#this morning: I don’t really truly have any friends sign….

[jjkarmy091]

Second Best- Jungkook (part 8 )

Summary: Being friends with someone who has your heart it’s already hard, let alone when that special someone ends up falling in love with your best friend, the one you think would never make anything to hurt you . Will you be able to ignore it and move on? what will happen when everything gets too much for you to handle?

Genre: Friends to lovers; angst; body insecurities; bullying; friend betrayel;

Pairing: Jungkook x female!reader

Wordcount: 5.781

Author's note: It took me a lot but here it is. Got so many blocks writting this and I'm not satified with it. It doesn't matter how many time I write and rewrite it, it feels like it's never good enough but I tried my best so please go easy on me. Hope you like it and let me know if you want a next chapter or not. Also: I'm sorry for any mistakes

Love you loads <3

When Y/n woke up the next morning she could swear her head was gonna fall off. It was one of those headaches it makes you wanna clung onto the bedsheets and never leave ‘till the next day. Flashbacks of the night before went through her brain but she brushed them off. She wanted to enjoy the few days she had taken, yet she’s still thinking about the same. She thought she was doing a good job but Taehyung’s words didn’t really help too, she definitely was going to face Sewoon with all these facts. Y/n always chose kindness over anything else but would all of that have gotten her anywhere? Looking back, she had serious doubts about that. 

Getting up from the bed and heading to the bathroom she notices everything is still very quiet which means Lisa is still asleep. Y/n wants to do something nice for her so she decides to make a huge breakfast once she knows that food is Lisa's undoing and starts preparing things without making too much noise (or at least trying to). Everything’s almost ready when Y/n listens to steps aproaching the kitchen/living room area as she pours some orange juice in Lisa’s cup saying good morning. Lisa looks at her and smiles, answering her back and sitting down.  

“what’s all this?”  

“It’s just a way to thank you for being such a great person to me. I know I've been hard to handle these last days but I want you to know that I truly feel grateful for everything you’ve done for me so far. If it wasn’t for you I don’t know how things would’ve ended up for me, I’d probably be crying in my room, thinking how much I suck because the guy I’m in love with doesn’t love me back” 

“I told you Y/n, it’s completely fine. I always liked you. You bring such a positive vibe and you’re so kind and fun to be around. It’s good to be around you and if I can help you somehow I will.” A few minutes of silence passed until Lisa asked what she was dying to know. “Did you talk to him?” Y/n stops suddenly, swallows hard and shakes her head.  

“No” 

“care to explain why?” 

“I’ve been thinking about your words and you’re right! I have to stop being a pussy and be real with myself and my feelings, not for others but for me. All this mess started because I'm always comparing myself to others all the time. I was so scared that Sewoon and Jungkook would meet and I was the bridge for them to start something. I allowed this. If only I wasn't so afraid and had more confidence in myself maybe it would be me in Sewoon's place and that kills me inside Lisa. For once in my life it would have been simple and sincere and I'm the only one to blame for this."

"What makes you think he was never interested in you Y/n? Because from what you told me it seemed to me that he was quite into you” 

"He definitely wasn't Lisa, you're confusing things. He found my attitude towards him funny when we first met, I don't know. But he never showed any signs, he never said anything and I was afraid of destroying the friendship we were building by saying something. He even used to go on dates. At the end he would go to the coffee shop and we would talk about it and stuff.” 

Lisa frowned “So he went on dates but never hooked up with them afterwards? a boy in his prime, with basic needs and would always come to you afterwards? You never found anything weird?” 

“For what he told me he had just gotten out of a complicated relationship. I think he was more interested in meeting new people, go out for a bit, clear his head.” 

“and come back to you in the end” Lisa mocks while Y/n throws a piece of bread at her, hitting her in the forehead. “Don’t be annoying” 

“Y/n you may not understand much about boys but I do and that's not normal for someone who don't have feelings for you. At best, he would go home.” Y/n drank some of her juice. "stop it! if that was true he wouldn't have gone straight to my supposed best friend. Why would he do that if he was interested in me?  The way he looked at her, how he said she was the best thing that ever happened to him and that he would never be able to love anyone the way he loves her. Not to mention what he did for Sewoon. She told me some things and all I could think about was how I wish it was me instead. I hoped it was me but I'm a coward, that's why I'm still here, 23 years old and a virgin. Even in that regard, Sewoon was lucky.” Y/n looks at her plate, trying to avoid eye contact with Lisa, knowing that would be enough to make her start crying but kept talking

“How she described the way he touched her, grabbed her, how he -- in short, everything. There was this one time she couldn't stop talking about how and where they did it so I invented that I was super busy and couldn't talk so she could leave and I could cry in peace. I swore never again.” 

“After everything Tae told you do you still think things are as Sewoon says?” Y/n didn’t answer, instead she got up and started taking the dishes onto the table, washing them. Lisa got up too, leaving her plate in the sink "always listen to things with a hint of doubt but specially with your heart." Y/n decided to change the subject. 

“What are we doing today?” Lisa laughed “let’s introduce you to this place the right way. See something else than snowboards” With this they got ready for the day. Lisa already knew the place with the palm of her hands so she knew what and where to go with Y/n.  

Even tho her mind was still in another place she actually found herself enjoying their time there. She enjoyed it so much that she didn't even notice the days passing by until the day for them to leave had arrived. Although the first days were complicated now she didn't mind staying another day or two but there were things to fix that she was eager to mend and she wouldn't find the so needed peace she wanted until everything was cleared up.

On their last day there Lisa suggested to go for a hot chocolate where they found Tae and his friend once again. They saw each other a lot during their staying and ended up clearing everything up and agreed that Sewoon was a NO topic. That night they went to a club all together and Y/n remembers having so much fun and getting so drunk that she ended up on top of Tae's friend. (Not the way you guys are thinking, pervs ;)

Y/n already had too much to drink and once they were stepping out of the club she tripped and Tae's friend was there and tried to hold her only for Y/n to bring him down with her. All of them laughed and they even took a picture of them both on the floor in a suspicious position. She just hoped any of it would end up on social media, at least for now because she knew either Sewoon or Jungkook would see it, but of course things never go the way she wanted them too. On their way home Y/n got a notification on instagram saying Taehyung tagged her in a photo so she opened it and saw a set of pictures, the first being Y/n, Lisa, Tae and his friend with drinks on their hands and Tae's arm around Y/n's waist and the second just a photo of Y/n and Tae making a funny face among with other random pics with the caption “Glad to see an old flame again. Loved these days with the best people. Let's repeat it next year” Fuck

She still had two days before going back to work and a few hours' journey ahead of her and the last thing she wanted was to end these wonderful days in an anxiety attack at an airport far from home because of a set of pictures.

It was a peaceful trip, they both took the opportunity to sleep and rest during the flight since when they arrived they had a lot to do. Y/n agreed to move to Lisa's house just as she had proposed. One night before going to sleep she spoke with her landlord and canceled the lease so she had little time to organize her stuff and take them to Lisa's. As soon as the plane landed they looked at each other and smiled, grabbed their things and slowly walked out of the airport where Lisa's father was waiting for them. As soon as they got into the car, Lisa said 

“I'm sad it's over but I'm happy we're getting home. I honestly love traveling but the moment I get to my space and make myself comfortable at home is always the best of all. Speaking of it, we still have to get your things. How about we go to my house, unpack, have lunch and then pack the rest of your stuff? Unless you're tired”

“I agree with you Liz, nothing feels better than the comfort of home, and yes, I was thinking the same. I still have two days before going back to work so I have to make the most of it. Right now, i just really want to eat I’m starving and I can’t function without food” They both laugh. Lisa asked her father to turn on the radio and as soon as he did, Tate mcrae's new song started to play. Needless to say they started singing with all their power until they arrived at Lisa's house. Y/n didn't remember having that much fun, not even with Sewoon and she had known her for years.  

After arriving at the place, her father said goodbye to them and left their bags at the front door so they could unpack them. They decided to order Taco Bell and while they waited for food and for the washing machine to stop, they sat down on the sofa. Y/n was looking at her phone until she heard herself say 

“I don’t know what to do” Lisa gets confused and kept her silence in order for Y/n to say something else, getting comfy on the couch. It took her a while to speak again.

“I-  we got back to reality and I can't ignore the fact that I never spoke to Jungkook again ever since that day. It's making me nervous because my mind is racing 1000 percent, I mean, imagine he no longer wants to talk to me or listen to what I have to say.. In hindsight I should have said something to him but I was so hurt. Furthermore, I received a message from Sewoon asking what the hell I was doing with Tae without telling her. Let's just say it wasn’t a very nice message. What should I do Lisa?” 

“First of all breath Y/n. Being like this won't get you anywhere. Second: I honestly think you should send a text to Jungkook, tell him that you need to talk to him and that you know that ignoring him wasn't the right choice but that there are a lot of things he doesn't know and that it's difficult to explain. Ask him to meet, preferably in a place other than your work because it will draw a lot of attention on you. You still have time to get back to work, make the most of it before - " Before Lisa finished, the washing machine was heard making its characteristic sound and Lisa apologized and said she'd be right back while Y/n continued sitting on the sofa looking stupidly at her phone. Lisa was right, she couldn’t drag this anymore.

“Hi Jungkook, how are you? I hope you’re doing well. I’m doing good. I know i probably kept you up at night, or maybe you didn’t even think of me but still I’m writting this to give you some heads up on why I disappeared the way I did. Truth is, I had a lot going on these last few months and I know that’s not an excuse and I was on the wrong for not replying to your texts but honestly I didn’t know what else to do. I was in a real mess. I still am and the way I thought it was possible to get out of this chaos inside my mind was to escape my reality and move away. I'm sorry, I know I should have said something but I'm ready to explain everything to you now, if you still want to.  

I love you.” 

During the rest of the day Lisa helped Y/n move her things to her new place. The fact that she didn’t have a lot of things made it easier. After that, they went grocery shopping and ended up passing by Y/n’s work and decided to walk in being greeted for her co-worker Sana 

“Ohh well well well. Who do we have here? Good evening lady and welcome back! thought you’d never show your face around here again. I already miss you, how are you doing? And most importantly, when will you return? I'm so tired of putting up with the boss alone, everyday he gets more and more annoying” She says making Y/n and Lisa laugh. 

“It’s been wonderful having some days to actually rest, sad to see it end” Yn says with a smile. “How’s it going around here?” 

“Pretty much the same you know. Had your really hot friend coming over everyday at the same hour he used to come. I guess he didn’t believe me when I told him you took some days off. Weird you didn’t, you guys were so close and were together all the time I thought you’d end up together after he broke things off with Sewoon. The last time I saw him was two days ago with her actually. They came here together.” Y/n’s heart stopped for a second and she had a hard time breathing all of a sudden 

“Together how?”  

“Like I said they came in here together, sat at that table over there and chatted for a while. It was a very busy shift and I was alone here so I couldn’t see or hear a lot. When it calmed down I looked at them, Jungkook was holding her hand and saying something to her while she looked like she was crying or about to. Then I couldn't understand anything else because several customers came in at the same time. When I noticed, he was already coming to pay and Sewoon was at the entrance waiting for him. That day he didn't say anything, he looked somewhere behind me but didn't speak, he just smiled, paid and left but I couldn’t see if he went alone or with her. I’m sorry”  

Of course this was going to happen, all she had to do was disappear for a few days and they wouldn't waste time getting on top of each other. She was so stupid. Was she really worthless? Lisa looked at her worriedly but didn't say anything, simply ordered two drinks while Y/n thanked her and looked out the window. If she had known, she would have enjoyed the trip even more without thinking about those two. She felt bad about leaving Jungkook in a vacuum and he was very much entertained. She always had a tiny bit of hope but what for? Sana had left to prepare their order when Lisa spoke 

“Don't pay attention to it Y/n. It could be many things, you don't know. If he really was with her why was he always coming over and asking about you?” 

“Because that’s what friends are supposed to do Lisa! They worry about each other, which makes sense given how I left the club that night and the fact that I didn't say anything to him in the following days made him think that something bad had happened to me. Everything friendship based.. Maybe that's why he didn't answer me, because he's with her. Sewoon must have shown him the photos we took with Tae on vacation. He was sure I was okay so he moved on with her, again.  

Lisa didn't have the chance to say anything because their order was given to them and they said goodbye to Sana and made their way to the car. Lisa started driving and to get home they had to pass by Y/n's old house. As they approached the road Y/n saw someone she knew very well, Sewoon and next to her was Jungkook in front of her old appartment. As if they could see her, Y/n leaned as far back as she could against the seat.  

""Lisa, for all that is most sacred to you, please don't stop here, don't look, don't do anything other than move as quickly as possible. Don’t ask me anything just go!" 

Always the second, never the chosen, as always. 

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As they get to their now shared apartment Y/n tells Lisa that she's not hungry and if she doesn't mind she's going to rest because it was a very long day and that tomorrow is the last day and she wants to take the opportunity to organize the rest of her things and relax. Lisa says she doesn't mind at all, that she also feels the same and is going to rest, specially because the next day she has a last minute meeting.

Y/n tried to make Lisa not notice it but she's not stupid. As she drove past Y/n's old building she saw the silhouettes that bothered her so much and all she had to do was put two and two together upon seeing her reaction. The only thing she wanted was to park and give Sewoon a good slap and tell her everything she had been holding back so far.  

After getting home both went to their rooms. Y/n couldn’t get any sleep. She tossed and turned but sleep was far away.  Y/n looked at her phone and still no text or call from Jungkook. Why was she stupid and sent him a text? Clearly he wasn't worried at all, not even an "ok" he had responded. Suddenly she felt her eyes blurry and that was when she realized the tears rolling down her cheeks. She thought she was worth more, even if it was just in terms of friendship. After some time lost in her own thoughts, she decided to put on her headphones and try to get some sleep and managed to do so after a few hours. 

The next day, when she woke up it felt like she had been hit by a bus. Lisa had also gone out to deal with some matters at work, at least she remembered mentioning something about it. Once alone, Y/n had decided to stay in bed. Honestly she wasn't in the mood to do anything else and wanted to take to relax since she was going back to work the next day. Willingness? none. It was going to be hard but the way things were going neither Jungkook nor Sewoon were going to show up there or so she thought.

The next day her alarm went off and Y/n got ready for the day. She was going to do a double shift today since Sana was off, so she was on her own. For some reason she was nervous, it seemed like it was her first day again so her anxiety was on the roof. 

As incredible as it may seem, as soon as she arrived she saw her regular customers greeting her and telling her how much they missed her (most of them elderly people who used to frequent the shop even before she worked there and who had loved her since her first day) relaxed her immediately. Everything went very well. During her break Lisa went to see her and they chatted and drank coffee before going back to do the other part of the shift. Until then, everything was going perfectly. No sign of people she didn't want to see, she hadn't had any rude customers and her boss was in a very good mood. It was all too good to be true since luck is not something that goes on her side. 

Y/n was getting ready to close the shop and at that point she was usually alone. She was putting the chairs on the table when she heard the entrance bell signal that someone else was there with her. When she turned to inform the customer that they were closed, she came across someone she didn't want or even expeected to see.

In front of her was Jungkook with wet hair and helmet in hand. He seemed agitated, confused and angry. Very angry. Y/n couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. She stopped on the spot, what would she say or do? They hadn't seen or spoken to each other for almost a week and the atmosphere was tense and she just wanted to disappear. 

He looked at her with such an intense gaze that she had to turn away while saying "we are closed" and pretended to keep doing what she was doing. 

"Really? After days of complete silence while i was worried sick about you. After leaving without any kind of warning? After that stupid fight on the club and sudden departure with someone that neither Sewoon nor I knew, that's all you have to tell me? we are closed? Are you for real?” 

Y/n stopped doing what she was doing but kept her back to him. It’s a good thing he couldn't see her because her hands were like jelly, shaking so much that she thought she was going to faint right there, however continued to act tough and ignored him, took a deep breath and started walking to the counter until she felt a hand grab her arm.  

“Y/n please stop shitting me. I’ve been going crazy these last few days because of you and you act like you don't care. I don't know what's worse, your attitude or the fact that I don't recognize you at all" and with these words Y/n turned around and looked at him with tears threatening to fall. She released herself from Jungkook's hand and turned completely towards him. She was on the verge of bursting. 

“You. Out of all people YOU are the only one who can't say that. I did everything for you Jungkook. I was always there for you when you needed me, remember? I knew when you were good, when you were sad, when it wasn't the best time to talk and when you wanted to say something but didn't know how. You needed me and I was there but when it was the other way around, were you there for me? Did you care at all?” she sighed “All this because I didn't answer to some calls and texts from you? You were so worried about me that you were always tied to Sewoon, don't tell me you were also worried about me when you were inside her. Be honest Jungkook, you only remembered me when it suited you. Admit it, when it comes to me you don't think twice." 

Jungkook didn't say anything, he looked at her as if she had just stuck a knife into him. He expected everything but this version of Y/n. He had noticed for some time she was different but he never asked her because he didn't want to bring up the subject that was bothering her hoping she’d be the one to open up to him yet it seems like it was a bad decision to wait. Maybe he should have talked to her when he noticed it, he knows he was stupid but he wasn't going to give in now. He was about to speak again when Y/n continued her speech.

“Things weren't supposed to be like this but everything is already ruined so what I'm about to say won't make a difference and honestly I'm tired of staying silent so as not to hurt other people and try to please them. That's why I'm in this shit right now, so here it goes.” Y/n looks him straight in the eyes and more tears run down her face, it's now or never. 

“I’m in love with you Jungkook”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a sob came out as well. This is where it ends and she knows it. His expression changed from angry to pure shock. She knew him very well, but at this moment she couldn't read his thoughts, everything was so confusing, he seemed so confused and she didn't understand why. She was breaking and to avoid even more suffering said

“Please let's not talk about this anymore. Things are pretty obvious and we don't need to drag this out any further. I need to close this Jungkook, I'm tired and I need--" 

“How long Y/n? How long have you felt this way?” Jungkook's look was anything but disappointed. It was a look she couldn't decipher and she also didn't know if she wanted to. Y/n looked down and replied 

“ A few months after we met and started hanging out more” Jungkook turned around and placed his elbows on the counter and his hands resting on his head.  

“And you never thought to tell me? Don't you think that would be a good thing to do?” he sounded so mad. “All this time you had feelings for me and you never said anything, never showed any signs and now I'm the bad guy for moving on with my life? And why you’re talking about Sewoon? We broke things off a long time ago and you know it. You were there!” 

“Ohh please Jungkook, anything but that. I'm not blaming you for anything, in fact, I even supported you, remember ? it was ME who introduced you to Sewoon  because YOU wanted me to! Even if I told you earlier what would change? Every time you came to me it was either because you just had a dinner date or someone had asked for your number. You love to say I'm always on your mind, I guess that I wasn’t on it those nights. I'm just the girl you would share things with and ask for advice, you don't have to be very smart to see that.” 

“Is that why you left without saying anything?” Y/n looked at him and when he saw that he wasn't getting a response, he went to her and got so close that she could see all the moles on his face, some that she hadn't even realized he had.  

“Y/n answer me. It's the least I deserve.” Even though there was some distance between them, Y/n felt trapped so she decided to move away a little, hitting her back on the counter. 

“Yes. After our conversation at the club and the way I saw you look at Sewoon I realized that there was no chance for me, not that I didn't already know, but I got the confirmation that day and the way you were more interested in going to her than hearing me confirmed my guesses once again, yet it was when you went to her and you kissed in the middle of all those people that my heart was left in pieces. I looked at you and instead of being happy that my best friend was back with the girl he's in love with, I just wished it was me in her place. I had to get out of there before everyone saw me break." Y/n cleaned some tears that were running down

"In Sewoon's eyes I'm already pathetic, but in yours? I preferred to die than to know you had that image of me. I went to the bathroom and that's when I met a friend from school, we ended up talking and exchanging contacts. She asked me if I wanted a ride and I took the opportunity to leave, that's when you found me. That night I spent at her house and she made me an offer and invited me to go traveling with her. For my mental health I accepted and only God knows what it cost me not to have said anything to you and I'm really sorry for that, I know it wasn't the right thing to do, but Jungkook you didn't care either because when I texted you back you never answered me. You can't judge my actions after having done the same thing.”

“You could never be pathetic y/n. I've always said how much I admire the way you are and I keep praising that, I would never get that impression of you. I know you went on a trip with Lisa and two other boys, Sewoon had shown me pictures of you, that's why I don't understand Y/n, none of this adds up. And I never received any text from you because unlike you, every day I checked if you had come to work, if you sent anything or if Sewoon knew anything about you. That's the reason I was with Sewoon a lot more these last few days. It's sad that I only found out that you were back because I saw your friend here yesterday, I recognized her from those photos, so I went to her and asked her about you. She told me you were coming back to work today and to show up around this time because you'd be alone. I was crazy looking for you, wondering if you were in a dead end, that's when Sewoon called me saying you were okay, hanging with some guys you probably met there. She also sent me the pictures, that's when I calmed down.”

Y/n didn't know which part made her more shocked, if the fact that Lisa spoke to Jungkook or knowing Sewoon sent the photos to him and omitted the fact that they both know the boy in question.

"Oh my god. After all this time Sewoon is still keeping you in the dark. Well just so you know the guy who posted the pictures is Sewoons ex-boyfriend, the one she left you for. Remember when she broke up with you? Yeah it was because of him. There are definitely things you should clarify with her, as she changes everything that corresponds to reality. Things that don't concern me at all and to be honest I'm tired of this conversation, it doesn't matter anymore. Things happened and it's ove, so if you don't mind it was a complicated day --” She didn't expect Jungkook to get so close to her but the truth is that they were centimeters away from each other and that was making her even more nervous and uncomfortable. She tried to get around him but he put his arms on either side of Y/n's body, trapping her there.  

"Did it work? Did you forget about me there? Did any of those guys help you forget me?”  Y/n had no response, she was completely surrendered to looking between his eyes and lips. She wasn't brave enough to grab him and kiss him, specially since he was still fooling around with Sewoon or so she thought, even tho the denied it. Still she wouldn't feel good doing that even if Sewoon hadn't been the best friend, so she did what she does best, avoided the interaction.  

“"I had fun and regardless of things I don't owe you any kind of explanation. I finally learned my lesson and you're not the exception, Jungkook. You're the rule and I don't give second chances to get me hurt, not even to you. I don't want to continue in this agony every time I see you and ask myself why others and not me? It took me a long time to get there but I finally managed to understand that as long as I don't like and accept myself as I am, neither will others and for that reason I ask you not to come here again. This is a closed subject and one that I want to bury.”  

“We’re not done having this conversation Y/n, I have to tell you some-”  

“Yes we are Jungkook, don’t you get it? I just told you I’m in love with you. My best friend who’s in love with my other best friend, who's still into her ex boyfriend. Did you even hear what I said about Sewoon?"

" I don't care about Sewoon,Y/n. Don't you fucking get it? All this time the only person on my mind was you. I tried really hard not to call you because why would I need to know where you were or who you were with. In your eyes I dated your best friend but in my eyes the only thing that connected me to her was you."

"Lisa has been fixing something she didn’t break because of how weak I was to stand for myself. I’m tired of being this innocent and naive girl everyone can step on. I'm not blaming you Jungkook, you didn't know and things turned out this way and it's okay. It's over and I think it's the best for you and me. I’ll be here if you need something but right now I don’t want to be around you. I need to fix myself before being there for you or Sewoon again and if you really care about me you’ll respect that” 

“Y/n, you're not understanding I--"

“Please Jungkook, just go. Let me do this for me and maybe we can talk about this in the future and laugh about it.” He didn't say anything else, he swallowed hard, shook his head, picked up his helmet and left, slamming the door loudly and that's when y/n collapsed. 

"I love you Jungkook. I love you so much but I can't be your second option." Y/n said as she slid down the wall, succumbing to the pain of something she never had.

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tags: @esposadomd @joonlover1207 @eegyo @furrywonderlandwolf @minghaosimp @differentrunawayperson @nikkinikj @jksusawife @jk97bam @cryingoverpixelsetc @bhonbhon @lostinneocity @almostpurplelady @meowforluv @imagine-this-motherfucker @jk-190811 @cryingoverpixelsetc @11thenightwemet11 @rinkud @ayatie97 @jk-190811 @shaku1995

[knightoflove]

Love when I prove myself wrong the same day I was thinking something absolutely incorrect lmaoooo

[with-my-calamitous-love]

YOU SWORE THAT YOU LOVED ME, BUT WHERE WERE THE CLUES?

katsuki bakugou x reader

after your break up, katsuki talks shit to make his tortured heart feel better. inspired by my shitty ex boyfriend who still won’t let me rest.

inspired by so long, london

“i’ve never opened up to anyone like this.” you whisper, like fairy lights through the mist. his strong, chiseled arms hold you close, laying on his bed, wrapped up in his love.

“thats okay.” he whispers, uncharacteristically soft. “i’m here, babe.”

he pulls you in tighter as if you’re drifting away. he doesn’t stop trying to make you laugh, chasing the look of your smile lines and the the sound of your melodic laughter. he’s given you his youth, all his love and everything that he is. he loves these moments, late nights past the clock. he could stare into your eyes forever.

you loved this place.

✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚

“they were too emotional.” he says, two beers deep in the bar you heard great things about. his friends, kirishima, denki, and sero, all have mixed reactions, but he doesn’t really care for them. “they’d talk about it too damn much. always go on about how important communication was.”

kirishima had the sensible nerve to point out that communication is, in fact, important, and emotional availability is a virtue. katsuki responds by taking another swig of the alcohol and coming to terms with the hangover he was bound to have the next morning.

how much sad did he have in him? oh, the tragedy. how he stooped down to this level, fucking up your name to make himself feel better about losing you.

✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚

“i wanna try. for you.” he says, holding up flowers and standing next to a candlelit dinner. its completely spontaneous, something you stumbled upon while coming home from a long day. you remind him he doesn’t need to do this, and he tells you he wants to.

he looks gorgeous in this light, illuminated by nothing than that flickering warm glow. its moments like these you truly get to know katsuki, seeing his kindness he insists he’s too gruff for. truthfully, he’s soft.

“don’t act so surprised, dumbass.” he smirks, that shit eating grin giving you more than just butterflies. you take the flowers from him and return with a sweet kiss to his cheek, one that gets his heartbeat going. “i love you.”

“i love you too, kats.” you smile, already making plans to surprise him back.

✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚

“they made me try so hard.” he complains over a family reunion dinner, annoyed by his moms pestering. his mom loved you, and wondered why katsuki and you would ever separate. he gives her the same story- that you were too emotional and too needy. “got damn exhausting.”

your spine was splitting from carrying this dead relationship up the hill. he only slightly flipped the script, however. both of you were exhausted. he insisted there weren’t any signs, while you knew for a fact that you gave many.

even as he held you at night, your bones were weary. sure, he held you and gave you warmth, but you still felt that chill of loneliness. its a feeling you can’t quite shake. at some point, his heart stopped beating for you. cpr was no use.

✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚

“do you think about our future?” you ask, sitting in his embrace on the couch. though he pauses for a moment, his answer is definite.

“lets pick out your ring tomorrow.” he smiles, and your heart pounds. such small words that hit so huge. right now, he swears he loves you. he has you waiting at that altar for him, because he thinks he’ll meet you there.

and for a minute there, he means it. he does want to marry you. he does want to love you for all eternity, and to get you whatever pretty ring you want. there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that he would. he’d tell you everyday how he cant waits to finally be your husband.

✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚

and there you were, left waiting at the altar.

“they didn’t wanna marry me.” he professes to his adoring fans and newscasters alike, giving into their incessant begging and nagging. he gives them an answer he knows will shut them up quick, and it does.

he frames as if you abandoned the ship. but the truth? you were going down with it. if your love died young, you’d challenge those waves, sink into the cold waters and make that vessel your resting place.

you held tight to his resentment, even though everyone around you said it wasn’t right. you shouldn’t be this scared to lose someone. towards the end, you weren’t sure if he wanted to be there. katsuki wasn’t sure either.

he drained the colour from your face as you watch the news clippings. you’re mad as hell. because you loved him.

[comic-book-jawns]

Ripples

“Aunt Lena!”

Alex would be the first to admit that she could have reacted poorly to her 12-year-old daughter asking if her godmother could chaperone the sixth grade field trip to the Smithsonian’s first West Coast expansion — the Museum of Magic, which she had already visited with Lena the day it opened — when Alex had gone to sign the permission slip.

And that she probably would have if her wife hadn’t preemptively swooped in, telling Esme — but really Alex — that of course she could ask whoever she wanted.

Alex had snorted to herself at the idea of Esme needing to ask. But fortunately, the preteen had already been slipping off the kitchen stool and whipping out her phone with a giddy “thanks,” so Alex had needed only to contend with Kelly’s sympathetic disappointment.

Now, two months later, the former director of the Deparment of Extranormal Operations, literally stopped in her tracks at the sight of a horde of middle schoolers, maybe half the class, beaming and cheering in unison at 6 a.m.

At least a dozen even rushed at the former CEO, taking turns giving her quick hugs, which Lena accepted with a small, but exceedingly warm, smile and faint blush.

“Ms. Smith, I think it’s time we got on the bus. Now that our guest of honor has arrived?”

Kelsey Rudd.

Despite Kelly’s cautionings, back when Esme was starting kindergarten, about not rushing to judge other parents… Alex’s rushed judgment had been correct.

Kelsey Rudd was a stuck-up bitch.

So far Alex had held her tongue, though, because Gianna Rudd had been Esme’s best friend since kindergarten. Naturally, Alex had laughed at the irony for years. Until Kelly had asked her to consider that Gianna, who was truly a very sweet girl, might not be so close to Esme solely because of Esme.

Alex had assumed her wife meant that Gianna appreciated the opportunity that playdates or hang-outs, as she was now supposed to call them, afforded her to not spend as much time at home — which she had not, to her shame, considered.

Watching Gianna meekly shuffle out of Lena’s embrace, however — as Lena tensed and stepped back simultaneously — Alex felt even more humbled.

And next thing she knew she was ruining her day.

“Hey, Ms. Smith. Need any more chaperones?”

“Actually, yeah! A couple just called out, so that would be amazing.”

Alex couldn’t tell if the clipboard-clad twenty-something was more relieved at the extra help or the excuse to step away from Kelsey… who promptly slung her arm around Alex like they were old sorority sisters.

“Any chance you got a flask in that jacket?”

——

After they stepped off the bus 12 hours later, and Kelsey offered her a parting air cheek kiss and promise to catch up again soon, Alex swore her ears were still ringing.

She knew that it had been worth it, though.

Even before she’d ushered Kelsey into a seat at the front of the bus this morning and glanced at the back to find Esme already watching her with a grateful smile.

Even before Esme and Lena finally said their goodbyes to the fan club and made it over to where she was waiting by the car and her daughter hugged her extra tight before sliding into the backseat.

“How’s the headache?”

Alex could haven’t stifled the bark of laughter if she’d tried at her sister-in-law’s dry greeting. With how sappy Lena got around Kara, Alex sometimes forgot how similar she and Lena actually were.

“I’ll live. I feel like I should be asking you, though. I had one adult talking my ear off. Not 20 tweens.”

Up close, the younger woman’s blush was quite prominent as she chuckled… or tried to.

“Lena?”

Alex stepped closer on instinct, lightly gripping her elbows, as she knew Lena found grounding.

“Thank you, Alex.”

Alex was already shaking her head, her gut twisting guilty, but apparently Lena wasn’t finished.

“I don’t know if it’s just the hormones talking, but I - I think this was one of the best days of my life.”

Alex had never stood in the way of Esme spending time with her godmother. Obviously.

Though she also, obviously, couldn’t have said before today that she realized the impact giving her blessing for Lena to volunteer at Esme’s school and occasionally asking if Lena was available to supervise Esme’s playdates over the years had had.

On her daughter’s classmates, let alone on her sister-in-law.

“Imagine if they knew you were a witch. They wouldn’t have given a shit about the museum.”

Lena laughed brightly, the way usually only Kara could make her, and Alex felt a hint of pride… until her brain stalled out.

“Wait, hormones?”

Lena slowly smiled, as widely as a wobbly chin would allow, and Alex immediately felt tears spring to her own eyes.

“Kara doesn’t know yet. I wanted to tell you first since you’re the one who made it possi—”

“I call godmother!”

As Alex flung her arms around Lena, she was perfectly positioned to watch Esme accidentally, and quite forcefully, fling her phone against the car window.

[togrowoldinv]

Assistant

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Natalie Rushman is the new assistant to hotshot attorney y/n.

Warnings: Smut! 18+ please! Kissing, cursing, fingering (N receiving), oral (R receiving), Wanda

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 1, Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 2, Main Masterlist

“Good morning, Ms. y/l/n,” you hear a voice ring out from the threshold of your office.

Annoyed by the interruption, you sigh and look up to see who might be bothering you at this hour. You don’t expect to be met with a beautiful redheaded woman, but your curiosity is peaked.

“Who might you be?” you ask the woman.

She enters the office further before she speaks again. “I’m Natalie Rushman, your new assistant.”

You don’t recall interviewing any new assistant candidates, but then again, it’s probably something that your subordinate took care of for you. You didn’t have time for the task.

“Well, Natalie. I have a few rules,” you say with a smirk.

“I’m listening,” she fires back quickly. You think you are going to like her.

“First, you have to think ahead. If you are two steps ahead, you’re already a step behind,” you explain. “Second, I expect you to work when I work. The days and nights are long.”

“I’m up for the challenge,” Natalie replies.

“And finally, do not ask me about anything personal. We’re not here to be friends. We’re here to do a job. Understood?”

“Understood,” she says. There’s a look in her eyes that you can’t quite read, but you ignore it for now.

“Okay then. Welcome to the greatest law firm in the country. Get to work, Ms. Rushman.”

With that, she gets up and goes to her desk outside your door. She doesn’t ask any questions the entire day but seemingly knows exactly when to provide you with assistance.

It’s a month before you truly challenge her at her job. She hears you in your office having a heated conversation with your true rival.

“Wanda, drop the case. Or you won’t like what happens,” you say sternly. You’re standing behind your desk as the other woman challenges you from the other side.

“I’ll take my chances, sweetheart,” she says condescendingly. “See you in court!” Wanda shouts, flipping you off as she walks out of the office.

You notice Natalie watching from her desk.

“In here now,” you command her.

“Yes, Ms. y/l/n?”

You sit back in your chair and rack your brain for what you could actually ask for help with.

“I need everything we have on Wanda Maximoff,” you say.

“Absolutely. On what case?”

“Not a case. On the woman herself.”

“But-”

“This is what I meant by thinking ahead. I’m sorry, can you not do what I’m asking of you?” You are losing your patience. No one quite gets under your skin as Wanda does.

“Consider it done,” Natalie changes her stance at your tone.

She leaves your office to go put a team together to dig up dirt on Wanda, or at least you assume so. You get to work on your own.

By the time Natalie returns with a folder of information, you have already found out the worst details about Wanda.

“What?” you ask the woman as she sits across from you. She is looking you over a little too closely.

“It’s nothing.”

“No, please tell me,” you encourage her, but it is sarcastic in demand.

“Is this really a good idea? To go after her, I mean,” she says.

You stand up from your desk and pace to the drink cart in frustration.

“Why would it be a bad idea? Natalie, she is going after one of my most important clients. I cannot let them sign with her!”

“But why go after her and not her work?” she challenges you.

“I don’t pay you to ask me personal questions.” The sternness of your voice makes Natalie blink hard at you, but she isn’t quite finished.

“I’m sure it was really shitty what Wanda did to you, but you don’t mix business with pleasure, so your logic doesn’t follow,” Natalie explains.

“Just stop, Natalie. I don’t care what you think! Do your goddamn job and stay out of my business!” You slam your hand on your desk in the midst of your anger.

Natalie holds her hands up in surrender and leaves your office. You sit down with a sigh. You never felt bad about yelling at anyone before, but how she looked at you when you did was enough to make you ponder why you felt guilty now.

About thirty minutes later, a food delivery person approaches Natalie’s desk.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t think we ordered anything,” she tells them.

You step out of your office to greet them at the same moment.

“I got us dinner,” you say. You tip the deliverer and gesture for Natalie to follow you into your office.

She sits across from you at the table you often use to work over case files. You get out the food and hand her a share.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier,” you begin. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s alright. I didn’t follow your rules,” Natalie says. You think she bats her eyes at you, but maybe it’s a figment of your imagination.

“So, tomorrow night is a party for all of the attorneys in the city. It’s a good networking event,” you say. “I need you to come with me so we can get some leads.”

“I’ll be there,” Natalie replies. “I can contact your designer. What kind of dress do you want?”

“Mm, I was kind of thinking of a suit. What do you think?”

“I think you’d look amazing in anything,” she says.

You oddly feel heat creep up your neck in reaction to her words.

“Tell them you need clothes too. A dress, a suit, whatever your choice is. It’s on me,” you tell her.

Natalie smirks at you and puts a reminder on her calendar to get those outfits. She leaves your office.

The next day starts normally. You get to work early, and Natalie is already there with a coffee for you. You work on your case against Wanda, and you do start to wonder if you should be going after her like this. What Natalie said about mixing business with pleasure is getting to you.

You’re interrupted at midday by your clothes for the evening arriving.

“Here you are, Ms. y/l/n,” Natalie says as she hangs your suit in the closet. It’s red velvet and maybe too extra, but you know Wanda will dress to impress. You want to stand out.

“What did you get?” You ask her.

“Oh, just a simple black dress,” Natalie answers.

“Great. Have the driver here at 7pm.”

“Yes ma’am,” Natalie says. She leaves your office again.

That night the driver is right on time. You walk down to the front of the building and Natalie stands next to the car. Your eyes can’t help but see the way her dress frames her hips and breasts. There’s no denying your attraction to her now.

“Good evening, Ms. y/l/n,” she greets you.

“Natalie,” you say. She doesn’t miss the way your eyes rake over her.

You get into the backseat, and she follows after you. She is fielding calls during the drive. Oddly, she doesn’t mention you once and you begin to wonder who she is talking to. The thoughts leave your mind as you arrive at the party.

When you walk in, the attention of the room falls on you. You greet Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Carol Danvers. Three attorneys that work with Wanda. If anyone has dirt on the woman, it’s them. But you’re surprisingly cordial with the trio.

Natalie follows behind you as you settle into the party. You find a spot at the bar for a break from the socializing.

“You look stunning,” a voice suddenly comes from behind you. It’s Wanda.

“Fuck you,” you mumble, not even giving her the time of day.

“Hello,” she speaks to Natalie this time. “I’m Wanda.”

You can see Natalie shake her hand out of the corner of your eye.

“I’m Natalie, Ms. y/l/n’s assistant,” she says.

“Right. You look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere?” Wanda asks.

That piques your attention. You turn around to watch the women interact.

“Just the other day at the office,” Natalie quips quickly. A little too quickly.

Wanda is going to say something more but Stark gathers everyone’s attention for a toast. Wanda walks towards the man, leaving you and Natalie at the bar.

“What was that about?” You ask her.

“I have no idea,” she answers. You wonder if she’s lying. If she is, then she’s damn good at it.

Once Tony finishes his speech, he hands off the microphone to Steve. His statement is quick, and full of wisdom like usual. Carol is next and she’s supposed to be last, but Wanda takes the microphone.

You feel Natalie move closer to you.

“As some of you know, I have just closed a huge client,” Wanda begins. Your pace quickens. How could she already be announcing this when nothing is set in stone? You thought for sure you had the client convinced to stay with you. “And I want to celebrate that tonight. Thanks to the rest of the Stark, Rogers, Danvers team for helping me achieve this goal. And thank you to y/n y/l/n for giving up this client.”

You’ve had enough and you charge towards Wanda. Natalie tries to hold you back, but it’s no use.

“What the fuck?” you yell at her. “The client hasn’t signed with you! And they won’t!”

“Oh, but they have,” Wanda says.

“Bullshit,” you reply.

“Bishop,” she calls for her assistant. The young girl hands her a document. “It’s right here.”

“This must be fake,” you counter.

“It’s real. Trust me.”

“Never again,” you say. It’s loaded with meaning. “You’re a fraud.”

You storm out of the ballroom. Natalie follows after you, her presence notable as you enter the bathroom.

“Leave me alone,” you tell her.

“Y/n,” Natalie says. She never addresses you by your first name. “Listen to me.”

You look up to meet her green eyes. She looks worried about you.

“Wanda needed to take that client,” Natalie says. Her words shock you.

“Why? Did you help her?” You get no response. “Natalie, did you fucking help her?”

“Trust me on this one.”

“You’ve given me no reason to. First, you tried to convince me to stop going after her, and now this. Are you working for her? You’re some kind of undercover agent, is that it?”

“I- okay y/n, I am going to be honest with you,” she says.

“About damn time.”

“I work for SHIELD and they assigned me to make sure that Wanda got that client. They have been wanting to go for her for years, but they needed an in. Your client, her client, is up to some shady shit,” Natasha explains.

“What’s your real name?” You ask. She didn’t expect that to be your first question.

“Natasha,” she says. “Natasha Romanoff.”

“Well, Natasha I’m very angry with you,” you say. She nods. She understands. “But I guess I owe you one.”

“I wish we had met under different circumstances,” Natasha says.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Maybe then I could’ve made a move on you,” she admits.

You can’t help but smile at that. So, she was flirting all of this time.

“Can I ask if you handed the client over to Wanda?” You ask her. You know the answer. She seems like the kind of woman who knows how to complete a task.

“It was for your own good. And it’s a chance for you to see your ex-wife fall,” Natasha says.

You nod. Your history with Wanda wasn’t widely public, but Natasha found out while digging up dirt on the woman.

“I think you can make this up to me,” you say. Natasha quirks her eyebrow. “You said I would look good in a suit, so do you think I would look good with it off?”

Natasha comes closer to you. You’re pressed against the bathroom sink. Anyone could come in, but you don’t care. The woman reaches out and unbuttons your pants. She slides them down your legs, keeping eye contact the entire time.

“Wait,” you say before she kneels in front of you. She pauses her movements. “Is this a part of the mission?”

“No,” Natasha says. “This is me wanting to make things right with us.”

You gesture for her to continue. Natasha lowers onto her knees and gets right to work. You have no time to waste. And god, is she good at this. Nat licks through your fold and takes your clit into her mouth. She sucks while her fingers find their way into you.

Being here with such a beautiful woman having such risky sex makes it easy for you to come quickly.

“Fuck, Natasha!” You shout as you come hard against her.

She licks you clean and stands back up. She wears a sweet smile.

“That was even better than I imagined,” Nat says.

“Yeah.”

“You imagined it?”

“I imagined bending you over my desk and fucking you until you couldn’t walk,” you tell her. She grins and finally kisses you.

The kiss is filthy as her tongue mingles with yours. You take control and turn her to sit on the counter. Lifting up her dress, you pull her panties to the side and bring your fingers through her wetness.

“Great dress choice tonight, baby,” you tell her.

Nat moans at the feeling of your fingers sliding into her. She is more than ready for you.

“I picked it for you,” Natasha says. “I was hoping this might happen.”

“Mm, bad girl,” you say. Natasha’s body jerks at your words and the feeling of you being deep inside of her. “Did you want me to punish you for lying to me?”

“Yes, fuck yes,” Natasha says. Her voice is raspy.

“I don’t like to be lied to, Natalie,” you use her alias. It turns her on further.

“I’m sorry ma’am,” Nat says.

“You better be,” your voice is cold as you continue to move inside her.

With a few more strokes, Nat comes apart. You keep your fingers moving as she has the best orgasm of her life.

“Fuck, Ms. y/l/n,” Natasha whimpers. “I’m sensitive.”

“One more,” you tell her. She bites her lip. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

“One more,” she agrees.

You move your fingers quicker again. She is already close. When you lean in and kiss her lips, she is done for. All of the days she had imagined doing this with you had finally come to fruition.

“That’s a good girl, Nat,” you say.

You remove your fingers, and she puts them into her mouth. She licks them clean. The sight is downright pornographic.

“Are you sure you can’t stay on as my assistant?” You ask. “I’d love to fuck you like this on my desk every day.”

“How about I be your spy girlfriend?” Natasha asks. You knew she’d recover from her orgasms quickly and have a quippy reply to you.

“Deal,” you say.

Just then the door opens and Wanda walks in. She sees you and Natasha tangled together and your pants down around your ankles.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she says, turning around and leaving.

You and Natasha can’t help but chuckle together. A wonderful spy girlfriend she will definitely make.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

DYING to know your yandere mafia mikaelson hcs separate

Mafia!Mikaelson HC’s

Klaus:

•When you first began dating Klaus it was like a dream, he knew exactly what you wanted and how far was too far. Klaus knew you didn’t like fancy and flashy (other than his car) so he tried to keep the dates simple…at first. You realized pretty fast that being with Klaus meant being in some form of spotlight, even if it wasn’t nearly as bright as the one Elijah stands in everyday

•Klaus insists upon picking you up from work every day without fail once you begin dating, he takes your safety very seriously and he believes you could never be too careful, God forbid one of his enemies decides to harm you

•Klaus is the clingy type of boyfriend and you did not see it coming! He wants to be with you every second that he can and he takes it personally when you spend your day off at home alone rather than with him. You always end up snuggled up on the couch in his house rather than yours in your pajamas and watching movies

•He knows the size of his house and the amount of money he has makes you uncomfortable so he tries as slowly as he can to get you more accustomed to it, buying you clothes that slowly get more and more expensive before eventually buying you a diamond necklace that you nearly threw a fit about but wore to your date later that night because it was really cute

•You dated for 3 months before you finally figured out the fact that he was in the Mafia, you had to admit to yourself there were plenty of signs, you just ignored them because you liked him so much but you knew you had to break up with him, you couldn’t be the kind of women that he needed. You expressed exactly that to him and he thought it was ridiculous, you are everything that he needs and he doesn’t understand why you don’t see that yet…he’ll just have to make you see it

Elijah:

•Elijah worked constantly before he met you and once he did he began taking days off, using vacation days and enjoying weekends more, it genuinely shocked not just his family but everyone at his office

•He is infatuated with you, he wishes you could be in his presence every minute, he even takes you to work with him some days just so he didn’t have to leave you

•For the first time in his life Elijah pictures having a family and settling down, enjoying a domestic aspect of life…whatever it takes

•The public found out about Elijah ‘New Orleans Most Eligible Bachelor’ no longer being a bachelor in a photo shoot. Elijah had a line of Armani suits designed just for him and he got you a line of amazing dresses, surprising you by forcing you to be in the photo shoot with him

‘Elijah, you know I don’t like cameras.’ You objected but he was hearing none of it.

‘I got you all these dresses, I picked them out special for you, they’re yours, now put on the red one and get over here. You look perfect and I need everyone to know I’m taken by the most beautiful girl in Louisiana.’ You felt extremely guilty turning him down, so you didn’t. You spent the morning posing in pictures with him and loving the smile on his face. He knew if he sprung it on you that you would cave, you’re too sweet not to.

Kol:

•Kol began stalking you almost immediately when he met you and you just found it funny how often you were running into each other, he called it ‘fate’ and you believed it, truly thinking it must mean the universe wanted you together when in reality, Kol had one of his men follow you everywhere you went

•Kol wouldn’t let any other guy even look at you without some kind of glare or, more often, a punch to the face. He would fight anyone he had to for you and you learned that fast, keeping all male friends at arms length…you actually found it kind of attractive though and he definitely used that to his advantage

•You enjoyed that he had a bit of a dark side, not letting it bother you that you knew what he and his family did. Kol loved that about you, that you loved him without judgment or conditions, he never thought he would be able to find that in anyone and you gave it to him

•Kol tries to spend as much time with you as he can, he knows you have a hard time getting along with Klaus and Elijah’s girlfriends since they’re judgey about you loving Kol without any form of kidnapping

Elijah Mikaelson Masterlist

Klaus Mikaelson Masterlist

Kol Mikaelson Masterlist

[thetarttfuldickhead]

It’s seems unlikely that Roy will have time to get up every morning to train with Jamie now that he’s been made manager, but since neither of them feels quite right if they don’t spend absurd amounts of time together they’ll meet up for breakfast after Jamie’s early morning work-out at least three times a week, and then go into work together.

As they spend more and more time hanging out without the excuse of training, though, Roy gets a little particular about keeping things extra professional in the work place: there’s no beating the favouritism allegations, not truly, but when at Richmond he tries to keep it at the Jamie is our best player and my special project and I am going to be extra hard on him-level rather than the Jamie is my best friend and I’m furious about how much I love him-level.

And Jamie’s good with it, too, being all respectfully Coach and doing as he’s told and carefully not giving Roy any lip while they’re on the clock. But because this is Roy it gets a little bit ridiculous at times, potentially leading to interactions like this:

A regular morning a few months into the season, Roy and Jamie arriving just in the nick of time, chatting and grinning as easily as you please when they saunter into the dressing rooms with just a few minutes to spare. Jamie goes to his cubby, Roy steps into his office – only to come right back out:

“Oi, Tartt! Training starts in five minutes, why the fuck haven’t you changed yet?”

As the room around them hushes for a moment, Jamie’s face is a study in confusion turning to incredulity to fucking really, man? “Sorry, Coach,” he says, and there’s just the tiniest hint of snark in his voice. “Bloke who gave me a ride here took ages finishing his toast ‘cause he couldn’t stop nattering on about this play his niece put on last night.”

At that, the rest of the team decide that this is just Roy and Jamie being Roy and Jamie again, nothing to worry about, so they go back to tying their shoelaces and what-not. Roy, however, takes a step closer, waving his finger in Jamie’s face.

“I’m not interested in you fucking excuses, Tartt. Part of your job is being here and ready on time, so don’t go fucking blaming others if you can’t manage that, do you hear me?”

Jamie just looks at him. Roy looks right back, not breaking, and eventually Jamie rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, Coach. Won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Roy nods slowly in that angry way of his, and then he stalks back to his office.

Jamie looks to Sam, probably, and they do their whole little thing of can you fucking believe it and you signed up for this, my friend, so you better suck it up.

Shaking his head at this coldhearted (but fair) lack of support, Jamie turns to Cockburn as he begins to hurriedly change, confiding: “The play was dead good and all, but not like I wasn’t there to see it myself, right? Didn’t really need a scene-by-scene breakdown of it, did I?”

(And then after training they leave together again to go have dinner with Keeley, probably.)

[sykestarot]

how does your crush feel about you?

1-2-3 (left to right)

I do not own any of these images

Hi everyone! Sorry about last week and not being able to post my internet was out ! :( I hope y'all enjoy this weeks reading there are some tough messages in here so please proceed with caution and remember that these are all made with your highest good in mind! Also don't forget to check the patreon :)! Thanks for stopping by!

Pile 1

"you don't intend to do anything you say at all"

(7 of wands; The Lovers (rx); 2 of swords; King of Cups; The Hierophant (rx); 4 of pentacles (rx)) So pile one your energy is that of someone who is very out of balance. Whether that be because of your ability to disassociate and make up a fantasy or because life has just been hard recently, I see that this out of balance energy affects your perception of the situation with your crush. I feel like you guys have known each other for a while and for you you truly believe that you guys are soulmates and meant to have the kids, the house, the white picket fence, but I see that they don’t see it that way. I feel like this person sees you and goes, ”well maybe it could work, we’ve known each other for a long time.” Which is shitty because I feel like they are aware of how you feel about them. I feel like they string you along on these awful ups and downs of will they, won't theys. I see that the love you carry for this person is so pure that they love bathing in it, you make this person feel so worthy of everything and they make you feel so much less than worthy to have them. I feel like in regards to you just want them to have even an ounce of the love that you hold for them and I think maybe when you were younger they really earnestly tried, but now it's purely taking advantage of you. I think perhaps they keep you as a friend but walk the line of flirting and when you bring things up about being serious they freak out and gaslight you into thinking you just read too much into it. I feel this situation has made you very anxious and it’s taking a toll on your mental health. I also feel like you are acutely aware of the situation and are choosing not to make changes because you’re afraid this person will leave your life. I’m so sorry pile 1, I know this probably isn’t what you wanted to hear, you deserve so much better, and I promise you there is someone out there who will love you for you and appreciate all that you have to offer. I hope you are able to see just how valuable you are.  Signs: mornings; fog; dew; green plants; sunsets; nights at the beach; drives at night; cologne; lonely nights; full moons; Lexus?

Pile 2

"but i can see us lost in the memory"

(Ace of Swords (rx); 6 of wands; Page of Swords (rx); 2 of swords (rx); The High Priestess (rx); The Tower) Hi Pile 2! So for you guys I feel like this might’ve been a summer fling, or someone you met while being home from college in the summer. I see that this person thinks about you all the time. I feel like you rocked their world (spicy!). I also feel like they are upset by how far away you guys are from each other. So this is definitely a long distance, maybe even internet crush? I feel like you guys don’t communicate though, like you guys resumed your lives after one of you left but you both still sit there and think about each other. I see that there’s even a loss of interest in others where they are because of you. They might feel like they don’t want to bother you and communicate that they have feelings for you because they feel like you’re a catch and probably don’t want them the way that they want you. I also feel like they don’t want the burden of a long distance connection, not because they aren’t loyal but because they want to be near you if they’re committed to you. I see them day dreaming about a future with you and wondering how often you think of them. I think they’re under the impression that you weren’t that into them, which is funny because they’re your crush too! I see that this person would rather leave it up to fate to see if you guys end up together rather than going out of their way to confess to you, but I also feel like if you confessed they’d be over the moon. I feel like they’re the romantic type and want to bring you flowers and cook you dinner. I also feel LOTS of sexual energy surrounding this. Like you stay living in their head if ykwim. This piles all giggles and passion I love that for you! I’m under the assumption that them leaving it up to fate means at some point you guys will be in the same general area again, or it is highly likely that you will be in the future. This person is probably in love with you honestly. I feel like this also has a heavy right person wrong time energy as well. Signs: 777; 333; 444; music; beaches; lipstick kisses; brown hair; tanned skin; pool days; stolen glances; teasing; holding hands under the table; dimples; smirks

Pile 3

"i can wish all i want, but it won't bring us together"

(4 of cups; The Chariot (rx); 7 of cups (rx); 8 of wands; 2 of pentacles; The Hermit) Pile 3! I feel like your crush is interested in you but also has interest in others. Not necessarily in a bad way but more like a “we’re young and I want to explore my options” kind of way. I see though that they are having a hard time taking any type of control in their life and need lots of time alone to make decisions. I do feel like there is genuine feelings between you two and likely not between them and another person, however I feel like this might have something to do with societal pressure to be a playboy or maybe friends influencing decisions that this person makes. I see them wanting to communicate feelings for you but then stepping back and questioning if they should or not. I feel like they don’t want to hurt you and telling you that they want to keep things open would fill them with some sense of guilt tbh. They are so out of balance in terms of just energy to get through the day. I feel like they keep pushing through their days by just counting down till they can go to sleep. I see them not wanting to deal with anything other than what they’re going through. Which is absolutely selfish but it almost seems necessary at this point in time. This person might be creative and lacking in energy to create and that’s having an effect on their day to day life as well. I feel like this person would do well with having a diary and maybe seeing their thoughts on paper would make them realize how they feel. I also feel like this pile might be the in a relationship pile. Like you guys have been going out for a while and there are deep feelings that surround this connection. All in all I feel like this could be an identity crisis and you should only stick around for as long as your willing and what makes it worth it to you. Remember your worth Pile 3! Signs: 9; white sports car; ocean; nice house; travel; hikes; gold course; swans; crossroads; indefinite; spilled coffee; resting head on shoulder; white shirts

[writeforfandoms]

Fall Into Me 9

Find the series masterlist

Rose deals with the fallout of the graffiti, and discovers she has more help than she could have guessed.

Warnings: Swearing, Feels, these men are on a mission now, teasing.

Word count: 1.3k

Eventual Rose x 141/Los Vaqueros. Eventual.

The best thing Rose could really say about that day was that it passed. Far, far too many of her customers commented on the graffiti when they came in, expressing concern and condolences. Her smile was brittle after fifteen minutes, and Gaz quickly but gently exiled her to making drinks and took over talking to people. 

It stung, a little, but she didn’t fight him. She didn’t have the energy to fight him. 

After the morning rush, he pushed a cup of tea at her. Rose briefly made a face but took the tea.

“I don’t need to be coddled.”

“Not coddling you,” he immediately denied. “I’d do this for any friend.”

She swallowed a mouthful of tea to hide the way her heart clenched at that declaration. Friend. She didn’t have a lot of those, even fewer she considered to be truly trustworthy, so to have him say it so easily… Well. She enjoyed that far too much.

“I don’t normally let friends work for me,” she drawled, catching the way his smile brightened. “But I suppose I’ll allow it for today.” 

Gaz chuckled and nudged her. “What else needs doing?” 

Rose thought about it for a moment, her gaze wandering over to the window. She wanted that gone, desperately. But she also wasn’t sure she was brave enough to face it long enough to scrub it off the window.

“Hey, told you we’d take care of that,” Gaz murmured, stepping closer and nudging her to pull her gaze back to him. “Don’t you worry about that.”

Rose raised one eyebrow. “That is literally physically impossible for me,” she drawled. “I’m going to worry about it until it’s gone.”

He huffed. “Trust me, won’t be there much longer.”

She narrowed her eyes a little but didn’t question it. Yet. “I suppose you could make a help wanted sign to stick in the window,” she offered casually. 

“Yeah? Thinking you’re ready to hire someone?” 

“Thinking I need to,” she corrected with a little huff. “Because I can’t work seven days a week.” 

He nodded once, though she could see the wheels turning. “You have any social media for this place?”

“Uh. No.” Rose blinked, caught off guard.

“Shame.” Gaz smirked to himself as he located a pen. 

“What are you planning?”

“Who, me?”

“Yes you, you meddler.” 

“Nothing.” His grin had grown to shit-eating proportions now. “Just a question, love.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Rose eyed him but decided he wasn’t going to give up the information that easily. She’d just have to play the long game. 

Of course, she immediately got distracted when Price walked in, Soap and Rodolfo waving to her as they walked through the shop and out front, Soap carrying a bucket full of frothy soapy water. 

“What?” She blinked, gaze darting between the men. This was beginning to feel distinctly tactical, the way they were tackling her problems. 

“Security camera outside got a good enough shot of the man responsible,” John told her, leaning against the counter. Gaz slipped unobtrusively over to a table, out of the way. “How d’you want to handle this?”

Rose fidgeted, chewing on her lower lip. A quick glance at John’s eyes showed no judgment, no expectations. Just patience. “I’d rather not, actually.”

“You sure?” 

She nodded once. “I mean, if there’s a way to get him on some kind of watchlist, make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone. But otherwise, keep me out of it.” Her smile was a little bitter. She wasn’t very brave, and she knew it. She liked things quieter. 

John nodded once, and that was that. “You should have a few cameras in here,” he said, clearly moving on to the next item on his mental list. 

“Never had the time to properly research that.” Rose shrugged. She also rarely had the disposable income to put towards something like that. Not that she was going to spell that out for John. 

His lips twitched, and she thought he knew anyway. “One there,” he said, pointing to a spot above the prep area. “And one there.” He pointed again across the store. “Cover basically the whole place. Could do one in the back too, if you wanted.” 

Rose tilted her head slowly, blinking. “Alright,” she agreed slowly. “Is there a certain one you recommend?” 

He nodded, fighting down a smile. “Won’t take long to get them installed.”

“Wait, installed?” Rose blinked at him, feeling like she was missing some vital part of the conversation here. 

“Got a dozen up in my office, darling,” John told her, no longer fighting down the smile. The corners of his eyes crinkled with his amusement, and she tried hard not to be distracted by that. “I’ll have Ghost bring ‘em down and we’ll install them.”

“But–” Rose blinked. Private security. Right. “John, those are for your business.”

John shrugged. “And? Can’t exactly report me to the boss, darling.” 

She frowned at him, struggling for a moment to verbalize the rest of her concern. “I can’t…”

“Love.” John lowered his voice a little, leaning in closer. “Don’t worry about it. Just let us do this, yeah?” His smile softened, something warm and almost teasing. “You can give us free tea if it makes you feel better.” 

Rose chuckled, the tension in her chest releasing. “How about cookies?” 

“Soap will be thrilled,” John drawled. “You want a camera in the back too?”

“Sure. Might as well.” Rose shrugged. The back wasn’t large - her tiny office and a tiny kitchen, just big enough for her to make cookies. The storage area was more of a closet, really, which is why she kept a close eye on supplies. 

John nodded. “Good. Won’t take long.” One of his hands closed over hers, big and warm, his thumb pressing gently to the delicate underside of her wrist. “Worth it to have you safe.” 

Rose swallowed but nodded slowly, heart thundering along in her chest. “Keep being so nice to me and you’ll never get rid of me,” she said, trying for joking but falling a little shy.

The flash of his grin was brief and amused. “Why do you think we keep coming back, darling?” He released her and stepped away, leaving her floundering. 

A quick look showed that Soap and Rodolfo were working on scrubbing off the spraypaint, and Gaz was doing something with his phone, tongue poking out between his lips. 

She had a little time.

Sneaking into the back was easy, and it took very little time to whip up a batch of cookie dough. A quick peek out front showed Gaz behind the counter, no customers in the shop, with John and Ghost working together quietly to install one of the cameras. Good enough.

The timer beeping pulled everyone’s attention briefly to the back, and Rose hummed a bit as she pulled the cookies out of the oven. They needed to cool a little before she took them off the baking sheets, but given five minutes, she’d be able to deliver fresh cookies to the guys. 

To her guys.

The thought gave her pause, both because of how right it felt and how possessive it was. But, well… They were her friends now. And the way at least a couple of them flirted, more was not out of the question. 

But it was a question for later, because she did not have the mental capacity for this right now. 

Using two of the actual plastic plates she had, she carried the cookies out to one of the tables. “Anyone want a snack?” 

Watching Soap try to dive on an entire plate for himself (only to be blocked by Ghost) was enough to have her nearly in stitches. But not enough to distract her from Gaz taking a picture of the plate in front of him before typing rapidly into his phone. She could ask… but she decided not to. 

Especially since the thought of them being her guys circled around and around in her head, refusing to give her any rest. 

She really needed to get herself sorted.

[willalove75]

May I please request a Rebecca/Y!N where YN is deaf? Maybe Rebecca bumps into her in the club and gets annoyed cause she won’t say anything. Maybe YN is a friend of Ted’s.

I don’t really have any more of an idea then that I’m sorry 🥺 just would like to see a deaf YN like me 💕💕

I LOVE this idea!!!

Thank you so much for the request! I hope I'm able to do the deaf/hard of hearing community justice with this one!💕

I myself am not part of the community, but I've taken ASL throughout high school and college and one of my best friends is deaf/hard of hearing so I hope I can do a decent job portraying y/n💕

The music is so loud Rebecca can feel the bass in her chest. She moves through the crowd making her way to the bar, weaving in and out of people. She sees you out of the corner of her eye, but doesn't act fast enough before the two of you run straight into each other.

"Oi!" Rebecca says, shooting a glare your way.

Taken back, you look at the woman you just ran into, you can see the glare in her eyes so you put your hands up in a "sorry" gesture and continue on your way.

"She didn't even say sorry, unbelievable." Rebecca grumbles to herself as she heads to the bar.

You can see your friend Abigail and she waves in your direction, you wave back and weave through a few more people before getting to her.

"There you are!" Abigail signs. "I'm so happy you made it!"

"Thanks, I'm so happy you invited me! I love being here, the music is so loud I can feel the bass, it's so much fun!" You sign back.

"What was that woman's issue? I saw her glare at you."

"We bumped into each other on accident, I don't know what she said, but she didn't look too happy."

"What a bitch."

You laugh out loud at that. A few patrons of the club stare at you and your friends as you sign but you're all so used to people staring that none of you even give it a second thought.

Rebecca gets her drink and heads back to the VIP section where the rest of the team, Ted, Coach Beard, Roy and Keeley included, are.

"I cannot believe how incredibly rude some people are these days." Rebecca says, sitting down next to Keeley.

"What happened love?"

"Some girl ran straight into me and didn't even say sorry! She didn't say anything! She just looked at me and kept walking. Unbelievable." She says as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Well that's fucked, I'm sorry she did that!"

"It truly astonishes me how kids today have no manners." Rebecca grumbles.

Abigail pulls you onto the dance floor and the two of you dance to the beat of the music you can both feel in your chests. Feeling the beat fade, signaling the song ended, it picks back up and you start to feel the vibration under your feet. As you focus on the feeling, the bass kicks in and you feel it in your chest, you recognize the beat and it's one of your favorite songs. Looking over at Abigail she realizes it too and the both of you acknowledge the others excitement and dance more.

After a few songs Abigail waves at you and gets your attention.

"Do you want to get a drink?" She signs.

"Yes!" You sign back.

The two of you head over to the bar and you type out what you want and show your phones to the bartender. The two of you have been here a few times already and the bartenders recognize you. It's not like there's too many deaf girls who frequent the club so the two of you are easily recognizable and the bartenders expect you to hand them your phones when you order.

The bartenders type out the total and after you get your drinks and pay, you both begin to head back to the spot you were occupying before. As you cross the club you feel a tap on your shoulder. Turning around, you're met with the biggest smile and you immediately recognize it, it's Ted Lasso, the coach of AFC Richmond.

"Hi y/n!" Ted slowly signs.

"Ted! How are you?" You slowly sign back.

You met Ted a few months ago at the coffee shop you visit almost every morning. He tried to make small talk as he was waiting for his coffee and you were able to let him know you were deaf. Expecting him to mouth "sorry" and walk away, you began to turn back to look out the window and he held up his hand in a "one second" gesture and took out his phone. He immediately typed out "My name is Ted Lasso, what's yours?"

The two of you talked like that for a bit until your orders were done and went your separate ways. Next time he saw you in the coffee shop, he pulled out his phone and typed out "Good morning y/n! How are you?"

Since then, every time he saw you he made it a point to talk to you. It's nothing you've ever experienced before, especially from a hearing person that doesn't know any sign language. Slowly he began asking you to teach him some signs and to your surprise, he picked up on it really quickly. Although he's so animated it really wasn't that much of a surprise. You really liked Ted, he was as genuine and friendly as he came off and you began to consider him a friend of yours.

"I'm here with the team!" Ted signs. "Come meet them!"

He takes you and Abigail into the VIP section and begins to introduce you to the team.

"Everyone, this is my friend y/n." Ted says as he signs. "Y/n here is deaf so I'm gonna try my best to sign to her so she can understand what the heck is going on. Y/n, this is the team! We got Colin, Issac, Coach Beard, Roy Kent, Keeley, Jamie and, hold up, where's Rebecca?" Ted spots her and calls her over. "Rebecca! Come meet my friend, y/n."

Rebecca's eyes widen when she sees you, the girl that bumped into her without saying anything.

"Rebecca, y/n, y/n, this is Rebecca. Y/n is deaf so I'm gonna do my best to interpret what I can."

Rebecca's face fades from surprised to mortified. She had no idea you were deaf and didn't hear her, now it makes sense why you didn't say anything.

"Wow she's hot!" Abigail signs. You smack her on the arm and she looks at you. "What? They don't know what I'm saying!" You roll your eyes at her and look back at Rebecca, a slight blush creeping it's way across your cheeks.

Ted invites you to hang out with the team for the rest of the night and the two of you take him up on your offer. The team huddles around you and Abigail, they're fascinated with sign language, most of them have never seen it being used before. The boys ask you all kinds of questions, how to sign certain things, how to spell their names. Neither you or Abigail were expecting your night to go this way, but the two of you actually had a really good time. It was nice to see real interest and fascination from a group of hearing people instead of feeling judged or having them stare at you like you're a wild animal.

"Okay so how do you spell Rebecca?" Ted signs. "Rebecca, get over here!" He says while signing. That was another thing you liked about Ted, as soon as you told him that it's inclusive and important to sign when you speak so everyone can understand what's happening, he never spoke without signing around you again.

Rebecca sheepishly stands next to Ted and you scoot over, allowing her to sit next to you. Showing her how to sign Rebecca, it takes a minute but she finally gets it down.

"Good job! You're a fast learner!" You sign while Ted translates. There are times you have to fingerspell signs that Ted doesn't know, but you don't mind. Plus, after a few times he picks up the signs and does a really good job at remembering them.

"Ted, can you translate something for me?" Rebecca asks him, a guilty look crossing her face.

"Yeah, of course boss." Ted says and signs.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you before." Rebecca says. "I didn't know you were deaf, I just assumed you were rude. That was very ignorant of me." Ted pauses and fingerspells "ignorant" because he doesn't know the sign and you giggle a little. "I hope you can forgive me." Rebecca says as Ted finishing interpreting.

"Thank you for apologizing." You sign. "I forgive you."

Rebecca smiles at you and you return the smile.

The rest of the night goes really well, you all had a lot of fun and Ted and Rebecca invite you to next weeks game. Both you and Abigail are thrilled and can't wait.

"Dude, she was so hot!" Abigail signs as you leave the club.

"Oh my god right?! She was beautiful."

"She kept checking you out."

"No she wasn't!"

"She absolutely was!"

You roll your eyes and start to walk ahead of her, not wanting to listen to what she's going to say. Abigail pulls you back towards her and signs to you.

"She was! I'm not joking! The look she had in her eyes when she looked at you wasn't the kind of look you'd give someone teaching you sign language. It was the kind of look you give someone when you want to jump their bones!"

"There is no way!"

"There is! Keep an eye out at the game, I promise you, I'm right."

And how right she was. While you were at the game you kept noticing how Rebecca would glance over at you every so often. You did your best to keep her from seeing you look at her, but you definitely noticed her checking you out on more than one occasion. During halftime you decided to show her a few more signs, you made it a point to adjust her fingers or her hands, just to see how she'd react to your touch. Her micro expressions told you everything, she seemed into you, and as shocked as you were, you were also really excited.

As the weeks went on, you made up excuse after excuse to visit Richmond hoping you'll get to see Rebecca. You suggested to Ted that you would teach the team and staff sign language once a week because of how important it is to be able to communicate in sign language. Ted was over the moon about the idea and even Rebecca seemed excited.

The classes began and even though you communicated only through sign language, you were both surprised and impressed with how quickly everyone picked up on it. You even began noticing the team use sign language during games to communicate with each other. Seeing that brought you so much joy and made you so proud of how much they've learned. It also made you proud of yourself for being able to teach them so much, it was a really good feeling.

"Would you like to get a drink after class?" Rebecca signs one day before you started your weekly lesson.

"I would love that!" You signed back.

Nerves began to flood your system, you've noticed Rebecca had become flirty with you a few weeks ago and you slowly started flirting back. It was all but painfully obvious to everyone but you did your best to let it go under the radar. Teaching the team was something you looked forward to every week, but tonight you couldn't wait for the class to end.

It felt like it dragged on for hours, but the class finally finished and you walked up to Rebecca.

"Where did you want to get drinks?" You asked.

"I have wine up in my office if that's okay with you?"

"Perfect!"

The two of you head upstairs to her office and she tells you to take a seat as she crosses the room and grabs two wine glasses and a bottle from a little cabinet against the wall.

"Is this wine okay?" She asks when she puts the bottle down.

"Yes! I love this wine."

"Great!"

Rebecca fills the two glasses and goes to pick up her glass but stops and signs. "To new beginnings!" She signs and then picks up her glass. The two of you gently clink the glasses together and take a sip.

The conversation was a little slow, given that Rebecca still doesn't know a lot of sign language, but to your surprise, it didn't bother you. You loved talking to her, even when she struggled to remember signs or when she had to fingerspell words. Just being around her brought you immense joy. The more the two of you talked, the more wine you drank and the closer you ended up sitting together on the couch.

The closer you got the stronger her perfume was and the smell was more intoxicating than the wine. You were able to look deeply into her gorgeous green eyes and see all the emotion, the depth behind them. Rebecca was beautiful, you don't think that there's a person on this earth that would disagree with that. But the more you got to know her, the more you realized that her beauty is far more than skin deep, she was just as beautiful, if not more, on the inside.

Even though she was signing as she spoke, you couldn't help but focus on her lips. Yeah, you could lip read, but that's not why you were staring at them. Truthfully, you didn't even know what she was saying. The only thing in your mind was that you were wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked, how would they feel on yours? You were snapped out of your thoughts when she waved at you, bringing you back down to earth.

"Sorry." You sign as you began to blush.

"What were you looking at?" She asked.

In any other situation, you would lie your ass off, but you weren't sure if it was because of the wine, her perfume, or because every time you looked at her, your heart and stomach did backflips. Whatever the reason, you replied "You." Rebecca looked at you for a moment and you signed "Sorry, but you're so beautiful, I got lost staring at you."

This time it was Rebecca's turn to blush. She looked away for a moment before turning back to you.

"I think you're beautiful too." She signed.

A look of shock must have crossed your face because Rebecca's head leaned backwards and she let out a laugh. You were only able to hear a muffled version of it, but even that was such a beautiful sound.

"You do?" You signed.

"Yes, absolutely. Did you not know I've been flirting with you for a few weeks now?"

"I did, but I didn't know if I was making it up in my head or not."

"You were not, because I was." Rebecca leans in closer as she signs.

Whatever the vibe of the room was, it changed into a charged atmosphere in an instant. Your heart was beating so hard you could have sworn she was able to hear it. Rebecca tucked a piece of hair behind your ear and gently cupped your face, her thumb caressing your cheek. Without realizing it, you leaned into her touch and a smile crossed your face. The two of you locked eyes and held each others gaze for a few moments, Rebecca broke it when her eyes flickered down to your lips for a second and then back up to you.

She pulls away and your heart sinks, there's a part of you that is so worried that even if she likes you, the fact that you're deaf would be enough reason for her not to pursue you. It's happened before and no matter how many times it does, it hurts every time. Rebecca picks up her hands to sign and you watch them intensely.

"Can I kiss you?" She signs.

Your breath hitches in your chest for a second, never in a million years did you think that that's what she was going to say. Without bothering to sign back, you slide your hand to the back of her head and gently pull her into you. She doesn't fight it, she actually leans forward and your lips finally meet hers.

Out of all of the people that you've kissed in your life, never have you felt a first kiss as electric as this. Your whole body felt like it burst into flames as a spark shot through you. Her lips were softer than you ever could have imagined, so much so that you actually moaned a little into the kiss. You froze for a second, but Rebecca only smiled and kissed you harder. She gently sucked on your bottom lip and you parted them, allowing her to slide her tongue into your mouth. Your tongue caressed hers as it danced around, Rebecca slid her fingers into your hair and gently grasped it, deepening the kiss.

Time both flew by and stood still in that moment, you weren't sure if the kiss lasted three seconds or three hours. Either way, it was the best kiss of your life. When your lips finally parted, you gently took Rebecca's bottom lip between your teeth and pulled at it as you separated. She gave you the sexiest smirk you've ever seen and it took all of your self control to not pull her in for another deep kiss.

The two of you sat there panting a bit, just looking into each others eyes before Rebecca signed something.

"You're beautiful, y/n."

"So are you, Rebecca." And with a confidence you've never had before in your life, you asked her out. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

She sat there for a moment, a little surprised. You began to worry that you overstepped and the second she caught wind of your facial expression she replied "I would love to."

[footprintsinthesxnd]

It’s Not Christmas Without You

Hello @supervalcsi I am your Secret Santa for @hbowardaily secret santa. I’ll prewarn you this fic is a bit angsty (like a little bit 😂) but I heared that you like angst so I’m hoping it’s okay. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Warnings: very angsty, mentions of death and images of war

Johnny had always loved the festive season, the lights, the carols, the food and the general feeling that no matter what the year threw at them they would make it to the next Christmas. But this year Johnny didn’t feel even remotely festive. He couldn’t see any hope of him making it through the night, let alone the next year. The artillery barrage had finally ceased, and debris lay strewn across the once crisp, white landscape. Fallen branches blocked his view of the front line but he knew they were there, hiding… waiting.

Loud footsteps drew him from his thoughts as a figure stood over him, blocking his view of the sky that for once was clear. Blue smudges spread between the grey clouds almost like a sign of hope.

“Hey Martin, whatcha thinking about?” Y/n all but threw herself down beside him, her characteristic smile on her face, the wide grin that no matter how down you felt on your luck, could make you smile too.

“That we’re doomed.”

Y/n snorted, “Well you got out of the wrong side of your foxhole this morning.” She rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Well, we are. Kraut artillery is hammering us every chance they get, and when they aren’t shelling us the damn cold sets in and you all but freeze your balls off.”

“Come on Martin, don’t be like that. We’re alive aren’t we, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, just,” Johnny grumbled, snuggling further into his jacket and shoving his glove-clad hands even deeper into his pockets.

“Right you old Scrooge, you’re coming with me,” she stood, grabbing hold of his arm and dragging him from the depths of his foxhole.

“Who the hell is Scrooge?” Johnny moaned, trailing behind her like a dejected puppy.

“You don’t know who Scrooge is? From ‘A Christmas Carol? Charles Dickens?” Johnny continued to look at her blankly.

“I wish Webster was here, he’d know who I was talking about.”

Johnny laughed, “Yeah good old Webster, couldn’t even go AWOL to help us in this shit. I bet he’s really nice and warm back in that hospital.”

Y/n sighed, turning around to face him, “Don’t be such a downer. I’m glad Webster’s not here. It means he’s safe which means one less of my friends could die at any second. Now I’ll take that as a win.”

Johnny had to admit that it was nice to know that at least one of Easy Company wouldn’t go through this debacle.

“Now come with me and try to smile at least.”

Johnny followed Y/n, walking past foxholes filled with their friends who were still deep in slumber, taking advantage of the few hours of peace.

They approached Y/n's foxhole that she shared with Eugene and she gestured towards the small fir tree that stood a few meters from the hole. Around the tree was strung some rope with rudimental Christmas decorations of fir cones and leaves, a few scraps of red fabric that Johnny wasn’t sure where Y/n had gotten it from.

“What is all this?” He asked, disbelief and confusion evident in his handsome features.

“It’s our Christmas tree and this…” Y/n dug into her pocket and pulled out a ragged looking lump, “is your Christmas present. I’m sorry it’s not much. It was all I could get in Bastogne when I went in at the last supply drop.” Johnny’s face softened, and he lifted his hand, brushing it gently against her frozen cheek.

“I’m sure it’s perfect.” He unwrapped the bandage material from around the gift and found a small, ceramic angel ornament inside.

Johnny's face crinkled into a smile and his eyes shone brightly as he looked down at the angel.

“Thank you, Y/n but you didn’t have to…”

“I wanted to,” Y/n interrupted, her bright eyes staring up at him through hooded lashes. Johnny had never truly appreciated her beauty until now. The way her hair hung down framing her face, her nose scrunched as she laughed at jokes that George would tell her, the way her forehead creased as she glared at Skip as he won another bet against her. Even now all covered in the dirt and grime of the Bois Jacque she was a picture of beauty.

“Y/n, could I ask you something?” Johnny felt himself growing nervous, his mouth felt dry and his left eye twitched as he tried to find the right words.

“Of course.”

“Well, you know as it’s Christmas… and well we might not make it through the next year… I was just wondering if I could…”

Y/n having grown impatient by Johnny stuttering, grabbed the lapel of his coat and yanked him towards her. “Yes,” she replied before placing her lips against his. The kiss was soft and full of feeling. Johnny felt himself winding his arms around her waist as Y/n fingers delved into his hair, tugging at the grimy, brown lock. Johnny normally would have felt self-conscious about his appearance but at that moment all he could think of was the woman in his arms.

When they pulled away, both couldn’t help the large smile that grew across their lips.

“Merry Christmas Y/L/N.”

“Merry Christmas Martin.”

“Hey Luz, you owe me 20 bucks,” Skip mouthed across the snowy ground to where George was sheltering in his foxhole.

“Fuck off, it’s Christmas for Christ's sake,” George grumbled, shoving his helmet further over his head to shield himself from Skip's view.

“I’d pay up if I were you, Luz. Skip owes Bull money and if you don’t pay up, he can’t pay Bull. I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Randleman,” Malarkey confessed, looking up from his canteen of steaming coffee.

“Yeah right! Bull’s not going to do anything to me,” George’s laughter soon ceased as a large snowball hit the back of his helmet, splattering down his back and allowing the ice to penetrate his winter coat.

“That son of a bitch!”

“Pay up, Luz!” Bull’s hearty laughter could be heard from a few feet away and George sighed.

“After everything I do for you lot. All those Hershey bars I saved for you guys and this is how you repay me. Merry fucking Christmas to me.”

That was last Christmas. 1944. Amid the Ardennes, the snow created a frozen wasteland where the dead lay in shallow graves, forgotten by many.

Patty was bustling around the kitchen, clattering pots and pans while she had left Johnny in charge of decorating the tree with the children. The kids were messing around while Johnny half-heartedly dug through the box of decorations until his fingers brushed against something smooth, familiar, cold to the touch. He pulled the ornament free and with a shaky breath he ran his thumb over the dusty angel. It still had mud crusted to one of its wings and the other hung slightly lopsided where Webster and his clumsy hands had dropped it in Haguenau. Johnny didn’t realise he was crying until Patty laid her hand on his shoulder making him jump.

“Oh Johnny, it’s beautiful. Here let me hang it on the tree,” she reached forward for it but Johnny snatched his hand away.

“No!” He snapped, “Don’t touch it… don’t…” Patty looked a little hurt but she knew her husband didn’t mean it out of malice. He was hurting more than he’d ever admit and she knew the war had been hard on them all but Johnny would never talk about who he’d lost.

“You got it Belgium, didn’t you?” She asked, trying to coax her husband to share his feelings.

“Yes,” he whispered, looking down through blurry eyes at the simple figure. “A friend gave it to me.”

Patty nodded, moving around to crouch in front of her husband.

“Well, how about we put it on the tree? To remember him by. I know he meant a lot to you.”

Johnny stood, moving across the room in slow motion. As the ornament connected with the branch of the tree, it felt like the whole world stopped for just a moment. He was back in the forest, snow covering his helmet as he walked hand in hand with Y/n. Her cold fingers wrapped tightly in his palm, her laughter wafting through the trees.

Patty’s hand slipped into Johnny’s and she squeezed it gently, resting her head on her husband's shoulder she hummed, “I would have liked to have met him.”

Johnny cocked his head to look at his wife, “I wish you had too. They were taken from me far too soon.”

The couple stood silently side by side, their children playing at their feet while music from the radio drifted around them. Johnny felt a single tear trail down his cheek.

“Goodbye, Y/n.”

Tags: @georgieluz @iceman-kazansky @yeahcurrahhe-e @lieutenant-speirs @sharpshootershifty @liberteuniteegalite @msmercury84 @mayhem24-7forever @blvestxr @dustyjumpwjngs @theflyingfin @jump-wings @kafka-ohdear @kmc1989 @mads-weasley @docroesmorphine @liptonsbabe @lena-basilone @sweetxvanixlla @hesbuckcompton-baby @ronsparky @allthingsimagines @whollyjoly @bucky32557038ww2 @panzershrike-pretz @xxluckystrike @malarkgirlypop @hanniewinnix

[andydrysdalerogers]

To The Limit - Five

F1 Racer Johnny Storm x OFC Maya Levinson

Summary: He's been away from the sport for 2 years. He has 24 races to prove he belongs here. There are two things that could derail this: his family and her.

She's the one thing he is willing to push to the limit for.

This a sequel to my original story, "Following Team Orders" If you want to get caught up in my Formula One world, you can find it HERE

The tag list is open!

Future Warnings: references to a partner's death, cheating (but not by the MCs,) alcohol consumption, SMUT!, angst, racing incidents, language, grief, etc.

Moon Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Car divider and Banners by me!

Previous Chapter: Three

Story Master List // Main Master List

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Two Years Ago 

Johnny 

I closed the door to my suite and ran a hand through my hair.  Ferrari was “kind” enough to allow me to stay here and booked me a flight home since the news of my firing was being withheld until after the holidays.  Nick said something about the sponsor or whatever.  Frankly, I tuned him out after he told me I wasn’t being re-signed.  

But now I face Molly.  We had one night together a couple of months ago and she’s now pacing back and forth.  I took her in as I waited for her to speak. She was a beauty. Chestnut hair that fell to the middle of her back, dark blue eyes and a body that could make any man fall to his knees.  I was willing to spend several nights with her, but she disappeared the morning after.  I asked Liv what happened, and she had no idea.  

“Johnny, I’m really sorry for ghosting you like that.” Molly is ringing her hands over and over.  “I just... I’ve never done that before and...” 

I take her hands in mine.  “Hey, hey, hey, breathe Molly. Take a deep breath.” She inhales. “Slowly let it out.” She follows my directions, but I can still feel her trembling in my hands. “What’s going on?” 

A single tear falls down her cheek.  

“Johnny, I’m pregnant.”  

Present 

When you are a cocky bastard like I was, you don’t make a lot of friends. I had Charles but that was about it. At least, until Olivia.  

Olivia Williams, now Rogers, was a force of nature.  She is the sixth woman to compete in Formula One and the only female champion.  When she came here, every red-blooded man thought the same thing: I want to bang her.  And trust me, I took my shot, but she very nicely put me down.  The day we became friends was one of her worst days.  I didn’t take advantage, though lord knows I would have but she was my fellow driver, my co-worker, my sister at arms.  She needed me to be her brother in that moment and I was.  

We talked more after that.  Hung out and got to know each other. I knew about her assumed unrequited love with her racing partner, Steve. I knew about how she had thrown herself into dating his best friend, Bucky. She was lost but I tried to be her anchor in the storm.  She was under a lot of pressure and Rogers did not make that easier.  

I was happy for them, truly, when they both got their heads out of their asses and finally got together. And I was able to make friends with Steve and Bucky. Besides Charles, I am closest to Liv and that’s how I find myself at their house in London a week before Australia. I sipped my coffee as my son bounced on Steve’s knee and he “baby talked” with him, blowing raspberries on his little round belly.  

Ever seen a six-foot, two-time champion talk baby talk with a 15-month-old? It so disgustingly cute. 

“Practicing?” I comment to him as Mattie giggles from the raspberries on his belly. Mattie babbles a little, almost ready to talk.  

“Absolutely.” Steve is beaming and that’s rare for a man I know to be serious 90% of the time.  He’s only ever chill when it comes to Olivia except when he’s in protective mode.  

Liv comes in with a plate of cookies and a bottle for Mattie. “Can I feed him?” she asks. I nod and she takes my son into her arms.  “Here we go, Mattie, some milky to help you sleepy,” she coos. The little shit always bats his lashes at a pretty girl, especially Liv.  

“I would say something about having your boy backing off my woman but he’s just too damn cute,” Steve says as he takes a sip of his coffee. “Thank god he takes after his mother.”  

“Flick off Roger,” I reply, grabbing a cookie.  

“Flick? Really?” 

"I’m trying not to swear in front of my kid. He’s so close to talking and the last thing I need is his first word to be a swear. Molly would have my ass.” I stop as I realize what I said. I swallow and try not to let the mood go down.  

Steve changes his temperament quickly. “Hey, sorry, guess it something I should learn now with my own baby coming.”  

“Yeah,” I chucked flatly. “Babies change everything.  Most of the time for good.”  I run a finger of my son’s cheek as he sucks on his bottle. I hate that he’s getting big.  soon he’ll be talking and walking away from me. He’s so close to walking.  

We sit quietly for a few minutes as Mattie drifts off.  I take him from Liv and put him in the portable crib Liv and Steve keep for me in their house.  “Have a good nap, Slugger.” I head back out to the garden and sit.  

“Not that I don’t love when you visit, Torch, but I’m surprised you're here. I thought you would be at the factory or something.” 

“I needed some advice, and I knew if I didn’t bring Mattie, you’d castrate me.”  

Liv smiles and shrugs. “I love my godson, sue me.”  

I snort. “Yeah, well, I do have kind of a big problem.” I take a sip of my own coffee. “You know how Ari agreed to keep Mattie away from the spotlight and helping me and Susie with privacy?” They nod and I continue. “Our PR rep found out.”  

“Maya?” I nod. “Oof, I know she didn’t take that well.”  

“She doesn’t know.” I look at the ground. 

“That he’s your son or...” 

“No, I said he is my son, but she doesn’t know the whole story. She doesn't know... she doesn’t know about Molly or anything.” Liv tries to speak but Steve stops her to let me continue. “We ran into Maya as we were leaving, and I got us out of there without an explanation. I’ve been dodging her calls and just following my scheduled as instructed.  But with the race weekend coming up I know my avoiding time is coming to an end.”  

Steve studies me for a bit.  “You like her.”  A statement not a question.  

“Yeah, I do.  She’s nice or whatever.” I explain us meeting at the gala and having a great night but then a week later, Molly came back and I let go of Maya in my mind. I shake myself from the memories. “I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”  

“You want to go out with her,” Steve continues.  

“She has a boyfriend.  She’s dating that Sainz guy.” I grit my teeth. “The guy who took my spot.”  

“Easy, Torch.” Liv touches my arm. “He got hired after.”  

“Whatever,” I shrug her off. “Either way, I have to give her an explanation and I’m just not sure what to say.”  

“Be honest,” Steve offers. “She may not be with him forever and you never know. I wish I had done that with Liv. It would have saved us a lot of heartache.” Liv nods in agreement and leans her head on his shoulder. “That's my opinion at least.”  

Honesty. Why didn’t I think of that.  

Maya 

Being the public relations person for a Formula One team is not as easy as stats and winners.  the public is invested in the team, the cars, the drivers that, when I started, I had to take notes on things I hear over the radio and ask Ari about them later. Nowadays, I know everything that is happening with the team.  

Except for Johnny Storm 

The shock I felt when he introduced his son to me hasn’t lessened in the two weeks since. He has a son. A beautiful son who is his duplicate except for his hair.  He has chestnut waves compared to Johnny’s blond. He didn’t look more than a year old.  

How did he keep a secret like this from the world? I investigated and searched everything on the man. The last article that he was in before his return was an obituary. That was odd and I disregarded it.  The last article before that was about his dismissal from Ferrari.   

That was handled with the grace of a rhinoceros.  Ferrari did him dirty. I was angry when I read the releases. They didn’t even give him a chance to shop; they just let his contract run out on the promise of a renewal.  Then to announce Carlos less than an hour later, I would have fired my PR team for it and then raised hell with management.  

Johnny was a beloved driver on and off the track. He did so much for Ferrari and suddenly he was gone.   

And now I know why.  

It didn't make sense before, why didn’t he approach other teams.  He had a baby to take care of.  That leads to more questions, like where is his mother and why is his sister caring for his son.  How did no one know?  

Johnny is an enigma. Before, he was a hot head speed demon. Fearless on the track.  He was good, great even. Why Ferrari let him go is everyone’s guess.  Only Nick Fowler would know. I would love to solve this.  

But I would need Johnny to answer my fucking calls.  

First thing in PR is that you have to know everything. Nothing can remain a secret, especially if you are trying to keep a secret. This led to a confrontation with my brother... 

I stormed into his office, slamming the door closed. “Ari, are you trying to kill me?” 

He put down the report he was reading. “Maya...” 

“No! You can’t keep things from me, especially when it could lead to a shitstorm.  He has a kid that no one knows about!” 

“I know! He told me before he accepted the job.”  Ari sit against his desk, legs and arms crossed. “I know it's a big deal but he’s just trying to protect his son and his past.”  

“And I can help with that if I was read in!” I huffed in exasperation. “I need to know everything, Ari, you know this.  The best defense is the best offense. You need to get him to talk to me.”  

“Alright, alright. I’ll talk with him. But give him some grace Maya. Listen to his story before you pass your PR judgment.”  

Now, I was waiting for Johnny to finish up with practice. The Australian sun is unforgiving to the cars today and everyone is struggling with tires. But I can hear the frustration in his voice. The car is not handling the way he wanted, losing force on the straight away. This isn’t the sun causing problems.  

Johnny: tell me the engineers are seeing this. It’s fucking ridiculous   Liv: they are on it Torch 

Johnny: I have so much more power out of the corners. The front right is struggling on the straight.   Liv: copy 

I turn and look at Ari. He has a grimace and makes a note on his notebook. I snort at the image. My brother is still so old school. Like he doesn’t have a bank of monitors and computers not to mention his phone to use. “Dinosaur,” I mumble under my breathe. Liv heard me and changed her chuckled to a cough to cover up.  

Liv calls out to Johnny to box the car. I watch as our silver arrow comes in and watch the mechanics pull the car into the garage and start cooking it down. Once parked, Johnny climbs out rather calmly for someone who is very frustrated.  

Ari walks right up to him. “Tell me what you’re feeling?” Johnny looks at him lost. “How did the car feel?” 

Johnny looks pensive, as if he’s trying to find the right words. “It pulls,” he starts, “as soon as I hit the corner. When I exit at the straight, I feel the cars downforce struggle like extra weight is being added. Once I can get enough force to move, it too late to take advantage of DRS.”  

“Ok good.” Ari smiles a little. “Anything else?” 

Johnny stares at him but what he says next leaves me curious.  “I don’t feel connected to the car. I feel like we aren’t one yet. I used to feel that but right now I feel like an imposter.”  

“There,” Ari points at him. “That’s what I’m looking for.  You need to reflect and think about that. You aren’t an imposter. You are a Formula One driver.  You need to let go of everything on the outside and feel the car like it's a part of you.”  

“I can’t do that,” Johnny argues back. He glances at me but doesn’t stop.  “I can’t not think about him and what would happen if something happened to me. I’m the only one he has.”  

“Storm, you are not alone in this.  Matthew is not alone. He is surrounded by this team, this family. You must trust that while you have car, we have Mattie and you.  We’ll do our best to get you back to you son every time. But you need to let go of the fear that is holding you back.”  

“I don’t know how.” Johnny looks defeated, like he’s failing. 

“That’s ok. We do have the team psychologist. Talk to her and see what she can do to help.  I know it's been hard without...” my brother pauses, and I make a note of that. Ari clears his throat. “But I want you to succeed. For yourself, your son.”  

I’m impressed that Ari didn’t mention the team.  He’s in charge of the team, has to care about its wellbeing. But right now, he’s a friend, a mentor. I decide to speak up. “Johnny, you don’t have to worry about press. I’ll coach you on what to say so we can downplay the difficulties with the car.” 

He finally looked at me and then nodded.  

“Good. Head back to the hotel and rest.” Ari looked at me. “After you meet with Maya.” Well, that’s one way to get what I want. I give Johnny a PR smile. He clenches his jaw in reaction. He’s not happy to talk to me but I have no idea why. “Let’s head to the conference room,” Ari suggests, dismissing the rest of the team. Liv follows Johnny, arm and arm, speaking quietly to each other. I frown at that. Ari leaned down. “They are best friends. Him, her, Charles, Bucky and Steve. Don’t let your PR brain go to hard.”  

I sighed. “Ok.” I walk into the conference room and Liv is sitting next to Johnny. “Liv, what are you doing?” 

“Johnny asked me to be here,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at me. Wow, she’s got momma bear look down pat. I just nod and take a seat across.  Ari hangs out in the back leaning against the sideboard with his signature arms cross.  

Johnny looks at everyone and sighs. “Two years ago, a one-night stand told me she was pregnant. And then eight months later, my wife died, and I was left with my son.”  

NEXT

Taglist:

@patzammit

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@slutforchrisjamalevans

@firephotogrl74

@tinkerbelle67

@before-we-get-started

@bunnyforhim

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[simplydannie]

Oooh! What if Veneer looks back on the good times he and Velvet had with Floyd like how Merida looked back on a childhood memory of her mom, remembers what Floyd means to him, frees him, and urges him to leave? With the parting being similar to how Poppy and Bridget parted.

Also, with the context of Floyd being V&V's father figure and V&V having known him since they were thirteen, I don't think it would make sense for Veneer to refer to Floyd as a little guy.

No definitely not. But I’d like think the poison of too much Troll essence alters your brain chemistry. Some reality and illusion tend to collide. Veneer would loose those memories of what Floyd really mean to him.

First of all, Brave is one of my all time favorite movies!! And omg yess!! That would be the sweetheart gesture, sweetest moment they could share! The bracelet in this story derives from the my story here :

Let Go

They did it.

Velvet and Veneer had won the Lifer Award. They were at the top, and that’s where Velvet, and their manager, intended for them to stay. But at what cost? Nearly the cost of the life of a little Troll who was once dear to them.

Floyd was on the brink of death…. There was still no sign of Brozone. Veneer surely thought that their performance at the Rage Doom would’ve killed him, but the little Troll had a lot of fight.

All this because Veneer got mad at him, because he grew afraid that Floyd would’ve really left him… so he trapped him. Now here they were, literally sucking the life out of him.

Veneer tossed and turned that night. He couldn’t sleep, as if memories were trying to come back to him. He knew at one point the Troll meant something to him. He’d have dream at night, dream about the small Troll caring for them. But those were just dreams weren’t they? Dreams about something he truly desired…. A family.

Veneer took a deep breath and finally closed his eyes, humming to himself a tune he heard a while ago. As he drifted, the dreams started coming back to him:

In this dream he awoke one morning to find a box slid under his door. He went over, knelt down and opened it. There was a note:

Veneer,

There’s so much I want to give you. So much I’d do for you and your sister, but the means right now won’t allow it. This is a little something from culture I want to pass down to you. I hope it fits. And I hope you love it’s.

Love, Floyd.

Opening the box was a bracelet, a bracelet woven together with bright colors of string and yarn. He couldn’t remember why he was feeling sad, but he felt that sadness go away. Joy came to Veneer as he put the bracelet on. He ran to his drawer and took a paper and pen….

In another dream, it was Veneer crying alone. He came home from school one day and went straight toward his room. He avoided anyone so not to worry them, but the one little person who noticed was Floyd. He silently entered Veneers room, tiptoeing to the closet where he could hear the young Rageouns cry, Veneer was 16 at the time.

“Ven?” Floyd called out.

“I’m fine! My tummy just hearts.” Veneer lied. Floyd didn’t take any chances. He pushed open the closet door. Floyd found Veneer curled up at the corner of his closet, his face hidden between his knees.

“Ven?” The small Troll crawled up on Veneers knees, placing a small hand on his head. “Ven, look at me.” Veneer slowly but surely lifted his head. “Ven! What, what happened?”

His right eye was bruised, lip split open.

“They… I don’t know they all make fun of me… why the other kids my age don’t like me. Am I really that strange? That different?” Veneer sobbed back into his knees.

“No! Don’t you dare think that! People who punish you for being who you are afraid of you. It’s because you’re different that your special.” Floyd declared.

“I just want a friend Floyd….just one friend.”

“It’s better to be surrounded by the few who love you than those who wouldn’t care. You’ll make that friend one day, Ven. I love you for who you and your sister both are.”…….

Veneers eyes bursted wide open.

He sat up on his bed. Throwing the sheets off of him, he marched to his drawer. Something came to his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was a memory, or just a dream. Opening a small compartment, he stuck his hand inside, rummaging around, wondering if he’d find it….. There was nothing. He was about to give up hope until…Veneers hand fell upon something. Pulling it out he saw it…..

The bracelet from his dream…. Only it wasn’t a dream, those were all memories. Floyd really had meant something to them. And not just a mere friend… but family…. A father. Clenching his fists, Veneer took a deep breath and walked out his door.

Floyd laid inside the encased diamond. He wasn’t sure how he survived the Rage Dome show, but he was glad that his brothers weren’t there yet, it meant they were safe somewhere. He heard the door open in whatever room he was in, too weak to look up… Floyd slowly began to except that he breath he took would’ve been his last.

Floyd could feel the diamond be lifted… he opened his eyes to see who it was, but everything was a blur. He was weak, so, so weak. The small Troll could hear a voice, faint, and familiar, but he couldn’t make it out.

Floyd felt the diamond move and shake gently. He body slowly rolled out of the diamond, on to something warm.

“Floyd?” The voice was sad, it seemed like tears were in his eyes. “Floyd. Please move. Please do something.” The small manger to turn his head slightly towards the object in which the voice was coming from.

“…..Veneer….” His words soft, barely audible. Floyd closed his eyes, his breaths becoming slower.

“Please don’t did Floyd! I remember now. I remember everything. I don’t know why I couldn’t, but I do now. Please stay with me. I’m sorry Floyd! I didn’t mean to trap you in the diamond. I was scared of you leaving me. I didn’t want you to leave.” Veneer said through tears.

The Troll made no acknowledgements, no movement, he continued just lie there motionless, breaths becoming slower and slower.

“Floyd please.” He cried again, caressing the small Troll in his hand. “I’m sorry! I-I can’t loose another one…I can’t loose another dad.” He cried, tears slowly rolling down his face. “Velvet is sorry too, I know she is. She just has to remember just like me. And she will. Please….Please dad.”

Floyd slowly opened his eyes. He turned to look at Veneer, his eyes were closed, head resting against his arms as he still held Floyd. He suddenly saw the young 13 year old he met. The curious boy who saved him and brought him in….

“I’m sorry for almost leaving you guys.” Floyd managed to say, his color slowly return to him. Veneer lifted his head, his eyes filled with happiness as the small Troll slowly started to come back. Veneer nuzzled the Troll close to his face.

It felt like old times, they were just missing Velvet… but it occurred to Veneer that Floyd wasn’t safe. No matter if he and Velvet remembered, their manager would find a way to get her hands on the Troll and the rest of his family. Veneer stood up and walked over towards a vent. Taking off the cover, he peered inside… it seemed safe enough for Floyd, they had to lead somewhere.

Sensing a shift in behavior, Floyd gathered the strength to stand.

“Ven?”

“….You have to go….”

“What?” Floyd peered down the vent Veneer motioned too. “No! Not without you. Not without Velvet. We leave together! I learned my lesson. I let you fall into the hands of that evil woman who’s done nothing but abuse and groom you!”

“You have to go. Go find your brothers…. Your family.” Gently wrapping his hand around Floyd, Veneer held him over the vent. The Troll held a firm grasp on his hand, hugging his thumb.

“You guys are my family too! I’m done leaving family behind.” Floyd hugged Veneers thumb tightly, tears going down his face. Veneer smiled softly.

“You have to let go.”

“No!” He held on tighter.

“….Im sorry.” Veneer wrapped his other hand around Floyd gently, pulling his little embrace away. He held him over the vent and let go. Veneer covered the vent so Floyd couldn’t manage using his hair to climb back up. Tears rolled down his face as he heard Floyd call out his name as he went down…

But he was free… Veneer only had to deal with what consequences lay ahead.

[jmagnabo92]

Sailing To Freedom - Ch 11 - The LEAK

@aroyallybigbangrwrb

As Alex and Henry go into more than a week without service, someone leaks their emails leaving the White House to make a decision without the boys' consent.

AO3

***

September 27th, 2020

It’s early morning when Alex and Henry sit at in the seats at the back of the boat watching as the crew prepare to leave the dock.  They’ll be drifting off to sea in a moment for at least eight days, if they don’t stop and enjoy the water along the way.

Casablanca hadn’t exactly been their best stop, mainly because the chaos has hit them head on, but Alex knows that the second they leave, his mom wouldn’t have a chance to change her mind anymore since Liam and Pez will begin their plans to correct the narrative. 

It’s not like he thought that she would change her mind in twenty-four hours, but it’s entirely possible that sleeping on it could’ve changed her mind…

He shakes his head, that’s a little too optimistic even for him. 

“Are you alright?” Henry asks, squeezes his hand and gaining his attention.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Alex answers. 

“You’re not a very good liar – I am truly surprised that anyone believed our ‘friendship’ during that weekend where were decidedly not friends yet – so, do you want to attempt that, again?”

“It’s stupidly optimistic.”

“That sounds like the Alex I know and love,” Henry teases.  He nudges him with his elbow.  “Now, tell me, anyway.”

Alex rolls his eyes.  “The second we leave the dock, there’s no turning back.  She can’t change her mind about things…”

“You think she might?”

“I told you it was stupidly optimistic.”

“Do you have any idea how many times that I hoped for my mum to come around again?  To storm the queen’s chambers and defend her children’s right to be who they truly are?  It’s all I dreamt about for ages after my Gran sat me down and told me that I would not be allowed to be gay, that anyone that I was with would have to sign extensive NDAs and I would have a minimum number of dates with acceptable women every year?”  Henry gives him a soft smile.  “It’s natural to want our mums to be thinking of us rather than themselves – especially when the world is against us…”

Alex nods.  It’s nice to know that Henry doesn’t think it’s wrong of him to be hopeful for a change of heart from his mom.

“Yet, I know deep down that she won’t.  So, it’s … entirely stupid.”

“We don’t have to leave just yet, if you want to – to try again…”

Alex knows that Henry hadn’t even thought that the initial conversation was a good idea, thinking that it’d been obvious that his mother was going to do what was best for the campaign over Alex’s wishes. 

Yet, here he is offering to postpone their plan just because Alex isn’t ready to let go of the hope that his mom will change her mind…

“I love you, so so much,” Alex states, lifting their clasped hands to kiss the back of Henry’s hand.  “But postponing our trip and our plan has already been done before – we were supposed to go nuclear when we got to Casablanca, but really, we should’ve been paying attention immediately after the phone call about the photo.  Maybe if we had called back instead of going on a cell phone/internet blackout…”

“Hey, this – what has happened to us – it’s not our fault.  All we wanted to do was act like any other twenty-somethings and love each other in the open,” Henry states.  “I’ve spent so long in the closet that I never believed I could have this, but now that I do, I am able to recognize that we are not the problem.  Our wishes should’ve been respected, it’s not our fault that we did not doubt it enough to call back and make sure that they didn’t do what they did do.”

Alex shakes his head.  “I know that.  That wasn’t where I was going with it, exactly.  I was just saying that we postponed before, and we need to do this now.”

“As long as you’re sure that you want to go ahead with it.”

“I am.  Let’s do this, baby.”

***

June wakes to utter chaos.  She’s not sure what’s going on, all she knows is that it’s 3AM and there’s noise throughout the White House much more than there should be given the time of morning it is. 

Knowing that something big is going on, she just pulls on her robe when Zahra comes bursting into the room.  “Call your brother!”

“Why?  What’s going on?”

“Just call him and come with me.”

Trying to make sense of everything, June immediately calls him, but the call goes straight to voicemail.  She calls again and again until they reach the Oval Office where her mother’s looking a little worse for wear and not at all happy. 

“Did you get him?”

“Straight to voicemail, he’s probably out to sea with no service.”

“Damnit.”

“What’s going on?” June asks, but before she could get a response her phone rings.

She looks down hoping it’ll be Alex, but it’s Bea flashing across the screen.

“Bea?”

“Have you seen the papers this morning?”

“No…” she says, slowly as she begins looking for any sign of what’s going on here.  That’s when she spots it. 

The front page of the paper with the blazing headline:

BREAKING: Emails Reveal Romantic Relationship Between FSOTUS and Prince Henry.  Confirmation of lies by FDOTUS and VP Granddaughter clear as day.

***

THE ORAL OFFICE: READ FSOTUS’ STEAMY EMAILS TO PRINCE HENRY.

***

25 GIFs That Perfectly Describe Our Reaction When We Heard About FSOTUS & Prince Henry’s Emails. 

***

Photos Of Their Romantic Vacation Align with The Email Proof.  Turns out FSOTUS & Prince Henry may have been cheating on each other with VP Granddaughter and FDOTUS.

***

White House Stays Silent as More Details Pour in Suggesting the Real Relationship Coverup This Year Was FSOTUS and Prince Henry. 

***

“Well, shit.”

“Guess you saw.”

“Is it – everything or just…”

“Everything, June.  There’s a lot there,” Bea states, sounding heartbroken.  “I’m not calling because I give a damn about what the Monarchy or White House want to do – have you heard from either of them?”

“Not a word.  I called but straight to voicemail,” June states.  “They said they were headed out to Barbados; they might already be out at sea.”

“That’s what I was worried about.  I don’t want them blindsided by this when they make landfall.”

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that.”

“Yeah, but we can make sure there aren’t any more lies.”

June looks up at her mother, conversing with her advisors and thinks about Alex’s determination to come out and be out and proud with Henry.  “Yeah, you’re right about that.  No more lies.”

***

There’s a part of Ellen that knows June’s right.  At this point, it’s pretty clear what Alex and the prince want, but she knows with all of the lies they’ve already made that it’s just too late to try and correct now.  All that would do is make her campaign go down the drain – after all, who would trust her as president for a second term if she admits to these lies?  The voters would naturally wonder what else she’s lying about.

Having her own children lie about who they’re dating, the evidence in the emails that she fired her son and locked him away in his room, and the fact that he practically ran away just to be with the prince … it’s not just lies that are the problem, the actions her actions – as Alex pointed out – seem rather homophobic. 

It looks like she discovered her son was with a man and locked him away like many conservatives would do.  Considering that it’s exactly the type of rhetoric that Richards is spewing (locking them away so that they can’t ‘affect’ ‘normal’ people), and he’s already using it against her – claiming that her ‘progressive’ stance is just ‘words’ and clearly not her true stance given what she’s done to her son, that’s exactly what it looks like – that she’s a conservative in progressive clothing.  That she’s secretly homophobic and Alex’s retreat into the arms of his boyfriend was a direct result of her unacceptance.    

So, even as she reads and sees just how deeply Alex loves Henry, enough that she should’ve planned for a narrative to allow them to come out rather than this forced out situation, she knows that they have to maintain the lie.  It’s better if Alex is straight and just hanging out with his best friend to get away from the stress of the campaign – being a little flirty as is his nature, but not bi or into Henry. 

She tunes out the various people suggesting that they frame this as Richards or someone else trying to make her (and the Monarchy) look bad by faking these love-letter type emails and how best to swing Alex and Henry’s ship vacation. 

This is the only option.  The best option. 

Alex will eventually forgive her, she hopes.

***

“Fuck,” June says, as she gets back to her room.  Despite her best efforts, she knew the second that she saw Zahra’s face and Ellen listening intently that she wouldn’t get a chance to get passed ‘admit the truth’ before Ellen shut her down.

They decided the best course of action was to completely deny everything in those emails.  Claim that some hacker decided to fake the emails to make it seem like Ellen had made her children lie about who they were dating. 

Richards had already picked up the potential thread with regards to the situation and had gone full-out with declaring that Ellen had an ethical conundrum on her hands with Alex ‘sexing up’ the Prince, convincing her daughter to lie to cover for his ‘deviances’ and suggesting by covering it up that she wasn’t the ally she claimed she was or she wouldn’t have ‘locked up’ Alex after they got discovered at the DNC.

Ellen had immediately fired back with claiming that Richards had faked the emails to discredit her and her ability to lead or keep to her promises.  Declaring that she is the ally that she’s always been, and she would never lock up her son for his interests.  The blame landing on Richards went well with pairing it with his history of ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ and Ellen’s history of ‘it doesn’t matter who you love, you’re never lesser for your interests’. 

There was an entire war going on right now in an impromptu debate – articles being written, people tweeting and accusing and it’s a hot mess despite the leak only being eight hours previously. 

How was she supposed to fix this mess? 

If she sent out her own conflicting messages about the situation it would hurt her mother’s campaign, but she can’t let her mother’s campaign negatively affect Alex this way either.  Plus, she can’t imagine what is going to happen when he discovers what happened.

Having his private thoughts meant only for his lover broadcast to the world?  It’s a mess.  It’s beyond a mess. 

He shouldn’t have to deal with this, and their mother shouldn’t be denying the truth.

What the hell is the matter with her mother?  And what is she going to do now?

Deciding that she needs to figure this all out and Nora’s not answering, she decides to call Liam.  He’s the only other one on Alex’s side right now, and despite the fact that she’s only ever seen him as her baby brother’s best friend, she knows that this is one thing that they could talk about without Alex.

“June,” Liam says, sounding tired.  “I can’t believe some asshat did this to Alex and what the hell is wrong with your ma?  Who lies about this?  Unless Alex – but that doesn’t sound like him after our talk the other day…”

“Alex is in the middle of the ocean right now,” June says, tiredly.  “The Leak happened after they must’ve left port.  I don’t know what to do.  I tried to convince them that they’re being ridiculous – it’s bad enough this happened because Richards sensed something was wrong with Alex when he suddenly got fired and disappeared – but to lie about it?  Just admit what we did and –”

“You know that she won’t, don’t you?”

“Because a president that is a liar isn’t good for office?”

“No because she’ll alienate all those that fall under the LGBTQ+ banner… every person that voted for her the first time has to be questioning if she’s actually an ally or not.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that she isn’t.”  He pauses.  “Even knowing better, I have to wonder if she’s the progressive enough to accept it as long as it’s not her kid.”

“LIAM!”

“What?  You’re not questioning it?  Her first response was to fire him and lock him up.  Well, actually, her response was to make a PowerPoint about the ‘ethical issues’ as if that really matters when you consider the fact those issues don’t exist with YOU dating him.  Then, after crossing all of the Ts and dotting all of the Is, she fired him and locked him up.  As if he couldn’t even do appearances and all he had were Henry’s emails, which are now shared with the world…”

June groans.  “God, you’re so right.  That’s the real reason she can’t admit it… it looks horrible.”

“On the other hand, she could have possibly tried and swing it in her favor, but it’s too late now.  She already claimed that Richards or his supporters did this.”

“So, what do we do?  I mean besides try and find them on the boat and let them know what happened?”

“We have to follow through with what they asked us to do.  This changes nothing, except that your ma is going to look bad, but honestly, June, so many people already don’t believe it.  Some are still stuck on ‘Alex is a dirty rotten cheater corrupting the oh-so-innocent prince’ but let’s be real, these emails… there’s no doubting the love in between the lines.”

“You’ve read them, then?”

“Not all, but enough.  It’s not easy to avoid them.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe someone did this to them.”

“At least they’re peacefully in the dark at the moment.”

“Until they make landfall.”

“Maybe we can fix it by then.  It’s at least a week…”

June’s not very optimistic about that, but it is some comfort that at least they’re blissfully unaware, but for how long…

[terraliensvent]

https://www.tumblr.com/terraliensvent/762628974139637760/httpsdocsgooglecomdocumentd1hedsgxllpfwh2z

You know, as much as I very much dislike Gin/Shark and think that they seriously need to get the hell off of the internet, this whole document really just feels like you’re exposing a heavy conversation that was told to you in confidence. It also has absolutely nothing to do with Terraliens other than the screenshots at the start of the document (which have no relation to the main points being made in the body of the doc).

Yes, it’s a lot to unload onto a 16-year-old, but OP reached out to Gin/Shark first to ask them if they were okay. And then continued the conversation / showed no signs of asking Gin/Shark to stop or let them know they were uncomfortable with the topics at hand. Which would give Gin/Shark the impression that it was fine to vent to you. If you truly didn’t want them dumping all of those things onto you, you should’ve told them that! Or nicely let them know that they should be telling this to a professional and not you: a 16-year-old stranger on the internet.

Also, Gin/Shark is only 19 iirc. As someone who’s in their late 20s, you don’t just automatically mature and become a grown ass adult once you turn 18. Y’all are pretty close in age, so trying to pull the “uuuuuh uh I’m a minor they shouldn’t be talking to me about this” card doesn’t quite work here. You just look like an asshole “friend” for betraying their trust and publicly airing out all the dirty laundry of their relationship with Coy that they vented to you privately. I sincerely hope Gin/Shark doesn’t find out that you posted this online because this is the last thing they need if they really are going to get better mentally.

If you’re gonna make a Google doc exposing them for something, this isn’t it. This just looks shitty on both OP and the mod of this blog’s part for not thinking that through.

post related

in MY opinion, 16 and 19 is a weird gap to be dropping all your incredibly heavy baggage on, at worst this is like a high school sophomore talking to someone who graduated 2 years ago.

also i find it weird you say "OP reached out first," especially since the ORIGINAL screenshots in the doc (and assumedly the first of these "vent" convos) is them reaching out and saying "are you ok? do you wanna talk about it?" and civ immediately jumping to "i stopped taking my meds and im coping with alcohol." thats an insane leap to make. i also find it weird that veal had to manage the emotions of civ, checking their college schedule and making sure they do their morning routine and whatnot, and the spam in dms when they were in class and away for an hour. these are weird behaviors between two people of any age.

im also gonna add this reply i grabbed from the snugzi blog (who also posted the doc):

its weird youre putting responsibility on the younger person to manage the emotions of the older person while also saying "if they didnt want to talk they should have said so," instead of saying it was incredibly irresponsible of civ to traumadump onto them, and its THEIR responsibility as the older person to check themself.

and as an additional note, from this screen you can infer that civ would primarily talk to veal to vent. you can see a prior conversation form a week before where veal is reassuring them again. im not saying this is rock solid proof, but from this you can ASSUME that civ might have just been using veal as a vent dump. again, assume, so take it with a grain of salt.

my conclusion is that its not the responsibility of the younger person who is being traumadumped on to say "you should see a professional about this instead of a 16 year old on the internet!!" that should be the responsibility of the 19 year old who is dropping incredibly sensitive info on them and spamming them every 10 minutes when they dont respond for an hour. and thats not even mentioning the power dynamic possibility.

when a friendship causes one of the members to reach out to a completely anonymous blog saying "I don't know how to get out of this relationship now just realizing what the extent of their actions is, I don't know what to do and it's scaring the fuck out of me," maybe that's not really a good friendship

[hookedsworks]

Edge(ING) Fitness - Chapter XXVI

II's POV.

ao3

masterpost

II watched his personal trainer best friend, who he had not heard from in two days, saunter into the gym at about 9:30 AM. His hood was up, and he was slinking around like he didn’t want to be seen. 

“IV!” II thundered as he stalked across the gym. “Where have you been?” 

“At home,” IV retorted. II was pissed off, especially after hearing that III had attended IV’s game. 

“I haven't heard from you in two days, IV! What the hell! You didn't even ask how my date went! You're the one who caused it! Where have you been!” IV finally turned around to look at II. IV had an iced coffee in hand, glazed eyes and was clearly trying to keep a grin off his face. II searched for any other sign of what the hell happened. Like a line of dark, mouth shaped bruises…hickies. Hickies and he couldn't have been bothered to return my texts. “Who did you spend the weekend with?” the smile that ripped across IV’s face nearly made II forget he was mad. For a second. Then he remembered. 

“Why? Jealous?” Ivy sipped his coffee. 

“Jealous? You’re an idiot, IV. I was worried about you. And you were… what? Fucking around?” 

“Woah. Watch your language there, it almost sounded like you care,” rage. II hated it when Ivy hid something behind a facade of aloofness. He was tired. 

“Ives… dude… I just worry about you, okay? You don’t have to be a dick. You could have just let me know you were with someone,” Ivy always did this when he was afraid to tell II something. “Was it III? You know I’m not going to get mad, he’s not even a member of the gym. And I’m dating a member of the gym,”

“You’re dating him now?” they walked into the staff offices, and Ivy began getting ready to teach a yoga class. 

“W-well. Yeah, I think. I mean. We’re going to go out again. I kissed him. Or, well, um, he kissed me,” II thought about how cute Vessel had been. Even this morning, when they had been talking. He was just so sweet, so cute. II wanted to squeeze him. 

“Yeah, III and I kissed too,” jealousy reared its ugly head. 

“You guys are whores,” 

“Yeah? Explains why he’s so good at it all,” Ivy cackled. “C’mon, II. Don’t be mad. Just get your man,” 

“I want to date him. I don’t want to just fuck him,” 

“Hey! I don’t want to just fuck Mustache either,” Ivy seemed to think about it for a moment. “Well, I’d definitely like to do that again,” 

“Okay! I get it. You sealed the deal. But do you know anything about him? Are you going to take him on a date?” 

“Dude, you know that never works out for me. No matter how much I want it. They just want me for a night. I’m fine with it,” Ivy rolled his eyes. This was the thing that II hated the most about Ivy. He was always thinking no one truly wanted him. His ex had done that.  

“Hey man. He’s not Roxy. If you want to, you should go for it. I know Vessel, and if he thinks III is a good friend, I think that III will be better for you. If you want to. I think you’re just holding back,” 

“I didn’t ask for a psychoanalysis,” Ivy stared at II. He’d nailed it, that was exactly what Ivy was afraid of. “And it’s only a matter of time before he realizes you’re… you,” 

“He’s not Roxy, dude. He likes you. He’s known me the exact same amount of time he’s known you, and he’s never taken his eyes off of you,” Ivy sighed. He threw a shoe backwards. 

“I don’t want to talk about this, II,” 

“Fine. Go on a date with him though. Give him a real chance. You both deserve more than just one night,” 

“Why would I do that? Just to set myself up for heartbreak? It doesn’t matter how much I’d love to take him on a picnic, or see him watch a planetarium show, or go to a concert with him. We had sex. That was it,” 

“I highly doubt that. He’s been pining after you for weeks. He wants you to go to his marathon, doesn’t he? Why don’t you just keep talking to him and see what happens. If you’re really worried about it, I’ll ask Vessel to loop III in,” 

“If he texts me again, I’ll.. I don’t know. I guess I’ll try, but only if he shows interest. I don’t want to set myself up for it again,” II sighed. He was so sad for Ivy, for his desire to protect himself to the point of missing out on relationships. “I’m going to teach yoga now. Do not tell Vessel a thing. I can handle myself,” Ivy left the room and II pulled his phone out. He just… couldn’t help but think that III could be good for Ivy. He sent a quick text to Vessel. 

Is III going to ask IV out?  Vessel replied less than a minute later, in four consecutive text messages. 

He already has

Ives hasn’t replied yet

He sent it on IG

since Ives won’t give him his phone number 

Dammit IV!