#we've barely moved from 'friends-ish' to 'interested'

[dear-mrs-otome]

Dear Mr. Jude 'They're Only Getting To You Over My Cold Corpse' Jazza...your overprotective is showing again. 💜

[initiumseries]

If you had to pick between spuffy and cangel, which one do you find more interesting? And why?

I'm gonna preface this with, I don't think either of them are particularly interesting. That's a large part of why I don't like these ships lol. My dislike of these ships has less to do with personal taste, and more to do with the obliteration of their characters and the overarching story integrity to make them happen. An example of this is, when I saw TVD was moving toward delena, I hated the idea of breaking Elena and Stefan up, especially when it felt like they'd barely been together and I gad serious problems with how damon consistently and without repercussions, violated obvious boundaries of everyone around him but especially Stefan and Elena. That was a personal issue for me, but I was also curious to see how they'd handle the story. I'd said this to Zal at the time, but I was prepared to be on board a delena ship if it meant the show taking an interesting character/story turn. If we actually got to see that darker turn in Elena, the fallout of her choices, and how being with damon messed with her morality, perceptions, isolated her from her friends etc, I would've liked to see that story progression and character arc, even if it meant the (temporary) end of a ship I liked. When that didn't happen, and the story rapidly deteriorated, I resented the ship because it essentially ruined the show (among other issues) to keep it working.

So to the point of the ask, I don't think that either were particularly interesting, but I will say that Spuffy, for a time, had better execution. I had tired of Spike whining about Buffy, dreaming about Buffy, becoming a pathetic shadow of what made him interesting as a character for Buffy. It sucked. So to see the return of his vigor as a character in this dysfunctional, abusive and hypersexual relationship with Buffy was refreshing. It was also uncomfortable, which its meant to be. Buffy is the white knight. But she died, and was finally at peace and her friends traumatized her by bringing her back, then traumatized her again by abandoning her to dig herself out of her own grave. She was angry, depressed, isolated and she had no one to work her issues out with, and here was Spike, allowing her to revel in the worst parts of herself. Something she never allowed herself before she died. That was interesting. It was moreso, because it was so obvious this wasn't about actual affection. It was clear at the time, Spike didn't love Buffy, he was obsessed with her, and Buffy didn't even like Spike, he was a site for her to work out her pain. That was more interesting to me than anything else, because, again, Buffy's relationships up until then had been about mutual affection, partnership and love, and now she's slumming it and hiding it from all her friends because she's embarrassed. That's good story stuff. Where I jumped off and immediately lost interest is when both Buffy and Spike became OOC-ish just to bring them back together in some weird, pointless amicable companionship thing. Spike assaulted Buffy and then got a soul to punish her for her rejection. Forcing her to not only accept him, but defend him and protect him against her loved ones, then alienate her AGAIN, to bring them back together is cruel, and a betrayal of Buffy as the titular strong female character she was always meant to be. Buffy in any previous season would never have forgiven her attempted rapist, much less stopped GILES from killing him when he was a KNOWN liability and danger to her work. She killed Angel - the love of her life - to save the world, but defends Spike? Makes 0 narrative sense. Spike becomes a sad little bitch because of the soul no one wanted or asked him to get, then just sort of...returns to himself, and shows no remorse, no repentance for what he put Buffy through, and how that affected the group. And suddenly we're all supposed to believe this is...what, love? How? We've SEEN what Spike looks like when he's in love, and this isn't it. So, that's where it becomes uninteresting to me, because in order to make this ship work this way, they have to betray the characters, insult the viewers, and compromise the story. Those are bad narrative choices.

[astral-corner]

Welcome to MDM

MDM is short for Monday Dusk Monolith, which is the (cancelled) FNF mod that this au is based off of. (Warning for body horror; including extra eyes/eyes where they don't belong/things in place of eyes, and spiders.) Or, well, originally based off of. Collaborating with friends, we've taken a lot of creative liberties and gone off in our own direction. The two of us have a focus on the main human(ish) characters, and as a group we've added plenty of mod and other outside characters to the roster, along with incorporating lore tied to things like Pico's School and Spooky Month.

Due to not owning every character, we can't definitively answer every question, but this will hopefully give a good jumping off point for the things we can answer. Plus we can always ask our other friends for clarification.

Before we dive too deep, let's establish some of the characters:

Adam, aka Boyfriend Hatsune, (he/him) is a head empty, bi disaster of a man. He has the ability to go back in time whenever he dies or loses a rap battle, allowing him to try over again and do better next time. He is borrowing this power. He left his parents and sister behind in Japan, and his brother is currently MIA.

Lilith, aka Girlfriend Dearest, (she/her) has half a braincell, though most of it goes towards her interest in science. She gained her love of science from her dad, who she now sometimes offers help in searching for a cure for the infection that's taken over. Her and her dad try to keep close enough contact in this wasteland, but her mom is MIA.

Cain, aka Pico Newgrounds, (he/him) is tired of being the main braincell holder of this trio. He's not quite sure how the other two survived long enough to find him again, let alone survived curing him. Basically adopted by an army (literally) and forcefully adopted a member of an opposing faction as a cousin/sibling figure.

While the main plot of this mod, and the inciting incident we've been playing around after, is still the monolith landing in the city, there's some backstory we should give an overview of first.

Back in the day, in the fictional city of Newgrounds, Pennsylvania, (no, this is not a coincidence) Adam (Boyfriend) and Cain (Pico) went to the same high school. While there, the two of them were dating and often hung out with Val (short for Valentine, aka Nene) and Moses (Darnell). Around this time, the other three loved to tease Adam about a friend who "you wouldn't know her, she goes to another school." None of them realize that he really did know Lilith (Girlfriend) back then, having traded names with her at one point while the pair of them were transitioning.

One year, Adam's parents got a job offer in Japan, and moved across the sea with his younger sister Lydia (Miku). Given that Adam was in high school and thus close to finishing schooling, they decided to let him stay with his young adult older brother, Abel (Michael), to finish it out.

Unfortunately, Abel ended up in an altercation while trying to protect Lilith during a hangout with her and Adam. In keeping with the Big Bro mod that Michael originates from, Daddy Dearest quite literally saves his life.

This is not the only gun related incident Adam would be unlucky enough to get caught up in. Within weeks of the event with his brother, the shooting from Pico's School took place. While Cain saved the day as Adam barely survived, Adam's parents were naturally worried about their son staying in America after both gun violence incidents. He was given only a few weeks to pack his things in preparation for leaving, and nobody was quite okay in this situation. As a parting gift, he was given his now iconic hat.

Without Adam for emotional support or a positive influence in the wake of the shooting, the remaining three friends turned into mutual bad influences. With Cain getting scouted by Assassin Corp, the trio slowly turned to a life of crime together. While the trio all turned to contract killing, they aren't afraid to turn to other illicit activities on the side.

It was somewhere around this time when the events of various Pico related things took place; such as Pico vs Überkids, Pico vs Bear as alluded to with the mention of Assassin Corp, and the Pico's Cousin games.

Adam lived in Japan with his family until a few months before the monolith arrived, when he finally moved back stateside at the age of 19. It'd been 5 years since he'd been made to leave, and, having lost contact with all the friends he'd left behind, he had no idea where any of them were. He did manage to reconnect with Lilith, and the two of them ended up dating.

That leads us into the events of the mod: The monolith falling and causing the infection; discovering music is the cure through it stopping Lilith in her attack against Adam; using that to save Daddy Dearest; an adventure to meet two strange children, their spider mom, and a weird creature in a lemon costume; and stumbling across an infected Cain, who very much wanted Lilith dead.

And then off we are into even more original content for this au which includes meeting a bomb man, a cloud man, and stumbling across Pico's family which led to the discovery that Cain has the ability to respawn, just to name a few.

[italwayshadtobeyou]

How on Earth did "Taxi Driver" beat "Torn and Frayed"?! I really like "Torn and Frayed," whereas these are both, frankly, bad.

"Taxi Driver" suffers from the moronic introduction of a Hell portal that Crowley knows about and has apparently been using for years, which, what? The main plot of a whole season was about his and Castiel's desperate attempts to open Purgatory. As if that wasn't bad enough, we get a laughable attempt to depict Hell. It's got a medieval-ish gate and Halloween lightning! Scary!

Sure, we've sort of seen Hell before, in the form of Sam's Cage flashbacks. But it's never clear if that depicted the actual Cage, or was just Sam's brain struggling to grasp something inhuman enough to drive Sam insane. Kripke and Manners pulled off a very brief glimpse of Hell back in "No Rest for the Wicked," but that was in large part because they kept it as abstract as possible. There were cables and hooks strung through some sort of lightning-prone, sickly-yellow (sulfurous?) abyss. It had no doors, no walls, no furniture beyond the cables and hooks), and no pumpkin-orange glow. Presumably, somebody working on the show at the time had the good sense to realize that they couldn't afford to depict a Hell which lived up to its hype, so they simply avoided trying that.

In fairness to "Taxi Driver," you could argue that the sloppy plotting results, in part, from Carver and Singer's reluctance to commit to their arc plot-- in which case we should perhaps place the blame on them, rather than this episode and its writers. The second trial is complex and outlandish enough that it, by itself, needs multiple episodes of setup and followthrough. Maybe it would've gotten that treatment if the writers hadn't squandered the first half of the season. As it is, the narrative shortcut of a shortcut secret crossing between Hell and Purgatory cheapens season 6, the horseman of Death (because shouldn't his employees be a little more afraid of their boss?), and any future worldbuilding the show gives us, because why should we believe it?

Meanwhile, "Pac-Man Fever" centers on, no lie, a side character's video-game djinn dream. Robbie Thompson may as well have gone ahead and done his laundry episode, for all the excitement in this plot. Going inside a character's mind worked with Bobby back in "Dream a Little Dream of Me," but we'd had more than 2 previous episodes to get invested in him, and we knew that the brothers had known him for years. It's Charlie's 3rd episode, and the Winchesters barely know her. Oh, and Charlie breaks the fourth wall for no reason ("But... Montage!"), and there's some embarrassing character shilling, where Dean tells Charlie's mom that she has a great daughter-- despite his having spent one sleepover and maybe, cumulatively, a day of work with her. The only good minutes of the episode focus on the trials' effects on Sam, sadly relegated to B-plot status. If the writers needed another episode to sell the second trial, well, "Pac-Man Fever" doesn't have anything better to do!

As bad as they are, each of these episodes does deliver one genuinely moving sequence. For "Taxi Driver," it's Dean beheading Benny; in addition to the pathos of a character killing a friend, it's the first time this season that Dean's reminded us of how much he values Sam. For "Pac-Man Fever," it's Sam and Dean's post-case reunion in the bunker, which is the first time this season that Dean has done anything to remind Sam of how much he values him. I think that this particular point hits harder on rewatch, since we know from "Sacrifice" that it's too little, too late.

Anyway, this is a difficult choice. I'm going with "Taxi Driver" because I find the concept interesting, even if the execution is way off. Of course, I could easily have gone with "Pac-Man Fever" for the fact that its djinn plot, while boring, doesn't damage the season's arc. It's a tossup. A bad, very Buckleming-Thompson tossup.

Supernatural Battle of the Episodes!

Looks like Taxi Driver is our new Champion! We need a good strong episode to battle against the good strong season 8 wrap up! Let's see what's up next!

Bring it on out Chuck!

Chuck: Next up folks, we have Pac-Man Fever-Sam wakes up after a day long nap, feeling sick and weak from the last Trial. Now hunter, Charlie, shows up and goes with Dean to hunt a Djinn. Sam ain't about to stay home and do nothing, so he meets up with them to inevitably save the day! Oh, and an epic spontaneous brohug happens back at home!

[femmesandhoney]

kinda tempted to just block an old friend on all my socials. she literally never cared about me enough to even message me first when she knew she hurt my feelings badly two years ago. the entire time we were friends (like 7+ years) she always preferred this other guy in our friend group even when she moved away and he never made time to even visit her. he ended up befriending some really shitty people throughout high school as well which she never saw or seemed to care.

like idk it felt like she was infatuated with him since we were kids and no matter how amazing of a friend you were to her, she would never consider you a best friend. always bugged me, but it wasn't until she started like abandoning our plans that were important to me for other things i realized i really wasn't a priority to her, but this other guy literally always is. and i like him when he's by himself, he's nice and we've known each other longer than we've both known this other girl, but im really annoyed by how she can't seem to realize he isn't actually that awesome of a friend. or at least, from my perspective of what a good friend should be, he doesn't like? do anything for her? make time for her? get her gifts? but nope he's still always this infallible person to her because i guess they just text a lot. thats literally the only way i think they communicate when she doesn't come to town for whatever reason, which is rare. so yeah. i hate it.

like for the record she told me to stop texting her because I was bothering her, when she could have just silenced my messages. so i waited until she would text me first. because the reason I texted her so much was cause i was geninuely interested in her life and wanted her to know i was still her friend even tho she lived three hours away, and it just seemed like a lot bc i was always the one trying to start convos and she would barely give me sentences. it was really odd behavior from her at the time, so i brushed it off, but i guess i messaged her one too many times. six ish months later she told me she wanted to message me after i had stopped, but she said she knew i was mad and was scared to. like girl wtf do you mean you were scared of me? we'd been amazing friends for fucking ever at that point and i couldn't believe she was nervous to message me first bc she knew i was probably mad bc of my silence. yeah great friends, where one is scared to even message hello 🙄 made me feel so great about our friendship.

like idk this is just a huge ramble but its always just been so frustrating to me bc we were actually amazing friends even though i did most of the work after she left town, but we were always close. same interests, same humor, same life shit. and she just let it all go bc she didn't know how to fucking message me after upsetting me. im petty and wasn't gonna be the first to message, but i did like six months later bc i was just so sad thinking about the situation and thats when she "explained" her side which wasnt an explanation at all really. she did say she would try to be more open and talkative and shit with me, but ope looks like she failed quickly.

and now both of them are hanging out in town together and posting about it and im like wow thanks for the invite i can see youre trying so hard to work on your side of our amazing. fucking. friendship.

[whats-the-story-tc]

25th-28th of May

"The One with the Companion"

Monday morning started off with a couple of interesting text messages. I spoke to the underclassman girl again I mentioned here, and we had yet another V-related talk session, singing her praises as a teacher. Soon after, V herself showed up in the class chat, probably before her morning coffee, telling us that if her general Classroom message informing those who were late to submit their works on time does not apply to us, we shouldn't be messaging her about it. Passive-aggressive :) at the end included. Somebody must really hate Mondays.

That night, I also posted a couple selfies on one of my social media sites. When I did, I got the following DM from an underclassman guy I barely even speak to (the earlier girl's classmate), saying:

Boy: "On the third photo you look a lot like [V's last name] 😅🤣🤣"

Further proof that I wasn't lying all those times I said V and I have the same face. Basically everybody sees it now. :D

Along came Tuesday. Class day. Encouraged by a voice message earlier this month where my friend was just trying to demonstrate she can't hear the background noises as V was talking and she captured about ~10 seconds of her voice, I got brave. Plus, I knew it would benefit me, because I could take notes later at my own pace (yes I actually did), so... I went ahead and decided to voice record the class, playing the audio from my laptop and recording with my phone, so I couldn't speak to her this time. Thus, the conversation I was teasing here never took place, no matter how much I prepared. She didn't even mention what happened. But on to class we go.

Nature and poetry, pretty chill topic, especially with a poet who keeps talking about the great big fucking plains over and over again, as that's become the "signature landscape of [our country]", according to V, signature being said in English. She herself has expressed her dismay by saying "I don't know whose imagination is moved by a big flat plain with nothing in it." Though this only happened after "Uhh... where is it? ... oh, this is only a description [of the poem]! I'm helpless...". As video killed the radio star, we might say that online school has turned tech expert V into a boomer real quick.

As we discussed a couple poems, V had a go at the choice of topic again, saying: "I don't know about you, but I'm totally done with summer heat waves, like, on a plain without any shade." May I just say? Same, Miss. But soon after, she turned poetic, and it's such a good quote that I have to share this with you.

"A landscape isn't necessarily beautiful, it may be really-really depressing as well, or trigger thoughts that say that the way things currently are in the world are not okay."

Anyway, we kept on talking about "the great damn plains where there really isn't a thing in the world" which "don't strike the spectator as challenging" (she was really bored already), class soon ended. As I said earlier, this was the only class we've had during quarantine where there was zero communication between the two of us. But here's the interesting part: I wasn't the only one who noticed. "I hope I didn't bore you to death", V said nervously, before signing off. She noticed something was off, even though she didn't specifically say it. I may be reaching here, in fact, I'm pretty sure I am, but I still can't help but think she noticed I was quiet.

Thing is: that afternoon, things weren't going nearly so well. I went for a run, and got a really heavy anxiety attack. I simply didn't know how to turn my thoughts off. And then I realised. V. I had 45 minutes' worth of her voice at hand. I had to give it a try. As soon as I heard her speak, as I tried to focus on the landscape poems and pay attention to what she was talking about, I calmed down. I felt like I was no longer alone. Plus, even if V tends to fuck around at times, this is exactly what I love about her: her intelligence. Last week (as in, the 26th of July), me and my friends concluded in a conversation that listening to her classes is like listening to a good podcast. She just... speaks so well, and knows what the important details are, even if in private conversations she tends to be real fucken awkward. Bless. Also there's the fact that her voice is really pleasant to listen to. You guys, I lucked out so hard with this woman.

Anyway, on to Wednesday. V only actually showed up in the morning, to give us (or, well, me at the very least) a good scare with the date of our final test of the year and some homework. Weird flex, but okay.

Thursday night. Blond Boy in the Back, the very one who dared to badmouth someone I love not long ago, is now begging me for homework answers. I told him I no longer have the document. And then... I snapped.

BBitB: It's at the task.

S: You know what else is at the task? The answers. All of them, in the text. Good luck!

Naturally, I showed a screenshot of the conversation to the new and improved class group chat mentioned in the previous story post, when one of the girls said this:

Girl: This was a bit [V]-ish

Girl: Especially the good luck at the end 😂😂

S: I've had a great master, no doubt. 🤣

Because that's what she is. My number one master (if you take this weird I'll break your kneecaps). My mentor. Someone I will always look up to and someone who takes excellent care of me, even if I oftentimes misunderstand her. Someone I can turn to if I'm scared, even if it's just her voice playing off a recording. And I can't ever thank her enough for that.

~ S ♡

[Every story I share here, no matter how specific I get with my wording, depicts actual events from my own life.]

[thesloppiestbitch]

And They Were Roommates - Lucy Boynton x F!Reader P1

A/N: Lucy is my wife and I’m very gay, so enjoy my ramblings about how badly I want to kiss her that I somehow managed to turn into a cheesy fanfic. This is long so buckle up. The word count is listed on my masterlist, for those interested. I don’t know if this needs to be stated or not, but for the purpose of this story and to make it easier for me to write, the reader is a lesbian, simply because it made it easier for me to focus on Lucy than it would’ve had she been bi or pan. I am not trying to belittle those sexualities though! Also, this is a college AU (I guess???), but the boys are still in it (aside from Rami, simply because I couldn’t find a way to fit him in). And I’m Canadian, so I apologize for any inaccuracies or mistakes I make about British colleges. AND I’m splitting this into two parts (read part two here!) just because I hit the spacing limit and I didn’t want to compromise my writing style to make it fit. I tried, and I hated it.

Summary: Being assigned a roommate was the last thing [Name] wanted, but being forced to room with this cute girl couldn’t be all bad, right?

Warning(s): Swearing, alcohol, fluff

"Mum, I'm fine, I can drive myself," You insisted, throwing your final suitcase into the back of your car.

"Nonsense! I can do it; plus, I'd love to fit in some more time before you're gone till Christmas," She cooed, reaching up to pinch your cheek. You swatted her hand away before she could do so, sparking her to frown in frustration.

"I'm nineteen, I can handle myself. Plus, I don't even know if I'll be home for Christmas,"

She only shook her head, taking the keys from your finger where they had been dangling loosely by the key ring. "It's still months away, we can discuss it when it's closer. Just get in, please."

You huffed, finally giving in.

*

The drive to the college was long, especially since your mother wouldn't let you choose any music. If you'd had your way, or had been driving by yourself like you wanted, the only thing that would've been playing would have been old rock bands, but your mother despised them and you figured it wasn't worth the fight. Once you'd moved into your dorm, you could play all the rock music you wanted.

As your mum pulled out the suitcases and boxes from the trunk and backseat of your small blue car, you went to find the head-office to check where your room was.

When you walked in, you found that it was rather quite. Silently, you thanked whatever may be out there that you got lucky and hit a slow patch as you walked towards the man who looked to be about your age or a year or two older who was holding a clipboard.

You plastered on a smile as he turned to face you. "Hi," You spoke sweetly. "I was wondering who I could talk to about rooming?"

"That would be me," He smiled, speaking with an American accent. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is [Name] [Last Name], and I never got a letter or email or anything saying where my dorm would be. I was just curious if you had it somewhere?"

He glanced down at the papers on the clipboard, lightly lifting one to find your name. "You're in the third building, room twenty-nine, and you're sharing with—"

"I paid extra for a single room," You interrupted, worry flooding your system.

"I'm sorry, [Name], but there must've been a mistake. All rooms here are shared, I can't imagine where you would've paid that extra money to..."

"Great, just great." You muttered. "I'm sorry, I don't want this to seem like I'm taking it out on you, I know it's not your fault, it's just frustrating."

He laughed softly, lowering the board. "It's alright, I understand your frustration."

You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down. "Who am I rooming with?"

"A girl named Lucy,"

You nodded. "Thank you..." You trailed off, hoping he would give you his name. He was a very nice and kind guy whom you'd like to have around more if possible.

"Joe," He smiled again.

"Thank you, Joe. I hope to see you around again,"

"And I you,"

You giggled softly at his odd wording before returning to your car to help your mother.

*

Hours passed and you were finally set up in a way that would be pleasing for the time being, despite it not being perfect. Your mother was long gone, your dad having picked her up so you could keep your car with you, and you finally had the freedom to play your music. Your stereo was one of the first things you set up, but you didn't turn anything on in case your roommate showed up. You internally hoped she wouldn't show up at all and you'd get your single room.

Just as you flipped on the album Queen II and White Queen began to play, the door to the small space peeked open. Blonde hair fell and became visible before the girl's face did. Your thoughts all immediately stopped as all your focus turned to how beautiful she was, and she wasn't even wearing any makeup.

"Hi," She smiled. "Are you [Name]? I'm worried I may have the wrong room..."

You blinked roughly a few times, trying to draw your attention back enough to form an answer. "Yes, I am. And you must be Lucy," You replied, smiling.

"Oh, thank God," She sighed, seemingly exhausted. "Yes, I am. It's very nice to meet you, [Name]. I hate to be a bother, but would you mind helping me with some of these boxes? My parents has to leave right away so it's just me,"

Suddenly, you were very glad your mum had dropped you off. "Of course!"

After helping Lucy get settled in, you two had began to talk, hoping to get to know each other better. You'd already covered all the basics: where're you from, do you have any siblings, any childhood pets, etc.

"Have you met anyone around campus?" Lucy asked, sitting cross-legged on the end of your bed.

"Just you and a boy who was in charge of rooming. I think his name was Joe? He had red-ish hair and an American accent,"

"Ah, yes! I've met him too. Quite a sweet one, isn't he?"

"Seems to be," You giggled. "Have you met anyone?"

"Not really, just you, Joe, and a few friends from primary school,"

You nodded in acknowledgment.

"They've invited me out tonight, would you care to join us?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on a reunion,"

"You wouldn't! Come on, come meet them, they'll love you! Maybe we'll run into some cute guys," She winked.

"Yeah," You laughed out. Though guys aren't really what I'm interested in... "Alright, I'll come,"

She smiled, clapping her hands together. "Yay! I can't wait for you to meet them!"

You smiled as well at how happy she was. She barely knew you and already she wanted to introduce you to her friends? That was fast. Though, the two of you did seem to be clicking rather fast as well.

*

That night, Lucy dragged you out to a pub not far from campus. Her friends seemed to be running a little late, but she didn't let that put a damper on the mood.

The two of you ordered drinks and went to where Lucy said they'd usually meet for drinks.

"Do you go out often with them?" You asked, sipping some fruity drink Lucy had recommended.

She nodded, sipping from her straw. "Gwil and Ben usually drag me out every other weekend. And if it's not them, Allen seems to," She laughed softly to herself.

You nodded.

Just as you were about to say something else, three men joined you two at the table. A tall brunette with a beard sat beside Lucy, pecking her cheek. A shorter brunette sat beside him, greeted Lucy and sat quietly after that. A blonde sat next to you, immediately engaging the tall one in a conversation that seemed to be carrying on from before. You only sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt anything.

After the blonde finished his story with a low laugh, Lucy took the lull in conversation as an opportunity to introduce you.

"Guys," She began, gaining the attention of everyone at the table. "This," She motioned to you. "Is [Name], my roommate and new friend. We've gotten to know each other quite well over the past few hours, and I can easily say, she'll be part of the group in no time,"

The boys all smiled at you before turning back to Lucy.

"It is alright to introduce yourselves, you know," She jokes, sipping from her straw again.

Silence fell over the table before the one with a beard spoke up. "Alright, I suppose I'll go first then, yeah?" He shot a dirty look to the other two, jokingly, of course. "I'm Gwilym, it's very nice to meet you, [Name]," He stuck out his hand for you to shake, which you did.

"And you," You nodded, smiling.

"The other two are Ben," He gestured to the blonde. "And Allen," The shorter brunette.

You gave them both nods and smiles which they returned.

What could've turned into an awkward night quickly turned into one of the best you'd had in years. You immediately clicked with all these people, and, though it may have been the alcohol in your system, you found yourself opening up to them and being more out there than usual, which was rare. Usually, you were very quiet and reserved around new people, but all that went out the window with these new people you were happy to be able to call your friends by the end of the night.

The next morning, you woke up with one hell of a headache. You didn't think you'd had that much to drink, but it didn't help that you'd hardly eaten the day prior and alcohol on an empty stomach doesn't exactly do much to your tolerance level...

You sat up with a groan, dragging your hands through the hair. Suddenly, you were even more grateful that you'd left your mornings open, only electing one class and two in the afternoon. You were also grateful that it didn't take many classes to get your art major.

Lucy sat up in her bed, doing the same as you. Apparently, both of you had gotten a bit carried away with the drinks last night.

"When's your first class?" You mumbled just loud enough for her to hear, but not loud enough to make either headache worse.

"Eleven. You?"

You nodded slightly. "Eleven. What time is it now?"

She glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed. "Eleven thirty."

"Great,"

"Yeah. Good thing most classes don't start till tomorrow. People are still moving in today."

"Thank God," You muttered, laying back down quickly, making your headache worse. "Fuck!"

Lucy laughed softly. "You good?"

"Piss off."

"Awe, I'm glad you already feel close enough to me to tell me to piss off, knowing I'll take it as a joke," She said in a sickeningly sweet voice, attempting to make you laugh.

"Lucy, I swear on any other day I'd find your tone hilarious, but right now, this headache is making me want to die."

"Such a great feeling, isn't it?"

"Oh, just the best. Do you have any Advil?"

"Nope,"

"Wonderful."

The day went on, and, with it, your headache slowly disappeared, as did Lucy's. This led to the two of you trying to decide on an "aesthetic", as Lucy had referred to it, for the dorm.

"I like the idea of using some houseplants to lighten the space," Lucy said, referring back to your original idea.

"And I think you're right, some sheer curtains would definitely help open the place up a bit more," You thought out loud.

A light knock at the door broke your concentration.

"You expecting someone?" You asked her.

She shook her head and shrugged, answering. "Oh, hello, Joe!" She greeted happily, opening the door more to invite him in.

You joined her at the door, smiling at the red-head in front of you. "Hi, Joe,"

"Hey, guys," He responded with a smile. "I'm just going around to make sure everyone found their rooms okay. Seems like you two have, so I'll be on my way. It was nice seeing you two again,"

"You too!" Lucy called after him as he turned away, making his way towards the next room down the hall.

You followed him, stopping him before he could knock on the next door. "What're you studying?"

"Film, why?"

"Does that mean you have to take any art classes? Y'know, because of the claymation and animation and stuff that they cover?"

"Yes, I'm in Art 340, 430, and 460. Why?"

You smiled. "I was hoping to take a few classes with you, and turns out I do. Would you be willing to sit with me for 460?"

He returned your smile and nodded. "I'd like that. Might be nice to sit with someone I already sort of know,"

You nodded. "Agreed. Better than sitting by some weirdo,"

"I don't know you very well yet, [Name], you could be that weirdo,"

The two of you laughed before you let him continue with his work.

When you returned to the dorm, Lucy gave you a telling smile. You rolled your eyes. "What?"

"Do you like him?"

You laughed harder than you should've. "No!"

"Yes you do!"

"Lucy, please believe me when I say I have no interest in any of the boys at school,"

"Well when you put it that way, you make it seem like we're in high school!"

You shook your head, laughing and let the conversation drop.

*

In class, you were bored out of your mind. The intermediate sculpture class you were in seemed like it would only be covering what you'd already learned in your advanced high school art class, but you needed it to get into advanced sculpture. You sighed, resting your head on your hand as you tried not to doze off to the prof's boring instructions about how to properly knead the clay.

Instead of actually focusing, your mind began to wander, as it so often does. You began to think about how close you'd gotten with Lucy over the past two days. You smiled upon thinking of her and her beautiful blonde hair... her freckles nose... her sweet eyes... her plump, kissable lips.

You say up straight, eyes wide. No, I can't think of her like that! I just met her!

You sighed, deciding it would be better to just focus on the lecture rather than how badly you wanted to take Lucy's face in your hands and gently press your lips against hers...

Goddamit, [Name], control yourself!

A deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth seemed to help you focus again.

But not for long. The girl in front of you had hair the same shade as Lucy's making it impossible for you to stop thinking about her.

It's just a crush, it'll pass! They always do.

But did you really want this one to pass? Or did you want this one to actually go somewhere and lead to a future with the gorgeous blonde in it?

That's a question for another time...

When you arrived back at the dorm that night, you immediately plopped onto your bed. You could hear Lucy giggling at your actions from her bed.

"Long day?"

"You don't know the half of it,"

"You can tell me about it if you want. I've been told I'm a great listener. My advice, on the other hand is a little iffy,"

You smiled, eyes grazing over the ceiling. "Alright. There's this... Person I've met recently and I can't stop thinking about he— them. They're always on my mind, and it's distracting me from my studies. I know it's just a crush, but part of me wonders what a future for us could be like... What should I do?"

She bummed as she thought. "If It were me, I'd just tell him," You winced slightly at the word. "I mean, any guy would be lucky to have you, and if he can't see all your great qualities, you don't need to have him in your life."

You nodded.

"Is it Joe?"

"Lucy!" You sat up, eyes wide in shock at her question.

She giggled. "It's just a question, [Name]!"

"No, it is not Joe!"

She gave you a little bit of side eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm bloody sure! God!"

She laughed harder this time, glad she was able to poke fun at you like this. "I'm just taking the piss, [Name],"

You flopped back on your bed as she spoke.

"So," She began, shifting in her bed. You could hear the springs squeak. "The boys have invited us for supper tonight. Care to join?"

"Us? They asked for me to come as well?"

"Yes,"

"They asked for me specifically?"

"Yes! What's so hard to believe about that?"

"Never mind. I'd love to,"

"Great! We're leaving in ten,"

You groaned in response, earning another laugh from your roommate.

*

"So... We were kicked out of the lecture hall today," Ben began sheepishly, pushing some food around his plate with a fork.

"How in the hell did that happen?" Gwilym spoke up, stopping mid-sip of his soda.

"It was Allen's fault!"

"What!" Allen asked in disbelief. "You're the one who decided it would be a good idea to see how many pencils you could fit in the girl ahead of us' hair!"

"I'm sorry, how did that lead to getting kicked out?" You asked through a giggle.

"Well, you see, the thing was—" Ben began.

"It doesn't help that she was the prof's daughter and it really doesn't help that she was originally kicked out for being disruptive because she told Ben to stop rather loud—" Allen cut him off.

"She yelled at me in the middle of a lecture!" He defended. "Not my bloody fault she can't take a damn joke,"

Lucy and you shared a look as you shook your head at their childishness.

Once there was a lull in the conversation, you spoke up, unsure of when you'd have another opportunity. "Thanks for inviting me out again, you guys really didn't have to."

"Nonsense," Gwil spoke. "We really enjoy your company,"

"Plus, you seem to be one of the only people who can keep Ben, here, at bay," Allen added, flinching slightly after speaking. You assumed Ben had kicked him.

"You're definitely someone we want to keep around," Ben commented, completely ignoring Allen's comment.

You felt a small blush rise to your cheeks. "Thanks," You mumbled, looking down. You hadn't expected to be accepted into the group so quickly; if anything, you would've thought they'd invited you along again because they fely the need to befriend Lucy's new friend. But, you were happy with the new reasoning.

"So, [Name], have you got a boyfriend?" Allen asked nonchalantly, cutting his food.

You were a little taken aback by this, but answered anyways. "No, I'm afraid I'm all alone,"

"But she's got a crush on the guy in charge of rooms!" Lucy chimed in.

You lightly kicked her under the table. "I do not!"

"That American?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.

You rested your head in your palms, knowing they wouldn't listen to you any more.

"Yes, that's the one!"

The conversation about your non-existent feelings for Joe carried on for a few more moments before the waiter came to the table once more to take away plates and refill drinks. After he left, the conversation seemed to shift again, thankfully.

You wished you could just be more open and tell them the exact reason why you didn't have feelings for Joe, but you couldn't being yourself to do so for fear of the group rejecting you. So, you endured the teasing every time the man walked past or you were seen walking back to the dorms with him after class simply because it was easier.

*

A month into the school year and you already felt exhausted. Thankfully, it was the weekend, so you wouldn't have to worry about Art History's for a few days. Though, you did have plans to join Joe and help him with a Digital Studio project he was struggling with that you'd done in high school. Seeing as you were the only one he knew in the class, it seemed easier to ask you for help, rather than ask the prof who already didn't like him.

That afternoon, you went to Joe's dorm to help him. Though, you didn't really end up helping very much, as the two of you spent most of the time just talking. You felt oddly close to him, despite only knowing him for a month. It was like the two of you were soulmates, just not in the traditional way.

"So, got your eye on any boys around campus?" Joe asked, working on poorly photoshopping a picture.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that!" You groaned, flopping back on his bed.

"Well, I didn't realize that was such a touchy subject for you,"

"It's just— ugh! Y'know?"

He laughed. "Yes, [Name], because that makes perfect sense,"

"Thank you, I thought I explained it quite well," You joked, laughing as well, hoping the conversation would change.

But, of course, it didn't.

"Seriously, though, what's up?"

"I'm just... Don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, okay?"

"Okay..."

"I have feelings for Lucy, and I'm gay, so it's just really annoying to always have people asking me about boys and never taking the time to even consider that I might not even like boys!"

"I can see how that'd get frustrating, yeah..."

"That's it? That's your response?"

"What do you want me to do? Freak out? Stop talking to you? Spread it around campus? Tell Lucy? [Name], I'm not gonna do any of that. I don't care that you like to kiss girls rather than guys, so do I! If someone can't accept that you like to do that when I can get away with the same thing, then fuck them. I don't care that you're gay, but I do care that you like Lucy,"

"Wow, that's the best response I've got from anyone yet,"

"So, does she know?"

"Pfft, no, of course not!" You paused, leaning over him to look closer at the screen. "If you used the quick selection tool, you'd get a cleaner background and a nicer overall look,"

Before Joe could respond, your phone lit up, catching both your attention.

"Ooh, a text from Lucy herself!" Joe said excitedly.

"Shut up," You laughed, grabbing your phone to read the message.

'I've had a rough day, and, honestly, all I want right now is a drink and someone to cuddle with.'

Joe snatched your phone from your hands and began to type a response before you could get it back. He sent it, lightly tossing your phone over his shoulder.

"Joseph!" You scolded, grabbing your phone.

"What? I just scored you a date!"

'I can help with the drinks. Wanna hit up a pub later?'

"I'm gonna kill you—"

The vibration of the phone caught your attention again.

'That'd be perfect. I'll invite the boys, if you're okay with that?'

'Sounds good :)'

"Someone's got a date~," Joe sang out.

"It's not a date!"

*

"Five tequila shots, please," Lucy spoke to the bartender as soon your group had entered the bar.

"Five?" You asked, a little concerned.

"Five." She states, quickly downing the shots as soon as they were set on the bar.

"Maybe you should slow down a little, Luce," Ben commented, placing a hand on the small of your back to gently move you away from Lucy so he was closer and she could hear him over the noise.

You took a seat beside them, suddenly feeling a little jealous of how close Ben could get to her without anyone asking any questions.

"I'm fine, Ben." Lucy responded, downing the last shot before ordering the strongest drink the pub offered.

You sighed, just getting a plain gin and tonic before following the group as they went to their table. Everyone had a drink in hand, aside from Allen who was DD'ing for the night.

A few hours passed as the four of you got progressively more tipsy. When it finally got to the point where it seemed like Allen may have to carry the group out to the car, he made the executive decision to cut everyone off.

Obviously, being drunk and all, the four of you protested like children being told they couldn't have any more candy, but that passed once he actually got everyone out of the pub.

Once inside his car, Gwil and Ben began to raid Allen's CD collection to try to find a "banger", as Ben had to elegantly put it, for the drive back to the dorms. No one could agree on anything, so Allen just flipped on the radio. A pop station turned on, to which Ben feigned a gag and flipped to an old rock station that you remembered listening to with your dad as a little kid.

Much to the only sober person's dismay, Don't Stop Me Now came blaring over the speakers which was only drowned out momentarily by excited, drunken screams. Soon enough, the vehicle was filled with the four of you singing wildly off-key. When it got to the final chorus, you were practically laying across Lucy's lap as you belted out the words that you could only half remember. She laughed loudly, throwing her head back as you gave an over-the-top expression when the song ended, pretending you'd just finished the performance of a lifetime.

"Alright rock stars," Allen began, putting the car in park. "We're at the dorms. Are all of you capable of finding your way back to your rooms or do I need to guide you there, too?"

Lucy waved him off. "Pfft, we'll be fine. [Name] and I got each other to rely on in case we get lost," She slurred, throwing an arm over your shoulders. "Might need to guide the boys, though. I don't think they know where they are," She stage whispered the last part, throwing open the car door on her side, dragging you up with her.

Eventually, the two of you had managed to find your room after what felt like forever.

"I'm exhausted!" Lucy huffed, falling onto her bed, patting the space beside her. "Come sit with me,"

You reluctantly sat with her, unsure of what you'd say in your drunken state. However, if you did do something you'd regret, the good news was, she wouldn't remember anything.

"I want to watch a movie!" She whined.

You giggled. "Which one?"

"Ooh, Lady And The Tramp!" She clapped excitedly.

You laughed again, standing to put the disk in before joining her on her bed once again, the springs squeaking under your weight.

All throughout the movie, Lucy began to get closer to you. Eventually, she was laying her head across your chest and you were rubbing your fingers through her hair. It wasn't a romantic gesture, just something you started to do, not even thinking twice about it. Though, you began to think she might be weirded out by your actions, so you stopped, earning a small whine from her, so you giggled and continued.

When the movie got to the most famous scene where the dogs slurped spaghetti, you decided you may as well just confess your feelings to her. Though, had you been sober, the thought wouldn't have even crossed your mind. You knew this was a complete 180 from where you were at the beginning of the night, but neither of you would remember it, so did it really matter?

"Lucy," You whispered, looking down at her.

She turned her head to look at you, smiling. "Yeah?"

"I, um, have something to tell you,"

She sat up, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her feet. "You can tell me anything,"

"Uh..." You looked around the room; anywhere but her.

She placed a hand on your knee, giving it a gentle squeeze to reassure you.

You closed your eyes, sighing. "I... Have feelings for you,"

She didn't say anything, worrying you. Just as you opened your eyes to see what her expression was, you saw her leaning towards you.

Before you knew it, you were kissing the girl you'd been thinking about nonstop for the last month, and it was everything you hoped it would be.

Joe's gonna lose his shit, You thought, smiling into the kiss. Soon after, your hands found their way into her short, blonde hair and hers snaked around the back of your neck, deepening the kiss.