#this dude said ‘we’ll be on separate checks’ before the server even got to the table. i audibly gagged

[gardenofnoah]

i took myself on a date tonight and had the misfortune of observing everyone on dates with men and i feel like someone owes each of those people an apology

[schillypokespe]

Some bonds weren't made to be broken.

Last Life fic focusing on 3rd life relationships - One Shot

Link to ao3 in comments

Time tended to go by slowly in the world of Last Life. Something all the members had learnt beforehand was whatever was watching them - Grian called them the ‘cameras’, let them be themselves and let go of their hold on their minds when they were done recording. They’d get a week inbetween to do what they wanted and interact with who they wanted, the bloodlust would get somewhat knocked out of them and there was no more fear on the server of being hurt, the lives would go null. Afterall it wouldn’t be a show if they all died off camera. The relationships stayed relatively the same, carrying over from 3rd Life.

After the first two sessions, they’d all found places to meet up. Jimmy and Scott hid under the enchanting table area. Ren would meet up with Martyn- and sometimes Etho and Skizz, where the Shadow Alliance met up. Grian ran to magic mountain so he could make sure Scar was alright all alone. Cleo and Bdubs would check on each other at the very least, if not stay with each other for a whole night.

After the third session Bdubs waited for Etho to get back from mining for the first three hours after the camera went off. Once it had, he grabbed his husband, scolding him for pretending to be the boogeyman but laughing at the same time, pushing him away with Etho curled his hand into a claw, vaguely dragging it down Bdubs’ face. “You’re such- there’s seriously something wrong with you!”

“Hey, pretending I’m the boogey means I don’t get hurt!” Etho winked as he said it with a cheeky shrug. Bdubs just huffed and started sorting through the stuff Etho had gotten, pushing the ores into their own piles and separating them. They had some diamonds- mostly for themselves, they wouldn’t let the cameras see them. They had to have at least a little bit of their own lives back, even if they’d get it once everything was over and they could return to hermitcraft- stuff still hurt, the deaths still affected them. The trading lives affected them.

Etho flicked Bdubs’ nose to get him to look up. “We’ll be alright. I’ll keep pretending and as long as you stay at the base like you always do we’ll be okay. At least for a while.” “I know, Etho.” and there was a hand in his hair, ruffling it and messing it up as the hood of his jacket got pushed back. There was hardly even a glare, Bdubs simply leaning into the touch and going back to sorting items.

-

Martyn and Ren had met up again and damn near clung to eachother right after the first session, Martyns hand quickly going to cup Ren’s cheek and the man leaning into it. “You’re safe now, you’re alive, Ren, thank god, are you okay-” the concern spilled from his lips instantly, and Ren lifted his hand to touch Martyns wrist, sliding his hand up until he’d intertwined their fingers.

“I’m perfectly alright dude, I’ve been messing around in hermitcraft with Doc, I’ve been okay.” Ren knew Martyn didn’t have another proper world to go to, and he hadn’t been able to properly check in on Ren, so he wasn’t going to say anything about how concerned he was. He lowered him and Martyns hands and wrapped his arms around him, pressing his face into his hands hair.

“We’re okay now, Martyn.” There was a nod, and a deep breath before Martyn steeled himself. “Of course, my lord. Now- what have you been up too you big doof?” he pushed Ren away, a playful grin crossing his expression, and Ren smirked, before leaning against a tree and letting himself fall to sitting, gesturing for Martyn to join him.

It only took a second before Martyn had sat down next to him, leaning into him and resting his head on Ren’s shoulder. “You come to me if you get hurt, Ren, and- let’s try to work together? Find a way somehow.” “Of course, my hand.”

-

After the fourth session, Bdubs finds himself running to Joel's hut once he gets back from the nether, heart still pounding from the adrenaline of it all, he’d seen the death message earlier, so even if the bloodlust were still affecting either of them, she’d be a safe place to go to. He shook the door knob and opened it whilst nearly falling over, and there are arms around him holding him up.

Cleo turned to press herself against the wall so she could support both her and Bdubs’ weight better, her own mind reeling from the betrayal she’d been forced to live through the same day. “Bdubs, are you okay? We’re okay here.” her voice is strong, shaking Bdubs out of his shock, and he meets her eyes. “I’m gonna- We can work together, next time the cameras on yea? I missed that.”

Instant change of subject, he’d seen what happened to Cleo, no need to dwell on deaths. A small smile graced itself across his past lovers face, as she slowly let herself scoot to the floor, holding him against her. “I missed you.” “I know.”

-

Jimmy collects flowers one night, sitting by the river and trying to make a flowercrown based on what he remembered Scott teaching him, a messy one tucked into his backpack once he was able to make one that was at least vaguely stable, and he sneaks into the fort as soon as he can, narrowly avoiding Pearls gaze and trying to figure out where Scott was, calling out for him softly once he was sure he was out of earshot of Pearl. A few moments pass before Scott is peeking his head out of a door.

He runs out and quickly draws Jimmy into the building, hiding him from Pearl- needlessly, the fighting didn’t matter once the cameras were off, but neither of them were sure whether or not Pearl knew about them, so they weren’t going to say anything, not right now. Jimmy drops his bag and wraps his arms around Scott the second the door closes, and one of Scotts hands was buried in his hair, the other pressed into his back and holding him as close as possible.

“I love you-” “-You’re okay” they talk over each other, and Scott presses a kiss to Jimmy's lips, and Jimmy kisses back quickly and deeply, hands drifting up to tangle themselves in his husbands hair. When they pull away they stare into each other's eyes for almost a moment too long, before they’re laughing, holding onto each other and laughing until their lungs hurt, and they swear Pearl can hear them but neither of them care.

They fall asleep in a mess of tangled limbs with a half broken flower crown on Scotts head, and they explain things to Pearl the next day so they don’t have to be apart.

-

The second the cameras stop rolling for session five Grian abandons his walking through the forest to run as fast as he can to magic mountain, feet pounding on the ground and the sound nearly echoing into his head and his chest heaves as he goes, screaming Scars name, and not a single person questions it if they see him, they all know that Grian and Scar were still as close as ever, and even if the bloodlust were a problem they knew Scar would never lay a hand on Grian.

The parrot had always been more aggressive anyway.

As he ran Grian reached backward and started trying to untie his wings, and by the time he got to the mountain his wings burst out of the restraints and he raised into the air with one strong flap of them. He flew up the mountain and landed with a skid and tumble that made him slam into the door.

“Scar!” he called again, pushing himself up and pushing the door open and staring at his lover, who sat at his desk with his head in his hands. “Scar, are you okay? Are you- do the burns hurt do you need anything?” “Nah Gri, I’m fine.” Scar looks up, and it takes a stupid amount of effort for Grian not to back away at the glowing red gaze.

“You’re- are you going to be okay next session? Promise me you won’t do something stupid” they both know Scar can’t say whether or not he will, and Grian was moving too fast for Scar to even answer, the man sitting on his lap and wrapping his wings and arms around him. “Don’t die.” he muttered, pressing his face into Scars chest.

Scars hand slid into his hair, starting to play with it, and he nodded, pressing his lips against Grian’s head and pushing his face into his hair.

-

The cameras would always come on again, and alliances would break and form, and they wouldn’t be able to love each other the same or put the same amount of energy into each other, but they always fought against the rules at least a little bit. Etho and Bdubs’ line in the sand. Grian and Scar continue to visit each other. Martyn and Ren in the shadow alliance. Cleo and Bdubs trying to work together if both of them were red. Jimmy and Scott cross paths too often for it to be normal.

The cameras would try to break them apart, but some bonds weren’t made to be broken.

[matchacloudz]

Lotus Inn

Daniel Seavey x OC (Kora King)

Requested: No 

word count: 1.8k

Masterlist

 Not my gif

With a final groan, the radio cut and the car had finally given up on us. “I told you we should have gotten it looked at” I said to my best friend sitting in the passenger seat. Knowing I was right, all she could do was glare my way and unbuckle her seatbelt. “Yeah, yeah, now help me push this to the side” she said. I put the car into neutral and got out to help her move the piece of shit to the curb.

“You have your CAA card right?” She asked as we started slowly pushing the car, “mom never lets me leave without it” I said. “Man, why did this have to happen? We’re literally in the middle of our trip” she moaned, trying to push the car with me. “Need I remind you, I told you to check what the engine light was all about” I groaned with her. We were barely making any progress, but after a few minutes we finally got the car to a safe-ish position on the side of the road. “Let’s just call CAA yeah? See if we can’t get ourselves to a motel or some shit” she said, leaning on the boot of the car.

40 or so minutes of waiting in the heatwave, we finally saw the tow truck. “Is there anywhere I can drop you girls off?” The driver said as we grabbed our bags out of the trunk. Ella and I looked at each other, we had reservations at a hotel that we were nowhere close too. “Not unless you’re willing to drive us 4 more hours to our hotel” she joked, earning a laugh from the worker infront of us. “That’s a bit out of my pay range, but I know a place I can take you – always looking for new customers” he said. With no other options in site, we climbed into his car and were soon on our way to the mystery location.

-

“Here you are girls, Lotus inn, best local hotel on this side of the coast.” “Thank you for all your help, we really appreciate it” Ella said handing the man a 50. “No problem, we’ll get back to you on how much the car will be – hopefully you’ll be able to make the rest of your trip with no issues.” We nodded to him in gratitude and with that we went our separate ways.

“This place looks pretty nice” Ella commented, “yeah, let’s hope its in our price range” I tell her.

Surprisingly, we were able to book a room for a while – having enough money and having to splurge some what into the emergency stash we took. “Well, considering we can’t make it to anything else – feel like going to the pool for a while?” I offered once we settled. “Why not, maybe find something to do” she agreed.

The pool was near empty, people were lounging about – sunbathing, drinking and not a single kid in sight. “Did we get lucky?” I asked plopping myself on one of the lounge chairs. The two of us laid in silence, trying to decompress from the day we just had, I on the other hand was just excited to be out of the passenger seat after 5 hours. “Hey, don’t look now but that guy across the pool is totally checking you out” she said, I looked at her – but due to her sun glasses I couldn’t tell if she was bluffing or not. Deciding to investigate for my self, I flipped to my back and looked across the water – sure enough, a group of five guys were across from us and the bleach blonde one was subtly looking in our direction. “What do you think, out of 10?” I say looking at her. She glanced up once more and then back to her book “I give him a solid 9” she said.

I laughed at her response and headed to the bar. “Hey, two cranberry vodkas please” I tell the server, however I was trying to see if the blonde had followed me or not, sure enough – when I looked one more time, he left his friends and started making his way to the bar. Wanting to talk to him, I took a seat, placing my foot on the one next to me.

“This seat taken?” He asked putting his glasses on his head. I couldn’t help but smirk when he came by – totally a ten in my books. “Not at all” I tell him, grabbing my drinks from the bartender. “So I couldn’t help but notice you from across the pool” he told me, placing his arms on the bar in front of himself. “Oh, so you weren’t just checking out my ass?” I tease him, biting my lip. “Couldn’t help it, you caught my eye” he admitted smiling at me. “I’m Kora, my friends Ella” I tell him, “Daniel. I’ll introduce you to my friends later” he says.

Conversation flowed easily between the two of us, that was until Ella came up and interrupted us. “I take it that’s for me?” She asks referring to the second cran vodka sitting between us. “Oh, shit sorry, uh Ella this is Daniel. He’s in a band” I say emphasizing the last fact. She wasn’t surprised however, “and you say you don’t have a type” she mutters nudging my shoulders. “So what brings you two to the Lotus inn?” He asks, including her in the conversation. “Her car broke down, sort of a last-minute kind of thing – you?” I ask looking him in the eyes. “Me and the guys come here a lot, sort of a hidden gem to everyone, great for a get away once in a while” he said. “Hey Daniel, we gotta go” a taller boy with curler hair said coming up to us. “So much for a getaway – hey we’ll see you at the bonfire tonight right?” He asked pointing to a poster hung up behind the bar. I look to my best friend but before she can refuse anything I agree. “Cool, here’s my number by the way.” He writes 10 digits on a napkin before leaving with the curly haired boy.

-

Later that night as we get ready for the bonfire Ella cannot stop with all the questions about Daniel. “What’s he like? You guys were literally there for 40 minutes. Is he sweet? Does he seem like a douche bag?” I can’t help but laugh at her – its been way too long since she’s seen her boyfriend and now she’s living right through me. “He seems really authentic? I guess I can say, I mean, we literally lost track of time. He’s so charming” I say as I finish curling my hair. “Well what are you going to wear? You gotta wow him” she says going through my clothes. “I’m going to wear a this set and we’re going to go” I say pulling my outfit out for myself. “I’m not going to dress up for someone I just met and will probably see ever again” I tell her, “boo, you’re no fun” she said shuffling over to her own bag.

The sun had started to set by time we make it to the bonfire. Everything is in full swing, but I don’t see Daniel anywhere or the guys he was with. “Come on! Let’s grab something to drink!” I turn to Ella and she places a lei on my neck as well as handed me some glowsticks. “Where in the world did you get these already?” I asked sliding them to wear as bracelets “It’s a bonfire! They’re just being handed out!”

Daniel

The guys were taking their sweet time getting ready for the bonfire and I was getting impatient, wanting to get out their and meet up with Kora already. “Dude chill have some pre-drink” Corbyn said handing me a red solo cup. “What are you guys even doing? Let’s just go” I said, chugging the beer.

After some more complaining we finally made our way to the bonfire and I found Kora and Ella dancing in front of the fire almost immediately. I stayed with the boys while they grabbed some drinks. Kora looked over at me and winked, earning a blush – which she would never hear about. “That her?” Zach asked as I handed him a beer, “yeah with the flower necklace on” I tell him. I couldn’t help but just watch her for a while, she looked absolutely perfect swaying her hips to the music playing loudly. I downed my drink and went to grab another one when I felt someone grab my wrist. Looking back I saw Kora with a big smile on her face. “Where do you think you’re going?” She asked bringing me to the dance floor, “just admiring the view” I whisper in her ear. I noticed the shiver roll down her spine. “you keep talking like that and I think we both know how this night is going to end” she said.

Kora handed me her drink as Elle came up to give her a refill and grabbed my free hand. I slowly twirled her around and brought her back to my front, keeping her with me and telling other guys to fuck off. “So mr. Rockstar – I take it I’m yours for the rest of the night?” She whispered in my ears, “I mean, if you’ll take me” I tell her.

Elle and the boys soon crowd around us making a semi circle. I can’t seem to look away from Kora however, the sunset hits her face just perfectly. Her eyes are highlighted by the golden rays and she’s glowing. “It’s getting dark – do you guys want to get out of here?” Zach suggested to everybody. “Yeah, we don’t have anywhere to be in the morning” Ella said for us – clearly smitten with the brunette beside her.

We all take some booze from the party and make it back to our suite. “Shit you guys rich or something?” Ella jokes as Zach takes her hand leading her to the couch. “I mean, Daniel did say they are a band” Kora said, her hand never leaving mine. We all disperse around the living room; Jonah setting up spotify on the tv, Corbyn grabbing some glasses, Zach with Ella, Jack with Corbyn and Kora always by my side. “So, we partying or what?” Jonah asked as the music started playing.

The next few hours are spent with booze flowing, jokes being made and games being played. It was only midnight, and a few more people showed up making the hotel room a little crowded. I had opened the door to let the salty sea air cool us all down, and looked towards Kora.

She made her way to me and grabbed my hand. “Baby, come with me” she said leading me out the doorway.

  To be continued?....

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

A Place To Call Home: Vacation

Summary: The Ackles and Padaleckis are heading to the beach for a two week long family vacation. The reader invites TJ along and is surprised to learn someone else may have beat her to the punch…

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x foster daughter!reader (with TJ)

Word Count: 10,300ish (whoops)

Warnings: language, little implied smut

A/N: Takes place approximately 2 years after the end of A Place To Call Home and after the reader has finished college...

“Hey guys,” asked your dad quietly, skirting back from first class squatting down in the aisle, looking at both you and TJ. “How’s it going back here?”

“Arrow stole my window seat and Zeppelin insisted TJ watch Transformers with him so...lovely,” you said, shaking your head at TJ who was sandwiched between Zepp and Shep across the aisle.

“Mom and I and the other guys really appreciate you two watching the little guys on the flights for us,” said Jensen, giving you a smile. “So much so we figure before you two go insane back here, we’d let you know that the villa we’re staying in has a separate cottage. We thought maybe you and TJ would want to maybe take that for-”

“Yup,” you said nodding your head. “This is the best flight ever. We’ll even watch ‘em on the way home, won’t we TJ?”

“Yes. A million times yes,” he said with a fast nod, your dad chuckling.

“Didn’t think you two would mind a little privacy,” he said, giving you a smile and raising an eyebrow at TJ. “Appropriate privacy.”

“Of course,” he said. You shook your head, scratching the back of it when your dad looked back to you. He rolled his eyes and smiled as he stood up.

“Alright, we’ll see you guys in a few hours,” he said. “Have fun sibling sitting.”

“Do we have all of ‘em?” asked Jared, yawning as your parents grabbed the rental cars at the airport. “How many kids are there? I forget.”

“Six small, two large,” said Gen. “So, eight total.”

“We’re graduated from college and we still fall in the kids category?” you asked, waving you to you and TJ.

“I think one of the large children is acting up again,” teased Jared.

“I put Jared and Jensen in the large children category, hun,” said Gen, giving Jared a smirk. “Still debating on TJ at the moment although he’s more mature than those two put together.”

“Come to the dark side, TJ. It’s fun here,” said Jared with a nod, watching you scowl at him.

“Yeah but Jensen…you know...” said TJ.

“Fair point,” said Jared, corralling Odette when she started to wander off. “Everyone under 6’ 5” must stay in a ten foot vicinity at all times at the airport, Ms. Odette.”

“Dad, it’s pretty outside,” she grumbled, waving her arms around. “I wanna play. Please?”

“As soon as Uncle Jensen and Aunt De get the cars, we are going to the resort and we can play,” he said. “Promise.”

“So, right now,” said your dad, handing a set of keys to Jared and one to TJ. “Small kids with your parents, luggage goes with the big kids.”

You saw Tom and JJ look at one another, Jensen rolling his eyes.

“Over twenty is a big kid today, kiddos,” he said.

“But I’m ten and Tom’s eleven,” said JJ. “Double digits.”

“It’s cool if they ride with us,” said TJ. “Really.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s just get there so we can relax for minute,” he said.

“Awesome,” you said, TJ smirking the whole time as you put your luggage into the back of the open top jeep, JJ and Tom practically bouncing out of their seats.

“Alright, buckle up and we will be there in about half an hour,” said TJ.

“You two good back there?” you asked. You got hums and a pair of thumbs up, TJ laughing as he pulled your sunglasses down over your face. “Well let’s get going. I am so driving this next time we go out by the way.”

“Might have to fight me for it,” teased TJ. It didn’t take long to get away from the airport and start to smell the ocean in the air and feel the sun on your skin. It hadn’t been hard for your dad to convince you to take this year’s big vacation to the caribbean after last year’s fiasco. It had been his choice to try camping and after one night of roughing it with three bouts of stomach bugs later, you packed up and checked into a hotel not too far down the road and spent the rest of the two weeks relaxing with a nice room to come back to at the end of the day.

Unfortunately TJ hadn’t been able to get the time off with his internship to come with you but now he was working at the firm under the guy that had ironically designed your parents house, and they were very flexible with time off.

“I’m so glad my parents said yes that you could come this year,” you said, glancing over at him as he drove, his left arm hanging on the edge of doorsill, a warm breeze in the air carrying a pretty scent through it.

“I’m glad they invited me,” he said with a smile.

“They invited you?” you asked. “I invited you.”

“Oh. I remember your dad asking me if I wanted to come like a week before you did. I was away for spring break at my parents and he called me up,” he said. “I figured you were excited and wanted to talk about it in person was all.”

“I talked to them about it after...they invited you...now I’m suspicious,” you said, peering over your shoulder at the SUV behind you your dad was driving.

“I’m sure they just wanted to know for planning rooms and stuff,” he said.

“Or he could like...be planning to murder you in foreign country,” you said.

“Seriously?” said TJ. “Your little sister and like cousin are in the car.”

“We watch lifetime movies when Y/N babysits,” said Tom.

“She’s got a point, TJ. The perfect crime,” said JJ.

“These children are going to be vandals when they grow up thanks to you,” said TJ, shaking his head with a smile. “What else does Y/N have you guys watch?”

“I let ‘em watch Supernatural sometimes,” you said, TJ’s jaw dropping. “So what if the rule was like thirteen? They can watch some stuff. Like bloody mary. Ain’t that right JJ? You loved that one.”

You spun around with a smirk, JJ shaking her head, Tom rolling his eyes.

“Or like hookman,” you said, his head dropping back. You laughed and TJ started to giggle.

“Vandals and traumatizing them. Best big sister ever there,” he teased.

“Dude, that stuff’s in the handbook,” you said, reaching back and ruffling both their heads. “They know I love ‘em. It’s our little secret.”

“What about like...the stuff that’s a little more...grown up?” asked TJ.

“No. No. That’s why you watch the show ahead of me now. I can not have another Jared and Gen season 4 couch incident,” you said, shaking yourself out. “Seeing dad was bad enough but that was full on…”

“What?” asked Tom.

“It’s an episode you’ll never see and for good reason,” you said. “You’ll thank me someday.”

“Hey, you know what? You guys are pretty lucky to have Y/N. I’m an only kid. I would have loved having a big brother or sister around. It can get pretty lonely,” said TJ.

“But now you got us!” said JJ. TJ laughed and agreed with her but you only bit your bottom lip. You didn’t realize you were still smiling when you got to the resort, your dad grinning at you when he saw your face.

“Somebody looks like they’re in love,” he said, Arrow taking off with your mom ahead of him.

“Yeah,” you said, grabbing you bag from the back, helping JJ with hers before you gave her a hug. “Pretty awesome little sis right here.”

He was quick to take a picture of you two, nudging you to hold back once everyone started heading inside.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. We were just talking in the car and TJ was talking about siblings and how the kids are lucky to have them and she made a comment like TJ’s part of our family so he’s got ‘em too. I don’t know. I’m…” you said. “Why’d you invite him on vacation?”

“It was a family vacation,” he said. “He’s part of the family.”

“Really?” you asked, your dad nodding with a smile.

“You’ve been best friends with the guy for four years, you’ve been dating for two and he comes over for dinner like six days a week. I think it’s okay if we call him part of the family at this point,” he said. You smiled, getting one in return. “I assumed you wanted him to come.”

“Oh, I did,” you said. “S’nice that you invited him is all.”

“I know. I’m also not going to murder him because yes, I watched that lifetime movie too,” he said.

“Well good cause then it’d be a whole thing to deal with..” you said, getting a chuckle from him.

“It’s why we act and make beer in this family. Whole lot easier,” he teased, tilting his head at you. “Speaking of making beer, mom says she’s creating a new position at the brewery. Full time, Monday to Friday. Someone to help with the business and design side of things, run social media. It comes with benefits, pretty kick ass salary, very flexible time off…”

“I told mom I’m taking it,” you said. “A big part of my duties will also be designing the farmhouse for the new restaurant and getting that up to code. I get to use that degree for something after all looks like.”

“You’re going to be a boss, not just a beer server anymore. You want that?” he asked. “You’ll be making decisions with all the owners.”

“It’s sort of called The Family Business so it makes sense that family runs it,” you said. “I want this.”

“Oh my...it only took you like five years to get that the plan was for the kids to run it someday,” he said with a laugh. “Whew. We were getting nervous for a minute there.”

“You guys were waiting for me to ask about a job?” you said. He shrugged, giving you a smirk.

“There’s always been a job there for you. Duh. Of course we were waiting for you to ask,” he said.

“You two are partially evil you know,” you said.

“But we’re nice evil, kiddo,” he said, giving you a hug, getting a strange look from a guy walking by. “Come on, let’s go be weird inside.”

“I don’t know if it’s possible for you to not be weird that long. You might actually combust from restraining yourself,” you said, smiling at him.

“I learned it from watching you, tall munchkin,” he said. You rolled your eyes and headed inside, handing over your bags to someone before everyone was being led off to your own private corner of the resort.

You parents and the Padaleckis thanked the people that brought your bags, you and TJ watching the kids take off to explore the villa.

“Guys, guys,” said your mom, Gen whistling before they got too far. “You three boys are sharing a room on the right. You three girls are right next door to them. Tom, JJ, us adults will be upstairs, Pads on the left, Ackles on the right. Any problems, come get any one of us, okay?”

“Where are TJ and Y/N going to sleep?” asked Arrow.

“Backyard,” said your dad. The kids scrunched up their faces, Jared nodding. “I know, sucks for them. But they’ll just be sleeping out there so during the day, those guys are still in charge too. Okay now take off you scoundrels. And no going near the pool or the beach without an adult out there.”

All six pairs of heads nodded before they were gone to their rooms and you were tugging TJ outside. You hummed as you both spotted the short path to the cottage off to the side.

“It looks beautiful,” you said, both of you wide eyed as you entered. There was a small kitchen and sitting room in the front of the house, and a huge bathroom and  bedroom with a perfect oceanfront view in the back, your bags already inside. “Wow.”

You stepped outside onto the small deck out there, looking around and seeing nothing but beach.

“This is so private. Isn’t it gorgeous?” you asked, looking back over your shoulder.

“It is,” he said, a hint of pink on his cheeks.

“Are you blushing TJ?” you teased.

“You should see how beautiful you are,” he said, smirking as he stepped out beside you. “That’s a very pretty sundress for a girl that doesn’t like dresses.”

“It’s the caribbean,” you shrugged, TJ humming as he wrapped his arms around you, resting his head on your shoulder as you both stared out. “Want to go swimming?”

“Mmm, for sure,” he said, kissing your cheek before he pulled back. You went inside, digging through your bags for your swim gear, TJ with swim trunks in hand when there was a knock at the door. “Come in.”

“Hey,” said your dad, raising an eyebrow when he walked inside to the bedroom. “Wow, this place is nice. Just wanted to let you guys know we were thinking be ready to go for dinner at six? Little formal, not too formal. You probably need a dress shirt or polo TJ, a dress or nice shirt for you, honey.”

“Sounds good. We were going to go for a quick swim,” you said.

“Alright. Be safe. I think that’s the plan for us too. Oh and try not to spend all your time tucked away in here,” he teased, glancing at you and then your open suitcase. You kicked it shut, turning and looking at a picture on the wall when you saw him realize what he’d seen.

“Isn’t that a great picture?” you said. “That’s a great-”

“It’s a box of condoms. Guess what? You’re not the only one to pack some,” he said. You closed your eyes and shook your head, a loud laughing echoing from him. “Well I know where to come if I run out.”

“Sorry, I think...nope I definitely hear mom calling me right now,” you said, grabbing your phone. “I should totally take this and get away from here asap.”

“Oh so you don’t want to hear that you guys can order whatever you want for room service from here? Like we're paying for everything?” he teased.

“...Continue,” you said.

“Don’t blow our retirement fund but you guys want some wine, late night dinner, go for it. You’re both responsible,” he said. “Okay? Have fun on your swim guys.”

“Alright,” you said, your dad pausing on his way out, turning to TJ before he shook his head, biting back his comment.

“I need a beer,” he sighed. “Six sharp for dinner you two.”

“Gotcha,” you said, groaning when he left. “Oh my god. Never answer the door again.”

“I’m okay with that,” he said, peeling off of his short sleeve henley and shorts, shimmying out of his boxer briefs as he started to pull on his swim trunks.

“Remember the first time we were naked in front of each other?” you asked, leaning against the wall as he pulled up the shorts.

“Yes. I remember a whole lot of avoided eye contact and awkwardness and then I actually looked at you and thought, fuck she is smokin’ hot and beautiful? How’d I land this girl?” he said, walking over, peeling the straps off your dress until it slid off your body.

“You were always hot...then you got all muscly,” you said, patting his arm with a smirk as you grabbed your bikini and started to change.

“Well you do have a thing for big arms apparently,” he teased.

“True. I got a thing for sweet boys too,” you said, spinning around and showing your back to him. “Tie me up?”

“Y/N, you scoundrel,” he fake scoffed as you smacked his chest. He tied the strings together across your back and behind your neck, brushing your hair behind your ear when you spun around. “I love you, dork.”

“I love you, dork,” you said, giving him a peck on the nose.

“No nightmares last night?” he asked. You shook your head, TJ smiling wide. “S’been awhile since you had one. Must be a new record.”

“It is,” you said, resting your head on his chest. “Been feeling pretty good since that meltdown at finals week. I feel...safe.”

“I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you,” he said. You giggled and looked up at him. “S’why I got big and strong you know.”

You raised an eyebrow, TJ shrugging.

“Seriously? I thought you were trying to impress my dad or something which you totally don’t have to. He loves you,” you said.

“I like knowing I make you feel safe,” he said. “I like knowing I can keep you safe if I have to and are you blushing Y/N Ackles?”

“Shut up,” you laughed, grabbing his hand. “Come on, let’s go check out that pool.”

“Honey?” asked your mom from her chair by the pool, TJ showing Zepp how to flip into the water along with your dad at the other end. “Did TJ start working out more recently?”

“Your boyfriend’s like hot, Y/N,” said Gen, your mom whacking her arm. “What? He is! I remember him being smaller.”

“He joined crossfit about six months ago,” you said. “I tease him about being a jock now.”

“I guess we’ll have to see if JJ follows in tradition of choosing a man that goes smaller to strong,” joked Gen. “Always sweet though.”

“She probably will,” said your mom. “I think we got a few more years before boys come into the picture. Let ‘em enjoy being kids.”

Gen hummed and stood up with a stretch.

“True. So glad I got a while before Odette’s dealing with that. It’s getting late. We better get ready,” she said.

“Why don’t you wear that white dress with the little bowtie front?” asked your mom as she stood up. “That’s plenty pretty for the restaurant. I think TJ will like it.”

“He likes everything I wear,” you said. “Like everything.”

“They normally do,” she said. “We’ll meet you out front, okay?”

“Okay. We’ll be there.”

You gave TJ a smile at the table, looking him up and down in his white dress shirt and khaki shorts. You were vaguely listening to the conversation your parents were having, the kids seemingly passed out for the most part after the day of travel.

“I don’t think they’re listening to us,” you heard, your head whipping around, TJ’s doing the same. You saw four pairs of smiles as they were standing up. “We’re going to head back to the house guys.”

“Alright,” you said, some of the kids getting treated to rides back on the walk, Arrow walking over to TJ with a smile.

“You want a ride, pipsqueak?” he asked, bending down and scooping her up. “Did you like dinner?”

“Yeah,” she yawned. “You smell good.”

“It’s cologne,” he said.

“Daddy wears that sometimes,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder as you took his other hand and started the walk back. “TJ?”

“Mhm?”

“Can we build a sandcastle tomorrow?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said. She nodded and started to snore after a minute, TJ chuckling quietly.

“It seems you have a way with the Ackles women,” you said.

“Oh yes. You all fall asleep on me,” he said. “It was a long day for a seven year old.”

“Thanks for carrying her,” you said.

“S’no problem.”

“Thanks guys,” said your dad after you dropped off Arrow in her room. “We were going to have a drink by the pool if you want to join us.”

“Sure,” you said when TJ nodded. “I want to put on something warmer first.”

“No rush,” he said.

The second you sat down on the bed to take off your sandals though, you groaned, TJ doing the same.

“Sleep?” you asked.

“Sleep,” he said.

You grabbed your phone and texted your dad, tucking yourself into TJ’s side before he could even respond.

“Morning,” hummed TJ when you stirred awake. You stretched out, sighing into the sheets. “This bed is amazing.”

“I know,” you said, rolling over to catch the clock. “It’s already ten. We should probably get up.”

“Tomorrow we should get breakfast in bed,” he said.

“I like that plan,” you said. “Let’s go grab something from the resort and then we can head down to the beach.”

“Alright, alright,” said your dad, bending over and putting his hands on his knees. “Dad needs a break.”

“What are you, old, Ackles?” teased Jared, kicking around the soccer ball more with you and JJ.

“Yes and I’m not twisting my ankle two days into this thing,” he said with a huff. “Beer break.”

“I’ll take one of those,” you said.

“Beer, beer, lemonade,” said Jared, pointing at JJ, getting a nod. “Hey, Gen, De! What do you guys want for drinks?”

“We’re a delivery service now?” said your dad.

“Can I get a mojito?” asked your mom.

“I’ll have one too!” said Gen, Odette asking for grape juice.

“Let’s go find a waiter,” asked your dad. You headed more towards the resort area and eventually found one, getting everyone’s orders in as they said they’d send them over for you. You and your dad took a break at the resort bar in the air conditioning, glad to be out of the sun for a minute.

“JJ’s getting good at her dribbling, better than me now,” you said.

“I know. I could handle when you were better but the ten year old kicking my ass makes me question the old man comments,” he said.

“You’re barely 46, dad,” you said.

“Hot 46,” said a pair of women that walked past, giving him a wave.

“I think I threw up in my mouth a little,” you said.

“Hey, I’m hot 46,” he said with a smirk, puffing his chest out.

“You’re something alright,” you said, laughing when the fruitiest and brightest pink drink you’d ever seen was sat down in front of your dad.

“Courtesy Mr. Hanover,” said a waiter appearing from nowhere, a double of whiskey set down in front of you. The waiter questioned himself but you took the whiskey, smiling at your dad as the waiter left.

“Careful. I think TJ might like you,” you teased.

“Hey, mine came with a little umbrella,” he said, plucking it out and sticking it in your hair. “You guys crashed before us last night.”

“We were tired. Mom mentioned bonfire tonight?” you asked.

“Mhm,” he hummed, sucking on the straw until you saw half of it gone in ten seconds. You grabbed it away and asked for some water for him. “Hey, I’m thirsty.”

“What are you? Freshman on her first spring break? That thing has so much alcohol in it,” you said.

“Tastes like kool aid to me,” he said, taking a sip of the water, reaching for his drink again when you pulled it away.

“Do I have to have the talk with you?” you asked. “Pace yourself?”

“To use your words from that conversation, I won’t let the boys take advantage of me,” he deadpanned, cocking his head as wiped the sweat off your face. “So how’s Mr. TJ enjoying himself?”

“He’s good. I think he’s a little awestruck. He forgets we…” you shrugged.

“Have money? Well that’s because we don’t give you guys everything you want,” he said. “And you hate shopping thank god.”

“You gave me what I wanted,” you said, taking a sip of the pink drink, catching the soft smile on his face.

“We could live in a cardboard box and you’d be happy kiddo. You got different wants than most well off twenty somethings,” he said.

“I know,” you said, swinging your feet off the end of the bar stool, one of your flip flops falling off.

“Proud of you,” he said with a smile.

“What’d I do?”

“Just proud of you is all,” he said with a shrug. “You’re getting all grown up.”

“Yeah. Still feel like JJ’s older than me sometimes,” you said, his head cocking. “She doesn’t hesitate. She goes for stuff and I still overthink things so much.”

“Well...first off she’s ten so her problems consist of who sat next to who at lunch and the fact she can’t braid her hair,” he said. “You had slightly different priorities at ten. You missed that phase.”

“I can’t even braid my own hair good,” you mumbled.

“Y/N,” he grumbled.

“I know,” you said.

“Honey. Why do you think we go on big family vacations? We want you to get to have those chances to be a kid. We’re all just big kids. Case and point, you know what we get up to when the little kids aren’t around and someday they’ll get in on the secret too,” he said.

“Just feels funny sometimes,” you said. “I feel like a fake grown up, you know?”

“Yup. One hundred percent yup,” he said, taking his pink drink back. “Fake it til you make it.”

“Okay, I think we get you back to the beach before I have to divulge this new beverage of choice information to Uncle Jared,” you said.

“I will disown you,” he said

“No you won’t,” you said with a smirk, grabbing the drink and chugging the rest of it down.

“Got me there,” he said. “This time, you’re on my team.”

“Hey, Y/N?” asked JJ while you walked up to the house from the fire you were having on the beach that night.

“Mhm,” you hummed, holding open the door for her before she took off to the bathroom. You headed to the kitchen and started to grab some snacks and drinks to bring back down. You were nearly packed up when she came back.

“Can I ask a question about being brave?” she asked. You spun around, giving her a smile.

“Being brave? Isn’t that more dad’s department?” you teased. “Yeah, shoot. Everything okay?”

“Um...well...I didn’t want to come up to the house by myself,” she said. You tilted your head as you headed out the backdoor, JJ a little close as you walked across the deck area. “I don’t like the dark.”

“I don’t like the dark either,” you said. “But I do like nighttime.”

“Isn’t that kind of funny?” she asked.

“A little,” you said, slowing your walk back, stopping when you were halfway between the house and the beach, taking a seat on the step. She sat next to you, lifting her head up when you looked up. “S’quiet at night. Peaceful.”

“Stars are pretty,” she said.

“Yeah, they are,” you said, buming her shoulder. “You know, it’s okay to be scared of the dark, especially places you don’t know. This place is safe though. You don’t have to be scared here.”

“I know. I keep waiting to get older so I’m not scared of stuff, like how mom and dad let you do stuff by yourself and you don’t have to ask permission to sleepover TJ’s,” she said.

“I’m a lot older, JJ,” you said. “It’s part of growing up...and part of that is learning you don’t ever stop being completely scared of stuff. You learn more though so it doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Yeah but how are you brave?” she asked.

“Only time you can be brave is when you’re afraid,” you said. “It’s like how dad used to be afraid of public speaking.”

“No he didn’t,” she scoffed.

“Yeah, he did. But he did it, even though he was scared, and now he has so much fun at conventions. Sometimes it’s just something that takes time, like not being afraid of the dark,” you said, looking around. “Like how it’s pretty dark right now but you don’t seem scared.”

“I guess...I’m not,” she said, looking around, giving you a smile when she turned back.

“See? Nighttime ain’t so bad,” you said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty,” she said with a nod, staring at you, that same look she’d been giving you more and more lately.

“JJ, if you want to ask a question, go ahead,” you said softly.

“If something ever happened to mom and dad...would me and Ro and Zepp go to a foster home like you did?” she asked. You smiled and shook your head, glancing down at the beach.

“No. No. Mom and dad...they have it all squared away so grandma and grandpa would take care of you guys and I would be a guardian along with them,” you said.

“A guardian?” she asked.

“Yeah. It means I’m an adult, not your parent, but I’ll take care of you like a parent would. Before I was adopted, mom and dad were like guardians for me,” you said. “You’d stay at home, same school, all that.”

“You’d take care of us?” she asked.

“I’m your big sister. I’d do anything for you guys,” you said, giving her a hug.

“Why’d your mom and dad not do that for you so you didn’t have to go to foster care?” she asked.

“I didn’t have much for blood relatives. My parents were only kids and my other grandparents were all gone before I was born. But they had a plan, some of their friends said sure if something ever happened to them they would take care of me,” you said.

“They lied?”

“No, I don’t think they lied,” you said, leaning back against the step behind you, propping your elbows up. “They just...weren’t prepared to take care of a kid.”

“So you went to a foster home?” she asked.

“After I got out of the hospital, yeah,” you said with a nod.

“Was it scary?” she asked quietly. “The car crash?”

“I don’t really remember a lot from that night. I hit my head in the accident so stuff is fuzzy. But I remember glimpses from inside the car and yeah, it was scary. It was really scary,” you said.

“Who took care of you?” she asked.

“There was this police officer. Dougie. He was probably Uncle Jared’s age. Big strong guy but super friendly. I crawled out of the car around the time he got there. It was pitch black and raining and I was crying and everything hurt...and he just picked me up, sat me down in the backseat of his car with him and he was just quiet. He put a blanket around me and sat there and held my hand and he never left my side until we got to the hospital and the doctor’s had to look at me. He even came to visit me the next day,” you said. “Other people were there and stitched me up but Dougie took care of me that night. I can remember Dougie.”

“What happened when you got better?” she asked.

“Well I met with some people when I was in the hospital, including Cole,” you said. “They went over some stuff with me. Cole went out of his way to help with all my parents stuff and arrangements and all that. A week after the accident, he took me to my first foster home. There were about eight other kids there,” you said. “I had to share a room with three other girls. All I wanted to do was cry so that’s what I did.”

“But then you got happier?”

“No,” you said, shaking your head. “I didn’t get happier until I came to our house. I didn’t want to admit it but that first day, I knew mom and dad were different and they were good, all you guys were.”

“I remember when I got in trouble that time, when I told you to go away around Christmas?” she said. “Dad said you had mean mom and dads before.”

“You know he wasn’t talking about no hugs and kisses, now, huh,” you said. She nodded, looking over at you. “Someday I’ll tell you more but you’re too young right now for that.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” she said. “Promise.”

“No, kiddo. I get that. I want you to-”

“Mom and dad are good so I’m not afraid,” she said, blinking at you a few times. “Just a little. Please?”

“...I used to be very afraid of touch, from guys, like dad. My first birthday party, when I’d been here a week, he held my hand to try and walk with me to the kitchen and I ripped right out of it because I was afraid...because that’s what I learned in foster care. Not all of them were like that and I do not want you to have the wrong impression. It helps a lot of kids. It helped me with finding mom and dad. But some places are bad and someday you can learn why I ended up in those ones but-”

“If you were in bad ones, why’d you come to us?” she asked.

“Because Cole helped me and when they tried to make me leave, stuff happened and I got to stay home,” you said.

“You were afraid of dad?”

“That was a long, long time ago,” you said, smiling as you heard a whistle from the beach. “But he was slow and gentle when I’d forgotten that’s how you’re supposed to be treated. We have really amazing parents, JJ. Even you helped me way back then.”

“Me? What’d I do?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. Just know I love you, squirt,” you said, giving the top of her head a kiss. “You want a piggyback ride?”

She hopped on your back and you nearly stumbled forward, picking up the basket and carrying it down to the beach with a grunt.

“I forgot how heavy she is now,” you breathed out when she climbed off and took a seat. You handed out the drinks, your mom grabbing you when you walked past.

“Everything okay?” she whispered.

“Mhm. Just a little bonding time,” you said. “We’re all good.”

“Never have I ever?” asked Jared, your mom shaking her head. “Oh, they know you guys get up to stuff. We all heard about the couch make out session. Oh, I got it...first time you snuck out and got caught.”

You’d heard both your parents stories before as they told them, Gen patting herself on the shoulder for technically only getting caught by the family dog.

“What about the youngin’s? TJ?” asked Jared.

“Oh come on. It’s TJ. He probably never even snuck out,” said your dad.

“Junior year of high school. Went to the end of year party. Asked out Hallie Knicks. I got completely rejected but I did manage to get drunk and walk home straight through the front door. My parents thought I was playing a prank on ‘em,” said TJ.

“Wait you snuck out, came home drunk, admitted it yourself and got off scot free?” asked Jared.

“Yup,” said TJ.

“Shit. I want your parents,” said Jared. TJ chuckled, everyone turning to you, your parents wearing big smirks. “Out with it, kiddo. When’d you ditch these dorks?”

“No, the game is first time you snuck out and got caught,” said your dad, raising an eyebrow. “Which we never did…”

“I never snuck out at their house,” you said with a shrug. “First time I was ten.”

“Ten? Whoa, don’t be telling JJ that,” said your dad.

“What’d you do? Go to a friends house?” asked Jared.

“Tried to runaway. Didn’t get far. Cop brought me back twenty minutes later,” you said, digging your feet into the sand, letting it fall through your toes. “Not a good night.”

You glanced up, the conversation dying out, your dad squeezing his beer bottle as he narrowed his eyes at the fire.

“Hey mom? How’d you fall in love with dad?” you asked.

“Jensen stole her from the mental ward,” teased Jared.

“At least mine’s not a demon,” he said.

“Demons have more fun,” said Gen.

“Yeah, yeah,” said your dad, your mom rolling he eyes with a smile. “So dad and I got a job on the same movie…”

“Wha?” you mumbled, lifting your head off TJ’s shoulder.

“Come here,” he said quietly, lifting you out of the beach chair, your arms going around the back of his neck. The fire was still going, your dad and Jared sitting there, laughing about something. “Let’s put you to bed.”

“Night, Jared,” you mumbled.

“Night, Y/N.”

“Night, dad,” you breathed into TJ’s neck, half asleep already. “Breakfast.”

“I remember. Breakfast in bed tomorrow,” said TJ. “Let’s get you put away, sweetie.”

He carried you all the way back to the cottage, helping you wash off the sand from your feet before he plucked off your clothes, threw one of his tees on you and threw the covers over you.

“You’re not coming to bed?” you said when he headed back for the door.

“In a little while. I was going to stay up a little more if that’s okay,” he said.

“Mhm. Love you.”

“Love you too, Y/N.”

The next two weeks flew by and you were seriously considering begging that you come back the next year.

“Sucks that we have to fly home tomorrow,” you said, moving slowly to some sweet music after dinner, TJ a far better dancer than he gave himself credit for.

“Yeah,” he said. “This has been nice. More than nice.”

“Want to cross something off the bucket list tonight?” you asked.

“Last time you said that, I was swimming in the ocean butt naked in the middle of the night when a piece of seaweed about gave me a heart attack,” he teased.

“Ah but we have the memory of you squealing like a little girl forever now,” you said, biting your bottom lip to hide your smile.

“What do you got in mind troublemaker?”

“Firewalking? Are you insane?” asked TJ.

“You’ve met my family so it’s quite possible,” you said, pulling him over with you. “It’ll be fun.”

“You are insane, woman,” he said, waving you to go first. You stepped up and put down your foot, feeling the heat but you walked across normally and hopped off into the sand, TJ blinking slowly at you.

“Your turn babe,” you said with a wink.

“Okay, okay, okay,” said TJ, walking a little faster, a bit more of a wince on his face but he made it through, a big huff of air escaping him. “The things you do for love.”

“Loser.”

“Loser,” he said, throwing his arm over your shoulders. “I had a dance to finish with you if I recall correctly.”

“Mind if I cut in?” you heard from behind you an hour later, TJ smiling as he stepped away and headed for your mom across the way. “Having fun tonight?”

“Yes, dad,” you said, moving a bit slower with him. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“I haven’t had a nightmare in over two months,” you said, a big smile on his face. “Well...one of those ones. I keep having this weird cat one though...”

“We’ll take it,” he said, spinning you around. “I’m glad to hear it. You seem happy lately.”

“After that epic meltdown I had finals week a few months ago, I tried to think about what you said and...I’m happy. Maybe not everyday and I know I’m just in this nice sweet spot right now but I’m not so scared of the rest of my life I guess. I got a pretty good one, you know?” you said.

“Yeah. Nice to hear you say it though,” he said as he moved around. “Mom’s already making plans to come back.”

“Oh we are so coming back,” you said.

“Figured you wouldn’t have a problem with that,” he said, looking across the way. “Think TJ will want to come with?”

“Yeah,” you said. “He seems less nervous around you. You guys talk or something?”

“Just guy stuff,” he said. He looked up at the dark sky above you, humming to himself. “I told mom I’m taking the rest of the year off.”

“Really? You’ve been busy since the show ended,” you said.

“I did 15 seasons of the show and then been busy with movies...I think I deserve a little time off,” he said with a smile. “Maybe mom and I’ll take a little time just for us if you wouldn’t mind watching the kids for a little while?”

“Never,” you said.

“Thanks, kiddo,” he said, kissing the top of your head before he broke off. “Go dance with your boyfriend. This is one of those moments you remember when you’re my age.”

“You’re not old dad,” you said.

“Yes! She finally said it!” he said with a fist pump.

“TJ? There’s a senile old man over here I need to get away from,” you said.

“I’ll take him,” said your mom, skirting over to your dad.

“Of course you will,” you said, grabbing TJ’s hand. “Want to head back to the cottage?’

“Yes please.”

“Alright,” said your dad, plopping down on the couch back in Austin the next night. “Kids are finally down.”

“TJ, where’s your sweatshirt?” you asked, rubbing your arms in the ice cold house. “Someone left the AC on.”

“I left it on the couch,” he said, munching on some pizza from the kitchen. The flight home had been long and it was late, everyone in bed and you were secretly just waiting for TJ to get his butt in bed so you could go to sleep too.

You grabbed the sweatshirt and tossed it on, shoving your hands in the pockets to get warm. You felt something odd though and pulled it out, holding up the square object for a few seconds before it clicked what it was.

You spun wide eyed towards the kitchen but TJ was already in front of you, snatching it out of your hands.

“Is that…” you said, swallowing as you looked up at him. He smiled and nodded, starting to bend down when you jumped up and threw your arms around him.

“Not even gonna let me ask, huh?” he teased.

“Sorry,” you said, peeling away for a moment as he got down.

“So...I was totally going to do this down there…” he said, glancing at your sweatshirt. “But I forgot my sweatshirt here.”

“You dork,” you said, smiling hard.

“Your dork for as long as you’ll have me. Would you marry me?” he asked.

“Yes,” you said, TJ standing up and opening the box, slipping on the ring. “Did that really just happen?”

“I think so,” he said. You gave him a big kiss, his hands cupping your cheeks before you were laughing too hard and had to pull back. “Hey now, no take backs.”

“No. Never,” you said, grabbing his hands. “Never.”

“Good,” he said, kissing you again. “Love you.”

“Love you,” you said, biting your bottom lip, getting another hug before you realized your dad was poking his head around the stairs to the TV room, whipping it back around when he saw you. “You can stop hiding dad.”

“Just giving you two your moment,” he said, giving you a smile when he came back in. He smiled and nodded at you both, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll uh...well I’ll see you two in the morning, hm?”

He hummed as he walked past, his smile turning to a smirk as he glanced around the corner back at you.

“He knew, didn’t he,” you said, looking to TJ.

“I asked,” said TJ. “He’s known about two weeks.”

“I’m going to guess it was a yes?” you asked.

“Well-” started TJ, your dad shaking his head. “Just guy stuff really.”

“Yup. Night, kids. We’ll go out to breakfast or something,” said your dad, looking you up and down and then at TJ. “I think you’re in good hands now.”

“Yeah. I am,” you said, grinning back at TJ. “Night dad.”

“Night kiddo.”

Jensen’s POV

“The kids finally going to bed?” asked De when I walked in our room. I hummed and sat on the edge of the mattress, crawling under the covers and hitting off the light. She rolled over and pulled my arm around her shoulders, nuzzling into my right side. She was warm and soft and there was still that little flutter there. “Jensen?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s heading to bed,” I said, giving her a light squeeze. “I love you.”

“I love you, hun,” she said, nestling her head on the pillow, taking a few deep breaths. “He finally did it, didn’t he. You got that look.”

“Yup. We got a son-in-law on the way,” I said, smiling at her.

“What was her reaction? You see it?” she asked.

“I think some of that weight she carries just went away for good. Not all of it but...she was happy. She’s happy,” I said, closing my eyes. “She’s happy.”

“You can cry, Jens,” she said gently.

“I’m happy too,” I said.

“Not every day your oldest girl gets engaged,” she said. “To one of the arguably sweetest men on Earth.”

“He’ll take care of her,” I said. “He already takes care of her.”

“We did good. You did good,” she said. “Set an example of what she deserves.”

“I guess we did, huh? Not too bad for two people who had no idea what they were doing,” I said.

“Eh, we figured it out eventually,” she said. “Let’s sleep. I have to wake up early and make some celebration cupcakes or something now before breakfast burritos.”

“You excited? You got a wedding to plan,” I said.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just wish we got her sooner.”

“You always say that,” I said.

“Still true,” she yawned. “Night. Wake me up if any other life changing developments happen.”

“Eh...maybe,” I teased, earning a playful whack on the chest. “You know I do that on purpose right?”

“Tease me? No. I haven’t figure it out yet,” she deadpanned, leaning up for a moment.

“Night, De,” I said, pecking her lips. She smiled and slid back into bed. Her breath evened out quickly and I started to drift, running over the conversation that’d been playing over and over for weeks now.

“Hey,” I said when TJ came back down to the beach after carrying Y/N to the cottage. “Someone forget a phone?”

“No, wanted to stay and hang out a while longer if that’s cool,” he said. I hummed, Jared looking back and forth between us.

“I’ll uh, give you guys some privacy,” said Jared, patting my shoulder. I almost stopped him but he smirked. “I got some of my own fun to be had.”

“Don’t whine too much for Gen,” I shot back, Jared giving a light punch to my arm as he stood up. TJ stood up and took a seat closer, grabbing another beer and cracking it open, drinking down about half of it before he peeled his eyes away from the fire. “Something wrong?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. I’ve been having this conversation in my head for...a year and I still don’t know how to start.”

Oh.

Oh.

He…

“You want to marry her, don’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding and giving me a smile. “Yeah, I do. I really fucking do.”

“Well...get to the asking permission part. Worst that could happen is I say no,” I said. He looked like he forgot how to blink.

“If you say no?” he asked.

“Why don’t you ask and find out?” I said. I knew I sounded like an ass but this was important. I knew he didn’t want to screw it up but-

“I’m not asking permission to marry, Y/N, Jensen,” he said. I raised an eyebrow, leaning forward in my seat.

“Well what are you asking?” I said, tilting my head at him.

“Am I good enough for her?” he asked. I scrunched up my face, closing my eyes before I held up a hand. “Am I? I know she can do better but do you think I’m good enough? She would say yes to me?”

“TJ,” I said, sitting back in my seat, running my hand over my mouth. “You know her. I mean really know her. You have her trust and unconditional love. She doesn’t give those out to just anybody. She doesn’t tell just anyone about everything she’s been through. You’re in a very elite club.”

“I don’t...I am asking you, her dad, on this but am I a good enough man for her?” he asked. “Please. Yes or no. That’s all I want.”

“I don’t think you’re good enough,” I said, his gaze dropping to the sand. “I think you’re better. You’re pretty close to perfect for her, probably the most perfect for her if it exists.”

He lifted his eyes up, a little wide, a little hesitant but he quickly gave a short nod.

“TJ...I know I mess with you sometimes. It’s one of the joys of being a father to girls. But...if you wanted to marry Y/N, I’d be pretty happy with that,” I said.

“Okay,” he said quietly, leaning back in his chair. “Okay.”

“Okay,” I said, taking a sip of my beer. “I guess that just happened.”

He let out a quiet laugh, glancing over almost shy like now.

“What?” I asked.

“You know you set a pretty high standard,” he said. “When it comes to Y/N.”

“Ready to keep it up the rest of her life?” I asked.

“If she let’s me,” he said, sitting back in his chair.

“You’re gonna get the hang of this real easy,” I said with a chuckle.

“Jensen,” he said.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Is it normal to fall in love fast?” he asked.

“How fast?”

“Second week of freshman year,” he said. “She wore this yellow tank top and faded shorts and her hair was in this pretty side braid and she was going on about making a study group for Biology and I just thought, fuck me. I love this girl. What the hell are you doing, TJ?”

“Still feel that way?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” he said.

“It don’t go away either,” I said. He smiled and nodded, looking up at the stars for a few minutes. “Ask all your burning questions. Secrets safe with me.”

“Why’d you adopt her?” he asked.

“Cause we loved her,” I said.

“Yeah but...I don’t know,” he said.

“A piece of paper doesn’t make someone family,” I said. “I think you know that.”

“Then why?” he asked.

“A couple reasons. It makes things easier legal wise. It helps for medical reasons, if De and I were ever in an accident, if Y/N was, stuff like that. But we knew what it meant to her and to us,” I said.

“What’s it mean to you? I know her side,” he said.

“She told me for her it meant she couldn’t be thrown away. For me, it meant she couldn’t be taken away,” I said.

“I don’t follow,” said TJ.

“Say you had a kid, a daughter. Best day ever, right? She comes home and you spend the next seven months or so watching her grow, loving her, being a dad to her. That’s your baby girl. You’d do anything for her. I know you know what I mean because of Y/N but kids...kids are even more special. So you got this girl you’d give the world for and she loves you even if she can’t quite say it yet. But she does and you know she does. How do you think you would you feel if someone came to your front door and said they were taking away your baby girl and there was nothing you could do to stop it?”

“I’d say that’s my kid and I’m calling the cops,” he said.

“What if a cop was one of the people there to take her?” I said.

“But it’s my kid and I didn’t do anything wrong. Isn’t that kidnapping?” he asked.

“Felt like it. I never felt more helpless in my life than the day we almost lost her. I was pissed. More than pissed. But technically, they could take her and I had no right to make her stay,” I said.

“That was the stuff with the chick at the office,” he said.

“I hope you never have to know what that feels like, TJ. For a split second, it was even worse because for one little second-“

“She thought you asked them to take her back. I know. She feels guilty about thinking that sometimes,” he said. I gave him a long look, shaking my head when he shrugged. “You know how she is.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“So you adopted her so no one could take her away again?” he asked.

“It shouldn’t have been on her to be the smart one and figure out what had been going on. I got lucky she’s smart and the fact she was ready to get some closure on the accident. If she hadn’t saved her own ass, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” I said.

“Maybe it wasn’t. But she’s not a damsel in distress either,” said TJ.

“No. She’s certainly not one of those,” I said with a smirk. “Still though. I’m her dad. It doesn’t matter how old you get. Your parents still want to protect you.”

“I get that. I get the whole adopting so she’s yours thing too. But I just feel like, say Y/N didn’t know that stuff and she did get taken away...I have a feeling you still would have wound up as her dad,” he said.

“I guess I’m not following now,” I said.

“You’re joking, right?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said.

“Alright. Say your kid gets taken away and you can’t do anything about it. Say you wait until that kid turns eighteen and becomes an adult, you know, has more rights about who they want to speak to and hang out with. You’re telling me that you, super dad over here, wouldn’t try to get in touch with her again?”

“I think I would have fought for her to stay. But even if I lost, doesn’t mean I’m not her dad,” I said. “All that matters is what she thinks and she wanted me so she’s got me. Again, I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me that. All it did was make things a little easier for me. For her, it eased some worries so she can have it.”

“I know there’s this big packet in her closet in this duffel bag she keeps in there. Only thing in it. You gave that to her on her adoption day. Adopting her means more to you than you’re saying,” he said.

“TJ. I love her to death. She’s my daughter and you’re gonna be my son in law so I know you love her to death too. What are you trying to get at?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Just...I guess I wanted to hear that you adopted her not just for her but for you too,” he said.

“Why is that important to you?” I asked.

“Isn’t the point of having kids because you want them? Isn’t that like the selfish part of it?”

“TJ. If we had wanted another kid, there was a far easier and cheaper way to go about it. Being a foster parent and adopting her? Yeah, that’s one of the most selfish things I’ve ever done. I did it for her but I did it for me and our family too,” I said.

“Good,” he said, taking a drink.

“Oh, well glad I got your permission on it,” I laughed. “I got a question for you, Mr. TJ. You gonna take a year to ask her?”

“Shut up,” he said, biting down a smile. “No. I wanted to ask her while we were here. Packed the ring up in my sweatshirt and had it all ready to go cause I was going to put that in my carry on, not risk losing that. Guess who remembered he left his sweatshirt on the back of the couch at your place when we were on the runway?” he said.

“Wow. I bet you had it all planned out, super romantic down here,” I said.

“Yup,” he said, shaking his head. “So there goes that plan.”

“Word of advice. If she loves you, I mean really loves you, it doesn’t really matter how you do it. Try to put in a little effort you know but this is Y/N we’re talking about,” I said.

“I want it to be special. She deserves that,” he said.

“It will be, no matter how it happens. TJ. Since we’re having a moment and all that, can I ask why you went after a girl like Y/N?” I asked.

“She’s my best friend,” he said.

“I mean once you knew about stuff, why didn’t you ever treat her differently?” I asked.

“Because it didn’t matter, it doesn’t,” he said.

“You’re gonna do just fine,” I said, giving him a smile.

“Fine?”

“She asks stuff like that sometimes. Normally at three in the morning but just to be aware,” I said.

“I know. When she stays over-“

“Don’t need to know,” I said.

“Sometimes we talk or just sit in bed and don’t say anything,” he said.

“Good. PG rated cuddling is awesome,” I said with a nod. “Anything else?”

“No. Just can’t wait to ask her,” said TJ. “You tip her off though and you’re dead to me.”

“Hurt her and they’ll never find your body,” I said with a smile.

“That goes for you too,” you said.

“I can agree to that,” I said as I stood up, giving him a smile. “Grab that cooler for me when you head up.”

“I ought to head to bed actually. I got a date in the morning,” he said.

“Well enjoy it,” I said, patting him on the back when he got up. “Night, kiddo.”

“Jensen?” he asked. I hummed, TJ looking down for a moment. “Thanks. For you know...I’ll be good to her, if she lets me.”

“You already are,” I said, giving you a smile. “Goodnight, TJ.”

“We did good,” I said, closing my eyes, rolling over to face Danneel. “We did real good.”

A/N: Check out The Video & The House timestamp here!

[plague-haver]

Columned Between

Whumptober Day 4!

Prompt: Human Shield

Slight Kepcobi, 1953 Words, Gun Violence, Feelings

Read on AO3

Daniel sprinted down the hallway, his shoes hitting the linoleum with harsh slaps as sirens blared on around him. Dust particles choked the air and invaded his lungs even as he tried to cover his nose with his shirt. His calves burned, the lactic acid buildup slowing his pace and disrupting his usually-trained movements. He came upon a branch in the hallway, planting his foot down and turning to fire a single shot at an oncoming security officer. The vibration of the recoil barely even registered in his mind, and he kept running. There was no time, no time.

It was easy enough to say that their mission had gone a bit awry.

It was one that had come from the very top, from Marcus Cutter himself, sitting in his gleaming leather chair in his immaculately-polished office. Goddard Futuristics' deal with Panacea Incorporated had gone a bit sour, and some information Goddard had previously lent to them was now being held with the intention of being used for blackmail. Needless to say, this couldn't continue. So SI-5 ended up somewhere in Siberia, freezing their asses off to recover some hard drives while feeling free to "inflict as much horrible, apocalyptic damage as you please," in Mr. Cutter's words. Really, the mission had been pretty run-of-the-mill by SI-5 standards, and it probably would have gone fine, had Kepler not been acting strange for the entire week preceding.

The change was so prevalent, at least to Daniel, that he could've marked on a calendar the exact day it happened, though he couldn't tell what in the world might have happened that day. It was a Tuesday. Kepler had walked into the SI-5's large office-slash-lab with a visible tension in his shoulders. The Major, a strictly diligent man, filed away a few papers and then left for the day. At three in the afternoon. Throughout the rest of the week, he was near-silent, only speaking to Jacobi and Maxwell for mission plans and matters of business. His usual flawless image developed a few chinks in its armor: a bit of stubble on his always clean-shaven face, lint on his jacket, his shirt coming untucked in a few places. On a normal person, these changes would've been negligible, but Warren Kepler was far from a normal person.

The most Daniel had heard him talk over the entire course of those seven days was on the day of the Hermes launch. The station had already gone up months ago, but the crew was being launched in a separate transport, Officer Klein among them. Daniel stood out on the asphalt next to Kepler, the Florida humidity soaking his shirt through and the heat waves coming off of the tarmac warping the air into dizzying ripples. Cutter had walked by them at some point, clapping Kepler on the shoulder with a curt, “Major,” and then walking off to attend to his business.

”Mr. Jacobi, If this launch is successful, things are going to be changing around here, big picture things. I need to know something.” Daniel swallowed thickly.

”Sir?”

”Would you give up everything for the success of Goddard Futuristics?” A weak laugh found its way up from somewhere in the back of Daniel’s throat.

”I mean, I’ve already given most everything I’ve got, right?”

”And one more thing,” Kepler said. ”Would you give up everything for me?” Daniel’s digital watch beeped as it hit noon, and the transport lifted off with the fire of the sun, sending a heat wave shooting past them as the giant hunk of metal hurled itself out of the atmosphere.

The wind of the blast blew past them, sweeping back the few strands of Kepler’s dark hair that had fallen out of place. Daniel could see the hot, red light of the rockets reflected in his eyes as he kept his gaze glued to the transport shuttle.

He didn’t answer, letting the roar of the rockets fill the space between them. Kepler hadn’t spoken directly to him since.

That brought them to the day of the mission. Feeling the cold deep in their bone marrow, the three of them drove out into the woods, shutting off their car and packing bags of equipment and explosives. The plan was for Daniel to head into their base of operation first and set up a small series of explosions to cause a distraction so that the other two could get inside amongst the chaos, retrieve any and all Goddard property, and retreat before Daniel’s final explosion brought the place down. Alana was supposed to monitor their security and keep in touch with him to make sure he could get in with enough time to do what he needed to do, but Panacea’s increase in armed guards since their break with Goddard meant that Daniel had significantly less time than he expected. And, okay, he might have been a bit thrown off by Kepler’s recent disposition, but that still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a bit hard to set up such delicate systems while being shot at.

All three of them made it inside, but one of the larger explosions had gone off long before it was supposed to, leaving Maxwell cornered by collapsing rubble and Jacobi doing his best to walk off the head trauma he suffered. Kepler’s voice came over the comms as Jacob ran through the halls, trying to orient himself.

”Maxwell, are you going to be able to retrieve the hard drives in the west wing?”

”Nope,” she replied through heaving breaths. “But if it makes you feel any better, neither will Panacea. These things just got absolutely crushed, thanks to he-who-shall-remain-nameless. My number one priority right now is going to be digging myself out, or else the two of you are going to be making your way home on your own.”

”Can you make it out before that last blast comes?” From over the comms came a sound like boulders tumbling down a mountain, before two sharp gunshots.

”Yeah, I think I’ll make it.

”Good. Jacobi, you alive?”

”Alive is a bit too generous of a word for it,” Jacobi said, wheezing. “But yeah, I’m still kicking.”

”I need you on the east end now. Take as many of the drives as you can, put holes in the rest.”

”Roger.” Jacobi turned down a few more halls before ducking into a large server room that had been completely abandoned. With the dust finally settling, the place was eerily quiet, and it put Daniel on edge. He double and then triple-checked that the hall was clear before finally turning around to root through cabinets and drawers. He found what he was looking for without much trouble, really these people should have hidden their blackmail material better, when the sharp click of a gun cocking made him freeze.

”Drop your gun,” a man’s voice said from behind him. Daniel might be a screw-up sometimes, but he wasn’t an idiot. The gun clattered to the floor. “Good,” the man said. “Put your hand up and turn around. Slowly.”

The man was only a few inches taller than him, but he was built like a truck. He had thick stubble along his square jaw, and his greying hair was coated with dust and plaster. When he smirked at Jacobi, it revealed a line of yellow, rotting teeth.

”Goddard intelligence, I presume?” He said in his thick Russian accent.

”Yep, nailed it in one. You people make a habit of making powerful enemies around here?”

”Not typically. Enemies do not usually survive for this long.”

”I suppose I could say the same.” Jacobi would’ve liked to say that time seemed to slow down in the following few seconds, but if anything, it seemed to speed up. Over the man’s shoulder, he saw the most miniscule flash of Kepler’s dark jacket, and before he even knew what was going on, the Russian had an arm around Jacobi’s neck and was swinging him around, placing him between himself and the door.

Kepler fired, and Jacobi felt a blooming pain erupt in his left shoulder. The man’s forearm crushed his windpipe and he dug the barrel of his pistol into Jacobi’s temple.

”I see you weren’t alone,” the man said. At the sight of them, Kepler’s fingers twitched around his gun, but he knew that if the man’s reflexes were good enough to bodily haul Jacobi’s entire person around at the smallest hint of a threat, there would be no way Jacobi could survive the split-second it would take a bullet to make its way across the room.

”It seems we’ve found ourselves in a standoff of sorts,” Kepler drawled, hsi eyes not leaving Jacobi’s own.

”That does seem to be the case.” Kepler was looking at him in that way that said I’m not going to bail you out this time. If Jacobi wanted to get out of there before the place blew, he would have to think of something himself. He watched Kepler for any hint of how he was supposed to get out of this, and for the smallest fraction of a second, he saw his eyes dart down to Jaocbi’s hip before jumping back up to look at the man behind him.

”I feel I should let you know something friend,” Kepler said. “This place is set to blow in about, oh, three minutes?” What was Kepler thinking? Did he really think Jacobi could- “What that means is that if any of us want to make it out of here in one piece, we’re going to have to compromise.” This dude had the reflexes of a cheetah. Even if Jacobi could get his hunting knife out without him noticing, how was he supposed to- “So here’s what I propose- you drop that gun right there, we’ll hand over any and all property we have acquired during our stay.” Jacobi had to do it, though, there was no other way. “And then the three of us can hightail it out of here before we get crushed under three-floors’ worth of rubble.”

The man laughed slowly. “Unfortunately, I do not think that will be possible, friend. If this building is going down, the three of us are going down with it. That is- unless you would like to leave the two of us here and save yourself.” Jacobi’s hand grazed against cool metal.

”As enticing of an option as that is, Mr. Jacobi is a rather skilled operative and it would be a shame to have to lose him to one of his own explosions, not to mention terribly ironic, so I’m afraid we won’t be able to take you up on that offer. Jacobi?”

And in the blink of an eye, the man was bringing his gun hand down to grip at the serrated hunting knife Jacobi had just buried in his side. Jacobi ducked down, out of his grip, and Kepler finished the man off with a single shot to the head. With no time to lose, Jacobi retrieved his gun and hard drives, and the two of them were racing out of the building, making it out just moments before they heard the building’s supports coming down.

Kepler never did apologise for shooting him, but Jacobi couldn’t remember a single time he had ever heard Kepler apologise, that just wasn’t something he did. Instead, the Major sat across from him in their hotel room, their knees knocking as Kepler’s steady hands removed the bullet from his shoulder and stitched up the wound. And on the plane back to Canaveral, as Jacobi drifted off in that place between sleep and awake, he could almost feel the way those strong, deft fingers carded softly through his hair.

[parkerrogersgirl]

Tempting Fate- Chapter 11

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Word Count: 1,964

Warnings: FLUFFF ALL THE FLUFF (I’m actually really proud of this so)

A/N: Hey, y’all! @sonofadeanwinchester and I decided it’d be cool if we wrote a series together. SO, HERE’S CHAPTER 11! Please, please, please give us feedback. Feedback is the glue that keeps the writers together. We need the feedback. Send either of us an ask, and we’ll just send each other screenshots. Or you can send it to both of us. Thanks, lovelies.

LISTEN TO THIS WHILE READING FOR EFFECT. PLEASE. I WORKED SO HARD ON THE FIRST PART OF THIS. PLEASE. AND DO IT FOR @sonofadeanwinchester AND HER FLASHBACK. SHE WORKED HER ASS OFF. PLEASE.

After you finish Beauty and the Beast, you and Sebastian go upstairs to get dressed for your dinner. You’d been looking forward to this dinner for a while, since Gabe had to make reservations six months in advance to make sure you got a table. You and Seb each showered (separately), and you put on your pale knee-length, strapless turquoise dress with small white heels. You put a white bow in your hair and applied minimal makeup, only using mascara and a red lipstick. Your parents and sister are still getting ready, so you go out and stand at the top of the stairs. Sebastian is looking at his phone, and he looks dashing with slicked-back hair in a black suit with a tie. He hears you at the top of the stairs and looks up from his phone.

He beams at you as you walk down the stairs, making you blush. You reach the foyer, and he kisses you deeply, wrapping his arms around you, picking you up to spin you around, making you giggle. He sets you down, smiling at you.

“Damn. This is like a blast from the past, baby.”

“What do you mean?” You look at him, confused.

“That outfit is pretty similar to the one you wore at prom. Especially that dress… Same color and everything.”

You giggle, shaking your head, “Well it wasn’t on purpose. Do you really remember what I wore to prom?”

He looks at you seriously, “baby, I remember everything about that night. I remember what you wore, the songs we danced to, what I said to you…” He whispers in your ear, “I remember that kiss…”

You blush, nodding slowly, “I do too, Seb. I replayed that night all the time after you… left.”

He shakes his head, “don’t talk like that, (Y/N). I’m never going to leave again. You’re too precious to me. I know what I have to lose, and I’m not going to let that happen again.”

“I know, Sebby,” you say before kissing him softly.

He smirks at you, “I can’t wait to get this dress off you later tonight.”

You blush, moaning into the kiss, “that sounds promising.”

He slips his hand under your dress, squeezing your ass, “don’t worry, baby. It’ll be so worth the wait.”

“What do you mean?”

“I may have a couple tricks up my sleeve for tonight…” He winks.

“Like what?”

He winks at you, “oh, that’s a secret, darling.”

Your parents and sister come down the stairs and you all pile in the car. Something’s different in the air as Gabe drives your group to Magic Kingdom, but you can’t figure out what it is. Seb is practically grinning, which is normal, but there’s something off about it. You squeeze his hand, and he turns to look at you.

“What’s up, Seb?”

“Whatcha mean?”

“You’re being weird,” you say, giving him a stern look. He scoffs, getting flustered, “I’m not acting weird, I’m just excited. I’ve always wanted to go to this restaurant, and I’ll be watching you the whole time to see your reactions. I know you’ve been waiting just as long as I have.”

You grin, resting your shoulder on his head, “you’re right. I don’t remember the last time I was this excited about something. It was honestly probably prom.”

He kisses the top of your head, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, “and you look even more perfect now that you did that night.”

You blush as Gabe parks, quickly hopping out of the car. Your family gets in the park and Seb wraps an arm around your waist as you head to the restaurant, and you’re practically skipping. You reach the restaurant and are seated in the Castle Gallery, which looks like the Beast’s library. You look around in amazement, stunned at how incredible this restaurant is. Your server comes by and treats your family like his own, and your mom orders a bottle of wine for the table. You order the Layered Ratatouille with no mushrooms, because, let’s be real, mushrooms are the worst. Seb gets the Grilled Strip Steak, and you know you’ll end up trading plates with him halfway through dinner. Your server leaves and Sebastian starts squirming.

“Hey, (Y/N)…” He says, standing up slowly, walking around your chair to stand in front of you.

“Sebastian, what are you doing?” You look around the table, seeing that Gabe has his phone out, and it looks like he’s recording. You turn your gaze back to Sebastian. “What the hell is going on?”

Sebastian reaches down, pulling something out of his pocket. He nods to your server, who hits a button on a remote, and “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran starts playing. He looks up at you, “baby, I’ve told you I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know it’s only been a few days, but we’ve known each other for fifteen years now. I know I left before, but that was because I was scared. I was scared of my future, scared of everything changing, scared of hurting you. I should’ve realized that when I left, that was the worst way I could’ve possibly hurt you, but I was a kid. I was an 18-year-old who just wanted a shot at my dream. If I had known how badly that hurt you, I would’ve chosen you in a heartbeat. I’m bigger now. I’m a better person. I’ve changed so much, and I know now that I’m ready for you. I’m ready to start forever with you. I want to wake up with you every morning of every day forever. I want to go to bed knowing that I’ll never love anyone more than I love the woman next to me in bed. I want to protect you. I want to comfort you. I want to console you. I want to make you happier than anyone else ever could.” He pulls out a ring box, slowly opening it to reveal a gorgeous rose gold ring with a large rose in the center with diamonds encrusted on the top, looking you in the eyes.

“Will you marry me?”

You started crying the moment he said, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” By the time he’s opened the box, you’re a complete and utter mess.

“Yes,” you say with a slow nod.

He grins and puts the ring on your left ring finger before standing, picking you up to kiss you deeply. The restaurant audience erupts into applause, and you giggle, briefly pulling away from Sebastian. He grins, whispering in your ear, “fate brought you back to me. There’s not a chance I’d ever let you go again.”

You kiss him again, and he pulls you tight to him. He lifts you up a little so your feet come off the ground, and you smile into the kiss. He sets you back down and you sit back down at your table, and your family congratulates you. Your mom and sister stare at the ring, and Sebastian and Gabe high five.

You look over at Gabe, “wait, did you know about this?!”

Gabe laughs, winking at you, “of course, who do you think gave him permission?”

You laugh, nudging Seb, “aww, you asked for permission.”

Sebastian winks, “of course. Not like I wouldn’t have asked anyway if he’d said no.”

You look down at the ring again, then back up at Seb, “wait. This is the Belle engagement ring from the Disney collection.”

“Of course. Couldn’t skimp out on it. Not when it’s for my best girl.”

I heard a knock on the front door and my mother screamed up the stairs. “(Y/N), Seb’s here!”

I grabbed my belongings quickly and rushed down the stairs, missing the second to last step and almost landing directly on my face. “Jesus!”

Sebastian stood before me and cocked his head to the side. “You okay there champ?”

“Champ? Is that what all the boys are calling their girlfriends now?”

His face turned a deep red. “Girlfriend?”

I chuckled. “Is that okay with you?”

He shrugged. “How is Fat Tommy gonna feel about this?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fat Tommy can go fuck a tree.”

Sebastian laughed, tossing his brown curls back. “Rumor has it that he already has.”

“Damn! Serious?” He shook his head no. “Fuck you.”

My mother hit my arm and she tsked her tongue. “Put it in the swear jar.”

Since I had turned fourteen, my mother started noticing that my language consisted of fuck, shit, and asshole. Since then, she’s had kept a swear jar in the kitchen. “Fine.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Fuck. I mean, shit. I mean-” He sighed deeply. “I forgot to pay the jar last week and now I owe twenty more dollars, dammit.”

I laughed. “There’s another five dollars.”

“Well, there goes our date money.”

“What kind of cheap ass date were you gonna take me too?”

“Burgers and fries.” I must have made a face because he broke out into another fit of laughter. “I’m kidding.”

“Good. I would expect you to take a little more care of our girl.” Gabe came out of the kitchen and leaned against the frame.

“Yes, sir.” Gabe raised an eyebrow, shaking his head, and Sebastian laughed. “Yes, dude.”

Gabe winked and scooted us out of the house. “We agreed on dude. Now get out my house and woo my little girl.”

Sebastian grabbed my hand and helped down the stairs into his mom’s car. “She let you use the car?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I guess she’s been waiting for this day as bad as Gabe and your mom.”

“Right. Well, apparently they’ve expected us to be together since we were eight.”

“What?” He opened the passenger side door and watched me slip onto the seat, checking where my feet were before shutting it. Sliding into the driver side, he continued his thought. “Since we were eight?”

I nodded. “I guess. I overheard Gabe and my mom talking about it yesterday. Apparently, the whole fucking city knows that ‘Sebastian and (Y/N) are finally together!’ Jesus, it’s like they were all voting for us or something.”

“So. I didn’t lie about the burgers and fries.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“Nope. Where we’re going has got amazing burgers but you can get anything off the menu. My mom says it’s super high class.”

We pull into 71 Above’s parking lot and my jaw drops to the floor. “Sebastian Stan.”

He shrugged, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “Anything for my best girl.”

The waiter seated us and handing the wine menu and rattling off the specials. Once he had left, Sebastian chuckled. “I don’t think he knows we’re under twenty-one.”

I studied the menu and felt my eyes go crossed and I sighed loudly. “Seb-”

“You have any idea what you wanna eat?” I shook my head and he smiled. “I’m gonna get the lamb.”

“Fuck you are. You hate lamb.”

He snorted. “Yeah, you’re right.”

We studied the menu for a few more minutes before I closed it, cocking a brow at Seb. “Sebastian.”

“All of this food is either fucking disgusting sounding or way expensive.”

“I thought it was 'anything for my best girl’?”

“That is still true but-”

“You wanna go get a burger at the joint beside the high school?”

“Fuck yeah.”

I turned and looked around for our waiter, spotting him over at the bar, his back to us. “Go now!”

Sebastian grabbed my hand and chuckled with me as we snuck out of the restaurant, driving down to the burger joint that we ate at almost every day after school. It wasn’t fancy, and it wasn’t very good. But it was our spot. 

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[asreoninfusion]

ALL THAT IS IS SO FRICKEN CUTE I LOVE IT. TELL ME MORE!! :D I WANT TO HAVE A FULL REPORT! XDD!!

Ahahahaha, okay. I’ll do one big explanation of everything that went down for you guys (as much as I can, I tried explaining it to my mum and she was very confused) and then I think it’ll be time for me to call it a day and stop harping on about the show stuff in general. ^^;; 

I do apologise for this slight deviation in content, we’ll be returning to your regularly scheduled FFVII blogging shortly. And I’ll keep all the youtube-related stuff on the sideblog I created just for that purpose, I don’t know why I’m so bad at keeping things where they’re meant to be.

Also this will probably get super long, so under the cut we go. (Also beware spoilers for the Markiplier show!!! If anyone’s worried about that.)

Hoo boy. Okay. Where do we start, howmuch detail do you want? xD Are we talking just the going on stage part all thewhole evening?

(I’m going to go for mainly just the on stage part because I’ve left it very late alreadyfor answering this and I need to sleep. >>)

But!! The day was pretty hectic cause Ihad 9am to 2pm straight lectures and labs, and then took a taxi straight to thestation and left for Nottingham then, which meant I had to do my lab in mypoofy dress. xD So that was amusing to start with.

Got to Nottingham, checked into my hotel(such a sweet glory to have a proper hotel room all to myself compared to thehostel I had for Manchester, aaahh), then went pretty much straight to thevenue from there after dumping all my stuff.

I was weak and bought too much merch. I’dalready bought one of the beanies in London, so I thought this time I’d justbuy a sticker set and some badges, that’s pretty cheap right? Well, yes. Thosewere. Until I stood in the queue for too long looking at the merch and beingmore and more tempted by one of the hoodies. I didn’t buy it originally, butthen I gave in and went back for it because I have no self-control lol.

There was the VIP section! Mark’s beenill for like, most of the tour thus far, and for a while his voice was totallygone. Poor dude. Normally he sings in the VIP section, and he did most of hissongs for the Nottingham one. I posted a video of a section of one!! There wereone or two songs he didn’t do because his range wasn’t back up to 100% justyet, but that just meant we got a bit longer for Q&A stuff.

(Uuugh every time I see how far he’s comemusically it reminds me how much I love singing to myself and writing dumbsongs and I want to do things too. ;^; It was a fit of inspiration afterwatching Mark before that led to me buying my whole mic set up I have.)

So then there’s a break between the VIPpre-show and the main show while everyone else comes in and I hung aroundsinging obnoxiously to myself the whole time because Mark put in the mood forsinging oops.

Then the main show!! The way the show is structured is that it’sthe same games and stuff each time, but there’s three different themes thatthey can go with for the show, and the theme is determined at the start. Themethod of determination is that there’s cases you have to pick from, kind of like a deal or nodeal style. Mark and Bob chose a case each (marking their choices with a redor green sticky respectively), and then the audience had to decide who theyagree with via the application of these coloured paddles they give out wheneveryone’s entering the theatre; hold up the colour you want to vote for. Butthe boys are cheaty mc cheatfaces and will never go with what the audiencewants. xD They have to pick one person out of the audience to make the finaldecision. (That was me!!!)

Also the final decision is made by stabbingthe holder of the case you don’t want with a foam sword.

(We got the horror theme for theNottingham show. :D)

I chose Bob’s box and didn’t stab Tyler,so I got to sneak in a hug from him for that. x3 But I also got put in thepunishment corner for not listening to Mark (not complaining 👀). Regardless of the decision, the gag is that Bob decides totry and take over the show anyway by kidnapping Tyler. Ethan and Wade came inas the inept henchmen dressed in ridiculous costumes, and then it was Mark andI, armed with swords, against the others in a stupid slowmo staged sword fightand honestly idek it was the most fucking surreal thing I’ve ever done in my life.

(I found this photo on Twitter!! Creditto Craig Frewey for it.)

So that was how I ended up having a veryone-sided swordfight with a shark??? xD

Man, I hope there’s video of this becauseit’s REALLY HARD TO EXPLAIN WTF WAS EVEN HAPPENING.

Anyway, I rescued Tyler! But while I wasbusy slaying the shark and stealing the golden key of rescue, Bob went and tookMark hostage instead and then I had to choose between saving Tyler or savingMark. Like goddamn, stop giving me so many impossible choices. D:

I may have eeny meeny miny mo’d it.

(But tbh I did kind of want to save Markmore anyway I’m so sorry Tyler but if I had to pick a favourite…… anyway, Iscrewed Mark over earlier not choosing his case, so making it even? xD)

Also look at this fucking pouty babytrying to make me feel bad and convince me to save him.

(Photo from this photoset here, credit to @giggles3475​!)

You deserve only to be saved by atechnicality of eeny meeny miny mo, sir.

Anyway, since I saved Mark, I got to goon a ‘date’ with him; got invited for a candlelit dinner loooool. This is theonly date my aroace ass will accept, I’m good for life now. xD

((One day I want to have thisconversation:Someone: You’ve never had a relationship?You’ve never dated? :0Me: Well there was this one time I had a fakestage date with Markiplier…))

Anywho, the point of that is that it’s anopportunity for Mark to ask a bunch of questions(or Tyler in other cases if the poor sod who gets calledup to take part in this ridiculousness saves Tyler instead), because the next part of the show is that they make an improvisedmusical about that person’s life! ….and I have a fuckin’ weird life.

So Mark started asking me questions aboutwhat I did and stuff, what my poofy dress was all about (‘cause I’d dressed upin my pretty Lolita dress just because why not I never get the chance to dressup), it was all relatively normal at first.

Oh, and Mark asked me if I was seeing theshow with friends or family or anyone; I was just like “nope, I’m here alonelike a sad loser!” and apparently that’s the line that people liked ‘cause I’veseen it quoted somewhere in the tags and in the discord server I’m on inseparate incidences. xD (Mark’s reply was a highly cheerful “alone like a sadloser? Me too!” bless him.)

So it started off normal but then oncethe crocodiles came up… that just got even more surreal, ahahaha. I bet Mark’snever heard that one before. And I did the ‘born in England, moved toAustralia, moved back to England, moved to Australia, back to England again,and then we were in India for a while too…’ spiel that is the quickest way Ican summarise all the back and forth we’ve done. That got brought up in a song.In the most ridiculous way possible fuckin’ honestlyI was just crying over in my corner.

Tiny snippet of that:https://twitter.com/LilyRooney31/status/966821044739854336

And then my poor dear sister, I said shewas my favourite ‘cause she’s cute, she got a skit about her and somehow itended up in a song about pants??? xD Also my mum is apparently now a spy. Thesethings just happen.

There’s a bunch of footage starting fromthe end of the first musical bit and the whole of the second part here: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1djxXdaZXmjxZ

(In the very last few seconds of thatvideo in the side of the screen there’s a me!! I got to hug Mark!!)

I’m slightly worried though that everyonein the audience might think I was bullshitting about a lot of the stuff I said,like I was making stuff up to try and make myself seem cooler?? ‘Cause who the fuckhas crocodiles?? Apart from my freakin’ family. Honestly if I was gonna lie Iwould’ve made it more believable. xD

So, yeah!!! That was what I got to do onstage. I don’t think I embarrassed myself hideously at any point, probably someminor awkwards but I got through it okay. I’m just absolutely fucking kickingmyself now that I had the opportunity rightthere, but I was so worried about not messing it up and like, ‘performing’for the audience that I was hardly paying attention to Mark. There was just. Alot happening. @_@ I feel like I barely even looked him in the eye throughoutit ‘cause I was like what the fuck do I focus on should I try to talk to theaudience so they can see what’s happening? (‘Cause during the sitting downtalking thing if I’d turned to look at Mark properly my back would’ve beentowards the audience, and that seemed rude to them then, so I ended up with akind of sideways thing looking at neither. orz) I feel like I was up there onstage with Mark, but I never talked tohim, if that makes sense?

I really want to find more videos andphotos of my part because it’s still so surreal I’m like wait what did thateven really happen??? I did give my email address to someone who said they hadvideo of the date section so I’m really looking forward to that, and I knowsomeone else has photos, so it should be all good on that front! I needevidence that it wasn’t all just a weird fever dream. I mean. I did have aswordfight with a shark so the fever dream thing is always a possibility.

But anyway. xD That was only the firstpart of the whole show!! I’ve already written and entire damn essay trying toexplain how things went down, so I’m not going to expand on all the otherimprov games they played, but it was a really good time watching the rest of ittoo, and then hanging with people outside, and getting Taco Bell on the wayback to the hotel.

I did not get nearly enough sleep becausehow the heck could I sleep after that I was too pumped, I didn’t fall asleepuntil like three in the morning. And now it’s 1am again ‘cause I spent waaaaaytoo long typing this up, and I reallyneed the sleep, so.

If anyone actually read all that, Isalute you, and also dear god what are you doing with your life.

Lol, but thanks for asking about itAisha! :D

[anonymousinatx]

My Dating Test

Thursday, September 21, 2017

I give all the guys I go on a date with a test and it’s something I highly recommend to every single girl. Maybe you do it and you don’t even know you’re doing it. Not everyone will probably agree with my method, and most of those people will be guys, and that’s okay. It’s a very simple test and, if they pass and if you enjoyed their company, it influences your decision to have a second date.

Picture it: At the end of every date - whether it’s coffee, drinks, dinner, whatever - there’s a point when the check will come. The server typically asks if this is together or separate. I always say “together.” Sometimes, if the server is female, they just assume that it’s together so they don’t even ask. At some previous point, you give each other a nod or look and they know. Oh, they know.

Now comes the test. When the check arrives, you both look at it. The guy usually reaches for it and I go for my purse. The options are:

a) He notices I’m going for my wallet, stops me and says “Oh, that’s okay. I got it.”

b) He doesn’t stop me or say anything, I get out my wallet and insert my credit card into the bill.

What’s the correct answer?

It’s A. It always better be A!

I would say that about 99% of the time, the guys I go on a date with pay so it’s genuinely always A. It’s even been A when I asked them to go out. In all my years of dating, there was one time when it was B. We went to happy hour at Max’s Wine Dive. I had one glass and my drink was $7. I pulled out a five dollar bill from my purse and he didn’t even motion for me to stop. Then I put it in the tray and he asked me for two more dollars.

Seriously? Nobody likes a cheapskate. There was no second date.

One of the upsides (for us ladies) - if he pays, you can be a little flirty and say “Next round will be on me, okay?” This hints you want a second date. ;)

So, why is the guy paying so important? And why does it impact your decision for a second date? It’s easy, really. It shows that he is a man. A gentleman. A gentleman who wants to make a good impression on his date. That he is investing in a potential partner. And that he can take care of us and provide. It’s old-fashioned, yes, but most women appreciate it. 

We want to be wooed. Make us feel special. Treat us like a lady. You want something? You put in effort to make it happen. The things worth having require it.

I get from the guy’s perspective this gets expensive. It doesn’t need to be a fancy date. Take us to happy hour and we’ll drink $3 wells or $2 beers. I’ve been on a few first dates at Black Sheep Lodge where the bill was less than $12. Thanks White Trash Wednesdays!

I get from the guy’s perspective that this sucks but it doesn’t always have to be this way. I was in a relationship that lasted a year and we’d split the tab plenty of times but this only occurs once you’re in a committed relationship. I also dated a guy for years who never once let me pay because (quote) “I’m your man and I’m supposed to provide for you.”

Side note: I know I’m supposed to be this strong, independent Latina and bad-ass feminist but, damn, I fucking love it when a man says things like this to me. 

A few weeks ago I went on a date with a guy named Daniel. He sent me a few messages on Tinder and seemed nice. He said he was one of the few guys that was actually looking for a serious relationship but was 5 years younger than me. So after some persuasion, I made an exception to my “not-really-dating-right-now” rule. We met for dinner and this poor guy was going through a tough time. He lost his job, had been in an accident, had to sublease his apartment and was living with his parents. He was having some bad luck and had no control over it - I get it. But when I asked him how the job search was going, he said he spent his days relaxing. THAT he did have control over and it was no bueno. He even talked about being hungover from the night before. In short, the dude didn’t have his shit together and wasn’t even trying to put it back together. I had just received my job offer and was feeling really good about life while he was sputtering along.

The bill arrived and he reached for his wallet. I reached for mine. He told me “Let me get this.” I insisted that I pay my half. I hoped he could read this as my subtle way of saying that there would be no second date. 

Side note: I make enough money to always pay for my own share. I date to meet someone worthy, not for a free meal. And if a guy pays, and we don’t want to go out with him again, we owe them nothing.

He seemed a bit offended but he let me pay and I never heard from him again (he picked up that cue). I told my friends about the date and they were all “Dude, that’s a little harsh. You probably emasculated him.” I was like:

So, in short, I highly recommend the dating test. We girls deserve a little special treatment. A man post-college should be making a salary where he is able to do so. If he’s going out with his friends, drinking, attending concerts, going on trips, buying Starbucks, then he has the means to pay for his dates. If he doesn’t want to, move on.

And if a guy collecting unemployment is willing to buy me a $40 meal, any other guy out there should be willing to do the same.