#we go to the movies every year n it would b cool to dress up for that theres almost always ppl there who are

[tamagotchikgs]

i wish i could dress up for halloween i yearn 4 it so hard

[gyusfavlibra]

THIS IS MY WORK! PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPOST ON OTHER SITES/APPS!!!!

Warnings: +18, smut, fingering, hand job, sex in bathroom, language, jealousy, fighting, arguing.

Y/n and Sarah sat quietly on Kie's bed as they waited for Kiara to stop degrading the lavender dress she wore while standing in her large mirror. Mrs. Carrera coming through the door to make sure the girls were all dressed. "This is disgusting."

"I know it's just horrible."

"I'm asking you guys to just relax and go to a fun party."

"I look like a bourgeoisie pig."

"I think you look beautiful," y/n said while shrugging at Kie. She just gave a smile back to her, still hating the look no matter what compliments were given.

"Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?"

"Mom, people not three miles from her have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers."

"That's so tone deaf."

"Y/n," the mother scolded at her niece. "Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island club?"

"Yeah, mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for, like, ten years--"

"Twelve years, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough-"

"To keep up with the Joneses-"

"No, so you had the same experiences that I had as a child."

"But weren't parents as teens out, like partying, getting drunk, making out in the backseats of their cars at drive in movies," the cousin listed while putting her things in its bag. "Getting pregnant."

"That doesn't sound fun," Sarah added.

"Do you girls even know what the Island club is?"

"A factory farm."

"For debutantes," Y/n raised her eyebrows.

"It's a nice place, with nice people where you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people, while the island sinks slowly into the ocean."

"Water filling the poor's destructive lungs while the wealthy ones get away on million dollar boats."

Sarah sat quietly laughing on the comfy blanketed mattress. Mr. Cerrera sighed, saying one last thing before walking out. "Okay, I want you to put on your party face, girls, if you want to live."

"Did your mom just threaten to kill us?"

"Maybe. I think so," she nods as she turned around to the duo, fixing the flower crown that sat on her cousin's head. "You nervous to see Rafe."

"Why did you have to bring that up?"

"I was curious. I know it's only been two days, but-"

"Hey, he broke up with me. So if he wants to talk, that's in his duty. Not mine. I did nothing wrong."

Sarah got off the bed, swinging on it's pole. "Except flirt with JJ, or so he says."

"I was not...flirting with JJ. He has a crush on Kiara. I'd never."

"But Rafe doesn't know that."

°°°°

*flashback*

"What if she doesn't like it?"

"She'll love it. She's hippie."

Y/n and JJ sat on John B's porch, smoking a blunt. The girl was trying to help him do something nice for Kiara so JJ could ask her out without feeling weird. He's liked her for the longest and he was finally ready to tell her how she feels.

"Alright, now practice what you're gonna say."

Just as Y/n finished saying the statement, her own boyfriend, Rafe Cameron showed up. Standing behind them listening in.

"Okay, uh, hey I have to tell you something...uh important," the blonde began speaking, using hand gestures because of his nerves. "I really really like you. Like not like friends like, but I have feelings, uhm, strong feelings for you. Because you're like super hot, andnyou're like a really cool chick. So I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna...go out with me."

"Yes, t-"

"What the hell!"

The manly unknown voice shocked them both, their figures jumping at the sound because they thought they were alone.

"Rafe, what're you doing here?"

Y/n asked confusedly as she stood from the steps. The Kook just scoffed and walked back out. Ignoring her question. She shared a glance with JJ before going to follow after him.

"Hey! Where you going? What's wrong?"

"A pogue!? Y/n, seriously?!"

"What're you talking about?"

"You're cheating on me with a pogue?" He shouted. Y/n scrunched her eyebrows, looking at the unnecessary upset individual.

"What do you mean cheating? I'm not cheating on you. We were just talking."

"Bullshit. That's bullshit! I heard it all."

"Rafe, it's not like that. Jj was just-"

"I should've known better. I should've known," he fumed. His right foot swung to kick the dirt near his truck that he was so very close to getting into.

"Known what?"

"I should've never trusted a pogue. I knew something like this was gonna happen. You were just gonna throw me away like Sarah did, Topper. Right? Huh?"

"You sound ridiculous. I was never throwing you away. I was helping him out."

"Yeah, while you're at it. Might as well help sleep with him too."

Y/n scoffed, taking a step back from the angered boy who's brain had just functioned what he said. Part of him regretted it very much. But the other part thought you deserved it because of his cheating accusation.

He opened his vehicle door. Stepping one foot inside. "We're done."

The girl just laughed with held tears reaching for the openess. She turned around to head back inside as Rafe just drove off.

°°°°

"Hey, no tearing up today. Go to this stupid thing and show him that his little cheating accusation act didn't hurt you at all. You're stronger than that."

"Thanks, Kie."

The girls finished up their last minute touches. That includes sweeping their dresses with roller for no hair, any makeup redos, or hair finishes. The ride to the country club was quiet. Well, y/n was quiet.

This would be her first time seeing Rafe since their break up a three days ago. They've been doing everything in their mighty to avoid each other. And it definitely worked. But like her friend told her, she wasn't gonna get worked up. Letting Rafe see her weak was like telling him he was right about everything. But he wasn't.

"Jesus, Kook land."

"I forgot how packed this thing is every year."

"Well, let's go. I gotta walk out with my family."

The Cameron family walked out with their heads high and the Kook crowd cheered for each one. Y/n kept her eyes gazed to Kiara since they were in the middle of a conversation. Not caring if that family came in or not. That excludes Sarah.

Rafe watched from his spot by his dad, as they exited to outside. Breath hitched when he saw Y/n and her dress. It was a dark toned red, had tulle, and a revealing  chest opening.

A red flower crown on her head, complimenting her beautiful down hair. She looked amazing and hot to Rafe. He had to clear his throat before excusing himself.

"Hey," the red dresses girl heard from beside her as a hand landed on her lower back. She removed it before her eyes retracted to theirs. Kie just pursed her lips before leaving to hangout with Sarah. Y/n internally screaming that she left her there.

"What do you want?"

"Uh, you look nice."

"Okay. Thanks. You don't too. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just saying hi."

"Bye."

"Wait, wait, wait. Why are you mad at me? Shouldn't I be the mad one here?"

"Why?"

"Because of what you did," he said with furrowed eyebrows. Y/n shrugged.

"I didn't do anything."

"Do- do you not remember what happened on the cut three days ago? The fight."

"You slut shaming me and accusing me of cheating with JJ. That? Yeah, I remember that."

"Accused? I heard you."

"Heard what exactly?"

"JJ, was telling you he liked you and thought you were a cool hippie chick, which you are not. You're not hippie. And then he asked you out and you said yes. As soon as I walked in."

Y/n stared at him blankly. Before bursting out laughing. A few guests behind them staring with a look that showed they weren't used to loud talkers or laugher. "Oh my god. You thought? Jesus that's absolutely hilarious."

"What is?"

"That you think- you think that JJ was confessing feelings to me. Whew that's rich."

"I heard it, Y/n."

"He wasn't confessing anything to me you shit head. He was practicing for when he asked out Kiara."

Rafe was confused. Majorly. Inside and out. "But she-"

"He likes Kiara. And she's my cousin. You think I'd really hurt anyone like that? How low of me do you think? Have fun at this party."

Y/n walked off to go look for her disappeared friends. Not wanting to spend another second in a spot with someone who was so rude over something he knew nothing about. Just assumed. Never asked.

As she walked down the corridors of the porch that many people stood on drinking, a hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. Her eyes fixated on the blonde in a black tux and a bow tie.

"Holy shit, JJ. You scared me. What're you doing here?" She asked as she hugged him.

"Well, Sarah somehow convinced her dad to let me in tonight to hangout with Kie."

"Have you seen her?"

"I was just looking for her myself. C'mon. She's probably inside."

She grabbed his hand. Pulling him inside. They found Kie just minutes later with Pope. He was working the grill with his dad. Sarah was getting raided by Topper about their own stupid shit. Y/n decided to go get herself a drink and maybe find someone to dance with.

The straw rested on her lips as she stood against the porch railing. Gazing over all the people who say around laughing, probably bragging about their money, summer vacations, their older kids getting into a good college. Typical kook things.

Her eyes focused on a specific couple talking off to the side. Her eyes burning a whole in the back of Rafe's head as he tried to flirt up a storm with some Kook she didn't know whatsoever.

Her body was fuming. Was Rafe really gonna sit in front of her and flirt with a whole other girl that isn't her. Just a few days after their breakup. It's like he's trying to play victim. And she's had it.

"Hey, Sancho. Lassie."

The brunette Rafe was talking up a storm to laughed. "I'm sorry who are you?"

"Oh, you gonna introduce me to your side piece here?"

"Would you stop? We're just talking."

"Talking? Yeah, okay," Y/n laughed. The girl just looked at her dazed. "Hi, I'm his girlfriend. Y/n. And you, yeah you're excused."

Rafe was truly enjoying this scene. Internally rooting for Y/n. He wasn't gonna object to that fact that she called herself his girlfriend. Because now that he knew the truth, it changed his perspective.

"Who do you think you are?"

"I already told you. Wh- can you not hear correctly?"

"He said he was single so, why-"

"He lied. So, you can go away now- Rafe. Let's go. We need to talk."

"What're you his mother now?" The rando questioned. Y/n turned to her and gripped her face.

"If you wanna keep these teeth, then I suggest you stop talking. Go find somebody else's boyfriend to mack on."

She dragged Rafe by his hand into the upstairs private bathroom. Locking the door behind her. "What're you doing?"

"Just having a friendly conversation. There a problem?"

"You were flirting, Rafe. That was flirting," she paced. Hand against her for head.

"Like you're any better. You lied to me."

"I've never lied about anything."

"You said JJ liked Kiara."

"Yeah. He does."

"Then why is he holding your hand, hugging you, and leaving inside with you instead of the girl he supposedly likes," Rafe argued. Gripping onto the large counter.

"Rafe, I grabbed his hand and brought him inside to find Kiara. And I hugged him because I was happy for my friend. God, Rafe how many times do I have to tell you that I am not cheating on you."

"It's kind of hard to believe that shit when I keep seeing things with my own eyes."

"Then stop assuming and come ask me. Jesus, do you not trust me or something. Because I trust you. Anytime I hear that you're at a party doing lines with hot blonde's next to you, I brush it off because I know you'd never. Why can't you just do that for me."

Rafe stood from his seat. Pinching the bridge of nose. The guilty conscience grazed through his mind as he listened to her words. He had issues with trust and with others, but he knew it wasn't a reason to take it out on the only person who's loved him for him.

"I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. You're right. I should trust you. Just like you trust me. I'll work on it. I promise."

"Don't promise me that. Just show me that you love me just as much."

The words clicked. He did love her. And he cared about her. More than anyone in this world. And he wanted to show her. In the most physical way possible.

"C'mere."

"Why?"

"Just c'mere," he repeated as he grabbed her by her waist, pulling her closer to him. She stumbled, but Rafe's grip kept her in place. He moved his face closer to hers, lips almost touching as they grazed against each other.

He used the hand placed on her waist to grip the fabric of her dress. Pulling it upwards. Her breath hitched as he hand snaked under the red tulle and right onto her now soaking core. His pointy finger swept across the waistband of her panties.

Y/n wasn't expecting this as the outcome from their miniature argument but she wasn't complaining. And neither was Rafe.

He pushed her underwear down as much as he could from their position, before going back to her walls and making circular motions. Rafe finally closer the space, kissing her lips practically roughly as he continued rubbing her.

He kept a firm hand on her waist to make sure she had a gripping support if he legs gave out, which they indeed will. The motions stopped as Y/n pulled her lips away from his. Rafe stared at her daring eyes, questioning if she wanted his to continue.

"Put them inside me," she whispered. The Cameron smirked before obliging to her demand. He stuck to fingers into her wet cunt. A soft moan escaped her lips as he did so. Pumping them in and out of her. Y/n rubbed her hand against the erection in his dress pants.

"You like that, yeah?"

She nodded as the locked her lips. Not being able to speak because knowing if she did, she let out a loud moan and even at this club would hear.

She unbuckled his pants, putting her handninside to grip his penis and pump it as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. The hand he held to her waist was now gripped on her neck, gently. Y/n clenched around his fingers. Feeling her high come close. "Dont stop."

Rafe began pumping faster just as Y/n did so. The teens were so horny that they were both already reaching their extent. Rafe's shaft twitched in her hand. "I'm cumming."

"Do it for me."

That's all it took for Y/n to finish. And Rafe too. His liquids filling her hands as they both let out moans due to their intense actions. In one swift motion, Rafe snaked a hand around Y/n's waist turning then so she was against the counter. Her pulled the straps of her dress of her shoulders, leaving kisses as he did so before connecting his lips to hers.

Her pulled his tuxedo jacket off him. Snapping the bowtie off as well. Y/n moaned at the tluchnof his hands on her breast. Massaging them in his hands over the fabric of her strapless bra.

Y/n unbuttoned the spots on his shirt before pulling it off his shoulders and onto the floor. Rafe stop his gripping motions and pulled down his pants and boxers. He sat her up on the counter. Her bare ass connecting to the coldness of the marble designed setting.

Rafe rubbed his tip against her fold once or twice before pushing himself into her. Not giving a warning, but Y/n loved the suddeness. Y/n let a moan into his next as he began thrusting his hips. The girl gripping her black painted nails into his back.

Rafe's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Enjoying the feelings of Y/n's cunt wrapped around him.

"You like that?"

"Yes, god yes."

Y/n sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Each moan and huff she exposed in his earn make his whole body shiver. Rafe let out a grunt before answering. She clenched her walls around his dick. The dirty blonde groaned slamming into her body. "Do it again."

She did so. Clenching around around the boy as he slammed into her again. This time, hitting the spot that made her whole body go insane. "Tell me I'm yours."

"You're mine."

A moan escaped her lips after he said what she had wanted. Her hand smacked down onto the edge of the sinks counter. Grilling onto it for dear life. "Tell me it again."

The feeling of her finishing was fastly approaching. As well as for Rafe. The moans she let out made his go over the edge as he fucked her hard. "Tell me, Rafe."

"You're fucking mine, ah-"

Each of them let out a loud moan as they finished. Covering each others mouths. There shouldn't be anyone upstairs but for precautions they covered either way.

Rafe's head fell forward onto her chest. Taking large breaths as y/n did too. "Shit, y/n."

The Cameron pulled out of her. Helping her get redressed and cleaned just after he did himself.

"You're still on the pill right?" He asked as he zipped his pants.

"Yeah. It's fine," she smiled up at his 6'4 figure. Rafe reached down to kiss her passionately.

"I love you, Y/n."

"I love you, too."

[randomshipperhere]

My Top 5 Markiplier Egos

Where I just rant about why I love each one so much at varying degrees.

ISWM Countdown- 5 Days.....

5- Dr. Iplier

I’ve already touched up on this a bit on previous posts for the countdown. The biggest contributor to my adoration for him is his gap moe. Because if we’re just going to look at how he is in Worst News Doctor... ngl I don’t like him that much. He’s one of the bigger non-main egos who actually goes through a character arc of sorts. Dr. Iplier is cool in how he just consistently goes out of his way to say... the worst news possible to his patients before actually giving his diagnosis. How he says it with a straight face. Then there’s another facet where he’s actually seen to be aggressive when his role is threatened, as seen in Markiplier TV when Wilford says “Wilford knows what’s best”. A bit vain but he is proud of his job.

He grows to be a bit more blunt but says rather inaccurate diagnosis in Markiplier TV but when you listen to his dialogue at the end, it just seems like this is what he likes to do. Breaking the bad news to someone even if the situation doesn’t call for it. It’s like those villains who rehearse or get excited while doing their monologues. It’s fucking cute. Then there’s My Therapist and good lord does he look and act different. He’s dressed down, more casual, and a lot more open to talking to the patient. Makes a shit ton of dad jokes. Incredibly dorky and gosh... gap fucking moe alright. I love that shit. He just doesn’t act like how we’ve usually seen him, he’s a lot more relaxed, less rigid and that just adds to his charms.

4- Yancy

I’m pretty sure a lot of fans can understand why we like him. I don’t need to further explain because there’s already a lot of posts out there explaining each and every detail about him that is adorable, interesting, and cute....n dorky...n loveable. Just don’t underestimate his dancing skills. Love you theatre kid.

Higher than Dr. Iplier for the natural dork energy. Lower than top 3 because a lot of his story is laid out for us. 9/10 would give a smooch. Deducted a point for scaring us half to death in the cell.

I’m not gonna expand on why I love him but the way he sang “Break out? of this place?” the way Mark decided on how to deliver those lines and sing them. Shit that’s some good content.

3- The Host

It’s pretty weird that I like this bastard who has less than a minute’s worth of screen time over the 8 or so years of their existence. It’s very hard to explain why I like him so much but I can at least put some of that affection into words. One of the main things I’d say is Danger in Fiction was a really good origin story. We got to see him as the Author who is this temperamental control freak and the contrast of who he used to be to what we know as the calm, collected, possibly omniscient Host is interesting. That transition from A to B is “???” but seeing such a huge change in personality really captured my attention. Danger In Fiction also really made me wish Mark played downright villainous roles more and I beg thee Mr. Markiplier, please play more outright menacing, insane characters. Please be part of a horror movie cast, my fan heart has been wishing for it for so long.

Another reason why I like the Host a lot is his entire look. In the now private video of his first appearance, he is creepy. The dark room whose only light source is from the screen, then seeing this not quite human looking thing with bloody bandages over their eyes moving in an unnatural yet flowy way. That expression on his face that’s somewhere between a neutral position and a slight curve into a smile. I love all of it. He looks and moves like he came out of a horror movie. A similar design I can think of is the Janitor from Little Nightmares.

There’s also his powers. The ability to narrate everything that is going on is so fascinating! Underutilized in canon but it makes for interesting scenarios. We don’t even know the limits of his ability. Does he narrate the most important events in the room? Does he actually have the ability of foresight? IS he omnipotent? Omniscient? Maybe he has control over it or is he a slave to his own powers?

I’m always just so curious about him. What he is, who he used to be, what he could be. He just itches my need for knowledge. Because we don’t know him all that well, our brain is using what info we have to fill in that gap. It’s like playing a puzzle game but for a character. He’s so underappreciated and I can’t help but cry out inside. Incorrect quotes and fanfics set at Markiplier TV HQ are my only hopes of seeing him.

Also god, back in the olden days people were fucking confused whether the Author and The Host were the same people or different. Dark’s fan wikia page even had the Host for his photo. Do you guys remember that? It was the wild west during his time, let me tell ya.

Someone made a post here in tumblr about how some story beats of Danger In Fiction and the whole WKM series is similar and that post got me thinking, u right.

Reason I love the host: It’s the potential

Mark on The Host: He’s a radio host | Who owns him

As a Host fan I’m really sad we most likely won’t ever see him become a fully fleshed character in canon but we can still have fun with our fanfics. It still hurts though.

2- Damien

I will never get over how much this man deserved the world and more. He’s such a fine piece of work and if you’re in the Markiplier fandom, and you don’t like him, even just a bit, what is wrong with you.

Mark has created an angel. A beautiful ray of sunshine. Our bouncing baby boy. He is beauty, he is grace, and he is the first Y/N stan in this household. Kind, compassionate, a natural born leader, he has so many good qualities and I’m blinded thinking about how good he is. How happy he is to see us, an old friend. How he is willing to stake his life for our, and William’s innocence. He’s just so humane, so grounded and I have hearts in my eyes, oh wow.

Can we talk about his fit? This mayor is wearing a clean and well fitted suit, the slicked back hair, the stylish cane he brings around, a flower, and a comically cute mayor pin. He looks so clean and a little bit goofy with the pin. He deadass makes me do that giggle when you have a cute crush on someone.

Talked a bit about his personality earlier but I really love just how cute his overall vibe is. Warm, gentle, compassionate. An altruistic and noble fella. Damien is like a steady rock, the calm before a storm. He makes you feel grounded in the whirlwind mess that is the Manor. The way that he cares until the bitter end. He is too good to be true. All of who he is can be explained in 5 words “Life is ours to choose”. I may be romanticizing him too much but shush. Let me have this. Even with all the things I said, I really like his unexpected traits. Like him being a confused mess and a party animal.

Can I also say how dare you Mark. So many of the scenes involving him are in bright places and in incredibly romantic aesthetically pleasing places (referring to romanticism, not to a romantic relationship). So much of the initial attraction viewers feel is based on the places you meet him solo. The second floor hallway near the stairs with the bright light, the dark pavilion contrasted with the light stairway railing, and outside walking with him along the vivid silver, yellows, and whites surrounding you. Intentional or not it makes me punch the air because he’s just so loveable.

Then there’s his place in the storyline. How tragic it is for someone so far away from this mess yet so intertwined with it became a villain without having a choice in the matter. Friends with the Colonel and Actor, younger brother of the Seer. The only one of the four not part of the messy love that the others are in. The one who still tries to connect with the three after all that’s happened even if the others don’t want to make up. Lost his friends, lost his own body. Confused, angry, and yet... he still wants to do what he believes is right. For the greater good. The end justifies the means. He makes it way too easy to forgive him even after what he did to us. Even if he isn’t as pure as the driven snow...

I do love myself some tragic characters. Ones that the fans are like “They didn’t deserve this!” but then again... do any of the main characters deserved their fates?

10/10 would smooch and marry. Best boyfriend material among them. He and the DA would’ve made for an amazing and cute power couple.

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Before we get to my number one let’s list down the Honorable Mentions:

Googleiplier: Actually before the existence of AHWM, he was in my top 5. and before ADWM he was my number one. I kid you not I have an unfinished fanfic of him somewhere. Times have changed bud. I still love your deadpan comedy. “so if you could take some of these” *flips Bing off* “and go away”. Technically Dr. Iplier and him are both my #5 but Dr. was just very slightly higher than Googs.

Yandereiplier: Hey, I had a very huge yandere character obsession phase at the time (it mellowed out over the years but I still like the archetype) plus the red hair, plus the seifuku. Once again, a character that used to be in my top 5 before ADWM.

Actor! Mark: I was never a huge fan of him but I really liked him. He has red as his colors and I am naturally attracted to this (red and black always get me) so that was a bonus point. I love charismatic (maybe even an asshole) villains, even if you don’t think he is, Actor is. I also love underappreciated, and misunderstood characters.

There’s also the possibility of his character arc branching out into absolute bastard or possibly redeemed villain. That’s appealing. Whether he is sincere or not in the ADWM & AHWM series is always something you can debate but I find it fascinating how some fans allow certain egos to willingly manipulate them but not Actor. Story wise, as the viewer, he really doesn’t do anything directly to us in WKM, any hate towards him is because of outside info. But to our character, he didn’t do anything to rouse our ire. And while I am ranting about him like this, to the point where you might think why isn’t he in the top 5 well... You can rant a lot about a character you don’t necessarily love y’know? I just find him really REALLY fascinating. Dr. Iplier is close to being dethroned depending on how Actor will portray himself in ISWM.

2 of 3 of the honorable mentions are closely tied to the color red lol.

And considering my type in this list... number one goes to

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.

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Darkiplier

I uhh... got super embarrassed after I wrote like a 2k+ word count thing for him and went back and forth between keeping it up or not but if you want to go and read it go over here [I love Dark maybe a bit too much].

It got personal. Eheh....

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TL;DR

Dr Iplier- contradictory characteristics very cool

Yancy- I love him your honor

The Host- lots of underutilized character potential that will never see the light of day

Damien- he’s an angel and maybe I shouldn’t see him that way but I can’t help it

Dark- it’s a complicated and long commitment relationship. Stupidly hot non-human ugh.

[witchlyboo]

Definitely, maybe.

Part five: The one who belongs to someone else.

Introduction. Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four.

Paring: Latina!reader x Logan Lerman x Tom Holland x Ben Hardy x Timothee Chalamet x Pedro Pascal x Michael B. Jordan

Warnings: Swearing, angst, misspellings, some Spanish, me learning how to write properly, and NY stuff that I've learned from movies that we all agree to pretend are real.

Word count: 6.4 k

a/n: You been asking for smut, I know, I know, I just wanted to introduce you to all the boys first, and we're getting there, just one more ahead. Also, I'm working on a masterlist because we are getting too many parts already.

All body types and skin tones friendly. You can also enjoy it as a no Hispanic reader. Constructive feedback and misspellings correction is always welcome.

Red and blue lights flash the driving mirror.

—No, no, no, por favor que no sea a mi—You beg to the sky looking at the patrol that is asking you to park, or someone else, there's a lot of cars in this part of the city, there's a big chance is the panic who's controlling your senses.—Dios, mi abuela fue a la iglesia cada domingo de su vida y nunca te pidió nada, please let me have some of her divina recompensa.—But that's not how it works, you end up parking with just a few seconds to think what to say. There's a perfect explication of why you are driving a car that is not yours in the middle of the night and smelling like a minibar.

Then this ridiculous thought comes to your mind, you look expensive, you've never seen the daughter of a senator but you must be close to it, it would make you less of a feminist if you just use your attributes? Ugh, you feel sick just to think about it but don't have enough money to pay a fine, and the constant paranoia of being chased all the time as an immigrant will only get stronger.

You pull down your dress a little so your neckline can do its job but you regret it immediately, and you're pretty sure you look more like an expensive prostitute who stole the car of his lover than some influential men's daughter.

—License and registration.—You hear him say when he approaches your window. You don't like this but you have to play the dumb tourist, the pretty foreign girl that is too stupid to be dangerous, with the look you have tonight it shouldn't be hard. But damn you hate cops, any uniformed man that works for the government is your eternal enemy, and you don't know how long you could keep the nice dumb Latina game before spit on his face.

—There's something wrong, officer? ...You?!—Your sexy and fake high voice is ruined when you see the face of the man who stopped you. This night couldn't get worse.

—Wait, what happened with the party?—Evan interrupts you while you finish some notes for work, little remainders for later when you don't have an eleven years old kid running around you, he's not usually this energic and you have to blame yourself for that, you're describing a life of excess and eccentric fun, something you let behind so many years ago that your own son doesn't know even a bit of it.

—Ugh, a nightmare doesn't worth telling.—You remember vaguely most of it but what keeps fresh in your mind is bad enough to don't want to bring it back.

—But if Timothée is my dad I have to know the important things, including the bad stuff.—Sounds perfectly reasonable and that's what makes you groan at him. Sometimes you feel blessed that your kid is better than you in any possible way, and sometimes you want to kill his brain with video games and reality shows like the rest of the parents.

—Ok, cool, but I'll keep all the +18 content for myself, so this part of the story might be blurry for you.—It kinda is for you anyway.

You should’ve known this night was cursed, you had a feeling because a) your earring fell off at the same time Timothée texted you to give you the party address and say he can't pick you up. And b) he won’t pick you up. Your mother would say that’s reason enough to not go, a real gentleman wouldn’t make you go to an unknown place in the middle of the night on your own in a city like this. But you decide to ignore it because you are a modern woman and because it’s worth it. It better be.

The outfit must be something special. You always take your time to choose what to wear, even if just another regular day, and since this isn't the case you thought about it for hours, that made your mind busy enough to not thinking about Tom and the whole love confession. He texted you saying he'll come for you to go to class together on Monday, which is completely impractical because he's way closer than you but is progress and you're going to take it.

You wanted to ask for Sheep's opinion but you thought she might not care, has been a few days since she started acting strange like she's bothered just to see you breathe. You want to blame his boyfriend to take all her time and attention from you but is probably just her new job, she got a small role in a Netflix show, and even when you're so happy for her, that's the event that has changed her into someone completely different. But you give her time, stress can do bad things to people.

The winner is the exact copy you made of the black and white striped dress Cameron Diaz wore in "The Mask" beautiful, classy, and sexy enough without being too scandalous, not that you have any problem with that, but this isn't the occasion, you don't want to feel like you're being too much or too little, just enough, it's supposed to be easy, right? you were born for this. Just adding some big shiny earrings you got on a thrift shop that look like real diamonds and you're ready, not that you own any to compare. Red lipstick, dark eyes, and a messy bun to get that disinterested pitch every look needs.

Getting there wasn't a problem, you were in the rich part of the city, everyone know who, where and what just to brag about it. The excitement is growing with every second, you check your makeup like thirty times in the elevator and send texts to your mom just to let her know where you are, and because you have to share that moment with someone and you are limited of friends these days.

Timothée opens the door with red eyes, drunk, high, or somewhere in between, you know then you were right about the bad feeling. He jumps on you to kiss you and no matter how much you try to explain the delicacy of your lipstick, he does it anyway, leaving a taste of alcohol and shrimps in your mouth. Taking you by the waist he walks you to a group of people you don't know while you're trying harder to fix the red color of your mouth without a mirror.

—Here is the companion I bought, look at her, that's how five grand per hour look like.—They laughed but you were too disoriented to process all the things he said, it was supposed to be a joke? if it is, why isn't he correcting? Instead, his hand goes straight to your ass and presses it to get you closer to him.

—I'm actually an intern in the costume designer department of the new version of "Sense and Sensibility".—You wanted to mention your recent promotion to hairstylist and makeup artist but that might be too pretentious. Anyway, they don't seem to care what you are or not, in fact, they don't even see you, all eyes are on Timothée

—Oh, well, is easy to forget when you're paying them—All laughs again. Who is this person? Who are all these people, actually? You recognize some influencers, a few cast members but there's no sign of the director, other main actors, not even his co-star. You feel like an extra in a movie where someone will be killed in a luxury party, hopefully not you. You take his hand from your body and clear your throat.—I'm just joking my love, she looks stunning, isn't she? I’ll get you a drink.

He leaves and the group of people surrounding you suddenly dissipated like boiling water, you were on your own again and despite some judgmental gazes is like you’re not there, you’re sure you could just take your dress off and throw it to someone’s face and unless Tim says something about it, no one would care. You’re there as his companion, an ornament, and that’s not enough to earn their attention because it’s too obvious you’re the one in turn.

You walk to the only window no one is smoking and check your phone, you know, the thing you do when you pretend you have important issues to attend, but no, you end reading some old messages, pictures, texting your mom of how much fun you’re having at the party, and somehow you check your filed Facebook messages to find Logan’s name. You cover the screen so fast you hurt your nail, his name is enough to make you tremble like a Chihuahua, you haven’t talked to him since that night, you know from his sister he lives in the house he bought for you two and he’s having the happiest life without you. You want to believe that because that means you took the right decision but deep inside… no, you can’t be that person, you want him to be happier than ever.

You find the guts to open the message, and you read as slowly as is humanly possible. “My angel, I hope this finds you in perfect health…” Dios, just Logan could start a message like that, your smile is almost too big to fit in your face so you bit your nail to cover it a little. “I recently found one of the human body drawings you made for me to study, you’ll be happy to know…”

—That’s a fucking long-ass message.—Tim appears behind you and takes your phone from your hand, spilling some of his drink on your dress in the process. Apparently, he's been there long enough to read part of the message.

—Give it back.—You command in the most severe voice you have, your magical moment got ruined and you remember the hole of hell you are.

—"My angel, I hope this finds you in perfect health. I recently found one of the human body drawings you made for me to study, you must know I still use them now and then"—Timothée starts reading the message, and even when no one is close enough to hear it and you don’t really care about this people’s opinion, that’s not for anyone to read, that’s one of the few parts of your life you treasure the most and you’re not ready to get over it.—You little slut, are you cheating on me with a med student?

—Give it to me.—You repeat trying to take the phone from his hand but he’s faster and walks away putting it out of your reach.

—"I meticulously preserve them, I certainly know any piece of art made by you will be priceless in the near future"—You don’t want to hear it coming from his drunk mocking voice, so you try to ignore what he’s saying and put more effort on chasing the phone.—Should I had kept the jeans where you left the wet spot on? I didn’t know you were an artist, my love.

—Timothée, por el amor de Dios.—Now you're trying to climb him, it wouldn't be that hard to take him down, he's skinny and you're fierce. That's what you thought but he's not moving even with you are on top of his shoulder and his opposite long arm keeps the phone away from you.

—Who is this guy and why is he talking to my girl like this?—You see the olive eyes getting darker and the tone of his voice went deeper than you thought he could do. You desist from taking the phone, you know the bullies love the attention, maybe that's exactly what he wants and give it to him just makes it worse.

—I'm not your girl.—You claim fixing up your dress having enough of games, and you have no reason to keep worrying about losing your job, the filming is done, and apparently your relationship with him too. You don't care about any of that anymore, just want to read Logan's text.

Even behind all the alcohol and the eyes injected in blood thanks for who knows what kind of drug, you can see the disappointment and anger, but it's not a broken heart, Is the hissy fit of a child that loses his balloon and now everyone will pay for it, especially you.

—Are you sure about that?—You can see him swallow hard, almost looking vulnerable, but his voice is defiant and threatening to prove you wrong. He just has to stretch out his arm to reach the open window with your phone in hand, his intentions are clear and the only thing you can do is raise your hands as a reflex.—You were mine the moment you put a foot on my trailer, and I don't fucking share my stuff.—Before you can say a word he drops the phone from the fourth floor.

You know is senseless but you find yourself running out of the party and going to search the device, using it also as an excuse to get away from that place. This is the first time someone makes you feel meaningless, you know the famous' world is cold and lacking in empathy but this is ridiculous, they're a bunch of parasites fed by attention and power. By Timothée.

The screen is crashed and the rest of it is probably beyond repair, not that you're surprised, its life is longer than you've been in the country and you admit you should have replaced it much earlier but you're not the kind to throw away things that still work. However, is not the phone you are worried about, not as much as what it contains.

—That was obsolete anyway, I'll get you a better one.—You didn't know he was following you, his voice interrupts your self-wailing. He sounds calmer and a little embarrassed, but not enough to say sorry, you don't think he's capable of saying it.

You shake your head and start to walk away without a word, you don't want anything from him, not materially, at least.

—Don't make a scandal out of it, it's just a phone!—He yells erasing any trace of regret in his voice. He doesn't see the reaction he expected and that's when he runs after you and with a hand on your upper arm pulls you back, you gasped for the sudden bluntness.—That annoying habit you have of leaving when I'm talking to you.

You push him away with all the strength you have, which resulted in him almost falling on the ground.

—I don't care about the stupid phone!—You finally break, but sadly is not as satisfactory as you thought it would be.—You are mean, vain, arrogant and the worst part is that you enjoy being this despicable human because you have absolutely no consequences to it. Everyone around you just accepts it and I feel so sorry for you because the only possible way for you to fill the void inside is to be surrounded by that crowd of mules licking your steps—To your surprise, he has nothing to say, he's just standing there with no facial expression, whatever he feels is easily covered by his years of experience acting, even drunk.—I can't give you that and it's obvious they don't want me either. What am I even doing here?—You ask yourself thinking where would be the best way of getting a cab, is a rich zone, must be easy.

—Everything is better when you're around—His voice is thin and fragile, you have to process what he said three times in your head to understand his words. You're not willing to look at him yet.—You're not like the others.

—Pure bullshit. You love to repeat that misogynist discourse of girls being in a certain way because is easier than be responsible for the people you choose to be—You were hugging yourself the whole time, is a cold night, but not enough to be bothersome, you enjoy Fall weather—You got me for a moment, I give you that, you fooled me but I'm too tired of guessing what version of you is real—When you return your gaze at him, he doesn't try to hide the guilt anymore, but there's still haughtiness in there.—Now, if you don't mind Mr. Chalamet, I need to get a cab.

—No, you came with me, you leave with me.—There's no trace of alcohol in his voice anymore, a good scolding is enough to put you sober, you know that thanks to your mom. Oh god, you're becoming her.

—You didn't bring me here, gigantic head—You look at him and put your hand in front of him with the palm up. He stares at it for several seconds before put his own on it—Not that!—You shake it and start looking inside his jeans pockets until you feel the metal of his key car.—You can't drive and I have to get home. You'll find it in the studio tomorrow.

That's how you ended with a car way more luxurious than you expected, driving so slowly and carefully that the police stopped you. What a night, but at this point, you couldn't care less about anything that is not that message, is been months and you can't get over it, over him. Not even Ben moans, Tom's comforting arms, or fight with a movie star at 3:00 am. is enough to get him out of your mind.

—So is true, you don't wear anything that hasn't appeared in a movie, huh?—Michael B. Jordan is leaning on the car window with a mocking smile and a sparkle of satisfaction that you would love to punch but his uniform keeps you in line, where you come from police is not equal to justice, most of the times is oppression.

—You know where it's from?—That was kind of comforting, no one at the party noticed. Not that you care.

—Is The Mask, not some Adam Hitchcock's blurb.—He smiles and even when you really don't like him, it's nice to be with a familiar face, you are really tired of running away, scaping for problems that are a result of your null capacity to deal with emotions. Ugh, what a word.

—Is Alfred Hitchcock, actually.—You didn't want to sound priggish, but you correct him with no time to stop yourself, an old habit.

—You got me, smarty, you know more than movies than me. Where did you get this car?—You feel really nervous even when you got this legally, you have your documents and license on time and he's being nice enough to not want to run away in a car that you technically borrowed for yourself.

—It's not mine.—No shit, Sherlock.

—No shit, Sherlock, I was asking where did you steal it.—You wanted to laugh but there's something with the uniform that just doesn't allow you to be yourself.—Are you drunk?

—No, no, fuck, no, it's just, I don't feel comfortable with cops—He raises his eyebrows but that is his only reaction.—Listen, is my boss' car, I'm doing the favor to take it to the studio, and I'm really nervous because is fucking expensive, he's an asshole, I haven't drive un almost a year because you people only use cars if you're rich or your work and lives depend on it. I'm starving.—The last part came out of nowhere, you haven't eaten anything in almost 13 hours, maybe that's the actual reason why you are that moody.

He doesn't answer right away, takes his time to look at you, what makes you blush, he's really close, closer than he's ever been. Does he smell like green apples? Not the actual apples, the artificial smell they had given to them.

—Get out of the car.—Oh no, is he arresting you? Is he finally taking revenge for every time you make fun of his Hawaiian-type shirts? You know you have too much karma accumulated and a cop making you pay for it when you don’t believe in their sense of justice is kinda poetic, and evil.

You don’t want to discuss with someone with a taser, gun, pepper spray, or who knows what else. So you take your bag, the key car, and get off defeated.

—My turn is almost over, I’ll take you to eat something, c’mon.—He walks back to his patrol and you stay still for a few seconds still processing his words, you must look totally devastated for him to offer that. How you see it you have two options, go with him and spend an awkward hour with a person you don’t like or risk getting a fine, Tim can pay it, it’s not a big deal but you don’t want to owe him even the minimal thing.

You get in the car holding on to your bag to feel calmer, this is the first time you’re fully alone with him since you found him half-naked in your kitchen. Those defined abs may never leave your brain.

—Are you cold?—He interrupts your thoughts with his question, you didn’t notice you were shaking. He looks for something under his seat and gives you an NYPD hoodie, you hold it doubting your next move, is not like you don’t appreciate the gesture but it’d be easier to take if it doesn’t get that words printed—Is clean.—He says chuckling when he sees the way you’re looking at it.

—Is not that, just, you know, fuck the police, defund the NYPD, demilitarize the pigs and that stuff.—You say putting on the hoodie anyway, is a cold night and you won't help the institution wearing their propaganda.

—Yeah, I get it, but you can't change the system just from within.—You decide is not the right moment to have a political conversation so you shrug your shoulders and discreetly smell the hoodie, a mix of cologne, green apples, and cheap soap, you know is cheap because you buy the exact same, do its job.

—I'm in the mood for pizza.—You say casually, making a deal to yourself to try to be his friend, he is a small part of your life anyway.—Domino's is open at this time of the night?

—Tell me you're not consuming that shit, dear Lord, you been here for how long, two years? I can't believe your idea of a good pizza is Domino's. Stella hasn't taught you anything?—You're surprised by the level of condescension with a pizza and you mirror his smile, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Your school program includes people from all around the world so you don't have that much experience with actual new yorkers. Logan is rich, so he doesn't really count.

—What's wrong with Domino's? I don't buy much street food, is cheaper to buy things on the food market. Besides, all pizza is good.—The mention of Sheep makes you a little tense, so you don't say anything about it, is not a conversation to have with him.

—Don't blaspheme in the patrol, I just washed it—You laugh, finally, after a terrible weekend. You can see why she likes him, there is something about his voice, smile, and his eyes that feel... calm, like watching Friends after a marathon of Lord of the Rings.—There are rules to survive this city, and I'm surprised you have made it this far without a proper guide.

—Chill out Mr. Miyagi, I'm not from the jungle, and I've learned a lot by myself.—He gives you a lopsided grin as a request, and you put your fingers up ready to enlist your acquired knowledge.—Walk fast, like you're about to be stabbed, something that actually happened to me, with an umbrella—He nods and laughs being related to it.—Number two, no small talk, no one cares, even if they ask. Number three, if you look a stranger in the eye, especially a homeless person, you have essentially invited them to approach you.

—Number four, we never eat from Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza hut, or any other chain restaurant, only trucks and local places are allowed.—You roll your eyes but you get the point, is just, again, you're not much into street food, it doesn't taste like home and the only way to eat food like that is preparing it yourself.

—Fine, fuck capitalism, let's support local places—You make an obvious fake enthusiastic tone but he nods proudly.—Number five, you don't need a car to live here, not even know how to drive. I would have successfully avoided this police brutality if I had followed that rule.

—For someone who is about to eat for free, you whine too much.—He parks the car and gives you a sign to go with him. You see him go to a pizza truck and order, you realize at the moment how ridiculous you look, so before chasing him you let your hair down, take your huge earrings off, and roll up the skirt of your dress until your mid-thighs letting the hoodie cover the rest, and clean the red lipstick with a Kleenex from your bag. Now you look more like a college person and not a rich girl who just got seized.

—Here you go.—He says giving you a slice as big as your head, looks oily and spreading cheese everywhere. Perfect.

—Is it vegan?—You ask receiving the food with an obnoxious face. His kind grind turned into a dread expression and you give him your second laugh of the day.—I'm kidding.

You are about to give it a bite when you see passing next to you a huge rat with the exact same slice as yours in its mouth, running into the dark of the night happy to have obtained the food for its family. They use to scare you when you just moved out but now they're like any other pigeon in the sky.

—Rule... whatever, a rat with a slice of pizza is a symbol for good luck, congratulations.—He pets your head awkwardly, not sure if you're ok with the physical contact, which, surprisingly, you are.

—I see rats with bagels all the time.—Pizza and bagels, that's the main culinary wonders of the city, you like it, not much to object but is hard not to compare it with your home's food.

—Is easy to confuse a rough diamond with a simple rock.—You both eat in silence, enjoying the mixed sounds of the city and all the different smells, the whole situation feels like one of those lofi music videos. You remember thinking about moments like this before getting the scholarship, what would it be like to feel normal in the city of your dreams.

—How do you know that much about movies?—He asks after a few minutes when you take a break to drink something, that pizza is not easy to take.

—When I was a kid a spent much time on my own, so my dad bought me a used DVD reproducer, and at the corner of my neighborhood was this movie store where you could buy 5 pirate movies for one dollar. They were blurred, with a terrible sound, and most of the time with the wrong movie inside but they helped me to not feel lonely. Eventually, the store closed but I've watched everything in it by then—He gives you a warm smile, you never told that story to anyone, not because is too intimate to share, but because no one asked, it doesn't sound like a question with a complex answer.—Anyway, I watched Marie Antoinette when I was like eight, and I decided at that moment that however is done I wanted to be part of that magic.

—You hear all kind of people chasing dreams in this city but is hard to find someone who actually deserves it.—You blush and you cover it with your hair but the smile on your voice is impossible to hide.

—Is that a compliment? You must really want me to like you to date Sheep.—You laugh but you can see his face tense, so you can guess your friend has been busy breaking everyone’s hearts.

—She hasn’t returned my calls in three days so I don’t think there’s much you can do—You nod, all this time you thought he was the reason she is ignoring you but apparently you are both in the same boat.—But yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking, what I should have said is, Marie Antoinette at eight? I can see where all the damage started.

You gasp and throw your napkin at his head, he easily catches it without even looking at it and laughs; that was unexpectedly attractive.

—Why a cop?—You ask, not sure where that question came from, maybe you authentically want to know more about him, he just bought you food, and honestly, that's the easiest way to win your trust.

—I wanted to be an actor when I was a child. This is the city of opportunities so you may think that if you want to chase the big wonder, this is the perfect place to do it. But I grow up surrounded by these people giving their entire lives to get something just given to one in a million so I decided is not worth it. For many years I wondered what I wanted to do with my life and the answer was really clear, my dad was a cop, a good one, or that’s what people say. I don’t remember much because he died when I was seven—Conversations about death are not your strength, everything can turn out uncomfortable if you choose the wrong words.—It might not be that glamorous but if my father died for it, it surely worth it.

—For the good ones.—You raise your almost empty can of Coke and he does the same with a grin that warms the cold weather of the night.

—For the good ones.

The next two hours passed like minutes talking about anything and everything. It just felt right to talk freely with him, you didn’t feel judged for your awkward family moments or your random thoughts, not even once because he told you his too. At some point of the night he borrowed you his gym sweatpants, any of you could just suggest going home but that was off the table, end that peace just for weather reasons would have been a tragedy.

—I read Timothée Chalamet is a dick. Is that true?—The mention of his name remains you of your life and everything that comes with it, including the middle semester project that you must dedicate your entire day, one that is about to start.—What, you can’t talk about it?

—He is a complete dick with no sense of privacy or human decency—And when he interrupts a deep kiss to look at your eyes, smile, and caress your chin, you feel like a character of his Victorian movies. But he didn’t ask that.—But the next week he’ll be no longer my problem.

—That’s why we have rule twenty-three, don’t ask for a picture of a celebrity unless they are local—You have heard about it before but you haven’t got the opportunity to decide if you like that rule because the only celebrities you have seen are from work and that club’s party opening.—That means you’ll be free to go to the Stephen Kings’ movie projection there will be for Halloween.

You don’t know if that was a proposition, a suggestion, or just a simple recommendation, and whatever it is, you noticed he was nervous to ask. Is it wrong? It feels wrong like you were betraying your friend accepting to hang out with his boyfriend without her consent. But he didn’t ask you to go with him so is safe to answer.

—Yeah, I guess—You get a moment, four seconds top, where you shared innocent, curious, and tenting gazes like three graders in the playground. And that’s the further you will allow yourself to go.—We better leave, if the sunlight touch me I’ll turn into dust.

You get off the car hood and go to the side door, but this time he opens it for you. You give him a “seriously?” Look, receiving a little push in your arm as a response.

↬☀︎︎

A distant voice asks you to wake up, softly whispers that turn into caresses on your cheek, your eyes feel so heavy, even when you are well aware of your environment your eyelids keep closed.

—Good morning, Princess—This is the first time Tom calls you that way, the change from silly nicknames to Princess is enough to get you out of hibernation. He is squatting beside your bed, his smile is the promise of a better day, and chasing that idea you give him one small back.—Your mom has been texting me desperately all day, she said you're not answering her calls and is worried.

—Fuck, my phone broke last night, can I call her from yours?—That’s an oversimplification but in the search for a better story, that's what you decide to believe and tell. Tom nods and gives it to you, he looks happy, beyond that, this is the first time you see that subtle blush on his cheeks and the eyes sparkling. You sit on the bed next to his body looking for your mom's number, slowly he moves between your legs, you have shorts and an oversized Back To The Future t-shirt, you got took the time to prepare yourself to bed last night and keep Michael’s clothes inside your closet to wash them, like The Tell-Tale Heart, a little innocent secret who feels dirty somehow

The conversations with your mom are always long, nostalgic and the tears are hard to hold for both parts; after a long life sharing almost every day with her, her absence never feels smaller. But this time is different, Tom is exploring the bare skin under your knee with his warm hands, asking for permission with curious eyes, and when you don’t object to the touch the British boy keeps his exploring mission cautiously, giving special attention to see your eyes in case something change. Is time to hang up when he gives a long and loving kiss to your knee, the less erotic kiss you could think of but so intimate to bristle your skin.

—Not nice to touch someone's daughter when is talking to her mom.—The protest of your voice loses strength at every word, he heard that and just straight his back to reach your face, the gap is almost extinct.

—We're okay, she likes me.—He assures holding your hips and pulling you a bit to him. Tom looks very comfortable with the new closeness authorization, you like it but are not very sure about it yet, most of you still think of him as your best friend.

—Did she tell you that? Are you talking with my mom behind my back?—You laugh when he does, almost like nothing changed.

—She adores me, I swear, I'm invited to Christmas, you know?—You're not surprised, she invites everyone, Logan was too but the first time he got family plans and didn't make it to the second.

—You should go, maybe we can do...—His lips touch yours in a peak at the middle phrase and makes you forget what you were about to say.—Man, the audacity to interrupt...—Then he kisses you again, deeply, using his tongue to taste your inner lip and his hands holding your shirt in fists. That's a twist of events.

—Is that ok?—You hear a weak whisper coming out of his voice but you got so mesmerized on his lips that decided to ignore it and kiss him back instead. He responds to your touch and starts to lean over you to make you lay on the bed.

Jesucristo bendito, is this happening? like, actually happening? you must look like trash, you barely took all the makeup from the night before and didn't take a shower, you start to get so worried about smells, feelings, and what that'll mean to your already too much-spoiled friendship.

However, the time of doubts is done when Sheep starts yelling in the living room, you both reacted running to the sound and looking for your blonde friend. Michael is there but doesn't look like the same as a few hours ago, is annoyed and tired for the lack of sleep, a look that doesn't match him at all.—What did you do?—You ask him fast assuming she's mad for something he did.

—Just in time, the star of the movie, I was wondering how much it will take you to be the protagonist of this.—That is Sheep's voice talking about you and what must be your heart breaking from her words.

—Excuse me?—You wish your tone would be less savage but you can't help respond the same way she did.

—Logan wasn't enough, then you got the drummer, fucking Timothée Chalamet, Tom and now my boyfriend. I'm so glad I didn't leave you alone with my dad or I'd be calling you mom now.—You have no words to that, Michael doesn't even dare to look at you, he must have told her something she misunderstood, but Sheep, or well, Stella is saying things she actually thinks and keep to herself. Tom walks in front of you whispering things to her to calm her down but she is not looking at him, you didn't tell her anything about Tom either so he's taking responsibility this time.—Go ahead and fuck the whole city, Michael if that please you but you're crossing the line with Tom and you know that, you're going to ruin him as you ruin every man that enters in your life.—She has a very you moment having the last word of the dispute and getting out of the apartment with Michael going after her but not putting much effort in it.

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Taglist:

@eridanuswave @cjand10 @deluxeplanteater @rorodendra @navs-bhat @coxxxxxpi @leviosatothestars

Thanks for all the love and support, if you have opinions, suggestions, or want to be part of the tag list (Or don’t want to be part anymore) let me know, I appreciate every message.

[heyitsjay03]

Headcanons about each of the lords (+the Duke if you're writing about him) if they ever happen to adopt a little child?

THANK YOU ANON MY THE UNIVERSE BLESS YOU WITH PILLOWS THAT ARE COLD ON BOTH SIDES

okay okay okay okay this has definitely been on my mind so lets get into the thick of it

Alcina Dimitrescu

(im starting off with alcina for obvious reasons)

Alcina would be on the way to the church with the slimy moron, the demented doll, that disgusting manthing and Mother Miranda

She'd kiss her daughters goodbye and head off through the snow, quietly muttering about how cold her ankles were

while Moreau is literally up to his chin in snow but its fine

as she gets closer to the church she keeps hearing this. thing. it sounded familiar but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it.

she strays from the path to find it because it was just so familiar

as she weaves her way through the snow, her dress gets caught on something. she leans down to get her dress unstuck when she realises its this tiny basket.

like seriously. just a little woven basket in the middle of the snow. and it doesn't look like its been there for that long- there's hardly any snow on it

when she tugs at her skirts again, the basket makes the same noise she's been hearing

she stands back up to her full height, staring down at the basket with narrowed eyes

this cannot be a good idea, can it? opening a strange basket in the woods after being lured out here. it's probably some village manthing's trap.

she's about to step away when she hears the sound again- much more intense and much more clear

Alcina leans down and opens the lid of the basket

inside is this tiny thing- all soft and warm in a padding of blankets

a baby

she stands and looks around

who on earth would be so moronic as to leave their baby in the snow? it's much too cold for a baby to survive-

oh

she sighs, getting onto her knees to pull the baby from the blanketed basket

the meeting will have to wait. it's too cold even in the church for this tiny thing.

when she finally makes it back home, she's greeted by her daughters in a swarm of buzzing flies.

as they manifest in their true forms, they're asking what- or who, rather- their mother brought for dinner

Alcina smiles and shakes her head, unwrapping the small bundle clinging to her breast

"this... is your new sibling" she announces, "they'll be staying with us from now on."

and the sisters are ecstatic. a new sibling!

Daniela especially is happy that she is no longer the youngest. she usually is the one to parade around the castle with her sibling on her shoulders, showing them the coolest hiding spots for hide-n-seek and the windows with the best views

Bela is incredibly protective. like. incredibly.

she smelt blood from across the castle and when she found her little sibling sniffling about a skinned knee earned from a game of tag with Angie, she lost her shit and almost broke the damned thing with her sickle

And Cassandra has been caught reading bedtime stories by nightlight multiple times. she tries to play it off but everyone knows that she loves- absolutely adores- her newest sibling

we all know Alcina is such a wonderful mother to the girls so adding another baby to the mix was a guaranteed success

she's so doting and careful (a little overprotective at times but she means well) as she is with her girls

as the child grows into a teen, she panics a bit because "my beautiful baby is growing into such a beautiful, talented adult" so expect a lot of late night visits when she just sits on the edge of her bed and just admires how much you've grown

Salvatore Moreau:

now this one is an easy one too if i'm 100% honest

think Moses type beat

(if you don't know, Moses was found in the riverbank in a little basket)

apparently i really like baskets

anyways

Moreau was so out of his element when he found this tiny, screaming, writhing piece of soft flesh

the first few weeks were rough

but he eventually got the hang of it (with Alcina's help of course)

he would take his child fishing every now and then- just the two of them out on a boat for a few hours

the kid would literally swim more than walk and that little fact would make Moreau so freakin proud

also this kid would be so well-versed in movie and film history it's stupid

like expect this little 4 or 5 year old babbling not about toys or snow or how many sticks they found but instead about the copyright war over the film Nosferatu and the destruction of its copies

Moreau, as the child gets older (like 11 or 12) would have just a tad of trouble trying to keep the kid out of the village

he'd wake up one day and go out onto the lake, expecting his child to be swinging their legs off the dock and watching the sun rise over the water

and when he finds that they were not, in fact, swinging their legs off the dock and watching the sun rise over the water, he p a n i c s

i mean, full blown red alert

all of the lords are summoned to help Moreau look for his missing kid, the lycans are given an article of clothing to help find the scent, Mother Miranda goes to search the village herself- the whole shebang

and when the kid is found playing with the village children, Moreau bursts into tears

needless to say, the kid isn't allowed to go to the village anymore

until they're fifty (Moreau's words, of course)

but the kid sneaks off more and more as they get older, using Alcina or Donna or Karl as an excuse to be away

and Moreau knows but he never says a word

seeing his child happy and free with the kids their age makes him happy, even if he is a tad, a tad, a tad bit nervous

Donna Beneviento:

when Donna found this child huddled up against the base of the stairs leading up to her front door, she at first thought it was a doll of hers

it was only when she actually walked outside that she realised it was this shaking, shriveled child in tattered clothes

she spent a good five minutes just staring, wondering how on earth she's supposed to react

that's when Angie jumped in and pulled at her skirt, telling her to "let the kid inside, already!"

Donna went immediately to work on some clothes- why on earth were they wearing such ragged things?! it's freezing outside!- while Angie entertained in the parlour

honestly, it didn't go well

the kid was a little bit unsettled by the floating doll that moved and spoke on its own FOR GOOD REASON

and when Donna walked back in with her measurement tape and some fabric, the kid backed themselves into a corner of the room with their gangly legs tucked into their chest

Angie sighs from the opposite side of the room, letting her little feet fidget as she gestures to the kid. "they're no fun" she pouts, "wouldn't even let me know their name"

Donna puts her materials down slowly and lifts her veil back before attempting a small smile

it takes a while but upon the offer of food, the kid finally lets Donna make them some clothes while Angie makes conversation

she works in silence, only offering small awkward smiles

Angie finally brings up the topic of where their parents are when the kid's clothes are done

when the child goes silent, Donna nods in understanding before hurrying off to make a room for them

as Angie helped tug the blankets up to the child's ears, they promised they'd be gone in the morning

Angie was the one to tell them off.

"You'll stay as long as you need, you silly goose!"

and the child did

Donna would let them tag along for meetings so long as they promised to keep quiet and help keep Angie out of trouble

most of the time, it didn't work and they both would end up in trouble but Donna let them come nonetheless

and when the other Lords question where on earth this little kid came from- all dressed in black fabric that matched Donna's dress, she just shook her head and let Angie chase them off verbally

she'd spend literal HOURS locked in that workshop making new little friends for her child and when they were old enough, she'd let them into the workshop

and when they were even older, she'd walk them through making their very first doll on their own

she'd just watch with pride as they carefully painted the freckles with a shaky hand while Angie danced around their ankles singing of how excited she was to have another friend

The Duke:

he would be setting up shop near the base of the Dimitrescu castle when he catches a kid trying to steal some his wares

he wouldn't be terribly upset, more concerned

it wasn't something shiny or expensive that they were trying to steal

it was some of the steaming-hot food he had left to cool in the wintry air

he confronted the child gently and with a warm smile

"That's cordon bleu," he says, gesturing to the steaming plate. "I can make you some if you'd like"

and as the child eats, the Duke continues tidying up his shop for any future customers

the child, through a mouthful of food, points to different items and asks their purpose, their price, their possible enhancements

the Duke answers each question with patience, happy for the company

but he doesn't just let the questions go one-way

"How about a trade?" he asks as the child asks about the strange-looking bottle of green liquid. "An answer for an answer."

the child agrees and the Duke starts to peel back layers of why the child was here looking for food

they had been orphaned by the last lycan attack, only barely making it out by fleeing into the woods

they tried to forage off of berry bushes and successfully managed to kill a pig- only for the blood to attract lycans before they could properly eat it

the Duke nods and continues busying himself with his shop, feeding the horse that pulls the wagon

the thought had hit him when he watched the child petting his horse

that horse hated everyone. including him at times.

maybe...

when he offered to take the child in, the kid nearly burst into tears and thanked him repeatedly, swearing to earn their keep

and they did, seven times over

what started off as a purely business venture morphed into something more as time went on

when the child would come back from selling smaller household items like gasoline and the occasional package of bullets, the Duke would have them climb onto the roof of the wagon and watch the sun set together with a plate of food

speaking of which, like Moreau, the Duke would raise the most cultured child

this kid would know how to prepare and identify different dishes and their ingredients just by looking at them or smelling them

and their palate would be far more sophisticated than most adults

the Duke, as the child gets older, would eventually allow them to choose destinations to set up shop- even outside of the village

wherever his child wants, the shop would go

it allows them to see the world and its earthly wares together- something the Duke had lacked in his life before the child was brought into the picture

Karl Heisenberg:

listen to me very very carefully

this man would be the most chaotic father ever to walk this earthly realm

when he finds this kid in the elevator of his factory, he's kinda standing there like 🧍 "what the hell-"

and when the kid starts spamming the button while maintaining eye contact, he kinda snaps out of it and starts chasing after them as they drop down to a different floor

it goes on for a solid twenty minutes before he finally managed to track them down in the corner of his office

and when i say this man is confused, i freaking mean it

i mean

why the HELL would some random kid be in his factory? don't they like... play with ponies or something at this age?

to be fair, this man literally has never been allowed a childhood so

obviously he starts scolding the kid ("what the hell are you doin' in here? it's dangerous and there's some really freaky shit here, kid"), dragging them to a nearby sink because "holy shit kid, you're filthy"

the kid is silent essentially the whole time, just kinda staring into his eyes

and of course Karl's gonna be like "...the fuck're you doin'?"

the kid's face is cleaned off and Karl sends them back out towards the village with a scratchy blanket he pulled out of the bottom of his desk drawer

he's working on his 'equipment' one day when he starts reaching for a wrench, keeping his focus on the body on the table

when i say this man jumps skyhigh at the kid asking a question, i mean it

he drags the kid back out, yelling about how dangerous it is and how "you shouldn't do that! you're gonna get yourself killed! go back home!"

the kid doesn't listen

it becomes a regular thing- Karl finds the kid wandering around the factory, Karl brings the kid out of danger, Karl tells them to get lost

eventually (day thirteen of this) he asks why the child keeps coming back

and he hates the answer he gets

it was something along the lines of "it's warm and there's nowhere else for me to go"

so Karl reluctantly eagerly lets them stay

it's a lot of rules at first (a kid shouldn't be allowed to just wander around a bunch of mindless cyborg killers, let alone a factory) but eventually the child learns to mind Sturm and the others

doesn't mean Karl does not have a fullblown heart attack when he walks into his workspace to find the kid tracing their finger along the center of the battery for the Soldats

after a very long talk (and some deep breathing) Karl reluctantly eagerly lets them sit against the very far wall to watch him work on the machinery- not, under any circumstances, the actual bodies

as the child blossoms into a young adult, they start to help out with certain aspects of Karl's work

exclusively machinery because Karl could not physically handle having his kid watch him get elbow-deep into a corpse

and Karl is so freaking proud of it

when the Soldat is kicked to life, he's got his kid in his arms and cackling like the proud dad he is

yeah. paternal Heisenberg>>>

[levi-lover]

It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s a Lifestyle (Levi x Reader)

W/C: 1069

T/W: the word emo lol jk, 

A/N: This is a modern Levi scenario, idk I feel like in a modern setting Levi would have been an MCR emo and that’s hot. Also Levi with eyeliner is hot, I didn’t make the rules. (I found this photo on Pinterest and I couldn’t find the creator but all credits for this heavenly image goes out to them!)

It was another Tuesday night, you and Levi were sprawled on the couch watching a B-rated horror flick. This wasn’t your favorite genre but Hange recommended it to Levi and you trusted their taste. As the girl on the screen ran through a wheat field the killer right behind her, you sighed and checked your phone. You strolled through Twitter got bored so you opened Instagram. Your Explore page was covered in photos of people dressed in heavy eyeliner and MCR t-shirts, there were edits of band members to accompany the selfies. You let out a little chuckle. 

“Mmm,” Levi mumbled without taking his eyes off of the screen.

“It’s nothing.” You continued to scroll until you saw a photo of a man with dark hair, smudged eyeliner, and painted nails. You raised an eyebrow because the man looked a bit like Levi, this got you thinking.

“Levi?” You asked.

“Mmm,” Levi repeated. 

“Did you ever go through an emo phase?” You questioned.

Levi looked away from the screen and stared at you in confusion.

“An emo phase? Like into My Chemical Romance and victorian stuff.” He asked, his thin eyebrow was arched. 

“Yeah, kinda like that. I guess it’s different for everyone.”

Levi’s cheeks started to turn pink. He lowered his gaze, “Uh, kinda…”

You sat up and looked at Levi wide-eyed. “Wait really? Did you wear eyeliner and everything?”

Levi paused the movie and shifted his weight so he was facing you. His gray eyes looking at everything in the room but your face. “Yeah, in high school, I would spend lunch reading Gothic Horror and listening to old emo bands from the ’80s.”

“Huh, emo Levi. Do you have any photos?” You asked. 

Levi went silent and his face was now a deep shade of red. 

“I think my mom might have some…I’ll have to ask next time I see her. Can we talk about this after the movie is done?” 

You glared at him and let out a sigh. “Kinda rude of you to tell me this valuable information and then leaving me hanging, Buddy! But okay.” 

He rolled his eyes at you and faced the tv. He turned the movie back on and raised his arm to make space for you. You continued to glare at him but you crawled over to his side and snuggled. You continued to watch the movie but you couldn’t stop thinking about teenage emo Levi. You pictured him waking up in the morning and smudging eyeliner on his face, his brows furrowed in concentration. It was all too adorable. You let out another chuckle.

“Tsk, are you still thinking about it?” He asked.

“Of course, I am Levi. I can’t get the image of you wearing, let alone putting on eyeliner.”

He paused the movie again and looked down at you.

“Why?”

“Uh, because it sounds hot.” 

Levi pulled away from you, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Really?”

“Duh.” You retorted

Levi looked back to the screen, dumbfounded. He didn’t know you would think that was attractive. That intrigued him. 

“Would you like to see it on me?” He asked, he loved making you happy. It was one of his favorite hobbies and if this could do the trick, why not do it? It’s not like he’s a stranger to makeup. 

“Yes!! Levi, that would be the most amazing thing ever and I would love you forever and ever.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, “well, if that’s the case I guess I have no choice.”

“Yeah, it looks like you don’t.”

“Sure, okay. Do you have any eyeliner or black eyeshadow?” 

“Yes, sir. It should be in the top left drawer.”

“K, thanks. I’ll be right back.”

Levi got up from the couch and walked towards the bathroom. He shook his head as he walked down the hallway. You laid out on the couch and squealed. This is going to be amazing! You thought. Levi was gone for a few minutes. It had been a few years since he put on makeup but he still remembered a few tricks. You heard his gentle footsteps from the hallway.

“I’m done. Please don’t laugh, okay?” Levi called out, regardless of your earlier praise, he was still a little bit nervous.

“Levi, I wouldn’t laugh at y-.” As Levi walked back into the living room, your jaw dropped. His bright eyes were lined with dark coal and smudged to perfection. It highlighted the narrowness and intensity of his eyes. His black hair was perfectly framing his sharp cheekbones accentuated by the light coat of bronzer in the hollows of his cheeks. He gave you a small smirk.

“You look so hot. Levi, you have no idea. If we went to high school together I would have the biggest crush on you, like big time.”

Levi’s face became flushed, he looked at the ground, and awkwardly grabbed his left arm with his right hand. He normally kept a cool composure but your words made his stomach flutter and the feeling never got old to him. He loved your compliments. You always knew what to say to build up his confidence.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” You said matter-of-factly. “Yes, you look like the hottest emo boyfriend in the entire world.”

He smiled at you, your heart skipped a beat. Your man didn’t smile much but when he did you swore the heavens opened up and gave birth to an angel.

You opened your arms and beckoned for him to come to you. He quickly walked over to you and cuddled into your arms. He wrapped his toned arms around your waist and buried his face into your chest. You placed your hands at the base of his neck and started to stroke his undercut, Levi let out a small sigh.

“Okay, now that you got your wish, can we finish the movie now?” He asked. 

“I guess, I’ll finish it for Hange so I could bash their questionable taste in movies later.”

“Good luck with that. Hange will fight you to the death.”

“Geez, you’re so dramatic.”

Levi smiled, “I guess it must be the emo part of me. It’s not just a fashion statement, it’s a lifestyle.” 

You rolled your eyes at him and unpaused the movie. The movie didn’t get any better but you took a glance at Levi every once in a while because oh boy, did he look good in that eyeliner.

[kurama-is-love]

A day at the beach (Kurama x Reader)

Word count: 8292 (My longest oneshot so far.) Genre: comedy (mostly), romance, lime (slight sexual situations) Rating: 12+ (nothing explicit)

Pairings: Kurama x Female!Reader, Yuusuke x Keiko, Kuwabara x Yukina

Some note at the side: I didn't gave Jin an irish accent like he had in the english dub version, because I am german and have absolutely no clue about that accent. So.. just to let you know. I still don’t have a beta reader, so I am sorry about my english.

Summer, the sun, beach and more. Was there anything better than spending a relaxing time at the sea with your best friends?

This was what Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, Yukina and you thought when you had packed your stuff and drove towards Okinawa in the caravan that your brother had kindly provided.

Koenma had burdened a lot of you guys lately, which is why this vacation was found to be urgently needed, at least from Yusuke and you. Even Hiei was somehow persuaded to come along. Of course, the fire koorime had refused at first, but then Yusuke had a convincing argument.

“Yukina will be walking around there, half naked. You don't even know what Kuwabara could do with her when~"

And suddenly Hiei was convinced .. Should Kuwabara even try to make a suspicious move or touch on his beloved sister, a sword would be stuck in his human head.

"Sooo. Here we are. A 1-A private beach. Here we have our well deserved rest. " Yusuke grinned and put his hands on his hips as he looked over the fine sand and saw the water slowly glistening in the sun.

"Private beach? I didn't even know that one of you guys were rich .. Yusuke, we're 'legally' allowed to be here, aren't we ..? ” You asked slightly skeptical and crossed your arms. The black-haired man laughed uncertainly and waved his hand.

"Of course we are. This is the beach of ... a friend of mine. Right, Kuwabara? " Yusuke asked and hit the bigger guy in his side.

“What friend, Urameshi? You said the beach belonged to your dead grandparents? ” The orange-haired man said, confused.

Yusuke laughed when everyone looked at him reproachfully.

"Yusuke .." Keiko sighed and was about to hit her fiancé. Some things just never changed.

"Now calm down, everyone! This beach is not used by anyone! You see the beach house up there? I found letters in the mailbox that are 4 years old. Nobody has been here that long. So please. "

His words made you and the others not more relaxed.

'

“How do you know that? Don't say you have the key for their house? ” Kurama asked and raised an eyebrow, examining his friend's reaction carefully. Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders.

"People shouldn't just do it like in the movies and hide their keys under a flower pot next to the front door." his cheeky reply followed by his smirk.

"YUSUKE ...!" You sighed in unison, until finally giving in and simply accepted his antics. If you get caught, you could still blame it on Yusuke..

After the caravan was parked, the group went to the "borrowed" beach house to change for the beach. You, along with the other women, went in a bedroom on the upper floor, while the men had their area on the first floor and found a grill in addition to their swimwear. Perfect for an evening barbecue later, which can be set up outside in the back of the house.

You got along very well with the other women, especially Keiko. You both had a wonderful chemistry right from the start and quickly became best friends. However, everyone knew of the feelings that you harbored for a certain red-haired handsome man among the group. That's why Botan and Shizuru used moments like this to tease and encourage you to finally confess your feelings to Kurama.

"Uhm .. excuse me .." Yukina nervously began and pointed to the bikini. “Do I have to wear something like that too? Isn't there anything .. Uhm .. decent that covers more skin ..? " The shy snow maiden asked and was a blushy mess when she saw the others undressing to change.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it, Yukina." Botan tried to calm her down. “A bikini has to look like this. And you have a great body. So you have no reason to hide it. “ the female grim reaper of the spirit world winked cheekily.

“Botan, stop teasing the poor girl like that. If you don't feel confident enough, you are welcome to wear one of my swimsuits. " You offered and searched your bag for bathing suits.

What you found then, however, was surprising.

"Huh? I'm sure that I packed swimsuits .. ” You paused and rummaged through the whole bag until you found the only bikini in it. "...That's not one of my bikinis …" you mumbled suspiciously and when you lifted the top, you noticed a small note hanging on it.

'Hey, my beloved sister, you can thank me later. I saw this cool sexy bikini piece and got it for you so that you can finally seduce Kurama. You don't need any more, so finally get on with it!

With love, your brother [b/n] '

"... That damn, little …" You sighed in frustration and dropped the piece of fabric. Keiko noticed your mood change and stepped next to you.

"What's wrong, [Y/n]?" She asked worriedly and then saw the bikini. "... isn't that a little too ... revealing? It doesn't even have real cups, it just has narrow fabric up to the straps .. ”she added.

"... My brother is responsible for this. He hopes that this will cause something to happen between Kurama and me. “You mumbled. “You will have to go swimming without me. Because I'm definitely not going to put that on. " You shook your head.

"Oh that'll be fine. Hey I can quickly make a portal into the spirit world and get you a normal bikini from me! How does that sound? “ Botan asked with a grin.

"Why do you want us all to wear bikinis here?"You wanted to know and touched your forehead in annoyance.

"Well, how else do you want to conquer the men of your heart? Yukina-san can easily wrap Kuwabara around her finger in a bikini and I think Kurama will be very excited when he sees you in a bikini. "Botan grinned.

"First of all, Yukina doesn't need any extra to gain Kuwabara's attention because he's already madly in love with her." You corrected.

"W-What ..?" Yukina's head lifted in shock and her face reddened massively.

"Shit .. Sorry Yukina-chan, I had completely forgotten that you are still here .."

"Kazuma is ... in love with me?" Yukina asked incredulously.

"You never noticed?" Shizuru asked and took a drag on her cigarette. She was already in her swim suit and just waited for the others.

"I .. knew that he liked me, but .. that it was feelings like that .." Yukina mumbled, slightly embarrassed, and put her hands on her cheek.

"Ta-daaaa. Here I am. I have a really cute bikini for you! “Botan interrupted this unpleasant - at least for Yukina - conversation and gave you a cherry red bikini with a rose decoration on the upper strap.

"Wah? When did you go to the spirit world? I didn't even notice that you were gone .. " You shrieked and saw Botan grin appraisingly.

“Well, I'm not number 1 for portals into the spirit world for nothing. Fast and silently like a ninja, I walk between the worlds and ensure peace! "

"Chaos fits better."

“Oh, I can take the bikini back with me and then you have to have this half piece of cloth to wear where your breasts almost fall out .. Mmm, although that's more optimal, because that way you would definitely have Kurama's attention. ” Botan giggled at her last sentence.

“It's okay. I'm sorry. I take it. Thank you, Botan .. "

Botan grinned triumphantly and after each of the women was dressed appropriately for the beach, you went down to meet with the boys. However, you only found Kurama there.

"Where are the others?" Keiko asked and covered her upper body with a colorful pareo, which should give her a minimal feeling of concealment. Because she felt a little too naked for her liking too when someone other as Yusuke saw her like this.

"They have already gone to the beach." The kitsune explained and only looked briefly at the others. Because when his gaze fell on you, he directly averted his gaze and cleared his throat barely audibly ."You girls look adorable, by the way."

"Thank you. But why are you the only one still here? " Botan wanted to know.

“To wait for you. The others have found a good spot on the beach where we can all hang out. I stayed here to take you to this place so you don't have to look for us out there first. " Kurama explained with a smile.

"A gentleman as always."You spoke with a smile and when Kurama's gaze met yours again, both of you suddenly turned a little red in the face.

"Of course, when it comes to charming ladies like you." The redhead smiled and led the group of women outside. It was only a few minutes before you saw two men in the distance attacking each other. Yusuke and Kuwabara fought again. That was no longer unusual for you and so you sat down on the large beach towel. In the middle was a picnic basket from which everyone could help themselves. There were sandwiches, rice balls, and cold drinks that Kurama had taken as a precaution. This man just thought of everything.

After the two brawlers broke away from their petty argument, the group began to split into different activities. Yukina, Botan and Kuwabara built sandcastles, respectively Kuwabara built a huge heart for his Yukina. After you had slipped out what the orange-haired felt for Hiei's sister, Yukina even dared to reveal her own feelings. She had a bright red head, but when an overjoyed Kuwabara hugged her and even cried a little for joy, she smiled gently and relaxed into this new feeling. It was just as sweet as sugar. Even when Hiei almost freaked out, in the end he just wanted Yukina to be happy. And if that idiot made her happy, so be it ..

Keiko and Yusuke plunged directly into the floods of water and cooled off. It was pleasant to see how happy they were when Yusuke pulled Keiko up in the water and laughingly took her with him until he dropped her before the brown-haired woman countered with splashing water at him. Even if they argued every now and then, it was clear to see how much they meant to each other and it was just great.

Hiei and Shizuru were the only ones who holed up outside and did not care about the hustle and bustle of the others. They felt more like the babysitters of this gang of rascals on this trip. While Shizuru was able to find some relaxation by reading a book, Hiei just stared emotionlessly at the water. He was probably bored, without fighting enemies and stuff.

That left you and Kurama, who were still sitting on the beach towel and watching your friends in amusement.

"They're all having so much fun," you smiled. "It was really a good idea to come here," you added quietly.

“It really was. I'm glad to be able to find some relaxation too. " Kurama agreed and you looked at each other before your smiles grew wider and your eyes fell on your friends again.

“And I'm so happy for Yukina and Kuwabara. Actually, I just slipped out that he loves her, but I'm glad that it led to our little shy Yukina confessing her feelings to him. " You said then.

"Oh? So you are responsible for Yukina's sudden confession? ” Kurama smirked and took a strand of [h/c] hair from your face as he put it behind your ear. Such loving gestures had almost become normal for both of you. And yet you were no more than friends.

"Oh, that's a long story." You giggled and hoped that your redhead didn't ask any further, otherwise you would have to explain about the bikinis and your feelings, for better or worse. Because you just couldn't and didn't want to lie to him.

"I like long stories," Kurama smiled.

... You knew he would say that.

“It's really not that extraordinary. We talked when we were getting changed and Botan said that Yukina could attract the attention of Kuwabara with a bikini  " You revealed.

"Ahaha. She has his attention the whole time. " Kurama interrupted you with a chuckle.

"I said that, too! And then it slipped out because he loves her. “ You laughed and scratched your cheek in disgrace.

Kurama smiled silently and briefly closed his eyes. A few years ago, he would never have dared to dream of making such great friends, let alone going on a trip to the beach. Fate sometimes had a strange sense of humor, thought the fox demon.

“But we shouldn't sit in the sun unprotected. Should I put some lotion on your back? “ You offered and waved the tube of sun lotion in front of his eyes. Kurama's smile softened and he nodded slightly.

"With pleasure. But only if I can put some lotion on your back afterwards, ”he said, which made you blush.

"Of course." You said quietly and sat down behind Kurama. He had his long, fiery red hair tied up so it was pinned up and out of the way. The kitsune closed his eyes when he felt the cold sun lotion on his shoulders. Shortly afterwards, your fingers gently danced over his skin to distribute the sun lotion around the neck and back. You applied a little variable pressure to massage the sun lotion in aswell. You smiled incessantly and didn't think anything bad about it at first, until you heard a sound that you had never heard before from Kurama.

He moaned so softly, it almost sounded like a purr. Purred foxes like cats? You wondered and smiled when Kurama seemed to relax completely. At least you could see it in his posture and the way his muscles twitched at your touch.

"You're totally tense." You commented, in order to escape this uncomfortable silence and also to contain his sinfully erotic sounds. Because these sounds did not pass you completely without a trace of a pleasant tingling sensation spreading in your crotch area.

“Does that surprise you? Fighting demons the whole time and then enduring Yusuke and Kuwabara's eternal quarrels .. " he joked and closed his eyes again when his head fell back almost by itself. "Aaah .."

This sound now made you blush. Your fingers slid very gently over his skin until you had completely covered his back and released all tension. You just took that time.

Kurama stretched himself and stood up.

"Thanks." He smiled and took the sun lotion from you. “Now it's your turn. Turn around. " He ordered gently and you obeyed immediately as you sat down in front of him with your back turned. However, Kurama was reluctant to use the sunscreen. "Uhm .."

"What's wrong, Kurama?" You asked and turned your head slightly so you could see him from the corner of your eye. It wasn't common for him to be reluctant.

“Would it be okay to unknot your top? The stripes bother a little. ” His voice was a little quiet and you could swear that they had a touch of hoarseness. Your cheeks literally glowed at this request, but since you were turned with your back to him and the others were far enough away, it was okay. You trusted Kurama.

"Yes. Will you open the knot, please? It's so difficult for me to get there and you are already ideal positioned for it. " You said softly, which made Kurama slightly blushed with a soft smile. These passionate tensions between the both of you grew stronger and yet no one dared to take the first step. It was frustrating, but also exciting somewhere and you enjoyed these intimate moments of with him alone and you could tell by his reactions, that Kurama felt the same way.

"Good, but if you should give me a slap for this action, I'll be happy to remind you that you gave me permission," he teased, making you laugh again. It was unbelievable how often you two could just laugh together and open up to each other completely.

"Aren't you mistaking me for Keiko? I wouldn't even slap you if you 'accidentally' touched my bum, "you admitted honestly, until you realized what you were saying.

"Oh, I'll keep that in the back of my head for sure." The redhead smirked, laughing and his fingers slightly, but provocatively running up and down your sides.

"Kurama .. I think your demon side is slowly seeping through." You sighed, slightly embarrassed, but not without a broad smile. It wasn't like you didn't enjoy flirting and his ambiguities. And then these touches ... But you could tell when Kurama's Youko side was involved. Not that you minded. Because you loved his Youko side as much as him.

"Sorry." He laughed very softly and gave you an apologetic kiss on your hair until he finally took care of the knot of your top. His fingers played around the cord of the knot a little teasingly before he slowly undid it and you had to hold the fabric at the front so that it don't suddenly exposed your bare chest.

Kurama dripped some sun lotion on his hand before starting to spread the cool substance from the back of your neck. Now it was your turn to enjoy. You closed your eyes and let the feel of his fingers sink in. His touches were so light as a feather and yet they kindled a blazing fire in you, which slowly clouded your mind. When he massaged the lotion as you did with him, you couldn't help it and a pleasant sigh left your lips. Kurama gave a small smile and began to massage your neck area lightly. That turned your enjoyable sigh into a slight moan.

You were startled by your own voice and put your hand over your mouth, embarrassed. You never made such noises. How embarrassing..

Kurama noticed your sudden stiffening and blinked before realizing how embarrassed you were. He smiled and hugged you around your arms. When he leaned at your back, he also got some of the sun lotion on his chest and stomach area, but he didn't care. You gasped in surprise when Kurama pulled you close and moved his arms around your hips. His head rested on your shoulder and his eyes were closed. Probably out of decency, so as not to risk a look at your very inviting neckline.

“You don't have to be uncomfortable with such sounds. To be honest, I think it's pretty cute. " He breathed tenderly next to your ear and didn't even tried to resist the urge to kiss your ear lobe. Very delicate, but sensual. You shuddered at his deep voice and his lips on your ear. You didn't trusted you voice right now, which is why you were silent at first.

“Really, now? As soon as we all are gone, you two literally pounce on each other. Are you so addicted to each other? I thought you were more subtle at least, Kurama. " Yusuke laughed, who came from the shore with a broadly grinning Keiko and gave his kitsune friend a thumbs up.

The two of you separated in a flash and Kurama helped you to tie the top again before clearing his throat to keep his composure and not to appear embarrassed. Your friends had actually found you in a highly ambiguous situation.

“It's not what it looked like. We just put lotion on each other's backs to avoid getting sunburn. ", you explained, but you couldn't explain your bright red head. Yusuke crossed his arms, his grin was almost eerie.

"Oh really? Since when do you put on sun lotion in such an intimate position? " The black-haired man asked further until he got a slap on the back of his head from his fiancée. "Ouch! What was that for now, Keiko? "

“Can't you see that both of them are uncomfortable? Why can't you even think one time before you make any stupid comments? ” Keiko sighed. There were moments when she actually questioned why she loved this guy in the first place.

"Yes .. I'm sorry, I didn't think before I spoke.", Yusuke apologized and held the spot that Keiko had hit.

"Isn't that your permanent condition?" Kuwabara's amused voice came from behind him.

"WHAT WAS THAT, IDIOT?"

".. Brawl Incoming in 3..2 ... 1" and exactly at the 1 of your countdown the two started fighting again .. But at least it took the attention of you and Kurama.

"Woah. Yusuke was right. This beach has a great view and no annoying glances. We can stay here unhindered, Touya. "A familiar male voice suddenly laughed.

“Wrong, I could hang out among humans without attracting attention. You are the one who has visible demon traits. " Touya replied dryly and pointed to the long, sharp ears and the distinctive horn on the forehead of his red-haired companion.

"Jin? Touya? What are you doing here? " Botan asked, now that all friends had returned to the beach blanket.

“Yusuke invited us! And since Koenma is here too, is it okay? ”Jin asked with a grin and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Koenma is here? !!?" Botan's face fell and Jin pointed to a corner on the beach. The friends' eyes met a small lounger there. There he lied. The baby ruler of the spirit world and next to him his constant assistant and messenger, the blue ogre Jorge.

"...."

Everyone turned to Yusuke, who was waving his arms defensively.

“Don't look at me like that! I only invited Jin and Touya! I would never bring the shit-arse(I have absolutely no idea how Yusuke calls Koenma in the english version, I am sorry..) here! I was glad I didn't see his pacifier visage for a few days! " He protested.

"I heard that Yusuke!"

"Pretty good ears for such a small man ..."

The friends shared a soft laugh. You just couldn't be angry with Yusuke for his spontaneous and often idiotic ideas. He was loved for those.

"Oi, Jin! Come here! “ Yusuke called after the wind demon after he was allowed to apologize to Koenma for his disrespect. Oh man, at least the old witch Genkai wasn't there. Then he would have to run the gauntlet, he thought.

Jin obeyed his best friend and floated next to him. "What's up?" He wanted to know.

Yusuke whispered something in his ear and you had an incredibly bad feeling about this thing when you watched them. Because Jin blinked perplexed and then looked at you, which confirmed you in the matter that it was about you what the two were discussing. The cheeky wind demon with the horn grinned broadly and nodded enthusiastically.

Oh no, what was Yusuke up to now ..?

Since that whispering, you kept an eye on the two men. Even Kurama noticed your concentration at some point when you did not respond to his question whether you would like to go into the water with him.

"[Y/n]-chan ..?" He asked worried and put his hand on your shoulder. That touch made you wake up from your trance-like rigidity and stop looking at Jin and Yusuke, who were both playfully wrestling in the sand.

"Huh?" you asked, looking at Kuramas' worried emerald green irises. They exuded so much wisdom, but also devotion and passion. It was very easy to get lost in his gaze.

"Is everything ok? You seem so absent since Jin and Touya got here. Do you feel uncomfortable because they are demons? ”Kurama asked, even if the question was completely nonsensical. He and Yusuke were demons too, and Hiei too. But you knew them much longer and you hadn't had much to do with Touya and Jin.

“Don't talk nonsense, Kurama. Half of my circle of friends consists of demons. " You replied with a smile, referring to the people just mentioned. Kurama smiled in relief at your answer. "Don't worry, I really like Touya and Jin, just .. I have the feeling that Yusuke is up to something stupid again and I'm the one to suffer from it." You sighed.

"Why do you think so?" The redhead wanted to know and also looked at Yusuke and Jin, who were laughing in the sand, both covered with bruises.

"Yusuke whispered something in Jin's ear and then they both looked at me with strange grimaces."

“I can't speak for Jin, but I'm 100% sure with Yusuke that he won't mean you any harm. Don't worry, they both have nonsense on their minds. I take care that their pranks won't escalate. Do you feel more comfortable with that? ”He asked with the most charming smile you ever saw at him. You almost melted away on the spot. This man was just too good for this world .. Sure, he was still a demon, but he would do anything to protect those he loved.

“Much better. Thank you, Kurama. " you replied with a smile that matches his smile, which made Kurama's heart jump with joy.

"Not for that," he whispered back and put his hand on your cheek to gently stroke your cheekbones with his thumb. You leaned into this touch and closed your eyes. "Evening is arriving soon. Wanna come into the water for a bit before it's dark? "

You nodded and Kurama grinned slightly before he lifted you up like a bride and carried you towards the water.

"Kurama .. I can walk alone."You protested meekly as you put your arms around his neck for a better grip.

"I know. But I also want to have a little fun sometimes. “ He chuckled with a cheeky undertone, to which you reacted perplexed, until you were dropped into the cold water without warning.

After you resurfaced, Kurama looked at you with an innocent expression.

"That was mean! At least warn me before you drop me like that. You get that back, foxy."You grinned back and just like Yusuke and Keiko earlier, a playful water fight broke out between the two of you. Who could have guessed that even Kurama found himself in joking around every now and then? He was usually the intelligent, strategic and calm part of the group.

The others watched the goings-on from their place. Yusuke crossed his arms with a grin.

"Have you ever seen Kurama so exuberant and happy?" He asked the others.

"What are you getting at, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, cocking his head slightly. Yukina slept cuddled in his arms.

“That's obvious, dumbass. [Y/n] and Kurama are made for each other. As long as I've known him, he's never been like this ... How should I put it ... “ Yusuke stopped to look for the right words. "He's just never taken the initiative with a woman."

"Now that you mention it," the orange-haired paused. “Kurama was always the popular heartthrob at his school, right? But I've never seen him so intimately with a woman."

"Exactly, that's what I mean. Kurama acts different when he's with her. He flirts, he seeks her company. He's completely head over heels for her. " Yusuke explained with a smirk.

"And [Y/n]? Does she feel the same way? ”Touya asked.

“One hundred percent. I'll bet the money I've saved for the wedding. " Yusuke nodded.

"Yusuke .."

"I was just kidding Keiko."

You and Kurama tried to catch each other for a while in the water, competed in swimming competitions to a nearby buoy and finally let the movements fade away by floating on your backs and looking at the sky. You were breathing a little heavily from your activities.

"Next time I'll win," you spoke, referring to the swimming competition. Kurama laughed softly and swam while lying on his back to you until he almost collided with your water-floating body.

"If you ask very nicely, I'll let you win." He said teasingly and you pouted at this answer. This kitsune was getting cheekier, or was that just how it felt?

"Do not show off. You only won because you manipulated the algae with your yoki to slow me down. I felt them wriggling around my legs. That was unfair, you cheater, " you pouted.

Kurama smiled widely and then rose from the lying position.

"And I thought you wouldn't notice," he said and held his hand for you to pull you back to your feet since you weren't that deep in the water.

"You thought wrong. Next time we'll swim in a real swimming pool without plants that give you an unfair advantage. "

"Alright."

You looked at each other briefly and had to laugh before you slowly went ashore. Neither of you had laughed as much as you did today in a long time. Everything was just perfect and harmonious. It could stay that way forever.

As the two of you set foot on the wet sand, which was constantly being hit by the waves, you noticed a strange breeze behind you.

"Wh-", even before you could register it properly, you felt a wet and cold wind around your breasts. And a sense of nudity. Your top was gone!

"JIN ?!" You shouted angrily and covered your breasts with your hands when you looked over you and saw the wind demon grinning mischievously. He was holding the top of your bikini in his hand. "Give that back right away! What's that about?!"

Jin grinned wider and flew far out towards the open sea. He used his demonic speed to be a considerable distance away in a few seconds. After a short time he came back without the top.

“Mission accomplished Yusuke. Bikini top successfully sunk 40 km to the west. "

"I beg your pardon? Yusuke, an explanation please! And you Jin, get my top back, now. "

Yusuke laughed and Jin waved his hands.

"Sorry, I didn't remember where exactly I sank it." Jin apologized and landed at a safe distance.

Yusuke wiped a tear of laughter from his face and looked at you and Kurama, who had stood protectively in front of you.

“Your faces are priceless! Hahaha. Do not be angry. I thought we could make a FFK session, we are all among ourselves, ” he said jokingly. Of course, there were other reasons why Jin should get rid of the top, but he couldn't quite admit that in front of Kurama.

“You damn dipshit.. If I get you .. ”You growled in frustration as Kurama turned to you and put both hands on your shoulders.

"I have an idea," he said with a smile, but you could clearly see the redness of his cheeks. "But you have to take your hands off your body to do this," he mumbled.

You were so red in your face now that the shade of red could measure up to the hair of your fox. Should you bare yourself before him? He was standing in front of you in such a way that the others couldn't see you, but that didn't help your embarrassment in the least when you thought about the fact that he could see your breasts. Kurama noticed your hesitation and stood so close to you that your bodies were almost touching. "I don't look, I promise," he whispered near your ear.

You swallowed, then nodded.

"I trust you, Kurama ..“ you said and loosened your arms as they hung by your sides again and your upper body could now be seen unprotected. Kurama smiled gently at your trust in him and took two seeds from his hair, which he placed on either side of your shoulder.

"Do not Scare. Just trust me. ” He warned you and used his yoki to sprout tendrils from the seeds. You blinked, perplexed, as the tendrils snaked around your breasts like a top and covered them so far that you could see even less than with the bikini. Rose petals adorned the straps above the base of your breast and when Kurama let go of you, he smiled again. "That should serve its purpose."

You looked down at yourself. The "plant top" felt pleasant and exuded the aromatic scent of wild roses, similar to the scent that Kurama always wore. You sighed comfortably and felt the top. No thorns, no holes showing skin. The top was perfect.

"It's perfect! Thank you, Kurama. ”You smiled and leaned forward to give Kurama a gentle kiss on the cheek. Kurama grinned slightly and wanted to hug you when you suddenly broke away and looked at Yusuke and Jin. "Now the two of them are getting a rubdown."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Darkness of the night had now fallen and the smell of grilled meat lingered in the air. The barbeque was in full swing and even Koenma and Hiei joined the group to eat the delicacies that Yusuke and Kuwabara had brought with them. At least the two of them really understood something about barbecuing. Even if the request at Hiei to fan the grill with his fire clearly met a lack of humor on the part of the Koorimes. Someone always goes to the cellar to laugh ...

Everyone was chatting wildly about all sorts of things until you noticed that a certain redhead was missing.

"Where's Kurama?" You asked, slightly worried, since it wasn't the fox's way to just disappear without a word. You immediately regretted the question when you saw Yusuke grinning maliciously. Great, another chance of being teased, now you were the one that gave him a target.

“Do you miss your fox already? Man, you two are really addicted to each other. " he laughed and took a bite of his hamburger with relish. Grilled still tasted best.

"Can't you just save your damn comments for one time? We are just friends. That's all .. ”You sighed, even if you weren't sure who you were lying to. Your friends or yourself.

"Oh come on. It's obvious to everyone here. Even Kuwabara and he has the brain of a protozoan. ”Yusuke said with a nod before Kuwabara tackled him down.

"URAMESHI ..!" He warned and you sighed before you got up.

"[Y/n]-san? I think I saw him walking towards the cliff. Kurama likes to be by himself when he has to think. But he certainly does not disdain your company. " Yukina smiled. You smiled back gratefully and nodded.

"Thank you, Yukina-chan."You said and made your way to the said cliff. Although Yusuke talked a lot of nonsense, he was right about one thing. Yes, you were addicted to Kurama. Yes, you missed him when you didn't see him, even if it was only a few hours. You simply sought his presence, like moths seek light. It was just maddening ..

You didn't have to walk far until you found the cliff ledge and a familiar head of red hair was gently blowing back and forth in the wind. He looked out at the horizon and seemed to be completely in thought. Still, you were sure that he must have noticed your presence when you stepped closer.

"Kurama ..? Are you all right? ”You asked quietly after reaching him and placing a warm hand on his shoulder. Kurama blinked slightly and turned to you. Since you looked so worried, he gave you a dreamy smile to calm you down.

"Yes everything alright. I only enjoy being by myself from time to time, because as much as I like my friends .. After a day like that I'm glad not to have them around, ”he admitted with a laugh.

"Oh." You mumbled. "Would you rather be alone then? I can leave again. "You offered him.

"No no. The others are a little stressful in a long run. You are the big exception. ", He soothed you and took your hand in his.

"Really?"You asked smiling and looked up as Kurama's smile softened and he brought your hand to his lips before caressing your knuckles one at a time with short kisses.

"Absolutely. If there’s anyone I’m never tired of being around, then that’s you, ”he said gently during this soft kisses on your fingers.

"Kurama .."Your voice was quiet and embarrassed and you looked deep into his irises, which shone with such intensity, as if he was looking directly into your soul.

"I'm serious." He said and pulled you closer to him, his lips were on your forehead and caressed the skin lovingly. You closed your eyes and snaked both arms around his hips. You enjoyed this closeness so much that you felt as if your heart was about to burst with bliss. "Come on, let's sit down a little and watch the stars," he said and then pulled away from you as he made himself comfortable on the stone. You sat down right next to him, your feet dangling down and you gazed into the starry sky.

There was a pleasant silence between you for a few moments before you realized you missed the physical closeness that his hugs created. Without thinking too much, you moved closer and leaned your head on his shoulder. Kurama looked at you, he smiled silently and put his arm around you to hold you close. His head rested against yours and both of two let out pleasant sighs before you began to giggle softly.

"Yusuke is obviously right."You began, which made Kurama blink questioningly. "I think we're really addicted to each other .." you added quietly and closed your eyes.

Your eyes opened again when he put his index finger under your chin and lifted your head slightly so that his pair of lips were only millimeters apart.

"You are addicted to me ~?" He asked. You shuddered when you felt his breath against your lips and swallowed lightly. Your heart rate had increased rapidly and your flushed cheeks literally glowed. He looked at you with so much love and desire that you finally ignored all your concerns.

"I'm addicted to you, Kurama .."

Shortly after those words left your lips, the kitsune pressed his lips to yours. The kiss was loving and tender at first to express the feelings you both harbored for each other.

"That's good .." he whispered as he broke the kiss. "Because I'm addicted to you too," he added and sealed your lips with his again. You closed her eyes and put your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Kurama used this moment to pull you onto his lap with his hands on your hips.

That second kiss wasn't quite so innocent when Kurama took your lower lip in his mouth and sucked lightly on it. You gasped into the kiss, which only encouraged Kurama to send his hands on a little exploration. His fingertips danced up and down your sides as light as a feather as the kiss grew deeper and deeper. Kurama licked your lips, a silent request for admission, which you were only too happy to allow him and opened your mouth for him. The kitsune responded to your cooperation with a deep moan as his tongue explored your oral cavity and playfully challenged your tongue to a fight.

You felt this pleasant heat in your body again and Kurama didn't seem to be completely free from the side effects of this hot make out session either, because something hard poked up from his swim shorts and nudged your buttocks.

After that second kiss broke, you were both a little out of breath and leaned forehead to forehead as you looked lovingly into each other's eyes. Kurama smiled and caressed your cheek before he breathed a third, short kiss on your lips.

"I love you. I never thought I'd ever feel this way, but .. It's true. I love you, [Y/n]. “ This confession made the butterflies in your stomach flip over. A big, happy smile was reflected on your lips, which were swollen from the kisses, and you pulled him close to blow kisses on his cheek and lips.

“Kurama, I love you too. You have no idea how much .. " You whispered quietly and happily. He smirked and grabbed your back to pick your up slightly and change the pose again. You was now astride his lap so your legs were next to his hips and your crotch was exactly on his. This stimulated the passion even more.

"I think I can imagine how much."He replied with a grin and leaned forward to kiss your neck. You threw your head back and gasped excitedly. Since when where you so sensitive on her neck? Kurama liked the sounds you were making in desire and kissed other places on your neck until youb started to moan with pleasure. Bull's eye.

Grinning, he sucked, licked and bit into your weak spot of her neck that he had just found to get another delicate moan from you. Your hands tried to grab hold of his shoulders, but soon they dug deep into his fiery red hair and as you pushed him further and further into your neck.

The sound of the sea waves was a pleasant romantic orchestra while you exchanged tender touches and kisses. It all seemed a little surreal to you. Was that really happening right now? Kurama, whom you had loved and desired for so long, sat here with you. Closely embraced, to the beat of love and enjoying the pleasurable tones of the other.

Kurama's touches were only experimental at first. He wanted to find out how far he could go with you. Even if the two of you had such an intimate relationship with each other before, it was a huge step to become more physically intimate. After all, he always behaved well and like a gentleman beforehand. He had never risked a look when you were changing in his room during a pajama party or today when he made your plant bikini top. Even then he hadn't looked.

So how much would you allow him ...?

His fingers gently caressed your shoulder and traced the outer contour of the tendril top. He felt how goosebumps gradually formed on your skin and smiled. He enjoyed the effect he had on you. Meanwhile, your fingers rested on his neck and massaged the skin lovingly. Although it was just a tender scratching, again a quiet purring elicited from Kuramas lips.

"Do you know that you're incredibly cute when you make such noises?" You smiled and kissed his cheek so lovingly that Kurama wouldn't let you get away with such a lame kiss. He put his hand on the back of your head and pulled your head close to seal your lips in an aggressive kiss. His tongue licked your lower lip after that kiss, leaving a trail of wet saliva down to your chin.

"And you should be careful with what you say, if you don't want me to lose control over my actions." He warned teasingly and sucked again at your weak point until you panted with relish.

"Aa-ah .. I don't think I would have a problem with that, Kurama," you replied, your fingertips dancing down his back, where you carefully scratched his skin with your nails. Very soft. Kurama closed his eyes and grinned. He had never felt so comfortable before.

After you had conveyed to him that he could go on, his hand went to your covered chest. He caressed and massaged your mounds gently until the tendrils were a little annoying. With his yoki, he let the locked tendrils apart and pull back so that he had free access to your bare skin. You gasped in surprise when you felt his hand on your bare chest and now saw how the tendrils gave way to his wishes.

"How convenient."You smirked and looked at Kurama with a grin. "Is that just a coincidence or did you already expect this ability to be useful in this way?" You asked him and earned a sensual laugh from your fox.

"It is coincidence. I really just wanted to help you with the top. But that doesn't mean that I'm not grateful for my ability to manipulate plants, ”he replied with a wink and gently pinched your nipples.

“Cunning fox. I like that. "You admitted and enjoyed the caresses from him. Your hands wandered their way forward and felt his biceps. His muscles flexed under your touch and a deep moan escaped his throat when your fingers now caressed his own nipples. He never realized how sensitive he was there. However, it was also the first time that someone touched him like that. At least in Shuuichi Minamino's body. And his human body seemed to react a lot more to a touch than he had previously assumed. Not that he wanted to complain about it ..

"Kiss me." You demanded and Kurama granted your wish without even a second hesitation. His lips caressed yours lovingly as your hands continued to satisfy your chest areas. Your nipples hardened quickly on Kurama's nimble fingers and the fox took advantage of this to stretch the buds between his fingers and pull them lightly with pressure. You gasped softly against his mouth and used this moment to slide his tongue into your mouth and feel every millimeter there. He tapped and nudged your tongue with his to seduce it into a passionate tango. Meanwhile, you continued to stroke his taut nipples and pinched them until Kurama gave a slightly submissive moan.

You broke away after this kiss when a strip of saliva connected your tongues. Kurama bit through this strip so that his lips could fall back to your neck and he placed loving short kisses on your skin. You were again so red in the face that the color of your cheeks could easily measure against his hair. Even Kurama's cheeks had turned a healthy pink from all these activities. It just looked incredibly cute to see the most handsome man you ever saw flushed and aroused. And the reason for his condition were you. That was really just cloud nine ..

“Kuuuuurama !!! [Y/n] !! “Yusuke's shouting brought the two of you out of your ecstasy and Kurama reacted quickly when he restored your vine top. You reluctantly let go of each other and stood up to wait for your black-haired friend running to you while maintaining a somewhat relaxed composure. The last thing you needed now were more remarks from him.

"What's up, Yusuke?", Kurama asked and cleared his throat after this question, as his voice still seemed rather hoarse and thick. You blushed again because Kurama just sounded insolently sexy and erotic.

“We heard the weather report on the radio and there should be a pretty strong storm tonight. Since Hiei has already felt a change, the storm will certainly start earlier and it will be quite dangerous out here on the coast. That's why I ran as fast as I could to get you back. We'd better seek shelter in the beach house for today. At least until the storm is over tomorrow, "Yusuke explained.

“Even if I don't like to just spend the night in someone else's building, we probably have no other choice. Thanks for the warning, Yusuke. “Kurama thanked him and you followed the black-haired man hand holding until you got to the house. The grill and patio furniture had already been moved inside and the others had already split up in some of the rooms. Yusuke and Keiko shared a room, Yukino and Kuwabara too, Botan slept in Shizuru's room, Koenma and Jorge had to share one and Hiei was the only one who slept alone in a room.

When Kurama and you wanted to go into the last remaining room, Yusuke stopped you.

"Wait a minute," he said and rummaged around in his pocket. You looked at each other questioningly until Yusuke found what he was looking for and grinned. "Here, Kurama," he said and tossed something small, square to Kurama. You blinked and Kurama looked emotionless at the palm of his hand. Now you also recognized what this object was. A condom. "After all, contraception is important."Yusuke winked and disappeared into his room before you could hit him with you shoe.

"Idiot .."You sighed annoyed with a bright red head, before Kurama smiled and put his arm around you.

“But we should be grateful to him for this foresight. I have to admit that I'm not prepared for this kind of emergency, ”he admitted with a teasing laugh.

"Kurama .. I would be very disappointed in you, if you were prepared for something like that.", you answered and Kurama smiled before he gave you a gentle kiss on your lips.

"Let's get a little sleep, huh?" He asked, rubbing his nose against yours as he opened the door and walked into the room with you.

That night, you didn't go beyond the experimental touches in the upper area, but Kurama still kept the condom for the future ~

THE END

[johnkrrasinski]

So It Goes... 

full masterlist

Pairings: Rock star/Bassist!Bucky Barnes x female!reader (AU)

Word count: 7,149 

Warning: fluff, SMUT! but mostly just me falling in love with bucky, really.

Summary: natasha romanoff aka your annoying roommate coerced you into the howling commando’s live performance at a divebar near your dorm. little did you know, it was going to lead you to the man of your dreams aka the charming rock star boy/bassist, james buchanan barnes.

a/n: this one’s written for @sourpatchkidsandacokecan​‘s “Little Darlin’s Mysteru AU” challenge. i chose band/rockstar au. here’s another love letter to bucky barnes because i love that man with my entire heart and every fic that i write about him is basically just me expressing my deep affection for this man. hope you guys enjoy this one cause i certainly do! also, rock star/boy band bucky is such a concept omg i’m in love

You laid in your twin-sized bed as you heard the chirping sounds of the birds outside of your window. They were singing cheerily as if they knew what you were feeling and they were celebrating with you. It felt like you were in a Disney movie that you used to obsess over as a kid, where you are the lovestruck princess because you just met a handsome prince who swept you off your feet at first sight.

The birds outside of your window are your animal pals who swoon over you swooning and they spontaneously harmonize and dance to this newfound joy. You couldn’t resist the smile taking over your face. It was too early for you to be awake on a Saturday morning. You were always up by 10 AM. No more, no less. But it was currently 8.45 AM and you still had at least one more hour to get up and be productive.

But not today. Today, you were going to welcome this exhilarating sensation in your bones, and you were going to savour every second of it. Because you couldn’t shake away those baby blue eyes and that suave, boyish charm. The way, they electrified you by first glance and made you tremble when those pupils dilated. You could still feel the way his soft, plump lips hypnotized you last night. And the raunchy way he held you at the bar.

Even when all was said and done, he found a way to haunt you in your dreams.

And you didn’t mind one bit.

-

You were currently in the middle of a crisis due to your upcoming final week. If there’s any word to describe you as a college student, it would be ambitious. The idea of failing or getting less than B+ makes you go ballistic. You were an active student. You joined multiple organizations that expanded your social life. You got along with mostly everyone in your classes and you had your professors’ respect too for your excellent grades and polite manners.

But your lack of dating life irked no one else more than your roommate, Natasha. You loved Natasha with your entire heart, really. She was like a sister to you. You were an only child so you cherished her older sister role in your life. She was, in fact, several months older than you and she always protected you like her own. Starting from the asshole that broke your heart in high school, despite only knowing him through your story, to incessantly pushing you to stop being such a nerd and have more fun.

Natasha was the kind of woman you don’t wanna mess with. She was loyal, brave and quick-witted. She knows how to keep her GPA high, whilst also maintaining a fun social life. She managed to do it all so effortlessly. 

“C’mon, y/n! Just one night! You need to let loose and release all tension on your shoulders, baby. It’s good for your brain before finals start!”

“Noooo, Nat. Rock bands are not my thing and I’d have a higher chance of acing the tests if I study now, okay? Just go. Have fun without me and tell me how it goes.”

“But my boyfriend’s performing, y/n. And I want you to meet him! I promise they are really good. Even if you're not into the music, you can still go for the drinks, right? Also, they’ve got other cute members available so, you might find your own rock band boyfriend too if you go.” She winked. Her smirk was menacing.

“Ugh, I’m not interested in finding a boyfriend, Nat.”

“I know, but wouldn’t hurt if you do, right? Then we can go on double dates and have them write songs about us. Oh God, it’s going to be awesome.”

“Whoa, slow down. I haven’t even learned their names, yet and we are already discussing double dates?”

“Alright, let’s just start with putting on your sexy clothes and meet them yourself. Then we can move onto picking one gorgeous beast for you.”

“What makes you even think that they’d be interested in me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, y/n. Have you never owned a mirror? You are a total babe. You just need to get yourself more action.”

“Ugh, I don’t know, Nat…”

“You are going. And I’m not leaving until you get up and put on something cool. I have patience, baby and I’m going to annoy you all night if you stay. What do you prefer? Going out and have fun and meet some cute boys or me annoying you all night so you can’t study productively.” She glared at you. Her tone indicated that there was no compromise.

“Alright, I’m going. But that’s only because I wanna meet your boyfriend, alright? Not because I wanna find a boyfriend or whatever stupid shit you’re thinking.”

“Yay!” She jumped in excitement. Her face was content with joy and satisfaction from succeeding in persuading you. “Alright, let’s dig through your clothes.” She started rummaging your shared closet and observed meticulously each one of your outfits. “Hmm… Let’s try this one!” She picked up a strapless black sequin dress that you hadn’t worn in forever. You didn’t even remember packing it up in your baggage and brought it with you to your dorm.

You began stripping yourself out of your oversized hoodie and high-waisted shorts. You didn’t feel embarrassed changing in front of Natasha, you had seen each other naked many times. You were roommates after all and sometimes, you just had to be comfortable with the fact that you had private body parts underneath and within the course of four years, eventually, you had to get used to flashing one another at some point.  

You put it on as you started to feel a little uncomfortable. You weren’t used to wearing skimpy dresses. Already wearing it for less than three minutes, you were constantly lifting the hem of the dress to prevent it from exposing your boobs and revealing your inner thighs. And the material felt itchy on your skin too. “Nat, I’m not sure about this. Let’s just wear a leather jacket and jeans.”

“Nonsense! You look bomb! Give your leather jacket and jeans a break, alright? Okay, turn around so I can see your behind.”

You twirled as she said, restlessly.

Tonight was going to be a longspun night…

-  

The air felt crisp against your skin, as the breeze swept through your freshly curled hair, causing a few strands shading your sight. You struggled to walk steadily in your 7-inch heels that belonged to Natasha because you didn’t have a pair of your own. You were cool with wearing ankle boots pairing them with a sparkly dress. But Natasha didn’t think it was a cute look.

“What? Boots and dresses don’t go along, honey. Oh my, you need a serious makeover!” She was derailed.

You eventually settled with a silk red dress with a seductively low cleavage on the front, exposing the globes of your breasts. You were already as uncomfortable as it is, this dress didn’t make it any easier to act normal.

So you had to endure walking in these deadly shoes of torture, whilst clad in nothing but a scanty material with makeup painting your entire face. Great. What had you gotten yourself into? Damn you, Natasha.

You and Nat were walking arm in arm to the bar where “The Howling Commandos” were performing. That’s the name of the band that Natasha’s boyfriend was in. They have been a group for 5 years now, they had been doing this since they were in high school. Clint and the rest of the members were several years older than you and Nat. As soon as they graduated, they decided that they wanted to keep making music rather than working mundane, dead-end jobs.

Yep, Natasha told you that much.

Clint and Nat had been dating for two years now. They rarely saw each other due to the band’s packed schedule. Although, they would FaceTime each other every night, talking about each other’s days. You heard it all, from their most disgustingly adorable flirtations, to the most inappropriate, not so PG-13 confession.

They would literally pretend to smooch one another through the screen when you were doing your homework or when you had your nose deep in a book. You’d try to cover your ears by putting on your earbuds and turning up the volume so you could give them privacy but also, you didn’t wanna hear them talking about what they wanted to do to each other if both of them were here.

You knew Clint well enough to not feel like you were meeting a complete stranger. Natasha would often tell you to say hi to him and she had told you a lot of wonderful things to Clint. Clint would often talk about the band too on the phone, how someone called “Bucky” would piss him off by stealing his leftover sandwich. Or someone called “Sam” would often interrupt their chat by reminding him that it was soundcheck time.  

“I gotta go, babe. Sammy’s not gonna stop yelling.”

“Aw, okay, tell the boys I say hi! Love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

It’s like a daily podcast for you every night.

The dive bar where The Howling Commandos were performing thankfully wasn’t that far from your dorm. Natasha was super thrilled when Clint told them that they were going to perform here. They were finally able to see each other after a while, and because this was going to be their last gig until they come back with a new album, he said he was going to stay and spend some time with Nat.

You were happy for both of them. You’d never say it out loud but, a part of you was secretly jealous of their love. They managed to maintain such a fun, loving, and healthy relationship despite the distance and differences. Natasha once told you that she was never one to settle with a man for too long but, Clint changed the game for her. You smiled at the thought. They were genuinely in love. If you were to find yourself a boyfriend, you wanted the type of love that they had.

But not tonight. You were okay with being single. Just because a part of you wanted what Clint & Nat had, doesn’t mean that you actually need it or you’d die. You were too much of a goal-oriented person to be chasing over something that should come naturally. You had grown so comfortable in being alone, that you stopped desiring love so much. It wasn’t getting you anywhere. So you lived your life, being grateful for your friends and family. You invested your time in your education and passion. You were content.

When you arrived at the bar, the room was full with a crowd. You walked in with Natasha trying to make a space for yourself so you could walk through them. You could barely anything else due to the number of bodies blocking your view. Natasha held your hand as she took the lead and fought through the crowd to get to the front, where she could get the best view.

There was a blonde-haired woman standing on the front, so close to where the band were going to play. When Natasha slightly grazed her whilst trying to stand next to her, she didn’t look the slightest bit happy. She glared at Natasha as Natasha noticed. She glared back at her.

“Excuse me, there’s more space in the back, maybe you can stand there instead of cutting through the line.”

“Excuse you, miss. I’m dating the band’s drummer, so I can stand wherever I want, thank you very much. If you don’t like that, then the exit is right there.” She pointed to the door of where we walked in from.

The blonde woman rolled her eyes as she folded her arms against her chest. After you stared at her reaction, you realized that you actually know her. She was in the same social science class with you. You had never really talked to her because she often sat in the back and immediately left after the class was done, but you remembered her name. Her name was Dottie Underwood. Your classmates called her Dot. The ones that she liked anyway.

You decided to stay quiet and let it pass. It’s not like she even recognized you even if you start a chat with her. You don’t think it was a good idea either since she and Nat literally just snarked at each other. You directed your sight to the stage and waited for the famous Howling Commandos to appear.

One of the spotlights turned and highlighted a man walking on stage before he talked into the microphone at the centre. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, a group of brilliant lads, that make all the ladies go feral wherever they go, and their showstopping music are going to make us sing and jump tonight. Please welcome, The Howling Commandos!”

The crowd roared with cheers, the sounds of their enthusiasm filled the atmosphere. Their claps were jovially in sync as four, drop-dead gorgeous young men stepped into the stage as their presence shifted the energy in the room.

The first one was a blonde-haired with breathtaking bone structure, forming a ridiculously handsome face. His hair shone under the spotlight like the sun amidst the clear sky. He had an amiable demeanour about him. His smile was gentle and welcoming. He waved to the crowd and stood directly behind the microphone.

The second one to walk in was a dark-skinned man with an undeniable charisma oozing out of him. He had a neatly trimmed beard that only added to his spicy appeal. His smile was radiant as he also waved the crowd. He stood on the left side of the stage, a couple of steps behind Steve who was apparently the lead singer.

The third one to walk in was Clint. He was everything Nat described him to be. Placid and nonchalant. His smile was amenable as he greeted the crowd. He walked directly to the background, where the drumset was placed. He sat down on the drummer’s chair as he picked up the sticks he was going to play with.

The last one to enter was a literal Disney prince coming to life. His prominent boyish charm completely bedazzled you. His blue eyes gleamed under the spotlight as they lingered on you for a second. He immediately shifted his gaze as he kept walking towards the right side of the stage, but you swore that when he caught you staring dumbfoundedly at him, you could see the flash of a quick smirk on his face.

He only nodded to the crowd as he confidently picked up the bass guitar that was previously placed on the floor and put on the leather straps around his neck. His eyes turned back to you as you found yourself still bluntly staring at him. Something about him just enchanted you. He had that boy-next-door charm about him but also, a bad boy persona that was irresistibly enticing.    

That flash of smirk that you saw earlier resurfaced and it was getting harder for you to pay attention to anyone or anything else in the room other than him. His gaze grew more intense as the noises of the crowd faded into the background. You were lost in this lethal game of eye contact until Natasha accidentally elbowed you by screaming her lungs out to respond to the lead singer’s introduction.

“Good evening, SHIELD’s Nest! How are we feeling tonight?” The lead singer vivified the crowd. They responded with a reassuring reaction. “I’m Steve Rogers and these are my buddies,” he turned his head to the left, as he started introducing the other band members.  “The handsome guy right there is Sam, and in the back, there’s Clint, our brilliant drummer boy and this ladies’ charmer right here is Bucky.” As he pointed to the magnetic man who had held your attention hostage since he first walked in.

“And we are The Howling Commandos.” He paused for a second before carrying on with his prelude. “Alright, so the first song that we’re going to play tonight is called ‘Rusted Love’. Enjoy.” Steve removed his mouth from behind the microphone and started cueing the band to play. “1,2…”

Sam and Bucky started strumming the first few notes as a few people cheered. Then Clint jumped in, flaunting his talent in mastering the drum with his sticks. The energy in the room felt more energized as people started moving a part of their bodies. Then Steve amazed the room with his sultry voice, singing the words that echoed through the Sound system of the bar.

“I’m a flying kite in a hurricane, you paralyzed me with your touch and your lips got me addicted…” Steve shut his eyes, relishing the rune. You had a feeling that those lyrics wouldn’t just stay lyrics tonight…

-

They played another four songs that night. The crowd danced, jumped and screamed the words to their song passionately. You, on the other hand, was probably the most tranquil person in the crowd. You didn’t really know much about the band, let alone their music. So when everyone was constantly pushing you because they were too lost in the moment, you eventually tried to get out of the crowd and sat on the bar instead. Natasha was also too lost in supporting her boyfriend, that she almost didn’t notice you leaving.

Through the vibration of the crowd and the music, you had to really lean in to get Natasha’s attention and to get her to hear you. “Nat! I’m gonna sit in the back and wait there. I’m a little thirsty.” She had a giant smile on her face due to the zest the band inflicted. “Okay!” She yelled back, then carried on with her foxy moves.

You struggled to walk through the crowd, trying to not step on anyone’s feet as you made your way to the barstool. What you didn’t notice was, Bucky’s disappointed on his face when he saw you walking out on him. He noticed that you weren’t exactly as thrilled as anyone else. Although, he noticed your stolen glances as you shied away from him when he stared back. He even tried to wink at you once but you immediately looked to the floor, hiding away your blush. He swore he saw the way your cheeks reddened. Not that he wasn’t used to getting that reaction anyway…

You exhaled a breath of relief as you finally broke out of the congested mass of people. You sat on the barstool as you ordered a glass of rum and you waited as the music still reverberated robustly in your ears. You sat there as you started looking through your Instagram. Nat’s icon was the first one to appear in the row and you clicked it to see what you were expecting. She recorded a video of the band, then zoomed in to Clint, as he was ardently drumming the beat.

She put on a heart eyes and fire emoji with the text; “that’s my man!”. The next one was her and you singing along to the second song they played that night. You were able to actually mouth the words after they played the last chorus and you were a quick learner, so you memorized the repeated words easily after the third time. You scrolled through your feed a few more minutes until your order finally arrived.

“Enjoy, miss.” The waiter winked at you. He was probably in his mid-20s, he had warm brown eyes and a sweet smile. His dark hair was slicked back as you stared a little longer than you should. He was obviously attractive, but, you didn’t say anything back to him. You just smiled back in a friendly manner and uttered silenced thanks.

After sitting by yourself for about a half and an hour, like all good things, the show must come to an end. Steve Rogers concluded the show with a final thank you and goodnight as the spotlight shut down, like the drapes closing over a theatrical show. The crowd clapped and some of them started leaving, while others immediately went to the bar to quench the thirst from screaming along to volatile rock music and jumping up and down, getting lost in the tune.

Natasha patted your back as she jumped on the empty chair next to you. Thank God, she was quick on her feet, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to get a seat. “Hey! God, I need a full shot of whiskey right now.”

“Yeah, go crazy.”

She scoffed. “Huh. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, back there.” She signalled the bartender to make an order. “So, what do you think? That was fun, right?” The cute bartender from earlier walked to her as he asked her what would she like to drink and she quickly replied.

“Yeah, they’re pretty good.”

“Pretty good? They’re damn talented. Especially the drummer back there. He totally killed it.”

“Yeah, okay, they are amazing. But you know their music isn’t my kind of music, so can’t say  I really enjoyed it that much.”

“Okay, but you must’ve at least enjoyed the view, right? Don’t think I didn’t catch you and bass boy making several eye contacts back there.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You took another sip of your glass to cover your embarrassment.

“Oh my God, you totally do! Look at you blushing!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! Admit it! You like Bucky, don’t you?” She playfully pushed you to tease you.

“Oh my God, shut up Nat! You’re causing a scene!” You tried to lower yourself, now that you’re able to speak in a normal volume.

“Nope, I won’t stop until you admit it. Don’t worry, y/n, Bucky’s always been a charmer, so I totally get your attraction.”

That caused a peculiar sickness in your chest. It’s not like you were falling in love with Bucky, no. You didn’t even know him enough to like him. He may be an eye-candy but if he’s really as “charming” as everyone is saying, then that means, he’s one of those dangerous fuckboys that you should avoid at all cost. Because that means, he’s probably only going to manipulate you into thinking that he really cares for you, when in reality, he only wanted to get in your pants. Nope, not gonna happen to you. You weren’t going to be a new notch in his belt.

“Well, then that means he is bad news and that gives me even more reason to feel anything but attraction toward him.”

“Oh, no, y/n, I don’t mean it like that. He’s really sweet, and he’s always been the most chill one in the group. Trust me, you’re gonna love him. Just, give him a chance first, alright? I’ve known him long enough to know that he’s into you.”

“Into me? Nat, he doesn’t even know my name.”

“He will.” She winked again, as she took a sip of her whiskey.

Not long after that, Clint appeared from behind, without Nat realizing. He surprised her by wrapping her waist from behind as he whispered into her ears; “how’s my best girl?” Nat was slightly stunned but as soon as she realized it was her boyfriend, her expression instantly turned into a joyful one. “Hi, baby!” They immediately smooched as she wrapped her arms around his neck while standing face to face now.

“Did you like the show?”

“I loved the show, you guys killed it as always. Oh, and by the way, this is y/n, my number one bestie and the best roommate anyone could ever ask for. Now you finally meet her in person!” Her excitement was genuine.

“Hi, y/n! Heard so many great things about you, but you probably can’t say the same, huh?”

“No, actually I can. Nat wouldn’t stop talking about you every night even when I’m blatantly ignoring her.” You joked.

“Well, is that right?” He looked at Nat to assess the truth on her face.

“Yep,” you carried on. “She would say you’re hot, funny and kind, and all these wonderful things. Including the ones that I’m not supposed to hear.”

They laughed. They kissed once more, as Clint stood next to her seat, ordering a drink for himself. Next to you, you could hear Nat saying, “oh, where are the boys? Are they not thirsty?”

“They’re just packing up, babe, they’re gonna join us in a few.”

“Good, ‘cause I think there’s someone y/n would like to meet.” She teasingly wiggled her eyebrows at you, as you sent her a murderous glare. Your lips silently mouthed, “what the fuck?” but Clint picked up her tone and he quickly got the message.

“Oooh, who is it? Is it Steve, Bucky, Sam? Just let me know which one you like and I’ll deliver them at your door tonight, y/n. They’re all single and ready to mingle anytime now.”

You laughed nervously. “No, no, no, no. Nat’s just saying shit.”

She turned her head to her boyfriend and shook it.  “No, I’m not. She and Bucky practically eye fucked on stage.”

You instantly slapped her arm, staring deadly into her eyes. “Ouch!” She put her hand on the spot that you struck, even though it wasn’t even that hard. Classic Nat. Dramatic as always.  “Nat, you can’t just–”

Before you even managed to finish your sentence, she darted her eyes to somewhere behind you as she pointed at whatever got her distracted. “Oh, here they are!” She smirked. She raised her eyebrows at you before she stood on her feet and hugged the anticipated men.

“Hey, guys! Killer show back there!” Nat started hugging Sam and he kissed her cheek, and then she moved onto Steve and the last one to join was Bucky. You muttered ‘shit’ to yourself as you pondered on how you should act. Should you act like nothing ever happened during the show between you two? Or were you going to address the elephant in the room, and just straight up flirt with him, now that he wasn’t being so closely watched anymore?

You didn’t know which would be the best option so you just took a big gulp and drank down the entire glass of Rum you had left. Maybe if you were less sober, you wouldn't excessively overthink. You weren’t even sure whether he was really staring at you or not. For all you knew, he could be staring at another beautiful girl in the crowd that was standing beside or behind you. And if you act impulsively now, this would be like that cheesy moment on Rom-Coms, where a girl waved back to the guy who she thought was waving at her but it turns out, he was actually waving at another girl who was coming from the same direction as her.

Nope, you weren’t going to be that girl.

So you just smiled and nodded along as Natasha introduced you to the rest of the boys. You didn’t want to be rude so you sat on your chair, facing them with an interested look, even though all you wanted to do was just shrink and leave this goddamn place.

“Hey guys, here’s my bomb-ass bestie slash roomie. Her name’s y/n! Isn’t she stunning?”

When Steve was about to offer his hand to you, Sam immediately inserted himself in front of you and Steve. “Well, hello, good-lookin’. Can I buy you a drink?” Sam, being the cool dude he was, he leaned back against the bar counter on his elbows as he shamelessly flirted with you.

“Nope, thank you. I just had one.”

“Oh, you look like you could use another one. Here, let me get that for you.” He cued the bartender to make an order and you instantly tried to stop him, telling him that it wasn't necessary, but it looks like the bartender was already taking his order for you.

And then, out of nowhere, Bucky suddenly stooped in like a hero. “Hey, Sam, why don’t you back off? This one’s mine, alright?” That elicited a questioning look out of you. “Mine?” He didn’t even know you.

“Oh wait, so this is the one you told us about in the dressing room?” What the hell? You thought. They were talking about you as if you weren’t there at all.

“Yep, so why don’t you fuck off and get out of here before I get myself drunk enough to shit on your bed?” His tone was menacing but you could tell that this was a normal, daily conversation between the two.

“Jeez, alright. I’mma leave. You don’t need to wave your dick all over my face.” Before Sam moved to another spot, he patted you on the back and said, “good luck.”

What? What the hell was that for? The bartender came in with your order and served another glass of Rum right in front of you.

“You don’t need to drink that if you don’t want to.” He carefully spoke to you, as if he was trying to not scare you away.

“No, I think I need to. Tonight’s been a pretty crazy night.” You took a sip, the cold drink felt nice on your tongue.

He chuckled. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Oh, how crazy can it be for you? Isn’t this like, what you do, every night?”

“Yeah, but, you never really get used to it, you know? Sometimes you just wanna sit in the bar and have a nice talk with a pretty gal and hide in the booth or something.”

That… Warmed up your heart. Damn, if this is his way of flirting, it was truly working. You could see now why everyone was calling him ‘a charmer.’ He really had a way with words. And stares. His baby blues really know how to captivate you and froze you on spot.

“I’m Bucky, by the way.” He offered his hand to shake yours.

“I’m y/n.” You shook it with a smile.

“Did you like the show?” He asked.

“Gotta be honest with you, buddy, your music isn’t exactly my kind of music. But you guys were awesome.”

He paused for a moment as if he was contemplating what he was going to say next. “Think I got a little distracted up there.”

“Oh yeah? Why is that?”

“Cause there was this pretty lady in a red dress that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.” His gaze even grew more intense now. He was looking at you like you were the only thing in the room. Then his eyes darted to your lips, as he licked his. And before you knew it, he started inching his face closer to yours as he held his gaze on your plump, painted lips, while you could feel his breath more and more as the seconds went by.

And then… His lips were on yours. It’s like the clock just stopped ticking and every noise faded into the background and you were the only two people in the room. His lips felt soft against yours, and the way he licked your bottom lip made your head spin. You ajarred your mouth to let his tongue enter as it got tangled with yours.

You were aware that Nat, Clint and Steve who were having a conversation are now watching you like hawks, but you couldn’t care less. Not when Bucky’s hands grabbed your face, so he could have more control over your mouth. You were practically out of breath by the time he looked into your eyes, that are now slightly darker than a few seconds ago. He loved the sight of you, with your lips slightly swollen.

“Let’s go somewhere more secluded.” You could only nod and then took his hand after he offered you his as you got off the stool. He led the way and you couldn’t help but notice the glances that were thrown by several women along the way. They were staring at him with incontrovertible full of hunger eyes, one even shamelessly put her hand on his shoulder, as she coquettishly smiled at him. Bucky only smiled back and nodded at her but he kept walking with you in his hand.

Even if you were practically a pair, you felt invisible. Everyone’s eyes were on you, but not precisely on you. This must’ve been something normal to him, you thought. You weren’t used to big crowds and inundated with attention, and you weren’t used with unquestionably holding a stranger’s hand and letting him take you wherever he had in mind. But you did anyway, and you weren’t having second thoughts.

Bucky led you to the cramped lavatory and locked the door. The lack of space made it even harder for you to breathe when Bucky was this close to you. He pressed his body to yours, as he kissed you once more. Slowly, but you felt the spell in your bones. “All I could think about on stage was tasting those luscious lips.”

You were spellbound by his magic. You could barely speak another word when his baby blue eyes were looking at you so intensely like that. But you gathered every cell in your body to utter the words anyway, “do it again, then.” You boldly challenged him.

He grinned a Cheshire cat smile. He grabbed your face again and eagerly consume you with his mouth. He then moved his hands to the back of your thighs to elevate you onto the sink. He put his hand on your thigh and the other hand went to the back of your head as he grabbed a fistful of your hair, while still kissing you even deeper.

He pulled away to stare at your distraught state and asked the question, “can I touch you?”

You licked your lips, as you nodded. “Please.” His mouth was on yours again, as the hand that was on your thigh moved to the bottom your dress, delicately inserted his fingers to feel you against your red lace panties. You could feel yourself growing wetter and wetter as he motions his fingers in circle harder.

Your breath quickened. Your mind was getting hazy as the second passes by. The right strep of your dress had fallen off of your shoulder, and Bucky utilized that opportunity to pull down the other strap and he began groping your breast, tenderly pinching your nipple. That elicited a petite yelp out of you. He groped your breast once more as he was still toying with your nipple.

He began kissing your neck, shortly finding your sensitive spot as you threw your head back. You shuddered. Your hands grabbed his hair, wanting to feel him closer. “Bu- Bucky… Please. I need to feel you.”

You didn’t wait for his response and immediately lifted up his shirt. You were stunned by the sight under the dimmed light of the bathroom. Clothes really didn’t do this man any justice. He should never be allowed to wear any coverups, ever again now that you had seen him. He was sculpted by the Gods themselves. His biceps felt robust in your dainty hands and the V-shaped line on his hips led to somewhere you really wanted to wrap your lips around.

Your hands quickly zipped down his jeans and his boxer along with it, and you didn’t hesitate in feeling his throbbing member right there, right then. It felt tremendous in your trembling hands, and you felt it getting harder with every stoke of your palm.

“Oh, fuck, doll, don’t stop.” His voice was raspy in your ears. It was the sexiest goddamn sound you had ever heard.

“Yeah, just like that. Go faster, doll.” He sucked your earlobe and his hand fisted your hair, making a mess out of it. You didn’t mind one bit. You wanted to be a mess for him and only for him. You somehow still managed to pamper him with all the senses you had left, even if your mind was clouded with every part of him.

“Bucky, put it in me. Please.” You begged with a quavering voice.

“Your wish is my command, doll.” In a second, he pushed into you and it sent an electrifying jolt all over your nerves. You threw your head back in mingled pain and pleasure. He felt even more full now that he was fully seated inside you. He lifted you from the sink and pushed you to the wall on the opposite.

You circled your arms around his neck as your back was slammed against the concrete. Then Bucky began thrusting vigorously. You shut your eyes and moaned his name. Bucky, on the other hand, didn’t. He kept his eyes wide open to watch you with full attention. He loved seeing the way you were drunk in him. The way you forgot your name more and more every time he slammed back into you.

He loved the squelching noises ringing in his ears, better than the melody he was used to creating in the studio. The sound of your heartbeat was far more gratifying than the way Clint played his drum. Oh, how he could write an entire album solely about you in this state alone.

“You feel so good around me, doll. So. Fucking. Tight.” Your moans became louder with his filthy words in your ears.

“I’m gonna make you mine.” This time, his voice was sultry. It was rather beguiling than mortifying.

His hips kept moving and out of you with a vehement tempo, and then just like that, you crumbled. You screamed your pleasure, not caring if anyone could hear you. Bucky was still moving, trying to reach his own climax. Shortly, he was with you. He unleashed his cum deep inside you, adding the mess that was dripping all over your thighs.

You were a beautiful mess. And Bucky loved it.

After a few minutes, coming down from your high, you breathed into Bucky’s neck, not wanting for it to be over yet. You were a little scared that Bucky was going to walk out and pretend nothing ever happened between you. You didn’t know how many bathroom stalls Bucky had brought different women to and fucked them silly right there. You had a lot do unravel about him, yet, you weren’t certain whether he wanted to let you in or not.

“You okay?” Bucky whispered into your ear. You only nodded, still a little hazy from ecstasy.

“I’m gonna put you down now, yeah?”

“Okay.” He slowly set you on your feet, as he was still staring at your face. You leaned against the wall, trying not to collapse. Bucky picked up his shirt and put it back on along with his jeans and boxer.

“Let’s get out of here.” Bucky offered you his hand, like the gentleman that he was as if he hadn't just fucked you into oblivion in a public restroom.

You took his hand with a smile. You didn’t know what was going to happen after you walk out of the door, but you were going to savour every second of being in his arm if this was going to be last time you’ll ever see him.

-

You went home with a contented smile on your face. You were like a teenage girl who had just been asked to prom by her crush. How could you not, when Bucky offered to walk you home and left a kiss on your cheek before he called it a night?

Natasha was going to stay at Clint’s hotel, so you were supposed to walk home alone. You knew eventually this was going to happen but Natasha and Clint used it as a reason so Bucky and you would spend the night together too. You didn’t mind one bit, though. You wanted to elongate your time with Bucky and your wish was granted.

You offered him to come inside and stay for a little while, you were secretly hoping that you could go for the second round, but Bucky only chuckled and shook his head.

“Not tonight, doll. I ain’t that kinda man. And you need rest. But I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?” Then you and Bucky exchanged your numbers and he waited until you were really gone from his sight.

You walked up to your dorm with butterflies in your stomach and sparks fly all trailing over your footsteps. Thank God, Natasha wasn’t here. If she were, she would’ve relentlessly teased you all night and made you admit that she was right to coerce you to come.

And you would’ve had to admit that she was right. And you didn’t like admitting that you were wrong.

But tonight, you were going to admit it to yourself though. Sometimes, doing something that frightens you the most would endue you in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine.

And you were going to thank your lucky stars tonight for embedding Natasha Romanoff in your life because, without her, you would’ve stayed in your shell and Bucky could’ve fucked someone else in that restroom instead of you.

That might’ve happened in another universe, but not tonight. Tonight it was you and you were really hoping that you were going to see him again in your dreams tonight. You had one taste of him and it wasn’t enough.

Bucky texted you not long after you took a shower.

“Dreaming of me, yet?” Wink emoji.

“Well, if I were, I wouldn’t be texting you right now, would I?”

“That’s true, but at least you’d be drenching your sheets because of me and I don’t think I have a problem with that.”

“I don’t need you to do that, maybe I can use some toys in my drawers tonight. They seem pretty bored.” Thinking emoji.

“Oh, doll, you are killing me here…” Drool emoji.

“You like it.”

“I do.”

“Goodnight, Bucky.”

“Goodnight, doll. Thinking of you here.”

You turned off your phone and the screen went black. You changed into your pyjamas and washed off the remnants of your makeup and let the slumber take over you.

Bucky’s face loomed over you, somewhere in a fancy balcony, the view of the city stretching over, added to the beauty of the scenery. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white dress shirt and no tie. The first couple of buttons were unbuttoned, giving you a majestic picture that he was. His hands that were in his pockets, took yours as you exerted yours to him.

He leaned in with a bright smile under his stubbly face, his blue eyes sparkled like Sirius star.

“Fly with me, doll.”

“What if I fall?”

“Then I’ll catch you.”

[sincerelynamkook]

Hennessy (01)

Latina Y/N x Jungkook

Genre: Angst, Fluff 

Warnings: alcohol/drunken behavior (drink responsibly friends), mentions of smoking, sexual tension 

Word Count: 2.6k

Playlist: “Yo Perreo Sola” by Bad Bunny // “Frikitona” by Plan B // “Te Extrano” by Xtreme // “Imitadora” by Romeo Santos”

Series Masterlist

“You ready?” I roll my eyes with a pout instead of verbally answering my best friend’s question. I’m still lowkey butthurt she not only forced me to get up from my umpteenth day in bed, but also forced me to get dressed and put on makeup. I’m barely into my 30th day of getting over a breakup, I had plans to dive deep into the pits of my depression and despair for another month or two. 

“Stop being a brat and get over it. It’s not like you were in love with the guy.” Britt sasses back.

“Maybe so. But I really gave that fucker 6 months of my life thinking he would eventually be the one only for him to go out and cheat on me...let me be depressed, damn bro.” 

“Dude, c'mon. Tony said this would be the party of the year and you know how Latinos love to throw a party.” She grabs my hand and drags me up the driveway to the front door. I could hear the loud blast of Merengue music all the way from where we parked down the street. Serves us right for being 2 hours late to this damn party. But we were running on Latino time. 

“Bitch did you forget I’m Latina?” I ask her. Of course I know what Latin parties are like. 

“Really? You sure ain’t acting like the bad bitch Latina I know you are.” 

“I-...whatever.” I mumble, not having a retort. 

She giggles and opens the front door, coming fact to face with Jimin who has the brightest smile on his face. “Finally bitches! I’ve been waiting for y’all for over an hour.” 

Music, laughter, singing, mixed with conversations from every direction bombard my ears. Jimin drags Britt and me to the back of the house, bee-lining straight to the kitchen counter that's covered in alcoholic beverages. He goes around to stand next to Tony who’s behind the counter, dressed in an all black fit, gold chain around his neck, nose pierced with a stud and a septum, and small black rectangular framed glasses perched on his nose. 

“What, you on your Bad Bunny phase or something?” I ask him as Jimin hands me a cranberry vodka, knowing it’s my favorite drink. 

With a smile, he sticks his tongue out and places his pinky fingers near his glasses doing the iconic Bad Bunny pose, “You already know babyyyy,” he says garnering a laugh from me. “I made sure to stock up on cranberry and vodka for you babe. Britt warned me so we on that ‘Bring Y/N back to life’ gang shit tonight.”

“Oh god,” I grimace. When Britt and Tony get together on their “missions” there is no hope for us. “Well you got food around here? I ain’t getting shitfaced on an empty stomach.”

“This ain’t the first time at the rodeo, Y/N.” Hoseok says as he appears behind Tony with a platter of appetizers on a plate for me. “We take care of our favorite girls around here, Y/N, c'mon now, especially when you're my girlfriend’s best friend” he winks at Britt and she giggles. Gross. 

“My hero.” I respond sarcastically, inspecting the chips and guac. With a raise of a brow I ask, “This better be some legit guac boys, not that store bought kind y’all got that one time at Costco.”

“Omg get over it! I didn’t realize it was expired!” Jin yells from behind me. He gives Britt a kiss on the cheek before pinching my arm. I stick my tongue out before giving him a genuine smile. “I wasn’t even the one who bought it. It was Jimin!” 

Jimin giggles, “Well that’s what y’all get for sending me grocery shopping when I’m hungover.”

“I was sick for days! I almost died!” I yell back. Not gona lie, this guac is hella good. “Dude, who made this guac. It’s legit, I’ll give you that.”

“I asked my sister to make some for us. She also made some tamales for you and Britt, you know she loves y'all more than me.” Tony says as he pours me another drink. Tears start to well in my eyes, food being the only thing that weakens my tough exterior. 

“Tony...tell your sister to divorce Jackson and marry me. I’ll treat her better!” I exclaim making the group laugh. 

“Y’all lets move this party to the den.” Hoseok says, grabbing Britt’s hand and leading us to the next room, away from the bigger crowd. 

We each take our usual seats. Being a tight knit group since our college days, we have our traditions, one being movie night at Tony’s every weekend, thus leading us to have our own unofficial assigned seats. 

The music can still be heard from the den, albeit not as loud as it was in the main rooms. 

“So we getting Y/N shitfaced tonight right?” Jimin asks with a smirk in my direction. 

“Hell yeah. I can’t believe you skipped out on movie nights this whole month.” Jin responds with a shake of his head. “I thought we were family.”

I roll my eyes at his dramatics. “Whatever. Y’all know how I get when I’m in my moods.”

Hoseok stands and comes around the couch to hug me from behind. “I know you’re not a hugger but accept this quick hug and let go of your sadness friend.”

 I giggle and hold back my witty remark, knowing his heart is in the right place. “Thanks Hobi. Give me a few more drinks and I’ll be begging for your hugs.”

He jumps at that and runs to the kitchen yelling, “You don’t have to tell me twice!!” Brittany gets up and follows him, muttering something about going to make sure he doesn’t get dragged into dancing. 

“But in all seriousness, Y/N, are you okay?” Jin asks next to me. 

“Not gona lie, I’m hurt because y’all know how I feel about cheating. But it is what it is right?” I exhale and gulp down my third cup of cranberry vodka. 

“You’ll be okay babe, c'mon lets go get more drinks.” Jimin takes my hands and drags me out the den, just as Yoongi and Joonie were walking into the den. 

“Hey fuckers. I brought the Henny!” Yoongi announces with a smirk. At the sound of Henny I turn around and walk back into the den, grabbing the Hennessy bottle from Yoongi’s grasp and opening it to pour myself some shots. 

“Oh so that’s what we doing huh?” He smirks and I just wink at him raising my shot glass at him. 

“The night is young my friend.” I say as I raise up my second shot in a toast. Joon takes the bottle from me and pours me another one, clinking his own glass with mine. 

“Let’s get this bread!” he says to which I grimace and retort back, “Grandpa, don’t ever say that again.” He chuckles with a roll of his eyes and downs his shot. 

The heat from the alcohol going down my throat and coursing throughout my body has me removing my jacket. Jin whistles saying “aight mami, you sure you're getting over a break up?”

Giggling, I look over at him to see him checking me out. I’m donned in black ripped skinny jeans, black platform Jadon docs, and a green satin tank top; meaning my tattoo covered arm is out on display. “Boy please, be quiet before you get me in trouble with Tree. Where is she anyway?”

“She had to work tonight. She’s gonna come after her shift which should be soon.” He says checking the time on his phone. 

Another shot is placed in my hand by Jimin, “bottoms up bitch!”

I down my shot just as I hear the sounds of “Yo Perreo Sola” by Bad Bunny start to play. “Oh shit! This my song!!!” I yell, clearly feeling the effect of the alcohol contents fueling my body. I grab Jimin’s hand and drag him over to the crowd dancing in the large living room. 

Jimin positions himself behind me, holding my waist as we start to dance to the song. We grind up on each other, perreando like the song describes, screaming the chorus together with the crowd. I turn around to face him and push him backwards, ready to perrear sola. The other girls around me start to hype me up and start to grind against me. We put on quite the show but the crowd goes even wilder when the song switches to “Frikitona” by Plan B. Jin dances up next to me with Tree on his arm and hands me two more shots, “double fist time babyyy” he yells over the crowd. I take the shots all the while I’m dancing, I don’t even notice when the two empty glasses are replaced with new full ones by Jimin, knowing it's him with the pink hair on his head, but I down those two. I vaguely notice Hoseok and Brittany dancing not too far from me, practically making love on the dance floor. Wouldn’t surprise me if they disappeared upstairs real soon. The reggaetón bops keep going and Jimin and I keep dancing amidst the crowd. Whoever picked this mix deserves a reward because it got all the throwbacks. I smile big when I hear Don Omar’s “Dile.”

I’m sweating, pushing my hair back from my face every few seconds, regretting not bringing a scrunchie with me to put it in a bun. The reggaetón mix fades off into a bachata mix with “Te Extrano” by Xtreme being the first song to play. Not wanting to go back into my feels, I decide to take this time to grab water and sober a bit. Now that I’ve stopped dancing I realize just how drunk I really am. I lean against the counter and grab a cool water bottle from the cooler, snickering when I see Yoongi making out with some girl across the kitchen. 

The bachata mix turns sensual, as “Sobredosis” by Romeo Santos starts to play. I sway softly in my spot against the counter, singing along to the song as I try hard to sober up. 

I hear Tony yell a “Look who finally made it” and the crowd starts to shout their greetings at whoever just walked in. I turn around to see what the commotion is all about and see Jungkook walking in holding two bottles of Hennessy, one in each hand.

“What the fuck” I whisper softly, but not soft enough when I hear Taehyung reply, “yeah, he’s back.”

“Whoa when did you get here TaeTae? And when you say ‘he’s back’ you mean cause of summer break right?” I ask without turning back around to look at him, my attention at one man and one man only. 

“I got here a while ago with Janet, we were outside smoking though.” Ahh that makes sense. “And no, he’s back for good. He graduated last week.” He says with a smirk in my direction. 

My eyes go wide, muttering a soft, “fuck.” I turn around to face the kitchen, hands in my hair in exasperation. How did he graduate already? He’s like three years younger than me! I close my eyes and focus on doing the math only to realize that he in fact was graduating college this year. Shit. 

Tae pats my back, “what’s got your panties in a twist love? It’s not like you fucked the guy on his 21st birthday and never spoke to him again even though he’s one of your best friend’s, Yoongi’s to be exact, younger brother.”

I open my eyes and face Tae. He yells an exaggerated ‘OW!” when I twist his nipple. 

“Kim Taehyung what the fuck?! I told you never to mention that again.” I exhale and make the decision to continue my “getting shitfaced” mission. Pouring a line of shots, I start to take them one after the other until Tae decides to take the last 3 himself earning a “fuck you” from me. 

I lean against the counter, facing the living room only to see Jungkook walking towards me. I roll my eyes at him when I see his smirk directed at me. He walks up next to me and opens the bottle of Hennessy, not saying a word. Taehyung chuckles and leaves with a “have fun lovebirds.” Jungkook pours two shots and hands me one. But he doesn’t just give it to me like any decent person would, no way, he has the audacity to bring the shot glass to my lips , softly nudging my lips open with it to make me drink. Not one to back down from a challenge, I hold his hand holding the shot glass against me and throw my head back to down it. His big brown eyes, those that were so full of innocence, are now full of lust and focused on my lips. I don’t miss the way they subtly move down to look at my neck when I swallow the alcohol, or the way his hand still near my lips slightly twitches when my tongue flicks out to lick my bottom lip, making sure I take every drop of alcohol he gave me. 

He leans closer to me, his scent which now surrounds me making me even drunker. My hands go up to his chest instinctively, as if I had the willpower to actually shove him away. I could feel his heart beating faster against my hands, his pecks feeling tight...woah when did that happen? 

I feel, rather than see, his face lean closer to my ear where he softly whispers, “wana show me what else you can swallow?” His deep melodic voice has me closing my eyes and gulping in a millisecond, feeling a rush of wetness pool at my core.  

I open my eyes, reminding myself who I’m talking to and laugh the nerves away. I shove him back, needing some room to breathe and he chuckles at my antics. 

The playlist starts to play “Imitadora” by Romeo Santos and I can feel a change in the atmosphere. Jungkook takes a step closer to me, arm going around me to softly push me against him. He leans close to my ear again to whisper “dance with me” but I’m too high off his scent and to the beat of his heart that’s vibrating against where my hands rest on his chest to answer. He takes it as a yes and walks us backwards to the center of the makeshift dance floor. 

I bring myself back to the present and raise an eyebrow at him, “You sure you can keep up Korean boy?” I feel his chest softly vibrate from his chuckle.

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve preciosa” he answers with a smirk as he twirls me around. I swoon at his honey like voice calling me “preciosa,” with the subtle hint of his accent. But I feel my pussy clench when he dances bachata like a Latin born man. 

My heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest when he starts singing the chorus of the song in perfect Spanish close to my ear. Hitting every note like if he was Romeo Santos. 

He must've heard my swift intake of breath by the way he smiles. A smile I feel on my neck as he leans even closer to me to drop a kiss at my nape, sealing it with a lick. 

The song comes to an end, quickly transitioning to a more up tempo bachata song. Jungkook drops another kiss on my neck and whispers “wana see what other tricks I got?”

[obx-adventures]

The Introverted Twin

Summary - Being John B’s bookish twin isn’t easy. Especially with my best friend, Pope, being weird about me getting closer with JJ.

Catch up here: Ch 1

——

Chapter 2

When I get home from my SAT retake, I’m met by John B and JJ at the porch. They both have huge grins on their face, and I can see JJ practically vibrating in excitement.

“Uh, what’s up guys?” I ask confused.

“We know that we fucked up the other day and we want to make it up to you,” my brother tells me as he puts his hands on my shoulders. “We are taking you to that planetarium in Chapel Hill that you’ve been wanting to see.”

I can’t help the enormous smile I give them. I’ve been wanting to go to Morehead for years, but no one would go with me. Not even Pope, who is just as nerdy as I am. I can’t believe the boys are willing to do this for me. I pull them both into a group hug and they both wrap their arms around me. I give them both kisses on the cheeks as I pull away from the hug and am surprised to see JJ blush a little.

We load into the van and I pull out my phone to research the exhibits we can see. The boys leave me alone, knowing that I like to make a plan anytime we go somewhere new. By the time we get to the ferry, I have the whole afternoon planned out.

“So, Sunshine, are you excited?” JJ gently nudges me with his shoulder once we sit down. John B is standing on the deck, so JJ and I are alone.

“So excited! I can’t believe you agreed to this. But I’m so happy.”

“Agreed to this? No way! I am not letting JB take credit. This was my idea.”

I feel my cheeks flush and quickly look down to hide my face. I’m stunned by JJ’s thoughtfulness. I always thought he wasn’t paying attention when I would talk about wanting to go.

“Thank you, J,” I say quietly.

“I told you I would do anything for you, Sunshine.” He grabs my hand and I get lost in the feel of our skin touching. While my hand is soft and dainty, his are rough and calloused. I’ve watched these hands fix the van, break open skin, and roll blunts. But I never realized how gentle they can be, how gentle JJ really is.

We sit in comfortable silence until my brother joins us. He gives us a weird look when he sees JJ holding my hand, but JJ doesn’t seem to care. Instead he prompts me to tell them the plan once we get there. I spend the rest of the ferry ride telling the boys about each exhibit we’re going to see.

----

JJ gently shakes me awake when we dock back on the island. After a full afternoon at the planetarium, I immediately fell asleep with my head on JJ’s shoulder when he got back to the ferry. I’m still pretty groggy so JJ scoops me up to carry me to the van. I immediately fall back asleep in JJ’s arms once my brother starts driving back to the Chateau. I wake up briefly when he settles me onto my bed 10 minutes later.

“Thank you, J,” I mumble as I adjust in my bed. JJ chuckles at my barely intelligible words. He leans down, brushes my hair out of my face, and places a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“You’re welcome, Sunshine. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

----

The next day, I wake up to the sounds of a full house. I check my phone and see that it’s already noon. I usually don’t sleep this late, so I jump up and get myself dressed quickly. When I walk out to the living room, I see all the Pogues chatting. Kie sees me first and pats the open seat next to her.

“Hey, sleepyhead, welcome to the land of the living.” I go sit next to her on the couch but lean in for a hug from my only girlfriend before getting comfortable.

I have always been grateful for Kiara Carrera. With my general awkwardness and having John B and JJ always around, I’ve always struggled to make friends. Pope and I bonded while in gifted classes in middle school and I was pleasantly surprised when he got along so well with the Gruesome Twosome (my dad’s nickname for JB and JJ when they were kids). But I never made any female friends until Kie joined our little group a couple years ago.

“How do you think the SAT went yesterday?” Pope asks me. I briefly fill in my best friend but change the subject before the other boys can complain. John B is beyond proud of my academic achievements but is quickly bored when Pope and I talk about school.

“Y/N, now that you’re done studying for your test, are you finally going to come out on the Pogue with us?” my brother asks me. I quickly agree to go with and start making sandwiches and packing snacks for our day.

As soon as Sarah Cameron gets to our house, we set out on our adventure. I’m pleased to see that the other Pogues are beginning to accept Sarah. Kie was vehemently against their relationship and JJ didn’t like her because she was a Kook. But my brother didn’t care and now she sits on his lap while he drives the boat and no one bats an eye.

Once we get out to our usual swimming spot, I decide not to jump into the water right away. As I lay down to get some sun, Pope comes over and lays next me.

“I thought you were going to come over after you finished the SAT yesterday,” I immediately feel guilty at Pope’s statement.

“Oh shit, Pope, JB and JJ surprised me with a trip to the planetarium yesterday. I completely forgot about our plans.”

“They took you to Morehead?” Pope asks in surprise.

“Yea, JJ felt guilty about the fight the other day, so he got JB to agree to go. They were waiting for me when I got back from the test.” Pope has a strange look on his face but before I can ask him what’s wrong, Kie yells to me from the water.

“You got JJ to go to a museum?” I can hear how incredulous she sounds without even seeing her face.

“Hey!” JJ yells, sounding slightly offended. “I can do smart people things. Plus, it was really cool. Y/N made me look through the giant telescope and we got to see this movie about the Carolina sky.”

I turn in surprise to look at JJ. I couldn’t tell yesterday if he actually enjoyed the trip or was just trying to have a good time for me.

“Dude, you actually liked that shit? I was so fucking bored!” I turn to stick my tongue out at my brother and see Sarah smack him upside the head, which makes all of us laugh.

“No, it was awesome!” I can’t help the smile that comes from JJ’s enthusiasm. Pope nudges me to get my attention.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going?” I frown at the hurt tone in Pope’s question. “I would have gone with you guys.”

“I didn’t think about it, Pope. They said it was to make up for getting into the fight the other day. I thought they meant it just for the three of us.”

Instead of responding, Pope gets up and walks to the back of the boat. He looks angry but I don’t know why. Even though he’s my best friend, we don’t do everything together. I really didn’t think this was a big deal, but I guess I was wrong. While I’m thinking about how to make this right, JJ climbs out of the water and sits next me.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him,” JJ tells me. I turn to him and get lost for a minute while looking at his face. Just like the other day in my room, I’m in awe of how beautiful he is. Today, with the sun behind him and his wet hair hanging down, he looks even better. His eyes sparkle as they reflect the sun and ocean and his sun-kissed skin glows. He catches me staring and flashes me a blinding smile while raising an eyebrow at me. I quickly avert my gaze and try to change the subject.

“Did you really have fun yesterday? You weren’t bored like JB?”

“I had a great time. That stuff really was cool. Plus, I was happy to see you so happy.”

I don’t know what to say to JJ, but the butterflies are back in full force. It’s hard to doubt him when he sounds so genuine. I silently contemplate my relationship with JJ. I love to be around him and it seems like he actually enjoys spending time with me. But why?

After a few more hours of swimming, we decide to head back to the Chateau. John B has had a few beers, so I decide to drive back. Normally he fights me on this but Sarah grabs his hand and drags him over to sit with her. I see JJ sit next to Pope to try to talk to him, but I can’t hear what he’s saying over the sound of the boat. When we get back to our house, Pope leaves without saying anything and I can’t help feeling hurt.

“He’ll come around, Y/N,” Kie tells me as she throws an arm around my shoulders.

“I just don’t get it. It’s not like I did it on purpose. I was just so excited to go, I didn’t even think about.”

“I think that’s the problem, sweetie,” Kie says kindly. She elaborates when I look at her in confusion. “His feelings are hurt because he thinks you don’t care about him.”

“Kie, he’s my best friend. Of course, I care about him.”

“I know you do.” I can tell she wants to say more but is holding back. When I raise my eyebrows at her, she goes on. “I think he realizes you don’t care about him the way he wants you to.”

My eyes widen at this. Is Kie trying to tell me that Pope has romantic feelings for me? That can’t be true. He’s never given me any indication that he does. But I suppose it’s possible that I’ve missed the signs. I’m usually blind about this stuff. I remember when a guy from school asked me out last year and John B laughed at my surprise. He said that the guy had flirted with me every day at lunch for months, but I was clueless. This is Pope, though. I know him better than I know myself. I would know if he was into me, wouldn’t I?

When we go back into the house, I start making dinner for the boys and myself (Kie had to go to the Wreck for her shift and Sarah had to pick up Wheezie) but my thoughts are still on my best friend. I’m startled back to reality when I feel something scald my skin. Grease from the bacon I was cooking for our BLTs has spit out and seared the back of my hand.

“Oh shit!” I yell as I run over to put my hand under cold water.

John B runs into the kitchen to check on me and offers to take over cooking duties. I go over to sit on the couch next to JJ while I rub the back of my hand. He reaches over to inspect my hand and looks concerned. Again, his rough hands hold mine gently as he delicately brushes his fingers over the reddened skin.

“You ok there, Sunshine?”

“I’m fine, J, just wasn’t paying attention.”

“Thinking about Pope?” JJ has always been able to tell when I’m lost in my thoughts. It’s strange because not even my brother notices most of the time.

“Yea, I saw you tried to talk to him. What did he say?”

“Honestly, nothing,” JJ tells me with a shrug. “He wouldn’t look at me and didn’t answer when I asked him what was going on.”

“Kie thinks he’s into me,” I admit quietly to him. When he doesn’t say anything, I turn to study his face. His normally bright eyes are filled with worry and his lips are turned down in a small frown.

“Well, do you want him to be into you?”

“He’s my best friend, JJ. I’ve never thought of him as more than that. And until today, I didn’t think he thought of me that way either.”

I don’t understand the look of relief on JJ’s face. But before I can ask him, John B brings over sandwiches for us. I spend the rest of the evening watching movies with the boys with my head resting on JJ’s shoulder. I fall asleep thinking about how I’m going to make things right with Pope.

Ch 3

Taglist: @agirlwholovescoffee

[houseof-harry]

What Happens in Jersey | G.D.

A/N - hey guys! this is my first time posting anything I’ve written on tumblr so pls forgive me if it’s total shit.  I’m super excited to hear any feedback and if you would be interested in a second part or something!!!

Word count: 5K

Warnings: smut

Summary - Y/N is in New Jersey with her college friend for the week of New Years.  She takes a particular liking to Grayson Dolan, but only plans for it to be a one time thing.  But things never go as planned.

It would be safe to say you were a bit of a nomad.  You had grown up in a small town and decided to go to college far away from there.  Once you left, your parents wanted out too.  However, you never had any interest in sitting in the middle of the mountains with them while you were on breaks, so you found yourself bouncing around from place to place, never really staying with anyone for more than a couple of weeks.

That’s how you ended up in New Jersey with your best friend from school.  Jessie was kind enough to let you stay with him the last few weeks of your winter break.  You were excited because after spending time with your whole family, you would finally be able to just hang out with your friends again.  Or Jessie’s friends, rather.

You and Jessie were seniors this year, and you had no idea where post-graduation would take you.  That’s why you’re soaking up every minute with him while you can.  His friends were all super welcoming of you and have made you feel like you were meant to be there with them all the time.  After hanging out with them all week, you were exciting to be spending New Year’s Eve with them, too.

“Do you know what you’re going to wear for New Year’s yet?” Jessie asks, pulling you from your train of thought.

“No, I still have to go through what I brought with me.  How fancy do you guys usually go?”

“It’s pretty casual.  The girls wear jeans and a cute top, nothing crazy.  I’m gonna wear jeans and a t-shirt.”  He shrugs, looking back down at his phone.  You walk over to your bag to look for the perfect top.  You were hoping that one of his friends would finally make a pass at you, so you wanted to dress the part.  Not just any of his friends, though.  Grayson Dolan specifically.

Grayson had been particularly nice to you since you’d come to town.  You hoped you weren’t reading into it too much and that he was actually interested because if you were being honest, it had been a minute since you’d had any action.  That’s all you needed.  No strings, not even a second night together.  Just something to end the dry spell that came along with the stress of trying to graduate college.

You pulled out a gold sequined top.  It showed plenty of chest without being too scandalous and always looked good paired with the black jeans you had packed.  You pulled the jeans out along with a pair of heels and got Jessie’s attention.

“Do you think this’ll look good?”  You ask him, looking down at the outfit and then back up at him.

“Yeah, that top always looks good on you.  Who’re you trying to impress?” He jokes, already knowing the answer.  Jessie is always up to date on your romantic life (or lack of one), and could tell immediately that you had taken a liking to Grayson.  He seemed to think Grayson had taken a similar liking to me, which is the whole reason you have your hopes up in the first place.

“You know why.”  You roll your eyes and put the clothes on top of your bag.

“He’s gonna go crazy for you in that, don’t worry.”  Jessie let out a bit of a sigh before you stood up.

“I’m gonna take a shower.  Movie after before we go to bed?”  You ask.

“Sure.”  He responds, not looking up from his phone.

You go to the bathroom, ignoring the frown that seemed to be on his face.

***

You were finishing putting on your mascara when Jessie walks into the room.

“Ready to go?”  He asks you while looking at himself in the mirror, adjusting his shirt.

“I guess so.”  You finish and put your makeup away, standing up and twirling around.  “How’s the finished look?”

He gives my body a once over, his eyes lingering on the shape of my body.  “Good,” is all he says.

“Just good?”

“Y/N, you always look amazing, you know what I meant.”  He rolls his eyes.

“Whatever, let’s go.”  You say, choosing to ignore his gesture with his eyes.  You walk down the stairs and outside, grabbing your jacket on the way.  Ethan and Grayson are waiting outside in their car.  When they see you approach, Ethan opens the window to greet you guys.

“There they are.  Ready for a new year?” He asks as you approach.

“More than you know.”  You smile at him and Jessie opens the back door.  You climb in and slide over so he can get in too.  You shiver and close your jacket more, holding it tight to your body.  Grayson smiles at you guys through the rear-view mirror and that’s it.  Maybe you had been reading too far into his kindness.

“Whose house are we going to again?”  You ask.  

“Drew’s.  His parents are at their friend’s house in Rhode Island,” Jessie says.  You nod, clearly not remembering which one Drew is. “The one who goes to Penn State,” he clarifies.

“Oh, right.”  You smile at him.

The car falls quiet for a while, which is unusual for you and Jessie and you can only assume it’s even more odd for Ethan and Grayson, but you guess everyone is tired and needs a moment of silence before entering the hectic last couple of hours of this year.

“We’re almost there,” Ethan says as he turns into a residential area.  It feels like he’s trying to calm the weird tension in the car, but you don’t know why it’s so awkward to start.

Before you can question it further, Ethan pulls up behind a bunch of other cars parked on the street and he turns the car off.  You hop out on Grayson’s side and shut the door.  You both wait for the other boys to walk around the side of the car before you head down the street.

“So, you’re not gonna drink?”  You ask Grayson, who you had fallen into step next to.

“I haven’t decided yet.  Ethan probably won’t, though, that’s why we offered to drive you and Jess in the first place.”  He gives you a smile and you nod back.

“I can’t lie, after my New Year’s Eve record I probably should chill too.”  You laugh, shaking your head.  “Maybe I won’t drink much tonight, either.  It would be cool to remember the beginning of this year.”

Grayson laughs while rubbing his mouth with his hand.  “Do you not remember the past few New Year’s?”

“Not fully, no.  I’m not even a crazy drinker, but there’s something about New Year’s that makes me want tequila like it’s water.  And tequila never ends well.”  You shudder, thinking about all the times it’s done you wrong.

“Yeah, maybe it’s more of a champagne year for you.”  He nudges you with your shoulder.

 “Maybe you’re right.”  You nod as you walk into the house.

***

It’s safe to say it was not just a champagne night for you.  You were 5 shots in at 11 pm when you decided to cool it.  Well, cool it the best you could.  You weren’t trashed but you also definitely weren’t sober.

“How’s your champagne?”  Grayson walks over to you while you’re sitting on the couch alone, watching everyone else interact.

“Unless champagne has started to taste like tequila, then not very good.”  You laugh at your own joke, covering your mouth.  He laughs as well, and you can’t tell if it’s with you or at you.

“Do you think you’ll remember tonight?”  He raises his eyebrow, sipping from his own cup.

“Oh yeah, I’m about half as drunk as I was last year.  I think the issue is that tequila makes me way too brave, one shot or ten” you sigh, looking at him.  He looks good tonight.  His long hair really suits his sharp facial features.  His light facial hair makes him look a bit older than he is, but in a good way.  A hot way.  And his lips look pink and soft, and you could just lean up and kiss them if you really wanted to.  You shake your head as if that will physically remove the thoughts from your brain.

“What?” He giggles, watching your every move.

You’re looking at him with your mouth open now.  You can see the flush of his cheeks and the drowsiness of his eyes.  You gasp.  “Are you drunk?”  

He stutters for a moment and you grab the cup from his hand, giving it a sniff.

“Is this a vodka soda?” You give it a sip, feeling the bubbles of the soda go down your throat with the bite of the vodka mixed with it.  “Living on the wild side tonight, I see.  Is Ethan still good?” You laugh, handing him his cup back.

“Ethan is not in the most sober state, either.  And you know Jessie is already messed up.  I think we might all just sleep here, if that’s okay.”  His eyes scan the room before he slumps back, unable to find his brother or his friend.  You lean back right next to him, your shoulders touching.

“Yeah, that’s okay.  You’re gonna have to steal clothes from Drew for me to sleep in, though.”  You look at his side profile, scanning his face.  He really did look good tonight. You see his cheeks heat up a bit more.

“What’re you looking at?”  He asks, now turning to face you, too.

“Your cheeks get really red when you’re tipsy.”  You giggle, poking his cheek.  His nose is almost so close you could touch it with yours.

“It’s not because of the vodka.”  He says rather confidently.  You raise your brow.

“Oh yeah?  What is it then?”

“The pretty girl sitting next to me on the couch.”  He turns to face forwards again with a bit of a smirk, sipping from his cup again.  You can feel heat rushing to your face and chest. His eyes drift over to you again. “Clearly it happens to you too.”  He sounds a bit victorious in his declaration, and you don’t know if it’s your brain or the tequila that tells you what to say next.

“Kiss me.”  You blurt out and then quickly cover your mouth.  Yeah, it was definitely the tequila who said it.

He sucks in a breath and looks at you again, his eyes dark.  “It’s only 11:30, you’re gonna have to wait another half hour for that.”  With that, he stands and walks back into his group of friends, leaving you shocked on the couch.

***

Everything past midnight is a blur.  Not because of the extra tequila shot you took after your conversation with Grayson, but because of the kiss he gave you after the countdown.  It was hot, needy, and purposeful.  It didn’t take long after that for everyone to decide where they were sleeping and settle down.  Most people were too drunk to even care if they slept in a bed or not.  Jessie told you he would get a guest bed for you to share, but you don’t even remember where he said to go because Grayson was looking at you from across the room and everything else disappeared.  You nodded at Jessie so that he’d walk away and you could finally go talk to the man whose consumed your mind all night.

“Excited for your sleepover with Jessie?”  He asks sarcastically while keeping the charming smile on his face still.

You shrug. “I mean I guess.  There’s a different sleepover I’d be more excited for, though.”  You do your best to keep your gaze at him innocent while you bite your lip.

“Oh yeah?  Which one is that?”  He moves to stand next to you as if to survey the room to see who you want to be in bed with tonight.

“Oh my god you’re really gonna make me say it out loud, aren’t you?” You laugh, crossing your arms and turning to look at him again.

“Say what?  I’m just an innocent man trying to help a pretty girl out.”  He does his best to hide smile but fails.  This is the second time he’s called you pretty tonight, and it is definitely the second time it has made you feel butterflies.

“Shut up and show me where you’re sleeping.”  You nudge him with your shoulder.

“Unfortunately, I think Ethan and I are being forced to sleep on the living room couch together.”  He rubs the back of his head, his confidence faltering for a second.

“Well then that’s what bathrooms are for, right?”  You sound hopeful while trying not to be desperate.  You don’t want to sound too needy before he’s even taken your pants off.

He smirks at you, putting his hand on the small of your back to start guiding you up the stairs.  “You read my mind.”  Before you know it, he’s opening the door to a large bathroom and letting you go in first.

You look at your surroundings, taking in the fancy bathroom décor that you thought was unnecessary but still nice.  Grayson stood behind you, watching you look around the room.  “Are we here to admire the shell soap?”  He chuckles.

You turn to him.  “What, you don’t think it’s cute?”  You giggle, picking up one of the shells to hold between you two.

“I mean sure, but I’ve got my eye on something else in here.”  He wraps one hand around your waist, turning you both to face the mirror.  You can feel his bulge when you press back against him, looking into his eyes through the mirror.

“Is it the seahorse soap dispenser?”  You bite your lip and put the shell pack where you grabbed it from.

“You’re really gonna make me say it out loud?”  He mocks you, a humorous glint in his eyes.

You put your arms over his one on your abdomen.  “I guess you didn’t make me.”  You smile, turning in his grasp.  You put both your hands on his shoulders while leaning back on the counter.  Grayson puts his hands on your hips, taking a step closer to you.  You can feel his warm breath on your face as you are forced to tilt your head up more to keep eye contact with him.

“I can still say it if you really wanna hear it.”  He leans closer to you, nipping at your ear.  You take in a breath, waiting for him to continue.  “I’ve got my eye on the pretty little thing that I plan to fuck on this counter until she forgets what year it is.”

This instantly makes you giggle.  “It works in your favor it’s a new year, I already forgot about it.”

“Now that I’ve reminded you, let’s make you forget again.” And that’s when you knew you were fucked in the best way possible.  His lips dragged along your jaw to your mouth, kissing you like you were the only girl in the world.  You fully wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him flush against you as he kisses you deep and hard.  His hands travel down to your ass, pulling your center as close to him as possible.  After he gives you a squeeze he brings one of his hands around to start unbuttoning your jeans.  You pull your mouth away from his for a moment, leaving both of you breathless.

“You’re okay with this, right?  You’re not too messed up right now or anything?” He asks as he rests his forehead on yours.  Your hands go down his shoulders to rub his arms.  A smile manages to show up on your face.

“Yeah, I’m good.  Are you?”  

He laughs before looking back you.  “More than good.”  And with that he’s kissing you again.

Grayson does his best to finish unbuttoning your pants while still keeping your lips connected.  Once he is successful, he breaks away from you to go down and take your heels off.  He struggles a bit with the straps, making your giggle.

“It’s not as easy as it looks, huh?”  You tease him, lifting your foot when he finally gets one off.

“That was fucking stupid,” he groans, already focusing on your other shoe.  He manages to slip that one off quicker than the last, his hands now eagerly going into the loops of your jeans to pull them off as well.  

Before you know it, he’s standing between your legs again and his lips are moving along your neck, his hands holding your hips in place.  You tilt your head back to give him more room to work his lips, gripping his biceps.  Grayson takes a second to breathe, his breath heating your skin up as you think about what he’s going to do to you.  He takes this moment to remove your shirt over your head.  

When he was met with your bare skin, his eyes popped out of his head.  “Here’s to starting the new year off right,” he laughs, barely giving you a second to react to what he said before your nipple was in his mouth.  You head falls back as you let out a quiet moan, gripping the back of his head.  He moves one of his hands to roll your neglected nipple between his fingers, causing you to moan again but louder this time.  “Gotta stay quiet, pretty girl,” he mumbles against your chest.

“Sorry, just feels good,” you breathe out, closing your eyes.

“Pull on my hair when it feels good,” he mumbles, slowly moving to his knees in between your legs.  This makes you roll your head forward to watch as he takes in the wet spot covering your center.  “How long have you been thinking about me?” He smirks at you.

“Are you gonna question it or are you gonna do something about it?”  You giggle, securing your hand in the back of his hair, pushing him forward and closer to your core.  

“You’re right, I’ll take what I can get,” he huffs out onto your inner thigh, leaving light kisses there.  If he was being honest, he hadn’t gotten any in a while either.  Grayson was just as eager as you to be with you like this.  That’s why he didn’t waste any time swiping his tongue over your slit, still being able to taste you despite the layer of lace between you two.  He lets out a guttural moan, loving the fact he was between your legs right now.  He wasted no time in tapping your thighs to get you to lift yourself up enough for him to take your panties off.  As the cold air hits you, your legs instantly try to shut.  Grayson tisks, shaking his head and pushing you wide open, gripping your thighs tightly with his calloused hands.

“You’re beautiful,” he says, his eyes not leaving your pussy.

“We don’t have to do that whole thing if you don’t wanna,” you mumble, your cheeks heating up.

“What whole thing?” Grayson looks up at you, confused.

“You don’t have to compliment me and stuff,” you look away from him, starring at the wall.

“Hey, look at me,” he squeezes your leg, his eyes soft when you meet them again.  “Everything I say, I mean.  And I’m saying it because I want to, not because I think you wanna hear it,” he smiles up at you.  You take a second to breathe, not expecting to hear that from him.  No guy you had slept with had ever been so considerate before.  Hell, none of them had ever been ready to eat you out.  

You let out a flustered, “thanks,” before his focus was back on your core.  He licks slowly up from your hole to your clit, making you grip his hair a bit harder already.  He focuses on your clit, sucking and licking it like it’s his last meal.  It takes everything in you not to moan loudly, but you manage to just breathe harder instead.  Grayson moves one of his hands to your slit, his fingers running up and down while he continues to lap at your clit.  It’s when he slides one of his fingers in when you let out a whine, gripping his hair so hard he can’t help but let out a groan of his own.  He pumps his finger in and out slowly, making you go crazy.  “More, faster, anything,” you breathe out, shifting your hips around.

Grayson removes his lips from you while continuing the movement of his finger.  He looks up at you.  “Feeling greedy, pretty girl?” He smirks as he stands up, removing finger and causing you to pout.  It hits you how he is still completely dressed while you’re totally naked.

“Take your clothes off,” you bite your lip, ignoring his comment.  Your own hand goes between your legs, rubbing over your clit gently.

Grayson’s eyes bug out while he watches your movement, before he snaps out of it and pulls his shirt off over his head.  He quickly throws it down and begins to work at his pants as you start to squirm.  All of a sudden, he stops, his pants around his knees.  “Do you have a condom?”

“Me? No.  You don’t?” You ask, your fingers slowing as reality begins to hit you.

“Are you on the pill?” He asks hopefully.

You look away for a moment, not really sure what to say.  Of course you were, but you don’t know this kid.  Raw dogging it on the first date isn’t really your style.  Hell, this isn’t even a date.

“I’m clean,” he brings you back to reality, reading your thoughts.  You lean back, deciding on what’s best to say next.

“I don’t know that for sure.  And how do you know I’m clean?”  You ask.

“Let’s make a deal.  If we end up catching anything from each other, the person who caused it pays for whatever treatment the other needs,” he holds his hand out, ready to shake on it.  You look at him like he’s crazy.  “I know I’m not giving you anything, and as long as you’re as confident as me, you should be shaking my hand right about now.”

You hesitate before taking his hand in yours and shaking it twice before pulling him back between your legs.  You push his underwear down to where his pants are, your jaw dropping when his dick finally comes out.  You assumed he would be well endowed, but nothing like this.  What if it didn’t fit?

He chuckles deeply, as if he can read your mind again.  “Is that a good look of fear?”

“Definitely,” you giggle, looking up at him as you lick your hand before wrapping it around his base, pumping up and down a couple of times.

“Oh fuck,” he whines, gripping your thighs and closing his eyes for a minute.  “No, no.  Gonna fuck you,” he grips your wrist, taking your hand off him.  Both of your hands move behind you as you lean back a bit, waiting for him to take charge again.  Grayson wraps his hand around himself so that he can drag his tip up and down your slit.  Before you can get used to the feeling he’s pushing in and you’re groaning.  Loudly.  So Grayson does what his instincts tell him to and he covers your mouth with his hand.

He leans in and whispers in your ear, “is this okay?”  You nod as he bottoms out.  Your eyes clamp shut as you take a second to adjust.  His free hand moves to your thigh, rubbing It gently.  

“Ready?”  He asks and you nod again.  He pulls out almost completely before slamming his hips back into you, making your eyes roll back into your head.  He was stretching you out in the most delicious way, and Grayson felt it too.  Your walls were hugging him so tightly, your juices dripping down onto the counter.  He rests his forehead on yours, hand still clamped over your mouth as he does everything in his power not to moan.  You just felt really good, he hasn’t felt this good in a long time.

His hand moves from your thigh to your clit while he continues to move in and out at a quick pace.  Sweat begins to drip down his forehead, mixing with the sweat collecting on yours.  You can feel his dick nudging that special spot inside you on every thrust and it’s overwhelming.  You’re whining into his hand, breathing hard out of your nose.  He’s still rubbing your clit at the same pace he’s fucking you and it’s the best combination.  Your breathing quickens and he moves his mouth close to your ear.  “You gonna cum?” You nod profusely, your toes curling as your heels dig into his ass to make sure he goes as deep as he can.  

It feels like a wave of pleasure crashing over you when you finally cum.  Your legs are shaking around Grayson’s waist as groans come from deep within your throat.  He can feel you clenching around him, your juices continuing to flow out of you around him.  He can feel it on his balls as it drips out of you and it makes his eyes roll into the back of his head.  Soon he’s pulling out of you, the hand that was once covering your mouth going to his dick as his cum covers your stomach.  You both sit there unmoving, just trying to catch your breaths.  You rest back on your hands as you giggle a bit, finally looking at him.

“How’re you feeling?”  He asks.  This makes your cheeks even more red than they already were.  No one had been concerned about you after you already finished sex.  It was kind of nice.

“Really good,” you sigh out.  “You?” You watch as he gets some tissues and he starts wiping his cum off you.  

He smiles. “Really good,” he nods along as he finishes cleaning you up.  When he goes to throw the tissues out, you laugh because he has to waddle due to his pants still being half on.  You’re sliding off the counter when you have to hold the edges to not fall over.   He turns to look at you confused.  “What?”

“You never even got your pants off.”

He looks down and chuckles, pulling his pants back up, but not buttoning them.  “Guess I didn’t.”

You start to pick up your clothes when you pause.  You had nothing to sleep in here, and you weren’t about to sleep in the shirt and jeans you came in.  Jessie would probably be down to give you his shirt, but he was also probably asleep.

“Here,” he hands his shirt to you.  You look up at him for a second before you reach for the shirt.

“Thanks,” you smile at him, putting your clothes back down and slipping the shirt over your head.  It barely hit the top of your thighs, but it’s better than walking around totally naked.  You slip your panties on under the shirt.  Grayson stands there a bit awkwardly, watching you get dressed.  You grab your shirt and hand it out to him with a smirk on your face.  “Wanna sleep in this?”

Grayson laughs and shakes his head.  “Something tells me that would be uncomfortable,” he eyes the sequins, shivering while imagining them against his skin.

You giggle and nod, gathering your jeans and shoes into your hands.  “You’re right, it’s not.”

You bite your lip, unsure if you should just say goodbye and dip or what.  Grayson interrupts these thoughts when he steps up to you, grabbing your chin and kissing you one more time before he says, “I should probably head to bed.”

You nod in agreement.  “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

“You were…this was…I enjoyed that,” he laughs.  You smile at him as he walks out.  You look out the door to make sure no one is there before you start opening every door to find where Jessie is.  You slide into the bed as quietly as possible and fall right asleep.

***

Ethan and Grayson had left by the time you got up.  One of Jessie’s other friends drove you guys home once you were ready to leave.  Life went on as normal after that.

You and Jessie went back to school.  Every semester feels like a nice fresh start, even with the sadness knowing it was your last.  You and your friends at school were making every minute of it.  Which is why you were disappointed when you were feeling under the weather a couple of weeks into it.  You woke up every morning feeling fatigued and nauseous.  You assumed it was the school work getting to you.  Four years and you’d think you’d be better equipped to deal with the stress.

However, when you started throwing up every morning, you panicked.  You throw up once in a blue moon.  You have a stomach of steel.  When that lasted for an entire week, you decided to go to the clinic. They ask all the usual questions, including if you think you’re pregnant.  You tell them there’s a minimal chance but they decide to test you anyway just to be sure.

When the doctor walks back in, they have a smile on their face.  “Your pregnancy test came back positive.”

Suddenly you felt nauseous again, but not like all the previous mornings.  How could you be pregnant?  He pulled out, you’re on birth control.  And that’s when you remember.  You didn’t take it a for a couple days after New Year’s Eve because you had run out of your current pack and your next pack was at school.  You hadn’t noticed your missed period because your birth control had made it almost non-existent to start.

The doctor continues to speak but you only hear the blood rushing through your ears as pure panic sets in.  You don’t even have Grayson’s number.  He’s a fucking LA YouTuber, he wasn’t even on the same coast as you.  You weren’t even friends.

As soon as you get out of the doctor, you call Jessie.

“Hey Y/N, what’s up?”

You’re blinking back the tears as you walk to your car.  “I need to tell you something.”

***

Read part 2 here!

[irwintry]

Jean Jacket

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, drug mention

Summary: Y/N and Luke have been best friends, but they haven’t seen each other in years. Based loosely off of the song “Jean Jacket” by The Summer Set.

Word Count: 9.5k

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

You messaged him at 10:14 in the morning. It felt unnatural, and a knot formed in your stomach once you hit send.

You:

hey.

string bean

He didn’t reply until 6:24 that night.

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Don’t call me that.

I’m toned now.

You:

oh my bad

what’s a thicc vegetable

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I don’t know

You:

you have cool hair

so do asparagus’

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Don’t call me asparagus.

You:

sorry

sexy stalk of corn

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I hate you

You:

i love u squid

should i learn how to use photoshop

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Absolutely not

I don’t want to be photoshopped onto corn

What do you want?

You:

oh sorry am i bothering u

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Yes

You:

:o

rude

string bean

Message not delivered.

why aren’t my messages sending

did u block me

wtf asshole

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Hehe

You:

i'm gonna kick ur ass

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Good luck reaching it.

You:

ok getting on a plane rn

and jokes on u

i'm bringing a step ladder w me

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I’ll pay

You:

bet?

did u just fucking venmo me

squid????

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Maybe

You:

luke

do u want me to visit u

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I just venmo’d you

You:

wait do u rly want me to visit u

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Yeah.

You:

wait ok shit... when works best for u

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Literally whenever

You:

don’t u have tours and shit

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Not for five months

You:

oh fuck.

ok I’ll start looking

shit dude

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I miss you.

You:

i miss u 2 squid

sorry i mean

string bean

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

JK. Can you venmo me back?

You:

no fuck u

it’s mine now

-

You weren’t in airports often.

You never grew accustomed to the atmosphere–– the hustle and bustle of business class and the lack of knives in terminal restaurants. You had no reason to be acquainted. Yet, there was still a familiar panic that gripped you as you stood shoeless and alone in the line for security. The terminals were each a maze of their own, and the heavy Jansport hanging off of your shoulder pushed down against your tight muscles.

You preferred traveling with another person. In fact, you preferred to not travel at all. The comfort of your home held Jeopardy re-runs and take-out Chinese. Whereas your terminal had startling gate announcements and overpriced froyo, and they didn’t even have toppings. The bathrooms smelled of poo no matter what time you chose to use them, and you sat on the toilet in mild discomfort, suitcase meshed between you in the broken metal stall. The same abandoned luggage announcement had played sixteen times since your arrival through security.

But you tried to think about the positive outcome of your travel. You saw yourself running up to him, hands slipping the bulky luggage to the ground as you threw your arms around him. He stood there smiling and calling you old nicknames you had been forced to read over text for six to seven years. And then he would take your hand and guide you to his car, his ever-present smile never faltering because you were there, and he was with you. It would be just like old times.

You thought about all of the places you would go and the people you would meet. Anxiety puddled your head when you thought about meeting his friends. They were untouchable, glamor and gold and all things Hollywood untold. And you were you, but Luke had changed, too.

-

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Still arriving at 6:13 in Terminal B?

You:

u bet ur (terminal B)um

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

That was one of your worst.

You:

ur right i gotta work on my comebacks on the flight

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

That wasn’t a comeback...?

You:

tHat WasN’t a CoMebAcK

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Die.

-

You fell asleep on the flight.

Economy class forced you between a professor in his mid-forties and an athletic coach whose knees nudged against yours every time he shifted. You had started the flight off with a movie, some Anna Kendrick rom-com that stimulated a headache worth three bottles of Ibuprofen. Soon enough you were hobbling over long legs, bladder aching from an unbearable pressure, and then the lavatory was occupied.

You filled the next few hours with a playlist you had made for the flight. Luke’s songs lulled you to sleep–– but you wouldn’t tell him that. You wouldn’t grant him the satisfaction, not unless the moment called for it. That moment only occurred a few times within a year. That moment occurred during the times he came to you when he thought he had no one else.

And you would never tell him how selfish you felt. You would never admit that you loved those moments because you felt important. You felt like he needed you.

You weren’t sure how long you had been asleep for after you woke. The plane was dark and quiet, and not a soul breathed a word. So, you settled down into your seat and kept the light of your phone low. The time was 5:35 in the morning.

The airplane awakened a little after six o’clock, brightness flooding in followed by a chorus of groans and moans. You toyed with the sleeves of your jacket and felt incredibly small. The nerves in your chest simmered, and you thought about the shaky steps you would soon take to reach the arms of an old friend. You didn’t know why the blistering excitement felt so bad. You wanted to sit back down and take a one-way flight all the way back home.

-

Luke was in airports all too often.

He grew accustomed to suitcases rattling against filthy marble floors. He memorized the high-pitched, buzzy tone of squeaking escalators in frequented terminals. The familiarity overwhelmed him, and he had almost convinced himself he was among the many travelers on this day.

But he stood alone, not a single ounce of hurry in his bones while he waited for the arrival of an old best friend. The rising sun outside seeped through the large glass windows, yet the warm colors touched his back and kept his chest cold. He wanted your embrace, and he wanted the heat of your smile. Because he didn’t quite remember how it made him feel. He saw your face through pictures and videos, but the comfort of your presence faded from his memories.

Strangers eyed him. He could picture them searching the depths of their brain and wondering why they knew him. At the moment, he wished he wasn’t known. He wished he was seventeen again, the year the excitement was fresh and when the world didn’t seem so small. He wished he still knew you like he had back then.

Luke was tired.

-

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

i need some fucking food

He felt nauseous and numb as he laughed at your words. It was like stage fright, like the intense, sickening nerves had hadn’t felt in years. His fingers trembled against the screen of his phone.

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

also where r u

can u meet at baggage claim

i get nervous when i have to pick up my bag

i get scared that i’m gonna miss it

is that weird

Luke’s stomach knotted, and he typed out a quick affirmation while he kept his eyes locked on the small crowd of faces. Faces that looked like they hadn’t slept in forty years. But then again, Luke felt as though he looked the same way.

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

what happens if i miss my bag

Luke:

It comes back around.

Don’t worry

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

fffuckkkkkk customs

Luke:

Lol.

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

escalators escalators escalators

Luke:

Eels.

-

Luke swallowed the bile rising to his throat. It had been years. He hadn’t seen you face-to-face in years, and he still wondered what it was about the moment that made him nervous. The anxiety caused him to shiver, and he tugged the sleeves of his sweater up and under his fingers. His eyes ached from lack of sleep, but he hoped your energy would change that. He hoped his nerves would ease the minute you opened your mouth. All he wanted was for it to feel natural.

He thought he saw you. He thought he had immediately recognized you from across the room, but the stranger was in a dress. Luke knew you would never––in your right mind––wear a dress to travel anywhere. So, he kept his eyes on the person as they walked away, and then there was a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey Squid.”

Luke glanced to his right, heart stammering in his chest at the sound of your voice. You were smiling, your eyes tired yet warm while the jean jacket you wore swallowed you whole. His jean jacket.

“You busy later?”

He cleared his throat and reached up to brush a few hairs away from his face. He didn’t know how to speak or initiate any kind of touch. He didn’t know how to talk to you anymore. “Yeah, sorry,” he mumbled with a small smile. “Got plans.”

“Ah.” You nodded. “You do?”

Luke hummed. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking. “Meeting up with this old friend,” he said. “They flew all this way t’see me, and to be honest, that was kinda dumb of them.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” you replied with a laugh. “We gonna hug or just like, stand here looking like assholes?”

“The latter,” he said, and you rolled your eyes. Luke laughed as he allowed himself to push down nerves and throw his arms around you. It was a warm hug, just like he wanted it to be. “I see you still got that fuckin’ jacket.”

“Technically, it’s your jacket,” you said, pulling away. Your hair was messy, but he found it endearing. You looked like his best friend even though the years had separated the two of you. You looked soft and sweet, and he didn’t know why he wanted to keep holding you.

You nodded to yourself. “Got my suitcase,” you told him. “No thanks to you. In case you didn’t know, this isn’t baggage claim.”

“Shit,” he muttered. “’m sorry. I’m tired.”

“Oh, sorry to bother you,” you replied, smiling brightly before sending him a wink. “I’ll be going then.” You took a few steps toward the door.

Luke caught your arm. “No, no, you’re not leaving me. We’ve come this far. You’re stuck with me.”

“Oh, joy.”

“I don’t need your sarcasm, babe,” he said, and two of you made your way outside into the cool morning.

You stumbled behind him, your suitcase smacking against large chunks of concrete on the sidewalk. “Babe? Shit. I just shuttered.”

Luke chuckled. His nerves hadn’t disappeared, but he tried hard to ignore them. He felt out of place. He felt as though his head and his body did not exist on the same plane. He felt like he was caught in a dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare.

“Hey, Lu?” You yawned and curled yourself up in the passenger seat of his car.

Luke thought you looked too damn good. He wanted to tell you. “If you put your feet on my dash, I’ll kill you,” he said instead.

You mumbled something incoherent.

Luke slid his keys into the ignition. “Okay, well, that was not English,” he said, “but nice try.”

“Shut up. I’m tired.”

“I’m tired,” he mocked.

You hit his arm, and his laughter filled the small car. “I’ll kill you first. I was gonna ask you if we can get breakfast, but I changed my mind.”

Luke kept his eyes on the road ahead of him, but he ached to look over at you. He ached to take you in and memorize you like he had done over seven years ago. “We can get breakfast, babe,” he said quietly, glancing your way, and then he smiled. Your knees were pressed to your chest, and you had closed your eyes.

At the stop sign, Luke waited a moment to accelerate. The sunrise painted gold into the sky and onto your skin. He wondered if you had always looked this beautiful. He wondered if he had ever thought so before. All he could remember was the present, and every memory was drowned out by the soft scent of your perfume in his car.

The jean jacket you wore had been his once. He never saw how it looked on you. And he never imagined that the sight of you in it would one day take his breath away.

-

“Do you think I should leave it unbuttoned like this?”

“You’re really asking for my opinion on that?”

“Yes.”

You narrowed your gaze.

“Okay, you’re right,” he said, “unbuttoned it is.”

You rolled your eyes. “Love that my opinion is so valued.”

It had only been a day. Your body clock had yet to reset to the time difference, and you spent the afternoon prior knocked out on Luke’s bed with Petunia cuddled against your stomach. It hadn’t been a terrible way to nap, although your neck ached when you woke. The situation was still surreal. You still refused to believe you had traveled across the globe to visit someone you felt like you hardly knew. Except you did know him. He was Luke. He ate his gummy worms with peanut butter.

Yet, your eyes lingered on his figure on your way into his kitchen. You gazed a little too long when he talked about his plans with you. Whenever he nudged your shoulder or poked your arm, you thought about his touch for a few minutes after. It had only been a day.

And it didn’t take long for him to invite you out to a club.

You didn’t like the feeling of the leather seats against your thighs on the drive into the city. Your shorts had ridden up, and you had the sense that something about the night was off. It wasn’t the intoxicating fragrance of Luke’s cologne or the exposed bit of chest that drove you wild. It wasn’t the unbroken melody he sang loudly or the expensive boots that added an inch or two to his already-towering height. It was how expensive he looked–– how untouchable he was. You had thrift your jean shorts for $15, and Luke was missing a button off of his designer shirt. But there was something else about the night that bothered you, and you couldn’t quite place it. So, you belted along to his favorite songs and pretended as though you didn’t feel sick to your stomach.

Luke’s smile hardly faltered throughout the night. He introduced you to faces you assumed you would never see again, and then he would buy you another drink without asking. You could feel his energy, and not even the blasting bass could distract you from the weight of his laughter. He knew everyone, but it didn’t come as a shock. He had always loved people, and people had always loved him.

So, you sat quietly on the couch, feeling miles apart yet inches away at best. You twirled the tiny straw with two fingers and watched your old best friend bounce from person to person. He had a big heart, you told yourself, he loved people. But the thoughts never pushed down the sinking feeling that he had forgotten about you. It was halfway through the night, and you had been sitting alone for forty-seven minutes. Luke was nowhere to be seen.

You:

luke

You placed your phone in between your thighs. One single text had sent your heart into your throat, and you weren’t sure why. You weren’t sure why you felt so sick at the thought of his response.

You:

r u ok

where’d u go

A few strangers crowded around the couch Luke placed you at. It was his usual spot, he said. No one ever took his spot. But you sat alone, and not a soul cared to join you. They knew you didn’t belong here.

You:

string bean

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

I’m okay.

:-)

You sighed, letting your head rest against the leather cushion while you watched drunken interactions play out. A song you recognized played throughout the cramped club, and you wished you were anywhere else. You wished you were on a bench overlooking the ocean with a bag of tacos separating you and your friend. You wished you were on the bike path by your house, hand-in-hand with someone you had known all too well. You wished you hadn’t fallen witness to a life you had no part in. You wished you could be the person he wanted you to be.

You:

ok i’m just chillin

The empty glass from your drink had perspired onto the table. After a while, the heat of the room had melted the ice as well, and you were stuck wishing you could conjure up the courage to join the crowd. But you couldn’t. You felt out of place, like you didn’t quite belong. All eyes told you so. You carried on waiting, but you were no longer sure what it was you were waiting for.

You:

r u getting hungry

You stopped waiting for a response after fifteen minutes. Luke had left you for two hours in a club, in some town you had never been to before. He had left you, and you had only been with him for a day. An unsettling feeling grew in your stomach, but you wanted to reject it as much as you could. It was Luke, the boy who shot carrots out of his Nerf Guns but ended up giving himself a black eye. It had to be the same Luke.

You gathered up some strength to stand up. The battery on your phone had been roasted from too many games of Solitaire, and Luke still wasn’t answering your texts. You reached down for your sweating drink, but a pair of arms wrapped themselves around your shoulders before you could.

“Sleepy,” he said, smushing his face against your back. “Why do you smell like pancakes?”

Your body felt frozen beneath his touch. Every muscle tensed. “I don’t,” you replied. “Can we–– can we go? Is that okay?”

Luke’s arms slid off of you, and you could feel his presence now to the right of you. And for some reason, your head hurt at the thought of looking at him. Yet, you did. His curls had slicked down against his rosy, albeit shiny skin, and his eyes were red and droopy. For those few seconds, you weren’t sure why you had thought him attractive. But it quickly changed. He was looking at you, completely looking at you, and he could tell something was wrong.

“Yeah,” he said, his lips falling into a frown. “Course. You okay?”

You nodded and swallowed back the aching tears that threatened in your eyes. “Jet-lagged,” you mumbled. “That’s all.”

Luke nodded, too. “Okay. Yeah. We can go. I’ll get us an Uber.”

“What will you do about your car?”

He seemed to shrug it off, but it was hard to tell through the mass of sweaty bodies. “She’ll be fine. I’ll find a way to get her.”

“I’m sorry.” You hugged your arms close to your chest as the heat from the club transformed into the cool night air.

“No big deal,” said Luke. “Just another Uber trip to come get her. Then I can take her right back.”

“No, um, about leaving,” you responded. “I’m sorry that I wanted t’leave.”

Luke glanced at you from over his shoulder, brows furrowed and lip tugged between his teeth. “Don’t be, babe. I was gonna leave soon anyway.”

You nodded, and an uneasy silence settled in the air. You wished for the right words to say, but you brain went blank, and you found yourself counting cars that passed by.

“It’s really good to see you again,” said Luke after a while. His voice was low and hoarse, and it made you feel a new type of warmth. “Forgot what it was like t’be with you. It’s nice. Like a breath of fresh air.”

You smiled at him, but you knew that was all you could do.

“Missed you a lot.” He smiled at you, too, and through that smile, he whispered, “I’m just really happy you’re here.”

-

Luke thought it hurt to look at you. Because when he did, he was reminded of the person he had left behind, the person he could have been had he stayed. You reminded him of a lost potential within himself, and he didn’t like it. It made him feel dejected, like a lost cause. And looking at you caused much more pain than that. Looking at you was like looking at the world in color for the first time. He saw you differently, and he wondered if this was how he was always supposed to see you.

It was unavoidable— the dawning feeling that only worsened every day. You had only been with him for a week. A whole week of stealing glances and swallowing down irritant thoughts that a best friend shouldn’t have. A part of him felt like he couldn’t call himself that. He felt like he knew you, but he didn’t know you. He read your personality through words and not actions. Maybe it was time he opened his eyes to the person you had become.

-

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

can u not send me tweets rn

u r literally right next to me

loser

Luke:

Can you not be rude?

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

no

Luke:

Fight me.

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

hehe ok

kinky

Luke:

Shut up

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

i feel the sexual tension already

-

Luke took a breath and glanced your way. The afternoon had been spent with his friends; a brimming beer cup soirée spent around the fire in Calum’s backyard. And for some reason, Luke felt like an anomaly. He had better luck counting the hairs on his leg than concentrating on a single conversation. Meanwhile, you cradled your first drink of the night, torso hidden behind the heavy jean jacket he once owned. Beneath it, only a floral bathing suit covered you, and it was enough to make Luke wonder why he had bothered leaving home in the first place.

He couldn’t hear what his friends said, but he could focus in on every little thing about you. From the shape of your legs, all tucked in beneath you to the small smile you wore as you listened to his friends speak. Your hair had dried from the few minutes you spent in the pool, and after a while, you pulled it out of your face and up into a bun. Luke thought you looked pretty, and he knew it wasn’t the initial heat of the fire that warmed him.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was wrong. You were quiet––timid almost––while you gazed at the palm shadows against the sunset. Even beyond the smiles, you seemed lost. Luke wanted to know why.

-

Luke:

You hungry?

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

fucking starving

tell cal to get better snacks

Luke:

Lol.

I want tacos

Kermit the little bitch frog 🐸:

yoooooooooooooo

can we get tacos?

Luke:

Let’s get some fucking tacos

-

You hadn’t realized how hard it would be.

Luke started a new life for himself seven years prior, and it messed up your world for a while. It had messed up plans and memories you wanted to make with him. You started your own life without the company of your best friend, but he was still a text message away whenever you needed. Because he was still your friend. He still told you every little detail about his life. You knew how things had changed for him, whether they were for better or worse.

You hadn’t realized you would one day face the life he chose for himself. You hadn’t realized how hard it would be. He was the same, but he was so different. Being here simply acted as a reminder that you no longer fit into his life.

It came to you in heavy waves. When the overall reality hit, it hit like a sheet of sadness. You were washed over by emotions while Luke carried on about his favorite restaurant in Italy. You had never been to Italy or France or Spain. You had never been on grandiose adventures, not like Luke. It only hurt because you wished you had been by his side.

The two of you swung by his place for a change of clothes. There was an unexplainable silence that you chose not to break. You felt as though any word from your lips would feel forced, so you kept quiet instead. When you walked back out into the living room in an old tee and leggings, Luke was already there. He was already waiting for you in the patchy jean jacket that you treasured simply because it once belonged to him.

“Still fits, I guess,” he said, and you smiled. It was like old times, so you took a picture of the moment. Luke shot a goofy grin your way, and you had to pretend like it didn’t make your stomach flutter.

“Are there are any taco places you know of that are still open?” you asked Luke after settling into the car. You kept your hands pressed between your thighs. “I’m not really feeling like shitting my pants at a Taco Bell.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, I know a place.” He turned on the ignition, and right off the bat, a song by The Summer Set began to blast through the speakers. And it felt like a tension had been swept away with the music.

He kept the windows down as you drove, his one hand firm on the wheel and the other out against the breeze. When he sang, he sang low. You couldn’t find it in yourself to sing at all. You could hardly look at him. Yet, you had given into temptation. You gazed at him during the verses and glanced away at the choruses, letting the city lights seep in while you listened to his soft voice. Luke drummed on the wheel during the upbeat melodies, and you found yourself reminiscing on old memories no matter how much you wanted to repress them.

He had always been an awkward kid. The heart on his sleeve never faded or splintered–– it just grew with each passing day. His presence made any form of discomfort wash away, and it still felt that way now. But, as people do, he had changed, and you struggled to find the good in everything. Around you, it was the same Luke you knew. Around others, he had built up a façade for himself. It broke your heart.

Street lamps glistened against the pavement as rain drizzled down. It didn’t last long, and the droplets on the windshield soon dried, but it left an earthy petrichor in the air. A comforting scent that only came with rain. The breeze slipped through your fingers, and you soon felt the words of familiar songs bubble in your chest. They left your lips a second later just as you began to smile. There was something oddly beautiful about the melancholy moment.

So, Luke sang loudly, his hands hitting the wheel while you cried your favorite lyrics. It all came rushing back, and the sorrow melted away. You wished Luke had never left, but you were happy to have this night with him.

-

You unwrapped your taco on your lap. “I’m not gonna tell you you’re wrong for putting that much sour cream on your taco,” you said, kicking your feet out on the stone wall before you, “but you disgust me.”

The waves crashed along the shoreline in the distance, and the beach was dark and eerie. It didn’t matter that it was ten o’clock at night–– the nearby park was busy and loud.

“Oh, I forgot to ask,” said Luke, “is it okay if I put sour cream on my taco?”

You kicked his thigh as he broke out in hysterics, and you thought, this is it–– this is what I’ve been waiting for.

“If you get that shit on my jacket, I’ll kill you,” you responded, meanwhile taking an unattractive bite out of the hard shell of your taco. Shredded cheese fell to the ground below.

“Isn’t it technically my jacket?”

You shrugged “Maybe if you had actually bothered keeping it.”

Luke let out a small gasp, and a large dollop of sour cream plopped against the wrapping on his lap. “Maybe if you were smart enough, you’d realize I let you keep it.”

“Oh, shit. That stings.”

“Good.”

“Fuck you,” you said with a laugh. “I deserved to keep it. I was the one who added all of those patches anyway.”

Luke furrowed his brows. “Not true. I added––“ He twisted around and pointed at a small bunny patch on the shoulder. “––this one.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” you said, sarcasm dripping from your tongue. “You deserve more credit for the tiny bunny patch you found on the side of the road.”

“Thank you.” Luke sighed and grinned, sending a wink your way before biting into his sour cream-coated taco.

You watched the hard-shell crack and fall apart beneath his grip, and you watched as he pouted once the food hit his lap. You stared for too long, burning the image of him in your brain until you were confident it was permanently in there. It burned a little too hot and for a little too long. It continued to burn along the highway while the waves stirred beside you. You were nestled between the hills and the ocean, a cute boy to your left and a strip of heaven laid down before you.

Luke drove for an hour, taking exit after exit until he pulled off near the mouth of a lake in the mountains. The air was stale yet breezy, and exhaustion overwhelmed you. But you kept your eyes from drooping just so you could keep looking at the person you hadn’t realized you missed.

“Come home soon,” you whispered into the dark night. Bugs and other creatures hummed in the distance, meanwhile, you kicked up the crumbled pavement and leaned back against his car. “It hasn’t been home without you.”

Luke let out a quiet laugh, but it was muffled between his lips. “Gonna get all sappy on me now, huh, babe?” he asked, but his smile soon fell when his head turned to face you. He swallowed and faced the stagnant water ahead. “I wanna come home,” he said, “but I feel like I don’t belong there anymore.”

“You’ve always belonged.”

Luke didn’t speak.

“I don’t belong here,” you said, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. You had expected an outrageous reaction, something that assured you that he thought you did belong. But he stayed quiet. “This whole city, this place, it’s–– I mean it’s wonderful. I love it. But it’s not me.”

“It’s weird to have you here,” said Luke. His voice had lowered into a faint hush, yet you felt it in your bones. “Not bad weird. You’re just home. You feel like home. I’m not used to that here.”

“You’re home,” you mumbled.

Luke didn’t waste another moment. He pulled you into a hug, one that reminded you of teenage years and restless late nights. It reminded you of a warmth you lost, of strong arms that hadn’t held you in seven years. His chest expanded with each breath, and you listened closely to the air as it left his lips. And then you couldn’t help but dig your fingers into the rough denim along his back. You couldn’t help but press yourself against his chest in order to feel his heartbeat in sync with yours. You ached to embrace his scent–– you ached to embrace everything about him.

There was something in the air as you pulled away, something thicker than the hint of humidity. Whatever it was, you had trouble letting go of Luke. It felt like you had stood there for ages, just staring at his chest and holding onto his waist as if your life depended on it. You felt like crying, and you felt nervous. Something about his presence made you nervous.

When you looked up, Luke had already been looking down at you. A small smile was playing on his lips, and you could hardly see the twinkle in his eye through the dark night. But you weren’t focusing on his eyes. You focused in on that smile, the one that stretched his smooth, pink lips just slightly. The one that kindled some spark in your chest, and you couldn’t look away.

Luke placed a hand on your jaw, his long, slim fingers cradling you in a soft manner. “You okay?” he asked breathily.

You replayed his words in your head and thought about the ways his lips moved around them. No, you weren’t okay. But you didn’t mind the feeling.

“Yeah,” you whispered. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears. At the same time, it felt like you couldn’t breathe. The desire to kiss him was overwhelming, and it ached and ached. You tightened your grip on his waist, eyes flickering back up to where his lips had pulled into a concerned pout.

Luke let out a breath and tugged his bottom lip between his teeth. His fingers were firm on the back of your head, and then he pulled you in. His lips were on yours, hard yet passion-filled, and neither of you could move. But when he ran out of air, Luke pulled away slowly. His top lip brushed yours as he moved, yet the pressure never left. It still felt like he was kissing you.

Luke had kissed you. And you hadn’t wanted him to stop.

You smiled, fingers toying with the opening of his jean jacket as you glanced down at your shoes. “That was new,” you said lowly.

He laughed, meanwhile running his thumb along the apple of your cheek. It made you feel safe. “Sure was,” he mumbled. “Not bad, though.”

“No,” you replied, looking up. His gaze was intense, but it was the kind of intensity that summoned butterflies. You shrugged. “Not bad at all.”

“Good,” said Luke. “Cos I was plannin’ on kissing you again, but I wasn’t sure if we were on the same page, or––“

You tugged him in and leaned forward to press your lips on his again. You felt him smile against the kiss, and you had to smile, too. Luke’s opposite hand met your other cheek as the kiss deepened. You didn’t mind it–– you had no reason to mind it. In fact, you loved it. You craved it. It was warm and soft, and it made your toes curl. His lips felt like velvet. The heat crawled up into your chest, but the kiss soon ended before the moment carried on.

You felt lighter than air. Small puffs of air escaped your lips while you tried to laugh. And Luke was laughing, too. You were each other’s best friend, and you had kissed.

“Wanna keep driving?” Luke asked you, tracing your bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

You grinned and nodded before pecking his lips. And then you skipped over to the passenger seat to once again fill the night with new memories to be made.

-

Luke grabbed your hand and laced your fingers with his while The Summer Set continued to blast throughout his car. It felt good to touch you, to finally feel you after all of these years. For some reason, he craved your touch even more now. It had only been a week, yet Luke quickly realized the effect you had on him. It had never been like this before, and he was relieved to know you felt the same way, too. He couldn’t get enough of you.

He wanted every piece of you.

“Should we head back home?” you asked at around two in the morning, lips red from the 7-Eleven slushie you were slurping.

Luke smiled at your appearance. His heart swelled at the sight of you so comfortable in his company. It made him want to hold you and never let go. “You gettin’ tired, babe?”

You giggled. “Never said that.”

Luke’s face physically ached from the weight of his grin.

“I like it when you call me that,” you said.

“Hm?”

“When you call me ‘babe’,” you spoke. “I like it.”

Luke felt a chill rush over him. He wanted to call you “babe” every single fucking day–– he never wanted to stop. “Yeah, babe?”

You hummed.

Luke’s hand instinctively reached out to place itself on your thigh, and he froze. But you didn’t react. When he looked over, your smile hadn’t left.

“Is this okay?” he asked you, fingers burning and shifting against your leggings. His eyes left the road for a split second to watch you nod. Luke smiled again and squeezed your thigh, emitting a quick squeal from you. The sound was music to his ears, and he couldn’t believe how fast he had fallen for everything about you.

The silence that fell over was comfortable.

“Is this what Brian felt like when he wrote Passenger Seat?” you asked after a while.

Luke glanced at you, smile still wide as he slowly replied, “it’s exactly what he felt.”

He took you down to a small beach off of the beaten path after that. The waves were loud, almost violent as he kept his hand firmly locked with yours. The breeze had picked up, but he could still hear your teeth chattering through the gusts.

“Gosh, sure is nice to have a jacket to keep me warm right now,” said Luke while he set himself down into the sand.

“Sh-shut the fuck up,” you muttered, plopping right beside him. “You’re such a fucking j-jackass.”

Luke laughed and took off his jacket, nevertheless. You pulled it over you before falling against him, head nestling onto his shoulder as you brought your knees up for warmth.

“It’s so dark,” you said a few moments later. “Did you come here to murder me?”

“How’d you know?” gasped Luke.

You shoved him away, he only tugged you in closer. You set your head on his lap, and the two of you sat there for thirty minutes in complete silence. He hadn’t wanted to stay quiet–– he had so many things bouncing about in his brain, but he couldn’t find it in himself to say a single word. He couldn’t tell you that this week had been the best week of his entire life, and he couldn’t beg you to stay. He couldn’t keep you in a city you hated to be in.

It had hurt to hear you say that, but he didn’t disagree. Los Angeles didn’t fit you; it never would, no matter how much he wanted you to stay with him. You belonged in comforting towns, ones filled with life and love but held hopes and dreams high. You belonged with him, yet he wasn’t sure where he belonged either. It was too painful to think about.

So, Luke kissed your forehead and ran his fingers along your arm. If he could hold you forever, then he wouldn’t have to think about anything else. He wouldn’t have to think about saying goodbye to you within the next week. He wouldn’t have to think about losing all of the built-up feelings that had surfaced within the past few days. He wouldn’t have to think about losing you.

You were curled up in the passenger seat of his car on the ride home. Your eyes had succumbed to exhaustion at the beach, and he carried you all the way back without stirring you awake. It filled his heart with so much love to see you so calm and peaceful–– he wanted to take you home and hold you for the rest of his life. But he couldn’t do that. He buckled you in, kissed your forehead once more, and then drove home in silence. It left him alone with his thoughts, and he didn’t like that.

“Lu?” Your eyes fluttered open as he unbuckled you and prepared to take you into his home.

“Mornin’, darling,” he said, cracking a smile.

You hummed. “You don’t have t’carry me,” you said, “but thank you.” You rubbed at your tired eyes, and he grabbed your hands to help lift you out of the car. You fell against him and pulled him into a tight hug.

He chuckled, but he didn’t say anything. He just held you close.

“I’ve missed you so much,” you mumbled into his shirt. You leaned back to look up at him.

Luke smiled, and he felt like the luckiest man in the world. He kissed you softly before pulling you back into a hug. “I’ve missed you, too.”

-

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

On my way home.

Still okay with going to the party?

You:

ya i wanna black out and vomit in a pool

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

Please do not do that.

You:

don’t poop on my party

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

It’s technically not your party

You:

party pooper

stinky pooper

ur stinky

lukey “red lobster isn’t that bad” hemmings:

You’re stinky.

You:

yes

-

The next day was weird.

It felt like the night prior had been some drug-induced dream filled with romcom storylines inside a coming-of-age film. It was an old memory resurfaced–– a moment you had shared with him many years prior. Things changed so suddenly.

And neither of you spoke of it. You didn’t know how to. At the same time, you weren’t sure you wanted to.

It had been beautiful in the moment, but thinking back, you weren’t sure it had been a good idea. Luke was Luke, a famous rock star living among the elites in Lost Angeles, and you were a shell of a best friend, old remnants of a life he used to live. You weren’t the one for him, and you never had been. He had too many choices before him; he wouldn’t choose his best friend.

A friend was hosting a birthday party, one you assumed would involve a cake and stupid decorations, perhaps presents as well. But the house was packed upon arrival, and it felt more like a frat party than anything. You wished you had known, yet you fisted the skirt of your black dress and ambled in behind Luke, feeling more like a lost puppy than ever.

Because he had always been a people person. He had always loved people.

You lost him at some point in the night. You scoured the premises, searching for his bright red button-down amongst the sea of illustrious eyes. And then there was you, looking sad and somewhat angry while you searched for your best friend. He had done this only a week ago. He had left you to fend for yourself against a pack of B-list wolves. You hardly felt human in comparison.

Sweat had accumulated against your back while you wandered the crowded rooms. You admired the architecture through a Mike’s Hard haze, wishing you had left town when Luke did to maybe make a name for yourself in and amongst the wealthy. The guilt would have eaten you alive; it would have been all at Luke’s expense.

You found him in the kitchen at one point during the night. He stood there with his friends crowded around, a dazzling yet drunken smile etched on his features, and it seemed as though his eyes alone lit the whole room. The knot building in your stomach was uncomfortable. His laugh echoed, and you had to excuse yourself before he could glance your way.

So, you wandered again and retraced your steps, wondering if you would ever know your place in a world this big. It felt like you never would.

You hadn’t gotten black-out drunk, nor did you vomit in a stranger’s pool. Instead, you sat by that pool with your feet plunged into the illuminated water, fingers still cradling the neck of your lemonade while you listened to strangers talk. The bright blue below made you feel sick, so you stared up at the light-polluted sky and hoped for the night to be over soon.

And then there was a tap on your shoulder.

“Jesus Christ–– thought I lost ya for good,” said Luke, voice hoarse and slurred while he slumped down onto the brick beside you. He stuck his feet in the water without rolling up his pants.

“Nope,” you mumbled. “Been here.”

Luke was smiley, and the freckles on his nose seemed more prominent under the teal hue from the pool.

“Where’d you go?” you asked him, yet your heart ached at the thought of him leaving you the way he did. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Uh, y’know.” Luke shrugged. “This, there, n’ that.”

You shook your head. “No. I don’t know.”

“I’ve been looking for you,” said Luke, fingers running along the surface of the water before gently splashing your knees. “Wanted t’show my girl around. People kept asking ‘bout you.”

“Your–– your girl?” The words rattled around in your brain, but at the moment, they didn’t settle quite right. They would have sounded wonderful the night prior. But you weren’t property. You weren’t his girl.

Luke glanced at you, eyes shiny and dark, and his lips tugged into a lazy smile. He smelled of whiskey sour and bourbon, a combination that made your stomach churn. You admitted his proximity intimidated you, and you admitted that you wanted nothing more than to go back to last night.

Suddenly, Luke was leaning in to kiss you, and all you could do was push him back. It had been sloppy and wet. It had been wrong.

You couldn’t speak.

“Sorry?” he asked. His eyebrows scrunched together.

You stood quickly, reaching down to fix your dress before you walked off. Luke was hot on your tail.

“I thought you were cool with that!” he exclaimed as he stomped through the grass behind you. A few strangers turned their heads, so you faced him and kept him close. “Did last night mean anything to you?”

“Yes,” you said flatly. “Last night meant everything to me. But last night means nothing now. It has to mean nothing now.”

Luke laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Us, Luke,” you said, holding out your arms. “We’ve been best friends for like, ten years, and suddenly that changes in one night. Maybe if we were on similar paths, it would actually work. But it doesn’t work, Luke. It just doesn’t. Not for us.”

His face relaxed, and his lips pulled into a frown. “Not for us?” he whispered. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that you’re you,” you said, “and I’m me. We live on two different parts of the world, and we still don’t know where we belong. It’s not the right time–– if there’s even a right time at all.” You hugged your bare arms as a light breeze blew over.

“Who fucking cares?”

“I care,” you replied.

Luke let out an exasperated sigh. “Fucking hell,” he mumbled, laughing lightly. “Why do you have t’care? Just say fuck it. Do what you fuckin’ want.”

“No, Luke, I can’t just do that––“

“God, you’re being so annoying.”

You blinked. “I’m–– what?”

Luke blanched and swallowed. “Nothing.”

“I’m being so annoying?” you asked with a smirk. “Oh, wow. Okay. Sorry. I guess I’ll stop being so annoying then.”

“No,” said Luke. “I didn’t mean that.”

“You can’t take it back.”

“Please.” His eyes widened, and his sincerity radiated off of him. “I didn’t––“

“What did you mean?”

“What?”

You sighed. Your stomach hurt, and you wanted to just go home. “If you didn’t mean it, then what did you mean?”

Luke shrugged. “Just think you’re being kinda unreasonable.”

“What?” you questioned. “Because I don’t like it here?”

“Because you’re not open to trying!” yelled Luke.

His raised voice made your heart stop. It made every built-up emotion ache to release in an instant. But you wouldn’t let yourself cry. “I want to try,” you said weakly. “I wanna try so badly. But I wanna be happy, Lu.”

He folded his arms over his chest.

“I’m happy with you,” you continued. “But I’m not gonna be happy here. As much as I like being with you, it’s not gonna cancel any of that out.”

Luke didn’t reply. He stared at you, eyes glazed and emotionless.

“I’m gonna go home,” you said.

“Okay.”

You nodded. “I mean, home home.”

Luke’s eyes filled with another unreadable emotion. “Why?”

You sighed again, but this time, you felt annoyed as well. You felt like every feeling from the night prior had dripped from your shoulders. You felt like it had all gone down the drain. “I don’t belong here,” you said.

“Yes, you fucking do!”

“I’m going home,” you repeated, this time harsher as your eyes brimmed with tears.

Luke’s composure fell. There was silence for a moment, and then he nodded. He nodded twice. “Okay,” he mumbled. “Okay.”

-

Luke had been peeling the skin from around his nails.

The two days following the party had been spent in heavy tension. It took every ounce of him to not bring it up–– he wanted to talk about everything he had said, yet the more time that passed, the more he forgot. But he remembered every change in your expression, and his stomach churned at the thought of him upsetting you the way he did. He wanted to take it all back.

You didn’t mention it either. You packed up your belongings quietly, and he didn’t bother you. He didn’t bother exhausting you over words that meant little in the grand scheme of things. Because as much as he wanted you to stay, he knew that you had no choice. In a perfect world, he could drop everything for you. In a perfect world, he could settle down and be with you for the rest of his life. Nobody made decisions in the span of a week, but he wished he could.

He saw you. He didn’t want to see anyone else.

Luke drank his coffee cold on your last day. It stained his white shirt, yet he kept his feet planted against the tiles in his kitchen. He didn’t go change because you were back in the guest room, and he knew that his chest would hurt the sight of you. He knew he would try to say things to make you stay. He knew that they would fail.

He heard the wheels of your suitcase before he saw you. And then you were there, jean jacket draped over your arm while you waited for him to speak up. Luke didn’t know how to talk anymore. He only felt dejection.

“My flight leaves in four hours,” you said, grip tightening around the handle of your suitcase.

Luke nodded. He wanted to believe you were sad, too. He wanted to believe you still thought about that night only days ago.

“I can call a cab,” you continued with a shrug. A light-hearted shrug that felt out-of-place.

He shook his head. “I’ll take you,” he said, but his voice was weak.

“Okay.”

And the familiar silence clicked back into place. It wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It hadn’t felt like this before. Leaving you at sixteen was full of smiles and “see-you-soon”’s. But with you leaving now, it felt like you were leaving for good.

Luke nodded again. “Okay.”

The ride to the airport was quiet. It was a sickening quiet, one that brought on the urge to cry and scream. He wanted to yell at himself for being so fucking ridiculous. His fingers tensed against the steering wheel.

When Luke parked the car, the words “I’m sorry” tumbled from his lips.

You glanced over. “What for?”

A part of him wanted to laugh. You knew the exact reasons why he felt sorry.

But he just shrugged. “For throwing you into my life,” he said. “It was selfish of me. I didn’t think about how it would make you feel.”

“You didn’t mean it like that,” you replied. “I know you didn’t. You were just showing me your life.”

“But it was too much.”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

You gave Luke a small, sad smile before reaching over and grabbing his hand. You intertwined your fingers with his.

“If it’s okay,” you said, “I’d still like to be a part of your life.”

Luke smiled, too. “Yeah,” he breathed out. “It’s always okay.”

-

You felt sick.

You held Luke’s hand on your way into the airport, and you dreaded letting go. You dreaded the idea of possibly never feeling his touch again. You weren’t saying goodbye for good, but it felt like you were.

“Here’s where I leave you,” he mumbled, voice breaking at the last few words, and his grip on your hand loosened.

You refused to let him go. When you turned around, Luke’s façade had chipped. His eyes welled with tears, and soon enough, yours had, too. You pushed yourself against him in a tight embrace, arms meeting around his neck while his wrapped around your waist. The tears slipped down your cheeks before you could stop them.

You wondered why it was so hard. You wondered why it hurt so much.

You held him for as long as you could before losing your balance. Yet, when you pulled away, you didn’t let go of him. You stood on your toes to brush your nose against his.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, clutching the collar of his shirt as you pressed your lips to his through tear slicked cheeks.

Luke held you closer, and this time, he didn’t let you pull away. His lips were warm and wet, but it was perfect. Everything about him was perfect. It hurt so much. You wanted to kiss him forever.

When all air ceased, Luke rested his forehead against yours, and you could feel his own tears falling against your skin. His breath was hot on your lips. And then you pulled him in again, teeth clashing in a hard yet heartbreaking kiss. You didn’t care–– you just needed to feel his lips again.

“Don’t leave,” he mumbled.

Your arms weakened around his shoulders, hands soon resting on his chest as you began to move away. It hurt to smile, but you did it anyway. “Gonna miss you, Squid,” you said, and your eyes watered once more.

Luke sniffed, and as your hand cupped his cheek, he leaned into you. He let out a breath. “Gonna miss you, too,” he said.

Your hand fell back to your side. “Well,” you said, swallowing down the tears that threatened to spill. You shot him another smile. “I’ll let you know when I land.”

He nodded. “Yeah, um––“ He scratched the back of his head. “Thank you.”

So, you nodded, too. “See you soon, String Bean.”

And finally, Luke smiled, too.

You gathered your belongings and slowly made your way to the security line, stomach twisting as your thoughts invaded. You couldn’t shake the negative feelings away. Every glance over your shoulder reminded you that you didn’t want to say goodbye. Every step felt erroneous. You looked back at Luke.

He waved at you, and your chest caved in.

It was wrong. Everything was wrong.

Your eyes scanned the line and the many travelers waiting with their tickets in hand. You looked at the agents who seemed less than pleased to be there that day. And finally, you locked your gaze back on Luke again, and your heart tugged.

It was wrong.

So, you left the line and walked back over to him, and he watched you the entire time.

“I’m sure there’s a later flight,” you sputtered out, heart pounding in your chest while a grin spread on his cheeks. You smiled in return.

“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “I’m sure there is.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck again and kissed him until your head spun. It finally felt so right.

[uswnt-owns-this-homo]

What A Time To Be Alive (Lindsey Horan x Reader)

a/n: so I was planning on having this out like a lot sooner, alas, schoolwork wrecked that idea... I got the title idea from a TikTok (Yes I’m very ashamed)... thank you for the prompt!

prompt: hi! could you do either emily sonnet or lindsey horan (doesn't matter which one u pick!) x fem where they're just doing cute stuff together in quarantine? i love your work! :)

It’s only my first week of quarantine and I’m going crazy. Between my insane work schedule, and Lindsey’s tournament, on top of NWSL training, we’ve barely seen each other.  We’ve been focusing on ourselves, staying at our own apartments, which is where I so happen to be. I’ve been staying here, not wanting to disrupt Lindsey’s routine, or to throw her off her game. Which I now greatly regret. As soon as the virus hit, I wanted to bring some things over to Linds’s house, and hang out there, just in case, but avoided asking for fear that it would distract her. She’s been under a lot of stress, with Em’s upcoming move, and the recent SheBelieves Cup. But now I wish I would have sucked it up and asked her. 

I’m getting ready for another day working at home, calling in for some takeout and coffee for breakfast, putting on a sweatshirt of Lindsey’s and pulling my hair into a simple ponytail. I set up my laptop in the living room and grab my phone, planning on calling Lindsey later. I’ve just sat down and opened up my laptop when I hear someone knocking at my door. Damn, this delivery boy deserves a big tip, that was fast. I grab my wallet and start to pull out the money, opening my door, only to be greeted with Lindsey, instead of my takeout.

“Look, I know they’re saying to stay by yourself, isolate, but I’ve missed you these past few weeks and wanted to come see you,”

I drop the money before I launch myself at her, going up on my tiptoes and cupping her face.

“Linds, thank you, so much. We can hang out here, or at yours? I just got takeout and coffee, so we can eat?”

She laughs and nods.

“Yeah, we can chill here, I’ll stay the night maybe?”

I pretend to think for a moment and she slaps my shoulder. I laugh.

“Well, we could do that, or we could go over to yours later, and maybe then we can see Emily during quarantine, that is if you’re cool with me hanging for it?”

She beams and picks me up. She swings me a bit and sets me down, She  clutches at my Thorns sweatshirt and kisses me. Not like a gentle, “I haven’t kissed you in forever” type kiss. No, this is a full on “How can you get what I need so easily” type gig. I grin and wrap my arms over her shoulders, feeling the muscle underneath near perfect skin. 

“Now I see why the firm wanted you, Y/N, you’re a freakin’ genius!”

“God, I missed you,”

I scoff and blush, taking her hand and pulling her to the couch.

“Okay, you sit here, I’ll make you a latte, or whatever it is, and you can just sit here and look good,”

She nods and grabs the remote while I go to make her a coffee. The doorbell rings right as I’m finishing it up, and I quickly walk to see Lindsey thanking the delivery boy, and paying him, my money still on the floor.

“Linds, I know I did not just see you pay that delivery boy,”

She grins and bends down to grab the money off the floor, handing to me and taking her coffee.

“Okay, then you definitely didn’t just see that, right?”

We make our way to the couch and divvy up the food, slowly drinking our coffee and talking about what has been going on. We finish and I grab her arm, pulling her down to where we’re laying on the couch, her big spooning me while I grab my laptop.

“Okay, so I technically have work today, but I only have one conference, so I’ll just work here until I have to get ready for that?”

She nods and gets a Netflix movie up and running, turning the volume down low enough to avoid distracting me. I slowly but surely make my way through the mountains of emails and work, letting out a sigh when I see that I need to start getting dressed for a client conference. Linds sits up and I smile, kissing her gently on the cheek.

“Okay, this should take half an hour, maybe an hour at max, and then I can get a bag together for you and Emily’s?”

She grins and gives me a kiss, nodding her head and going back to her movie.

“Yeah, babe, no problem, I’ll just hang,”

I smile and go to start doing my makeup and to put on my dress shirt, not bothering in nice pants, leaving me in just my boxers. I walk through the living room, making sure Linds sees me before I quickly make an iced coffee.  I go to my set up in the kitchen, making sure I have all my files and everything that I need.

A call should only last up to an hour. So, why did this one run close to 2? I groan as the stubborn client finally hangs up the call. Linds comes up behind me and gently rubs my shoulders, laughing when I sigh.

“I swear, you’d think they’d treat me better if they want me to take their case,”

She gently pulls me around, placing her hands at my waist and gently swaying, my head tucked under her chin and my arms up around her shoulders.

“Well, they obviously don’t know how awesome you are, or how cool, or pretty, or caring, or a whole lot of other mush that is definitely going to be used as blackmail later,”

I chuckle and detach myself, shaking out my stiff muscles and heading towards my room. I make quick work of packing, putting in a week's worth of shirts, pants, and some slip on shoes, as well as a couple dress shirts, and one pair of god forsaken dress slacks. I get some necessities and also grab the switch, looking at Lindsey, who’s taken perch on my bed, scrolling through her phone.

“Right, this quarantine, I’m getting you back on the switch, no if’s, and’s, or but’s. It’s happening, and I don’t care about the vow you have to the team. We’re playing the new Animal Crossing or else,”

She just looks up and shrugs. I finish gathering everything and throw it into my duffle, grabbing my keys and pulling Lindsey with me into the kitchen.

“You and Em have bad coffee, so I’m taking that, and then I thought I could stop at the store and grab some baking stuff, maybe some paints, or something?”

“Yeah, sounds good b. Em is going to the store later though, so we can either ask her or have her get that stuff,”

I nod and we walk down to the car, hauling my laptop and work bag. I put my stuff in my car and Lindsey gets in her car. I wave and get in the driver’s seat.

The quarantine with Emily and Lindsey is going great. We’ve painted… everything. We got a hold of Emily’s shoes, and painted them Orlando colors, kind of as a final send off for her move. We painted some clothes, and the best one yet. Emily’s face. She fell asleep first one night, and we couldn’t resist. We (Lindsey) painted her up as a clown… She was not a happy camper when it wouldn’t come off, leaving her with huge red splotches on her face. 

Today is Bake Day. Emily and I have been trying to get Linds to play smash bros with us, to no avail. So, we’ve compromised. Today Lindsey and I are going to bake, while Emily stays away from the kitchen (to this day we still don’t talk about the Thorns Cook Off Fiasco), and then tomorrow we will have the mario bros switch tournament of the ages.  I double check the cookie recipe before getting out the flour, sugar, and other things that we need.

“Ah, shoot, Linds, the butter is supposed to be softened,”

Emily bursts into the kitchen, laughing maniacally. 

“I read somewhere that if you put butter under your armpits, It will heat it up to room temperature!”

She swipes the butter before we can stop her, thankfully doesn’t take it out of the wrapper, and shoves both sticks under her arms. I groan, go to the fridge, grab a beer, and push her gently.

“Okay, you’re definitely going to leave, get tipsy, and for the love of preath, put the butter down,”

She continues to laugh, but does as I say. She slowly unearths the butter, squeezing it and whooping.

“Ha! It did soften! So I was right. I think I deserve a ‘oh thanks Sonny, how kind’ don’tcha think?”

I roll my eyes, shove the beer into her hands, and take the butter. She walks off into the living room and I turn to Lindsey, who has a look on her face, her nose scrunched up, eyes watery.

“Hey, you know she’ll be back to terrorize us at every chance she gets.. This isn’t going to change much, except maybe there will be less pit butter around,”

She laughs, coming and giving me a hug.

“God, how do you always know what I need to hear?”

I smile.

“Well… you have kind of a really expressive face, and I’ve known you for years,” 

We quickly set about mixing all the ingredients, everything going well until I go to put the eggs in, only to be hit with a huge handful of flour. I slowly turn to look at Linds, who’s grin drops.

“Wait, lemme get this straight, I mean, not straight, cause I’m not, you know what I mean, you just threw flour at me?”

I hear her whisper a “oh fuck” before she sprints for the living room.

“Sonnett, you grab her or so help me!”

I hear rustling and struggling and grin widely as I carry the bag of flour into the living room where Emily has Lindsey pinned to the floor, dodging her flailing limbs.

“Son, you don’t understand! She’s gonna get me, oh god,”

I cackle, upending the whole bag of flour over them as Emily’s eyes widen.

“Y/N, DO NOT.. THIS IS CARPET!”

I just shrug.

“Looks like payback’s a bitch, isn’t that right Linds?”

She coughs and nods. I grin.

“Okay, I’m going to go finish the cookies, you two can sweep, right?”

Sonnett looks ready to argue, but Lindsey just nods.

“Yes, babe. Of course, babe,”

I laugh.

“Come on, I’ll help, then we can finish them,”

   We make quick work of cleaning up the flour before I stop dead.

“Linds, I forgot to add the flour to the cookies before I dumped it,”

Emily bellows with laughter.

“Looks like we’ve got two options… floor flour, or weird flourless cookies, nice Y/N,”

So it turns out that floor flour cookies aren’t that bad. The three of us (Lindsey and I, plus Emily playing her switch in the kitchen) ended up scraping together enough of the flour to complete the cookies. I grab one as I tug Lindsey down onto the couch, handing her a cookie and kissing her cheek.

“Okay, next step is Animal Crossing, Mama needs crazy shells Linds,”

We sit there for a few hours, losing track of time as Lindsey drapes her arm over my shoulders, our legs entangled.

“This bastard! I cast that pole perfectly, the dumb fish,”

Lindsey took over for me a couple hours in. We’re fueled by coffee and cookies.

“Hey, Linds, when’s the last time we heard from Sonny?”

She just shrugs and keeps playing. I look at the clock and see that it’s 4:45.

“Hey babe, it’s like almost 5, we should probably go to bed,”

She sighs but shuts down the game, handing me the switch and giving me a peck on the cheek.

“I don’t even know where I am babe, this is why the switch is bad… we lost like 4 hours,”

I laugh.

“I’m sure you’ll be saying that when the little animals sing to you… I’m not tired yet, you wanna paint Sonnett’s face again?”

I’m pretty sure the whole apartment complex can hear her screaming to the mirror the next morning, trying to scrub the clown makeup off for the second time… The rest of the quarantine is going to be good, I can just feel it.

[prosopopeya]

New Year’s Meme

this survey has been a tradition among my friend group for YEARS, but i haven’t filled it out since 2015 apparently. i’m not entirely sure why except 2016 was the year a lot of stuff changed for me, namely in that i finally got out of school in some form and started a new job, but i also had a few health problems that kept plaguing me (thyroid medicine being off, vitamin d) and my anxiety was all over the place. so here we go i’m doing it again and feel free to do it too if you want!!

1. What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before? tried on wedding dresses. taught virtually. dealt (poorly) with drunk teenagers. performed in a pep rally. wore face masks all the time. i’m going to lump in living with someone. jon moved in october 2019, but i don’t think i did this quiz last year so. taught ap.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? i don’t really like resolutions. they put too much pressure on me and i am a fragile person when it comes to setting expectations and living up to them. i did want to try to read more this year, and i maintained that until the pandemic, and then just kind of gave up requiring myself to do anything but live.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? i don’t think so. a coworker did.

4. Did anyone close to you die? jon’s cousin committed suicide in march or april. the circumstances were pretty upsetting. um. andy died in february, very suddenly. andy was my high school boyfriend for four years with whom i had a very... he scarred me in a lot of ways when it comes to sex and consent. it’s taken me a long time to unpack all of that. and i struggle with how much any of that was his fault or just bc he was a stupid kid too. our mutual friends had nothing but nice things to say about him on fb. anyway. he would guilt me into saying he’d kill himself if we broke up, and jon’s cousin killed himself over his girlfriend. so that was a complex part of the year.

5. What countries did you visit? none. literally the week before the quarantine, we went to asheville to visit jon’s cousin.

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020? maybe a different job? or at least some peace at doing mine.

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? march 13 we cancelled classes and had a technology training day; the 15th we had another one, and then we were virtual the rest of the term. it was such a sudden shift and while i so loved working from home tbh, it was such a relief after a supremely shitty january/february work-wise, i still had a lot of keyed-up, stressful days centered around transitioning to being the senior upper school spanish teacher. i hate it!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? writing 50k in the month of november. i have literally never done that before and actively reject nano as being typically unhealthy for how my mind works, so it was nice to do it entirely by accident.

9. What was your biggest failure? mishandling the drunken teenagers on that field trip in january.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? i sit crosslegged in my virtual teaching chair and i did it so much that my ankle hurt for the entire summer.

11. What was the best thing you bought? we put a deposit on our elopement in ireland. jon’s wedding ring. (i didn’t buy my wedding dress.)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my best friend at work who keeps me sane and is represented by benny in my au, which other than the fact that he is not my sidepiece, is perfect he is crucial to my survival at work and i love him so much. (also he is gay and the french teacher so the benny parallels just keep coming). everyone who tore down a statue in virginia (and other places, but especially monument avenue). everyone putting their lives on the line during this pandemic.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? guess! but aside from all the obvious, i found out a friend of mine at work voted for trump. my work bff and i had been trying for years to sway his politics, but that had us both deciding to give up on him.

14. Where did most of your money go?  food, ALCOHOL. god., our savings account. i did a pretty excellent job saving this year, though a good deal of that is because jon moved in and makes more money than me, and also we split all the bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? my wedding dress but strangely only when i went to try it on after it came in bc after the purchase i was so sure i’d made every mistake possible. my wedding band. wellbutrin changing my whole life. and, last but certainly not least, the gay angel and the bi(lingual) hunter. i wouldn’t have survived nov-dec in school without that distraction. the election.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2020? the entirety of taylor swift’s oeuvre this year, maybe specifically “this is me trying”

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:  i. Happier or sadder? happier, i suppose, perhaps contrary to what should be the case, but wellbutrin is a hell of a drug. ii. Older or wiser? wiser. ii. Richer or poorer? richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? reading. cleaning. exercising.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? stressing. chaperoning.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? so, an update; last year was the first year i didn’t go to my mom’s for christmas. i was supposed to see her for thanksgiving last year, but she basically told us not to come bc she wasn’t feeling up to it (cool!), and we went to jon’s for christmas and my mom’s for new year’s. 

this year, obviously we couldn’t go to my mom’s. instead, we rented a little cabin by the lake. it was perfect; it was really really nice inside, the beds were SO SOFT, the pillows were the best things i have ever laid my head on, like i took off the pillowcases to try to find the brand. we had a little tiny christmas tree with tiny ornaments from walmart that we decorated. the 23rd, we went and picked up our wedding bands. we slept two nights in the (cold) back bedroom so i could wake up and look out at the lake. it snowed for christmas. :)

we opened presents on christmas eve, per jon’s family’s tradition. on christmas eve, we also went to his family farm and sat outside and hung out a little. every year his family does like a secret santa sort of thing and i got my first present in that exchange, which is notable bc jon and i are not yet officially married. i got a remote control car -- jon’s idea bc i couldn’t think of anything, and he was so delighted to hear that i loved playing with rc cars when we went to the beach as a kid.

christmas morning we facetimed my parents and opened some presents together. then jon and i marathoned mandalorian (after spending the previous few days watching several die hard movies), and then we watched wonder woman 1984 which was a bad movie.

21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? ok LAST year for new year’s, we were in a hotel room, so that was nice, bc it meant minimal stress with my parents. i had always wanted to go to this restaurant near us that has a special new year’s menu, so we did that. the night before or after i think we went to cheesecake factory, which was also amazing.

this year currently i’m tumbling and he’s playing pokemon, and in a bit we’ll try to time it so we finish schitt’s creek in time for the new year.

22. Did you fall in love in 2020? i re-fell in love with supernatural so that was nice.

23. How many one-night stands? 0. i submit we should randomly change question 23 each year to something more relevant to any of our life experiences.

24. What was your favorite TV program? what did i even watch this year. schitt’s creek. mandalorian. i mean obviously we know supernatural. the circle. are you the one (the queer season). pose. unsolved mysteries. we’re here! perry mason. watchmen. oh maybe that mcdonald’s monopoly fraud documentary. avenue 5. i’ll be gone in the dark. of those i think my favorite maybe is... pose or we’re here.

OKAY UM. on my 2014 version of this there were a bunch of questions about tv shows that i’m putting back in if only for the memories:

25. Which TV shows did you start watching in 2020? the haunting of bly manor, which we still need to finish. derry girls.

26. Which TV shows did you let go of in 2020? HERE’S WHY I WANTED TO RESURRECT THESE. here was my answer in 2015: “supernatural. goodbye, my sweet prince.” CAN YOU EVEN FUCKING BELIEVE

27. Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn’t in 2020? Why? so far, queen’s gambit and that one on hulu with catherine the great. EVENTUALLY. 28. Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2020? fleabag. queen’s gambit. 29. Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2020 unless things significantly improve? idk i drop things pretty regularly if they don’t entertain me 30. Which TV show impressed you least in 2020? GUYS HERE’S MY ORIGINAL 2015 ANSWER: “supernatural. :(”

anyway back to the rest of the quiz:

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? every person who refuses to listen to facts and information.

26. What was the best book you read? killers of the flower moon: the osage murders and the birth of the fbi, or the his dark materials series.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? well i knew about tswift so i’m not going to count her albums. i will count this song that jon played for me once in the car that got stuck in my head for two weeks straight and led me down into a great related-songs spotify playlist: through the roof ‘n underground.

28. What did you want and get? a wedding dress and a very specific kind of wedding band. a gay angel. a christmas getaway. animal crossing.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? idk i don’t know how many films i saw this year. maybe mucho mucho amor: the legend of walter mercado

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? i was 32. we went to an escape room with a BUNCH of people -- work bff, my old work bff and his wife (old bc he quit and we’ve fallen out of touch :(), the cool new physics teacher and his fiancee, and the aforementioned trump voter and his wife, before we knew... we went out for brunch/lunch after. it was pretty great!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? not having to chaperone that school trip in january. dean being bi in english as well as spanish. cas just ilke, appearing in 15x20. not having to physically go back to work this fall.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020? no! real! pants!

34. What kept you sane? jon. supernatural (in a way?). animal crossing for a while. wellbutrin! i haven’t really been able to detail this yet, but finally i did something about tumblr and my therapist making me think about adhd. my doctor gave me wellbutrin (bc i lack any official diagnosis and was on anxiety meds anyway, and he was like let’s try this!) and it’s fucking. it’s a fucking godsend. surprisingly enough, my students. trying to provide them a safe space has been a calming thing for me.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? jensen ackles’ silence. misha collins again, i guess.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? the summer was so fucking intense. i guess though it was me trying to exert my influence in a responsible way with my students without trying to try to make them feel uncomfortable but then one kid was a vocally upset trump supporter after the election and i had to try to defuse that situation.

37. Who did you miss? my old work bff. several old friends that i’ve fallen out of touch with bc i have no object permanence.

38. Who was the best new person you met? people i met through the spn resurgence!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020: if you manifest it in an au, it will come. no really though. maybe that expectations are only as important as i make them out to be.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: usually i have a hard time coming up with anything for this and i default to looking at my most played songs of the year. my most played song of the year received each and every one of its plays within the month of november and you can guess why. anyway see if this works

I had all and then most of you Some and now none of you Take me back to the night we met I don't know what I'm supposed to do Haunted by the ghost of you Take me back to the night we met - the night we met, lord huron

[obxfics]

Can’t Help Falling in Love

summary: in a perfect world, you could be with the pogues without putting anyone you loved at risk, but you didn’t live in a perfect world. you lived in the outer banks, and sometimes sacrifices need to be made to protect those you care about.

pairing: pope x reader

word count: 2,717

a/n: once again 60s AU! When i said it would be a series, i should have clarified that it would be a collection of fics. They don’t all necessarily take place in the same universe, hence the different pairings. i’m really enjoying these, so i hope you enjoy reading them! fair warning tho: this does not have a happy ending. i may write a part two using another song if y’all are interested, but as for this fic right now... this will not be a feel good fic.

The Summer Garden Party. The biggest event of the summer on Kildare island, and one that only those from Figure Eight were invited to. Neither one of your brothers, or you for that matter, really enjoyed going, mostly because your family didn’t really fit in with the rest of the second homers, but your grandparents had long been invited, and your father’s diner was a favorite for even the Kooks, so you were forced to attend every year. Your grandmother always picked out a lovely dress she had probably seen on the First Lady or Grace Kelly, and your brothers were shoved into slacks and sports coats, your mother forcing them to sit still as she slicked their hair back as if they were some big Hollywood actors. You wished your friends—well they weren’t really your friends anymore were they.

Earlier in the summer, you were forced to part from the Pogues after your diner had been trashed and Pope… the boy you loved was jumped because of your association with the lower class group. You knew on some level they understood, or at least John B did when you told him tearfully when he had come to check up on you, but you were still afraid that they hated you. Did they think you betrayed them by choosing the Kooks over them? It wasn’t much of a choice for you. Your family’s safety had been put at risk, and while you adored your friends, you loved them too much to see them hurt again. You couldn’t be the reason Pope was attacked or worse. So you played the perfect Kook. You dressed in tasteful dresses and pants inspired by Audrey Hepburn, attended summer tea parties, and went to the movies in the Camerons’ pretty blue Thunderbird. And then at night you went upstairs, wiped away all the make-up you had caked on, let your hair down, and cried yourself to sleep.

“Lovelies, are you ready?” your grandmother asked, poking her head into the bathroom where you were just finishing up with your makeup and your mother had finished twisting the last strands of hair into the updo you had decided on.

“Yes, Mother, we just need to put the finishing touch,” your mother answered.

You closed your eyes and tried to breathe when your mother uncapped the hairspray can and started spraying the elaborate hairstyle she had spent an hour doing. Even so, you coughed as you waved the sticky mist from your face and edged to the bathroom door to escape the fumes.

“Not so fast, young lady,” your mother called, smiling when your grandmother stopped you from leaving. “You’re forgetting the most important part!”

You managed to suppress the urge to roll your eyes when you saw the pearl necklace in your mother’s hands. It was a precious family heirloom, passed down from your grandmother to your mother and now to you, but as much as you loved your family, you still hated the feeling of going full Kook. You had betrayed your friends, and for what? To wear fancy clothes to fancy parties and laugh at rude boys who wanted nothing more than to taint you? Still, you allowed your mother to place the necklace on you and clasp it at the back of your neck. The pearls were cool on your collarbone, and you had to admit that you looked quite nice, but you didn’t look like you, not really. How you longed to lounge about in your bikini, Keds, and one of Pope’s Hawaiian shirts. You were your father’s daughter, a wild child who belonged to the waves, whether that be the Florida coast or the Outer Banks.

“Oh, honey, you look beautiful,” your grandmother sniffled, careful not to smudge her makeup. “So much like your mother at your age.”

“Ladies!” you heard your father call up the stairs. “Are we going to this shindig or not?”

“Is it that time already? Oh, dear, we can’t be late!”

You followed your mother and grandmother down the stairs, taking careful steps to seem graceful in the pumps you were forced to wear. At the bottom of the stairs, you saw your father and grandfather tucking a few cigars into their coat pockets while Christian and Diego fussed with their suspenders and gelled up hair. You all looked the part of a perfect Kook family. You took Diego’s outstretched hand and smiled gratefully at Christian when he draped your shawl over your shoulders. Well at least you still had your brothers even if you couldn’t have your Pogues.

“I say we stay for an hour, steal some booze, and make a break for the beach,” Diego whispered as you all climbed into the station wagon.

“Aw, you don’t want to dance with any pretty girls?” Christian teased his younger brother.

“Diego’s already been through all the pretty girls on the island,” you laughed, checking to make sure your parents and grandparents hadn’t heard. “He’s so used to drinking and partying at college. I bet you even smoke some things Mother and Pops wouldn’t approve of,” you whispered with a giggle.

“Nothing you can prove,” Diego said, before grinning and showing you what he had stowed in his inside coat pocket. “But we could have a very pleasant night if y’all wanted to.”

The three of you stifled giggles as your car pulled up to the Country Club where you could already hear the sound of the band playing under the stars. You took the hand that the valet offered you with a smile, and you took a moment to smooth out any creases that had formed while you had been squished between your brothers before you looked up to thank the valet.

“Pope,” you breathed out when your eyes met those of your ex-lover’s. Your heart clenched painfully, and your grip on his hand tightened without your permission. “Thank you,” you whispered.

He offered you a small, sad smile and squeezed your hand once before letting go. “You look beautiful tonight, Miss y/l/n. Please enjoy your evening.”

Your brothers each took ahold of one of your arms and led you forward before you could have a breakdown before even stepping foot into the party.

“Keep looking forward,” Christian whispered in your ear when he saw you begin to look behind you. “Rafe and Topper are already keeping an eye on us.”

Although it physically pained you to do so, you restrained yourself from looking back at the boy you loved with all your heart, and instead smiled and allowed Topper to kiss your cheek. You hated that you had to go on dates with him, pretending to be infatuated with him. All to protect those you actually loved. He took your hand from your brothers’ and began leading you away from them towards the area by the state set up for dancing. The band was playing “A Teenager in Love,” and your stomach turned at the thought of being in Topper’s arms swaying to it together. But you would bear it.

“You look beautiful,” he told you as he placed his hands at your waist. “Like Grace Kelly, almost.”

You were sure your grandmother would love to hear that, but you knew she wasn’t fond of most the families in Figure Eight. While your grandparents raised your mother here, they had worked hard to get to where they are, and they adored your father despite his poorer upbringing. They had never bought into the class division of the island, and they despised how kids your age were being raised to hate on those less fortunate than them. She, like you, knew Topper and Rafe were among the worst, but you assured her that you knew what you were doing getting involved with them. You didn’t. You just knew that if you were with one of them, no one would dare mess with you, and you were in a position to take their attention from the Pogues. So you swallowed your nausea each day and allowed Topper to kiss you and touch you.

“I can’t believe those lowlives are allowed here,” he growled, bringing you from your thoughts.

You turned your head to see he was glaring at the Pogues. All three boys were dressed as waiters, Pope having left his post as valet once everyone had arrived. Your heart pounded in your chest when you felt his grip on your waist tighten. You placed your hand on his cheek, smiling at him in an attempt to get him to focus solely on you.

“The Garden Party wouldn’t be successful without people serving the drinks, right?” you cooed. “Just focus on dancing with me.”

It seemed to work for a few moments until you noticed Diego approach the Pogues. What was he doing?

“What the hell is your brother doing?” Topper echoed your thoughts.

“I-I don’t know. Wait, Topper!”

You weren’t quick enough to grab his wrist as he made his way over to where your brother was.

“What’s happening?” Kie was at your side in a flash.

“I don’t know! Diego just went over to talk to the boys, and now Topper is going to blow a gasket!”

The two of you rushed after your “boyfriend” as he got in Diego’s face. Your brother raised his arms in a placating manner, his eyes flashing over to meet yours in a panic.

“Whoa, calm down, buddy,” Diego said in a gentle tone, “I was just asking for them to make me an old fashioned. That’s it, Topper.”

“Topper,” you called, placing a hand on his arm once you reached him, “just leave it. Diego just wanted a drink, okay?”

A yelp escaped you when Topper shoved you away from you into Kie’s arms.

“Don’t patronize me! You two think you’re so clever, don’t you? Think I don’t realize you’re still messing around with these low-lives?” Topper snarled at you.

“Hey, you don’t get to talk to her like that!” Pope snapped.

John B held Pope back while Diego stepped aside, letting JJ approach Topper. There would be a lot worse consequences if Pope was the one to lose it. So you all were left to watch as JJ smirked and socked Topper right in the eye. Chaos descended as the boy you were with toppled to the ground, and JJ dropped on top of him to continue whaling on him. You were aware of many women around you screaming for security, and you realized you were one of them. You had to do something.

“JJ, stop!” you begged your friend. “Please, don’t hurt him!”

If he hurt Topper too bad, there was no way you could protect your friends from the Kooks. You had to stop him. You locked eyes with Christian who had come running once the first punch had been thrown. He got the message and wrapped his arms around JJ, managing to drag the blonde off your “boyfriend.” This allowed you to drop to your knees beside Topper, probably ruining your pretty dress, and touch his face tenderly. Please don’t be hurt, you begged the cosmos. For the Pogues’ sake, please don’t be hurt. Rafe helped you hoist Topper to his feet.

“Here, let’s get you taken care of,” you whispered and took his hand. “Will you let me take care of you?”

Thankfully, he let you lead him through the crowd that had formed and into the building. You found the locker room and sat him down on one of the benches so you could properly assess the damage. You saw he had a split lip and some swelling appearing around his right eye. Not too bad, but still not good. You blew out a sigh as you briefly touched the cut on his bottom lip.

“I’m going to go get some ice and a first aid kit, okay? Stay here for me.”

“You chose me,” he said.

“Are you surprised?”

“I thought you had been messing around with all of them. But you chose me tonight.”

The day I choose you is the day I die, you promised in your head. “You’re my boyfriend, and, like you say, they’re just lowlives. Every girl likes to have a bit of rebellion before settling down, right. Mine is over.” You turned to the door, “I’ll be back with that ice.”

As you entered the kitchen, you heard the band start playing again. Elvis Presley this time. You had always loved this song. Had danced with Pope to it many times in your room as it played from your record player.

“Are you okay?” you heard from behind you as you wrapped some ice up in a towel. Pope. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Pope.”

“You need to be more careful with him.”

You whirled around to glare at the boy. “I need to be more careful? No, you need to! You all do! There is only so much I can do so he doesn’t try to kill the three of you stupid boys,” you snapped.

“Oh, so is that what you’re doing with him?” he scoffed.

“As a matter of fact, it is. You think I like being with him? He’s rude. And he hates the Beach Boys. And his hands like to wander too much at the drive-in. But I bear it all to protect you.”

Pope stepped forward so your chests were practically touching. The tension between you was palpable, and oh had you missed it.

“And why would you want to protect me?”

“Because I love you, you dolt!”

His hand was on the small of your back now, the distance between you two dwindling rapidly. You could barely focus on anything but the feel of his hand on you.

“Do you really?”

“For someone so smart, you can be so slow,” you whispered. “You are so annoying, and you never understand when I try to hint to you that I want you to kiss me like crazy in the Volkswagen, and I can never understand anything you talk about, but I still listen because it’s important to you and because… because I can’t help falling in love with you!”

You gasped when he suddenly pulled you to him and slanted his full lips over yours. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you pressed yourself to him eagerly, the heat in the room seeming to rise a hundred degrees. You missed this. Missed how he could drive you crazy yet he was the only thing you ever seemed to need. His lips left yours and traveled to your neck, and you swore you were in heaven. And then you remembered where you were, who you were.

“Whoa!” he panted when you pushed him away from you. “What’s wrong?”

“We… we can’t do this, Pope.”

“But you just said you were falling in love with me. And I… I’m in love with you too.”

Tears formed in your eyes as your heart ripped into a million pieces in your chest. This couldn’t be happening.

“I do love you. And that’s why I have to stay away from you. The people here… they don’t like that I hang around you and the other boys. If we got together, it would only be a matter of time before they hurt you again.”

“You’re hurting me.”

“Don’t… don’t say that, Pope. I’m trying to save you!”

“I don’t want to be saved! I just want you!”

You shook your head and took a few more steps back to put more distance between you. To clear your head. You were making the right decision. You grabbed the towel full of ice and saw the first aid kit by the door.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered as you passed Pope. You pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek and allowed a single tear to fall. “I wish things could be different.”

Then you moved past him and grabbed the little white box by the door. You took a deep breath to collect yourself, wiped any tears from your face, and squared your shoulders. When you stepped out those kitchen doors, you were no longer Pope’s y/n. You would be full Kook. And that’s how you were gonna stay until you could escape this island.

[neerasrealm]

I am enabling you

BAND AU BAND AU. SO GLAD I GET TO WRITE ABT THIS YEEEEEEE i kinda lost motivation towards the end but dfvsdgfhsd its fiiiiine. i got a couple more ideas for this au so...expect a couple more fics?? maybe??

Jason wasn’t sure if he could call the room a ‘practice room’. It felt more like a lounge. The walls were checkered with soundproof foam in places, as was the floor. There were also a lot of things hanging up on the walls. Posters of various rock bands and cult classic movies, all framed of course. The room was littered with instruments. Guitars, basses, a keyboard, a drumset, microphones- any instrument one could need, it was there. But there was also a lot of comfy furniture. Bean bags, a couple armchairs that had been dragged out of the trash, and of course, the old reliable sofa. It was stained and the springs were starting to break, but it was comfy, and Jason was quite happy lounging across it. He kicked his foot calmly in time to the beat of the music quietly playing from his boyfriend’s record player. He sighed and glanced over at the boyfriend in question. His name was Zalgo, and he had copper-brown skin and fluffy brown hair that was dyed red at the tips. Tattoos swirled up his arms and another stretched across his neck. He was covered in piercings too. His ears, his nose, a couple on his eyebrows, even a snakebite on his lower lip. His eyes were closed, and he was lounging in a big bean bag, a weed joint clenched between his teeth.

‘’They’re late again.’’ he murmured. 

‘’Nnh?’’ the joint flicked upward as Zalgo grunted. 

‘’The girls. We were supposed to have a practice session,’’ he looked down at the watch on his wrist. ‘’Twenty minutes ago.’’ 

‘’Mmmh…’’ Zalgo shifted in the bean bag, then abruptly jumped up in a startlingly quick movement. He stretched and groaned, then pulled the joint out of his mouth, smacking his dry lips. He looked over at Jason. He was wearing contacts again. These ones were golden and bright, and accentuated how...alluring, his gaze could be. His mouth curled up into a small grin. ‘’Just means more time for you and me.’’ he murmured as he walked slowly over to the couch where Jason sat. The redhead smirked at him as he leaned down toward him. 

‘’...You’re getting old.’’ Jason murmured before shoving Zalgo’s face away. The other man groaned and swatted at him before breaking into laughs. 

‘’I am not! I am just as cool and as sexy as senior year! Girls love me!’’

‘’You’re gay, Zalgo. And almost thirty.’’

‘’Hmph.’’ Zalgo puts his hands on his hips, pouting. Jason looked him over for a long moment. Zalgo had certainly kept his style from highschool. He wore a loose cut black tank top with a metal band’s logo on it. The neck was low, exposing his collar and the necklaces he wore around his neck. He was also wearing black ripped jeans with a studded belt with chains hanging off it. Almost every finger on his hand was decorated with a ring shiny ring. He was attractive, and carried himself with a confident flare only he could pull off. Jason could never pull that off. Showing so much skin, playing with makeup- it wasn’t his thing. He stuck with classic jeans, button-ups and ties with sneakers. Simple, yes, but it worked for him. And somehow Zalgo thought he was handsome enough to have dated him for over ten years. Jason smiled a bit and settled back in his seat.

‘’Do you...want to sit down?’’ he asked slowly. Zalgo looked down at him and grinned. He moved to lay down beside Jason, but the redhead put his hand on his chest and stopped him. ‘’...give me the joint first.’’ 

Zalgo huffed and rolled his eyes. He handed his boyfriend the joint and lay down, snuggling up against Jason as he took a drag of the joint. He sighed out, smoke blowing from his mouth. Zalgo looked up at him, watching him calmly. He reached up and caressed the other male’s jawline. ‘’...anyone ever tell you you’re fucking beautiful?’’ 

‘’No, my mother didn’t love me.’’ 

‘’PFFFFFT-’’ Zalgo wheezed loudly, bursting into loud cackles of amusement. Jason smiled and laughed gently. They were so distracted with just laughing on the couch like a couple of stupid dumb teens that they didn’t hear the front door being opened. They did however, hear it being slammed shut without warning, and it scared Zalgo so bad he fell off the couch with a yelp. The two stared at each other as they heard voices in the front hall downstairs. Zalgo grinned and rolled over onto his stomach, listening intently to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs toward them. Zalgo skittered across the room and pressed himself against the wall beside the door. 

Jason took a drag of the joint and watched the door, which was quickly and violently kicked open.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS UP KYLE?!" 

He blew smoke out of his mouth. "Hello Natalie." He greeted calmly. Natalie was a short girl, with long caramel hair and tanned skin. Her eyes were bright and green, and she grinned wide at him. She was dressed in a denim jacket that hung off her shoulders, along with a white Guns N' Roses t-shirt and ripped navy jeans. As she waved her hands excitedly Jason could see the watch around her wrist glint in the light. A birthday gift he'd given her a few years ago.

"There you are!" Zalgo lunged out from behind the door and yanked his niece into a tight bear hug. She squealed and battered her fists against him, making the both of them giggle. Jason glanced over at the door and noticed a girl he'd never seen before, standing there looking around anxiously.

She had curly ginger hair and wore a simple green jacket with denim jeans. She was shorter than Natalie, who was short enough for a seventeen year old already. When she caught Jason's gaze she smiled nervously and waved a bit. Her smile quickly dropped however when she noticed the joint in Jason's hand. He glanced at it, then reached over and snuffed it out in the ashtray on the end table beside him. Zalgo would probably be mad about him wasting good weed later, but he didn't really care. 

"This a friend of yours, Natalie?" The redhead asked as he sat up on the couch. 

"This is Alice." Said a tall girl as she walked into the room and leaned against the doorway. Her name was Jane, and she was Natalie's girlfriend. She had dark skin, decorated with paler splotches in random places. She wore a long black dress with a leather jacket, fishnet gloves and tights, and platform boots that made a satisfying 'clunk' noise when she walked. Her hair was done up in braids, which were tied up in a pseudo ponytail. And she was also munching on a teacake that she'd definitely stolen from the kitchen. Jason glared at her.

"I told you to ask before taking those, y'know." He muttered. Jane shrugged and watched Natalie stumble out of the tight hug she'd been suffocating in. She turned to Alice with a grin and lunged over, slinging an arm over the smaller girl. 

"This is Alice!" She said again. "She's part of the drama club in school. Really good singing voice!" She turned to the ginger girl. "Right? You're an amazing singer!"

"U-Um-" Alice rubbed at her arm anxiously. "I'm not...that good…" she mumbled, her head lowering. Jason softened as he looked at the poor, nervous girl. 

"Nice to meet ya, Alice." Zalgo said gently. He walked over and crouched down, holding out his hand for her to shake. Alice stared at his arm.

"Your tattoos are so cool-" she blurted. She immediately slapped her hands over her mouth, wincing. Zalgo chuckled.

"Why thank you! I'm pretty proud of em myself." He said with a warm smile. "So you're Nat's friend?"

"I...guess," Alice rubbed at her arm again. "She uh- she said she wanted me to...join a band…? I-I dunno if I'm really cut out for that…"

Natalie shook her head and clamped her hand down on her shoulder. "Alice, I already told ya, your singing is incredible bro!" She leaned down and grinned at her. "Uncle Zalgo knows eeeverrryyythinggg about music. You just gotta impress him and you're in the band."

Alice looked at Zalgo. "You're...uncle Zalgo…?" She asked quietly, sounding even more scared. Zalgo nodded and stood up.

"Sure am." He gestured over at Jason. "That's Jason, by the way. He has a huge crush on me and sleeps in my bed. It's super embarrassing."

"Hey, you came out to me." Jason growled. Zalgo laughed. 

"It's...nice to meet you, sirs." Alice murmured. Jason looked at her and smiled gently. He sat up on the couch so the others could sit down. Zalgo obliged, flopping himself down next to him with a soft grunt. Natalie was quick to join them, sitting on Zalgo's other side while Jane occupied the arm of the chair. That left Alice...standing in front of them. Like she was being judged. It reminded her eerily of an audition.

"How old are ya?" Zalgo asked with the tilt of his head. Alice fidgeted. 

"Erm- fifteen." Zalgo looked at Natalie and arched a brow. Alice coughed. "B-But um- I've been singing since I was seven." She added. Zalgo gave a nod.

"Alright...think you can demonstrate?" He asked. Alice glanced away anxiously and he smiled a bit. "C'mon, you can't be any worse than Jason."

"Rude."

"I like Jason's voice." Jane piped up. Jason smiled.

"Thank you, Jane, you're the only person here who shows me any kindness…"

"Hey! I bring home pizza for you!" Zalgo said, pouting.

"You work at Pizza Hut, Zalgo. You get that stuff for free." Jason replied sternly. Alice laughed a little bit at the two of them. Jason turned back to her and smiled. 

‘’So what style of music do you do?’’ he asked. Alice’s eyes widened.

‘’Oh- mostly showtunes, broadway stuff.’’ she replied. Jason nodded. She felt a bit more relaxed now. It just….felt like an audition. She’d done those dozens of times before. ‘’I can sing Defying Gravity- from uh- Wicked?’’ she suggested. 

‘’Go ahead, girl.’’ Zalgo replied, leaning back on the couch again. Alice nodded and cleared her throat. 

‘’Something has changed within me...something is not the same, I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game,’’ she hadn’t had a chance to warm up, and she winced at how her voice sounded. But when she looked at the others they didn’t seem to notice. ‘’Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep…’’ she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the high notes coming up. ‘’It’s time to trust my instincts...close my eyes...and leap.’’ 

‘’Stop.’’ Zalgo interrupted her. She stopped and looked at him, afraid. Had she failed the high note? Did her rusty voice really sound that bad…? ‘’You’re amazing girl!’’ 

‘’Wh-wha-’’

‘’Seriously! You sound like you could be on broadway!’’ Zalgo grinned wide at her as he spoke. Jason nodded in agreement. Nat hopped up off the couch and slung her arm around Alice’s shoulder again.

‘’So is she in?’’

‘’Well of course she’s in!’’ Zalgo stood up and thrust out his hand. ‘’Welcome to the band, Alice.’’

Alice smiled sheepishly and took his hand. ‘’Thanks...what uh- what do I get for being in it?’’

‘’Free music lessons and pop tarts. Plus vibing privileges.’’ 

‘’V-Vibing privileges…?’’ 

‘’You’re allowed come over whenever.’’ Jason explained. ‘’Though you probably have better things to do than hang out with two thirty year old men who do nothing but watch Netflix all day.’’

‘’Oh.’’ 

‘’Oh c’mon, we’re cool!’’ Zalgo pouted at him. ‘’In fact, I can prove it.’’

‘’Please don’t.’’ Jason murmured. Alice watched Zalgo scamper over to the corner of the room and grab one of the instruments. He held it up proudly. It was a red guitar, with two necks and a body cut into jagged shapes. He grinned and held it down to playing height, strolling back over to Alice. 

‘’Pretty sweet, huh?’’

‘’Oh my god do you have to show that thing to every guest we get?’’ Jason called irritably. Zalgo shot him a look. 

‘’How do you even play that…?’’ Alice asked in amazement. Zalgo smiled.

‘’Lots of practice and quick timing.’’ he replied, strumming a few chords. ‘’What instruments do ya play, girl?’’

‘’Oh uh- I- don’t. I just sing.’’ Alice glanced away nervously as she spoke. Zalgo arched a brow at her, surprised.

‘’I thought she’d be good for backup!’’ Natalie chimed in.

‘’I think she’d be good for my songs,’’ Jane added. ‘’Just like with Jason.’’ Zalgo nodded and looked at the ginger girl for a moment. He turned on his heel and put his beloved guitar down, then moved over to another part of the room and rummaged through a plastic bin he had laying around. 

‘’I know just the thing for you then,’’ he murmured. Alice looked surprised, until he stood up again and held up a tambourine. ‘’This is exactly what we’ve been missing, and it’s easy to learn!’’

‘’...oh.’’ Zalgo strode over and handed the tambourine to Alice. She looked at it for a moment, then shook it halfheartedly. He grinned and clasped his hands together.

‘’Perfect!’’ 

Jason sighed quietly and climbed up off the couch. He dusted his hands off and glanced at Nat and Jane. ‘’You guys hungry?’’ he asked. Zalgo shot him a look.

‘’Wait what happened to practice?’’ he whined. Jason rolled his eyes and walked over to the door.

‘’You already showed off your guitar, Zalgy. And I’m hungry.’’ Jason muttered. ‘’And I’m sure the girls are starving too.’’ he turned and looked at his boyfriend. He knew Zalgo couldn’t say no to him, not when he pulled out that nickname. He eventually sighed.

‘’Fiiiiine.’’