he exclaimed. “My favourite,” he pointed to your cone.

The cream got stuck in your throat and you choked a little. His eyes grew concerned and asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry. It’s just... you look so cute when you get happy like that,” you spoke a little shy.

He blushed deeply and looked away, a smile threatening to tug at his lips from hearing you call him cute.

- ❀ -

[Memory seven]

Ferris wheel.

The perfect way to end your trip by looking out into the nighttime view of Yuta’s hometown.

He sat across from you as you curiously looked at every lighting in the city. “Wow, it’s all so really beautiful, Yuta,” you breathed out.

His smile wasn’t his usual one. It was more forced, almost sad and you noticed it.

“What’s wrong?”

He shook out of his thoughts and said, “Nothing. Um... you like Japan?”

A fond smile took over your features. “Yes, very much. It’s all thanks to you, Yuta.” Your heart started aching at the memories made during your trip. If it weren’t for him, you would have struggled to get through with the littlest things.

He hummed and gave you a courteous smile before fixing his eyes out the transparent windows of the cart, silently willing himself to not tear up in front of you.

- ❀ -

[Memory eight]

Tears threatened to spill out of your eyes as you became emotional and super grateful standing in front of your personal Japan tour guide for one last time at the airport.

“Thank you so much for all your help, Yuta. It was really nice meeting you,” you smiled sorrowfully. Truth being told, you were sad that you had to say goodbye to an amazing friend made on your beautiful journey. “Let’s keep in touch. You have my contact, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. Um Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

Yuta dug his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a cherry blossom keychain. “For you,” he said, holding it out for to take.

You were speechless, not expecting a gift from him. “For me? Why?”

He was quiet for a moment before speaking up. “I like you.” His confession caught you by surprise. “I hope you come back. I... I hope we still talk...” he trailed off, doubting himself if he said the right thing at the wrong time, considering it was minutes before you’d have to catch your flight.

Slowly, your head nodded to his words, confirming them all. “We will. We will keep in touch, I’ll come back again. And I like you too,” you spoke sincerely with soft eyes.

- ❀ -

You reminisced the beautiful memories made in Japan with Yuta. It had been almost a year and the two of you were in frequent touch, talking about anything and everything in your video calls. You even learned some Japanese while he worked on improving his English.

While your eyes were focused on glancing at all the people sitting in the cafe, the door chimed open and in walked the Japanese boy that you had been waiting forever to see again.

He spotted you immediately and made a straight beeline towards you. “Y/N!” He beamed excitedly. “I’m so happy to see you again!”

You laughed at his cuteness. “Same, and you’ve gotten better speaking English.”

“All thanks to my beautiful English teacher,” he flirted boldly.

You rolled your eyes playfully at him and asked, “So Yuta, are you ready to explore my country?”

[drabbles-mc]

I Like Me Better

Nestor Oceteva x F!Reader

Request from Anon: Hi! If you’re doing requests can I get a short fic based on the song I like me better by Lauv with Nestor🥺

Part 2 can be found Here

Warnings: language, lots of softness and pining

Word Count: 3.5k

A/N: (I know I’ve posted this story like 5 times today alone. So sorry to everyone who has been getting bombarded with it while I figure out my posting/tagging issues. Love y’all and I owe you xo) This story definitely took on a life of its own once I sat down and started writing it. I love me some Soft Nestor and the whole “almost relationship” type of deal. Hope you enjoy!

General Mayans Taglist: @mayans-sauce​ @thesandbeneathmytoes​ @paintballkid711​ @tomhardydallasstarsgirl​ @queenbeered​ @sillygoose6969​ @sesamepancakes​ @yourwonkywriter​ @chibsytelford​ @gemini0410​ @multiyfandomgirl40​ @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​  @plentyoffandoms @georgiaaintnopeach​ @twistnet​ @garbinge​ @themoonandthewicked​ @bucky-iss-bae​ @encounterthepast​ @everyhowlmarksthedead​ @rosieposie0624​ @mylittlelonelyappreciationtoo​ @mijop​ @xladymacbethx​ @blessedboo​ @holl2712​

You were laughing as you watched snowflakes get stuck in Nestor’s facial hair and braids as he talked to you on the phone. Ever since you moved, the two of you had one weekly scheduled phone call, and one video chat. No matter what either of you were doing, you always made time for those two things. Even if for the rest of the week you didn’t really get to talk to each other, you always had those two things.

When Nestor said he was going to have to talk to you on the go before he called, you didn’t expect it to be quite so literal. You figured maybe he’d be driving, but wherever he was, he was walking, and it was snowing. He didn’t look thrilled about either of those things.

“I’m not made for the fucking snow,” he was trying to sound annoyed but you could see the laughter building up inside him.

“Good thing you didn’t move with me to New York then,” you laughed as you watched him brush snowflakes off of his eyelashes, “You’d never last out here.”

“Why would you voluntarily put up with this every year?”

“It’s pretty when you’re not being a baby about it,” you laughed, “Where did Miguel send you anyway?”

“Into the cold, that’s where,” he kept a serious expression for a moment before laughing.

“Next time you wanna experience the cold, come do it with me! My door is always open.”

“You’re the only person worth braving this shit for, Y/N,” he chuckled.

“Well,” you smiled at him from the warmth and comfort of your couch, “me and Miguel, apparently.” There was a knock at your door and you sighed, “Hold on a sec, I gotta grab that,” you got up and walked over to the door.

When you unlocked and pulled the door open, the phone dropped from your hands as you took in the sight of Nestor standing on your front step. You squealed, throwing your arms around him in a hug that swept you off the ground. He laughed as he held you tight against him.

He gently set you back down, making sure that your feet didn’t land in the snow on your steps, or on top of your discarded phone, “I told you, you’re the only one worth braving this shit for.”

“I can’t believe you’re really here!” without thinking better of it, you reached and cupped his face in your hands, still trying to wrap your head around the fact that he was actually standing right there in front of you. He let out a slight shiver and it snapped you back to the situation at hand. You laughed as you waved him inside, “Shit, come inside. Get out of the cold.”

You grabbed your phone off the ground before you shut and locked the door behind the both of you, mind reeling from the fact that Nestor was at your house. You’d been back home to visit a couple times since you moved away, but he’d never made the trek to New York. You couldn’t blame him—you knew what his life with Galindo was like. You were surprised that he was able to be that far away from the family without it causing some kind of issue.

“What brings you out my way?” you took his coat from him and hung it up, chuckling as the snow fell off of it onto the floor.

“You,” he replied, looking up at you with a smile as he took his shoes off, “I wanted to see you, and not just through a phone screen.”

His words made your entire body feel warm. You motioned for him to follow you into the kitchen, nodding towards the counter for him to sit while you got the both of you a cup of coffee. He needed it more to warm up than anything else. He looked around your house with an approving smile. You’d given him the video tour after you had moved all of your stuff in, but it looked so much better in person. It felt so homey. Your walls were covered with photographs and artwork that you’d brought from home. Nestor smiled to himself when he saw that he’d made it up on the wall in a few pictures, along with the rest of your family and friends back in California.

You set the hug down in front of him, and he chuckled when he saw I ❤ NY printed on the side of it. He cupped his hands around it, letting the warmth seep into his fingers from the ceramic, “Fitting.”

You sipped from your own mug with a smile, “Gotta manifest it, Nes.”

The two of you existed in silence for a minute while he thawed out. You watched him as he looked around your small home. It wasn’t much, especially compared to the homes of all the people in his circles back in California, but it was yours and you loved it. You had never been someone who needed much. You just needed to feel comfortable and safe, and this house did more than just that for you.

You noticed him staring at the photos on the walls and the fridge, and you smiled. A little bit of weight settled over your heart as you watched him study them, knowing that he was looking at the ones of the two of you. It was all bittersweet to look back on. The two of you hadn’t ever dated, but you danced around the outskirts of it for a long time. There were times when the lines felt a little fuzzy, but nothing ever really happened. You were best friends, and you knew that he’d do anything for you, and you for him. But the timing was just never quite right, life was just never quite calm enough to try and make it work.

When you had told him that you had accepted a job offer on the other side of the country, he was trying so hard to be happy for you, but it wasn’t easy. You were a port in the storm for him, and he had no idea what he was going to do without you around. But he was supportive. He helped you pack, scrolled through apartment and housing listings with you, and found the best deal on a plane ticket. He never let you see how much it had hurt him—those were feelings that he processed in private. He’d thought about coming out to visit you every day since you left, but he worried that if he did, he wouldn’t come back home.

Before either of you could spiral too far into the past, you spoke up with a smile, “So, how long are you in town for?” he didn’t have any bags, so you assumed that he couldn’t be in town for long.

“I’m not sure,” he rested a hand on the back of his neck, “Told Mikey I needed to take some time. And this was the first place I thought to come to.”

You couldn’t hide your surprise—work had always been a priority for Nestor. Miguel was at the forefront of his decisions, always. “Really?” you raised your eyebrows, “You…you can take a leave of absence with…what you do?” you couldn’t quite wrap your head around it.

He shrugged, “Apparently,” he chuckled, “He said alright. So, here I am.”

You could feel that it wasn’t what he wanted to talk about, so you let the topic drop, “Well, you know you’re more than welcome to stay for however long you want to. Although your lack of luggage is a little concerning.”

He laughed, “Got lost in the shuffle. Airline said they’ll mail it here.”

You shook your head, unable to contain your laughter, “Damn, that sucks. Welcome to New York.”

You were on the opposite side of the counter from him, leaning forward onto it, propped up by your elbows. The two of you started to catch up about things that slipped from your minds when you called each other. He told you about some of the chaos that he wasn’t allowed to say over an unsecure phoneline. You listened intently, fighting the urge to reach out and entwine your fingers with his. Everything felt so right with him there with you.

“Sorry,” he chuckled as he took another sip of his coffee, “I don’t mean to do all the talking. I’ve just…I’ve missed having you to talk to.”

You nodded, “I know the feeling,” you drummed your fingers on the surface of the counter, “Well, now that you’re here, normally I’d say we should go do touristy things. But something tells me you’ve had your required dose of snow for the day?”

He laughed, “What’ve you got in mind?”

You shook your head, “Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve had a long enough day. We can camp out at least until your luggage gets here. Or I can take you shopping, whichever you prefer.”

He smiled at you, “I think I’m alright with staying in.”

“That’s what I figured,” you chuckled, “Well, I was not expecting company. I’m assuming you’ll be alright with ordering in?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I know this really great Chinese place. Their wonton soup is…perfection.”

The two of you made your way to your living room and sprawled onto the couch. You leaned up against Nestor’s side as you got your phone out to place the order. You picked a few things that you wanted to eat before handing it to him so he could pick stuff as well. While he was looking through the menu, you turned on the television and pulled the blanket off the back of your couch so it covered the both of you.

Nestor handed your phone back to you so you could place the order. He’d hardly noticed how you tucked the both of you in. He smiled as he rested his arm against your side, hand brushing lightly against your stomach.

“Is this…”

“I decided last week that I was going to rewatch all of Law & Order SVU from the very beginning,” you laughed.

He shook his head with a laugh, “Do you have a moral objection to happy shows or…?”

“It’s a good show!” you snuggled into him a little more.

“What has New York done to you?”

You smiled and shook your head, “Given me time to do shit like this.”

“You like it here though?” his eyes were watching the television, but one hand was gently massaging circles into the side of your neck.

“Yea, I do. It’s a nice change of pace—I think it was the right move for me,” you glanced up at him and smiled, unbelievably happy about the fact that he was really laying on your couch in New York with you. Never in a million years did you think that would happen.

Once the food got there the two of you switched up your positions a little bit. The TV was still on but neither of you were paying attention to it. You were each sitting cross-legged facing each other on the couch. You were laughing as you watched him fumble with his chopsticks. You had forks, obviously, but it was a matter of pride whenever you two ate together because he knew that you were extremely good at using them and he didn’t want to be left out.

“Almost two years since we got Chinese together and you didn’t use any of that time to teach yourself how to use chopsticks?”

He chuckled as he struggled with his noodles, “Didn’t make it to the top of my priority list, I apologize.”

“I’ll teach you before you leave. Way better than taking back a cheesy souvenir,” you smiled at him as you picked up a piece of chicken.

As the night wore on, your coffee table became covered in takeout food boxes, and a couple empty bottles of wine that the two of you had managed to drink your way through. You were sprawled across his lap, wine glass lightly hanging from your fingertips as you rambled on about what you had been up to since you moved. Nestor couldn’t take his eyes off of you, soaking up the fact that he was able to be so close to you.

“I’ve missed you,” you veered off your current story completely as you felt the warmth from his hand soak into your leg.

He looked at you, laughing quietly at the sudden admission, “I’ve missed you too.”

“Were you ever mad at me for leaving?”

He shook his head, no hesitation in his answer at all, “Of course not,” he studied your face, the way your skin glowed whenever you drank, the way your eyes got a little glassy when you had more than just one glass of wine, “Doesn’t mean that I don’t miss you, though.”

You hummed in quiet contentment as he reassuringly rubbed his hand up and down your leg, “I think about you all the time.”

His hand stilled for a moment and you were afraid that maybe you were saying too much. Maybe the reason that things worked so well was because everything was in limbo. Before you could worry too much he gave your leg a light squeeze, “I think about you too.”

The two of you fell into a comfortable silence after that, resituating yourself so that your head was resting against his chest. It was hard to focus on much of anything when all you could think about was the way your body was pressed up against his. The steadiness of his breathing felt like the only thing that was still grounding you. Your entire body felt warm from the wine, but deep down you knew it was more than just that.

“If you’re tired,” he spoke up after a few minutes of silence, “you can go to bed. Don’t exhaust yourself on my account,” there was a smile on his face.

You stretched, fighting back a yawn, “Come with me,” you sat upright and looked over at him, “I won’t lie to you, my guest room is empty because I have been putting off buying furniture for it,” you chuckled, “And my bed is way more comfortable than the couch, believe me.”

“Yea,” he nodded, his voice soft as he bit back a laugh, “okay.”

He followed you up the stairs and into your room, looking around the house as he did. It was hard for him to wrap his head around what your life was like now that you were so far away from everything that you had grown up with, everyone you had grown up with. It seemed like you had created such a cozy little life for yourself, and it couldn’t help but to think that you might never have had that if you hadn’t taken the plunge to move across the country.

“Don’t mind the clothes,” you apologized as you flicked on the light to your bedroom, “I promise they’re clean—I just hate folding laundry.”

He laughed, shaking his head, “It’s fine.”

You changed into a baggy long-sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts, immediately crawling underneath your blankets. You nestled back against your pillow and looked over at Nestor, who was unbuttoning his shirt, eyes cast down at the floor.

You were lying on your side, scrolling on your phone when you felt the mattress dip as Nestor climbed into bed beside you. He pulled the blanket up over himself and rolled onto his side so he could look over at you. You looked up from your phone, a smile starting to take over your features as you took in how close he was to you. You set your phone off to the side and rested your cheek against the palm of your hand.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” you said with a laugh.

“Give it a couple days,” he joked, “Soon you’ll be begging for me to go back home.”

You snuggled closer to him, resting your face against his chest, “I doubt it.”

You woke up the next morning to the feeling of Nestor’s arms wrapped tightly around you, keeping you snug against his chest. Taking a slow, deep bre ath you took in the fact that this was really happening. He shifted slightly, arms squeezing you for a moment before he settled back into his sleep. The selfish part of you never wanted him to go home because you would love to wake up like this every morning. The warmth trapped underneath the blanket made you forget about the fact that there was a considerable amount of snow covering the ground outside.

You let your eyes close again as you focused on the steady beat of his heart. You slowly slid your legs and tangled them up with his. A few moments later you felt his fingers sliding lightly up and down your back. You glanced up at him and smiled when you saw that his eyes were still closed, but there was a peaceful smile on his face. You don’t ever remember seeing him so calm, so relaxed.

“Good morning,” he mumbled as he pressed his hand flat against your back, pushing you against him.

You chuckled as you rested your hands against his chest, “Good morning. You sleep okay?”

“Mhm,” he finally opened his eyes, “like a fucking rock,” he laughed.

You smiled up at him, “Good.”

The two of you laid there, soaking up the quiet peacefulness of the morning. You hadn’t woken up wrapped up in someone’s arms in a very long time, and there was something about the clinginess of Nestor’s grasp that told you he was in the same boat. You smiled to yourself as you felt his fingers lazily massaging between your shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come visit sooner,” he said.

You pulled back away from him so you could get a better look at his face, “You don’t have to be sorry—I know your life doesn’t make it easy. It’s hard to find the time.”

“I should’ve made the time.”

“Nes, don’t—”

He cut you off as he shook his head, “I’m not trying to make excuses. I know that I should’ve come out to see you. I just, I knew that it was going to be hard to convince myself to go back home once I did. I like me so much better when I’m with you,” he gently cupped your face in his hand.

You rested your hand over his, “Well, I like you all the time,” you smiled, “And no matter what, I’ll always be here whenever you need a break to recharge and get away from everything for a little while. But listen,” you waited for him to look at you, “don’t spend all of your time here thinking about the fact that you think you should’ve made it out here sooner. None of that matters. You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

He rested his forehead against yours, “See? That’s what I mean—how am I supposed to go back home after that?” you could see the hint of a smile on his face.

You laughed, “Just remember how much you hate the snow. Short vacations out this way will be just right for you.”

He chuckled and shook his head, “Yea, maybe.”

You gave his hand a light squeeze, “C’mon, let’s go make breakfast and see if your luggage will come in today or if I get to take you shopping.”

He laughed, rolling his eyes, “Can’t wait for that.”

You flung the blanket off the both of you and hopped out of bed. Walking around to Nestor’s side, you held out your hands and pulled him up, laughing as he exaggeratedly stumbled into you and wrapped you in a hug. Your laughter was muffled against his chest but he reveled in the way it all felt.

While you were measuring out grounds into the coffee maker, you saw Nestor out of the corner of your eye looking through your fridge, trying to see what he could salvage to make breakfast with. You smiled to yourself as you set the pot to brew. You leaned back against the counter and watched him pulling things out from the drawers of your refrigerator.

“Playing chef today?” you asked with a smile.

“Better me than you,” he laughed.

You feigned offence, “Excuse you, I am an amazing cook.”

He smiled as he set everything out on the counter, “You are, but I’m better.”

“But I’m better,” you mocked with a laugh, “Cocky.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“How long did you say you were staying again?” you laughed.

“At least until I learn how to use chopsticks,” he chuckled as he looked through your cabinets for a frying pan, “So it might be a while.”

You couldn’t make yourself take your eyes off him, “Good.”

He heard the softness in your tone and looked over at you from his food prep on the counter. He smiled, tilting his head slightly as if to ask if there was something that you wanted to say. You shook your head with a small smile before walking over and wrapping your arms around his middle, the side of your face resting against his back. You didn’t know how long he was going to be staying, but you knew that regardless you were going to be making the most of it.

[andmyvape]

"Please tell me you're not wearing that."

Elayn looked down, then back up with a wide grin. She tugged at her bright rainbow suspenders with her thumbs. "What, not tacky enough?"

Serana gave the ensemble another slow scan. "No, it's… definitely tacky. The combat boots with the khaki shorts is a nice touch."

The grin got wider as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "They're going to be throwing candy, and I wasn't anywhere near prepared enough last time."

Serana rolled her eyes, but softened it with a smile. "You're ridiculous."

"Isn't that why we're dating?" her girlfriend asked as they headed out the door.

She took a moment to lock up while Serana laughed. "'Careless Whisper' on a boom box outside my window. I can't believe my dad didn't kill you. I know you stole that, by the way. We both went to see that movie when it came out."

"They marketed it as a romcom!" Elayn protested.

They were in the car now. It would be a trick to find parking, but they were running early thanks to Serana's habit of scheduling everything. Elayn was more the type to go with the flow, but living together had her adapted enough that the flow she went with was largely dictated by Serana's schedule. As a research chemist, she worked interesting hours at times, but Elayn was a good roommate, she cooked and cleaned, mostly because she had the time. Lacrosse wasn't a well paying sport compared to something like soccer, but the off seasons gave her plenty of time to maintain their loft. 

"Five dollars an hour?" Elayn griped as the machine printed out their ticket. 

"Homophobia strikes again," Serana said with mock solemnity. 

She snorted and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waste. "Which park did you say this thing started in again?" 

It was a little place surrounded by tall buildings, but it was a green patch in a city largely made out of grey. It being Pride Month, the grey was broken up by rainbows. The two wandered around as they waited for the parade to start. 

Well, at least, they started to wander when Elayn caught sight of a dog and all but dragged her girlfriend over to say hi. 

"What's his name?" she asked, so full of enthusiasm she practically floated. "Can I pet him?" 

The dog's owner, someone with a short haircut in a crop top that was orange, yellow, and white striped, nodded. "If he lets you. Sometimes he's not so-- oh gosh," they said, eyes wide as they watched Elayn kneel down and offer a hand to sniff that was immediately accepted. "You must have good vibes." 

"She's a dog person," Serana said with a laugh as the dog put its front paws on Elayn's shoulders so he could lick her face. 

"What's his name?" she asked through slobbery kisses. 

The butch grinned. "That's Duke, I'm Cas. It's nice to meet you!" 

The two introduced themselves just in time for a volunteer to come up with bottles of water. "Our city got voted best water in the state," she said cheerfully. "Take a few, it's gonna be a hot one." 

Before the march, there were speeches. The first was an introduction to the city's first pride parade since the 80s. The second was from a drag queen inviting everyone to the show later that night. Finally, the speeches were closed by an Episcopalian pastor trying to make up for the rest of Christianity's sins. 

"It's starting!" Elayn said excitedly when the crowd started to funnel out of the park. 

The march went down the sidewalk for a few blocks. Traffic was halted and the waiting cars honked while passengers waved. Elayn waved a lesbian flag, Serana had a bi flag, and the two of them dragged a rainbow striped cooler. 

"Mom! Mom!" Elayn heard behind her. "Look, it's two cicadas going at it!" 

She glanced behind her. There was a set of twins, about twelve years old, one of them draped in a trans flag and holding the cicadas that were indeed trying to reproduce. Elayn snorted and hit herself in the face trying to keep a laugh contained. "You like bugs, huh?" 

The girl in the trans flag beamed. "They're my favorite! Well, except for tarantulas, but Mom won't let me have one." 

"The rabbit gets out of its cage enough." The way the girl's mom said it, this was an age old argument. "I don't want to squash it when it ends up in my shoe."

"I had a snake when I was growing up," Serana chimed in. "A corn snake that never got out." 

The twins turned out to be part of a family unit. One twin was trans, and their older brother was too, and as Elayn found soon, was very excited to start HRT. "Get a Gc2b binder," she said. "When I'm feeling like a flat day, it works really well." 

The boy, a younger fourteen, practically floated with excitement. "I will!" 

Serana chatted with the parents while Elayn occupied the kids. "Have you folks been to Pride before?" 

Their mom, a woman named Chelsea, shook her head. "Nope, both kids came out last September and they've been talking about the festival ever since." 

"You seem like really supportive parents," Serana said. It carried the weight of one speaking who has not had contact with their parents since high school. 

Chelsea could tell, and she opened her arms for a hug that Serana was more than happy to accept. 

The march was only about a mile long, and it ended in another park. Elayn craned her neck and said, "I think I see the beer line, wait here?" 

"We will!" said the girl, who was very proud to be named Luna now. 

Serana and Chelsea shared a grin. "I guess we'll wait here," the mom said. 

It was a bit of a line, which was probably not a good thing, but apparently people were restricted on how many drinks they could buy, so at least there was that. While Elayn waited, she was joined by two people wearing pronoun pins that said "she/her". 

Elayn's jaw dropped at the sight of one of the girls' dress, which was a flowing, fae like ensemble. "Holy shit!" she said. "You look amazing!" 

She blushed and ducked her head as she smiled. "Thank you, I got it from Amazon." 

"It's her first Pride," her friend added.

That just amazed Elayn more. "With the sparkles and the green eyeshadow, I wouldn't have guessed. Everything you've got going on is just amazing."

"Thank you!" she squeaked. 

Elayn wasn't alone in thinking the dress was gorgeous. Another person came up to compliment it, and they had such dope tattoos that Elayn could not help but comment. 

"The guy that did them is great," they gushed. "He does blacklight work too!" 

So she got a website saved on her phone for the next time she really wanted to get a tattoo on top of the three she already had; scrollwork on her bicep, a wolf on her shoulder blade, and a small date on her wrist that was the day she met Serana. 

When she got back to her girlfriend and the others, an IPA in hand that was frankly piss, she told them about the girl in the fae dress. 

"I saw her!" Serana exclaimed. 

"Amazon." 

"No way." 

Next was food, especially if she was going to drink a beer. Assuming she actually drank it. "There's some food trucks," she pointed out. "I could go for a corndog." 

"I'm going to get some mac and cheese," Serana said. 

"Mom! Mom!" Luna's twin brother, Ian, tugged at his mom's sleeve. "Can we get pretzels?" 

Chelsea sighed good-naturedly. "I suppose. Do you two want to meet up after?" 

"Over by the stage?" Elayn suggested. 

The group separated. She found the line for corndogs and funnel cake. While she was waiting, the woman ahead of her glanced her way, so Elayn said, "Howdy!" 

"Hey there, hun!" She clapped her on the shoulder. "Having a good time?" 

"I am," she said with a grin. "Everyone here is so nice. There were some moms back there handing out hugs!" 

"Well, I'm a mom, would you like a hug?" 

"I would love that." 

It was a lovely hug, the woman was warm and smelled floral. When they separated, she said, "I'm Elayn! It's good to meet you. Can I get you a corndog?" 

As she pulled out her wallet, the woman waved her money away. "It's Nessa, and actually, I'd like to buy you a corndog." 

"You don't have to--" 

Nessa laughed. "I miss my daughters, you'd be doing me a favor." 

They chatted while the line went down, about lacrosse and about university. It turned out Nessa's two daughters went off to college in other cities, so it had been a while since she saw either. "I had a son," she said. "But now I have a very happy daughter, and I'm so proud of her." 

"I wish I had a mom like you," Elayn said, thinking about growing up foster care. 

Nessa grabbed her in another hug. "Now you do!" 

When she got back to Serana and the others, they were listening to the music booming from the speakers. She had to yell to tell the group about her new mom. 

Chelsea looked a little sad, because she could connect the dots, but Luna and Ian were too busy freaking out over the cotton candy Nessa had bought her too. 

Not long after, the stage was occupied. Elayn was chatting with Luna with her back turned, so she missed it until Serana tapped her shoulder and turned her around. 

"Holy shit!" She hollered and clapped at the sight of a gorgeous, sequin clad drag queen in four inch heels doing a backflip off the stage and onto grass. "Holy shit!" 

As it turned out, the drag queens took tips, and it was at that point that Elayn knew she was about to spend a lot of money. Each queen that performed, and there were many, got a five in exchange for the sheer joy Elayn got when the queen before her touched her hand. 

When there was a break in the performances, she went back to Serana, who had a smirk on her face. "Should I be jealous?" 

Elayn cupped her face, and in a fit of sheer enthusiasm, kissed her girlfriend soundly, to the delight of the twins who hooted. "Don't worry, babe," she teased. "You're the only queen for me." 

"Flatterer." Serana swatted at her chest, but the smile on her face was pleased regardless. 

It was all a blur from there. Fair food, loud music-- and Elayn found beer that wasn't piss! She taught the twins a new vocabulary of cuss words the moment she found out their mom was fine with foul language. They parted around five in the afternoon, when a voice through a megaphone warned attendants that the festival was about to start catering to adults. There was a concert with more drag queens, this time in much more risqué outfits that Elayn would have given a kidney to see on Serana. 

When she said something, her girlfriend got a light in her eye. "Really now?" she purred. "Maybe for your birthday." 

By 11pm, Elayn was high on the party atmosphere and a few beers. The festival was over, and the walk back to their car would be a trick. "Did you have fun?" she asked Serana as they walked hand in hand. 

She got a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so glad I have you. When are we getting married?"

"When I figure out how to surprise you with a ring." 

[gyllenhaalstories]

BEST FRIEND!JAKE — PART 4.

warnings: mentions of them as children & teenagers (it is assumed they are close in age), mentions of underage drinking. mentions of cheating if you squint really hard. MINORS DON’T INTERACT, 18+.

notes: this is a request, and also a spin off on my 3 other parts except they’re absolutely not related and i’m going in a completely different direction. it was supposed to be nice, short and silly, but it got poetic real quick, oopsie! if you want to read the rest, check out my masterlist! i hope you guys will enjoy! <3

Jake and you had quite the history.

Neighbours, family friends, childhood shenanigans that always revolved around Jake stealing your toys as a way to invite you to come over at his place and hang out so more or you seeking your revenge by stealing his spot on the swings at the park,

You knew Jake like the back of your hand, except that you ignored his favourite colour but that does not invalidate your friendship.

You did not go to the same schools, but your parents set homework dates every night so you could help each other out and have time to catch up about your crazy day at school. One day you’d have dinner at Jake’s, the next one it was at yours.

Jake was more than the annoying kid next door. Jake was family to you.

And you were family to him too.

You celebrated the holidays with the Gyllenhaals’, you had presents waiting for you and surprise birthday parties at their place every year.

You set up plays and performances in the basement, dressing up with bits and pieces of costumes from movie sets that Jake took home, or his father asked to keep knowing it would entertain the two of you.

You watched Care Bear episodes, holding your favourite bear from the show, during rainy days and eat candies that would keep you up all night. You went up to your room, way past your bedtime. You hid under the covers with a flashlight, reading a book or drawing crazy imaginary creatures. You giggled wen your parents reminded you to go to sleep, you both had school the next day. Jake did not have time to move back down to his air mattress, he slept in your bed, holding one paw of the teddy bear he got you years ago while you held the other one.

If soulmates ever existed, you were the living proof of it.

*~*~*

Eventually, High School was coming to an end and you were facing the biggest dilemmas of your existence.

What to do, where to go... Jake had plans. He wanted to go out to college, to pursue his dreams. He brought home brochures and post cards, printed website pages and invitations to open houses of schools that might interest you. The problem was that your own dreams were very different from his.

All your lives, opposites attracted. Jake was quirky, played in a band, had this emo phase he would forever be in denial about. You were both whirlwind of emotions, opinions and ambitions, but for the first time ever: it became a huge problem. 

An earthquake came, bursting your bubble of plans and dreams with him.

What caused it? You might never know.

Maybe it was the fact you guys started to hold hands when you took a stroll around the neighbourhood on weekends, sharing headphones and discovering new music together. Maybe it was the fact you two would go to the mall, you’d buy him a nice t-shirt, he’d buy you a new bracelet. Maybe it was the fact you started to end your messages and phone calls with quick, but heartfelt, “i love yous”, not really knowing if you both meant it or not. Maybe it was the fact you stopped doing homework together, because whenever you showed up at his house, there would be this other girl from his school. She’d hold on his arm, steal his hoodies that were once part of your wardrobe. Maybe it was the fact you had an argument about prom, breaking the promise you made that you would attend together. Maybe it was the fact he told you he could not go, but you bumped into him at the party afterwards and caught him and that one girl kissing in the kitchen when you wanted to fill your red solo cup.

Maybe it was the fact that the two of you were drifting apart.

And you stood by the shore, watching the boat sail away in the distance.

*~*~*

The waters were calm and stable, you had found the right path for you. You had a job you did not hate that much, and you were living with someone who brought you joy and made you laugh every night. What else could you ask for?

One night, you could not fall asleep and you were sitting by the desk, diving deep into random google and wikipedia searches when you received a notification on your email. The address seemed familiar, the message simple, it was a link to one of your favourite song, growing up; that one song you listened to constantly on your MP3 player. The one song that came back in your most streamed music on Spotify.

“Together forever, remember?”

In an urge you could not understand, you put on shoes and an old hoodie from Columbia University, the same hoodie you received in the mail years ago with a plane ticket to the Big Apple that you never used. And you headed straight out of your small city apartment, with your car keys in your hands and you drove.

You drove deep into the night, becoming one of those weirdos who was out on the road at 3 am.

You knew the way by heart, one left turn there; a few more turns on the right.

You stopped the car, the parking lot seemed abandoned.

You walked, your feet disappearing in the cold sand. You followed the steps of the person that was standing by the beach, where the waves slowly caressed the shore. You opened your mouth to shout, but spoke softly instead. “Never gonna give you up.”

Jake turned around, the moon reflected on the water and lit up his face. There were traces of tears, of sadness and of fatigue.

You held his hands tightly in yours. They felt so warm, so familiar. They felt like home.

And you pulled him into a hug. Your face disappeared in the nape of his neck and his arms circled your waist tighter than ever before.

Jake stood there, silent. He did not feel like explaining what was weighing heavy on his shoulders. He knew that whatever was going on, it would be fixed by you. You always fixed everything.

You sighed in the embrace. It felt even better than what you imagined in the numerous dreams you had about this very special day you would reunite.

Life tried to keep you apart, but soul mates always found a way back.

You finally looked up and met his eyes, the sun was slowly rising in the horizon. You nodded, he smiled. It was like you both finally realized what you refused to acknowledge since the first time you met him, that you were two missing pieces of the same puzzle and the best way to fix this problem was to be together.

He broke the silence, promising to make you a room in his new apartment, to help you relocate and find a better job in New York City, to show you all the spots he sent you photos of during the year. He promised to make it up for all the broken promises he made in the past.

He ignored the extent of your existence, here. He ignored you had someone waiting for you at home, probably spamming you with messages and phonecalls. He ignored you had a big decision to make in this refreshing morning, whether to give Jake and yourself the chance you deserved or waste this second chance.

You were his safety jacket, who, once pressed tight against his heart, helped him keep his head above the water.

Jake was your lighthouse, guiding you home.

[limenysnocket]

Attention and Company

I couldn't help myself. @honorarytenenbaum

Summary: Sometimes you need someone to chill with, and that's okay. Maybe that person is your boyfriend who also gets a little roughed up at work sometimes. Pubs can sustain you both for only so long, but what you really need is to curb yourselves in the mall parking lot, right next to a shaved ice food truck.

Warnings: Just some light swearing, a bit of angst, a lot of fluff, and some brief mentions to "raunchy" behavior. This is a soft fic for y'all tonight, out here needin' some gentle lovin'.

A/N: Got some lonely feelings right now. I just wanna hug someone, dude. Yo, we could totally watch a movie over discord sometime... maybe.

○●□○●□○●□○●□○

Today sucked. Flat out. The bags under your eyes didn't lie, and now here you were, outside of your studio, sitting on the hood of your car, eating a granola bar to stave off hunger for a few more hours. Hopefully.

You pull your phone from your pocket, looking at the time for a moment, then looking at your screensaver. It was the only thing that could make you smile. You had your arm wrapped around one of your closets friends, Taika, and the phone didn't capture it, but he had his arm wrapped around your waist. His curls were all messed up, and the picture perfectly showed how drunk you both were by the fuzzy pink on your cheeks. It was 99 cent beer night at one of the local pubs, and unlike the first one held at a baseball game, all went well.

Of course, there was a limit to how much the two of you were allowed to drink, but that didn't stop the many failed attempts at stealing other people's drinks while they were looking away, just to get a taste more. Didn't matter that you guys were eventually thrown out of the bar for breaking rules and coming close to breaking a few faces, you had a great night.

That night also lead to a few other places, including his hotel room, but that end of the story has to be saved for another time.

Instead of staring at your phone for another century, you decide to unlock it and dial the man up. You knew he was somewhere around here, either charming his way onto another movie set to mess with his rich friends, or getting his tired ass kicked by daylight savings.

His number was saved to your favorites, so dialing him was quick and easy. The wait for him to pick up didn't last long either.

"Talk to me..."

God, his voice sounds like one big yawn. Looks like he needs a bit of perking up too.

"I've got two curbside tickets to eat a snow cone and watch kids do loops on their bikes in the parking lot. One of those tickets has your name on them," you grin, despite sounding exhausted too. The day really made you strain your voice.

His musical laughter really makes the sun look brighter from its low position in the sky.

"That's oddly specific... where would these magical tickets take me afterwards?" He had cocked his eyebrows up and leaned against his office door while he spoke to you.

"If this were a booty call, I would have told you already, Taik," you snort and tease him. "So, it's either make yourself fat on some weirdly flavored snow cone, or take your horny-ass home."

"Okay, okay... I'd like to make myself fat for a night, as long as your there," his voice is dreamy, desperate and warm. "You there already?"

"Nope," your lips pop the p, "but I'm nearby."

"I swear to God, if you're talking and driving, I'm gonna whoop your ass," Taika stood up, acting serious when he was just really worried about your safety in general.

"I'm not, I'm fine," you laugh again. "Not even in the car. Sitting on it though, trying to convince the world's sexiest man to go out with me again."

"And you said this wasn't a booty call," he retorts over the phone, making you playfully glare at the asphalt on the road. It's like he's in front of you.

"You coming or not?" you change the subject and you hear him laugh again, but softer.

"Yeah... I'll be there in a few minutes, gorgeous."

He always made goodbyes so easy. Maybe it was because you both knew you would be seeing each other again, no matter what circumstances you were thrown into. But the dial tone still had its effects.

You slip off the hood of your car, and take a seat in the driver's seat. The warm summer air makes your skin glow, and your brain went fuzzy only imagining it doing the same to Taika.

The drive feels so quiet. For a moment, you actually thought about calling him again, but you knew for a fact that he wouldn't pick up if he was driving.

As predicted, kids are zooming around on their bikes, showing off to their friends or trying to be cool, even though they all were obviously teary-eyed each time they scraped a knee. It was amusing to you and Taika, especially when some of the older boys would try to catch your attention and zip past you and Taika. It ended up being a heckle fest in the end, and some kid always went home with his butt hurt.

Keys and wallet in hand, you trek to the small, blue trailer tucked in the corner of the parking lot.

"Damn, you must have beat me here by just a few seconds," Taika calls, rustling his way through the small spaces between a couple of cars.

"Well, you've never been a speed demon type, so last place is your calling when it comes to racing," you guwaf and grin at him. He rolls his eyes and comes to walk right next to you.

"I pride myself on road safety," he hums, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

You glance at him from the side, just to silently check up on him. His hair was tousled and his eyes were resteless. It looks like he had it rough from the start. He had struggled to get dressed this morning, but picked the most eccentric clothes in his closet to make up from his lack of sleep.

"Dare you to try the dill pickle flavor this time," his cocky tone wakes you up.

"Like hell I will," you snort as you finally reach the trailer, where a teen boy happily greets the both of you.

"Oh come on, it'll be funny," he eggs you on, his bottom lip pouting.

"Keep trying to make me get dill pickle, and the next time we have a movie night together, I'm getting the pizza," you sniff and he rolls his eyes. He thinks it is an odd threat. "And I'm making it all Hawaiian pizza." That got his attention.

"Bull shit, you would never. Not on a perfectly good pizza!" He gasps.

"Oh, just watch me, pineapple boy," you snicker and point to his pineapple print shorts. You break conversation to order two piña colada flavored snow cones. Taika usually took for-fucking-ever when it came to picking a single flavor, so ever since the second time you've been out here with him, he assigned you to choose for him. He usually got what you got.

Now, you wait.

You plop yourself down on the curb, as you promised, and he joined you with a long, loud groan. You give him a bewildered stare, wondering if his age had really gotten him this much. He smiles at you through a wince.

"Sat on my keys," he wheezes and chuckles at his own stupidity under his breath.

Your eyes float down to where he pulls out his keys and you start giggling quietly.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure you've done the same thing," Taika says, not handling the fact that you have new material to mess with him, and also trying to get some stories out of you.

"Well yeah, but I don't sit down as violently as you do," you prod his bicep, and he laughs.

"Such a lady. Must sit down gracefully and slowly," he says, mocking an English accent, but he was horrible at accents so of course it was bad. You smack his bicep this time, and he playfully flinches, like it hurt.

"I really need to get you into some accent classes or some shit, before you get your teeth knocked out," you shake your head with a smile.

"What? I think I'm great at accents. My American accent is the best one yet, don't you think?" He smirks at you, and proceeds to demonstrate. "All you have to do is put an 'er' at the end of everything, right? That's totally how they speak around here."

"I would be careful, Mr. Waititi. Could get in some trouble if you say that too loudly," you roll your eyes, and he sighs. Yeah. Things were going to shit in LA. It was clear to everyone, but what could two hollywood producers do to stop things like that? Keep making films, you guess.

"Two, large piña coladas!"

You look up, and so does he.

"I'll get them," you volunteer, but he places his hand on your shoulder before you could get up.

"Let me," he speaks softly, in a damn near whisper.

He stands up and strides right over to the trailer with so much confidence, you're envious. He comes back with two large styrofoam cups in hand, spoons, and a warm smile. His smile was always warm. It set fire in your belly.

He sits down a bit more carefully this time, even though his car keys were sitting in the grass, far away from his landing zone. He hands you your cup and a spoon.

"Do these have alcohol in them?" He nudges you with your elbow and you shake your head.

"As if they would let a seventeen-year-old serve alcoholic beverages," you throw in logic.

"I dunno... ever been to a ballpark before? Pretty sure some of those kids are way too young to be peddling there too, but that doesn't stop people from hiring them," he says while pointing his spoon at you.

"Fair point," you finish, then look at your snow cone. You decide to start eating before it melts.

Silence swarms the air, but comfortably. There's the occasional murmur of cicadas or humming cars drowning them out. Birds would land on the scorching asphalt to pick at whatever crumbs were left by other patrons, before fluttering away at the sight of a zooming bike getting too close for comfort.

Taika will point out a few of the kids doing tricks. He picks his favorites for the night, and he keeps himself busy by watching them. You, on the other hand, are occupied with him. You examine him from the tips of his dirty white chucks, to his frazzled hairdo.

"You look like shit," you mutter. He barely pays you mind and that comment was hardly acknowledged. It was like the air had gone a bit stiffer. He was hiding something from you.

"What's going on, Taik?" you worry. He never kept things from you, unless they were hard to bear.

He sets his cup down and holds his hands together. He looks so tired. So solemn.

"Today was total shit," he whispers and runs a hand through his hair.

"Well, yeah, I get that. I wouldn't have known if you had looked a little spiffier," you say, reaching out and gently tucking a curl on his forehead back in place with all the rest of its friends.

"Look, I--..." he says, turning to you, lips parted slightly, and a yearning sensation bubbling from the tips of his fingers as he rests a single hand on you.

There were tough times with the occupancy you both, willingly, chose. The hardest part about it was making friends, or making love, then finding out you have to leave it behind for a new location the next morning.

"I have to leave... for Sydney..." he says, reaching to gently take your cheek into the palm of his hand.

"When?" you manage, though you were clearly becoming upset.

"In a few weeks. Thor is waiting for me," he sighs, barely able to look at you while his thumb rubbed your ample cheek.

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"I don't want to leave you," he says, tilting your head up just the slightest bit. "And I don't want to stop loving you."

Your eyes search his for a moment, wide and a bit confused.

"I thought you said we were just a fling with--"

He cuts you off, "A fling with benefits. I know..." he sighs again, "but every time I find myself waiting for you to call on a shitty day, each time you rest your head on my shoulder, all the times you smile at me and tease me, I find myself falling... more in love with you." He has to pause to breathe.

It's so quiet. Dangerously quiet.

"What happens if I love you too...?" you muster your courage, and look right into his expressive, brown eyes.

"I don't know," he says to you, thumb still rubbing circles.

"Guess there's only one way to find out, huh?" you breathe, and he nods.

Still as statues, you wait for words to touch the air. It's only when his foot makes a wrong move and knocks over his snow cone, does the tension break.

His bottom lip pouts for him again and you quietly pick his spoon up off the ground. You clean it on your shirt and hand it to him, all before taking your cup, and holding it out to share. He smiles down at you, taking his spoon from your hand and sticking it into the shaved ice.

Your head leans against his shoulder when the sun disappears behind the mall building.

"I love you too," you whisper.

"I know," he says back, sucking at the tip of his spoon.

"Think we can keep this up over the phone?" you ask, wondering about a brief virtual relationship, just until one of you catches a break.

"Guess there's only one way to find out, huh?" he says, lowering his spoon, wrapping his arm around you, and giving you his full attention.

[prettyboybarzal]

We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off

Pairing: Sammy Blais x Reader

Word Count: 6.9k

Warnings: Lots of smut. Again. Some unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it) and light choking. I think that’s all! 

A/N: This is the sequel to Get You, however I think it could be read as a stand alone. I hope you enjoy! This is probably the quickest fic I’ve ever written. Please let me know what you think!!! xoxo Btw, this is inspired by the song of the same name by Ella Eyre! 

Previous Part // Masterlist

“Okay, I printed your boarding ticket. It’s with your passport on the kitchen counter. Do not forget them tomorrow.”

You were standing at the end of your bed with your back to the door, shoving away the last of the clothes you needed for your trip to St. Louis. Your stomach turned, bottom lip quivering at the worry you felt all over.

“YN?” your roommate called when you didn’t respond. She approached you slowly, hand coming to rest against your back as she stepped up beside you. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay,” you admitted. Truthfully, it felt good to say it out loud. You pushed your bag away and sat on the bed with a sigh. “This is, what, the third time in the past two months we’ve planned a weekend to spend together? Still, no label. It’s like he wants to act like a boyfriend, but he doesn’t want to lock it down. I don’t know what to think.”

“Okay,” she said slowly as she sat beside you. “Well, it’s gotta be a good sign that he wants to spend weekends with you. That’s three whole days together. With his busy schedule that has to mean something.”

“Yeah, but what is he doing the rest of the time?”

Hooking up with Sammy after his return from St. Louis proved to be a great decision. You spent the summer together whether it was between the sheets or hanging out around your friends and every moment was sweeter than the one before. But Summer didn’t last forever and he needed to leave for training camp, so he had to say goodbye. Except he didn’t. Instead, he handed you a ticket to visit him on the weekend of the Blues home opener.

You spent nearly the entire weekend in bed together, save for the moments he spent on the ice with you watching him. By the time you landed back home that Sunday night, you could hardly walk. 

During your second visit it was much of the same, but that time he actually made a reservation at a five-star restaurant. Sitting across from him in such an intimate setting was the catalyst to the anxiety about where the two of you stood. 

Was he in this just for the sex? Or was this something more?

You hoped it was something more.

---

Sammy didn’t really find a special interest anyone, so when he came back from the off season with a little more pep in his step, Vince just knew. 

“Who’s the girl?”

“How’d you know there’s a girl?”

“You got this swagger to you, Blais,” Vince answered with a grin. “You walked in here with a pimp walk.”

“Her name’s YN,” Sammy told him, cheeks burning red at the thought of the nights you spent together. “She’s a friend from home.”

“Something tells me she’s a little bit more than a friend.”

“I mean, we’re just hooking up,” Sammy said dismissively. Vince nodded, not even the slightest bit aware of any underlying feelings there might’ve been. When you came to visit, he couldn’t ignore the glaring feelings Sammy had for you. It was evident in the way he frantically cleaned the apartment the day before and how he made sure to stock up on snacks you liked, even though you’d only be there for a few days and he was planning on taking you out to eat for most of your meals. 

After meeting you, Vince understood why Sammy was so into you and he also knew that there was no way this was just a hookup. 

While you were packing your bags at home, Sammy was working on the apartment. He was dusting and vacuuming and putting all of his bedding through the wash in preparation for your arrival. Vince watched in amusement from the couch, offering no support whatsoever.

“You’re so into her.”

Sammy ignored him as he folded up one of the blankets on their couch and threw it over the back.

“This weekend’s the big weekend, right?” he asked, hoping that his best friend would finally come to his senses and wife you up. The look on Sammy’s face indicated that maybe it wasn’t the big weekend and Vince’s jaw dropped. “You got her tickets to sit with the girls tomorrow. Doesn’t that basically mean she’s your girlfriend?”

“I mean, I haven’t asked.”

“You should.”

“I know,” he grumbled. He was in the middle of fluffing the decorative pillows Vince’s mom sent them. Vince grabbed one and fluffed it for him, realizing that Sammy was in a state of distress. “I wanna ask. I just don’t know when to do it.”

“Ask when you pick her up.”

“That’s not romantic at all.”

“Then ask her when you get back here,” Vince suggested. “Get her a bouquet of flowers or something and just ask.”

---

“Welcome back to the Lou!” Sammy exclaimed as you walked towards him outside baggage claim. Despite the anxiety pit at the bottom of your stomach, you grinned when you saw him. He was dressed in his usual uniform--joggers and a Blues t-shirt--and as you folded into his arms, you felt like you were home. “How was the flight?”

“It was great,” you answered. You began to pull away, but he kept you close to his chest. “First class was a little unnecessary.”

“Not for you,” he murmured. And then he leaned down to kiss you, but you tilted your head just slightly only allowing his kiss to fall against your cheek.

There was nothing but panic coursing through his veins as he released you from his arms. He stepped away and pulled the door open for you after taking your duffel bag off your hands. While he rounded the truck, he tried to piece together any indication that you might’ve been mad at him leading up to this weekend, but he was coming up empty.

He put on a brave face as he slid into the driver’s seat, smiling softly when he asked what you wanted to listen to on the way back to his apartment. You took the aux, shuffled your liked songs, and watched the city of St. Louis whizz by from his passenger side window. 

Sammy kept glancing over at you, frustration and confusion clear on his face. You could feel his eyes every time he did so, like they were burning holes in your skin. Finally, you returned his gaze and offered him a smile before reaching out to lace your fingers with his and place them in your lap.

“Welcome back, YN,” Vince greeted as soon as you stepped through the apartment doors. He was on the couch, video game controller in his hand. He hardly even spared you a look, having gotten used to your presence in their apartment throughout the first two months of the season.

“Thanks, Dunner.”

“I’m going to go put your bag away and then run to the bathroom,” Sammy spoke softly. He ran a hand over your hair, cupping the back of your head as he looked down at you. “Meet me in my room?”

You nodded and accepted the kiss that he decided to place against your forehead. Guilt washed over you as you realized he was avoiding your lips, admittedly for a really good reason. 

“How was your flight?” Vince asked after Sammy was gone. His question was followed up with a string of curses as he died in the game on the television. He turned after exiting to the main screen and smiled up at you. “I heard Mr. Blais pulled out all the stops this time around.”

“I told him that I didn’t need first class.”

“I told him you’d say that,” Vince said. “He said that he didn’t care.” You laughed nervously, which was noted by the boy on the couch, and he gnawed at his lip while debating his next words. “He’s been talking about this weekend since the last time you were here.”

“Yeah?”

“Non-stop,” he answered, a playful eye roll to go along with it. You couldn’t help but smile as you allowed yourself to daydream about that thought. “Anyway, you go get your man. I’ll be in here, so don’t be too loud or anything.”

“Like you don’t wanna hear it,” you teased, turning to head off to Sammy’s room.

“You know what?” Vince called after you. “Be as loud as you want.”

Your laughter echoed through the apartment and Sammy, who was in the bathroom washing his hands, grinned at the sound of it. 

Sammy’s room, once again, was immaculate. His bed was made, there was no laundry in his laundry basket, and he even had a bouquet of flowers sitting on his nightstand. You ran your fingers along the petals, cheeks heating up at the thought of him going out of his way to get them.

Why hadn’t you kissed him at the airport? The little voice inside your head was going to ruin everything before you had the chance to make it really good. You felt guilty, and so you needed to make it up to him. You pulled your shirt over your head and then slipped off your leggings, leaving you in just the lace set you’d thrown on for the trip. 

---

Sammy spent the last few weeks thinking about kissing you, touching you, and then you greeted him like he was a stranger. His whole plan had been tossed out of the window after you dodged that kiss. The meaning of the flowers waiting for you on his bedside table completely diminished. He couldn’t ask you out. He wasn’t even sure you wanted it now.

When he entered his bedroom, he was actively trying to put it all behind him and he succeeded because when he pushed the door open, he found you laying against his pillows half-naked.

“Fuck.”

You laughed as he ran his hands over his face to compose himself. 

“Fuuuuck.”

“I missed you,” you spoke softly, spreading your legs for him. He threw his head back before kicking the door closed and approaching the bed, a dark look in his eyes. He crawled up the mattress towards you, hands coming to push your legs apart even farther.

He placed a kiss against the fabric covering your mound. You gasped and he smiled, happy to hear that sound again. He continued a path of kisses up your stomach through the valley of your breasts to your lips.

“I need you,” you spoke in that breathless and airy voice he loved so much. “Sammy, please fuck me.”

He wasn’t sure that he had enough time for this, but he was dying to be inside of you so he threw caution to the wind. He hooked his fingers in your panties and tugged them down. He tossed them towards the corner of the room haphazardly and reached towards his sweats to pull them down and do the same. His boxers were quick to follow. 

“Condom?” he asked. You nodded, but he was already reaching towards the bedside table.

You stared at his hand as he popped his length and then rolled the condom on. Finally, he slotted himself between your thighs and brushed the head of his cock along your folds.

“Fuck, YN,” he moaned as he entered you. He did so slowly, savoring every bit of the way you tightened around him and your hands grasped his shoulders. It never got old listening to the way you whimpered as he filled you up and then pulled out to do it again. He hooked one of your legs over his hip and fucked you nice and slow.

“You like that, baby?” he asked, eyes trained on your lips and the way they parted with each movement. You nodded. “You’re so good for me.”

And you’re so good for me, you thought, though you didn’t dare voice it.

He grabbed your wrists in one hand and pinned them above your head as he fucked you, each thrust hitting the right spot because Sammy had studied your body for months and knew exactly what he was doing.

Your moans were soft and quiet, polite even considering Vince was just beyond the bedroom door. You arched your back and pressed your chest against Sammy’s, the feeling of his sweatshirt soft against your skin. If he continued rolling his hips into you like he was, you’d cum in no time. Missing him always meant a quicker orgasm when you were back together.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. A groan ripped through his chest as it heaved from the work he was putting in. He dropped your wrists as he glanced over to the screen, still moving inside of you in case the call didn’t need to be answered and he could continue. Much to his dismay, Thommer’s name flashed across the screen.

He met your eyes a little uneasily.

“I need to answer.”

“Okay,” you squeaked.

He reached over to the phone and answered, pressing it to his ear while still seated inside you. 

“What’s up?” he greeted his teammate. His head dropped to your shoulder as he nodded along with whatever was being said on the other end of the phone. “Already?”

You wanted to shove him off, push him away and slip into the bathroom for a shower and a good cry. 

“Yeah, okay,” he spoke, eyes searching your face for a sign as to how you were feeling. Your eyes wouldn’t meet his and he knew he was fucked. “I’ll tell Vince. See you in fifteen.”

When he ended the call, he dropped the phone beside you and cursed in French as he pulled out of you.

“YN, I’m so sorry. Thommer’s on the way,” he groaned. “I have to get ready to leave.” 

Your mouth opened and then snapped shut as he placed one last kiss against your lips before standing. As he shuffled about the room, you pulled his comforter up to your chin and rolled to your side, eyes shutting to prevent yourself from crying.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, it’s fine,” you answered without opening your eyes. He frowned as he stared down at you. “I’ll see you after the game.”

He could see right through you. He knew you were mad, but instead of getting into it, he said, “I’m leaving you one of my t-shirts and I talked to O’Reilly earlier about having his wife pick you up so you have someone to go with. Oh, and those flowers are for you.”

“Thanks.”

You heard him crouch down beside the bed.

“Hey,” he whispered. Your eyes fluttered open and met his gaze. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“I’m not upset, Sammy.”

“You’re not a good liar,” he said, lip quirking up in a lopsided smile. You stuck your tongue out at him as he stood, sauntering off to grab some of his things for the rink. He dropped them by the door before returning to your side of the bed and leaning over you. “I’ll see you later.”

“Good luck tonight.”

“I don’t need luck,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your lips. “You’ll be there.”

---

“There’s still no label?”

“Nope.”

“But you want it, don’t you?”

“More than anything.”

Your cheeks flushed as soon as the words hit the air between you and the WAGs. A few of them squealed in excitement, some nodded as if they understood the predicament you were in. This was your third time around them and they were very invested in the situationship between you and Sammy. They loved him, and they loved you now that they’d gotten to know you, so they were just waiting for the question to be popped.

“Well, you’re coming out with us tonight, right?”

“I didn’t even know there was something going on after the game.”

“Sammy’s getting selfish on us, huh?” one of them asked. “Wants you all to himself.”

“We’re going downtown,” another said. “It’s just a small thing.”

“You need to come. Make him sweat a little bit.”

They had you convinced, though it wasn’t hard to do, and you waited for Sammy eagerly outside the locker room to convince him too. 

“Ready to go home?” he asked as soon as he caught up to you. His arm slid over your shoulders, pulling you into him so he could peck your lips. Your eyes caught the girls just over his shoulder as you returned his kiss, their eyebrows raised expectantly. When you looked back up at him, you felt pretty confident in yourself.

“I want to go out with your team and the girls.”

“Really?” he asked, sounding a bit annoyed. You nodded and his shoulders dropped as a frustrated sigh slipped past his lips. You pouted up at him, twirling the hair at the nape of his neck between your fingers as you waited for him to give in to you. “Alright, alright, fine.”

You hopped up excitedly and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before grabbing his hand and tugging him to the car.

--- Sammy didn’t want to be out with his team. He wanted to be alone with you, at home with his hands exploring every inch of your body. Instead, he was watching you mingle with his teammates and their girlfriends and wives while he waited for you to return from the bar. 

He watched you, groaning internally each time someone new stopped you to catch up. It was all well and good that the team liked you this much, but he wanted his time with you. When you finally arrived back at the table, you had a drink for him and one for yourself as well. He grabbed you by the hips once you were within reach and pulled you down into his lap.

“You look like you’re having fun.”

“And you don’t,” you teased. 

“I’ve been hard since I left you this afternoon,” he griped. You rolled your eyes, but your lips betrayed you as they curled up at the corners. “I’ve been thinking about fucking you all night.”

“Patience is a virtue.”

“And I’ve been patient,” he spoke, kissing the sensitive spot on your neck. “I’ve been patient for three weeks, waiting for you to come back to me.”

“A few more hours won’t kill you.”

“It might,” he grunted. You laughed softly, rolling your eyes at him as you dropped a kiss to his lips. He smiled into it and watched you carefully as you pulled away and gazed at the room around you.

“Vince isn’t coming home tonight,” he whispered against the shell of your ear. You tilted your head to the side as he trailed his lips along your skin to your shoulder. “I can’t wait to make you scream my name.”

You swallowed thickly as his hand trailed up to your throat, fingers tilting your face towards his. You leaned in and captured his lips with yours, ignoring the whistles from the guys that were returning to the table with drinks.

---

While Sammy locked up the apartment after getting home, you ventured to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. You gazed out at the city of St. Louis through the window above his sink and thought about the anxiety you felt from the uncertainty between the two of you. You were so distracted that you didn’t hear him enter the room until his hands were sliding around your waist.

He attached his lips to the juncture of your neck and shoulder as his arms snaked around your waist from behind. You sighed into him, breath catching in your throat as his fingers trailed over your clothed core.

“I’ve thought about fucking you against every surface in this apartment,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“And?”

“And what?”

“Which one do you think about the most?”

“This one,” he spoke, pressing your hips against the kitchen counter. His breath fanned over the skin of your neck as he spoke, lighting your body up with goosebumps. “Whenever I eat in here, I think about you in one of my t-shirts, nothing underneath. I think about bending you over, pushing the shirt up over your hips, and fucking you until you can’t stand.”

As much as you were hoping this weekend would sing a different tune than the two before, you still figured you should take advantage of what this relationship really was. You never felt as good as you did when he was filling you up, so why deprive yourself of the feeling?

Sammy’s hand felt heavy along your back as he pressed you against the countertop, and you fed into it by wiggling your ass in front of him, inviting him to do what he’d been daydreaming about. 

He spoke your name in a low, warning tone of voice. Why did you have to be so irresistible? He wanted to take you against the counter so fucking bad, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what this weekend really was supposed to be about.

“Don’t you want to make your daydreams a reality?” you asked, glancing at him over your shoulder. His cock was hard against your ass and his hands wandered up and under the shirt you were wearing, searching for any way to touch your skin. You shed yourself of the jean jacket you’d thrown on and Sammy got a good look at his last name on your back.

“Your bra goes, but my shirt stays on.”

He watched as you unclasped your bra and slipped it off from underneath your shirt, dropping it to the floor beside your feet. His hands were on you immediately, trailing up to your breasts and cupping them as he brought your back to his chest. He played with your nipples while sucking a mark into your neck.

One hand trailed down to your jeans, fingers popping the button undone before unzipping them. They danced along the lace at the top of your panties and then slipped beneath the band and down to your slit. Two fingers sunk into your heat as he tugged your earlobe between his teeth.

His cock strained against the pants he was wearing, pressing into your ass as he pumped his fingers inside of you. Your breathing was already heavy and you couldn’t stop your hips from rutting against his palm as he fingered you. 

He pulled his fingers out and grabbed your jeans by the belt loops, tugging them down to your ankles. You shoved your panties down as well, desperate for him to fill you up. You stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. Sammy sank down to his knees, hands on the back of your thighs to spread your cunt open for him. 

“Always so wet for me,” he murmured. He blew some air onto your pussy and you shivered. He sucked a kiss onto your clit and dragged a whimper out of you as your head fell into your hands. He lapped up your wetness and inserted his two fingers back into your pussy. 

“Fuck, Sammy. So good.”

“Talk to me,” he spoke, tufts of air hitting your needy cunt as he spoke. “Tell me how good this feels. Tell me how good I make you feel.”

“No one makes me feel this good except you,” you cried out as the pace of his fingers quickened. That was what he needed to hear to attach his lips to your pussy again. “Sammy, please.”

“Please what?” he asked, licking another stripe up your slit. “What do you want?”

“I want your cock,” you moaned. “I need it.”

He pulled his fingers out and stood. With one arm, he pulled your back to his chest. He lifted his fingers to your lips and you took them into your mouth willingly, tasting yourself and moaning around them as you sucked. You bobbed your head on them, taking them deeper, and as he watched, his other hand fell to his pants to shove them down. 

They fell to his knees, too needy to even undress completely. The thought of it turned you on. He freed his cock and you felt it hot and heavy against your ass. You heard the crinkling of a condom wrapper, as always, and your mind quickly went elsewhere. You yearned to feel him raw, but not if he had other partners. God, you hoped he didn’t have other partners.

He took his time entering you. Your mouth fell open and his fingers slipped out of it, to curl around your throat. He sank into you, milking the sweet sounds that always came when he bottomed out inside of you.

“You take me so well,” he praised, squeezing your throat just enough. You repeated his name a few times as he pulled out again and slammed back into you. “So good for me, right, baby? You’re so good at taking my cock.”

His hand dropped from your throat to push your chest against the counter. The other gripped your ass, bouncing in front of him as he pumped in and out of you, moans filling the room. He praised you as he filled you up, but the compliments weren’t hitting like they used to, your mind was too full of thoughts that betrayed your feelings.

It wasn’t long before he was reaching his orgasm. He’d been dreaming about taking you against that counter for so long that it was hard to hold out. His hand twisted in your hair and his hips sputtered, and he pulled you back to his chest to suck marks into your neck. You weren’t close by any means, but you moaned loudly as he cursed into your neck to give the illusion that you were reaching your peak with him.

He came into the condom and collapsed against your back for a moment, then pulled out. As he placed kisses along your shoulders and the nape of your neck, his post-sex clarity came to him. Those moans weren’t the moans he was used to. Your body didn’t shake like he was used to. He turned you around and the moment he saw your face, his suspicions were confirmed. You didn’t cum.

You pressed up on your toes and kissed him quickly before ducking beneath his arms. 

“I’m going to shower.”

Sammy watched you disappear from the kitchen and stood there stunned for a few moments. He was racking his brain, trying to figure out what went wrong and where. It felt like with every second that slipped by, you were drifting farther and farther away from him.

Once he heard the shower kick on, he gathered the clothes from the kitchen floor and returned to his bedroom to throw them all in the hamper. He stripped down, thinking about you all the while and wondering how he could save this weekend from falling apart completely. It really bothered him that you weren’t enjoying yourself. Not even the sex could do it for you.

He walked over to the bathroom door and stood outside, hesitating even though he wanted to get into your head. Finally, he opened it and stepped inside. You noticed his frame through the steamed up glass and felt a sadness creep over you. He opened the shower doors and stepped into the stream of water from the shower head. You had your back to him, so he curled his arms around your waist and pulled you into him. Your body relaxed into his touch, finally.

“You think I don’t know your body?” he asked, voice gruff in your ear. His hand slid over your stomach and settled just below your belly button as he pulled your back flush against his chest. “I know you faked that orgasm.” He felt your muscles stiffen. “What’s going on in your head? You haven’t been yourself this entire trip. Talk to me.”

“Sammy, I can’t do this anymore,” you blurted out, thankful that he couldn’t see your face. This time, he was the one who tensed up. “The sex is great, but it feels like there’s something more even if there isn’t. I don’t know what’s going on in your head and I don’t know if there are other girls when I’m not around, and I’m not even sure I’m allowed to be upset if there are.”

He spun you around and brought you chest-to-chest. One of his hands trailed along your spine to the small of your back and the other cradled your cheek in his palm. 

“YN, if you hadn’t dodged my kiss at the airport, you would’ve been my girlfriend already,” he spoke. Your brows pulled together. “I bought flowers and everything, but after you didn’t kiss me I didn’t know what to do. It seemed like you just wanted to have sex, so I just thought you didn’t want anything more.”

“Sammy, I--”

“And there are no other girls,” he spoke. “Are there other guys?”

“No, not in forever.”

“So, why are we being stupid?” he asked, hand curling into the back of your hair. He pulled you closer, lips just inches away. “I want you, you want me. Let’s be together.”

“I’d really like that.”

Beneath the warmth of the water, Sammy kissed you long and hard. His arms curled around you, pulling you so tightly to his body that it was uncertain where one of you began and the other ended. 

“I owe you an orgasm,” he whispered against your lips. “Actually, I owe you two.”

“You should add interest.”

“Oh?” he asked, an amused grin forming on his lips. You laughed at his raised eyebrows and squealed when he pushed you up against the shower wall, the head of his cock brushing against your folds and igniting a fire in the pit of your stomach. “I can do that.”

---

You woke up to the feeling of Sammy’s lips against your collarbone and his wandering hands sliding across your stomach. He pulled you tightly to him as you stirred, continuing the shower of kisses up your neck to your cheeks, and finally your lips once you puckered them in invitation.

“I’m taking you on a date today.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah,” he answered simply. “I’ve wanted to take you on a date all weekend, but somehow I just kept ending up between your legs.”

You smacked him playfully, but he just giggled. 

“What’s the plan?”

“Get out of bed and you’ll find out.”

You spent your morning at a local coffee shop, eating breakfast and having the first real conversation in a while. It felt like everything was back to how it was before all the anxiety of labels. He told bad jokes and you laughed at every single one, you caught him up on the gossip at home and he talked about St. Louis and the things him and Vince had gotten up to since the last time you visited. 

After breakfast, you walked the streets of the city. His hand found yours easily and while the both of you blushed, neither acknowledged it. He gave you a tour of the city, something he hadn’t done the first two visits and desperately wanted to do, and you spent a few hours shopping around for clothing and other unnecessary purchases before heading back to his apartment to eat lunch, hang for a while, then get ready for dinner. 

He made reservations that morning for a restaurant all his teammates recommended. It was a highly frequented spot for the couples on the team, so he wanted to christen it with you. He got ready first while you showered and dressed himself in a pair of slacks and a form-fitting button up shirt. Then, he occupied himself with whatever game was on TV and waited for you to emerge from the bedroom.

“Is this too much?” you asked, stepping into the living room in a form fitting black dress that fell to about mid-thigh. He stood, eyes wide and drinking in your body.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured as he stepped forward. He placed his hand delicately against your hip. “This is perfect. Definitely not too much at all, but I don’t know how I’m gonna stop touching you while we’re at dinner. You’re a smoke.”

Thankfully, Sammy behaved at dinner, though it was hard to touch you much from across the table. He held your hand on top of it though. His thumb brushed along the skin on the back of your hand gently and as you talked, he hung on your every word. He ordered a bottle of wine for the table and by the end of the meal, you were a little drunk off him and the alcohol.

The night felt magical, just sitting there and talking with him instead of ripping each other’s clothes off. You couldn’t believe he was your and you were his, and you couldn’t wait for whatever came next. 

Vince told Sammy he’d make himself scarce once again to give you two the privacy you deserved. The moment you walked in the door, Sammy was ushering you to his bedroom.

“Can I please get you out of this dress?” he asked, finger dipping below the strap on your shoulder. You nodded and he pushed the straps off both shoulders, kissing along the skin that was beneath it. “It’s hot, but I’ve been thinking about what’s underneath all night.”

Your dress pooled at your feet and you stepped out of it before making quick work of the buttons on his shirt. You pushed the fabric off and onto the ground and then pushed off his pants.

His lips captured yours again and he pulled you against him, finally skin-to-skin with one arm around your waist and his other hand entangled in your hair. Kissing him felt different, like you weren’t rushing from this to ripping each other’s close off. He could’ve kissed you all night if that’s what you wanted, but it was clear that you both wanted more.

“Let’s take our time tonight,” he spoke against your lips. You nodded in agreement before kissing him again. You kissed all the way to bed, until the back of your knees were hitting the mattress and he was lowering you onto your back. 

“No condom,” you added. He pulled away, eyes searching your face for more confirmation. “I want to feel you. And I’m on birth control and we’re only having sex with each other, so…”

“Are you sure?”

“If you feel comfortable with it too, then yes, I’m sure.”

Sammy kissed you again, but this time his smile was getting in the way and soon you were both giggling against each other’s lips. 

“You’re my dream girl,” he spoke, fingers hooking into your panties and pulling them down. “I’m so crazy about you. I can’t believe you're all mine.”

“All yours.”

He pushed his briefs down and threw them off the bed to join your panties and bra. His fingers found your core and he dipped them in your wet, moaning against your skin as he said, “Are you always this wet, baby?”

“Only when you’re around me.”

“Good answer,” he teased. You giggled and then sucked in a breath as he slipped his fingers into you. He watched your eyes flutter shut, chest rising and falling more rapidly as he stretched you out. “You look so pretty when I finger you. You should see it for yourself, maybe we’ll have to do this in front of a mirror sometime.” You moaned, the thought too hot to handle. “You like the sound of that?”

“Mhmm.”

“Good thing we have all night then, huh?” he asked. You nodded obediently. He pulled his fingers out and lifted them to your lips. “Have a taste.”

You wrapped your lips around his fingers and sucked, hollowing out your cheeks knowing that it would drive him crazy. Your innocent eyes drove him wild, you knew that, so you gave him the best ones you could muster. 

When he pulled his fingers from your mouth, he gripped your hips with his hands and kissed you hard, tongues exploring each other’s mouths as the head of his cock caught against your opening. You moaned into his mouth.

“I know you want it,” he murmured. “Soon.”

He peppered kisses along your jaw down your neck to the valley of your breasts. Then, he attached his lips to your nipple. One hand kneaded the other while his tongue circled your nipple, sucking and nipping at it until you were shaking beneath. He moved onto the other and did the same, earning moans as he tweaked the senstive nub. 

“Sammy, please,” you moaned. “I need you now.”

He kissed back up to your lips with a smile.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around his length and pumping. He leaned into you and pressed the head against your opening. You gasped as he entered you slowly and shuddered at what it felt like to do this without a condom. His forehead dropped to your shoulder as he moaned your name. 

“This, you, feel so good,” he whispered against your neck. “So fucking good.”

“Fuck, fuck, Sammy,” you choked out. “Please give me more.”

He pushed in more, but still hadn’t filled you completely. As your pussy fluttered around him, he moaned loudly, “I’m not gonna last long, mon amour.”

“Deeper,” you requested. He pushed all the way in, bottoming out as you yelled out a few curses. He placed one hand on your lower stomach and pressed. The pressure ignited something inside you and you wrapped your legs around his waist to try to take him deeper.

He began to thrust in languid movements. You rolled your hips with his as he fucked you deeper, hitting spots you never even knew existed. His head fell to the crook of your neck as he hit that spot again and again. “I love the way you fuck me.”

“I love the way you do everything,” he admitted through baited breaths. You giggled softly and then gasped as he snapped his hips to yours rougher than before. “I love the sounds you make.” He picked up his head and gazed down at you as he pulled out. “Let me hear you.”

You sighed as he entered you again, slower this time, and with a breathless voice, you moaned his name. Your fingers curled into his hair, twirling the strands around your fingers as he set a consistent pace. He dropped a hand to your clit and circled with his thumb.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“Keep talking.”

“God, you’re so good,” you moaned, nails gripping his shoulders as the pace of his thrusts quickened. He snapped his hips to yours and watched as you threw your head back against the pillow with a loud shout. “Fuck! Sammy, harder!”

“Are you close?”

You nodded, biting down on your lip as he slammed into you again. He fucked you hard and deep, the headboard of his bed slamming against the wall as he did so. He reached up to steady himself, pulling his thumb off your clit to hold your hip down to the bed.

“Sammy, Sammy, Sammy,” you repeated his name like a pray. He called yours right back at you. “I’m gonna cum!”

“Cum all over my cock, baby,” he murmured, staring down at your face as you unraveled. You moaned loudly, arching your back as the orgasm washed over you. He was chasing his own orgasm frantically. You were loud, overstimulated as he fucked you through your orgasm. Your legs shook from the aftershocks. “Where do you want my cum?”

“Inside me,” you answered breathlessly. He cursed, hips stuttering as he filled you once more. His cock twitched and he spoke your name, praises falling from his lips as he filled your pussy. He collapsed on top of you, arms curling to pull you against him as he softened inside of you. 

“Fuck, YN,” he muttered after catching his breath. He pulled out slowly and you whimpered as the cold air of his bedroom hit your pussy. You began to close your legs, but he spread them and gathered the cum seeping out of you with his finger to push it back into your heat. “So good for me.”

He stood and walked off to the bathroom for a towel. When he came back, he spread your legs again and wiped your core softly, though you still shuddered under his touch. You got up to go to the bathroom and when you came back he was making grabby hands for you to join him in bed. 

“That was great.”

“Really great.”

“The best sex we’ve ever had,” he noted. You laughed and he nudged your chin up to get you to look at him and smiled down at you. He kissed you softly. “I’m really happy we’re together.”

“Me too,” you responded.

“And I’m sorry for not making it clear how I felt about you before,” he said. “I’ll never make that mistake again, okay? You’ll always know how crazy I am about you. I’m gonna tell you everyday.”

“I had fun with you today,” you said, finger tracing patterns against his chest. He smiled softly, cheeks pinkening.

“I really don’t want you to leave tomorrow.”

“Me neither,” you sighed. He kissed your nose. “But we have tonight, so let’s enjoy it.”

Sammy rolled over and pinned your hands above your head, length already hard and resting against your inner thighs.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

➖ Mature content, 18+ ➖ check the trigger tags each time ➖     

Chapter 13 - Papa don’t preach.

Episode 2. *Inside the house, somewhere on the first floor, a bright blue mohawk could be seen walking towards the liquor cabinet*

Andy: *He moaned satisfied as he grabbed a random bottle, opened it and sipped it, then immediately spat it all out* The fuck is this shit!?! *he looked at the bottle and read the label, mumbling to himself* 'Sparkling gold Vodka'?! Who the fuck drinks SPARKLING vodka?!?!! *He spat on the floor again, not noticing Willow joining the room* What a fucking ass!!!

Willow: Dad.... shit... we shouldn't be here! Uhm... can you put the bottle down please, and wipe your prints of it, then let's head the hell out of here before we get deeper involved *she looked around a bit curious, but somewhat anxiously searching for any cameras*

Andy: *He chuckled hoarse and carelessly placed the bottle back where he had taken it* Willow, I have touched about 50 things on the way in already, and spat on the floor... I think it's too late starting to cover my tracks *he chuckled again and shook his head* What's the matter? You're not usually a scaridy cat?

Willow: *She frowned soft* I don't usually get in this sort of trouble.... with you. *She sighed soft* Dad's (Congo) gonna kill us if we land in jail, not to mention Akin is gonna be pissed if he has to pull strings for something THIS big! Gawd dad, it's not like 'public nudity' or a speeding ticket!

Andy: Hey hey! It's been a long time since I last had a speeding ticket! *he smirked*

Willow: *She glared soft at him, but couldn't help but chuckle* You ho!

Andy: *He chuckled hoarse and opened a drawer, simply curious if he could find anything else to shove in his mouth, to erase the horrible Vodka taste still lingering on his tongue, his hand disappearing into the drawer fumbling around, when he suddenly found a stack of papers and dragged them out, loosely skipping through them, his face changing from a neutral to a more serious frown*

Willow: *She frowned questioning and stepped closer* Dad?

Andy: *He flipped a few more*

Willow: *A worry started spreading in her so she took the last few steps that separated them quickly and placed a hand on his upper arm* Are you okay?

Andy: *He gasped as she touched him and looked at her with angry eyes* This isn't a job for us... it's a job for the McKinney's. Police are never going to do anything about a man like this when they haven't already, and he knows... why else can he have pictures like this laying around casually in his house?!?! *he reached the stack of paper towards Willow*

Willow: *She grabbed them quickly but only skipped through a couple of them till she had to stop. Pictures of very young girls and boys, naked, in situations they were way too young to be in*

Andy: *He shook his head lightly* I'm calling Ronan!

Willow: *She nodded confirming and looked at her dad with worried eyes* Are you okay?

Andy: Yeah... *he frowned deep* no... but... I will be when I know this will finally be taken care of! *He fumbled with shaky hands to grab the phone in his pants* Fuck!

Willow: *She sighed soft and grabbed her own* Let me call him, dad *she smiled concerned at Andy, and quickly typed Ronan's number, hitting dial*

Ronan: *He picked up at the second ring* Hello *his voice was warm and inviting*

Willow: Ronan... it's me, Willow.... we're uh... in a bit of a situation here, I think you and Eonan should stop by, if you have the chance, please...

Ronan: Aye? .... *he paused a moment* give me an address and we will be there in a couple minutes.

Willow: Thanks darling *she smiled soft as she a little while later hung up the phone, and grabbed her dads arm* Let's go get the others before the demon squad arrives.

Travis: Shit I'm so sorry Willow I didn't mean to drag you guys so deep into something so heavy *he frowned soft as they all stood outside the house a minute later, waiting for the McKinney brothers to arrive*

Willow: *She was observing her dad rather worried, well knowing he himself had been subjected to a lot of sexual abuse, even victim of childhood rape, although he still seemed to have no memory of it there were always a darkness lurking deep inside him. A darkness people close to him were always worried would get triggered.*

Wyatt: Is he alright? *He frowned soft as he walked up next to Willow, nodding at Andy*

Andy: How about you ask himself?! *He sighed soft as he looked at Wyatt* honestly, I just want that asshole to pay for what he has done, and get the fuck out of here! This was honestly the most fun I have had in a long time *he gestured at the broken window* and this might be shitty and selfish, but I hate that the evening is already over, and there's this dark pile of crap on top of it. I honestly just wanna forget what I saw and continue a night of drinking and havoc, cause that's really what I need the most right now. I can't do anything for those kids anyway, beside making sure the bastard gets more than he deserves. You know? *he shrugged lightly, clearly affected, but trying his best to push through it* Sitting and being miserable about it the rest of the night, is not going to help anyone of them. I just wish I never saw those pics... I want my fun night back *he frowned deep* I fucking need this man! With everything that happened with Pete and Ben... and now Raven is gone too... Christmas coming soon and so far no sign of him, man, I fucking worry every day from I wake up till I go to bed, and I have no fucking clue what I am doing with Adrian or where it's going, everything is a fucking mess, I'm beyond stressed out, and I am constantly waiting for shit to hit the fucking fan! So I just really really need to think about something else for a while... just a short while so I can breathe again... is that too much to ask? Breaking and entering... fuck man! I finally felt a bit alive again! *He scoffed and shook his head, grabbing for a cig in his pants, lighting it with a deep frown on his forehead* Yeah... shit... that's too much to ask of, right? Fuck!

Willow: *She observed her dad as his eyes were tearing up, pressing her lips together in a tight smile*

Ronan: Willow *his warm voice broke the silence that had gathered around them since Andy lit his cigarette* What's going on?

Willow: *She sighed relieved as she looked at him, and quickly filled him in before handing him the stone hard proof they had found*

Eonan: *While Ronan took his time to go through the pics, the larger brother slowly walked by Andy, padding his upper back gently* Hey... are you alright? *he spoke soft and kind*

Andy: *He sniffled his nose and nodded soft* Fucking marvelous!

Eonan: Do you want me to drop you off at home?

Andy: *He glared up at Eonan with angry, red, teary eyes*

Eonan: *He smiled soft and apologizing* I suppose not...

Travis: Actually... I'm the one who fucked up here, I uh... I was the one who brought us here and uh I promised Andy a night of fun so... if it's alright with everyone, I would love to try to make it better? *he smiled hopeful at Andy* please?

Andy: *He sniffled his nose gently, looking questioning at Willow*

Willow: *She sighed soft and smiled at her dad* If you're really up for it?

Andy: I just wanna get the fuck out of here and find something to laugh at for a while... some kind of funny distraction from it all... please!

Willow: *She nodded soft, then looked at Travis* Anymore brilliant suggestions from you?

Wyatt: Actually, if I may? *he smiled soft at Willow* Somewhere similar, minus the trouble...

Willow: I can agree to the 'minus trouble' part for sure!

[livia-dovehallow]

future talks - gabrily

in honor of yours truly managing to score tickets to MARINA’s virtual concert next month with an afterparty pass and t shirt before they sold out, here is a un-related fluffy piece for our favorite shadowhunter couple to have ever existed !!!

Characters: Cecily Herondale, Gabriel Lightwood, Gideon Lightwood

Time/Place: 1882, London, England, UK

Documents scattered the library table in an unorganized shuffle of thoughts. Cecily scanned the names of each sheet of paper before her looking for the one she needed in that moment, growing more and more frustrated the longer it took her to find it.

Gabriel sat beside her searching as well. He had not made any sound of frustration as she had been doing but his face gave away that he felt the same way. Only Gideon across from them remained calm, though if a bit exasperated. “It’s not here, Gideon,” Gabriel stated for the third time in the last five minutes. He tossed the stack of papers he had in his hand back onto the table with a sharp slap. “How could it be missing? It’s the most important sheet of paper in this mess!”

“There’s no need to get cross,” Gideon said calmly, which only aggravated his brother more.

Cecily set her hands on the table, palms pressed against the solid wood, and inhaled slowly. Both boys ceased their bickering. Gabriel set his hand over hers gently. She looked at him, then at Gideon. “Is it possible to get a new one, Gideon?” she asked, tired. “If there is a fee, you can charge it to my brother.”

Gabriel let out a short puff of air meant as a laugh and squeezed her hand. Gideon began to gather his own set of papers, organized as he kept them always, and began to stand from the table. “I will go see if they can provide a new print now, that way if it will take time to arrive, we can still get it in before the ceremony.”

“Thank you,” Cecily said and smiled gratefully. Gideon nodded, and with a quick smile and wave, he left the library to the Hall of Records in Alicante. She turned to Gabriel, who still had her hand in his, and squeezed his fingers. “It’ll be all right,” she assured him.

Gabriel nodded and dropped his tense shoulders. She’d noticed how stressed and tense he had become over the last few days. Their wedding was only days away, and after years of courting and engagement, she knew he was as restless as she was to finally be married. “I know,” he answered with a small smile. “I just want everything to go smoothly. No hiccups or problems.”

Cecily laughed and threw her head back onto the backrest of her chair. “When has there ever been a no-problem event among this group of people, hm?” She turned back toward him and admired the way his cheekbones were enhanced by the witchlights in the library. “Gideon will find us a new marriage certificate and everything will be well.”

“Should you still be called Mrs. Lightwood if there is no marriage certificate?”

“I can do as I please.”

Gabriel smiled, affectionate and genuine this time, and turned back to the papers across the table. “Okay,” he said, mostly to himself, and reached for the first paper he saw. “That makes me feel better. We can work on the other documents while we wait for Gideon.”

Cecily pouted. “What else is there to do?” she lamented. “Mundane marriages do not involve nearly as much paperwork.”

“Do they?” Gabriel asked absently, shuffling through his pile. Cecily groaned. Over the course of their engagement, they’d completed a variety of forms and documents needed to make their union official in the eyes of the Clave. Providing birth certificates (which proved more difficult than Cecily would have liked. How was she supposed to know that her mundane-issued birth certificate had been stored in special forces?), filing for an officially sanctioned union, choosing wedding decorations and food, and not to mention the ages she spent finding the perfect wedding dress. And yet there was much to do—including having their marriage certificate ready for signing at the end of their ceremony.

“What is this?” Gabriel asked suddenly, pulling Cecily out of her half-asleep state. She blinked at him and took the page from his hand, reading the type as it came into focus.

“’Ensure your future husband is ready for life,’” she read aloud. Below was a list of topics one was meant to discuss with their betrothed prior to engagement. Cecily giggled. “It’s from a mundane women’s magazine,” she explained to Gabriel, who clearly had never touched a mundane magazine before. “Sophie or Tessa must have thrown it in with our files in jest. It’s meant to be taken at the time of engagement.”

Gabriel took back the page and studied it. “These are all quite important topics indeed,” he commented. “’Finances and Dowry, Size of Home, Duties, Children.’”

“I don’t have a dowry,” she said and raised an eyebrow at him. “That isn’t going to be an issue, is it?”

“Of course not,” Gabriel answered seriously. Cecily giggled again; she was only joking, but Gabriel was always serious about being a modern man. “And if you did, I would reject it.”

“Truly?” Cecily questioned, intrigued.

“Truly,” Gabriel answered. He turned to her. “Others see marriage as a business transaction. Indebted men seek plentiful dowries to pay off their debts, nothing more. I do not want any part of that.”

“My father would be pleased to hear you say that.” Cecily reached up and kissed his cheek gently, feeling his face lift with a smile beneath her lips. “Besides, I am proud of you for giving up most of your inheritance to Tatiana. Angel knows that girl is not deserving of your kindness.”

Gabriel’s eyes were sad. “She’s my sister,” he said with a heavy sigh. “And I hope she uses it to take care of Jesse. I think that is the primary reason I did what I did. She had a child and no salary.”

“You’re a very loving uncle,” she whispered to him. “I know you’d give anything for the little ones. I think you’ll make an excellent father.”

Gabriel flushed red and avoided her eyes, fidgeting with the magazine in his hands. “Speaking of children in the same building where your brother is present seems likes a death wish,” he said.

“For you,” she chirped with a shrug and fully turned in her seat so her entire body faced him. “Don’t worry. He’s all talk now.” Cecily paused then bit her lip. “Do—Do you not want children?”

Gabriel jumped in his seat and jerked his attention toward her once more, looking frazzled. “No!” he said quickly, then shook his head. “I mean, no that’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “I-I just never thought I’d have the opportunity to—you know—have children, really.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t think I’d ever get married,” he answered quietly, with a pink flush to his cheeks. Cecily felt her heart squeeze at his tone. “It was always Gideon who was groomed to carry on my father’s legacy. I was just backup really. I thought I would have given my life in the field before I was ever mature enough to get married.”

Cecily brushed her fingers through his ever-toussled brown hair and admired him. He’d changed so much over the years and she only continued to fall deeper in love with him as he did. “Did I change your mind, then?”

Gabriel’s face lifted as did the corners of his mouth. “Yes,” he confirmed with a short laugh. “I may actually grow old now.”

Cecily rolled her eyes but she laughed, happy to see him in a better place in his life than he had been when she met him. “I am glad,” she said.

“I do want children,” he added, squeezing her hand once more and looking into her eyes with those comforting green ones. “Especially with you. You’re right. I love being an uncle and being around the little ones. It’d—be very nice to have some of our own.”

Her heart burst in her chest with more happiness and love than she ever thought she was capable of. Without hesitation she surged forward and took his face in her grasp, pressing her lips to his. He smiled against her and held her steady as she leaned out of her chair. “I love you,” she mumbled.

“I love you, too.”

She pulled away from him reluctantly. “I think I need to be an aunt, first,” she said.

Gabriel blinked. “You’ve been one.”

“Not officially. We are not yet married.”

“The girls call you Aunt Cecily.”

“It needs to be official.”

He laughed and nodded. “All right,” he caved, pressing another quick kiss to her before setting her back into her seat. “Anything else you wish for upon marrying me?”

“Besides children and an official Aunt title?” She teased.

“Yes, besides those.”

Cecily pretended to ponder long and hard about her answer, despite the fact she knew exactly what it was before he even asked. “I want you to stay with me.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Is that all? Seems easy enough.”

“And also tell me how wonderful I am every single day.”

“Every day?”

“Yes.”

“All right.”

“I am not expensive to please.”

“I can see that.”

Cecily grinned at him, unable to contain her excitement to spend the rest of her life with him. She wanted a love as strong as her parents’ and she had found it. “Is there something you want from me?”

Gabriel seemed surprised by this. “Anything I want?”

“Yes, you.”

He mocked her pondering expression from moments ago, prompting her to huff in faux annoyance. “I also want you to stay with me.”

“I can do that.”

His smile was sweet and vulnerable, an expression she knew only she got to see. She hoped one day he’d look at their children with that expression as well, but until that day came, she was content being the only person in the world he looked at with such love and affection. She began to imagine what their children together would look like in her mind. Whose eyes would they inherit? Would they get her black hair or his brown? Would they have all girls or all boys or a mix? Oh, Gabriel with a daughter would be so sweet—

“Cecy? What are you thinking about?”

“Our children.”

Gabriel flushed red once more and quickly looked away and back toward their documents. “One step at a time, Cecy. We need to get properly married first.”

“Details.”

[pocket-luv101]

Summary: Hyde is working more and he comes home late. (LawLicht)

Licht knew he should be sleeping for his performance the next day yet he found himself sitting in front of the door. He pictured Hyde bursting through the door with his large, beaming grin. For the past week, Hyde had been working late into the night and there would be days they didn’t see each other at all. They were careful to stay close so their distance limitation wouldn’t activate. That wasn’t the issue for Licht though.

He had an irregular schedule due to being a pianist and it was difficult to balance his work and personal life. Hyde understood and he took jobs that would allow them to be together as much as possible. He hadn’t realized the amount of effort that took until lately. Licht’s sigh filled the hallway. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. As much as he wanted to greet Hyde when he returned home, he could barely keep his eyes open.

The sound of the lock turning jolted Licht awake and he stood. He would feel embarrassed if Hyde knew that he stayed up to see him. Licht had expected Hyde to be energetic and loud when he entered their hotel room. Instead, Hyde dragged himself into the room and he appeared tired. He saw Licht standing in the foyer and asked, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping, Angel Cakes?”

“The bed was cold and I couldn’t fall asleep. I decided to stay up and watch cat videos.” He lied. He didn’t want him to know that he was waiting for him to return home. Licht could easily imagine how Hyde would overreact if he knew the truth. He stood in front of him and he gently tugged his scarf free. “This is the third night in a row you worked past midnight. Are you tired?”

“It’s so sweet of you to care. Will you help me recharge, Lichtan?” Hyde leaned down to kiss the white streaks in his dark hair. They often stayed in different hotels due to how Licht needed to travel for his career. Yet, he still felt as if he was returning home. “I would ask for a welcome home kiss but I want to take a shower first. Someone threw their drink at me when I kicked them out of the club.”

“You’re not allowed into bed if you smell like beer but a kiss won’t be too bad.” Licht stood on his toes to kiss the corner of his lips. His clothes were dirty so he couldn’t hold him close the way he would like. After the quick kiss, he rocked back on his foot and walked back into their hotel room. He laid on the bed and watched Hyde take off his shirt. Hyde entered the bathroom but he left the door open so they could still talk as he took a shower.

Hyde shrugged off his jacket and dropped it on the ground. He stepped under the shower and he let the warm water fall over him. He tilted his head back and gazed through the door to where Licht laid on the bed with his phone. He wished that he could’ve returned earlier and spent the night with him. While Licht had insisted that he wasn’t waiting in the foyer for him, Hyde knew the truth. A part of him was happy but the other side felt guilty. If he stayed awake late into the night, it could affect his playing.

“I have to work the midnight shift again tomorrow but I should be free to watch your performance on Saturday. I’ll never miss the chance to watch you play on the stage.” Hyde told him. “This time, I’m going to be working at an amusement park and I doubt they’ll make me work overtime like tonight. They gave me the boring job of managing the ticket booth.”

“An amusement park? Are you going to work at Nezumi Sea?” Licht named the park they visited the last time they were in Tokyo. He recalled the date and how Hyde knew a lot about the attractions and secret events the park had. He had been reluctant to go on a date in such a crowded place but he had a lot of fun with Hyde. Licht wanted to go to the park with him again but they would both be busy tomorrow. “You’re so dramatic that you’ll be better at cosplaying a Nezumi prince rather than handling tickets.”

“That was the part time job the boss gave me last year. I thought it would be entertaining. But the kids were loud and then I was surrounded by women who wanted to take pictures with me. People really get into the park. After a while, it got tiring so I asked for a different job this time.” Hyde laughed wearily.

He pictured Hyde wearing a prince costume with a woman on each of his arms and he suddenly felt jealous. Licht knew he didn’t have anything to be concerned for because Hyde was faithful to him. He placed his phone onto the table and then he buried his face into the pillow. He thought of the cliché in romances where a person would hold something close because it smelled like their lover. The pillow didn’t have Hyde’s scent because he would often come home late.

A warmth laid over him and the bed dipped beneath him and Licht recognized that it was Hyde immediately. He didn’t lift his face from the pillow as he blindly reached back to stroke his blond hair. “Your hair is a little damp, Hedgehog. You’re going to get sick if you don’t dry it properly. I can’t believe you can’t take care of yourself properly after being alive for so long.”

Instead of responding, he made soft snores. Licht knew that he wasn’t pretending to be asleep from the even rhythm of his heart against his back. He must’ve been tired from work if he fell asleep the moment he laid down. He was careful not to wake Hyde as he moved from beneath his body and sat next to him. Quietly, he draped the blanket over them and he laid close to him. He reasoned that he could keep him warm so he wouldn’t catch a cold.

“Goodnight, Hyde.” He whispered to him.

“Sitting in a tiny booth is boring. Maybe I should’ve asked the boss to give me a role in the parade.” Hyde complained to his co-worker in the booth next to his. Throughout most of his life, he would often take odd jobs for money and to pass the time. He wondered if Licht was still at his rehearsal. He could sit next to him on the piano bench for hours and never become bored.

There was a knock on the glass of his booth. The park would close soon and he didn’t expect someone to buy a ticket so late. Hyde looked up from his computer and his eyes widened when he saw Licht in front of him. He slid money under the glass and said, “Give me two tickets to a ride that we can get on before the park ends.”

“One of my subclasses is running the boat ride and he can sneak us through the express pass.” Hyde printed the ticket but he didn’t take his money. He pushed the bills back to him and winked at him. “This one’s on me, Angel Cakes. Head to the boat ride first and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. I want to change out of this uniform.”

Licht nodded to him and he walked towards the sign advertising the line. As soon as his rehearsal ended, he asked Kranz to drive him to the amusement park Hyde worked at. He wanted to go on a ride with Hyde but he couldn’t interrupt him while he was working. He thought they could compromise by sharing a ride just as the park was closing.

“Lichtan!” Hyde called his name and then he threw his arm around his shoulder. He pulled him closer and he grinned down at him. His excitement was easy to see in his red eyes and Licht felt the same. With a light push, he urged him forward. “Let’s go before the last boat leaves without us. You came at the perfect time because we’ll be able to watch the ending parade from the lake.”

“Are you calling this angel slow, Demon? We can race to see who’s faster.” Licht challenged him with a teasing smile. He leaned his head back against his shoulder and Hyde could see his sharp blue eyes. The neon lights of the park helped him see at night but he was certain he could see his beautiful eyes even if it was completely dark.

Hyde couldn’t help himself but lean down to steal a quick kiss. “The loser has to buy the other a souvenir.”

[harringrovetrashrat]

(We had a romcom month in Nov and y’all are gonna be subject to my bs.  This one is While You Were Sleeping inspired)

Steve groaned when there was knocking.

“Tommy, for the last time, no, you can’t move in, no I’m not in black underwear, and no--” He swung the door open to a smiling Billy, one eyebrow raised teasingly.  Steve flushed.  “Sorry, thought you were Tommy.” He said, shoving his hands into his pajama pockets.  Billy chuckled.

“Happens all the time,” he said.  He stood there a moment before ducking his head and licking his lips, wry smile on his face.  “Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah!” Steve chirped, moving out of the way so Billy could enter.  He moved into the living room, letting Billy follow.  “Sorry,” he said with a wince, gesturing to the mess.  Billy shrugged.  It was quiet a moment before Billy cleared his throat and pointed at Steve’s chest.

“Deciding on ties?” He asked.  Steve looked down, looked at the navy blue, dark green, and coral neckties he had on.

“Oh,” Steve chuckled, pulling them off.  “Yeah, just uh, just seeing what will work.  For tomorrow.” Steve stared at Billy, taking him in.  Billy was looking at the clothes Steve had laid out, at the options he’d pulled out for the impromptu wedding.  It made his heart clench, made his lungs feel heavy.  He wanted Billy to say something.  “What did--”

“I’m sorry,” he said, face set.  “For all the trouble I gave you.” Steve’s words were stuck in his throat as Billy spoke.  “I’m gonna be really happy to, to call you my brother in law,” he said, smiling at Steve.  It didn’t reach his eyes quite right and Steve wanted him to fucking say something.  Billy hummed softly and pulled a small package out of his pocket.  “Oh, I got you a wedding gift,” he said.

“Yeah?” Steve’s voice was soft and Billy looked up at him through his lashes.  Steve gently took the present, unwrapping it carefully.

“I saw it in the window on a job and just--”

“Billy,” Steve breathed.  It was a snow globe.  Nothing fancy, but it was of Florence.  Steve shook it, watching the snow fall.  “Billy I--”

“Anyway--”

“Tell me a reason why I shouldn’t marry Heather,” he said, cutting Billy off.  “Tell me a reason and I won’t.”  Billy froze, gaze sad.  But, he didn’t say anything.  Didn’t utter a peep.  Steve gripped the snow globe tighter and smiled, nodding reflexively to the rejection, trying to push through the way it felt like his heart was breaking.  “Okay.  Yeah.”

“Steve,” Billy said, voice soft.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?  At the--” Steve took a breath.  “At the ceremony.” Billy looked like he wanted to say something, wanted to say a lot of things.  But again, he didn’t.  Just nodded and put his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah,” he replied, voice quiet.  “Tomorrow.” Steve shut the door behind Billy as he left, leaning his forehead against it to cry.  He took shuddery breaths, tried not to cry the day before his wedding, but for once, he couldn’t stop the tears.

--

Steve couldn’t believe he was late.  Couldn’t believe he was going to be late to his own wedding.  Yeah, maybe he wasn’t looking forward to it as much as he would have been a month ago, but he didn’t want to be late.  He skidded into the hallway and quickly found the room where everything had been set up.  Hop and Joyce were standing and talking, Murray was just sitting and watching the show, and Billy--

Billy was standing and waiting on Heather’s side.  Because of course he was her Man of Honor.  Steve walked in, waving.  He made it halfway down the aisle before he realized he’d left his jacket on.  So he ran back, put it on the hook, and walked down the aisle towards the family again.

“Finally!” Hopper boomed, smiling.  “You didn’t get cold feet did you?” Steve chuckled and shook his head.

“No, no.  Let’s uh, let’s do this.” Steve nodded to the rest of the family and looked at Billy.  Billy looked away from him as soon as they locked eyes and Steve once more wished for a lot of things.

Music began and Steve watched Heather walk down the aisle, Hopper leading her along.  They were smiling and Heather pulled her IV along, beaming at Steve.  He smiled back, thinking about how she and Billy had the same dimples.

Then the priest had started to speak and Steve looked in Heather’s eyes and--

“I object,” he said quietly.

“He what?” Hopper said, leaning forward.  Heather just blinked, tilting her head.  The priest gave him a quizzical look.

“We haven’t gotten to that part yet,” he said.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do this,” Steve said, letting go of Heather’s hands and stepping back.  “I--” He looked at the family.  “I’ve been lying to you.  To all of you.  And I can’t go through with this when I love--” He looked at Billy, heart slamming against his ribcage.  Billy stared, jaw slack.

“Billy?” Hopper groaned.  “Boy, what did you do?” Billy snapped out of his shock, furrowing his brow.

“What did I do?  I didn’t do anything!”

“He didn’t!” Steve cut in.  Everyone fell silent again.  “He didn't.  This is all on me, okay?  I’m not.  I’ve never been Heather’s fiancee.” The family collectively blinked.  “There was a miscommunication when she arrived and I didn’t correct them and then you guys came and--” He choked up a little, anxiety and regret filling him.  “You were all so lovely,” he  breathed out.  “A big, loving family that annoyed each other and ragged on each other but still loved each other at the end of the day.  I never… My parents stopped living at home when I was 13.  They didn’t stay at home with me for more than a week at a time.  I’ve never had real, good family in my life and…” He looked at them, all in varying degrees of shock.  “I fell in love with all of you,” he said, voice soft but strong.  Sure.  “And I was selfish and held onto it for too long.  Let this keep going when Heather doesn’t even know me.” He looks at her then, finding her smiling, even if it was sad.  Steve had let go of her hands during his little speech, but he took one again.  “I’m sorry,” he said to her.  “It was unfair to you and-- I’m just sorry.” Steve looked at Billy, who seemed unsure if he was shocked, angry, sad, or happy.  Steve understood that.  “I’m sorry to you too, because somewhere along the way of falling in love with your family, I fell in love with you as well.  And it wasn’t fair to… To want that when you didn’t know the truth.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the door burst open.

“I object!” A short, redheaded woman yelled from the doorway.

“Anyone else?” The priest asked, annoyed and ready to go home.

“Who are you?” Hopper demanded, brows drawn together.

“I’m Heather’s real fiancee!” She snapped, stomping down the aisle.  Heather’s eyes bugged out.

“Carol?  You said no!” She protested.

“Yeah, well I changed my mind--”

“What the fuck?” Joyce mumbled, pressing a dainty hand to her forehead.  The family got mixed up in the commotion and Steve quickly slipped out before anyone could pay him any mind.  It was easier that way.  He could slip out of their lives as easily as he slipped in and let them get back to normal.

--

Steve scratched a line on his notepad with his pen, cheek resting on his hand.  The day was slow, most people quietly bustling their way along in the cold of Chicago.  He sighed, letting his head fall forward to the desk.

“Listen,” Robin said from behind him, spinning around in her chair.  “It’s literally painful watching you mope.  Let’s get drinks tonight or something.” Steve didn’t look over his shoulder, just shrugged.

“Not feeling it,” he mumbled.  Robin sighed.  She opened her mouth to say more, maybe snark some sense back into him, when she saw a group approaching.  Steve still had his head down, shoulders slumped as he tried to make himself small.

It had been a long week since everything and Steve was tired.  Was tired, was sad, and didn’t really want to exist.  He’d been looking at plane tickets while holding Billy’s snow globe like some sort of creep for most of the week.  If he imagined being able to bring Billy along, no one else needed to know.  But it was the only thing he could think of to do.  To take some steps to enjoy his life, even if he had to do it alone.

He really didn’t want to do it alone.

There was a clink in front of him and he grabbed the change, not looking up or even saying his customary hello.  Once he had the pass printed, he slipped it back under the window and a hand quickly placed itself on top of his.  Steve’s breath caught.  He knew those fingers.  Knew those rings.  He’d memorized them.

Blue eyes were gazing down at him when he looked up, mouth opening in shock.  Billy smiled at him, small and hopeful.  Hopper and Joyce were doing a particularly bad job of hiding behind the pillar and watching.  Murray and Max had foregone trying to hide and were just watching, smiling at the sight.  Steve’s mind was racing.  Were they here to tell him off?  Were they mad?  Were they--

“Wanna go on a trip with me, pretty boy?” Billy asked, voice gentle and loving and everything Steve had been wanting to hear for the past month.  He gaped, mind working too slow to catch up.  Billy looked a little nervous at his silence, obviously chewing on the inside of his lip.

“Oh my god,” Robin said as the silence dragged on too long. “He so fucking does.  Please, take his moping ass on a date so I don’t have to drown him myself.”

“Robin!” Steve hissed, turning red.

“You’ve literally been depressed all week and it’s been bringing my vibe down.” Her look softened as she smirked, small and just at Steve.  “Go get your man.  I’ll cover for you.”

Steve could have kissed her.

Instead, he stood, shoving the door to the booth open and jumping the turnstile to cup Billy’s face and pull him into a kiss.  Billy’s hands settled on his waist as he smiled against Steve’s lips.  Joyce let out a Yes! that was probably louder than it should have been, but Steve didn’t care.  Didn’t think about anything except the lips pressed against his.  When he pulled back, Billy was smiling, bright and happy and Steve loved him.

“I’d go anywhere with you, Blue.”

[beauvibaby]

go swimming? - j.benn

requested [] yes [x] no

a/n: idek what this is, but I love it bc it’s Jamie, enjoy (not proofread)

You pushed open the back door, eyebrows instantly shooting up when your co-worker gasped in relief at your presence. “Y/N, thank god, there’s a line out the front door.” Mark gasped, and you hoped out of sight line from your boss, knowing you were early and he would have you clock in right away, the downfall of being slightly above the regular hourly employees, a shift leader, really but the only difference is you wore a different shirt. “Y/N, clock in!” Your boss, Tom, called from the front line, already beginning to put an apron on and get in the kitchen, “good luck!” Mark called from his prep station, shooting you a smirk when you glanced back with a glare. You shoved your things into the office, silencing your phone and shoving it into your pocket, you clocked in, in record time before turning to the expo counter and gasping at the nearly twenty minute tickets that hadn’t even begun to be prepared. “Read it off, Y/N, come on!” Your boss snapped, you pushed the annoyance aside, knowing despite him being a manager of his own store for years, he didn’t handle stress well. You began rattling off orders, food being slide over to you left and right, you continued to quickly tray it up, turning around and placing it on the counter, shouting out the name on the order into the full dining room.

This went on for over an hour, the lunch rush continuing, but finally once it slowed down enough you went out into the dining room to help the other girls clean up. Garbage was overflowing, the soda machine was out of more than a few things, napkins were empty, ketchup spilt on the counters by children. You held in a sigh as you made your way around the dining room, plastering that work smile on your face, taking empty bins and trays from people’s tables, the only thing that made today even a little better was seeing some of the regular guests in there. You chatted with them for a while, laughing at something the older gentleman said to you, his wife chastising him for keeping you up. “It’s alright, we all need a good distraction sometimes.” You shot him a wink as you walked off, silently telling him thank you. He chuckled, going back to playfully bickering with his wife, you shook your head with a smile, hoping one day that you and Jamie would be that lucky. You made your way to the back, gasping as you and Mark rounded the corner at the same time, sending his freshly cut food flying to the floor and the dirty dishes you had in your hands smushed to the front of your shirt. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Mark rushed, scrambling to help you pick up the food and plates, “it’s fine, I’ll get it, go cut more food before-“ “Mark, I need those tomatoes!” Tom shouted, rushing to the back and freezing when he saw them on the floor. “Jesus Christ.” He snapped storming back to the front, “waiting on tomatoes.” Tom muttered to the assistant manager who was looking at him expectantly.

“Go, Mark, I’ll clean this up.” You assured him, carefully squatting to scoop up the mess. You walked over to the sink, putting the dishes into the water, gasping at how frigid it was, you scrambled to drain it and replace it with the hot soapy water. “Y/N!” Lola gasped running over to you, “code brown.” She snapped, watching as your face fell, code red meant corporate was here, code yellow meant the healthy inspector was here, but code brown, that meant they were both here. “Go, go, go!” You demanded, jumping into defensive mode, “change the Sanitizer buckets.” You demanded, knowing that would be the first thing they checked. You ran over to the prep kitchen, “code brown!” You snapped, everyone went into a panic, scrambling to make sure everything was purposefully to code. “Nose goes!” Mark shouted, his finger shooting to the tip of his nose, everyone followed suit before you could even process it. “Fuck.” You muttered, going to find Tom. “Health inspector, and corporate just pulled up.” You mumbled, and he froze, muttering under his breath, he turned to give you a list of things to check. “You need to change your shirt.” He snapped, only then did you realize it was covered in smeared sauce from the dishes, “and then the normal routine!” He called into the kitchen as you ran towards the back door, you nodded, thankful for your decision to keep an extra shirt in your car for work.

Once you scrambled to change in the bathroom. You came out and were greeted by even more of a disaster, the health inspector shaking his head at Tom, along with Tom’s boss from corporate, Adam. Tom shot you a look and instantly you knew you’d be getting an earful from him once they left. The labels in the walk in freezer had timed out, and that was one of the things on your list. You shot them a smile, playing coy as you rushed towards the dining room, at least going to make sure everything up there was maintained properly.

***

“Y/N, office now.” Tom snapped, storming into the office, paperwork from the health inspector in hand, everyone shot you a look as they knew you were going to get ripped to shreds, as if it’s your fault that his employees don’t follow the rules. “I did my best, ok? Keep that in mind.” You grumbled daringly when the door shut, “I know.” He snapped, “we barely passed!” He slapped the paper down in front of you. You picked it up, and looked at the inspection, you scoffed, “these are all your problems, these are all kitchen markings, the dining room and cash registers were good!” You exclaimed, placing the paper back down. He looked at you, eyes ablaze, “don’t talk to me like that, Y/N, you’re pushing your luck.” He demanded and it pushed you over the edge, “no, I don’t think I am, I’m overworked and underpaid, you treat me more like a manager than your actual managers! So unless you want to pay me what I deserve, I think I might have to start looking for another job.” You crossed your arms, staring him down. “So are you saying you want me to put an ad out for a shift leader?” He retorted, sitting on his chair, making you feel belittled even though you were still standing. “If you don’t want to give me a raise like you should’ve done when I started wearing this special shirt, then yes, you should put an ad out.” You demanded, grabbing your purse, “would you look at that, my shift is over.” You scoffed, opening the door, “Y/N!” Tom stuck his head out of the doorway. You froze as your time card printed out, glancing over your shoulder at him as he spoke, everyone’s eyes ongoing between the two of you. “Be prepared to train your replacement.” His voice had venom dripping from it, and Lola gasped, nearly dropping the food she had in her hands, Mark shot daggers into the back of Tom’s skull. Everyone was shocked, to say the least, you’d been through so much here, you’d been here since the restaurant opened, people in corporate knew you by your first name alone, they wanted to use you in nationwide training videos. “Fine.” You hissed, pulling your composure together long enough to calmly walk to your car, but the second you shut your car door, you lost it, the weight of what has just happened hitting you. You pulled your phone out, dialing Jamie’s number before pulling out of your parking spot. “Hi, baby, heading home now?” He answered cheerfully, oblivious to how your voice was about to come out as a cry. “Jamie?” You whispered, “I think I just quit.” Your voice broke, you heard him sigh softly, “it’s alright, Y/N, don’t cry, please.” He mumbled, “drive safe, please, I’ll be here waiting for you.” He added, knowing you couldn’t speak about it while driving, he knew you, and he knew that you’d be too emotional. “Ok.” You whimpered.

***

The front door opened the second you parked your car in the driveway, Jamie had a soft, comforting smile on his face, arms opening when you climbed out of the car. “Hey.” Jamie spoke, frowning when you pouted up at him, “I hated that job, why am I so emotional?” You questioned, suddenly feeling stupid for the way you were reacting, and feeling like this only showed Jamie more of your age gap. “Because, that’s been your only job, baby, you’ve been there for years.” He brushed your stray hair back, “just because your boss was a prick, doesn’t make it any easier to leave, you made friends there, they’re family to you.” He explained, making sure you absorbed his words, you looked up at him, eyes wide, slightly teary, but mostly just nodding along with him. “Yeah.” You mumbled, “Wanna tell me what happened?” He asked, pulling you in for a quick kiss, before guiding you inside, you went on to explain everything to him, watching the way he clenched his jaw a little tighter when he listened to you tell him about the way Tom treated you. He never liked him, the first time Jamie met you, not shockingly at your job, he walked in with Tyler and a freshly drafted Miro, they all gave an odd glance as you walked back to the cash register, your boss angrily going to work on the expo counter.

“Hi, my name is Y/N, I’ll be taking your order, what can I get started for you today?” You spoke the rehearsed line, looking up you met Jamie’s eyes first, and that’s all it took, you were a grinning fool the rest of the day, your co workers teasing you all day, making fun of the blush that had stayed on your cheeks. When you went over to grab the stuff from their table, you were more than shocked to have the cute guy, who’s name you had finally learned was Jamie, had left his number on a napkin, his hand writing sloppily saying “please make sure Y/N gets this”

“I’m sorry, but you know what this means?” He questioned, voice raising a bit in excitement, you looked up from your spot on the couch, your head lazily resting in his lap while you spoke, “what?” You questioned, confusion covering your face. “You get to stay home with me while you look for a job, a job that you’ll love.” He spoke happily, fingers tracing your jaw. “That’s true.” You pondered, you would have the ability to find a job you really loved, you had money saved, you and Jamie lived together, it would be nice. “There’s that smile.” He hummed happily, you hadn’t even realized you’d begun beaming until he spoke up. “Thank you.” You whispered, sitting up to kiss him, laughing against his lips when he held you there. He finally released you, helping you sit up properly. “You are the best thing that came out of that job.” You spoke with one hundred percent certainty, moving to straddle his lap, he grinned childishly at your words, brown eyes showing his happiness. “Really?” He questioned, “Jamie, of course.” You giggled, cupping his bearded jaw, “that hell hole gave me my forever.” You told him cheesily, watching as he processed your words, his head falling back in laughter.

“Way to ruin the moment.” You scoffed teasingly, climbing off of his lap, “no, baby!” He whined, reaching for you, “it was sweet.” He added, gasping in fake shock when you stepped out of his reach again, you loved the moments like this, when you both just forgot about life and just had these fun childlike moments. “You know you can’t outrun me, right?” Jamie raised his brows, seeing the way you kept glancing at the hallway out of the living room. “Doesn’t mean I won’t try.” You teased, setting your phone on the coffee table, as well as taking your belt off from work that was suffocating you. “Five second head start, because I’ve had a bad day.” You pouted down at him, tilting your head just the right way to make your hair fall over your shoulder, you knew it always killed him when you did that, and you could tell by the look in his eyes that his mind was already wandering elsewhere. “Five seconds, that’s it.” He mumbled, arms grabbing the back of your thighs, you leaned down and gave him a quick teasing kiss, “that’s not fair.” He groaned, chasing your lips when you pulled away. “Sorry, bub, I never said I played fair, and I happen to think you like it a bit more this way.” You smirked, stepping out of his hold. He pouted at you, looking absolutely ridiculous with a pout surrounded by his bushy beard. “Love you!” You shouted, laughing as you took off down the hall, hearing him counting down, you grinned as you heard his feet rushing up behind you. “No!” You shrieked, laughing hysterically when he grabbed you from behind, easily swinging you around as he swayed over to the bed.

“Told you.” He mumbled against your neck, chastely kissing you there, dropping you onto the bed, laughing when you gasped face falling into the mattress. He flipped you over, hovering over you, admiring the way your eyes shined as you looked up at him. “What?” You whispered, blushing under his gaze, “nothing, you’re just so cute.” He complimented, “and pretty, and smart, and funny.” He added, watching the way you sheepishly looked away. “Don’t hide from me.” He chastised, tilting you back by your chin. “Stop making me blush.” You whined, wrapping your arms around his neck, “never.” He grinned, allowing you to pull him down for a kiss. Before it could get too heated you pushed him off softly, “want to go swimming?” You asked, smiling softly, it was a scorcher out today, and the thought of getting into the pool and floating around with Jamie sounded relaxing. “Mhm, but doesn’t it sound better to stay up here, in bed.” He tried to persuade you, but you didn’t budge, “please, baby.” You mumbled, knowing he would give in from the way you were looking up at him. “Fine.” He grumbled, rolling off of you, watching as you stood up, tossing your shirt off over your head, “well that’s just rude.” He sat up in record time, smiling as you winked at him over your shoulder, mischief dancing in your eyes. You giggled to yourself, as you changed in the closet, not that it mattered, Jamie peeked his head in, smirking when you looked over as you slipped the straps of your bathing suit onto your shoulders. “You’re a perv.” You teased, approaching him, seeing he’d already slipped into his swim trunks, tattoos on full display.

“Only for you.” He winked, following you down the stairs, and out towards the pool. He immediately got into the water, splashing you teasingly as you walked in slowly, hair tied in a messy bun on the top of your head. “Sometime today, baby, you’re really testing my patience.” He groaned, floating around in the water as he watched you slowly sink into the water, your body covered by the black one piece, cut outs adorning your sides. “Aw, poor boy.” You quipped, swimming over to him, arms circling around his shoulders, his resting in your hips, “yeah, you should really take pity on me, my girlfriend is being a huge tease today.” He mumbled, hiding his face in your neck, leaving some sloppy kisses, “oh is she?” You mumbled, smirking against his shoulder as you rested your head against him, soaking up this one on one time, he squeezed your sides. “Doesn’t take much to get you going.” You commented, smiling when he laughed softly, floating around in the water, your legs wrapped around his waist. “How could it when I’ve got this beautiful girl hanging off of me?” He retorted, holding under your thighs, letting you lean back in his hold, “such a sweet talker.” You giggled, smiling wholeheartedly at him, toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Not really.” He tilted his head, smiling at you, splashing some water onto your shoulders as they already started turning pink under the sun. “I like it.” You shrugged, knowing sometimes he wondered if he treated you the way you wanted to be treated. “Hey, don’t get all shy on me now.” You mumbled, catching his lips, “you’re my flirty man, but you know when I’m not in the mood, and you drop it, and you let me cry on you, and you go swimming with me even though I was just teasing you. You take me to your games, you give the best hugs, and you love my family as much as your own.” You rambled, stopping when a grin etched onto his face. “Alright, alright, I get it, I love you.” He murmured, kissing you softly again, but this time you let it progress. “I love you too, now let’s get out of this pool, you’ve been patient enough.” “Thank god.”

Taglist: @softstarkey​ @kempe​ @wtfkie​ @mtkachuk​ @literarycharleton​

[tartagilicious]

[CN] Lucien’s Birthday Event R&S

💌 see Lucien’s birthday date, which this rumour and secrets is connected to, here!

💌 also, a huge thanks to @elainabearie for providing me with screenshots of the event, because my gems really said no <3

[event story:] It’s a warm and sunny afternoon. I looked at the heavy package in my hands and carefully opened it. Inside the three-layer packaging, there is a book that looks as if it’s been in use for several years. 

MC: Great, it seems that there was nothing wrong with the transportation.

Xu Mo’s birthday is coming soon. I thought about it, and decided that I would give him a meaningful out-of-print book this year. After visiting the major bookstores in Loveland, it was quite easy for me to find even this out-of-print book. Unfortunately, however, due to the age, the condition and storage of the books was not very proper. When the book arrived in my hands, it was already a bit damaged.

So, in addition to the book itself, I also bought glue for repairing the pages of the book and thread for binding the cover. After patching it up, I plan to give it to Xu Mo. Because I worried I couldn’t patch up the book correctly, though, I also practiced on spare paper for a long time.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Today is the day of the real endeavour, but I just hope that my hands can keep up with my brain. I need to prepare the gift perfectly for him.

I slowly opened the spine of the book attentively. Just as I was about to begin cleaning up the pages, a loud beating sounded abruptly.

MC: Who would come at this time…

Hastily, I pack up the repair utensils on the table that I had just opened. A gentle and familiar voice then entered the room; the one that I was most familiar with.

Xu Mo: When you hadn’t opened the door for a while, I was worried that I’d knocked at a bad time.

Those deep black eyes looked at me with a smile. It’s softer than the setting sun in the late afternoon.

MC: It’s nothing, I’m here.

I spoke and turned my head halfway, ready to invite Xu Mo into the house. Halfway through the conversation, though, it suddenly occurred to me that the birthday surprise for him was still lying on the table.

MC: Well… you came to me so suddenly, is there something wrong?

I changed the subject, trying to block the doorway discreetly.

Xu Mo’s eyes turned a little playfully to my face and back to the living room. Obviously, it was the look of someone who knew I was hiding something, but he still followed me up with a reply.

Xu Mo: By chance, my company got two tickets for the exhibition. I thought it may help you accumulate program material, so I just wanted to invite this producer.

Xu Mo: But it seems you aren’t free today? The time of this exhibition is very long, but you can come to me whenever you’re free.

Not giving me time to answer, Xu Mo put one of the tickets in my hand. After I took it, he walked back towards his own home. Before entering, Xu Mo turned his head and looked at me again, smiled and added something.

Xu Mo: And also, although I don’t know what you’re doing, I wish you success.

Sitting back at the desk again, I looked at the book that needed to be repaired, and the sound of Xu Mo’s last words seemed to linger in my ears. If the book is fixed and given to him, he’ll still be happy with the result, right?

Bringing a gift of human affection will definitely reap a smile from his heart, right?

Thinking of ths, I continued the restoration work more carefully.

----

CHAPTER ONE:

“Hey, kid, tomorrow is a new day, let’s continue to compete!”

“I know, see you tomorrow brother Zihang.”

The boy waved his hand to the tall man politely, then turned around and sighed slightly. It’s not that he doesn’t want to compete with this foolish policeman who’s worried about chess, but this is after the 587th challenge statement he’s heard. Before he knew it, this time of waiting for his parents to return home after school gradually became his daily routine. Even if he had yet to find the vocabulary to define his mood, it makes school time unexpectedly brisk.

“Would you like to have potato roasted ribs tonight?”

“Sure.” The boy said as he put his changed shoes into the shoe cabinet properly. Carrying a small school bag, he turned around and walked towards the bookcase in the living room. Dad finally couldn’t help but stop him.

“Were you unhappy at school today?”

The boy turned around and shook his head suspiciously. He pursed his lips. For a while, he didn’t know why Dad wanted to do this, but soon, he found the answer. Maybe it was because he had heard the sigh just now.

“I’m happy. The teacher and classmates are very nice.” He paused. “Brother Zihang still can’t make any progress in chess. Obviously I’ve secretly given in.”

A warm touch covered the top of his head. Dad squatted down and gently rubbed the head of his little genius. The corners of his mouth had already lifted considerably, and he made no secret of it.

“Then it seems that you can only show him more openly next time!”

The boy blinked, and he couldn’t help but smile when he saw his father joking so seriously.

Half an hour later, a familiar concerto sounded from the kitchen.

“It seems a bit salty, can you try it?”

“It’s not salty, but it does need to be processed. You put it here, I’ll do it.”

“Obviously it’s salty… you lied to me. But, I really followed the steps written above. Could it be the quality unit of the excipients?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The man’s tone seems undoubtedly like a rigorous experiment report can be produced in the next second to verify it.

“You go with your son.” He said, deliberately lowering his voice. “It’s rare that we are at home. Don’t crowd the kitchen.”

The boy who hid by the doorway with his ear keenly adjusted reacted immediately. He hastily slipped back to the seat beside the dining table before Mom came out, and rearranged to read his book seriously.

For the boy, ordinary daily life like this is extremely precious. So, at the happy dinner, he hesitated for a long while. He had a problem that had been bothering him lately.

“Dad, what is the law of conservation of energy?” He raised his head to look at his father and added crossly. “I have worked with a teacher, but she said this question will be answered when i grow up… I don’t quite understand. Is the answer related to my age?”

“The law of conservation of energy. The change in the total energy of a system can only be equal to the amount of energy transferred into our out of the system. Energy is rather a measure of the movement of matter.”

“This is one of the most basic rules of this world.”

Dad said this as he put a piece of ribs into the boy’s bowl. The tone naturally seemed to be answering an ordinary question, but the boy stared at the ribs, and his pretty little face twisted together unconsciously.

“I think the teacher said that because she hopes you can find the answer yourself when you grow up. But she may not know you well. My son might find the answer soon.”

“Really?”

“Of course. When has Dad ever fooled you? So, eat first.” Dad beckoned and scratched the boy’s nose. He then picked up another piece of meat and put it in his wife’s bowl and started eating.

CHAPTER TWO:

The boy is always curious about the puzzles of the world. For example, why is the sky blue? What are the floating clouds? Why are people on the ground and why are fish in the water? He is interested in answering too many questions. The fields involved are quite different but have subtle similarities. These “secret questions” seem to be hard to get answers for all at once.

But, the boy never had a boring process in finding answers. He likes the moment very much. For example, now-- In the study, the boy was sitting on a small ladder, looking through a thick professional book. He tried to find out more about these “rules of the world” his father had spoken of.

But this question really is too difficult.

Looking at the complicated patterns and uncommon characters that keep jumping in his eyes, the boy lowered his head, somewhat discouraged. The sound of the minute hand ticking can be heard in the silent room. Moonlight sheds down the skylight, stars of light and shadow gathered around the boy’s feet.

Still, he should try to look for it again. He pouted while thinking like this, and exhaled as if to cheer himself up. He jumped off the ladder and then raised his head to look up at the giant bookshelf in front of him again. Slightly squinted eyes quickly lit up, and he pushed the little ladder under the shelf next to him.

Securing it carefully, he shook it cautiously to determine its stability. Then, he nodded contentedly, leaning on both sides of it to climb up blatantly level by level.

The study had always been his favourite place at home. Whether it was sitting on the ground and looking up at the densely packed bookshelves that were too tall for him, or like it was now, standing high and looking over the same silent room.

Here is his secret place where no one will bother him, and his treasure-trove for finding answers. It’s like his channel for getting to know the world. There seems to be an infinite amount of knowledge waiting for him here; waiting for him to walk in; waiting for his recognition.

“Found it!”

With excitement, the boy drew out a book of some ancient purpose from the depth of the shelf. Gently brushing the dust from the cover, he then blew carefully. It wafted up into his nose and he coughed a few times before he raised his little hand up to wave the dust in front of him away.

He climbed down the ladder holding the “treasure” he had finally found. He placed it carefully on the ground and bought a thick English-English dictionary from where he was just sitting. The boy took a deep breath, and when he was about to begin the big job, there was a slight creaking noise coming from the door before a gentle knock.

“Mom, can I read a bit longer? I finally found this book.” The boy glanced at the clock on the wall and looked at his mother aggrievedly. “One more hour will be fine.”

Mom didn’t speak,and beckoned to turn on the light in the study. Then, she took a few steps closer and bent down to spread a blanket out in his arms. The familiar temperature gently wraps him, and mom smiles and curls her long finger to hook with the boy’s little one.

“That’s a deal.”

“Ok!”

CHAPTER THREE:

In the middle of the night, the boy stared at the faintly fluorescent “Milky Way” on his ceiling, and did not sleep. He felt that his brain was traveling to outer space. After tossing for a long time, he fetched the secretly hidden book from under the pillow, and took a small flashlight from the deeper part before settling back under the quilt.

The beam of light instantly lit up the small space in the dark, and circled a quiet little world that belonged to no one but the little boy.

“Can Mom come in?”

The question sounded as if spanning time and space.

The boy embarrassedly emerged from the quilt, and sullenly responded. He put the closed book and flashlight on the bedside table obediently.

Should he take the initiative and admit his mistakes? After all, his parents have never allowed him to bring books into the bedroom, let alone peek at them and get caught doing so.

“Mom, I…”

“If you can’t fall asleep, Mom will continue to tell you the bedtime story that I didn’t finish last time.”

The boy finally summoned the courage and pursed his lips. He raised his head to meet his mother’s eyes somewhat inconceivably, doubt flashing in his black eyes.

“I’m almost 6 years old.”

“Aren’t you not there yet? Listen and see, maybe the story of your mother can let your disobedient brain cells find their way home.” Mom said, knocking his little head mysteriously.

“Okay..”

Although psychologically repelling his parents to regard him himself as a child, he honestly approached his mother’s open arms. The faint woody scent wrapped him, and he took a heavy breath of his favourite smell.

“Then he said again: I thought I had a unique flower, but all I have is an ordinary flower. This flower, plus three volcanoes as high as my knees, and one of them has been extinguished forever. All of this won’t make me a great prince. So he laid in the grass and wept.” Mom’s voice lingered in his ears, sweet and soft, and seemed to be slightly different from her voice when she was preparing for a report, but still felt very good at any of those moments.

The boy did not speak, he was actually a little sleepy, and listening to the story, he had new questions that could not be answered. But he ended up not asking, because it seemed to have been a long time since he last heard his mother tell him a bedtime story like this.

He doesn’t care about the follow-up of the story, he just wants to make this moment last longer. Thinking about this, he moved closer into the embrace that held him.

Perhaps sensing the boy’s rare silence, his mother took the initiative to stop, smoothed the messy hair on top of his head, and suddenly asked, “Is there anything you want for your birthday the day after tomorrow?”

“Any gift is fine?” He blinked, looking at his mother expectantly as she nodded, and could barely wait to say, “Then I want an answer to the rules of this world.”

He regretted it as soon as he spoke. After all, he had promised his father only hours ago that he would find the answer to the question himself. So, he hurriedly changed the subject.

“Mom, in this story you’re telling me, will love help?”

“To be precise, love can be an answer.”

“Then ‘love’ will abide by the rules of this world?”

Mom smiled helplessly and stroked his head.

“You have to look for the answer to this problem yourself, okay? Your little head is being worked too hard, let it relax,” She paused, “Mom sometimes selfishly hopes that you can… be more naive.”

“It’s not like asking you to do age-appropriate things, I just hope that you don’t lock yourself up in a scientific manner and have the opportunity to see the world in different ways. You should know that the answers to many questions in this world are not through equations.”

As she raised her hand, she booped the boy’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, and then took his hand and put it over his left chest.

“Goodnight, my little prince.”

CHAPTER FOUR:

That night, the boy slept very deeply. The world in his dream was like a colourless planet, quietly waiting for him to fill it in. He walked in the endless universe until a dazzling spot of light appeared before his eyes.

The morning sunlight jumped over his eyelids, and the melodious trumpet slowly penetrated his ears. The boy rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up in the bed. He remembered this melody, which seemed to be a fragment from the second movement of the Symphony from the New World.

He folded his quilt, opened the curtains, and opened a small slit in the window. There was already a noticeable coldness in the November air.

Through the balcony, flying gold osmanthus dotted the entire hillside. The autumn sun seems to have a special temperature and magic power, giving everything a warm golden edge.

Dad’s figure appeared on some distant mountain top observation deck, and the silver trumpet gleamed in the dawn. This is one of his many hobbies. Especially when something is worth celebrating, he will play a few songs. Even the flowers and plants in the flower beds that have just been watered will seem to be listening to this melody.

The boy’s mood couldn’t help but jump up.  After a brief wash, he ran straight to the top of the mountain. The approaching trumpet sound was like the background of his running, becoming a special mini recital in his head.

After the end of the song, the boy just arrived near the viewing platform, and his father turned around to bow.

“You got up so early. I guess yesterday’s question now has an answer?”

The boy shook his head honestly. Dad smiled and beckoned him over without any surprise, then put the trumpet into his hand and raised his chin. “Want to try?”

The city he overlooked seems to have just woken up, and the scent of fresh grass fills the air. The boy looked at the trumpet in his hand and tilted his head in thought. He recalled the appearance of his father playing the trumpet, trying to put the trumpet to his lips, and took a hard breath.

The surroundings were quiet as if nothing had happened. The boy looked at the trumpet in shock and tried it again, but it was still as silent as ever. Seeing his son’s red face, his father laughed.

“It seems even young geniuses have things they aren’t good at. Come, prove your learning ability!”

Dad patiently guided the boy, from how to blow into the trumpet to the frequencies of breathing. He didn’t deliberately avoid obscure  professional vocabulary, but when the noticed the boy had some doubts, he would explain two more sentences for that part.

Time seemed to slow down then, quietly hovering between father and son. Finally, the boy successfully sounded the trumpet. The sound was bright and crisp, as if it could directly penetrate the night before dawn.

“The trumpet is a musical instrument that can emit a loud sound or use the strength of the airflow to make a gentle sound.” Dad took the silver trumpet from the boy’s hand back. “Many people have some inherent ideas about things. People who don’t understand certain things will make one-sided judgements casually.”

“There are many casual people in the world. They think that the many rules are what people say, so they gradually become a part of the rules.

Dad put his mouth to the trumpet again. “They never know that even an ordinary trumpet can contain the secrets of the entire universe. Find the answer in your own way, even if you question it, it doesn’t matter.”

The high-pitched trumpet accompanied the distant sun slowly rising, illuminating the quiet land.

CHAPTER FIVE:

The sunrise on Friday seemed to arrive with blessings. After school, the boy sped up his normal pace going home, not looking forward to his birthday, but knowing that his parents rarely took time off to prepare dinner at home.

After the family of three happily feasted, Mom sang a birthday song and brought out a cake. He had never liked sweets, so according to the usual practice, only the step of making a wish was left. The boy sat upright, and when he was about to close his eyes, his father opened his mouth suddenly.

“How about dad teaches you a special way to make a wish this year?”

He looked up at his dad’s face softened by the candlelight, and nodded in cooperation. Maybe this is the habit of scientists, creating new ways to do things all the time. He thought so.

“Let’s make wishes with our eyes open in the future. Tell your wishes to your heart, but use your eyes to record everything that’s happening on this day. Because today is a particularly beautiful day, those who accompany you on this day are also beautiful.”

“Yes, now it’s me and your mother, but there will be others who love you in the future. You must keep that in mind.”

Dad fixed his glasses, his tone very serious. As if affected by such emotions, the boy also nodded vigorously. He looked at the candlelight swaying in front of him and silently drew a small wish from his heart.

I hope I can grow up soon, learn more knowledge, and become as knowledgeable as my parents. I hope that the research that mom and dad are doing goes well. It would be better if their work made them a little less busy. I hope that today next year, we can be together as a family.

The candlelight was against the boy’s shining eyes, and there was a sudden sticky touch to his cheeks. The moment the boy raised his head in astonishment, another source of light flashed, and his mother poked out her head from a camera triumphantly.

“A successful capture!”

His father beside him gave a thumbs-up of affirmation, the cream of the cake still on his fingertips.

“.....”

Occasionally when these similar situations happen, the boy will wonder about the authenticity of his parents’ occupations.

The moon quietly climbed up in the night sky, and the boy observed that his father would look out of the window from time to time after night fell. Finally, he walked towards him with a smile, and with a mysterious expression, he pulled him out into the yard.

The wind blew the small blue and white flags with the leaves, bringing out a hint of autumn. Dad took off his white coat and put it on the little boy casually. A large astronomical telescope was placed in a part of the yard, and the boy suddenly had a guess in his heart.

“Even if the birthday gift a kid wants isn’t ‘cute’ at all, a good dad still has to work hard to satisfy his wish. So -- this is the birthday gift that mom and I will give you. Happy Birthday!”

The boy turned his head to look at his mother who was leaning against the door. She shoved her shawl together and blinked at him. He couldn’t help but sigh again, but his heart was warm.

Dad adjusted the telescope to a suitable height, and even praised the boy for growing taller again. Through the binoculars, he clearly saw the universe.

“There are so many huge and unknown secrets in the universe we live in. Your mother and I are honoured to be the ones who explore and study it.”

“Then, can I be the same as you?”

“Of course. So, what dad is trying to tell you is that the world is big, but also very, very small. Don’t stop and stay where you are because of something unknown, and move forward with questions. Go, and one day, you will find the answer.”

The boy looked away from the telescope, looked at his parents who were always watching over him, and then looked up at the vast expanse of the night sky.

The galaxy just within reach has now become a distant point.

He was lost in thought. After a moment, he raised his head, and there seemed to be a flash of light in his eyes.

“I think I know, what is the answer to the rules of this world? Mom and dad, you can listen to me, right?”

CHAPTER SIX:

In the study, the fireplace flickered and made crackling noises.

In Einstein’s special theory of relativity, as a component of the four dimensional momentum, energy is conserved in any closed system, and when observed in any interior system, time changes. The length of the vector is the static mass of a single mass point, and will also be conserved.

The boy knelt on the ground holding a piece of chalk, surrounded by books, dictionaries, calculation papers and tools that he had been reading these days. His parents surrounded him, and by his side, they patiently watched the formula and reasonings he wrote down stroke by stroke.

“But the book says, for physical theories in flat space-time, since quantum mechanics allows for short-term non-conservation, energy conservation is not observed in quantum mechanics.” The boy frowned, but the chalk in his hand did not stop. It seemed that the entire universe was paved in front of him, and he tried his best to use those jerky and unfamiliar words to know and break down the door separating him from the answer he needed.

In fact, there are still many things he doesn’t understand. In such a short period of time, he really couldn’t cross those unknown letters and equations to get those answers. However, he did not intend to admit defeat. He has his own views on this world.

“To sum it up, the rule of the world is that it may only have a rule within a certain period of time, but it may appear as more cognition, and new rules will appear.

The rules of this world will always be broken.

After he finished speaking, he pushed the slightly large glasses up the bridge of his nose like his father. Dad frowned, thinking about the rationality of this reason. After a moment, he nodded thoughtfully:

“It’s a really interesting theory.”

The boy did not show a hint of a smile, and dad’s conversation turned.

“It’s just your idea, I'm afraid it’s challenging Einstein.”

The small head that was originally straight couldn’t help but deflate, like a ball that had leaked a bit of air.

“But then again…” The boy’s eyes lit up.

“It is worthy of recognition and encouragement. Keep going.” Dad patted him on the shoulder approvingly. “Unexpectedly, my son now has the potential to discover new things and world truths. It seems that becoming a great scientist is just around the corner! But for now, let’s be a happy birthday kid.” He said this and rubbed the top of the boy’s head vigorously.

“Six years old is no longer a child.” The boy whispered. “

“Then this big kid can’t tell his dad what the wish he made was?” “No, the birthday wish won’t come true.”

“Haha, you seem like quite an ordinary kid in this moment.”

“....”

“My wish is to know the same knowledge as my parents, so that I can learn about the world with you.”

The boy’s sudden opening stunned his parents for a moment.

Mom didn’t speak, but took the boy in her arms with satisfaction. Dad raised his chin pretending, looked at the boy carefully, and put on an expression saying ‘this is a bit difficult’.

“This wish is quite big. Hey, why did you say it? It’ll be even harder to realise now.”

It seems that he felt his wife’s speechless gaze, and the man finally took off his permorative mask and laughed.

“But I’m not wrong. It’s really not easy to realise that wish. Because I will move forward too. By this time next year, not only will you have grown one year, but I will have as well. I understand that you’ll have more knowledge than now, but your father is already a more educated old man.”

“But I can catch up faster than you can learn.”

“Then what we’re facing now is the dilemma of catching up.”

The mother who has not spoken picked up a scattered piece of chalk and wrote on the ground, saying, “Assuming that the amount of knowledge is composed of a fixed increase in the learning rate of the previous year, and an additional increase in the learning rate this year, dad’s knowledge amount is 290 times the amount of yours.”

"His learning rate also increases at a constant rate of 6 units per year. But dad will start declining in 10 years, and his learning speed will decrease by 2 units year to year on the basis of constant growth. Your initial learning speed is 1/30 of dad, but it will increase at a constant rate. So, there’s one question, how long do you need to catch up with dad in the future?”

The boy opened his mouth, but had no answer.

Dad looked at the formula on the ground and frowned slightly. After a brief silence, he seemed to have calculated the answer, and took a breath before rubbing his hands. “It turned out to be faster than I thought. It seems that I can’t be too slack! But before time can give an answer, let's make an appointment at this time of your birthday next year, and we’ll come back!”

[seiin-translations]

2.43 S1 Chapter 5.3 - Stand By Me

3. FAKE

Kuroba and Haijima hit the big city~

Translation Notes

1. Tohoku is the northeast portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan and consists of Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Hokuriku is the northwest part and consists of Ishikawa, Fukui, Niigata and Toyama

2. A school with an escalator system is one where the school allows you to advance from one stage of education to the next without having to do entrance exams; these kinds of schools are usually private schools

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He could feel the train shaking, but his consciousness seemed to be clouded.

So noisy… The noise around him grew louder, his consciousness, which had been drifting just below the thin film of his dream, popped to the surface. The sounds of people talking in the distance suddenly became clear in his ears. Passengers began to hurriedly move about, returning seats and tables to their original positions and unloading luggage from racks. For a moment, he thought they were in Maibara, but they were supposed to have already passed Maibara and transferred to the bullet train.

I feel kinda…sluggish…?

After he fell asleep and woke up, he suddenly felt sluggish. I felt somewhat tired before getting on the train, but there’s something strange about this… His whole body felt faintly heavy, like it was covered in a leaden shell.

And then the thing he was resting his head on suddenly disappeared, and his entire upper body slumped to the side.

“Ow…”

His temples throbbed where earpieces of his glasses dug into them. One side of his neck muscles was stretched out and stiff. He screwed up his face as he pressed his neck and saw Kuroba’s back in front of him.

“Wow. We’re really in Tokyo. Wow…”

Kuroba leaned toward the window and shouted with child-like glee, and he could see the smoggy sky beyond his head. The skyscrapers in the city center shone in the pale sunlight. The in-train announcements announced their arrival at Tokyo, the last stop. The train temporarily separated from the dazzling cityscape and slid into the neutral-colored platform.

“…Wait, Tokyo!?”

Haijima pushed Kuroba’s back aside and quickly raised his heavy body.

“Why didn’t you wake me up at Shinagawa?”

“Shinagawa? That’s not Tokyo.”

“I told you we’re getting off at Shinagawa. It’s closer from there.”

“Yeah, but the tickets said Tokyo, right?”

“It says ‘Within the wards of Tokyo.’”

“…So, that’s Tokyo…?”

In all probability, Kuroba didn’t have the Tokyo transit map in his head, so there was no point in engaging with him.

He pulled his bag down from the rack and headed for the doors, pushed by the waves of passengers getting off one after another. As he stepped onto the platform, he felt the air flow and realized how stagnant the dense air inside the train had become. It was the first time in a long while that he felt the air of Tokyo. The air filled with the body heat of people in close quarters definitely wasn’t clear, but the sluggishness eased a little when he breathed in the outside air.

Although he wasn’t nearly as provincial as Kuroba, Haijima hadn’t used Tokyo Station much, so he was bewildered. However, they would cause congestion if they stood in place too long. He started walking before looking for the information board, thinking that if he followed the flow of people, he would soon reach the ticket gates for transferring to the non-conventional train lines.

“Hey, don’t leave me behind. I’ll cry if I get lost here. I’ll definitely get lost.”

“If you get lost, turn on your phone. I’ll call you.”

“I never exchanged my email address or phone number with you. I didn’t get a phone until I was in high school.”

“…Is that right? Then, let’s do it now…”

Passersby roughly pushed them out of the way as they were standing in their way talking. He stumbled back two steps, but when he turned around, he saw that Kuroba had disappeared into the crowd.

“Kuro…”

He was overwhelmed by the scenery that zoomed past before his eyes and froze.

He felt as though the world around him was moving at a speed of 1.3 times faster than he was used to. The pace of the people around were extremely hurried, and the train station announcements sounded high-pitched and rapid. He didn’t feel like that when he lived there before, but he wondered if the world had accelerated in the two years he had been away—he felt like he was going to get thrown from this swift current by centrifugal force, and he was subconsciously looking for something to cling to.

Suddenly, his bag was yanked from the side and he was pulled back into the crowd. He felt the strap digging into his stomach and almost threw up, but it kept him connected to the world. He unintentionally let out a sigh of relief.

“I told you not to leave me.” Kuroba was gripping the strap tightly. Well, he’s the one who has a miserable look on his face like a little kid pulling on his mom’s skirt.

“I didn’t leave you…”

I was the one who thought I was left behind for a moment.

***

“Meisei Academy – High School”

The name of the school was engraved in a ceramic board set into the brick wall.

It was just after school, and the open school gates spewed out students in uniforms with the somewhat pretentious designs typical of private schools. On the grounds of the school, they could see students from athletic clubs dressed in jerseys forming large and small groups and coming and going in whichever directions they wished.

If they had gotten off at Nanafu Station this morning and gone to school as usual, they would have finished their day of classes and gone home by now. It had taken them a whole school day to get here. It might have been closer than he thought, or it might have been farther, because a whole school day of classes was quite painful for him.

“This school looks like it could be the setting for a drama. Private schools in Tokyo really are different.”

Kuroba said in a stupid voice, after opening his mouth stupidly and gazing at the school building towering over the gates. Haijima didn’t know how to feel about that impression, since he rarely watched TV dramas, but standing in a corner of a crowd of uniforms with a distinctive color scheme of dark red and grey, he felt like Seiin’s uniform of just a white shirt and black pants really did seem extremely simple. Some carried non-designated bags or backpacks, but the majority carried the dark red school bag on their shoulders.

“The skirts are shorter than I thought. The way they wear their uniforms are different too. What the hell are Itoko and the others copying?” Kuroba muttered as he watched groups of Meisei girls passing through the school gates.

Then, those girls turned to look at them. “Whoa!” Kuroba was startled and leaned towards him.

The girls started chatting with each other and giggling as they pulled on each other’s uniforms that were worn in a different way and looked at them. Haijima felt a chill in the pit of his stomach.

“H-Hey, those Tokyo girls are looking at us. They’re kind of talking happily. Do you think we might be standing out a lot? Maybe that girl over there thinks I’m cute? What should I do if she’s saying something like that?”

He took another look at the girls’ uniforms from behind Kuroba, who was losing his mind and whispering into his ear, and secretly let out a breath. They weren’t in the same year as him—the Meisei girls’ uniform had ties for the middle schoolers and ribbons for the high schoolers, and the school years could be distinguished by the color. He remembered that his own year was dark blue. The ribbons of those girls were dark green. That was probably the third years’ color. If they were two years above him, they probably didn’t know about back then.

Why did I think they were talking about that just because they looked over here and laughed…more than I expected, I’m…

“You know, I got a sense of it when we arrived here, but we’re pretty tall even in Tokyo.”

“Kuroba…I…might be nervous.”

He muttered that in a hoarse voice, and Kuroba’s face turned serious again like he just remembered.

He was trembling slightly, as though the ends of his body were numb. The feeling of stepping on the ground felt light and fluffy. His throat was unusually dry. He didn’t think his body would react like this when he stood before the gates of Meisei—he had never been nervous in a volleyball game.

“…Haijima, you’re not turning back, are you? You understood and came this far, didn’t you?”

It wouldn’t have been strange if the usual Kuroba told him that he could turn back if he didn’t want to do this. He might have been hoping for that somewhere in his mind. But the slightly harsh voice encouraged him.

“I’m the one who spurred you on. I’m not going to make a way out for you. You’re fine with that, right?”

“…”

He nodded. He remembered that, didn’t he.

“Excuse us!”

They heard a voice in the distance. He didn’t think it was calling them, but Kuroba looked back at the gate with a “Nnn?” and Haijima was influenced to look up as well.

“Sorry we’re late, you’re from H High, right? The captain told us to come welcome you…”

Two boys came running towards them from inside the school. They looked like they were from a sports team with their matching T-shirts and knee-length track pants, and both of their heights were in the 170 centimeter range, which was taller than the average height for boys. However, rather than their heights, he guessed that they were volleyball players because of their builds that gave the impression that they were stretching lankily upwards, and they probably judged them to be the same for the same reasons. He could clearly see the logo “MEISEI VOLLEYBALL TEAM” printed across their chests.

They came running up to them in a friendly manner, but seemed to realize they had mistaken them for the people from H High because of their different uniforms, and they immediately looked suspicious.

“Huh? Sorry, which school…”

One of them was about to say when the other boy next to him spoke up.

“…Chika?”

The only people who called him by his childhood nickname were his acquaintances from his elementary and middle school volleyball days in Tokyo. The name itself now sounded like an accusation to Haijima, and his heart twinged. “Huh? Ah…” The boy next to him also stared at his face, and then exclaimed, “Seriously!? It is Chika!”

“…Tetto and, Kou…?”

Haijima called the names of his former teammates.

Komukai Tetsuto and Ikawa Kou. In middle school, their positions were libero and reserve setter respectively. It was no surprise to him that they made it this far. The school had an escalator system, so about seventy percent of the students came from the middle school division. In addition, athletic team students generally participated in the same club activities in both middle and high school. One of Meisei Academy’s selling points was the long-term development of athletes through an integrated junior and senior high school system.

“You’re here to watch us practice, right? I knew you’re still doing volleyball. There’s no way Chika would quit volleyball.”

Komukai took the initiative to speak as he led the way down the tree-lined path towards the gym. The unexpectedly cheerful welcome left Haijima bewildered.

“Go tell everyone, Kou. Chika came to hang out.”

“Isn’t practice about to start? And what are we going to do about the people from H High?”

Ikawa pulled out his phone while sneaking glances at Haijima. Unlike Komukai, he could read a hint of hesitation in Ikawa’s voice.

Komukai, Ikawa, and Haijima walked side by side. Kuroba, looking out of place, walked several steps behind.

It was Komukai who first heard about Yoshino’s suicide attempt and told everyone on the team about it. Haijima also clearly remembered that Komukai was part of the outbreak of people who blamed him for it afterwards. What if I meet someone who knew about what happened at that time? …Will I be treated like a “murderer” again”…? He had been bracing himself for that, but he had no idea what to do with this reaction that made him forget why he even transferred to another school.

“I think I heard that the school you transferred to was in your grandma’s town, but where was it again? It’s in Tohoku, right? Are you going to high school there now?”

“Fukui’s not in Tohoku, it’s in Hokuriku. (1) It’s Fukui’s Seiin High School.”

Kuroba corrected him unhappily from behind. “Who’s that, your friend from there?” Komukai asked. Haijima answered him while looking over his shoulder at Kuroba.

“My high school teammate, Kuroba, …He’s my friend since kindergarten. …And our ace attacker.” Kuroba looked shocked, and he himself wondered why he had said it like they were separate items.

“Wow. Pretty amazing for a first year, ace attacker. I’m Komukai,” Komukai said carefreely, and Ikawa introduced himself with “Hello, I’m Ikawa,” while texting.

“I’ve never heard of Fukui’s Seiin. Are you guys strong?”

“Unh…we still don’t have any achievements yet, but we’ll get there.”

“Our team made it to the Kanto tournament this year, but we finished in the best sixteen.”

“That’s the power of the upperclassmen, you mean. Did you do anything?”

He interjected because he felt something off about the way he said it. Komukai, who had been talking smoothly, broke off. Ikawa looked up from his phone as though he was startled.

Komukai shrugged his shoulders as though he was exasperated for some reason.

“That part of you hasn’t changed at all.”

“…What do you mean by ‘that part’?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

Unlike Seiin, Meisei didn’t have a shortage of freshmen on the bench. It was the efforts of the older students that got them to the Kanto Tournament, and he was sure that was why the older students were so disappointed that they finished in the best sixteen. The only people who could say “in the end” were the players themselves. He felt that there was something wrong about someone who hadn’t contributed to that talking in a self-depreciating way about it…was that wrong?

Suddenly, the back of his collar was grabbed and yanked hard. Haijima stumbled as Kuroba thrust his face between them and cut into the conversation.

“Hey, more importantly, is that Yoshino guy here today?”

“Yoshino? Oh, Yoshino Souta? Well, he doesn’t go here, but…he went some place near my house. You’re still in touch with him, right, Kou?”

“Ah, yeah, he went to a different high school.”

“What…but this place has an escalator system, doesn’t it?” (2)

“Yeah, but Souta quit the volleyball team.”

Ikawa timidly replied to Kuroba’s naïve question, and Komukai supplemented it. “It gets tough when you change clubs midway here. It’s perfectly fine to change, but it’s assumed that in high school you’d be staying in the same club.”

One step behind the three of them, Haijima was rooted to the spot like he had been thrown out of the conversation.

He’s lying, right…? Souta quit volleyball…?

He had just taken it for granted that he would be in Meisei High School’s volleyball team, and no other option had ever crossed his mind. When he thought about, of course there would be other options, but he never doubted that Yoshino would continue to play volleyball.

“…Was it, because, of that…?”

His voice became a lump and got stuck in his throat, causing him to speak in a strangely clumsy way. His vocal chords were blocked by something hard and he could only speak in chunks. He got these symptoms from time to time. The words hardened inside his body. Kuroba looked back at him and gave him a worried look. Komukai looked at Ikawa with a puzzled look on his face, and Ikawa whispered, “You know, Souta’s…incident,” while minding him.

“Incident? Oh, that—.”

Komukai lightly responded and scratched his head with a forced smile.

“I’m surprised, Chika, you still care about that. Uh, yeah, that doesn’t have anything to do with this, I think, because that was…what do you call it, a performance, you know? We did a lot of research on the internet to find out where you can cut and not be in too much danger. Half the team knew about it. Kou, you knew it too, right?”

“I, I didn’t know about it…”

“Souta’s not here anymore, so I can say this now, right? Well, we were talking about how no matter how dense Chika is, even he’d get it if someone died. Then we got excited and decided that someone should really do it and Souta volunteered. Well, even we were turned off when he really did it, but Souta probably couldn’t back down either——”  

…? What is he…?

He spoke so lightly that it slid smoothly over the surface of his ears before he could grasp the meaning of his words. What…is he talking about…? Is he talking about something that he can confess about with a half-smile like that right now? Komukai’s face was twisting and looking like a grotesque creature spouting unintelligible words. It’s disgusting——. Komukai’s face was twisting and looking like a grotesque creature spouting unintelligible words. It’s disgusting——.

A tall shadow flashed at the edge of his vision. Komukai’s slippery voice was cut short with a short cry.

“What the hell is that!? Is that true!?”

The one who grabbed Komukai’s collar and shouted that was Kuroba.

“Do you guys even know the difference between things you can joke about and things you can’t…”

“What’s it got to do with you? We didn’t think Chika would transfer to another school with just that back then…”

“With just that…!?” Growling that as though squeezing the words out from between his grinding teeth, Kuroba raised his fist.  

“Hey, what’s with this guy? Oi, Chika…” Komukai asked for help while covering his face with his arms. If I don’t stop him—even if he’s still suspected of fighting, it’s absolutely no good for him to cause trouble at another school. Are you saying that this is for you alone? Did it become like this because you want to be in a game? No…this is wrong, Kuroba, no—his voice was stuck in his throat and he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move his body.

“Oi, what are you guys doing!?”

When a suspicious-sounding voice came flying from somewhere, he got impelled by it and somehow managed to step forward. He jumped at Kuroba while getting his legs tangled up and grabbed his arms. He shook his head slightly and appealed with his eyes to Kuroba, who ground his teeth in dissatisfaction. Kuroba clicked his tongue and loosened his hold on Komukai.

The wall of the gym could be seen at the end of the tree-lined path. Someone who appeared to be an older student on the volleyball team was standing in front of the metal doors of the entrance.

“Komukai, Ikawa? Where did you guys go! The guys from H High are already here, so there’s no point in making me go to welcome them.”

“Huh, really? Then we must have just missed them!”

While answering the angry shout with one of his own, Komukai tried to keep a distance from Kuroba, but Kuroba roughly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “What the hell?” he protested, but his voice was quiet and he backed off.

The upperclassmen looked at them warily, since they came into the school wearing the uniforms of another school, but when he saw Haijima’s face, he seemed to recall something and he turned back to the gym and said something. It was then that Haijima also recalled the name of that team member. His name was Tatsumi and he was one year older than him. In middle school, Haijima had been on the bench since early in his first year and became the regular setter when the third years retired. In the high school, the upper and lower members would have remained almost unchanged, so there were probably not a few upperclassmen who remembered standing on the court with him.

Some more members came out of the gym as Tatsumi called them. He couldn’t make out the conversation, but the words “Haijima” and “Chika” kept leaking out.

“What’s with them, they’re acting like you’re a panda in a zoo.”

Kuroba muttered, sounding like he was unable to clear away his anger.

“Don’t you know, they’re wondering who’s that guy who looks like a delinquent from the boonies over there.”

When Komukai said that snidely, Kuroba pushed his shoulder with an indignant look and shoved him away. As Komukai was trying to straighten his stretched-out T-shirt while grumbling, Kuroba made a gesture of driving him away with his foot.  Just when Haijima wondered what he was going to say,

“Go tell them that Haijima and Kuroba from Seiin High School, the representative of Fukui Prefecture, came to challenge Meisei High School!”

“Hah?”

Komukai cried out wildly.

“You’re challenging us? Are you stupid? Where the hell is Seiin anyways?”

“I really don’t like the way Tokyo people say ‘stupid.’”

He put his face closer to Komukai’s, almost hanging over him, to silence him and reiterated it in a tone filled with intimidation.

“Didn’t you hear me? We’re Haijima and Kuroba from Seiin High School, representing Fukui Prefecture, have come to challenge Tokyo’s Meisei High. Now, go.”

He half-kicked Komukai’s behind and made him run. Ikawa looked back and forth between them as he hurriedly chased after him. “Keh,” Kuroba mimicked spitting at their backs before turning to him.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

He said with a sigh. He didn’t know what kind of face he was making because the nerve in his face had gone off somewhere.

“I know. I know that we can’t commit violence. That’s why, if you want to beat them up, you beat them in a match. That’s the way in sports manga, right? Don’t tell me you’re just gonna slink back home like this, Haijima? After you…got looked down on like that.”

When the corners of his mouth lifted to show his canines and made a disturbed face that looked like a combination of anger and a faint smile—he had never thought this even once until then, but he discovered that he looked exactly like Kuroba Yorimichi.

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