#when i tell you i literally left my phone off the whole weekend so i could focus only on writing that story

[thinkingjasico]

Just finished writing almost 47k words only for the first fic for the valentines day event

There's many prompts in that one, but the main prompts are fake dating and trans jason

[pepperonidk]

into the night || k.mg

Pairing: mingyu x gn!reader Summary: and along came your knight in gray sweats. aka in which you and mingyu take baby steps into something new Warnings: mentions of alcohol, reader wears makeup Word Count: 1.8k

a/n: inspired by true events, aka last weekend when i walked home alone through hongdae drunk off my ass and took photo booth pictures. whole time i was wishing for a mingyu

main masterlist || taglist

when mingyu walked into a convenience store in the backstreets of hongdae after fighting his way past various promoters vying for his attention, he felt his heart settle at the sight of you. sat at a table by the window, your head was settled on your arms and a half empty vitamin drink and an empty water bottle sat in front of you. the small crumbs of seaweed in your vicinity assured him that you at least took his advice and had a snack.

he pulled out his phone to take a quick picture, something to tease you about later, before finally walking to your resting figure. he squatted down as he gently shook you awake, a grin spreading across his face when he finally got to see your eyes mirroring his. it took you a second to process what was happening, and mingyu tried to suppress a chuckle as recognition finally spread through your features.

“mingyu,” you exclaimed with a giddy smile. now that you had lifted your head a bit, he could see the pink hue of your cheeks, an effect from your drinking. “you came to get me.” you reached out with your hand, sloppily pressing it against his cheek as if to check if he was real.

he gently pulled your hand away and held it in his, sighing in relief when you didn’t pull it away. “always,” he breathed out. his heart raced once again.

if he was honest (and a little drunk), he probably would’ve told you right then that he was in love with you; that he’d always be at your beck and call even on a crowded saturday in his least favorite part of seoul. but even if he knew you wouldn’t remember it in the morning, he kept his feelings to himself. instead, he rubbed small circles on your hand.

“you smell like pizza,” you remarked with your eyes half lidded and words slurred.

“I was making a late night snack,” he chuckled. that part was true, but he left out that he couldn’t sleep because he kept anxiously waiting for you to text him that you were home safe or, even better, for him to come get you. when you finally did, he pulled out his pizza from the oven, slipped on his favorite pair of sweatpants, grabbed an extra hoodie for you and miraculously caught the bus as it pulled at the stop.

“but the night is so young,” you frowned at him.

“it’s literally 3 in the morning,” mingyu corrected you.

“oh my god, the bus,” you suddenly panicked and shot up, drawing attention from the cashier who sat on her phone at the counter, before mingyu stopped you and shushed you.

“we can walk to my place, okay?” he reached out to slowly help you stand up. he reached for the vitamin drink and handed it to you, encouraging you to finish it. “don’t want you fighting off a headache tomorrow.”

you nodded and downed the rest of it, grimacing at the taste of medicine it left behind. mingyu offered you the hoodie and cleaned up your trash as you pulled it on. “it smells like you,” you smiled at him as you brought the sleeve to your face.

“like 3 am pizza?” mingyu chuckled. he offered his elbow out to you to grab for stability as you wobbled towards the exit.

“no,” you shook your head with a smile. “it smells like happiness.”

mingyu chewed his lip, the urge to tell you that you were his happiness coming up stronger than ever. sometimes he wondered if you said things like that just to play with his heart. he bit back his words and helped you step down onto the loud and crowded street.

he pulled you along as he fought his way through the crowds and away from the club street of hongdae. he finally felt himself relax when he heard a street busker singing a cover of an ed sheeran song drown out the pumping bass of the bars and clubs behind you. he looked towards you when you pulled at his sleeve, pulling him to stand with you so you could watch the busker sing.

mingyu could hear you mutter the lyrics under your breath, the timing slurred with alcohol, but the tone of your voice clear and melodious in his heart. before he could think too hard, he moved your hand that was in his elbow to his shoulder and took your other hand in his. he began to dance around with you to the soft music, taking care not to move too fast.

you smiled at him, and for a second, your eyes looked clearer than they had been, as if the haze of alcohol slipped away long enough to reveal something to you. “mingyu…” you breathed out his name with a tone he couldn’t quite place. you opened your mouth to continue, but the song ended and the sound of applause drew you back into the haze.

mingyu pressed a hand against his heart. before leading you away again. however this time, you slipped your hand into his, rather than the crook of his arm. he knew you were looking at him but he hoped you couldn’t see the way he was blushing at the way your fingers intertwined with his.

“did your friends make it home?” he asked, still looking ahead. you had finally made it to the bright led clock that made him laugh every time he passed it. you had asked him once what the clock was counting down to, not realizing that the numbers were going up. mingyu never let it go. but the clock meant that you were halfway to his place already and he decided to slow down, to give you time to sober up in the cool breeze (and to hold your hand).

“yeah,” you replied. “they texted me a little bit before you got to me.” your words were a little less slurred now, more intentional, and mingyu takes it as a good sign.

“were you waiting long?” he asked. maybe he should’ve just left the pizza to burn after all…

you shook your head no before replying. “i waited for a bit before texting you,” you answered.

mingyu looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “why? i could’ve gotten here sooner.”

“i wanted to sober up a bit before you found me,” you shrugged. the lilt of your sentence suggested you had something more to say but chose not to. mingyu chose not to pry. not yet, anyway, and simply nodded.

“you wanna do a photo booth?” mingyu suggested, tilting his head towards one that was relatively empty. you grinned at him and allowed him to lead you in. you picked accessories for each other, mingyu gently placed a fish bread hat on your head and you reached to put a chicken headband on his.

inside the booth, you and mingyu quickly ran through a few of your go-to favorites. a peace sign, a heart made with your hands together, the usual. around the fifth shot, mingyu quickly prompted you to get on his back and you barely made it with a laugh before the timer went off. the next frame, you put bunny ears on his head, but the next… you bent down to kiss his cheek. the last frame was just mingyu staring at you with the dopiest smile.

after selecting four shots, two normal ones, and the last two, your stolen kiss and mingyu’s dopey smile, mingyu turned to look at you as the photos printed out.

your eyes were twinkling under the fluorescents of the room. “you kissed me,” mingyu stated, still looking at you with wide eyes.

“i did,” you replied nonchalantly. “on the cheek.”

“why?” mingyu asked.

“because i want to be sober when i kiss you on the lips,” you stated matter-of-factly.

“I-“ mingyu didn’t know how to respond. you smiled at him gently before reaching past him to grab the two printed copies. usually, he’d have some witty remark, some covert flirtation, but you managed to render him speechless.

when you finally left the studio, you reached once again for mingyu’s hand. he could tell from the way you began to walk a little straighter that you were definitely sobered up enough to remember tonight’s events tomorrow. mingyu chewed on his lip once again. you’d remember kissing him, and now you’d remember reaching for his hand too.

the rest of the walk back to mingyu’s was much quieter now that you were at the end of the main road. the sound of bass and buskers alike now a distant echo. all that was left were the faint glows of neon signs, a slight breeze, and you and mingyu, two friends who’d taken a step into new territory.

inside mingyu’s house, the smell of pizza was strong and he kicked himself for not opting to light a candle or open a window. “sorry for the pizza smell,” he began to apologize before you cut him off with a laugh.

“can i have a slice?” you simply asked. mingyu nodded before grabbing a plate and handing you a slice. it wasn’t warm anymore, but you didn’t mind. mingyu disappeared into his room to pull out a set of his pajamas that you liked to wear at his place and grabbed a few face wipes to clean your face with. he sat down beside you and in between bites, pressed the wipes against your face, and smiled at how your eyes fluttered shut at the cooling sensation.

he took his time and was gentle with you, making sure to remove any traces of oil or makeup on your face, taking care around your nose where you had always hated having breakouts. this wasn’t the first time he’d had to clean your face after a night out, but he really didn’t mind if it meant you woke up with one less thing to worry about.

once you finished your pizza, he handed you the pajamas and led you to the bathroom to change. meanwhile, he opened his linen closet to find an extra blanket for him to use on the couch. it was right when he pulled out his favorite one that you stepped out and mingyu blushed at the sight of you in his clothes. it was a sight he could get used to.

“whatcha doing?” you asked.

“i’ll take the couch tonight,” he explained. he wanted to sleep beside you, but he can feel in the air that something had changed. you knew it too.

“i—“ you began before mingyu cut you off, not giving you the chance to argue with him.

“tomorrow,” he started, reaching for your hand. “tomorrow you can ask me to stay with you, and i will and i will any night after that. but tonight, i’ll take the couch.”

he hoped you could read the promise and the plea in his voice. he knew you’d remember tonight, but he also wanted you to be sure that he was what you wanted. he’d waited years to tell you how he felt, and he could wait one more night.

“good night then, gyu.” you smiled at him softly.

“sweet dreams,” he replied and left you with one last kiss against your temple.

taglist: @yksthings @alonelystarfish @celestialchans @coveyland @xuimhao @sana-is-ms-rmty @jespecially @iamawkwardandshy

[astonmartinii]

first impressions matter | george russell social media au

pairing: georgerussell x reader

george is meeting y/n's dad for the first time and all hell breaks loose

yourusername

liked by georgerussell63, mickschumacher and 31,634 others

yourusername: pops finally had the time off from his busy busy life to visit his one daughter (he was only in a good mood cause verstappen won)

view all comments

username wait ur telling me george's gf is a max fan

yourusername i am a george fan first and foremost but my dad is staunchly orange army... it's a point of contention

georgerussell63 can't wait to see you guys soon!

yourusername i miss you baby i'll be back in a couple days

username WAIT george hasn't met papa y/ln yet?

landonorris he's too scared

georgerussell63 wrong !! falsehoods !! he's a busy and important man

alexalbon you had your blood pressure tested after talking to him on the phone ...

f1

liked by yourusername, landonorris and 501,761 others

tagged: georgerussell63, maxverstappen1

f1: these two line up 1 and 2 in baku, who do you think comes out on top in the first corner?

view all comments

username wait isn't y/n's dad here this weekend? george better back off if he wants to live

landonorris i just sit back and observe

alexalbon i got $20 on george getting dumped this weekend

danielricciardo yeah i back this

username y'all see george's face when he realised he'll actually have to not hit someone ?

yourusername i have faith, proud of you georgie

georgerussell63 thank you !! finally someone believes in me in this comment section

yourusername any bullshit with max and my dad said he'll disown you before you can even join the family

maxverstappen1 i just watched him fall to his knees (say hi to your dad for me)

f1teaspill

liked by 12,566 others

f1teaspill: it all went off after the sprint when george russell and max verstappen came together, do you think george was being a "dickhead"?

view all comments

username get me a netflix camera in the y/ln household stat

username i was sat in the same grandstand as y/n's dad and that man actually nearly fainted

username i can't be the only one thinking that you guys are all just being a bit dramatic like people can separate sport from their own personal lives

username was george in the wrong? who the fuck cares i love the drama

username you guys know y/n wouldn't joke about the situation if it was really that deep

yourusername

liked by alexalbon, lewishamilton and 41,778 others

tagged: georgerussell63

yourusername: favourite boys in the whole wide world

view all comments

username i hate the way any joke in this sport immediately has to become an attack y'all hate fun

georgerussell63 was a pleasure to finally meet the man, the myth and the legend

yourusername welcome to the family georgie xx

username this is so so cute y/n is so lucky !!

alexalbon get in there russell always knew you could do it

georgerussell63 you literally asked me for my car collection in my will before i left for dinner

alexalbon is the offer still open?

georgerussell63

liked by lewishamilton, yourusername and 712,458 others

tagged: yourusername

georgerussell63: i think i finally passed the family initiation

view all comments

username now see why did y'all try to ruin this, this is cute as shit

username peep the signed max pic in the back though orange army stay winning

yourusername the pasta won him over i think

georgerussell63 i think it was much more than that

username now what does this mean....

username they know something we don't and i don't like it

yourusername

liked by f1, maxverstappen1 and 101,564 others

tagged: georgerussell63

yourusername: now we've all finally gotten round to meeting we can officially announce that the russell-y/ln family is about to get just a little bit bigger x

view all comments

username OMG DAD!GEORGE INCOMING

landonorris congrats you two

maxverstappen1 congratulations !!

username i cannot express how much i am not chill about this

alexalbon bagsy god father - congratulations xx

username the way they kept it a secret so long so they could tell y/n's dad in person

lewishamilton looking forward to meeting the little one

note: this is a real random one but lol i found it fun - also thinking of making one of those "buy me a coffee" accounts if anyone wanted to nice a struggling student xx

[anderii]

🎃 Halloween princess 🎃

Will you stop going through my wardrobe? It's the 3rd time recently. I have found my outfits in a jumble , just leave my clothes alone, ok? Lisa was really cross with her sister Tasha.

It's not me. Why would I want to touch your stuff it's so boring, and while we're on the topic of other people's things, have you been using my makeup?

Dave listened and laughed to himself, his sisters would never expect it was him who was trying on their clothes and makeup it had started off innocently enough. They had teased him about his effeminate size and look, not in a bad way but enough to hurt, so he was going to muck up their things so as to get back at them but when he was in Lisa's bedroom he took out some of her clothes to damage, he found himself wanting to try them on instead.

After that first time, he took every chance he could, even grew his hair out and started using some of Tashas makeup. He was getting good, but they were getting suspicious, and he would have to be more careful.

Lisa couldn't believe it. She had set up her laptop to record Tasha touching her belongings, but this was not what she expected to record. She grabbed Tasha, and together, they watched Dave put on Lisa's old prom dress and then disappear and return with makeup on.

He literally stood in front of the laptop as he looked at himself in the mirror. Both girls were shocked. What were they to do? They had teased their brother a bit but never suspected this.

The girls thought long and hard, they could confront him, but they teased him first, so was this their own fault? They could tell their parents, but again, it could come back to bite them too. A decision was made, and Halloween was just around the corner. They had a plan.

The dress was just an explosion of pink and frills, Lisa left it on her bed, she and Tasha announced they were going out till later. Their parents were out visiting relatives for the weekend. Dave would almost certainly fall for the trap and would be all theirs.

It only took minutes for Dave to take the bate. Walking into Lisa's room, he saw her supposed Halloween princess dress and just had to try it. Everything was out ready, bra panties stockings, shoes, even a tiara it took about 30 minutes to dress and put on some makeup but when he looked in the mirror he felt so happy with the result and figured he had about an hour to enjoy it before he had to take it off, he figured wrong.

Lisa and Tasha had watched and recorded everything, and as their little brother posed once more in front of the mirror, unaware that the dress once done up wouldn't come off.

They had to admit he did look very cute as a princess , this was all going perfectly. All they had to do was confront him, finish his outfit and take him out trick or treating, and their day would be complete

Dave meanwhile smiled into the mirror, unaware of his impending fate.

His sisters had only driven round the road then returned to the house entering through the back and changing into their own costumes, if Dave was going to be the princess then in true fairy tale style they would be the wicked step sisters. Bursting into Lisa's room phones in hand they recorded everything, Dave was in a state of shock unable to fight back as they finished his makeup and gave him the long heavy wig that was with the outfit.

Now you are our Halloween Princess little brother, we have a deal for you, we know about the makeup and dressing up, we have films and pictures and if you want to keep them secret then come out trick or treating with us, and we can forget about the whole thing, or if you want, once you have made up for causing us to get into unnecessary arguments we can let you borrow some of our stuff, we can have girly night's in when mum and dad are out, teach you make-up and do your nails, all the girly stuff you want. Do we have a deal?

The trick or treating went on till late, Lisa and Tasha introduced their cousin Davina to lots of their friends, at first Dave was nervous that he would be outed but everyone was having so much fun, no one cared, he got lots of complements on his costume and loads of candy, in fact Davina had an absolute ball and was definitely the fairest one of all.

[hobisstar]

What are you hiding from love?| Yandere!Jk x Reader

Summary: Being in a relationship with Jungkook you’ve always noticed the signs, the red flags if you will. Being so in love with him you ignored them, until the people you loved dearly started disappearing one by one.

Warnings: Murder, Jungkook victim blaming ( like he will say i killed you because you are too stupid or whatever), Possessiveness, Mentions of Smut, Controlling, Locking up YN.

Taglist: vante 🫶🏾

A/N: This is made to be scary! That is all. I honestly dont like mixing smut with yandere because i read yandere fics to be spooked not horny lol.

5 years,

5 long years, of nothing but love and trust but more than that. Of course honesty, right?

Well on yn’s end there was definitely honesty. Jungkook’s? Not so much. You see there is this dark secret that jungkook has been hiding since they met 6 years ago…

It’s so deadly that it could possibly end their relationship if she found out about it.

She was so beautiful, so calm and gentle with him, he loved that side of her. Hes never seen her angry, sad, or even hurt. He never wants to see that side of her.

Jungkook doesn’t want to be the reason he sees that side of her.

Like now, There are siting on their shared bed, in their shared bedroom, in their shared apartment. Telling the truth, would risk him loosing all of this. He cant have that.

Jungkook looked at her then smiled, “ You are so beautiful you know?” He smiled, kissing the top of her head. YN blushed lightly staring up at him.

YN was quite literally everyone’s dream girl. Maybe that was the problem to Jungkook.

She was too good to everyone including himself and he hated. He knows she has a bad side but he never gets to see it so when he knows someone else gets to experience that mean side of her, he’s instantly jealous.

Who got his baby so pissed that she called you a dumb cunt? A fucking bitch? Who dares piss off his queen?

He will deal with them, with torture. Slow, painful, evil, demented, twisted death.

That was the other side of him he need to never be shown to his lover. It scared him that in any means possible she found out about his… hobby.

Nevertheless, Jungkook admires yn. How she can keep it together in every situation. Worships her to be exact.

“Stop calling be beautiful and get ready for work, handsome.” Yn responded while patting his back.

Right, work. Besides his hobby, he works at a flower shop while yn works at a cafe during the weekend. It’s enough to keep food on their table, to the rent, gas but also enough for simply living. Jungkook owns the flower shop so, he makes a whole lot of money.

There are so many things that yn doesn’t know about Jungkooks basically second life. How deadly it is.

jk: I miss you, baby~

I hate this fucking job

What are you doing?

Is bam stilling your attention from my text?

Babbbbbbbbyyyyy

yn

yn

yn

yn answer the phone

yn: sorry baby! I was feeding bam and fixing me something to eat!

I left my phone in the bathroom

yn: j, you just got to work babes 🤨, how do you miss me already?

You didn’t even clock in yet SILLY!

jk: I can’t miss you now?

Since when did you feel like that?

yn: Jeon I never once said you couldn’t, don’t say that.

jk: but you where implying that…

yn: Jeon Jungkook, clock in, put your phone down, see you when you get home 😕🩷

jk: smh, why that face? Why that reply?

He waited for a reply but he never received one, instead he heard someone clear his throat. He looked up and saw it was a woman probably in her 30s, staring at him like he was a snack.

“Hi! JK right? I came in here a few days ago looking for some flowers for my sisters birthday! I doubt you remember me but I want to come back to get some for myself!” The lady bit her lip and looked Jungkook up then down and Jungkook thought he could be sick.

He forced a half smile, “ Yeah yeah, I don’t remember you. You can get them for yourself, I don’t remember the flower you got last time.” He looked back down at the book he was original decorating with different flower pictures but got bored so he texted his lover.

“oh.. I was hoping you could pick them for me, fresh ones. I know you all do that-,” “ we do but not this early.” He interrupted still looking down, knowing he is hurting the poor woman’s feelings for not even recognizing her or remembering the flower or even falling for her shitty attempt to flirt.

“Okay, ah well I’ll go grab them and pay for them.” She said waiting for a respond or even a nod but she didn’t even get that. She walked over there and grabbed them then returning to the register. While she put her things on the counter, she saw a glimpse of Jungkooks Lock Screen which so happens to be a picture of yn and bam sleeping on the couch. “ Your sister?” She asked, hoping she was right. “ My wife actually and our son.” He scanned the flowers and roughly wrapped them. Roses, it’s be sad if he left a thorn on them. He turned around and slightly cut the stem but enough to keep the thorn nice and sharp.

Jungkook turned back around and handed them to her. As soon as the woman grabbed them she gasped, in pain he assumed. He pretended to be concerned but when he saw the palm of her hand leaking red liquid, he smiled on inside.

“ Oh! Im so sorry! I thought I got all the thorns, out…” he looked up at her then saying “ I guess one snuck away.” giving her the most creepiest blank face the woman has ever seen. She then realized he left the thorn on on purpose. He even sharpened it. “ I can fix that for you-,” “ No! I-It’s fine! Thank you so much! See you!” She some what screamed and hurried out the store frightened.

“ too bad..” Jungkook mumbled and chuckled continuing to put pictures in the decorating book.

“Bam! You just keep growing!” Yn said as she walked into the kitchen smiling while seeing him staring at the spare room. It’s Jungkooks office. “ What’s the matter? You know your dad doesn’t like you going in there.Not even me.” She stooped to his level and petted his back but only received a whimper in return.

Yn stared at the door. It’s taunting her with its unlocked door handle. She looked at the time, it was only 5 pm, Jungkook wouldn’t be home for a few more hours.

“ A peak wouldn’t hurt us right?” Looking at Bam and he barked as if he understood her.

Yn stood up and opened the door walking in. It was a nice little tidy office.

It would be comforting even if it wasn’t so cold. She has to remember to turn on the air for this room once exiting.

She turned around seeing if Bam followed her inside but he was at his bowl slurping up some water.

Looking at the closet door she opened it up and turned on the light. “since when did he make this a dark room?” The red light was a little hard to see in but her eyes soon adjusted quickly.

Spooky wasn’t the feeling that she was feeling but more so unsettled. Yn looked at the photos on the table and quite literally almost vomited.

“ what… what is that?” Stammering as her eyes scanned over the photos laid out on the table.

Pictures of people being hurt, harmed. There were far more worse ones that she doesn’t even want to even mention. Gazing up on the line looking at the ones drying where pictures of, her.

This wouldn’t be weird if it wasn’t of her sleeping, in the shower, getting dressed, even at work.

“Did jungkook take these?… no way…”

Yn was flabbergasted,

Was her boyfriend of 5 years, a serial killer? A psychopath? A fucking weirdo? I mean she saw the signs but thought she was tripping.

Days where he would come home with blood and dirt on his hands and clothes. He would always say it was his and it came from the thorns he dealt with at work.

“yn! I’m home!” Jungkook shouted. As he walked in and smiled when he saw Bam sitting on the couch peacefully sleeping.

It’s where yn and bam usually cuddle so, where is she at?

“Did she leave you by yourself?” He asked Bam who was waking up from sleep. Walking towards the kitchen he saw dinner was made and a note on the fridge door.

“ Welcome home babes! Sorry I couldn’t be home to greet you, I went out to go get a few things but my sister called and said she wanted to have a little sibling time! Ha. Be back by 11 pm! Dinners fixed but do warm it up, then shower and get some sleep! See you later,

Love, Yn <3”

“Ah, I guess she did leave us by ourselves tonight Bam.” He chuckled and took off his jacket. He felt weird though.

Since when did her sister want to hang out so late? This is the first he ever heard of it. Pondering, he grabbed his phone and called yn’s sister.

“Hello? Jungkook?” She answered confused as ever at this late ass call. “Hey, sorry to call so late. is yn with you?” Jungkook asked but his full attention was on his office door.

“What? No she’s not. Why?” Without missing a beat Jungkook hung up the phone right after. He dialed yn’s number. What he wasn’t expecting was to hear her phone sitting right on the couch next to Bam. He watched it ring and sighed. Maybe she just went out and forgot it on accident, no need to panic.

For some reason in the back of his mind he felt as though she found out. She went into his forbidden office. Jungkook chuckled, “ she would never disobey me.” He warmed his food up then sat at the table but he couldn’t eat.

Nor could the feeling of her going in his office go away. He stood up and walked to the door and opened it.

At first he didn’t notice anything out of place until he realized it was warm in the room. He never turns the air on in this room. Jungkook looked around about to leave until something so obvious caught his eyes.

The red light illuminating on the other side of the closet door. With quick steps, he opened the door well threw it open. Nothing was touched but the light alone was a clear sign that someone was in there.

He mentally and physically cursed himself.

“ She knows, she fucking knows.” He calmly stated but boy was he heated.

“ I need to fucking find her…now.”

To be continued…

[obsessive-valentine]

Yandere!Hockey player x F!Figure skater

A Ice Hockey player takes a interest in the new girl, he’s determined to prove he’s not some lowlife-stereotypical popular kid but rather a man who can protect you and begins to set you up to be in a relationship with him. This ones a pretty subtle yandere.

You recently moved to a new town with your family and being a figure skater you had to not only find a new school but also a new ice rink to practice. Although your school seemed to have a pretty big hockey team that also used this rink so you had to work around them, this meant sometimes leaving school early for these lessons before the school team showed up or coming in late as they were leaving.

Today however you were particularly early leaving you to sit on the bench waiting for the hockey team to pack it in, you distracted yourself with with your phone or a book but you seemed to also be distracting one of the players in particular. He knew you from some of his classes but you never acknowledged each other, mostly because he was apart of the annoyingly loud and popular boys, and he along with his friends know for throwing parties and dating around- they didn’t even bother to pretend to take school seriously it was just a place to hang out and poke fun at people.

You however were comfortable with the small but friendly group you’d been accepted into when you joined the new school, you avoided drama and most parties -preferring to be ice skating or hanging out with your friends. So he was a bit confused why you seemed to be capturing his attention so much, you were quite the opposite of his ex-girlfriends. “What’s wrong with you!? Get your head in the game!” He was snapped back into reality by being told off by his coach, he huffed in response and his eyes darted back to you before joining the game again. You had glanced up to see the commotion and briefly locked eyes with him before going back to what you was doing.

“Someone’s in love” his friend teased coming up behind him only to be shoved back in response “piss off” he grumbled. He kept his eyes on the puck the whole game not trusting himself to look up again, and before he knew it his coach was calling it a day. “Come one let’s go can’t keep buddy’s girlfriend waiting can we now?” his friend once again picking the bear figuratively and literally, it took all his strength to not shove him once again, in fact he didn’t even respond just turned his back and made his way off the rink followed by the team.

He was disappointed in himself, letting a girl come between him and his team until he looked over at you once more as he left for the lockers, you were lacing your skates obviously a bit annoyed at the comments from the boys poking fun at you and him, but damn were you pretty even when you were angry.

You darted out on the ice once the team was gone and made a mental note to come way later so you don’t bump into them again, because god that was awkward. You had the ice to yourself as it was late and you only really trained with your coach on weekends unless you chose to compete, so you stuck your earphones in and went through routines and tricks you’d like to brush up on.

20 minutes had gone by and when you looked up you saw the hockey player standing sheepishly by the shirt wall dividing the rink from the bleachers, you took a earphone out to question him but between you catching your breath and taking it out he had already started to explain “I literally just came in here I swear I’m not a creep... I just wanted to say sorry” he started, you was about to tell him it’s okay so he’d leave but he cut you off again “you’re in my science class right?”

“Yeah and a few others” you sighed to yourself realising it won’t be so easy to get him to leave “oh sorry I don’t really pay attention to much it’s nothing personal. But really they can be asses but they don’t mean harm, maybe I can make it up to you though?” He had a certain charm for such a seemingly tough guy and admittedly very hot, but you didn’t know him aside from the loud jokes he made, him and his friends rough shoving each other into lockers in the hallways, or the rumours of what girl he was hooking up with during a party.

“I don’t know, it fine really we can just leave it at that” you wasn’t sure you wanted to hang around a guy like that, but then again you never saw him pick on people, or continue provoking after a teacher tells him off, he wasn’t as crude as other popular people you’ve come across. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. “Please just umm, do you walk back home? It’s getting dark and I can drive you” he seemed so desperate to make it right, it seemed so out of character especially over something so small.

“I’m gonna be here for another 20 minutes at least, and I’m not getting in your car, I don’t know what you’re like” you said bluntly making hhis eyes widen in realisation “oh right you no that makes sense, okay I get it I’ll get outta your hair but I promise I’ll make it up to you” god did he feel stupid, offering a girl, that he could very well overpower, to join him in his car. ‘Now she probably thinks I’m some lowlife like the rest of them’ he though to himself as he got into his car.

The whole way home he brainstormed some ways to get closer to you, he could pass up this opportunity.

...

“Hey there you are!” Like a relentless puppy he jogged to catch up to you in the hallway “Hi, you’re really hard to find, I mean there is a couple hundred people in this school” you stared at him confused “right um can we maybe hang out for a bit, maybe we can eat lunch together” he could see that you were going to try gently decline “-BECAUSE, I really need your help with” he took a deep breath trying to come up with something “History, yeah history, please it would be a great help”

“fine I guess” you suppose one hour with him can’t go to bad, just let him copy your notes and eat your lunch. However you both spent most of the hour talking, he showed you pictures of his dog thinking it would loosen you up and encouraged you to talk about yourself, eventually you stopped trying to shift the topic back to history and talked to him like he was a friend.

“I’ll see you at the rink?” He smiled back at you, hopefully, he was falling deeper and deeper for you “maybe I will” you blushed a bit packing your bag faster to make it to class. “Good” he said more to himself before leaving.

...

Every now and then he would check the bleachers, hoping to see you, until he did, you gave him a smile as you sat and he waved back, you couldn’t see it under the mask but his smile could very well have reached his ears. He hung back once again, once his team cleared out you joined him on the ice “nice of you to join me, starting to wonder if you would show up at all” he joked.

He spent this time trying to get closer to you once again, he begged you to show him tricks, some he attempted half-assed to get a laugh out of you, then you both raced from one end to the other after some provoking on his part, and after a long talk he asked once again “can I maybe drive you home today?” He hopefully looked to you, you gave it a long thought “I guess so, only if you don’t mind waiting around a while longer for me to actually get some practice in” you gave into him.

He grinned hard “that’s alright with me, I’ll be back in a bit take all the time you need” he took off to the changing room, you trust him more than you did just a few days ago, you talk to him and not so begrudgingly anymore, hell you even entertained him messing around with you for over half an hour. This was significant progress to him.

He rushed to sit back on the bleachers and watch you skate for a bit. He couldn’t stop thinking if this is what it’s like to be so truly in-love, is this what they mean by love at first sight. Every conversation with you made him more sure and sure you were so much more than any of the past girls he’s messed around with even the most serious of relationships would never come close to how he felt with you.

But he’s getting ahead of himself- ‘baby steps’ he had to remind himself, he’s not going to ruin this. He walked you to his car and opened the door for you, this was the start of something. He’s driving you to your house today but soon it will be his house to hang out then hangouts will become sleepovers and sleepovers will become... well he’ll pass that stage when he gets there. For now he’ll treasure the beginning of a long loving life together, he’s sure of it.

[czrpenters]

piercings | tara carpenter x reader

summary: you could be a little extra when it came to pleasing your girlfriend.

pairings: tara carpenter x fem!reader.

warnings: no scream vi spoilers, mention of needles and piercings. also, english is not my first language.

word count: 985 words.

masterlist. | request rules.

It wasn't fully your idea to get your nipples pierced after all. You saw Tara blushing while looking at some pretty suggestive pictures on her Tumblr the other day, and instead of being jealous like you usually would, you started wondering; is she really into that stuff at all?

The next day, you got an appointment at Woodsboro's local tattoo parlor. And oh god, it was more painful than to watch a dog die in an early 2000's movie. You literally felt your soul leave your body for some minutes, your skin had visible goosebumps all over it and the pain was bearing the unbearable. But damn, you looked hot. And you knew that Tara would love that.

She mentioned once or twice, as well. "Babe, would you think I'd look hot with my nipples pierced?". And you knew damn well that this was never going to happen due to her fear of needles, but a girl can dream, right? And Tara was about to have her dream come true that night.

--

"Baby, I'm home! Got us some chinese!" Tara shouted while entering your house, with some takeout in her hands. It was your usual friday night; your dad was a surgeon so he had to bear inhumane 48 hour-shifts on the weekends, which of course meant that you guys had the whole place to yourselves. You usually didn't do anything that crazy or teenage-like, you and Tara were really responsible for your age. The days were mostly spent by watching some movies, eating a bunch of junk food and a lot of sex. Nothing that a lesbian couple wouldn't do.

"I'm over here!" You shouted back in your bedroom, turning off your phone and waiting for your girl to come to you. Your chest was still a little bit sore, so laying on it was definetly not an option right now. Also, no bras for at least a whole week, but that was something you weren't really worried about. You wanted to show them off. You wanted her to see it.

Tara left all the bags filled with food on the kitchen counter, discarding her jacket and shoes before coming up the stairs to your bedroom. She was exceptionally tired today, to say the very least. Playing soccer was definitely not the best career choice and yet she still played it. Not for the sport itself, but the thrill to win. She was exhausted, so it was no surprise that she decided to fall on your bed like a dead corpse, without even looking straight at you. "M' tired as fuck."

She mumbled, in the cutest fucking way possible, which made you laugh. "I know, baby. You didn't have to bring us food, y'know? We could just order Postmates or something." You kissed her forehead, laying down with her but without hugging, you couldn't even dream of having your chest touch something other than the thin layer of fabric of your tank top.

"But it's our tradition, babe... I don't wanna be the one to break it." You almost didn't hear her muffled sore voice, and it made your heart flutter. She couldn't be real. "Why you're not hugging me?"

You knew that it wouldn't take long for her to notice that something was missing. She wasn't sure what, but she knew you better than that; she knew that the first thing you'd do was hug and kiss her right after practice, like always. But you didn't. She finally looked up with a puzzled look on her face. "Is there something wrong?"

"No baby, nothing is wrong... " You kissed her lips briefly, trying to reassure her that everything was fine. More than fine, actually. "It's just... I got a little surprise for you, that's all."

"Baaaaabe! You know that I hate and love surprises." She whined, jumping on the spot and sitting down while looking at you. Thankfully you were wearing a thin sweatshirt over your tank top, so she couldn't see what it was just yet. "Come on, tell me what it is."

"I will, I promise! Just... Close your eyes first, okay?" Before she could even start her sentence, you shushed her. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes, but you were directly looking at them to make sure she wouldn't peek. Carefully, you took your sweatshirt off, alongside with your white tank top. Your nipples were a little puffy still, more red than the usual. It felt like if Tara sucked the life out of them for at least a couple of hours, but instead of her usual bite marks, there was a silver jewelry on them.

You were so fucking excited and it took every inch of your soul to not blurb and tell her what it was before she could even see them. "Okay baby, open them now."

She did as she was told, and you swear to god that you saw some sparkles emerge from her eyes. You could almost feel her happiness, as if her mouth was watering like a boy seeing a pair of boobs for the first time. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Got them while you were at practice. Aren't they pretty?" They were two pieces of silver jewlery, the colour matching the necklace she got you with her initials on it. And oh boy, she was so turned on at that moment that she couldn't even form a sentence. "Didn't liked them?"

That was a rethorical question. You knew she loved them. And the fact that you had to wait at least 2 weeks for her to touch them was, to say the least, torturous. But before you could manage to think about anything else, you felt her lips against yours in a fervorous kiss. Her mouth tasted like cherry, and her kiss tasted like heaven. A piece of your own private paradise. "You really don't know the things I wanna do to you right now, (Y/N)."

"Show me then."

⠀

[redheadspark]

Hello! Can I request #1 and #3 with Barry Keoghan? ❤️

AN - Thanks for the request, anon!

Thanks To You

Summary - Barry brings you peace when your world is rocked

Warnings - Angst with barely any fluff

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,”

Barry’s fingers that were in your hair paused, hearing the tension in your voice as you were watching the window outside, seeing the snow falling gracefully from the sky and cars driving along the street.  The world was still rolling by, though it felt like a standstill in your little apartment while the soft sounds of the fireplace were heard in front of you both.  Curled up on the couch, head in Barry’s lap as he was giving you both the intimacy of being close to you and space to let you talk about how heavy your heart was. 

The heaviness of your mother kicking you out of her home.

The last few years living with her was hard for you, her hardened heart was always on her sleeve and she was never shy in showing it to those who would defy her.  Ever since your parents divorced and your father found love with a new wife, your mother did the divorce rather hard and became bitter because of it.  You were merely living with her to both save up some money to move out on your own and to get some money in your savings.  Plus it was easier for you since your work was right down the street from your mother's house, but it was also a literal hell.  

The only ray of light that was in this whole mess was your boyfriend Barry.

You made sure Barry and your mother were never left alone in the room.  She briefly met him when he came to pick you up for a date, already analyzing him since he was an up-and-coming actor.  You knew she was judging him, even when he introduced himself to her and he was beyond courteous and polite.  It made you feel embarrassed, apologizing to him when he drove you off to the dinner.  Barry wasn’t worried about it, winking at you, and then laced your hands together to show you that he was okay with it.

“I don’t care what she says about me,” Barry reassured you when you slept over at his apartment one night, “I’ll use my Barry charm on her to win her over in due time,”

“It might be impossible with her,” You said with a groan as he chuckled, “It’ll be an uphill battle when it comes to my mom,”

“Challenge accepted then,” Barry said in a cocky manner, though you poked his side and he laughed.  You loved that Barry would make things light for you when he knew you were stressed out with your mom.  He whisked you away on weekend trips or mini-vacations that he would take thanks to a recent movie gig he landed.  Those little mom tens, pockets of joy even, made your heart grow for him.  

The last thing you expected though, right before Christmas of course, was to get into a fight with your mother over Barry and then get kicked out because she was filled with spite.

Barry came over to your house as soon as you texted him and told him what happened, helping you pack your clothes and a small cluster of things that you wanted to keep with you.  He said nothing to your mother, who was scowling out on the back porch a you were crying in your bedroom and trying to get the rest of your things in the small bags that you did have.  After a few minutes, Barry took your bags and walked you out of his car.  He drove off with you, leaving your past behind without your mother not even saying goodbye.to you.

You called your father when you made it to Barry’s apartment, telling him all that happened.  Ever thankful that your father was supportive of you, he made sure to wire you some money to get on your feet and made sure you knew that his home was available for you to come to.  Yet you were safer with Barry, on the other side of town a bit away from your mother.  The first thing you said to Barry after hanging up the phone, seeing him watch you with Conner in his eyes, were four simple yet moving words that made you feel so small.

“Please just hold me,” you whimpered, feeling overwhelmed from all that happened within an hour.  Barry had you within his arms instantly as you sobbed and unleashed all that pain that was festering.

“You don’t have to hide your tears from me,” Barry reassured you as you moved your head on his lap to look at the ceiling, noticing a tear escaping from the corner of your eye as Barry kept talking, “I know what’s it like with that kind of family.  It hurts, but it won’t last forever,”

“She said those nasty things about you, I couldn’t hold my tongue because I knew they were false.  But now…. I’m homeless,” You said in a defeated sigh.  Barry tutted as he shook his head.

“You’re not homeless,” he reminded you, then gesturing to the small apartment you two were in, “We’ve already talked about moving in together, so now this is your place.  We can get the rest of your stuff another time—“

“I don’t want anything else,” You gently interrupted as you slowly blinked, your heart feeling less heavy but still damaged.  You could still hear her voice in the back of your mind, bad-mouthing Barry and thinking of him as mediocre and cocky.  It killed you to hear that since you knew him to be far better.  He was kind, down to earth, and beyond generous.  He was a brilliant actor, as well as a brilliant human being, and for your mother to wish to see only the bad side of it was heartbreaking.  No matter that you two were on uneven ground or the bridge you two had was beyond broken, she was still your mother. 

Your mother who now shunned you and kicked you out of her life.

“She can burn the rest of my stuff for all I care,” You said bitterly, “I only got what I needed from that house, thanks to you.”

Barry smiled, though the look on his face seemed concerned about how you were reacting this way.  He knew you to be strong, tough as nails when it came to your work and fending for yourself.  He also knew you wore your heart on your sleeve and loved helping others when you could, there was no selfish bone in your body. 

So all Barry could do was simply watch you as you moved your head again to look out the windows, watching the snowflakes cascade along the window.  He was mentally telling himself that all he could do was simply be present for you in this time, knowing the plenty of times when you were there for him when he needed support.  You always took his hand, giving him sweet words of encouragement, there was never a time when Barry truly felt alone when it came to you. 

Now it was his turn to return the favor.  

The End.  

Hurt and Comfort Prompt Session

[wintersoldiersoul]

Hi.

Saw you are taking requests.

I got shingles the weekend close to my birthday, i confuse it with allergy because i am allergic to basically anything and then on my 24th birthday i got that it was actually shingles, doctor told me that my immune system went down and that is why i got it. Before that i was under so much stress because of work that i developed burn out and had to quit my job (literally spent months, weeks of my life visiting the emergency ward because i kept getting sick due to stress and burn out) probably that Triggered the shingles.

Could you write something with Bucky in which the reader suffers similar sh**? I just need comfort from my fave character 😭

If you dont feel comfortable is fine, i understand 😁

KUDOS!

I'm so sorry you went through that! I hope you are much better now. I tried to make this as medically accurate as possible (I texted my friend in med school LOL) but I am definitely not a doctor so if some stuff isn't accurate, just pretend it is.

You threw your hair up into a ponytail to get it out of your face. Hours slumped over at your desk weren't doing any favors. You grabbed the energy drink and chugged it to prevent your eyes from closing. You were almost done with this assignment. Just a little bit longer, you told yourself. 

Working full time and being a grad student was taking a toll on you. You spent every day from 9-5 in your office and every night from 6-10 in classes. You crammed homework in anywhere you could, which often meant staying up most of the night. It was approaching 4am, now. 

The office door creaked open and Bucky strolled in, sleep still filling his eyes. “Baby,” he sighed. “Come to bed.” He had woken up and the bed was cold without you beside him. He walked over to you, kissing your forehead.

“Can’t,” you mumbled without looking up from your computer.

“You gotta get some sleep, darlin’.”

You sneezed, still typing away. “I’m fi-” your words were interrupted by another sneeze.

Bucky stood, looking at you with a stern expression. “Well look at that. You’re getting sick.” 

You waved your hand. “No, I’m not. It’s just allergies,” you said, sniffling. “You know this time of year is bad.” The past few months, you had been sick on and off multiple times. A cold, a small fever, you were sick more than you weren’t. 

“Honey, please just get some sleep. You haven’t slept in days.” He was practically begging. He knew how much stress you were under and getting no sleep wasn’t going to help. He was extremely worried about you.

“Just give me 10 more minutes, okay?” You compromised.

“Fine. But I’m sitting right here and setting a timer. The second it goes off, I’m carrying you to bed.”

He did exactly that, throwing you over his shoulder when you didn’t get up immediately at the ring of his phone. Despite the intense amounts of caffeine you had consumed, you fell asleep the second your head hit the pillow.

Bucky woke up before you the next morning, smiling at your sleeping form. Your hair was sprawled over your face and he gently pushed it away to kiss your cheek. But as soon as he moved the strands, he noticed that your cheeks were flushed. He put the back of his flesh hand on your skin. Heat radiated off of your face before he even touched you. You were definitely sick.

He got up, being careful not to wake you. He left the bedroom returning a few minutes later with water, Advil, and a thermometer. You groaned as your alarm rang, sending shooting pains into your skull. You groaned, opening your eyes. You felt like absolute shit. Your whole body ached, your throat was on fire, and even your skin hurt.

“You’re sick.” Bucky stated, as if he was informing you.

“Yeah, I can tell,” you retorted, wincing at the pain in every cell of your body. He smiled softly, brushing your hair behind your ears. 

“I got you some water and Advil. Can I take your temperature, doll?”

You nodded and he put the thermometer under your tongue. He looked it, eyes widening. “Shit baby, that’s not good. Your temp is 102.8. How do you feel?”

“Horrible,” you pouted.

He sighed. “I’m not surprised. That’s a really high fever, baby. I think we should go to the doctor.”

You groaned, not wanting to move. You felt so horrible that the thought of having to get up and out of bed was a nightmare. You felt like you couldn’t stay awake, eyes closing no matter how hard you tried to keep them open. “Can’t move,” you whispered, coughing slightly. “My whole body hurts so much. Just wanna sleep.”

Bucky didn’t know what to do. In his mind, sickness meant calling a doctor. He had spent so many years worrying about Steve back in the 40s, sitting with him while he got looked at. He still wasn’t used to how things were today. The google search he did on his phone told him that if your fever went above 103, to take you to the hospital. In his opinion, you were close enough that he wanted to rush you there right now, but he could see how exhausted you were.

“Alright, rest for now. But if it gets worse we’re going to the hospital.” You didn’t even hear him as you had already fallen back to sleep.

You woke up in a daze, cold sweat clinging to your body. You were shivering aggressively, shaking the entire bed. “Babe?” Bucky said, noticing you were awake. “You cold?”

You nodded, teeth chattering. He quickly grabbed you another blanket, wrapping you up like a burrito. He wrapped his arms around you, hoping that his body heat would help, too. One of the major perks of dating a super soldier was that the chances of getting him sick were very slim. He held you as close as possible, trying to keep you warm. “Oh, honey,” he whispered, voice dripping with sympathy.

 “Can you take your temperature again for me?” He asked after your shivering had subsided a little bit. You put the thermometer back in your mouth, waiting for the beep. Bucky took it from you, heart stopping as he looked. “I know you don’t wanna move, but we gotta go to the ER. You’re at 103.6. That’s really really bad.”

You groaned. You felt so horrible, his words barely even registered in your mind. He picked you up and carried you to the car, whispering words of encouragement along the way. You closed your eyes again, finding it physically impossible to stay awake. Bucky held your hand the entire car ride before picking you up and carrying you into the ER. He let you sleep as you waited, positioning your head on his shoulder. He constantly watched you to make sure you were still breathing. He didn’t wanna wake you until he absolutely had to.

When you were finally called in, he shook you gently. “Can you walk?” He asked. You weakly nodded and he helped you to your feet letting you lean on his body as you went to the exam room.

The doctor hooked you up to an IV immediately to hydrate your sick body as they examined you.

“How have you been sleeping?” She asked you.

“Um, not great,” you answered, voice sounding raspy. “I’ve been under a lot of stress.”

“She hasn’t slept in a week,” Bucky interjected. “She’s been getting sick a lot these past few months since she started grad school.”

The doctor nodded. “Okay that’s very good to know.” She proceeded to ask you a few more questions and then said, “Did you have chicken-pox as a kid?”

You nodded. “Yeah. When I was 5.”

She carefully rolled up your shirt, revealing a rash on your side. “It looks like you have shingles. The stress you’ve been under seems to have weakened your immune system which is why you’ve been getting sick so much. It makes sense that with all of that the virus would come back now.”

Bucky held your hand. He was relieved that you had a diagnosis but of course he was terrified. Back in his time, that would have been a death sentence. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, Buck,” you answered. 

“Yes,” the doctor agreed. “We’re gonna keep her here for at least tonight because your fever is so high. But you will be okay.”

Bucky exhaled. “Oh, thank god.”

“Can I go to sleep now?” You asked the doctor. You were so exhausted.

“Yes. I’ll let you rest,” she smiled before leaving the room.

“I’m so sorry you feel so shitty,” Bucky said, holding your hand. “Will this make you take it easy?”

“I don’t know what I can do to change anything,” you said with tear filled eyes. “Literally the only time I have to get things done is in the middle of the night.”

He looked into your eyes. He wanted to help you so badly that his heart ached. He wanted you to be happy and healthy. “What if you quit your job?” He suggested. “You only took this as a temporary thing anyway. I know you don’t wanna stay there when you’re done with school.”

“I can’t not have a job, Bucky,” you argued.

“Baby,” he looked in your eyes. “Do you have any clue how much the Avengers pay me?” He smirked. “Trust me, you don’t need a job.” You opened your mouth to argue, ready to tell him that you didn’t need his money. “I know you’re your own person and you can make your own money. And one day, with that brain, you will make so much all on your own. But baby, you’re drowning. You’ve been sick more days than not the past few months. Please, let me take care of you. Just for a bit. I’d never tell you what to do and if you really wanna stay, you can. But you’re killing yourself, darling. And I can’t just sit back and watch as it happens. Just think about it. Please.”

You lazily smiled. “Okay. I’ll think about it. But not right now. Right now, I need to sleep.”

He stroked your hair and kissed your forehead. “Go to sleep, my love. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” 

[bellewintersroe]

Max Verstappen x HornerDaughter!

ahhhh sorry for such a big break!!! I’ve been super busy and had no motivation to write- hopefully this writers block doesn’t last too much longer!! Here’s the LINK for part 17. Part 18 - Leni struggles with the loneliness she didn’t expect when arriving back in England. Without speaking to Max and completely skipping the Las Vegas GP, she thinks she’s hit a low point. Little does she know it’s about to get a whole lot worse when Max spots her with no other than her ex-boyfriend…

Sunday, 19th November 2023 - Las Vegas GP weekend.

The Las Vegas weekend was booming. Parties were happening left right and centre, alcohol was flowing and the advertising was just obnoxious.

Obnoxious that was to me. Whilst the race was occurring I was fast asleep- that quiet Sunday afternoon I sat in a local pub with a handful of my closer friends from my school days. It would’ve been pretty wholesome if my ex boyfriend didn��t just turn up out of the blue. I couldn’t have rolled my eyes any harder, immediately turning back to my phone to scroll past the many pictures of Max celebrating his win.

The sense of separation was straight up depressing. In fact, what happened between Max and I seemed to hurt worse than my breakup with my boyfriend of four years. I very quickly began to realise the overwhelmingly stupid mistake I’d made with Max. I no longer knew how to handle the feelings I had for him- who to tell, who to turn to. I replayed every moment over and over in my head about where it all went wrong- how it all went wrong. I was positive I’d exhausted all my friend’s ears about the topic, yet I still couldn’t rid the ache off my chest, no matter how hard I tried. “Guys let’s get a picture!!” My attention was diverted to my friend holding a phone up at the head of the table. Little did I know, taking that picture was about to make my life 10x more dramatic. It seemed that Max somehow did see a lot of things on social media, including the pictures of me and my friends and, sadly, my ex boyfriend sat right next to me. It’s not like I even talked to him once. So of course when my phone buzzed whilst I was sat at home later that evening, it was like all my prayers had been answered. Max had text. However, reading the message wasn’t so… prayers-being-answered-worthy. “I’m gonna go to bed, night night, you two.” I was very quick to leave the room I was in, my two siblings watching me in confusion as I sheepishly hurried upstairs. I didn’t even make it to my room before I was stood still, rereading the bitter toned text from Max.

Max: you could have told me if there was a reason you didn’t want to be with me

The message was short, sharp, it kinda didn’t make any sense, hence to why I was constantly re-reading it. My heart rate was sky high, and if I didn’t eventually collapse on my bed, I would’ve fainted from the lack of oxygen. I didn’t have it in me to hold the reply for another few minutes. I stared in utter confusion, feeling all the colour drain from my face. Leni: what????

Max: you’re back with your ex already

I momentarily frowned at the text, wincing in utter confusion. It became very clear what he was talking about when I remembered the picture from prior today. I felt borderline frantic, then silly. Max being bothered about this was a punch in the gut, maybe now was my chance to explain myself completely. Leni: he’s still friends with everybody, I didn’t speak to him once but I can’t stop him from going out to the same places as me? Max: ok

Leni: can we talk properly about all this? I let out a sigh, feeling as though my chest was about to literally explode. I couldn’t crucify with myself any longer knowing I’d completely destroyed this. Now Max was being blunt? Borderline petty? I knew how he normally text and this wasn’t right. The tears began to form around the same time my fingers started to tremble over my keypad. Max: I don’t know what there’s to talk about Leni

Leni: the fact you think I didn’t want to be serious with you because of my ex?? Max: I know that’s not the only reason

Leni: no its not a reason at all, me and my ex literally haven’t spoken a word to each other since we broke up, things didn’t work between us and I don’t want them to, I stopped things cos you’ve literally just broken up with Kelly, its way too soon

Max: it’s been months Leni, you know how I felt about that relationship and exactly why it ended, you know I would’ve waited for you, but it was all too immature for me, sleeping with each other and then nothing progresses? I don’t want that with you. Despite my attempts, there was no possible way I could even fathom a response. Anything I typed sounded pathetic or desperate- exactly how I felt. Max thought I was immature, maybe I was, but it still hurt to hear from him. I was torn between begging desperately for his forgiveness or succumbing to my internalised rage- thankfully I decided neither would work.

Instead, I kept myself to myself, using my I phone notes to rant out my dismay about the situation- about myself. I’d played Olivia Rodrigo on repeat, cried myself to sleep and during my showers, most mornings, if not all, I woke up with puffy eyes. I had officially hit rock bottom, and there was nothing I could do. I stared at myself back in the mirror. My eyes were red rimmed and despite my best efforts, the swelling around them hadn’t gone down. It didn’t help I couldn’t stop crying. I was so pathetic and immature, Max was right. I was being so dramatic, treating this like I’d broken up from my decade-long boyfriend. But I soon came to realise that’s exactly what it felt like. I’d been friends with Max for as long as I could remember, even during the awkward teenage days when I was too scared to be around boys. I remembered the prior few years before, when I was so happy to see him at the Grand Prix weekends, how close we’d been. Maybe getting together in the first place was a mistake? No. No that can’t be right.

How could it be when I’d just realised I loved him- and I think I always had.

My forehead dropped against the mirror with a groan, only picking it up when my phone screen lit up from the floor below me. At first my eyebrows knotted together, then they released in surprise.

Dad: I’ve bought your tickets to fly to AUH on Thursday. Geri’s told me you’ve been moping around, we’ll talk about it when you get here but I’m not having you missing the last Grand Prix. Fuck. Don’t get me wrong- anybody should and would be grateful for their dad doing this for them, and I was. But the thought of seeing Max was terrifying- I felt like an outsider, somebody who shouldn’t be there. It dawned on me that everybody’s friends and families would be there- including Max- I’d have to face his mum and sister knowing everything that had happened between us. I proceeded to drop my head against the mirror again. The anxiousness grew in my belly fast, all I wanted these past few days was to see Max, now all I could hope was for not to see him. As much as I hated to admit it, I absolutely dreaded the Grand Prix. Not only was I an angsty mess- I was an ungrateful one too…

————————————————————————

Taglist: @ironmaiden1313 @callsignwidow @fangirl125reader @norassimpingzone @roseseraj @eugene-emt-roe @copper-boom @its-elias-world @cassiopeiia24@larastark3107 @maxxiemoo @crashingwavesofeuphoria @18754389 @eviethetheatrefreak @rossylightwood @formula1mount @gulphulp @lou-bean28

[lucystark12]

i very very rarely listen to running up that hill but i am right now and it's just like holy shit YOU HAD TO BE THERE (weird reflection post that i just randomly started writing and couldn't stop for some reason about my depression lol that was supposed to be cute and lovey about my love for stranger things but ended up being really somber)

i didn't immediately watch season 4 when it came out on may 27th, because friday may 27th was the day that i came back from a week long class trip to the deep depths of northern washington (hell on earth, no mans land, if you will) and since my parents were out of town for my mom's 50th birthday, i was going straight to my best friend's house to stay over for the weekend. that i did. my best friend everly, whom i was staying with, always falls asleep really early, so at some point in the early hours of may 28th, probably around 1 am, i pulled out my phone and starting watching stranger things. i had spent the entire spring rewatching after all.

i got to where chrissy got possessed and immediately had to turn it off because i was in seventh grade and the bone cracking thing scared me to death (this was before i watched GOT for the first time, my tolerance for gore was not as high as it is now)

such began the first of many times where i'd neglect watching my favorite show for no reason. i did it with house of the dragon season 2 as well. so, a few days later i left everly's house and my grandma came to stay at my house with me while my parents were finishing out the rest of their trip.

at this point, the whole internet was already talking about running up that hill. it was that sunday when i decided i had to watch the show. who the fuck was i kidding? i loved stranger things. problem was, my grandma is and will always be the worst tv hog in the history of the world, so with a shitty disaster movie playing in the background, i put in one airpod and finally started watching stranger things season four.

this was a particularly rainy spring for portland, something that literally scarred me at the time because i was nearing the end of the worst depressive episode of my entire life, and the sun not being able to peek out of the trees like it had in late may last summer and every summer before that was something so insignificant yet something that really was sending me off the edge. i didn't realize how far off the edge i already was at the time. my other best friend had just started taking medication for her depression, which manifested very differently in ways that mine didn't. she was mad. she was resentful. between the few moments that she was the same laughing, loving girl i'd always known, she hated me and our other friends and hated herself more. my cousin likewise had depression so bad he couldn't get out of bed. he hadn't been to school in three months. i wasn't like that. i thought i was happy comparatively. i was diagnosed with OCD the year before and thought that was an explanation. it took getting a new therapist and unpacking my behavior back then to understand what was really happening. i never cried. when i did, it was violent. it came in bursts that lasted all afternoon. i started and i didn't stop until i fell asleep. i threw things, i refused to talk to anybody. i was failing math, which i've never done before. i couldn't understand a thing. i didn't even care to try. i hated myself. the only thing i ate was a bowl of craisins at school every day because i couldn't physically force myself to eat. i thought i was just tired even though i got ten hours of sleep every day. i was always exhausted. my therapist couldn't diagnose me because after years of being taught i had to be perfect, i refused to tell even her that there was something wrong. i thought i was stupid, i thought i was ugly, i thought i was worthless. i thought i was just experiencing what it's like to be twelve years old.

so, another rainy and overly misty sunday afternoon passed me by as i reached the ending of the fourth episode, and finally, the fated song that i'd been hearing all over tiktok and didn't quite understand yet started playing out of max's walkman. i watched the entire scene with my grandma barking questions at me about why i was tearing up.

running up that hill was my most played song of 2022, just ahead of africa by toto.

now i'm not going to say that stranger things brought me out of said depressive episode, because it didn't. the four months ahead of me were four of the hardest of my life still to this day, just as the six before them had already been. but i've grown a lot since then, and two years later when i was in spain alone, sick and crying, experiencing a little week long bout of similar feelings to the ones i felt when i first watched season four, the show weirdly managed to find me again.

the week before i had left to study abroad in spain i had learned that i got a B+ in math instead of an A- in math because my teacher wouldn't round up my 89.9%. it might seem trivial especially because a B+ is incredible process from the algebra i had nearly failed for the second time in the row the year before, but sometimes things like that can be enough to cause somebody to fall back into old habits and feelings. estranged from everybody and everything i'd turned into coping mechanisms for hard times like these when i was literally half the world away, i didn't know what to do. so, when i was in my dorm with food poisoning from a salad i'd eaten the night before, i decided to press on the byler analysis video that had popped up in my youtube feed. such began what i've been calling my "stranger things renaissance"- a second stranger things phase that's been going on since late june.

not to sound overly bylerish, but i've been seeing a lot of parallels between this summer and the summer season four came out. for reasons out of my control, i've been forced to spend a lot of time alone. this summer when i've started feeling lonely, i've taught myself that rather than overthink, to channel it into something else like writing, or doing something that will calm me down. now when i'm home alone and haven't seen a friend in a few days, i'm not sad anymore. i think "well damn" and then i move on with my night. i'm no longer depressed. with the help of my new therapist, i've gotten really close to growing out of my OCD. i no longer have to pray every night. i don't wake up in a cold sweat if i go to bed at 10:31 instead of a "perfect number" like 10:30 or 10:35. i rarely lock my bedroom door anymore. and no, it's not perfect yet. i'm not "cured"- i still have my crying episodes. i still have moments, even though they're few and far between now, where i feel the same way i did back when i was twelve.

but i'm moving on. things have shifted in my life. i've grown up and this show has with me. i started watching it on halloween of 2019 when i was in fifth grade and my friends and i did the "goodbye mike" trend in my basement. i watched the first three episodes that night and finished it for the first time during covid. it was with me through that hard time back in the day, and for some strange (haha) reason, it's with me now, and will probably continue to be with me until the show ends, because like as typically happens when i fall back into obsession with something i liked when i was a little younger, (the mcu, harry potter which remanifested in the marauders) it becomes more than a phase, but a part of me in some weird way.

stranger things may have its flaws and it might not end the way i wanted it to, but for the rest of my life it will be special to me regardless. i'm finally for the first time in my life older than the characters. i was seven when season one came out, eight when season two, ten during season three, 12-13 and season four, and will be 16 in season five.

so thanks, stranger things, for helping me, and thanks even more for showing her that there's nothing wrong with the many different aspects of her that she'd been led to believe were wrong. as corny as it sounds, she couldn't have done it without you 🫶

(say hi to baby lucy, because it's always more fun with pictures, and because depression can happen to anybody no matter what they might look or act like on the surface)

rip 2022 lucy, you would have loved the byler sunset pictures that you somehow would have found a way to relate to reddie and your best friend that you were highkey in love with. you also would have loved mike wheeler if i could explain who he really is to you because said in an EARLY analytical essay that "All I really gained from season four though was that I absolutely hate older Mike and that I wish he would’ve died instead of Max." in the same essay you say you wish you could throw mike of a cliff. oh the irony. (please laugh)

ps: if you ever find yourself feeling anything like what i described in this post, know that it gets better even if it seems like that's what everybody says and it seems like it never will. there were times back then when i didn't even know if i'd make it to the age i am right now, and now i'm at one of the happiest points ive ever been in my life. know that even if we've never talked before, i love you and i believe in you. my blog is always a safe place if anybody out there ever needs anybody to talk to.

[liliansun]

no one particularly cares but i need this moment to vent bc i’m on the verge of tears and i wanna smash a pumpkin against my wall. and like,, if for some reason you read this lmk if i’m being unreasonable bc i feel like i am but then again i’m not.

so my bf is going into the military and he’s gonna be leaving in december right? so he just left meps today and got to his house and said his family pushed his birthday dinner from tonight (it’s his birthday today) to tomorrow night. i was like okay, he was gonna come over in the morning and we hang out w my baby and then he was gonna skedaddle off to the bday dinner with his family.

with this information i was gonna make him a cake and surprise him bc i didn’t get to see him today. so then he tells me his dad pushed it off to wherever so he was gonna go out w his guy friends to hang out and plan for the bday dinner to be later this weekend and i’m like okay and he tells me he’s gonna come by later in the day tomorrow instead of the morning bc he’s out w the boys. i’m like okay, have fun and be safe and i update him and yada yada. so then he tells me he’s going to texas which is like a few states over (4+ hour drive in the night) and i’m in the middle of a cod mobile game and i’m thinking to myself. wtf? bc in my head that contradicted the whole plans he kept changing for tomorrow (context: i was off today and tomorrow) and then he’s like nvm my friends voted against it and idk if you think like me but i thought that was dumb as hell.

so then i’m in a sour mood, i lost my br match bc i was so just out of it bc i’m like wtf? sure go do whatever you wanna do w your friends,, but if we made plans to hang out how tf do you expect me to feel when you plan to go state hopping instead. so we get into this discussion which i don’t want to call an argument and he’s like “i’m sorry but at the same time i’m not” and i’m like. elaborate. bc that shit didn’t make sense to me. “he’s like i’m sorry i’m being difficult but i’m not sorry bc i assumed you had no plans for tomorrow. well sir,, i was trying to SURPRISE you and idk if me asking a million times what time you wanted to come over didn’t give a hint?? guess not?? but okay and i’m trying to end the conversation bc i’m annoyed and he’s annoying me even more by wanting to talk it all out right here rn and i’m the type of person who needs time to think over everything,, collect my thoughts and readdress it once i’m clear headed and can see where i was wrong and he’s not

and then we get to the point of conversation where he’s like well what do you have planned for tomorrow and i’m like nothing now, you wanna go out w your friends so go out w them and he’s like we’re not going and im like okay, so go do something else w them i’m just not in the mood and he’s like no i wanna see you and i’m thinking to myself that i don’t particularly wanna see him but ik it’s bc i’m in a bad mood and maybe i’ll feel better in the morning maybe i won’t but rn i’m like stay the hell away from me before i start crying. and he’s like well the latest i’ll be by is 3 and i’m like okay. nice. and he’s like my recruiter might need me around 4 ish and i’m like. so you mean to tell me you wanna drive 40 minutes to my house to turn around and drive another 30 minutes and come back for another 30 minutes?? this is coming from the man that literally told me earlier today “since i’m quitting my job bc i’m going into the military, i don’t wanna be reckless w my spending till then”

so i mention that bc that’s a waste of gas and idk where y’all live but that shit ain’t cheep here and he tells me to let him worry about that and i’m like okay bc atp i’m done having the conversation and he’s trying to be lovey dovey and i’m about to throw my phone into the gulf and cry to tswift songs bc i just don’t know what to do.

part of me is like let him come bc he’s gonna be gone soon and you don’t know how long or where he’s gonna be at for boot camp and part of me is like he didn’t take in consideration the fact that he made plans with me and threw them out the fucking window on the highway while he was keke giggling at the thought of driving idek how many hours away and sleeping with his friends in his friends’ car.

so yeah. if you’ve made it this far on my lil ted talk, i love you. i think i’m genuinely gonna go cry and hold my baby and just try to sleep bc my head hurts and my heart hurts and i feel like i’m being irrational but at the same time i feel like i have a right to feel this way.

[goth-oatmilk-latte]

is there a story behind meeting new Mr oatmilk that you want to share w the class?<3 (ps he sounds like a well deserved upgrade)

sure!! so btw he took the photos of me at the cemetery/my current pfp!!

him and i have actually known each other for probably like 6 years or so. when we first met, he was married and we didnt really talk we just had a lot of mutual friends bc we like the same music and go to a lot of the same shows and we would just see each other in passing. he ended up telling me he was intrigued by me bc i had done a photoshoot and my pfp when we met was me holding a butcher knife in a wednesday addams outfit, and he said he knew i had to be an interesting person from that alone. he is quite shy though. we would also see each other places but never really said more than hi to one another. he got divorced in 2020, we talked a little then, but not really. then he dated his now most current ex, more or less bc she basically cornered him into a relationship while he was just getting over his divorce and homegirl needed a place to stay. hes told me he regrets it and said he literally should have kept trying with me bc being shy with me would have been a hell of a lot better than how things worked out for the 2.5 years of abuse she put him through. (his words)

last year we started talking a lot bc he was posting a lot of concerning stuff to his insta private story and so i kind of talked him thru his abusive relationship he was currently in and he mentioned he really needed a close friend. we ended up becoming gym partners for a bit before both our now exs went batshit over it and our friendship as a whole. and we stopped talking for a bit...and then we would talk a little here and there. and we both mutually agreed we were both in shit relationships.

around may, he texted me and told me him and his ex finally broke it off after months of him trying (long story) but he still wanted to at least be my friend again bc he missed me a lot. and i told him i was also dealing with more or less trying to leave my fiance. this is actually around the time i found the flashdrive full of nudes from other women ex mr oatmilk was keeping from me. and i finally left mr oatmilk after he tried to go thru my phone while i was in the shower, which prompted an argument about why it didnt matter who i was friends with bc he couldnt stop entertaining other women and i even pulled out the flashdrive and was like yeah im done.

so me and new mr oatmilk started hanging out more. he would go on walks with me after work. or we would go back to being gym buddies. or we would grab dinner. go to a bookstore. i helped him pick out stuff for his new apartment.

i asked him if he wanted to go see the cure with me at the end of last month and he surprised me by paying for a 2 night hotel stay for us instead of us just driving 2 hrs. and thats also when we went to the cemetery to walk around bc he knew id like it. thats pretty much when we decided we were actually an item.

i helped him move into a new apartment last weekend. and tonight im surprising him with making him dinner. ive pretty much stayed over since he moved in, which is funny bc he got a smaller bed than he would normally get bc he originally told me he didnt wanna feel lonely since it's just him...but he has only spent like one night alone since living there lol.

whats really fucked up tho is his ex is always trying to instigate with me...from doxing me in a bar bathroom, to literally driving by his new place to see if i am there. and shes friends with my ex now too. she's harassed me via text and social media, too. but it's fine, i dont usually engage. which pisses her off.

him and i are happy 🥰 hes honestly lovely.

[chronicallyonlinecath]

Saturday 17th June 2023 - The Start of a Summer

Well, exams are over now. I'm free!! Some people still have exams next week though - only until the 21st. But I'm done. I'm out of there, of school.

At least until the 21st, when I'm going in for the school's windband because the concert is soon as hell and I've barely been to any rehearsals because of revision.

My half term like two weeks ago was interesting - I apologize for not talking about it sooner. In short, Mattson apologised about everything, ever, and now we're friends again. I have mixed feelings about it though - it feels like all the pain I went through after he left was for nothing. We talk now - his favourite movies are romcoms, he wishes he was born in the late 90s and he's sad we've left school because there are lots of things he's going to miss that he's never going to do or see again. I think we all feel like that.

I certainly do.

After all that, one time I was walking home with him, Harvey and Alison and I mentioned I've liked Janek for a while and never had the guts to ask him out. Mattson decided to play wingman and get me to ask Janek out.

Well, I agreed to it. I'm mad at myself for being so easily pressured into it, but I think and plan so damn fast and then overthink the hell out of it. So, on Tuesday, my last maths lesson sat next to Janek ever, I slipped him a note. On it said I thought he was a cool and chill guy and if he wanted to hang out over the summer.

He replied to me on discord that evening saying "I'm not sure."

It's not a no... but I haven't had a reply since, and Harley sent a message to him thru my phone last night asking if he wanted to hang out this weekend. Still no reply.

Since we basically finished yesterday, Matty held a pool party at theirs for the whole council to go to - Harley, Peter, Carter, Bella, Harry, Reagan and Angel, one of Harley's super chill friends who I went on a trip in year seven with. Matty's little brothers were there as well, and it was super fun.

We tried playing chicken jousting with me on Bella's shoulders and Reagan on Matty's, but we decided it probably wasn't smart as the pool definitely wasn't safe. Reagan dumped me in the water by picking me up bridal style and then simply dropping me, and from then on I was fucking freezing. Harry became a swamp monster and chilled in the pool for at least an hour, just vibing in a donut and telling me how I should deal with the Janek situation (and then Harley messaged Janek for me)

Bella was an absolute demon in the pool the whole time and there's a hilarious photo of her looking like she's gonna steal your soul at any second.

My signed shirt has doodles from her all over it lmao- a bit like my primary school signed shirt as well. Matty's party was seriously great though, and I hope at some point the lot of us will be able to meet up again before we get to college in September.

Today, I have done literally nothing except stare at the "Hi" message I got from Sheldon, of whom I cut off in January, and question what the hell he wants.

I sent a reply, simply stating "give me a good reason to trust you and maybe we can talk"

A compromise, of sorts. Because frankly, I don't trust a weasel who can't respect my boundaries. But I've learnt from Mattson that people can somewhat change.

Somewhat.

I'll be back tomorrow, probably doing nothing again. I do need to go thru all my old shit to make room for my shit for college tho - so that's basically my plan for this afternoon.

~CM

[coco-case-study]

Some few unpopular anime opinions

If you're as chronically online as i am there may be a few opinions that you might agree with.

Warning: typos ahead bc i did not spell check

So let's get straight into it.

Anyone who has demon slayer as their favourite anime is valid and y'all nees to stop hating on anime just because it is mainstream. You're not special or better than anyone and this comes from someone who watches slice of life and isekai for fun. I've seen my fair share of anime and demon slayer is a decent shonen.

Shonen anime needs to stop with these war/genocide themes.

Fire force, Jujutsu kaisen, Attack on titan, kaiju no.8, Chansaw man. Demon slayer Ect.. all these anime have 3 things in common. It's about either war, genocide, or a combination of both. I understand that it's the easiest and most recognisable route to go if you want to have a Hero in your story. But anime's like jojobizzareadventure for example don't need war or saving humanity as a whole as a driving point for their plot. (Ignoring part 2 and 6)

Whoever is in charge of great pretender is one big fat racist for not continuing with a 3rd season. This is the first time we get a black love intrest and just when she gets revealed the show gets cancelled? Unbelievable!

Slice of life & romance anime is fun and idc what people have to say about it.

Listen, our lives are shit and this is good escapism! Who wouldn't want to watch someone go through their regular day and have their biggest quest be a trip to the grocery store or their hardest task being deciding what they are gonna wear tomorrow. Our real lives are like that too. I bet you that anyone who watches anime and is a full time student or worker. Apart from maybe exciting weekends or evening outs. We do live are lives rather simply. And what's wrong with watching someone else live their lives. It's even better when its romance because you get to root for a likeable couple and live vicariously through them.

My hero fell off

I don't need to go to deep into this. I really liked the series. I loved Kirishima's ark. And I literally have aizawa as a widget on my phone but if you need 6 seasons for character devolopment for your MC who's been on a losing streak since the very first episode. Then you and your writing team need a good and long meeting about compelling story telling.

Requiem of the rose king

At the beginning of the story I really felt bad for richard because everyone was treating him like shit just because he's intersexual. But near the end of the story he kind of proved his mothers point by killing literally everyone that he loved.

This is the most daring manga I've ever read and idk if i shoukd feel ashamed that it's my first fully completed series but to be fair I bought it bc of the art style and i kept reading because of the messy family drama.

The pedo stuff and the incest stuff is just... yikes.

Overal a good series really nails the head on old English aesthetic. Still not better than black butler though

Everyone is fruity asf

I ship everyone in vanitias no carte and so should you.

Anyone in the fandom knows about the canon and fanon ships. The canon ships have written chemistry and sometimes the chemistry is valid. However the obvious gae undertones are hard to ignore and so I understand the fandoms discourse. HOWEVER it's not an excuse to hate or dismiss the hetero ships. I do not want a repetition of the mess that is the jojo fandom where every hetero ship just gets flushed down the toilet as if they don't exist. With that being said i ship vanitas and Jeanne and there is nothing you can do about it.

I'll never forgive araki for what he did to gappy and yasuho

You can not have the first female jobro have this much chemistry with the main jojo and not have them end up as a couple. The ending of jojolion will be on my mind till i die because the way i cried ugly tears because i was anticipating a kiss or at least a freaking hug. I am sad and my faith in love haa left along with the last chapter of jojolion.

For now this it i sure have a lot more to say but this thread would get too long. If anyone has actually read this what is wrong with you lmao go outside.

[seitmai]

But even Coyote agreed that regular sex was more important than pick-up basketball games at the base gym or nights at the bar.

Bahahah😂

“Damn, only took 58 days to get you to fall for me.”  “I wouldn’t go that far - you’re still in your probationary period, Seresin,” you scoffed. “Your review is coming up, and I’m a little unclear if you’ve met the conditions of your contract.” 

You better make it clear to her Seresin

Smiling sweetly, you cupped him, squeezing lightly when he pressed into your hand. His teeth dug into his lower lip when you looked up at him through your eyelashes. “All requests for title changes will be reviewed and, if approved, authorized following the 30-day evaluation - i.e., changing ‘guy I’m seeing’ to ‘boyfriend.’”

We gotta follow the rules 🤷🏻‍♀️

“We’ve spent the last three weekends together and talk every day. You’re my girlfriend. I’m your boyfriend.” “I don’t remember having that conversation.”  “You’re the one who said you didn’t want casual.” After brushing his lips to your neck, he rested his temple against yours and closed his eyes, swaying slightly. A contented sigh escaped as you let yourself relax against him. “You are definitely not who I thought you were, Jake.” 

Oh he's so whipped 🤭🥰

“There’s no ribbon or promotion ceremony for that, you know.” “You sure?” he asked, glancing down at his service ribbons. “Could start another row just for you.” Laughing, you stood on your toes to kiss him. 

That's just so cute 😍

“I wanna wake up with my girlfriend during the week.” “You are really hung up on that, aren’t you?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. 

He really is hung up on that but thats just adorable

“Not your normal type?” Hanging his head, Jake chuckled. He’d been purposely avoiding eye contact with a couple of women he’d hooked up with all night. “Just don’t fall for the whole ‘something’s missing’ thing this time, alright?” Javy smirked, holding up his left hand and wiggling his fingers. 

I love Javy for this haha, someone hast to keep Jake in check 😅

“Hey, I’m not the one who got married because their girlfriend of three months posted on Facebook that their ring finger was empty.” Jake grimaced, pushing away the memory of proposing to his ex-wife while drunk on Bourbon Street after she’d been pouting all night that all of her friends were getting married and having babies.

I can't 😂 this cracked me up and is the most hilarious and silly backstory for how Jake's first marriage came to

“You telling me that you were hustlin’ me tonight?” “A little.” 

😏😏😏

Instead, you set your glass on the nightstand and took off your shirt, slipping back between the covers with your back to him. He locked his phone and dropped it back onto the nightstand before shedding his own shirt. Curling around you, he pressed a kiss to your bare shoulder and smiled when you pressed back against him.

🥰🥰🥰

“Go away, you evil morning person.”

Literally me

“Play hooky with me,” he mumbled against your skin. When you shook your head, he lightly bit your breast before trailing kisses up your chest and throat, stopping when his lips hovered over yours. “I’ll go to sick call. You call in sick. We can spend all day relaxing.” When his thumb traced your cheek, you forced your eyes open. There was a pillow crease on his cheek, and his hair was flat on one side and spiked where your hands had run through it. It was his sleepy eyes that did you in, though. 

I would not have expected Jake to be someone who plays hooky, but his sleepy eyes and bed head would have convinced me 😌

“Darlin’... you know that’s sexual harassment.” “Don’t say that,” you whispered. When he asked why, brushing away your tears, you shook your head. “‘Cause then I have to do something about it.”

 I loved this line, even though it's heartbreaking because it's unfortunately such a real way to portrait it💔

Parties agree that the initial “date” is identified as the night of the contract writer’s unfortunate car accident, which will be acknowledged with annual anniversary.  

😍😍😍

“That’s a lot of overnight bag packing.” “Only for 44 weeks. The next round of negotiations is going to include moving in together.” “You’re pretty confident that we’re gonna reach annual negotiations.” “Darlin’, I have a feeling we’re gonna be doing this for a long time.” Jake heard your breath catch. After a moment, you cleared your throat. 

Ahhhh I love their banter 🥰🫶🏻

“Can’t kiss my girlfriend first?” “No title changes are approved until you’ve signed.” Sighing, he grabbed the pen from his flight suit pocket and clicked it. 

You gotta do it right ☝🏻

As soon as both copies of the contract - you’d insisted that you each need a copy - were signed, Jake shoved your slacks down your legs and pressed your cheek to the kitchen counter as he showed you exactly how much he loved being your boyfriend.

D-Day by TrickPhotography | Chapter 6

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x female!reader

Word count: 5.9k

Synopsis: After finding out his girlfriend is pregnant, Jake is ready to move in and get married. The last thing he expected was to be hit with a six-month deployment at sea and missing the birth of his first child.

18+, minors DNI

Chapter 5 | Master List | Ao3

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

Chapter 6

Jake slid his sunglasses on while exiting the Vigilantes hanger. He was supposed to meet Coyote for lunch - an apology for blowing him off for the last three weekends. But with you standing firm on the no weeknights sleepovers, it was the only time he was able to see you. After waking you up with his tongue between your legs, he’d thought you’d cave, but no luck. Instead, he was stuck trading texts and phone calls during the week. But even Coyote agreed that regular sex was more important than pick-up basketball games at the base gym or nights at the bar.

Jake cast a critical eye over the jets as he walked the flight line. The maintenance crews were among the best in the world, but all it took was one rookie pilot just out of flight school to damage millions of dollars in equipment. As part of his TOPGUN training, he’d been charged with helping train some of those kids, which was an exercise in patience. Thankfully he wasn’t the only TOPGUN grad stationed on Lemoore, so the responsibilities were pretty evenly shared.

A small group of people was standing around the Rough Raiders hanger - a mix of khaki, flight suits, and civilians. He paused midstep at the sight of you climbing a jet ladder, a guy in a flight suit standing below and checking out your ass. You hadn’t mentioned being on base when you talked last night. Tucking his tongue into his cheek, he watched you climb into the F-35 and look up at the canopy as the pilot quickly scaled the ladder. He handed you his helmet, and Jake watched as you grinned and put it on before sitting. From the distance and angle, he couldn’t see you well but clocked the guy’s grin and as he reached into the cockpit. He felt a spike of irritation and shoved his clenched fists into his pockets before remembering he was in uniform. Smoothing down his khakis, he forced himself to walk away.

Coyote was waiting by his Jeep when Jake reached the Sidewinder offices. With a nod, he got into the car and cranked the engine, blasting the air conditioning. Coyote glanced at his friend and smirked, “Who pissed in your Cheerios?” 

“No one,” he grumbled, snapping the door shut. “Joe’s sound good, or did you want to hit the food court?”

“Let’s get the hell off base. Gotta tell you about this damn kid.”

Your phone buzzed, alerting you to motion outside your front door before it chimed. Sighing, you dropped the dirty clothes you were sorting and reached into your pocket, pulling up the app to see Jake looking down at the camera. Stepping over the pile of clothes, you closed your bedroom door before letting him in. “Hey - didn’t realize you were coming over.”

“Just thought I’d stop by,” he shrugged. As soon as the door was closed, he backed you into it and braced his forearm over your head. Your hands rested on his chest as he kissed you slowly, the scent of his cologne - something smokey and spicy - washing over you. “Saw you on the flight line today.”

“Had the 60-day post-delivery meeting for the Lightnings,” you explained when his lips pressed against your throat. Jake smiled, slipping his hand under the hem of your shirt to lightly stroke your back, pinky anchored into the waistband of your slacks. 

“That means it’s been 60 days since we met?”

“Technically 58 - we had to schedule the meeting early.”  

“Damn, only took 58 days to get you to fall for me.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far - you’re still in your probationary period, Seresin,” you scoffed. “Your review is coming up, and I’m a little unclear if you’ve met the conditions of your contract.” 

“Oh yeah?” He shifted so his body pressed against yours, pinning you in place. “Pretty sure I’ve been the ideal boyfriend - I’ve made you dinner a couple of times, followed your stupid sleepover rule, watched your shitty movies - ”

“You’re getting points docked for insulting my taste.” 

“Made you cum six ways from Sunday.” You felt his cock twitch against your thigh as he smirked. 

Smiling sweetly, you cupped him, squeezing lightly when he pressed into your hand. His teeth dug into his lower lip when you looked up at him through your eyelashes. “All requests for title changes will be reviewed and, if approved, authorized following the 30-day evaluation - i.e., changing ‘guy I’m seeing’ to ‘boyfriend.’” When he opened his mouth to reply, you laughed while ducking out from under his arm. “We may have met 58 days ago, but we’ve only been seeing each other for three weeks. Better be on your best behavior for another week, or we’ll terminate the contract.” 

You made it three steps before Jake’s arms wrapped around your waist, tugging you back against his chest. “We’ve spent the last three weekends together and talk every day. You’re my girlfriend. I’m your boyfriend.” 

“I don’t remember having that conversation.” 

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want casual.” After brushing his lips to your neck, he rested his temple against yours and closed his eyes, swaying slightly. A contented sigh escaped as you let yourself relax against him. 

“You are definitely not who I thought you were, Jake.” 

“Took you 58 days to realize that, darlin’?” he teased, a hint of an accent coloring his words. 

“My sweet, sexy Southern guy I’m seeing.”

“Boyfriend.” 

“You’re really angling for that promotion.” 

“Put in my time and earned it on merit.” Shaking your head, you let out a heavy sigh while turning in his arms. He took your left hand, pulling it behind your back and holding you close. Your right hand lifted to tap the ribbon bar pinned to his chest, just under his golden wings.  

“There’s no ribbon or promotion ceremony for that, you know.” 

“You sure?” he asked, glancing down at his service ribbons. “Could start another row just for you.” Laughing, you stood on your toes to kiss him. 

“You staying for dinner? I was just going to get something delivered and catch up on chores since someone has been keeping me busy over the weekends, and I haven’t had a chance to clean.” 

“Let’s go out - grab a couple of drinks and a burger at the bar. Feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I saw you on Sunday, it’s only Wednesday.” 

“Exactly.” Chuckling, you slipped out of his arms, his fingers tightening around yours before releasing, and walked towards your room to swap your slacks for jeans.

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“You didn’t miss me?” he asked, following you to lean against your bedroom doorframe. Turning, you felt a flutter in your stomach at the sight of him, a softly teasing smirk playing on his lips, and a hint of mischief in his green eyes. 

“Not even a little,” you lied. 

His answering laugh let you know he didn’t believe you.

“That’s disgusting,” Jake grimaced, pulling a face as he handed you back your beer. You rolled your eyes, reaching over to wipe a bit of the watermelon gose foam from his upper lip.

“It’s better than your IPA.” Shaking his head, he took a swig to wash away the taste before looking around the bar. You’d had low hopes for the beer selection when you’d walked inside what was clearly a pilot hangout but had been pleasantly surprised that they carried a local brewery on tap. 

“Wanna grab a seat or play some pool? There’s an open table.” 

“Let’s play.” Grinning, he took your hand and led you to the back of the bar, where three tables were lined up. After placing his beer on the table rail, Jake grabbed two cues from the wall as you retrieved the balls from the pockets. 

“We playing for fun, or do you want to make it interesting?” he asked, grabbing the triangle and racking the balls. 

“We’re not playing strip pool in public.” His laugh drew the attention of the table next to you, and he walked towards you. When he reached to slip his hands into the back pockets of your jeans, you shifted so your ass was pressed against the table. As much as you enjoyed Jake’s hands on you, there were too many people around that you might have to work with one day. Better to keep the PDA to a reasonable level. 

“Not what I was gonna suggest, but I like where your mind went,” he said, placing his hands on the table beside your hips. Cocking his head, his gaze drifted from your face to the hint of cleavage your blouse allowed. 

“My eyes are up here, Lieutenant. What do you want to bet?” Taking his lower lip between his teeth, Jake shook his head.

“I wanna wake up with my girlfriend during the week.” 

“You are really hung up on that, aren’t you?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“What can I say? I think your snores are cute.”

“I do not snore!”

“You do,” he countered, leaning close enough to whisper in your ear. “Make these hot little moans when you’re sleeping, too. Makes me want to roll you onto your back and slide into that sweet - ”

“Jacob Michael!” you hissed, face flushed. 

“Damn. First and middle name,” someone said. You glanced over Jake’s shoulder as his head fell to the crook of your neck, groaning softly. A guy in a flight suit stood there, grinning. “What’d you do to piss her off, Hangman?” 

“Fuck off, Coyote.” Jake shifted to sit on the table beside you, hunched over and rubbing his brow.

“Javy Machado,” the man said, extending a hand. “But everyone calls me Coyote. You must be the woman this asshole can’t stop talking about.” Laughing, you introduced yourself while shaking his hand. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Jake said you two went to the Academy together?” 

“We did. Got stuck with him during our plebe summer.” 

“Oh. So you know all the embarrassing college stories.”

“He tell you about the time he lost a uniform race and almost broke his nose running into the wall during an Around the World?”

“I didn’t understand what you said, but tell me more,” you grinned. 

“Did you need something?” Jake asked, glaring at his friend.

“Basically, our detailer - ”

“We’re trying to play a game. See you later, Coyote.” Standing, Jake turned his friend around and playfully shoved him between his shoulders. 

“It was nice meeting you!” you called after him. “And don’t worry - we’ll talk.” 

“I’ll see you around. And don’t let him hustle you at pool.” Jake sighed when he turned to see you sipping your beer, eyes sparkling over the rim of the glass. 

“Ignore everything he says.” 

“Absolutely not. He is definitely coming over for dinner one night so I can hear all about baby Seresin. And it’s good to know that you hustle pool.”

“I don’t hustle, darlin’ - I’m just good.” 

“Is that right? Then why, exactly, should I even bother betting against you?” 

“I’ll give you a two-ball handicap.”

“Four.”

“Two.”

“Three, and I get to move the white ball every other turn.”

“Two ball handicap and you can move the cue ball twice.” 

“Fine, but we’re doing best two out of three.” 

“Alright. What do you want if you win?” 

“I want…” you tapped your upper lip and laughed when Jake moved your hand to kiss you.

“Didn’t need to bet to get me to kiss you, darlin’.” Playfully, you shoved him away and stood.

“I want one no questions asked favor that I can call in whenever I need.” After a moment, he nodded.  

When you failed to break the rack during your first shot, Jake grinned as you hung your head and groaned. His shot sank a striped ball, and he hit another one before missing. After nudging two of your solids into a pocket, you took a shot that bounced off the railing. He winked while lining up his shot, not even looking as he hit the cue ball, knocking in two of his stripes. 

The first game was over quickly, and he grinned against your pouting lips before drinking half of his beer. “Should we stop at the store and get some of your flavored coffee shit for my place?” he teased. 

“Don’t act like you don’t like my flavored creamer and syrups, Mr. Honey Lavender Latte.” 

“That’s Lieutenant Honey Lavender Latte,” he smirked, tugging a strand of your hair. “Want me to help?” 

“Fine,” you huffed. Jake reracked the balls and stood at the end of the table as you broke, enjoying the peek down your shirt as you bent over the table. After hitting a solid in and purposely missing his second shot, he watched as you circled the table to pick your angle while sipping your beer. When you stopped in front of him and dropped the cue ball back onto the table, he helped position your hand into a closed bridge and pointed to where you should aim. Placing his hand on your wrist, he stepped behind you so your ass pressed against his crotch when you leaned over the table.

“During the stroke, give it the right amount of thrust,” he said, stacking his hand behind yours on the pool stick. Glancing over your shoulder at him, you shifted your weight and watched him bite his lip. “Behave.” When the ball sank into the pocket, you stood and grinned, quickly pecking his lips before lining up the next shot, waiting expectantly for him to help. 

You took the opportunity to tease him at every turn.

When you knocked the eight ball in and won the round, Jake couldn’t help but grin when you threw up your hands in celebration, shoulders shaking as you wiggled your hips in a victory dance. Unable to stop himself, he wrapped an arm around your waist and tugged you back into his chest to press a kiss to your neck. Your excitement was adorable, even though he was turned on and frustrated as hell. One more round, a stop by your apartment, and then straight into his bed for some teasing of your own. And he wouldn’t have to walk you to your damn rental car and wait for a text to say you were home safely. 

“Wanna grab dinner before the tie-breaker?” you asked.  

“If you wanna prolong the inevitable.” Narrowing your eyes, you stuck out your tongue and danced out of the way when he moved to smack your ass. 

“Go get us a table. I’m going to use the restroom.” With a quick kiss, you made your way through the crowd in the direction he’d pointed while Jake grabbed your empty glasses and returned them to the bar. He clapped Coyote on the back when he saw his friend waiting to close out his tab.

“She seems nice,” Coyote said. 

“I really like her, Javy.” Jake felt his scrutinizing gaze and shook his head, meeting his friend’s eyes. “She is…”

“Not your normal type?” Hanging his head, Jake chuckled. He’d been purposely avoiding eye contact with a couple of women he’d hooked up with all night. “Just don’t fall for the whole ‘something’s missing’ thing this time, alright?” Javy smirked, holding up his left hand and wiggling his fingers. 

“Never gonna let me live that one down, are you?” 

“Hey, I’m not the one who got married because their girlfriend of three months posted on Facebook that their ring finger was empty.” Jake grimaced, pushing away the memory of proposing to his ex-wife while drunk on Bourbon Street after she’d been pouting all night that all of her friends were getting married and having babies. The next day, he’d opened his first credit card to replace the straw wrapper ring with one she picked out on base at the NEX and bought his matching wedding band. 

His ring was now on the bottom of the Pacific. He’d tossed it off the carrier after signing the divorce papers. 

“You know who that is?” Javy asked, nodding to where you were chatting with some guy in a flight suit. Jake shook his head, watching as you smiled, and waved a hand across your eyes before drawing a circle in the air. Your brows furrowed as the guy said something, and then you laughed and shook your head. Jake moved when the guy grinned and cupped your cheek, turning your head left and right.

He recognized the guy. It was that pilot from earlier.  

“Shit,” Javy muttered, watching as you took a step back and nodded. 

“There you are,” Jake said, dropping his arm across your shoulders and kissing the side of your head. “Ready to grab a table?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Jake, this is - ”

“Hangman.”

“Rebound,” he replied, shaking Jake’s extended hand. 

“You’re with the Rough Raiders?” he asked, nodding at the other man’s patch.

“Yeah. You?”

“Vigilantes.” 

“Lieutenant Karrow was nice enough to let me see what the 360 camera array on the Lightning looks like from inside his helmet,” you said, trying to diffuse the tension between the two men.

“All that tech must be nice. Sounds like the 35 pretty much flies itself,” Jake said. Rebound smirked.

“Vigilantes are still in the 18s, right? I used to fly one, but the 35s are great. I love the 10K higher ceiling and better maneuverability. Plus, the whole being able to fire on an enemy behind you with all that tech.” 

“If you’re lucky enough for them not to get tone on you by that point.” 

“When you’re in a stealth craft, it doesn’t happen very often.” 

“Right. All that tech makes the pilot's job easier,” Jake smirked. Rebound scowled, and your smile was fixed as you looked up at him. 

“Actually, Hangman,” you said, emphasizing his call sign. “Have you heard that the dogfighting rating is better for the 35 than the 18? The stealth capabilities help, but once the missile bays open, the radar-absorbent skin is slightly impacted, so the pilots have to have combat skills. I’m sure you agree that the Navy wouldn’t send just anyone up in the air with an aircraft that costs $80 million a pop. Our infrared tech definitely helps since it can pick up on aircraft not showing up on radar by finding those heat signatures. Oh, and the ‘hive mind’ communication ability to share data between the 35s in the air - totally helpful when engaging the enemy. Not to mention the whole helmet capabilities. Our engineers, ugh, they did so well with that,” you said, shrugging off Jake’s arm and smiling at Rebound. “I don’t know about you, Karrow, but I really think the ability to just look at a target and engage is a hell of a lot better than having to reposition your jet to get your nose on target to even have a chance of getting a hit has its advantages in a dogfight.”

“Definitely,” Rebound grinned. Jake’s jaw clenched as you crossed your arms. 

“That’s not even considering that we’re implementing a $15 billion upgrade with the Block 4 F-35s. We’re increasing power and data storage by a factor of 25 while incorporating 17 new weapons systems. And improving fuel efficiency by 25%. And while that’s pretty fucking phenomenal, unfortunately, we didn’t get the bid for the sixth-gen F/A-XX that the Navy ordered to replace the Super Hornet since those are actually deteriorating faster than the Hornets did, and production is ending in 2025. So you’ll probably have to get used to flying with more tech at some point in your career, Hangman.” 

Jake didn’t like the thinly veiled anger or forced smile on your face. “You never know, darlin’. Hopefully, I’ll still be in the cockpit when those get off the production line.” 

“Hopefully.” Your voice was clipped as you turned your attention to Karrow, who raised an eyebrow. “Thanks again for this afternoon, I really appreciate it. Have a goodnight, Jackson.” 

“You too. And, uh, you know where to find me if you ever want to get another up-close look at the 35.” Karrow’s eyes darted over to Jake, whose jaw ticked. You smiled at Jake with a nod before turning on your heel and walking out of the bar. 

He hesitated a beat before nodding at Karrow. His eyes darted to where Coyote stood at the bar and tilted his head. Coyote lifted his chin, pinning his gaze on Rebound, who smirked at Jake’s back before returning to his group of friends.  

Outside, you looked down at your phone, comparing the pick-up time for two rideshare apps through bleary eyes and trying not to blink. If you didn’t blink, the tears building in your eyes wouldn’t fall, and you wouldn’t be crying. 

“Darlin’?”

“Go away.” 

“Baby, talk to me.” 

“Go away, Jake. Please.” You refused to look at him as he stood beside you.

“Don’t get a car. Lemme drive you home.” When you didn’t say anything, he sighed. “Sweetheart.”

“Fine.” Locking your phone, you slipped it into your back pocket and made your way across the parking lot to his truck. Your hand rested on the handle as he unlocked it, not even giving him the opportunity to open your door. As soon as he cranked the engine, you reached over to turn up the music to a volume that discouraged conversation; his 2000s country music flooded the cab. When he reached over to place his hand on your leg, you turned away from him and stared out the window. His hand flexed on the shifter.

Even though you almost jumped out of the truck when he parked outside your apartment, mumbling goodnight, Jake followed you upstairs. The tight grip you had on your tears was faltering as you unlocked the door, and he pushed inside behind you. “Can you leave, please?” you said softly. 

“Talk to me, darlin’. Tell me what I did wrong.” Your back was turned to him, and your head dropped, hands lifting to cover your face. Your sharp inhale echoed in the quiet apartment, and his feet were moving before his brain caught up. His arms wrapped around your waist as he cradled you to his chest, pressing kisses to your shoulders as you trembled. When your first sob burst free, he turned you, cradling your head and gently rocking, pressing kisses into your hair. 

“I f-fuckin’ h-hate my j-job,” you gasped into his chest. Jake frowned, humming rather than responding as your grip on the back of his shirt tightened. His hands slid down your body, one landing on your ass while the other encouraged your leg over his hip. Crouching, he lifted you off your feet, legs wrapping around his waist, and walked into your bedroom, gently depositing you on your bed. After kicking off his shoes and taking off his khaki shirt, he knelt in front of you and took off your shoes, tossing them towards your closet. As you moved towards the pillows, you wiggled off your jeans, dropped them over the side of the bed, and shrugged off your bra under your shirt. He grabbed them both and put them in the laundry basket before taking off his pants and joining you under the covers.

“Gonna tell me what’s going on?” he asked, gently wiping away your tears. 

“‘M sorry.” 

“What are you sorry for?” 

“Our night was ruined because of that… because he….”

“Night wasn’t ruined.”

“I’m actually pretty good at pool.” 

“What?” he frowned at the change in topic. 

“I-I played a lot growing up. At the base youth centers after school, and my grandparents bought me this game table when we came back stateside. It had pool and air hockey, and ping pong. My grandpa was really good at pool, and we’d play every time he visited.” Chuckling, he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“You telling me that you were hustlin’ me tonight?”

“A little.” 

“I shouldn’t like that as much as I do.” Biting your lower lip, you ran your knuckle along his jaw, his stubble rasping against your skin. He gently took your wrist and kissed your palm when you reached his chin. When you met his gaze, his green eyes were soft and filled with concern. Closing your eyes, you moved closer and tucked your head under his chin. Jake sighed, holding you tightly as your legs tangled. “At the risk of sounding like a jealous boyfriend, he shouldn’t have touched you.” He felt you tense, but you didn’t say anything. 

Jake felt your breathing even and was almost asleep himself when he heard you murmur, “I don’t hate the 18.” A smile tugged at his lips as he pressed a kiss into your hair.

“Glad to hear that, darlin’. You’re a damn good saleswoman - almost had me wanting to drop that $80 million, even though it’s more expensive than what you told me the first time we met.” 

“‘S the engine that adds the $5 million,” you yawned. “But you’d get the discount.”

“Only took 58 days to earn that.”

When you woke in the middle of the night and slipped out of bed, Jake grabbed his phone to check the time. There was a text from Coyote asking if everything was okay, and he quickly typed back a message saying they’d talk. When you came back into the bedroom with a glass of water, he waited for you to say he needed to leave.

Instead, you set your glass on the nightstand and took off your shirt, slipping back between the covers with your back to him. He locked his phone and dropped it back onto the nightstand before shedding his own shirt. Curling around you, he pressed a kiss to your bare shoulder and smiled when you pressed back against him.

His alarm went off before yours. Groaning, you pulled the pillow over your head as he turned it off. A strong arm wrapped around your middle and tugged you across the bed, leaving your pillow behind as you grumbled. “Morning, grumpy,” Jake’s sleep-rasped voice teased as he rolled you onto your back. He kissed you softly, brushing the hair from your face before lightly tapping your cheek. “Lemme see those pretty eyes, darlin’.” 

“Go away, you evil morning person.” Laughing lowly, he pushed back the covers and lowered his head to kiss the curve of your breast before sucking on your nipple. You inhaled sharply, pressing against his mouth as your hand buried in his hair. 

“Play hooky with me,” he mumbled against your skin. When you shook your head, he lightly bit your breast before trailing kisses up your chest and throat, stopping when his lips hovered over yours. “I’ll go to sick call. You call in sick. We can spend all day relaxing.” When his thumb traced your cheek, you forced your eyes open. There was a pillow crease on his cheek, and his hair was flat on one side and spiked where your hands had run through it. It was his sleepy eyes that did you in, though. 

“Fine,” you whispered and smiled against his mouth when he kissed you. After a few minutes spent trading lazy kisses, he pulled himself out of bed and dressed. Before he left, he ensured you texted your boss and promised to return in a few hours. 

True to his word, he was back by 9:00AM and quickly changed out of his uniform into a pair of Navy sweats and a t-shirt while you made him a honey lavender latte that he loved to hate. 

Slowly, over the course of the morning, he got you to talk. You reluctantly told him why you were so mad yesterday - as much as Karrow touching you had pissed you off, you still had to work with him, and Jake’s posturing could make it awkward. He apologized and had to rein in his anger when you avoided his eyes when he asked if people touched you at work like that. When you tried to say it wasn’t a big deal, that it was the comments and looks that were worse, he saw red. 

“Darlin’... you know that’s sexual harassment.”

“Don’t say that,” you whispered. When he asked why, brushing away your tears, you shook your head. “‘Cause then I have to do something about it.” 

With your face buried in his chest, you told him about leaving Florida after an awkward breakup. Your ex had moved into your apartment slowly, spending more and more nights at your place even though you’d told him you didn’t want to live together. When his lease was up, he’d expected you to add him to yours and had even told his roommate that he was moving out before talking to you about it. He’d told a mutual friend he was planning to propose, and you quickly ended it. When the opportunity to come to California came up, you jumped at it. 

Jake reluctantly talked about his past. He said he was lonely at his first base and had trouble finding his footing in his new squadron. He was throwing himself into work and needing to prove that he’d earned his career as an aviator, so he made some stupid decision. Another new aviator, Bradshaw, had called him Hangman after an exercise, and the callsign had stuck. He hated it. He hated that he would always be reminded of the arrogant twenty-year-old kid he’d been. So it was easier to lose himself in a relationship that wasn’t good. He’d loved his ex-wife, and loved the stability their marriage gave him, but knew that she was cheating on him when he deployed. When he got orders to California, she stayed for three months before returning to New Orleans. She’d had some health problems, so they stayed married so she could stay on his health insurance. They’d only divorced because she’d wanted to remarry. 

Later, your linked fingers were pinned over your head, Jake’s weight holding you down as he slowly rolled his hips. No matter how much you begged him to go faster, harder, he kept to the slow rhythm, straining to hold still when you both got too close to the edge. He savored the way you gasped his name against his lips. He let go of one of your hands to wipe a strand of sweaty hair from your face and smiled at your glazed expression when your eyes met his. “Please,” you whined. He caught your hand as it drifted between you and shook his head. After he kissed your palm, you wrapped your hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close, biting his lower lip. “Please, Jake.” 

Unable to deny you anything, his fingers drew slow circles around your clit. He crushed his lips to yours, forcing you to swallow the three small words that almost slipped out as you clenched around him. 

A week later, Jake sat in his office, staring at his sister’s post celebrating his parent’s wedding anniversary. She’d used their last family picture - his graduation from the Academy.

He hated that picture. Hated thinking about that fucking day. Hated that his first salute as an ensign had gone to a man who encouraged him to keep up the Navy tradition of having a girl in every port as his mother stood beside him, a smile hiding her hurt. It wasn’t a secret that his father had done exactly that during his naval service. 

The phone buzzed, and his eyes flitted up to see a text. What’s your email?

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he quickly typed out his personal email address and sent it back to you. Two minutes later, a new message appeared in his inbox with an attached document. 

30-Day Contract Review Results

Upon review of the initial “Dating” contract between the two parties identified below, it is determined that all clauses and conditions have been met. It is recommended that parties continue with the contract, entering an exclusive and monogamous relationship. Parties agree that the initial “date” is identified as the night of the contract writer’s unfortunate car accident, which will be acknowledged with annual anniversary.  

Recommend the following updates to the contract:

Strike ‘person I’m seeing’ and replace with boyfriend/girlfriend as appropriate

Strike zero-tolerance weeknight sleepover policy and authorize two weeknight stays

Writer will not be required to assist with remaking hospital corners when staying at the contracting partner’s house

Contracting partner will acknowledge that writer does not snore

Writer will purchase supplies for honey lavender lattes for both households

Contracting partner will not disparage the writer’s film preferences

Parties will agree to an annual review of the contract, with ad hoc meetings to discuss clauses and conditions as they arise

The signatures below serve as an agreement to identified contract recommendations. The next review will occur on the acknowledged annual anniversary.

Your signature was already on the bottom of the document, and there was a signature line for him.

Laughing, Jake pulled up your phone number and called you.

“Yes?” He could hear the smile in your voice. 

“Are you open to negotiating the number of authorized weeknight stays? Cause I’m thinking four is a better number.”

“At that point, we would only have one night away from each other when taking weekends into consideration.”

“I’m fine with that. Three nights at your place, three at mine.” 

“That’s a lot of overnight bag packing.” 

“Only for 44 weeks. The next round of negotiations is going to include moving in together.” 

“You’re pretty confident that we’re gonna reach annual negotiations.”

“Darlin’, I have a feeling we’re gonna be doing this for a long time.” Jake heard your breath catch. After a moment, you cleared your throat. 

“I’ll agree to three weeknights, Lieutenent Seresin. Final offer.” 

“Make the edit, and I’ll sign it when I see you tonight.” 

“Fine. I’ll see you tonight, Lieutenant.”

“See you tonight,” he grinned as the call disconnected, already planning on running back to his place to pack an overnight bag. 

But when he got to his house, your car was idling on the side of the road. He parked the truck in the garage, making sure to leave enough space for your vehicle. When you pulled into the driveway, he motioned you forward until you were parked beside him. “You’re ruining my plan to scandalize the neighbors,” you huffed when he opened the car door. 

“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities for that,” he chuckled, taking the plastic bag you held out. Inside was an assortment of coffee stuff. 

“First thing first, Seresin. Grab a pen.”

“Can’t kiss my girlfriend first?”

“No title changes are approved until you’ve signed.” Sighing, he grabbed the pen from his flight suit pocket and clicked it. 

As soon as both copies of the contract - you’d insisted that you each need a copy - were signed, Jake shoved your slacks down your legs and pressed your cheek to the kitchen counter as he showed you exactly how much he loved being your boyfriend.

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

Author's Note: This chapter covers a lot. Thanks for the patience when it came to writing it - between the themes, researching the F-35, and recovering from having guests, I've been exhausted. Hopefully the banter made up for the angst, and you liked seeing a bit more of each of their background. Kinda funny, but my brother in law proposed to his first wife for that same reason Jake did - a Facebook post of an empty hand.

Read Chapter 7

Tag list:

@memeorydotcom; @alldaysdreamers; @kmc1989; @djs8891; @caitsymichelle13; @dempy; @midnightmagpiemama; @lovelyladymayyyy; @caidi-paris; @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby; @bellaireland1981; @lethargicluv; @mayhemmanaged; @tenderclio; @lucypaulette; @abaker74; @trhett21; @misshoneypaper; @schreksdoubledeckerhomechecker; @eternallyvenus